Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 798: A decisive battle with the whole nation

At noon the next day, the sun was blazing, and Su Chen led a huge army to the outskirts of Lianzhou City. In order to rectify military discipline and avoid causing unnecessary trouble to the people in the city, he did not allow the 100,000 troops to enter the city, but chose to camp outside the city, with continuous tents and magnificent momentum.

Wu Yanrou and Jin Hui's ability to capture Lianzhou so quickly was beyond the expectations of Su Chen, Pan Mei and other generals. They originally thought that although Lianzhou City was not impregnable, it would take a hard fight to capture it.

Unexpectedly, Wu Yanrou and Jin Hui could achieve victory so quickly. This is undoubtedly a great affirmation of their military talents.

When Wu Yanrou and Jin Hui came to the camp to meet Su Chen in person, their steps revealed a self-confidence that was hard to conceal. They held their heads high and were in high spirits. Because of their military achievements, they felt that they could finally hold their heads up in the Wu army camp.

"Greetings, Marshal Su. Fortunately, we have fulfilled the mission. We captured Lianzhou City within three days, lost 2,000 soldiers, injured 1,600, killed 4,000 enemies, captured 9,600 enemy soldiers, and sealed all the seized granaries, cloth, etc. in the warehouse!" Wu Yanrou said loudly and cheerfully.

As a leader, Su Chen already knows the ways of being an official. He knows that in order to make his subordinates loyal, in addition to strict military discipline and fair rewards and punishments, he also needs to know how to praise and achieve his subordinates. This will not only inspire their fighting spirit, but also make them more loyal to him.

Therefore, when Wu Yanrou and Jin Hui came to the camp to meet him, Su Chen gave them high praise without hesitation: "Very good, this time you conquered Lianzhou within three days, which really surprised and delighted me and the generals. You did a great job, not only showing your military talents, but also setting an example for our army. The military exploits you and your soldiers have made will be recorded and reported to the court, and you will be rewarded in the future."

At this point, Su Chen paused for a moment, and continued, "As for the money and food in the city, I will also take out a portion of it in proportion and give it to your barracks. This side of the army will continue to be led by you two. I hope you can continue to work hard and make more military achievements for our army."

This time, Su Chen directly gave a generous reward, which not only gave Wu Yanrou and Jin Hui enough face, but also served as a reminder to the other generals. He wanted all the generals to know that as long as they made contributions, they would definitely get the due rewards and promotions.

Profits can be shared but not monopolized, and plans can be made by a few but not by many! In dealing with people, many times, achieving success for others is the achievement of everyone's career, and in the end, it is the achievement of one's own career.

"Thank you, Commander Su!" Wu and Jin were very happy. They didn't expect there would be so many benefits. They both felt that it was worth it to fight and make merit this time.

Su Chen asked about the situation of the people in the city again, and Jin Hui answered truthfully that he had sent people to post notices to appease the people. Since he had been a Gongcao in Lianzhou City, he had a certain mass base, and this time he personally came out to appease the people, the effect was better, and the people were more receptive.

"Yes, General Jin is not only capable of leading troops, but also talented in local governance. He will be of great use in the future!" Su Chen praised Jin Hui again.

"Thank you, Coach Su, for the compliment!" Jin Hui was excited and clasped his fists to express his gratitude.

Su Chen nodded slightly and said in a steady tone: "Next, our army must march straight to Shaozhou. According to the spy report, the Lingnan Han Dynasty has hastily assembled a hundred thousand strong troops and is gathering in Shaozhou from all directions, intending to fight our Wu army. This battle is of great importance. If we can defeat the Han army in this battle, the fall of the Southern Han regime is just around the corner."

Upon hearing this, Pan Mei nodded in agreement. He had previously discussed the battle strategy with Su Chen and knew that the battle of Shaozhou was the key to the overall situation.

Su Chen did not reveal the entire strategy, knowing that military secrets should be kept secret, so he turned to Wu Yanrou and Jin Hui and said, "General Wu, General Jin, you two must lead your troops to continue pursuing the remnants of Lu Shou. After the army attracts the main force of the Southern Han army to Shaozhou City, you must capture Qingyuan City, appease the people there, and collect 50,000 stones of grain and grass to meet military needs, and wait for the army to capture Shaozhou and meet outside Qingyuan City."

"I obey your command!" Wu Yanrou and Jin Hui responded in unison and saluted with their fists clasped.

After the deployment was finalized, Su Chen announced the end of the meeting and ordered the generals and duyuhou to return to their respective camps to handle military affairs. They must not slack off in daily march management and must make full preparations for the upcoming war. For a moment, the atmosphere in the camp was solemn. The generals took orders and left, each busying themselves, preparing for the upcoming decisive battle.

……… When the news of the fall of Hezhou and Zhaozhou hit the court of Panyu, the capital of the Southern Han Dynasty, like thunder, the entire Southern Han regime was shocked. In the court, most officials tended to kneel down and seek peace, advocating direct surrender to the Wu Kingdom in the hope of continuing to retain their official positions and live in peace under the new dynasty.

However, Liu Xian, the ruler of Southern Han, resolutely rejected this proposal. To him, the road to surrender seemed to be smooth, but in fact it was full of dangers. Once he surrendered, he, the emperor of Southern Han, would be imprisoned, his life or death uncertain, and his royal family members would face the same fate. He was unwilling to take such risks.

Furthermore, despite the failure of the Hezhou battle and the heavy losses suffered by the Southern Han army, its main force was still there and it still had enough strength to fight. More importantly, the foundation that allowed the Southern Han to stand firm in Lingnan for decades - the elite heavy-armored elephant formation - was still intact and ready to go.

Since the founding of the Southern Han Dynasty, it has been surrounded by wars, with the Chu Kingdom in the west eyeing it covetously and the powerful Southern Tang in the north pressing on its border. Its power is second only to that of the Central Plains among the vassal states. In order to resist foreign aggression, the rulers of the Southern Han Dynasty did their best to expand their armaments, among which the formation of an elephant formation with war elephants as the core was undoubtedly the most important part.

Because Southern Han was located in the south, most of its southern neighbors were in the subtropical region, rich in elephants. In addition, southern countries have always had a tradition of capturing and training war elephants for combat.

Under such circumstances, the Southern Han army also formed its own elephant army in response to local conditions. In order to build the army, the Southern Han authorities spared no expense to purchase a large number of war elephants from Annan, Dali and other countries, and at the same time hired local ethnic minorities to teach the Southern Han army how to control war elephants and the tactics and strategies of using war elephants.

Until the eve of the Wu army's attack on Southern Han, Southern Han had nearly a thousand war elephants. The war elephants of Southern Han were truly heavily armored and well-equipped.

The war elephants were covered in heavy armor, like a mobile steel fortress. This layer of armor was based on tough thick cowhide, and the outer layer was densely inlaid with multiple layers of scale-like or block-shaped iron and steel armor plates, which shone with a cold luster. In addition to the hanging armor, the chest and abdomen of the elephants, which were relatively weak in defense, were carefully made into breastplate and abdominal armor with a thickness of 2 to 3 mm.

The elephant's legs should not be ignored either. They are specially equipped with steel armor with movable knee pads, which not only protect the elephant's legs from attacks but also ensure the flexibility of the war elephant's movements.

The elephant's head is equipped with a solid steel face guard, and even the flexible trunk is tightly wrapped with fine chain mail to prevent the enemy from causing damage to it in battle. The tusks, the most threatening weapon of war elephants, are also covered with sharp steel spear tips, so that every charge can bring a fatal blow to the enemy.

On the back of the war elephant stands a tower made of thick wooden boards and covered with iron armor. It is not only the command center of the war elephant, but also a combat platform for archers and warriors.

The tower is divided into three floors. The first floor is the driver, the upper floor is four to six archers or crossbowmen, and the top floor is the lookout, who is similar to the helmsman.

With the war elephant as the core, there are infantrymen holding swords, spears, shields, and carrying bows and arrows or crossbows on each side. In this way, the war elephant becomes a multifunctional combat unit that integrates defense, attack and command on the battlefield.

During battles, the Southern Han elephant formation usually launched a group attack on the enemy in the form of a charge under the cover of long-range bows and crossbows. The role played by the elephant formation was similar to that of the main battle tanks in later generations. After the elephant formation charged, the cavalry and infantry would follow up and charge.

Because of its heavy armor and strong defense and attack power, the Southern Han elephant formation played an important role in all the wars with neighboring countries and became the "national magic weapon" of its rulers.

Faced with the powerful offensive of the Wu army heading south, the Southern Han court was in a desperate situation and decided to put all its efforts into deploying its most elite heavily armored elephant formation in order to turn the tide of the war and reverse the disastrous situation.

Therefore, Liu Yan, the ruler of Southern Han, rejected all objections and resolutely appointed the backbone of the pro-war faction, Grand Commander Li Chengwo, as commander-in-chief and gave him the important task of full command.

In addition, Liu Xiong also ordered the assembly of the main force of Southern Han, totaling more than 100,000 people. This huge army, led by Li Chengwo, marched to Shaozhou in a mighty manner, vowing to fight a decisive battle with the Wu army.

Along the way, flags covered the sky and drums of war thundered. The morale of the Southern Han soldiers was also ignited at this moment. Success or failure depended on the battle of Shaozhou.