Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 472 The Gap between the Two Armies
"Finally something decent to eat." Under an old tree on the shore, Guo Ting said that he was eating hot rice rolled into rice balls, which were steamed and made from rice seized in military camps near Wuchang.

Before that, what they ate were military rations, rice that was boiled and dried and cooked and dried several times. Big difference, nothing but filling the stomach.

"That's thanks to Tang Jun's generosity." The clerk next to him said, and everyone laughed.

"Don't look at it, come over and do it." Cao Bin called the officials and soldiers around to come over. Everyone was not particular about people, and quickly grabbed a big pot of hot rice.

Just eating rice fills my stomach.

After a while, the old general Wang Huan also came back with someone, saluted Cao Bin and said: "Commander, the Wuchang Water Fortress has been captured, and the landing troops have arrived in the west of Wuchang City, and sent envoys to persuade them to surrender. I think tomorrow will be able to Into the city."

"How about the casualties? Will Wuchang City surrender?" Cao Bin asked two questions one after another. In the distance on the river, hundreds of warships from the Chinese fleet were docked by the river and were resting.

They marched very smoothly in the past few days. Water villages, army villages, and checkpoints were taken down one after another along the way. The march was very fast, and the Tang army could hardly resist.

"Casualties were very small, 40 people were injured, and two brothers died. Their water fortress could not withstand a few shots. If Wuchang's location was not important, and for our own fleet to supply, no one would have fired a few more shots. die."

Wang Huan took a sip of the water bag that Cao Bin handed him, "I have never fought such an easy battle in my life, and the craftsmen of the secret department are too good.

I'm afraid that if they are given another ten years, the role of soldiers and horses as the vanguard will become less and less. Such a thing was unthinkable ten years ago. "

Wang Huan shook his head with a smile, and handed the water bag back to Cao Bin.

"Yeah, these years have really changed with each passing day. If I didn't learn from the officials of the confidentiality department, I would feel that I would not be able to fight."

Wang Huan stroked his gray beard: "Now that I think about it, it was 15 years ago that I was captured by the officials in Qinling Mountains. Time flies. Now that I'm over sixty, I'm afraid I won't have the chance to go into battle after this time.

On the contrary, the commander-in-chief has a promising future and is young and promising, so let the commander-in-chief worry about these things, hahaha."

Looking at the veteran general who was laughing cheerfully in front of him, Cao Bin bowed his hands respectfully. He naturally admired Wang Huan in his heart. He knew that Wang Huan was originally from Zhending, Hebei Province, a general of Hou Shu, and was later captured by the officials during the Battle of Guanzhong. Do not surrender.

However, the officials loved talents, so they still didn't kill him. He was activated a few years later, and then fought many battles with the officials, and even guarded Jiangling. He is indeed a veteran with illustrious military exploits.

However, there are still many such veterans in the army, but the officials let him command these veterans, which also made Cao Bin very nervous and dared not make any mistakes.

Wang Huan seemed to see through his mind: "You don't need to think too much, Marshal, we are not those literati who are so big, and we are not the kind of seniority in the court, and we always speak with our ability when it comes to war.

Back then, the champion Hou swept Hexi in his early twenties, and flattened Mobei in his early twenties. He grew up as a Sima and a general.

More than ten years ago, the officials commanded more than [-] troops to capture Huainan in less than [-] years, and defeated the Tang Dynasty. From then on, let alone other things, even the Supreme Emperor was at the disposal of the officials.

There are no fathers and sons in the army, let alone other things. If seniority is used to lead the army, then the battle will be impossible. The commander-in-chief can command at ease. It is to prevent the situation where the generals are not killed, so there is no need to worry too much, and the matter of fighting is the first. "

After hearing what the old general Wang Huan said, Cao Bin felt enlightened, and then solemnly cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, General, for teaching me."

Wang Huan nodded, and then led his soldiers to eat at the stove.

Cao Bin thought for a while, "Order all the forwards to command Dang Jin to call back."

He hesitated before saying nothing to stop Dang Jin because Dang Jin had senior qualifications and high military exploits.

But in fact, Dangjin's use of troops is contrary to his overall strategic plan, but due to Dangjin's prestige and previous achievements, it is difficult for him to speak.

He also agreed to make a rapid advance and go straight to Jiangning. In this regard, he agrees with Dangjin, but his rapid advance is not a sudden advance all the way, but a land and water advance.

The navy's naval guns can provide powerful artillery support, while the army's can open up landing sites for the navy. The two armies complement each other and continue to take down the water villages and camps along the river. If you want to go deep, you need cavalry to wait for the infantry's field artillery. Attack again, rather than cavalry alone raiding.

He has always felt that it is risky for the cavalry to advance alone. Although the effect is very good, there is no backup supply, no reinforcements, and no artillery support. The danger of going deep alone is also great.

After being awakened by Wang Huan, he was determined to recall the vanguard party and attack according to his own tactics.

But at this moment, an orderly came over from the southern avenue in a panic, got off his horse and corrected the password, rushed straight over, and reported a message to Cao Bin in a low voice.

After hearing this, Cao Bin's face immediately turned ugly.

The forwards all commanded Dang Jin to be ambushed by the Tang army, and his life and death were uncertain. The forwards had a thousand elite cavalry, but in the end only more than 600 people were gathered.

This is already a considerable battle loss, not to mention the forward thousand cavalry is the elite of the army.

He immediately called the recovered cavalry and asked about the situation. It turned out that they attacked the Wuchang land camp at night and were ambushed while resting. The cavalry knew the approximate location of the ambush.

Cao Bin said: "If they want to defend, they can only retreat to the camp or to Wuchang City. Wuchang City has been trapped by the navy, and they can't go."

Immediately ordered: "Release scouts and ask General Zhang Zhengtao to lead four battalions of infantry, two battalions of horses, and one battalion of artillery to surround the Wuchang camp."

The orderly immediately went to convey the order.

Soon the troops began to dispatch, and in the afternoon, more than 3000 people from the Seventh Battalion of the Qin Army surrounded the dilapidated Wuchang Camp.

And the unusual Tang army who could defeat the elite of the Qin army was also trapped in the camp as Cao Bin expected.

At first they wanted to retreat into the city of Wuchang, but they were repelled by the navy that besieged Wuchang in the morning.

Zhang Zhengtao reported the news ahead to Cao Bin, and everyone felt that Cao Bin knew everything well.

But his expression became tense: "This just shows that the opponent is smart. If he is afraid of a cavalry and navy who only know how to run, he will definitely not be able to run away from our cavalry and sailors. This is why he wants to hold on to the danger and resist stubbornly.

This just shows that he can beat Dangjin's elite strikers from time to time. "

After speaking, he immediately sent four more battalions, increasing the strength to more than 5000.

According to Zhang Zhengtao's report, the besieged Tang army was only about a thousand people. Facing the Qin army's eight battalions of infantry, two battalions of cavalry, and one battalion of artillery, even if they had all-handed hands and eyes, it was hard to see hope.

This is the difference in strength between the two armies. For the Qin army, all of their troops can fight, and a small defeat is like a fly shaking a tree.

As for the Tang army, the more than 1000 besieged troops in the entire west are already all capable troops, and the result is naturally very desperate.
(End of this chapter)