Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 172
When eating in Datong, it’s natural to have sliced ​​noodles.The mutton shabu-shabu didn't come, but three large bowls of shaved noodles were served first, one bowl for each person.The noodles are evenly thick and wide, paired with the delicious beef soup, which makes you unable to stop eating.

After finishing the last bite of noodles, Wang Yan picked up the bowl and drank most of the soup.Putting down the bowl, he said with satisfaction: "Before, in the Central Plains, I was most annoyed by eating noodles because they felt uncomfortable. When I came to Hedong, I only loved the knife-shaped noodles here. They are smooth and refreshing, so delicious!"

Just as he finished speaking, the waiter brought the copper hot pot.Three more plates of mutton were brought and placed on the table.

Wang Yan picked up a plate of meat, put two or three chopsticks into the pot, and watched the meat tumbling in the soup.

Ma Kuo said: "I heard people say that when eating hot pot, the meat should be cooked little by little. Otherwise, the meat will be overcooked and it will not taste good."

Wang Yan smiled and said: "Who can be patient enough to keep putting meat into the pot? It's not that I can't afford it, so just put it in."

Niu Gao picked up the wine bottle, opened the cork and smelled it.He said: "Young man is not lying, this wine really comes from the south. If we talk about fighting, we are fighting in full swing on the front line, and the business of the merchants in the rear is a little faster."

Ma Kuo said: "Businessmen are very profitable. As long as there is interest, they can do business. The price of this wine is several times that of the Central Plains. Of course there are people selling it."

The wine was poured and the three of them drank a few drinks to get over their alcohol addiction.

After eating a few pieces of meat, Ma Kuang said: "It's really unexpected that this battle went so smoothly. I see, even Xuan Fu didn't expect it."

Wang Yan said: "Xuanfu still wanted to slowly increase his troops and confront the Jin soldiers in Taiyuan. As a result, as soon as Cao Zhiyan arrived in Fenzhou, he defeated the Jin army and even captured Wanyan Yinshu. Xuanfu saw So we urgently ordered all the divisions to step up their advance and wait for reinforcements from the Jin Army in Fenzhou."

Niu Gao sighed: "That's true. But in two or three years, who knows how the current Jin Army can be so ineffective? In the past few years, we rescued Shaanzhou and fought with the Jin Army to death. We really have to risk our lives. Fight for your life. After only two or three years, the Jin army was vulnerable!"

Ma Kuo said: "Why doesn't Yu Hou think that our army has become stronger?"

Niu Gao shook his head: "Even if our army becomes stronger, it will only take two or three years. How can it become so strong?"

Ma Kuang said: "Two or three years is long enough. An army will be completely transformed in as little as half a year or as long as one year. Yu Hou has always been involved in the reform of the army, and he just doesn't realize it. In In the eyes of others, this army would be even stronger if it were not expanded too much."

Niu Gao was startled: "Has our army really become stronger?"

Ma Kuo nodded: "I haven't been here long. I just happened to catch up with the military expansion, and I saw it most clearly. To be honest, with the sudden military expansion, there was indeed a shortage of officers, especially grassroots officers. But with more training, it can be used. The biggest change was that the artillery began to mature, and grenadiers were later added. The combat effectiveness of the army was much stronger than before. Furthermore, although the number of grassroots officers was insufficient, what they learned was not as good as that of the previous officers. It’s unmatched every year.”

Niu Gao thought for a while, nodded and said: "That's right. In this way, our army is indeed much stronger than it was two or three years ago. I have been in the army for a long time, and I feel that my officers are not much better than before. Instead, it’s an illusion.”

Wang Yan said: "It is indeed an illusion. Even if the current army fights a war with the army two years ago, it will be victorious in every battle."

Niu Gao took a chopstick of meat and put it in the pot, thoughtfully.

Wang Yan took a bite of the meat and said: "This year's battle went incredibly smoothly. I remember that on the day Taiyuan City was captured, many soldiers were at a loss and didn't know what battles were going to be fought next. Thirty people were wiped out in one battle. There are more than 30 Jin troops, which I couldn't even imagine before the war." Niu Gao said: "The Jin army said it was more than 10, but according to the previous calculations of the Jin army, it would be [-] at most."

Wang Yan said: "Even 10 people is a big deal. The total strength of the Jin army is several 10. In this battle, at least half of the Jin army was wiped out. There will be no major wars in the future."

Ma Kuo said: "That's true. After the battle of Taiyuan, the remaining Jin army is not worth mentioning."

Niu Gao and Wang Yan nodded together.

The three of them kept eating hotpot mutton and chatting about the recent war.

They are all strong men in the army and have huge appetites.Before eating the meat, I had a bowl of noodles. After finishing three plates of meat, I ordered three more plates.

After drinking for a while, Ma Kao sighed: "We destroyed more than [-] Jin troops. In fact, the losses of our army were not small. In the Taiyuan area alone, there were more than [-] casualties. If the casualties in other areas are included, Yes, it’s not a small number.”

Wang Yandao: "There were more than 25 casualties in total, which is indeed a large number. But compared with the [-] people in the entire army, it is still acceptable. All the divisions in the army still maintained combat effectiveness after the war, which is the most remarkable thing."

Ma Kuo said: "Most of our army are wounded soldiers, and they were treated in time. Not many people died. Of course, their division can still fight. If there are many people who died, it should be Zhang Chi's army this time. The Jin army has [-] people. The army attacked for several days, and no matter how well he defended, thousands of people died."

Wang Yan said: "It's more than just a few thousand people! Before Shi Rong arrived, Zhang Chi had already lost 5000 people. He had a total of 5000 people, and 5000 people died, which would have a huge impact on the combat effectiveness. However, the Jin army was powerless. Attack again, just barely hold on."

Niu Gao sighed: "Zhang Chi is not guarding Yanmen Pass after all. The Jin army rushed down from the mountain and the offensive was very fierce."

Wang Yan said: "How can Yanmen Pass be so easy to win? Zhang Chi doesn't have much time, so he can only guard the entrance of the valley."

Niu Gao said: "Moreover, a large part of the [-] Jin army that attacked Zhang Chi were veterans of the Jin Kingdom, with extremely strong combat effectiveness. If they were not blocked at Yanmen Pass, they would be a big trouble on any battlefield. This battle , Zhang Chi really deserves the most credit."

Wang Yan and Ma Kuo nodded together.

Although 20 Jin troops were wiped out in the Taiyuan Battle, the real elite of the Jin army was the 10 Jin troops who attacked Zhang Chi.Zhang Chi blocked these 5000 people and created conditions for victory on other battlefields.With only [-] people completing such a feat, Zhang Chi was indeed the major contributor to this battle.

The Jin army led by Ceres was large in number, but many of them were Alixi from the past, or even strong men recruited before this war.It has been 20 years since the founding of the Jin Dynasty. The strong men recruited now are no better than before, and their combat awareness is very poor.Therefore, after the first few battles, Gu Shen stayed close to the city and did not dare to come out to fight.

The Jin army said there were more than 10 men, but the real most elite were the [-] men who attacked Yanmen Pass.Because of this, they learned that the connection between Taiyuan and Datong was cut off, and they were the reinforcements sent to Datong.

(End of this chapter)