Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 532 Meng Chang, Don't Come Over!

Unlike most people's impression that the combat effectiveness of the Shu army is very weak, in fact, the combat effectiveness of the Shu army is quite good.

It's just that the characteristics of the combat power of the Shu army are a bit biased.

First of all, the essence of Sichuan lies in the Chengdu Plain in the basin.

Since Li Bing and his son built Dujiangyan, the water conservancy facilities here are complete and the fields are fertile for thousands of miles.

As long as the government is not too exploitative, even the common people can live a good life, so it is called the land of abundance.

But for the Shu army, the Chengdu Plain is not so comfortable.

Because this place is very suitable for cavalry combat, but at the same time, although there is no shortage of pack horses in Sichuan, there are few war horses.

Therefore, there is not much style of riding and shooting in Shu, and there is no way to fight on horseback.

This led to a very embarrassing scene, as soon as the soldiers from the Central Plains arrived at the Chengdu Plain, the whole of Shu immediately lost their ability to resist, and could only watch the opponent's cavalry come and go unscrupulously.

Therefore, the Shu Kingdom has always relied on two reliances to defend against foreign enemies.

One is to let Hanzhong act as a human shield, and try to make the decisive battle take place in the Hanzhong area.

Although the Hanzhong Plain is also a plain, it is smaller than Central Shu, with many hills and many pass cities.

The Shu army can make full use of hilly forts and city gates to offset the cavalry advantage of the Central Plains army.

The second reliance is to let the enemy in when Hanzhong can't hold it, and use the natural dangers of Jiange and Langzhong to block the enemy in the Guangyuan and Bazhong areas of later generations.

This place has high mountains and dense forests, vertical and horizontal river valleys, and a huge difference in terrain. When the cavalry arrives here, they can't do their best and are easily ambushed.

In the same way, on the Yangtze River, rely on Kuizhou, that is, the Baidi City in Fengjie, Chongqing, where Kuimen is the most powerful city in the world, to block the Yangtze River estuary, and rely on the surrounding mountains to block the enemy.

In the face of this kind of combat needs, there is very little room for the cavalry in the Shu army, and the general equipment is only a small amount of elite cavalry. Most of the Shu army can only be mountain soldiers.

Therefore, the Shu army is stronger than fighting in the mountains. On the plains, they are basically passively beaten.

In terms of equipment, the Shu army has a great advantage, that is, there are many bamboos in Shu.

This thing has lost [-]% of its economic and strategic value in later generations, but in this era, bamboo is almost a fast-growing wood with great strategic value.

One is that it can be made into various means of transportation and luggage. Don’t underestimate this advantage. The secret of the strong transfer of Shu army’s grain and grass all through the ages lies in this place.

Secondly, the Shu army is good at using bamboo and wood to make bows and crossbows, especially bamboo crossbows. Although the lethality and range are far behind the orthodox crossbows, you can't stand it much!
Although the power is small, it can still shoot birds and beasts. It is not good against targets with full armor, but it is still very threatening against targets with light armor and no armor.

And just because the power is less, the shooting speed is faster. The crossbow shaft made of bamboo and wood is cheap and has a large quantity, which is easy to form intensive firepower.

Two months ago, Zhang Qianzhao, the coach of the Shu army, led an elite attack on Chang'an, but was defeated by Liu Zaisheng and [-] hussars.

At the moment when the forward was about to collapse, it was the rear army of the Shu army who arrived, and all the crossbows immediately stabilized the situation.

Liu Zaisheng's [-] hussars were only wearing light armor. As a result, many of them were shot and wounded, and they couldn't break through the bamboo crossbow formation of the Shu army several times, so they had to retreat.

Otherwise, Zhang Qianzhao would not have injured more than a thousand people, so he retreated completely.

And Zhang Qianzhao is actually not from Sichuan, but from Liaozhou.

However, this Liaozhou has nothing to do with Liaodong and Liaoxi, but in the Zuoquan County of Shanxi in later generations.

When Zhang Qianzhao was young, he served as a cavalry envoy under Li Keyong, Li Cunxu and his father and son. He was brave and powerful, and he was especially skilled in bowing horses. He had a very good relationship with Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the later Tang Dynasty.

During the Mingzong period, he was promoted to be the commander of the escort and personal guards, which is evident in his favor.

Later, when the last emperor Li Congke won the throne in Fengxiang City, he was grateful to Li Siyuan for his kindness and Zhang Qianzhao, who was powerless to stop him, so he angrily defected to Meng Zhixiang of Houshu.

As such a coach who has followed Li Keyong and is also a cavalier who is skilled in arching horses, he certainly knows the strength of Hedong and Daibei Jingqi.

Zhang Qianzhao had a clearer understanding of the Yongliang iron cavalry who defeated him outside the Xiangji Temple last time.

This cavalry is far superior to the current cavalry in the Central Plains, and its ferocity is no less than that of King Jin's iron cavalry.

During Zhang Qianzhao's ten years in Meng Shu, although he tried his best to train two thousand cavalry for Meng Zhixiang and his son, it could not be compared with the Yongliang cavalry around Chang'an.

Zhang Qianzhao also knew what the Yongliang cavalry who had been roaming around the Shu army were waiting for. They were waiting for the real cavalry to arrive.

Because the Shu Army's bamboo crossbow array could not deal with fully equipped cavalry and heavy infantry with more than two layers of armor.

Once these armors are in place, they will attack immediately.

Zhang Qianzhao also knew what he was waiting for. He was waiting for the result of the battle between Yong and Liao in the Central Plains.

This is also the reason why he dared to send troops even if the broken place of Ziwu Valley could retreat.

As a brave general who followed Zhuang Zong Li Cunxu in the city of Dingzhou and defeated the Khitan people in the past, he has sufficient understanding of the increase in the Khitan people's force over the years.

In his eyes, after the decline of the Daibei Jingqi, the cavalry in the world will be respected by the Khitan people, and the Yong army will basically be unable to please the Khitan iron cavalry.

Um!This judgment was actually very accurate, but unfortunately, he met Zhang Zhao.

If there were no Yongliang iron cavalry born in this time and space, the Khitan cavalry would indeed be regarded as the first echelon cavalry in the sky.

It was also based on this judgment that Zhang Qianzhao went straight to Chang'an full of confidence.

Then the forward 9000 people were directly outside the Xiangji Temple, and were attacked by Liu Zaisheng's [-] cavalry, and were almost wiped out by the entire army.

If the 3000 people from the rear army hadn't arrived and shot Liu Zaisheng back, he would have almost slipped.

Now facing Ziwu Valley, which cannot be returned, Zhang Qianzhao can only let the Shu army go along Ziwu Valley to Fengxiang Mansion to build a fort, and communicate with Fengxiang Mansion to defend itself, while waiting for the result of the Central Plains War.

If the Liao Kingdom wins, then Zhang Qianzhao is ready to directly buy Liu Zaisheng.

In Zhang Qianzhao's view, it might be difficult to buy Cao Yuanzhong, the father-in-law of King Yong, who stayed behind in Chang'an, but generals like Liu Zaisheng, according to the virtues of soldiers and generals at this time, are not difficult to buy.

For this reason, he has already invited Meng Chang's edict, to inspect the Taibao, the military envoy of Jinchang, stay in Chang'an, make Qin Guogong, grant three thousand acres of fertile land in central Shu, five thousand pieces of brocade, and five beautiful palace officials. At the price of fame, he recruited Liu Zaisheng.

If Khitan is defeated, uh!What are you waiting for?
Zhang Qianzhao was ready. If Yongguo was the victor in the battle between Yong and Liao, he would immediately lead his army to Fengxiang Mansion to break through, and then walk Xiegushui (Baoxie Road) back to Shuzhong with Sun Hanshao who occupied Fengxiang Mansion.

After all, in order to defraud Meng Chang of 300,000 shi of grain, Zhang Zhao acquiesced in the widening and dredging of the commendation ramp by the Kingdom of Shu, and Zhang Qianzhao just used it to escape.

It's just that Zhang Qianzhao didn't expect that the news of the victory of the battle between Yong and Liao and the news that Zhang Zhao was enthroned as the emperor of Zhou and was about to proclaim himself emperor would reach Chang'an long ago, but Cao Yuanzhong, who stayed behind in Chang'an, blocked the news.

Zhang Tianzi's good father-in-law is not very capable, but that is relatively speaking.

As a person in history who was able to paper for 30 years without any major problems under the circumstances of the Guiyi Army, how could he be a mediocre person?

Cao Yuanzhong figured out exactly what news Zhang Qianzhao was waiting for, so he simply blocked the news and dragged the Shu army near Ziwu Valley.

What he was waiting for was the 5000 people reinforcements led by Feng Hui, the escort of Chong Luan.

At this time, Shu State was standing behind Zhou State, its strength was not considered weak, and its mobilization ability was still strong.

If you don't hurt them, how can Zhang Zhao feel at ease when he fights against Khitan, Liu Zhiyuan and Wu Tang in the future?

So what Cao Yuanzhong asked was to severely attack the Shu army. This was also Zhang Zhao's request. He didn't want to occupy an inch of Shu, but he must scare Meng Chang.

Because Zhang Zhao knew that Meng Chang was a second-generation power with weak endurance. As long as his confidence was lost, he would quickly indulge in sex and drink, and wander around the harem as a brothel in Jinguan City.

At that time, Zhang Zhao can deal with other truly powerful enemies with peace of mind.

. . . .

At the end of December, Zhang Zhao's family set out from Liangzhou, escorted by an army of [-] led by Feng Hui, arrived in the area of ​​Qian County north of Chang'an.

Among the 5000 people brought by Feng Hui this time, more than 10,000 people were recruited righteous warriors from various ethnic groups and a small number of united archers.

Among the remaining several thousand people, there are 200 people who hold the silver gun in Feng Hui's hands, and 1000 people who originally guarded Liangzhou Yongxun Palace and Yongshou Palace.

Of these 200 people, [-]% of them are elites in armor.

As soon as they arrived, the strength of Cao Yuanzhong's men immediately became richer, from more than 4000 people to [-] people, and there were more than [-] elite soldiers, which was enough to deal with the Shu army.

At this time, the Shu army was still building a fort one or two miles along the Ziwu Valley, using this stupid method to ensure that the movement of the army would not be hindered.

In addition, Zhang Qianzhao also released the two thousand cavalry he had carefully trained to cover them to a certain extent.

And Sun Hanshao of Fengxiang Mansion also led troops to move to the area of ​​Mei County to meet Zhang Qianzhao.

If it is said that the Qin army can withstand hardships, then the greatest advantage of the Shu army is that they can endure hardships, and they are very outstanding.

Their marching and camping conditions were placed on Zhang Zhao's side, and the army and horses under his command probably couldn't support it long ago, and would rather go out to fight to the death.

But the Shu army can not only sustain it, but they can also continue to build the fortress, and they work like an emotionless machine.

. . . .

As soon as Feng Hui arrived, Cao Yuanzhong handed over the general power to Feng Hui and Liu Zaisheng.

That's how he is, unless Zhang Zhao clearly asks him to lead the army, otherwise the military power will never touch his hands as long as he can.

Because he doesn't need to touch his hands, the Cao family is doing nothing now, and he is also the top nobleman of the Great Zhou.

You must know that among the four most favored women in Zhang Zhao's harem, three are from the Cao family's surname.

What Cao Yuanzhong is considering now is not how to increase power, but how to reduce power?

Otherwise, the Cao family will be in danger if they cultivate a junior who is not clear-minded in the future.
At the end of December, Governor Feng Hui found the Shu Army still working on civil engineering between Niushou Mountain and Heihe River in Huxian County, southwest of Chang'an.

Feng Hui first ordered people to release false news, saying that the Khitan had won the Yong Kingdom and trapped the Yong King Zhang Zhao in Shanzhou.

However, Zhang Qianzhao, who had fought with Li Keyong, was an elite crow army, how could he be so easy to fool!

It was difficult to receive any news in the past few months, but now there is such clear and beneficial news on a large scale, what does this explain?
It shows that this must be fake news!
Zhang Qianzhao was frightened out of his wits, almost certain that the Khitan must have lost the battle between Yong and Liao.

He didn't dare to take the initiative to attack, but instead placed the blocking division on Niu Shou Mountain, then led the main force to cross the Heihe River to the west, and sent a messenger to tell Sun Hanshao to guard Mei County closely and not come rashly.

Seeing that Zhang Qianzhao was not fooled, Feng Hui and Liu Zaisheng split up and marched forward.

Liu Zaisheng led [-] hussars around Niu Shou Mountain to entangle Zhang Qianzhao's main force who had already crossed the Heihe River.

He personally supervised and led 5000 people on foot to besiege the [-] Shu army on Niu Shou Mountain.

However, Feng Hui, who had just returned to the Central Plains and was eager to make contributions because he did not participate in the Yongliao-Luoyang battle, immediately hit a snag.

These [-] Shu troops belonged to the Zhaowu army of Meng Shu, the elite of the Shu army, and Gao Yanchou, the envoy of the Meng Shu Zhaowu horse infantry who led them, was not bad.

On Niu Shou Mountain, the Shu army cut wood to reject horses, inserted bamboo rafts to form wooden fences, and condescendingly greeted the Zhou army with bows, crossbows and stones.

The Zhou army was wearing heavy armor, and it was difficult to attack from the back, while the Shu army itself was good at mountain warfare, flying across the mountains like flying, attacking the Zhou army from all directions.

Feng Hui failed in three consecutive battles, so he knew that his calculation was wrong.

He stopped entanglement, and immediately ordered Lieutenant General Wu Jixing to lead [-] cavalry to guard the Shu army at Niushou Mountain, and then lead the main force to join Liu Zaisheng.

Three days later, Feng Hui led 10,000 people on foot to catch up with the Shu army who wanted to retreat to Fengxiang Mansion in the northeast of Yulu County, on the west bank of the Heihe River.

Although Yulu County has many mountains and few plains, Liu Zaisheng blocked Zhang Qianzhao's way to enter Qinlingliang in the south ahead of time, forcing Zhang Qianzhao to take the risk of going to Fengxiang Mansion through the Weihe Plain in the north, only to be caught up by Feng Hui.

Feng Hui and Liu Zaisheng came from the north and the south, and Zhang Qianzhao could only let the Shu army, which was mostly infantry, line up on the plain to deal with the cavalry attack.

When it came to fighting on the plains where he was good at, Zhou Jun immediately showed his due level.

Feng Hui tried to attack first, but the Shu army's formation was well-organized, with many bows and crossbows, showing no flaws.

Feng Hui immediately ordered Jingqi to form Youyiqi, with dozens of cavalry as a combat unit, to cut off the road for the Shu army to get water, and constantly harass and intimidate the Shu army in formation to prevent them from resting.

Zhang Qianzhao also wanted the soldiers to take turns to rest, but whenever the Shu army wanted to take turns, Feng Hui ordered the heavy infantry led by Yinqiang Xiaojie to form a series of formations, and Zhang Qianzhao was forced to let the soldiers go again. in armor.

After repeating this several times, the entire Shu army was extremely exhausted.

This kind of feeling that whether to fight or not to fight is completely in the hands of others will not only cause a great consumption of physical strength, but also consume a lot of energy.

On the second day, the Shu army couldn't hold it anymore, and as an infantry army, they even took the initiative to ask for a fight.

Feng Hui squinted his eyes and said to Liu Zaisheng who came with a smile like an old hunter.

"Ambassador Sir, the Shu army is still able to form an array, and there are still rules for advancing and retreating. They cannot fight. I will wait for them."

Of course, Liu Zaisheng also knew the weakness of the almost all-infantry Shu army. He raised his finger and pointed in the direction of the banner of Zhang Qianzhao's Chinese army.

"It is true as Feng Gong said, the Shu army is strong, and they still have to endure it. The only thing to worry about is Zhang Qianzhao's two thousand cavalry.

Although it can't compare with my big Zhou iron cavalry, we still have to prevent them from covering up the army, or even killing them suddenly. "

Feng Hui laughed loudly, and said to Liu Zaisheng: "The ambassador is using himself to judge others. Two thousand cavalry are nothing in my Zhou Dynasty, and they are often used to do dirty and tiring work.

But in Mengshu, the cavalry were masters, and it was almost impossible for them to cover the infantry.

Moreover, people like Zhang Qianzhao, who are well aware of the dangers on the army formation, are probably already planning how to escape.

These two thousand cavalry are the capital of his life, and they will not be used at this time. "

Liu Zaisheng was stunned for a while. In his heart, he never thought about the fact that the coach would keep the elite cavalry for running.

He shook his head somewhat at a loss for what to say, and led the army to avoid the battle according to Feng Hui's order.

Among the Shu army, Zhang Qianzhao knew that trouble was serious when he saw the Zhou army began to retreat.

He met an experienced battlefield veteran who was simply waiting for his army to fail.

Sure enough, on the third day, [-] Shu troops stood in armor and held spears for three days in the wilderness. They were tired and thirsty, and their physical and psychological burdens had basically reached their limit. The array of requirements has moved on.

Feng Hui immediately notified Liu Zaisheng to attack, and the Zhou army launched a fierce attack on the Shu army from the north and the south.

The silver guns are waiting for heavy steps to come from the front, and the cavalry penetrates the two wings.

Feng Hui's son, Feng Jiye, took the lead and led three hundred soldiers into the formation of the Shu army.

The bamboo crossbows of the Shu army could not penetrate the armor and cotton armor of the Zhou army, and a small amount of Fuyuan crossbows could not cause a lot of damage.

It took less than an hour for the two sides to fight, and the more than [-] Shu troops were directly defeated by the Zhou army, which was only half of them.

As Feng Hui expected, Zhang Qianzhao did not lead the cavalry to counterattack or cover the infantry. Instead, he led the cavalry to break through and escape before the infantry collapsed.

Of course Liu Zaisheng would not let him run away, he and Feng Jiye, the son of Feng Hui, gathered [-] cavalry and chased after him.

Zhang Qianzhao ran away with his head covered, and when he reached Wuzhangyuan in Mei County, there were only more than [-] riders left.

But at this time, Sun Hanshao, who came to the rescue from Fengxiang Mansion with an army, also led [-] elites to arrive.

Sun Hanshao was also born in Daibei Wuxun, and his father Li Cunjin was one of Li Keyong's Thirteen Taibao in the past.

It was not until the death of Zhuangzong Li Cunxu that he changed back to his original surname under the hint of Mingzong Li Siyuan.

Sun Hanshao grew up in the army since he was a child. He has been in the army for decades. When he entered Mengshu, he controlled the imperial army and when he left, he controlled the vassal town. His [-] Shu army was actually the imperial guards dispatched by Meng Chang.

After the ten thousand Shu army entered Fengxiang mansion, their orders were strict, and Qiu Wu committed no crimes. It was a rare army that could be called benevolent and righteous at this time.

Liu Zaisheng looked from afar, Wuzhangyuan was flying banners, golden drums were bursting, the Shu army advanced and retreated at a certain pace, and they were still marching with their backs against the mountain plateau, so he knew that they would not be able to move.

Moreover, they were chasing wildly for eighty or ninety miles, and they were already exhausted, and they might suffer losses if they forced an attack, so they simply rested and waited for Feng Hui's reinforcements.

Sun Hanshao also saw that the Zhou army's iron cavalry had many tall horses, and the iron armor was chilling, so he didn't dare to lead the army forward rashly.

After the confrontation between the two sides for half a day, the Shu army retreated from Wuzhangyuan to Baoxie Road by night and returned to Shuzhong.

Seeing the retreat of the Shu army, Liu Zaisheng left [-] cavalry to guard Baoxie Road to prevent the Shu army from leaving and returning. Then he and Feng Jiye led the army to recover the prefectures and counties of Fengxiang Mansion, and cleared the remnants of the Shu army scattered in Fengxiang Mansion before retreating in time.

After the completion, Liu Zaisheng guarded Fengxiang Mansion and ordered Feng Jiye to lead [-] riders to Qinzhou in the northwest to support Yin Yaozi.

Yin Yaozi himself is the most famous general in Zhou Dynasty.

Since Zhang Zhao went west to Khotan, Yin Yaozi has always been responsible for guarding one side.

And Qinzhou has been governed by Yan Jin for more than six years, and its management is airtight.

Before the [-] An Siqian governor of Mengshu arrived in Qinzhou, Liu Zaisheng had already reduced his troops and the people had already moved.

An Siqian ran into walls everywhere, and besieged Qinzhou city intermittently for two months, but he found nothing. He couldn't hold on any longer.

Therefore, as soon as Feng Jiye's [-] cavalry arrived, An Siqian thought that Zhou's army was too large, so he panicked and began to retreat.

As a result, the kite had been suffocating in the city for several months, and immediately the cavalry from Xiongwu Town attacked. Under the attack of both sides, the soldiers' quality and general ability were not as good as Sun Hanshao's An Siqian's troops. Only more than a thousand people fled back to the Kingdom of Shu by crossing the mountains and ridges, and even An Siqian himself was captured alive by Feng Jiye.

At the same time that An Siqian's entire army was annihilated, Feng Hui's campaign of suppression was basically over.

The [-] elite Shu army led by Zhang Qianzhao was defeated by more than [-] soldiers and captured tens of thousands. Except for the few hundred cavalry who escaped with Zhang Qianzhao, almost the entire army was wiped out.

The next day, Feng Hui sent people holding Zhang Qianzhao's banner and the Yamen flag to the foot of Niu Shou Mountain to recruit the Shu army on the mountain.

Gao Yanchou, the envoy of the Zhaowu Army's Mabujun, wanted to commit suicide, but was persuaded by the left and right. After Feng Hui promised not to kill a single person, six thousand Shu troops went down the mountain and surrendered.

Since then, Meng Chang ordered the three armies to attack Guanzhong, dispatching a total of more than [-] troops. Except for Sun Hanshao who captured Fengxiang Mansion and retreated completely, the other two armies were basically wiped out, losing more than [-] troops. Almost lost.

After Meng Chang of Jinguan City heard the news, it was like being poured from head to toe by a basin of cold water in winter.

While recruiting troops in the entire Shu Kingdom, he transferred all the troops in eastern Sichuan to Hanzhong and Lizhou (Guangyuan). Any ambitions disappeared in an instant.

(End of this chapter)