Shuhan

Chapter 541: Stars rush to Sichuan, Sima is the commander!
To the west of Guanzhong, the fight between the Han army and the Wei army can be said to be lively.

But in Kanto, the originally calm situation has become turbulent again.

Outside the Fenglingdu camp, Wei Yan looked at the main force of the Wei army from a high platform. On the flag of the Wei army, the word "Sima" was clearly written on it.

"The leader of the army this time is actually Sima Zhongda."

At his side, Lieutenant General Wei Yan stepped forward and said: "The Wei army has not yet established a firm foothold, but we must send troops to attack it so that it cannot easily build a stronghold."

Wei Yan shook his head and said: "I know Sima Zhongda a little bit. The main thing when marching is stability. Since the commander has arrived this time, there is no way he will be unprepared. Now he is sending troops to cover up the attack, and he also has a way to deal with it. If we are ambushed, it will be bad."

The number of Han troops in the Fenglingdu camp was not large.

There were only five thousand men and five hundred cavalry. These five hundred cavalry were what Wei Yan asked Liu Chan for when Liu Chan returned to Chang'an.

Five thousand five hundred people, a big defeat, I am afraid that more than half of the troops will be lost.

By then, it would become a question whether we could defend Fengling City.

Moreover, even if you defeat Fengling City, the losses will be huge.

Wei Yan was a little worried that Zhao Yun would lead his troops to attack the Wei camp.

At this time, the defenders standing on the wall of the urn can shoot arrows, throw rocks, set fire and pour boiling water, etc., to drive back the enemy soldiers.

The city wall is about three feet high and about ten feet thick. It is reinforced with a large number of stones and bricks. Eagle towers, watchtowers, arrow towers and other high towers are also set up on the walls of Fengling City to improve the vision and attack capabilities of the defenders. .

If ten thousand or twenty thousand corpses were not thrown under the city, how could you conquer this city?

Among them, five thousand cavalry are part of the Luoyang Forbidden Army, and they are the best among the best.

In the past six months, the Han Dynasty used a lot of people's power to expand the Fenglingdu camp into a city.

Zhao Zilong?
Wei Yan shook his head and said, "I don't know about that."

"Can General Zhao of Tongguan know how to fight outside the border?"

However, Fenglingdu's location was important, so Zhuge Liang, who was engaged in logistics, gritted his teeth and built an urn city for Fengling City.

no way.

At this time, Sima Yi stepped forward to ask for orders to go into battle. At this time, the contrast was very obvious.

There are too many things going on.

Favor cannot be said to be unfavorable.

Not to mention a military formation of ten thousand people, he dared to break into a military formation of one hundred thousand people.

"I want the Han army to attack. I don't know if they have the courage."

This made Cao Pi very angry.

Under the banner of Wei State, Xia Houshang also had a worried look on his face.

Fenglingdu Camp can now be called Fengling City.

"Just do your own thing well. Why should you care about other things? General Zilong has the power to dominate the world. It is not impossible to go out of the city to fight. We will just hold Fengling City."

"Secure Fengling City and don't give the Han army an opportunity. Your Majesty will attack Cao Zhen personally. The Wei army in Longxi will be vulnerable. We just need to delay for some time."

These three tribes all have a rich history of being mercenaries and can be said to have rich experience.

Now a year has passed, and the Han army has established a firm foothold. If they fight again, will they be able to defeat it?
Recover Guanzhong?

of course
The reason why he was able to lead the army on the expedition was because no one in Luoyang City dared to ask for a battle.

In the situation a year ago, the main force of the Wei army could not defeat Guanzhong. At that time, the Han army had not yet established a foothold in Guanzhong.

I'm afraid I'm just asking for humiliation.

There is a moat in front of the city, and an urn is built behind the moat.

In addition to the civilian men who built the city, the army Sima Yi brought this time was mostly cavalry.

The city wall was not made of rammed earth, but was built by burning bricks sent by the Academy of Sciences. It is extremely strong.

The remaining 15,000 people were mercenaries composed of Wuhuan cavalry, Xianbei cavalry and Xiongnu cavalry.

A total of 20,000 cavalry.

therefore
Wei Yan just wants to be steady now.

Many generals were unwilling to go on an expedition, and some even complained of illness.

In addition, the warehouses in the city can store a huge amount of grain, grass and military supplies. As long as there is no waste of fighting and the defense is fought, it will take ten times the number of soldiers defending the city to defeat Fengling City.

Why?

Zilong is famous for his courage.

"Captain, build a stronghold under the eyes of the Han army. What should we do if the Han army comes to attack?"

This is what a true minister should do!
Cao Pi was grateful for Sima Yi's bravery and his help in sharing the king's worries, so he immediately gave him the official position of commander in chief of the military affairs of Yongliang and Liangzhou and general of the expedition to the west.

In fact, generally speaking, small cities usually use suspension bridge gates or cantilevered gates, and large cities will build an urn city, which is a small city in front of the official city gate, surrounded by high walls and towers. When the enemy attacks the urn city, it will You will encounter a real big city gate.

Although he didn't win any decent battles, with Cao Pi's love, he still reached a high position along the way and was even able to lead an army on an expedition.

When Sima Yi was in Luoyang, he had already been appointed by Cao Pi. At this moment, he was the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of Yongliang and Liangzhou, and the general of the expedition to the west, which can be said to be a high-power position.

As for why they have so much experience as mercenaries, we have to talk about it further.

There is a tradition in the Han Dynasty to use foreign people to fight.

for example
The Qiang rebellion that dragged down the Eastern Han government was largely caused by the Qiang people who migrated inland, most of whom were called "Eastern Qiang" rebels.

Since the Qiang people cannot be appeased, why should they move inland?
One of the important reasons is that the Eastern Han Dynasty government wanted to use the Qiang people's force to serve as soldiers for the empire and help the empire guard its borders.

The tradition of the Han government using foreign armed forces can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty.

During the Warring States Period, all countries had a conscription system, where soldiers and farmers were integrated into one, and all the people were soldiers.

After the establishment of the unified empire of Qin and Han, the war was fought against the foreign princes on the border instead of the local princes, and the conscription system was difficult to adapt to the new form of war.

As for why, there are several main reasons.

The first reason is that the conscription system is difficult to adapt to the battlefield environment.

The new battlefield moved from the hinterland of the empire to the edge of the empire. The soldiers recruited from the Central Plains were difficult to cope with the complex terrain and harsh climate.

The green mountains and green waters of his hometown and the yellow sand of the desert on the border made the soldiers a little afraid before they even started fighting.

The second reason is that it is difficult to adapt tactically.

Soldiers in the Central Plains usually make a living by farming, and in wartime they are mainly infantry. Let them face off against the prairie cavalry who are stronger than mounted archers and come and go like the wind. They are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of military skills.

In addition, the duration of conscription to guard the border was one year.

The empire has a vast territory. The recruited soldiers set out from their hometowns and sometimes have to walk for several months to reach the border. After they have just adapted to the battlefield environment and learned some military skills, they are sent back to farm, and the next wave of new recruits come to suffer and die. The process itself is very unscientific.

The third reason is the difficulty of logistical supply. The border areas are very economically backward and cannot support large-scale wars, so supplies must be transported from the interior.

In addition to the cost of soldiers, due to the long distance, the amount of material losses during transportation is also very huge.

The disadvantages of the conscription system were fully exposed in the war between the Western Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu.

Although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu, he also brought down the national power of the Han Dynasty, and finally had to punish himself under the Luntai.

During the Western Han Dynasty, several sharp-thinking ministers proposed military reforms, and the use of foreign soldiers was one of the reform measures.

Foreign soldiers are familiar with the battlefield environment, understand military technology, and can solve supply problems on the spot. They can basically avoid the three drawbacks of the conscription system.

During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Jia Yi proposed to find ways to make some Huns become subjects of the Han Dynasty, disperse their power, set up a number of vassal states, and place them on the border from Longxi to Liaodong, so that they could help the Han Dynasty resist the Yueshi and other foreign tribes.

Jia Yi optimistically said that if the foreign races were responsible for fighting the war, the Western Han Empire would be able to "people the world's soldiers", allowing the people to live a quiet life in the inner county, study, farm, and enjoy life.

After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the strategy for dealing with foreigners basically adopted Jia Yi's ideas.

For example, after King Hunxie surrendered, his tribe was divided into five vassal states and placed on the border to help guard the Western Han Dynasty.

The premise for using foreign soldiers in the Western Han Dynasty was that their own military strength was very strong. Whether they used foreign soldiers to guard the borders or incorporated them into the central army, they were only used as a supplementary force.

But in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the situation was different.

The military strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty was much weaker than that of the Western Han Dynasty. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu Xiu greatly reduced the central army and county soldiers, and abolished the system of captaincy officers and imperial examinations, which resulted in the negative consequences of "the king's brigade is weak" and "the people are not accustomed to fighting". The troops are unable to fight, and the people have lost their martial spirit.

The Eastern Han Dynasty's own military strength was not good, but the tradition of using foreign soldiers still existed.

In fact, it is precisely because they are unable to fight on their own that they rely on foreign soldiers; and the more they rely on foreign soldiers, the less capable they are on fighting on their own.

It's a vicious circle.

In 185 AD, Bian Zhang and Han Sui rebelled, and the imperial court held an emergency counter-rebellion meeting.

Huangfu Song advocated recruiting 3,000 Wuhuan cavalry. The Northern Army Zhonghou Zou Jing believed that Wuhuan was too weak and Xianbei cavalry should be used.

The ministers debated repeatedly, some supported using Wuhuan and others supported using Xianbei, but no one proposed recruiting more Han soldiers.

It can be seen that in the minds of the court ministers, Han soldiers are not good for fighting, and foreign soldiers are worthy of reuse.

There are more than 80 records of the recruitment of foreign troops in the Eastern Han Dynasty in history books. When the Wuhuan rebelled, they used Xianbei to fight;

The foreign soldiers used in the Eastern Han Dynasty included Xiongnu, Xianbei, Wuhuan, Fuyu, Qiang, Wuling Man, Jiaozhou Man, Baima Di, Kunming Man, etc. As long as they can be used, it doesn't matter who you are!
Of course, border guards cannot do without alien soldiers.

The Southern Xiongnu was attached to the territory, and the Eastern Han Dynasty used them to guard the border; the Qiang was attached to the territory, and was used to guard the border; and the Wuhuan was attached to the territory, and was also used to guard the border.

At that time, some people boasted about the policy of using foreign soldiers in the Eastern Han Dynasty, saying that "there is no need to fight for a man in the country, and there is no need to open up the treasury", "If China is not moved, there is no need to worry about the soldiers." It does not need to disturb the people of the Central Plains, and does not require the government to spend money. What a great idea.

In fact, this is a kind of flattering word. The Eastern Han government still has to spend money. If you don't spend money, who will work for you?

Minister Yuan An recorded that at that time, the Eastern Han Dynasty court had to give 100 million yuan to the Southern Xiongnu and 74.8 million yuan to the countries in the Western Regions every year.

There are also records that Qingxu Prefecture supplies Xianbei with 270 million yuan every year.

This time Wei invited the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Huns to send troops, which also cost a lot of money.

Cao Pi felt ashamed that he had not used them before, but when the war situation reached this point, the elite soldiers of Wei State were almost beaten by Han State.

Now is the time when the survival of the country is at stake. What does my own face count?

As for these 'mercenaries', as long as you are rewarded with enough money and silk, they will do their best to kill the enemy for you.

The cavalry is not satisfied with their pay, but they are invincible if they are fully paid.

What Sima Yi relies on now is these elite cavalry.

But contrary to Sima Yi's expectation, Zhao Yun did not send troops.

Instead, he watched helplessly as Wei Jun's camp was built bit by bit among the ruins.

"Hey~"

Seeing this situation, Sima Yi had a worried look on his face.

"I don't expect the Han army to be so cautious. It may be difficult to capture Tongguan."

There are opportunities in crises, and likewise, there are crises in opportunities.

This time, Emperor Cao Pi of Wei spent a lot of money to make him, a "literary man" with little military merit, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and he was also under great pressure.

If he messed up this job, no matter how much Cao Pi trusted him, there would be no possibility for him to lead troops to fight again in the future.

If it's serious, your future career may end here.

Having tasted the pleasure of leading an army for the first time, Sima Yi naturally didn't want to be in such an embarrassing situation.

Leading troops to fight today is just the beginning. He will have such opportunities in the future, and there will be many.

This time, he must make some achievements!
"We are setting up camp. Wei Yan and Zhao Zilong are difficult to deal with. I wonder who Xiang Chong is in Puban City?"

Pick the soft persimmons for pinching. Tongguan and Pubanjin always have to win one, or kill a large number of Han troops to achieve merit.

Sima Yi was not panicked or anxious.

He knows what his strengths are.

cavalry!

A large number of cavalry.

Cavalry can march and move quickly, far exceeding the speed of infantry.

This allows the cavalry to seize favorable terrain, raid the enemy's rear, cut off the enemy's food routes and reinforcements, or retreat and pursue in time.

The cavalry can flexibly change tactics and formations, and choose the best attack angle and timing based on the enemy's weaknesses and their own strengths.

The cavalry can use high-speed movement and bows and arrows to harass and consume the enemy from a distance, and can also use weight and momentum to charge and break through the enemy at close range.

You can also take advantage of height to observe the enemy's movements and deployment, as well as your own battlefield environment.

The cavalry can also take advantage of height and use lances or swords to conduct condescending attacks on infantry, making it difficult for the infantry to fight back.

Use psychological advantages to cause strong pressure and fear to the enemy.

The momentum and momentum of the cavalry can often deter the enemy's morale and fighting spirit, causing the enemy to be half defeated before a confrontation.

Making good use of the advantages of cavalry was the key to his victory this time.

"Three of you, Zhongda still has to rely on you for this battle. I, Sima Yi, have no strengths, so I can only wave the flag behind you to cheer."

This time he came with his troops, and Cao Pi gave him a very luxurious lineup of generals.

Protecting Xianbei's captain, he led the troops to conquer Liao general Yan Rou, and merged with Sima Tianyu in the state.

All of them are famous names.

Whether this can be successful depends on the three of them.

(End of this chapter)