Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 268 262. Seeing Through
"Fire arrows!"

Under the cover of Zhang Nan's navy, Feng Xi's infantry soldiers disembarked in an orderly manner and crowded together on the narrow land. However, the Han army was well-trained and quickly formed a battle formation under the orders of officers at all levels.

Although the Wu army was suppressed by the giant crossbows and powerful bows of Zhang Nan's navy, there were still many archers who could shoot at the Han army below at will.

However, this wave of Han troops were mostly standard sword and shield soldiers, wearing leather armor and chain mail. The damage caused by bows and arrows was not too much. Even if some unlucky guys were shot, it was not a fatal injury and they were quickly dragged back to the ship for treatment.

The Han army clearly did not bring any siege equipment such as ladders, but under Feng Xi's command, they pretended to charge straight at the city gate. As the Han army phalanx approached step by step, Feng Xi stood on the boat and watched the movements of the Wu army soldiers on the city wall with his monocular telescope.

As Feng Xi had expected, many of the Wu soldiers on the city wall, who were obviously new recruits, showed obvious panic on their faces as the Han army approached step by step. The way they held the bows and arrows became deformed, and they often didn't know who they were shooting at after each arrow.

"I see... give the order."

Feng Xi smiled and gave orders to the flag bearer beside him.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The flag bearer immediately waved the flag in his hand a few times, and the Han army in front saw it and immediately burst into loud shouts of killing.

Feng Xi saw through the telescope that some of the Wu army who were obviously new recruits were frightened and turned pale. Some even started throwing battering rams and rocks directly at the Han army. Of course, the Han army was not even close to the city wall at this moment, only within an arrow's range. These attacks were obviously more of a self-consolation.

"Return the shot!"

At Feng Xi's command, the Han army archers who disembarked from the boat at the rear drew their bows and shot arrows, and some of them even got the Shenbi crossbow.

After the unification of Jingzhou, the Shenwu Camp and Shenji Camp under Feng Xi were naturally upgraded to better equipment, just like the direct central army of a certain bald man in the future, with all the good equipment given to them first.

Then, when production capacity is sufficient, things like the crossbow and improved armor will be gradually promoted to other troops.

Of course, what Feng Xi brought at this time was not his Shenwu Camp, but just ordinary Jingzhou troops.

“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…Ah!”

The Han army's shooting was naturally accurate and fierce. Feng Xi had been in the army before, and knew that for shooting, training was important, and a good shooter was made by feeding.

Although talent is important, a lot of training can also make a qualified shooter. In addition, it is not bullets at this time, but arrows. Arrows are not only recyclable, but also have a low wear rate, so it doesn't matter if they are used for training.

After nearly a year of training, the Han army's archers had become extremely accurate. The previous volley of arrows from the Eastern Wu only injured a dozen Han soldiers, but now nearly a hundred people fell on the city wall with just one round of shooting.

"Ahhhh!"

Some of the Wu army's new recruits were almost on the verge of collapse due to this atmosphere of pressure and death threats. They stood up and shot arrows aimlessly at the Han army below with their bows and arrows. Without causing any harm, they were hit in the head and chest by two feather arrows and fell straight down from the city.

Seeing this, the officers of the Wu army could only quickly appease these new recruits. The time that the Eastern Wu had summoned them was too short, and most of them had just learned the basic combat and military skills, and had never even seen blood, but they were directly pulled to the front line of the battle with the Han army. This situation was normal.

"Deng deng deng"

Three blasts of horns were heard from the Han army's ships. The Han soldiers immediately gave up the confrontation and returned to the ships in an orderly manner like the receding tide. This made everyone in the Eastern Wu army breathe a sigh of relief.

Even some of the Wu army recruits on the wall cried and muttered something, as if they were glad that they had beaten back the Han army and survived. "Hey, you new recruits, you know nothing. This is not called beating back the Han army. They are obviously here to test us."

However, an old veteran had already poured cold water on them. What kind of battle was this? They were so weak that the Han army had only suffered single-digit casualties in this wave of probing. Most of them were just shot and wounded. However, Feng Xi had already made a rough estimate of the combat capability of the Wu army in the city.

At night, the Han army left early and Chaisang returned to peace. Many soldiers ate their dinner in silence. It was too shocking for them to fight a battle of this scale for the first time.

However, what they didn't know was that this scale was indeed just an appetizer. Neither the Han army nor the Wu army had taken any serious action today.

In the Han army's Lu camp, in Feng Xi's tent, Feng Xi hung his large map on the board behind him. Nowadays, printing technology has matured, and it is easy to make countless copies of these maps, but most generals seem to only keep them and look at them occasionally when they remember to.

"Xiu Yuan, did you see anything?"

Zhang Nan sat on the folding chair at the bottom and asked Feng Xi.

"First, tell me about the situation at Pengli Lake."

Feng Xi waved his hand, signaling him not to be anxious.

"The scout ships reported that the Wu army had used at least three iron chains across the river and buried a lot of hidden stakes. Small boats can pass these hidden stakes, but large ships with deep draft will definitely run aground."

Zhang Nan thought about it and reported to Feng Xi exactly what the scout had seen.

"The iron chain is easy to deal with. I don't think Dongwu would dare to send people to guard the north bank. We can destroy it by sending a team of soldiers in the next few days. But these hidden stakes..."

Feng Xi pondered for a moment, and then a trace of doubt flashed through his mind. He knew that Dongwu only had the ability to place iron chains on the north bank of the Yangtze River, but not the ability to guard it, so why did they go to so much trouble to put these iron chains across the river?

If the chains are just a trick, their real purpose is nothing more than two. The first is to delay their own time to achieve a certain purpose.

The second is to make yourself think that you have succeeded, and do something while you are eliminating the hidden assassins.

Let's not talk about the first one. If it's the second one, Feng Xi has some clues. What is the Eastern Wu best at? Besides sneak attacks, it's fire attacks.

It is summer now, and the southeast monsoon prevails over land and sea. At this moment, I am coming from the northwest relative to Chaisang. If the Eastern Wu wants to imitate the Battle of Chibi and take advantage of the fact that my attack is blocked by hidden stakes in the Yangtze River and use shallow-draft fireboats to launch a surprise attack on me, it will probably cause some trouble.

Having thought of it, Feng Xi immediately told Zhao Lei and Zhang Nan about this possibility on the spot and asked them to pay attention to it.

"Alas, how come Wu Jun only has these three tricks?"

Zhang Nan sighed, feeling somewhat unsatisfied. In his opinion, the straightforward battle in Dongting Lake was more exciting. This kind of monotonous fire attack was a bit boring to him.

"Don't slack off. Fire attack is simple, but it is effective. Fire and water are merciless. Now our army can be said to have completely suppressed the Wu army. Under such circumstances, it is reasonable for the Wu army to rely on a clever strategy to turn the tables."

Although Feng Xi knew that Zhang Nan looked nonchalant but was actually well prepared, he still said a few more words just in case, asking him not to take it lightly.

(End of this chapter)