warring states careerist

Chapter 778 Dangshan Siege Battle ([-])

A few days later, envoys and officials from Wei, Qi, Han, and Chu arrived at the front line escorted by a group of soldiers, and the front line was already busy.

More than 2 second-line soldiers conscripted by Pengcheng are digging parapets and laying roads. A fortress surrounding Dangshan City and outside the range of Dangshan's meager artillery has been half completed.

The observation team composed of envoys was arranged on a dirt hill [-] steps away from the moat of Dangshan City, which was also the front-line command post of this Dangshan battle.

These envoys were sent here semi-forced. Of course, they also wanted to see how Sishang's combat effectiveness was, so that they could make a judgment and influence whether the prince or lord would send troops.

A deputy second envoy of the Wei State looked at the two cloth and patent leather hot air balloons floating in the sky, full of curiosity, and said to a South Korean deputy envoy beside him: "The method of the Mo family's siege looks similar to It was completely different before, but actually it’s the same when you think about it.”

"In the past, we used to pile sheep and watchtowers to observe the situation in the city. Now we just use flying balls instead of watchtowers."

"In the past, people with sharp ears and eyes were needed to stand on a high platform to observe the situation in the city, but now they are just replaced by binoculars."

"In the past, the siege of the city wall used to rush cars, but now copper cannons are used; in the past, ladders were used to climb, but now...they still use ladders, hahahaha."

South Korea's deputy envoy smiled and said: "The words of the man are suitable, comprehend the will of heaven, and change the world. If you think about it carefully, it will not change much. As you said, there used to be kings, but now the merchants of Song Dynasty are also kings without seals. They You can’t change the world, but only the people who benefit from it, in terms of their interests.”

These people spoke freely, and the guards next to them were all internal guards from the Supervision Department. They were silent and serious, and turned a deaf ear to and turned a blind eye to what those people said.

There are binoculars next to these people, and a few people picked them up and looked at the second-line soldiers who were busy digging holes and building camps in the distance, and said with a smile: "The Mo family likes attacking the city the most, and the Mohist is black. Like a group of rats, digging holes everywhere."

Although some ridicule, but this seemingly extremely simple and even somewhat wretched zigzag excavation tactic has proved to be invincible in previous actual combat.

It's just that few countries have learned the essence.

Some things seem easy, but the real essence is not so easy to learn.

…………

In the tent of the staff headquarters in the camp, several military officers are drawing a more accurate defense map of Dangshan City through the situation in the city observed by hot air balloons.

The rest of the people calculated the best deployment ratio based on the attachment of the artillery at the top of the city, the angle of the city wall, the width of the city wall, and the angle of deployment.

A staff officer held a protractor and a compass ruler, stared at the map and calculated for a while, and said to the people around him: "The left side here is a river fork, which is not suitable for digging."

"If you dig a cave here, the distance is not enough. We have to advance to a place two hundred steps away from the city wall to use the hole attack method."

The young staff officer skillfully drew a circle with a compass on the map, and dug a crypt to attack, which is a common method for attacking a city.

It's not the kind of zigzag-shaped ditches that are exposed outside to assemble and approach the city wall, but the method of directly digging tunnels to approach in the "Preparation of Caves".

Tunnels are not dug casually.

Because of Sishang's years of experience in digging pits, mining experience, and previous experience in defending the city, this kind of crypt close to the city wall can only be dug for a maximum of [-] steps without ventilation.

If there is more, there will be insufficient air, and the people in front will be suffocated to death, making it impossible to fight at all.

As for what kind of terrain can be dug without water seepage, and how close you need to get to dig... This is where the rest of the staff on the Sishang side is located.

Everyone knows how to dig holes, and everyone knows that crypts can be used for combat. The problem is how to dig, how far to dig, where to dig, and how to dig.

The Dangshan City on the blueprint in the hands of the young staff officer is like a hedgehog with its thorns exploded, with a total of sixteen protruding corners, that is, sixteen concave surfaces.

The distance between each convex corner is about [-] steps, which happens to be the maximum range of crossbows and muskets. If you attack any concave surface, you will inevitably face projectile blows from both sides.

Because the total side length of a polygon must be greater than the line segment equal to its longitudinal line, and about three times longer than this line segment, so for the attacking side, the number of front-line contacts is always at a disadvantage.

This is the biggest difference from the Sifang City before the Gunpowder Age. Although Mozi had proposed the idea of ​​running walls and horse faces with bows and crossbows before that, it was not perfect.

Dangshan is not the city wall of the era of rammed earth and ladders, but the first formal city defense of the gunpowder era outside of Sishang, and it is also the confidence of the royal family that they can resist the first half of Si and make countries interfere.

A large amount of stone materials in the Dangshan area are used for the construction of the city wall. There are thick masonry slopes on the outside, and a moat with a width of about five steps is surrounded on the outside. Solve it upstream or by drainage.

The methods of siege are ever-changing, just like the deputy envoy of Wei State, they are actually the same things as in the past. Tactic changes for new weapons.

The task of the staff is to formulate various possible means of attack, do the homework on the map, calculate the allocated manpower, fire support, artillery layout, etc., and finally the commanders make a decision and choose the attack method.

Acupoint attack is just one of the methods, and it is different from the previous acupoint attack. Today's acupoint attack is mainly to dig a hole in the foundation to bury gunpowder, so if it is successful, it will be more efficient.

However, this is also the cruelest to the siege side.

As early as 20 years ago, when Mozi was defending the city, he proposed more cruel countermeasures against the means of attacking the crypt.

Including but not limited to watering, using leather sticks to smoke, burning with sulfur to create suffocation, and using poisonous weeds to create poisoning.

By using the changes in the water level of the well and listening to the sound of the pottery urn, it is possible to judge the direction in which the attacker is digging the tunnel. If a targeted counterattack is made, it will deal a great blow to the morale of the attacking party.

Once defeated, most of the people who died in the crypt were horrible: suffocated to death by burning sulfur, holding their own necks to breathe before dying, and scratches all over their faces and necks. This kind of tragedy is great for morale hit.

But even so, all kinds of data about acupoint attack must be prepared by the staff.Staff officers only need to calculate approximately how many people will die and approximately how many people can achieve their intentions, without considering cruelty and morale of the army, which are what the commanders have to consider.

The staff officers of the cave attack are responsible for the planning of the cave attack, and naturally there are others who are responsible for the rest.

And those soldiers were just waiting for the order to be issued.

…………

Outside the camp, a few Mohists were wearing witches' costumes that are very characteristic of Chudi and Sishang, wearing tall white hats, and holding a pure black banner, gradually approaching the city wall.

No shots were fired on the city wall. This pure black flag originated from an opinion put forward by Sishang four years ago after the enactment of the Heze Huimeng War Law: that is, to organize an absolutely neutral team of doctors, regardless of the status of the feudal lords. to heal.

It's just that the princes all refused at that time, because the Mohist's infiltration into various countries was already very serious, so it's okay to create such a "neutral" organization that is legitimately active in various countries?

Although they refused, the Mo family obeyed by themselves, and the nobles in the city knew the meaning of this flag and those weird witch costumes.

Since both sides are fighting for "great righteousness", the new righteousness on the Mohist side is to save the world, and the old righteousness on the other side is that the nobles do not kill envoys in war, so when these Mohists approached the city wall, a rope was let down.

Mo Zhe, who climbed up the city wall by rope, was searched and escorted to the emperor's father Yueling.

The Mohist spoke the standard Shangqiu dialect, and the emperor's father Yueling asked coldly: "You are also from the Song Dynasty, but now you are an enemy of the Song Dynasty, which is ridiculous."

The Mohist was not to be outdone, and said in a cold voice: "The King of Song is still here. According to the old rules, the princes have the country, the officials have the family, and those who regard the family as the country are usurpers. According to the righteousness of the Mohists, the people of Song Dynasty, the people of Qi, the people of Yue, and the people of Chu are all The people of Xia and the nine provinces are all the same, how can there be any difference between Song and Chu?"

The emperor's father, Yueling, was too lazy to argue with the Mohist. He also knew that the Mohist's emissary wanted to speak sharply, and he was afraid that he would say a lot of unnecessary words after arguing, so he asked, "Why did you come?"

The Mohist said: "There are still women, children, old and weak in the city. If there is a war, they will be injured. Therefore, please let them out of the city, in the righteousness of the Mohists."

The emperor's father Yueling laughed and said: "I have heard that when someone wants to kill, he will not torture the victim when he kills, but kills the victim with a single sword. Ask and answer, benevolence can't bear torment. This is fake benevolence and righteousness." gone."

"If the Mohists really have such benevolence and compassion, how can they attack me? If they don't attack me, how can there be any casualties? In the past, Mozi said that it was not an attack. I, again, hypocritically evacuate the women and children, isn't this ridiculous benevolence?"

The Mohist didn't bother to refute these words, and said solemnly: "According to the order of the Juzi and the Mohist Qiwuhai, if you don't comply with this matter, it will be regarded as a war crime, and you will be sentenced to execution for this crime in the future. Please be careful."

The emperor's father Yueling laughed and said: "Look at the corpses hanging outside, why is there no reason to commit a crime? Could it be possible that according to your righteousness, my crime can be avoided by shooting? Tian Wu is nothing more than After slaughtering Wucheng, I will be judged and shot by you, and now I am afraid that I will also bear the responsibility of the people who stubbornly resist and harm the people. If that is the case, why should I be afraid?"

"Let's put it another way. This doesn't convince me."

The ink man said in a deep voice: "With a big battle, once the city wall is breached, even the old and weak in the city can still be repaired. Do you think it can be defended?"

The emperor's father Yueling understood that if the city wall collapsed and needed to be repaired by the old and the weak, it would not be far from breaking the city.

He was also open-minded at this time, shaking his head and said: "I can't."

Mo Zhe said again: "The city needs food. If you don't give them food for the old and the weak, their families will definitely resent you. If you give them food, you may only be able to eat half a year's worth of food for a year. It is in your interest to let go of the women, children, old and weak."

The emperor's father Yueling sneered and said, "The debate skills of the Mo School are indeed different, but I can't trust you. If you do this, it will definitely be beneficial to you. If you only say that it is beneficial to me, it still cannot convince me."

The Mohist said: "Of course it is beneficial to me. Benefits, righteousness, and righteousness are the greatest interests of the Mohists. The people are innocent, and they don't deserve to die. Rescuing them is in line with our righteousness. We have done what is in line with our own righteousness. maximum benefit."

"Didn't you hear that Zihan didn't accept jade? Everyone in the world regards jade as a treasure, so I feel strange why Zihan doesn't want jade? But Zihan believes that honesty is the real treasure, so for his own real treasure, It is the same reason to give up the treasure in the eyes of others.”

"For my Mohists, the people's well-being, prosperity and freedom from the three troubles are the most precious thing we think. Therefore, we endure hardships despite the wind and rain. It is difficult for others to understand, but in fact we are pursuing our own treasures."

"For you, it is your interest to reduce food, stabilize the morale of the army, and defend the city. For us, it is our interest to avoid wars for the old and the weak, and to save the people from war. Everyone takes what they need , this is what I hope can convince you."

(End of this chapter)