warring states careerist

Chapter 858 Retreat Without Fighting
Two days later, perhaps the heaviest field bombardment since the advent of gunpowder began.

The forts built by the Wei army soon had gaps one after another, and the forts built with ordinary mud could not resist the bombardment of those copper cannons at all.

As for ideas such as digging trenches to avoid, the general of the Wei army is not so stupid. With the poor number of projectile weapons of the peasants and soldiers of the Wei army, there is no difference between digging camps and infantry raising their hands to surrender.

The bronze cannon deployed at the riverbed exposed during the dry season on the other side of the Jishui River was fired at an extremely slow speed.

Time is not urgent, so the artillery will follow the code of practice and wait until the hot copper cannon cools down before reloading, instead of firing rapidly like in the field.

The engineers and soldiers slowly built the pontoon bridge by using various kinds of wood transported by the peasants from the rear, trees from the upper reaches, and the boats recruited from Jishui.

The only few copper cannons of the Wei army on the opposite side could not hit the water at all. Most of them were melee firearms similar to Huzun cannons, hemp rope cannons, and leather cannons.

The small number of musketeers and archers can't form an formation at all. Once they form an formation, they will be violently attacked by Mohist artillery, so they can only disperse and shoot freely, with no hit rate at all.

The engineers and officers are proficient in carpentry skills, and there are many carpenters among them, which can be regarded as the old skill of the Mohists in technology.

After gradually becoming regularized over the years, engineers are not only able to dig holes, but also have gradually matured in techniques such as building fortifications and bridge repairs.

In the smoke of gunpowder, like the slow artillerymen, they repaired the pontoon bridge at a normal speed.

It's just that the normal speed in their eyes has become a state of full strength in Wei Jun's eyes.

Wei Jun knew that he was invincible in field battles, so he wanted to attack him halfway, but according to the current posture, the idea of ​​attacking halfway was very unrealistic.

The pontoon bridge was extended little by little, and Liuzhi also ordered the troops to prepare for the crossing.

After confirming the information again and again, Liuzhi waited until the pontoon bridge was almost repaired, and ordered the troops to separate and move along the river in a fair manner.

The infantry of the two divisions, most of the cavalry, and those field artillery units, after finishing their formation, marched eastward along Jishui in a marching column.

There is no covering, and no covering up of any kind.

After the division of troops, the number of Sishang Rebels here is enough to crush the Wei army on the other side. The tactic of attacking the west from the east is so upright, which has never been seen before.

In the Wei army camp, the chief general of the Wei army, Dr. Cheng Yang, held a delicate telescope made of copper and looked at the volunteer troops marching across the Jishui River, the corner of his mouth twitched.

After thinking for a while, he ordered: "Order the whole army to prepare to retreat and retreat into Chengyang."

The counselor under him immediately said: "General, our army is not as good as the Mohists in field battles. The battle of Dangshan proved that the Mohists can easily break through the city. Only those who attack halfway can win. Why withdraw the army?"

Doctor Cheng Yang shook his head and said distressedly: "If it wasn't for the punishment for surrendering to the emperor without a fight, I have already ordered the surrender. There is no need to fight this battle."

"Hit it halfway? Why do we hit it halfway?"

His son in military uniform was in his prime when he heard the words, "Father, retreating without a fight would be ridiculed. If Chengpu was fine as before, but my father feared the enemy like a tiger, this..."

Before he finished speaking, Doctor Cheng Yang slapped his son on the face, and angrily said, "What do you know?"

"Let me ask you, now that the troops on the opposite side have been divided, what are you going to do?"

The young man covered his burning face, gritted his teeth and said, "Even if he divides his troops, he must choose a place that is convenient for crossing the river. It is better to divide his troops to intercept and deploy defenses along the river."

Doctor Cheng Yang laughed loudly and said, "This is what you think? Look at the speed of the marching on the other side. They are calm and orderly. Even if they are marching under our noses, can our army catch up?"

"If you can't catch up, why should you attack halfway, and why should you block the opponent?"

"If you don't chase after them, when those people cross the river and surround them, our army will also be defeated."

"Chasing, not to mention whether we can catch up, how can we stop him from crossing the river here?"

"Since defeat is inevitable, what can we do if we don't retreat?"

The young man said: "You can retreat into Chengyang, isn't it also irresistible? Since they are all irresistible, why not fight with them here?"

Doctor Cheng Yang yelled angrily: "Stupid! In this decisive battle, all the elite private soldiers in the family will be lost. The Mohists were invincible when they had less than 5 people in the past. How can they fight now with [-] or [-] people?"

"If you don't retreat into Chengyang, you can surrender when the city walls are broken. The Mohists don't kill prisoners, but they also talk about universal love. I haven't done any bad deeds in these years, and I've heard from them that they haven't burned bridges, so naturally nothing happened."

Farmers and soldiers are the mainstay, and there is no reform, but it is still a feudal conscript. The military system must be dominated by a small number of elites.

Just like in the previous era of chariot and chariot battles, the outcome of the war was determined by elite soldiers, and the role of apprentices was to replenish the number and maintain the front line.

Now the well field system has basically been destroyed, the great nobles have more and more lands, and the military system combined with the original patriarchal clan system has also begun to collapse.

Although there are quite a few real full-timers, they are simply unable to support increasingly large-scale wars. In the past, the era when dozens of chariots participated in the battle could determine the outcome.

The appearance of stirrups also improved the combat effectiveness of cavalry.

At this time, some nobles began to raise soldiers. During the war, they relied on raising soldiers, slaves, and elite private soldiers as the main force.

These raised soldiers, private soldiers, and slaves often serve as cavalry, becoming the most important card in the hands of nobles who want to win, and also the cornerstone of noble power.

Even if the fief is gone, as long as the servants, slaves, and private soldiers are still there, changing a fief can quickly organize an army that can fight for power and profit.

But if these slaves are gone, the whole family will soon decline.

Normally, in a doctor's fiefdom, only [-] chariots and accompanying soldiers need to be provided in times of war.

On the basis that the well field system has not been destroyed, scholars have fiefdoms. They train off-duty and fulfill their feudal obligations when necessary.

But now the scale of the war has expanded. With the appearance of ironware, the development of industry and commerce in Sishang, and the promotion of new crops and planting techniques, the only remnants of the patriarchal clan system in Chengyang's generation have been destroyed on an economic basis.

Grain prices are getting lower and lower, industry and commerce are getting more developed, and the scholar class is getting worse and worse, even going bankrupt, and it is difficult to maintain the original life.

Even if there is still a little land, with the impact of various handicrafts and the helplessness of low food prices, the land that is divided is not enough to keep them completely out of production.

The great nobles continued to annex the land, and the lowest-level scholars continued to decline. The number of self-cultivating farmers was not large, and a large number of apprentices were farmers who were bound to the land in the fief. Apart from maintaining combat effectiveness, the nobles have no other way to maintain a field force.

However, Dr. Cheng Yang knows very well that such an army with slaves and private soldiers as the main force can fight civil wars between nobles for land and power. Suicide.

Sishang is a standing army under the service system, and regular military training is not comparable to the three-year military training of farmers and soldiers in winter.

In the past, the level of productivity was insufficient. Whether it was Qin Chu or Yan Jin, everyone was almost the same. They were all the same military system, and there was no big difference, but now it is different.

Who can change the law first, who can produce more land-granting farmers, who can raise a standing army, whose agricultural production can support the logistics of the standing army, whose political system will first transition from the feudal patriarchal system to a centralized bureaucracy... who can win.

Sishang is one step ahead, because Sishang is a bottom-up violent change, with a literate population and a reserve army of officials under the new system who have nothing to do with the nobility.The more powerful the nobles of other countries are, the more difficult it is to reform, because it is to revolutionize the lives of the nobles.

Dr. Cheng Yang didn't know about these things on a country's strategic level, but he was very clear about his own interests, and he knew that he couldn't win this battle.

It is the most beneficial choice for him to retreat directly and wait for the city wall to be broken before surrendering.

The Mo family doesn't like killing people, and he obediently didn't burn bridges, so he's not a war criminal.

If you retreat without a fight and surrender directly, you will not be able to explain to the monarch in the future.

In the field battle, it is very likely that the elite private soldiers and slaves have lost too much.

Then it's better to retreat to Chengyang, when the time comes, it's not because he doesn't defend himself, but because the city wall is broken and he can't defend it anymore, and the king will not punish him if he wants to.

No one can win this battle.

Doctor Cheng Yang thought to himself, even if Wu Qi did not go far to the Western Qin Dynasty, he would not be able to win with this strength.

After all, when Wu Qi was in the State of Lu, the gap in military strength between Qi and Lu was not as big as the gap between Chengyang and Sishang now, and it was still tied by Sheng Chuo, let alone now?

He is not worried about anything else now, but he is worried that the Mo family will not leave here, and if his land is divided and sent back to Wei State, it will be very bad.

He also raised a lot of taxis, but he was too clear about the virtues of these down-and-out scholars.When there are fiefdoms, money and power, they will naturally stick to them to make a living; when they have no money or power, these scholars will leave. Not many people will feel embarrassed, and at most there will be only a few who have "loyalty" in their hearts. scholar.

When the fief is gone, it will be over.

If the Mo family occupied Chengyang and did not leave, even if he was sent back, where would the monarch find a fief for him?
After the restoration of the Zhongshan Kingdom, some nobles of the Wei State held empty titles but had no actual fiefdoms. The Zhongshan Lord Gong Zizhi of the Wei State still has the title of Zhongshan Lord, but doesn’t he even have fiefdoms?
Now that all countries are centralizing power, where will there be extra fiefdoms for him?

However, Dr. Cheng Yang thought about the Mohist withdrawal from Southwest Qi, he comforted himself and said: "The Mohist is only claiming to punish the unjust war of the emperor, and they will be aligned as they were back then, and they will withdraw after the punishment."

But after thinking about it, the Mo family had indeed withdrawn their troops in Qixinan, but in a short period of time, they carried out a land reform such as clearing fields in Qixinan.

Thinking of this made me feel cold again, if I did that, I would still have nowhere to go.

If he fights, he will lose, if he doesn't fight, he will be punished by the king and the land will be confiscated under the pretext, and if the city is destroyed and surrendered to the Mo family, the land may be divided. This really drove him to a dead end.

For the nobles of all countries, not only the nobles of Zheng State feel that "the enemy is in the Xiaoqiang", but most of the nobles also feel that "the enemy is in the Xiaoqiang". Not necessarily which one is better.

(End of this chapter)