warring states careerist

Chapter 902 Blockade
The sun had just risen when the night's rapid march arrived at the sandbar.

With one charge, thousands of Chu people broke up, and the Chu nobles stationed here threw themselves into the water, and many of the broken people surrendered.

The people from the Xuanyi Department gathered those who surrendered, and three people who believed in Mohism jumped out of them immediately, and then preached in Chu language, and the hearts of the people were at peace.

Only the two remaining brigades of the Sixth Division were in charge of guarding, and the rest, together with the combat engineer brigade, began cutting trees and digging soil.

Engineers are good at it, but the Sixth Division, which is famous for being good at defense, is also good at it.

The advent of the age of firearms made camps more effective, and most of Chu people's galleys were small and not equipped with artillery. As long as camps were built on sandbars and rocky rocks protruding from the center of the river, it would be difficult for these fleets to break through.

By evening, the first batch of simple wooden fortresses had taken shape, and several companies sent by the Combat Engineer Brigade began to build forts.

After dinner, the first batch of copper cannons and iron cannons arrived from the south bank of the river. The artillerymen began to deploy the copper cannons on the forts.

The first batch of copper cannons and iron cannons shipped included [-] pieces, and a lot of sacks, all of which were strategic materials.

The leader in charge of transportation saw Yu Tu and said, "You don't have to worry about the defense of Jiangnan, as long as you defend Jiangbei and Jiangxin well. The Chu people have no available soldiers in Jiangnan. the only place to stand."

Yu Tu said: "I have already sent scouts to the west to reconnaissance. There is a large swamp, and it is really difficult to pass through."

The man smiled and said: "Don't worry. So many people were sent to Chu to survey and map the mountains and rivers atlas. I must have visited these important and key points many times, so they can't be wrong."

"Tomorrow the people of Chu will counterattack, and it's up to you here."

Yu Tu nodded in response, looked at the camp that had already taken shape, and thought that he could withstand it.

…………

Chu army camp.

The news that the Mohists sent troops to the south to attack Shazhou made the King of Chu panic, and said in a panic, "You should retreat quickly."

You Sima said: "In the past, when King Zhao was in Yunmeng, he could hide in Yunmeng in order to fight for a long time. At that time, the people of Qin went south to rescue Chu, and the people of Yue took the opportunity to rebel against Wu. , After a long battle, retreat from Wu."

"At this time, when the Mohists entered Chu, no offense was committed in the autumn, and all the foolish people followed. The Yue State was newly defeated, and the navy had no sails left; the Wei people had fought for twenty years, but no elite remained; the Qi people ceded the land of Ju, and were frightened; the Qin people were newly When the West River is broken, the soldiers will suffer. At this time, who can come to save Chu?"

"Besides, if we don't break the enemy on the sandbar, the boat division will be wiped out, and we will retreat into Yingdu, how will we defend?"

All the ministers realized the seriousness of this matter at this time, and they all understood that if the Chu king slipped away at this time, then the Chu army would undoubtedly be defeated, the army's morale would be broken, and the Chu country could be regarded as a subjugated country.

The only option is to stick to it and wait for the support of the princes, or there may be a possibility of surviving the country and continuing to sacrifice.

But Zuo Sima said: "You Sima's words are absurd. The matter has come to this point. The teachers of the Mohists are all elite and invincible."

"For the current plan, the only way is to retreat quickly, retreat into Yanying, and connect Zhou, Qin, Wei, and Han for long-term resistance."

"At that time, the Mohist army will go deep into the Chu land, with insufficient food and grass, and exhausted from long-term fighting, it will be time to counterattack."

Zuo Sima's fief is not in Jianghan, but in Nanyang, which is inherently said.

Jun E was very anxious, secretly thinking that your fief is in Wan, and retreating north will naturally keep your fief.But my fief is in the south of the Yangtze River. If the Mohist family wins Jianghan, I have no fief, so why should I be named a king?
Seeing that Zuo Sima's words were supported, Jun E said: "The Mohists are best at construction. They built the barren Sishang as a happy land at this time. Jianghan is rich and has a large population. If it takes a year, the Mohists will definitely build Jianghan into Sishang. Up. How can it be restored? Even if the country is restored and the people all seek profit, how can they rule?"

"The current plan is to send a large army to besiege the sandbar."

Zuo Sima shouted: "Send a large army to besiege? How will Bashui be defended? The main force of the Mohists is still there, and the troops will be divided again. Once the Mohists break through Bashui, won't the whole army die?"

"Besides, the enemy's situation is unknown now. How many people guarded the sandbar? How many people did the Mohists send to make a surprise attack? I don't know these things, how can we take them back?"

You Sima said: "I don't know, but judging from the First World War, I'm afraid there are about [-]. You can send [-] elites to gallop there, and take it when its foothold is unstable."

The King of Chu had no choice but to do so, so he ordered to mobilize 5000 people, led by Sima You, to retake the sandbar.

He also ordered all the ministries to stand firm and be careful of the main force of the Mohist crossing the river.

…………

To the east of Bashui, Liuzhi and a group of officers observed the movement of the opposite Chu army with binoculars from a high place. After watching for a long time, they sighed leisurely: "It's a pity. I thought the king of Chu would think that we sent people to attack, and the main force must be empty." , will think of a way to fight back desperately and take the opportunity to counterattack."

"I'm ready to retreat to the Xishui camp to lure the enemy deep and cut off their retreat, but I don't want the people of Chu not to give me this opportunity."

If you want to switch from defense to offense, you need a formation change and you need to prepare in advance.

Observing the situation in the camp can easily infer whether the opponent is preparing to counterattack.

A teacher next to him said: "Chu people didn't make much moves?"

Liuzhi shook his head and smiled: "The purpose of our occupation of the sandbar is to destroy the Chu people's boat masters. The land battle is the way to destroy the Chu people's boat masters. The fundamental reason for the land battle is that we broke through the Bashui defense line. The Chu people are now of course Don't be in too much of a hurry."

"In terms of food and roads, the logistics of the Chu people are all in the city of Zhu. It is not impossible to steal, but there is no need for us to take this risk. If the steal is successful, the Chu people will be in chaos; if the steal is not successful, an army will be broken. To the west. The advantage is mine, no need to."

"Since the Chu people do not fight back, we should not rush. Order the entire army to retreat to the camps in the mountains one by one, and give way to the front. Order the third and fourth divisions to cross the river and break through E, occupy Daye, and clean up Jiangnan."

"It will take time for the Chu people to counterattack with all their strength at the rear of the cavalry. If it's just a small-scale harassment across the river, the cavalry can charge and defeat them."

"I wanted to lure the people of Chu to the east of Bashui. I was afraid that they would hide behind like a turtle. I have lured the people of Chu to cross the river once before, but the people of Chu were not fooled. I'm afraid they won't cross the river this time. of the river."

When the order was issued, the engineers and artillery at the front retreated first, and the infantry slowly took root, and the only organized cavalry division was patrolling the river bank.

The defense was deployed along the previous non-qianchu camp, and the troops of the two divisions quickly crossed the river and went straight to Echeng.

When the army arrived, the Mohists hiding among the miners in Daye Mountain immediately launched an uprising, and there were also many fine workers or people who were close to Mohism in the city, and they cooperated with each other inside and out. In less than half a day, the city of E was broken.

It is the grain collected from the warehouses, half of which is distributed to the people, and half is kept as army rations.

A large number of cadres accompanying the army immediately rushed to Daye and Echeng, burned the contract, announced that all usury of the nobles would be abolished, and the land of the nobles would be distributed to the people, and the people cheered.

In a few days, more than ten thousand civilians were recruited, most of them were miners and miners who were good at mining, and this was also the place where the Mohist infiltration was most serious.

The recruitment of miners is far better than that of farmers, and naturally they have stronger organizational power than farmers.

…………

On the sandbar in the west, the Sixth Division, a lone army wedged behind the main force of the Chu State, has repelled two counterattacks by the Chu people.

Chu State's estimate of the number of troops occupying the sandbar is seriously underestimated.

After the five thousand elites approached, the Chu state boat division sent boats to meet them so that they could cross the river.

However, the copper cannons and iron cannons that have been deployed took the opportunity to fire randomly. This was not on the ship, but on land. Both measurement and calculation were several times easier than on a bumpy ship.

In fact, in the first wave of Chu's counterattack, the infantry of the Sixth Division had not yet exerted their strength, and the Chu army was defeated.

More than [-] ships that responded were destroyed by artillery, and only two of them approached the sandbar, and they surrendered immediately. Anyway, the people of Chu knew that the Mo family would not be killed if they surrendered, and they were not nobles. Go to the land that you can plant on your own.

The Chu people responded with large boats for the second counterattack, but did not mobilize all of them, because they had to guard against the Mohist boats downstream.

However, it turned out to be a huge failure.

The two building boats were going upstream against the current, and the wind direction was the north wind in autumn and winter, and the speed was extremely slow.

The speed of the big boats was much lower than those of the small boats. Although the Chu people's boats had cannons, they only had two doors at the bow. Under the turbulence, the hit rate was extremely low.

On the contrary, the army artillery who deployed the fort on land was like a target during training, bombarding the two buildings of Chu State, and after a while, one was destroyed and the other fled.

About one thousand Chu troops broke into the sandbar, most of them were elites equipped with matchlock guns and short swords. You Sima took the lead and led the charge.

But when he reached the shore of the sandbar, he was shot by a dense volley of muskets, Chu You Sima was killed immediately, and the slaves around him desperately protected You Sima's body and fled back to the north bank.

By October 23rd, the barracks of the Shazhou had been stabilized, and the Daye Mountain in Echeng was destroyed. The people recruited from the south bank began to strengthen the defense of the Shazhou. There were more than [-] large bronze and iron cannons in the Shazhou area, completely blocking the Yangtze River. The waterway is even more difficult for the Chu people to break through.

The state of Chu thought that the Mohists were going to move to the south of the Yangtze River, crossing the bridge and crossing the river from where the sandbar was, and they were horrified.

At this time, there was no need for Duke Shen to defend the country of Jiuzi. It was impossible for the Mohists to divide their troops to the north and cross the Bashui where the mountains overlapped to attack the flanks. The Viscount of the country, gather the main force of the country and go south together.

Furthermore, the tactics of Mo's parents' surprise attack also made Duke Shen flustered. He was worried that his partial division would be eaten up, so he could only move closer to the south.

On the 24th, Shen Gong got an order to abandon the country of Jiuzi, and went south with [-] soldiers from the country of Jiuzi, intending to strengthen the defense of Bashui.

In order to prevent the Mohists from attacking Zhu City, they also recruited nearby people aged 15 to 50 to rush to the front line. However, the Mohist had already publicized that many people believed that the Mohist would win this battle, and there were many fugitives.

The king of Chu was worried that the Mohists would retreat in front of the frontier, and dared not cross the Bashui. He also feared that the Mohists would move to the south of the Yangtze River, bypassing the boats of Chu, and crossing the river from the sandbar. .

(End of this chapter)