Great Han Empire

Chapter 946 Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Wins Central Plains
General Li Hong urgently summoned General Qu Yi of the Left Guard, General Zhang Yan of the Right Guard, General Yushi of the Rear Guard, General Yang Feng of the Right Guard, General Zhao Yun of Long Xiang, Chief General Shi Fugan, Sima Wang Ling, Lord Bo Jiangji, etc. The Minister of Civil and Military Affairs discusses matters.

Jia Xu explained his attack strategy.

Luoyang City is well-defended. Using the current method to forcibly attack not only the casualties of the soldiers, but also the manpower, material and financial resources and time consumed are astonishing. Neither the imperial court nor the northern army can afford it.If the fight continues like this, the imperial court and the Northern Xinjiang Army are very likely to be dragged down by Luoyang City.

There is only one way to reverse the current passive situation, and that is to maximize one's own advantages, and at the same time use various methods to turn the enemy's advantages into disadvantages, and then change the balance of offensive and defensive strength between the two sides, defeat the enemy, and capture Luoyang.

What are our advantages?High morale, sufficient troops, powerful ordnance, sufficient food and grass, and time.We have enough time to surround the enemy, trap the enemy, and wear the enemy down.

How to maximize your strengths?
If we want to maintain high morale for a long time, the emperor's personal conquest alone cannot solve the problem. We must solve the vital interests of the soldiers, so that they can stay at the front line with peace of mind and are willing to fight the enemy bravely to conquer Luoyang.The real interests of the soldiers include the rewards and rewards of the court, including the compensation for the fallen soldiers, including restoring and maintaining their physical strength, and the most important thing is to let their families live a good life.During the New Year, we can let some soldiers go home to have a look, let them bring back the news of the safety of their relatives and happy life, so as to motivate and encourage the soldiers to continue to fight.

As for the military strength, we have 23 troops, which is enough, but what about the civilians?Whether the civilian husband can maintain sufficient physical strength and transport all kinds of materials to Luoyang is directly related to the combat effectiveness of the army.It has been eight months since the outskirts of Luoyang began. The imperial court has recruited more than 200 million civilians. They have been fighting with the army and are exhausted.Continuing to recruit civil servants will seriously damage the national strength and reduce the government’s wealth and income. Therefore, we must immediately implement a rotation system in the process of recruiting civil servants. First, it can reduce the number of civilian husbands. Second, it can maintain the physical strength of civilian husbands. Third, it can also be appropriate. Reduce damage to national power and wealth.

The current number of armaments in the army obviously cannot meet the needs of attacking Luoyang, and we need more ordnance.[-] stone cannons, [-] crossbows, and [-] strong bows are the most basic quantity. However, since we did not estimate the difficulty of attacking Luoyang in advance, the number of various types of ordnance did not meet this basic requirement, so in the next period of time , We will order the ordnance workshops in various places to rush to manufacture day and night, and at the same time recruit a large number of fortresses and arsenals from various places.

The army's food and grass are running out, but after the autumn harvest, and next year's spring harvest, food from all over the country will be continuously transported to Luoyang, but the enemy army in the city has no replenishment, and their food will become less and less.

The time for our siege of Luoyang depends on whether we can hold on to the periphery of Luoyang.As long as we firmly hold the periphery of Luoyang and block the rescue of the rebels, we can keep fighting, so we don't need to worry about time.

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What are the advantages of the rebels?The solid Luoyang City and impeccable defense deployment are their greatest advantages.

How to turn the advantages of the rebels into disadvantages?Destroy the defensive deployment of the rebels, so that the rebels have no danger to defend.

The way to destroy the defense deployment of the rebels is very simple. Gather all the ordnance and bombard it in groups.The defensive facilities of the rebels are nothing more than Feng Yuan, urn city, horse face, gate tower, and towers. They are either rammed earth or bricks and wood. How many times can they withstand continuous impacts?If we can't finish bombing in ten days, we will bomb for a month.

If the rebels lost these defensive facilities, they also lost their reliance. The morale and morale of the army have all been bombarded, so how can they defend Luoyang?
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There are several difficulties in implementing this strategy.

How long will it take to gather [-] stone cannons and [-] ballistas?To operate these [-] heavy weapons requires an astonishing number of soldiers and civilians. How can we solve this problem?If five thousand stone cannons bombarded day and night, a large number of stone bullets would be needed. Where did the stone bullets come from?

After the bombardment, the soldiers will go to the city to fight.There are two problems that must be solved in the battle of ascending the city. One is that the moat needs to be filled, and the other is that a large number of wells with the same height as the city need to be created.Jinglan is similar to a car, with a shed and a wide springboard on the top.During the siege, the wells were pushed down to the bottom of the city, and the assault soldiers lowered the springboard to connect with the top of the city wall, then opened the huts, and rushed directly to the top of the city wall to fight.

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After careful discussion between the general and the generals, the time for the siege was set in the middle of March next year, which is five months later.

During these five months, the soldiers and peasants in the city of Luoyang need to do a lot of preparatory work.

First of all, we must cut off the moat on the battlefield in Xicheng, drain the water in the moat, and fill the moat.Winter is coming soon, and the dry season is conducive to damming and cutting off the moat. However, the moat of Luoyang City is wide and large, and it is within the shooting range of the rebels, so it is very difficult to fill it up.For this reason, the general and the generals decided to fill up the moat in front of Yongmen, with a length of two miles.

As for the method of filling the moat, it depends on repairing sculls and furrows.The top of the wen (wen) is covered with raw cowhide, which can be pushed to the trench or the foot of the city for landfill and excavation.The repair oar is similar to the wrath, but its duty is to cover the pawns from approaching the attack area.In addition, filling up the moat will definitely cause panic among the enemy troops in the city. The soldiers of the northern border army and civilians work day and night, and they will shoot day and night. This can help the army get some stone bullets and arrows, killing two birds with one stone.

The height of the well rail was more than 24 feet (about [-] meters today), and Jia Xu required at least [-] soldiers to be accommodated in the shed. This is a colossal object that can only be manufactured under the city of Luoyang, otherwise it cannot be transported.Near Luoyang, there are more than a dozen mountains of different sizes, including Mang Mountain, Yu Mountain, Qinglong Mountain, Jingzi Mountain, Ying Mountain, and Shouyang Mountain. The forests are dense and local materials can be obtained.Of course, the stone bombs used in the stone cannons were also excavated from these mountains.

Then, everyone started arguing over the number of civilian husbands.Just now Jia Xu has made it clear that the number of civil servants should be reduced, but now there are too many things to do and time is tight, Qu Yi and others think that not only cannot the reduction of civil servants, but also need to be recruited again.The two sides have different opinions, and their voices are getting louder and louder.

Li Hong waved his hand to signal the generals to be quiet.

"In the past five months, we mainly filled the two-mile-long moat, built 150 well barriers, and collected enough stone bombs for [-] stone cannons to bombard continuously for a month. It is enough to maintain about [-] million civilians in Luoyang City. "Li Hong said, "There are too many people pulling the ropes of the medium-sized stone cannons, and they cannot be deployed intensively, which is not conducive to our concentrated bombardment. Yin Si, Liu Ye and other adults hurried to the Luoyang battlefield, leading the craftsmen to remodel day and night. This will also reduce some of the civilians."

"General, during the truce period, there are enough civilians, but once the war starts, 150 million civilians will definitely not be enough." Zhang Yan persuaded, "In my opinion, before the war, another 50 must be recruited."

"Okay, that's the deal." Li Hong turned his head and looked at Fu Gan. "In five months, can we gather [-] stone cannons and [-] crossbows?"

"We can manufacture while recruiting from other places. After the spring, we will definitely be able to make up the quantity, and it may even exceed this quantity." Fu Gan's face showed worry, "It's just that in this way, other battlefields, especially in Guanzhong , the city defense force will be greatly weakened."

Li Hong frowned slightly.Jia Xu smiled indifferently: "As long as Luoyang is defeated, even if there are some losses in other battlefields, it doesn't matter to the overall situation."

"What about Guanzhong? If the Qiang people broke through the Yicheng and Shanggui (gui) lines, wouldn't Chang'an be in danger?" Yushi said worriedly, "Chang'an is now the capital of the Han Dynasty, so we must not lose it."

"There are four important passes in Guanzhong. With the help of the four passes, the defenders can persist until we conquer Luoyang City." Jia Xu said confidently, "At present, the Qiang people in Western Xinjiang and Hanzhong in Yizhou are the most threatening to us. Zhang Lu, Liu Biao and Yuan Xi of Nanyang, Jingzhou. In the southeast of Guanzhong there is Wuguan, in the southwest there is Dashan Pass, and in the upper reaches of the Weishui River there are Yicheng and Shangyu (today’s water). One step into the pass."

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The general urgently ordered the generals of the various ministries to go to the emperor for a meeting.

While Qu Yi, Zhang Yan, Fu Gan and others were drawing up the specific attack deployment, Li Hong invited Jia Xu to take a walk in Shanglin Garden.

The sun is approaching dusk, and the setting sun is like blood.

The two walked side by side on the forest trail, talking softly.

"I would like to thank you this time." Li Hong smiled, "If it weren't for you, I would have to fight until at least next month to stop, and the casualties would be astonishing."

Jia Xu smiled and said nothing.

"Think about how spectacular it would be to bombard Luoyang City day and night with [-] stone cannons, [-] ballistas, and [-] strong bows in five months." Li Hong looked up at the sunset in the sky, suddenly He stopped, raised his hands and screamed, "Five hundred wells carrying ten thousand soldiers are attacking the city wall at the same time, who can stop their sharpness?"

"The general should have thought of this kind of attack strategy." Jia Xu stood behind him and said in a low voice, "but the general was too impatient, and almost did not make any preparations, so he launched an attack on Luoyang."

Li Hong was in a very good mood, and he readily accepted Jia Xu's words, "Compared with your strategy, I really underestimated the enemy. It can be said that I did not make any preparations. Although I had planned long before this, I was able to kill one in Luoyang City." It’s obviously too hasty to launch an attack after a month.” He turned his head to look at Jia Xu, and asked with a smile, “Did you see it long ago? Why didn’t you write to me?”

Jia Xu twirled her short beard with her hands, and said with a slight smile, "The eldest princess and the ministers in the court joined forces to stop you. What happened? The general insisted on going to war. One reason was that he was worried about the reversal of the war situation, but the most important reason was probably to calm down the situation. Xijiang, right?"

Li Hong had a smile on his face, with a hint of surprise in his eyes, "So you didn't write a letter to stop it?"

"To defeat Luoyang, the army should take advantage of the momentum and go south to suppress the rebellion, sweeping across the north and south of the Yangtze River. Anyone who is a normal person will adopt this steady counter-rebellion strategy." In other words, instead of fighting the vulnerable rebels, they went west to Liangzhou and fought against the mighty Qiang people. Whether or not the Qiang people are defeated, the army going south to suppress the rebellion will encounter tenacious resistance. What is more serious is that if the general fails in the western border, the time to go south to suppress the rebellion will be greatly delayed, and the great Han is very likely to turn into a confrontation between the North and the South."

Li Hong's smile gradually faded, and he remained silent.

"The sudden split of forces in northern Xinjiang made the general feel a deep crisis, so the general quickly went to war and forced the emperor to conquest himself, intending to reverse the unfavorable situation in the court and force the eldest princess and the court to continue to obey your counter-insurgency strategy. Jia Xu shook his head, "However, General, I have to say that your method not only failed to reverse the unfavorable situation in the court, but made the crisis in the court even more serious."

Li Hong's eyes were startled, but he immediately regained his composure, "You don't agree with me fucking Qiang?"

"Of course I agree that the General's killing Qiang is the only way to solve the crisis in the court, and the General has obviously seen this for a long time." Jia Xuyan said a flattering word insincerely.

"From the Battle of Jizhou, we have fought for five consecutive years, the Central Plains War, the Guanzhong War, the Luoyang Peripheral War, and the current Luoyang War. In five years, we have mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops, and even recruited Hu tribe cavalry from outside the Great Wall twice. .In five years, we have recruited tens of millions of civilian husbands. In five years, the court has carried out three consecutive revisions of the official system."

"Hebei is already overwhelmed and crumbling. Whether it is the soldiers of northern Xinjiang, the people of Hebei, or the court, they have all borne unimaginable burdens in the past five years. Hebei urgently needs to stop the war to recuperate, otherwise it is very likely that it will be followed by a defeat. And fell apart, but Hebei can't stop now, because Luoyang has not been defeated, the Central Plains has not been occupied, and Hebei has not yet laid the foundation stone for pacifying the world."

"The crisis in Hebei has been covered up by victories one after another. Whether it's the common people, the soldiers, the eldest princess or many ministers in the court, they are all blinded by the victories in front of them, but there is one person who is sober."

Li Hong glanced at Jia Xu, with a smile on his lips, "You mean Zhong Yuan?"

"Yes. For the rise of Northern Xinjiang and for the formulation and implementation of the imperial court's new policy, Mr. Li Wei has devoted all his energy and effort, but Mr. Li Wei is just a wheel on the speeding carriage of Zhongxing Daye, and he cannot control the direction of the wheel. "Jia Xu said, "The general is the steed that drives the carriage of Zhongxing Daye. The direction of Zhongxing Daye has been firmly controlled by you. However, the carriage is obviously out of control now. Master Li Wei has to think about it. There is a way to stop this out-of-control carriage."

"Eight horses are pulling this carriage." Li Hong shook his hands and said with a smile, "I can't control the direction by myself."

Jia Xu's face changed slightly, "General, don't you want to ease the crisis in the court?"

"There is always a crisis in the court." Li Hong walked with his hands behind his back and said unhurriedly, "Although all the crises in Hebei will eventually be concentrated in the court and erupt in the court, they have not yet exploded. At that time, I still have enough time to save the situation."

Jia Xu was even more surprised, and couldn't help slowing down her pace.Li Hong walked casually, his vigorous back reflected in the setting sun, looking confident and mighty.

Jia Xu sighed softly, took a quick step, and persuaded again: "General, Sir Dong Zhuo was very kind to Emperor Xiaoxian back then, and he was also very accommodating to the ministers in the court. He also wanted to save the big man, but Emperor Xiaoxian did not Lord Dong Zhuo cannot be saved because of this, and the ministers in the court cannot give up killing Lord Dong Zhuo because of this."

Li Hong stopped and looked up at the gorgeous sunset.

After a long time, he suddenly said softly: "I remember that before Bohan (Yu Peng) went north to Liaodong, I once had a quarrel with him. He said that I was too anxious, too eager to calm the world. Do you mean the same?"

"Hebei needs to recuperate, and more than 1000 million people need to eat and dress. Mr. Li Wei has no choice." Jia Xu said with a bow.

Li Hong sneered, "He has a deeper meaning, do you know?"

"General..." Jia Xu smiled wryly, and bowed deeply, "General, you must admit that he is also for the great cause of rejuvenation, otherwise why would he put the court in crisis?"

"I can't stand it."

"If the general can't understand Lord Li Wei's difficulties, it is impossible for the army to march westward to Pingqiang in Liangzhou. The eldest princess and the court will not agree with the general's strategy, and the army will never get food and supplies."

Li Hong's eyes showed murderous intent.

"General, you let the people of Beijiang control the decision-making power, but why are you going back on your word and wanting to control the decision-making power yourself?" Jia Xu said a little excitedly, "You caused the people of Beijiang to split up; The crisis is also caused by you; if the princess refuses to return to the emperor in the future, the reason is also caused by you."

Li Hong was taken aback for a moment.

"Northern Xinjiang people control the decision-making power. It is not the general who controls the decision-making power alone. The two are different." Jia Xu continued, "General, please think again. If the forces in Northern Xinjiang split, ZTE will The great cause must come to an end."

Li Hong glared at Jia Xu.

"General, you want to support the Son of Heaven, I understand this, but if you pacify the world and finish all the battles before the Son of Heaven takes power, what will the Son of Heaven do? Where are his achievements? How can he command the Han army? ? The great general has great achievements, and the emperor is a cowardly child. How dare you let the eldest princess hand over the authority to the emperor?"

Li Hong suddenly thought of something, his heart was suffocated, and he didn't catch his breath for a long time.He suddenly understood the key to the crisis in the court.

"I understand." Li Hong stretched out his hand to pat Jia Xu, and said gratefully, "Before I hit Luoyang, I'll go back to court."

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(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
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