Great Wei Overlord

Chapter 917
Chapter 923

Huan Wen also had a bad start when he went to battle. Gong Hu, who joined the army, died in battle, and Huan Wen's horse was also shot by a stray arrow. Huan Wen's army was afraid and almost ran away.

However, the officials in charge of beating the drums hit the advancing drums by mistake.

Yuan Qiao drew out his sword and urged the soldiers to fight hard, and finally defeated Li Shi's army.Huan Wen took advantage of the victory and drove straight to Chengdu, where he set fire to the city gate.

After Huan Wen got Chengdu, especially when he saw more than 180 Tibetan soldier caves in Chengdu, he couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat and shouting luck.The Tibetan Army Cave in Chengdu City is connected with caves. According to its functions, it is divided into watchtower, combat command room, camp room, archery range, and passage pit. It is divided into three floors, and the height difference between the entrance and exit is used for natural ventilation.Moreover, there are organs in this soldier cave, and the parts connected to the city all adopt one-way switches. Unless the guards in the city automatically open the secret door, even if the enemy rushes into the cave, there is no way to attack the city.

When Xie Ai's army resisted the city wall and was about to excavate the foundation of the city wall and plant explosives, the defenders in the Tibetan cave rushed out to kill the engineers who planted explosives.The combat effectiveness of the engineering soldiers was relatively weak, and they were not front-line soldiers. Facing the elite of the Huanwen Army's Cangbing Cave, they had no power to fight back.For a time, the engineers suffered heavy losses.

After discovering the caves of Tibetan soldiers, Xie Ai did not dare to be careless. There are six arrow holes in the upper layer of these caves, eight arrow holes in the middle layer, and five arrow holes in the lower layer. The arrow hole is oblique and can be opened and closed; there is a passage in the hole, and there are arrow holes on three sides. hole security.The hidden doors of each military hiding place adopt a reverse mechanism door, which can only be opened from the inside, and even a heavy hammer from the outside can't do anything close to the two-and-a-half-foot-thick stone door.

Another tentative attack, Xie Ai dispatched elite infantry to lure and annihilate the defenders in the cave.Xie Ai dispatched elite infantry dressed in engineer uniforms to attack the city wall under the cover of long-range weapons such as ballistas, trebuchets, and eight-ox crossbows.But this time it was very unexpected. The defenders in the Tibetan Cave actually fired rockets, and the gunpowder package accidentally hit detonated the explosives of the engineers. The infantry was blown to pieces.

When the war reached this point, Xie Ai was terribly furious.But there is no way, no matter whether it is a ballista or a trebuchet, it is not a direct-fire weapon, and it cannot be prepared to hit the cave of the Tibetan soldiers like a direct-fire cannon.Although the eight-ox crossbow can shoot directly, it must be weak against the thick walls of the Tibetan soldiers' cave.What's more, the mechanism doors of the caves for soldiers are similar to the working principle of drawers, and they are only one and a half feet above the ground, barely allowing two people to get out at the same time.Various primary weapons are ineffective, and close combat will be suppressed by bows and arrows on the city wall.

Murong Chui, the general of Xie Ai's Ministry, proposed a strategy to Xie Ai, but this strategy was a bit vicious. Murong Chui meant that he would no longer fire heart-stone bullets or gunpowder bullets on the city walls, but instead shoot incendiary bombs specifically to kill and injure the defenders. host.Now Huan Wen was helpless. The ballista is not artillery after all, and he didn’t pay much attention to it. He leveled the ground where the ballista was fired in advance, then pushed the ballista cart into the position, and then ignored it, aimed at the city wall and started firing fire. Molotov cocktails.

It doesn't matter whether you can hit the target accurately, as long as you break into the city wall or fall into the city, you only aim to kill people.Since then, Huan Wen has become even more passive.For the first time, a large number of defenders were placed on the city wall, and Huan Wen's army suffered heavy losses.As many as [-] people were killed or injured.Later, Huan Wen ordered to leave only the observation post and withdraw the main force from the city wall. Although this reduced the loss of the defenders, but after seeing that the defenders on the city wall had no means of counterattack, Xie Ai decisively ordered the ballista to move forward to get away from the city wall. Only fifty steps away from the moat, ballista firing positions were established.

Since then, Huan Wen has almost suffered casualties of more than a thousand soldiers and civilians every day. Although there are not many real troops, the hearts of the whole city of Chengdu are fluctuating and faintly unstable.Although Huan Wen has a certain foundation in the hearts of the people in Chengdu, the bad roots of human nature are undoubtedly revealed at this moment. While the people are suffering casualties, instead of targeting Wei Jun, they hate Huan Wen.But Huan Wen could also have a choice, just send limited elite troops to attack Wei's ballista troops.However, Xie Ai obviously expected Huan Wen's counterattack. Xie Ai ambushed Huan Wen's elite cavalry to fight back against Huan Wen's army.Under the impact of the cavalry, the 1000 elite Shu troops surrendered without dying, while the loss of the Wei cavalry was less than [-], of which less than [-] were killed.

At this point in the war, Huan Wen really realized that the real urban offensive and defensive warfare is a double-edged sword. Attrition battles.At least his elite troops had been demoralized, physically exhausted and slackened by the endless fighting.

The question now is how many reinforcements Huan Wen has, and whether these reinforcements can consume Xie Ai's Zhenxi Army, Huan Wen's patchwork troops, these troops can't break through Xie Ai's reinforcement defense line at all, and can only thank Xie Ai one by one. Ai delivered food and served as a sharpening stone for Wei Guoxin's troops.

"We can't go on like this. If our reinforcements can't form a huge number, they can only be wiped out one by one by Wei Guo." Huan Wen said to Xi Chao and other aides: "Order the elite led by Huan Chong and Zhou Chu If we gather all the troops, we don’t need to rescue Chengdu anymore, but build a defense line along the Nanhe Ruo Bridge, and wait until the main force of our Shu army arrives, we will only defend and not attack, and when all the main forces of our army are gathered, we will fight to the death with Wei Guo!”

"Ming Gong, if this is the case, it may take more than a month!" Xi Chao also felt that Huan Wen's plan was feasible, but the only problem was the time. "The key is, will Xie Ai, the state of Wei, give him this precious time?"

Hearing Xi Chao's words, Huan Wen shook his head and said: "There is no way. Although the city wall of Chengdu is strong, it is a pity that Wei's ballista is too powerful. Wen believes that Huan Chong will not let me down. If the Wei army storms Nanhe, we will die." Chong led his troops to retreat to Yuanyangpan, relying on the Minjiang River to stop the enemy, and leaving the Chengdu Plain, the advantage of the Wei State cavalry would be greatly reduced. Although the Wei State Army is powerful and well-equipped, Wen does not believe that they can defeat a hundred with one. If the Minjiang River If you can't hold it, you will continue to retreat south, gradually tempting Xie Ai to divide your troops."

"The Wei army is really too difficult to deal with. It seems that they are ready to fight all kinds of battles!" Xi Chao said, "Even our Shu army's advantage in fighting in the mountains seems to be no bargain in front of the Wei army now!"

Since the war between Wei State and the Shu Army, the Shu Army has been passive everywhere.There is no way, although Xi Chao is smart, he doesn't know that Ran Ming is a descendant, he doesn't know the progress of the descendants in the military field, and he doesn't know that the descendants have added special mountain combat troops, jungle combat troops and Various special forces, although Ran Ming is not a military genius of later generations, he still has a certain understanding of mountain combat troops. When Ran Ming was in Qin, he deliberately recruited a group of mountain hunters and a small number of ethnic minority warriors. Teaching the students of the Qin State Lecture Hall, learning the experience of mountain life and precautions.However, this is far from the real mountain troops, but having such knowledge in this era is definitely impressive.

"Duke Ming, the people in the city have suffered a lot, and people's hearts are fluctuating. Going on like this is not a long-term solution!" Fu Tao was also showing his existence.

Huan Wen said, "What is Xuandu's opinion?"

Fu Tao said: "Duke Ming should immediately issue an Announcement on Anmin, promising the people to reduce or exempt some taxes in the future, and open food and grass to relieve the homeless people and treat the wounded."

Huan Wen nodded and said, "Okay, let Xuandu be responsible for this matter!"

……

"General, Your Majesty's secret decree has arrived!" A messenger took the note from the carrier pigeon and quickly handed it to Zhang Wen.Recently, Zhang Wen has been in high spirits. With the crossing of the Yangtze River, the surrender of the five Jiangnan counties in Jingzhou has gradually accelerated. Originally, he had to wait until the jurisdiction to surrender, but gradually changed.As soon as Zhang Wen arrived in Nanxian County, Wuling County (now Changde area), he received a surrender letter from Sima Xiu, the prefect of Guiyang and Zhangwu King.

At this time, all the nine counties of Jingzhou surrendered, and Zhang Wen couldn't help accumulating meritorious service, and the strength of his troops also increased sharply.At this time, the strength of the Zhennan Army's troops exceeded 35 troops. Although there were many gangsters, Zhang Wen became the general with the largest number of commanders at this time.

However, Zhang Wen didn't feel happy because the whole journey was like destroying decay and decay. Instead, the generals of his troops were eager to fight. Since the Southern Expedition, except for a small fight in Fancheng, the troops of the Zhennan Army have been marching in arms at other times. , This made the generals who were eager to fight feel dissatisfied.

Although surrendering without a fight can achieve the goal, in the eyes of the generals, victory is more precious only after fighting.Now Ran Ming ordered them to attack Huan Wen with the Zhenxi Army from the north to the south, which made all the generals of the Zhennan Army below Zhang Wen very excited, and now they finally got their wish.

Every decision in the war will cause the implementer to be overwhelmed. The combat staff can easily draw a marching route on the sand table, but the troops that really implement the strategic transfer need to travel through mountains and rivers to overcome many obstacles and difficulties.Sometimes Zhang Wen also lamented that those high-ranking officials of the General Staff Department were sometimes as smart as Zhuge Kongming, and sometimes they were as stupid as pigs.

Wei State’s military establishment is inherited from the Han system, with a battalion of 5000 soldiers and horses. The battalion is the basic unit of the Wei State, but due to different functions, it will be named as a special battalion, such as Tunqi (heavy cavalry), Yueqi (light cavalry) , middle base (heavy infantry), etc., the named battalion is similar to the group army of later generations.The establishment above the battalion is a temporary establishment, or three or five battalions, or as many as a dozen battalions, forming a strategic assault or defensive force.

The Zhennan Army has more than 70 battalion-level troops. However, as a large number of firearms and equipment such as artillery, gunpowder, ballistas, and rockets have been put into use, there are many regular army troops in the Wei State that are similar to the establishment of the troops directly under the later generations, such as battalions. Basically, there are engineers and soldiers (500 people), and the logistics department (1000 people). If it was in ancient times, the supply troops generally did not have a formal organization. Equipped with some scribes and garrison-level garrison troops.In this way, the Zhennan Army, as one of the three major front armies of the Wei State to conquer the Jin State in the south, had a large number of civilians accompanying the army in addition to soldiers, and the number of local guards reached more than [-].

The transfer of personnel and equipment on this scale is not so difficult even in later generations with developed roads, railways, waterways, and air transportation. In this backward era when movement basically relies on walking and communication basically roars, the difficulty can be imagined.

The Zhennan Army has a large and scattered team. The Zhangzhao Division in the front has quickly rushed to You County in southern Hunan, but the rear guard is still in Xiangyang.Under such circumstances, the number of lieutenants that Zhang Wenneng could contact was no more than 6, and the army directly under him was no more than [-] to [-].Not to mention the implementation of the strategic transfer, even the convening of a meeting of the captains of the various departments may not be completed in ten and a half months.These things made Zhang Wenwen and the staff of the southern staff of the town very busy.

"Our Zhennan Army and Zhenxi Army's strategic goal of pinching Huan Wen is unquestionable. No matter how many difficulties there are, they must be overcome. This strategic goal remains unchanged. Now we must make arrangements around this strategic goal!" Zhang Wen tapped lightly Looking at the pile of papers in front of him, he pointed to the staff officer who complained to him and said angrily: "Actually, we don't need to concentrate our troops to make a breakthrough in the middle, and make a tactical arrangement with detours on the two wings. Now the Zhennan army is strong and strong, and can carry out multiple breakthroughs. , Our Jingzhou jurisdiction borders Yizhou, and there are too many places that can be attacked. Don't say that there are no roads, no bridges and other difficulties. We now have huge human resources, and we can recruit people from all over Jingzhou to participate in our army's road opening, Bridge construction and even supply and transportation work. Directly order Zhang Wensu (Zhang Zhao's name) to stop the attack on Guangxin and Linhe, and attack westward in a detour."

At this time, the generals at all levels of the Zhennan Army and the staff of the staff department were whispering and discussing.For a military team eager to build the greatest merit, this may be Wei's biggest battle. As long as the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Huan Wen of Bashu are eliminated, Wei can complete the unification.If this opportunity is missed, they will truly return home with honor.What's more, they didn't feel that Huan Wen could not win. The Zhenxi Army that had completed the siege of Chengdu put great pressure on Huan Wen. This forced Huan Wen to transfer troops from the south to the north, at least in the counties of Yizhou south of the Yangtze River. County, Huanwen's defenders are very weak.

At this moment, one of the generals stood up and said, "General, the army in Huan Wen's hands is best at fighting in the mountains. They are very capable of attacking the mountains. In addition, we are very unfamiliar with the terrain of the Yinan area. It is easy to be ambushed by opponents, in order to avoid losses, this battle must be done with caution."

Regarding this question, Zhang Wen was much more optimistic, "You said that the situation is good, but have you ever thought that there will be no eggs under the whole nest? After Huan Wen is destroyed, how many trusted troops are willing to be buried with him? We are in the military At the same time as the offensive, we must also strengthen the tactics of attacking the heart. Your Majesty set the tone when he formulated the Southern Expedition Campaign. As long as the newly occupied areas are exempted from tax within one year, tax will be taxed in three and a half years, and it will take five years to return to normal. In this way, our army Attacking Huanwen will occupy the commanding heights of morality and interests, and the people will definitely support us. In addition, a reward system can be promulgated in the name of this general. For rewards offered to gentry and powerful gentry in Yizhou and ordinary Huanwen soldiers, beheading can be paid to How many rewards our army has received, and these rewards can be exchanged for food in kind, money, and tax-free vouchers, so that Huan Wen will definitely fall into what His Majesty called a people's war."

……

Today's Jin State is like an old lady celebrating the new year, and every year is not as good as every year.Waiting to clean up the Jinyang Wang family and internal unstable factors, at the same time, this internal struggle also exhausted the last vitality of the Jin Dynasty.Sima Dan, who had stabilized Wuxi, couldn't help but sadly discovered a terrible fact. Now he doesn't even have the strength to fight for his family fortune.

Even if it was the Huben Army that Sima Dan spent almost all of his thoughts on and wasted almost all his energy on, for this new army, Sima Dan's rewards can be described as heavy. The rank of lieutenant, the army with the best equipment, the best treatment, and the best combat effectiveness.Sima Dan placed high hopes on this army in the future counterattack.However, during the process of exterminating Wang Yun, the marquis of Jianchang County, the Wang Family of Jinyang, Sima Dan got a terrible piece of information. Wang Yun, and these four marching Sima and Biebu Sima controlled more than 100 grassroots officers at the Wushiqu level, plus the soldiers controlled by these more than 100 grassroots officers, as many as [-] troops, Actually got distracted.

Sima Dan was also overwhelmed by rage, and he didn't care about the lieutenant Mi Li's plea, and beheaded more than 100 grassroots officers involved in the case, including four Sima suspected of betraying Sima Dan.These Huben Army officers suddenly became insecure, and they had no intention of doing military affairs at all.These soldiers have also become nothing but soldiers.

(End of this chapter)