Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3301 The Correctness of the Decision

East side of Emei Mountain.

The place where Zhang Xiu and his troops hid.

This place is called Horse Face Valley. The valley is long and narrow like a horse face, hence the name.

Zhang Xiu, Li Er and two thousand cavalrymen hid quietly in the valley.

Li Er has been a little dissatisfied these two days.

Because he thought that he came to the east to kill the enemy and make merit, instead of hiding in this uninhabited valley, suffering from the erosion of wind and sand and the scorching sun. Although he didn't say anything, he had already cursed Zhang Xiu in his heart.

Now he heard that the battle outside Wenxi city was very fierce. He thought it was ridiculous that more than 2,000 cavalrymen did not go to Wenxi to kill Cao's bandits, but stayed in this valley to recuperate.

Zhang Xiu said he wanted to ambush Cao's army. Could he ambush them in Horse Face Valley? Li Er didn't think Horse Face Valley was a place where they could ambush Cao's army. If they really wanted to ambush, they should have gone down Emei Mountain and headed to Solitary Peak Mountain. Solitary Peak Mountain was where Cao's army would definitely pass by.

Li Er did not continue to stay under Fei Qian's command in the middle, but took the initiative to apply to join Zhang Xiu's army on the eastern front. He had his own considerations. Although he was not a child of a Shandong Confucian scholar, who could not help but talk about how many military books he had read and how many military tactics he knew, he did have experience fighting in the Longxi cavalry in Mobei.

Li Er discovered that the battle pattern had changed since Fei Qian brought those artillery pieces from Linfen.

Cavalry is no longer the protagonist on the battlefield...

This made Li Er feel a little unhappy and a little uneasy.

During Li Er's battles in Mobei and Longxi, he felt the most deeply the importance of cavalry. Without cavalry, it would be like being without legs in a territory like Mobei and Longxi, and you would be easily played with by others. So Li Er felt that cavalry was the kingly way and the most important branch of the army. Under Zhonglu Feiqian's command, cavalry became a force to assist artillery.

In the attack on the camp at the foot of the slope, artillery became the hero, while cavalry became a foil.

It's not that Li Er has any opinion on Fei Qian. After all, it was Fei Qian who promoted him and gave him his current status and wealth. It's just that he can't understand it emotionally and is not willing to accept this situation. So he would rather come to the east and come under Zhang Xiu's command. Unexpectedly, when he arrived at Zhang Xiu's place, Zhang Xiu didn't move either...

Li Er, like most of the frontier men in the Han Dynasty, could not stand the children of the Shandong noble families. In Luoyang City, the streets were full of princes, nobles, officials, and children of the government officials. If a tile fell from any family, it would hit three or four officials in power, or someone's relatives, or someone's children. But in the eyes of these people, Li Er and other frontier men were not "people", but just dogs, dogs guarding the frontier.

At the beginning, Li Er didn't know what the scriptures those children of high-ranking officials were saying, nor what the prophecies were, so he felt that they were very mysterious and powerful. Looking up to them, he felt that he was small, just like the perspective of a dog crawling on the ground.

But as he studied and grew up in the army, he saw with his own eyes that those guys, whom he had to look up to in the past, turned out to be ugly, deformed, and even weak after taking off a layer of mysterious skin. What surged in his heart was not only contempt for these sons of Han bureaucrats and aristocrats, but also the resentment and anger that had accumulated from being deceived, insulted, and bullied in the past.

They just let the people suffer and endure, but they don't know that the words "suffering and endurance" are like a huge spring, which will either break or bounce back in the end.

So why did Li Er come to Zhang Xiu? To put it bluntly, he was still feeling aggrieved. He wanted to chop off the heads of those Shandong gentry boys with his own hands to heal the scars left in his heart.

The longer Li Er stayed under the command of the cavalry, the more he disliked those Shandong gentry children, and the more he hated himself for not being able to hold his head high and shout at those gentry children who insulted and bullied him? Why did he repeatedly obey those gentry children's increasingly bizarre and excessive demands, and was unable to be a decent person?

Li Er's biggest struggle back then was to flee Luoyang, because he felt that if he stayed in Luoyang for too long, one day he would either be beaten to death like a dog or really become a dog eating shit in the gutter.

Later, Li Er felt fortunate that he had joined Fei Qian's army.

Fei Qian wanted to stabilize Longyou and Longxi, consolidate the border in Jingping area, and resist the rebellion of Western Qiang.

Li Er seized this opportunity to change his destiny, so now he not only has a base in Longxi, but also has a small business in Chang'an, a property and a small piece of land.

If he could continue to make military achievements, then under the command of the General of the Cavalry, he might have the opportunity to become the chief officer of a place, or the governor of a county with a salary of 800 or 1,000 dan...

Li Er was full of confidence, but ended up being trapped in the wind and sand in Ma Mian Valley.

Seeing Li Er's restlessness and his useless appearance, Zhang Xiu didn't have the patience to communicate with Li Er, because Zhang Xiu himself had his own problems. He was thinking about Fei Qian's reply to him...

The war was about to begin, but Zhang Xiu had not yet found his position.

Zhang Xiu knew that Fei Qian wanted him to go to the Northern Territory Protectorate, but from the perspective of implementation, Fei Qian wanted to see how Zhang Xiu performed.

This is the word "positioning" mentioned in the letter.

At first glance, Zhang Xiu would be like Li Er, patting his chest to express his loyalty to the Cavalry, swearing an oath under the tricolor flag, and doing something for the glorious cause of the Han Dynasty. However, after careful consideration, Zhang Xiu felt that it was not that simple.

Because Zhang Xiu is not the only one who can succeed as the Protector General of the Northern Territory.

Along with Fei Qian’s reply came the battle report from the Northern Territory Protectorate.

Zhang Xiu not only saw Zhao Yun's achievements, but also noticed the performance of many people below Zhao Yun, such as Zhang He...

Zhang Xiu knew that Fei Qian's attitude towards surrendered generals was different from that of Shandong. Therefore, according to Zhang He's ability, it was only a matter of time before he was reused.

Just like Li Dian who has arrived in Hanzhong now.

Seniority certainly has some advantages, but it is not an absolute advantage.

Zhang Xiu was filled with emotion when reading the battle briefing of the Northern Territory, but in addition to being excited and thrilled, he also felt the gap between himself and Zhao Yun. At least Zhao Yun's choice of whether to fight or not, the target of the attack, and the choice of tactics made Zhang Xiu feel his own shortcomings.

Wenxi is not the focus. The gains and losses of a city or a place are important, but not the most important issue.

Winning is not a problem, but fighting well is indeed a problem.

"Report!" A soldier came forward and bowed to the ground, "Cao's army is organizing people to attack the city again. It seems that Wenxi can't hold on!"

"Can't hold on any longer?" Zhang Xiu frowned, "Where are Cao's troops coming from... Oh, I see!"

Zhang Xiu clapped his hands fiercely, "So that's how it is, so that's how it is!"

He figured it out and burst into laughter.

"Come here! Spread the word, all the troops, pack up and prepare for battle!"

After the order was given, the soldiers quickly took action and the entire Ma Mian Valley suddenly became extremely noisy.

In less than half an hour, the troops were ready, and Zhang Xiu led more than 2,000 cavalrymen out of the Mamian Valley and headed south along the Ku Shui River.

More than 2,000 cavalrymen formed a relatively loose marching formation and marched down along the ravines of Emei Mountain, roaring and galloping with great momentum.

"General!" Li Er caught up with Zhang Xiu, grunted, and asked, "Where are we going?"

Zhang Xiu glanced at Li Er, who had figured things out, and was naturally in a good mood. He smiled and said, "Why, are you in a hurry to go into battle and kill the enemy?"

Li Er also responded with a smile, "It's not just me, everyone wants to kill the enemy and gain merit!"

The surrounding soldiers also responded.

Zhang Xiu laughed and nodded, "So... if it's just you... how many enemies can you kill?"

"Just me?" Li Er was stunned for a moment, "Well... I can kill five, six, seven, or eight of them. There will always be one."

The power of an individual is always limited and very uncertain.

Any general can kill people like cutting grass and burst out with unparalleled power. It is very likely that this only exists in the game.

Therefore, Li Er could not be sure how many enemies he could kill when he faced a large number of enemies alone. Zhang Xiu shook his whip and drew a circle around the soldiers. "What if we have two thousand men? How many enemies can we kill?"

"This..." Li Er seemed to understand something.

"Do you understand? What are we? What are we going to do?" Zhang Xiu laughed and gently swept Li Er's arm with the tail of his whip. "Can you make a further step after the war, from a military marquis to a captain... But you have to think about this question carefully..."

Li Er quickly said, "Thank you for your guidance, General."

Zhang Xiu waved his hand and did not continue to discuss the topic with Li Er. Instead, he raised his head slightly, looked at the mountains and rivers in the distance, and watched the earth quickly moving backwards under his feet.

This was also the question he suddenly figured out...

In front of the universe, no matter from which angle you look at it, humans are so insignificant.

Mountains and rivers exist from time immemorial, but human beings are but fleeting.

Only by making yourself smaller can you see the greatness of others.

Like a person and an army.

In front of a huge army, a single individual is like a stone on the earth, whether it is hard rock or soft sand, it is insignificant and unimportant.

If you are so arrogant that you think you can defeat thousands of enemies by yourself, you will most likely end up like Lu Bu, indulging yourself in illusions and ultimately losing all your previous efforts...

Zhang Xiu finally understood the problem of "positioning" that Fei Qian emphasized. It was not only his own "positioning", but also his "positioning" of his soldiers. If you want to be a general, you can't just go into battle and kill the enemy.

This is also the reason why Fei Qian deliberately did not explain the details of the order.

If Zhang Xiu could only become a general who could not think independently and only knew how to act according to orders, then he might become an excellent front-line soldier, but he would always stop there and could not move forward, let alone be called the Protector General of the Northern Territory...

Those who have no thoughts, do not know how to summarize, and only know how to follow orders will eventually lose themselves and can only be swept away in the rolling torrent of history...

Li Er looked around him. He was surrounded by cavalrymen. Their expressions were either excited, leisurely, eager to fight, or calm. They were not timid, fearless, or panicked about possible death. They only had a strong desire to fight. They galloped on their horses, forming a magnificent torrent, moving forward without hesitation.

Li Er's anxiety and irritability also calmed down at this moment. He suddenly felt like a fish in the torrent, happily swimming in it. The warhorse seemed to sense Li Er's mood change, and raised its neck and neighed.

Li Er bent down and patted the horse's neck, then looked at his comrades around him, and suddenly raised his arms and shouted, "The cavalry will win! The cavalry will win!"

"Hurry! We will win! We will win!"

The smoke and dust rolled like a galloping yellow dragon.

……

……

On the other side, Cao Xiu, who was also on his way, was feeling quite heavy-hearted.

As he moved forward from Gufeng Mountain, Cao Xiu's worries not only did not ease, but became even heavier.

Because Cao's army did not have many war horses, the movement speed of Cao's army often depended on the slowest part.

Cao Xiu brought the baggage carts with him, so the speed of the entire army's march was determined by the butts of those slow horses.

Thinking about this problem carefully, it is inevitable that people feel a little depressed.

The expansion of a vast empire or a prosperous dynasty is not determined by brave soldiers or wise counselors, but by the reach of the butts of these sluggish horses...

The short board in the bucket may be considered a cliché by many people in later generations, but not many people can really solve the short board in a targeted manner.

Even Cao Xiu knew where his shortcomings were, but he was still helpless and unable to change them.

Among his troops, there were many ordinary Cao army soldiers.

Of course, Cao Xiu could also use his own troops as the vanguard, rushing to Wenxi first, just like he did last time at Chenguanxing, and let the follow-up troops go slowly, but Cao Xiu's troops are not infinite, nor are they made of steel and iron and cannot be injured...

After the last battle at Chenguanxing, although Cao Xiu's troops received some reinforcements, there was a big gap between the new soldiers and the original veterans, both in combat skills and in mutual coordination.

Under such circumstances, if Cao Xiu rushed to Wenxi, his troops would probably be dismembered on the way...

"General, if we encounter the cavalry of the Hussars in the wild," Cao Xiu's guards looked around uneasily, especially at the Emei Mountain Plateau in the distance. It seemed as if a group of cavalry would fly down from the plateau and rush towards us at any time. "With our formation, I'm afraid... what should we do?"

After leaving the ambush site, the Cao army soldiers felt like they were naked, as if they were being pounced into the bushes by the cavalry who might rush out from somewhere at any time. They were filled with fear and tension. They would scream at the slightest movement, and then often confirmed that it was a false alarm.

This situation made Cao Xiu and his elite guards very worried.

Because these veterans who have fought in many battlefields know very well that if the psychological problems of the soldiers are not resolved, if these ordinary Cao soldiers really engage in battle with the cavalry, they will probably collapse on the spot and flee in all directions.

In fact, this situation is not only in Cao Xiu's place, nor is it only in the Chinese feudal dynasty. It is a common problem faced by all troops with primary peasant soldiers as combat power. On the surface, it seems that there are many people and they can fight well in favorable situations, but once they are in an unfavorable situation, it is like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun.

In Shandong, everyone was competing to see who was worse. So the Cao army, which was slightly less bad, stood out. But now that they found that they could not drag the Hussars into the quagmire of consumption, the Cao army, with its large number of soldiers and generals, had to face a very difficult problem.

Bringing these ordinary Cao army soldiers with them may not necessarily give us much advantage in field battles, but if we don't bring these soldiers with us, we won't even have a chance to fight.

According to Cao Xiu's experience, if a dense infantry phalanx is used, coupled with giant shields and long spears, it can indeed temporarily block the Hussar cavalry, but it can only last for a period of time. The reason is simple. Cao's soldiers cannot move in formation like the elite heavy infantry, and can only defend in place. Because the Hussar cavalry moves fast and has strong impact, the cavalry can be divided into small teams to circle around the infantry formation, while the infantry will find it difficult to move after defending, and will inherently be in a more passive situation.

Of course, if the infantry array is combined with baggage carts, a more stable defense line can be formed, which will also psychologically comfort the ordinary soldiers of Cao's army. As long as the chariot array does not collapse, a certain level of morale can be maintained.

But the problem is that the Hussars are now also equipped with five elements of thunder...

That thing is too destructive to dense arrays.

It would be great if I could bring elite infantry with me...

Cao Xiu glanced at the ordinary soldiers of Cao's army who could hold their spears in seventeen or eighteen different postures, and was speechless.

In order to ensure that these ordinary Cao army soldiers can maintain a dense formation under the attack of the Five Elements Thunder, it would be more practical to think of other ways to resist the cavalry.

For example, traps and chevaux de frise.

The ordinary soldiers of Cao's army must be very familiar with the chevaux de frise.

It can be said that wherever there is a military camp, there are chevaux de frise. When a large army sets up camp, in order to prevent the enemy from attacking the camp, they usually set up chevaux de frise arrays several dozen steps apart around the camp.

But the problem is that the chevaux de frise cannot be moved.

"Are there any movable chevaux de frise?" Cao Xiu asked the guard beside him.

"Movable chevaux de frise?" The guard was a little stunned. He couldn't imagine what a movable chevaux de frise would look like.

"Yes! That's it!" Cao Xiu turned his head and looked at the baggage carts behind him. Suddenly, he thought of something. If he put the barricades on the baggage carts, or used the baggage carts to build the barricades...

(End of this chapter)