Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3353 Comprehensive Considerations

In the dynasties where communication was not smooth, in most battles, the commander-in-chief and the generals of each division were often out of touch. In other words, it means that the commander-in-chief and the generals of each division actually fought their own battles.

Just as Fei Qian was preparing to attack Cao's army in Hedong, an "uninvited guest" also came to Tongguan.

Zhang Liao.

Along with Zhang Liao came the cavalry troops from Longxi.

As soon as Zhu Ling saw Zhang Liao, his heart sank.

It’s not that I’m afraid, but I feel like I’m not qualified enough…

  It turned out that Zhu Ling had also thought about whether he would be made the chief general of the army if a counterattack was launched against Cao's army?

As a result, when he met Zhang Liao, he understood that the main general was Zhang Liao.

Of course, Zhu Ling also knew that he could not be compared with Zhang Liao.

Pang Tong, who came with Zhang Liao, glanced at Zhu Ling but said nothing. Instead, he led everyone to the upper level of Tongguan, stood on the observation deck of Linzhiyuan, and looked at the Cao army's camp in Tongguan from afar.

Just like Zhu Ling’s rocket design is good, but there are better ones ahead.

What can we do?

The fortification defense system of Cao's army's camp in Tongguan is basically the same as that of the camp in Anyi, and is even more solid than that of Anyi.

It extends from the former military camp in Niutouyuan to the side of the river.

Camps, fences, wooden walls, watchtowers.

Traps, flaps, ground spikes, and chevaux de frise.

Zhang Liao looked at it and his brows gradually frowned.

What is even more troublesome than the area in Hedong is that the Cao army camp in Tongguan is long and narrow, with great depth.

The terrain of Tongguan makes it difficult for Cao's army to attack, but at the same time, the Cavalry Army will also encounter terrain restrictions if they want to counterattack.

On the Tongguan Slope, even without mentioning the trenches dug by Cao's army, the remaining battle corpses, and various scattered siege equipment, it does not look like a smooth passage.

At the same time, because the Cao army camp was not connected from beginning to end, if the structures between the Cao army camps could not be successfully broken, it would be easy to be stuck in a certain fortification or in front of a camp, causing congestion of the troops.

Once there is a congestion of troops, Cao's army can attack from multiple directions, causing the Hussar Army to lose blood.

This was already slightly reflected in the previous Tongguan counterattack.

Sima Yi was invading Zhongtiao Mountain at the time and raided Cao's pontoon camp on the river bank. Zhu Ling and others saw an opportunity and led the attack, but they were unable to successfully break through Cao's position during the attack, and finally had to retreat back to the upper city of Tongguan.

Seeing Zhang Liao's expression, Pang Tong was of course aware of what Zhang Liao was worried about, so he pointed with his hand, "This is one way, but there is not only this one way..."

Zhang Liao was stunned for a moment, then he turned his gaze to the river, "Your Excellency, are you saying... take the water route?"

Pang Tong laughed, "Water is also a way!"

Zhu Ling clapped his hands and sighed, "Yes! Guanzhong still has warships and tower ships! How can Cao's small boats stop them from going downstream? !"

Zhang Liao nodded, his frown seemed to relax a little, but he quickly shook his head and said, "If we mainly rely on water routes, I still think it is still a little inappropriate."

Pang Tong smiled but didn't speak immediately.

"Is it wrong?" Ma Yue was a little confused and stared at the direction of the river. "Could it be that Cao's army also prepared a navy?"

"Cao's navy is not a problem..." Zhu Ling seemed to have thought something through, "The problem is still the terrain..."

"Good." Pang Tong nodded. "In water warfare, apart from those floating bridges, the only thing we are limited to is the ferry crossings. If we cannot deploy our troops at the ferry crossings, then even if we have thousands of warships, we will still be limited to the river."

Ma Yue suddenly realized and said "Oh".

Pang Tong's eyes moved slightly, as if he was not looking at anyone, but also as if he was taking everyone's performance into account.

Ma Yue's loyalty is not a problem, but he is slightly lacking in ability.

Zhu Ling is just like his name, flexible enough, but still a little inexperienced when it comes to looking at problems.

Zhang Liao is indeed a veteran warrior who has fought on the battlefield since the time of Dong Zhuo. He is very experienced...

Just like what everyone said before, if the attack is mainly based on water, there will be some unavoidable troubles that will be difficult to solve.

If it is like a game, where the ship abandons the soldiers and doesn't care about them, the ship is the ship and the soldiers are the soldiers, then they can really just find any place to throw the soldiers off the ship, and then the ship can just move on.

  But in fact, the ships are to serve as temporary strongholds and battle fortresses. That is to say, if there is no suitable mudflat for landing and fighting, the ships will not be able to provide sufficient support to the soldiers!

Not to mention the infiltration of small units, in any large-scale combat, I have never seen anyone just throw soldiers off the ship at random!

If the Cavalry Army wants to board ships to fight, they must find a suitable landing point. Both Xiaopingjin and Shanjin are now in the hands of Cao's army, and they will definitely not let the Cavalry Army go ashore so easily.

Therefore, if the navy is used to attack the floating bridge connecting Cao's Zhongtiao Mountain and Tongguan and suppress the Tongguan camp, it would be a good choice. However, if this waterway is used to deploy a large force and transport it ashore, it would be more difficult.

Regardless of whether Cao's army had built any traps at the floating bridge, even if there were none, the wreckage of the floating bridge was an obstacle to passage, and it was simply wishful thinking to want to pass quickly. In addition, the Three Gorges after Shanjin was also a natural warship trap, so if we took the river route, we had to put all the soldiers on the boat before Shanjin...

In addition to soldiers, war horses are also a problem.

Unlike the Jiangdong navy, the reason why the cavalry is called cavalry is that they need war horses, and the space required by war horses is far beyond that of humans. Although part of the cabin can be converted into a temporary stable in a warship, the feeling of fluctuations on the water surface will make those big-eyed cute girls and boys anxious, and they may even try to break free and escape, causing harm to themselves or others.

After comprehensive consideration, Zhang Liao said that the water route was feasible, but it also had its drawbacks.

Pang Tong smiled, "Actually there is another way..."

Pang Tong pointed down.

"ah? 』

……

……

Late summer of the ninth year of Taixing.

Genghai day.

It is suitable for meeting friends, traveling, cleaning, trading, making money, praying, and building a foundation.

Avoid getting married, setting up the bed, building the stove, and starting a fire.

Clash with sheep and evil spirits in the west.

Fei Qian climbed onto the platform.

Since the surrounding terrain is relatively flat, you must stand on a high platform to better observe the opponent's formation and movements.

The envoy's team was just in the distance, being stopped outside the main army.

  After learning that there was an envoy sent by Cao Cao, Fei Qian's first consideration was not what was written in the war letter, but why Cao Cao did this, what was his purpose, and what did he want to gain?

"Declaration of war?"

Fei Qian was indeed a little surprised.

He had thought about sending a letter of war to Cao Cao before, but later he felt that this move was a bit superfluous, so he gave up. But he didn't expect Cao Cao to send an envoy and a letter of war in return.

"What is the name of the messenger?"

Fei Qian asked.

"My last name is Li Cheng."

The messenger answered.

Fei Qian frowned and thought for a moment, but he couldn't figure out who this so-called "Li Cheng" was, but he still had someone send the messenger in. Now the frontline battle between the two sides, that is, the preliminary battle for the battlefield, has basically come to an end. Because of the inherent deficiency of Cao's army in cavalry, Cao's army has a certain degree of battlefield control outside Anyi Camp and the area behind Anyi Camp, and the rest is basically given to the cavalry army.

From this point of view, Xu Chu had basically completed his pre-war tasks.

Xu Chu gained control of the battlefield north of Anyi, while Cao's army retreated into the main camp and played a "defensive counterattack" or "defense instead of attack".

Fei Qian met Li Cheng.

  Li Cheng is not good-looking, but he has a strong aura. Right from the start, he said that he was the emperor's special envoy, sent personally by the prime minister, and so on. He asked Fei Qian to welcome him with the etiquette of welcoming an angel, otherwise it would be a contempt for the emperor!

This……

Fei Qian smiled slightly. This guy is quite interesting.

  According to the common people's concept, Cao Cao is such a person. The situation is bad, but he still puts on such a show. Wouldn't he be disliked and hated?

But if you think about it, when it comes to issuing a declaration of war, Cao Cao is still good at it.

"The present navy has 800,000 men..."

It is also a classic among classics.

However, many people overlook the background of why Cao Cao wrote that letter of war.

At that time, Cao Cao did not want to attack the Eastern Wu. It was just that it was too easy to get Jingzhou, which made Cao Cao become arrogant. He ignored everyone's advice and marched south when Jingzhou was not yet completely recovered and stabilized, hoping to seize the country in one fell swoop.

Therefore, it is highly likely that Cao Cao's attack on Jingzhou was approved by the emperor, which is the so-called "fighting in accordance with the emperor's order." However, there was no "order" when he attacked Soochow, so it could only be a "hunting party." Moreover, from the word "hunting," we can also get a glimpse of Cao Cao's desire to compete for supremacy at that time. It's a pity that Cao Cao was too proud, which led to his big defeat at the Battle of Red Cliff.

  So what does Cao Cao have to be proud of now?

or is it...

Fei Qian suddenly understood that Li Cheng was not coming to fight, he was coming to die.

  Send again?

"This man is unreasonable and arrogant, he looks down on me, his clothes are unkempt, his manners are incomplete, he was disrespectful first, and then he spoke rudely! For the sake of the angels, I will spare his death! Come, help me get out!"

When Fei Qian saw Li Cheng acting like this, he more or less guessed what this guy meant.

Just like Fei Qian had considered sending a declaration of war to determine whether Cao Cao was really in the camp, on the one hand, Cao Cao wanted to test whether Fei Qian was present in person in this way, and on the other hand, he wanted Fei Qian to be like Yuan Shao and be branded as a betrayer of the Han Dynasty.

After all, many people in Shandong only care about the good and the bad, and don’t think about the process...

The human heart is both complex and simple.

After all, they are brothers in the same school, and perhaps their ideas are similar.

It's just that Fei Qian felt there was no need to test it, but Cao Cao sent someone over...

So it doesn't matter whether you read the letter of challenge or not, and there is no need to really chop him down just because of what he said.

No matter in what era, there are always some people who are crazy about becoming famous.

Fei Qian didn't recognize Li Cheng, nor did he remember such a character among the Three Kingdoms characters. Moreover, looking at this person's attitude, it felt like he was here to die. Killing him would actually satisfy his wishes.

If Fei Qian was angered by him, he would chop off his head, but he would also most likely have someone send his head back.

Or cut off the person's nose, ears, etc. and then let him go.

Then even if this guy didn't die on Fei Qian's side, and insisted on returning to Cao's camp, after completing his mission, he would shout "A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated", and he would be able to end his life with honor. His words and deeds may not be remembered by others, but the disobedience of the cavalry would be widely publicized.

Well, if Fei Qian really received Li Cheng according to the etiquette of an angel, then Fei Qian would be really an idiot. Who knows if Li Cheng would show his true colors?

Therefore, this person has made "merits" in every aspect. Even if he dies, his wife and parents in his hometown in Shandong will most likely be taken care of for a certain period of time.

At the same time, he also smeared a piece of filthy black mud on Fei Qian...

So Fei Qian simply didn't even bother to read the letter of challenge, leaving this guy with nowhere to hide.

But at the same time, Fei Qian also became more vigilant.

  Why was Cao Cao so anxious to confirm whether he had come in person and immediately sent an envoy when he saw his flag arrive?

You know, Cao Cao is actually very patient...

Many people who play the Romance of the Three Kingdoms game think that among the three families of Cao, Liu and Sun, Cao Cao is relatively easier to play, with more soldiers, generals and good territories. However, not many people know that Cao Cao did not have very good capital at the beginning in the struggle between the two kingdoms in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

When Lao Cao was in Chenliu, he was labeled as a son-in-law of a eunuch and relied on the prestige of his childhood friend Zhang Miao and Yuan Shao to start his career. After starting his career, it was not all smooth sailing. In the Battle of Bian River, the whole army was annihilated; he went south to Yangzhou to recruit soldiers, and finally won a few thousand people, but almost all of them ran away halfway; under the wings of Yuan Shao, he endured humiliation for more than a year, and Puyang was overthrown by Lu Bu.

So in fact, if you carefully examine the entrepreneurial history of Cao Cao, you will find that it was not easy for him. There were many people who started their army at the same time as Cao Cao, and even had richer family backgrounds and larger business scales than Cao Cao at the beginning. But in the end, only those three companies survived.

In Chen Shou's later evaluation of Cao Cao, there were eight words "sentimental and calculating, not remembering old grudges", which can be said to be extremely concise.

The meaning of this word "jiaoqing" is slightly different from that of later words. Jiao means to straighten a bent object, and the word "jiaoqing" means to make subjective feelings conform to reality. Rensuan means to make plans.

It seems normal, but if you really think about it, it is really sad.

When talking about others, there are not many people who can stick to the facts. Even more so when it comes to themselves, it is rare to be able to let your subjective feelings conform to reality instead of talking based on emotions or desires, and to be willing to put aside previous prejudices and let others do what they want.

It is amazing that Cao Cao was able to control his heart and desires and tolerate all kinds of intolerable things.

In the Battle of Yanzhou, Cao Cao and Lu Bu were both suffering from a lack of food, but Cao Cao could endure it while Lu Bu could not; in the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao's military strength and logistics were several times greater than Cao Cao's, but Cao Cao could still endure it, even when the army was almost out of food, and he even told Xu You that the army's food would last for more than a month, but Yuan Shao could not endure it. Shen Pei and Guo Tu asked Yuan Shao to delay the battle, but Yuan Shao was eager to fight Cao Cao in a desperate battle...

When Fei Qian thought about this, his eyes became slightly restrained.

  So now, who is really the one who is "sentimental, calculating, and not holding grudges"?

Accepting the declaration of war or not will only have a slight impact on Fei Qian's mood, and will not bring about any obvious changes to the current layout.

With Fei Qian's arrival, the cavalry of both sides became more and more dense. Of course, most of the frontal areas of the battlefield were still controlled by the scouts of the cavalry, while the Cao army cavalry would move in the area close to the Cao army camp, with a relatively narrow range. When they saw the cavalry approaching, they would immediately return to the camp and force them with bows and arrows and stones.

The two armies finally deployed their forces near Anyi City, in the Yuncheng Basin, and with countless flags and shouts, the midfield curtain of the battle was opened...

  (The horse monkey on the tree was about to manually cut the field, but was shot down by an arrow that flew from nowhere. Fei Qian hid the bow behind him and smiled.)

As Fei Qian's army arrived at the front line, the area north of Anyi was almost covered with tricolor flags.

The neat square formations obeyed orders to the sound of trumpets and drums. The orderly footsteps made the ground vibrate slightly. Under the command of flags, drums and whistles, each battalion began to take up their respective combat positions.

The structure of the Loess Plateau and the numerous gullies within the plateau meant that Fei Qian's formation would be subject to certain restrictions.

Fei Qian's formation was divided into two levels. The first level was still Xu Chu's vanguard, running from east to west and facing Cao's main camp. The second level was the line of troops commanded by Fei Qian, with a mixed distribution of infantry and cavalry, with cavalry formations on both wings and in the middle, and the infantry was in front of the artillery camp.

The artillery battalion, the key force for the attack, was now divided into two teams, front and back. Each team was led by a military officer. They were deployed one in front and one in the back, with a distance of 100 steps between them. There were infantry formations guarding the artillery battalion, 50 steps to the left and right.

There is also a baggage engineering battalion in the middle responsible for supporting.

The cavalry on the left and right wings were mainly responsible for holding the line, controlling the battlefield, and taking on the initial escort and final assault tasks. They could not only compress Cao's formation, but also use their flexibility and high mobility to pass through the gaps in the phalanx and launch rapid attacks and counterattacks on the enemy.

Looks pretty standard...

Of course, this is just how it looks, and it is just for the Cao army on the opposite side to see.

Because Fei Qian's current troops can be said to be in the initial stage of the integration of cold and hot weapons, so apart from Fei Qian, it is likely that only Pang Tong can truly understand how to blend gunpowder artillery and traditional cold weapons together, rather than fighting each of them separately...

Even in later times, it is difficult to achieve the combination of infantry and artillery. This combination is not the so-called "infantry charges and artillery bombards, artillery bombards and infantry charges". The real combination of infantry and artillery is that when the last artillery shell falls, the infantry behind has already rushed to the bombardment line of the artillery shell!

Of course, this combination of infantry and artillery has extremely high requirements for both infantry and artillery. It is impossible to achieve such an effect without elite troops. Fei Qian did not expect to achieve such precise coordination at the moment, but at least he could not let his soldiers block the artillery line, and then provide timely protection when Cao's army attacked. That would be enough.

Fei Qian deployed infantry guards in the artillery battalion of the central formation, and also allocated part of his cavalry to the front army to strengthen the strength of the front cavalry. The other part of the cavalry was placed in a position further back to prevent Cao's army from attacking from behind.

It can be seen that Fei Qian’s central front is mainly built around the artillery camp.

A very traditional formation with a central focus and flexible sides.

This was Fei Qian’s response to Cao Cao and his army.

  Forget about the declaration of war or anything like that, just lay out your chips... oh, lay out your battle formation!

So how will Cao’s army react after Fei Qian plays his card?