Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3474 The difference between the first and the last
Although Xu Chu disrupted Cao's army's deployment, the actual attack on the Zhongtiao Mountain camp was not as smooth as expected.

Cao's army relied on defensive fortifications to resist, but their ordinary swords and guns did not do much to destroy those fortifications.

The destructive power of grenades is limited and sometimes not as useful as tomahawks.

The only way was to attack with fire, but Cao's army also painted mud on the walls of the village for defense, so it could not be ignited for a while.

This is just like when nomadic peoples attack Chinese fortresses, they are often powerless even with more men and horses.

Xu Chu led his men to charge twice, demolished a section of the wall of Cao's camp outside, and repelled several waves of counterattacks by Cao's soldiers, but they were still blocked by the powerful bows and crossbows in the center of Cao's army.

When Fei Qian led his men forward and found Xu Chu, Xu Chu was so excited in the fight that he threw off his helmet and wanted to send heavy armored infantry to clear the way with red eyes.

Sima Yi hurriedly stepped forward to stop Xu Chu and pulled Xu Chu aside to calm down.

Fei Qian narrowed his eyes, ignored the whispers of Sima Yi and Xu Chu, and carefully examined the Zhongtiao Mountain camp in front of him.

When I got closer and looked at Cao's Zhongtiao Mountain camp, the feeling was completely different from looking at it from a distance with a telescope.

Xu Chu's anxiety is understandable. After all, the defense map of the Zhongtiao Mountain camp obtained from Lu Chang is time-limited. If Cao's army notices this problem and changes the layout of the Zhongtiao Mountain camp, it may not be a help for the attack, but a death trap.

The sun hangs in the sky.

Zhongtiao Mountain lies in front.

Cao's Zhongtiaoshan camp was built on the mountain. It stretched nearly ten miles from east to west, and from the bottom of the mountain to the middle of the mountain in the north-south direction. The two-three-person-high wooden and earthen walls were equipped with sentry towers, arrow slits, and military forts. A huge crossbow was faintly visible behind the breastwork, and the iron arrowheads of the crossbows shone with a dazzling cold light in the sun.

Dust was rising faintly on the mountain road in the distance, as if some soldiers were being mobilized.

The military camp was very majestic, but the soldiers inside were a little panicked.

In the camp, some Han army flags were hanging limply with their heads bowed.

The messengers of Cao's army were running around busily while looking at the Hussars. Sometimes they accidentally stepped on empty ground and slid down the slope on the mountainside, falling in a dusty state.

Near the camp gate, some miscellaneous discarded weapons and broken arrows, as well as bloody corpses, were quietly looking at both sides, as if waiting for the next newcomer to accompany them.

There was some black color on some of the missing swords and guns, and the smell of blood seemed to still linger at the tip of the nose even from such a distance.

Xu Chu walked back again, "My Lord..."

Fei Qian nodded, "The more anxious we are, the more chaotic it will be... Now that we have our troops stationed here, it will be difficult for Cao's camp to adjust its defenses even if they want to..."

This is why Fei Qian still sent troops to attack even though he had some doubts.

Only by attacking and suppressing Cao's army can they be forced to reveal more loopholes. Moreover, when the distance is close, even if Cao's army wants to do anything, they will be under the pressure of the cavalry. As long as they seize an opportunity, it will only take a moment to capture the Zhongtiao Mountain camp.

"My lord, we are short of siege equipment..." Sima Yi said, "The Cao army has powerful bows and crossbows in the camp, and we will be at a disadvantage if we attack them..."

Once the siege equipment comes up, it will be much easier to fight.

But Fei Qian shook his head and smiled, "Zhongda, don't forget, we have another advantage..."

……

……

Starting from that afternoon, the Hussars changed their tactics.

The original posture of biting it off in one breath or smashing it to death with a hammer was gone, and it was replaced by cutting the meat with a small knife.

The Cavalry Corps launched a small-scale attack on the Zhongtiao Mountain camp with its brigades and battalions taking turns to attack.

In order to prevent Cao's army from mastering the rhythm of the cavalry's attack, Fei Qian sent out different numbers of soldiers each time, sometimes thousands of soldiers, and sometimes only dozens of soldiers. The infantry and cavalry were mixed together, some of them carried ordinary rockets and ran away after firing, and some carried some destructive tools to eliminate the outer barricades of Cao's army...

The large army was waving flags, with powerful bows and crossbows at the forefront, ready to attack and break through. They were waiting for the enemy to blew horns and line up outside the camp to fight, but they were no longer able to do so.

Sometimes, three or two teams would lead hundreds of cavalrymen and sweep past like a gust of wind, but they would never engage in a fight with the enemy, but would only surround the camp of Cao's army and harass them.

There was no regular pattern in the duration of the test. Sometimes there was no movement for half a day, sometimes one group left and another group arrived shortly after, and sometimes even a large group of troops in the front were slowly retreating, while one or two light cavalry on the flank tried to break through. When the Cao army screamed and began to turn around the defense line, they turned back immediately.

Cao Jun also wanted to make a change to this tactic against Yu Feiqian, but it was difficult...

The difficulty is not the strategy or the command, but the execution!

Execution of soldiers.

Although the Hussars suffered nearly a thousand casualties in their camp at Zhongtiao Mountain in the early stages, the morale of the Hussars was apparently not affected.

It is not to say that the Hussars have evolved to the point where they are no longer afraid of life and death, but that Fei Qian has achieved the pinnacle of this era, or even surpassed this era, in terms of treating wounded soldiers and providing logistical support for the treatment of casualties.

On the battlefield, everyone knows that swords and guns have no eyes, and everyone knows that life and death are determined by fate. However, when you are really injured, you still hope that there will be someone around to treat you and do everything possible to prolong your life, rather than being thrown into the garbage dump like a piece of rotten meat...

That’s right, the siege equipment of the Hussars has not caught up yet, but the quality, physical fitness, and mutual coordination, cover, and cooperation on the entire battlefield of the Hussars far surpass those of Cao’s soldiers. This has made it increasingly difficult for Cao’s soldiers in the past two days!
Although the Cavalry Army did not launch a decisive attack on the camp in Zhongtiao Mountain during these two days, it did get a rough idea of ​​the situation of Cao's army in the middle and outer circles of Zhongtiao Mountain and their real and fake deployments.

The deployment of Cao's army was generally consistent with the defense map presented by Lu Chang.

It has been found out that there are about 4,000 Cao army soldiers defending the northern entrance of Zhongtiao Mountain, and half of them on the two wings. They are deployed along the Zhongtiao Mountain Road, and the logistics camp is also deep in the mountain road.

There were three or four camps along the way, each with a garrison of between 500 and 1,000 soldiers.

There were two other small paths that were also blocked by Cao's soldiers. The scouts could not get through at all. They could only roughly estimate based on the number of command flags and tents that there were still about a thousand enemies blocking these two roads.

Overall, it is not much different from the scale of 10,000 people mentioned by Lu Chang, but there are some details that don't match up...

During these two days, Xu Chu and Sima Yi cooperated with each other to deploy soldiers and dispatch troops. They were so busy that they had almost no time to eat or sleep. Fei Qian was also busy. On the one hand, he had to deal with various documents delivered from the rear, and on the other hand, he had to formulate an overall offensive plan based on the current situation of Cao's army.

In fact, after two days of hard work, Fei Qian successfully dragged Cao's Zhongtiao Mountain camp into his own rhythm.

Following the opponent's rhythm will definitely bring bad luck, so both sides are trying their best to increase the pace, but the physical fitness of Cao's soldiers and so on are beginning to fail to keep up.

Fighting is a very physically demanding activity. It is common for people to become exhausted after an intense battle.

However, the Hussars, who have a stronger physical foundation, better living conditions, and a stronger training foundation, can recover faster than Cao's army!

What did Cao’s soldiers eat?
Most soldiers are probably low-grade carbohydrates.

Then serve with some pickles.

As for meat, even if there is any, it is in miniature form. It is hard to say whether it is real meat or not.

Even with this kind of food ratio, ordinary soldiers might not be able to eat their fill.

The more senior non-commissioned officers in military academies eat much better.

Higher-level officers and generals had their own dedicated stoves and specially-equipped chefs. Even the coarsest wheat rice was screened so that it would not be mixed with sand, gravel or insects.

The strict hierarchy among Cao's army and the differential treatment in food were beneficial to governance and management, but the drawbacks were now apparent.

As for the Cavalry Army, due to the large-scale promotion of cattle and horse breeding, the probability and quantity of these Cavalry Army soldiers eating meat far exceeded those of Cao's soldiers!

Therefore, the difference in physical fitness between the two sides gradually widened as time went by and the consumption of the battle. Fei Qian brought Huang Xu and a team of guards to the temporary mess camp.

The pots and pans in this makeshift kitchen have been running non-stop for the past two days.

Because of the tactics of continuous harassment and invasion of Cao's Zhongtiao Mountain camp, when one group of soldiers finished eating and rushed to the front line, the next group of soldiers who retreated would come here to eat and rest, so there was no concept of two or three meals a day. Steamed buns and hot soup were always prepared, and the soldiers could eat some as long as they sat down.

When Fei Qian arrived, there were some soldiers holding bowls, either standing or squatting, eating. When they saw Fei Qian coming, they all stopped involuntarily.

When some sergeants from the military academy came forward, Fei Qian smiled and casually called them by their nicknames.

"Zhang family boy, stop laughing, the soup is spilled!"

"Liu Erlang, your robe is so torn that your buttocks are exposed. Hurry up and finish eating and go to the rear camp to get a new one..."

"Li Zhongye! Have you bought any property for your family this time?"

Fei Qian chatted as if he were at home, as they walked.

The sergeants from the military academy who were named by him were either giggling or were so excited that soup spilled all over their bodies. Some of them hurriedly expressed their determination to continue fighting and not turn back until Cao's army was defeated.

Fei Qian also nodded, and walked along with a smile, looking at this and asking that.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

If it were other troops, Fei Qian might not be familiar with all of them, but many of these military academies were transferred from Pingyang and were the best selected from the military over the years. Naturally, Fei Qian knew them all.

Fei Qian was surrounded by the crowd, patting this person on the shoulder, punching that person, and his every move revealed a kind and sincere heart. Even if there were some military academy sergeants who were unfamiliar, Huang Xu would introduce them to them, and Fei Qian would also give them some encouragement, which immediately made everyone in the military academy blush and excited.

Fei Qian did not stay long, just walked around, then ordered someone to bring two sheep, and the butcher slaughtered them, and gave a meal to the soldiers and military academy, as well as the people who came later. Immediately, he received cheers from the soldiers and military academy...

……

……

Although from the moment Cao's army was blocked in the Zhongtiao Mountain camp, the various units realized that they would eventually have to retreat and break out, Dong Zhao never gave the order to retreat.

Due to various concerns, the top leaders of Cao's army have been avoiding talking about the matter and have not announced the exact time of retreat. However, this does not mean that the military academies and soldiers at the lower levels will not make some preparations for retreat in advance.

However, on the surface, such preparations for retreat are still prohibited, and those who are discovered will even be punished.

This rigid and incompetent system is like arresting malicious workers one second and posting a big blue notice to show how heinous the person who disobeyed the curfew and dared to come out to earn money to buy food and pancakes was, and then the next second it is advocating that everyone should set up stalls, the economy recovers, and everyone should work like slaves and rent out their time and labor...

Under this contradictory and unclear system, the preset plans of various units of Cao's army were not unified, which also led to the uncertainty of Cao's soldiers. Especially when the Cavalry Army began high-intensity harassment operations, this problem of Cao's soldiers was magnified.

Although going into battle means facing life and death, if you can survive, of course you hope you won't die.

At least he didn't die in vain.

When the harassment tactics of the Hussars just started, Cao's soldiers were able to respond with full vigor, but as time went on, they began to be unable to bear it...

The soldier line is not like in later games, where you can move it by dragging the mouse, and you can also strike dozens of postures to choose from. In fact, mobilization, sequence organization, rotation of guards, supply of military supplies and other matters, if any of them is not done well, problems may arise!

If it weren't for the Cao army soldiers in the Zhongtiao Mountain camp, who were generally considered to be relatively elite, the camp would have collapsed long ago.

The morale of Cao's soldiers was obviously declining, which gave Dong Zhao a headache.

The sun sets again.

As the red setting sun sank below the horizon, the boundless loess of Hedong seemed to be shrouded in the blood-red sunset glow. The sky was full of golden and red clouds chasing the setting sun, just like scattered stragglers fleeing to the west.

How I wish it was the Hussars who escaped, not Cao's army...

Dong Zhao looked at the setting sun and let out a long breath, "Pass the order, beat the drum to gather the troops!"

Go out of the camp and fight back?

Don't even think about it.

With this kind of morale, if they leave the camp, they will probably collapse immediately!

He might even turn around and join the Hussars to attack the Zhongtiao Mountain camp!
This kind of thing has been repeated many times in history, so Dong Zhao would naturally not do such a thing.

Facing the lifeless military academy, he forced a smile and said, "You all fought bravely and made outstanding contributions... Now... it is almost time to retreat..."

Originally, everyone in the Cao army school looked like dead people, except that they had more breath than zombies. After Dong Zhao finished speaking, they were silent for a while, and then they suddenly came back to life, and even the luster on their faces became a little rosy!
"Retreat! When?!"

"I should have quit long ago!"

"Very good!"

"Retreat, retreat quickly!"

The military schools of Cao’s army were extremely excited.

"..." Dong Zhao's face gradually fell.

After a while, someone in the military academy realized the problem. After coughing a few times, everyone gradually retracted their heads and shut their mouths.

Dong Zhao took a deep breath, and then tried to keep his voice steady, not to be affected by these guys. "But when we retreat, the most casualties will be caused! Excuse me, who among you is willing to stay behind to cover us? !"

The military students immediately shrank their heads even more, wishing they could hide in the cracks in the ground immediately.

"That's it!" Dong Zhao said in a deep voice, "If we rush to retreat, the mountain road will be blocked and no one will be able to escape. Everyone will die here! Is this what you want? ! A bunch of bastards!"

Dong Zhao couldn't help cursing at the end, and then adjusted his breathing.

Dong Zhao was not satisfied with the performance of Cao's soldiers in the past two days.

Dong Zhao believed that relying on the camp, they could at least hold out for a period of time. Even if the siege equipment of the cavalry was powerful, they could at least retreat step by step and wait for an opportunity to move like the Tongguan camp. However, he did not expect that after only two or three days, the Zhongtiaoshan camp showed signs of collapse!

So, from this point of view, Dong Zhao really cares about whether these military schools can retreat alive and leave safely?
What a joke, of course not!

Dong Zhao's current talk of "withdrawing troops" is not really about "withdrawing troops", just like those officials in Shandong who often talk about "conscience" may not really have much "conscience".

Dong Zhao's goal was still to stabilize the morale of the army, give hope to the Cao army soldiers and military schools in the Zhongtiao Mountain camp, and then let these Cao army soldiers and military schools continue to work like slaves and fight for their lives.

"Since none of you are willing to take on the responsibility of covering our retreat..."

Dong Zhao spoke slowly, then looked around, and then under the expectant gazes of the military academies, he said something that surprised them but seemed to be a matter of course, "Then all of you stay and cover us!"

Dong Zhao's expression didn't change on the surface, but he was sneering in his heart.

isn't it?
Do you, the military academy, all hope that you can withdraw your troops simply and smoothly? Do you all hope that you can easily obtain the right to life, the hope of survival, and be taken care of by Shandong officials, local tyrants, and manor owners?
No way!
Do you really think that because people in Shandong call officials "parents", they can really treat them as their own parents and get selfless and unrequited care from them?

Looking at the military school students who were looking at each other in bewilderment, Dong Zhao put on a sincere expression and said in the most earnest voice: "Think about it yourself. If you don't stay together and repel the cavalry pursuit first, then no one will give in and we will trample on each other. By then, you and I will both die in this mountain!"

"so……"

Dong Zhao looked around, "The Cavalry has been harassing our army for days, exhausting it! The Cavalry will definitely attack our camp tonight at the earliest, tomorrow night at the latest! This is our best chance! As long as we defeat the Cavalry, we can withdraw calmly! If we retreat in an orderly manner, everyone can survive! If we are afraid of death at this moment and prevent everyone from returning... I, Dong, will say this first. No matter whether the Cavalry comes or not, I will kill this troublemaker first!"

"Do you understand? Defeat the Hussars first, and then withdraw! This is the difference between the order of events, and you must not make a mistake! Otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless!"