Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2727 Meng Tian's Defeat of Esen: Winning Hearts and Minds in Guzang

Esen's cavalry did not enter the city.

Using cavalry to defend a city is a complete waste!

As an excellent cavalry commander, Esen certainly couldn't be unaware of this.

Therefore, there were actually only 20,000 infantrymen under Shi Tian'an in the entire Guzang region.

The day after the enemy troops besieged the city, Meng Tian had already begun a fierce siege.

Both sides unleashed a fierce bombardment of each other's catapults, ballistae, siege towers, and other siege weapons.

The Yuan Mongols' ability to learn and utilize resources was truly terrifying. After the war between Liangzhou and Xizhou ended, they also survived three years of epidemics.

During the subsequent recovery phase, they not only vigorously developed their infantry corps, but also made great use of Han Chinese and people from the Western Regions to develop various kinds of weapons.

With the help of Shi Tianze, Yan Wenluan, Chen Zhibao and other Yuan Mongol-influenced Han Chinese, as well as Wei Shu, Guo Chongtao and other surrendered Jin generals, they made great progress.

For a moment, Meng Tian even thought he was facing not the Mongol army, but the Han Chinese army.

No matter how clearly the intelligence is written, it can never compare to the shocking experience of seeing it with your own eyes.

The four prefectures of Liangxi were a thorn in Meng Tian's side, after all, these four prefectures were lost from his hands.

He dreamed of taking back these four counties, thus removing this thorn in his side.

During this period, Esen once again led the Qi army to launch a cavalry raid while Meng Tian began his siege and could no longer maintain his military formation.

Having an enemy cavalry unit on your flank is always the most dangerous situation for an infantry legion during a siege.

Infantry legions in the midst of a siege cannot maintain a tight formation. In this state, they are like fish on a chopping block to the cavalry, who can slaughter them at will.

However, during the operation, Esen fell into an ambush set by Ashu and Yelü Deguang, losing three thousand soldiers, and his generals Yuan Yu and Doulu Ning were killed in battle.

Esen could only cut his losses in time and flee in a sorry state.

In order to build a sharp infantry corps, the Mongols made great use of generals of Han origin and some people from the Western Regions.

Meanwhile, the Jin Dynasty also vigorously promoted generals from the grasslands to help them reorganize their cavalry legions and improve their combat effectiveness as soon as possible.

From the earliest grassland Aju, to Houmochen Chong, Xiao Dalin, Wang Baobao, Qu Chu and others, as well as Yelü Deguang and his group who joined not long ago, all of them have received increased promotion in recent years.

After all, apart from Yelü Deguang and his group who had only recently joined them, the remaining people, although born on the grasslands, were guaranteed to be loyal.

For example, in the Great Jin Dynasty, even if Ashu didn't play the entire match, he almost played the entire match.

He participated in the battles of Guanzhong and Liangzhou, as well as the battles of Bashu, and was also involved in the subsequent campaigns beyond the Great Wall.

He did not participate in the Central Plains War or the Southern War, but he did participate in the Liangzhou War at the same time.

With his distinguished military achievements, he was a high-ranking general in the Great Jin Dynasty.

As for the others, they also participated in many major battles.

Even though these people were born on the grasslands, they are now Jin people, no different from other Jin people.

Meng Tian also entrusted the command of the cavalry to Aju with complete confidence.

After all, he was originally the second-in-command of the Northwest Camp, the deputy general of the Northwest Camp. Within the entire Northwest Camp, he was second only to Meng Tian.

Furthermore, Meng Tian himself believed that in terms of pure cavalry combat, he was indeed inferior to Aju. Throughout history, the Central Plains had produced only a few genius cavalry generals like Huo Qubing.

Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise. Meng Tian entrusted the task to Aju, who was skilled in cavalry warfare, instead of trying to do it himself. This shows that he was not just a famous general, but also a great commander.

A qualified general is one who can effectively utilize his soldiers.

However, a qualified commander needs to make good use of his generals and place them in the most suitable positions.

Clearly, Meng Tian made the right choice by giving A-Shu full authority.

No one could guess when Esen would appear or from which direction.

But couldn't Ashu, who is also skilled in this kind of thing, figure it out?

He had already positioned his cavalry around the directions where the enemy was most likely to appear, just waiting for them to emerge.

Moreover, Ashu dealt with Esen with the full force of his thunderous strike.

Without any intention of probing or entanglement, they directly attacked Yelü Deguang's main force from the left and right.

What Ashu did was to prevent Esen from having the opportunity to entangle and maneuver.

Even though the Jin cavalry were training in archery, they were no match for the Mongols in this aspect.

Moreover, in terms of archery, the Mongols were no worse than the Jin Dynasty; the Jin Dynasty's real advantage over the Mongols lay in its crossbows.

Therefore, Ashu did not give the opponent a chance to entangle or wander around, which meant that the opponent did not have a chance to take advantage of their mounted archery. After a round of crossbow fire from the already-loaded crossbows, the two sides entered a state of close combat.

In close-quarters combat, the better-equipped Jin army had a significant advantage, fully utilizing their strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.

Even General Yuan Yu was actually killed in close combat with a Jin soldier, or rather, he was tricked to death.

Some of the Jin army's cavalry were equipped with crossbows to compensate for their lack of mounted archery skills.

Compared to bows, crossbows can be pre-loaded, meaning they come with a bullet, giving them a first-strike advantage.

However, it cannot match the speed of firing a bow.

As for the repeating crossbow, it's not included in this comparison. After all, it achieves continuous firepower only by sacrificing power and range.

When the two armies clash, the soldiers at the back have time to reload their guns.

Therefore, during the battle between the two armies, many people were killed by the Jin army's crossbows.

At that distance, most people simply don't have time to dodge.

Asu killed three thousand enemies and successfully repelled Esen. This would inevitably cause unrest among the people of Guzang.

Therefore, at this moment, Meng Tian's next step finally began.

Attacking the city is the next step, attacking the heart is the top step.

In a siege, any general would first try to win by strategy, and only when all other options are exhausted will they launch a final assault.

Meng Tian's approach was always to win hearts and minds, rather than to launch a direct attack.

After all, 20,000 defenders is a considerable number, especially relative to his siege force.

Meng Tian did not want to drag this battle out until Wei Qing's main force arrived; he wanted to create a breakthrough before Wei Qing's 150,000 troops arrived.