Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 158 Encirclement and reinforcements
He began to prepare for war and came to the Western Regions with thousands of troops. It was obvious that he was not here for a picnic. No matter how the Cheshi people responded, the Han Dynasty had to fight.

Huo Xian summoned all the generals again and began to prepare for the next few things.

"Marquis Yiqiu, you lead 3,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry to guard the Peacock River and other places." Huo Xian gave the order directly, saying, "If the troops from Yanqi and Wuxu come to support us, kill them!"

Gongsun Ao accepted the order immediately, because he was guarding the "rear route" of the army. It was indeed possible that countries such as Wuxu, Yanqi, and Yuli would send troops to assist Cheshi.

Huo Xian turned to look at Ren An and Tian Ren, "You two will each lead a thousand elite soldiers, march fifty miles north, and guard the key roads to prevent the Xiongnu from moving south."

Cheshi was too close to the Xiongnu. When the Han army and Cheshi were in full swing of attack and defense, the Xiongnu might directly march south.

These may be the confidence of the Cheshi people. They felt that they were close to the Xiongnu and could ask for help and get protection from the Xiongnu when the Han army attacked.

Reinforcements, this is what Huo Xian must pay attention to. He knows very well that it is difficult for Cheshi to fight against the Han Dynasty with the strength of one country. If they want to fight against the Han Dynasty, they need the help of multiple forces.

After looking at Li Ling, Huo Xian said, "You lead your troops directly to Jiaohe City and surround it without attacking it."

Li Ling immediately accepted the order, Jiaohe City was the capital of Cheshi. Although it was just a siege without attack, the order was very clear, that is, Li Ling was the real vanguard.

Huo Xian immediately stood up and said, "All units should just follow the military orders and take the time to rest. There may be a big battle next. All units should remember to send out scouts. The Western Regions are still unfamiliar, so we must be on guard against the Xiongnu coming and going."

After everyone else left, Zhao Anguo said with some concern, "Lord, autumn is almost here, why don't we destroy Cheshi right away?"

"I want to surround them but not attack them. I want other forces to come to my aid." Huo Xian smiled and said, "You should know how to surround a point and attack its reinforcements."

Zhao Anguo was a little embarrassed and asked, "Lord, what does this mean by siege and attack?"

It's no wonder that Zhao Anguo didn't understand, although the literal meaning is easy to understand. But the best use of this tactic is the commoner marshal among the ten marshals. This is a classic tactic of mobile warfare.

Huo Xian smiled and said, "The Cheshi army has few soldiers, but as I said before, they have a lot of soldiers to support them. If we go to fight them one by one, it will be a long journey and the cost will be too high. It's not worth it."

No one knows this better than Zhao Anguo. After all, these small countries in the Western Regions are relatively scattered, and it is indeed a bit far and tiring to attack them one by one.

"I will surround Cheshi, and the various forces in the Western Regions will come to help." Huo Xian said with a smile, "The focus is on attacking the reinforcements, and those who besiege the city are auxiliary forces."

Zhao Anguo said with some worry, "I'm just afraid that Che Shi will be killed in one go. Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

No one was worried about the absolute strength of Cheshi. If the army took it seriously, it was not impossible to directly break through Jiaohe City.

Huo Xian also understood this principle and said, "The difficulty lies in the deployment of troops. The focus of the deployment of troops is to attack the reinforcements. Secondly, if the siege attack is not strong enough, the enemy will not send reinforcements, and attacking the reinforcements will be useless."

Pointing outside the tent, Huo Xian said, "Li Ling's troops are good at besieging the city, but it's difficult to attack the city. I don't want to take Jiaohe City immediately, I just want to surround it."

Huo Xian did not intend to capture Jiaohe City in one go. If he broke into the city directly, how would the enemy come to reinforce?

Zhao Anguo seemed to understand, and suddenly said, "My Lord, does this mean that if the enemy comes to help this time, the troops I have will be the main force?"

Seeing Huo Xian nodding with a smile, Zhao Anguo was happy, "I told you, everyone else has been assigned tasks, but I have nothing to do. If you don't know, you might think that the Lord is worried and wants to keep me by his side!"

Huo Xian smiled and said, "Let's go and provoke them after the siege in a couple of days. I haven't fought on the battlefield for a long time, so I'll go and practice with the chariot master first."

We have to hurt the Cheshi first. If we don't give them some strength, their requests for help won't be urgent enough. Since we are going to surround the enemy and attack the reinforcements, we must first prepare to defeat the enemy.

Zhao Anguo suddenly asked, "Lord, we attacked Dayuan that year, and now it seems that we are also besieging a place and attacking its reinforcements!"

"That doesn't count. We did surround Guishan City, but they had few reinforcements." Huo Xian explained carefully, "Attacking Dayuan is attacking the city and attacking the reinforcements. There is a difference here. The focus this time is the reinforcements!"

Zhao Anguo thought about it carefully and felt that there seemed to be some differences, with the emphasis being on slightly different points.

However, he was too lazy to think about these things any more. The most important thing was to execute the general's orders and prepare for the next combat mission. This was also what he should be concerned about.

Although Zhao Anguo was trying hard to learn how to command troops independently, he thought he had reached a certain level. But for many things, he knew that he was only a general.

So it is better not to do things that you are not good at. Zhao Anguo is actually very clear about his position, that is, the deputy general of the Marquis of Guanjun. Not only does he have such a cognition, but also the nobles in the court think so. Even the title of "Marquis of Congpi" has redefined his position.

Since we are going to surround a point and attack its reinforcements, many things need to be prepared. A certain attacking posture must be adopted, and the necessary offensive must be launched. This is the basic condition.

Most of the soldiers are resting now, while a small number of soldiers have received different tasks and started to implement some tactics.

It was a clear and crisp autumn day. Huo Xian, dressed in armor, stood on horseback under the general's flag. The army began its initial offensive against Jiaohe City.

"The Cheshi people are still holding out." Zhao Anguo, who was standing beside him, said with some disdain, "I'm afraid these people have realized what's good for them. They know they can't stop our Han army, so they can only hold on."

Huo Xian gave the order, "Let Li Ling's troops start filling up the ditches, and the army will approach Jiaohe City to see how the Cheshi people react."

Take it step by step, and slowly approach Jiaohe City. From the perspective of others, this naturally means preparing to break through Jiaohe City, and they must get close to the enemy's city.

Li Ling also approved of the military order. The Cheshi people hid in their hiding place and refused to come out. They had actually made preparations, rather than really not making any expression and waiting to be captive.

For example, the dense gullies outside Jiaohe City were naturally meant to prevent the Han cavalry from approaching and to delay the approach of the Han infantry.

Filling up those ditches is a technical job, and naturally it is also a hard job. In addition, we must prevent the Cheshi people from suddenly attacking the city, and we must also be careful to guard against them when we enter the range of the Cheshi people's arrows.

All this is not so simple. Huo Xian and others also feel that the Cheshi people are not only using this method to delay, but also to buy time.

Whether it is to gain support from other reinforcements or to prepare for the arrival of winter, such delaying tactics have no harm to the Cheshi people, after all, they have more supplies.

But the situation of the Han army was different. If they failed to capture Cheshi by winter, they might be defeated in Jiaohe City, which would be a repeat of Li Guangli's defeat in Yucheng City.

The infantry began to dig and fill the pit, while the cavalry made some preparations. If the Cheshi people rushed out, they would definitely have to be driven back.

"My Lord, we brought a lot of gunpowder this time." Chen Ju whispered, "Otherwise, we can sneak over at night and I can lead people to blow up the Cheshi people's lair directly!"

Huo Xian smiled and said, "There's no rush for this. It's not that difficult to break the city. The key is how to get their reinforcements. Let's have people make some siege equipment as soon as possible. We have to do a full show!"

Since Huo Xian said so, naturally, others had no opinions to express and it was enough to just carry out these orders.

Perhaps the Cheshi people spent several months digging trenches and pits outside Jiaohe City in an attempt to delay the advance of the Han army. However, facing the continuous efforts of tens of thousands of troops, these trenches were not enough.

It only took five days for the army to get closer to Jiaohe City and into the range of the arrows of the Cheshi people. They could look down from a high position and shoot from a slightly longer range.

But this does not mean that the Cheshi people are safe. The biggest advantage of the Han army is not just their large numbers, but their more advanced weapons and equipment, including some heavy crossbows.

Those rammed earth cities were not particularly high, and it was simply wishful thinking to want to use them to stop the Han army's offensive.

There is no doubt that the reaction of the Cheshi people also confirmed some speculations. These people have been maintaining a defensive posture until now, and they are obviously waiting for reinforcements.

Seeing that the battle was almost over, Huo Xian gave the order, "Let Li Ling lead his troops to shoot at them with arrows and crossbows. These Cheshi people are still overestimating their own capabilities."

Then Huo Xian said to Chen Ju, "Get your armor ready and follow me into battle."

Zhao Anguo, who was standing beside him, was stunned for a moment, and quickly advised, "My Lord, there is no need to charge now. If the Cheshi people really leave the city, I can lead my men to charge."

Although as the commander of an army, he should just command on the battlefield, but Huo Xian was still a little restless. If there was a chance, he still wanted to charge into the battle, which was also a bit of his willfulness.

"If the Xiongnu really come, I will have fewer opportunities to charge into battle." Huo Xian laughed and said to Zhao Anguo, "Gather the heavy cavalry and get ready. If the Cheshi people leave the city, the heavy cavalry will follow me to charge!"

Zhao Anguo was helpless. He couldn't persuade Huo Xian, even if Gongsun Ao came. So forget it, don't try to persuade him, because it really has no effect.

What's more, deep down, Zhao Anguo didn't think that the Cheshi people could play any tricks. If the prince wanted to charge and fight, then let him charge and fight. There was actually no risk.

(End of this chapter)