Fu Shanhe

Chapter 84
The appearance of the volley gun directly stunned the rebels.

In less than a quarter of an hour of fighting, the rebels suffered thousands of casualties.

Such a tragic price is obviously not something a mob can bear.

The endless screams made the already low morale team even more demoralized.

Countless soldiers dropped their weapons, turned around and ran back.

For a time, even the supervision team was too busy to handle the situation.

"Fifth Uncle, the enemy's defense is too tight, we really can't break in!"

The young general in charge of commanding the attack apologized to Wen Jianshao with a sad face.

"I've seen it all, why would you waste your time talking nonsense here?

The soldiers are beginning to collapse, quickly give the order to retreat! "

As he spoke, Wen Jianshao kicked him out directly.

This is the disadvantage of family armed forces, the main generals are all family members.

I want to impose severe punishment, but I can't bring myself to do it.

I originally wanted to win a battle and boost the morale of the troops.

Unexpectedly, the battle had just begun and the enemy had already suffered a wave of casualties.

It was not known whether he could break through the enemy camp with the fighting style he had just used, but the army he led would definitely collapse.

The attack stopped, but the wailing of the wounded continued.

"Arrange the children to carry the wounded down. The government troops will not attack the children!"

After hesitating for a moment, Wen Jianshao gritted his teeth and gave the order.

Wounds caused by firearms are not so easy to treat.

At another time, he would definitely give the order to help the wounded to be relieved.

But it’s not possible now, as the morale of the troops is at its lowest.

Taking the initiative to order the killing of the wounded would arouse too much hatred and easily cause a mutiny in the army.

Even though they knew they could not save him, they had to pretend to be trying their best to treat him in order to calm the restive soldiers.

Time passed minute by minute, and wounded soldiers were carried back from the battlefield, but there was no joy on Wen Jianshao's face.

Deep down in his heart, he wished that the government troops would kill the children who were carrying the wounded, so as to arouse the whole army's hatred of the enemy.

Unfortunately, the enemy soldiers only shouted that people were not allowed to carry weapons, and had no intention of stopping them.

At one point he even wanted to use these child soldiers to see whether the government troops would take action.

However, considering the terrifying looks the soldiers gave him, Wen Jianshao finally gave up this terrible idea.

It is these family members who can motivate the young and strong men to fight.

If there were no concerns about weaknesses, no one could guarantee that these guys would not turn against us.

……

Night falls.

The camp of the government troops, which had won a small victory, was filled with the joy of victory.

Soldiers in groups of three or four were discussing how much reward they could receive after the war.

Although there was a little sympathy for the rebel soldiers' plight, for the sake of their own pockets, everyone quickly put this unnecessary emotion aside.

"Captain Li, are you planning a night raid?"

Marquis Wuyang asked with a little excitement.

After a close encounter with the battlefield, in addition to feeling the cruelty of war, I was more excited.

Having had the successful experience last time, he was particularly interested in night attacks.

"My Lord, the enemy has suffered such a great loss, and tonight is the time when they are most alert, so it is not suitable for a night attack.

The rogue general has just committed a big mistake on the battlefield.

With so many wounded being carried back, there must be constant wailing in the enemy camp tonight, and the enemy soldiers will probably have trouble sleeping.

Let the soldiers have a good rest for a night. When the enemy soldiers are exhausted, it will be time for us to defeat them!"

After listening to Li Mu's explanation, Marquis Wuyang's eyes lit up.

These battlefield details are not recorded at all in military books.

Without the guidance of elders, one has to rely on one's own exploration, which is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

In fact, even if one has learned this knowledge, only very few people can apply it flexibly on the battlefield.

In thousands of years of civilization inheritance, our ancestors have fallen into all kinds of traps.

All military tactics are nothing new.

If you are familiar with the art of war, you will be able to absorb and digest this knowledge, and then the war will long ago become a fight between gods.

It is more likely that because everyone is familiar with the art of war, all kinds of strategies are clear at a glance, and they have prepared in advance.

When it comes to employing troops, the generals can only choose to return to basics, building strong camps and fighting stupid battles in a disciplined manner.

……

Rebel camp.

The wailing of the wounded made Wen Jianshao upset.

The original intention was to rally the troops' morale, but no one expected that after all this trouble, the morale of the troops became even lower.

"The government troops have powerful firearms. Do you have any strategy to defeat the enemy?"

Wen Jianshao asked with a frown.

"Fifth General, the enemy army before us is different from the government troops we have encountered before.

In addition to their powerful firearms, they also cooperated in an orderly manner on the battlefield.

As soon as one team of government troops finished shooting, another team would immediately take up their place, and the firepower was almost continuous.

The enemy also put a lot of effort into setting up the camp.

There is definitely no such army in the Jiangnan region. It is very likely that they are elite troops from the Beijing camp.

If you want to defeat the enemy, you can't use the old methods.

Fortunately, the enemy has few soldiers, so we can adopt siege tactics.

When they run out of food, we will be able to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop!"

The brilliant plan proposed by the scholar in blue was immediately greeted with applause.

For the generals, it is better not to fight such a cowardly battle during the day if possible.

“Siege is indeed an option, but the enemy has reinforcements.

According to the intelligence we collected, the opposing government troops came from the Wucheng Bingmasi.

The troops in front of us are only a part of their strength.

There are two groups of government troops ten miles away from us.

Judging from the distance, if we don’t send troops to intercept them, the enemy will be able to join us tomorrow.

If the enemy troops are all so elite, it will be difficult to fight after the troops are divided!"

Wen Jianshao said helplessly.

When he received the news, he was completely numb.

The government troops were really despicable. They could have acted together, but they actually split into three groups.

Now that the two sides were so close, he didn't dare to order a retreat.

Given the quality of the rebel army, if they ran in front and the government troops chased them from behind, they would collapse immediately.

The main force has just departed from Gaoyou and will take at least three days to arrive.

No matter what, they had to find a way to hold on for three days.

If the war is lost in advance, with the influence of the imperial court, there will be no shortage of guides.

With collusion between internal and external forces, Xinghua County will certainly be in danger.

The enemy is defending the city, and even if the main force arrives, they will be unable to do anything for a while.

It is almost impossible to force the imperial court to surrender without being able to defeat the rebel armies one by one.

There is no chance of winning if you use a small corner of the country to fight against the whole world.

At that point, they could only follow the advice of the die-hard fighters, abandon their family property, burn their boats, and march westward to attack Fengyang.

"Fifth General, when did this news come about? How come we don't know about it?"

The scholar in green shirt asked with a sullen face. We are all in the same boat, but such important news was not announced in advance.

If he knew that the enemy had reinforcements nearby, he would definitely oppose provoking a war.

“I received the news after the war.

The specific situation of the enemy reinforcements needs further investigation.

It's dark now, so it's hard to figure out the situation. We'll get more information tomorrow."

Wen Jianshao explained patiently.

The spies were all selected unlucky people and had never received any professional training.

Before, I didn’t notice it because I hadn’t encountered the enemy, but now the disadvantages are suddenly exposed.

If it weren't for the threat to their families, it is estimated that these people would never return once they left the camp, let alone send back any intelligence.

Since they are forced, don't expect them to work hard.

He wanted to arrange his trusted confidants to do the job, but these people started complaining before they even left the camp.

The servants who followed him were all used to a life of luxury and were not capable of doing hard work.

The most capable fighters in the Wen family army are still the salt smugglers.

Unfortunately, those elite troops are all in the main force.

Even if the clan sent people over, he wouldn't be able to control those guys.

An example is the several families who rebelled together. Because they were unable to intimidate the private salt dealers under their command, they all lost their leadership after the rebellion.

The worst-off family was even wiped out by their subordinates.

In order to nip the crisis in the bud, the Wen family never let these people go out to expand their influence.

"Fifth General, if that's the case, then let's step up our guard!

I heard that in the previous battle of Yangzhou, Huang Renlong was defeated because his camp was attacked by government troops at night.

The government troops that defeated them were from the Wucheng Bingmasi.

The enemy is good at night attacks, we must keep people on guard day and night to not leave any opportunities for the enemy to take advantage! "

The scholar in green shirt said helplessly.

Reason told him that the situation of the Wen family was not good.

The real elite of the Dayu Dynasty were the border troops. The Beijing troops only had good weapons and equipment, but had never participated in actual combat.

The Wucheng Bingmasi is just a government office responsible for maintaining public order and cannot be considered an elite force at all.

Unfortunately, this army with no sense of existence was still able to defeat the rebels.

During the day, the main problem was that the enemy was short of manpower.

If there were a few thousand more people, the enemy would probably rush out of the camp and kill them in one fell swoop when they sounded the retreat.

Judging from the current situation, the imperial court only had to raise a finger and the rebel army was forced into a desperate situation.

Wanting to shake the country and people of Dayu is pure dreaming.

Deep down, he was secretly regretting it.

He claims to be the successor of the dragon-slaying technique, but he doesn't even understand the situation in the world.

The claims that the imperial court’s ruling power is declining and the empire is about to collapse are all illusions.

It is true that the people are suffering, but the people have always suffered in every dynasty!

A call was made and the heroes responded, it's all a fucking lie.

Just because life is hard doesn’t mean people will rebel.

The seven great families raised their armies, and except for the green forest people in the Huai River and Liang Huai regions who were passively involved, other regions remained stable.

Few of the people who joined the rebel army did so voluntarily.

If these people's families were not held captive, it would be difficult to get them to go to the battlefield.

It was too late to realize this. It was easy to get on the pirate ship, but difficult to get off.

……

Compared to the rebels' anxiety, Li Mu slept particularly soundly.

In the early morning, as soon as the sky began to brighten, the aroma of meat began to fill the camp.

Frankly speaking, Li Mu couldn't accept eating meat in the morning, but he couldn't resist his soldiers' love for it.

Not to mention eating meat in the morning, even if you wake people up in the middle of the night to eat meat, they won’t complain at all.

It is a military rule that food must be improved before a war.

For the lower-level soldiers, every improvement in food before a major war could be their last meal in their lives.

When conditions permit, generals will try to give their soldiers a good meal before issuing combat orders.

The officers and soldiers of the Wucheng Bingmasi were undoubtedly lucky. They met a commander who was accustomed to big scenes and was not so sensitive to numbers.

It was very quick when allocating funds.

The strategic materials were purchased by the generals themselves, without the involvement of civil servants.

An ambitious general like Li Mu would never withhold military pay, and the food standards would only be higher, not lower.

While the soldiers were busy eating, he had already gone up to the lookout tower to observe the movements in the rebel camp.

Looking at the lazy patrolling soldiers opposite, Li Mu couldn't help but smile, and the opportunity for war appeared.

"Pass the order down, have all units prepare for battle, and the entire army will attack at noon!
Inform the messenger to be ready, and light the signal smoke immediately after the battle breaks out."

It doesn't require such high technical skills to bully a lazy and tired army.

……

"Boom, boom, boom, boom..."

At the first hour of the morning, thunderous drumbeats sounded.

The fence blocking the camp entrance was quickly moved aside, and the soldiers marched out of the camp in orderly steps.

Although there were only more than a thousand people, they suppressed tens of thousands of enemy troops with their momentum, as if they were an army of thousands.

"General Five, things are not going well. The enemy is coming!"

Wen Jianshao, who had not slept all night, almost fell down after receiving the news.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and organize the battle!
Let the archers attack and suppress the enemy first!
......"

The order given in a panic was obviously a step too late.

By the time the Rebels responded, the battle had already begun.

The shields blocked the front, protecting the soldiers' vital parts, leaving only a narrow gap for the spears to extend out.

The musketeers began shooting from the narrow gap, and any rebel soldiers who dared to approach were instantly shot into sieves.

The airtight formation continued to advance forward.

The unprotected rebel camp could not stop the advance of the government troops.

Realizing that the situation was not good, Wen Jianshao mustered up his courage and prepared to take his personal soldiers to stop the enemy.

As a result, before he could get close, he was hit in the ear by a stray bullet.

Perhaps because it was beyond the effective range, the bullet only penetrated halfway, causing him to scream in pain.

The injury of the chief coach made the rebel camp, which was already in chaos, even more chaotic.

With a "bang" sound, the tall flag suddenly fell down.

"Run!"

I don't know who shouted, but the panicked soldiers began to flee frantically.

"Come back quickly!"

"Can't run!"

"Can't run!"

……

Wen Jianshao shouted while enduring the pain.

Unfortunately, everything was in vain. The morale of the rebels had collapsed and they had no desire to fight anymore.

The soldiers who were forced to join in only wanted to run away with their families and were not willing to work for him at all.

"Fifth General, the situation is hopeless, order a retreat now!
Even if we block the enemy in front of us, it will be useless. There are also a large number of enemies approaching on both wings. If we are late, we will be wiped out! "

……

(End of this chapter)