Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 350: Willing to spend money is awesome

Two thousand heavy cavalry charged into the Duke's army in several columns, with an unstoppable force.

The men and their horses were like huge rocks rolling down from a mountain. Weapons could not penetrate them, and human walls could not withstand them. In a rush, the originally orderly battle formation was torn into pieces.

Then the archers' arrows began to rain down like raindrops, and almost instantly the battlefield was filled with grief.

The armored cavalry rushed from the beginning to the end, splitting the battle formation of 50,000 people into dozens of pieces. They had no time to regroup, and the light cavalry encircled them from both flanks.

If the heavy cavalry is a sharp blade, then the role of the light cavalry is that of a sheepdog. They will constantly roam around the periphery and drive away the enemies who are trying to re-form the formation. Combined with long-range bows and arrows and explosive iron lumps that fall from nowhere, the flags of the 50,000-strong army will be wiped out.

The unexpected attack, coupled with the crushing equipment, actually caused the enemy to be defeated after the first round of contact.

However, this was just the beginning. After the charge of the armored units and the firepower units, the real battle began because the infantry entered the field.

Light and heavy infantry mixed in, like a roll of high-speed rotating gear blades. The adrenaline rush brought by the killing filled the battlefield with howls from hell.

There were also soldiers wearing armor in Duke Dingguo's team, but most of them were wearing chain mail and leather armor. These soldiers were no match for the Changmo sword and were basically killed along with their weapons. Moreover, the more armored the soldiers were, the easier it was for them to be targeted.

Even without these long and heavy Mo Daos, ordinary soldiers had no fear of these lightly armored soldiers, because their regular weapons included not only sharp weapons, but also a bone handle that was top-heavy and light at 4.2 jin. This thing was specifically designed to smash armor. When these lightly armored soldiers were hit by this thing, their bones and tendons would be broken immediately.

Fifty thousand plus twenty thousand people, the mountains and plains were full of people, and looking down, there was a fierce killing everywhere. It seemed that there were twice as many people, but they did not have any advantage at all.

The new army of Po Lu is an elite force in itself, and Xia Lin is willing to invest money. Basically, from any aspect, there is no specific comparability between the two sides.

What’s scary is not the numerical monsters but the many numerical monsters.

With their physical strength, equipment, tactics, and morale completely crushed, the army of Duke Dingguo only lasted less than half an hour, or about forty minutes, before some of their troops began to flee.

A rout on the battlefield is an extremely dangerous thing. Not only will you be caught by the enemy, but there may also be serious trampling accidents. The most feared thing on a large battlefield is that the rout in the front will collide head-on with the team behind, which would mean there is almost no hope.

In fact, before the advent of hot weapons, the death toll would not be exaggerated or frightening unless it was a battle to defend a city or a fight to the death. The meat grinder could only be used after the doctor invented the miniature machine gun.

What is truly terrifying is the mass rout, as trampling can often consume one's own manpower faster than fighting.

When deserters appear on the battlefield, the general will usually order his men to kill the fleeing soldiers first, but this time it seems that this is not possible, because it is obvious that the opponent the soldiers are facing is too terrifying.

Du Fuwei was obviously a very experienced commander. He had seen the market trends below long ago from his high position. Then the beat of the war drums changed, and the light cavalry that was responsible for driving and dividing the troops immediately opened a window for breathing.

As long as the people on the battlefield still have some consciousness of survival, they tend to listen in all directions and keep an eye on all directions. Now that those life-threatening cavalrymen have suddenly opened up a gap, their will to survive will be activated immediately, and their brain's computing speed will reach its peak.

And it was at this moment that Du Fuwei activated the precious explosive shells. These shells were no longer solid lumps, but things that would explode with loud sound and light after landing.

A round of salvos caused a strange noise to erupt where the enemy was most densely packed. Those soldiers who were not from Fuliang had never seen such a scene before, and their already low morale completely collapsed the moment the shells exploded.

Finally, a large-scale rout began. Of the 50,000 people who died on the battlefield, at most 7,000 or 8,000 people died. The vast majority of the rest, like sheep without opinions of their own, turned around and ran away following the leaders of the rout.

As soon as they got out of the hole, they scattered like stars in the sky. At this stage, all the supervision teams were useless. If you don't want to die, just make way for these defeated soldiers. Otherwise, on this plain, unless the supervision team is a T-34/85, they will be trampled into meat paste.

Du Fuwei stood with his hands on his hips and looked at the situation on the battlefield, wondering what the result would be if he were the general of the opposing team and encountered a team like his own. But after thinking it over, he found that it had nothing to do with who led the troops. The ability of a general to command was only tested when the two armies were evenly matched. And the current situation was more due to Xia Lin feeding his soldiers well than to Du Fuwei leading them well.

As long as you are willing to spend money to pile up data, everyone can achieve this effect. However, even with the wealth of Fuliang and the outstanding people and beautiful scenery of Jiangnan, only such a small number of super soldiers can be raised. If it were someone else, I'm afraid they wouldn't even be able to think about it.

He did not order an immediate pursuit but instead called the cavalry back to the camp. Their performance today was perfect, especially the heavy cavalry. Although the horses were exhausted after two dry-pulling confrontations, they opened up the situation behind them. The cavalry were reluctant to ride their horses at this moment. They were feeding the horses with beans and watering them by the river to cool them down.

What happens next is actually very simple. Although the Shenji Camp is not of much use at the moment and is just a threat, when it comes to the stage of besieging the county town, the Shenji Camp will play a big role.

Xia Lin's order to Du Fuwei was to do everything possible to reduce casualties. His meaning was very clear. First, these soldiers were the "Jiangdong men" around Xiang Yu. If there were too many casualties, no one would be able to face their hometown elders. Second, these precious people were really too expensive, and casualties were really hard to bear.

In the blocking battle between 20,000 and 50,000 men just now, a total of nearly 17 people were killed. Although it was a very good casualty ratio, the loss of these 17 people alone was enough for Du Fuwei to write a letter of self-criticism with deep self-blame.

Therefore, in the siege battle, which should have seen the heaviest casualties, the Shenji Camp was able to display its full capabilities.

As the retreat horn sounded, the battle formation began to gradually move back to the camp, leaving only the scouts in the front to collect spoils and captured supplies.

Today's battle is over.

Everyone had won a great victory, and the new recruits from the battlefield had suddenly become veterans. But they did not celebrate too much, because they still had to besiege the state capital tomorrow.

The general said that the first one to reach the summit will be rewarded with 100 taels of gold!
Most of the things others said were just empty promises, but General Xia was the only one who really meant it, so these idiots were really holding back and waiting to be the first to climb up the city wall and seize the flag tomorrow!

They just need to do it, but Du Fuwei has a lot to consider. As soon as he returned to the camp, he summoned his lieutenant generals to start studying the method of siege tomorrow. This kind of thing cannot be delayed. No one knows whether Duke Dingguo has reinforcements outside, so he has to be quick, accurate, steady and ruthless.

The one who considered more than him was naturally Duke Dingguo. The news of the defeat had already been passed back to the Duke's Mansion, and he found it unbelievable when he first heard it.

Who would believe that a 50,000-man army failed in half an hour? Back then, Wang Shichong's 200,000-man army struggled for several months, but he was finally able to occupy Xuzhou, but his 50,000-man army couldn't even hold out for half an hour?

What's on the other side? Heavenly soldiers and generals?
Although he had a lot of doubts, he was more panicked about what he was about to face. His only options now were to run away or close the city gates immediately and seek help from the outside. As long as he could hold on for a few days, he was still a duke after all, and things would eventually turn around.

It's just like the cry of "spare his life" at the execution ground.

So he immediately organized the remaining tens of thousands of people in the camp and sent people out to look for the escaped soldiers. At this moment, he didn't care whether they were deserters or not. He brought back all those who could be brought back, and then closed the city gates, and began to defend the provincial capital and county town tomorrow!
In the evening, the gates of Yangzhou City were closed, and the troops on the city walls were on high alert and had sent out troops for help early, rushing around and accusing Xia Lin of rebellion and having begun to besiege the county town.

In short, save your life first and worry about the rest later. After all, given his status, if he doesn't die this time, there is a high probability that he will not die again.

The next morning, the new army arrived as promised. Without even a word of words, they started with a siege plan.

At this time, in front of the formation, Du Fuwei and a few old men who were obviously not soldiers were holding a map and pointing at the city wall of Yangzhou Prefecture.

"This is easy. It can blow up a mountain, so a small city is no problem. But how to install the explosives is a big problem. There are rolling rocks and falling wood, and boiling water pouring down."

"How about at night?"

"Let's give it a try." Several master craftsmen originally worked in mining in Fuliang. They were the most authoritative in explosions. Just as they said, even the mountains could collapse, let alone the thin city walls.

Du Fuwei took out a telescope and glanced at the soldiers on the city wall. His cloak fluttered in the wind. He knew that he only had three days at most, and after three days someone would come to mediate.

This kind of thing must be dealt with quickly and decisively. Tomorrow morning will be the day when the city wall collapses!

Duke Dingguo was also on the city wall at this time. He looked at the camp of the Po Lu Army from afar and gritted his teeth. He never thought that he would be forced into such a situation in just a few days. If he could survive this time, no matter what kind of hardships he would suffer in the future, he would definitely avenge himself.

Xia Lin was dozing off in a chair in the Zhenhai base camp. He hadn't even taken a look at the battle report from the front. The account book next to him was filled with densely packed account records. If he couldn't get anything out of Duke Dingguo this time, he would go bankrupt right here, and he would probably have to borrow money to fill the hole...
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There is only one chapter for everyone today. My feet hurt so badly from gout that I can't sit still. I have to lean on the bed after writing for a while. The pain in my feet doesn't seem like my own.

(End of this chapter)