I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 301 Ancestors, Help Me One More Time! (First Update)
"What a wonderful child!"

Seeing Ma Chao's passionate enthusiasm, Liu Miao sighed, realizing how much the harsh environment of Xiliang had influenced his growth.

Fortunately, with the development of commerce centered on Jingzhou, there has undoubtedly been some change brought to places like Shu, Xiliang, and the Central Plains.

With such a change, Ma Chao probably won't turn out badly in the future, right?

"Our lord seems to be extremely fond of Mengqi?"

Zhou Yu also noticed that Liu Miao didn't seem to dislike Ma Chao.

The fact that Liu Miao didn't find Ma Chao annoying basically means that Liu Miao liked Ma Chao to some extent.

"After all, he is Ma Teng's son. Whether Xiliang will be in chaos in the future or not will ultimately be decided by the Ma family."

Liu Miao yawned: "The most important thing now is still Yuan Tan."

"Has Gongjin come up with a plan to cross the river?"

When the topic of crossing the river came up, Zhou Yu also showed a headache.

"The fire was so thorough that none of the ferry crossings are usable. If we want to take over the east bank of the river, we'll probably have to land on the shallows."

“But once the ships come ashore from the shallows, they cannot get too close to the shore. Not being able to get close to the shore means that the soldiers have to travel a longer distance to charge. A longer distance means that they are more vulnerable to Yuan Tan’s attack.”

"Yuan Tan isn't stupid either; he won't just stand by and watch us land. He'll definitely retaliate with crossbows... This battle won't be easy!"

A beach landing is always a tactical challenge.

All Zhou Yu could think of was to try landing at multiple points, leaving Yuan Tan no time to attend to all of them.

However, this would inevitably come at a great cost.

The Jingzhou army was not fighting on its home turf, and if the casualties were too high, it would not be good for the morale of the soldiers.

Furthermore, such tactics are extremely risky.

Even if they were able to quickly build fortifications on the shore, they would most likely be surrounded by the enemy without being attacked, their supplies cut off, and become trapped like turtles in a jar.

Zhou Yu considered many plans, but none of them could guarantee a victory. So, although he appeased Ma Teng and Han Sui, there was not much excitement on Zhou Yu's face.

"what!"

"Why is my lord laughing?"

"The old folks in the village always say, 'Playing with fire will make you wet the bed!' Gongjin dug his own pit, but he ended up stepping right in! Hahaha!"

Liu Miao's carefree laughter drew another resentful look from Zhou Yu.

He had worked himself to the bone helping Liu Miao fight, but instead of being grateful, Liu Miao was mocking him?

Zhou Yu didn't know how far Liu Miao was from that position, but there was no doubt that Liu Miao was already very far away!

Seeing that Zhou Yu's handsome face had turned blue with anger, Liu Miao stopped and asked mysteriously, "Gongjin, do you really want to cross the river?"

Zhou Yu's eyes lit up: "My lord, do you have a plan all along?"

"hey-hey!"

Even before Zhang Liao captured Yuan Tan, Liu Miao was already thinking about how to cross the river.

Among them, the more foolish methods are—

They left Hangu Pass, arrived at Luoyang, crossed Mengjin, passed Zhiguan, and made a large detour to attack Hedong from the east.

There are also slower methods—

Unlike the Yangtze River, the Yellow River will freeze over on its own in winter.

It is now autumn of the third year of Jian'an, and winter will arrive in a few months. We can then swagger across the river without any worries.

However, the former is vulnerable to having their retreat cut off by reinforcements from Hebei. Unless the general leading the troops possesses the imposing presence of a thousand soldiers avoiding a white-robed general, making it impossible for the enemy to catch up, it is unlikely that the battle can be won.

Therefore, Liu Miao preferred the latter.

But the latter is even less likely to be implemented than the former!

A few days ago, when Liu Miao went to the military camp to drink with the soldiers, he discovered a major problem—

Most of the soldiers under his command were from the south.

Southerners are not only bad at riding horses, but also bad at enduring the cold!

Under the Fubing system, they mostly prepared their own clothes.

Most of the soldiers in the garrison came from poor backgrounds, and their families had no idea about the cold weather in the north or the importance of making more winter clothes.
So even in autumn, many soldiers in the army were still freezing in Guanzhong wearing only thin shirts and dark robes.

If winter really comes, won't these soldiers freeze into ice blocks?
It hasn't been long, and Liu Miao can't suddenly conjure up thousands of winter clothes for these soldiers to wear so they can maintain their fighting capacity in winter.

Therefore, after realizing the difficulties faced by the soldiers, Liu Miao also rejected the plan to "wait until winter to cross the river".

Not only should we not wait until winter, but we should do it as soon as possible!
Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet.

Similarly, when the weather gets cold, the river water will also become icy cold.

Every day of delay means the river water the soldiers will face will become even more icy.

Now, every time Liu Miao goes to sleep, he has ample time and energy to ponder this question because his younger sister is no longer with him.

Just a few days before Xiao Ma Chao arrived in Chang'an, Liu Miao finally figured it out!

"Bring me the map!"

Liu Miao decided to give Zhou Yu a small military miracle!

“Yuan Tan is currently facing off against the Xiongnu Chanyu Huchuquan in Linfen, so the troops along the east bank of the river are always fewer and cannot be deployed in time.”

"Gongjin's plan is to deploy as many troops as possible to launch a simultaneous attack, hoping to gamble on Yuan Tan's mistakes and that our soldiers can hold their ground under the enemy's all-out encirclement?"

Zhou Yu nodded. The risks were immense, but it was absolutely worth the try!
"The idea is good, but there are better ways."

Liu Miao held up two fingers, one pointing to Puban Ferry and the other to Maojin Ferry.

"War is not something you can't gamble on, but before you gamble, you have to increase your chances of winning."

"Dispersion is good, but we must find concentration within dispersion."

"Divide the soldiers into two groups, one to provide cover and draw Yuan Tan's attention, while the other to take the opportunity to cross the river!"

Zhou Yu frowned, and after a moment shook his head, rejecting Liu Miao's tactics.

"This kind of approach is too risky."

"If the soldiers who have landed are defeated by Yuan Tan, then the entire army will be wiped out!"

Zhou Yu's tactic was to place his soldiers in as many platoons as possible, not many at a time, but with the potential to gain something from each victory!
Liu Miao, on the other hand, went all in, leaving no way out for his soldiers and himself as well.

The risks of crossing the river and setting up camp were already ridiculously high, and Zhou Yu would not agree to Liu Miao's risky tactics!
"That's why I said we need to increase the probability of soldiers establishing battalions."

Liu Miao pulled Zhou Yu along and headed straight for the armory in Chang'an.

After being ravaged by Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, and Guo Si, the Chang'an armory was essentially no different from a dilapidated warehouse.

Anything of value inside had already been taken by the previous owner; there was no way it could have been left for Liu Miao.

Not surprisingly.

When Zhou Yu arrived at the armory, he could only see a pile of broken copper and scrap iron.

Zhou Yu covered his nose, trying to block out the extremely strong smell of decay: "Could there be some artifacts from the Wang Mang era in here?"

"It's not that new! When I came here last time, I found an old Qin sword hilt and was planning to take it back for my child to play with!"

Zhou Yu looked around but couldn't find anything useful. He looked at Liu Miao in surprise, wondering what Liu Miao wanted to do by leading him to such a cramped and narrow place.

"Look there! Does Gongjin recognize it?"

Zhou Yu looked in the direction Liu Miao pointed and saw a large area of ​​the armory, with things piled up in layers.

A single-shaft, two-wheeled, square-shaped vehicle.

"Isn't it just a chariot? Does my lord think I don't recognize it?"

Before the advent of cavalry, chariots were the undisputed masters of the battlefield.

There are usually three armored soldiers on the vehicle. The one in the middle is responsible for driving the vehicle and is called the "driver". The one on the left is responsible for long-range shooting and is called the "shooter" or "multiple shooter". The one on the right is responsible for close-range melee combat and is called the "right-hand soldier".

"Ten thousand chariots, a million soldiers, a thousand miles of fertile land, and abundant reserves!"

Chariots even became an indicator of a nation's strength during the Spring and Autumn Period.

Unfortunately, as the intensity of warfare escalated, tank warfare, an inefficient and conservative method of combat, was eventually phased out.

Zhou Yu stepped forward and stroked the rusty wheels: "These should all have been chariots used as ceremonial objects... Later, due to the great chaos, these things were ignored and piled up in this armory as junk."

However, Zhou Yu was still puzzled: "Why did you bring me to see this chariot, my lord? We're talking about a water attack, how could we possibly use this chariot, unless..."

As Zhou Yu was speaking, his pupils suddenly contracted!
Liu Miao laughed when he saw that Zhou Yu had finally realized what was happening.

"If we send soldiers charging forward with shields, the casualties will be heavy."

"When crossing the river, we can transport these chariots first, have the soldiers hide under them to stabilize the formation, and then slowly transport more soldiers, more chariots, and more timber to gradually build up the camp."

"At the same time, siege equipment such as cloud ladders can be transported to the battlefield, and then ships can be moored in the river to provide support by shooting arrows from high places."

"In this way, we can gradually accumulate soldiers in the camp and finally defeat Yuan Tan in one fell swoop!"

Liu Miao touched his beard, plucked a small tuft, and twirled it in his hand.

"So, Gongjin, how much do you think your chances of winning will increase?"

After Zhou Yu had finished digesting Liu Miao's tactics, he suddenly raised his head and regained his previous heroic and dashing appearance!

"Fifty percent?"

"So low?"

"A 50% chance of winning such a battle... is not low!"

Zhou Yu immediately stepped forward and began to overturn the chariots.

This is not junk.

This is clearly a case of seizing the treasure of Hedong!

However, just as Zhou Yu lifted a lid, a stench suddenly surged up from the ground, causing Zhou Yu to vomit repeatedly.

"By the way, Gongjin."

Liu Miao looked at Zhou Yu with a wicked smile.

"I heard that many soldiers who came to the armory to steal treasures left disappointed. With nowhere to vent their anger, they urinated and defecated on the tanks as revenge..."

Zhou Yu gritted his teeth: "Why didn't you say so sooner, my lord?"

"I didn't expect you to be so impatient, you even went straight for it! Hahahaha!"

Liu Miao took two steps to the side, away from Zhou Yu who could pounce at any moment: "These chariots still need some repairs."

"Ten days later, we will cross the river using this method and completely drive Yuan Tan out, thus changing the balance of power!"

　Let's go at 5 AM today! Charge!!!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)