Chapter 1155 The decisive battle between Cao and Wei (4)
4364 (1667 AD), August 18, 9:50 am.
The camp of Cao Jun in Cao State's Mountain Prefecture.
The terrain of Shanyuefu is as mountainous as its name.
Precisely because this is a mountainous area, there are a large number of mineral veins, providing minerals necessary for industries such as coal mines, iron mines, copper mines, and aluminum mines.
Shanyue Mansion became a place that Wei must conquer and Cao must defend.
Once this area is captured by the Wei State, Cao State will have to rely on outsourcing for the mines it needs, which will increase a lot of costs.
Cao State has other minerals, but their scale and cost cannot be compared with Shanyue Mansion.
Yuanling Mansion, which is located in the same terrain as Wei State, has a similar status in Wei State.
Shanyuefu and Yuanlingfu are located in mountainous areas, which is convenient for military defense.
This resulted in Cao Wei and Wei investing nearly 400,000 troops in these two prefectures.
In Cao Jun's camp, many generals were guarding in front of several telephones.
The red telephone is specially connected to Cao Wang's Palace.
The blue telephone is specifically connected to the Governor's Mansion.
The black ordinary telephone is connected to an ordinary military dedicated line.
They have been notified in advance and will launch a general attack on Cao Jun today without any surprise.
Since the rainy season is coming to an end, the Metropolitan Government has issued an order to be on the offensive at all times and may attack at any time.
The phone rang, and when they saw it was a red phone ringing, it directly attracted the attention of everyone in the room.
General Yu Xingchen is closest to the phone and has the highest title. He is responsible for answering the phone.
He looked excited and immediately stopped everyone's discussion.
They hold their breath, expecting it to be the call they've been waiting for.
General Yu Xingchen answered the phone and said angrily: "I am Yu Xingchen, Marquis of Qianjiang, and this is Cao Jun's camp.
On behalf of all the soldiers in the camp, I pay my respects to the king."
On the other end of the phone, the voice of King Cao Li Dazhuang came.
"You don't need to say your polite words now, I am officially informing you that I will launch a general attack on the Wei State.
I, the king, and all the people of Cao Kingdom are waiting for the news of your victory."
After King Cao Li Dazhuang issued the order, he changed the subject.
"Because of Xingchen, Mi Youbei and Liu Ziqian formed a joint command.
Zhang Fangyun serves as the chief of staff and is responsible for combat plans and the transmission of military orders.
Hu Wenen serves as the supervisor of the coalition forces and is responsible for the dispatch of logistics supplies."
King Cao Li Dazhuang's order was issued, and the generals who received the appointment respectfully said at the same time: "I obey the order."
Yu Xingchen waited for King Cao Li Dazhuang to issue the order, and he immediately assured him with great enthusiasm: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will definitely be able to fight this battle well.
We must safeguard the honor of Cao Jun and never let Cao Jun become a joke."
General Yu Xingchen put down the phone and said to everyone: "You have also heard King Cao's order.
Next, I, General Mi Youbei and General Liu Ziqian will be responsible for commanding the battle.
King Cao also made a clear division of labor this time. I am mainly responsible for the trench warfare of the army.
I hereby guarantee that as long as there is one person left in the position.
We will never let the Wei army step over the position."
Yu Xingchen felt that King Cao Li Dazhuang's arrangement was very good.
He is best at defensive combat. Those who are good at fighting have no great achievements. This is the kind of person he is talking about.
Since joining the army, the positions he has been responsible for have never been breached by the enemy.
Because he was only good at defense, his previous reputation in the military was not significant.
Last time, both Cao and Wei suffered losses. King Cao Li Dazhuang felt that Cao's army could not maintain its previous status and must make changes.
The most critical point is to change the military merit assessment for selecting generals and re-select all kinds of talents from the army.
General Yu Xingchen stood out and was reused by King Cao Li Dazhuang.
General Mi Youbei followed closely and said: "My mechanized army will become the strongest spear of our army.
The position was handed over to General Yu for defense. I was very relieved and could concentrate on breaking through the enemy's defense line.
Our tanks are specifically designed to break through trenches.
The chariots will tear open the Wei army's defense line for our army."
Liu Ziqian smiled and said: "Don't be too anxious, the real king of land warfare is the artillery unit.
Especially in positional warfare, if artillery dares to be number one, which service dares to compete.
In the first round of the general offensive, our artillery will do our part."
Liu Ziqian is famous for his modesty, but he is not a humble person.
Anyone who is too humble in the army will not be promoted.
Although he is a relative, he is also a technical officer.
He is a truly capable person, not like his cousin Liu Yuanshan who is completely unsuitable for the army.
Cao Jun had a good start in this decisive battle, and Liu Ziqian would never give in.
Artillery can only show the power of artillery groups at the beginning of a war.
When the artillery followed various armies and rushed into Wei State, then only one army performed outstandingly, and the artillery was hidden.
Chief of Staff Zhang Fangyun said with a smile: "At the beginning of the war, we must let the artillery perform.
In addition to garrisoning the main positions, other troops must all retreat to safe areas.
Artillery will definitely weaken Wei's strength, which will be of great benefit to the upcoming war."
Yu Xingchen, Mi Youbei and other generals did not object.
They all knew that the artillery was helping them open the way forward.
The military merits the artillery could gain from this war were extremely limited.
General Liu Ziqian saw that no one objected to his proposal, and a happy smile appeared on his face.
"Does our army still need to prepare for a while?
I used to only pay attention to the situation of the artillery units, and I didn't know much about the situation of friendly forces.
If our army can handle the Wei army's counterattack, I will then order an artillery attack."
Chief of Staff Zhang Fangyun immediately stopped him and said: "General Liu, wait a moment, the matter is not so urgent.
An artillery battle broke out between the two armies, and the destruction of frontline positions was extremely horrific.
Our army has made preparations to deal with the enemy's fire bombing.
However, in order to minimize the casualties of our army, some non-core troops need to be transferred out in advance.
This job takes at least two hours."
General Liu Ziqian nodded to express his understanding.
He glanced at the time on the clock sitting on the table.
"Two hours is a bit short, and it will be lunch time after two hours.
Once the war begins, the soldiers will never have a chance to have a good lunch before the war is over.
Let the soldiers reflect on today's lunch time. After lunch, the artillery will officially launch a general attack on the enemy's position.
But if the Wei army attacks us in advance, our artillery will counterattack immediately."
The generals reached a consensus, and the newly formed headquarters began to operate immediately.
According to the orders of the headquarters, the staff department continuously issues executable military orders to each army.
The military orders issued by the Staff Headquarters state very specifically what the army needs to do, leaving no room for ambiguity.
This also reduces the intervention of generals in the army and prevents the military from becoming a feudal state.
As the military order was issued, the atmosphere in Cao Jun's camp immediately changed.
The veterans have already smelled the taste of iron and blood in advance, only the recruits are still confused.
In a camp on the front line, recruit Zhang Sanshun squatted in a trench and looked at the lunch boxes delivered by the logistics soldiers.
Today's meal was very sumptuous. In addition to stewed cabbage, there was also a large spoonful of braised pork.
Pure meat dishes such as braised pork are usually difficult to eat.
The meat they eat is all kinds of canned meat, salted fish, and bacon, which are easy to preserve.
Fresh meat can only be transported via trains equipped with cold storage, or live animals can be transported directly.
The cost of these two transportation methods is much higher than that of shipping cans.
Zhang Sanshun said happily while eating: "Fresh meat is much more delicious than canned meat.
I don’t know what was added to those cans? They taste really terrible.”
He saw squad leader Zhao Fei coming over. His expression was a little nervous, and the hand holding the gun was already sweating.
Zhang Sanshun asked in confusion: "Squad leader, the food in the camp is very good today, why are you still not happy?"
Zhao Fei sighed and said: "It's not like you don't know the treatment in our camp.
Except for the generals and the wounded who had made meritorious service, no one had eaten fresh meat, but it was all canned meat.
The train's carrying capacity was very tight, and the imperial court wanted to transport more weapons and ammunition instead of handing over precious transportation capacity to a few pigs.
Now we are given braised pork because there is going to be a war.
This meal may very well be the last meal for some of us.
No matter how hard the imperial court tries, it will never save this meal."
When Zhang Sanshun heard the squad leader say this, he suddenly felt that the braised pork in his mouth no longer tasted good.
In every household in Cao State, as long as there are two young men in the family, at least one must join the army.
As a new soldier, Zhang Sanshun had never experienced war, and he was afraid of war.
Squad leader Zhao Fei saw Zhang Sanshun's fear and comforted him: "The battlefield is actually not that scary.
The more afraid people are, the shorter their lives will be.
Only by actively responding to war can you live longer.
In a normal battle, the casualties are actually not that big.
The situations with the greatest casualties are usually annihilation battles.
Only by defeating our opponents and preventing them from having a chance to surround and annihilate us can we survive until the end."
Zhang Sanshun nodded as if he understood. He just remembered that if he beat his opponent to death, he would survive.
At Cao Jun's artillery camp, General Liu Ziqian was hiding in the command room on the mountain, checking the reports sent over.
He put down the report, picked up the phone directly, and asked the operator to connect the calls to the headquarters of each artillery position.
"I am Liu Ziqian, and the headquarters has decided to start artillery bombardment against the Wei army.
After two rounds of artillery salvos, they immediately moved their positions and never stayed in one place for too long.
Now I declare that the shelling has officially begun."
General Liu Ziqian knew that after he issued this order, Cao Jun would launch a general attack on Wei Jun.
The two countries have since entered a stage of high-intensity war.
If you want to reduce the intensity of the war, unless it enters the rainy season again, the environment is not suitable for military operations.
Orders were delivered to frontline generals immediately via telephone.
The artillery generals in each camp immediately launched artillery bombardments on the Wei army's positions according to the parameters set in advance.
Rockets and various types of artillery shells directly flooded the Wei army's position.
The smoke and dust caused by the shelling quickly rose.
Wei's counterattack was also very fast. After they encountered artillery fire, they immediately bombarded Cao Jun's position.
The ammunition delivery capabilities of the two countries are similar, but Cao Jun, as the attacking party, was prepared in advance.
Overall, Cao Jun's casualties were lower.
In the evening, General Liu Ziqian received the results of the bombardment observed by the airship.
The artillery of both countries were trained by the empire, and the methods they knew were equally well understood by the other side.
Wei's artillery positions moved very quickly.
The war between Ruishi and Shu showed that even a solid fort could not resist the enemy's entry into the palace.
This experience and lesson made Cao and Wei no longer rely on fixed forts in their battles, but placed more emphasis on self-propelled artillery with excellent portable performance.
Whichever side's artillery reacts slowly and destroys a large number of artillery, they will be at a disadvantage.
General Liu Ziqian lamented: "This will be a war that consumes time and ammunition."
General Mi Youbei also lamented: "It is true, we and the Wei army are equally matched opponents, and we must abandon the theory of quick victory.
When the European battlefield first started, each country still had some secret weapons.
The war engulfing the world now has been going on for so long.
Which weapon is really useful has been tested on the battlefield.
In today's war, if the two countries are about the same strength, they can only fight in various details.
If you want to end the war quickly, unless the enemy is stupid.
I'm now ready for a tug of war.
Chariots are suitable for penetration, but they are not without means to deal with war.
The chariot plays the decisive role on the battlefield, rather than being a consumable.
Only when our army breaks through the Wei army's defense line will the mechanized troops show their strength."
General Mi Youbei sighed with emotion: "I hope the Governor's Office can understand the difficulties of our frontline generals."
General Liu Ziqian smiled and said: "General Mi's worries are completely unnecessary.
The imperial court understood the difficulties of the front line, so it arranged for three commanders to make collective decisions.
This way you won't blame all the mistakes on one person.
This leads to frequent changes of generals in the army, which affects the army's ability to fight."
After General Mi Youbei heard these words, he felt much more relaxed.
"If the Metropolitan Government really thinks so, we don't have to worry.
Experience in the European battlefield shows that it is very difficult to break through the defense line of an evenly matched opponent.
Unless the situation changes significantly.
I think it is better to hoard all the troops in Shanyue Mansion than to disperse the defenses, so that we can seize more opportunities."
When General Yu Xingchen heard this, he waved his hand and said, "The imperial court doesn't want to do this either, but now the only areas jointly developed by the two countries are Shanyue Mansion and Yuanling Mansion.
Sending troops to other places is just a logistical problem, and there is no way to solve it.
I really wish there was an army now to share the pressure for us.
Just due to logistical pressure, my idea cannot be realized."
General Yu Xingchen could only let out a long sigh.
Little did he know that King Cao Li Dazhuang had considered it more comprehensively.
He knew that Shanyue Mansion's army would not be able to break through the enemy's defense lines in a short period of time.
If they could easily break through the enemy's defense line, they would not have to confront the enemy in Shanyue Mansion throughout the rainy season.
King Cao Li Dazhuang had already prepared and sent two partial armies as surprise troops.
He didn't have any hope that these two strange soldiers would have much effect.
As long as these two strange troops can hold back the Wei army in the hinterland for a period of time, they will not be able to support the front line in time.
The Wei army's front line will collapse due to insufficient personnel and materials.