Chapter 997: The city is surrounded on all sides (supplementary)
Killing people naturally means destroying the enemy's vitality.
As for setting fire, they burned the Qi people's baggage and tents.
Mainly to burn food and grass.
But this is actually of little use.
After all, this is still the territory of the Qi people. Even if all their military rations are burned, they still have a stable rear area that can continue to provide them with food.
However, on the battlefield, burning baggage is a basic operation. No general can resist burning the enemy's granaries and granaries when he sees them.
Ling Su's West Route Army was also tempered by war. Although not all of the West Route Army was brought out at this time, there were still five or six thousand people.
Under Ling Su's order, these rested and energetic West Route Army troops chased and killed the Qi people who were retreating north.
However, these Qi people can be considered well-trained soldiers. They have an army at the rear. While retreating, they began to organize their formations. After retreating more than ten miles away, the originally scattered formations were basically compact.
Got up.
When Zhou Yuanlang finished organizing his formation and prepared to return to counterattack, he only heard the sound of gold and iron from the Huai'an army.
Ringing gold means withdrawing troops.
At this time, the Huai'an army was only about twenty miles away from the city. It was impossible to retain them at this distance.
Ling Su was riding on a horse, holding a long sword, and after killing a Qi man who had no time to escape, he began to give orders.
"Behind the Yizi Camp Hall, the other Qianhu Camps began to retreat in an orderly manner and retreated into the city. Do not be reluctant to fight!"
Ling Su's prestige in the Huai'an Army, especially in the West Route Army, was second only to Shen Yi.
Naturally, no one dared to take what he said seriously, so the Huai'an army quickly changed its formation and began to slowly retreat towards Xuzhou City.
General Ling did not retreat immediately, but followed the Yizi camp, using binoculars from time to time to observe the movements of the Qi people.
After confirming that the Qi people were not in a position to counterattack and pursue, Ling Su rode his horse and ran all the way back to Xuzhou City.
After he entered Xuzhou, he realized that Shen Yi had been watching the battle on the tower. Ling Su quickly jumped off his horse, ran all the way up the tower, and respectfully clasped his fists at the young man in scholar's uniform on the tower: "Mr. Shen!"
At this time, Dongfang was already a little white, which meant that the attack on the camp probably lasted half a night.
Master Shen waved to Ling Su and motioned for him to stand beside him. After Ling Su stood over, Shen Yi asked: "Did you realize anything from this battle tonight?"
Ling Su lowered his head and thought for a while, then said: "Mr. Shen, let's..."
"There seems to be a shortage of cavalry."
Shen Yi nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "General Ling understands my thoughts more and more."
At present, at least 90%, or even more than 90%, of the Huai'an Army are infantry.
The reason for this is not because Shen Yi is partial to science and does not train cavalry, but because the Southern Dynasty is really short of war horses. Even the "own men" of the Ministry of War such as Shen Yi cannot get many war horses in the Ministry of War.
Even the so-called cavalry of the Huai'an Army are just infantry on horses, and many of the horses are not up to the standard of war horses.
Not to mention the integration of man and horse, charging in formation, and mounted shooting.
The most obvious shortcoming of not having cavalry, or rather not having a large number of cavalry, is...
Short Legs.
Take tonight's battle as an example. If Shen Yi has cavalry, he doesn't need too many. He only needs about 10,000 qualified cavalry. He can directly penetrate from both wings and cut the formation of Qi people. In this way, in conjunction with the infantry,
It is easy to eat most of the 10,000 or 20,000 people in the north!
If you cooperate well, you can even annihilate them all!
But now, the Qi people are retreating, and the Huai'an army can only stupidly chase after the Qi people.
At most, it was just a sip of soup and no meat.
Mr. Shen turned his head to look at the sunrise in the east and said slowly: "We, Da Chen, are short of war horses, but Northern Qi is not short of them. We will have to think of ways to get an elite cavalry in the future."
Ling Su thought for a while and said: "War horses can only be found in the pastures further north. It is difficult to get there in a short time. If we want war horses, we can only steal them from Qi people."
"Then grab it from Qi Ren."
Mr. Shen said with a smile: "After all, the imperial court only forbids us from taking in prisoners. It did not say that we are not allowed to take in the enemy's horses."
Ling Su also laughed, and then said: "In addition to war horses, there is also a shortage of generals who can practice cavalry. Most of our generals in Dachen are infantry, and few are proficient in cavalry and archery."
Shen Yi touched his chin.
"That's the truth. We have to find an opportunity to capture one from Northern Qi."
Having said this, he looked at Ling Su and said, "What was the result of tonight's battle?"
Ling Su shook his head slightly and said, "They retreated too decisively, and we couldn't catch up. We only killed and injured hundreds of Qi people."
"As Mr. Shen said, I just went to enjoy the autumn wind."
"That's okay too."
Shen Yi nodded with satisfaction and said softly: "Let them know that when we find an opportunity, we will go out of the city to meet the enemy, so that they will not be unscrupulous when they attack the city."
Ling Su lowered his head.
"Mr. Shen is wise."
………………
In the blink of an eye, another four or five days passed.
During these four or five days, the enemies in the north of Xuzhou came back again and again.
The nearly 20,000 troops of the Southern Conquest Army in Haizhou also slowly approached Xuzhou City from the east of Xuzhou.
The Southern Conquest Army's troops on the west side of the Huaihe River have also been mobilized to about 20,000 people, and they are approaching Xuzhou step by step.
As for the west, the Southern Conquest Army near Suqian has camped twenty or thirty miles west of Xuzhou.
That afternoon, Shen Yi led a group of generals to the tower of the West City Gate in Xuzhou.
They each held a telescope and looked to the west.
However, no trace of the enemy has been found yet.
Maybe it's too far away.
After watching for a while, Mr. Shen handed the telescope to Jiang Sheng who was standing aside. Then he looked back at the generals behind him with a calm expression: "The Qi people from Haizhou are probably arriving soon. Wait for the Qi people from Haizhou."
As soon as we arrive…”
"Xuzhou was besieged on all sides."
Master Shen asked quietly: "Are you afraid?"
At this time, next to Shen Yi were Ling Su, Su Ding, Xue Wei, Liu Mingyuan, and Zhang Meng.
Wan Zhong, the sixth person who is eligible to participate, is still recovering from an arm injury.
These five people all clasped their fists at Shen Yi and replied in a deep voice: "Go back to Mr. Shen, my subordinates are not afraid of waiting!"
Xue Wei even smiled and said: "If you're not afraid of them coming, you're afraid they won't come. Mr. Shen, General Mo and General Su have prepared all the equipment to defend the city in the past few days. When Qi people arrive, they will
Let them know how powerful our Huai'an Army is!"
Shen Yi clasped his hands behind his back and still looked to the west. He said slowly: "I would like to remind you that this is not a day or two day defense battle, or even a month or two month defense battle. It is expected that we will defend Xuzhou for a long time.
In about half a year.”
"In other words, we have to wait until the end of the year."
"Therefore, everyone must be patient and perseverant in this battle."
Having said this, Mr. Shen smiled and said, "Of course, we won't be fighting every day for half a year."
"If we fight well, maybe after one or two battles, the Qi people will not dare to come and die. At that time, it will just be a siege."
"This is what I want to warn you about."
Shen Yi said calmly: "If the Qi people dare not move, we will be surrounded by the Qi people in Xuzhou City. That is the time when we cannot slack off the most. The guarding of the four city gates cannot be sloppy at all."
"We must always remember how we entered Xuzhou City."
Having said this, Shen Yi became serious and said: "If anyone from each battalion guarding the city gate opens the city gate without permission, all the soldiers from the battalion from Qianhu to Xiaoqi will be beheaded!"
The words were so serious, the five people quickly lowered their heads and clasped their fists in response.
"Okay, you go and do your work."
After thinking for a while, Shen Yi said, "It is estimated that Xuzhou will be completely surrounded in two or three days."
"yes!"
Soon, everyone turned and left.
Ling Su hesitated for a moment, but stayed and stood behind Shen Yi.
Mr. Shen looked back at him and said with a smile, "General Ling, do you have any other questions?"
"I have something I want to ask Mr. Shen for advice."
Shen Yi nodded: "You say."
Ling Su lowered his head and said, "Mr. Shen, since you have accomplished such a great feat, won't the imperial court send troops to support our Huai'an army? Just let the Qi soldiers besieged Xuzhou?"
Master Shen looked at him thoughtfully, then smiled and said, "Who will come to help us? It can't be the Huaihe Navy."
"I'm afraid it won't be easy for the Imperial Army to come to the north."
Having said this, Shen Yi said quietly.
"But don't worry, General Ling. I always do things when I am confident enough. Since I will bring you all to Xuzhou, I will naturally keep you safe."
Having said this, he laughed at himself: "After all, I am also in Xuzhou."
"My subordinates have no doubts about your intentions, Mr. Shen."
Ling Su quickly lowered his head.
"My subordinate just thinks that the imperial court should take some action."
"I still say the same thing."
Shen Yi looked at Ling Su and said, "The Huai'an army only needs to fight well and win the battle. As for the court's affairs."
"I'll handle it."
Ling Su then respectfully clasped his fists.
"I understand, I am a vulgar warrior. I said something wrong. I hope Mr. Shen will not be offended."
"No wonder, no wonder."
Mr. Shen patted Ling Su on the shoulder and shook his head.
"General Ling is too outrageous to say this. The Huai'an Army has half of your contribution to this, General Ling. You should ask about it."
Ling Su breathed a sigh of relief, clasped his fists at Shen Yi and said, "Then, my subordinates, go make arrangements to defend the city."
Shen Yi nodded with a smile: "We will defend the city for a long time. Remember to communicate well with the people below and don't let them get carried away with their emotions."
"yes."
Ling Su respectfully clasped his fists and left.
But Shen Yi still stood on the tower and looked to the south.