"Li Jue, is there anything happening with Guo Si recently?"
"Although the armies arrived at Chang'an at different times, some were faster and some were slower, Li Jue and Guo Si did not show any signs of leaving the city... I believe that the two of them planned to wait for our army to besiege the city until our army's food and supplies were exhausted.
If we withdraw all our troops, we can naturally avoid this disaster."
Gently stroking his beautiful mustache, Jushou answered Li Shushi's questions unhurriedly.
Although Cheng Yu was not here because he was busy with the autumn harvest in Bingzhou, allowing Jia Xu to sit in the top position representing the status of a civil servant, but according to Jia Xu's daily habits, he would not speak easily no matter where he sat.
, especially this kind of introductory words, he was determined not to say them, so Jushou took over the job very consciously.
By the way, I don’t know whether it’s because of the old fox Jia Xu who has learned bad things, or because of other reasons. Recently, Guo Jia seems to have a tendency to practice silent meditation. However, unlike Jia Xu’s face, Guo Jia’s face is calm.
Jia's face always had a smile that was a mixture of one part mockery and one part uninhibited, but it still made people want to beat him up.
"Do they really think that we, like them, are not engaged in production and that we are running out of food and grass to survive?"
Li Shushi's words were not meant to make people angry, but the fact was exactly what he said.
After all, farming has been going on for so many years, and Bingzhou has had good weather most of the time under the protection of some great god. The purchasing power of the people may not be that high, but at least there are no problems in life. Naturally, Bingzhou’s treasury is also
It can be considered sufficient, even if Li Shushi used some from time to time for government investment. But the government's inventory is still considered to be at the leading level among the princes of the Han Dynasty, so he naturally has the confidence to speak.
But...
"Although my lord is right to say this, Guanzhong and even the entire Xiliang have suffered from repeated wars since Dong Zhuo's death. Foreign tribes have also been raging, and the people are generally in difficulty. Lord Zhoumu still needs a helping hand."
"Yes, the rivers will need to be widened and various water conservancy facilities will need to be rebuilt in the future. If it is based on the standards of merging the state, it will be a huge expenditure. Even if you use the army and foreign slaves, you still need to pay for rations."
"We also need to pay attention to the movements of the princes in the Guandong region. Once they make any changes, we still need to mobilize supplies and troops to fight against them. The main army cannot be trapped under Chang'an City for a long time, giving the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it."
So there is no problem if we focus on one city or one place, but if we look at the overall situation, we still feel that we are stretched thin.
Who said that Guanzhong and even southern Liangzhou are now in a mess?
From this point of view, the method of long-term siege has become unfeasible. Even cutting down trees to make some advanced siege equipment has become unfeasible. Even if Li Shushi has an extremely powerful golden cup cannon, it is only a mere one.
The quantity is still a drop in the bucket for the huge Chang'an City in front of us. It seems to be of little use.
Perhaps the only feasible way is to use what Sun Tzu hates most, "ants occupying the city".
But...
"If we use the elite troops of the Bingzhou Army Headquarters, although they have certain advantages in capabilities, they will still suffer serious losses under the fortified city. It is obviously not in line with our policy to suffer huge losses in such a must-win battle.
Expectations. And if it were replaced by Xiliang's powerful troops and horses, they would not be able to compete with the city in terms of quality.
If the inner Xiliang army competes with them, the losses will be even greater. Xiliang has suffered too much, and those soldiers will be an important force in restoring Xiliang's prosperity in the future. If they are all lost here, not only will the whole country suffer,
The morale of the army will be hit, and it will also have a great impact on our future plans."
Zhao Yun's words made everyone present turn their attention to several counselors.
Even the generals of the Xiliang Army who were destined to be unable to retain as many troops as before also agreed with Zhao Yun's words. After all, if it comes to attacking the city with ants, non-direct troops like them are the best candidates for cannon fodder, and those who will be sacrificed
Many of the cannon fodder dropped were subordinates who had fought with them for many years and had a lot of comradeship.
Even if some of these people will be arranged to return to their hometowns to farm in the future and become field soldiers who are both soldiers and farmers, leaving a life behind is much luckier than dying on the battlefield.
Such feelings are not necessarily hypocritical or trying to win people's hearts, they are just a very normal human emotion, not to mention those veterans who have crawled out of the dead over and over again, who can better understand the value of life.
Of course, for some troops with certain beliefs, some things are obviously more valuable than life, so they are willing to risk their lives, so they can make the enemy tremble with fear, and that is why they can create miracles.
But even for that kind of army, they don't just consider sacrificing human lives to win a victory casually. Being able to reduce casualties is always the goal that every general pursues.
That's why Sun Wu and others hate the siege, a way of fighting that consumes everything.
Facing the gazes of all the generals, including Li Shushi, the counselors were very calm. Even Fu Xie, who originally had a worried look on his face, also relaxed a lot under the influence of those around him.
After all, these people have almost never disappointed Li Shushi.
Not to mention that if these people unite, even Zhuge Liang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms would be frightened.
They are the geniuses of the era who are much higher than the level of the Stooges.
"My lord has actually mentioned this matter to Xu a few months ago. Although it is not certain that the final battle will definitely break out in Chang'an, some things always need to be prepared in advance. As for the specific matters, let Feng Xiao do it.
Explain."
After saying that, Jia Xu's eyes closed gently as if he was about to fall asleep, and his whole person became as ethereal as possible.
Of course, the reason why he has such an outstanding effect is not because Jia Xu's presence kicking skills have reached the Carlin level, but more importantly because everyone's attention has been transferred to Guo who was tricked by him and is smiling wryly.
On Jia's body.
It is estimated that if the situation was not wrong, maybe Guo Jia would really bite Jia Xu, but I don't know for sure?
It's just that with Guo Jia's measly 22 force potential in a duel against Jia Xu, an old fox with a force potential of 56 and a rich variety of experiences, he always felt that some kind of non-disastrous result would happen.
Ahem. I still feel like I'm thinking something wrong. Could it be that the influence of the Ma brothers cannot be dissipated even if they are not in person?
"We have been here for many days, but the enemy has made no move in the city. This shows that the opponent is determined to defend the city until our food and grass are exhausted and retreat. It is precisely because of this that we have just experienced the rebellions of Dong Cheng and Wei Xu.
The Li-Guo coalition forces will definitely carry out an internal purge. According to the intelligence we received from our detailed operations, all important places in Chang'an City are now in charge of relatives of Li Jue and Guo Si. Among them,
The south gate was guarded by Li Jue's subordinate Li Li, the west gate was guarded by Li Jue's younger brother Li Ying, and the north gate was guarded by Guo Si's sister-in-law Tang Peng. These people shared the prosperity and loss of Li and Guo.
Loss. What’s more, if it is true
I want to ask for surrender. The envoys should have been sent out a long time ago, but according to detailed reports, these people have now refused to meet except for the very familiar bodyguards. It can be said that they are determined to bury Li Guo and Li Guo."
Although he has made a judgment before that the enemy will defend to the death, Guo Jia now tells everyone how resolute the enemy is to such a judgment. It is also difficult for them to be further divided internally. This means that even if it is true,
The strategy is based on a head-to-head battle. It is absolutely impossible to win this battle easily.
And such a reminder did play its due role. All the generals, including Lu Bu, had solemn expressions on their faces. Even if some people were still impetuous because of the previous success, now this thought
It is no longer the mainstream idea in my heart. After all, every general present has experienced enough battles.
"Right now, our troops gathered under Chang'an City are roughly 200,000, and the enemies in the city are probably over 50,000. But if they are forced to do so, the enemy may order the powerful private soldiers or even ordinary people in the city to leave.
Go up to the top of the city to participate in the defense. But given the current situation, this is the last resort for Li and Guo, because it means they have no chance of recovery."
Yes, although the current army is somewhat small in number, it has been sorted out by Li Guo and Li Guo. It was originally Li Guo's direct lineage plus the direct lineage of the Xiliang Army that originally belonged to Niu Fu. These people are very important to the Xiliang Army.
They all have personal feelings about the glory of the people, and naturally they have deep hostility towards the Bingzhou Army who rose up and wanted to replace them. Naturally, it is easy to unify their thoughts.
But what about the powerful people, and what about the common people?
Li Guo and Li have lost confidence in the courtiers. Those who are still alive are just a bunch of grassroots. They will fall to whichever side is more advantageous. Even though they can still be forced by swords now, when the war is fierce, who can care?
They can catch up with them. But if something goes wrong at that time - they don't need to open the city to defect, as long as they cower a little and let go, they will most likely be broken through and cause a chain reaction, which is the rhythm of collapse.
ah.
As for the people in Chang'an City, Li Guo still remembers the original immigration wave. Perhaps all it takes is Su Xiaololi from below the city to stand up and yell, and they will all turn against each other - both Li and Guo
I don't think this is an exaggeration.
"But even so, Chang'an is not invulnerable."
Now that we have talked about so many advantages of the enemy, it is time to talk about our own methods, otherwise the eyes of the general who has been interested for so long will be full of danger when he looks at them.
"Chang'an City is indeed high and densely guarded. Normally, if you want to attack the city, you will suffer a lot of damage. But you may only see the height of Chang'an City, but not the width of Chang'an City."
At this time, Guo Jia's eyes kept flashing with the light of wisdom, and after hearing his prompts, many generals also had a light of understanding in their eyes. Apparently they already had a certain understanding of the counselors' thoughts.
"I'm afraid many generals have already thought of it. Yes, the wall of Chang'an City is about 16,000 steps, and Li Guo's troops only have more than 50,000 men, while our army has 200,000..."
"Fengxiao means that we should fight day and night with upright soldiers to engage in wheel battles with Li Guo, consuming the other party alive?"
Although 200,000 to 50,000 is not enough to be regarded as the five times the bottom line for direct attack in "The Art of War", but as Guo Jia said, Chang'an City is too big, so big that even if you want to attack
It is very difficult to get to the top of the city, but it is also very difficult to defend it comprehensively. But as I said just now, there are not many soldiers that Li Jue and Guo Si can trust. Even if they are all scattered on the top of the city,
It will only be enough and there won’t be many reserves.
In this way, the Bingzhou Army, which has the initiative, can play a "fatigue tactic" with its opponent, making the opponent's nerves tense all the time, eventually reaching the point of collapse, and then taking the opportunity to break through, and then attack the opponent's nerves
A chain reaction was triggered on the defense line.
The most critical thing is that the morale of the Bingzhou army is now high, while the enemy's morale is low as they are guarding the isolated city.
So this method can be considered a complete conspiracy. I just have many more soldiers than you, and I can choose the time and place of high-intensity attack at will. Even the rhythm of the attack changes. But you can only fight with all your strength.
Because you simply can’t afford to bet!
"There is no big problem with my lord's idea. That's the main idea. The rest, such as playing gongs and drums at night to sing a big show, playing gongs and drums to make lanterns at night, and beating gongs and drums to conduct emergency gathering training at night, are just sideshows.
.”
Okay, Guo Fengxiao, are you planning to turn your enemies into a group of giant pandas and stop them from sleeping?
"No."
So a man who can read minds is not cute at all.
"Of course. These are all to pave the way for the most critical step."
"Foreshadowing? The most critical step?"
"Yes. Although using such an enemy-tiring tactic will indeed make it difficult for the enemy to continue and quickly consume the enemy's energy, such a method will still take a long time to completely collapse the enemy."
"So the most critical step is..."
"So I ask the siege troops in each direction to select an elite division. When the enemy's defense is loosened, they can take the opportunity to press on. Then other parties can also invest elite forces in batches, so as to make the enemy
It’s hard to deal with one thing and lose another.”
Well, in the end, this is actually a strategy that requires a lot of human lives. But compared to the brainless ant attack, such a planned, rhythmic and premeditated attack is indeed easier for the enemy to create loopholes, thus
Let the battle end as soon as possible, and naturally fewer people will die.
From this point of view, this method can be regarded as a combination of "attacking troops first" and "attacking troops secondly".
Regarding this decision, the generals thought about it and even discussed it in a low voice. They felt that there didn't seem to be many more reliable opinions, so they acquiesced in Guo Jia's plan, and perhaps Jia Xu, Ju Shou and others should also participate in the plan.
"Haha, then the rest is up to us generals."
Waiting eagerly until Guo Jia sat down, Lu Bu immediately patted his chest and kept winking at Li Shushi. The meaning was self-evident.
"Yes, although I have been among the papers for a long time, my muscles and bones are not rusty, and I can still make meritorious service for my lord on the battlefield."
Huang Zhong also had an eager look on his face. It was obvious that although this Zhou Mu was glorious, he was a bit depressed as a violent person. After all, compared to the hassle of documents and the stress between powerful men, he felt that the tit-for-tat confrontation on the battlefield was more exciting to him.
feel excited.
It is estimated that when the situation in Shuozhou stabilizes, Huang Zhong will no longer plan to be a local official.
In fact, taking advantage of this encirclement of Chang'an, Huang Zhong had already revealed his thoughts to Li Shushi in private. Although Li Shushi was very reluctant to part with it, after all, the most important thing for such a man who was capable of literature and martial arts was that he was good at dealing with powerful people and at the same time, he could be regarded as his own.
There are indeed very few hardcore subordinates, and Li Shushi sincerely doesn't want to let him go like this.
However, he also understood and respected Huang Zhong's choice, just as he respected Xiao Qiang's habits that allowed him to be a pure general rather than a post that required him to immerse himself in documents. Even if he had the title of Wei Commandery Prefect, he would still be a pure general.
More like a hands-off shopkeeper than him.
Therefore, even if no commitment was made, a certain tacit understanding had been reached between the two parties, so Huang Zhong, who felt that he had become a general, would not miss such a rare "warm-up" opportunity.
"Then how should the armies on all sides be distributed?"
The person who raised the question this time was Zhang Ji, who was sitting next to Huang Zhong—perhaps he was the only one who dared to speak up and ask the question that was of greatest concern to the generals present.
Because this matter is related to their performance in this battle, and even more to their treatment after the war.
Even if Li Shushi talks nicely and is even fair in his actions, they are still afraid that they will be assigned to a certain Bingzhou Army general and then be used as cannon fodder by the other party.
attack opportunities. The former will reduce the number of troops on hand and reduce the number of troops after being collected.
The latter did not have a good enough greeting gift, which affected his internal environment in the Bingzhou Army - especially Fan Chou, Ma Teng, Duan Xuan and others who had not made any achievements. However, Li Kanhe was the candidate because he initiated
After revolting and convincing Cheng Yin, some gains were made in the subsequent raids, and I felt somewhat more at ease.
But the only one who could express these thoughts seemed to be Zhang Ji, who had a close relationship with the Bingzhou Army but still belonged to the Xiliang Army. Not only because his nephew was a close general under Li Shushi, but also because Zhang Ji had already served in the Xiliang Army before.
Nanyang began to cooperate with the Bingzhou Army. The relationship between the two parties has become extremely close, and their status has been almost established.
"Well, this kind of thing shouldn't have much impact... Okay, Wen He, let's leave this matter to the 'Staff Office'. Just treat it as the task I assigned them. Let's see how they interact with Master Yizhen during this period.
What have the craftsmen learned?"
Well, Li Shushi didn't understand Zhang Ji's implication at all, or he didn't intend to understand it - no matter how much he contributed here, he only got a slightly higher starting point, and the future still depends on himself.
With the barbarians in the grassland, with the princes of Guandong, with the barbarians of the southwest, as well as with enemies from far away, and even...inhuman existences.
Pan Sen: The recent book "Wind and Flower Burial" published in Sanjiang is good and worth reading, as long as you can understand the author's way of writing abuse. Of course, the abuse is not severe, and it is not a heavy taste. But let's talk about it now
Waiting to see whether the author can figure this out, or whether he finally ruined himself, hehe... (To be continued...)