Luo Wenhu was cooking in the stove and making final preparations before breaking out of camp. Zhou Sheng rushed back to join them, bringing with him the liaison officer sent by Liu Zhenzhi.
After seeing the complete picture of Chaishan's troops and horses that crossed Huaishan and sneaked into the hinterland of Jingxiang, almost all the generals of the Lishan garrison chose to defect to Huaidong with Luo Wenhu, and only a few of them were cleared out.
Ordinary guards ate two meals of wheat cakes and preserved pork and wild vegetable soup. I heard that such delicacies were common in the Huaidong Army. If they accumulated meritorious deeds and were injured, every family member on the battlefield would receive a pension. If they could get a field, their waists would suddenly become stronger.
They stood upright when guarding Lishan City. Even if they were about to march westward with the army to join the battle, not many people flinched.
The Lishan garrison was temporarily organized into a brigade, with Luo Wenhu as the brigade general. Cao Ziang sent his personal guard Cao Peng to command Luo Wenhu to join the army, and brought several military commanders over to supervise military discipline, and reissued some crossbows and armor.
Head west to join the war.
Cao Ziang originally transferred Luo Wenhu to Tang Fuguan, but at this time he made a temporary adjustment and transferred him to Liu Zhenzhi.
Liu Zhenzhi was in charge of six brigades, but the elites of two brigades were given to Cao Ziang, and Zhou Tong selected them as reserves. At this time, the four brigades in Changgou, ten miles south of Zhangjiawan, plus Luo Wenhu's command, totaled five.
The troops and horses of the brigade will rush to the front line of Pinglinbu to intercept the enemy.
In order to quickly bypass the southern border of Suizhou County, the troops of the fifth brigade had to march into the wilderness together. Relatively speaking, the road left to Luo Wenhu was still the best.
Zhou Sheng rushed over. In addition to the liaison officer sent by Liu Zhenzhi, there were also thirty mules, horses and carts.
The four-wheeled mule and horse carts, axles and wheel hubs are all made of fine iron. Each cart only carries less than one-third of the supplies. Even if there are no ready-made roads, it can march with the infantry battalion in the wild. Behind each cart
, and also towed an extra bed crossbow.
For Luo Wenhu and others who came from the Suizhou Army, they all knew that the bed crossbow was a good thing and very expensive after seeing it. In the Suizhou Army, soldiers and horses who were not Luo Xiancheng's direct line were not allowed to use this kind of heavy crossbow.
The three thousand soldiers and horses that Luo Wenhu led to Shoulishan could not afford a hundred pairs of armor, not to mention war horses, even mules and horses could not afford a hundred. Although Luo Wenhu was also diligent in Lishan
Training, but if the soldiers, armor and weapons cannot keep up, the combat effectiveness will be greatly improved.
After being organized in Lishan, Cao Ziang and Zhou Tong immediately supplied Luo Wenhu with 300 sets of armor, 300 foot bows, and 300 mules and horses.
Needless to say, the role of armor and infantry bows in increasing the combat power of the battalion. The ability of the infantry camp to pass through the wilderness is more directly related to the number of supporting mules and horses.
There are not enough mules and horses, and the supplies have to be divided among each soldier. Carrying an extra seven or eight kilograms of weight will not make any difference after walking for one or two miles. If you continue walking for two days, you will feel that this is the last step that breaks the camel's back.
A piece of straw. When marching, the wounded and some heavy armor can be carried on mules, horses and camels, so that the marching speed will not be affected.
Unexpectedly, Luo Wenhu rushed to Pinglin Port to stop the enemy and replenished thirty crossbows.
The bed crossbows that Luo Wenhu had seen in the past were all made of wood. The thirty extra bed frames that Cao Ziang gave him this time were all made of cast iron. The wheels, like the mules and horses, were also made of fine iron.
- In addition to the additional supplies needed by Luo Wenhu's troops for seven days, the cart with mules and horses also contained some wooden boxes. The craftsmen who came along said that these were the scorpion crossbows and shield carts that were assembled only after arriving at the battlefield.
There are three treasures in Huaidong, the scorpion crossbow, the shield chariot and the fire oil tank...
Liu Zhenzhi would not ask Luo Wenhu's troops to form a formation in open terrain to block the enemy's cavalry, so he did not give him the scorpion crossbow that could be deployed in the formation. The use of kerosene tanks in battle requires training of the generals, but the use of shield vehicles is
It was easier. So in addition to the crossbow, Liu Zhenzhi also gave him some additional shield vehicle accessories that he would assemble after entering the battlefield, as well as some army craftsmen.
In today's world, the use of vassal troops is usually to bring them to the forefront of the battlefield to wear down the enemy's edge.
For example, when Ye Jiluorong was at the gate of Jingzhou City, he first piled more than 20,000 surrendered troops under the city to dig at the foot of the city wall under the rain of arrowheads. He did not care about the casualties of the surrendered troops in order to reduce the burden on his headquarters.
Casualties of soldiers and horses.
Luo Wenhu was given the order to lead his troops to join the war, thinking that he would face such a fate - he also thought that only by surviving this catastrophe could he truly gain the trust of the Huaidong Army and gradually move towards becoming the elite direct lineage of the Huaidong Army.
Despite this realization, Luo Wenhu couldn't possibly feel better.
How many people can still be happy after believing that they will be sent to the battlefield to die?
But seeing Cao Ziang continue to supply them with sophisticated armor and weapons that they had never dared to think of before, Luo Wenhu's mentality began to change: he realized that Cao Ziang was eager to send them to the battlefield, and he was not just sending them to the battlefield to flee north.
The enemy cavalry and the elite direct lineage of the Huaidong Army were used as a meat mat, and they were expected to go to the battlefield to make up for the lack of strength of the Huaidong Army, so there was no special discrimination against them.
The change in the mentality of Luo Wenhu and his generals actually brought about a change in morale. When faced with the enemy fleeing north, the intercepting troops do not necessarily have to be strong or well-trained, but they must have the ability to intercept and defeat the enemy head-on.
The courage and will to ride.
The above is the change of mentality of Luo Wenhu and other generals, but for ordinary soldiers, smelling the strong aroma of broth coming from the iron pot is already very elated. The military commanders who joined the camp with Cao Peng are hurrying up
Time to explain military discipline and rewards and punishments to these surrendered soldiers.
When the fog dissipated slightly, Luo Wenhu set camp and headed west. When he crossed the Zhangjiahe River, the white fog had almost receded, and the sun was floating on the mist like a duck egg yolk, looking a little cold. The white frost on the grass had already fallen.
Trampled into a mess.
Several floating bridges have been erected on the Zhangjia River, but there are traces of wading around the floating bridges.
After the Zhangjia River entered autumn, it was only three to five feet deep, but it was already winter. The generals of the Huaidong Army waded directly up to their waists and reached out into the bone-chilling river water to attack Luo Xianyi's camp on the west bank. It can also be seen that Huaidong
How strong and resolute the generals are when fighting. But there is no way. The front troops and horses must rush into Luo Xianyi's camp as quickly as possible, so that the rear troops and horses can calmly build a pontoon bridge to cross the river and carry out the subsequent charge to the camp and
Tactical actions to defeat.
On the inner side of the meander, Luo Xiancheng's temporary camp was in a mess. There were broken soldiers and broken halberds everywhere, and the arrow feathers stuck on the ground were as dense as the rice stubble harvested after autumn. There were corpses everywhere, and blood began to flow in the cold air.
It solidified into a purple-black color and was trampled by the soldiers who were marching through.
Groups of captured soldiers were squatting in a shallow ditch on the side of the road with their heads held in their hands. If there was any movement, the Huaidong generals who were monitoring them would suppress them severely.
These captured soldiers watched Luo Wenhu's troops pass in front of them, wearing the same military uniforms as them, except that they had red ribbons on their arms to distinguish them. In addition, they were fully equipped with armor. All the prisoners who looked at Luo Wenhu knew that Luo Wenhu's troops were wearing the same uniforms as them.
All of them were Suizhou troops who were recruited by the Huaidong Army after surrender and immediately sent to the battlefield.
Some brave prisoners shouted to the prisoner general: "I surrender too, give me food to eat, and I will pick up the sword and follow you to fight..." It is not known whether he will live or die after being captured.
If you go to the battlefield with the surrendered soldiers in front of you, you can survive on the battlefield, and at least your previous sins can be reduced.
If someone started, more people would join in. Most of the people in the Suizhou army were poor and had no food to eat, so they followed the rebellion and killed officials.
However, such a big matter was not something that the prison school could decide. He just sent people to pull out those prisoners who wanted to cause trouble, and kept them under separate supervision. If they didn't like them, they would be whipped twice.
"Gou Shengzi, I am Tian Su, help me say a nice word to the general in Huaidong, and I will go to the battlefield with you..." A captured soldier got up from the shallow ditch and walked towards Zhou Wenhu next to Luo Wenhu.
Sheng yelled, trying to get his attention.
Two of the generals in custody immediately rushed over, pushed the prisoner to the ground, put a knife on his neck, and dragged him down the ditch.
"Kuwa'er." Zhou Sheng recognized that the captured soldier was Tian Su, an old acquaintance from the village. His head was filled with blood, and he rushed over to save people with his horse's head pulled out. Luo Wenhu whipped over and stopped Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng was able to save Tian Su.
He was a prisoner at this time. If he rushed over to save him, he would probably be killed by the Huaidong general in custody on the spot, and even Luo Wenhu would not be able to save him.
Zhou Sheng looked at Cao Peng and begged: "Kuwa'er is as poor as me. Haha, when I was forced into the camp by Mr. Luo, I didn't do anything bad. Can I ask them to follow me to redeem their merits?"
Passed?" He also knew that Luo Wenhu couldn't make the decision and could only ask Cao Peng.
"Wen Hu, you lead the troops first. Zhou Sheng and I stay to ask what's going on," Cao Peng said. "In addition, Huaidong will not kill prisoners as long as your relatives in the Suizhou army have not done any serious evil."
, and if you can put down your weapons and give up resistance in time, there will be no problem in saving your life, so you don’t have to worry too much..."
Luo Wenhu led his troops first, while Cao Peng and Zhou Sheng stayed behind. He recognized Ma San, the camp general who was responsible for staying here to escort the captured soldiers, and asked: "There is a shortage of people over there at Pinglin Port. I will pick some people and go..."
"Except for the captured generals, as long as you think there's no problem with the ordinary captured soldiers, you can pick them all away without any problem..." Ma San said.
This time, Cao Ziang led his troops to lurk in. There were 50,000 soldiers, but there were very few troops and no accompanying soldiers. It was not until the sneak attack that he recruited thousands of people and strong soldiers around Chaishan. However, there was still a serious shortage. At present, he could only
Make up for it from the captured soldiers.
Cao Peng asked Zhou Sheng and Tian Su to pick out more than a hundred fellow prisoners among the prisoners, and had a brief meal before chasing after Luo Wenhu who had gone ahead.
When it got dark, Luo Wenhu and Cao Peng led their troops to the northern foot of Baiyun Mountain in the south of Suizhou City.
Standing on the top of the mountain, you can see Suizhou City under the night. Several fires were lit in the city, clearly outlining Suizhou City from the surrounding dark night.
Cao Ziang would send messengers to inform all the ministries of the latest situation of the Jingxiang War to ensure that the ministries could make appropriate tactical adjustments based on the latest situation. After Luo Wenhu and Cao Peng arrived at Baiyun Mountain, they knew the battle situation in Suizhou City.
Luo Xianyi could not defend Zhangjiawan for long before he abandoned the camp and fled. Tang Fuguan and his troops took advantage of Luo Xianyi's defeated troops and rushed directly into the east gate of Suizhou City. When Luo Wenhu and the others rushed to the northern foot of Baiyun Mountain,
Tang Fuguan's troops had defeated the defenders at the east gate of Suizhou City and controlled the outer city of Suizhou. However, Ma Zhen and Luo Xianyi led the remaining troops to retreat to Changle Palace.
Luo Xiancheng had been operating in Suizhou for many years, and built an inner city in the Suizhou army as his Changle Palace. The Changle Palace was as strong as the outer Suizhou city wall. There were nearly 4,000 remnant soldiers who followed Ma Zhen, and Luo Xianyi retreated to defend it.
Tang Fuguan led his light troops to pursue the attack. He did not have the heavy weapons to storm the city, and was unable to capture the Changle Palace for a while. At this time, he sent troops to block the Changle Palace and was strengthening control of the outer city.
Luo Wenhu felt inexplicable emotions in his heart.
Although Ma Zhen and Luo Xianyi still led the remnants to resist in the Changle Palace, and although Zhong Rong and Luo Xiancheng had 90,000 soldiers and horses on the north and south fronts, the era when the Changle army occupied Suizhou was truly over - as long as
The true appearance and strength of Chaishan's lurking troops were transmitted to the north and south defense lines. The troops and horses on the north and south defense lines would immediately be unable to hold up and collapse under the attack of the main force of Huaidong and Huaixi on the outer wings. No more miracles would happen.
Could it be that Luo Xiancheng and Zhong Rong still had time to return to support Suizhou City?