Chapter 980: The First Battle: Common Ground Battlefield
Around the fifth day of March, the three armies of Suwang Army, Northern First Army, and Shanyang Army arrived in Xiuwu County, the general stronghold of the Wei Army in the Handan battlefield.
As far as Zhao Hongrun knows, Xiuwu County is currently stationed with the Wei Wu Army under the command of General Shaohu, because a while ago, "Han Yang, the Marquis of Dangyin in South Korea, attacked Xiuwu County secretly", although Han Yang was ambushed and eaten by Shaohu at that time.
The battle was defeated, but it also aroused Shao Hu's vigilance, making the latter become particularly cautious.
Xiuwu is a military fortress city. It is said that the Nanyan general Wei Mu was responsible for building it. In the past, a considerable number of Nanyan troops were stationed here to resist the threat from the Korean army in Handan County.
Because it was a military fortress, there were almost no ordinary civilians living in Xiuwu City. There were only Nanyan soldiers, soldiers (reserves), and civilians who carried grain and grass.
During the last battle in Northern Xinjiang, the Southern Yan general Wei Mu used this Xiuwu City as a stronghold. While supporting Shanyang County of Yan King Zhao Hongjiang, he fought tooth and nail to protect Xiuwu City. Although he did not achieve anything to be proud of.
, but it can also be said that it is hard work and high results.
At least during the period when the three armies of the Northern Second Army, the Northern Third Army, and the Wei Wu Army had not yet participated in the war in northern Xinjiang, it was the Southern Yan Army and the Shanyang Army that held the "Sanyang-Xiuwu Defense Line", allowing the Korean Army to
Unable to invade Wei State.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun came to practice martial arts today because he also wanted to meet Wei Mu, the general of the Southern Yan Army.
Don't look at the fact that Shaohu is now the only general in the "General's Mansion". Together with another uncrowned general Li Zheng, he is also the supreme commander of the Wei military. This makes the "General of the Sixth Battalion Garrison" inevitably a generation shorter.
, but a few years ago, when the Wei State had not yet planned to build the "General's Mansion", the generals of the Sixth Battalion such as Wei Mu and Sima An were actually the pinnacle figures of the Wei State's military.
Among the six garrison generals at that time, four were Zongwei who were once the emperor of Wei, and one was Nangong, a former surrendered general of the Song Dynasty who defected to Wei. This makes Wei Mu extremely special because he is neither the emperor of Wei nor the emperor of Wei.
The Zongwei next to him was not a general who had defected to another country, but he had won the trust of Emperor Wei, who entrusted him with guarding the northeastern part of Wei.
Zhao Hongrun didn't know much about Wei Mu. After all, Wei Mu, as a general on the border of Wei State, had rarely set foot in Daliang for more than ten years.
But even so, Zhao Hongrun still heard some rumors about Wei Mu.
Of course, these are negative rumors.
In those rumors, Wei Mu was ridiculed as the guard dog of Emperor Wei. Although he had been guarding Northern Xinjiang for Emperor Wei, some people believed that the reason why Wei Mu came to power was because he helped
The Emperor of Wei defeated Xiao Boyuan, the former Nanyan general who had great achievements.
Zhao Hongrun did not comment on these remarks. After all, he did not know the truth back then. He only knew that Wei Mu was once the deputy general of the former Nanyan general Xiao Boyuan. After Xiao Boyuan was executed for conspiracy to commit rebellion, Wei Mu replaced him.
He killed the old general and turned into the only six generals in the Wei Kingdom with a heavy army at that time.
As for whether Wei Mu had made some ulterior secret deals with Emperor Wei during this period, Zhao Hongrun didn't care. After all, Wei Mu had been in the northeast of Wei for more than ten years, and his performance was no worse than that of his former Nanyan general Xiao Boyuan.
Unfortunately, when Zhao Hongrun, Zhao Hongxuan, and Zhao Hongjiang arrived at Xiuwu City, Wei Mu was not in the city. It was Shao Hu, the commander-in-chief of the armies, who personally went to the city gate to greet the three princes.
Courtesy.
Zhao Hongrun has also admired Shaohu for a long time. After all, Shaohu was the chief of the clan guard of Zhao Hongrun and his fifth uncle, King Yu, Zhao Yuanke. It is said that he was a commander with both civil and military skills, so he was recommended by King Yu, Zhao Yuanke, to become the military leader of the second generation Wei Wujun.
Perhaps it can be understood that Shaohu is the substitute of King Yu Zhao Yuanke.
Outside the city gate of Xiuwu City, Zhao Hongrun finally met Shao Hu, who was currently the supreme commander of the Wei army. Shao Hu had a real rank of general, and a certain official in the "General's Mansion" was similar to the former.
It's not on the same level at all.
Today was the first time that Zhao Hongrun saw Shao Hu, so when Shao Hu greeted him, Zhao Hongxuan, and Zhao Hongjiang with a smile on his face, Zhao Hongrun looked at Shao Hu quietly from the side.
The first impression Shao Hu gave Zhao Hongrun was that he was very strong and burly. In terms of physique, he was not inferior to Zhao Hongrun's Zongwei Chu Heng. He stood like an iron tower, and his whole body was full of muscles. You could tell at a glance that he was a
A general with considerable force.
Shao Hu also had a good appearance, with a square Chinese character face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. At first glance, he looked rough, but after getting closer to him, Zhao Hongrun realized that the other person's conversation and gestures did not look like a reckless man.
At the very least, Shao Hu looks more like a nobleman than Yan Wang Zhao Hongjiang.
"I have met General (Shaohu)."
At the reminder of his younger brother Zhao Hongxuan, Zhao Hongrun cupped his hands towards Shao Hu as a greeting: "Xiao Wang acted recklessly and changed his appointment without authorization. The general did not blame me. I am really grateful."
After hearing this, Shao Hu smiled, waved his hand, and said, "King Su's words are serious."
In fact, Shaohu also understood that the reason why His Royal Highness Prince Su in front of him was so humble was not entirely because he now held the position of commander-in-chief, but more for the sake of the face of King Yu Zhao Yuandai.
After all, in terms of military merit, His Highness Prince Su is proud of anyone in the country. Even if Shao Hu is now a general, it is not enough for His Highness Prince Su to behave so respectfully.
Therefore, after taking over the conversation, Shaohu praised Zhao Hongrun for his achievements in Chu State, not only to take care of the mood of His Highness Prince Su, but also to build a relationship with him.
After all, in Shaohu's eyes, King Su Zhao Run is a rare commander. Just seeing that he has never lost a battle in the past five years is enough to prove the talent of His Highness King Su.
A royal wizard who is not inferior to Prince (Yu Wang)! This is Shao Hu’s inner evaluation of His Royal Highness Prince Su.
After some pleasantries, Shaohu invited Zhao Hongrun, Zhao Hongxuan, and Zhao Hongjiang to the commander's office in the city.
On the way, Zhao Hongrun asked curiously: "Isn't General Wei Mu practicing martial arts?"
Shaohu shook his head and explained: "General Wei Mu is in Ji County in the east... I will explain it to the three highnesses when we get to the commander's office for details."
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun nodded and stopped asking further questions.
After about an hour of burning incense, Zhao Hongrun, Zhao Hongxuan, and Zhao Hongjiang led their respective clan guards and, under the guidance of Shao Hu and others, arrived at the commander's office in the city, or simply called the city guard's office.
When Zhao Hongrun and others arrived at the front hall of the city guard's mansion, Zhao Hongrun was stunned by what he saw with his own eyes.
Why?
Because Shaohu asked people to remove all the decorations in the hall, and placed two tables about three or four feet high and seven or eight feet in diameter.
These two tables are not simple, because the decorations on these two tables seem to copy the terrain of the northern frontier of Wei State.
"A sandbox for combat?"
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Shao Hu with some surprise, and was surprised that Shao Hu had actually created such a lifelike battlefield sand table.
To be fair, Zhao Hongrun has actually made this kind of sand table many times during several war expeditions. After all, although he can use his super memory to simulate battle situations in his mind, he still maintains the battlefield model in his mind while deducing the situation between ourselves and the enemy.
Due to the fighting situation on both sides, this puts a heavy burden on the brain and will make you feel tired soon.
Therefore, in order to reduce the burden on his brain, Zhao Hongrun made a sandbox. In this way, he only needed to stare at the sandbox and directly deduce the war between the enemy and ourselves in his mind, which was relatively easy.
However, what surprised him was that Shaohu actually knew about such a thing as a sand table.
It can be seen that Shaohu obviously did not know that Zhao Hongrun had made a sand table before, because he explained it to Zhao Hongrun, Zhao Hongxuan, and Zhao Hongjiang, and even named it "Cuntu Tuzhu".
However, ignoring this layer, Zhao Hongrun was quite surprised by the accuracy of these two sand tables.
With just two glances, Zhao Hongrun could see that among these two sand tables, one of them was an abbreviation of the entire northern Xinjiang, from the west to the east of Hedong County, and also involved Taiyuan County, Shangdang County, Hedong County and the Wei Kingdom.
Liang County, Yuan Yang State and other places.
What makes Zhao Hongrun amused is that there are many wooden sculptures of soldiers with about three knuckles in the sand table. Some of these soldiers are holding swords and shields, some are standing with guns, and some are holding swords in their hands.
There is a flag on which are engraved words such as "Shangshui Army", "Yanling Army", "Northern First Army", etc. The carvings are vivid and very careful.
It is worth mentioning that Zhao Hongrun also found himself in the Shangdang Basin on this sand table - to be precise, a model representing him, a knight with a flag bearer. The flag held high by the flag bearer was engraved with "solemn"
The words "Wang Run".
In addition, Zhao Hongrun noticed that there were wooden sculptures of soldiers representing other Wei armies in this sand table, such as Jiang Bi's Northern First Army. The wooden sculptures of soldiers had penetrated deep into Taiyuan County, so that judging from the situation on the sand table
, the only one in the entire western part of Hedong County.
The other sand table seems to be an abbreviation of the battlefield in the eastern part of Hedong County and Handan County.
Judging from the situation of this sand table, the wooden sculptures of soldiers painted black with ink represent Wei soldiers, while the wooden sculptures of soldiers painted red with unknown cinnabar or blood represent the Korean army, so that the statues of soldiers from Wei and Han appear to be mutually exclusive.
A confrontational situation.
"Let Shao first explain the current war situation in the eastern part of Hedong County to your three highnesses."
Taking a thin wooden stick from the hands of a general, Shaohu pointed to the sand table and explained to Zhao Hongrun, Zhao Hongxuan and Zhao Hongjiang: "From Xiuwu to Handan, 'Linli' and 'Ji' counties constitute the third
The first line of defense, "Linlu Mountain", "Qi (Shui) Pass", "Mo Yi", "Li Yang", "Hua (Tai) County", and "Dang Yin" are the second line of defense. Looking at the whole
Come on, this is a narrow battlefield sixty miles wide and about two hundred miles long. It is flanked by Linlu Mountain to the west and north, and to the east and south by the river... This narrow strip of land is surrounded by Linlu Mountain.
It is surrounded by Lushan Mountain and Dahe (Yellow River). It can be said that there is no room for detours on both sides... This narrow strip of land that the local Koreans call "Gong" is the place where our army must first consider attacking.
If we don't break through here, attacking Handan, the capital of Korea, would be just a joke."
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun, Zhao Hongxuan, and Zhao Hongjiang all stood around the sand table, staring at the terrain in the sand table, and then they frowned slightly.
Because all three of them could see that the depth of this battlefield was too long and was especially suitable for cavalry charges.