Chapter 124: Offensive and Defensive Battle of Wei Camp (4)
A mistake in the design, I should not have used the knife cart to seal the camp gate if I had known earlier...
Zhao Hongrun thought bitterly.
As the battle situation gradually evolved, the Chu army's leader Zai Fugen had invested more than 15,000 Chu army infantry. Excluding the 5,000 people who were shot dead by the Chu army's longbowmen themselves in the first round of attack, in the second
In the first round and the third round of offensive, Zaifugen invested 5,000 infantrymen respectively.
Among the subsequent 10,000 Chu infantry, more than 7,000 have so far been shot to death by the Wei army's crossbowmen, and have fallen forever on this territory belonging to the Wei State, becoming the souls of foreigners who died in battle.
Looking at the casualties of Wei's dredging soldiers in detail, there are only more than 600 casualties so far. This includes the Wei soldiers who were shot to death during the first round of the Chu army's offensive when the 10,000 longbowmen fired thousands of arrows.
In other words, from the second round of the offensive when the Chu army's leader Zai Fu Gen gave up his trick until now, the number of Wei soldiers' casualties has only been more than 400.
The casualties of more than 400 Wei soldiers were exchanged for more than ten times the number of Chu soldiers killed. This was the result of Zhao Hongrun's proposal to strengthen the defense of this camp. The effect was indeed extraordinary.
However, this favorable situation for the Wei army gradually disappeared as the Chu army advanced and as the 10,000 Chu army long archers entered the battlefield again.
It has to be said that Bailiba's suggestion, which was to lead an elite army out of the camp to sneak attack on the long archer phalanx of the Chu army, could effectively contain the enemy. The only problem was that Zhao Hongrun had previously used a giant knife cart to reinforce the camp.
The exit of the camp was blocked.
If not, Bailiba, the general of the Junshui camp, could lead this 800-man cavalry group to quietly leave the camp from the east and west camp gates, and then attack the Chu army in a roundabout way.
After all, the Chu army is currently taking the risk of placing the 10,000 long archers at the forefront. When they turn their attention to the Wei soldiers on the wall of the Wei camp, Bailiba leads the 800 cavalry team, relying on the speed of the horses,
There is a great chance of disrupting the formation of the 10,000 long archers, making it impossible for the latter to effectively suppress the Wei soldiers on the walls of the Wei camp.
Unfortunately, due to Zhao Hongrun's design errors, although the giant sword cart could greatly strengthen the defense of the camp, it could not allow the war horses to pass. This meant that Bailiba's tactics were difficult to implement.
Is it possible to send an infantry to sneak attack the 10,000 Chu archers? That would be the same as sending someone to death.
"dismantle!"
Zhao Hongrun thought for a moment and made a decisive decision: "General Baili, from the east and west sides, which side are you going to attack from?"
Bailiba thought for a while and replied: "Let's attack from the west side. We can use more horsepower to attack from the west side."
Zhao Hongrun nodded. He naturally understood what Bailiba's words meant. It was nothing more than attacking from the west. His position was northwest of the Chu army. In the northwest wind that prevailed in winter, he could greatly reduce the wind obstruction.
"In this case, General Lao Baili is responsible for this matter."
"I don't dare." Bailiba cupped his hands after hearing this, and then said hesitantly: "But after dismantling the knife cart on the west side of the camp gate, we must be alert to the movements of the Chu army..."
"I will immediately ask the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry to recover it." Zhao Hongrun nodded and immediately warned: "However, after leaving the camp, I hope that General Baili will not attack the Chu army first... I will find a way to deal with it.
The long archer phalanx of the Chu army will counterattack, and then the general will attack again."
Upon hearing this, Bailiba glanced at Zhao Hongrun in surprise and nodded slowly.
After the two agreed, Bailiba immediately said goodbye to Zhao Hongrun and went to the depths of the camp to temporarily form a cavalry. After all, the 800 horses pulling the chariot were all without saddles. He needed some time to think of other replacements.
How to saddle the horse, and it also takes time to recruit temporary cavalry.
At this time, Zhao Hongrun also took Zhang Ao away from the vicinity of the camp wall and headed for the central camp.
At this time, in the middle camp, Meng Wei, the left minister of the Ministry of Works, and other officials and craftsmen of the Ministry of Works were commanding numerous Yanling soldiers and working intensively to build the Jinglan chariot required by Zhao Hongrun.
Speaking of which, it's not like Meng Kai didn't hear the killing cries coming from the direction of Nanying, but he was a non-combatant and couldn't help at all. The only thing he could do was to constantly encourage the craftsmen around him.
Let them speed up the construction and build the two wells required by Zhao Hongrun as soon as possible.
To this end, Meng Wei, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, and other officials of the Ministry of Industry went to battle in person. With hammers and chisels, they worked together with the craftsmen and the many Yanling soldiers who helped build these two giant siege engines.
device.
And just when Meng Wei was motivating the craftsmen around him to speed up the construction and participating in it himself, a nearby Yanling soldier reminded him: "Sir Meng Wei, His Royal Highness Prince Su is here."
Meng Wei, who was so busy that he was sweating all over, raised his hand and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He looked back and saw Su Wang Zhao Hongrun leading Zong Wei Zhang Ao towards this side quickly.
He quickly put down his tools and greeted him: "His Royal Highness King Su."
Zhao Hongrun also returned the gift with his hand, and then said with a smile: "Sir Meng Wei, how do you think the two wells are built?"
In fact, during the questioning, Zhao Hongrun had already noticed the two well-mounted carriages. After all, they were huge monsters with a height of three feet. How could he not have noticed them.
"The official has ordered the craftsmen to speed up, but it will still take two or three days to complete the work." After saying that, Meng Wei glanced at Zhao Hongrun with some confusion, obviously wondering why His Highness Prince Su was here.
his construction site.
Logically speaking, now that the Chu army is aggressively attacking the camp, His Highness Prince Su should never leave the southern camp. This is in line with His Highness Prince Su's character.
As if he had seen through Meng Wei's thoughts, Zhao Hongrun smiled bitterly and said: "That's it, Lord Meng Wei, now the Chu army is attacking our army camp, and the defense in the south camp is very tight, so I am wondering if I can
Put these two well inspection vehicles into emergency use."
"This..." Meng Wei's expression changed slightly when he heard this, and he subconsciously looked at the two three-foot-high well-mounted chariots not far from him.
What is the concept of the three-foot-tall Jinglan chariot?
You must know that the city wall of Daliang, the capital of Wei State, is only a little over three feet high, while the walls of the county towns in other places are generally only about one foot high, and even this military camp is only about one foot high.
The three-foot-high Jinglan chariot means that it is an extremely huge chariot. It is more than two feet long and more than two feet wide. It will definitely not be smaller than a palace. After all, in Zhao Hongrun's design, this is a large chariot.
A giant chariot that requires a full force of 250 soldiers to push slowly.
How could such a huge project be completed in just one or two days?
You must know that according to Meng Wei's estimate, it would take at least two or three days to completely build these two well-mounted carriages. But now, they have only built a chassis and then built a preliminary frame on the chassis.
That's all, there are no front baffles, internal standing boards, or stairs connecting the two floors.
How to use this?
Meng Wei looked at Zhao Hongrun blankly, and after a while he said hesitantly: "His Royal Highness King Su, I... I have ordered the craftsmen to speed up, but... but still..."
Seeing him hesitantly speaking, Zhao Hongrun waved his hand and interrupted: "I understand what Lord Meng Wei means... I also know that just one day's work is not enough to build these two wells.
But the problem is that the defense of the southern camp is currently tight, and the more than 2,000 soldiers on the camp wall cannot simultaneously suppress the attacking Chu infantry and the long archer phalanx in the distance..."
With that said, Zhao Hongrun briefly explained to Meng Wei the situation of the Chu army pressing in, and finally he said: "I don't ask for anything else, I only ask for a place at the top for the crossbowmen to stand. At this time,
Even if there are one hundred or two more crossbowmen standing on high places, it would be good..."
"Top? Top?" Meng Wei muttered a few words, and quickly shouted to the officials and craftsmen beside him: "Quickly, nail the standing boards of the top pavilion first."
In fact, the officials from the nearby Ministry of Industry also heard the conversation between the two of them, and they all changed their jobs to nail the platform of the Jinglan Car Roof Pavilion.
However, there were also one or two officials who looked at the two unfinished wells with strange expressions, and said to Zhao Hongrun in embarrassment: "Your Highness, King Su, this... has not yet built the stairs inside, even if the top pavilion has been nailed down.
The board… the archers can’t even get on it.”
Meng Wei scratched his head and scratched his head anxiously when he heard this, but Zhao Hongrun said with a smile: "How about... let's build a long ladder first and nail it to the outside of the well gate to make it work?"
After hearing this, Meng Wei was immediately overjoyed: "What a great idea! Just do it, quickly!"
After the instructions were given, the nearby craftsmen and Yanling soldiers immediately started busy.
In a short time, all the standing boards for the roof pavilions above the two well-mounted carriages were ordered, and the long ladder was also built and fixed on the outside of the well-mounted carriages. Although it looked quite miserable, it finally met the requirements.
Zhao Hongrun’s request.
But looking at these two urgently modified well-mounted trucks, Meng Wei felt more and more awkward. After all, he was the left minister of the Ministry of Works. All engineering work in the past had perfection as the ultimate goal, especially in the construction area. The Ministry of Works
The requirements are extremely high. Often a piece of carved board used as architectural decoration will be immediately re-engraved if it breaks. There is no such thing as shoddy work.
But now, in order to meet the needs of the war situation, two well-mounted carriages that were 70% unbuilt were put into emergency use, and temporary parts such as long ladders that seriously affected the appearance were modified. He felt awkward no matter how he looked at it. He stood there and talked with
The officials and craftsmen nearby who had a similar mentality looked at each other with mixed emotions.
Zhao Hongrun didn't feel anything about this. After all, he focused on practicality. As for whether it looked good or not, that was just incidental.
Under Meng Wei's order, many Yanling soldiers who participated in the construction gathered together and slowly pushed the two wells to the south camp.
At the beginning of the design, these two well-mounted carriages were too large, so each required a full 250 soldiers to push them. However, since nearly 70% of the parts have not yet been completed, therefore,
Each Jinglan chariot only required forty or fifty Yanling soldiers to easily push these two huge behemoths to the south camp.
However, the two well-mounted carriages were put into use urgently, which also left the craftsmen nearby without work. They all stood there staring at each other, quite at a loss.
After looking at these craftsmen and then at the neatly stacked wooden boards nearby, Zhao Hongrun touched his chin and a somewhat crazy idea popped into his mind. (To be continued.)