Chapter 57: Night Attack and Counterattack [two in one]
"Happy! So happy!"
Just when the famous Qi general Tian Dan said in the commander's tent, "Tomorrow, Tian will be the one to command the siege." In the city lord's palace in Rencheng, Wei general Cai Qinhu and his two colleagues "Zhou Kui" and "Li Qian" were very excited.
Under some horrified gaze, Gudu Gudu poured several spoonfuls of wine with a wine spoon.
It was as if what he drank was water rather than the strong liquor produced in Shangdang County, Wei State.
After looking at each other, the youngest and eldest Li Ji coughed and persuaded Cai Qinhu: "General Cai, don't be busy drinking. Let's discuss countermeasures first?"
When he said this, he felt quite helpless. You must know that he invited Cai Qinhu to come here this time to discuss how to deal with the Qilu coalition forces outside the city, not to celebrate Cai Qinhu's victory - although this person
The performance of his colleagues on the battlefield during the day was truly astonishing. The three thousand Fenxing Army Wei soldiers actually completely destroyed the more than 20,000 Lu troops outside the city. Even the trebuchets were destroyed by Cai Qinhu.
"It turns out that the "Fenxing Army", which has always focused on defense, actually has such a brave other unit..."
Li Qian was secretly surprised in his heart.
Because the combat effectiveness of the Wei army led by Cai Qinhu today is actually three points more brave than their dredging army. You must know that ten years ago, when the Shang Shui Army, Wei Wujun and other elites of the Wei State were now
When the army was not yet born, the three infantry battalions of the "Drench Water Army" were recognized as the first infantry in the country. Because of this, when Zhao Hongrun led the army for the first time, he led the Wei army to
Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo's so-called 160,000-strong army was defeated - it cannot be denied that Zhao Hongrun's strategies and arrangements at the time were also an important reason for the victory, but it cannot be denied that the elite and bravery of the dredging army was the decisive factor in that victory
.
It is a pity that ten years later, with the establishment of the Shang Shui Army, the Suppressing Rebellion Army, the Shanyang Army, and the Northern First Army, the Dredging Navy Army lost its glory, although it has not yet been squeezed out of the first echelon of the Wei State's elite.
, but as the successor of Bailiba and now the general of the Jun Shui Army, Li Qi was also quite worried.
Although the Dredging Army has only been established for more than 20 years, in any case, this is an army that once served as the garrison of Daliang and Gyeonggi. In other words, they were originally the king's division. How can they be compared to ordinary local armies?
Go down?
Because of this, the Qilu Allied Forces attacked Rencheng with great force this time. Li Ji also hoped that through this war, the reputation of the Dredging Army would be resounding throughout the Central Plains. Only in this way could he go to the East Palace and ask Prince Zhao Run for permission to expand the Dredging Army.
navy, and allocate more military spending.
It's not that His Highness the Prince is stingy, it's because the competition within the Wei military is too fierce. Zhai Huang's Shangshui Army (general Wu Ji is not in charge), Qu Cheng's Yanling Army, Pang Huan's Anti-Rebel Army, Sima An's Hexi Army
Army, Wei Ji's Hedong Army, Shaohu's Wei Wu Army, as well as Yan Wang Zhaojiang's Shanyang Army, Huan Wang Zhao Xuan's Beiyi Army, these first-echelon garrison troops of Wei, who are not eagerly waiting for the imperial court's military funding
.
In fact, funding is secondary. The key lies in the joint efforts of the Smelting Bureau and the Military Casting Bureau to develop new military equipment. It is impossible for the two to uniformly re-equip all the Wei army at the same time. Replacing the army's equipment has become a problem.
There is a tacit understanding within the military: whichever army has made the greatest contribution will be the first to replace its equipment.
At present, His Royal Highness the Prince of the East Palace and the imperial court have tacitly approved the use of troops against the Beibo Army in Song Dynasty and the Qilu Allied Forces who are trying to intervene in this matter. It happens that the three of their armies are stationed in Song County. This is simply a God-given opportunity!
You must know that the Sixth Battalion of the Wei State's garrison at that time, the Nanyan Army was assassinated by Xiao Ni because of the assassination of General Wei Mu, and now it has become the subordinate of King Zhao Jiang of Yan;
Chen inheritance, another part
was stolen by Huan Hu; Sima An's Dangshan Army fared best and was renamed "Hexi Army" and entered the category of "50,000 establishment", so that only Jun was left in the sixth battalion of the garrison.
There are three branches: Shui, Chenggao and Fenxing.
But if they can successfully defeat the Qi-Lu coalition this time, these three armies may have a chance to regain their glory. As we all know, the contemporary prince, His Highness Zhao Hong, seems to be both civil and military, but in fact he is extremely protective and kind to his soldiers, especially
It was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who issued an edict on the restructuring of the army after he came to power. The treatment was so generous that it even aroused private discussions among the noble families in the country. You can imagine to what extent.
Of course, the premise is to defeat the Beibo Army and the Qilu Allied Forces outside the city. Otherwise, even if His Royal Highness the Prince does not blame, Li Ji, Zhou Kui, and Cai Qinhu themselves would be too embarrassed to mention the expansion of the army.
"...The Qilu coalition is weaker than I expected."
After pouring another spoonful of strong wine with a wine spoon, Cai Qinhu felt the heat in his chest as if it was a fire burning his heart. He rubbed his bare chest with his hands and curled his lips and said, "If the other party hadn't been fully equipped, I would have thought it was...
We are fighting with the Chu State’s grain-recruiting troops..."
"General Cai must not underestimate the enemy."
Li Ji warned, but deep down in his heart, his evaluation of the Qilu Allied Forces was actually very low.
The army of the State of Lu is a joke. If they lose their weapons of war, the soldiers of the State of Lu will be nothing but soft-footed shrimps. Although the soldiers of the State of Qi are much better than the soldiers of the State of Lu, they will not be as good for Li Wei, Zhou Kui, and Cai Qin.
For Hu, the three brave Wei generals, they could not tell the difference between the weak and the weaker.
Just like it is difficult for ordinary people to distinguish the difference between one hair strand and two hair strands.
The only thing worth worrying about is the war weapons owned by the Qi-Lu coalition, such as the machine-shaped crossbow box. Although Wei's infantry can forcefully block it with the strong iron shields in their hands, for the crossbowmen without shields, Lu's
The mechanism of the crossbow box was still able to shoot through the armor of the Wei army's crossbow soldiers.
After all, the armor on the chest of most Wei soldiers is actually only half a knuckle thick. This thickness of armor can help the soldiers defend themselves well against the enemy's swords and swords, but for crossbows,
However, the defensive power is still insufficient. Only an iron shield with a thickness of one and a half knuckles or even two knuckles can effectively defend against the flying arrows of the Lu army.
But the most critical thing is the range of the crossbowmen on both sides.
When the Qi-Lu coalition attacked Rencheng today, Li Wei, Zhou Kui, Cai Qinhu and others frowned and discovered that even though the Lu army outside the city was shooting towards the city wall, they were at a geographical disadvantage, but their arrows had a range of
He was actually on par with the Wei army.
You must know that the Wei army has the convenience of a city wall. This means that if the factor of the city wall is eliminated, the range of the Wei army's crossbows is not as good as that of Lu's crossbows.
To be honest, this is very deadly.
Of course, this does not mean that Wei's technology in developing crossbows still lags behind that of Lu. It is just that the three Wei armies of Chunshui, Chenggao, and Fenxing are still using the old equipment from two years ago. After all, Wei is currently
There are as many as 300,000 troops in the first echelon. Even if the Smelting Bureau and the Ordnance Casting Bureau work all night long, it is impossible to meet the requirements of these 300,000 troops for new equipment at the same time.
Fortunately, this time the Wei army had the help of the city walls of Rencheng. Otherwise, the Wei army would have been at a disadvantage in terms of weapons before the battle even started.
"...The Qi and Lu armies lost their first battle today. This is probably because they have not yet adapted to fighting our Wei army."
Recalling the scene on the battlefield today, Li Qian said in a deep voice.
Cai Qinhu and Zhou Kui both nodded in agreement.
This has nothing to do with their disdain for Qi's army. After all, the Qi-Lu coalition forces really underestimated their enemy today.
Who would have thought that the Lu army would openly assemble a trebuchet outside the city without even arranging a guard flank. Did those people really think that the Wei army in the city would not dare to fight out?
After Cai Qinhu led 3,000 infantry to rush out of the city, the Lu army's response was so slow that the Wei army was ashamed to be their enemy.
Sergeant Wei simply couldn't imagine what those idiots were doing on the battlefield at that time? Were they discussing what to have for dinner?
Because of this, after confirming that the other party was not deliberately luring the enemy, but was actually slacking off, Li Wei and others knew that they would definitely win the first battle.
Cai Qinhu lived up to expectations and led 3,000 infantrymen to the heart of the Lu army. If Tian Dan had not sent the Qi army to support him in time, Cai Qinhu might have been able to defeat the 20,000 Lu army alone.
But having said that, the Qilu Allied Forces suffered such a big loss today. Thinking about it, they will definitely be more vigilant tomorrow. As a result, the pressure on Rencheng will undoubtedly increase dramatically.
"How about I go on a night raid tonight?"
His eyes were slightly bloodshot after drinking. Cai Qinhu opened his bloodshot eyes and suggested enthusiastically: "The enemy has just arrived and has not yet built a camp. At this time, it is very possible to attack at night and gain a big victory."
Win!"
After hearing this, Li Qi and Zhou Kui thought for a while, and then the former shook his head and said: "I don't know much about the commander-in-chief of the Qi Army, Gao Xi, but the deputy general Tian Dan is a well-known general in Qi State who is good at fighting.
, how could he not guard against our army’s night attack?”
Cai Qinhu nodded regretfully when he heard this.
However, at this time, Zhou Kui frowned and suggested: "Although the Qi army may be on guard, as General Cai said, sending troops to attack at night before the Qi and Lu coalition forces have established a foothold outside the city is very likely to inflict damage on the enemy."
The army suffered heavy losses... Tian Dan is a general who is good at fighting. Suppose he guessed that our army would attack his army at night.
In that case, why don't we take advantage of our strategy and design a double night attack? The first wave of night attacks immediately retreated after luring out the Qi army's ambush. Seeing that the Qi army had defended our night attack, it was very likely that they would take it lightly.
At that time, our second wave of night attack troops arrived and caught him by surprise!"
Having said this, he thought for a moment and then added: "If Tian Tan is a person who is seeking fame and reputation and did not even count our army's night attack, then the feign attack of the first wave of night attacks can also be changed as appropriate."
Li Qi and Cai Qinhu looked at each other, and both looked at Zhou Kui in surprise: How could this normally taciturn Meng Hulu be so good at using tricks? No wonder former general Zhu Hai didn't entrust Chenggao's army to Feng Su.
, instead entrusted it to Zhou Kui.
Immediately, the three people discussed and decided that Zhou Kui would be responsible for leading the soldiers to launch the first wave of night attacks against the enemy troops outside the city, while Cai Qinhu would be responsible for the second wave of night attacks.
At the same time, about fifteen miles east of Rencheng, Tian Dan was in his tent, looking at a rough defense map of Rencheng given to him by Xiang Xuan, and thinking about attacking the city tomorrow.
I don't know how long it took, but suddenly there was a noise outside the camp, accompanied by bursts of fighting and shouting.
Hearing those movements, Tian Dan frowned slightly, his expression a little strange.
"It can't be that... the Wei army really came to attack our army at night, right?"
Standing up, Tian Dan walked towards the outside of the tent and said to the soldiers stationed outside the tent: "Go and find out what happened?"
However, before the soldiers he sent came back to report, a messenger came to Tian Dan in a hurry. He cupped his fists anxiously and reported: "General, the south camp was attacked by the Wei army!"
Tian Dan nodded when he heard this, and was not very anxious, because he had long considered that the Wei army was likely to come to attack them at night before the Qilu Allied Forces camp was completed, so he arranged troops to patrol and keep vigil early and ambush them in the camp.
Not to mention defeating the Wei army by waiting for work, at least it can catch the Wei army by surprise and drive the opponent back.
If his prediction was correct, the shouts of killing in the south of the camp at this moment must be that the Wei army was making a sneak attack. They encountered his pre-deployed ambush, and two groups of people started to kill.
At this time, from the handsome tent not far away, Shang Qing Gao Xi walked out with a solemn expression and asked in a deep voice: "Master Tian Dan, do you know what happened?"
Tian Dan looked at Gao Xi several times with a strange expression.
You know, because he had already taken precautions, even when he heard the shouts of killing coming from the south of the camp, he was not anxious and walked out of the tent slowly.
However, Gao Xi appeared even later than him.
But what is incredible is that Gao Xi, who had already gone to bed early in the morning, is now neatly dressed. It is obvious that Gao Xi dressed neatly after being awakened by the movement, and then walked out of the handsome tent.
"...Is it inevitable that a gentleman will be crowned when he dies?"
Tian Dan felt a little funny.
It has to be said that this point shows that Gao Xi is not suitable to be the coach of the first army, but having said that, if he is just a pretentious coach, Tian Dan would be more inclined to assist Gao Xi than to follow someone.
Cooperate with some guys who scream when they are in danger.
At least, although Gao Xi is pedantic and stubborn, he is a man of considerable backbone. Tian Dan believes that even if he is struck by a sword, the Lord Shangqing will still remain calm and will not turn to him because of this.
The enemy surrenders.
Such a coach, even if he is purely a decoration, can still stabilize the morale of the military.
Shaking his head secretly with a half-smile but not a smile, Tian Dan said calmly: "It's probably just the Wei army coming to attack at night. Tian has been on guard for this for a long time, so you don't have to worry, Lord Shangqing."
Sure enough, even when Gao Xi heard that the Wei army was coming to attack at night, he did not show any fear. Instead, he proposed to go to the south of the camp with Tian Dan to see the battle situation, and Tian Dan secretly nodded: Although Gao Xi does not know how to fight, he is indeed responsible.
, he is worthy of being hailed as a model for Qi people.
However, by the time Tian Dan and Gao Xi arrived at the south of the camp, the fighting there had ended miserably, and the Wei army seemed to have been defeated.
Dongguo Piao, the general of the Langya Army who had repelled the Wei army, was currently escorted by a group of soldiers, exchanging something with Xiang Ding, the leader of the Bei Bo Army.
The general of the Langya Army, Dongguo Piao, was in charge of the ambush deployed by Tian Dan.
With the help of the light from the many fire pots in the camp, Dongguo Pleiades and Xiang Xiang saw Tian Dan and Gao Xi walking towards them from a distance, and immediately stepped forward to greet them.
"Where is the Wei army?" Tian Dan asked casually, and glanced at Xiang Xiang in surprise.
"The Wei army retreated when they saw that our army was on guard." After explaining, Dongguo Pleiar pointed to Xiang and said to Tian Dan: "Thanks to General Xiang Xiang."
Hearing this, Xiang Xuan quickly waved his hand humbly, expressing that he did not dare to take credit for his small work.
In fact, without Dongguo Subaru's explanation, Tian Dan could guess that the reason why Xiang Ding appeared here was that he must have led the Bei Bo Army to come to the rescue after hearing the shouts of killing.
Compared with the army of Lu State, the Beibo Army's response was extremely fast.
"...(Beibo Army) This army only lacks armaments."
Tian Dan secretly looked at Xiang Qiang for a few times and thought to himself.
After a while, the casualties and losses were roughly calculated. What made Langya Army General Dong Guo Piao look ugly was that even though their Langya Army had taken precautions in this night battle, they still lost nearly a thousand troops. On the other hand, the Wei Army only left behind
Less than two hundred corpses were found.
"Is the gap really that big?"
Except for Tian Dan and Xiang Qian, the generals of the Langya Army such as Dongguo Piao and others present were all ashamed.
They simply couldn't accept that despite being prepared and not being prepared, their own losses were still so different.
However, Tian Dan took this very lightly.
After all, he had long known the bravery of the Wei army, not to mention that this confrontation took place at night. Without the assistance of the Lu army and those war weapons, how could his Qi soldiers defeat the Wei soldiers?
But having said that, he was also vaguely confused about this.
Because judging from the casualties on both sides, if the Wei army chooses to continue the attack, although it cannot kill all the tens of thousands of Qilu Allied Forces and Beibo Army here, it may not be able to disturb the peace of the camp. If it were him, he would not retreat.
So simple.
So, why did the generals of the Wei army decisively choose to retreat when they could continue to attack?
Could it be said that General Wei on the opposite side is an overly cautious person?
But that's not right. After all, if he was an overly cautious person, how could he decide to take the risk and attack his Qi army's camp at night?
Tian Dan thought to himself that he was somewhat famous in the Central Plains and even in the Wei State.
"...The Wei army's withdrawal was too simple and not quite right."
Frowning slightly, Tian Dan murmured the confusion in his heart.
After hearing this, Shang Qing Gao Xi snorted and said: "Maybe the Wei army wanted to try their luck in our camp. Seeing that our army was on guard, they withdrew."
"Try your luck?"
Tian Dan glanced at Gao Xi and sneered secretly in his heart.
In his opinion, generals who rely on "trying their luck" to defeat the enemy are third-rate and not worth mentioning.
Although he had never heard of the reputations of the three Wei generals, Li Ji, Cai Qinhu, and Zhou Kuina, you must know that these three Wei generals were the generals who were stationed in Song County by Wei Gongzi Run——
Could it be that the general of Wei who was placed great hope in by Wei Gongzi Run was a third-rate general?
Tian Dan was willing to believe that there must be some deep meaning behind the Wei army's decisive withdrawal.
"It wouldn't be... interesting."
After touching his chin and thinking for a while, Tian Dan showed a smile on his face, beckoned Dongguo Subaru to him, and gave him a few instructions.
"What? You want me to strip off the clothes and armor of these Wei soldiers and pretend to be Wei soldiers with two hundred elite soldiers?"
Dongguo Subaru was dumbfounded when he heard this, and looked at Tian Dan in disbelief: You don't want me to pretend to be a deserter from Wei and sneak into Rencheng right now? It's obvious that I will never return!
Thinking of this, Dongguo Subaru waited for Gao Xi, Xiang Ding and others to leave one after another. He half-jokingly smiled bitterly at Tian Dan and said: "General Tian Dan, I have never offended you, have I? If General Tian Dan wants to kill Dong Guo, why bother to borrow the money?"
The hand of the Wei people?"
Tian Dan laughed loudly after hearing this, and then whispered: "What did General Dongguo say... Tian guessed that the Wei army would probably attack our camp again later, and Tian would personally pursue the Wei army at that time.
When this Wei army is defeated, General Dongguo can take the opportunity to sneak into the Wei army and return to Rencheng together."
Dongguo Subaru looked at Tian Dan in disbelief. Finally, after making a bet with Tian Dan about "ten jugs of wine", he left and carefully selected nearly two hundred brave Qi soldiers to order them
Put on the armor of the Wei soldiers who died in the battle and wait for orders.
Waiting until the next day was approaching, Dongguo Subaru couldn't help but feel sleepy.
However, just when he was drowsy, just as Tian Dan guessed, Wei general Cai Qinhu led a Wei army and sneaked to the north of the camp.
Immediately, following Cai Qinhu's order, an unknown number of Wei troops poured into the camp of the Qilu Allied Forces like a tide.
During this period, Cai Qinhu ignored the soldiers under his command and led the most powerful group of soldiers straight to the Chinese army in the camp.
But when he reached the central army, he suddenly stopped.
The general's intuition made him realize that something was wrong.
"Withdraw! Withdraw!"
he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"What an intuition!"
Under the dark night in the distance, although Tian Dan could only vaguely see Cai Qinhu's figure, he clearly heard the latter's shouts and secretly praised him in his heart.
While admiring, he also secretly expressed regret to the other party: But unfortunately, you are already within Tian's ambush range!
"Fire the arrow!"
Following Tian Dan's order, a crossbow bolt shot out from the dark night in the distance, flying towards Cai Qinhu and others.
Immediately, Wei soldiers were hit by arrows one after another. Even Cai Qinhu was hit by an arrow in his shoulder.
Immediately, when Tian Dan personally led the Qi army to attack with crossbows, Cai Qinhu could only fight and retreat.
At this time, Tian Dan summoned a personal guard to his side and said to him: "Tell General Dongguo Subaru that it is time to act."
After a while, the order was passed to Dongguo Piaru's ears. He murmured a few words secretly, and with nearly two hundred elite men under his command, wearing the armor of the Wei army, they took advantage of the panic of Cai Qinhu and the Wei army to sneak into the opponent's team and fight with them.
The Wei army, who did not know the truth, fled to Rencheng together.
In this case, Tian Dan led the Beihai Navy, Langya Army, and Xiang Ding's Beibo Army to rush towards Rencheng.
Just as he expected, Cai Qinhu's Wei army did not expect that Dongguo Subaru and two hundred Qi soldiers were mixed into the defeated army. So when Dongguo Subaru entered Rencheng, he suddenly attacked and killed the Wei soldiers who retreated from the city gate.
When they entered the city gate, the Wei army inside the city had almost no defense at all.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tian Dan led the Qilu Allied Forces and Xiang Dian's Beibo Army to rush into the city.
That night, the two sides fought fiercely all night, until dawn, because the Qilu Allied Forces camped step by step and deployed weapons such as machine crossbow boxes in the streets and alleys of the city. The Wei army, which lacked weapons, was unable to resist. In the end, in order to avoid unnecessary battles,
After suffering casualties, the Wei army had no choice but to retreat and surrender the city.