Chapter 177: Raise an army for a thousand days, use it for a while
Sun Jian was defeated, but Wen Chou did not choose to pursue him.
Because his soldiers were all snatching baggage, food, grass, money, weapons, and armor, everything they robbed.
It was a common occurrence in the late Han Dynasty for the victor to get all his baggage. For example, Cao Cao defeated the Black Mountain Army and the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, captured their population, and plundered their baggage. Gongsun Zan defeated the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, seized their population, and plundered their baggage.
Including after Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Zan burned himself on fire, Yuan Shao also robbed him of the millions of stones, grain and grass and a large amount of wealth he had hidden in Yijing.
These are all trophies.
This was not only true in the late Han Dynasty, but also in ancient marches and wars.
Moreover, there was an unwritten rule on the battlefield at that time: anything captured by soldiers in battle often belonged to the soldiers.
When the auxiliary troops clean up the battlefield after the war, more than 99% of them, except for a few items that are not very valuable, must be turned over.
This is because soldiers go through life and death, fight with their lives, and the spoils of war are what they deserve.
Even if Wen Chou is a general, it is impossible for all soldiers to immediately enforce orders and prohibitions.
Throughout the feudal period, except for a few such as Li Shimin's Xuanjia soldiers, Yue Fei's Beiwei army, and Qi Jiguang's Qi Jiajun, few people could do this.
Therefore, after discovering that Sun Jian's army had begun to evacuate and that all their food, grass and baggage had been looted by his side, Wen Chou no longer scolded the soldiers to stop looting, but allowed them to seize them at will.
Soon, when the soldiers had robbed all the baggage, Wen Chou sent people to check on Sun Jian's camp. They found that Sun Jian left in a hurry and there was still a large amount of baggage left in the camp.
This is normal. Ten thousand soldiers need to consume more than 30,000 stones of food and grass every month, which can almost load about a thousand baggage trucks.
But for an army to function normally, it needs other supplies besides food and grass.
For example, weapons and equipment that can be replaced at any time, coins and goods used to pay military salaries and reward soldiers, as well as some tents, furs, silks and other military supplies, the total baggage of course cannot be more than a thousand cars.
However, there were only about 3,000 people in Sun Jian's camp. If all 3,000 soldiers came out, the camp would be completely empty.
Once the baggage convoy led by Han Dangzu Mao failed to break up the enemy's formation and allowed them to seize the opportunity to occupy the camp, Sun Jian would be in a dilemma and be completely destroyed.
So Han Dang just sent more than a thousand soldiers to drive carriages into the battle, and the remaining more than a thousand soldiers stayed at the camp. He was determined to buy time for Sun Jian to evacuate into the camp, even if he sacrificed himself, it didn't matter.
Unexpectedly, after rushing into the formation and disrupting Wen Chou's formation, he abandoned all the baggage and carriages, threw away his helmet and armor and fled. However, Wen Chou's troops, who were clearly a cavalry unit, did not pursue them at all, but chose to rob the supplies where they were. This is
Han Dangzu Mao did not think of anything.
But no matter what, for Han, Dang, Zu, and Mao, it was better to survive the disaster and save a life than to end up in the enemy's insurgent army. They were extremely lucky. Sun Jian saw that the army was almost defeated, so he simply
Don't carry too much baggage and withdraw your troops immediately.
When Wen Chou's troops robbed more than a thousand vehicles and baggage, they rushed into Sun Jian's camp and saw that there were still a large number of baggage. The cavalrymen each seemed to be crazy and began to snatch the loot again, frantically ransacking the entire camp.
Soon, most of the 10,000 cavalrymen had bulging bags. The bags on their bodies were filled with money, and there were a large number of gold, silver and copper coins in their arms. The silk silk could not fit in them, so they simply wrapped the captured silk around their waists and tied them up.
Some people even went too far, dragging weapons and equipment out one by one.
At that time, a sword cost 600 yuan, and a pair of armor was worth thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan. It was not a problem to sell a cart of weapons and equipment for hundreds of thousands of yuan. There were also those animals, horses, and various military supplies, as long as they were dragged back.
, it is considered a great achievement in the credit book.
The least valuable thing inside is actually grain and grass, or in other words, the most valuable thing inside is also grain and grass. At the current price, more than 30,000 stones could be sold for nearly 20 million yuan.
But the amount of food and grass was too large, more than a thousand carts, and they had to march and fight, and they couldn't pull them away. So they had to take advantage of the Liyang defenders who came later and were pulled into the city as a reserve.
food.
However, although the goods were abundant, the more Wen Chou looked at them, the more he felt that something was wrong.
The brothers have indeed made a fortune. The problem is that according to military orders, after defeating Sun Jian's troops, there is not much time left for him to rest and recuperate. He must immediately return to Fanyang to attack Guan Yu together with Yan Liang.
Now everyone has become rich and has a lot of money with them. I am afraid that none of them have the intention to fight. What should we do?
For a moment, Wen Chou looked at the smiling soldiers around him and felt a little angry. He said to the deputy general Wang Bi: "The soldiers have won the battle. Everyone is overjoyed. I am afraid that the soldiers have no desire to fight. Send me an order to put them down."
All the baggage will be shipped to Liyang and will be picked up after the war."
"General, you can't."
Wang Bi quickly advised: "After Sun Jian returned from the attack with a great victory, his morale should have been high. The soldiers had gained victory and should be rewarded. If the general took away all the things, the soldiers would be resentful and might cause trouble in the army."
Mutiny. Even if there is no mutiny, no one will die during the battle, and it will be even worse."
Wen Chou frowned and said: "Then what do you think we should do? We are about to set off back to Fanyang to attack Guan Yu with my elder brother. At this time, the soldiers have no fighting spirit. How can we go to fight Guan Yu with such an attitude?
Aren’t you looking for death?”
"this......"
Wang Bi hesitated for a moment, and quickly thought of a solution in his mind.
In fact, with Wen Chou's intelligence of 30, which is almost the same as Lu Bu's IQ, it is impossible to worry about the combat effectiveness of the army.
Because in history, when Xun You set the bait, he himself participated in robbing the baggage. As a result, Cao Cao suddenly sent out cavalry to attack, causing a chaos in the formation and death among the rebels.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! So under normal circumstances, after repelling the enemy, he robbed the baggage faster than anyone else.
It just so happens that these are not normal circumstances.
Historically, Cao Cao deliberately sent out transport troops to let Wen Chou's cavalry see him, and then lured Wen Chou into pursuing him. When Wen Chou came after him, the transport troops pretended to be defeated, abandoned their helmets and armor, and scattered supplies everywhere.
Wen Chou thought that the enemy army was defeated and there was no possibility of an ambush, so he went to pick up supplies without worry, but was killed by an ambush sent by Cao Cao.
This time, Wen Chou personally defeated Sun Jian. Sun Jian used a convoy of supplies to break up his formation, cover Sun Jian's army's escape, and buy time for the withdrawal. It was also impossible for an ambush to appear, so there was no problem in seizing the supplies.
The problem is that he received a death order from Yuan Shao, that is, after defeating Sun Jian, he must quickly go north to support Yan Liang without any delay.
Now we have a lot of baggage, but there are too many things. Wouldn't this delay Yuan Shao's military mission?
That's why Wen Chou had this worry.
In other words, if there was no order to go north to support Yan Liang immediately, he would not care how much the soldiers took, but now that the military order was with him, he had to think about it.
But Wang Bi was right. The soldiers were all in high spirits now. If he forcibly ordered the soldiers to hand over their things, it would be like pouring a basin of cold water on a burning firewood, which would instantly boost the morale of the soldiers.
Loss of interest and even feelings of resentment.
Therefore, Wen Chou did not dare to risk mutiny and issue this order for a while. He looked at Wang Bi who was thinking hard and couldn't help but said: "Do you have any ideas? How can you go north to fight in this situation?"
When Wang Bi was urged by him, he really came up with a bad idea. He said to Wen Chou with a smile: "General, I have thought of it."
"What did you think of?"
"I thought of a way to not only improve morale, but also prevent the soldiers from handing over their belongings."
"Oh? What on earth is a good idea?"
Wen Chou asked hurriedly.
Wang Bi pointed to the north and said: "General, think about it, is Fanyang closer to us and still in our hands now?"
Wen Chou thought deeply: "What do you mean?"
"If the general asked the soldiers to put things in Liyang first, the soldiers would be most worried about the chaos of storing things. After the war, no one would know who owns the things, and someone would definitely overreport or conceal the information. The second thing is that they are afraid of Liyang Shou.
General Tan Mo will take away all their belongings."
Wang Bi said: "As long as these two problems are solved, the general will not have to worry about the lives of the soldiers. We can rest in Liyang today, count the baggage, and record the seizures of each soldier. Tomorrow we will not only take these
The baggage was hauled away, and even grain and grass and a large number of weapons and armor were hauled away to Fanyang."
"Food, grass, weapons and armor also drag Fanyang away?"
Wen Chou was surprised. He didn't expect his lieutenant to be so greedy. The most important items in the army were grain, grass, weapons and armor. Sun Jian had an army of tens of thousands and stored a month of grain and grass. The total weapons and equipment of the entire army were worth tens of millions of dollars.
Since the cavalry needed mobility, it didn't matter if they put some coins or silk cloth on them. But these things were too bulky. He planned to give them to the Liyang defenders, but he didn't expect Wang Bi to want them all.
"good."
Wang Bi nodded repeatedly and said: "General, think about it, if the general promises to distribute all the rewards obtained after turning in these things to the brothers, does the general think that the brothers will not die? How much is the money and silk collected now worth?"
It’s only a few thousand dollars at most, and that’s the bulk of it.”
Wen Chou pondered: "What you mean is that we take these things to Fanyang first, and then let the soldiers store all the things in Fanyang. Fanyang is close at hand, and the soldiers will not worry about the things being raped or beaten."
Can you get rewards for winning the battle?"
"Exactly."
Wang Bi continued: "We have traveled a long distance to attack Sun Jian. Our horse power and the physical strength of the soldiers are in urgent need of training. Even if we reach the battlefield when we go north, the soldiers will definitely be exhausted. While resting today, we will take stock and make a list to reassure everyone.
The soldiers around us will also protect them with their lives."
"Um......."
Wen Chou thought for a moment and felt that it made sense.
They came from Weijun and traveled three hundred miles, taking almost two days and one night.
The soldiers slept in the open air. Even if they won the battle, their horse power and the soldiers' physical strength still needed to be restored. Yan Liangben gave him a day or two to rest.
Now the journey from Liyang back to Fanyang is almost 50 kilometers, about 120 miles, and it takes almost three hours for the cavalry to gallop.
Although the average speed of horses is 20 kilometers per hour, horses cannot run continuously and need to rest from time to time.
When cavalry marches long distances, they often have to run and rest for a while. In terms of endurance, they are not as good as infantry. Therefore, cavalry is only suitable for short-distance attacks, such as the tiger and leopard cavalry raiding Dangyang Changban Slope, and is not suitable for long-distance attacks.
Therefore, it is indeed impossible for Wen Chou to go back immediately today. He will rest for a day in Liyang and let the military meritorious officers count the accounts. It will not be too late to leave tomorrow.
Thinking of this, Wen Chou adopted Wang Bi's advice and decided to stay in Liyang for one night.
...
...
"How many of them are there?"
In the morning, in Neihuang County.
Chen Mu received news that a large group of cavalry was crossing the river from Dangshui, thirty miles west of Neihuang, and headed south.
It is autumn now, the weather is very hot, and the water has entered the dry season. The water level is very low, and the cavalry can go directly through the shallow water.
If Chen Mu hadn't set up a hidden checkpoint with a few people every five miles along the Danshui coast, he might not have been discovered.
"I don't dare to get too close. If I look at it from a distance, I can see there are thousands of them."
The scout captain reported back.
Chen Mu pondered: "The Jizhou cavalry is in the hands of Wen Chou. With so many cavalry, it is only possible that Wen Chou went south to attack Sun Jian. There are also capable men in Yecheng. We plan to defeat them one by one."
Chen Qun said: "Master, what should we do?"
"Send reinforcements now."
"Our army is small to begin with. If we divide our troops, I'm afraid Yan Liang will take the opportunity to attack."
"If we don't send reinforcements, what will Ambassador Sun do?"
"The cavalry comes and goes like the wind. I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up."
"Shijun Sun has set up camp outside Liyang City, and the cavalry will definitely not be able to break it in a short time."
Sima Lang, Sima Yi, Yang Xiu, and Chen Qun were talking about it.
It is not a good thing to have too many counselors under your command. Several people may be intelligent, but it is difficult to unify their opinions and each one has his or her own reasons.
Chen Mu thought for a moment and quickly filtered the opinions of the four people in his mind. They were all very conservative methods. For him, it was about finding the key to victory rather than making up for it afterwards.
After a while, several people saw that he was just thinking about the question but did not answer. They also stopped arguing unknowingly and turned their attention to Chen Mu to see what he could do.
Chen Mu stood up from the table, walked outside the hall and said, "Ada, follow me to the military camp."
"only!"
Ah Da, Ah Er, Zhang Long, Zhao Hu and other attendants followed immediately.
The four of them looked at each other and hurriedly followed them. When they left the mansion, Chen Mu said to the four of them: "You guys just wait here, I'll be back tomorrow."
"only!"
Several people did not dare to disobey orders and had no choice but to watch him leave.
Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry was stationed in the city. Under the protection of dozens of guards, Chen Mu arrived at Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry's camp.
At this time, the Xuanjia heavy knight soldiers were undergoing daily training. Since Ju Yi's lesson that day, although the soldiers had not fought, they had maintained high-intensity training and did not slack off at all.
Chen Mu came to the army and summoned the soldiers in the school field. Thousands of people were in the audience, and there was a crowd.
Later generations are sometimes poisoned by TV dramas and think that a battle involving a few thousand people is like a village fight. Little do they know that a thousand people are no longer a minority, and a battle involving tens of thousands of people is like overwhelming and overwhelming.
Anyone who has been to a junior high school or high school should have a deep understanding of this when thousands of people in the school gather for a meeting in the morning. Standing among them, at a glance, you will see a sea of people with no head left.
Because of this, when Wen Chou attacked Sun Jian, Han Dangzu Mao rushed out with the baggage convoy, and his team was shattered to pieces. Because there were too many people, they wanted to flexibly turn and conduct battle formations.
Change is indeed too difficult.
Chen Mu looked down at the audience and said loudly: "It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but it takes a while to deploy it. Since the formation of the Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry, they have not fought a decent hard battle. Outsiders often say that our reputation as a Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry is just a boast."
, do you admit it?"
"deny!"
The soldiers who were close to the stage suddenly roared angrily.
The soldiers at the back couldn't hear what he was saying, so the soldiers in the front passed the message one by one to the back.
After waiting for a long time, thousands of soldiers responded loudly: "I don't admit it."
No way, Chen Mu doesn't have a voice like Zhang Fei!
"In this case, the day to bear the name is today. I want to lead you and stop the enemy's army. This battle will never go forward. Do you dare?"
Chen Mu said again.
"dare!"
After another long time, the soldiers responded one after another.
"Put on your armor and let's go!"
Chen Mu stepped off the stage, turned over onto Ziying, and rode Juechen out of the camp.
After the order was given, all the black armor heavy cavalry began to work in an orderly manner. Under the leadership of officers and captains at all levels, they returned to their camps separately.
Everyone expertly put harnesses on their horses, then put on their heavy armors, came to the school field and began to form an array.
Before leaving, Chen Mu ordered Ah Da and Ah Er to organize the team and assemble outside the city.
As for himself, he headed to Guan Yu's military camp in the north of the city.
Li Shimin was able to lead a thousand Xuanjia troops to defeat Wang Shichong and kill and capture six thousand people. I, Chen Zigui, can do the same!