The three families of Sun, Cao and Liu met and determined that Sun Ce would be the leader of the alliance. The troops of Cao Cao and Zhang Yun would gather in the southeast of Xiangxian County and build a large number of camps to act as a horn.
From mid-September to late September, both sides were working hard to build camps and constantly building defense lines.
If Liu Bei attacks at this time, he may be able to catch him by surprise.
But Sun, Cao, and Liu had to build a camp, and Liu Bei also had to prepare weapons for attack, and the two sides were bounded by the Sui River.
The Sui River is a medium-sized river, unlike the Guandu River, which is a small river and crossing the river is not easy.
Therefore, both sides were making adequate preparations. A confrontation like this would often last for a long time before the lack of particularly effective means of siege or camp in the late Han Dynasty.
For example, in the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao faced off for more than three months, and in the Battle of Puyang, Cao Cao and Lu Bu faced off for a hundred days.
What determines the outcome is not the battle between the two sides, but who runs out of food and fodder first.
But for now, because Henan has been relatively stable for several years, and when there were floods in Henan in the early years, Liu Yu or Liu Bei basically provided food and grass support, allowing them to have a surplus.
Therefore, except for the fact that Cao Cao was defeated and fled, and lost a lot of food and supplies, Liu Biao and Sun Ce still had enough food, and could even help Cao Cao replenish some supplies.
Therefore, at least for now, if there is a confrontation, there may be no winner for at least a year and a half.
However, Liu Bei led an army of hundreds of thousands to Henan, not to confront Cao Cao, Sun Ce and Liu Biao for a year and a half, but to completely eliminate the three of them. How could he waste time?
Therefore, we are actively preparing various offensive equipment.
The era with the fastest technological development is always the era of war. For example, there was only twenty years between World War I and World War II, but the changes in weapons seemed to have spanned an era.
Taishan Academy has been committed to researching new siege weapons over the years. In addition to rosin rockets, they have also researched a black powder bomb package.
However, after actual testing, it was found that it was of no use. Its lethality was limited to injuring people by a close-range explosion, and it was difficult to kill people.
In fact, many people have a misunderstanding, that is, they mistakenly believe that gunpowder is the origin of modern explosives.
But in fact, modern explosives have nothing to do with gunpowder.
Modern explosives are called yellow gunpowder, which is a chemical product. The raw material is nitroglycerin, which was developed by Nobel.
As for black powder?
Its basic function is to set off fireworks and so on, and its real lethality is very limited.
So this is the reason why gunpowder existed in the Song Dynasty, but for hundreds of years from the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the role of black gunpowder was limited to assisting in fighting, and cold weapons were needed for real wars.
However, although research and testing found that black powder was of little use, professors from the Kehua College mixed a large amount of poisons into the explosive bags, such as sulfur, aconite, asphalt, arsenic, wolfsbane, etc., and added a lot of iron spikes.
.
After it is lit, it is thrown out with a catapult. It explodes on the spot and produces a large amount of poisonous smoke. Those nearby will be scratched by the iron pieces and the wounds will be poisoned. Those far away will cause fainting or even death if they inhale the poisonous smoke.
Chen Mu was quite surprised to learn about this incident.
Because he knew about this thing, he used to like reading history books. He remembered that it was recorded in the "Martial Arts Summary" of the Northern Song Dynasty that the Song Army had a weapon called "Poison Smoke Ball", which was basically this kind of thing.
In this way, coupled with oil, crossbow rockets, and winch catapults, the siege equipment of the Han Dynasty was constantly updated and iterated, and it had evolved from the Han Dynasty to the level of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
That is to say, the current steel production capacity is seriously insufficient. If matchlocks or even flintlock guns and red cannons are developed one day, the level of warfare will once again increase and reach the peak of the feudal dynasty - the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
certainly.
Everything must be done step by step.
It has been nearly twenty years since Chen Mu founded Taishan Academy. Under his guidance with the knowledge of later generations, technology has only spanned four to five hundred years and developed to the level of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
But to say that we continue to move forward and reach the level of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is not reality, but a myth.
Just in terms of steel quality, production capacity is completely incomparable.
So the reality is that reaching this level is already the limit. If you want to go further, you have to bring peace to the world and start making steel vigorously before you can continue to move forward.
But even so, it's already pretty good.
At least at present, the Han Dynasty is very lacking in strong and effective siege equipment. Yuan Shao had so many troops and horses, and thousands of people besieged Dongwuyang Zanghong, but it took a year without defeating them. This shows how difficult the siege battle is.
At the beginning of October, Liu Bei was ready. All kinds of supplies, equipment, weapons and equipment, and food and grass were in place. Several pontoon bridges were built on the Sui River, and the imperial troops were already on the other side.
Zhang Liao once again applied for the vanguard. It has to be said that he has an innate advantage in terms of military types. The rest of the troops, such as Dian Wei, are the central army and Liu Bei's personal army. They must be used as the central army to protect Liu Bei. Gao Shun is the heavy infantry.
Qianzhao was also a member of the Central Army, while Xu Rongjun's combat effectiveness was slightly worse than that of Wan Shengjun.
Therefore, the vanguard task is very suitable for Zhang Liao. Even if others are envious, it is useless. The advantage of the military is there.
Early winter is approaching, and although it hasn't snowed yet, the strong north wind is howling by.
The soldiers wore reed clothes inside, which were the winter clothes of the Han people before cotton was introduced to China. They also wore a layer of cotton clothes outside. In fact, Indian cotton was still much inferior to the carefully cultivated cotton of later generations, so the soldiers
There are three layers inside and three layers outside, and a layer of armor is also required.
As a result, all the soldiers were dressed like fat men. Thanks to Chen Mu, Yan Jin, who was in charge of the army, attached great importance to the physical strength of the soldiers. The food was often based on beef and mutton food and cow and goat milk obtained from the Youzhou grassland.
In addition, cotton and reed catkins are not heavy, so it is no big deal.
Zhang Liao's vanguard troops had already crossed the river and were on guard on the south bank of the Sui River. Liu Bei's main troops also began to cross the river one after another. A large amount of supplies and equipment were also transported to the other side of the river. Then the army gathered and headed toward Zhuyi in the southeast.
And go.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! It took nearly three days to cross the river, and the river was densely packed with people. When the army arrived in the Zhuyi area, they faced Cao Cao and Liu Biao's army.
After the camp is fortified, it is necessary to build the camp again and prepare for an attack at close range.
Compared with Cao Jun's camp and Zhang Yun's camp, the imperial camp was much more spectacular. The two sides faced off on the south bank of the Sui River. Cao Cao was close to the Sui River in the north and dug a huge trench on the south bank to surround the entire camp.
Liu Bei was on the offensive side, and digging trenches was not conducive to the attack. Therefore, he did not build trenches, but built a large number of earthen hills outside the camp. After Zhuge Liang calculated, he built high oars and installed catapults outside the camp of Cao Jun and Zhang Yun's army.
, crossbows and other siege equipment.
The total number of troops on both sides amounted to 150,000 to 60,000, and the camps stretched for more than ten miles all the way to the south. One side was to the east of the trench dug by Cao Jun and Zhang Yun Jun to lead the canal from the Sui River, and the other side was to the west of the trench.
Every day, Liu Bei's army worked in full swing near the battlefield, digging out large amounts of soil to build trenches there. Liu Bei sent people to dig out soil and boulders from the mountains in the distance, and pushed them through transport vehicles into the trenches dug by Cao's army, blocking the canals.
entrance, and then slowly filled.
They filled in here, and Cao Jun in the camp was not a fool, and arrows rained down immediately.
However, the imperial army has sufficient military equipment. There are wooden curtains lying on the edge of the ditch. Thousands of arrows are like rain, but they are just sending supplies to the imperial army.
Seeing that the arrows were useless, Cao Cao used a catapult to destroy the wooden curtain.
Liu Bei's army calmed down for a while. After the earthen hills to the west of the ditch were built, the imperial court's catapults had a farther range than Cao Jun's. They suppressed Cao Jun's catapults and began to fill in the gully again.
The two sides went back and forth, fighting each other, and more than ten days passed, and the two sides were on the eve of a war.
And when Liu Bei was fighting with Cao Cao and Zhang Yun.
At this time, Sun Cejun and Chen Mujun began a decisive battle with real swords and guns.
It is different from the main battle between the two sides in Zhuyi. Because the two sides in Zhuyi have a large number of people and bloated troops, it takes a lot of time to coordinate and plan, and it is impossible to start a war directly because it covers everything.
If Liu Bei had not made any preparations, and 70,000 to 80,000 people had rushed towards Cao Jun's camp in a daze, using trenches, traps, horses, arrows, and other equipment before they even got close, most of the 70,000 to 80,000 people would have been lost, and moreover, half of them would have been lost.
Not to mention that they still have strong defensive walls.
Therefore, the war in Zhuyi is a siege-level offensive and defensive battle. The two sides are fighting for their wits and courage, and it is impossible to determine the winner in a short period of time.
However, the number of people on Chen Mu and Sun Ce's side was not as large as that on the other side, so they were more convenient to command and suitable for small and medium-sized close contact battles. However, temporary camps were built to limit their capabilities.
In late September, Sun Ce sent Jiang Qin as the vanguard, crossed the Sui River, and arrived at Suibei Pavilion southeast of Shiqiu.
Chen Mu also sent Zhao Yun's general Li Lan as the vanguard to station in Suibei Pavilion.
Because this pavilion is located on the north bank of the Sui River and controls several nearby villages. It is also the ferry crossing from the north for Fuli to cross the Sui River. If you can control this place, you will have an advantage. You can cross the river or half-cross the enemy who crosses the river.
And strike.
However, Li Lan's ability was relatively average. Both sides had 5,000 troops. When they met near Suibei Pavilion, Jiang Qin formed a formation on the spot and fired with bows and arrows like raindrops.
Although Li Lan also immediately carried out command and dispatch, Jiang Qin first occupied Suibei Pavilion and seized a hilltop in the southeast. From a high position, he defeated the troops Li Lan sent to seize the hilltop and defeated them. After losing more than a hundred troops, he had to
Start to retreat back.
On the second day, Jiang Qin slowly moved forward and advanced more than 20 miles to the north. The two sides met again at Gaoqian Pavilion, about 40 miles southeast of Shiqiu. This time, Jiang Qin no longer occupied a favorable location, but was on the plain.
A tough battle was fought.
The two sides fought hard from the afternoon to the evening. From the first formation to test, to entering the formation to fight each other, and finally retreating from each other because the sky turned dark, each lost hundreds and injured nearly a thousand people before they retreated.
This battle can also be regarded as the prelude to the decisive battle between Chen Mu and Sun Ce. After the war, both sides built simple camps to rest with Gaoqian Pavilion as the boundary.
On the third day, Chen Mu's army arrived at Gaoqianting first.
Jiang Qin then began to retreat.
After retreating for more than ten miles, Sun Ce's main force had also crossed the river. After passing Suibei Pavilion, he joined Jiang Qin and began to march towards Gaoqian Pavilion.
There is a hill to the east of Gaoqian Pavilion called Shaoshan, which is located to the west of Liangtao Reservoir in Fuli Town, Suzhou City. After Chen Mu arrived here, he built a watchtower and some simple fortifications on Shaoshan.
It was approaching October, and the mountains were turning yellow. On this hillside, which was only a few dozen feet tall, as the vegetation withered, revealing yellow-orange soil, only a tall watchtower stood out.
On the sentry tower, the watchman held a telescope and watched.
I saw on the southern horizon, the endless plains. In the fields, beside the forests, beside the roads, and in the creeks, there were Sun Ce's men and horses everywhere.
In addition to the 5,000-strong front army, there were two armies on the left and right, led by veteran generals such as Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Zu Mao and Han Dang.
In the middle, Sun Ce led 20,000 troops, each with his own confidants in charge.
There are still 5,000 people in the rear as the rear army.
There were 30,000 people on Chen Mu's side, and 40,000 on Sun Ce's side. There was not much difference in the number of people. Under the pale sunshine of early winter, densely packed heads quickly approached Gaoqian Pavilion.
There are many villages, farmland, forests, ponds, and mulberry trees near Gaoqianting. However, at this moment, the villages are all dilapidated and the people have long since fled without a trace.
The farmland, ponds, mulberry and bamboo were barren, and Sun Ce's former army quickly occupied several surrounding villages and began to deploy defenses.
However, they did not know that under the influence of telescopes, their every move could be seen by the lookout from three or four miles away. The army's layout, general number, and arrangement of men and horses were all known to Chen Mujun.
So when they heard that Sun Ce's troops were approaching, Chen Mu was in the general's camp north of Gao Qian Pavilion. Zhao Yun, Wu Anguo, Li Lan, Luo Hao, Han Hao and other tribes all wanted to launch an attack.
Sun Jian on the side was relatively silent. After all, he was his son over there. Although Liu Bei trusted him and made him a general, he still did not dare to say anything.
It's not that he has no say, but that his position is rather awkward. Liu Bei and Chen Mu trust him, but that doesn't mean that the soldiers trust him.
So it is better not to speak.
Zhao Yun said at this time: "Prime Minister, the enemy sees that the strength in the east is relatively weak, so we might as well attack its flanks."
"I'm willing to go to war!"
Since Wu Anguo was defeated by Cao Cao in a sneak attack last time, he has been looking for an opportunity to make a comeback. He quickly came out and said: "Prime Minister, the country is willing to fight to the death!"
"I want to go too!"
Li Lan also came out. He was humiliated by Jiang Qin and wanted to wash away his incompetence.
"Prime Minister, this opportunity cannot be missed."
"Yes, Prime Minister."
"Does the Prime Minister think that a surprise attack is not possible in this battle?"
Several people were surprised when they saw Chen Mu smiling and saying nothing, thinking that Chen Mu did not agree to send troops.
Unexpectedly, Chen Mu looked at Sun Jian with a smile and said, "What do the guards think?"
Sun Jian said awkwardly: "The prime minister can make the decision in everything."
Chen Mu pondered: "Based on Wei Wei's understanding of Sun Boxu, how do Wei Wei think he will make arrangements?"
Sun Jian thought for a while and said: "I have been on the battlefield all year round, so I don't know that traitor very well. However, I know that he has an angry and happy personality. If his flank is attacked, he will definitely lead his troops to rescue him!"
Chen Mu nodded, with a meaningful smile in his eyes: "In that case, Wu Anguo obeys the order!"
"The end is here!"
Wu Anguo was overjoyed and came out of the queue with his hands in hand.
Chen Mu said: "I order you to lead five thousand troops and raid Sun Ce's headquarters camp. You can only be defeated but not defeated."
"only......"
He was subconsciously kneeling down on one knee and clasping his hands to listen to the order. Suddenly he realized something, raised his head, widened his eyes, and said in surprise: "Prime Minister, don't you want to fight on the flanks?"
Chen Mu shook his head: "If you don't attack the flanks, then attack Sun Ce's central army headquarters!"
"this......"
Although Wu Anguo didn't know the reason, he had to obey Chen Mu's order, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Wei!"
When Wu Anguo received the military order, Chen Mu looked at Zhao Yun again and said, "Where is Zhao Yun!"
"The cloud is here!"
Zhao Yun came out of the queue.
"I order you to lead 10,000 people. When Wu Anguo is defeated, attack from the flanks and entangle Sun Ce. Remember, you must not let Sun Ce go back."
"only!"
"Where is Sun Jian?"
"exist....."
Sun Jian originally thought that he was just a mascot and he should have nothing.
Unexpectedly, Chen Mu suddenly called him and quickly stood up and held his hands.
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Weiwei, whether this battle will be won or lost, whether Sun Ce will live or die, it all depends on your thoughts. You should understand that even if Sun Ce wins this battle by luck, it will not really last long, because
What he will face then is the thunderous wrath of the imperial court, and hundreds of thousands of troops approaching Jiangdong, which is definitely not something the Sun family can bear. I hope you can understand this."
Sun Jian took a deep breath and said seriously: "I understand!"
Chen Mu nodded with satisfaction: "Shan, you lead 10,000 people and raid Sun Ce's east camp. Your generals Han Dang and Huang Gai are in the east camp. You go out in person and recruit them to surrender. If you can't recruit them, raid them on the spot.
Do not hesitate to shoot. After the East Camp is pacified, you can go to the West Camp to find Cheng Pu and Zu Mao, and finally attack Sun Ce together, then this battle will be won!"
It was only then that everyone understood Chen Mu's plan.
He actually wanted to take advantage of Zhao Yun to hold back Sun Ce's main force and ask Sun Jian to recruit his four senior generals.
Anyone who has been on the battlefield knows that if one's two wings suddenly launch a rebellion and directly attack one's own center when the two sides are facing each other head-on, the consequences will be disastrous.
Therefore, Chen Mu planned to suddenly let Cheng Puhan, Huang Gai, Zumao and four others betray him when Sun Ce thought he was safe, and directly defeat the Sun family's army.
This move can be said to be a blow to the bottom of the pot.
Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but admire Chen Mu's strategy.
However, they didn't know that Chen Mu was looking at the south with a smile at this time, thinking about other things in his mind.
I heard that Sun Ce had completed the alliance with Cao Cao and Zhang Yun and became the leader of the alliance?
Just don't know.
When the alliance leader's father comes, how will Sun Ce react?