This tactic is known in modern times as "penetration warfare."
As the name suggests, "infiltration warfare" is the battle of penetrating into the enemy's interior.
The purpose is not to kill as many people as possible, but to cause confusion among the enemy... In fact, in the end it is also to kill people.
The characteristic of this tactic is that it is particularly effective when used in troops whose organization is unclear and confusing.
Therefore, during the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army always used this trick to deal with the Chinese army...send a small team to pretend to be the Chinese army and sneak in. They could even speak Chinese, and then launched a sudden attack, causing the Chinese army to become confused and unable to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.
The Vietnamese army always played this trick during the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
The reason why this tactic works so well is because both the Kuomintang army during the Anti-Japanese War and our army in the early stages of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam had problems with unclear organization and confusion.
The Chu army at this time also had a similar problem: its troops were numerous and complex.
There were Xiang Bo's army, Zhang Qi's army, the Ru River garrison, and reinforcements from various nobles who came one after another.
At first Zhang Qi would interrogate these reinforcements, but later he would pull them out one by one.
His idea is very simple. The Qin army is trapped in Ruyin City anyway, and those who can come to join the siege are all heroes.
Otherwise, going up to attack the city would be risking one's life, so what's the point of squeezing in?
So the five hundred soldiers led by Wang Ben easily sneaked into the Chu army as reinforcements.
And because the composition of the Chu army was complex and they did not know each other... In ancient times, the troops used to identify who they were were using a banner. For example, Xiang Bo's banner had the word "Xiang", and the Zhao family's private soldiers used a banner with the word "Zhao".
"Character.
But even at the same time, Xiang Bo's army was composed of various types. Even if Wang Ben typed the word "Xiang", no one would be able to recognize it.
So that night Wang Ben made chaos, and the Chu army was in chaos and could not distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.
Wang Ben and the other black-armored troops could identify them by not wearing white towels... In this dark night, even if they were wearing white towels, they wouldn't be visible.
The code is used:
"Thief Qin is so brave, take my sword."
The black-armored army was shouting and killing at the same time. Anyone who didn't shout these words would be chopped at random, and from time to time they would shout again:
"We are Xiang Jun."
"We are the escort!"
…
In fact, they just shouted randomly and confused the Chu army. In the eyes of the Chu army, sometimes it was Xiang Bo's army killing people indiscriminately, and sometimes it was Zhang Qi's guards who were killing each other. Sometimes it was just the two armies killing each other.
.
The result is that no one can guarantee whether the people around them are enemies or friends. They look like they are friendly forces, but they stab them with a sword unexpectedly...
If you want to protect yourself, you should kill everyone who is close to you.
But if everyone thinks so, the Chu army will be massacred if they kill themselves...
This is very common in the era of cold weapon warfare.
In ancient times, there was a very serious crime in the military camp, which was to prohibit yelling and screaming while sleeping at night. Anyone who disobeyed the order would be killed immediately.
There is no other reason, because the military camp is dark at night and the soldiers are highly nervous, especially when there is a war.
If someone suddenly yells or even talks in his sleep at this time, it is easy for people to misunderstand that there is an enemy attack, which will cause random killings in the camp.
At this time, it was night, and not only were they yelling and shouting, but Wang Ben and others were still fanning the flames, so this "fire" could not be stopped, it only burned violently under the city, and it burned more and more fiercely.
, for a moment there was the sound of weapons clashing with each other, and the screams were endless.
The black-armored troops standing at the top of the city just stared at all this, and many people did not understand what was going on.
Chen Duan asked Shen Bing dubiously:
"Vice-general, are they Wang Ben and his group?"
The reason why Chen Duan was "half-convinced" was because he didn't believe that Wang Ben could make such a big noise with only 500 men... It was as if tens of thousands of reinforcements were fighting with the Chu army below.
Shen Bing nodded and replied:
"Who else could it be if they weren't them?"
"At this time, I can have some sleep!"
As he spoke, Shen Bing covered his head with the coir raincoat beside him, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.
Chen Duan thought the same thing when he heard it. The Chu army was in such a mess that they couldn't even bother attacking the city. How could they wait until now if they didn't sleep?
So they immediately set up sentries and ordered the black-armored troops to recharge their batteries.
The black-armored army hadn't slept a wink for several days. Even though the sound of killing outside the city was loud, they fell asleep as soon as they hit the ground.
The shouting of death did not end until just before dawn.
At this time, Shen Bing, who had slept well, asked someone to bring Wang Ben and others in.
This process is not difficult.
Shen Bing first used a torch to send a signal to retreat, and then Wang Ben and others secretly gathered under the city gate under the cover of night.
Shen Bing led the black armored troops to guard the Wengcheng with bows and crossbows. After they were ready, they opened the city gate and let people in.
Go to the Wengcheng first and light a torch in the Wengcheng to identify yourself.
Who would have thought that more than a dozen Chu troops would actually sneak in among them... In fact, these dozen Chu troops were also confused. They just happened to follow Wang Ben and others in the chaos and shouted, "The Qin thief is so brave. Eat!" "I'll just strike with my sword", so they gathered into a confused bunch and entered the city.
At this time, when the torch was illuminated and he realized something was wrong, he threw down his weapon in fear and surrendered.
This scene almost made Wang Ben and the others laugh out loud, but because they were injured, the laughter affected their wounds, so they could only endure it.
At the last count, there were only a hundred or so of the five hundred soldiers led by Wang Ben, and all of them were injured. Even Wang Ben was no exception. There were several wounds on his shoulders, face, and back. The wounds were covered in blood...
Infiltration warfare is good, but the disadvantage is that once it is launched, no one dares to guarantee their own safety, and life and death can only be left to fate.
Shen Bing patted Wang Ben on the shoulder and asked:
"Is it okay?"
Wang Ben smiled and replied:
"Lieutenant General, it's just a skin injury, nothing serious."
"Although we suffered heavy casualties, they are insignificant compared to the Chu army. Lieutenant General, please do not take it to heart."
Shen Bing nodded, and then asked someone to take Wang Ben and others down to bandage.
Wang Ben was right, the casualties of more than 300 people were indeed insignificant compared with the casualties of the Chu army.
But this is not Shen Bing's ultimate goal.
You must know that the Chu army numbered 70,000. Even though they suffered heavy casualties in the chaos of the infiltration battle, they still had the strength to capture Ruyin.
So this is just the first step.
Then Shen Bing had people stab a lot of straw men and put them on armor... The Chu army had plenty of armor in the warehouse, and they could get as many as they wanted.
After finishing, these straw men were moved to the top of the city, leaving only the top of their helmets exposed. From time to time, they were moved a few times or changed positions.
Finally, arrange a few more big flags and put the word "Wei" on them.
After these arrangements were completed, Shen Bing waited on the top of the city.
As the saying goes, "It's up to people to make things happen, but it's up to God to make things happen."
Shen Bing has done everything he can. It depends on fate whether the Chu army will be fooled.