In the early morning, in the thick fog, a large group of soldiers surged up like ghosts.
On top of the low wall, a young man stared forward with his eyes wide open.
Veterans in the army told me that on a foggy day, thieves would most likely come to attack us.
But knowing is one thing - the young man wiped his eyes, but I really couldn't see clearly.
There seemed to be "rustling" footsteps in the fog.
The young man swallowed dryly, and the spear shaft almost watered out of his grasp.
The "rustling" sound became louder.
The young man used his eyesight and looked forward.
In the thick fog, it seems that there is a vicious beast that eats people, and the "rustling" sound seems like the beast is chewing.
The young man was frightened by his own imagination.
After a while, he finally made a decision, climbed down the wooden wall, and came to the camp.
This village is very small and can only house about ten people. It is usually located outside the camp to serve as a warning.
Once the enemy attacks, it is impossible for them to survive. Their only function is to send out a signal before they die, giving the camp time to prepare.
There are still nine people in the village.
Someone was leaning against the wooden wall, closing his eyes and falling asleep.
Some people kept eating like starving ghosts.
Some people have a straight face, as if someone owes them a lot of money.
Others were cursing the weather, which made the firewood wet and unable to light a fire.
The young man suddenly realized that these nine comrades were actually afraid, but each one showed it in a different way.
Yes, the enemy has already arrived and is setting up camp in the north. Their number is unknown, but there are a lot of cavalry, at least more than them.
Who knows if they will attack suddenly?
I hope not. As long as we stay until noon today, brothers from another team will come to replace them.
"Team leader, I seem to have heard some noise." The young man said, "Do you want to send a warning?"
When the team leader heard this, he immediately opened his eyes, jumped up and said, "Follow me up."
An old man and a young man quickly climbed up the wall of the village, and the scene to the north immediately shocked them.
Countless evil spirits seemed to emerge from the white mist, rushing towards them.
The young man trembled all over.
His eyes fell on the enemy soldier unconsciously, and the enemy soldier seemed to give him a look full of malice.
The team leader rushed down quietly and rang the bell.
A crisp "dang-dang" sound suddenly sounded, piercing the thick fog and spreading far across the wilderness.
Almost at the same time, dense arrows were fired from the opposite side.
Screams sounded from the wall.
The boy fell to the ground with a "bang" and died with his eyes open.
There was an incessant "dong-dong" sound from the wooden wall, and occasionally a few arrows were thrown into the village, slamming into the mud, and the arrow feathers trembled endlessly.
The surging crowd almost flooded their small camp.
The thieves climbed over one after another, the sound of weapons clashing, and the screams of death occurred one after another.
The team leader persisted until the end.
The leather armor on his body was in tatters, and he was forced into a corner by several spears.
"Dang..." Warning bells rang in other places one after another.
The team leader laughed loudly and said: "I still want to take advantage of the fog to make a sneak attack, dreaming!"
"Poof!" The spear was stabbed into the chest and abdomen, and the team leader screamed and fell to the ground.
The severe pain blurred his vision, and everything in front of him became vague and insubstantial.
"Bang!" He fell heavily to the ground, and his last thought before dying was: After harvesting beans in September, be sure to select the plumpest seeds and plant them again next year.
****
After crossing the outer security village, the enemy troops advanced all the way and rushed to the edge of the trench.
Sandbags fell like raindrops, and wooden planks were laid down one after another.
Xuchang Shibing, who was standing behind the trench wall, looked pale and was spitting.
The officers walked back and forth, shouting and yelling.
After a while, arrows flew out one after another, sweeping all the almost unarmored enemy cannon fodder to the ground.
But there were too many enemy troops, and they continued to surge.
Xuchang Shibing is not all archers like the Silver Spear Army. The density of bows, arrows and crossbows is not enough to effectively prevent the enemy from charging over.
When the density of crossbow shots slowed down a bit, some enemy soldiers passed through the wooden planks and rushed to the trench wall.
"kill!"
"Those who retreat will die!"
The supervising team held machetes and stopped more than ten soldiers from Xuchang who turned around and tried to escape. They raised the knife and dropped it, with their heads rolling to the ground.
The soldiers were frightened and had to fight bravely.
There was a trench wall between the two sides. They were stabbed here and there with spears and hacked here and there with broadswords. Within a short time, there were mountains of corpses and rivers of blood on both sides of the trench wall.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The archers retreated behind the second trench wall, found high ground, and fired from a high position.
The arrows fell on the heads of the advancing enemy troops one by one, causing considerable damage.
The Xuchang soldiers behind the trench wall gradually stabilized their position, and under the leadership of their officers, they desperately resisted the enemy's offensive.
Slowly, the enemy's offensive became weaker and weaker, and there were fewer and fewer people.
Finally, after passing a certain critical point, someone shouted, turned around and ran away.
When the others saw it, their courage suddenly disappeared, and they turned around and followed closely.
A wave of offensive was repulsed.
"Attack!" Xuchang Shibing jumped out of the trench wall, stepped over the wooden planks, crossed the filled trench, chased after the retreating enemy troops, and killed them wildly.
But they didn't dare to chase too far. After all, the fog was thick. Who knew what was ahead? What if it was the cavalry waiting in full formation?
So, after rushing out for dozens of steps, they slowly retreated and shrank behind the trench wall.
Some people stayed at the end to take away the planks placed by the enemy on the trench and used them to repair the trench wall that had been smashed by the enemy.
The battlefield calmed down for a while.
The soldiers of Xuchang stared blankly at the corpses scattered in the mist, as if they were having a big dream.
Not every one of them has war experience.
As an army rebuilt during the reign of King Sima Que of New Cai, they had much to learn.
The cruel battlefield is the best place for training.
Under the great waves, if you survive, you will be an emotionless killing machine. If you cannot survive, it will be a stepping stone and experience package to help the enemy grow.
In today's battle, these people seemed to be less experienced than Shile's troops, and they fought so hard in the first wave of attacks when they were just waiting for work.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that they served as soldiers for the first time.
I joined the army many times in the past and was basically an auxiliary soldier. Now I am a combat soldier and face the edge. I immediately know that it is not easy to be a combat soldier, and I also know that it is difficult to get the food and salary of a combat soldier.
A group of Sizhou men came from the rear. They carried stretchers and carried away the wounded soldiers who were unable to walk; those who were seriously injured but could barely walk were carried back to the rear; as for those who were only slightly injured, they were not allowed to do so.
Stand back and spread some linen cloth to wrap up your wounds.
Everyone stood silently behind the trench wall, and the atmosphere was so solemn that it seemed like it could drip water.
"Dong dong dong..." A dull drum sound sounded in the heavy fog.
This time, the enemy no longer made sneak attacks, but formally arranged their troops and launched a second wave of offensive.
****
"Calm down." Shao Xun slapped Jin Zheng's shoulder heavily with his iron sand palm and said.
Jin Zheng smiled, a little embarrassed.
"Should we dispatch the Silver Spear Army for some small scenes?" Shao Xun continued: "I still want you to take charge of the overall offensive and defensive situation. Being so impatient is really a big mistake for Wang Que'er."
Jin Zheng blushed after hearing this.
Shao Xun looked at him, his tone softened, and said: "Think carefully, don't be impulsive. In matters like military warfare, the competition is who makes fewer mistakes, and the ability to catch the enemy's mistakes. No one can avoid making mistakes, I
You will make mistakes when you fight, but you should really try to avoid them."
"Yes." Jin Zheng responded sincerely.
"Shi Le has been here for almost ten days. Tell me what you think." Shao Xun found a bed and sat down and said.
"Shile's territory is probably still busy with the autumn harvest, and there won't be many infantry troops available for a while." Jin Zheng said: "The number of infantry troops he has on hand should not exceed 20,000, maybe only more than 10,000."
"It's great that you can think so much." Shao Xun nodded and said: "Shi Le arrived on the 10th and just launched the first attack. There is indeed a lack of infantry. This is our opportunity. But in matters like war,
We always expect the enemy to be lenient, but what if Shi Le mobilizes a large number of infantry to reach the front line of Fangtou? It is not impossible to rely on the old, weak, women and children to harvest in the autumn. Besides, there is no need to mobilize all the strong and strong people, just one soldier from every three to five households.
That’s enough.”
"I've learned a lesson," Jin Zheng responded.
"If you were given command of this battle, would you know what to do?" Shao Xun asked.
"Stay unchanged to cope with all changes. Successfully building a city is the first priority, and how many enemies you kill is secondary."
"Very good." Shao Xun said with a smile: "In building the city of Fangtou, I call it 'tactics'. Mobilizing Shi Le, surrounding Wei and rescuing Zhao, and protecting Wang Jun, I call it 'strategy'. This battle is actually based on Fangtou.
The tactic of building cities is used to realize the strategy of encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao. In future wars, we must focus more on the strategic level and stop focusing on small scenes."
"Yes." Jin Zheng seemed to have some realization in his heart, but he seemed to think that these things were too complicated, and it would be better to fight face to face with gongs and drums.
Shao Xun looked at him, sighed after a long time, and said, "Think carefully. Master Shao has high expectations for you, more than anyone else."
Jin Zheng was deeply moved, with a look of shame on his face, and said, "The student has let Master Shao down."
"We can't talk about it now. You are still young and you still have a lot of opportunities." Shao Xun said, "You should wake up as soon as possible. In times of crisis in the future, you are the only ones that Master Shao can trust."
After saying that, he got up and went to the back of the camp.
On the city construction site, the foundation has been laid and the city wall is being repeatedly rammed.
Most of the auxiliary troops are here.
He had already sent an order for Ho Lun to lead his army across the river to the north. On the one hand, they would take turns to fight, and on the other hand, they could increase the manpower for building the city.
The northern and southern cities of Fangtou are of higher standard and were built for long-term use.
After Qishui and Qingshui merged into Baigou, the latter has become an important water transportation channel.
Even if there is no war in the future, Fangtou will become an important land and water terminal and commodity distribution center, benefiting people all over the world.
In addition, he also wants to build his own base in Hebei.
Setting up garrison troops is a very good way. The garrison force in this kind of place is not strong in combat power, but it still has the ability to defend the city. Their presence is equivalent to diluting the influence of the powerful nobles and increasing the control of the court.
.
The gentry were not his base, but the field army, the government soldiers, and the peasants were.
Chapter completed!