After three cities were defeated in a row, the army was quickly advanced. Xiangqiong had advanced to the pass between Pengshan and Zhangrenshan. This was also the second important line of defense organized by the Bashi Kingdom. Behind this barrier was the plain. As long as the defense line was broken through, the Xiangqiong army could attack the city of Badu.
The Bashiguo urgently mobilized heavy troops and relied on the terrain to defend themselves. Xiangqiong's march was too smooth and he pursued the speed of his advance. He underestimated the strength of this line of defense. The troops invested in the first battle were insufficient, and the vanguard formation was defeated. He then assembled a large army and temporarily stationed in front of the pass. For him, a real decisive battle between the two countries was about to come.
Xiangqiong led a large army to conquer three cities in a row, and arrived at the last pass outside the Badu City, just when Shaofu besieged Feihong City. Feihong City and Badu City were quite far away, and there were thousands of miles along the best road! Therefore, the news of Feihong City’s battle report has not been delivered to Xiangqiong.
On the Bashiguo side, Hongkui, a resident of Kangzheng, who was stationed at the base camp of Jinsha City, had just received a report from Yange from the capital and learned that the Xiangqiong army had advanced to the pass between Pengshan and Zhangrenshan, and quickly sent people to Feihong City to report the affairs of the minority. At the same time, Xiangqiong, who is in the hinterland of Bashiguo, was discussing the war with the Zhenguo General Yuexuan.
Why did Xiangqian stop the army and rest? Not only because he was hit by the first battle of attacking the guards, but also because he marched too fast throughout the way, and his logistics supply could not keep up, so he needed to stop and temporarily stabilize the rear.
The strategy adopted by Xiangqiong is similar to that of Shaofu. The elite military formations in the middle of the country are fighting on the front line, and the newly expanded reserve military formations take advantage of the situation to enter Wangqiu, Pinggu, and Yeliang Zhucheng. This not only ensures stability in the rear, but also provides a steady supply to the front army.
Xiangqiong has been preparing for this national war for many years. With the capital, Longma City and Taihe City as the march base, the gathering of grain, fodder, weapons and other materials is of course sufficient. However, these materials are transported to the front line in time. The longer the distance, the faster the march forward, the more difficult it is. The civilians who need to be requisitioned are several times more than the formal combatants.
In order to reduce the logistical pressure, the army will try its best to obtain local supplies during the expedition. For example, the Shaowu Army opened Baiju City, the granary warehouse and Hyogo in Guxiong City. After appeased the people, the local people were advised to go home to harvest wheat. Guxiong City did not have much supplies. However, because Baiju City is a border defense station, the granary warehouse is still sufficient. If Feihong City is occupied again, Shaowu can obtain a large amount of supplies on the spot.
But Xiangqian's luck was much worse. The route he chose could attack the capital of Bashi in the shortest time, and the garrison along the way was the weakest. As long as Xiangqian sent a secret spy, it would not be difficult to find out the truth. However, the granaries and Hyogo in the three cities were almost empty. After interrogation of the prisoners of war, they found that the main materials were transferred by the Shaofu. It is said that they were transported to the north to prepare for a war with Zhengshi.
The people and laborers in Chenggu are also an important strategic resource. However, most of the middle-aged men in these three Chenggu are conquered. When they attacked the border, the city lords organized the elderly, weak, women and children to evacuate the capital in the rear, and notified the villagers who really didn't have time to evacuate and try to hide in the mountains and avoid disasters.
When the Xiangqiu army passed by, no one saw many people, whether in or outside the city. The large area of wheat fields was ripe, but no one was able to harvest them. Some villagers in some villages even ignited fires to burn all the wheat when they evacuated.
But no matter what, there were still many people in these three city blocks that had not left, some were too late, and some were lucky enough to leave. General Yuexuan ordered that prisoners of war and local laborers be organized to join the service, or act as civilians to transport supplies to the front line, or to harvest wheat in the fields. Finally, the problem of on-site supply was partially solved, but it still could not meet the needs of the army's long-term combat. Most of the military supplies and labor to transport supplies still mainly came from the county court.
This is a strategy arranged in advance by Shaofu, and the purpose is to induce the Prime Minister to go deeper. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is to lengthen the supply line of the generals and prime ministers and the generals and the people along the way should be prevented from being conquered by the Prime Minister's army. Actively shrink their strength to defend the capital area; the disadvantage is that the city blocks on this march route are empty, and the prime minister's army can easily break through and advance quickly.
...
The lord's mansion in Yeliang City has now become a temporary palace where everyone is poor. On that day, the general of the state-controlled country, Yuexuan, said: "Master, we marched quickly. In just one month, we have advanced to the line between Pengshan and Zhangrenshan. As long as we pass this pass, we can attack the city of Badu. However, the army rushed over for a long distance and needed a temporary rest, and the march was too smooth!
The young master has drained all the supplies and military forces from the three cities along the way. Did he not beware of us attacking? Could this be a move to lure the enemy into depth? If the food road behind us is intercepted, there will be big trouble."
Xiangqiong pondered and said, "Before sending the troops, we had already discovered the reality of these cities, so we decided to quickly march directly to the capital of Ba. The situation along the way was also consistent with what we had previously explored, so why should the general worry? According to the results of interrogating prisoners of war, the Bashi State urgently evacuated the supplies and people of these three cities to the vicinity of the capital, which was also a wise move.
The three cities could not resist our army. Their focus was on defending the pass between Pengshan and Zhangrenshan. The next battle would probably be very fierce, but as long as we can win, we would not be far from the end of success. As for the general's concerns about the food road in the rear, it was not unreasonable.
But the reason I chose to advance like this was to go beyond the expectations of Shaowu and Zhenggu. Everyone thought I might harass the border, occupy the city and gain some benefits, but I didn't expect that I would destroy the Bashi Kingdom. The back of our march was Longma City and our own capital, which was the most stable guarantee of the food supply.
The reserve army was added to station the newly occupied three cities and stabilized the rear with heavy troops. After breaking through the pass of Pengshan and Zhangrenshan, the general was guarding Yeliang City, and I personally led the army to attack Badu City. At that time, even if I could not capture Badu City, the young man had to seek peace. If I captured Badu City, I could join forces with Zhenggu to divide the Bashi country, and our final gain would be far greater than Zhenggu."
Yuexuan advised: "The Lord does not have to lead troops to attack Badu City in person. I will attack the city ahead, and the Lord will guard Yeliang City."
Xiangqiong shook his head and said, "If this is the case, why should I not be in charge of the capital, but lead the army to come? I will conquer the capital city myself, and the general will respond in Yeliang City. After occupying the passes of Pengshan and Zhangrenshan, we can attack and defend. Even if we do not capture the capital city of Jade, there will be no major damage."
Xiangqiong and Yuexuan formulated the next combat plan, first transferring the reserve army formation to the front line and attacking the barrier defense in the front. In this way, even if the elite army formation is rested and the combat capabilities of the reserve army formation are exercised, it will also consume the enemy's defensive power. After almost exhausting the opponent's combat power, replace it with the elite army formation and break the barrier in one fell swoop.
Can you conquer the entire Bashi country by capturing this Bashi? In fact, the strategy of Xiangnan is correct, because the capital is the strategic command center of a country and the center of the ruling organization. Once captured, the entire country can often be paralyzed. Without unified organization and command, each city can only fight on its own.
This situation is like siege. If the city is destroyed, the people of all villages and villages within the jurisdiction will lose their shelter. After the garrison formation in the city is disarmed, it will be similar to ordinary civilians when facing the regular army formation. People of all villages who lack unified organization and command will have no power to resist.
Not every village can be organized to fight by Lingbao like Baixi Village. Even Lingbao can only organize villagers to defend the village at most, which will not pose a threat to the real army. What's more, it has lost the city and the country as the backing, and it is impossible to persevere.
Therefore, as long as Xiangqian captured Badu City, he would achieve a decisive victory. There was also a large army of Zheng Shiguo in the north, so young people would have to accept the defeat. Xiangqian's combat plan and the information he had discovered in advance would be fine.
...
However, Shaowu's combat plan was probably something that Xiangqian could never dream of. The army of Bashi Kingdom went straight to Feihong City behind Xiangqian from the eastern line far away from Longma City, and then marched into its capital from the hinterland of Xiangqian. Both sides' purpose was to attack the other's capital. Xiangqian was in a straight line, while Shaowu was in a circle.
If you want to succeed, the prerequisite is that when his army reaches the capital of the Xiangshi Kingdom, your own capital can be defended.
The march is too fast and requires timely rest. At the same time, the supply line and occupied areas are stabilized. We should do less work, so we temporarily besieged Feihong City without forcing it. On the other hand, if the young man is too eager to attack the city, it will force the people in the city to organize the city to fight back. Now the people and the military spirit in Feihong City are in chaos, so we will continue to let it go.
When Hongyuan was discussing countermeasures in the city lord's mansion, Shaowu arrived at Shuangliu Village accompanied by Huwa and Panhu. This is the place where Huwa first met the spiritual treasure. The appearance of the inn was almost unchanged, but there were no crowds in the market, and the entire Shuangliu Village had become an empty village.
There is a village wall made of sharpened thick wood here. There were originally military formations in the village, because it was located at the intersection of Qingxi and Baixi. There were two bridges outside the village, which was a major transportation route. But before the Shaowu Army arrived, the military formation here had been recalled to the city by the Lord of Hongyuan City, and the residents in Shuangliu Village were also evacuated, and most of them hid in Feihong City.
However, Shaowu stationed a total of six military formations here, strengthened the fortifications of the village walls and built stones at both bridgeheads. Shaowu made up his mind to the national war this time, how many troops had the national army been expanded? Ordinary people and even the city lords in each city did not know the exact number, but Huwa was very clear, it was as much as five times the daily reserve army of Bashi State!
Therefore, Shaowu now has enough military strength to defend the border, and can gather elite troops to launch an attack, but the army of the Prime Minister's State was put into the middle of the country. At this time, Jinsha City was sending people to come quickly and light chariots to report to Shaowu about the latest developments of the Prime Minister's Army. Shaowu was riding a carriage of two white horses, driven by Panhu, and drove with Huwa, and set off from Shuangliuzhai to Baixi Village. (To be continued)