DAD (additional updates)
To the northeast of Zitong, the area that is twenty miles long and twelve miles wide is collectively called Qiqu Mountain.
There is a road at the belly of the mountain, which winds in seven twists and turns, hence its name.
Today, Qiqu Mountain is half occupied by officers and soldiers and half by rebels.
Ju Ming's main army was divided into several camps, and each camp could rescue each other.
The officers and soldiers also set up three villages on the mountain, with a total of 8,000 troops stationed there.
If the rebels want to attack Zitong, they must clear out these three strongholds.
And only two or three miles to the southeast, the officers and soldiers set up two strongholds. If the rebels attacked the third stronghold in Qiqu Mountain, the officers and soldiers in the two strongholds here could not only go down the mountain to rescue quickly, but also go around and attack on the flanks.
On the mountain on the other side of the river, there are also camps of officers and soldiers, who can cross the river to attack the rebel army on the other side.
In other words, once Ju Ming was dispatched, he would not even attack the city, but just attack the mountain stronghold, and he would be attacked from three sides.
On the third day after Bai Qi captured the enemy general alive, Ju Ming suddenly moved.
First, the entire army retreated six miles to find a suitable ferry and headed for the west bank of the Tongjiang River. The dangerous area of ​​Qiqu Mountain was no longer needed, and the food road was no longer in care. The officers and soldiers could deprive themselves of food as they liked.
Then advance eight miles to the southwest, camp in the hills, away from the Qiqu Mountain area, and then attack the westernmost mountain stronghold of the officers and soldiers.
"The Zhu Thief abandoned Qiqu Mountain? Didn't he care about the food supply?" Huang Gai was overjoyed when he heard the news.
"It's absolutely true," the sentry replied, "all the camps previously established by the bandits have become empty camps."
Zhao Yu guessed: "I'm afraid that all the food and grass that can be transported by the red thieves have been transported. There will be no more food and grass to transport in the future. The food of the rebel thieves can last until the twelfth lunar month at most."
"That would be better," Huang Gai suggested. "Our army can move troops to occupy Qiqu Mountain, build a stronghold, and fight in vain. We must not fight in the wild and delay the time until the beginning of spring to wait for the bandits' food.
After eating, I will definitely collapse without a fight!"
Zhao Yu shook his head and said: "I'm afraid that the Zhu thieves will think that Zitong is difficult to defeat, so the whole army will go around to Zhangming (Jiangyou) or Mianzhou (Mianyang). There are three thousand rural soldiers guarding the city there, so I'm afraid they may not be able to defend it."
Huang Gai said: "Our army is always watching. If the Zhu Thief dares to march like this, he will be besieged. The big city of Mianzhou cannot be set off immediately, so the Zhu Thief has no choice but to attack Mingming. At that time, his retreat is cut off and there is not much food left.
We were besieged by officers and soldiers again, so we had no choice but to retreat to the mountains of the northwest to deal with the Qiang people!"
"I'm afraid that if I can't surround him, I'll be defeated by him instead..." Zhao Yu seriously doubted the officers and soldiers' ability to fight in the field.
"Then we should retreat and do the next best thing," Huang Gai said. "If the Zhu thieves dare to advance westward, our army will send more troops to Mianzhou to block its southward passage. Even if he can capture Mingming, he will become a deep-seated force."
Lonely."
…
Ju Ming's idea was very simple. At the expense of abandoning the retreat route and food road, he stayed away from the unfavorable terrain of Qiqu Mountain and instead attacked the westernmost mountain stronghold of the officers and soldiers.
If Li Bao could successfully reach Mianzhou, he would have blocked the officers and soldiers' retreat to the south. And if Zhu Ming captured the stronghold by force, he would have blocked the officers and soldiers' escape to the west.
At that time, if the officers and soldiers wanted to escape, they could only go north, that is, to Jianzhou and Jianmen Pass. There were various rebel troops guarding there, and Ju Ming and Li Bao followed and pursued them. The officers and soldiers were unable to advance or retreat, and they were like being beaten by the gate.
If Li Bao encounters an accident and cannot come to encircle him, Ju Ming will kill Zi Tong!
"Buzz buzz~~~"
Three days later, in the early morning, a dull trumpet sounded.
The main force of more than 21,000 rebels left the camp with 8,000 auxiliary soldiers, leaving only more than 10,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilians guarding the camp.
They are said to be auxiliary soldiers, but in fact they are all young and strong, but their weapons are too bad. Many of them are still using simple knives or spears as spears. They have all practiced in Qiqu Mountain, and they can become regular soldiers as long as they get the weapons.
.
The whole army arrived two or three miles away from the mountain. The nearly 30,000 troops were difficult to line up in the hilly area.
Often one battalion would form a formation on the flat ground, while the other battalion would be on a hill, which was quite suitable for a mandarin duck formation.
The main force of 21,000 people all practiced the mandarin duck formation.
When he was blocked by Jianmen Pass in Lizhou, he had been practicing for a month, and when he was blocked by Zitong, he had been practicing for another month.
The advantage of the Yuanyang Formation is that it is not only suitable for hilly battles, but also saves weapons.
Ju Ming's armor is seriously insufficient, and the weapons and equipment of the Yuanyang Formation can effectively make up for this shortcoming.
"Bring me armor!"
Bai Sheng and Shi Biao came forward with the Heavenly King's Armor in hand and helped Ju Ming dress neatly. They also specially put on a red cloak.
The morning sun rises, reflecting on the golden armor of the Heavenly King, and a layer of red halo is enveloped in the golden color.
Ju Ming pulled down his visor, rode forward slowly, drew his sword and pointed at the sky as he passed through the passages of each camp.
Bai Sheng, Shi Biao, and Gu's third-class soldiers followed behind and shouted: "King Zhu Tian! King Zhu Tian! King Zhu Tian..."
The rebel soldiers looked at the majestic battle armor, and the terrifying face helmet was even more breathtaking. Wherever Ju Ming rode his horse, the soldiers couldn't help but kneel down on one knee and shouted together with the pro-army soldiers: "King Zhu Tian! King Zhu Tian...
"
Ju Ming spent a full forty minutes reviewing the troops and boosting the morale of the entire army.
He was deliberately stalling for time, trying to attract the officers and soldiers from Qiqu Mountain and Zitong City, and did not even set up defenses along the river, so that the officers and soldiers could cross the river safely.
Attacking the mountain today is more like encircling a point and calling for reinforcements.
It is better to draw the officers and soldiers to fight decisively than to waste human lives in attacking the enemy.
"Do you want to cross the river for rescue?" Huang Gai asked.
Zhao Yun said: "I plan to withdraw all the officers and soldiers from the two mountain strongholds in the west to the east bank of the Zijiang River. The previous deployment of various forces was based on the premise that the Zhu Thieves camped in Qiqu Mountain. Since the Zhu Thieves are no longer in Qiqu Mountain, the two mountain strongholds in the west
, so there is no need to defend anymore. Alas, the main reason is that we cannot defend it, the mountain is not steep, and we are besieged by groups of red thieves."
Huang Gai said: "The red thieves are not three-headed and six-armed. Our army has planted nails in the mountain stronghold. When the red thieves attack the mountain with all their strength, we will send a large army across the river to attack its flanks. Under a two-sided attack, we will definitely win a complete victory!"
Zhao Yu remained silent, he still did not trust the fighting ability of the rural soldiers.
A few years ago, he was responsible for wiping out the Lunan barbarians, and had more than 10,000 Xiang troops and rural soldiers. Every time he arranged a plan, he must be conceited, but in the end nothing was achieved and he always ended up defeated inexplicably.
You can lose any battle that is sure to happen!
When 30,000 Western troops were mobilized, they attacked wherever they wanted and easily defeated the barbarians.
Now Zhao Yu has two choices:
The first is to abandon the two strongholds on the west bank of the Zijiang River. This method is calm and prudent, but it will cause the loss of some battlefield initiative.
The second is to send troops across the river to coordinate and cooperate with the friendly forces in the stronghold to defeat the rebels. However, once the army is defeated, it will inevitably suffer heavy losses, because the defeated troops must cross the Zijiang River to escape back to the city.
After thinking hard, Zhao Yu finally made a decision: "Send 10,000 soldiers from the city across the river to attack the flanks of the bandits. Send 6,000 soldiers from Qiqu Mountain to cross the river and look for opportunities to attack the backs of the bandits. Send another 5,000 elite troops to attack the bandits' flanks."
Cross the river quietly further upstream and attack the bandits' camp. It's best to burn their food and grass. All ships should be on the riverside to meet them, to make sure nothing goes wrong!"
Huang Gai said: "It is better to cross the river with the whole army. We have more soldiers and we will definitely win in one battle!"
"What if we are defeated?" Zhao Yu said, "We have to leave some troops to defend Zitong so that the whole army will not be wiped out. If we hold on to the city until next year, the Western Army can be mobilized to Sichuan to suppress the bandits."
"This is not how you fight. If you look forward and backward, you will lose both front and rear," Huang Gai said. "If you fight this way, it is better to abandon the West Bank cottage."
Zhao Yu shook his head: "I'm not sending troops now, but letting the officers and soldiers of the village hold on first. If we can hold it for one day, the soldiers will be available, and we can cross the river to fight tomorrow. If we can't hold it for one day, then don't fight.
The army will definitely be defeated when they cross the river, so just stick to the city and Qiqu Mountain."
This guy is really cold-blooded and wants to test the combat effectiveness of the two armies by taking the lives of the officers and soldiers in the West Bank cottage.
Sun Tzu said, if you know yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.
Zhao Yu's primary problem now is that he neither knows himself nor the enemy, and he has no confidence no matter what he does.
Ju Ming inspected the army for forty minutes, and waited for a long time, but did not wait for the main force of officers and soldiers to cross the river.
The plan to encircle the point for reinforcements has failed, so take down the surrounding point!
The rebel army slowly advanced and moved towards the foot of the mountain.
Several officers and soldiers messengers also left the city and crossed the river, avoiding the rebels and going up the mountain from the south to spread the message: "The general has an order and orders you to hold on for one day. The army will cross the river tomorrow for a decisive battle!"
"Pooh!"
Xie Jianzhong, commander of the Chengdu Fulu Infantry Army, spat at the leaving messenger and cursed: "If the soldiers don't come to rescue me, I have to hold on for a whole day. This guy named Zhao is not a good guy! Send an order, and the two villages will form one."
We must defend the village until tomorrow."
Xie Jianzhong also felt unsure and began to battle wits with the coach.
To be continued...