Chapter 204: Is it a great fortune among misfortunes?
"I was a noble in the Spring and Autumn Period"
Wei Chi looked at the soldiers struggling to move forward in the mud, and there were too many curse words in his heart.
But, there is nothing we can do about it!
Although Zhongshan and Jin are neighbors, there are definitely differences in climate.
On the Jin side, it rains from time to time in mid-autumn, and in late autumn it is a continuous rainy season; on the Zhongshan side, which is further north than Jin, it rains from time to time in early autumn, and the rainy season begins in mid-autumn.
"How many miles away?" Wei Chi had a stinky face and really didn't know how to vent his anger.
The retainer Sui Yong replied: "About twenty miles."
This "Sui" is not the Sui clan of the Fan family. Sui Yong is both a retainer of the Wei family and the head of a family. There is no contradiction between the two.
The Sui family of the Fan family only existed for two generations after the Shihui, and was later re-merged into the Fan family. The land was first given to the public clan, and then the "Sui" land was taken away by the Wei family.
The troops of the Wei family and several other families marched from north to south. There were not many mountains on the road. The problem was that repeated rains made the land soft, and the road became softer after repeated trampling. From time to time, the next one would
Let the soft and repeatedly trodden road turn into mud.
Even in the industrial age, if asphalt roads or concrete roads are not built, when the rainy season comes, the roads will still become muddy after being repeatedly stepped on or rolled over by the wheels. If you get stuck, you can't escape so easily. How many armies have been affected by this terrible condition?
The road conditions also slowed down the march, and even mechanized troops could not cover much distance in a day.
Now, the armies of the Wei family and other families are facing a muddy crisis, and their daily marching distance swings back and forth from less than ten miles to more than ten miles.
"Zhishi has already engaged the enemy, and our troops are overdue!" Wei Chi knew that the main force was not available, so he sent his troops to fight the enemy first. How should he decide in a similar situation.
To put it bluntly, troops who have overdue their dues are considered lucky if they get the chance to redeem themselves, and don’t think too much about other merits.
Wei Chi now just wants to make meritorious deeds. What he is afraid of is not being punished. What he wants is to at least keep his previous merits and hope to have new opportunities to make meritorious deeds in the future.
"Sir, we encountered enemy troops ahead and are already fighting." Wei Ju looked a little embarrassed.
This kind of embarrassment does not mean that you have abandoned your helmet and armor. The main reason is that your trousers and legs are covered with dirty mud, and your body is not very clean.
They were walking in mud all the way, and none of them had feet full of mud. They carried a few extra kilograms of weight on their feet. They were almost completely wet from the crotch down, not to mention how uncomfortable it was to walk.
Why are my trouser legs all wet? It's definitely not because I wet my pants. In fact, it's because there is grass everywhere and there is water on the grass. If there is too much friction, the trouser legs will also get wet.
When Wei Chi heard the report, he was not worried but happy, thinking: "It's good to have a battle, it can be regarded as an explanation!"
At the same time, Wei Chi could also judge that Zhishi's offensive was going well, forcing or frightening the enemy to seek a retreat.
"How many enemy troops are there?" Wei Chi asked.
Wei Ju trailed off with some embarrassment: "This..."
Wei's forward bypassed a forest and suddenly encountered the enemy. Both sides stared blankly at first, as if they were completely confused by the opponent's appearance. It was Wei's officers who recovered first and gave the order to attack.
stand up.
The environment was very complex, and due to the obstruction of his line of sight, Wei really didn't know how many enemy troops were coming.
We encountered enemy troops, right?
Wei Chi was considered a veteran general and knew very well what to do if he suddenly encountered enemy troops. He ordered his own troops in the rear to speed up their march, mobilized more forward troops to rush to the scene of the battle, and did not forget to send out new scouts to spy deeper in the front.
After the outcome of the encounter was determined, the battle report was sent to Wei Chi.
"There are only more than 400 enemy troops?" Wei Chi knew that this was the enemy's pathfinding force, and there must be more behind them, so he thought: "Should I wait for the enemy where I am, or should I continue to advance?"
The environment in this area is similar, with woods and various greenery squeezing too much space. Even if there is a wide enough space, due to the moisture on the ground, it is impossible to fight a large battle.
After Wei Chi thought for a while, he ordered: "Order the first 'brigade' to spread forward, and the remaining units should not be too far apart."
Wei Chi learned this trick from Zhiyao.
It’s not like I didn’t know about that kind of routine before. After seeing it, who would still be willing to stand still? If you encounter a similar situation, you will definitely learn from it.
However, Wei Chi asked Zhang's troops to lead the way, and did not want to use his own soldiers as vanguards.
No matter what era it is, the vanguard is always the first to be unlucky. The death rate is surprisingly high. Wei's casualties in this Northern Expedition were a bit serious. The remaining troops cannot be wasted at will.
Zhang Ren looked very unhappy after receiving the order, but he didn't dare to refuse. He even had to promise with a smile on his face before making various guarantees.
There is no way. The Zhang family used to rely on the Zhao family. Seeing the fall of the Zhao family, the Zhang family, who lost her backer, had to do some dirty work without a backer until she could regain the acceptance of other high-ranking families.
The Zhang family who used human-shaped targets was not only required to form a looser formation, but sometimes they also sent people into some woods for reconnaissance.
As they continued southward, they encountered more or less enemy troops, and some people were missing during the reconnaissance. The entire "brigade" waited for Wei's troops to take over as the vanguard, and more than 300 soldiers were lost.
"I will join the Zhi family immediately when I return this time!" Zhang Ren did not dare to have any objections to Wei Chi, but his desire to find the Zhi family became more urgent.
By the way, why doesn't Ms. Zhang hug Ms. Wei's thigh? That's because Zhang Ren understands the truth very well. If you hug the thigh, just hug the thickest one. You may not get more benefits, and you can't bear to be safe.
Zhang Ren's ancestor, Mr. Zhang, hugged the Zhao family in Zhao Wu's generation. Later, he also hugged the Fan family and the Zhongxing family. When Zhao Yang rose up and hugged the Zhao family again, he could still find a reason every time.
Without causing a gap in the mind of the former protector, he really played the hugging game so beautifully that he even learned a lot about hugging the thigh.
"Another encounter with the enemy, more than 7,000 this time?" Wei Chi calculated in his mind that the total number of enemy troops they encountered before and after was about 5,000. Counting the more than 7,000 this time, it would be 10,000.
More than two thousand.
And their army was only about eight miles away from the planned arrival point.
Wei Chi thought to himself: "Didn't it mean that the Zhi family was in a stalemate with the main force of the enemy army, and Han Buxin had just arrived that way?"
Something is wrong with the situation. It seems that the enemy does not want to fight anymore and is trying to break out from the north.
This situation was a good thing for Wei Chi. He called Wei Ju and said, "Go to the general of the Central Army in person and tell him where his troops are."
Wei Ju quickly obeyed the order, but when he was about to leave, he was stopped again.
"As late autumn approaches, you should look for Yao again and ask privately what should be done," Wei Chi said.
Their northern expedition had taken almost seven months in total. Unless they could force the enemy to surrender within half a month, the outcome of the war would definitely be impossible to determine before the continuous rainy season arrived.
Now that Jin is the only one belonging to the Zhi family, Wei Ji knows that Wei Ju and Zhi Yao have a good relationship, and he thinks that when Wei Ju's generation takes over the power in the future, Wei Ju can gain more security by relying on his relationship with Zhi Yao.
Feel and convenience.
That is because the Zhi family is obviously unique in terms of strength. As the head of the Zhi family, Zhishen is still modest, and Zhi Yao, the next generation heir, does not act so arrogant and domineering. Wei Chi believes that maintaining an alliance with the Zhi family can not only
It is safer and definitely more guaranteed in terms of profits.
Wei Chi is not wrong to think so.
After all, among the previous cases, excluding those involving dynasty changes, at most they were small clans of a certain public house, and it really never happened that someone with a foreign surname seized the country.
Waiting for Wei Chi to arrive at the position with his army, they encountered more than 20,000 enemy troops on the road. They eliminated some of them, and more enemy troops retreated back.
When they arrived at the location, they could be considered to have accomplished their set goal, but their situation changed from being the main force to launch an attack as soon as they arrived, to blocking the northward retreat of the foreign coalition forces.
Wei Ju, who went to Zhi's side and came back, found Wei Chi immediately and reported: "The rainfall has been increasing recently, and the Chinese general has ordered his troops to stop the offensive."
you do not say!
Wei Chi repeatedly encountered varying numbers of enemy troops along the way. The reason why it took him five days to complete the twenty-mile journey was mainly due to the weather.
Wei Ju waited for Wei Xi to digest the first news before continuing: "Our army has surrounded the enemy from the north, west and south. The east is covered with mountains and mountain streams, and beyond the mountains is a plain. According to Yao's wishes,
It is enough to encircle three sides. If the enemy breaks out to the east, they will be seeking death."
Where is the east of this place? In fact, it is the land that the Zhi family captured from Changdi. .
The Zhi family had troops chasing Chang Di for a long time, and because Zhi Yao sent troops to the Qi State last year, the Zhi family first assembled a "division" to garrison in "Jipu", and later in order to ensure that the Zhi family was in the "Cui" area of the Qi State.
One "division", Zhiyao drew the troops of two "divisions" eastward after the Yao Bing ended.
At present, the "division" of "Jipu" has joined the two "divisions" that subsequently transferred to "Xiyang", and then moved to the east plain area of "Xianyu".
Therefore, once the foreign coalition forces break through to the east, they will definitely run into Zhi's three "divisions".
After Wei Chi digested the news, he showed a heavy expression on his face.
Wei Ju, who didn't quite understand what was going on, saw that his old father had a strange expression and asked, "The situation is great now, why are you doing this?"
Yes, the situation is great, shouldn’t we be happy?
However, the more Wei Chi thought about it, the greater his psychological pressure became. Finally, he said to Wei Ju in a very profound voice: "If Bolu returns and takes over as the head of the Zhao family, Yao will treat him kindly, and Ju and Yao should be on friendly terms."
Made.
They are all young people, right?
Zhiyao can already command three legions, and he can do so easily and comfortably. It's just that the commanders who carry out the orders are not strong enough, such as Wei Chi himself.
Wei Ju, who looked silly and cheerful, said: "Don't worry, my lord, Ju and Yao, Bolu and Geng once swore an alliance to restore my (Jin Kingdom) hegemony."
When did it happen?
The oath requires a very formal ceremony and must be witnessed by enough people.
What Wei Ju was talking about was that they usually chatted, and when they were bragging, they all made vows.
Wei Chi sounded extremely envious.
Their generation has too many overt and secret struggles, and they are so envious that the second generation can play so well.