"General, the Vietnamese army has suffered more than half of its casualties and is still fighting to the death."
Sima Ranju buried his head in the sand table, raised his arm and waved it to show that he understood.
The battle between the original army and the Vietnamese army lasted for more than two months. The battlefield was fought from "Muleng" to "Yun", and then from "Yun" all the way south, successively in "Qi", "Zhu", and "Wulu".
The fighting continued until now, thirty miles away from the north of "Langya".
Wen Zhong was responsible for blocking the main force of the original army led by Sima Ranju. After repeated fierce battles between the two sides, Wen Zhong's army was reduced from the original 60,000 to less than 30,000, and retreated to "Langxie" thirty miles away.
Then he stubbornly refused to retreat.
More than half of the Vietnamese army was lost, and the original army suffered only four to five thousand casualties. This actually means that the Vietnamese army is not suitable for direct combat.
To be honest, neither the Wu nor Yue armies were good at conducting upright formation battles. They were more adaptable to tactics such as ambushes and sneak attacks.
Of course Wenzhong was creating opportunities by holding on to him, so that the Yue King Gou Jian could recapture "Langya" again.
Previously, Sima Ranju divided his troops and attacked "Langya" with 30,000 original troops. After a hard battle, he successfully captured "Langya" and also captured some ships.
For more ships, Vietnamese sailors noticed something was wrong and raised their sails early to go to sea.
After King Gou Jian of Yue came back to support from the east, the Vietnamese army only built some ladders for climbing the city and began to attack the city. Of course, they considered taking advantage of the original army's unfamiliarity with "Langya" to attack quickly. Is it not that King Gou Jian of Yue really cared about "Langya"?
What about the ownership of "Langya"?
Because the 30,000 original army defended the camp and the city as a corner, and because Wen Zhong led the army to stop him in the middle, Sima Ranju had lost contact with the friendly forces on the "Langya" side.
According to logic, Sima Ranju should attack with force and quickly join up with the friendly forces of "Langya".
But what? Sima Ranju chased Wenzhong's troops to thirty miles north of "Langya". He first let the troops rest and reorganize, but then he just divided the troops into two units and took turns to attack.
"Where is General Fox's headquarters now?" Sima Rangju asked without raising his head.
Someone answered: "General Fox's headquarters should be on the 'Quqiu' line?"
This General Hu was Hu You. He brought a legion recruited in Qi and assigned it to Sima Ranju for command.
Sima Ranju did not let Hu You lead his army to join him, but ordered Hu You to lead a legion into Judi, wipe out the local Vietnamese army, and take over various cities.
The Yuan Kingdom entered Ju as a liberator and was welcomed by the people of Ju. The scene of "eating a pot of pulp to welcome the king's master" was performed everywhere.
If the original army was really the "King's Army", it would not have taken over the various places after they were liberated, and the local nobles should have been put in charge again.
However, when the Yue Kingdom invaded the Ju Kingdom, they captured the king and many ministers of the Ju Kingdom, giving the original army a reason to take over first, and then deal with it later after welcoming back the Ju Kingdom's monarchs and ministers.
Of course, the Yuan Kingdom has taken over various cities and it is impossible to return them to Ju State, and there will never be another Ju State in the future.
After Huyou led a legion to liberate Judi, he carried out Sima Ranju's order and continued to march to the seaside. He would march all the way to a seaside city called "Jizhang".
This "Jizhang" is not famous at all, but it controls the land route from "Langya" to the mainland of Yue.
If the Vietnamese army wanted to withdraw from the land, they would not be able to move further north and would definitely think of retreating along the coast.
So you can understand why Sima Ranju asked Hu You to lead his army to occupy "Jizhang", right?
Although no battle report was received from "Langya", Sima Ranju could judge from the lack of battle report that the fighting there must be extremely fierce.
Obviously, the Vietnamese army sent a large number of scouts to intercept and kill the original army's scouts in order to block the battle situation in "Langya".
King Gou Jian of Yue blocked the news and would definitely launch an aggressive attack on "Langya" at any cost, trying to capture "Langya" before the collapse of the literary department, use the city defense of "Langya" to defend it, and then hold back this part of Sima Ranju's original strength.
military.
After Donglai was occupied by the Vietnamese army, most of the local forces that resisted the Vietnamese army were destroyed. The local forces that chose to submit to the Yue State were taken to "Langya" by the Yue King Gou Jian.
After many battles, King Gou Jian of Yue originally had only 30,000 Yue troops, but after traveling a long way east, he now had more than 50,000 troops under his command.
Why was Sima Ranju, who had clearly guessed Yue King Goujian's plan, not anxious at all? Firstly, there were 30,000 original troops on this route, and secondly, they had the advantage of defending the city. How could they be easily wiped out by Yue King Goujian?
In addition, in addition to the strength of the three land legions, Sima Ranju also had a naval force of nearly two "divisions" on hand.
This naval force has already passed through the cape, and if no accidents occur, it will reach the coast of "Langya" within ten days.
As soon as the navy arrived, the original army not only controlled "Langya", but also controlled "Ji Zhang". Sima Ranju was forced to advance from the north, leaving only the northeast direction for the Vietnamese army to flee.
If it were not for the shortage of troops, Sima Ranju would not even leave the northeast direction for the Vietnamese army.
After all, the Yue Kingdom has a huge naval force. Once the Vietnamese army retreats from the northeast of "Langya" and retreats to the huge space to the east, most of the Vietnamese army may be caught in a trap. Gou Jian brought a few important ministers and
The possibility of troops retreating from the sea is still very high.
"In this battle, I must ensure that I complete the battle and not let down the king's great trust!" Sima Ranju looked at the model representing 'Langya' on the sand table and murmured in a low voice.
There is only one unexpected thing that can happen now.
Earlier, the Yue State had assembled another 30,000 troops, but the Yuan State had never found any trace of this Vietnamese army.
An army of 30,000? If it suddenly appears at a critical moment, it is very likely to have a decisive impact on the battle situation.
The current situation is very unfavorable to the State of Yue. King Gou Jian of Yue will definitely mobilize further. However, considering the national strength of the State of Yue and the people of Wu who have been resisting the rule of the State of Yue, no matter how hard they try to scrape together, they will only be able to make up one or two more.
Ten thousand troops, there can be no more.
Considering the total population of Vietnam and the situation in the country, being able to mobilize an army of 120,000 to 30,000 troops is quite a feat to be honest.
Some later feudal dynasties may have a total population of tens of millions or more, and it would be difficult to assemble an army of one or two hundred thousand troops. The number may far exceed that of the vassal states of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, but their combat effectiveness and cohesiveness are not the same as those of the vassal states of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
There is no comparison between countries.
"General!"
A call made Sima Ranju turn around and was a little surprised to see that the person coming was Zhiying.
Zhiying, who looked very tired, bowed first and then took out a sealed box from his arms.
Sima Ranju recognized the style of the box and felt slightly uneasy. He checked the seal and then opened it, taking out the silk with writing inside to look at it.
The content is not long. It first writes that the Chu State has stopped invading Yang Yue, and a large number of Chu troops are moving to the north and east respectively; and then it is written that the Song State is mobilizing a large amount of supplies, and has begun to carry out local mobilization.
The box was a special style for Zhiyao. The content only introduced the recent trends of Chu and Song, and did not issue any new orders to Sima Ranju.
After all, there is currently no means of instant communication. Sima Ranju leads an army on an expedition, and it takes at least half a month to contact him once. Unless the necessary moment is reached, the central government should not do any strategizing and do "micro-operations" thousands of miles away.
"The trick.
"The Kingdom of Chu and the Kingdom of Song..." Sima Ranju glanced at Zhiying and asked, "I wonder if the king asked you to take a message?"
Zhiying was waiting for this question, so he bowed again and replied: "The king only said, 'I trust Uncle An Ping, so you can do whatever you want'."
Sima Ranju saluted cautiously and said respectfully: "I am willing to kill you for your Majesty's death!"
Anpingbo is Sima Ranju. And "Anping" is a city on the edge of "Linzi". Including the villages it belongs to, there are about 4,000 households in total. This means that Sima Ranju not only has a feudal land, but also enjoys 4,000 households.
Offerings to many families.
In the original country, there were three people who received the title of marquis, they were Han Geng, Zhong Quan, and Hu Jie. The fiefdom was the original sphere of influence of the three families at the beginning, but it was later reduced.
For the earls, viscounts, and barons below the marquis level, Zhiyao arranged for them to live in their houses one by one. Generally speaking, they were relatively generous.
Among the many earls, the one who had the largest number of households was not someone from the Zhi family, but Sima Ranju, followed by Sun Wu, followed by Cheng Xiao, Fu Guo, Zhi Xuwu, Cheng Shuo and others.
Among the earls, there is only one person who was not awarded a title for his military merits. He is Dou Zhen, the current head of the Dou family.
Later, Zhiyao added some rewards to the Dou family. The reason was that the crown princess was originally chosen from the Dou family, but for some reasons she was rejected.
Of course, Zhiyao had only mentioned it to Zhikai privately, and it had not been spread out. Otherwise, it had to be done once it was said, and there would be no change.
Among the many viscounts, Gongshuban's fiefdoms ranked first, even more than those of many earls.
Zhiying just delivered the letter and left.
Sima Ranju kept holding the letter in his hand, feeling a heavy pressure.
Why did the letter choose silk cloth instead of paper? This is complete nonsense. Military newspapers rarely choose paper because they are afraid of being contaminated or damaged by water. They must use silk cloth or simply bamboo signs for engraving.
The more arbitrary power Zhiyao gives him, the more pressure he will feel on Sima Rangju's heart.
"Call the generals!" Sima Ranju shouted loudly.
Naturally, someone will go and convey the summons.
Because many generals and colleges are too far away, and some generals are directing operations, it is definitely not possible for all the generals to be present.
Sima Ranju first talked about the changes in Chu and Song, and then said: "Within five days, the Vietnamese army will be defeated in front of us. The second and third sons must be prepared to drive south without stopping!"
Everyone had no doubt that it took five days to defeat Wen Zhong's troops. They had no serious intentions to begin with. Otherwise, they would have thought that Wen Zhong had used more than 30,000 remnant defeated generals to block the original army's high morale.
Sima Ranju added: "After seven days, our army must be outside Langya City!"
The one day left in between was not because of anything else, but mainly because of the defeat of Wen Zhong's troops and the pursuit and forced landing of the Vietnamese army.
The generals responded by standing up, saluting and saying in unison: "No!"
What happened next made Sima Ranju a little angry.
Of the 30,000 Vietnamese troops who have been missing, thousands of them landed near "Langya" via sea route. And these thousands are definitely only the first batch, and will not be the last batch of Vietnamese troops to land.
If nothing else, Hu You's partial division must also have encountered the Vietnamese army?
It can only be said that Sima Ranju's prediction was correct. Soon after, Hu You sent someone to report on the military situation, which mentioned the news that "Ji Zhang" had been recovered and lost.
It was Hu You who captured "Ji Zhang" first, leaving only two thousand troops to guard the city, while the main force headed east. Three days later, he learned that a Vietnamese army numbering about 15,000 had attacked "Ji Zhang".
", regardless of the cost of casualties, "Ji Zhang" was taken back.
It's not that Hu You was careless and only left two thousand troops to guard "Jizhang". It was simply that "Jizhang" was not big and could only accommodate two thousand troops to be stationed. Moreover, there was the task of encircling "Langya", so he couldn't leave too many troops.
Multiple troops.
Faced with the loss of "Ji Zhang" and the need to ensure control of the southwest, Hu You could only lead his army to fight back and try to eliminate the invading Vietnamese army.
As a result, even if the plan to encircle King Gou Jian of Yue on three sides did not go bankrupt, at least it would be postponed.
Of course, it's not all bad news. It's good news that the navy of the original country will reach the "Langya" coast in three days.
Sima Ranju had been the Sima of the Qi State, so he was not completely blind to the navy. He had not personally inspected the navy of the original country. In fact, he could not make any judgment on the naval battle between his own navy and the Yue Navy along the coast.
A confident prediction of victory or defeat.
However, the original plan was to use the navy to fight against the navy, but Sima Ranju's heart increased and he became more worried about gains and losses.
Perhaps it is because once people are anxious about something, bad things are more likely to happen. In the early morning of the third day when Sima Ranju's headquarters stepped up its offensive, Wen Zhong actually staged a scene where he led his troops to run away at all costs.
What happened? That is to say, the Vietnamese army had no order at all. They abandoned their camps and went into the wilderness, filling the wilderness with people.
In other words, the Vietnamese army is not that good at fighting openly and honestly. They are most accustomed to fighting in the mountains and jungles. They know where the final gathering place is, so that they will not disperse directly after being broken into pieces.
Even if Sima Ranju was on guard against the Vietnamese army's possible evacuation at night, he encountered the Vietnamese army's retreat method of breaking into pieces..., or it can be said to be the disintegration mode. He must guard against the Vietnamese army's deception, and it was impossible to let the original army dismantle it.
You have to chase them all in pieces.
"The cavalry prepared for battle all night and pursued again during the day. The remaining troops immediately set off to the south!" A shadow appeared in Sima Ranju's heart, but he was not swayed by his emotions and made what he thought was a reasonable arrangement.
Why didn't the cavalry pursue them all night? The fear was that the cavalry would suffer too many losses in the night battle.
The infantry is different. It is slower to maintain order and pursue. The enemy can at least form an ambush to resist on the spot.
If the cavalry encounters an ambush while galloping at night? The most correct choice for them is to ignore the situation of losing their robes and continue to gallop. Once they stop, they will definitely lose their minds and seek death.
"How dare Wen Zhong!?" Sima Ranju felt a little slapped by Wen Zhong's actions.
