Chapter 78 : It's not a villain's risk and luck! (4300)
Sending people into the city in disguise and then cooperating with the army outside to seize the city, has anyone ever done such a thing?
Yes, but no one uses this method to try to capture the capital of a country.
We are now in the late Spring and Autumn Period, in a stage of alternation between the old and the new. Although the war has begun to focus on strategy, the application of means is generally considered to be in the preliminary stage.
Are there many cities around "Linzi", the capital of Qi State? There are also many cities around the capitals of other countries, but compared with "Linzi", they are a bit dwarfed.
The first Zhuxia to dominate was Qi, and then Guan Yiwu even developed Qi's economy. Later, until the unification of the world, "Linzi" was the economic center of Zhuxia, even if it was repeatedly used by the old Liu family
Using unconventional means to manage Guanzhong, "Linzi" was still one of the economic centers in the Han Dynasty. Even in the Yang and Sui Dynasties, its economic strength was still strong. Later, it was wiped out by the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty.
At this stage, although the Qi State has been blackmailed by the Jin State repeatedly, and even the Song State has launched an economic challenge based on its geographical advantage, the Qi State is still the leader of the "Eastern World" purely in terms of economic strength.
The Song State was able to challenge the Qi State in the economic field, mainly because it took advantage of the geographical advantages. To put it bluntly, the north-south trade basically passed through the Song State, and the Song people were able to engage in the business of buying low and selling high. Because they were too well-informed, they could still
Engage in operations such as "futures".
This time Zhiyao asked the troops to disguise themselves as caravans. Most of them chose to pretend to be Song caravans, and then they pretended to be Zheng or Chu caravans.
Qi State is launching a national war. Can the caravan enter the city smoothly? Not to mention Qi State, even if various countries enter a state of war, they will not actually stop trade exchanges, and it even means that business is getting bigger and bigger.
.
The situation is that Jin State is at war with Qi State, Song State, Zheng State, and Wei State, and the trade exchanges between the two sides have not stopped. Generally, the nobles of Jin State pay for purchases from them, and the anti-Jin alliance does not have anything to ask for.
The Jin State purchased large quantities of goods.
There is no contraband in this kind of wartime trade. At most, it just raises the price. Of course, the nobles of the anti-Jin alliance knew that the materials purchased by the Jin nobles would be used to attack themselves, but they believed that they were taking Jin away from themselves.
It is a very appropriate behavior to earn back the money extorted here, and it feels very satisfying to say it.
"The country of Qi is indeed empty. We are less than twenty miles away from Linzi, and the people of Qi have not noticed it at all." Wei Ju understood that it was normal not to be discovered, but there was always something wrong with the way he looked at Zhiyao.
The current natural environment is so good that it’s a bit too good!
There are woods everywhere in the wilderness, and the weeds grow taller than a normal person. If you deliberately avoid cities and "states", as long as the number of people is not too large, it is really not that big for four to five thousand people to walk day and night.
Easily discovered.
In fact, it is the same thing. Deliberately walking in remote places is still an effective means of secret march even after a long time. The difference is that after the population multiplies too much, you need to slaughter every village you find to avoid the news leaking.
Their current location is southeast of "Linzi", located in a mountainous area on the east bank of the Zi River.
"How do spies repay?" Han Geng looked nervous.
From the bottom of his heart, he hoped that Zhiyao would give up such risky actions and happily harass the cities or villages of Qi State, which would also attract the Qi army who went out to fight.
Zhao Bolu pursed his lips. Since his words were considered childish many times, he resisted the urge to speak.
"The defense in Linzi City is lax and the countries are eager to fight, so the people of Qi are even more happy." Zhiyao said that it is a fact that the people of Qi are happy.
The more happily the princes of the world fought, the more caravans came to "Linzi" to purchase supplies. This was all because Qi's productivity was sufficient and it also had cloth and salt, two commodities that other countries could not compete with on price.
People need cloth and salt from birth to old age and death. Most nobles are usually self-sufficient in producing cloth. When military campaigns are carried out, a large number of strong men will be mobilized. Women will inevitably have to bear heavier workloads and it will be difficult for them to do more.
Started spinning.
As for salt? Not every vassal state can produce salt, and not everyone can eat serious salt. It’s just that relatively speaking, many agricultural products use a large amount of salt. For example, it has been popular since the Yin and Shang Dynasties.
various sauces.
Wei Ju asked: "How many troops are stationed in the city?"
The spies were very careful about this matter, and Zhiyao said: "The capital of Qi always prepares a 'division' for garrison. Now Qi has a lot of troops, and its king is not here, so all the ministers are also going out to fight. Zhiyao thinks that there are about four soldiers that can fight.
Thousands."
A "division" of Qi State consists of 2,500 men, including charioteers and infantry.
There must be many dignitaries in the capital of a country. They usually have the power to protect themselves, and there will also be a large number of capable people at home. In case of emergency, they can form a formation and go into battle.
Therefore, if it is not at the end of the dynasty, even if the country's army goes out to fight, it will still be difficult for the enemy's army to threaten the capital of a country. The reason is that the population of the capital itself is large, and there are so many dignitaries who can dispatch armed personnel to participate.
Defend the city.
Fortunately, it is the Spring and Autumn Period, and while the size of the city is limited, the permanent population in the city cannot be increased even if it is desired.
The Jin Kingdom, which has been dominant for nearly a hundred years, has a permanent population of just over 20,000 in its capital "Xintian".
"Linzi", the first capital of Qi to dominate, successively added "Guo" and "Ding", but "Guo" and "Ding" are not considered part of the city.
The so-called "Guo" can be understood as the expanded outer city settlement; "Machi" is a kind of commercial street.
Zhiyao and others stayed in the mountainous area for sixteen days. The people who had previously pretended to enter "Linzi" came over and reported that they had made preparations.
"Everyone!" Zhiyao took a deep breath, glanced at the people who were watching, and said, "Let's set out at noon tomorrow."
Not yet? That is from 13:00 to 17:00.
They are about twenty miles away from "Linzi", and there is a long mountain road, so they should arrive outside the city of "Linzi" around 16:00.
All the friends looked at each other in confusion at first, then stood up and saluted and said: "No!"
The order has been given, so naturally they can't stay idle any longer and need to go to various places to arrange their various affairs.
After Cheng Shuo and others left, he said: "Shuo can go there tomorrow, Gongsun and the princes..."
That's to attack a country's capital!
It is unclear whether it can be occupied, and even if it is occupied, how to get out will be a problem.
Zhiyao smiled and said nothing.
The purpose of what he did this time was very strong, in order to achieve a blockbuster goal. How could he do it if he didn't do it?
Why not launch a raid at night? In many film and television dramas, when it comes to stealing a city, it must be carried out at night. This is probably an artistic rendering that emphasizes "the night is dark and windy and murderous".
The reason why Zhiyao did not carry out night-time sneak attacks was too realistic. People nowadays generally have night blindness and cannot see anything clearly in the dark. Marching would be a big trouble, let alone entering a state of war.
They were in a mountainous area, and it was very difficult to get out of the mountainous area in the dark night. Lighting up the torch would lose the effect of a sneak attack. It was equivalent to notifying the enemy that there was an incoming army from more than ten miles away!
"I remember the first night attack recorded in Greece. The two thousand soldiers who launched the night attack were separated by four or five hundred before engaging the enemy. After the attack started, the night attack army could not find its own officers and quickly collapsed.
.In addition, in that night attack, more than half of the people who died in Paoze killed each other?" Zhiyao forgot who fought which battle, only remembering that it took place in two city-states on the edge of the Mediterranean.
Battle.
Many wars broke out in Zhuxia, and there were no famous night raids until the late Spring and Autumn Period. In the subsequent historical stages, during the Warring States Period, Tian Dan's attacks using the Fire Bull Formation took place at night.
Therefore, the first night raid in the Zhuxia Dynasty recorded in historical records involved animals attacking people. It was not a confrontation between two armies between people. At most, Tian Dan led his army to clean up the mess later.
Another point is that Zhu Xia's stories are always confused with official history. It depends on which level of communication is wider. If too many people know something, it will often happen that romance replaces official history and becomes "history".
After a period of busy preparations, Zhiyao received feedback from all ministries that they were ready and ordered the entire army to move out.
What kind of environment is it in a mountainous area that has not been artificially repaired? There are no serious roads. Various plants grow wildly and savagely, thorny thorns are everywhere, and various spiders build webs, making spider webs everywhere.
Then there are all kinds of insects, including mosquitoes.
This mountainous area is not too far from the densely populated areas of cities and villages. There are not many ferocious beasts in it. In fact, there are not even that many herbivorous animals.
The army led by Zhiyao did not disguise themselves. They met some Qi people when they left the mountainous area.
When these Qi people were too far away, they saw a large army in the distance and wondered why it was all red.
The Qi army's jersey is khaki, while the Jin army's jersey is red. The difference in color is quite obvious.
When they noticed that the Qi soldiers of the Jin army did not immediately turn around and run away, they would move up to them out of curiosity, or wait for the Jin army to approach.
The Jin army will catch them if they can. If they can't catch them, they won't waste any more effort.
Their whereabouts have been exposed, and they need to reach "Linzi" as soon as possible and go into battle. Any unnecessary delay will be a mistake.
"Is this the Jin army?"
"Of course!"
"Why are you here?"
"I don't know."
Of course, the people of Qi knew that Qi State was now at war with Jin State. What was puzzling was that there was no war zone nearby, and the number of Jin troops coming was also less.
Are there any people in Qi who want to rush to "Linzi" to report the news? Yes, but they are only an absolute minority. The reason is that they do not have enough status or have no connections. Even if they report that the enemy is invading, they cannot see the nobles to report it.
.
If the news is reported to the soldiers guarding the city, it will be a long process of reporting layer by layer. Waiting for the person who can give orders to know that there is such a thing, if it is short, it will take an hour or two, if it is longer, I don’t know how long it will be.
After that.
In addition, in the current era, it is almost the same for ordinary people to be governed by whom. Only a very small number of ordinary people have a sense of belonging to the country.
This is because the nobility themselves are an interest class, and they are the ones who truly have a sense of belonging to the country.
Zhiyao, who was riding in the chariot, was very nervous but looked as calm as an old dog.
They did not make any unnecessary moves when passing through the cities or villages of Qi State. Their goal was very clear, which was to try to capture "Linzi", the capital of Qi State. Others were not the first priority targets for attack.
"Our army is less than ten miles away from Linzi!"
"It's less than eight miles away!"
"Our army has arrived within five miles of Linzi!"
"Our army has entered within three miles, and no enemy troops have come to fight!"
Zhiyao could see the reaction of the Qi State. When they were ten miles away, the Qi State showed no reaction at all. When they were five miles away, there was a commotion in "Linzi". When they were within three miles, the Jin troops who had previously pretended to enter the city came out from everywhere.
About 1,500 Jin troops put on their uniforms again before the battle, and their goal was very clear: to seize the city gate.
"Quick, quick, quick! Remove the corpses and clear the streets!" Zilu was the Jin army commander disguised as a businessman.
It was the first time for Zilu to do such a thing. If it were not Qi Guo who did this, he might have felt conflicted in his heart, but if Qi Guo did this, there would be no psychological burden.
Because it was Zilu who commanded, the killing of Li Shu did not happen. They successfully captured the city gate in a very short time and lined up behind to fight the Qi army who came for reinforcements.
Until the city gate was captured by the Jin army, many Qi people who watched the whole process were still confused. It wasn't that they didn't know what had happened, it was simply that they couldn't believe what had happened.
This is also because there are too few relevant examples at present. When people see what happened, they can’t find examples in their minds to prove it.
Zhao Bolu followed the marching army in confusion, and then followed the army to "Guo" outside "Linzi". When he came to his senses, he found that the flag belonging to the Jin army was already flying at the top of the city.
Han Geng was also confused, but he rushed into a "town" area and encountered no resistance, but was surrounded by businessmen from all over the world.
"I dare to ask, has Jin conquered Qi and won a great victory?" A merchant from the state of Wu boldly asked.
Han Geng didn't bother to answer at all.
In these days, merchants are either down-and-out nobles, members of clansmen whose families are not valued, or retainers of a certain family. What qualifications do they have to talk to Han Geng, the heir apparent of the Han family of Jin?
At the city gate.
Zhiyao and Wei Ju were also watched, and a large number of nobles from Qi State even came to inquire.
The Qi man who came here was called Zhuang Jia, and he was the favorite of Qi Jun Chujiu.
Zhiyao was asked by Zhuang Jia just now what she was doing.
Zhiyao didn't know how to answer this question.
The Jin army first entered the city disguised as merchants, and then cooperated with the friendly forces to seize the city gate. They successfully controlled the city gate and were already clearing the city. What could they be doing.
"As a member of your clan, it is not appropriate to do this." Zhuang Jia said sincerely.
Yes, the higher your status, the more you have to consider your face.
The family has a long history, how can we wantonly tarnish the reputation that our ancestors have worked so hard to accumulate?
Zhiyao knew who Zhuang Jia was, so he avoided answering the question. Instead, he said: "Our army is not here to kill, nor is it for wealth. Why don't you persuade him to restrain his hands?"
Zhuang Jia gave Zhiyao an ugly smile.
Zhiyao ignored it and continued: "As a close relative of the Marquis of Qi, it would be a great achievement to go and tell the Marquis of Qi about Linzi."
The two of them had a conversation here, and the Jin army, under the command of Wei Ju, did not waste a moment.
In the distance, the Jin army was fighting with the Qi army who was counterattacking. Nearby, the Jin army was asking the Qi people and people from all over the world to cooperate. The main thing was not to stay on the streets, but to go indoors and wait for news.
Zhiyao is waiting for his subordinates to defeat the well-organized Qi army, and will bring the elite to attack the palace city.
"Where is Bolu? Come and follow me into the city!"
Why are you attacking the palace? It's not for robbery, it's purely to help Qi Jun Chujiu, who is staying in "Puyang", bring the ritual utensils for Qi's sacrifice.
Zhi Yao gave an order for this matter, and the person responsible for taking action would be Zhao Bolu...
