Different from the common people's impression that the combat effectiveness of the Shu Army is very weak, in fact, the combat effectiveness of the Shu Army is quite good.
However, the characteristics of the Shu army's combat power are a bit off.
First of all, the essence of Shu lies in the Chengdu Plain in the basin.
Since Li Bing and his son built the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, the water conservancy facilities here have been complete and the land is fertile and wild.
As long as the government is not too exploitative, even the common people can live a good life, so it is known as the land of abundance.
But for the Shu army, the Chengdu Plain was not so comfortable.
Because this place is very suitable for cavalry warfare, but at the same time, although there is no shortage of pack horses in Shu, there are few war horses.
Therefore, there is not much cavalry and archery in Sichuan, and cavalry warfare is useless.
This led to a very embarrassing scene. As soon as the soldiers from the Central Plains arrived on the Chengdu Plain, the whole of Shu immediately lost their ability to resist and could only watch the opponent's cavalry coming and going unscrupulously.
Therefore, Shu has always relied on two forces to defend itself against foreign enemies.
The first is to let Hanzhong act as a human shield and try to have the decisive battle take place in the Hanzhong area.
Although Hanzhong Plain is also a plain, it is smaller than Shuzhong, with many hills and many fortresses.
The Shu army could make full use of hilly fortresses and city gates to offset the cavalry advantage of the Central Plains army.
The second reliance is to let the enemy in when Hanzhong cannot be defended, and use the natural dangers of Jiange and Langzhong to block the enemy in Guangyuan and Bazhong in later generations.
This place has high mountains, dense forests, criss-crossing river valleys, and huge terrain differences. The cavalry here is completely unable to perform and can easily be ambushed.
In the same way, on the Yangtze River, it relies on Kuizhou, that is, Baidi City, Fengjie, Chongqing, where Kuimen is the most powerful in the world, to block the mouth of the Yangtze River, and relies on the surrounding mountains to block the enemy.
Faced with this kind of combat demand, there is very little room for cavalry in the Shu army. The general equipment is only a small number of elite cavalry. Most of the Shu army can only be mountain soldiers.
Therefore, the Shu army is stronger than fighting in the mountains. On the plains, it is basically passive and passive.
In terms of equipment, the Shu army has a great advantage, that is, there are many bamboos in Shu.
In later generations, this thing has lost 80% of its economic and strategic value, but in this era, bamboo can be regarded as a fast-growing wood and has great strategic value.
First, it can be made into various transportation tools and bags. Don't underestimate this advantage. The secret of Shu army's powerful transportation of grain, grass and baggage has always been in this place.
Secondly, the Shu army is good at using bamboo wood to make crossbows, especially bamboo crossbows. Although the lethality and range are still far behind the orthodox crossbows, you can't hold them back!
Although the power is small, it can still kill birds and animals. It cannot deal with targets in full iron armor, but it is still very threatening against targets with light armor and no armor.
And precisely because the power is smaller, the shooting speed is faster. The crossbow arrow shafts made of bamboo and wood are cheap and large in quantity, which can easily form dense firepower.
Two months ago, Shu army commander Zhang Qianzhao personally led an elite attack on Chang'an, but was defeated by Liu Zaisheng and 4,000 hussars.
When the forward troops were about to collapse, the Shu army's rear troops arrived, and tens of thousands of crossbows were launched to stabilize the situation.
Liu Zaisheng's four thousand hussars were only wearing light armor. As a result, many of their men and horses were shot and wounded. After several attempts, they could not break through the Shu army's bamboo crossbow formation, so they had to retreat.
Otherwise, Zhang Qianzhao would never have injured more than a thousand people and he would have completely retreated.
As for Zhang Qianzhao, he was actually not from Sichuan, but from Liaozhou.
However, this Liaozhou has nothing to do with Liaodong and Liaoxi, but is located in Zuoquan County, Shanxi Province in later generations.
When Zhang Qianzhao was young, he served as a cavalry officer under Li Keyong, Li Cunxu and his son. He was brave and powerful, especially skilled in bow and horse. He had a good relationship with Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the later Tang Dynasty.
During the Ming Dynasty, he was promoted to the commander of the escort bodyguard, which shows his favor.
Later, when the last emperor Li Congke cried for the throne at the top of Fengxiang City, he was grateful to Li Siyuan for his kindness and was unable to stop Zhang Qianzhao, so he angrily defected to Meng Zhixiang of Later Shu.
As a coach who had followed Li Keyong and was a skilled cavalryman himself, he certainly knew how powerful Hedong and Daibei's cavalry were.
Zhang Qianzhao also had a clear understanding of the Yongliang cavalry who defeated him outside Xiangji Temple last time.
This cavalry is far superior to the current cavalry in the Central Plains, and is no less fierce than the King of Jin's cavalry back then.
During his ten years in Meng Shu, Zhang Qianzhao tried his best to train two thousand cavalry for Meng Zhixiang and his son, but they were completely unable to compare with the Yongliang cavalry around Chang'an.
Zhang Qianzhao also knew what the Yongliang cavalry who had been wandering around the Shu army were waiting for. They were waiting for the real cavalry to arrive.
Because the large bamboo crossbow formation of the Shu army could not deal with the fully armored cavalry and the heavy infantry with more than two layers of iron armor.
Once these armors are gathered, they will attack immediately.
Zhang Qianzhao also knew what he was waiting for. He was waiting for the outcome of the Yongliao War in the Central Plains.
This was also the reason why he dared to send troops even though Ziwu Valley was a miserable place that could not be retreated.
As a brave general who followed Emperor Zhuangzong Li Cunxu in defeating the Khitans at Dingzhou City in the past, he had sufficient understanding of the Khitans' increase in force over the years.
In his eyes, after the decline of Daibei Jingqi, the cavalry in the world will be respected by the Khitan people. The Yong army will basically not be able to gain favor from the Khitan cavalry.
Hmm! This judgment is actually very accurate, but it was unfortunate that he met Zhang Zhao.
If the Yongliang cavalry had not emerged in this time and space, the Khitan cavalry would indeed be considered the first echelon of cavalry in the sky.
It was precisely based on this judgment that Zhang Qianzhao headed towards Chang'an with confidence.
Then, the 9,000-strong vanguard were attacked directly outside Xiangji Temple by Liu Zaisheng's 4,000 cavalry, and they were almost annihilated.
If the rear army of 13,000 men had not arrived and shot Liu Zaisheng back, he would have almost slipped and shoveled.
Now faced with the Ziwu Valley from which he could not retreat, Zhang Qianzhao could only ask the Shu army to build a fort along the Ziwu Valley to Fengxiang Mansion, communicate with Fengxiang Mansion to defend itself, and wait for the outcome of the Central Plains War.
If the Liao Kingdom were victorious, then Zhang Qianzhao would be ready to bribe Liu Zaisheng directly.
In Zhang Qianzhao's view, Cao Yuanzhong, who was left behind in Chang'an as the father-in-law of King Yong, might be difficult to bribe, but a general like Liu Zaisheng, based on the virtue of the generals at that time, would not be difficult to bribe.
To this end, he has invited Meng Chang's edict to inspect the school, appoint military envoys to Jinchang, stay in Chang'an, grant the title of Duke of Qin, grant 3,000 acres of fertile land in Sichuan, 5,000 pieces of brocade, and 5 beautiful palace servants.
The price of fame is to surrender Liu Zaisheng.
If the Khitan is defeated, eh! What are you waiting for?
Zhang Qianzhao was already prepared. If the Yong Kingdom fought against Liao Dynasty and Yong Kingdom was the victor, he would immediately lead his army to break out of Fengxiang Mansion, and then he and Sun Hanshao, who occupied Fengxiang Mansion, would return to the center of Shu via Xiegushui (Baoxie Road).
After all, in order to defraud Meng Chang of 300,000 shi of grain, Zhang Zhao acquiesced in the expansion of the Shu Kingdom and dredged the Baoxie Road, which Zhang Qianzhao could use to escape.
However, Zhang Qianzhao did not expect that the news of the outcome of the decisive battle between Yong and Liao and Zhang Zhao's accession to the throne of Emperor Zhou and his preparations to proclaim himself emperor would have reached Chang'an long ago, but Cao Yuanzhong, who stayed in Chang'an, blocked the news.
This good father-in-law of Emperor Zhang is not very capable, but that is relatively speaking.
As a person in history who was able to serve in the Guiyi Army for thirty years without any major problems, how could he be a mediocre person?
Cao Yuanzhong accurately figured out what news Zhang Qianzhao was waiting for, so he simply blocked the news and kept the Shu army near Ziwu Valley.
What he was waiting for was the 15,000 reinforcements led by Feng Hui, the Chongluanjia escort envoy.
At this time, the Shu Kingdom was standing behind the Zhou Kingdom. Its strength was not weak, and its mobilization ability was still very strong.
If we don't beat them painfully, how can we feel at ease when Zhang Zhao and Khitan, Liu Zhiyuan and Wu Tang fight in the future?
So what Cao Yuanzhong wanted was to severely attack the Shu army. This was also Zhang Zhao's request. He did not want to occupy an inch of Shu territory, but he must defeat Meng Chang.
Because Zhang Zhao knew that Meng Chang was a second-generation Quan with very weak endurance. As long as his confidence was undermined, he would quickly indulge in wine and sex, treating the harem as a brothel in Jinguan City.
At that time, Zhang Zhao can deal with other truly powerful enemies with peace of mind.
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At the end of December, Zhang Zhaojiajuan, who set out from Liangzhou, was escorted by an army of 15,000 troops led by Feng Hui, and arrived in the Qian County area north of Chang'an.
Of the 15,000 people brought by Feng Hui this time, more than 10,000 of them were recruited righteous knights from various ethnic groups and a small number of united archers.
Among the remaining thousands of people, there are 1,200 silver spears controlled by Feng Hui, and 1,000 Fanshangsu guards who originally guarded Yongxun Palace and Yongshou Palace in Liangzhou.
Of these 2,200 people, 60% were elites wearing iron armor.
As soon as they arrived, Cao Yuanzhong's troops immediately became richer, increasing from more than 9,000 to 24,000. There were more than 4,000 elite armored soldiers, which was enough to deal with the Shu army.
At this time, the Shu army was still building a fort a mile or two along the Ziwu Valley, using this stupid method to ensure that the movement of the army was not hindered.
In addition, Zhang Qianzhao also released two thousand cavalrymen he had carefully trained to provide a certain degree of cover.
Sun Hanshao of Fengxiang Prefecture also led his troops to move to the Yi County area to meet Zhang Qianzhao.
If the Qin army is said to be able to endure hardships, then the greatest advantage of the Shu army is its ability to endure hardships, and its ability to endure hardships is very outstanding.
Their marching and camping conditions were placed on Zhang Zhao's side, and the troops and horses under his command were probably unable to support him long ago and would rather go out and fight to the death.
But the Shu army was not only able to sustain it, they could continue to build the fortress and work like a machine without emotion.
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As soon as Feng Hui arrived, Cao Yuanzhong handed over the general power to Feng Hui and Liu Zaisheng.
That's how he is. Unless Zhang Zhao clearly wants him to lead the army, he will never get his hands on military power if he can.
Because he doesn't need to get involved, the Cao family does nothing now, and they are also the top nobles in the Zhou Dynasty.
You must know that among the four most favored women in Zhang Zhao's harem, three are from the Cao family.
What Cao Yuanzhong is thinking now is not how to increase power, but how to reduce it?
Otherwise, the Cao family will be in danger if they cultivate a younger generation with unclear minds in the future.
At the end of December, Governor Feng Hui discovered the Shu army who were still doing civil engineering work between Niushou Mountain and the Heihe River in Huxian County, southwest of Chang'an.
Feng Hui first ordered people to release false news, saying that the Khitan had defeated the Yong Kingdom and trapped Yong Wang Zhang Zhao in Shaanzhou, and the Yong army in Guanzhong had to leave the pass to rescue the siege, so as to attract Zhang Qianzhao to abandon the stronghold and take the initiative to attack.
However, Zhang Qianzhao, a former elite member of the Ya'er Army who fought with Li Keyong, is not so easy to fool!
It was difficult to receive any news in the past few months, but now news that is so clear and beneficial to the Shu army suddenly appeared on a large scale. What does this mean?
This shows that this is definitely fake news!
Zhang Qianzhao was so frightened that he was almost certain that the Khitan must have lost the battle between Yongli and Liao.
He did not dare to take the initiative to attack. Instead, he placed the blocking force at Niushou Mountain, and then led the main force to cross the Heihe River and head west. He also sent a messenger to ask Sun Hanshao to guard Yi County and not to come rashly.
Feng Hui saw that Zhang Qianzhao was not fooled, so he and Liu Zaisheng divided their forces and advanced.
Liu Zaisheng led four thousand hussars around Niushou Mountain to entangle Zhang Qianzhao's main force, which had already crossed the Heihe River.
He himself personally supervised and led 15,000 infantry and cavalry men to besiege the 6,000 Shu army in Niushoushan.
However, just after returning to the Central Plains, Feng Hui, who was eager to make meritorious deeds because he did not participate in the Yonglian-Liao Battle of Luoyang, immediately hit a snag.
These 6,000 Shu troops are the Zhaowu Army of Meng Shu, and they are the elite of the Shu army. The Meng Shu Zhaowu horse and infantry envoy Gao Yancuo who leads them is also quite capable.
The Shu army was on Niushou Mountain. They cut wood into horses and inserted bamboo rafts into wooden fences. They used bows, crossbows and stones to greet the Zhou army from a high position.
The Zhou army wore heavy armor and struggled to attack from the rear. The Shu army was good at mountain warfare, flying across the mountains and attacking the Zhou army from all directions.
Feng Hui failed in three consecutive battles, so he knew his calculations were wrong.
He no longer struggled, and immediately ordered his deputy general Wu Jixing to lead three thousand cavalry to guard the Shu army at Niushoushan, and then led the main force to join Liu Zaisheng.
Three days later, Feng Hui personally led 10,000 people on foot and cavalry to catch up with the Shu army who wanted to retreat to Fengxiang Mansion in the northeast of Yusi County and on the west bank of the Heihe River.
Although Yusi County has more mountains than plains, Liu Zaisheng blocked Zhang Qianzhao's way into Qinlingliang in the south in advance, forcing Zhang Qianzhao to risk his way to Fengxiang Mansion through the Weihe Plain in the north. As a result, Feng Hui happened to catch up with him.
Feng Hui and Liu Zaisheng attacked from the north and south. Zhang Qianzhao could only ask the Shu army, mostly infantry, to form an array on the plain to deal with the cavalry attack.
When it came to plain fighting, which they were good at, the Zhou army immediately performed to its due level.
Feng Hui first tried to attack, but the result was that the Shu army was in a tight formation, with numerous bows and crossbows, and no flaws were exposed.
Feng Hui immediately ordered the fine cavalry to form Youyi Cavalry, with dozens of cavalry as combat units, cutting off the Shu army's water access, and constantly harassing and intimidating the Shu army in formation so that they could not rest.
Zhang Qianzhao also wanted his soldiers to take turns to rest, but whenever the Shu army wanted to take turns, Feng Hui ordered the heavy infantry led by Yinqiang Xiaojiedu to form a series of formations. Zhang Qianzhao was forced to let his soldiers rest again. Armored.
After repeating this several times, the entire Shu army was extremely exhausted.
This feeling that whether you fight or not is completely in the hands of others will not only cause a huge drain on your physical strength, but also a huge drain on your spirit.
By the second day, the Shu army could no longer hold on, and as an infantry soldier, they actually stepped forward to ask for a fight.
Feng Hui narrowed his eyes and smiled like an old hunter and said to Liu Zaisheng who was coming.
"Ambassador Langjun, the Shu army can still form a formation, and there are still rules for advancing and retreating. They cannot fight. I will wait for them to survive."
Of course, Liu Zaisheng also knew the weaknesses of the Shu army, which was almost entirely infantry. He raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Zhang Qianzhao's central army banner.
"It is true that Feng Gong said that the Shu army is strong and tough, but it still has to endure. The only thing that can be worried about is Zhang Qianzhao's two thousand cavalry.
Although they cannot compare with my Great Zhou cavalry, we still have to guard against them covering the army, or even charging out suddenly."
Feng Hui laughed loudly and said to Liu Zaisheng: "Ambassador Langjun is trying to save others by himself. Two thousand cavalry are nothing in our Zhou Dynasty. They are often used to do dirty work.
But in Meng Shu, the cavalry were the superiors, so it was almost impossible for them to cover the infantry.
Moreover, people like Zhang Qianzhao are well aware of the dangers in the military formation and are probably already planning how to escape.
These two thousand cavalrymen are what he needs to survive, and they will not be used at this time."
Liu Zaisheng was stunned for a long time. In his heart, he had never considered that the coach would reserve the elite cavalry for running away.
He shook his head without knowing what to say, and followed Feng Hui's order to lead his troops to avoid the battle.
Among the Shu army, Zhang Qianzhao knew that he was in serious trouble as soon as he saw the Zhou army beginning to retreat.
He met an experienced battlefield veteran, who was simply waiting for his army to be unable to support him.
Sure enough, on the third day, 23,400 Shu troops stood in the wilderness for three days wearing armor and holding spears. They were tired and thirsty, and their physical and mental burdens had basically reached their limit. They could no longer strictly follow the commander's orders.
The request was made to move forward in formation.
Feng Hui immediately notified Liu Zaisheng to attack, and the Zhou army launched a fierce attack on the Shu army from both directions.
The silver spears and the heavy infantry came from the front, and the cavalry penetrated the two wings.
Feng Hui's eighteen-year-old son Feng Jiye took the lead and led 300 soldiers into the Shu army's formation.
The bamboo crossbows of the Shu army could not penetrate the pierced armor and cotton armor of the Zhou army, and a small number of Fuyuan crossbows could not cause a lot of damage.
Less than an hour after the two sides engaged in battle, the more than 20,000 Shu army was defeated by the Zhou army with only half their number.
As expected by Feng Hui, Zhang Qianzhao did not lead the cavalry to counterattack or cover the infantry. Instead, he personally led the cavalry to break through and escape before the infantry collapsed.
Of course Liu Zaisheng would not let him escape. He and Feng Hui's son Feng Jiye gathered six thousand cavalry to pursue him.
Zhang Qianzhao covered his head and ran away. When he reached Wuzhangyuan in Yi County, there were only more than 600 riders left.
But at this time, Sun Hanshao, who had mobilized an army from Fengxiang Mansion to come to the rescue, also arrived with nine thousand elite troops.
Sun Hanshao was also born in Daibei Wuxun, and his father Li Cunjin was one of the thirteen Taibao of Li Keyong in the past.
It was not until the death of Zhuangzong Li Cunxu that he changed his surname back to his original name at the suggestion of Mingzong Li Siyuan.
Sun Hanshao grew up in the army since he was a child and served in the army for decades. When he was in Meng Shu, he controlled the imperial army and controlled the feudal towns when he went out. His 10,000 Shu troops were actually the imperial guards mobilized by Meng Chang.
After these ten thousand Shu troops entered Fengxiang Mansion, their orders were strict and Qiu did not commit any offences. It was a rare army that could be called benevolent and righteous at this time.
Liu Zaisheng looked from a distance and saw the banners fluttering under Wuzhangyuan, the golden drums in formation, the Shu army advancing and retreating at a moderate pace, and arraying with their backs on the mountain plateau, so he knew that they would not be able to attack.
Moreover, they had been chasing for eighty or ninety miles, and they were already exhausted. If they attacked by force, they would probably suffer losses, so they simply rested and waited for Feng Hui's reinforcements.
Sun Hanshao also saw that the Zhou army's cavalry had many tall horses and armored soldiers, so he did not dare to lead his troops forward rashly.
After the confrontation between the two sides for half a day, the Shu army retreated from Wuzhangyuan to Baoxie Road at night and returned to Shuzhong.
Seeing that the Shu army retreated, Liu Zaisheng left two hundred cavalry to guard the Baoxie Road to prevent the Shu army from returning. Then he and Feng Jiye led the army to recover the large and small prefectures and counties in Fengxiang Prefecture and clear out the remnants of the Shu army scattered in Fengxiang Prefecture that had not had time to retreat.
After this was completed, Liu Zaisheng took charge of Fengxiang Mansion and ordered Feng Jiye to lead three thousand cavalry to Qinzhou in the northwest to support Yin Yaozi.
Yin Yaozi himself was the most well-known general in the Zhou Dynasty.
Since Zhang Zhao went west to Khotan, Yin Yaozi has been responsible for guarding the country.
And Qinzhou has been governed by Yan Jin for more than six years, and its management is airtight.
Before Meng Shu's An Siqian's 15,000-strong army arrived in Qinzhou, Liu Zaisheng had already reduced his troops and the people had already moved.
An Siqian ran into obstacles everywhere. He besieged Qinzhou intermittently for two months but achieved nothing. He could no longer hold on.
Therefore, as soon as Feng Jiye's three thousand cavalry arrived, An Siqian thought that the Zhou army was approaching, so he panicked and began to retreat.
As a result, the Yin Yaozi, who had been simmering in the city for several months, immediately attacked with the cavalry from Qianxiongwu Town. Under the attack from both sides, An Siqian's troops, whose quality of soldiers and general abilities were inferior to Sun Hanshao's, abandoned their helmets and armor, and lay dead for miles.
Only more than a thousand people fled back to Shu by taking small roads and crossing mountains and ridges. Even An Siqian himself was captured alive by Feng Jiye.
At the same time that An Siqian's entire army was wiped out, Feng Hui's campaign of suppression was basically over.
The 24,000 elite Shu troops led by Zhang Qianzhao were defeated by more than 3,000 in battle and tens of thousands were captured. Except for a few hundred cavalry who escaped with Zhang Qianzhao, almost the entire army was wiped out.
The next day, Feng Hui sent people holding Zhang Qianzhao's banner and Yamen flag to the foot of Niushoushan Mountain to recruit the Shu army on the mountain.
Gao Yanchou, the cavalry commander of the Zhaowu Army, wanted to commit suicide, but was persuaded by his left and right sides. After Feng Hui promised not to kill anyone, six thousand Shu troops came down the mountain and surrendered.
From then on, Meng Chang ordered three armies to attack Guanzhong, with a total of more than 56,000 troops. Except for Sun Hanshao who captured Fengxiang Mansion and retreated unscathed, the other two armies were basically wiped out, with more than 40,000 soldiers lost.
Almost lost.
After Meng Chang of Jinguan City heard the news, it was like being poured cold water from head to toe in winter.
While he was recruiting troops across the entire Shu Kingdom, he also transferred all the troops in eastern Sichuan to Hanzhong and Lizhou (Guangyuan). What ambitions he had, disappeared in an instant.