Attacking the Fortress

November, early winter.

The weather in Liangzhou in winter is very changeable.

The sun was shining brightly a few days ago, but after a few strong winds, thick clouds covered the mountains.

The soft and thin snowflakes are like blown dandelions flying all over the sky, scattering and gathering, seeming to float and fly.

The soldiers who stood on the low wooden fence of the Wei army camp couldn't help but put their hands to their mouths to breathe after every dozen or so breaths, which warmed the numbness and stiffness of their fingers.

It's so cold.

But more of Cao's soldiers were extremely hot.

was angered by the Han army.

Ever since the Han army came to invite war and was rejected by Xia Houru, the general who refused to conquer the west, the Han army sent two to three thousand soldiers to a stone's throw away every day to show off their power and shout and curse.

It's like blowing the drums loudly, beating the shield and singing the "Song of the Great Wind" loudly.

After each song, they roared "Conquer the Central Plains" and formed military formations on the spot, treating the battlefield as if it were the garrison of the Han army.

For example, he loudly cursed with contemptuous words such as "the rats who rebelled against the Wei Dynasty can't shrink away", "Liangzhou has no blood and brave men".

Some vulgar people, while salivating, lay down on the snow casually, or took off their armor and wrestled with their robes for fun, etc., and regarded the Cao Wei soldiers who were close at hand as if they were nothing.

The most outrageous thing is that when the Han troops returned at dusk, they would all shout in unison, "In the past, we marched to the west as tigers marched to the right of the Pass, but now we march to the west behind closed doors to trace our eyebrows."

This is heartbreaking!

Xia Houyuan, who is on the right side of Hubu Pass, is Xia Houru's father.

Both of them served as generals to conquer the West, but Xia Houyuan was invincible in the land of Yongliang and is still famous to this day; but now Xia Houru has the advantage of military strength and avoids fighting.

She was despised by the Han army as a woman who painted her eyebrows with rouge!

Not only does it claim that the Xiahou family, the founder of the Wei State, has no successors and their glory is gone, it also satirizes that the officers and soldiers of the Wei army are cowardly.

Just imagine, the governors and commanders are all women, what do they mean to these soldiers?

Not even as good as a woman?

Not surprisingly, those soldiers who felt that they had been greatly humiliated started clamoring for their respective generals to go and challenge Xia Houru.

It's just that the results were a little bad.

He left filled with righteous indignation and returned with his head bowed and a sigh.

Although Xia Houru, the general who conquered the west, also had a dark face, he still said, "Generals cannot fight in anger" and rejected their request for orders.

Even if these governors try to persuade them in every possible way.

Some even had a fierce temperament and even issued military orders such as "If the battle is unfavorable, I am willing to behead the villain", but they still returned home full of grievance and anger.

Among them, Wang Mi was the most aggrieved.

As Xia Houru's trusted general, he knew very well why Xia Houru did what he did.

It’s not that we won’t fight, it’s that the time has not come yet.

Xia Houru wanted to hold on first and use up the vigor they had gained when they first came from Ni Shu. After time and wind and snow had worn away their determination to fight to the death and retreated, they could then pursue and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

By doing this, you understand the essence of the art of war.

However, Wang Mi could understand, but he could not accept it.

He is a Wuwei man and has the courage to fight to the death.

Almost all of his subordinates were recruited from various counties in Liangzhou. These soldiers followed the folk customs of the frontier and were tough and fierce. They had already complained about all kinds of provocations and insults against Shu.

Not only did he feel that Xia Houru was afraid of fighting, but he also felt that Wang Mi, the superior officer, had lost his courage.

Because Hu and Han people live together in Liangzhou, and there is generally little literary etiquette, the common people are not very loyal to the Wei State, and they also admire the pleasure and grudges of the knights. These soldiers are usually restrained by various military regulations and laws in the military camp.

I have suppressed my anger for a long time. Now that I am in battle, I still want to be insulted. Do I want to retaliate?

If you are so useless, you might as well become a horse bandit to enjoy your revenge!

Anyway, most of the soldiers in the frontier areas only support their families with some food rations, and few have the extravagant hope of becoming a marquis or a general.

In other words, after the implementation of the nine-rank official system, the Luoyang temple occupied by the high-ranking families in Guandong did not see the struggle of their people.

This dissatisfaction spread not only among Wang Mi's subordinates, but also with Xia Houru's 12,000 cavalrymen who came to guard this place.

After all, soldiers who lick blood from their swords are inherently bloody men.

However, if the military is dissatisfied and dissatisfied, military orders that often show off to the public must still be obeyed.

Therefore, the Han army continued to provoke for four or five days, but the Wei army showed no sign of going to war.

Zheng Pu felt a little regretful about this.

The Li Shu people here were all behind the Wei military camp, so he could not find a woman's clothing to send to Xia Houru.

However, it doesn't matter anymore.

In the past few days, he has also been preparing for a strong attack.

It is not a strong attack with big yellow crossbows and bows and arrows in the rear, like in offensive and defensive battles. The soldiers in the front fill the ravines fearlessly and push siege vehicles, ladders and other equipment to climb up.

This method of warfare has a high casualty rate among soldiers.

The Han Dynasty couldn't afford it, and he would not let his subordinates die for the sake of military exploits after completing the strategic intention of containing the forces of the Wei Dynasty.

It's a trick that's tailored to local conditions.

The military camp set up by Hou Ru in the Xia Dynasty against the Wei Dynasty is similar to the Wild Geese Formation.

When you can maximize the power of long-range weapons such as the crossbow, in order to ensure that the crossbow will not accidentally damage your own army, the left and right wings will be very dispersed.

Zheng Pu then planned to concentrate his forces and attack one of the wings.

Under such circumstances, the other wing of the counter-Wei army was like a dummy; and it was difficult for the Chinese army to send troops to support it.

After all, once they come to support, too few troops will not help; if there are too many troops, it will become a desperate battle between the two armies in the wild.

Many veteran generals are well aware of the shortcomings of the Flying Geese Formation.

But few people take advantage of it.

Because attacking the flanks would result in more losses than gains for the whole army.

The price of war is victory, but the price of war is not long.

Exhausting all the vigor of the soldiers on one wing is equivalent to giving up the plan of attacking the enemy's entire army. Moreover, all the time and food for the attack have been used up, and the troops will have no choice but to retreat, and will be followed by the enemy.

Since ancient times, kindness has not led soldiers.

Any commander with some military career would be willing to pay the price of having one wing defeated in order to win a great victory.

This is the reason why Xia Houru dared to arrange his troops in such a way.

However, he underestimated a little.

Zheng Pu is not greedy for credit!

He had no intention of capturing Jincheng County in the first place.

The reason for sending troops is to prevent Xia Houru from sending troops to Xiping County for reinforcements!

Whether the camp can be captured here and how many levels of beheadings there are are acceptable results for him.

If there is, there is joy; if there is none, there is no sadness.

Naturally, Zheng Pu, who was known for his resourcefulness and decisiveness, would not decide to attack without reason. He found a way to reduce the defensive advantage of Ni Wei's military camp.

On flat terrain, the Wei Wei military camp was built on stone and wood and was not very high.

After Zheng Pu led the army to this place, he also asked his soldiers to return from logging in the wild and build his own military camp.

The difference between the two is that Zheng Pu's military camp is simpler and can move slowly; the Han army's military camp is based on wheeled Wugang carts and carriages.

Instead, wooden structures were framed horizontally and vertically in front of the large scull of the Wuhan Iron and Steel vehicle, and fixed with rivets and ropes to form a wooden railing wall. Then more than ten vehicle bodies were placed side by side to form a simple camp.

For each Wugang cart, more than ten soldiers can slowly push forward.

Together with the car body, it is about two feet high, almost as high as Ni Wei's military camp.

The defense of wood is enough to withstand the penetration of powerful crossbows.

As for the big yellow crossbows and thunder chariots used by the Wei Dynasty, if the soldiers were hidden behind the chariots before departure, there would not be too many casualties.

After all, ordnance such as the big yellow crossbow and the thunderbolt chariot will break down if used frequently, and it is impossible to equip them on a large scale in a place like Liangzhou.

Furthermore, the Han army was not without suppressive weapons.

When the Wei Dynasty used equipment such as rhubarb crossbows, the Han army could also counterattack. The outcome depends on the preparation of the battle.

Everything was ready, and in the early morning when snowflakes were flying in the sky, thunderous drums sounded in the Han army camp.

The Han army, which had already moved its general camp to the left flank of the Wei Dynasty four hundred paces away, shouted trumpets and pushed the Wuhan Iron and Steel chariot forward step by step amid the sound of drums and drums played by their respective uncles.

Behind them are the soldiers with large oars, and those behind them are soldiers carrying earth bags or planks of wood.
To be continued...