Among the towers at the head of Yizhou city, the lion general Hong Weizheng looked exhausted, and several generals were also extremely exhausted on the chairs, and they even took a nap on the chairs regardless of etiquette.
Beside Hong Wei, Yin Houzhang of Yizhou Prefecture had black eye circles and yawned repeatedly, but he dared not find a place to rest.
The Chu army has besieged Yizhou City for three days. Although the Chu army did not carry out large-scale siege operations in the past three days, the Chu army besieged on all sides of Yizhou City sounded their horns from time to time regardless of time of day and night. Out of an attacking posture, those Chu troops brandished their swords and charged aggressively towards Yizhou City.
But the first-class defenders of the city were ready to face the battle, but the Chu army who had rushed halfway turned back and stopped attacking.
The Chu army even formed several camps, and each camp was responsible for a period of time. During this time, they were responsible for the charge and harassment, and other soldiers could fully rest.
On an average day, the Chu army would have to feint twenty or thirty times.
The Chu army can pretend to attack, but the defenders cannot pretend to defend. Who knows which charge of the Chu army is true? If it is true once in a while and the defenders are not prepared, the consequences will undoubtedly be disastrous.
So in the past three days, the soldiers guarding the city have not had a good night's sleep. Even when eating, the Chu army would launch a feint attack, and the soldiers had to leave their jobs and face the enemy again. Withstood two or three infestation.
As the chief general of the garrison, Hong Wei's mind has been tense all the time for the past three days. He dare not close his eyes, because once he closes his eyes, he will probably fall into a deep sleep. He is afraid that when he opens his eyes, Yizhou The city has been occupied by the Chu army.
Before Dou Andao left, he was exhorted thousands of times to try his best to protect Yizhou City, because this had immeasurable significance to the strategic situation of the Northwest Army.
Being able to gain the trust of Dou Andao, Hong Wei's ability and loyalty are naturally impeccable. He is an out-and-out Northwesterner, and his will is naturally as strong as steel.
It's just that no matter how powerful a person is, he is still a human being after all, a body of flesh and blood. In the past three days, the combined sleep time has not exceeded two hours, and he has to command round after round of defense at all times.
The strength of the Chu army is too strong. If the command is improper, Yizhou City is in danger. Therefore, in order to ensure the maximum defense of Yizhou City, Hong Wei dare not relax at all. Every time the Chu army feints, the loudest shout is It's Hong Wei.
His physical strength and energy have been greatly depleted.
"This cunning Xue Poye...he is going to drag us to death!" Hong Wei said with a serious expression, "If this continues, we don't need them to attack the city, and we will be exhausted to death."
Hou Zhang yawned again, and said with a bitter face: "General Hong, has Marshal Dou's army captured Qingzhou? When will Marshal Wei's army come to rescue?"
"Rescue?" Hong Wei said coldly: "When it is time to rescue, there will naturally be rescuers. If there is no rescuer, it can only mean that the situation does not allow rescuers to move without authorization. Then we will guard this place for King Mingyue... Your city There are still hundreds of thousands of people in the village, the soldiers are gone, and the strong men come to fight, the men are dead, and there are still women, Qingzhou, it won’t be too long."
Hou Zhang said cautiously: "Now the imperial court is powerful, and... and their supplies will continue to flow, I'm afraid we won't last long."
"The imperial court?" Hong Wei said contemptuously: "Are you afraid? Hou Zhang, it is not easy to be a hero who founded the country." ...But as long as something happens in the capital and they lose their master, the Chu army will collapse."
Hou Zhang said in shock: "General Hong, what do you mean?"
Hong Wei said lightly: "It's good to understand, I just want to make you feel at ease, your mouth has always been very strict."
At this moment, the sound of drums and shouts of killing came from outside the city.
"Damn it!" Hong Wei slapped the table, waking up several of his generals who were dozing off: "They're here to fight cats again."
"General." A general cupped his fists and said, "The general will give me a thousand cavalry, and the last general will rush out of the city and capture Xue Poye...!"
"Capture Xue Poye? A thousand cavalry?" Hong Wei sneered, "A commander who wants to fight cats, a commander who wastes our energy all the time, you want to capture him with a thousand cavalry?" He shouted coldly: "It is a great credit for us to defend the city. Whoever dares to speak out of the city will be killed without mercy!" He walked out of the tower first, preparing for another false and real attack by the Chu army.
…
…
The Chu army commanded the battalion.
Xue Poye sat on the table, looking at the map on the table.
This map is a map of the northwest from the Yihe River. On the map, there are extremely detailed illustrations and markings on the topography of the northwest. The city of Yongzhou in the center of the northwest has been explained carefully and carefully.
The terrain in the northwest is mainly hills, mixed with mountains and rivers. The further north you go, there will be a large sandy area, which is extremely difficult to walk on. Moreover, sandstorms are most likely to occur in this season.
The climate in the northwest is dry and there are not many water sources. For the Chu army, this will be an urgent problem to be solved.
Although Yizhou City has not yet been captured, Xue Poye knows in his heart that the defenders in this city have been tossed and exhausted for the past three days. After two more days, the defenders are afraid that they will even die. .
He just wants to exhaust the opponent's energy now, and then concentrate his forces for the final attack.
In Xue Poye's heart, Yizhou City must not be regarded as a real strong enemy, because he knows in his heart that the strength of the Northwest has not been reflected in the mere Yizhou. If he thinks that he is facing a strong enemy at this time, then When actually attacking Yongzhou, the strength of the northwest will definitely bring fear to the soldiers.
Only when the soldiers understand that Yizhou is just a battle for training will the soldiers be mentally prepared to face more powerful challenges.
In fact, Xue Poye already has some confidence in winning Yizhou.
Attacking by force is the worst strategy, but this false and real attack that disturbs the enemy is the real best strategy. It will drag down the defenders' physical strength and energy. Most importantly, once this seemingly real but false attack is carried out for several days in a row, the defenders will lose their strength. No matter how wary they are, their will will relax, and as the number of false attacks by the Chu army increases, their vigilance will become weaker and weaker. When they really relax, it will be the time for the Chu army to launch a large-scale attack.
Although the defenders were exhausted, the Chu army attacked in groups, and every soldier would get enough rest. It can be said that even though the Chu army was weaker than the Northwest army in terms of combat skills and strength, after several With the daily harassment and false attack, the physical strength and energy of the Chu army were no longer comparable to the Northwest Army and the Yizhou Army.
As long as Yizhou is captured, the next step depends on the situation of Song Fei's road. If Song Fei repels the Northwest Army and keeps Qingzhou, then the two armies can advance from the upper and lower reaches of the Yi River at the same time and attack from the two roads. Yongzhou.
If you want to attack Yongzhou, you need to understand the terrain and climate of Yongzhou.
Xue Poye saw that the mark of Yongzhou City on the map was very large, and he was quite puzzled. He had never seen Yongzhou City before, so he didn't know whether this mark was to highlight the status of Yongzhou City, or because Yongzhou City itself was a huge city, or … a little bit of both.
Xue Poye actually knows nothing about military affairs, even though he has not experienced actual combat, because he has read a lot of ancient war history in his previous life, in books, on TV, and in movies, and he also understands ancient war history What is going on, and after coming to this era, he has also studied the "Chu's Military Book", so he is not considered military blind.
In this era of cold weapons, the success or failure factors of war are also very complicated, such as troop strength, morale, soldier cohesion, individual combat effectiveness, tactics, formation, strategy, climate, terrain, equipment, logistics supplies, political stance, intelligence work, popular support, etc. Each item will have an impact on the war, and it is by no means whoever has more troops will win.
Just like the battle of Yizhou, on the surface, the number and logistical supplies of the Chu army are absolutely superior, but Yizhou was not easily won, because other factors have not yet taken advantage.
For example, in terms of combat effectiveness, climate, terrain, popular sentiment, etc., the Chu army may not have the upper hand. Because of this, Yizhou still held on tenaciously and never won. In this way, it is possible to win this battle.
"The last general, Yang Yijun, please see me!" Just as Xue Poye was fascinated by the map, Yang Yijun's voice sounded from outside the tent.
"Come in!"
After entering the account, Yang Yijun clasped his fists, bent down and said respectfully: "Commander, I will report something at the end."
Xue Poye sat down and said, "What's the matter?"
"I just got a report that Song Shuai encountered the Northwest Army from Yizhou on the way to Qingzhou. The two sides fought at Motianling. Our army has captured Motian Pass. Song Shuai led fifty thousand people to defend Motian Pass. Stopped the Northwest Army going to Qingzhou." Yang Yijun showed excitement on his face: "Liu Xiao led other soldiers to Qingzhou at high speed. It is said that the Northwest Army in the lower reaches of the Yi River has already begun to attack Qingzhou City. On the 5th, there should be no problem waiting for Liu Xiao's reinforcements. Now the Northwest Army, which is blocked at Motian Pass, is storming the pass and wants to support the Qingzhou rebels. Although our army suffered heavy casualties, the Northwest Army is still unable to move an inch. The two sides are now at Motian Pass. Off confrontation."
"Oh!" Xue Poye stood up and said, "This Motian Pass is the key point, get the map quickly!"
At that moment, a soldier took the whole picture of Dachu and put it on the table. Yang Yijun pointed to a pass between Yizhou and Qingzhou: "Marshal, this is the Motian Pass. To enter Qingzhou from Yizhou, the fastest way , is Motianguan. If you want to bypass Motianguan, you can only turn to Huizhou, and pass through Huizhou from the northeast to Qingzhou. The most important thing about Qingzhou is that once it passes through Huizhou, the Huizhou army will definitely intercept it. At that time, Song Shuai will outflank from behind and attack front and back. No matter how capable the Northwest Army is, it will be wiped out if it is able to fight. So. Now the Northwest Army can only attack Motianguan with all its strength and go to help."
"Song Shuai's Motianguan is blocked, it's really beautiful, and it's of great benefit to our army's battle situation." Xue Poye said excitedly.
He knew that Seinfeld must have traveled day and night to occupy Motian Pass before the Northwest Army, and he must have fought a fierce battle with the Northwest Army. , which is equivalent to occupying the upper hand in the overall situation.
"There won't be too many Northwest Army in the lower reaches of the Yi River." Yang Yijun said with certainty, "Yongzhou's total strength is only 150,000, and this Yizhou occupies nearly 20,000 troops. There are only 50,000 people, so the Northwest Army in the lower reaches of the Yi River may not exceed 30,000. Before Qingzhou and Yizhou are all captured, Yongzhou will not dare to send the main force. After all, they still have to defend Yongzhou Before it becomes a corner, our Chu army can break through the northwest defense line and attack Yongzhou City at any time. Therefore, Yongzhou City must retain enough troops."
"If there are really only 30,000 Northwest Army troops in the lower reaches of the Yi River, as long as Qingzhou holds out for a few days, once Liu Xiao's army arrives, they will not be able to eat Qingzhou. Fight hard, you won't last long, you can only retreat." Xue Poye looked serious: "And if we win Yizhou, we can send a support army to rush over from Yizhou and attack the Northwest Army from behind. Guan Songshuai's army is attacking us back and forth, and the grandsons of the northwestern turtles are the turtles in the urn."
"But once the Northwest Army breaks through Motian Pass and joins the Northwest Army under Qingzhou City, then Qingzhou may not be able to defend." Yang Yijun looked at the map and said: "So now the three battlefields, Yizhou, Motianguan and Qingzhou, both sides will Deadly bite, no matter which side wins in any battlefield, it will play a role in affecting the overall strategy."
Xue Poye rubbed his nose, pondered, and asked after a while, "General Yang, in your opinion, what are the chances of our army winning in the three battlefields?"
"Marshal, this...!" Yang Yijun hesitated.
Xue Poye said warmly: "What do you think, but it's okay to say, even if you say something wrong, I won't blame you."
"Thank you, Marshal." Yang Yijun pointed to Yizhou City on the map, and said slowly: "Let's talk about Yizhou first. According to the current situation, our army is 70% sure of winning. But the Marshal knows that the first reason is the number of our troops. With an absolute advantage, our army has nearly 200,000 soldiers, while the Northwest Army and the Yizhou Army in the city add up to a total of 40,000 to 50,000. This is a huge disparity. In addition, even if our army has an advantage in numbers, But if the general hadn't come up with this strategy of falsely attacking and harassing the enemy, we might not be able to capture Yizhou City in a short period of time... According to the general's original prediction, Yizhou City cannot be captured in the first battle, if there is no general According to the strategy, we will be dragged here by the opponent for at least half a month, and once we spend half a month here, the situation on the entire battlefield will be quite unfavorable to us."
"You're right. Our superiority has a lot to do with our military strength." Xue Poye nodded and said, "If we only have 70,000 or 80,000 people, I even think that the defenders in the city would dare to rush out to fight against us." We fight it out."
"The Northwest Army has the guts." Yang Yijun looked solemn: "The first siege three days ago showed me the bravery of the Northwest Army. I fully believe that their combat effectiveness is definitely superior to our army. They 20,000 people can completely eat up 40,000 to 50,000 of us. The brothers on our side can still have confidence, largely because our numbers are superior. Once our army is at a disadvantage, I don’t think our brothers will It is as calm and calm as the Northwest Army."
"At the time of the defense of the city, they were well-organized, brave and powerful. Even the Yizhou Army was resisted by them, and their morale was like a rainbow. The Northwest Army really can fight." Xue Poye sighed: "This bright moon Wang’s rebellion really has a foundation.” Looking at Yang Yijun, he said, “Go on!”
"In the Yizhou battle, our army has the initiative." Yang Yijun clicked on the steep Motian Pass at Motianling on the map: "Here, in terms of military strength alone, Song Shuai's subordinates are not much more than the Northwest Army. They are facing the enemy head-on. Song Shuai It may even be at a disadvantage. Song Shuai was able to stand in a confrontation with the Northwest Army because he took the risk of Motian Pass. This Motian Pass is one of the four major Tianguan Passes in our Great Chu. It is narrow and steep. Song Shuai can fight the Northwest Army Scrambling to occupy the Motian Pass must have been extremely dangerous, but being able to occupy the Motian Pass actually saved our army's initiative. Thinking about it now, if the Northwest Army had occupied the Motian Pass, our army's overall battle situation would have been quite different. It's dangerous."
Xue Poye nodded, and thoughtfully said: "In your opinion, our army has a very high chance of winning in Motianguan battlefield?"
"No!" Yang Yijun shook his head and said, "Although our army occupies Motian Pass, the odds of winning or losing can only be 50-50. Commander, the commander of the Northwest Army who stormed Motian Pass is one of the most powerful generals under King Mingyue's command." First, Dou Andao, who is known as the "uncanny general", used his troops in such a way that he appeared and disappeared. Confronting Song Shuai, it is really difficult to decide who wins and who loses. However, as long as Song Shuai keeps the Motian Pass within ten days, our army will win the whole situation." Smiling slightly, he said: "Great! Shuai, within ten days, this Yizhou City must be in our hands. At that time, we will send reinforcements to approach Motian Pass, and the Northwest Army will be unable to fly under the pincer attack."
"That's right." Xue Poye sighed: "But the Northwest Army at Motianguan obviously understands this situation, so they will definitely do everything they can to capture Motianguan before Yizhou falls... Song Shuai is under a lot of pressure. so big!"
"Song Shuai's defense of Motianguan played a great role in the battle of Qingzhou." Yang Yijun pointed to Qingzhou and said, "If Liu Xiao's army does not come to rescue, with the strength of the Northwest Army advancing to Qingzhou from the lower reaches of the Yi River It is only a matter of time before Liu Xiao's army is fully capable of taking Qingzhou. However, if Liu Xiao's army can arrive quickly, then combined with the strength of Liu Xiao's troops and the Qingzhou Army, it will be able to suppress the Northwest Army. At that time, the Qingzhou Northwest Army The pressure will be enormous. At the beginning, they obviously wanted to cooperate with Dou Andao's troops to attack Qingzhou quickly, but they didn't expect that Dou Andao was blocked by Song Shuai at Motianguan. The Northwest Army's reinforcements did not arrive, but Qingzhou's reinforcements did. This will definitely disrupt their military plans. If Qingzhou cannot be captured within a few battles, or even suffers heavy losses, then Qingzhou's Northwest Army will withdraw in all likelihood and return to the north bank of the Yihe River for defense."
Hearing that Yang Yijun's analysis was reasonable and clear, Xue Poye was very satisfied, nodded and said: "General Yang really understands the art of war, and he has been taught."
Yang Yijun hastily said respectfully: "Don't dare!"
"From this point of view, the battle of Motianguan is more important than I imagined. It seems that the battle in Yizhou will end as soon as possible." Xue Poye rubbed his nose and said.
"The commander-in-chief means... preparing for a real siege?" Yang Yijun's face showed excitement.
In the past few days, Yang Yijun was very depressed by directing fake sieges every day. Although he knew that this was Xue Poye's wonderful move, it was always a bit unsatisfying to do it.
Xue Poye chuckled and asked, "How many times have you charged?"
"From midnight last night to now, I have rushed sixteen times." Yang Yijun laughed.
Xue Poye laughed and said: "Then Hong Wei may not even have time to go to the latrine. At this time, Hong Wei may want to have a good sleep... No, he is so boring to sleep, General Yang, you let brother Let's charge up a few more times!"
"Follow the order!"