Qi Tuo Qi Tingyi was very miserable when he came to Hujie Army to serve as the commander of the left wing. The commander is the common name of the commander-in-chief, meaning the officers at the commander-in-chief level. He would soon find out that the left wing was the base of Guo Shao, the superior, and the important positions had been replaced. Qi Tuo became a commander without troops when he came. The generals below only listened to Guo Shao, and they were brothers. With Guo Shao, the commander-in-chief of the infantry department, backing them up, it would be strange if they would pay attention to Qi Tuo.
However, Guo Shao was afraid that if Qi Tuo was pushed into a corner, he would report him for forming a clique, so he gave many instructions to his subordinates and strictly prohibited the generals of the imperial army from addressing their lord as "the master".
But Guo Shao soon found out that he was worrying too much.
As soon as Qi Tingyi reported to the left wing and saw the atmosphere in the big tent, he said without saying a word that he would follow Marshal Guo's orders and had no stance at all.
This man was tall and strong, taller and stronger than anyone else. The generals standing in the tent were all tall and strong men, but none of them could compare to Qi Tuo. For a moment, Guo Shao thought of Shi Yanchao. But Qi Tuo was completely different from Shi Yanchao, and he did not have a murderous aura.
Shi Yanchao's eyes can make people feel very pressured and unfriendly. Qi Tuo's face and expression are not scary at first glance.
Later, a general who knew Qi Tingyi joked with Guo Shao and finally let him know the origin of the nickname Qi Tuo: his original name was Qi Tuotuo, and the pronunciation of the last two characters was the same, which was a bit light, so later the generals often called him Qi Tuo.
Camels are taller than horses, but they are neither fast nor fierce. This phrase is used on Qi Tingyi because he is like a camel, taller than anyone else, with a huge body, but useless. He has no strategy in war and only gets angry when he is beaten by enemy soldiers or asked to attack. He is also a decent person, not fighting with anyone, and wants to avoid and tolerate internal fighting. Perhaps, being confused is also a kind of wisdom.
The siege gradually began, but Guo Shao did not order the army to attack, but guarded the city and built fortifications and smashed the walls with catapults. He also ordered the local soldiers to push the moat earth rammed wall to the edge of the moat and carry soil and stones to fill the moat.
Gunpowder could not be used in the siege this time, because Li Gu could not get so much saltpeter at once; besides, Haozhou must have had dikes this time, so it might not be useful.
Outside the city, the harvested crops were trampled into hardened ground, some houses were demolished, and countless siege weapons were creaking. Guo Shao rode his horse around the city wall to inspect everything.
After the capture of Shouzhou, the emperor seemed to think that Guo Shao was an expert in siege warfare, so he was asked to join the siege. In fact, Guo Shao wanted to say: The last thing I want to do is siege a city.
There was a commotion on the battlefield. When the group rode to the east of the city, Guo Shao suddenly found a word "Lu" on the flag, so he looked carefully and found that there was a flag on the tower that read: "Lu, the military supervisor of Haozhou Camp".
Guo Shao turned around and said to Li Chuyun: According to Zhou Duan, Lu Mengjun has lost the support of the army. Our army has broken through the city, and this is the breakthrough point
The general said: I heard that Lu Mengjun is still very fierce in battle.
Guo Shao smiled and said: If we let the street thugs who fight and bully the weak go to the battlefield and fight for their lives, what do you think will happen
The general was unable to answer and did not understand what Guo Shao was talking about.
They made a detour and returned to the central army. Suddenly, they heard the news: Han Tong had defeated the Southern Tang navy in the north of the city and burned more than 70 warships.
When the generals heard the news, they gathered in the central army tent one after another to celebrate. Qi Tuo Han Tong's successive victories outside Haozhou City had gradually eliminated the enemies outside the city.
But Guo Shao was sitting in the upper seat in silence. Everyone was surprised and asked why. Did Han Tong win and Guo Shao was unhappy? I didn't hear that Guo Shao and Han Tong had any feud. But Han Tong was indeed difficult to get along with. He was called Han Zhangyan, with a bad temper and a straightforward personality. It was normal for anyone to be offended by him.
Send someone to congratulate Han Tong first. Guo Shaodao stood up and said, "You can congratulate as you like, don't worry about me. Let me think about it."
Guo Shao lowered his head and pondered something, then walked out of the tent. After a while, he suddenly turned around and said, "Get the bow and arrows!"
Seeing that he suddenly became interested, the generals came out of their tents to watch him shoot arrows. There happened to be a row of straw men and wooden archery targets for practice outside the central army camp. Guo Shao took the bow and arrow and looked at a target a hundred steps away.
A while ago, I told you that I was best at archery. This is not an empty statement. Look at how I shoot at a target a hundred steps away. Guo Shaodao.
He drew the bow, then suddenly put it down. Looking back, he saw everyone was confused, so he stretched out the back of his hand to test the wind and said: "Wait a minute, the wind direction is wrong."
Li Chuyun was also good at archery, and he agreed after hearing this: "You can usually only throw the arrows from a hundred steps away, and it's not easy to hit the target. The farther the distance, the more important the wind direction is. Archery is indeed best when the wind is in your favor."
Guo Shao said calmly: We won a great victory on the northwest mudflats. Today, Han Tong burned more than 70 warships of the Southern Tang Navy. The wind direction is very favorable.
After hearing this, the generals seemed to be thinking about something.
At this time, Guo Shao pulled the bowstring again, aimed at the bull's eye and held it in mid-air. Suddenly, there was a sound of the bowstring, and when everyone looked up, they saw that the bow had really hit the bull's eye from a hundred steps away.
Everyone cheered, and Guo Shao also laughed and said: I have practiced less recently, but I haven't lost my archery skills.
Of course, shooting arrows on a battlefield is more difficult than shooting at a target. If the opponent is wearing thick armor and is far away, what kind of harm can a random arrow do to him
Guo Shao closed his eyes slightly, thinking of the arrow that made him famous. He would never forget the incident of shooting and killing Zhang Yuanhui, the most powerful general of the Northern Han Dynasty. Just like first love, every tiny memory was hidden in his heart. In the chaotic battle, he actually found the perfection of feeling at that moment.
Follow the wind, feel the ups and downs of your opponent, and find the position to strike the target. At a certain moment, the opportunity is fleeting, and you must use all your strength to release the bowstring without hesitation. If you miss it once, you may never find such an opportunity again.
The wind direction is the general trend. Those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish. The Tang army in Haozhou suffered repeated defeats. This is the general trend.
The target is the opponent's soft spot or weakness. It may be small, but only by shooting from there can you avoid hitting the thick armor. Lu Mengjun is the soft spot of Haozhou.
The force must be enough. If you fail to kill the enemy after one shot, will he let you wait and shoot the second arrow? Guo Shao felt that he must attack suddenly. He must use all his strength and use a sharp knife in the first wave. He must not waste time and give the opponent a chance to recover.
Three days later, the full-scale attack will be launched, and the general assault on Haozhou will be launched. Guo Shao turned around and said in a decisive tone.
Everyone was stunned, but no one raised any opinions. The left wing of the Hujie Army had already been reshuffled, and no one among the upper-level generals would oppose for the sake of opposing, unless someone made a suggestion. But Guo Shao's tone was not asking anyone, but making a decision, so making a suggestion was meaningless.
Perhaps some generals would feel that it was a bit hasty, because they had not really attacked the city of Haozhou yet, and they had to launch a general attack right away.
But Guo Shao didn't think he was rash, and he certainly didn't think it was a long time ago. He just trusted his intuition.
Guo Shao will never forget what the martial arts instructor said: thinking too much is not necessarily a good thing. Although this sentence was not said to him, but just a memory; Guo Shao still remembers it deeply.
That was many years ago, when he was practicing archery in the Fu family palace, there was a coach teaching him. Guo Shao had practiced archery since he was a child, but his archery skills were not good; seeing that he had a good foundation and was willing to work hard, the coach gave him a lot of advice, one of which was: thinking too much is not necessarily a good thing. The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional. Guo Shao has kept this sentence in mind for many years. Indeed, sometimes thinking too much will easily make you hesitate and shrink back, unwilling to take the initiative to take risks, and instead perform poorly.
If he thinks too much, can Guo Shao make a decision easily today? He will be overwhelmed by the great psychological pressure. Thinking of losing the battle, who can afford to lose? His opponent Chai Kehong cannot afford to lose, and neither can Guo Shao.
With his foundation, the difference between winning and losing is huge. If he wins, various opportunities including marriage will allow him to further expand his strength rapidly. If he loses, he will lose even more.
So I simply don't think about it. He is just trying his best to do his job and just thinks that this decision is the best choice for this campaign. As for the result, what's the point of thinking too much
Three days was enough time to prepare for the attack, including reporting to the emperor, contacting Gao Huaide, and summoning the generals to assign tasks and draw lots.
Guo Shao woke up very early, before dawn, but all his sleepiness was gone.
Outside the tent, everything was quiet, with the light of the campfire flickering in the gaps between the oilcloths. The oil lamp in the tent was blown by the wind, and the light was not as bright as in the wild, and the surroundings were dim.
The soldiers were still asleep, and even the cook who got up the earliest to prepare the meal was still asleep. I didn't know what time it was.
Guo Shao felt that his mental quality was not very good. He pretended to be calm most of the time. He couldn't sleep well when it was important. He had this situation in his previous life. He had insomnia on the eve of the college entrance examination and could only sleep for half of the night.
He simply got up, and goose bumps appeared all over his body. It was already winter, and it was especially cold in the early morning. He found a coat to wrap himself up, and sat quietly beside the bed to adjust his breathing.
He closed his eyes and rested for a while, but still couldn't fall asleep. When Guo Shao opened his eyes, a tiger suddenly appeared in front of him. It was a new flag of the Tiger Jie Army. The embroidery didn't look like a tiger, but when the light was blurred, it looked like a tiger.
Suddenly, I seemed to hear a tiger's extremely intimidating and aggressive protest growl in my ears.
Guo Shao stared at the tiger with his eyes wide open. In his mind, he imagined himself as a ferocious beast, full of anger and murderous aura. In this world full of killing and violence, he was a tiger instead of a camel, and he would surely scare his opponents.
I have found the best state, every decision is absolutely correct