Chapter 1214: Disobedience?
“Woooooo!”
The horn sounded continuously, and the Han troops, one after another, slowly lined up in front of Changzi City and merged into one.
Looking around, red armor is surging and flags are like a forest.
I have to say that Wei Yan did have a certain skill in leading the army.
Although he returned to the army in a hurry, the momentum of the Han army in front of him was still impressive.
On the first day of the attack, Wei Yan dispatched 10,000 troops, accounting for one-third of his troops.
Soon, the horns of the Han army sounded again.
The Han army marched in formation on the south side of the moat, forming a line hundreds of paces wide.
The two teams at the front, pushing carts and holding large catapults, slowly moved toward the moat.
Behind and on the flanks of the carriages and large carriages were the crossbowmen.
At the very rear of the battle formation were auxiliary soldiers who carried or carried wooden stakes, thick hemp ropes, and even civilians.
“Puffy!”
A heavy rain of arrows covered the sky over the entire battlefield.
It was obviously a sunny day, but the Han army, which was attacking the eldest son, felt that the sky was gloomy.
Even the sun is covered.
The arrows could not penetrate the big pillars. It was just the first wave of arrows, and many arrows had already been inserted into the big pillars and carriages in the front row.
But the large pillars and carriages were not enough to completely block the Wei army's arrows.
Many of the arrow feathers that were thrown flew directly over the front army, and then fell from mid-air to the rear army.
Rao is now Ji Han. The iron smelting technology has been improved, and the national power can be considered strong compared with Wei and Wu.
But it is impossible to achieve 100% armor coverage rate of the entire army.
Except for the soldiers at the front who were wearing iron armor, most of the soldiers at the back were wearing leather armor.
As for the auxiliary soldiers and civilian servants, they wear cloth armor.
Although leather armor also has certain protective capabilities, it cannot be compared with iron armor.
The sharp arrow feathers fell from the sky, and with the momentum of landing, they directly penetrated the leather armor and inserted into the shoulder of a Han soldier.
He groaned and staggered.
The unlucky man was shot in the chest and screamed in agony on the spot, falling to the ground.
But fortunately, the power of the projectile is not as powerful as the direct shot.
As long as the target is not hit, there is no danger of life.
Not to mention that the Wei army was firing from a hundred steps away, and most of the fallen arrow feathers no longer had much power.
…
Just as the Han army continued to advance, the second and third waves of arrows came in a steady stream.
The closer the distance, the greater the power of the arrows, and there was a certain commotion in the Han army's formation.
But overall, the Wei army was not able to stop the Han army's advance.
When we were within seventy steps, we heard another change in the sound of the Han army's horns.
"pause!"
“Boom!”
The large frame was raised to the ground.
"shoot!"
The Han army’s crossbowmen began to fire back.
Across the moat, countless arrows crisscrossed in the air.
Many arrows fell into the moat after the collision.
When Zhuge Liang was in charge of state affairs, he consciously improved the crossbows in order to fight against the Wei cavalry.
Coupled with the support of the workshop system established by a certain country boy, the crossbow has been further strengthened.
If it weren't for the Wei army on the other side of the moat, which had already set up its formation and could wait for work.
In addition, as the attacker, the Han army needs to constantly adjust its formation while advancing.
I'm afraid that in this exchange of fire, the Wei army will be unable to withstand it first.
Even so, after the Han army stabilized its formation, the rear army continued to add archers and crossbowmen.
The arrows rained one after another, falling into the formations of both sides, and screams of misery continued to be heard.
The two armies faced each other across the river, and the geographical advantage that the Wei army occupied first began to be gradually offset by the Han army's superior bows and powerful crossbows.
Guo Xun had been lurking in the Han army for several years, so he naturally knew the power of the Han army's bows and crossbows.
I just know it, but I have never really faced it after all.
Although I had been prepared for it, I saw that my side was unable to stop the Han army from gathering on the bank of the moat despite taking the lead.
Still, Guo Xun's expression changed slightly.
“The Taifu once mentioned to me that when he and Zhuge Liang were facing off at the Wugong Waterfront, Zhuge Liang sent people to break through to the east bank several times.”
Sun Li, the eldest son’s commander in chief of the garrison, sighed:
“If it hadn’t rained heavily at that time, making it impossible for the thieves to cross the water safely, I’m afraid the Tutor would not have been able to hold on to the east bank with full confidence.”
“The most troublesome thing for the Tutor at that time was the bandits’ strong bows and crossbows, which were so powerful that they could actually support the bandit army from the west bank to the east bank.”
Hearing this, Guo Xun couldn't help but feel a thump in his heart, and asked in a low voice:
"Does General Sun think the eldest son can stop Wei Yan?"
Sun Li smiled:
"If there were no reinforcements from the Western bandits, according to what Mr. Guo said, Wei Yan's army would only be 30,000."
“The storming of Gaodu will probably result in a lot of casualties. In addition, he was mobilized by the Taifu and ran back and forth between Gaodu and the eldest son. He is already exhausted.”
“No matter how elite the bandit army is, they can only hold on for a breath at this time.”
“Based on this calculation, the number of thieves who can follow Wei Yan here at this time and are capable of fighting will not exceed 15,000.”
As he spoke, Sun Li looked at the sky between the two armies where arrows were constantly interlaced. His eyes narrowed slightly and his voice was a little low:
"If it were in the past, Wei Yan might not be able to threaten the eldest son with the power of his engineering battalion and fifteen thousand elite troops."
"It's just a pity that these elite troops are already tired. At this time, it is just a dream for him to capture the eldest son."
Guo Xun then breathed a sigh of relief:
"Listen to what General Sun said earlier, I would like to say..."
Halfway through speaking, he stopped talking again and put a smile on his face again:
“The Grand Tutor has been planning for a long time about the Shangdang matter. By the time the thieves’ reinforcements arrive, the Shangdang matter has already been decided.”
"Wei Yan's current actions are nothing more than a fight between trapped beasts."
Sun Li was not as optimistic as Guo Xun. His expression was a little heavy:
“In the past, the Wei Dynasty’s elite cavalry dominated the world, and thieves relied on the power of bows and crossbows to be able to fight against the Wei Dynasty.”
“Now the thieves are both on foot and on horseback, and with the addition of bows and crossbows, they are already stronger than the Wei Dynasty in both distance and close combat.”
“If the Wei Dynasty wants to fight the bandit army, it must rely on dangerous ground; and if it wants to fight the bandits head-on, it must be two or three times the bandit army.”
Sun Li pointed to the other side and said:
“Wei Yan dared to attack with these troops because he had someone to rely on.”
At any rate, he was a fierce general in the bandit army. Even though Wei Yan came in anger, he naturally had some confidence.
Hearing this, Guo Xun fell silent.
He has been doing detailed work in the past few years, has experienced it personally, and seen it with his own eyes, so he naturally knows that what Sun Li said is not false.
There was a sudden silence between the two of them.
As for the confrontation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the situation has changed again.
The Han army's carriages and large rafts have been pushed to the water's edge.
But I heard the sound of the Han army's drums changing again.
“Quick, quick! Get up quickly!”
Their job is to seize time and find a way to fill in the moat.
Compared to soldiers with higher armor coverage, these auxiliary soldiers and civilians have much lower armor.
The Wei army had long seen the changes in the Han army. The rain of arrows that had been suppressed suddenly started shooting again.
The auxiliary soldiers who were running at the front with their heads lowered had just entered the range of the arrow rain when two of them suddenly screamed and fell to the ground.
The arrow feathers dropped from the sky may not be able to penetrate the tightly protected iron armor. However, the lethality is still quite high for the auxiliary soldiers and civilians who only have cloth armor.
Seeing the tragic situation ahead, some civilians couldn't help but slow down.
There were people on both sides shouting loudly:
"Don't stop! Anyone who dares to disobey military orders will be killed!"
Finally, some auxiliary soldiers rushed to the shore and put the wooden piles on the ground.
It’s just that their luck seems to have finally run out.
It may also be that the Wei army discovered something unusual here, and the arrow feathers shot here immediately became denser, and several auxiliary soldiers screamed again.
Staggered two steps, stretched out his hands, trying to grab something, but finally fell to the ground, struggled for a while, and nothing happened again.
…
Wang Han, who was holding a telescope and looking at the fighting on the front line, looked a little pale.
How long has it been since the Han Dynasty took human lives to fill the moat like this?
According to the current practice in the Han army, the crossbow unit should be used to suppress the other side first.
If it cannot be suppressed, the engineering battalion's stone cannons will begin to follow.
Until the enemy is forced out of the range of the crossbows, auxiliary soldiers and civilians are sent up to fill the soil.
What Wei Yan did was simply for his own selfishness, regardless of human life!
Thinking of Wei Yan's military orders to the engineering camp, Wang Han could no longer sit still.
He put away the telescope, turned around and hurried back.
Wen Shi was sweating profusely and leading the people in the engineering camp to work when he saw Wang Han coming over:
“General Wang?”
Wang Han pulled Wenshi aside and asked quietly:
"How? In three days, can we meet the requirements of General Zuo Hussar?"
Wenshi wiped his sweat, glanced at the busy construction site, and smiled bitterly:
"Isn't this a redundant question? If it couldn't be completed yesterday, how can it be completed today?"
He sighed: "Three at most, and we are working day and night."
Wang Han nodded: "Then I understand."
After speaking, he turned around and left without staying for a moment longer.
Back to the empty engineering camp with few people left, Wang Han shouted: "Come here."
The soldier on duty came over: "General?"
“Send my order to have all the soldiers guarding the camp return to camp immediately!”
“Here!”
After a while, Wenshi hurried over, his face full of anxiety:
“General Wang, why did you withdraw all the guard camps? Did something happen?”
Wang Hanping stepped back and then replied:
“Wen Xiaowei, we were at the construction site just now. There were many people, so there are some things that I don’t want to say more about.”
Seeing Wang Han taking the matter so solemnly, Wen Shi knew that the matter was serious and asked quickly: "But what happened?"
Wang Han nodded:
"I was ordered to lead the **** battalion and **** the engineering battalion over. Before departure, the Central Protector personally said that we must bring the engineering battalion back."
He emphasized his tone, "If things really get out of hand, we can die, but the engineering camp must not make any mistakes."
As he spoke, Wang Han took out a list and handed it to Wen Shi:
“Especially the dozen or so people on the list, we must save them even if we risk our lives.”
Wenshi took it and glanced at it, already knowing it in his heart.
These dozen or so people have all participated in a secret experiment to one degree or another—including himself.
And in Wenshi’s arms, there is exactly the same list.
“General Wang, is the matter really so urgent that it is irreversible?”
Wang Han smiled bitterly and shook his head:
“To be honest, I’m not sure now, but...”
He was about to speak but stopped, and after organizing his words for a while, he continued:
“But just now I was observing the battle situation from the front, and I felt that something was not quite right with General Zuo Hussar.”
With such disregard for casualties, who knows if he will also let the engineering battalion ignore casualties?
When things have developed to this point, Wang Han feels that things may have completely exceeded the expectations of the Central Protector.
After all, who would have thought that a siege battle that was not considered important would actually develop into a life-and-death battle concerning the survival of Bingzhou?
Wenshi knew that since Wang Han had said this, he probably really wanted to make final preparations for a rainy day:
“What does General Wang mean?”
"Anyway, as you just said, neither the left nor the right can complete the tasks assigned by General Zuo Hussar. It is better to prepare in advance, just in case."
"Everything else is easy to talk about, but I think these dozen people should be recalled to the camp first, just in case."
Wang Han looked at Wen Shi and said, "As for you, Lieutenant Wen, if General Zuo Hussar calls you in the past few days, you must remember to send someone to notify me immediately."
In fact, Wang Han would never have thought of confronting Wei Yan unless he had to.
Because of this, it will have an irreparable negative impact on the Han army, and may even implicate the Central Protectorate.
Disobeying orders before battle, no matter how big the reason, is a violation of military rules and a major taboo.
Wen Shi looked at Wang Han steadily and whispered:
"Have you thought about it? If you really go that far, even if the Central Protector wants to protect you, I'm afraid there will no longer be a place for you in the army."
Wang Han smiled bitterly:
“The worst case scenario is to quit the army.”
He let out a long sigh, "But if I don't send you people back, I'm afraid the Central Protector will be the first to spare me."
Wen Shi opened his mouth, not knowing what to say, and in the end he could only sigh heavily.
He returned the list to Wang Han, turned around and left:
“I’m going to call these people back.”
…
As the battle became more intense, under Wei Yan's attack regardless of casualties, the Han army finally used the advantage of bows and crossbows to force the Wei army out of range.
Although the auxiliary soldiers and civilians suffered a lot of casualties, they finally built a pontoon bridge on the third day.
When the Han army crossed the moat, the Wei army wisely retreated to the sheep wall under the city wall.
If the Han army wanted to rush to the city wall, they had to bulldoze antlers and a ditch.
And the Wei army hiding behind the sheep wall was watching eagerly waiting for the Han army to come and die.
“Today, we must attack the city!”
Wei Yan came to the front of the formation, looked at the soldiers who were already looking a little tired, and encouraged him loudly:
"As long as we can wipe out the rebel army outside the city, with the engineering camp..."
Before I finished speaking, I heard an extremely anxious voice:
“Report!”
Interrupted Wei Yan's mobilization in front of the battle.
“What’s the matter?!”
Wei Yanji looked angrily at the bodyguard who came to report the news.
“Your Majesty, General Wei has sent an urgent message!”
(End of this chapter)