The Nameless of the Common Clans

"Lord, Cao Cao did it on purpose!" Xu Shu looked unhappy in the commander's tent at Chen Mo's camp in the north of Zhouxian City.

It was originally agreed that if Yuan Shao's main force was attracted by one side, the other side must provide full assistance, but Chen Mo and Yuan Shao fought here for more than a month. The war almost penetrated Hanoi, and even the Aocang and Xingyang lines were infested with Yuan Shao's troops, but Cao Cao But still As before, it cannot be said that Cao Cao did not work hard. Cao Cao's attack was still strong, but he obviously did not use his full strength. Even if the fight here was shattering, Cao Cao still followed the steps and obviously had no intention of helping Chen Mo share Yuan Shao's pressure. .

"Do you still believe this?" Chen Mo shook his head when he heard this, looked at Xu Shu and said: "It is already very good to keep the alliance unbroken and help us relieve some of Yuan Shao's pressure. Don't expect too much. After all, for us, Cao Cao is also an enemy, so does Yuan Zhi still rely on his enemies for his hopes of victory?"

He never expected Cao Cao to help him when he was in trouble. This was not in Cao Cao's interests. For Cao Cao, Chen Mo and Yuan Shao would both suffer losses. This was what Cao Cao was most willing and most willing to see. If it were now It was Cao Cao who was at odds with Yuan Shao, and Chen Mo was happy to do so, so there was no reason to blame the other party.

"But now our army is in defeat. If this continues, this battle may..." Xu Shu was slightly anxious. After all, the current battle situation is not good for Chen Mo. In terms of military strength or situation, Xu Shu has heard that there are already people in Luoyang. I will be restless, if someone has an affair with Yuan Shao or Cao Cao at this time.

"Yuan Shao is a catastrophe for both me and Cao Cao. If you pass it, you may not be able to win the final victory. But if you can't pass it, everything will come to a halt. At this time, you can only be considered at a disadvantage. But if you say defeat, say It's too early!" Chen Mo patted the map: "It's not that easy for Yuan Benchu ​​to defeat me!"

The oppression of Yuan Shao's hundreds of thousands of troops did put a lot of pressure on Chen Mo, but it was impossible to make him admit defeat. No one in this world was qualified except his mother.

At this moment, Chen Mo exuded an unprecedented confidence and vigor. In the past, Chen Mo looked like a humble gentleman most of the time, but at this moment, he was like an unsheathed sword, with its edge clearly revealed. Such a state is rare, and all the generals in the tent are inevitably infected by Chen Mo's sharpness.

Ma Chao immediately stood up and said loudly: "My lord is right, we have not lost yet, how can we say defeat? Please give me a certain group of troops, and I will take Yuan Shao's head and offer it to your lord."

Chen Mo: "..."

If Yuan Shao's head was so easy to get, he wouldn't have been beaten so badly.

"Meng Qi is commendable for his courage, but we will keep Yuan Shao's head for a while now and don't rush to take it." Chen Mo comforted Ma Chao with a smile and said, "But Meng Qi is brave and can be used at this time."

"My lord's orders!" Ma Chao said loudly.

Chen Mo looked at the map, groped his chin and said: "Now that Yuan Shao's army is coming, its food and grass consumption will be huge. Meng Qi, Bo Zhan, and Ling Ming can each lead a cavalry to surround the enemy's rear and specifically burn down their food roads. If Yuan Shao sends troops If the opponent comes to rescue and there are many people, flee immediately and do not hesitate to fight. If there are few people, fight quickly. "

"Here!" Ma Chao, Pang De, and Ma Dai immediately stood up, bowed and took the order and left.

Watching the three people leave, Chen Mo continued to look at the map. The attack on the grain road might bring some trouble to Yuan Shao, but it would not affect the outcome. Yuan Shao was powerful and had the upper hand. If Chen Mo wanted to reverse the defeat, he had to Think of other ways.

It would be great if we could find the place where the other party stores food and grass.

Chen Mo raised his head, looked at the generals in the tent, thought for a while and said: "Right now, there is no chance of fighting, and it is difficult to reverse Yuan Shao's victory. The generals will stay in the camp for the time being. They are not allowed to go into battle without permission!"

"Here!" After hearing this, Gao Shun and others stood up and obeyed the order. They left and followed Chen Mo's instructions to guard the camp.

In the next few days, Yuan Shao continued to send troops to provoke provocations every day. Chen Mo just guarded the camp and did not come out. On the contrary, from the rear, Ma Chao, Pang De, and Ma Dai attacked and harassed the grain road, burning a lot of Yuan Shao's military supplies, and Yuan Shao Too annoying.

"My lord, please don't get angry. Chen Mo knows that he can't compete with your lord head-on, so he just sent cavalry to plunder our army's food road. In my humble opinion, I can order General Yan Liang to lead a group of troops to take charge of the security of the food road, while the main force of our army steps up the attack. As long as we completely defeat Chen Mo and drive him out of Hanoi, this food thief is nothing more than a minor problem." Guo Tu stepped forward and said with a smile.

"Yes." Yuan Shao nodded and asked generals like Yan Liang to go to the rear to look after the food and grass. It would be a bit wasteful. However, when Yuan Shao looked at Yan Liang sitting in the corner of the tent, he saw that Yan Liang at this moment was not as good as before. He was so brave that he looked like a decadent drunkard. However, after losing a battle, he seemed to be completely destroyed. Yuan Shao was very angry and shouted: "Yan Liang, what do you think?"

"What my lord said is absolutely true!" Yan Liang was pushed by Han Meng beside him, came to his senses, and hurriedly said.

"In that case, in accordance with the public rules, you will lead your troops to guard the grain road." Yuan Shao saw his general in such a horrible state, and was a little angry, but he couldn't help it. He just waved his hand impatiently and said.

"General, take your orders!" Yan Liang bowed quickly and said.

"My lord, General Yan has always been brave and good at fighting. This time he was defeated by the enemy and his morale was frustrated. As long as he wins this battle, his confidence will naturally be restored." The judge said to Yuan Shao.

Although Yan Liang's current state is indeed annoying, this matter is Guo Tu's intention to exclude and humiliate Yan Liang, Shen Pei naturally can't stand it. Now the factional dispute between Hebei and Yingchuan has implicated Yan Liang. You know, Yan Liang is not a Hebei native, who will be the next one?

"I know, of course, but he is in such a state now, it is not reassuring to let him go to the battlefield, so let him supervise the transportation of grain and grass first." Yuan Shao sighed. Yan Liang was his confidant and beloved general. Now he looked like he was beaten and disabled, which made him a little upset. Let him calm down.

"Let's not talk about these. Now Chen Mo is hiding his head and not coming out. Do you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?" Yuan Shao looked at everyone and asked.

Although he was victorious, he only overwhelmed Chen Mo. Chen Mo now took a defensive position and refused to fight Yuan Shao in the field. If he attacked by force, Yuan Shao's losses would certainly not be small, and even if he won in the end, it would be a miserable victory. Cao Cao was still there and he had not yet been pacified. Yuan Shao naturally did not want to suffer too much loss.

"My lord, Chen Mo's camp is not a strong city. We can pile up earth outside his camp to form a wall, and let the crossbowmen stand on it and shoot arrows into the camp." Feng Ji smiled.

Yuan Shao nodded when he heard this, and immediately ordered people to build earth mounds outside Chen Mo's camp according to Feng Ji's words, which were higher than the opponent's camp wall, and then ordered the soldiers to climb the earth mounds and shoot arrows into Chen Mo's camp.

The soldiers in Chen Mo's camp were immediately suppressed and couldn't raise their heads.

"My lord, Yuan Shao is using this to force us to leave the camp. Even if we take a step back now, Yuan Shao will definitely take another step forward." In Chen Mo's tent, Xu Shu advised Chen Mo that he couldn't retreat at this time.

Chen Mo nodded. Xu Shu's words were right, but Yuan Shao's move made Chen Mo very uncomfortable. Sending soldiers out of the camp to destroy the opponent's earth mounds would not only cause heavy losses, but also it was easy to build. If it was destroyed today, it could be piled up again tomorrow.

Yang Xiu on the side offered a suggestion: "You can divert the Qinshui River to break through the enemy's earthen mounds."

The Qinshui River is a tributary of the Yanshui River. The water is not strong. If you want to use it to defeat Yuan Shao, the water may disperse before it rushes over, which will not work. However, it is possible to destroy the enemy's earthen mounds.

"This method takes too long." Chen Mo shook his head. Divert the Qinshui River here just to destroy the enemy's earthen mounds? But how big a project is required? Even if Chen Mo brought Ma Jun, he couldn't use it for such a thing.

"My lord!" Ma Jun stepped forward and bowed to Chen Mo, saying: "I have a method to break the enemy's strategy?"

"Oh?" Chen Mo looked at Ma Jun and smiled, "What strategy do you have? Tell me quickly."

"Yes!" Ma Jun bowed and said: "During this period, the craftsman camp made a strong crossbow based on the Jue Zhang crossbow of the pre-Qin period. It requires two people to string it. It can shoot three arrows at a time and can shoot 120 steps."

"Is there a finished product?" Chen Mo was overjoyed when he heard it.

"Yes, I heard that the lord had called for you, so I specially brought here 60 strong crossbows made by the craftsmen." Ma Jun nodded and ordered someone to bring up a crossbow machine.

The crossbow arm alone was more than ten feet long, made of hard wood, with a bracket underneath. There were three crossbow arrows in the crossbow slot, each of which was more than five feet long and as thick as a thumb, nearly twice as long as ordinary arrows.

There is a winch under the bowstring. Ma Jun introduced: "It is difficult to string this crossbow. It is difficult to pull it manually. One person needs to move the winch to string it. Therefore, two people are needed to operate it, and it takes a lot of time to load the crossbow arrows. It is somewhat similar to the bed crossbow made by Chen Qiugong in the past, but it is not as far as it can reach."

In the past, Chen Qiu made a bed crossbow in a war. It could shoot a thousand steps away, but the operation was more complicated and it could not last long. After shooting a few arrows, the mechanism would be overwhelmed and destroyed. After studying some information, Ma Jun made the strong crossbow in front of him. Although it can't shoot a thousand steps like the bed crossbow made by Chen Qiu, it is far better than the bed crossbow made by Chen Qiu in terms of shooting speed and durability. At present, it is more practical.

"Can this crossbow really shoot 120 steps?" Yang Xiu walked around the strong crossbow and said in amazement.

"I have tried it many times, and the lowest is 120 steps." Ma Jun bowed.

In fact, in terms of Ma Jun's official position, the rank of Lieutenant General of Craftsmen was higher than that of Yang Xiu, but there was no way. The Han Dynasty never judged status by official position. Yang Xiu was a descendant of three dukes for four generations. Ma Jun, a craftsman, did not dare to put on airs in front of Yang Xiu.

"But sixty is too few. If you want to break the enemy's earthen mound, at least three hundred are needed." Yang Xiu touched his chin and said.

It's not that he was picky, but Yuan Shao had set up a row of earth walls outside the camp. Even if Ma Jun's crossbow had enough range, there was too little to suppress it.

"This..." Ma Jun smiled bitterly, "This crossbow is complicated and made of exquisite materials. I'm afraid that so many can't be made in a short time."

"Enough." Chen Mo interrupted with a smile, "Order people to build an arrow tower in the camp specifically for this crossbow to shoot, and use this crossbow to shoot the enemy archers tomorrow."

"Yes!"