Three Kingdoms

The cold rain in early spring fell, soaking the ground that had just thawed for a short period of time. As horses and people stepped on the ground, it gradually turned into rotten yellow mud, making it difficult to walk.

Brigades of heavy-duty vehicles were struggling to move on the road. The weak civilian laborers were dragging, pushing and pulling, and struggling in the mud to transport the heavy materials to the front. On both sides of the road, officials in raincoats were shouting and cursing, running back and forth. Some stepped on the wrong foot and were covered in yellow mud and black water.

In the team, the braying of cattle and horses was mixed with the shouts of the officials, and the horns of some peasants working together to push and pull. The whole road was extremely noisy, but more of the peasants were silent, moving forward numbly. .

Fortunately, there were many mules, horses and oxen brought from Taishi Ci in the queue, which saved some manpower. Otherwise, in such weather, it would be simply wishful thinking to transport grain and grass to Hangu Pass in time.

Of course, behind these civilians, there was also a group of county soldiers, all of them marching slowly in the rain and fog. Everyone exhaled a long white breath in the cold rain. Without generals, there is no need to think about arriving smoothly. In this era, it is common for civilians to escape at night. If there are no soldiers to come and organize them, these three thousand civilians may be 100% dead by the time they reach Han Valley. Not a single one is left.

These county soldiers who were originally from Hongnong were naturally much inferior to the Zhengxi soldiers brought by Tai Shici. They were originally arranged to serve as escort auxiliary troops, and they still had some objections. However, when they really saw the sturdiness of the Zhengxi soldiers, they also He swallowed all his complaints into his stomach and dismissed them as nothing more than farts.

As a county military general under the Hongnong Yang family, apart from knowing some simple military techniques, I am afraid that there are no other advantages. After all, in this era, there are many generals who can lead troops, but there are not many generals who can train troops. , and as the earliest military training base camp established in Beiqu Camp, if one or two instructors are pulled out to train troops there, I am afraid that they will immediately become the favorites of other princes.

It's like Huang Xian, who only knew some methods, was used as a general in military training by Cao Cao. Although there were some other factors, it also showed that Cao Cao believed that Huang Xian was stronger in military training skills.

As far as the marching law is concerned, it is not as simple as seeing someone make a mistake, dragging them out and pushing them into the mud, shouting to beat them, or beating them with military sticks, or beheading them, and then you can have an army with strict prohibitions. It's not that you can build a prototype of a fierce army by setting up a constraint framework and then applying pressure step by step...

The reason is actually very simple. In the pre-intellectual age, many military men were only as intelligent as 6-7-year-old children with healthy bodies. In later generations, parents who would almost vomit blood when teaching their children to do homework were naturally deeply affected by this. Have experience. Beating and scolding has no effect. It just lets these guys know that something was wrong. As for why they made a mistake, how to avoid making the same mistake again in the future, or how to do better, it may not be clear.

Therefore, the role of military law is not all to be strict when making mistakes, but to make the whole army aware of the strictness of military law and to be alert at all times and not to offend. Only then can it play its due role. This is difficult for most generals to do. Do it. It's like Mr. Zhang is angry, but he only knows how to use a whip...

Therefore, Taishi Ci showed great dissatisfaction with the original Hongnong County soldiers guarding Hangu Pass.

Yang Xiu saw this and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

When the army and horses were gathered together, Yang Xiu also followed Yang Biao to do it himself. Fifty-six out of ten of these county soldiers were selected by him at that time. At the time, he thought they were good. They were all strong and intelligent, but Now compared with these soldiers who conquered the West, they are simply...

Say nothing more.

General Zhengxi was able to control the three auxiliaries and even made the Xianbei Xiqiang people docile. Yang Xiu was still somewhat unconvinced in his heart, but for a period of time, especially when he arrived in Pingyang, he met Fei Qian himself, and then He went to Shangdang in Taiyuan, and then to Hedong. Along the way, he saw these Zhengxi men and soldiers, which really left a deep impression on Yang Xiu's heart!

The Yang family did not lose unjustly!

When there is no benchmark for comparison, my own soldiers seem to be okay, and I am still considered a barbarian, but when I look at the Zhengxi soldiers, they are not on the same level at all...

Take the soldiers of the Western Expedition in front of us as an example. As long as it is a military order issued by Taishi Ci, it will definitely not need to be repeated a second time. Moreover, some vague orders or orders that require continuous operation can also be better executed, and for the original County soldiers like the Yang family need to break the order into pieces and issue it piece by piece.

"These soldiers will be trained all over again when Colonel Zhang comes!" Tai Shici frowned and said, "The so-called order and prohibition does not mean that the soldiers will become wooden! I don't know who taught it, it's just random! "

Yang Xiu swallowed silently and did not dare to answer.

Taishi Ci did not wait for Yang Xiu's reply. He pointed his hand to the east and said, "In two days, Colonel Zhang will be here... In these two days, the food and grass supplies must be sorted out according to the original plan. Complete! When a certain leader leaves east, all the subsequent baggage and follow-up matters must be arranged! How about it, can it be done?"

Coming out of Hangu Pass is Heluo, and to the east of Heluo is Yima Pingchuan.

Although General Zhengxi's strategy was a bit risky, Tai Shici felt that there was no time when military affairs in the world were not risky. And for Taishi Ci, on the one hand, attacking Yuan Shao can be regarded as repaying Gongsun's remaining emotions from the past. On the other hand, Taishi Ci originally liked this kind of risky game...

Yang Xiu cupped his hands and said, "General Dingzun's order."

Yang Zhong on the side also said: "But don't worry, general, I will do my best."

Taishi Ci nodded, left the two of them, and left on his own, regardless of the embarrassment Yang Xiu and Yang Zhong felt. Anyway, in Tai Shici's mind, the Yang family were all weaklings who needed to be dealt with, and they were not worth the trouble.

Yang Zhong watched Taishi Ci go away, turned to Yang Xiugong and said, "Young Master, this... this person is unruly and rude..."

Yang Xiu smiled and said softly: "What's the harm? In time, you and I will definitely be on top, and it won't be too late to discuss it again."

Yang Zhong raised the corner of his mouth slightly, smoothed his beard, and said: "Mr. Yang's move is to maximize his strengths and avoid his weaknesses. It's just that His Majesty is currently located in Xu County. This..."

Yang Xiu glanced at Yang Zhong and understood what he wanted to say, but Yang Xiu didn't want to answer. Instead, he changed the question to another aspect: "Therefore, it is a good idea to conquer the west! In the name of paying tribute, marching troops Cao Pingdong should not be in a position of strength, nor should he be! And in this case, General Yuan will definitely be suspicious! This move kills two birds with one stone, it is a wonderful move!"

Yang Zhong paused while stroking his beard, then nodded and praised together. Both of them seemed to express their sincere submission to General Zhengxi.

It's just that only each person can know how much of this gesture is true and how much is false...

Yang Xiugong cupped his hands and said, "I will return to Pingyang tomorrow, so I'll leave it to you here..."

"Young Master, please don't worry, I can take care of myself..." Yang Zhong said in return with his hands in hand. The two of them looked at each other and seemed to say something, but also seemed to mean nothing.

The wind and rain seemed to be getting stronger, falling on the city top of Hangu Pass, soaking into the blue brick city walls that had been cut with swords and axes, and stained with blood from fire, and also soaked into the three large characters smeared with cinnabar above the city gate: " "Hangu Pass", the rainwater collected between the strokes, and then slowly flowed down, like thick blood dripping down...

…………………………

In the rain curtain, Fei Qian reined up his horse and stood. Although he was wearing a raincoat, it didn't have much effect. The thin spring rain still naughtily penetrated into Fei Qian's arms from various angles, moistening the clothes. Dozens of guards followed Fei Qian, and after running for a while, they all exhaled long white breaths in the drizzle.

In the past two days, Fei Qian was arranging his troops and horses while checking the surrounding terrain. Jia Qu returned to Huguan County to prepare grain, grass and other supplies, and he took Gong Jun and Ling Jie with him to circle around the surrounding mountain roads before Yuan Shao's troops arrived. Fei Qian and his party were all Qingqi, and they were all strong men from Bingzhou. In addition, Fei Qian was personally leading the way, so no one expressed how difficult the journey was.

In the face of the formidable enemy, Fei Qian was still wandering around the mountains, seemingly not in a hurry, as if everything was under Fei Qian's control.

Seeing that Fei had been hiding in the rain for a long time, Huang Xu couldn't help but stepped forward and said, "My lord, do you want to put up an awning? It won't be troublesome anyway..."

Fei Qian shook his head and said with a smile: "You are sitting in the awning, and then you are standing in the rain, getting soaked. What's the point of this? Don't worry about this, go and call the Second Captain Gong Ling over for me."

Huang Xuhan smiled and retreated to deliver the order. Not long after, Gong Jun and Ling Jie came over from the queue.

Fei Qian pointed to the mountains on the left and right and said: "The mountains here are circling and the terrain is changeable, which is suitable for infantry combat..." If time or battle conditions permit, Fei Qian really wants to conquer the Hanzhong mountains. Part of the mountain battalion for internal training has been transferred over, and now, we can only count on the scout battalion led by Gong Jun and Ling Jie, who are relatively strong and good at multiple operations, to take on this responsibility first.

After wandering around the Taihang Mountains for the past two days, Fei Qian found out that it was not an empty talk that a hundred thousand troops would march into Taihang in later generations. On such terrain, only the Taihang Eight Paths could march on a large scale, but there were far more than that. There are eight roads, so if you fight guerrillas in this mountain, it is indeed a treasure land created in heaven.

"Here?" Gong Jun looked left and right in the direction Fei Qian pointed, and said with some hesitation, "It's not difficult to go up this mountain, but if you want to climb up, it will take a lot of energy. If you add more Go up and fight... this..."

Fei Qian laughed and slowly explained to Gong Jun and Ling Jie.

Gong Jun's thinking mode is something Fei can understand, and this is also the way of thinking of most people in the Han Dynasty and even in ancient times. After all, the combat mode of guerrilla warfare encountered very great limitations in ancient times. The most important factor was the problem mentioned by Gong Jun.

The biggest difference between the era of cold weapons and the era of hot weapons is here. As long as the hot weapons arrive at the location, problems that can be solved with a flick of a finger are solved in the era of cold weapons. In the era of cold weapons, you have to rely on face-to-face fighting. As a soldier, , climb up the mountain in a short time, and then rush down the mountain, I am afraid that by the time you reach the opponent, most of your physical strength has been exhausted. At this time, the opponent may only need to put up the shield to harvest these brainless ambushers.

However, Fei Qian has an innate advantage here. It can even be said that he has the most powerful crossbows among all the princes. If Fei Qian is ranked second, no one dares to be ranked first.

The strong crossbows produced by Huang's workshop have been improved from generation to generation over the years. Now they have surpassed the peak period of the Pre-Qin Dynasty and reached a new height. Especially the use of ratchets has reduced the energy required to cock the string. It's easier and faster.

Although the issue of the life of the crossbow string is still limited to a certain extent before there is a major breakthrough in materials science, it can be largely ignored when replacement backup is ensured.

Therefore, Fei Qian could simulate the guerrilla tactics of later generations, which involved shooting and changing places, without the need for Gong Jun and Ling Jie to lead the team in hand-to-hand combat, which greatly reduced the loss of soldiers.

In particular, the sixteen-character motto regarded as a classic is really the secret method of guerrilla warfare.

Of course, the premise still requires the support of powerful long-range weapons, otherwise everything will be imaginary. The cold weapon and hot weapon combat modes are completely different in themselves.

"That's it!" Gong Jun used to often lead teams to do this kind of work, but he just couldn't react for a moment. After Fei Qian's prodding, he naturally understood it and gained the confidence to fight with Yuan Jun in this mountainous area. Circling around.

Fei Qian looked at Gong Jun and Ling Jie who had gained confidence, smiled slightly and said, "So you two, what do you think is the most important thing in fighting like this?"

When Gong Jun heard this, his eyes moved slightly and said: "Supplies!"

"There are still directions!" Ling Jie added.

Fei Qian nodded, but then shook his head and said, "You are right, but not completely right..."

Fei Qian asked Huang Xu to take out several water-polished bronze mirrors and said, "Use flags and mirror reflections as communication guides during the day. Most of them can solve the problems of communication and detection of directions. As for supplies, although transportation is difficult, but You two don’t need to worry too much, Liang Dao has returned to Huguan to raise food and grass, so he will definitely not be short on money, but you two have not yet grasped the key points of this kind of tactics..."

Gong Jun and Ling Jie looked at each other, then raised their hands to Fei Qian and said, "Please give me some advice, my lord!"

Fei Qian patted Ling Jie standing aside on the shoulder and said: "With the power of defense, wearing leather armor and a sword, how many crossbows and how many crossbow bolts can I bring while ensuring that I can move freely up the mountain?"

Ling Jie pondered for a moment and said, "You should be able to bring two crossbows. Well, maybe three. If there are more, it will inevitably hinder your movement... Are the crossbow arrows thirty? Or forty?"

Gong Jun on the other side also nodded, indicating that the number was about the same. It’s not that you can’t bring more crossbows, but the crossbow itself is quite heavy. In addition, you also need to bring a stringer, a replacement crossbow string, dry food, a water bag, a camping blanket and other equipment...

These bits and pieces add up to a lot of weight. Carrying them for a long march is still a big burden even for Gong Jun and others who are sturdy.

Fei Qian nodded and said: "Therefore, if you two focus entirely on the number of soldiers killed, you will lose the biggest advantage of this method of warfare! Remember! I emphasize it again! It is not just about how many ordinary soldiers you kill, but how many soldiers you kill. Take advantage of them when they are not prepared, kill the sergeants! Shoot the generals! Burn the food, grass and baggage! Even when it doesn't rain, lure them into an ambush circle where hay is laid and kerosene is poured on them! Let Yuan's army change their colors and become frightened when they hear the news! This is the most important!"

Although Fei Qian said harshly, Gong Jun and Ling Jie's eyes became brighter and brighter, even shimmering. Even in the rain and fog, they could still feel the murderous aura and fighting spirit overflowing from their bodies!

"I understand, my lord! Don't worry, my lord! It will definitely frighten Yuan Jun! This mountain and this valley is where Yuan Jun is buried!" Gong Jun and Ling Jie replied proudly.

Fei Qian smiled and nodded, and asked Gong Jun and Ling Jie to go down and discuss matters such as how to cooperate, how to march, how to ambush, etc. Fei Qian did not intend to interfere directly in these specific matters, but fully let them know. Gong Jun and Ling Jie exerted their subjective initiative, which played a great role in cultivating middle and high-level generals.

Fei Qian didn't give any specific formation diagram, let alone take out a bag of tips...

Like the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, before the generals went into battle, they even drew some formation diagrams and asked the generals to set up the eight-door golden lock formation, the nine-bend Yellow River formation, etc., but in fact they were all those who did not go to the battlefield at all. The reincarnation of "Zhao Kuo" is purely in the rear.

Even if these formation diagrams really have so-called miraculous effects, what if there is a huge rock or a huge pit right where the formation eye is drawn? It cannot be changed according to local conditions, but what is on paper has little practical significance, and in that case, if the battle is won, it is the credit of the ghosts at the rear, and if the battle is lost, it is the failure of the frontline generals to fully implement the strategic layout. If things go on like this for a long time, who else will be willing to fight in battle?

It is necessary to both seize power and delegate power.

This is what Fei Qian has realized in the workplace and in the position of Zhengxi for many years.

The mountain rain is misty, and the mountains seem to be covered with a layer of gauze, which looks full of fairy spirit. But who can know that in fact, the mountains are filled with murderous aura, and murderous intentions are hidden everywhere?