Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3290 Keep the green mountains alive

The lines of both sides were approaching quickly, and shouts with different accents could be heard from time to time.

But no matter how you listen, you will feel that the soldiers on the Hussar side are more energetic, while the soldiers in Cao's camp down the slope, which clearly has better bunkers and fortifications, seem a little panicked.

The spears are like a forest.

Flags are flying.

Even if there are artillery, cold weapons are still the main role on the battlefield in this era.

When Xu Chu issued the order, Fei Qian did not give any guidance or express any attitude. Because Fei Qian knew that in an army, orders must not be inconsistent or unclear.

In fact, the same is true in any organizational government, or in a country. The clearer the order, the more conducive it is to the implementation at the bottom.

China actually likes to use words such as "in principle", but in fact the more such words are used, the more unfriendly it will be to the subordinates, and it will also cause structural damage to the entire family.

"Agree in principle" means "I won't stop it, but if something happens, you will be responsible." 』

"In principle it is not allowed" means "This is not allowed, but there is pressure that forces me to allow it, so the responsibility after something happens is borne by you and the person who put the pressure." 』

"Not necessary" is saying, "Don't do such-and-such. Unless a better situation arises or there is a sufficient reason to go through the process, you will definitely be blamed by the future, and you will have to take the blame. 』

"If necessary" means "I have anticipated that this situation will occur and authorize you to make a plan to do it, but I will not bear any responsibility for you to do this." 』

To put it simply, all of the above are just passing the blame.

In the Chinese feudal dynasty, low-ranking officials were increasingly scolded for their inaction, greed, laziness and neglect of duty. But have you ever thought that this situation is also because when those who issued edicts and clauses and issued various official documents in the court, they became more and more Are there more and more words like "in principle", "in theory", "in law", etc.?

"In principle" appears to be acknowledging the "principle", but in fact it is wielding a hoe and digging out loose holes in the "principle". Even the most rigid law can be solved through this ingenious "principle". The above treatment also provides sufficient reasons for violations of the law.

This is actually a violation of the law, an insult, and a violation that looks flexible on the surface, but is actually the "flexibility" and daring "excuse" of corrupt officials.

Therefore, when Fei Qian issued instructions to Xu Chu, he was always deterministic about whether he could do it or not, and he would not talk to Xu Chu about "in principle" or "in law" at all...

When soldiers attack, there are no "principles".

Advance and retreat, life and death, the more important the moment, it must be simple and clear.

The soldiers of Cao's army down the slope have been passively being beaten.

But when Xu Chu's infantry line advanced to a stone's throw away, the counterattack in the camp down the slope began.

Although arrows and crossbows cannot hit Xu Chu's front, catapults and ballistas can.

However, I don't know whether it was because there were not many catapults and crossbows in Cao's camp down the slope, or for some other reason, so there were only two or three catapults and no more than five crossbows shooting.

After encountering a counterattack by Cao Jun's ballistas and hurled stones, Xu Chu issued an order for the front line to form a dispersed formation.

A neat and dense array means that they have to withstand greater damage, while a relatively dispersed small queue is more flexible. Moreover, facing long-range weapons like Cao Jun's that are "slower" than artillery, you can do some evasive actions when it attacks, such as crawling on the ground to avoid it.

As for Xu Chu's dispersed array, Cao Jun's camp obviously had no effective countermeasures.

The crossbow chariots in Cao's camp roared to throw stones, but most of the attacks fell into the air.

As Xu Chu's infantry line pressed forward, the other two bronze cannons were dragged down by four horses each to the front of the hussars' formation and began to prepare for erection. Although artillery is more accurate and more destructive than catapults, it is still far from the artillery of later generations that can strike at fixed points.

Before, the distance was farther, and the hit rate was obviously much worse. Now, the artillery position was re-advanced in order to strike more accurately on the cracked wall of Cao Jun's lower camp.

Artillery is a newly developed item, so even if you have experience in aiming catapults, you cannot use it on artillery.

At the same time, today's artillery is still a smoothbore cannon. If you want to light up a more accurate rifled technology tree, it is definitely not something Fei Qian can do with just one sentence...

According to the current metallurgical technology, smoothbore guns can obviously withstand higher chamber pressures, which is equivalent to extending the life and number of uses of the barrel. However, if the metallurgical technology is not up to standard, the rifled gun will be used. When it comes out, it is forbidden to fire one or two rounds and then explode directly on the spot, hurting yourself before hurting others.

"Beep! Beep beep beep! 』

The craftsman directing the artillery bombardment blew the copper whistle to remind the cavalry infantry in front to get out of the way of the artillery bombardment.

The infantry line of the cavalry is not a real skirmish line, but a small array, which exists as a defensive force for the artillery. Therefore, when the artillery is to fire, it is necessary to leave a cannonball channel so that the artillery can support the infantry line in combat, and the infantry line can also defend against the enemy's counterattack against the artillery in time.

Soon, the rearranged artillery began to fire again.

A cannonball is about six pounds and six taels.

Han Jin.

Larger cannonballs will have greater destructive power, but they also require stronger gunpowder explosion power to drive them.

This is not the standard set by Fei Qian, but when he saw this standard, he couldn't help but have some bad taste rolling in his heart.

This is after many tests, the craftsmen determined that the weight of the cannonball was set within this six pounds and six taels range.

So, every roar of the cannon seemed to be roaring "666"...

The cannonballs rushed to the Cao army camp at the bottom of the slope, and wherever they went, the wood chips that hit the wall of the Cao army were flying, and the blood was everywhere.

A Han flag, which was not known to be hit by the shells or rolled up by the airflow of the shells, was thrown high into the air, then slowly swayed and fell slowly.

Liu Zhu, who was in the Cao army camp at the bottom of the slope, saw that the cavalry soldiers did not rush to attack the camp at the first time, and even their infantry line was out of the reach of an arrow. Although his catapults and crossbows could injure and kill these cavalry infantry, the efficiency was obviously very poor, and the more arrows and crossbows stored were temporarily useless.

This made the morale of the archers lined up behind the camp wall collapse, especially when the opposite artillery bombarded the camp wall, these Cao army archers could not help but let out a cry of surprise, and some archers could not bear this terrifying pressure, collapsed and fled on the spot, and were directly hacked to death on the spot by the Cao army soldiers who supervised the battle in the rear.

Faced with the new combat tactics of the cavalry, Liu Zhu seemed very confused and could not make up his mind for a while.

Originally, Cao's strategy was just to fight against the cavalry of the Hussars...

As a result, the cavalry of the Hussars are now on both wings, but the attack is by the infantry, and this Hussar infantry is completely different from the previous battle mode of filling pits and digging trenches, which makes the Cao army camp below the slope continue to be passively attacked.

If an order is given to attack to deal with the artillery in the Hussar infantry array, then let's not talk about what "surprises" are waiting for Cao's army in the Hussar infantry line, just the Hussar cavalry roaming around on both wings is enough to make these Cao soldiers who have left the fortifications have a good drink.

But if there is still no attack, then let's not talk about the final fate of these camps and walls in front, just the morale of the Cao army soldiers is constantly collapsing. If it falls to the critical point and causes the whole army to collapse, then there will be no chance of rescue!

What to do?

Liu Zhu felt his head buzzing, as if the sound of the artillery roared into his brain again and again, and then echoed and stirred wantonly.

The gunpowder smoke of the artillery was filled with thunder.

The destructive power of the shells was more brutal than that of the catapult, probably because the stone shells dropped by the catapult were generally falling. As long as they were not near the falling point, there was generally not much danger. Even if the stone shells happened to hit the side, as long as they did not hit directly, at most they would be beaten black and blue by the splashing stones and soil.

However, the main force direction of the artillery shells was horizontal...

Hitting the wall of the camp, it would immediately cause the camp wall to break, shake, and collapse. Everything on the trajectory of the artillery bombardment seemed to be destroyed by it.

The elite of the Cao army's central leading army was somewhat better. On the one hand, they were all veterans with high treatment. On the other hand, they stood a little further back, so the psychological pressure was not so great.

??????????.??????

And the ordinary Cao army soldiers closest to the camp wall were in a bad situation. Some of these ordinary Cao army soldiers had no combat experience, and some were originally county soldiers from Hedong. They were relatively poorly trained and their morale was not high. Facing the long-range artillery attack of the hussars, their spirits became more and more tense. Listening to the increasing screams around them, many ordinary Cao army soldiers were dry-mouthed and their hands and legs were shaking.

After another round of artillery bombardment, another section of the camp wall was hit by an important connecting structure, and the whole section collapsed.

And the ordinary Cao army soldiers who were waiting behind the camp wall, even with the cover of chevaux de frise and trenches, still howled in fear, and the entire array collapsed and disintegrated like the camp wall, and instantly spread to other Cao army arrays.

"Those who retreat will be killed!" Liu Zhu shouted, "Those who disrupt the army will be killed! 』

The commander rushed forward and hacked to death those ordinary Cao army soldiers who were running around in front of the formation. Even Liu Zhu came forward with his guards and killed almost all the soldiers in the formation, which barely controlled the disintegration of the formation.

But this was only a temporary solution.

The number of Cao army soldiers who were killed or injured by direct artillery fire was not large. Compared with the total number of people in the Cao army camp at the bottom of the slope, it was probably less than a fraction. However, the number of those who were killed because of cowardice and escaped was several times that of those killed by artillery fire!

The smell of blood spread, and the morale collapse caused by it was irreversible.

The defensive fortifications of Cao's camp at the foot of the slope are now only the destroyed wall, the trench in front of the wall, the barricades, traps, and the half-man-high earthen wall. These fortifications are basically still in good condition, but they cannot bring psychological security to Cao's soldiers.

The cavalry only used four cannons in front and behind to successfully cause chaos in Cao's camp at the foot of the slope.

With the appearance of hot firearms, the fighting mode between soldiers is constantly changing, and due to the existence of the military academy established by Fei Qian, the experience between soldiers and officers can be effectively communicated and exchanged, learned and grown.

Zhu Ling's improvement of the big yellow crossbow is an example, Sima Yi's change of cavalry to bow cavalry is an example, and Wei Yan's change from surprise attack to bribery is another example. These outstanding generals in the history of the Three Kingdoms, with stronger support, are no longer bound by a fixed model, but are more flexible and bloom more and more dazzling brilliance.

The same is true for Xu Chu.

He restrained his desire to fight directly on the front line, but tried his best to play his advantages, disrupt the opponent's rhythm and formation, and gradually adapted to the new changes in the war in the operation and attack of the soldiers.

Yes, scattered soldiers are indeed an effective tactical means to restrain hot weapons such as artillery and muskets. But the problem is that it is easy to disperse and difficult to collect. The scattered soldiers have very high quality requirements for soldiers and low-level non-commissioned officers.

Even if Liu Zhu had an idea, or a counselor like Guo Jia thought of using the scattered soldiers to deal with Fei Qian's firearms, it would still be useless, because in the current Shandong military system, even if there is nothing going on, just marching and working, there may be deserters at any time and anywhere.

In order to prevent soldiers from escaping, there is even a joint responsibility system in the army. If a soldier escapes, a squad will be punished, and if a squad escapes, a troop leader will be unlucky, so fundamentally, Cao's army cannot implement the scattered soldiers tactics. The integrity of the infantry formation, which Cao's army has always emphasized, has now become Cao's nightmare.

Relatively speaking, the number of soldiers in the cavalry was seriously insufficient when Fei Qian first started his army. He could not recruit thousands of soldiers at any time like Shandong. This led to Fei Qian's more cautious attitude towards soldiers, which eventually evolved into a battle idea of ​​seeking refinement rather than quantity, and then evolved into a common habit of generals under the cavalry, using a small cost to disrupt the opponent's rhythm, destroy the opponent's formation, and finally defeat the opponent.

Therefore, even when Xu Chu went into battle for the first time, he also showed similar tactics, instead of relying on the large number of soldiers under his command, and then shouting and then Zhu Tu was done...

The soldier drill of the cavalry army has actually been changing and improving, while the soldier drill in Shandong is still in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Some places don't even have drills at all. They just recruit a group of soldiers and distribute some long spears and short swords to form an army.

However, every time the Hussars' artillery bombarded, it was equivalent to spending 800 to 1,000 Hussar copper coins...

Gunpowder costs about 30%, while shells account for 50%, and the rest is other depreciation costs.

If ten artillery pieces fire in one round, it is a "magic power" of "throwing a million gold coins".

Advanced technology and tactical barriers actually require a large amount of resources and wealth to accumulate, whether in ancient times or in modern times.

The collection and smelting of copper and iron materials alone consumed a lot of manpower and material resources of Fei Qian. If it were not for the craftsman system and workshop model built in the early days, could Fei Qian just rely on his brain to put his ideas into practice?

Standard designation, craftsman inheritance, tool unification, standard customization, if there is any deviation, the final artillery must be strange, with different shapes, iron bullets and charges. In this way, how can an effective combat force be formed?

Fei Qian now wants to use this model to let those aristocratic children in Shandong who think that the laws of their ancestors cannot be changed and the ancient Zhou rituals cannot be violated, and who would rather enclose land for generations, experience the earth-shaking changes brought about by the concentration of resources and technology as an empire!

However, whether it is Fei Qian or Xu Chu, even Liu Zhu did not expect that the first to cause huge changes on the battlefield was not the Cao army's soldiers array that collapsed on the front line, but Hu Zhi behind the camp...

Hu Zhi's courage is obviously not as strong as Liu Zhu's.

The reason why he became the governor was just because he followed Cao Cao earlier, not because of Hu Zhi's personal ability.

If the cavalry adopted the battle mode familiar to Hu Zhi and attacked against the various fortifications in the Cao army camp, then even if Hu Zhi was timid in his heart, he would be able to hold on. But he did not expect that the cavalry's attack was so different. In the first attack, it almost broke through the front camp wall!

This almost broke through Hu Zhi's bottom line!

Originally, he thought that they could survive at least three to five days before the outer trenches were filled, and then after another three to five days, the Hussars would have a chance to break through the camp.

But it was only the first day!

The sun hadn't even set yet!

"Everyone, get ready..." Hu Zhi's voice was shaking as he said to the guards around him, "As soon as it gets dark, we will... break out... We can't hold this camp anymore, we can't hold it anymore!"

Hu Zhi's guards responded hurriedly after hearing this.

The camp wall that was so thick and built with so much effort was blown up in the blink of an eye!

Even if Liu Zhu was made of iron, how many nails could he hammer to fill such a big hole?

A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Since the situation is already very bad, there is no point in persisting.

Hu Zhi knew that if he retreated, the whole army would be involved.

But he was just a military commander, not a commander-in-chief, so if he retreated early, at most he would go back to get a beating and a reprimand, and then be fined some salary and demoted. When the storm is over, he can still come out to make a living. As for the warnings, exhortations, and self-criticisms in the whole army, they are just a formality, eating and drinking, singing and dancing.

And if he is still here, he may have to delete his account!

Keep the green mountains...

Of course, in order to avoid directly causing a large-scale collapse of soldiers, Hu Zhi also suppressed his fear and set the time for his retreat at night.

But Hu Zhi forgot one thing. Now the soldiers in the Cao army camp at the bottom of the slope are already very nervous and their morale is very low. They all rely on Liu Zhu's constant shouting and encouragement at the front line to support them.

Although Hu Zhi said that the time of retreat was set at night, his guards must always prepare something or two, right? Gold and silver, money, food and grass, all need to be more or less.

If it were normal time, it would be fine, but in this tense time period, the behavior of Hu Zhi's guards was like kerosene meeting sparks, which immediately triggered a chain reaction...

"General Hu is going to escape!"

I don't know who suddenly shouted this, and then more soldiers shouted.

"General Hu escaped!"

"Escaped..."

The shouting reached the front line of the camp.

The formation of Cao's soldiers in the front was already shaky. When they heard that Hu Zhi had escaped, they had no intention of seeking the truth. They just looked at each other, shouted, dropped their swords and guns, turned around and fled!