Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3301 The Right Decision

The east side of Emei Mountain.

The place where Zhang Xiu and other soldiers hid.

This place is called Horse Face Valley, and the valley is long and thin like a horse face, hence the name.

Zhang Xiu took Li Er and two thousand cavalrymen and hid in the valley quietly.

Li Er was a little dissatisfied these two days.

Because he thought that he came to the east line to kill the enemy and make merit, instead of hiding in this uninhabited valley, suffering from the erosion of wind and sand and the scorching sun. Although he didn't say anything, he had already scolded Zhang Xiu in his heart.

Now he heard that the battle under Wenxi City was very fierce. More than two thousand cavalrymen did not go to Wenxi to kill Cao Jun's bandits, but stayed in this valley to recuperate. He thought it was too absurd.

Zhang Xiu said he wanted to ambush Cao Jun. Could he ambush in this Horse Face Valley? Li Er didn't think that this Horse Face Valley was a place where Cao Jun could be ambushed. If they really wanted to ambush, they should have gone down Emei Mountain and headed to Gufeng Mountain. Gufeng Mountain was the place where Cao's army would definitely pass.

Li Er did not continue to stay under Fei Qian's command in the middle, but took the initiative to apply to join Zhang Xiu's command on the eastern line. He had his own considerations. Although he was not a child of a Shandong Confucian scholar, who always said how many military books he had read and how many military tactics he knew, he had the experience of fighting in the cavalry in Mobei and Longxi.

Li Er found that since Fei Qian brought those artillery from Linfen, the battle mode had changed.

Cavalry was no longer the protagonist on the battlefield...

This made Li Er a little unhappy and a little uneasy.

In Li Er's battles in Mobei and Longxi, he felt the most deeply the importance of cavalry. Without cavalry, it would be like having no legs in a territory like Mobei and Longxi, and he would be played around by others at any time. So Li Er felt that cavalry was the kingly way and the most important branch of the army, and under the command of Fei Qian in the middle, the cavalry became a force to assist the artillery.

In the attack on the camp under the slope, the artillery became the hero, and the cavalry became the foil.

This was not because Li Er had any opinion on Fei Qian. After all, it was Fei Qian who promoted him and gave him his current status and wealth. It was just that he could not understand it emotionally and was not willing to accept this state, so he would rather come to the east line and come under Zhang Xiu's banner. Unexpectedly, when he arrived at Zhang Xiu's place, Zhang Xiu did not move...

Li Er, like most of the frontier men in the Han Dynasty, could not stand the children of the Shandong gentry. Back then, in Luoyang City, the streets were full of princes, nobles, bureaucrats, and sons of the imperial court. If a tile fell from any house, it could hit three or four officials in power, or someone's relatives, or someone's children. But in the eyes of these people, Li Er and other frontier men were not "people", but just dogs, dogs guarding the frontier.

At the beginning, Li Er didn't know what the scriptures those sons of high-ranking officials said were, and what the prophecies were, so he thought they were very mysterious and powerful. Looking up to them, he also suppressed himself, just like the perspective of a dog crawling on the ground.

But as he studied and grew up in the army, he saw with his own eyes that those guys who he had to look up to in the past, after taking off a layer of mysterious skin, were ugly, deformed, and even weak. What surged in his heart was not only contempt for these Han bureaucratic aristocratic children, but also resentment and anger accumulated from being deceived, insulted, and bullied in the past.

He just let the people suffer and endure, but he didn't know that the two words "bitter and endure" were like a huge spring, which would eventually be broken or rebound.

So why did Li Er come to Zhang Xiu? To put it bluntly, he still had this injustice in his heart. He wanted to chop off the heads of those Shandong aristocratic children with his own hands to soothe the scars left in his heart before.

The longer Li Er stayed under the command of the cavalry, the more he disliked those Shandong aristocratic children, and the more he hated why he couldn't hold his head high and roar at those aristocratic children who insulted and bullied him? Why do you keep listening to the increasingly bizarre and excessive demands of the sons of the aristocrats, and can't be a decent person?

Li Er's biggest struggle back then was to flee Luoyang, because he felt that if he stayed in Luoyang for too long, one day he would either be beaten to death like a dog, or really become a dog eating shit in the gutter.

Later, Li Er felt fortunate that he joined Fei Qian's army.

Fei Qian wanted to stabilize Longyou and Longxi, stabilize the border in Jingping, and resist the Western Qiang bandits.

Li Er seized this opportunity to change his fate, so now he not only has a foundation in Longxi, but also has a small industry in Chang'an, a property and a small piece of land.

If he can continue to make military achievements, then under the command of the General of the Cavalry, he may have the opportunity to become the chief officer of a place in the future, and become the county chief of 800 or 1,000 stones...

Li Er was full of ambition, but ended up eating wind and sand in Ma Mian Valley.

Seeing Li Er's restlessness and his useless appearance, Zhang Xiu didn't have the patience to communicate with Li Er, because Zhang Xiu himself had his own problems. He was thinking about Fei Qian's reply to him...

The war was about to begin, but Zhang Xiu hadn't found his own "position".

Zhang Xiu knew that Fei Qian wanted him to go to the Northern Territory Protectorate, but from the implementation of the idea, Fei Qian meant to see Zhang Xiu's performance.

That is the word "position" mentioned in the letter.

At first glance, Zhang Xiu would pat his chest like Li Er to show his loyalty to the cavalry, swear under the tricolor flag, and do something for the glorious cause of the Han Dynasty, but after careful consideration, Zhang Xiu felt that it was not that simple.

Because Zhang Xiu was not the only one who could succeed the Northern Territory Protectorate.

Along with Fei Qian's reply, there was also a battle report sent back by the Northern Territory Protectorate.

Zhang Xiu not only saw Zhao Yun's achievements, but also noticed the performance of many people under Zhao Yun, such as Zhang He...

Zhang Xiu knew that Fei Qian's attitude towards surrendered generals was different from that of Shandong. So according to the ability shown by Zhang He, it was only a matter of time before he was reused.

Just like Li Dian who has now arrived in Hanzhong.

Seniority certainly has some advantages, but it is not an absolute advantage.

Zhang Xiu was overwhelmed by the battle briefing in the Northern Territory, but in addition to excitement and excitement, he also felt the gap between himself and Zhao Yun. At least Zhao Yun made Zhang Xiu feel his own shortcomings in choosing to fight or not to fight, the target of attack, and the choice of tactics.

Wenxi is not the focus. The gains and losses of a city or a place are important, but not the most important issue.

Winning is not a problem, but fighting well is indeed a problem.

"Report!" A soldier came and bowed to the ground, "Cao's army organized people to attack the city again, Wenxi looks like it can't hold on! '

"Can't hold on? ' Zhang Xiu frowned, "Where did Cao's army come from... Oh, I understand! '

Zhang Xiu clapped his hands fiercely, "So that's it, so that's it! '

He figured it out and laughed.

"Come on! Pass the order, all the troops are here, pack up and prepare for battle! '

After the order was issued, the soldiers quickly took action, and the entire Horse Face Valley suddenly became noisy.

In less than half an hour, the team was ready, and Zhang Xiu led more than 2,000 cavalrymen out of the Horse Face Valley, along the Kushui River, and headed south.

More than 2,000 cavalrymen formed a relatively loose marching formation, and went down along the gullies of Emei Mountain, roaring and galloping, with great momentum.

"General!" Li Er caught up with Zhang Xiu, grunted, and asked, "Where are we going?"

Zhang Xiu glanced at Li Er, who had figured out the matter, and was naturally in a good mood, so he smiled and said: "Why, are you in a hurry to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy?"

Li Er also responded with a smile, "Not only me, everyone wants to kill the enemy and make merit! !"

The surrounding soldiers also responded.

Zhang Xiu laughed and nodded, "Then... if it's just you... how many enemies can you kill? !"

"Just me? !" Li Er was stunned for a moment, "This... kill five, six, seven, or eight, there are always some. '

The power of an individual is always limited and very uncertain.

Any general can kill people like mowing grass, burst into unparalleled power, and it is likely that it only exists in the game.

So Li Er couldn't be sure how many enemies he could drag down when he faced a large number of enemies alone.

Zhang Xiu shook his whip and drew a circle around the soldiers around him, "What if it is our two thousand troops? How many enemies can we kill? '

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

'This...' Li Er seemed to understand something.

'Do you understand? What are we? What are we going to do? ' Zhang Xiu laughed and gently swept Li Er's arm with the tail of the whip, 'Can you make a further step after the war, from a military marquis to a captain... But you have to think about this problem carefully...'

Li Er said quickly, 'Thank you for your guidance, General. 』

Zhang Xiu waved his hand and did not continue to discuss this topic with Li Er. Instead, he raised his head slightly, looked at the mountains and rivers in the distance, and watched the earth quickly moving backwards under his feet.

This was also the problem he suddenly figured out...

In front of heaven and earth, no matter from which angle, people are so insignificant.

Mountains and rivers exist forever, but people are just fleeting.

Only by making yourself small can you see the greatness of others.

Just like an individual and an army.

In front of a huge army, a single individual is like a stone on the earth, whether it is hard stone or soft sand, but it is insignificant and insignificant.

If you are so arrogant that you think you can stand alone against thousands of troops, you will most likely follow in the footsteps of Lu Bu, indulge in yourself in illusion, and eventually lose all your previous efforts...

Zhang Xiu finally understood the problem of "positioning" emphasized by Fei Qian, not only his own "positioning", but also his "positioning" for his soldiers. If you want to be a general, you can't simply go into battle and kill the enemy.

This is also the reason why Fei Qian deliberately did not explain the details of the order.

If Zhang Xiu could only become a general who could not think independently and only knew to act according to orders, then he might become an excellent front-line soldier, but he would never stop there and could not move forward, let alone the Protector of the Northern Territory...

People who have no thoughts, do not know how to summarize, and only obey orders will eventually lose themselves and can only be swept away by the rolling torrent of history...

Li Er looked around him. He was surrounded by cavalrymen. The expressions of the people were either excited, or leisurely, or full of fighting spirit, or calm, without timidity, fear, or any panic about possible death, only a strong desire to fight, galloping on horseback, merging into a magnificent torrent, moving forward.

The anxiety and irritability in Li Er's heart also calmed down at this moment. He suddenly felt that he had become a fish in this torrent, swimming happily in it. The war horse seemed to sense Li Er's change in mood, and raised its neck and neighed.

Li Er bent down, patted the neck of the war horse, then looked at his comrades around him, suddenly raised his arm and shouted, "The hussar will win!" The hussar will win! 』

"Shout!" You must win! 』

The smoke and dust are billowing like a yellow dragon galloping.

…

…

On the other side, Cao Xiu, who was also on his way, was quite worried.

All the way from Gufeng Mountain, the worries in Cao Xiu's heart not only did not lighten, but instead became heavier.

Because Cao Jun's war horses are not many, the movement speed of Cao Jun's army often depends on the slowest part.

Cao Xiu brought a baggage cart, so the speed of the entire army was determined by the buttocks of the horses.

Thinking about this issue can be a bit frustrating.

A huge empire, a prosperous dynasty, its territory expansion is not determined by those brave soldiers and clever counselors, but by the range that these rogues can reach...

The shortcomings in the bucket may be considered a commonplace problem by many people in later generations, but not many people can actually solve the shortcomings in a targeted manner.

Even Cao Xiu knew where his shortcomings were, but he was still helpless and unable to change them.

Among his troops, many were ordinary Cao soldiers.

Of course, Cao Xiu could also use his own troops as the vanguard and rush to Wenxi like he did at Zhiguanxing last time, and let the following troops go slowly. However, Cao Xiu's troops are not unlimited. It's not like steel and iron bones can't be injured...

After the last battle at Zhiguanxing, although Cao Xiu's troops were supplemented to a certain extent, there was a gap between the newly added soldiers and the original veterans, both in terms of combat skills and mutual cooperation. a lot of.

Under such circumstances, if Cao Xiu rushed to Wenxi, his troops might be dismembered while still on the way...

"General, if we encounter hussar cavalry in the wild," Cao Xiu's guard looked around with some uneasiness, especially the Emei Mountains in the distance, as if a group of cavalry would fly directly to the plateau at any time. As if rushing over, "Our formation, I'm afraid... what should we do?" 』

After leaving the ambush, the soldiers of Cao's army felt as if they were naked. The hussars would rush out from nowhere at any time and fall into the bushes. They were full of fear and nervousness, and if there was any slight disturbance, they would fall into the bushes. Just a few random screams, and then it is often confirmed to be a false alarm.

This state worried Cao Xiu and the elite guards directly under Cao Xiu.

Because these veterans who have been on many battlefields know in their hearts that if the psychological problems of the soldiers are not solved, if these ordinary soldiers of Cao's army were to engage in battle with the hussars, they would probably collapse on the spot and flee in all directions.

In fact, this situation is not only faced by Cao Xiu, but also by the Chinese feudal dynasty. It is a common problem faced by all troops with primary peasant soldiers as their combat effectiveness. On the surface, it seems that there are many people and the battle can be fought with the wind, but once it is in the headwind, it is like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun.

In the land of Shandong, everyone competes together. Therefore, Cao Jun, who was not too bad, stood out, but now that he found that he could not drag the hussars into the quagmire of attrition, Cao Jun, who had many soldiers and generals, had to face a very thorny problem.

With these ordinary Cao soldiers, you may not be able to gain much advantage in field battles, but if you don't bring these soldiers, you won't even have a chance to fight.

According to Cao Xiu's experience, if you use a dense infantry formation, plus giant shields and spears, you can indeed temporarily block the hussars, but you can only hold on for a while. The reason is very simple. Cao Jun's soldiers are not able to move in an array like the elite heavy infantry, so they can only stay in place. Because the hussars move fast and have strong impact, the cavalry can be divided into small groups to circle the outside of the infantry array. However, once the infantry is entrenched, it is difficult to move, and they are inherently in a more passive situation.

Of course, if the infantry array is combined with baggage vehicles, a relatively stable defense line can be formed, which will also give Cao Jun's ordinary soldiers psychological comfort, and a certain level of morale can be maintained without the vehicle array collapsing.

But the problem is that the Hussars are now also equipped with Five Elements Thunder...

That thing is really too destructive to a dense array.

It would be nice if I only brought elite infantry with me...

Cao Xiu glanced at the ordinary soldiers of Cao's army who could even hold spears in seventeen or eighteen postures, and was speechless.

In order for these ordinary Cao soldiers to maintain a dense array under the attack of the Five Elements Thunder, it would be more practical to think of other ways to resist the hussars.

For example, traps and horse rejection.

Juma must be very familiar to ordinary soldiers of Cao's army.

It can be said that wherever there is a military camp, there is a horse resistance. Generally, when a large army is camping, in order to prevent the enemy from attacking the camp, a horse-repelling formation with a distance of dozens of steps is set up around the camp.

The problem is, the horse cannot move.

"Is there any movable horse?" ” Cao Xiu asked the guard on the side.

‘A movable barricade?’ The guard was a little dazed. He couldn’t imagine what a movable barricade should look like.

‘Yes! That’s it!’ Cao Xiu turned his head and looked at the baggage carts behind him. Suddenly, he thought of something. If he put the barricades on the baggage carts, or used the baggage carts to build the barricades…