Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3477 Sparks of War

As Fei Qian issued the general order to attack, the sound of war drums, horns and horse hooves mixed together, rolling over the yellow land like muffled thunder. The cavalry on both wings spread out to the left and right, and the heavy-armored infantry in black helmets and black armor in the middle square slowly pressed forward like a dark cloud under the guidance of the battle flag.

The outer defense circle of Cao's camp became more and more turbulent, but the flags on the inner circle of the mountain did not change, as if they had no reaction to the pressure of the cavalry. The flag representing the general of the central army remained unchanged, only the war drums that beat slowly and fast were still warning the soldiers of Cao's army to stick to their posts and not to make trouble, as if they were responding to something and waiting for something.

Although Fei Qian's eyes were fixed on the mountain, he was also paying attention to the offensive situation in other aspects, especially the number of wounded soldiers retreating from the front line. Fei Qian calculated that the number of wounded soldiers was not large, and it was obvious that his own soldiers had the upper hand, so he felt a little relieved.

After a while, Fei Qian suddenly heard the sound of soldiers shouting and clamoring on the right wing. He turned his head and looked, and saw three or four hundred Cao army soldiers dragging flags and weapons from behind a mountain, rushing out like their butts were on fire. But for some reason, the leading Cao army school seemed a little panicked and embarrassed, and they ran into the cavalry army head-on. As a result, they were shot by the cavalry army with a rain of arrows, and the Cao army behind them immediately turned around and fled in panic.

What is this for?

Fei Qian was a little confused.

Are these guys confused by the killing?

This group of enemies was probably scared by the previous attack, or they were confused by the pressure of the cavalry in front of them. A large group of people seemed to be wandering around in the camp without any purpose, but they neither fled nor went forward to fight. They were stunned for a long time until they found that the cavalry was killing them. Then they shouted together, rushed to the ravine, and fled into the mountain...

The heavy armored battalion, which had been accumulating strength in the rear, has now formed a battle formation. More than a thousand densely packed armored soldiers wrapped in layers of exquisite iron armor, alternated between arms, six feet apart, arranged in three rectangular arrays, and advanced towards the Zhongtiaoshan camp.

The route in front of the heavy infantry line has been cleared, and the cavalry is roaring on the flanks.

Amid the sound of drums, the heavy armored square began to move forward slowly and firmly.

For a moment, it seemed that the earth was shaking with the footsteps of the heavy armored infantry.

The heavy armored infantry advancing steadily in an orderly formation also made the inner layer of Cao's army on the Zhongtiao Mountain Camp uneasy. You can see messengers holding torches and carrying flags running back and forth. Some Cao's military schools gestured and seemed to be shouting and trying their best to restrain their soldiers.

Fei Qian turned to ask Huang Xu, "How are the two wings progressing?"

Huang Xu replied: "Sima's side broke through the periphery... General Xu's side was blocked by the fire and was turning to find a breakthrough..."

Fei Qian nodded, thought for a while and said: "Cao's army should use traps now... Pass the order, be careful of Cao's ambush! Pass the order! All units should be cautious and not recklessly pursue!

Outflanking, ambush, and surprise attack are all commonly used means on the battlefield to create chaos, and then cooperate with each other to achieve the effect of defeating in one fell swoop. These means can be said to be Cheng Yaojin's three axes. Everyone knows it, but it is not so easy to use them well, or to avoid them.

Fei Qian's ridicule of Cao's army's lack of strategies does not mean that he will despise the enemy; on the contrary, he not only attaches great importance to it, but also spends a lot of time to study the tactical characteristics that Cao Cao is accustomed to adopt, and repeatedly thinks about how to take the initiative on the battlefield.

At the same time, Fei Qian's thinking is not limited to tactics itself, but also includes the strategic layout, tactical structure, arms composition, troop status, weapons and equipment, training level, logistics support and other aspects of both sides, and involves the traditional customs and thinking patterns of Guanzhong and Shandong, as well as the love-hate relationship between them for so many years, people's livelihood and government affairs, and the subsequent political forms, organizational systems, resource conditions, economic capabilities...

Because these are no longer just a simple military problem, but have become a huge and complex system engineering, so after discussing with Pang Tong, Fei Qian felt that it was obviously unlikely for one or two people, or a few people, to grasp all the details.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Fei Qian and Pang Tong decided to open such branch topic discussions in Qinglong Temple after the war, splitting the big project into smaller projects, and then let those who have outstanding insights in this process directly participate in the process of integrating and changing Shandong, so that they can get better benefits in many aspects, and will also increase and deepen Fei Qian's transformation of Shandong.

For example, if someone can show that he can handle a certain problem well, and stand out in the doubts and deductions of the crowd, then this person will be appointed as an official to handle this problem...

As for the effect, it will be verified according to the standards promised before taking office.

Fei Qian even thinks that this model is somewhat similar to the "democratic" election in later generations.

Of course, the specific effect still needs subsequent practice.

However, this is also a way to arrange and select a large number of civil and military officials after the war.

For most soldiers and generals, the meritorious rewards they receive will tend to be material, and there will be no shortage of honorary titles, but the rewards that can be used to directly assume a certain power will be relatively small. Then some meritorious officials will be selected from the army to let them participate in the discussion and practice of one or several branches.

Of course, the Cao army soldiers in Zhongtiao Mountain could not know that the Guanzhong political group led by Fei Qian was studying them in detail with an unprecedented rigorous attitude.

The nobles and powerful families in Shandong and the Central Plains could not know that some of the results of the research were being applied in Guanzhong, and at the same time, the soldiers and generals under the command of the cavalry would also adjust their thoughts and methods in battle according to these results.

The Cao army, including those in Shandong, still thought that they were facing the cavalry army of the past, which was unchanged, and still the troops, tactics, and means of the past...

So when facing the cavalry army, the first thing the Cao army thought of was still the method they used to use before.

When Fei Qian mobilized his troops, the Cao army also started to move.

Hundreds of Cao's troops began to appear in the mountainous areas of the mountain road. In the blink of an eye, they appeared in front of the Hussars, waving flags, shouting, and drawing bows and arrows. However, as soon as the Hussars moved, these Cao's troops quickly retreated.

The crossbows and catapults arranged in the middle circle also began to whistle and shoot at the Hussars. However, due to the poor light, the hit rate was not high. There was a certain killing effect, but it was not obvious. In addition, whether it was a crossbow or a catapult, it took a certain amount of time to load. After loading, the Hussars soldiers who were originally aimed at might disappear in the shadows again...

The Hussars did not directly attack the heavily defended areas in the middle and inner circles, but began to turn when they were about one or two hundred steps away to avoid the dense arrows and long-range firepower of the Cao army in the middle circle.

The Cao army soldiers had to shoot, after all, no one knew whether the Hussars would take advantage of a gap to rush up the earth slope, and then jump into the camps in the middle circle to kill.

Then you can see the cavalry whistling and passing by, and behind the cavalry is a long-range crackling rain of arrows from Cao's army!

After the cavalry turned around, they retreated to the periphery or the open space on the periphery, then reorganized, turned around and killed back, rushed in when there was a gap, and harassed around the middle circle with arrows when there was no flaw.

Some cavalry accidentally rushed into the range of Cao's catapult crossbows in the middle circle. After suffering a loss, they would make a mark. The cavalry behind saw the guiding mark from a distance and started to turn early, carefully refusing to step into the range of the crossbows.

Under such harassment, the long-range firepower of the camp in the middle circle of Cao's army was not good enough to shoot, and it was even worse not to shoot.

For more than an hour, the cavalry army kept suppressing and eroding Cao's territory. The left and right wings took turns to send out, sometimes hundreds of people and sometimes nearly a thousand people, rushing forward and shooting arrows, rushing back and shooting arrows again, or separating one or two groups of heavy armored infantry from the central army, cooperating with the cavalry, slowly pressing up, destroying the fortifications in Cao's camp, and hurting each other with rockets. After Cao's crossbows and catapults turned around, they retreated out of their range again.

Cao's army became more and more anxious, and the Cao army troops who tried to lure Sima Yi also encountered problems...

...

...

When a structure, an organization, or a country begins to collapse, the people who bear the greatest pressure are not the upper level. Even in the process of corruption, decay, and decay, even if these people in the upper level feel a little shaken, they may not be nervous, and they may feel that shaking is good so that they can sleep better.

The same is true for Cao's Zhongtiaoshan camp.

When the order of Cao's army began to collapse, even if the upper class noticed it, they didn't care too much. They didn't even take any measures against these shaking...

At the bottom of the Zhongtiaoshan camp, there are not only ordinary soldiers, but also a large number of civilians and craftsmen.

In Shandong, there has always been a serious contempt chain for these civilians and craftsmen who work hard to make a living. The upper class wears long gowns, sits in the official residence, and holds pens and ink. Only those who can be called upper-class jobs are respected and envied by everyone. And those who need to sweat and eat labor under the scorching sun are despised by everyone.

In Shandong, reading books, reading scriptures, mixing with those who wear long gowns, and becoming one of them is the expectation of most people, and they will also teach their children in this way, "If you don't study hard, you will be like these mud legs in the future! '

Little did they know that in the feudal dynasty, under the class system, no matter how much you read, you were not as important as a stupid son of the ruling class. Even if you upgraded from a mud-legged peasant to a lackey, you might not be able to build your own doghouse. After all, more than a decade ago, or even hundreds of years ago, someone had already marked out the dog's territory, spread dog urine, and prevented outside dogs from entering.

Those near the water would build their nests on the embankment, those in the money field would build their nests in the money warehouse, and so on. Then the puppies born would be a big step ahead of the outsiders, after all, they were close to the water...

Therefore, for craftsmen and civilians like Chai Yu, whether the rice is good or not is no longer a problem. As long as those who stutter can still live, perhaps for Chai Yu and others, they can put tears and The bitter water was mixed with the rancid food and swallowed together. After all, for the rulers of the feudal dynasty, it was the greatest grace to be able to give the lower class a bite of food. The common people at the lower level should feel lucky and happy that they can still eat rancid rice instead of chewing tree bark and swallowing dirt.

But now, there's not even anything to eat!

"What time is it now, and you still want to eat!" ” Cao Jun’s military academy scolded him loudly, and even moved the handle of the sword a little in front of him, as if he would pull out the sword in the next moment, “After the order, we must work together as one to fight against the enemy!” You all immediately go to the barren mountain valley, set up a fire line, give the order, and light it all up! 』

"Everyone!" Everyone move! 』

"Those who resist the order will be killed without mercy!" 』

"hurry up! Move quickly! Talking about you! Get moving! 』

Amid the shouts and shouts, Cao Jun's soldiers rushed up, pushing and kicking Chai Yu and others.

Chai Yu felt that something was wrong.

He knew what was over there in the barren mountain valley.

In the hollow of the barren mountain, gunpowder is buried on the stone walls on both sides...

Logically speaking, even if craftsmen like them are asked to light the gunpowder, there is no need for so many people to go together.

After all, it's just a fire.

But now it seems that they are all being driven to the recesses of the barren mountains!

Chai Yu couldn't help but take a few steps forward and asked: "It's just lighting a fire, why do we need so many people?" What's so hard about getting a few people...or even lighting a fire? All you need is a fire sickle, you can do it too..."

Before Chai Yu could finish speaking, the military academy slapped him, "Who are you?" What kind of identity? ! How dare you be rude to someone? ! 』

I don't know whether it was the military academy's strong hand or Chai Yu's nose that was fragile, but with one slap, Chai Yu staggered and fell, feeling dizzy and bleeding from the nose.

"They're all a bunch of bitches!" Come on! Let me escort you away! "Cao Jun Military Academy ignored Chai Yu who was slapped to the ground and shouted, "Move quickly! The order was delayed! Both you and I will lose our heads! 』

When the soldiers of Cao's army heard this, they waved the scabbards and gun handles in their hands, coaxed and beat them, and drove Chai Yu and other craftsmen and civilians to the recesses of the barren mountains.

In fact, as Chai Yu said, craftsmen do not necessarily need to point the gunpowder to ignite the ambush.

Is it gunpowder? Just light a fire. Who lit the fire is not a fire?

So in fact, when Dong Zhao issued the order, he did not ask the craftsmen to light the fire, but in the process of conveying and executing the order, he asked Chai Yu and others to light the fire...

This is a very normal phenomenon in Shandong.

Officials at the middle and lower levels who handle affairs are not willing to take any responsibility!

Although it is simple to light a fire, it also means taking on a certain amount of "responsibility"!

What if it doesn’t light up?

What if something goes wrong?

What's more, Cao Jun was not very familiar with gunpowder, and there was more or less a sense of fear of unfamiliar things. What should I do if I get blown up and burned to death while trying to light a fire? So these people simply pushed one level at a time. When they got to the bottom, didn't they just have to blame Chai Yu and others?

People like Cao Jun Military Academy don't care whether things can be done well or how the war situation changes. They just care about not letting the superiors put the blame on them!

So things like lighting a fire are left to the craftsmen!

And in order to ensure that there would be no problems when lighting the fire, all the craftsmen were called in!

Anyway, as long as there is a problem, it is the problem of the craftsmen and has nothing to do with them!

As for whether this process is reasonable and whether it conforms to the common public's perception, it has nothing to do with them. They only need to do things that conform to the "process"!

Otherwise, no matter how reasonable and effective it is, but it does not comply with the "process", they will be the unlucky ones! So as long as you are not unlucky, it doesn't matter who is unlucky!

Chai Yu was dripping with blood and staggering as he walked. He couldn't understand why such a simple thing, a problem, couldn't be solved or dealt with?

Is it difficult to light a fire?

Apparently this is not difficult.

But here at Cao Jun Military Academy, things are extremely difficult. In order not to take responsibility for themselves, Cao Jun Military Academy can pretend to be cruel beforehand, stupid during the incident, and pity when things cannot end, saying that they have no choice and they are the ones who are unlucky if they don't follow the procedures. But in reality? They were just worried that their superiors would cause trouble for them, and that the wealthy noble families would cause trouble for them. As for anything else...

What does it matter to the craftsmen whether they eat well, whether they can live, whether they work hard or not? Even though Cao Jun Military Academy is ostensibly the person in charge of the craftsman camp, in fact he only needs to be responsible to his superiors, not his subordinates.

The barren mountain concave area was not too far from the craftsman camp. Chai Yu and others arrived shortly after staggering away.

Cao Jun's military academy asked Chai Yu and others to wait for orders at the place where the gunpowder was ambushed, and then they stood far away...

Chai Yu felt that his head was still buzzing and his nosebleed still could not be stopped. He tried to cover it with sand, but it still had no effect. The blood dripped down and dripped onto the ground, staining it with spots of varying sizes. The noisy waves around him also made Chai Yu's body shake.

No one cared whether he was okay or not, and no one asked him what was wrong.

In the dizziness, a voice came from far and near.

『The Hussars are coming! They are coming! 』

『Everyone! Hurry, get ready, get ready to light the fire! 』

Chai Yu subconsciously touched the flint.

『Hurry! Now! Light the fire! Light the fire! '

Amid the chaotic shouts, Chai Yu numbly clicked a few times, and some sparks burst out from the collision of the flint, just igniting the tinder, and then the blood in Chai Yu's nose dripped down, and the flame was extinguished with a puff...

Chai Yu was stunned for a moment, and then laughed, shaking all over, and laughing so hard that blood flowed into his mouth.

He threw the flint aside and collapsed beside the gunpowder.

Ah, what a beautiful night...

The stars are dotted, and the galaxy is bright.

How long has it been since he looked up at the night?

It turns out that only by turning your face over and raising your head can you see the sky!

How can you see such a beautiful scenery without turning your face?