Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

The party members call themselves Dabaigao, as the name suggests... But in Yang Gun's view, ordinary soldiers and herdsmen don't know Baigao. The group of herdsmen in front of him, who are like beggars in Yang Gun's eyes, are all black and dirty, and their cheeks are red from the wind and sun on the plateau. It's not that they were born this way, it should be caused by the environment.

As a Khitan native of the Daliao Liao Dynasty, Yang Gun felt a sense of superiority spontaneously at this time! Obviously, the Liao army is much more decent than the Dangxiang people.

Although the Liao people established their country with nomadic tribes, there used to be Youzhou, and now there is also the Bohai Sea farming area rich in products. They ruled a vast land and many tribes. In addition to nomads, they mainly learned things from the Han people, from laws and etiquette to production.

Looking back at these party members, Yang Gun has enough confidence to feel that they are like beggars.

However, Yang Dagon did not underestimate their combat power, and still had confidence. Because he knew that the endurance and bravery of these nomadic herdsmen and cavalry in the dangerous environment were all natural experiences... The poorer the people, the less afraid of death. There may be a lack of battle training, but cavalry combat should be flexible and rely more on individual force endurance.

There are also a large number of Hengshan Qiang infantry in the back, poorly equipped, and extremely vicious.

Li Yiyin, who was traveling with him, looked at the well-trained and clean-up Liao army, and seemed to realize the gap, saying: "The party members are desperately trying not to lose to others."

After all, he was an accomplice, Yang Gun hid his sense of superiority, and said: "All the tribes in the world value the performance of Li Gong's tribe, and Xiao Gong is looking forward to it day and night. The party personnel still need to be trained..."

As soon as the words fell, a warrior said angrily in the Qiang language: "We are not the sons of the Khitan people, so if we send someone casually, we will point fingers?"

Yang Gun didn't understand, so he looked at Li Yiyin. Li Yiyin scolded in Chinese: "It's not your turn to talk!"

Although he couldn't understand what the man said, Yang Gun could feel that it was not a good word from his expression and emotion. He pondered for a moment and said, "At least you can't stop training the horses."

At this time, there was a sound of "cracking..." in the distance, and several people followed the reputation. The cavalry marching tent had just been set up, and the "training" advocated by Yang Gun began again.

Temporary training of party horses has shrunk. Yang Gun couldn't help it, he couldn't get enough gunpowder for a while, and the gunpowder carried with the army had been used up in the previous days.

In the Tang Dynasty, the Khitan people knew about "submitting gunpowder". When the Second Li of the Central Plains rebelled, Zhao made a large amount of gunpowder with the intention of blowing up Jinzhou City. Although he failed to break through the city (because Guo Shaojin’s prescription did not have a method of purification and classification test ratio, and he did not tell the court the importance of sealing for gunpowder explosion), he leaked a better gunpowder formula to the Northern Han Dynasty.

The Northern Han Dynasty was a vassal state of Daliao at that time, so the Khitan people got the prescription.

After the Khitan people learned how to prepare gunpowder, it has not been used in battle, but it has been used to train horses to adapt to artillery and firecrackers. The sealed hard bamboo tube containing gunpowder can imitate the explosion of artillery, and the explosion of gunpowder buried in the ground can imitate artillery.

Yang Gun said: "The cannons of the Xu people are used to attack the city, and they can also scare the horses. Although the firecrackers are not as far away as the bow|crossbow, they are not very useful, but they can also scare the horses that are approaching. If you have never heard an explosion, you will panic. Fortunately, horses have spirituality, and it is much better to get used to it."

The Central Plains used firearms in the two battles in Youzhou, and the Liao people already had experience. During the first Northern Expedition, there were very few firecrackers, coupled with the roar of war horses and noisy drums, only the cavalry who were close to the small group of firecrackers were very uncomfortable and were frightened and confused. For the second time, the people of the Central Plains have already used a large number of firecrackers in Wubao, but the Liao people have already taken precautions...

That's why Yang Gun said: "The firecracker has no power, it's just that the horse is afraid."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the training methods outside the camp with some concern. Because the gunpowder carried by the Liao army ran out, the raw materials needed for the gunpowder could not be found for a while in Pingxia, so the current method is a last resort.

I saw those soldiers put the low bamboo cut by Hengshan on the ground, beat it hard with a hammer until it crackled, lit a fire and set off smoke, and gathered their horses nearby to listen. The party members in another place lit a fire and set off smoke, while beating a big drum to make a "boom, boom, boom..." sound.

But more party members were laughing and laughing, and many people danced in the open space with the crackling sound, taking the thing as a game and accompaniment, singing and dancing happily.

Yang Gun saw it with a serious expression. He really didn't do it for fun, but thought it was very important.

When it was dark, Yang Gun had already returned to the Liao army camp to rest, but was suddenly invited by Li Yiyin's people.

Li Yiyin was standing next to the fire, and when he saw Yang Gun, he stood up: "Just got the report from the scouts, Xu Jun started building the city at the place where the Wuding River flows into the Yellow River."

Yang Gun frowned, but he wasn't surprised, and said, "Xu Guo repeated his tricks! They did the same thing in Youzhou, building hundreds of big cities and small forts!"

Li Yiyin: "..."

Yang Gun scolded: "The people of Xu Guo like to cheat and cheat. They build cities like this every time. If there is no chance, they will be wasted. Only when there is a chance will they be dispatched."

Li Yiyin said: "If they want to consume so much in Pingxia, it will not be easy to send food, grass and military supplies from afar."

After hearing this, Yang Gun nodded and said: "Exactly, Pingxia is no better than Youzhou. In the Hebei Plain, the water and land are unimpeded. The people of Xu Guo can't afford it...but General Li has enough grain?" He couldn't help emphasizing, "Daliao is not rich, and the grain transport from Daliao is also high and the road is far away."

Li Yiyin looked embarrassed, and this time almost all the young and strong who could help were gathered.

Li Yiyin said: "If Xu Jun builds the city and sticks to it, we will attack Lingzhou with the main force to the west, occupy the fertile land of Hetao in Lingzhou, and link up with Dangxiang in Hexi."

Yang Gun nodded and said, "That's very good. But Zhe Dejian is in Lingzhou. He probably already smelled something wrong and was restless. Maybe he was on guard and would stick to it."

Li Yiyin said: "It's easier to fight than the city guarded by Xu's imperial army... I was also puzzled, since Xu's army attacked, but its strength is only half of ours, so it turns out that this method is used to counterattack and defend!"

...

At the confluence of the Yellow River and the Wuding River, more than 70,000 troops and tens of thousands of civilians arrived, and hundreds of thousands started construction work.

Guo Shao changed suddenly and became an architectural designer. He first named the fort "Wu Ding Bao", and later added the name "Fort of Never Falling", intending to use it as the rear base camp, and then began to design crude drawings... The ancients have rich experience in building cities, and there are ways to build cities in winter, so he didn't need to do it. However, Guo Shao believes that Xu Jun is equipped with a large number of firearms, and the original city model is no longer suitable for tactical needs.

Guo Shao knew nothing about modern fortifications, and his knowledge of ancient city construction was limited to actual combat. But he thought about it for a while with his own brain, and he also thought that the ancient city was born in response to cold weapons... The walls are as high as eight meters (equivalent to the height of a three-story building), and the circumference is more than ten miles!

Guo Shao pondered two reasons. One, the purpose was to prevent a large number of soldiers with cold weapons from climbing, and the high wall made climbing more difficult; moreover, the defenders had limited firepower. Second, China has always been an economically powerful country, and a large perimeter can protect urban residents and the economy; the larger the city, the greater the threshold for the number of troops to besiege the city.

But as time has passed and the situation has changed, it will be meaningless to hold on to the old ideas and build Wuding City.

First of all, Wuding City was built in a barren land without people living in it. The one-mile range of the field copper cannon also increased the perimeter of the ancient army's siege in a disguised form.

Therefore, the volume can be greatly reduced and the construction cost can be greatly reduced. It only needs to meet the needs of garrison barracks, warehouses and other sites. A complete military fortress.

Secondly, it doesn't need to be so high, reducing the cost of building the city again. A large number of defenders equipped with firearms rely on firepower to defend the city, not the height of the city wall. The height of the wall also creates a blind spot for firepower.

Finally, the square city is not conducive to the crossfire, and the artillery has a large number of blind spots. The urn city of the ancients was also called "Moon City", which protruded like an arc, slightly increasing the firepower. Guo Shao got inspiration from here and plans to make this design more prominent.

Liuhuabao! A rough picture has been drawn, like a fortress flower with six petals. Each "petal" is a two-sided corner growing around the fortress; plus the arc-shaped connecting sides between the two petals, the actual figure has six corners and eighteen sides.

Guo Shao kept experimenting with gestures on the paper with a wooden ruler, and came to the conclusion that no matter where he attacked from, he would suffer cross-kill from direct fire from three directions.

Of course, this fortress is more fragile than ordinary cities when it is not supported by firearms, because it is shorter and smaller. Therefore, when designing, we must consider the weather that rain affects the performance of firearms...

... Guo Shao mainly considered the firepower of artillery and matchlock guns. The six-petal protrusions are solid earth rams, and holes are dug on the outer wall to install beams as bunkers. One can prevent the attack of catapults, and the other can shelter from rain.

Outside the solid fort, the bottom is an inclined surface, and three parapet walls are built in layers, and small caves for Tibetan soldiers are dug behind the parapet walls (to shelter from rain in rainy days). The enemy soldiers in the vicinity will be shot and killed by three lines of matchlock guns from several directions; and three soldiers are hidden in the hiding cave behind each wall, and they will fire in turn to ensure the shooting frequency.

Within a radius of ten miles, small forts and sentry defense systems are set up, and fireworks, Kongming lanterns, beacon smoke, and drums are used as signals for early warning;

There is a water gate on the south side of the fortress, the Digou River is connected with the Yellow River, and the dock is located in the fortress. As long as the Yellow River is controlled, the foreign aid of Wudingbao can be guaranteed.

After Guo Shao designed the blueprints, he ordered the Tokyo Ministry of War to equip the Inland River Navy with artillery to ensure that the water rights of the Yellow River were seized if necessary... although the party members did not have a navy. But Guo Shao was excited, and used a perfect attitude to examine the design of this beautiful flower-like fortress!

Looking at his achievements, he couldn't help but excitedly said: "As long as the Central Plains can supply supplies, this fort can last for a hundred years! A million troops will die!"