Riding and cutting the imperial pirates of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 663

When the scale of the battle is larger, it is easy to decide the outcome. The situation lasts for a long time. In addition, Jingzhou is a large state with seven counties, and the Jingzhou army has now put up a defensive state in various main roads. If they wanted to break the deadlock as soon as possible and win, they had no choice but to find a way to turn the offensive and defensive battles around the city into mobile warfare on the plains, and remove the Jingzhou army's geographical advantage first.

The reason why Wang Zheng chose to attack Jiangling by surprise was to fulfill this strategic goal. No matter now or in the future, Jiangling is one of the most important towns in Jingzhou, and it is also the gateway to Nanjun. Not only will the Wenpin army stationed in Hanshou be in chaos, but even Cai Mao in Xiangyang will be restless, and he will definitely try to take the city back.

And such a process will inevitably change the overall Jingzhou army from defending to taking the initiative to attack, and it will also give the Yangzhou army the opportunity to wipe out the enemy through field battles!
On the banks of the Qingtang River, the sound of the rushing water was extremely clear, which seemed very abrupt in the silence of the night.

Wang Zheng looked at the other side, even with his extraordinary physique, he could only see a dark patch.

At this time, the captain of the front team attracted two officers dressed as Dubo to his horse. Wang Zheng took a glance and saw that it was the engineer officer brought from Shouchun. He nodded and asked, "Build Are the things on the pontoon ready?"

The older one of the two said respectfully: "Report to Zhou Mu, it's ready, just give Zhou Mu an order, and it can be built at any time."

"Very good." Wang Zheng looked up at the night, before the fifth watch, ordered, "Gan Ning, you will lead some dexterous soldiers to help Tiangong Camp build a pontoon bridge. Don't make too much noise!"

"promise!"

In the history of wars in the Celestial Dynasty, it was only in the Southern Song Dynasty that the separate battalion of engineering soldiers appeared. In the Eastern Han Dynasty at this time, there were also engineering soldiers, but they were basically classified as auxiliary soldiers. The descendants of "no skills" have traveled through such a long time without making any inventions that change the times, but he also understands the principle that technology is the primary productive force, so from the beginning of the work, he has attached great importance to talents such as craftsmen. Whenever there is a broken city, the first thing that is valued is naturally the grain, and the second is those people with special skills.

Up to now, the talent reserve in this area has been extremely sufficient. Whether it is building camps during garrison, serving as road protection during marching, or manufacturing equipment during sieges, they are basically organized by specialized engineering teams in many cases.

During the Southern Expedition to Jingzhou this time, Wang Zheng not only allocated to various ministries, but also brought more than 100 engineers and soldiers, all of whom were experts in the Tiangong Battalion. There are many types of military bridges, such as pile bridges, pontoon bridges, and cable bridges. , machine bridge, etc., which one to use depends on the depth and turbulence of the river. After all, the Qingtang River is only a small branch of the Yuanjiang River. It is stable and the water depth is only a few meters. In this case, it is sufficient to use a pile bridge.

The so-called "pile bridge" is a military bridge erected with wooden pile bridge feet. Under the condition of suitable water depth, the erection of this kind of bridge can not only ensure the speed of bridge construction, but also enable the troops to reach the other side safely and quickly. In the Spring and Autumn Period, this way of building bridges existed.

When Zhao Chongguo, a famous general in the Western Han Dynasty, was ordered to conquer the Qiang Rebellion in the west, he erected [-] bridges in a row on the way of marching.

It can also be seen from this that the technology of the pile bridge is not complicated, and the manpower consumption is not too large. In addition, Gan Ning led people to assist him, and the speed of building the bridge was very fast, and a pontoon bridge was built soon. , but [-] cavalry, including men and horses, one pontoon bridge is obviously not enough, so Wang Zheng asked the battalion captain of Tianzhu Camp to lead [-] cavalry across the river, even though the military report said that there was no enemy guard on the other side, But some defense is still essential.

In the deep night, the water flows, and thousands of riders cross.

The 500 men and horses of the Tianzhu camp crossed the river first, lined up on the opposite bank, and waited for the horses to explore them. After confirming that there were no enemies ambushing around, they immediately sent a signal to the opposite bank. They crossed the river quietly one after another. At this time, on the sky in the east, the first light of morning could be seen.

Taking advantage of the time when the cook was cooking and the troops were temporarily resting, Wang Zheng summoned the generals, unfolded the map, and held a temporary military meeting on the wetland by the river. Everyone sat or squatted in a circle.

"According to Ben Mingsi's previous investigation." Wang Zheng lifted the divine sword casually in his hand, pointed at the map with the tail of the sheath, and said: "There are two nearby enemy strongholds, one is here, Danyangju, which is adjacent to the Yangtze River. Northwest of one, about thirty miles away, and the other is Chanling, which is about forty miles north of us."

"Danyangju is just a ferry. If we can take Chanling, there is also a ferry there, so as long as the garrison here doesn't find us, they can ignore it. However, Chanling is different. This city is across the river from Jiangling, and it happens to block us. On our way forward, it is a must-take place.”

"As my lord said."

Gan Ning said in a deep voice: "Although Danyangju is just a ferry, there is a city behind Yidao. The total number of garrisons in the two cities is estimated to be 2000 people. Although they can be destroyed in front of our army, but after all, the solitary army goes deep. We don't need to take the initiative to provoke, as for the weak hill, it is just a small city, without any barriers as protection, it is really easy to remove it, and the general is willing to take it for the master, all you need is a hundred elites!"

"A hundred horses are not enough," Wang Zheng shook his head, thought for a moment, then turned to the other side and said, "Wu Niu, I'll give you five hundred horses, go and take this city!"

Hearing this, a burly man jumped up and shouted excitedly: "No!" It was Wu Niu who joined Wang Zheng when he was in Zhao County.

As the first batch of high-ranking troops, Wang Zheng originally put a lot of emphasis on these people, but apart from Xu Fang and Wu Sheng, Wu Niu, Wu Yuan, and Lu De did not keep up with his influence because of their limited ability. The pace of development has gradually faded away from everyone.

Of course, these people are all "ministers of the dragon" after all. Although they cannot be entrusted with important tasks in terms of ability, Wang Zheng has not treated them badly.

Wu Yuan Lu De was very pleased with this treatment, but Wu Niu was unhappy, so before Wang Zheng raised Nanchang, he personally ran from Xiapi in the rear to Shouchun, and spent several days of hard work, Wang Zheng couldn't forgive him , Finally agreed to take him on the expedition.

However, although he agreed to bring Wu Niu, Wang Zheng also knew that he was a reckless man who could only be used as a charge. Thinking about Gao Xiong's incident back then, Wang Zheng reluctantly spent a lot of experience to upgrade Wu Niu to two levels, allowing him Becoming the third yellow turban wrestler after Wu Sheng and Xu Fang has taken great pains.

"Don't be in a hurry to promise." Wang Zheng stared at Wu Niu and said seriously: "This is the first battle after our army crosses the river. Not only must we win, but we must also win beautifully. Within two hours, I will see the news of victory! "

"Don't worry, general!" Wu Niu patted his chest, turned his head and walked away. After a while, he ordered five hundred army horses, and then roared northward.

"This idiot"

Seeing him hurrying away, Wang Zheng scolded with a smile: "When I heard that there was a battle, I was so excited that I forgot everything, and I didn't even do a military salute to me!"

This remark immediately elicited roars of laughter. While smiling, Gan Ning glanced enviously at Wu Niuyuan's back, with mixed feelings in his heart: "My lord, after Captain Wu takes the Chanling, we can go straight to Jiangling." , but if you want to attack Jiangling, there are still two places you have to guard against." He pointed to the map and said, "One is here, Zhijiang, and the other is here, Huarong."

"Ben will know," Wang Zheng nodded slightly, "Zhijiang is to the west of Jiangling, and it is on the main road from Yiling to Jiangling. Occupying this place is equivalent to cutting off the Jingzhou reinforcements from Yiling; It happens to be at the junction of Jiangxia and Nanjun. Taking this place will completely cut off the two armies. According to the strategy set by Feng Xiao before, before attacking Jiangling, these two places must be controlled by our army. !"

"You don't have to capture the cities, you just need to choke their throats, grab the key passes, and ensure that the Jingzhou army cannot pass through these two cities to rescue Jiangling!"

After marching continuously for several days, Wang Zheng's face was full of wind and dust, but he was not tired. His pair of tiger eyes shone brightly, shining like stars in the dark night: "Army, who is willing to go for the general? Zhijiang? Who wants to take down Huarong?"

As soon as the words fell, everyone took the initiative to ask for orders, everyone was really enthusiastic, dare not be the first, the one who shouted loudest was Gan Ning: "Master, the general is willing to take Zhijiang!"

"Well."

Wang Zheng nodded: "Zhijiang is not a small city, and our army is cavalry, Xingba, so you must be cautious when going here. You are not required to siege cities and land, and you are not required to kill many enemies. If you can block this critical pass, it will be considered a great achievement." one piece."

Gan Ning immediately said resentfully: "My lord, why do you look down on people?"When Xiaowei Wu went to attack Chanling, he had to take it in two hours. When it was me, why didn't he ask for "siege of the city"? "

"Haha." Wang Zheng was startled when he heard the words, and then laughed: "Well, I will also wait for your good news."

"Don't worry, my lord, the final general will only take two hours." Gan Ning was about to clap his chest, when he suddenly remembered that Zhijiang was much farther away than Qianling. Time, Zhijiang must be captured!"

"Then how many troops do you need?" Wang Zheng said with a smile, "Is two thousand horses enough?"

"All you need is eight hundred for the last general's headquarters!"

Among the 5000 people who attacked Jiangling this time, they were actually divided into three troops. One was naturally the cavalry of the Tianzhu Battalion. It is Gan Ning's own headquarters, which is basically the former Yangzhou Army.

So Wu Niu didn't seem to have many troops, only [-] cavalry, but in fact, the strength of the team alone is probably stronger than the [-] Heavenly Army, let alone Gan Ning's [-] headquarters. Wang Zheng naturally knew that At this point, he smiled and said: "The ambition is commendable."

After a pause, he added: "However, Zhijiang is much stronger than Qianling, how about this, I will give you two hundred from the general's own army, and make up a thousand."

Gan Ning was still waiting to make bold words, but when he saw Wang Zheng waved his hand, he didn't dare to say any more, so he had to bow his hands and promise.

Wang Zheng looked around again, thought for a moment, and selected a young general from the generals who had just asked for orders: "Liang Rui, I will send you 1000 troops, and go to take down Huarong."

This Liang Rui is the captain of the Tianzhu camp. He was a personal guard of Wang Zheng before, and he can be considered a calm person. Hearing this, he was overjoyed, and immediately responded loudly: "No!"

So far, nearly half of the troops have been dispatched, and Wang Zheng still has nearly [-] troops at hand. Although his army is a rare army, after entering the enemy's territory, it has to be divided into "Zheng Qi".If the headquarters of Wangzheng is compared to "Zheng", then the three departments of Gan Ning, Wu Niu, and Liang Rui are "Qi".

Taking Qianling first is to clear the way ahead; then taking Zhijiang and Huarong is to cut off Jiangling's wings.

After several days and nights of hard work and busy work, Wang Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, another scout came rushing from afar, rushed to the generals, rolled off his horse, fell on the ground, and hurriedly said: "General! , there was a sudden movement of soldiers and horses in the direction of Danyangju in the west, and it seemed to be aware of it."

At this time, the sky was already bright, and thousands of people gathered on the river bank. There were people and horses. No matter how careful they were, there would still be disturbances, and it was normal for people to notice.

"I didn't realize it until now, hey, isn't it too late?"

Wang Zheng raised his eyebrows, stood up abruptly, looked at the three armies, called the junior officer on duty in the Chinese army camp, and asked, "Have all the brothers had breakfast?"

"Most of them have been eaten."

"How are the people and horses resting?"

"It's been an hour since we crossed the river. Just now, the governors of each battalion have come to report that the men and horses have rested."

"Da Shan, order the three armies to prepare saddles for horses and armor for men, and to pull them out immediately after a cup of tea." After speaking, he turned his eyes to Gan Ning and Liang Rui, and said with a gentle smile, "How about you two go ahead first?"

As his status became more and more prestigious, Wang Zheng's tone of voice became more and more easy-going, even when he issued military orders, but even so, no one dared to disobey. Gan Ning and Liang Rui responded in unison, and saluted Wang Zheng. He turned around quickly and left, summoning soldiers and horses.

Wang Zheng's military order was passed down, and the main force put on their armor one after another. After all, they were all elites and they were all very fast.In less than a quarter of an hour, Gan Ning and Liang Rui had set off.After another quarter of an hour, people from each battalion were sent to report that the preparations of the three armies were completed.

Wang Zheng stood by the side of his horse, grabbed the reins, closed his eyes slightly, and took a deep breath of the early summer morning air. He was about to order the three armies to stand up when he heard a rush of horseshoes galloping from the north.

He was slightly startled, and looked through the thousands of troops and horses to follow the prestige, only to see a general flag with the word "Wu" galloping towards the rising sun.

"Report, Lieutenant Wu has conquered Qianling!"

"Great kindness!" Wang Zheng looked up to the sky with a long smile, and said proudly, "I am worthy of being a son of Zhao County, and I am deeply skilled in soldiers and speed!"

"Get on your horses, all the generals, and follow this general to take Jiangling!"

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)