Riding and cutting the imperial pirates of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 684 Showdown
Jingzhou South County, outside Jiangling City.

The arrival of the Ganning Department was faster than expected, and the countryside appeared around Chenshi.

The rain that lasted all night has not stopped, the ground is muddy, the wheat seedlings on both sides of the official road are lush, and there is a small forest in the distance, which is dripping green under the rain.

There was an endless stream of cavalry from the brigade of the Yangzhou Army, some walking on the road, yelling and yelling; The muddy water splashed everywhere.There are also some old soldiers who cherish horsepower, seeing that they have reached their destination, they all got off their horses, led their mounts and walked on foot in the mud, half of their legs were covered in mud.

The two chief generals of the Yangzhou Army, Gan Ning and Liang Rui, joined the Chinese Army from the front and rear of the army as early as they approached Jiangling, and the two flags were put together in one place, waving against the wind and rain.

First, the Chinese army finds a good place to camp, and the flanks guard and guard; then the Chinese army sends troops to replace the guarding soldiers on the flanks, and camps on the flanks.

The troops that Wang Zheng led into Jiangling this time were all cavalry, with field battles as the first and defense as the second, so the camp they set up was different from the regular army camps with both infantry and cavalry. Horses, barbed wire, etc. are mainly for the barracks to be tied up and the military flag to be erected to facilitate the gathering of those battalion heads that are a little scattered due to long-distance marches.

The golden horse and the iron horse sound naturally passionate, but the real battle on the battlefield is more trivial in daily life. After all, most of the time is actually "before contacting the enemy". It has entered the midsummer season with frequent rains.

Marching in the rain, the rain washes down on the body, the clothes and armor are wet, the skin is wet, and the whole body is cold. When you take off your pockets and military boots, all the water is poured out; and the road is full of mud and puddles. , I accidentally fell down while walking on the road, and it was muddy from head to toe.

When we arrived at the destination, we had to face war again. At most, we had to set up a tent, and it was very difficult to take a shower. Fortunately, it was not winter. If it was winter again, it would be an unbearable hardship. Hands and feet are commonplace.

What's more, the baggage convoy didn't seem to be in too much danger, and most of them didn't need them to charge into battle.However, in rainy and snowy weather, it is really tiring to push the cart forward on the mud or frozen soil, braving the rain and snow against the wind.

It may be relatively light to crash a car. A ladder or a car crash requires several cars to be pulled by people, especially when crossing a river or getting stuck in a mud. Only I know the pain.

All kinds of hardships are not mentioned one by one.

Gan Ning and Liang Rui chose to camp in the west of Jiangling City, twenty miles away from the city, just across the city from the Wangzheng Department on the east side of the city.In about two or three hours, the camp was roughly built, and soon thereafter, about a quarter of an hour after noon, horns were sounded, and the drums of the Chinese army's tent were also beating.

This was the signal to summon the generals, the leaders of each battalion, and even the middle-level generals above Dubo responded to the order one after another, drove their horses to the central army, gathered in the tent of the chief general, and waited for orders.

The chief general raised his tent, and the generals gathered. Gan Ning naturally sat in the front seat. Liang Rui moved another chair and put it under him, sitting beside him. The authority can only be one person, and Gan Ning, who has a higher official position, will naturally do his part. Both of them are in bright armor, with red tassels standing high on their pockets, holding a long sword in their hands, and hanging cloaks behind them.

After the three drums were drummed, officers on duty of the Chinese Army came out to roll the roll.

According to each battalion head, one by one the name of its leader.Everyone who arrives will promise loudly; if there are still people who have not arrived, there is no need to go in directly. First, they will be punished by military law and then enter the camp to listen to orders.If you arrive very late, or if you don't arrive, your head may be beheaded.

During the war, you can't play games, and in the barracks, the law is more than love.

Even if thousands of soldiers and horses act, if there is no military law to restrain them, they will be equivalent to mobs, let alone be victorious in all battles, and they may not even have the slightest combat effectiveness.At this time, the Lord will not be a person, he must be the embodiment of the law.And the generals, including the soldiers, are not alone, they must be the embodiment of weapons.

The chief general can care for his subordinates meticulously, remember the name of each subordinate, remember the preferences of each subordinate, and remember the character of each subordinate, but the only point is that he must never treat his subordinates as a person. A knife is a sword, a tool used to win.

The officer on duty called his name, and all the generals arrived, Liang Rui bowed his hands to Gan Ning, begging him to speak.

Gan Ning looked around, there were more than [-] people standing around the two sides of the tent, all wearing armor and armor, standing upright, staring at his face, nodded slightly, and said loudly: "Everyone, hurry up for three days After coming down, we arrived at Jiangling city on time. According to the military report of the lord, the first wave of offensive should be launched before nightfall. However, when I just set up camp, I climbed up and looked far away, but found that there was a camp outside Jiangling city, which was very close to Jiangling. The city happened to be in the shape of a corner, but this matter was not mentioned in the military newspaper."

Hearing this, a Du Bo said: "General Gan, the last general also saw it. Judging from its traces, it is expected that this camp was built not long ago. It is normal that the Lord's military report did not mention it."

"I thought so too."

Gan Ning said in a deep voice, "My lord wants us to attack from the west because Jiangling used to have only one outer city, Jin Township, located in the west of the city, and the east of the city is flat, which is suitable for cavalry to charge. Now that there is an additional camp, it is It's a bit tricky, if you want to take Jiangling, you have to get rid of this obstacle first!"

Everyone had no objection, Liang Rui echoed: "Just now, my subordinates have found out that there are only [-] soldiers stationed in this camp. With our elite army, it is easy to win."

Although there is a saying in the art of war: encircle it in ten and attack it in five, many factors must be considered in actual combat, such as the difference in combat power between the two armies, the strength of the city, terrain factors, etc., so in the real battle, In the face of ordinary cities, in most cases, having three times the troops is enough for the attacking party to launch an offensive.

Gan Ning's Yangzhou Army is naturally not as good as Wang Zheng's main force of the Heavenly Army in terms of average combat strength, but it can be considered elite, and it is attacking a small camp. If you choose between the two, you should be sure of victory .

After the two chief generals finished speaking, all the generals in the tent agreed with a loud bang, and Gan Ning immediately dispatched them one by one, assigning tasks to each battalion.

Leave 1000 people to guard the camp, and then draw 500 people from each flank to guard the garrison in Jiangling City with [-] cavalry, and monitor Jinxiang City in the west with [-] cavalry. Gan Ning personally led the attack.

"Order the battalions to bury pots and light fires, and teach the soldiers to rest. After an hour, start the offensive!"

"Strive to take down the enemy camp within two hours, and then turn to the west to attack Jin Township. Before tomorrow's dawn, we must clear all the obstacles placed by the Jiangling Army outside the city and join the Lord!"

"promise!"

More than [-] generals received the order at the same time, and their voices echoed in the tent, suppressing the sound of rain falling on the roof of the tent.

At the head of Jiangling city, Guo Yongdeng looks far away.

He looked around, his face sinking like water: "The bandit army is only twenty miles away from the city, and the location of the camp happened to be between the east and west cities outside our city and a little bit towards the west camp. Mr. Huang, there seems to be something particular about this."

Huang Ye is the chief history of Nanjun. At this time, the enemy is approaching the city, and his duty is, naturally, he can't stay in the city like other gentry. He also followed Guo Yong to patrol the city in the rain. Hearing this, he said: "It seems Pay attention? What clues did the eunuch see?"

"Now it's raining non-stop, it's not good for attacking the city," Guo Yong said in a deep voice, "The bandits camped twenty miles away from the city, it should mean that they have no intention of attacking Jiangling for the time being."

It was a normal situation to set up camp twenty miles away from the city, but it was all in sunny weather, because it was convenient to march, and after the formation was completed, they could be forced to go to the city at any time, but it was different now.

When there is rain and snow in the sky, it is a great disadvantage for the attacking party. It rains continuously and the roads are muddy, making it very inconvenient to march. In Guo Yong's view, if the Ganning and Ning troops want to attack the city directly, they will definitely not It is still a reasonable distance to choose twenty miles, fifteen miles, or even ten miles from the city.

Otherwise, it would take more than half of the effort to walk from the camp to the city, so why attack the city?

"At this time of the year, it is reasonable and reasonable for the bandit army not to choose to attack the city immediately." Huang Ye naturally understood Guo Yong's thoughts: "The prefect should be worried about the bandit general Gan Ning, why did he choose the camp between Jin Township and the camp?" between?"

"That's right." Guo Yongdao: "Putting it here, isn't Gan Ning afraid of being attacked by our army at night? I just checked, and this bandit army is all cavalry, and the camping time is so short. It can be concluded that the camp they pitched is not secure."

"It's strange that the battalion is not in prison, but it's still placed between my two battalions, and it's even more biased towards the west camp, which is a bit abnormal."

"What does the prefect mean?"

"Thieves must have mysteries!"

Before Guo Yong finished his sentence, he saw under the gloomy sky, the red flags in the camp in the far west suddenly flew up, like a little flame, beating in the continuous rain.

This red flag was specially ordered by Guo Yong to be erected by the camp outside the city. The flagpole is several feet high and low, and the flag is also several feet wide. Set fire to the message.

On the watchtower at the head of Jiangling City, there are soldiers with good eyes who are always paying attention.At this time, I saw that, regardless of the heavy rain, I leaned out half of my body from a high place, and shouted repeatedly towards the bottom.

Don't look at the shouting of the soldiers upstairs, Guo Yong has already seen it, and immediately exclaimed: "Not good!"

Huang Ye followed up and asked: "Of course it's not good for the bandits to storm our camp. Why is the eunuch shocked?"

The camps outside the city were meant to serve as obstacles for the Yangzhou army, and it was expected that the enemy would take the camps first before attacking the city. Logically, Guo Yong would not be so shocked.

"Duke Huang doesn't know something." Guo Yong said, "It rained heavily and the ground was slippery. Of course, it was not good for the attackers; but they were all cavalry, running from a distance and coming very quickly. They must have not brought too many large siege equipment. So It seems that it is not good for them to launch an attack in the rain, but it is actually the opposite!"

Huang Ye is not stupid, although he has never fought in battle himself, but he has never eaten pork, and has always seen pigs running, so he suddenly woke up and said "Oh!"
"That's right. There are only 500 troops stationed in the camp west of the city. Facing a strong enemy, they are already at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength. They had to rely on bows, arrows, and cannons to defend themselves. Now it is raining like cats and dogs, but the power of these equipment is also reduced." A big reduction is equivalent to cutting off an arm first, but the enemy's cavalry can take the opportunity to give full play to their greatest advantage!"

"not only that."

"What else?"

"The rain is not conducive to marching. According to the general's prediction, when the bandits attack the southern camp outside our city, there must be a reserve team left behind. As long as our army dares to go out of the city to help the western camp, they will definitely be intercepted. It is the cavalry who can come and go freely even if they are scattered, and the infantry who are difficult to deploy in the rain and cannot exert their combat effectiveness. It goes without saying that it is clear at a glance."

I don't know if it was because of the rain, or because of other reasons, Huang Ye's lips turned pale, his face turned blue, and said: "This, this, what should I do?"

Not long after, when looking upstairs, a soldier leaned out again and shouted loudly: "Prefect, please help from the west camp, the bandits are attacking fiercely!"

More than a dozen generals followed Guo Yong, and they all looked serious at this time, standing upright, letting the rain pour down, flowing down their pockets and armor, their eyes were all focused on Guo Yong's face, only Wait for his order.

Guo Yong closed his eyes slightly, held the dagger tightly, ignoring the sight of the generals, and said slowly: "Just now, this general has already analyzed it. If we send troops to help at this time, it will be very disadvantageous to our army."

"Decree: Order Xiying to guard the fortress to the death, not to retreat half a step. If there is a loss in the position, tell them to stand up and see!"

When the generals heard this order, they all looked at each other. The county lieutenant hesitated for a moment, but he bravely came out and said: "Prefect, just like your analysis just now. The bows and crossbows in the rain are greatly affected. Our army of 500 people relies on With a small camp, can it repel the attack of thousands of enemy troops?"

The terrain outside Jiangling City was relatively flat. Xiying was said to be located on a high ground, but in fact it was not too high. The Yangzhou army only needed to charge and run from below to outside the camp.

The heavy rain also had a great negative impact on the firing of bows and crossbows.The rain fell into a line and the wind continued to blow. Firstly, it would affect the shooter's field of vision, and secondly, it would affect the strength and range of the arrows fired.

Strong bows and strong crossbows are better. Ordinary bows are fully drawn and the arrows are shot out. When the rain hits or the wind blows, it will inevitably deviate from the direction and gradually lose power. It became more and more unscrupulous.

Guo Yong didn't answer, just stared into the distance, without saying a word.

Right now there are four groups of troops inside and outside Jiangling City. Seeing that Gan Ning is icy below the city, Wu Niu's troops on the east side of the city have never moved.

Then this early confrontation will be his duel with Gan Ning!

(End of this chapter)