Three Kingdoms Eschatology

Seeing that the opponent had set up a well-organized army formation, Sulehar ordered two thousand cavalry to launch a tentative attack. Soon these cavalry were shot by the archers of Army Commander Liang, and then were covered by the heavy cavalry of Liang Army from the left and right wings. In the end, only a thousand riders escaped back.

He suffered this small setback, and thinking about it again, Ardashir didn't ask him to fight Liang Jun fiercely, but only asked him to hold Liang Jun down.So he no longer wanted to fight Liang Jun.He just closely monitored Liang Jun's every move.As long as Liang Jun moves again, he will command [-] cavalry to rush over.

Although Liang Jun also has 3 people, most of them are infantry. As long as their army formation is slightly deformed or leaked, the Sasanian cavalry may rush in like a tide and crush them to pieces!Zhou Yu obviously understood this too, so Liang Junjun did not move at all, like a scorpion raising its double pincers and tail pincers to guard against natural enemies.

The two sides are so stalemate in the wasteland.All day and all night, Liang Jun's soldiers ate, drank, and stayed in their positions.A whole day later, another Sasanian cavalry army of two or three thousand arrived.But during this day, Liang Jun's heavy soldiers did not stop at all, and successively built three simple camps on both sides of the river.Two of them are on the east bank of the river and one is on the west bank.

When the sun set on the third day, the Sassanid army arrived here one after another, day and night.Ardashir also came to the battlefield in person.

But at this time, the camp built by Liang Jun was even more complete, especially the camp on the West Bank, and several small forts were built around the camp for arch protection.Most of the Liang army also crossed the river and retreated to the east bank, relying on the two camps and this unknown river, and confronted the Sasanian army across the river.Zhou Yu only left 4000 people to hide in the camp on the west bank.

Ardashir and Sulehar, surrounded by their own soldiers, approached the Liang army camp to investigate in person.Ardasil saw that the three camps of the Liang Army were distributed on both sides of the river, and he couldn't help laughing and said, "Either the commander of the Liang Army may have never led soldiers to fight, or even read a book on military affairs. Either the Easterners have no military skills, only their so-called strategies that ponder people's minds. Otherwise, they would not have made such a stupid arrangement. Dividing the troops into two and letting the enemy defeat each other is what the enemy wants to do most. But they took the initiative to cut their troops into two pieces and put them on both sides of the river. Sulehar, do you think so?"

Sulehar remained silent, and he agreed with Ardasil's words, but he still couldn't believe that Liang Jun would be so stupid.He just nodded and said perfunctorily to Ardashir: "Your Majesty, let's investigate closer and make a conclusion."

Next, they circled Liang Jun's West Bank camp for half a circle.Then explored along the river.

After they checked carefully, Sulehar took a deep breath.Ardashir also saw the doorway, and had changed from being overjoyed just now to being silent.Sulehar opened his mouth to Alda Hill and said:

"Your Majesty, our opponent is no small feat. He deploys troops like this, which can be described as superb. It seems that he has dispersed his forces, and it is easy for our army to defeat them one by one. But in fact, it is a stroke of genius. You see, the construction of the camp on the west bank of Liang Jun It is the most complete, and it lives in a bend in the river. The river forms a natural barrier on its north and south sides, and our army can only attack from the west opening that is less than three miles wide. In this way, they can resist with very few troops. There are thousands of troops. On the contrary, they can use a small force to take bamboo rafts and walk the waterway to land at any point on the river bank to harass and reconnaissance our army. Looking at the east bank of the river, they set up two large camps. Relying on these two large camps , dispatched rangers along the river, and chariots patrolling back and forth to prevent our army from crossing the river. Although our army has as many as 20, as long as more than 10,000 people can't quickly cross the river at the same time, not only can they not besieged , can’t cut off their food road. On the contrary, they may let the opponent concentrate their forces to annihilate our soldiers and horses crossing the river. If our army wants to successfully cross the river with [-]+ soldiers and horses at the same time, we must not only break through their defense along the river, but also beware of the west bank This nail, this difficulty..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden thud in his ear.It turned out that a cold arrow flew past Sulehar's cheek with the sound of piercing the air, almost killing him on the spot.The arrow came from a Liang Army longbow chariot that was patrolling on the other side of the river.Aldashir and Sulehar broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly withdrew to their own army.

In the central tent of the Sasanian army, the generals of Ardashir discussed countermeasures under the oil lamp.Ardashir still didn't believe that the 20 army including 3 to [-] cavalry could not trap the opponent's mere [-] horses.

He pointed to the map and spoke his mind.Allocate 12 soldiers and horses, divided into two groups.Each quietly detoured to the upstream and downstream of the river for dozens of miles, and crossed the river there.No matter how strict Liang Jun's defense was, it would be impossible to defend tens of miles away.As long as they reach the east bank, they can go back to Liang Jun's side.In this way, Liang Jun can be encircled within two days.Then step by step, tighten the encirclement, and finally trapped Liang Jun in the cage.

Sulehar repeatedly shook his head and reminded: "Your Majesty, if we divide our troops and detour so far, it means that our 20 troops will be divided into three parts within a day or two. Liang Jun is not a dead thing. The army will not discover our army's movements, and then concentrate its forces to defeat our army one by one during the march. With their combat power, it is more than enough to defeat our army of [-] with [-] in an encounter in the field. And even if we attack them However, our army is divided into two large groups across the river, and it is difficult to support each other. It is inevitable that they will retreat calmly before the real siege of the Liang army. At most, they will sacrifice the small Liang army on the west bank. .”

Ardashir's face darkened upon hearing this, apparently unhappy.Another general also began to express his dissatisfaction: "General Manager, what do you mean by that? Why do you need to be ambitious before the battle? What do you mean that [-] Liang troops will be more than enough to defeat our army of [-]? Could it be that our Sassanid army is so unbearable? "

Ardasil also said in a cold voice: "Sulehar, if this king's idea is not good, can you come up with a good idea?"

Chapter 873 Expensive Greek Fire

Facing Ardashir's question, Sulehar seemed to know it well.He bowed to Ardasil and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the safest way for us is to confront the Liang army across the river, and then send out small groups of rangers from time to time to detour across the river to plunder them." After a long period of time, they will not be able to hold on. When they retreat eastward, our army will take the opportunity to cross the river and attack with the tail, which will surely defeat them in one fell swoop. Then the forward will go straight to Mulu City. Then their soldiers will be one They can’t escape back to Lan’s City.”

Aldashir rolled his eyes and said: "What kind of idea is this? If we spend so much time with Liang Jun, we must suffer. This is what you said before. And our army has no time to wait now. Gwadar Nejjart is facing a situation of being besieged by the Liang army. We must end the fighting here as soon as possible, and then go to rescue Gwadar!"

Sulehar quickly responded: "If Your Majesty disagrees with this strategy, then I have another strategy, but it may cause great casualties to our army."

Ardasil waved his hands impatiently and said, "There is no one who is immortal in a war. What I want now is to wipe out the enemy army in front of me, regardless of the number of casualties. If you have a way, just talk about it."

Sulehar then went on to say: "We have a whole army of 20 horses, divided into hundreds of units, carrying pre-built swimming equipment, and at the same time forcibly crossing rivers on rivers that are tens of miles long. As long as we act quickly and Suddenly, Liang Jun must have no time to respond and divide his troops to resist the enemy. It would be wishful thinking if he wanted to attack each of them. Before he could break down a few strands of our army, our army would have already crossed the river. By then, it would be too late for him not to run away. The turtle in the urn, if it runs away, our cavalry can take the opportunity to chase and kill them, and let their corpses spread all over the field. Of course, when our army crosses the river, we must first pull out the nail on the west of the river. In addition, we must let a small group of cavalry sneak across the river in advance. When our army is officially forced to cross, let these cavalry continue to harass the Liang army from the side. This will increase the success of our army's forced crossing."

After listening to these words, Ardashir savored them carefully, and his expression became more relaxed. He nodded and said, "Sulhar, you are worthy of my king's wisdom. This idea is very good. Follow your strategy. Come on. It is not difficult to knock down the Liang army camp in the west of Hexi. Don’t forget, we have the big killer weapon of Greek fire.”

……

At dawn that day, Zhou Yu was hurriedly woken up by his own soldiers while he was still asleep in Liang's camp, and said, "Commander, wake up quickly, the Sasanians have launched a strong attack on our camp on the other side of the river."

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Yu, who was still soundly asleep, opened his eyes in a flash, rolled over and stood on the edge of the bed.Zhou Yu said disapprovingly: "This is all expected by the general, and there is no need to make a fuss. Go get water, I will wash up."

But the soldier still asked: "Do you need to call all the generals?" Zhou Yu continued indifferently: "Of course not, they still perform their duties. Stop talking, go fetch water!"

After Zhou Yu finished washing and dressing neatly, he strode out of the tent.He boarded the tallest watchtower on the edge of the camp and looked across the river.Countless fireballs were reflected in his eyes, and they shot towards Liang Jun's camp in the bend on the west bank of the river with a long trail of white smoke.

Every time these fireballs hit the ground, they would be able to shoot up flames as high as they could reach.What's even more amazing is that some of them fell on the reefs in the river and shattered, and then ignited raging flames on the water surface and floated downstream along the river.Although Liang Jun's naphtha can also burn on the water surface, the flame is not so high, and the burning is not so long.The biggest difference is that when naphtha burns on the surface of running water, it will spread out, and this one can always gather into a sea of ​​fire.

Zhou Yu couldn't help sighing: "This must be the fire in Greece mentioned in the letter of the Holy Majesty."

It turned out that Feng Yu mentioned what happened to Wei Yan outside Gwader in the letter that Feng Yu sent him last time. Zhou Yu.Ask him to beware of these new weapons of the Sasanian army.

At this time, Liang Jun's camp on the west bank of the river had been burned into a sea of ​​flames.Not to mention the camp tents made of linen on the ground, even some repelling horses, the wall of the village was also blazing.The scorching flames distorted the scene.

In the Sasanian army formation that had already formed their attack formation, all the Sasanian generals said proudly: "This Greek fire is really powerful. I don't think we need our soldiers to go forward to fight. They have already burned the Liang army to a pile of ashes." gone."

Ardashir also had a smug expression, and said, "Although this thing is powerful, it costs a lot of money. We have specially built more than a dozen workshops of various kinds in Wuthorn City to produce this thing with local materials. The weekly consumption is equivalent to thousands of taels of gold. Even so, the weekly output is only fifty or sixty barrels, which is enough to make five or six hundred such fire bombs."

A general next to him pinched his fingers and sighed: "My God, wouldn't it cost two taels of gold for each one? This is not a war, it is burning money..."

He realized something was wrong when he said this, and stole a glance at Ardashir.Fortunately, the other party didn't look strange because of this remark. Instead, he said: "Not only is it expensive, but it is also inconvenient to transport, and the quantity we carry in the army is also limited. Therefore, although this thing is powerful, we should try our best to use it sparingly. Don't mess around."

Sulehar immediately took his words and said: "Now that the Liang army camp has been burned into a sea of ​​flames, it would be too wasteful for us to continue to project the Greek fire?"

Ardasil nodded again and again: "Send the order to stop shooting the Greek oil tank immediately. After the fire dies down, attack the Liang army camp!"

Half an hour later, the blazing sea of ​​fire had subsided, and the open flames were almost invisible.Ardashir waved his palm heavily and said, "Attack!"

Immediately the drums and trumpets sounded loudly in the Sasanian army formation.The army formation that had been in formation for a long time advanced neatly towards the Liang army camp.In fact, there is no Liangjun camp now, and the river bend has been burned to a piece of scorched earth.All the Sasanian generals believed that the generals would occupy this position with a radius of more than two miles without bloodshed.

The first to drive to the opening of the river bend were the sword and shield fighters in the front of the Sasanian army.They used the shields in their hands to lightly pile up the scorched black horse barriers, and the wreckage scattered into a pile of black charcoal fragments.

Then there was a ditch about five feet deep in front of the Sasanian sword and shield. The ditch was obviously overfired, and the bottom was a layer of ashes.A Sassanian general muttered, "It's weird, we went in so deep, why didn't we see a Liang Jun corpse?"

Chapter 874 Under the Sea of ​​Fire and Ashes

As for why the general didn't see Liang Jun's body, another general next to him answered, "What's so strange about this? When the fire broke out, everyone was busy running for their lives by the river. Could it be possible to stay where they were? Burn alive? Don't think about it, brother, go! I bet, the further you go, the more dead bodies you see."

The general in question no longer hesitated, and led the soldiers to jump down the ditch, and then crossed the ditch and continued to advance to the depths of the river bend.In the army formation, the Sasanian soldiers behind them also crossed the trench in rows.Because the river bend was burned in a mess, and the surface was ruined, uneven.Soldiers had to be careful about what was going on under their feet.In addition, when crossing the trench, everyone's climbing movements and speed were not so neat, so the army formation became chaotic.

A Sasanian soldier who jumped to the bottom of the ditch was about to climb up the ditch when his eyes suddenly widened as big as his age, and then he spat out a mouthful of blood.An old soldier behind him urged impatiently: "Climb up quickly, don't dawdle..." The old soldier's words suddenly stopped, only then did he realize that there was a shiny thing protruding from his back, and the dark red blood had already soaked His skirt, and his whole body went limp.The veteran screamed, and just after shouting twice, an arrow shot through his head.

In addition to the fact that someone in the trench was stabbed to death by a spear that suddenly shot from the wall of the trench, the Sasanian soldiers who were walking on the ruins in the river bend were also inexplicably lying on the ground, and then screamed and wailed everywhere.Someone is already shouting:

"There is a situation underground! There are traps under the ground!",

"It's not a trap, it's enemy soldiers, enemy soldiers! Ah!..."

From time to time, spears pierced from the ditch wall, underground or ruins.Moreover, not only spears and spears pierced out of the ruins, but also hidden arrows.The Sasanian soldiers were caught off guard and fell to the ground one after another.Those who reacted quickly used their knives and guns to stab the ground, but their weapons could not penetrate the ground two or three feet away, as if they were blocked by some hard object.And also heard the muffled sound of thumping.

At the same time, countless fireballs hit the east bank of the river at this time. They were explosive bombs fired by Liang Jun's ballista.These fiery bombs fell on the bend of the river, and once again turned the area into a sea of ​​​​flames.Many Sassanian soldiers and generals turned into firemen in an instant. They rushed towards the river bank in unison, trying to jump into the water to put out the fire.However, when they rushed to the river, arrows from the Liang army on the other side hit them like a shower, knocking them to the ground.

The Sasanian army that attacked the river bay lost more than half of it in just two to three quarters of an hour. The soldiers who had not yet entered the river bay saw this situation and dared to die inside.They all retreated backwards, receding like a tide.

Ardashir and the generals, including Sulehar, did not stop the retreat of these defeated soldiers, because they themselves were dumbfounded.

"What's going on!" Ardasil opened his mouth wide and exclaimed.

Some of the generals had already understood, and replied: "It must be Liang Jun who dug tunnels in the camp and built underground fortifications."

Ardashir shook his head repeatedly and said: "Impossible, impossible. No one can build such a huge underground fortification in just a few days. Not to mention anything else, the soil must be soft and watery by the river. Tunnels must be dug It must be very deep to avoid subsidence. And if the hole is dug deeper, there will be water in the hole, and people will not be able to stay. Besides, how can they attack our army on the ground so deep? If only a few trenches are dug, and wooden boards and Sand. The flames of our Greek fire will roast them underground!"

Sulehar sighed from the side: "It's impossible for others, but they are Liang Jun, and I don't know what devil-like techniques are hidden."

Actually, these people don't know.It took Liang Jun just one week to build a complex underground fortification under the land of Hewan.In the bunker, the underground traffic tunnels are criss-crossed and combined with the trenches.

Of course, it was impossible for Liang Jun to use the traditional excavation methods of this era to build these tunnels.Don't say that there is not enough manpower and time, but according to the geological environment of the river, there are not even construction conditions.

But Liang Jun's heavy soldiers used an ingenious method to complete this feat.When transporting grain, grass and oil, the baggage transport team usually uses a large wooden barrel with a diameter of more than three feet. The wooden barrel made of hard elm is fastened with iron hoops on the upper and lower sides, and the tung oil is glued and sealed.Waterproof and moisture-proof, drop-resistant and wear-resistant, it is an excellent container for transporting grain and grass.

Now this wooden barrel is used in underground fortifications. Liang Jun's tunnel is only less than three feet away from the surface. It is impossible not to collapse at this distance, but Liang Jun has opened up these wooden barrels up and down, one by one. By then in the tunnel.Not only to avoid the subsidence, but also to avoid the accumulation of water in the hole.Liang Jun soldiers can walk through these tunnels at will.

In addition to these tunnels, Liang Jun also used the natural mounds, rocks, tree stumps and other objects in the river bend to build up dark forts.And these dark forts are connected by these well-developed barrel tunnels in all directions.Liang Jun generals can be allowed to deploy troops at will.And it is Liang General Wei Xu who is now commanding the Hewan Liang Army.At this time, Wei Xu was curled up in a bunker on the highest hill in the middle of the river bend, looking at the enemy's situation through the transom.

He saw that the Sassanid generals were still discussing something more than a hundred battles away, and he said to the longbowmen beside him, "Can you give them a shot."

The longbowman looked out of the dark window, shook his head and said, "General, it is definitely not possible here. Because the dark window is too small, I can only shoot directly, and in this hole, my bow can only be used horizontally, so it is even more difficult to shoot." Not far. Unless you can get to the ground..."

Before he finished speaking, Wei Xu saw a figure suddenly emerged from another bunker with a skylight in front of him, pulled the big bow in his hand at a very fast speed, and released an arrow.

Ardasil was discussing with the generals how to break the situation of the Liang Army. Someone proposed to gather all the oil in the Greek fire oil tank and pour it into the cave to burn all the Liang Army underground.Ardasil yelled and cursed: "Idiot. It's not much to gather all the remaining Greek fires, how many caves can you burn down? This is liquid gold with a can of two liang of gold. When we run out, our ballista can only It’s a stone bomb. How can you counter Liang Jun? The most important thing is, how do you know the layout and direction of Liang Jun’s underground cave? Where to pour it?”

The lower-ranking general was so intimidated by the series of shouts and questions that he dared not speak any more.At this moment, the cold arrow flew over and shot into the chest of a general beside Ardasil with a puff.The generals hurriedly backed up to protect their emperor, shouting in their mouths: "This place is dangerous, Your Majesty should retreat to avoid the enemy!"

In the following days, Ardashir used various methods, including fumigation and water irrigation, to try to drive out the underground Liang army, but with the cooperation of the Liang army on the opposite bank, the Liang army stationed at the river bend disintegrated Sassanid again and again. Army's intentions.

Ardashir had no choice but to adopt another strategy of Sulehar, confronting Liang Jun across the river, and then using his superiority in the number of troops, he mobilized a small group of troops to frequently plunder Liang Jun's grain road.

Chapter 875

Ardasil, who was on the watchtower, first glanced at the river bend.The place that was originally ash and ruins was watered by the rain, and a lot of new greenery was born, which looked like a wasteland.But Ardashir knew that there were countless Liang troops hidden underground, and as long as the Sasanian army rushed over, they would emerge from the ground like a magic trick.

Suddenly, at the end of Ardashir's line of sight, a figure emerged, and then some figures emerged from the ground.This did not surprise Ardasil.Because this is the daily life of Liang Jun's underground defenders coming to the ground to let the wind go.After Liang Jun came to the ground from this exit far away from the Sasanian position, they sat and chatted in groups, completely ignoring the Sasanian military camp more than 200 battles away.There was even a few archers of Liang Jun who suddenly rushed to the place near the opening of the river bend and shot a cold arrow.

At the opening of the river bend, the Sassanian army stared at Liang Jun's artillery arrows and built a two or three mile defense line made of barricades against horses.But this actually couldn't stop Liang Jun from penetrating into the rear of the Sasanian army.They would use floating objects such as bamboo rafts and barrels to bypass the Sassanian army's defense line from the waterway, sneak ashore for more than ten miles, and sneak attack the various camps of the Sasanian army.Most of the sneak attacks used arson to kill small groups of patrolling soldiers.Let the Sasanian army be hard to defend.

Of course, the Sasanian army also used similar means to deal with Liang Jun.But this had no effect on the underground Liang army at the river bend on the west bank.Because the underground tunnel network of the Sasanian army was completely unaware of the situation, their eyes were darkened.They had dispatched more than a dozen elite scouts to sneak into a certain cave, but then they disappeared like stone bulls entering the sea, and they must have been captured and killed by Liang Jun.

However, the small group of Sasanian enemy cavalry who smuggled across the river made some achievements.The main task Ardashir gave them was not to harass the Liang army camp.Instead, they went directly to the rear of the Liang army, looking for the convoy they used to transport food and grass, and plundered them.In the past month, they successfully attacked more than ten Liang army's convoys and burned at least [-]% to [-]% of their grain and other supplies.

At this time, Ardashir looked from the ashes at the bend of the river to the Liang army camp on the other side of the river, and found that the smoke was rising from the camp.But I thought in my heart that although Liang Jun was short of food, it was obviously not at the point of a break.Although the lack of food may lead to a decline in Liang Jun's morale, it is not enough to destroy Liang Jun's fighting will in a short period of time.The 20 Sassanid army he brought can be dragged on. The question is how long can Nejjart in the southern theater last in Gwadar?

Thinking of this, his right eyelid suddenly twitched a few times, and he felt an ominous feeling in his heart.Ardashir was about to raise his legs and return to his military tent, but a soldier rushed over to report: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent message from Gwadar!"

Ardahill's heart tightened, and he said quickly: "Submit it!"

"Report to Your Majesty, there are no letters, but oral messages!"

Ardashir's heart sank even more. Only the message showed that Nejjart didn't even have the conditions to write a letter, so he could only send someone to deliver the letter in a hurry.With an anxious tone, he said: "Then hurry up and call the messenger over, I will inquire in person."

Not long after, Ardashir saw the messenger, and before he heard everything, his face turned pale.He stomped his feet repeatedly and said, "Nejart, Nejjart, I didn't expect you to be able to defend it for a few months, but you can't hold the fortified city of Gwadar for ten days and half a month?"

At this time, Sulehar and some other Sasanian generals also got the news and came to Ardashir's tent.Ardasil then summoned them to the central army tent for discussion.

After Ardasil recounted the situation of the Gwader battle to everyone, everyone immediately started discussing it.It was Sulehar who stood up first and said: "Your Majesty, our army has lost the southern battlefield. The main force of the Liang army will definitely turn around and go north. Once he joins the Liang army on the opposite side, there will be around [-] troops. Our army is here There is not much chance of winning against them. I believe that our army should retreat to Persis and fight the Liang army on the preset battlefield near Persis."

Regarding Sulehar's proposal, some people immediately questioned: "If we retreat now, can we retreat completely? Wouldn't the Liang army on the other side of the river pursue us? If there is a rout during the retreat, wouldn't we have yet to fight with Liang?" In a decisive battle with the main force of the army, tens of thousands of people will be lost first, and morale will also be greatly damaged."

Someone else said: "How do you know that the Liang army in the south turned around and headed north, instead of continuing to attack westward by land and water as Nejjart said, and captured my land of two rivers."

Sulehar seemed to say with confidence: "I'm sure Liang Jun will turn around and go north, because they are not like us, they are fighting on their own land. They can replenish the source of troops at any time. So they lost the 3 horses, and the 7 people Going deeper into the land of two rivers, they will be alone. Even if they are not defeated, they will not be able to accomplish their goals. Moreover, even if they really continue to advance westward, we should retreat back to Persis. After all Persis is the place we must pass to return to the Land of Two Rivers."

Ardashir listened to Sulehar's opinion and said: "Sulhar is right. Let's retreat to Persis first, and then make next plans after seeing the situation. Now there is only one problem left, we How can I get out of my body?"

Sulehar smiled lightly: "This minister has a trick, so that Liang Jun on the opposite side dare not chase after him."

……

On the other side of the river, at Liang Jun's camp, a huge hot air balloon rose.Zhou Yu stood in the basket of the hot air balloon and observed the movement in the Sasanian military camp.Like Ardashir, this is also Zhou Yu's daily activities.At this point in time, Liang Jun's camp will raise the hot air balloon on time.The Sassanid soldiers on the opposite side are no longer surprised.

In fact, Zhou Yu was even more anxious than Ardasil.The plunder of the Sassanian rangers really caused him a lot of trouble.Not only did it cause a large number of casualties to Liang Jun, but it also reduced the supply of grain and grass from Mulu City by 17%.He also tried his best to counter it.Helplessly, his force is [-] fewer than the opponent's, and it is rare to be able to maintain this confrontation.How can we spare more troops to snipe the opponent's rangers, or to plunder the opponent's food road instead.At most, he ordered the Liang army on the other side of the river to harass the Sassanid camp nearby.

Now, the daily meals of Liang Jun soldiers have been reduced from three meals to two meals.People are iron and rice is steel, and the morale of Liang Jun, who lacked food, quickly declined.

At this time, Zhou Yu, who was overlooking the enemy camp full of enemy soldiers, secretly thought that after such a long time, his 3 horses would not last long.This is not simply a matter of defeat. Once you retreat a little, you will face the danger of annihilation of the entire army.At that time, [-] Liang soldiers will die in this foreign land without a place to bury them.

Chapter 876

When Zhou Yu stepped down from the basket of the hot air balloon with a frowning face, he found a soldier waiting for him, and a man wearing a soldier's uniform stood beside him.The soldiers reported: "To the commander, this is a messenger sent by the South Route Army. It is said that there is a letter to the commander."

Zhou Yu snorted, then took the letter from the messenger, read it carefully, and said happily, "That's great, His Majesty has defeated the Sasanian army in the south and conquered the city of Gwadar. It seems that he will come to join forces with someone in the near future." .

Then he rolled his eyes a few times, and said to himself: "I think the Sassanids will get the news at about the same time, so their next move... can only be to withdraw to Persis first." Then, Zhou Yu said to his relatives. Bing said: "Send an order to convene a meeting of all the generals in the army's big account!"

Two quarters of an hour later, all the regiment commanders (commanders) and above of the Northern Route Army gathered in Zhou Yu's tent. Among them, Zhang Liao, Ma Chao, and Xu Rong were the three with the highest military ranks.Among them, Zhang Liao was also the deputy commander of the North Route Army.

After hearing the news of Liang Jun's victory in the south, everyone was also very excited.Xu Rong was the first to say: "Great, once the main force of the Holy Spirit arrives, we will be able to wipe out the Sassanid army on the opposite side!"

Zhang Liao stroked his beard and smiled slightly: "Others are not fools. They must have also got the news. How could they honestly wait until the main forces of our army from the north and the south meet before fighting us. Certainly, they are not going to cross the river to fight us right now. , is to start preparing to evacuate."

Ma Chao took over the words and said: "If they really want to withdraw, that would be even better. Our 20 soldiers and horses are facing off against their [-] soldiers and horses. We are at a disadvantage. The advantages of individual combat strength cannot be brought into play, but the disadvantages of our troops are obvious. But as long as they retreat, we will attack from the tail, this kind of field encounter is our strong point, and we will definitely defeat them in one fell swoop, at least their rear army."

After finishing speaking, he bowed to Zhou Yu and said, "Commander, the last general begs to be the vanguard and chase after their rear army. I guarantee that at least [-] people will be beheaded."

Zhou Yu stood up and said, "Yes, we must make preparations immediately..."

At this time, there was a report from the commanding soldiers: "Report to the commander, there has been a change in the enemy's camp! It seems that they are about to break out of the camp and leave."

Huge hot air balloons rose slowly in Liang Jun's camp again.This time Zhou Yu, Zhang Liao, and Ma Chao-level generals all got on the balloon basket.They looked down at the camp of the Sassanian army, and sure enough, there was a crowd of people in the camp, each of them was busy running around.Take a closer look, some are packing their luggage, and some are putting away their tents.

Ma Chao said anxiously: "They are obviously going to run away, we can't wait any longer, let's prepare as soon as possible." Zhou Yu pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Immediately, Liang Jun's camp also gathered people and formed a pursuit formation.The war cavalry and the longbow chariot, which are the main pursuit missions, are eager to try.There is also a small group of war cavalry under the leadership of Xu Rong, who have already detoured tens of miles in advance to cross the river.

After more than half an hour, the Sasanian army on the other side really began to withdraw.For several hours in a row, their camps were dismantled one by one, and soldiers, horses, infantry and cavalry lined up and marched westward one after another.

By the time the sun slanted westward, their last stronghold could not be regarded as retreating.At this time, Liang Jun's heavy soldiers skillfully built a pontoon bridge on the river.Liang troops from all battalions and ministries rushed past, assembled on the west bank of the river, and prepared to pursue the Sasanian army.

At this time, Zhou Yu, Zhang Liao, and Ma Chao were already standing on the land on the west bank.Wei Xu, who led his troops to fight against the Sasanian army underground for more than [-] days, also came to join them.

Looking at the back of the Sassanian army going away, Ma Chao said: "I will lead my troops to attack them hard."

But Zhang Liao stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, seeing the Sasanian army retreating like this, I feel something is wrong. According to common sense, such a large army retreats, and it cannot just leave like a small army. Especially when the two armies are facing each other. In this way, we should cover each other and retreat one by one. That is to say, some troops line up to cover the retreat of the rest of the troops. After the retreating troops have withdrawn for more than ten miles, they form an army formation again, waiting for the troops in front to withdraw. This cycle repeats until all the troops Only when the horses are completely out of the enemy's sight or the battlefield can they march normally. Look at the Sassanian army now, as if we didn't exist, just retreated directly with such a loophole open. Some people think that there must be something in it cheat!"

Ma Chao said disapprovingly, "These Sassanids are aliens, and they know some common sense about the art of war. They probably haven't fought such a big battle in their entire lives, so they don't know about it."

Zhang Liao still shook his head and said, "Impossible. According to the process of our fighting with them in the past, it is impossible for them to be so ignorant. Even though the customs here and our Central Plains are different, the common sense of military science is the same everywhere. .They can't be that ignorant."

But Ma Chao still didn't listen to Zhang Liao's words, turned his head to Zhou Yu and said, "Brother Gongjin, you are the commander in chief, tell me whether to pursue or not to pursue! If we waste such a good opportunity for nothing, we won't have such meritorious service in the future." Here's the chance."