In order to defeat the Black Mountain Army, Yuan Xi had planned for a long time, and naturally he would not ignore all possible details.
But Yuan Xi was not without mistakes. He also ignored factors outside himself, leading to misjudgments.
That is, Yuan Shang did not send troops to Montenegro to seize credit, but instead turned around and attacked Zang Hong.
Although this was an unexpected event that Yuan Xi knew about, he could not change his plan because of it. After all, it would be difficult to do anything if all accidents were taken into account.
Since then, the pressure on the Montenegro Army has been reduced a lot, and they have chosen to go north, so that Yuan Xi can only choose to confront the Montenegro Army head-on.
He still can't understand why Yuan Shang personally led his troops to annihilate the insignificant Dongwuyang even if Zang Hong rebelled, instead of occupying the Black Mountain Passage, which was extremely important for entering Bingzhou.
Although Yuan Shang's character is not good, is he such a person who does not distinguish between seriousness and importance?
At this time, Yuan Xi put this question to the back of his mind for the time being. He was listening to Guo Jia talking about how to defeat the front army of the Montenegrin Army.
Yuan Xi led his men to lure Yang Feng away, while Tian Yu led more than 2,000 people to defend the main road. The Black Mountain Army also stood still, waiting for Yang Feng to return, and then annihilated Tian Yu's army.
But as soon as Yuan Xi left, Guo Jia, who was preparing in Beixin City, got the news and took action.
The mules and horses used by Yuan Xi for his urgent military march had returned to Beixin City and began to carry large quantities of baggage.
Siege machinery.
These instruments were made secretly by Yuan Xi when Ju Shou and Xu You took office together.
These things were much smaller than ordinary siege equipment, and of course their power was also much reduced. Jushou and Xu You didn't know why at the time, but they still built them honestly and hid them in Beixin City.
Although these instruments are not big, they are quite numerous. If it were not for the many craftsmen among the refugees in Beixin City, Yuan Xi might not be able to complete them when he returns.
When Yuan Xi was about to leave, he sent a message to Guo Jia, so Beixin City mobilized most of its labor force and transported the engineering equipment into Montenegro day and night to the place where the two armies faced off.
When the local assembly began, everyone began to discover that these small equipment were specially built for the complex terrain in the mountains!
Because of its small size, it can be set up on a hillside.
The width is very narrow, but the wheels are very large, which is suitable for pushing the car up the mountain road.
It's like a watchtower that has only two legs but can be placed diagonally on a tree trunk.
Everything is for fighting in the mountains!
Along with them, there were thousands of civilians who could control the equipment.
The combined strength of these people and Tian Yu's troops had the effect of one plus one greater than two, so hundreds of catapults and cloud towers were set up and bombarded the Heishan military camp.
The Montenegrin Army was hesitant at first, and its offensive towards the opponent always slowed down. It turned out that the Youzhou Army did not stop its offensive at night!
After being harassed all night, they endured sleepiness and angrily launched a counterattack the next morning.
However, although the Black Mountain Army had a large number of people, the narrow mountain roads and steep hillsides made it impossible for them to move forward at all. Instead, they were blocked by the well-equipped Youzhou Army based on the camp fortifications. Flying rocks and wood kept breaking into the Black Mountain Army's formation, making it difficult for them to move forward. There were heavy casualties.
The Black Mountain Army no longer had Yang Feng in charge, and Dahong, who liked to charge into battle, was dead. After a day of attacking, they made no progress, but suffered a lot of losses, so they were forced to retreat.
The leaders of the Black Mountain Army didn't sleep well the night before, and they fought for another day the next day. Naturally, everyone was tired. I thought the Youzhou Army was the same, so both sides should have a good rest at night, right?
As a result, that night, the leader of the Montenegrin army was attacked by fire bombs including catapults, and the camp was filled with flames.
Fortunately, there were several small streams in the Black Mountain military camp. By the time the soldiers finished extinguishing the fire, it was already dawn and everyone was exhausted.
A Black Mountain general was extremely angry and wanted to pull out his soldiers to fight to the death with the Youzhou Army. However, he was persuaded by others, saying that everyone was sleepy and morale was low. They couldn't win yesterday, so what's going to happen today?
Yu Digen said: "The ferocious tiger's men are extremely cunning. They used tricks to trick us before, but now they want to tire us out and take the opportunity to defeat us!"
"They will not let us rest. I suggest the entire army retreat a few dozen miles to rest."
Someone laughed and said: "Then you fell into the trap, not us!"
"If Commander Yang comes back and finds that we can't defeat a mere two thousand people, where will our face be?"
Yu Digen blushed, "Why do you care about face now?"
"Even if we can't retreat all of them, we still have to retreat half of them. After we have rested, we will come back to change defense and let the people in front of us rest!"
"Otherwise, how can we fight this battle if we can't sleep well?"
Someone said depressedly: "It's so fucking weird. More than 10,000 of us are being forced to sleep by more than 2,000 people!"
"Aren't they tired?"
After hearing this, everyone nodded, puzzled in their hearts.
But they were really right, the Youzhou Army really took turns changing defenses and resting.
However, in order to get a good night's sleep away from the battlefield, the tired soldiers came off the battlefield and let the mules pull the carts to rest ten miles behind. Then they came back with the mules and rested on the spot.
On the mountain road behind the Youzhou Army, the only people who couldn't get any rest were the hundreds of mules and horses that worked day and night to transport soldiers. They were really using the mules and horses as mules.
Along the way there were constantly exhausted mules and horses, which were skinned and deboned and turned into rations for the soldiers.
Mules and horses are not human beings. People need rest, but mules and horses don't. They just need to work.
This kind of Yuan Xi benefited from the inspiration of the reactionaries of later generations. Even in feudal society, this act was considered unconscionable. However, it won the sergeant valuable time and energy, and gradually dragged the Montenegrin Army into the quagmire.
On the fourth night, after the Montenegrin army suffered a larger night attack, the soldiers began to collapse and blow up the camp.
Taking advantage of the chaos, they escaped from the burned camp fence and rushed into the vast mountains and forests, just to get a good sleep.
There were so many people running away, and they were so exhausted, that many of them even fell asleep shortly after running away, regardless of what was happening in the camp behind them.
So when Tian Yu led people to clean the battlefield the next day, he found people lying all over the mountains and plains. Many of them were not dead, but sleeping soundly.
As soon as the soldiers bombed the camp, the Montenegrin generals knew that something was wrong. They tried their best to calm down, but who in the darkness could save such a chaotic situation?
At this time, Yu Digen and others saw the Youzhou army opening the gate of the village and preparing to attack with the whole army. Knowing that the situation was over, they quickly fled back.
So with Guo Jia in charge and planning, and Tian Yu leading the troops and supervising the battle, the Montenegro Army only lasted four days before the entire line collapsed.
The Black Mountain Army trampled on each other at night, leaving corpses everywhere, and food supplies were thrown all over the mountain. Tian Yu took the opportunity to lead people to cover up and kill for twenty miles. Guo Jia feared that there would be a loss, so he ordered his troops to retreat.
While cleaning the battlefield, the two of them established companies and camps on the mountains along the way according to their previous plan, preparing to slowly approach the hinterland of Black Mountain, open the central pass, and join forces with Yan Rou.
Yuan Xi calculated the time when the Black Mountain Army collapsed. It happened to be when she was fighting with Yang Feng. She didn't know whether Yang Feng was dead or alive. Anyway, even if she rushed back, she would be unable to save herself.
Yuan Xi checked the records counted by Guo Jia and found that although the Youzhou Army also had many casualties, it was much better than the Black Mountain Army.
Of course, this was due to the fact that Yuan Xi's soldiers had complete armor and weapons and a limited number of equipment, but the most important thing was that he asked Hua Tuo to bring free medical doctors with the army this time. As soon as any soldiers were injured, they would immediately start treating them.
Although free study carries the word "righteousness", it is definitely not free without reservation. At least in the future selection for official positions, participating in medical practice and treatment will be a hard condition.
In particular, medical doctors in the military are a bonus. Medical doctors who want to show their ambitions in the voluntary education cannot be avoided.
Hua Tuo also told Yuan Xi, "My ambition is to exhaust all medical skills, cure diseases and save people, and write a medical book that can be handed down from generation to generation, so that I can follow the young master to go into danger personally."
"However, not everyone who studies medical skills can think like me. Maybe they are just making ends meet."
"If they insist on not going to the battlefield, how will you punish them?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi pondered for a while and said, "Then let them fend for themselves."
Hua Tuo was surprised when he heard this, "That's it?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "That's good."
"As long as they don't use medical skills to harm people, our efforts will not be in vain."
"In the rest of their lives, as long as they can cure diseases and save people and spread their medical skills, even if only one person can be saved, it is enough."
"When you sow seeds, some will bloom, and some won't even germinate. Even if you harvest, the fruits will come in different sizes."
"But it can't be said that they didn't work hard. Sometimes they just have different circumstances."
“I only hope that my husband and I’s efforts will bear fruit on this land in the future, allowing more people to taste the fruits.”
After hearing this, Hua Tuo stroked his beard and laughed and said, "I understand what the young master means."
"I will try my best to live as long as possible and see how far the young master can go."
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Swords have no eyes on the battlefield, so sir, you should take care of yourself."
After hearing this, Hua Tuo said with lingering fear: "Don't mention it!"
"That day, there was a hail of arrows from both sides. Several arrows shot through the tent and grazed my body and penetrated into the ground. It almost made me pee!"
"My disciples and I are all wearing hemp clothes, but we don't have to go through Liuya!"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi slapped his head and said, "This is an oversight on my part. Next time there is a war, I will mobilize a few covered flat cars to provide cover for the doctors when they are treating them."
Such details were gradually discovered during Yuan Xi's marches and battles, and Yuan Xi wrote them into his military training methods. He believed that one day, he would train his sergeants into a unique army. army.
The news that the Black Mountain Army, which consisted of nearly half of the elite North Road Front Army, was defeated by the Youzhou Army, quickly spread to several nearby counties.
People who had thoughts about Montenegro suddenly became anxious.
Yuan Shang sat in the tent, slapped the bamboo slips on the table, and said dissatisfied to his subordinates: "It's just Dong Wuyang. After fighting for so many days, why can't it be defeated?"
"What would Father think of me if he knew about it?"
The ugly Zhang He and Gao Lan were all present in the tent, and some people thought that what should be done? A big city like Dongwuyang is not easy to fight in the first place.
Zang Hong was quite popular in the city, and he was determined to destroy the cauldron. Under desperate defense, even Hebei Santingzhu was unable to do anything for the moment.
Attacking and defending a city is basically a matter of grinding meat. Most of the time, it just depends on which side will be cut off of food first, and there is no rush.
Yuan Shang originally thought that after capturing Dongwuyang, he would still have time to go to Montenegro to take advantage. When he heard that Yuan Xi had broken through the northern line of the Montenegro Army, he immediately lost his composure.
(End of chapter)
