Chen Hu, who was in the middle of the queue, was very depressed. If he had followed the previous practice, he would have charged at the forefront, but that was not feasible now. Because the Perak Army has introduced a system that stipulates that except under special circumstances, military commanders are strictly prohibited from rushing to the front in battle. This regulation was introduced because Ouyang Xuan discovered that the officers of the Perak Army liked to fight on the front line, but often forgot their role as commanders. Taking the lead can boost the morale of the army, but if command is neglected and tactical capabilities are reduced, the gains outweigh the losses. This problem is not obvious in battles with few people, but as the Perak Army continues to grow and develop, if the officers cannot find their own position, this will be a fatal problem.
Ouyang Xuan required officers to only be in the middle or front center of the queue during battle. This was also to avoid excessive casualties among junior officers in future battles. Most of the soldiers in the agricultural era were illiterate, indifferent to the concept of family and country, and had poor political, ideological, technical and tactical qualities. Once officers were lost, the team would easily collapse in battle. The requirements for officers in the firearms era are higher than those in the cold weapon era, and it is more difficult to train a qualified officer and the cycle is longer. Now that the Perak Army is rapidly expanding, the shortage of qualified officers has given Ouyang Xuan a headache, and he cannot afford the high casualty rate among officers. The introduction of such regulations is only a last resort. Ouyang Xuan knew that personnel training required a long process, and there was nothing he could do in a hurry. He has asked Yu Zhu to set up a teaching company in the garrison camp and start training squad, platoon commanders and other grassroots officers.
When it was only more than a hundred meters away from the new annexed army in Dayi, Chen Hu ordered the entire company to stop and move into a defensive position. Due to the narrow mountain road, the soldiers of the Perak Army could only stand three to five people in each row even in a tight formation. The soldiers in the first three rows squatted half-crouched holding shields, the soldiers in the three rows immediately behind held their spears forward at an angle, and the soldiers behind took out grenades and prepared to throw them. The reason why artillery was not used for the first bombardment this time was that the accuracy of the Perak Army's artillery was not high enough. It was very difficult to hit the narrow mountain road. Most of the artillery shells would fall under the cliff, which was not as convenient as grenades. Secondly, Chen Hu felt that he could defeat the two hundred men of the newly attached army with just one charge from a high position, without wasting ammunition at all. This thing is not cheap.
When Zhao Shicai saw the Perak troops lining up on the mountain road, he felt contempt in his heart. In his opinion, the commander of this Thunderbolt Army was a complete fool. Why go out of the village to fight on the narrow mountain road instead of waiting for work under the protection of the village wall? I heard that the so-called Thunderbolt Army was just developed from a Xiang Army food collection team, and those officers were just military attaches without rank. Judging from their performance today, they are worthy of the name, and they are not comparable to someone with many years of experience like me. Military attache in the army.
Just when Zhao Shicai was about to order a charge, the rumble of artillery was heard from the direction of Wanjiabao at the foot of the mountain. The sudden sound of gunfire startled him. It is said that he has been a county lieutenant for many years, and he has also seen the thunder and sudden fire guns in the Southern Song Dynasty Forbidden Army. He saw several heavy cylindrical iron weapons on the walls and watchtowers of Wanjia Fortress, and guessed that these were the legendary artillery pieces. Although he didn't know how to use these iron lumps, he knew that gunpowder was definitely needed. However, his soldiers did not find any gunpowder in the fort. The soldiers he left behind to guard Wanjiapu had neither gunpowder nor artillery skills. The artillery fire at the foot of the mountain could be heard continuously. Could it be that the Perak Army was attacking Wanjiapu?
As Zhao Shicai expected, the sound of artillery fire at the foot of the mountain was indeed the work of the Perak Army, but they were not using artillery to attack Wanjiabao, but were bombarding the 400 new auxiliary troops from Qingcheng County who had belatedly arrived on the city walls and watchtowers. What Zhao Shicai never expected was that not long after he captured Wanjiabao, the Perak Army reoccupied Wanjiabao, and most of his one hundred men, except for a few who died in battle or escaped, were taken prisoner.
Although this Wanjia Fort is small, it is extremely strong. It is a fortress that cannot be opened by ten thousand people. It was just captured by the newly attached army and then recaptured by the Perak Army. It changed hands repeatedly within a day. How can it be such a child's play? ? In fact, all this is indeed not a coincidence, but something that Ouyang Xuan has planned for a long time.
It turned out that when Xiong Ben raped old people, women and children in Yongkang County, and threatened businessmen, asking them to go to Wanjiaping together, the Pili Army learned of their plan to deceive Wanjiabao. As early as the formation of the Perak Army, Dong Hu set up intelligence bases in many prefectures and counties at the foot of the mountain and developed many informants. Among the Yongkang merchants who were coerced this time was a spy from the Pili Army, who immediately sent the news back to the mountains via flying pigeons. Combined with the warnings sent back by Dong Hu's other men that the Mongols were about to attack, Ouyang Xuan, Cao Ergou, Li Shuang, Yu Zhu and other senior Perak army officials discussed secretly and decided to use a trick to beat the enemy in order to avoid the Mongols. People began to covet the mountains again. After Wanjiabao was built, although the Mongols were defeated twice, they were defeated each time. In terms of actual results, they were not many. This time Ouyang Xuan decided to give the Mongols a three-step plan: inviting the king to the urn, beating the dog behind closed doors, and surprise attack on Hengyuan.
The first is to invite you into the trap. The difficulty of this plan is how to make the enemy not doubt that Wanjiapu is easily obtained. Of course, the combat plan is highly confidential. Only a few senior leaders of the Perak Army know about it, and it cannot even be known to the defenders of the Perak Army in Wanjiabao. That's why Yu Zhu carefully selected the loyal Shi Zhongzhu from the garrison camp to temporarily guard Wanjia Fort, and the nine soldiers who accompanied him were mostly kind-hearted people. Even if Shi Zhongzhu, who has mediocre abilities, does not fall into the enemy's trap, he still cannot defend the fortress with the strength of one squad of second-line troops. Of course, in order to reduce casualties as much as possible, Ouyang Xuan still let people hint at the stone center pillar. If he couldn't hold it, it would be better to take action.
After asking you to enter the urn, the most critical thing is how to recapture Wanjiapu, so as to form a closed-door and dog-fighting trend. The second company of the field battalion originally stationed in Wanjiabao was responsible for the task of closing the door. Before Shi Zhongzhu took his poor squad to take over the defense of Wanjiabao, Shi Zhongshu quietly hid in the basement of the fort with the members of the second company. As the core of mountain defense, Wanjiabao attached great importance to the supply of war supplies. For this reason, a huge underground warehouse was built in the fort to store military supplies such as grain, water, ammunition, and more. The underground warehouse has a huge space. If it is fully filled, it can supply the needs of a company of defenders for a year. Since most of the materials in the mountains are now used for the development of industry and mining, there are only a few materials in the warehouse. The remaining space is more than enough to accommodate a hundred people from the second company.
