Chapter 2603: Deng Qiang guards Zang Da, Liu Yu VS Chi You
"General..."
The officers and soldiers of the Shu army who were responsible for breaking up the rear saw that their beloved old general Yan Yan was killed by Zhu Rong. Instead of losing their fighting spirit and surrendering, they became excited and charged towards Zhu Rong with roars.
A difference flashed in Zhu Rong's eyes. After all, in previous battles, once the Shu army's leader was killed, the lower-level soldiers would basically surrender, but in Yan Yan's case, it completely angered these Shu army.
This also shows that although Yan Yan's strength is not very good, he is still very popular among the soldiers in the army.
Zhu Rong didn't pay attention to this. He brandished his flaming knife and prepared to kill this group of Shu soldiers who were stubbornly resisting. They were completely frightened.
Although there are only 500 cavalrymen in the Southern Kingdom, only a quarter of the Shu army, they are all cavalry. The cavalry has a great advantage against infantry, not to mention the presence of Zhu Rong, the god of war with a base of 106.
Under the leadership of Zhu Rong, the Nanguo army penetrated the Shu army and charged back and forth for five rounds, killing all those who dared to resist. It also made another thousand people completely frightened and knelt down to surrender.
After Zhu Rong captured nearly a thousand Shu troops, he counted the casualties and found that the dead and wounded cavalry were less than thirty.
After this battle, Zhu Rong finally understood why his elder brother wanted to form cavalry at all costs. The advantage of cavalry over infantry in field battles was indeed too great.
Zhu Rong left a hundred cavalry to guard the prisoners, and then led the rest to continue the pursuit, but unfortunately it was still a step too late.
When Zhu Rong chased Qielan City, Deng Qiang had already entered the city. Holding Yan Yan's sword, he took over the command of the garrison in the city.
"Listen to the Shu troops in the city. Yan Yan has been killed by this general. Our southern army will arrive in the near future. Those who know the truth should open the city and surrender as soon as possible. Otherwise, when the city is breached, no trace of armor will be left."
Zhu Rong held up Yan Yan's head and shouted towards Qielan City.
When the defenders on the city tower saw that what the barbarian general below was holding was really the head of the prefect, they immediately exploded, with curses, wails, and restless sounds everywhere.
Zhu Rong smiled knowingly when he saw this, and his mind-attacking tactics were beginning to bear fruit.
After Deng Qiang saw Yan Yan's head, even though he had a premonition in his heart, he still felt dizzy. If Deng Xian hadn't caught him in time, he almost stumbled and fell.
Just as Deng Qiang fell into grief, the defenders in the city were filled with sadness and grief.
Zhu Ling, the magistrate of Qielan County, said with a fearful expression: "The barbarian army's offensive was too fierce. In just a few days, they defeated three cities and even the governor Yan died in the battle. Qielan City may not be able to be defended, so why not... …”
Before he finished speaking, a long sword passed through his chest directly from behind, and the person holding the sword was Deng Qiang.
After Zhu Ling turned around with difficulty, when he saw it was Deng Qiang, his eyes were full of disbelief. He couldn't believe that Deng Qiang dared to kill him.
"Deng Qiang, you are, below, the offender. I am the magistrate of Qielan County, the legitimate son of the Zhu family, and you actually kill me."
Deng Qiang ignored Zhu Ling at all. After scanning the crowd, he said in a cold voice: "Anyone who dares to surrender and disrupts the morale of our army will be killed by this general regardless of his origin or official position."
After saying this, Deng Qiang drew his sword and then added another sword, completely ending Zhu Ling's pain.
Deng Qiang held Yan Yan's sword and walked to the battlements. Luck roared at Chi You outside the city: "Qilan will never surrender to the barbarians even if he fights to the last soldier. If you want to attack the city, let's try it. "
Not only Zhu Rong heard this, but also most of the Shu troops in Chenglou.
Because of Yan Yan's death, many Shu soldiers were in mourning. After hearing Deng Qiang's words, they even shouted: "Never surrender."
The roar echoed across the sky.
Zhu Rong showed a solemn look, and after some reflection, he decisively decided to withdraw his troops and go to join Gonggong.
After Zhu Rong returned from victory and joined Gonggong, the 30,000 main army quickly arrived at Qielan City, and Deng Qiang had already made some preparations to defend the city.
After Gonggong general Qielan surrounded three men and one was missing, he sent people again to persuade them to surrender. As a result, the city only responded with a hail of arrows.
Gonggong had no choice but to prepare for a strong attack. As a result, the Nanguo East Route Army, which had been invincible since the beginning of the war, hit a wall again under Qielan City.
[Ding dong, Deng Qiang's skill 'Copper Wall' effect 2 is activated. When defending the city, the commander +2, the morale and combat power of the whole army...are partially improved.
Deng Qiang: Commander 98, Force 103, Intelligence 92, Politics 85, Charisma 96;
The current commander-in-chief of Deng Qiang has increased to 100;]
When Deng Qiang's skill 'Bronze Wall' is activated, his commanding attribute reaches as high as 100 points. Whether it is his commanding ability or his ability to defend the city, he is much better than Yan Yan.
When Gonggong captured the third city, he was in a tough battle against Yan Yan, let alone Deng Qiang, who commanded 100 people, and Qielan City, the most defensive city in Zanggao.
Gonggong attacked Qielan City for three days. Even though he personally participated in the siege, he still failed to break the city and instead lost more than a thousand soldiers.
Seeing that the reinforcements of the Shu Army were approaching, and there was not much time left for the Southern Army, Gonggong did not want to waste time under Qielan City. He planned to attack the cities that were easy to break first, and then go back to deal with the isolated city of Qielan.
Gonggong left 12,000 troops to Zhu Rong and ordered him to surround Qielan City, while he himself led the remaining troops to continue the attack, striving to completely occupy everything except Qielan before the large Shu army arrived. The whole territory of Xangqi County.
The 150,000-strong army of the Southern Kingdom was divided into three groups to attack Shu. However, all three groups of armies were completely victorious. They captured ten counties of Shu and killed and captured nearly 30,000 Shu soldiers, including Wu Yi, Yan Yan, and Liu Hui. , Ma Han and other thirteen generals died in the battle.
After the news came back to Chengdu, the Shu Han court was in an uproar. Liu Yu, including Liu Yu, couldn't believe that the situation in southern Shu had suddenly deteriorated to this extent.
Liu Yu was worried that the garrison in southern Shu could not stop the southern barbarians, so he sent Zhou Bo with an army of 30,000 to support him.
The Shu Han deployed 100,000 defenders on the southern front. Against the 150,000 Southern Barbarian Army, even if they couldn't defeat them in a field battle, they should still be able to defend the city for a year and a half.
But what no one expected was that in less than ten days, 30,000 troops were lost, and ten cities and nearly two counties were lost.
"Hmph, what does Wu Yi do for a living? An army of 15,000 can't stop the Southern Barbarian Army for five days. It's like a loser." Kong Peng couldn't help but curse.
As soon as this statement came out, many people frowned.
Zhang Song, who was close to Wu Yi, stood up to avenge him and said: "General Kong's words are wrong. Although Wu Yi did not defend Jianning, he held on to the last moment and passed on a large amount of important information, which made him Our army will not suffer losses again."
"Hmph, that doesn't change the fact that he held an army of fifteen thousand, but failed to hold Jianning for five days." Kong Peng said with disdain.
"you……"
Zhang Song, Wu Lan and other Wu Yi's former friends glared at Kong Peng, but Kong Peng naturally didn't care at all.
Seeing this, Su Qin stood up and intervened: "Okay, if Wu Yi is defeated, it can be attributed to his own incompetence, but all three routes were defeated, and Prefect Yan Yan also died in the battle. It cannot be that all the prefects of the three counties are incompetent. .
We have to admit that today's Southern Barbarian Army is indeed different from what it used to be, and its combat power is stronger than before. "
"Yes, the news sent back by General Wu Yi said that the Southern Barbarians were not only equipped with steel swords and armors, but also powerful crossbows and catapults. How could the Southern Barbarians have these weapons and equipment in the past?" Shen Shiqi said in a deep voice. .
"Where did the Southern Barbarians get so much sophisticated equipment?" Qiao Zhou asked in confusion.
"Do you still need to ask? It must have been provided by Bao Qin." Liu Zhang said.
Everyone kept talking, but couldn't come up with any useful suggestions, which made Liu Yu extremely irritable.
Liu Yu angrily slapped the dragon chair and said loudly: "Shut up, everyone."
For a moment, there was silence in the court hall.
"Let's talk about it. The Qin Dynasty and the Southern Barbarians have joined forces to invade. Both the north and the south are in danger. How should I, the Han Dynasty, respond? Should we focus on the southern front or the northern front?" Liu Yu asked.
This is also a problem that Shuhan must solve currently.
The situation on the southern front of Shuhan was not good, and the situation on the northern front was not good either.
Although the Qin army's offensive was fierce, it only relied on equipment and had not yet launched an attack on the city. Therefore, the number of soldiers who died in Yangping Pass every day was not too many, only four to five hundred on average, and no more than a thousand at most.
According to this method of fighting, even if the Shu army fights for a month, it will only lose 15,000 men. The Shu Han can naturally afford it, but the supplies are consumed too quickly.
Although the Nanguo Army's offensive in southern Shu was very fierce, compared with the Qin Army's offensive at Yangping Pass, it was not at the same level.
The combined supplies consumed by the 150,000 Nanman army in southern Shu were not as much as the consumption of Qin and Shu in the three days at Yangping Pass.
The Qin army spent 10,000 stone bombs, 500 jars of kerosene, and 100,000 crossbow arrows every day at Yangping Pass...
In order not to be suppressed and unable to raise its head, the Shu army must also fight back without regard to consumption. Although the materials consumed are not as much as the Qin army, it is an astronomical figure for the Shu army.
This was the result of Zhang Ren and Liu Er sparingly, even reusing the stone bullets and crossbow arrows thrown by the Qin army that were not completely broken.
Under this cost-regardless style of play, both Qin and Shu's offensive and defensive equipment were depleted.
On average, the Qin army destroyed fifty catapults, twenty wells, hundreds of bed crossbows, etc. every day, while the Shu army also had one-half of the Qin army.
But the Qin army has four states of Si, Yong, Liang, and He behind it, and there is a steady stream of resources provided, so there is no need to worry about the consumption of supplies, while the Shu army only has one state, Yizhou.
Liu Yu had gathered all the craftsmen in Hanzhong and transferred a thousand people from Chengdu. They worked overtime to make catapults and various crossbows, but they still couldn't keep up with the consumption and damage of materials.
As for why not transport supplies from Sichuan? Naturally, because the road to Shu is difficult and the transportation cost is too high, it is better to use local materials to manufacture it.
But if consumption continues at this rate, the city defense materials hoarded by the Shu Han in Yangping Pass can only last for two months at most before they are exhausted. What will the Shu army in Hanzhong use to defend the city by then?
Therefore, regardless of the situation on the northern line, it is not as dangerous as the southern line for the time being, but once it cannot be sustained, the situation will only be worse on the southern line. That would be even more dangerous.
After all, if southern Shu is occupied by the southern barbarians, the Shu Han will still have a chance to take it back.
But once Hanzhong was occupied by Da Qin, it was basically impossible for Shu Han to take it back.
Although the Qin army only had 100,000 troops and did not occupy a single city in Shu, the pressure it brought to the entire Shu kingdom was much greater than that of the 150,000 Southern Barbarians.
"Your Majesty, it is precisely because the Qin army is more difficult to deal with that I think we should move from south to north first, deal with the southern barbarians first, and then concentrate our forces to deal with the Qin army."
Next, Su Qin expressed his views: First, the Southern Barbarian Army was easier to deal with than the Qin Army.
Second, the strength of the Southern Barbarians is far inferior to that of the Shu Kingdom. If they are attrition, they will be defeated sooner or later.
Third, Shu also has Chu as an ally, which can attack the southern barbarians from a flank.
Fourth, the Shu army in southern Shu alone can no longer stop the southern barbarians. The longer the delay, the greater the losses.
five……
Su Qin stated eight major benefits to the Southern Barbarians first, and was recognized by everyone including Liu Yu.
After some discussion, Liu Yu decided to lead his army southward and deal with Chi You first.
The Shu Han originally had an army of 250,000, of which 100,000 were in southern Shu and 80,000 in Hanzhong. There were still 70,000 fresh troops in Shu.
Under the fierce attack of the Nanman Army, the Shu Army in southern Shu lost 30,000 people and was reduced to 70,000.
To deal with the 150,000 Southern Barbarian Army, at least 250,000 Shu troops are needed, but Chengdu only has 70,000 fresh troops. Even sending all of them is not enough. Moreover, Liu Yu cannot possibly send the last 70,000 elite troops. Take them all to Shunan.
Although the Qin Army currently only has 100,000 troops on the northern front, it does not mean that the Qin Army only has 100,000 troops. Once the situation changes, the Qin Army can increase its troops at any time, so Liu Yu must leave some troops in case of emergency.
After much thought, Liu Yu decided to lead 50,000 elite troops southward, leaving 20,000 fresh troops for the northern front. With the dangers of Hanzhong and Yangping Pass, 100,000 troops were enough to hold off the 200,000 Qin army.
With 50,000 elites, plus 70,000 Shunan troops, the southern front only has an army of 130,000, which is still 120,000 short of 250,000.
As for where the other 120,000 troops came from?
It's actually very simple.
Liu Yu recruited 40,000 county soldiers from the counties in central Sichuan and another 100,000 new soldiers from the new troops.
The Shu Han Dynasty has only recently launched the extreme army expansion mode, but it has already been expanding its army. In addition to the 250,000 veterans, there are also 200,000 recruits being trained.
Among these new recruits, 100,000 have been trained for three months and are ready to go to the battlefield.
Naturally, it would not be possible to fight the Southern Barbarians in the field with these new soldiers, but it would still be possible to defend the city and control ordnance.
Liu Yu now has no time to let the new recruits grow slowly through training. He can only let them hone themselves in the flames of war. The fittest will survive and the survivors will naturally be veterans.
In this way, Liu Yu personally led 50,000 elites, 50,000 county soldiers, and 100,000 recruits, a total of 200,000 troops, to go south.
Coupled with the 70,000 troops in southern Shu, it means that once Liu Yu arrives, Chi You will face a siege of 270,000 Shu troops.
