Shandong has entered winter. Although the wind and snow have not yet arrived, the cold wind has arrived without warning. Howling like a knife, the cotton wool all over his body was as useless as a burden, being beaten by the biting wind.
Whenever a war is fought, the generals are not willing to delay it until winter. Whether it is marching or fighting, it has become a big problem. The health of the sergeants cannot be protected. Before the battle begins, a group of brave warriors have been killed by the weather. Death.
However, at this time, it was no longer a question that the generals of both sides thought about. The war had entered a precarious state. No one was willing to let go of the slightest chance. The opportunity was fleeting, and in the blink of an eye, everything was lost. They could only grit their teeth and fight on.
The fatigue of the long journey made these elite cavalry under the King of Han feel tired. Not only were they tired, but the horses they sat on were no longer willing to move forward. The warm blood they had during the expedition was chilled by the cold wind. The soldiers whipped them with riding whips, and the war horses marched reluctantly while humming white steam.
"This is a slap in the face."
A Qianhu officer in the Han Dynasty army was fed up with the exhausting and boring journey, and complained, "I have fought in all my life, but I have never fought such a frustrating battle. Running east and west, crossing the Yellow River, and climbing over mountains, We finally reached Shanghe, but we were ordered to withdraw before the battle even started. Our base was surrounded by the enemy. Why is this battle becoming more and more unreliable!"
The colleague comforted him: "It's better to stop talking about this kind of gossip. Who wouldn't? I'm also annoyed in my heart, but I just say it in my heart. I can't let others hear it."
The Qianhu said angrily: "I have one of my men to test the Hundred Houses. This man is born with supernatural powers, and his arms can move horses. As soon as he goes to the battlefield, his eyes are blood red and he wields a knife to kill thousands of enemies. If he was not involved in this matter, he should have been repeatedly A fierce general who had made great achievements in war, he would be able to lead an army of thousands of people in the future and make the foreign races fearful. Guess what, he fell ill two days ago. The military doctor said that he was infected with cold and died like this. .”
The colleague sighed: "Hey, the cold is a big or small problem. If treated properly, it will be cured overnight, but if left alone, it will kill people invisibly. In the past two days, several people have died under my command. , it’s all like this, and he died of illness inexplicably before he even went to the battlefield, it’s hard to go against God’s will.”
"It's hard to go against God's will. It's clearly the gap between commanders!" Qianhuguan said angrily, "The army of King Qi is just walking us like a dog. We have to walk a hundred steps for his army to take one step. You have to be in front of others. How is this battle fought? If you fight with real swords and guns, who will be afraid of whom? These brothers under me all followed me to crawl out from the dead. When fighting, I am afraid that the general will be Trash, isn't it just showing how incompetent those people above are?"
The colleague was startled: "Don't say this nonsense!"
"What can't be said nonsense? The ordinary sergeants below don't know how this battle started. Officers like you and I are as clear as a mirror!"
Qianhu sneered and said, "It's just that Prince Han rebelled and pulled us to rebel together. That's all for rebellion. Back then, I followed His Majesty to fight a peace crisis, but who was the commander-in-chief at that time? The commander-in-chief at that time. Your Majesty, General Zhang Yu, Duke Rong, and General Zhu Neng, Duke Cheng, are both famous marshals and good generals. The people commanding us now are all losers like Jin Rong. Are they worthy? Let me see, this battle There is no suspense. I have heard of King Qi’s reputation for a long time. He has defeated two countries in many battles and won many battles. In terms of prowess and military prowess, he is no less than your Majesty today. How can we fight this?"
The King of Han's army has begun to have subtle cracks from within. Although this crack is not eye-catching, if it is allowed to develop, it will only get bigger and bigger, and even eventually fall apart.
When there is a disharmony between interests and risks between the top management and the grassroots, it is not prominent in good times, but once they fall into adversity, they will have disagreements and become strangers to each other.
Qian Huguan wanted to say something more, but suddenly there was a sound of exclamation. Thousands of voices on the battlefield were like a mountain collapsing from the top, erupting with a thunderous sound.
He looked up and saw that the arrows were densely packed like a black shower, covering the sky, and the despair it brought was suffocating.
"The commander-in-chief gap, the commander-in-chief gap!"
This Qianhu closed his eyes in despair. He could use his heels to figure out what happened. The Han army who was anxious to return to Le'an never thought that King Qi had already hidden an ambush on their way back.
…
"Eight thousand elite cavalry, the entire army was wiped out?"
The King of Han looked like he was in danger, his face turned pale, he was shocked and angry, "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"It is absolutely impossible for King Qi to set up an ambush here. Please ask where this is. This is the Binzhou area. It is the most important area on the battlefield. It is far away from Le'an and Jinan. Unless King Qi has ambushed the main force in advance. In Binzhou, otherwise he wouldn't have the time to ambush, let alone an ambush, even if he was on the road, he wouldn't have time!"
Su Qing said weakly: "Your Majesty, this is a fact. King Qi's main force is hidden in Binzhou."
The King of Han was a little unbelievable: "If King Qi's main force is in Binzhou, then Jihuo Lean..."
"King Qi didn't go to Le'an at all."
Su Qing said desperately, "He has already left Jinan and rushed to the Qidong front in person. The two thousand remnants of the Jining Guard went around to Zichuan and headed for Le'an. It was just a pretense to attract our attention and make us think that King Qi's The main force has already gone to attack Le'an. In fact, it was just the Jining Guards who entered Qingzhou. King Qi never thought of attacking Le'an. When we arrived at Shanghe, King Qi had also led Qi Dong's army The main force of the imperial army arrived in Binzhou and set up an ambush in Binzhou. As soon as we arrived in Binzhou, the cavalry was fired upon by King Qi's main force and the entire army was annihilated."
"In fact, from the beginning, even when he gave up the front line at the junction of Jinan and Qingzhou, we have been brought into his rhythm, step by step towards the pit dug by King Qi, even though we have been After making changes and trying to break away from this rhythm, it still doesn’t help, but it leads to death more quickly.”
King Han's heart dropped. Just when he thought he was desperate enough, even more desperate news came.
"Your Majesty! The enemy attacked our rear. Because the battle line was too long, it was difficult for the rest of the troops to support us. Our artillery is gone!"
Hanwang's brain short-circuited and he felt his vision go dark. All the strength in his body was drained and he fell down uncontrollably.
"Your Majesty!"
…
In the commander's camp in Binzhou, Zhu Gaojie looked at the sand table simulating the battlefield situation and waved. Su Wen understood this and reached out to pull out all the Han King's cavalry and artillery on the sand table.
"Cavalry and artillery are the teeth of the tiger King Han. Without the teeth, do you think he is still a tiger?"
Zhu Gaojie smiled and said, "In my eyes, he is already a withered bone in the grave."
Su Wen said with admiration: "Your Majesty, this plan is really long-term. He lured the King of Han into a trap step by step. Although the King of Han kept trying to change the direction of the war and used strange tricks many times, he didn't know that every step he took was in your calculation, Your Majesty." , and in the end we took down the eight thousand most elite cavalry of the King of Han without any effort."
"But..." Su Wen asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, if we concentrate our main force on Le'an, wouldn't the benefits be greater? If we can capture Le'an directly, our army will have cut off the King of Han's hope of victory. The war was fought for logistical supplies. The King of Han could only rely on Le'an for logistics. After our army captured Le'an, the King of Han was trapped and homeless. Cutting off the supplies also eliminated his way of survival. But after our army captured Le'an, the King of Han was left homeless. Decide the outcome in one fell swoop.”
Zhu Gaojie smiled and said: "At first glance, you have never read Sun Tzu's Art of War."
"What?" Su Wen was a little confused, "What does this have to do with Sun Tzu's Art of War?"
Zhu Gaojie said leisurely: "There is an explanation in Sun Tzu's Art of War: a cornered animal still fights, a dog jumps over the wall in a hurry, the enemy is in a desperate situation, don't rush to approach, don't force him to have no way out, otherwise he will fight to the death with you. Excessively forcing the enemy into a desperate situation will be harmful to the enemy. Killing them all will only make them fight back at the last moment, hurting both sides and endangering themselves. As long as you achieve the goal of defeating the enemy, there is no need to kill them all."
If Zhu Gaojie directly captured Le'an, although this would cut off the King of Han's way of survival, it would not have any impact on the army led by the King of Han. At least for a short period of time, the King of Han could still maintain constant combat power.
After the King of Han knew that he had no way out, he would definitely not accept his fate where he was. Instead, he would go to Zhu Gaojiao to find his troops and make a last-ditch counterattack. He would risk his life to take a bite out of Zhu Gaojiao's body.
If that were the case, it would be a big loss for Zhu Gaojie. He obviously had a better way to deal with the King of Han, so there was no need to go to such extreme lengths.
The pattern is different.
…
"Look at the pattern of King Qi, and then look at the pattern of the beast King Han, you can see how big the gap is between the two."
Zhu Di beamed with joy after seeing the battle report, and his heart that had been melancholy for many days was finally replaced by joy.
He was not happy that King Qi had suppressed the King of Han, but he was admiring King Qi's strategy and attitude in this battle.
The rebellion of the King of Han was just a joke in the eyes of His Majesty the Emperor.
He himself was the protagonist in the last crisis. He knew very well how difficult it was for the vassal king to rebel in the prosperous age when he only occupied one place. He still felt scared when he thought about it.
The difficulty of King Han's rebellion was not even a little more difficult than Zhu Di's rebellion.
However, the King of Han himself did not seem to realize this. He felt that if the old man could do it, so could he. Although he knew that the probability of his success was not high, he always felt that he still had a chance.
This glimmer of opportunity was worth risking for the king of Han.
Zhu Di knew very well what King Han was thinking, and he knew better than King Han that the glimmer of opportunity in King Han's eyes was actually just an illusion.
Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor never felt any crisis. He was just admiring King Qi's wonderful tactics from the perspective of a bystander.
With half of the province's troops against half of the province's troops, King Qi used an ingenious strategy to kill Han's most offensive cavalry and artillery with minimal losses without having an advantage.
At the beginning of the war, King Qi took the initiative and captured the natural barrier of Zichuan, thus laying the groundwork for subsequent tactics. Later, he withdrew his troops to Qidong, showing that the enemy was weak and leading the Han king to go deeper. In fact, he built a plank road secretly to Chencang and took a detour from Zichuan to steal his home. The King of Han was forced to withdraw his troops, but he never expected that King Qi's real purpose was not to steal his family, but to chop off the King of Han's right-hand man.
The smooth deployment made Zhu Di couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It can be said that the youth is better than the master. When I was in my twenties, there was no one as cunning and wise as King Qi, and he became more and more proficient in the use of troops. When I was in Mo When we were in the north, I even felt a sense of sympathy for each other. But now, within a few years, I feel that his military skills are already better than mine."
"As for the luck of the generals in the world, King Qi has five dou, I have four and a half dou, Zhang Fu has one dou, and the rest owes half a dou."
If Zhu Di were King Qi, it would not be impossible for him to use these tactics, but he would definitely not be as smooth as King Qi. Linked to each other, every step counts.
What’s even more frightening is that until now, King Qi seems to have not used all his strength?
…
King Han slowly opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling tiredly.
"Su Qing..."
"I'm here."
Su Qing came over quickly and said, "Your Majesty, the doctor said that your heart and lungs were poisoned by fire. It will take two or three months to recover, but during this period you must not be angry again."
The King of Han asked in confusion: "Two or three months of recovery? Do we still have two or three months?"
Su Qing was silent.
Although the King of Han was also a famous general, his use of troops was very limited. What the King of Han was best at was cavalry. The cavalry he led were the sharpest spears.
Now, the spear is gone.
Not only the cavalry was wiped out, but also the artillery.
His army had lost its offensive nature. Although the infantry did not suffer many casualties, this also meant that the King of Han's army no longer had much mobility and was unable to fight an efficient offensive battle.
The King of Han asked weakly: "During the time when I was unconscious, did King Qi do anything?"
Su Qing replied: "King Qi completely occupied the western area of Binzhou with his army, and the army stationed in Jinan also took out a guard and stationed it in Shanghe together with the Dezhou left guard."
The King of Han analyzed: "Humph, does King Qi want to start a decisive battle with our army in Binzhou? I will not let him succeed. After passing the order, our army withdrew from Binzhou and stationed in Wuding Prefecture to avoid its attack for the time being. Being stuck between King Qi's defense lines prevents them from completing the combined forces, thus sapping the morale of King Qi's side."
Although defeated, the King of Han calmed down at this time and made what he thought was a rational judgment.
Little did he know that Zhu Gaojie burst out laughing when he heard the news: "Su Wen, the King of Han has fallen into a trap again!"
"Quickly pass the order to our army, leaving one guard in Binzhou to continue to confuse the King of Han. The remaining troops will seize Hengtai, Changshan, Tianzhen, Putai, Lijin in the shortest time, and complete the six-point-one-line with Zichuan, tidal tactics , cut off the connection between the King of Han and Qingzhou!"
These five cities had been in a state of contention before, but Zhu Gaojie withdrew from the battle line and gave up the competition. Because if he keeps fighting like that, even if he captures these five cities, the casualties will be staggering.
But now that the main force of the Han Dynasty is shrinking in Wuding Prefecture, Zhu Gaojie can easily capture five cities, cut off the connection between the Han Dynasty and Qingzhou, and cannibalize the remaining main force of the Han Dynasty step by step!
If the previous ambush in Binzhou pushed the King of Han into the coffin, then taking the five cities now would put a coffin board on the coffin of the King of Han!
(End of chapter)
