Zhou Yu believed that the chariot formation had a defensive effect on the cavalry.
Therefore, Zhou Yu didn't think there was any problem with Zhang Fei's chariot formation. He even thought about whether to set up a chariot formation, but he couldn't build the chariot for a while.
But Zhou Yu also knew the weakness of the chariot formation. It could only defend but was weak in attack. Sooner or later it would be broken by the cavalry. But now it was naturally the right choice to use the chariot formation to delay time.
Moreover, if the chariot formation blocks the cavalry, even if it takes time, it will probably suffer heavy losses. This is also in line with Zhou Yu's purpose of weakening Liu Bei's army.
Therefore, in Zhou Yu's understanding, if Zhang Fei led a military vehicle array to block the road, even if it delayed time, he would inevitably suffer heavy casualties.
However, Zhou Yu saw that Zhang Fei not only blocked Cao Ren's cavalry, but also because Cao Ren divided his troops and the cavalry impact could not be combined, the two cavalry groups each suffered a decline in combat effectiveness after the war.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Fei did not simply rely on the car formation to stop the enemy. Instead, he arranged for 300 crossbowmen to shoot arrows continuously behind the car formation, using arrows to kill the enemy.
Unfortunately, there are too few archers and crossbowmen, and the arrows they shoot are sparse, and the cavalry can cruise quickly. The crossbowmen can only harass the cavalry, but cannot effectively kill the cavalry.
Zhou Yu even complained about Liu Bei at that time, saying that since he had this way of killing the enemy, he should have told himself that if he mobilized a thousand crossbowmen to assist in shooting, they would be lucky if half of the thousand cavalry could return.
Liu Bei just smiled and said nothing. Zhang Fei's three hundred crossbowmen were not used to kill the enemy. They were used to force the divided cavalry to stay away from each other to prevent them from rejoining to form a joint force.
Zhou Yu has never fought in the north, so he doesn't know how powerful the cavalry can be once they join forces. Since they have already paid casualties for them to divide their forces, they must not be allowed to join forces again.
As expected, the distance between the two cavalrymen gradually became longer, and the cavalrymen whose impact force was weakened could not continuously impact the car formation, and their power was also weakened a lot.
However, Zhang Fei's car formation was not in the best condition after all. Occasionally, some parts would be damaged due to impact, and some cavalry would get into the formation.
At this time, the power of the Yuanyang Formation was revealed.
The wolf soldiers quickly stepped forward to block the cavalry's path, and together with the shield soldiers formed a simple antlers, preventing the cavalry from rapidly expanding through the breach.
The long-sword soldiers did not kill people at this time, but just chopped off horses' feet. Horses are an important strategic material these days. They can kill people without hurting horses. Cao Jun has never seen such shameless soldiers. They don't hurt people, but deliberately chop off horses' feet. Go.
The cavalry who rushed into the gap were unprepared and were in a hurry. They either fell off their horses or reined in their horses and retreated. In addition, there were people behind them who shot crossbow arrows from time to time, or some people held short knives to kill them nearby. It was not easy to break through the gap. Just like that, he was blocked again.
Of course, Zhang Fei's army suffered a lot of casualties, mainly shield soldiers and wolf warriors. If they wanted to block the cavalry immediately, they would have to use shields and long bamboo poles to withstand the cavalry's impact, which would be worse than Ling Tong's soldiers using spears to resist the impact. Not much better.
But in the eyes of Zhou Yu and Zhang Fei, these losses were acceptable. If the cavalry were to rush in through the gap, there would be real heavy casualties.
In this way, although Zhang Feijun suffered some losses, he still stubbornly resisted the impact of the hard-top cavalry and delayed time.
Zhou Yu was surprised and looked at Guan Yu's army. Now Guan Yu's army's attack was nothing special. It was just an ordinary attack on the city, but its speed was much faster than Jiangdong's army's attack.
Don't forget, Guan Yu only had 3,000 men, while Zhou Yu used to attack the city with at least 5,000 men.
In this regard, Zhou Yu came to some conclusions.
Although I am very unhappy, Jiangdong Army may not be as good as the army brought by Liu Bei in terms of the quality of its soldiers or the commanding ability of its generals.
But fortunately, there should not be many soldiers like Liu Bei, and there are even fewer generals like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. This is the only consolation.
But now the situation on the battlefield is obvious.
Cao Ren's cavalry was blocked from the chariot formation and could not get through. Niu Jin's supporting army seemed to have just realized that the battlefield situation was unfavorable and had just dispatched troops. They were also temporarily blocked by Zhang Xi on the east side of the main battlefield. The question now is when Guan Yu will We can capture Cao Yong's camp.
At this time, Zhou Yu could no longer care about the intrigues with Liu Bei, and immediately ordered Lu Meng to lead his army to attack. He and Guan Yu would attack from both sides, trying to quickly defeat Cao Yong's camp.
At the same time, he ordered Chen Wu and Pan Zhang, each with 500 men, to quickly detour behind Niu Jin and try to capture Niu Jin's city before Niu Jin returned to his army. If Niu Jin's camp is on guard, it must also threaten Niu Jin's army from the flanks and prevent him from quickly reinforcing the central battlefield.
After doing this, Zhou Yu smiled and called Liu Bei and Xu Shu back to the military tent.
The arrangements have been made, and all that remains is a matter of time. The two fortresses outside Jiangling City can no longer become a threat.
What Zhou Yu has to do now is to fool Liu Bei before Zhang Yuanchang comes back.
"I've heard that Duke Xuande manages the army well, and the two generals in Guan and Zhang under his command are brave enough to be worthy of ten thousand men. When I see him today, he is truly worthy of his reputation!" Zhou Yu smiled with a smile on his face and put a high hat on Liu Bei's head.
Liu Bei quickly said humbly, "I don't dare. The commander-in-chief is strict in running the army and uses troops like a god. The fire in Chibi made Cao Cao flee. He is truly a hero in the world!"
Just flatter each other, whoever takes it seriously is the fool.
Zhou Yu also smiled, didn't take it seriously, and started his own deception.
"In the past, defeating Cao Cao relied entirely on the power of the water army and the tactics of fire attack." Zhou Yu paused for a moment before continuing, "I, the generals in the east of the Yangtze River, can hardly find an opponent across the river, but this land battle is... Ashamedly, Jiangdong’s soldiers are not as numerous as those under Duke Xuande.”
When Liu Bei heard this, he quickly waved his hand and said, "Well, the Governor is too humble. All the officers under the Governor are tigers and wolves. The generals are brave and the soldiers are dedicated to their lives. It's just Jiangling. It only takes a few days. How can you belittle yourself?!"
Zhou Yu also shook his head, smiled bitterly, and said sternly, "This is not what Yu said to belittle himself, but the truth. Jiangdong's soldiers have been in the south for a long time, and they are used to fighting by the water. They are constrained when fighting on the ground, and they are even more helpless when facing the cavalry, which only made Cao Ren famous. Now I look at Xuande's public troops, many of them are different from ours in Jiangdong, but they are able to restrain Cao Ren's son. This is not because our soldiers in Jiangdong are incompetent, but because our generals in Jiangdong are not accustomed to land warfare and are incompetent in commanding them."
This is Zhou Yu's true words, and it is also Zhou Yu's biggest experience after watching the battle today.
Jiangdong's soldiers were not weak in combat effectiveness or had problems with their training, it was just that no one could command them to attack the city.
Even for Zhou Yu, his land combat experience was basically from fighting the princes in Jiangdong. Normal siege would be no problem, but when encountering cavalry, Zhou Yu was at a loss.
I have no experience against cavalry, especially how to use infantry against cavalry.
But Liu Bei was different. He fought all the way from the north to the south. Although he often failed, he really saw all kinds of soldiers and encountered all kinds of enemies. After being beaten so many times, he had already gained experience.
Zhou Yu did tell the truth. He recognized the shortcomings of his army and found ways to correct them. This is also the quality of a good commander.
It's just that Zhou Yu told the truth, which made Liu Bei a little confused about what Zhou Yu was going to do.
To be careful, Liu Bei did not speak easily, but sat silently, waiting for Zhou Yu to continue speaking.
Zhou Yu was not polite and continued, "My Jiangdong generals have no experience in land warfare, so Yu asked Xuande to keep the alliance in mind and temporarily lend the two generals Guan and Zhang to Yu. After the Nanjun was pacified, Yu would return it himself. Xuande Sir, I wonder if it’s okay?!”
What? !
Do you want to borrow my second and third brothers? !
What does this mean? !
If it was just a simple loan of a general, for the sake of the alliance, Liu Bei would not be unable to agree.
But did Zhou Yu, the borrowed general, really just take a fancy to the leadership abilities of his second and third brothers? !
Or do you have other thoughts? !
For example, transfer the second and third brothers away, and then make it easier to attack yourself or Jiang Xia? !
Liu Bei looked at Xu Shu beside him, trying to get some reference and help from Xu Shu.
Xu Shu thought for a while, shook his head slightly at Liu Bei, and then continued to stand aside without speaking, pretending to be a master.
After Liu Bei got the advice, he turned to Zhou Yu and said with a smile, "Mengdu Governor thinks highly of my second and third brothers. Bei would like to thank you. However, this matter is of great importance and I need to discuss it with the generals. We will allow it to be discussed later." Then reply to the Governor."
Zhou Yu looked at Liu Bei, and then at Xu Shu who was standing behind Liu Bei. It was not like Zhou Yu couldn't see the way Xu Shu shook his head just now.
As soon as Xu Shu shook his head, Liu Bei stalled for time. Zhou Yu couldn't see that there was a problem.
However, Zhou Yu didn't pay much attention to Xu Shu, thinking that he was just a civil servant brought by Liu Bei to counsel the military aircraft. He ignored Xu Shu and said to Liu Bei, "Xuan Degong is a hero of the world and the ruler of the country. Why does he need to discuss everything with his subordinates? ! Furthermore, Yu is just borrowing generals, not soldiers. How could Duke Xuande be unable to agree to such a trivial matter? So, how can we talk about alliance?!"
Yes, this is a provocation, and it puts Liu Bei on a stand, making it difficult for Liu Bei to step down.
Liu Bei was not easy to talk to, so Xu Shu had to step in at this time.
"The governor's words are wrong!" Xu Shu said quickly, "Although my lord and the two generals Guan and Zhang are called monarchs and ministers, they are actually brothers. This matter is known to the whole world. The governor wanted to use my lord's brother to defeat Cao Cao, but he failed My lord is not allowed to discuss with his brothers, this is against human nature."
Zhou Yu was stunned for a moment. He really didn't expect that this civil servant could be so sharp in his words? !
Then he turned to look at Xu Shu, then stood up and held his hands in his hands, asking, "I haven't asked you your name yet."
"Don't dare, Xu Shu from Yingchuan, Xu Yuanzhi!" Xu Shu returned the gift and introduced himself.
Zhou Yu's mind wandered for a while, and he seemed to remember that this was what the intelligence said, and he was the second-ranking adviser in Liu Bei's army.
Zhou Yu didn't care too much.
First, Xu Shu was not well-known, and Jiang Dongfang did not have much information about him.
Both, some people become number two, not necessarily because of ability, but also because of qualifications. This is probably how Zhou Yu thinks of Xu Shu, thinking that he is just like Jian Yong, Sun Qian and others.
After all, Liu Bei already has Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi, so he can't live like this. Just find any counselor who has the talent of the world, right? !
(End of chapter)
