War is never a child's play - this is the most profound conclusion Zhang Xi has reached after traveling through more than ten years.
An improper order from the commander may have very serious consequences. It could range from losing the lives of soldiers to losing the city and territory, and even one's own life could not be saved.
Therefore, in terms of battle formations, Zhang Xi always uses caution and caution unless it is necessary to fight hard.
Therefore, Liu Bei assembled the troops for the southern expedition in early September, totaling more than 30,000 men, and also prepared food and grass, but Zhang Xi did not set off directly.
First, the generals of various ministries are not yet in place.
Yamen general Wang Ping and Yizhou bieji Li Hui are already in place because they have been in Chengdu, but everyone else has their own work to hand over, especially Zhang Yi, who is far away in Xiangyang, taking a boat from Xiangyang It takes at least a month to get to Hanzhong, and then from Hanzhong to Chengdu.
Second, although the soldiers were in place, only half of the soldiers Liu Bei gathered this time were veterans of the Hanzhong campaign, and the remaining half were improvised servants from some aristocratic families.
Although these people are all desperadoes with good physical fitness and relatively fierce fighting skills, they do not understand military formations at all and have no military discipline to speak of.
Zhang Xi would not let such an army go directly to the battlefield, otherwise God knows what trouble these people could cause.
Therefore, training is still needed.
Third, I don’t know what Zhuge Liang was thinking about the climate in Nanzhong. Why did he cross to Lu in May? Wasn’t this when the miasma was at its worst?
Why don't you wait until December to march in the winter?
The place in Nanzhong is not cold even in December. It does not affect the movement of Yizhou soldiers and can avoid most of the miasma.
Speaking of miasma. Really, thanks to Zhang Ji, he spent more than five years in Jingzhou, revised the manuscript several times, and finally wrote "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases".
In addition to recording some principles of typhoid fever, as well as prescriptions for prevention and treatment, the book also describes in detail the prevention and treatment methods of some common miasma.
The original manuscript of "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" is hidden in Yuelu Academy. Zhang Ji himself lived a very prosperous life, so he lived in Yuelu Academy, reading books when he had nothing to do, and living a pretty good life.
As for the printed manuscript of "Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Miscellaneous Diseases", Liu Bei's group ordered that all states and counties must archive a copy for doctors in each state and county to view for free. Just this article made the people of Yizhou feel grateful to Liu Bei, and at the same time, Zhang Ji himself was In the minds of doctors, he has risen to the status of "teacher of doctors".
Zhang Xi was in Chengdu, so of course it was easy to find "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases", and then according to the methods of preventing and treating miasma diseases in the book, he started to stock up on various materials for preventing and treating miasma.
Not only are some medicinal materials used to treat miasma diseases, but most importantly, a large amount of mugwort and grass are purchased to make mosquito repellent and insect repellent medicines.
The army cannot afford to use mosquito nets. After all, there are too many people. Even if they use twine to make mosquito nets, it is still a big expense. Moreover, these mosquito nets are also easily damaged due to constant marching and moving camps.
Therefore, the main means of repelling mosquitoes in the army had to rely on match ropes or fumigants made from grass and mugwort.
Regarding these matters, Zhang Xi consciously asked Ma Su, who worked in the governor's logistics department, to prepare for Ma Su's work. He was not home every day and almost slept in the military camp.
now it's right.
Going on an expedition with the army is not just a matter of chatting with the commander about some strategy, coming up with a plan, and then sitting back and waving a fan to watch success or failure. Even Zhuge Liang could not do this.
If you want to be a general, or want to lead an army into battle, you must first understand these basic things.
To be honest, Ma Su also felt that he seemed to have made a mistake somewhere.
He heard that he could go on expeditions with the army and manage the logistics of the entire army. He immediately felt that he was being reused and could realize his dream.
But the whole job seems to be quite different from what I thought.
Why do the governor's logistics staff need to do so many things? !
Not only do they have to calculate the daily needs of food and grass and distribute them to each camp, they are also responsible for preparing various materials in advance. Taking into account the speed of the march along the way, where to set up camp, and how many tents and camp wood need to be prepared.
Facing different terrains, different types of camping materials must be prepared. Material replacement must also be considered when encountering different weather conditions. At the same time, attention must be paid to whether the selection of water sources is convenient. These things need to be considered by Ma Su in advance.
During the march, it doesn't mean that the commander can set up camp at any place he chooses. What does this require you, the governor's logistics officer, to do? It's just to simply distribute food and grass, and send a warehouse clerk to do it.
Sometimes when Ma Su is busy, he always has an illusion - is this really the kind of military camp life I hope for? !
What I hope for is the kind of military life where I can guide the country and wipe out enemy troops while talking and laughing, right? !
But now, how can I still feel this leisurely feeling when I deal with grain and grass materials every day?
Ma Su felt that this was not the military life he wanted.
But the problem is that Ma Su's current qualifications are very shallow. If he submits his resignation because he dislikes the hard work of logistics, then who will dare to use him in the future? !
Besides, it’s not like I didn’t learn anything.
Marching and fighting is far from being as simple as I thought. There are many things that need to be considered. If I can really manage the logistics supply of 30,000 people, then I will lead 30,000 troops on an expedition in the future. Not to mention fighting, at least lead the troops to march. Not at all.
Faced with the dilemma, Ma Su finally chose to persevere and continue to be busy in the military camp.
When the time came to mid-November, all the generals had arrived and the soldiers were almost ready for training. Zhang Xi began to inspect the troops and prepare for the expedition.
To be honest, the quality of this batch of soldiers is already considered to be the poorest among all the sergeants Zhang Xi has led.
Their quality is only a little better than the group of county soldiers they led in Badong County.
The quality of the soldiers cannot be compared with the Jingzhou soldiers, and the ordnance is only conventional ordnance, and even the proportion of Miao swords is not very high.
Although Guan Yu has sent the technology of steel filling method to Yizhou, Liu Bei has been busy preparing for the Battle of Hanzhong in recent years, which requires a large number of weapons and ammunition. In addition, the number of troops is huge, so the steel filling method and seedlings have relatively high confidentiality requirements. The knives were not produced immediately. They were only forged partially and some of the troops were redressed. Most of them were still the original weapons.
Of the 30,000 troops allocated to Zhang Xi this time, only 5,000 were equipped with the new Miao swords, and the remaining soldiers were all still using Huanshou swords.
Zhang Xi simply assigned these 5,000 men directly to the command of Zhang Ni as his own Chinese army escort, while the other ordinary soldiers were given to the command of Zhang Yi, Ma Zhong, Li Hui and others.
Wang Ping is an exception.
After Zhang Xi met Wang Ping, he immediately asked Wang Ping to recruit people from the tribe who were familiar with mountain warfare.
Zhang Xi planned to use these people as surprise troops. After all, the terrain in the Nanzhong area was complex. Compared with the Nanzhong barbarians running in the mountains, Zhang Xi was also worried that the Yizhou nobles were no match for them.
Wang Ping's recruitment work went smoothly, thanks to Zhuge Liang's "favor".
A few years ago, when Zhang Xi was renovating the Salt Mountain in Badong County, there was a group of people who really didn't know how to resettle them. It happened that Zhuge Liang was short of people to repair Dujiangyan, so Zhang Xi gave these people to Zhuge Liang to resettle them.
After that, many Ti people came out of the mountains one after another and went to their fellow Ti people. These people also took root in the plains near Chengdu.
Although these Mi people now farm the same land as the Han people, their ability to climb mountains and ford rivers will not be forgotten in such a short period of time. In addition, they are deeply favored by "Zhuge Gong", and these Mi people recruit Wang Ping. Be supportive.
Wang Ping successfully recruited more than a thousand people. Zhang Xi classified these people into a battalion and gave them completely to Wang Ping's command. He also provided these people with various strange equipment in accordance with Wang Ping's requirements.
After doing all this, Zhang Xi finally asked Liu Bei for permission to go south to put down the rebellion.
Then it was time to swear an oath and go out for battle. Liu Bei personally sent the army out of the city.
In the farewell procession, in addition to Liu Bei, Pang Tong and Fazheng were also present.
Well, Zhuge Liang didn't come. He had already gone to Jiangling with his brother Zhuge Jin. He left two months ago. Now he is probably busy arguing with Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao and others to renegotiate the alliance.
Pang Tong and Fazheng were somewhat worried.
The two of them were assured of Zhang Xi's ability, but the problem was that Zhang Xi led many generals on this expedition, but except for Li Hui, Ma Di and Zhang Yi, Pang Tong and Fazheng didn't know anyone else. Some people have never even heard of it.
Of course, the combat effectiveness of the barbarians is just like that these days. The troublesome part of Nanzhong is that they have surrendered and rebelled. They are capricious, but they are not really invincible.
But, is it a little careless to go south with this lineup configuration? !
How can Zhang Yi, Ma Zhong, and Wang Ping, who were either county magistrates or aliens in the past, really do this? !
Zhang Xi was not worried at all.
Why, I brought four governors of the surrender, plus a second Hanzhong prefect as a general, and the future Yuexun prefect Ma Su will handle logistics for me. If I still can't kill a group of Nanzhong barbarians, then I can just make a piece of tofu myself and kill them. never mind.
Therefore, Zhang Xi confidently comforted Pang Tong and Fazheng, and then officially led the army to set off from Chengdu.
But before reaching Jiangyang County, Zhang Xi suddenly received a report that someone had come to join the army.
The visitor called himself "Guan Suo" and was the third son of Guan Junhou.
Zhang Xi is the one who is wondering. I have been in and out of Guan Yu's mansion so many times, and even lived there for more than a month, but I haven't seen any third son of Guan Yu? !
Where did this Guansuo come from? !
(End of chapter)
