The escort soldiers initially organized a plan to enter the mountain forest to search, because judging from the situation where the other party shot their own personnel, there should not be many people. The arrows shot each time were only three or two, and they were scattered on the logging surface. Preliminary estimates suggest that there may only be a few hundred people hiding in the mountains and forests for sneak attacks.
When the Jiangbei army entered the mountains and forests to search, they used more than 20,000 people. They thought this was enough. However, after entering the mountains and forests, they found that this was an impossible task. After 20,000 people entered, they soon discovered that they were hidden in it, and it was impossible to even communicate with each other. Propulsion is also a big problem among trees and thorns. You can't walk on the road, let alone round up the enemies in the forest.
Half an hour after entering the forest, these 20,000 people were forced to withdraw. Twenty thousand people went in, and more than a thousand were missing when they came out. Some were separated from the team in the mountains and forests and could not find their way out. Some were killed by enemy sneak attacks and died in the woods.
There is no daylight in the dark and deep woods, and ordinary people can't see clearly at all. The soldiers often walk with their heads in the air, and an arrow flies out of nowhere to kill them.
The 20,000 soldiers and horses made no achievements. Only a few people saw the figure moving quickly on the tree canopy and shuttled freely through the forest, but they were beyond their reach.
The cautious logging was still going on, and the soldiers and horses logging were still being shot. The opponent's arrogance became more and more arrogant, and several logging soldiers were not killed by arrows, but were killed by the traps they set.
What's more, in a corner of the hillside in the southeast of Shandong, more than a dozen logging soldiers were hunted and killed collectively. Their bodies were hung around the trees and wandered in the wind, causing other soldiers who came to hear the news to scream in panic. It's like a horror movie.
An hour later, the number of dead and missing soldiers had reached more than 3,000. The logging soldiers finally collapsed. They dropped their axes and saws and refused to continue working. Who wants to stand on the edge of the forest like a fool and be hunted like a wild boar, but do nothing?
Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses entered the mountains and forests and returned empty-handed. Even if they caught one, not only were they not caught, but thousands of people who went in were missing. How can we ensure safety? As a result, the entire wood-cutting equipment came to a standstill.
The generals have no choice but to force the soldiers to die, right? If this continues, everyone is likely to be shot. This is not logging, this is sending oneself as a living target.
The generals had no choice but to report this matter to Zhang Wenbiao. Zhang Wenbiao was furious. Everything was going well, but something like this happened again. After arriving at the scene, Zhang Wenbiao immediately judged from the situation and reports on the scene, and based on his previous experience as a general in Langzhou, that this must be the barbarian soldiers from Dongxi causing trouble in the mountains and forests.
The land of Dongxi is now under the rule of Li Yuan, and the leader of Dongxi, Peng Shiyu, is Li Yuan's brother-in-law. There must be many Dongxi barbarians in Li Yuan's army, and the needle traps used to shoot soldiers are also It is a must-have for the Dongxi people, which is enough to confirm that it was done by the Dongxi barbarians.
There was nothing Zhang Wenbiao could do in this situation. He knew that in such a huge mountain forest, it would be a fantasy for soldiers and horses to enter it and search for hundreds of barbarians. In this kind of place, Dongxi is like a fish in water, but everyone else is like a quagmire, so it is impossible to catch them and eliminate the threat.
In this case, encircling and suppressing the Dongxi barbarians is a waste of time. In order to ensure the normal progress of logging, we can only ignore the threats in the forest. The only thing that can be done is to put people on guard within a few dozen steps from the forest surface. Because it is close to the edge of the forest, there is no need to worry about falling into it. It should be able to deter the opponent. The soldiers who entered were equipped with large shields to protect themselves from arrows, so there should not be many casualties.
The commander gave the order, and the soldiers cursed in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do. The soldiers had to go back to the edge of the forest on the hillside to cut wood. Tens of thousands of soldiers holding large shields and bows and arrows entered the edge of the mountain forest thirty steps deep to guard these logging soldiers, which gave the logging soldiers a little peace of mind.
However, just when Zhang Wenbiao thought that this method was effective and rode away with satisfaction, a series of attacks happened again under Zhang Wenbiao's eyes. As if they had made an agreement, at dozens of logging sites, these Dongxi barbarians appeared from the crown of the trees above their heads in front of the vigilant soldiers, flew through the tree crowns, and quickly attacked the logging soldiers. Round shooting.
More than a hundred logging soldiers died unexpectedly, and the Dongxi barbarians sent several strange screams into the forest. The soldiers on guard were so angry that they cursed one after another and shot arrows blindly at the tree crown. In the end, they killed two people. The two barbarians who lost their footing fell down and were bruised and bloody.
Shooting two people to death won't change the situation. Two people for more than one hundred, it's a waste of money anyway. Moreover, after this attack, the soldiers went on strike again and were unwilling to cut trees anymore.
Zhang Wenbiao frowned. He knew that this must be Li Yuan's idea. Li Yuan's purpose was to hinder his plan to cut down wood and build siege equipment, forcing him to attack the city without preparation. This A rogue style of play is simply a bummer.
But how could Zhang Wenbiao allow Li Yuan to succeed? Since there was no way to solve the attack problem, he would trade heads for wood. The opponent only has two or three hundred men at most, and each attack only causes dozens or even hundreds of casualties. With so many troops and horses, we are not afraid of losing such a few people. The key is to cut down the wood quickly.
So Zhang Wenbiao ordered the soldiers to go back to cut wood immediately despite the attack, but the soldiers were unwilling to go again. The generals tried to persuade them to no avail. Finally, with Zhang Wenbiao's approval, hundreds of the troublemakers were beheaded and killed, and the rest of the soldiers were in their stomachs. He scolded the whole family and returned to the hillside to log wood after all of his family members were dead.
Although logging started again, pieces of wood were once again being transported to the camp in a steady stream. Zhang Wenbiao breathed a sigh of relief. But in fact, he was really worried. As a commander, who would be willing to ignore the lives of the soldiers, who would be willing to force them to cut trees under such circumstances, and who would be willing to do such a thing that disregards human life?
But there is no way, the overall situation is the most important, and those soldiers who are about to be shot should be regarded as contributing to the victory of the battle.
Zhang Wenbiao's mood was bad and gloomy. He had never been so depressed before. He vowed to lead his army into Chu on his own initiative and clamored for a decisive battle with Li Yuan. How confident was he? But how many days had he arrived in Tanzhou? He and Li Yuan hadn't even had a formal battle, but Li Yuan had already forced him to fend for himself, and he was in a bad mood.
This feeling is very bad, as if everything is controlled by the other party, everything about me seems to be unsatisfactory, shrouded in invisible dark clouds, and shrouded in heavy pressure. Li Yuan is capable. He is really a capable person. Zhang Wenbiao cannot but admit this from the bottom of his heart.
But what Zhang Wenchang wants now is to quickly complete the preparations and have a bold fight with Li Yuan to see who is the final winner. He didn't want to spend time with Li Yuan like this because he didn't know what other methods Li Yuan could use to harass and attack him. If this continued, his morale would collapse.
The logging continued until after sunset, and the number of dead and wounded soldiers exceeded 5,000. As for the Chu army, more than 30 Dongxi barbarians died. This is simply an asymmetrical battle. The soldiers who cut down the trees were simply living targets. They were unable to guard against the attack of the Dongxi barbarians, but they had to bite the bullet and cut down the trees.
The entire logging process was like betting on luck, betting on whether the Dongxi barbarians were interested in me, and betting on whether they would shoot an arrow in my throat. The five thousand soldiers who died tragically were the losers who lost the bet. Their casualties paid for the survival of the others.
But this is not worthy of celebration and joy. Being suppressed by the opponent and shot like this, but our own commander had no choice but to inhumanely choose to ignore the life and death of the soldiers. This caused a stir in the hearts of the soldiers and some generals. The violent fluctuations caused great dissatisfaction.
