Changsha.
The war drums were rumbling, and a group of Ning soldiers walked out of the camp, carrying their equipment and slowly moving towards Changsha City.
Xiang Duan sat in the command car, looking at the city in front of which the fighting had begun, his thoughts wandering.
In fact, he was unwilling to attack the city.
There were 20,000 elite Chu soldiers in the city, and they recruited 80,000 brave soldiers through extensive recruitment. The total force was 100,000, which was more than him who was attacking the city.
Although the general civilian bravery has extremely poor combat power, they cannot fight any tough battles. For example, the civilian warriors recruited by the Nanhai Kingdom are not even able to defend the city.
But the people of Chu are different.
Since Lu Yuan established the township brave militia system in Shaoyang Prefecture, all people under his rule, as long as they are over fifteen years old, are required to participate in autumn training organized by counties, towns, and villages every autumn after the busy farming season, that is, military training. train.
Although the autumn training only trains military skills for about one to two months, as long as they continue to participate for three to five years, and the Chu people are warlike, Lu Yuan often recruits brave people to participate in the war.
Therefore, even if it is to have more self-protection when going to the battlefield in the future, as long as those rural people have free time, they will learn martial arts themselves and find someone to learn some military skills.
All of the above combined can almost enable a country warrior with no foundation to learn the basic use of a weapon, understand military orders and flags, and understand military laws and regulations.
As long as you master the above, you are basically considered a qualified cannon fodder.
In addition, since the Chu State established itself, it has been fighting almost every year. Battles involving more than 100,000 people abound, and every time they occur, a large number of brave people must be recruited to accompany the army.
Such as when we first conquered the southwestern barbarians.
Lu Yuan dispatched 100,000 forbidden troops, but there were more than 300,000 civilian warriors who followed the army. They were responsible for transporting grain and grass in the rear and garrisoning the local cities captured by the forbidden troops.
Carrying food and garrisoning in the rear area is not just about doing hard work.
Although the Chu army defeated the main force of the Yi people, after the main force was defeated, there were still a large number of remnants scattered throughout Qianzhong County, either fleeing into the mountains or joining the local Yi tribes.
These remnant soldiers who received the support of the local barbarians often chose to rob the Chu State's grain roads and attack the city strongholds garrisoned by the Chu State.
At that time, the enemy's killing generals came up, and the accompanying civilian heroes could not stay out of it. They had to follow the leading imperial army to kill the enemy.
Having seen blood in life and death, Min Yong, who had already mastered certain basic military skills, naturally grew rapidly.
After experiencing battle after battle, the overall quality and strength of some civilian warriors who were recruited more frequently were actually no less than those of local prefecture and county soldiers in countries that had been at peace for a long time, such as Nanhai and Ningguo.
These senior civilian warriors can even be brought to the frontal battlefield to fight positional battles with the enemy.
If placed on the city defense, relying on the geographical advantage, it can be used as half a soldier.
The other poor civilian warriors are not necessarily any worse than ordinary prefecture and county soldiers when it comes to defending the city.
Therefore, judging from the paper, most of the 100,000 Chu troops in the city are civilian warriors, and their strength does not seem to be very strong.
But if it is just to defend the city, then the Ning army outside the city is not necessarily more brave than the Chu army and the people.
In countless previous battles, Tranquility has verified this cruel fact with his own blood and life.
It is precisely because he knows that the Chu army in the city is not easy to mess with. Even if they are brave people, their strength is no worse than that of the soldiers in the prefecture and county, and their numbers are greater than their own.
Therefore, Xiang Duan was extremely repulsed and rejected by the most brutal siege battle, which involves attacking more with less.
But helpless.
His immediate superior, Emperor Ning Shen Qiu, in order to put more pressure on the Chu army on the Dongting battlefield, forced the Chu state to mobilize more troops from Lingnan to relieve the pressure on the Nanhai state.
As early as ten days ago, he had given a death order that he must launch an siege on Changsha, and it had to be the most intense and vigorous siege.
In order to supervise him, a supervisory army was even sent to urge Xiang Duanbu to carry out his orders.
Due to the persecution of the supervisory army, and the current situation in Ningguo is indeed unfavorable, the bad situation in Lingnan does require support from Dongting.
Therefore, even if he was unwilling, Xiang Duan still faithfully carried out Shen Qiu's order.
Starting ten days ago, in addition to the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Anjiang and Fengling counties guarding the rear, Xiang Duan's 70,000 troops would mobilize 10,000 people every day to attack Changsha City.
After taking turns like this, the 70,000-strong army has already fought one round, even the second round, and has already entered the third round.
However, after seven days of fierce attack, Xiang Duan's troops and horses suffered extremely heavy losses.
Even now, even before the war, he had emphatically explained that there is no need to sacrifice too much strength when attacking a city, just attack a few formations and put some pressure on the Chu army.
It can't be captured anyway, so there's no need to really fight to the death.
But even so, it is not a simple matter to put pressure on the Chu army in the city.
If Ning Jun doesn't pay a price, the so-called siege is just a show.
Xiang Duan's advice not to work too hard was only relative. After ten days of fighting, his 70,000-strong army had lost more than 10,000 people, with only 56,000 to 56,000 remaining troops, with more than 20% casualties.
The morale of the remaining army was also low, and their combat strength was reduced by nearly half compared to before the siege.
The Changsha City in front, after guarding it for so many days, is still impregnable.
The morale of the defenders in the city was still extremely high, and there was no hope of capturing the city.
If the battle continues, Xiang Duan doesn't know whether Changsha City can be captured.
But he was certain that all his soldiers would die, or they would mutiny and rebel midway.
Siege warfare is so cruel.
So Shen Qiu could only sigh with excitement when he looked at Jiangxia City.
Lu Yuan looked at the tens of miles of Ning army outside Jiangxia City and could only be frightened by the sight.
There is nothing more terrifying than this.
"General, the front line has collapsed and still failed to capture the city. According to calculations, we have lost more than 500 troops this time."
Just when Xiang Duan was worried about the future, the first siege battle ahead had ended, and the losses had been repaid.
After coming back from his thoughts and hearing the loss, Xiang Duan twitched his face, then turned to look at the supervisor wearing a red official robe next to him, and asked tentatively: "Brother Yao, today's battle is not going well, the loss is too heavy, why not How about retreating for now?"
The sent supervisor's name was Yao Qing, who was also from the sixth surname and the seventh clan. He was an old acquaintance with Xiang Duan in the past. They were even relatives of each other and had a very close relationship.
Logically speaking, with such a close relationship between the two, it would be inappropriate to send Yao Qing to supervise the army.
But the entire Ningguo high-level officials are basically from the Linhai family. They all belong to the same six surnames and seven clans, so they are naturally related to each other.
Emperor Ning Shen Qiu was called the Son of Heaven, but under the court, almost most of the ministers could call him uncle and uncle.
Xiang Duan and he are also cousins.
In this case, your name is Shen Qiu, how should you send the supervisory army?
Therefore, it is inevitable that the current situation will occur.
"It's really not easy for the soldiers. Let's stop here today."
Yao Qing was paying attention to the siege throughout the whole process. He watched with his own eyes the Daning soldiers who were brave and fearless, risking arrows, stones, oil pots and dung, and rushed to the top of the city with their lives.
Then he fought with the Chu army and fell into a tight siege. Finally, exhausted, he fell down the city with his sword.
The soldiers have worked very hard.
At this time, it was impossible to capture the city of Changsha, but there were too many Chu soldiers and their strength was too strong.
The advantages and strength comparison between the two sides are not at the same level. Ning Jun is actually at a disadvantage.
It is no longer easy to use disadvantages against advantages, disadvantages against advantages, and still achieve the current situation.
When I was in the Jiangxia Camp, I witnessed the cruelty of siege warfare with my own eyes, and when I came to Changsha City, I saw the horror again.
Yao Qing no longer had any hope for any attack on the city.
At the same time, I have a little more understanding of Changsha's delay in opening up the situation.
It's not that Xiang Duan is incompetent, but that the Chu army is really strong. It is not as weak as originally thought, and it is worthy of its reputation as a country with a strong army in recent years.
Even because of the strong strength of the Chu army, Yao Qing gradually gave up the idea of defeating the Chu state, and vaguely agreed with Wu'an Hou Bai Yi'an's proposition in his heart.
The Chu army cannot be destroyed, and the Chu state cannot win quickly.
Faced with such a terrifying person, Ning Guo's only hope for a way out is to retreat to Jiangdong, rely on his strong foundation, and hold on to wait for the right time a hundred years from now.
Having repaid this thought, Yao Qing naturally did not want to see the elite of Ning's army lost in a meaningless siege.
Therefore, after seeing that the siege had come to an end, I felt that today's mission was barely completed and I could give an explanation to Jiangxia, so I did not continue to force the attack.
"Brother Yao is kind and kind, and all the soldiers will be grateful for your kindness."
Seeing that Yao Qing agreed to withdraw the troops, Xiang Duan was overjoyed. After praising him, he immediately summoned his deputy general and asked him to arrange the withdrawal.
Soon, the sound of gold ringing was loud among the rear troops. Ning Jun, who was in formation in front and was preparing to launch the second wave of siege, heard this and felt relieved.
No one wants to attack the city, and no one is willing to risk their lives to pile up goals that are destined to fail.
At this time, the generals at the head did not force them to die by force, which was undoubtedly a good thing.
And just when Ning Jun was relaxing and happy, suddenly, there was a loud noise in the rear military camp.
Then there were loud shouts, rumbling drums, and loud gongs.
A fire rose further behind, and thick smoke enveloped the mountains and fields.
This sudden change immediately shocked Ning Jun and caused chaos in the whole army.
"What's going on? Why is there a commotion in the back camp?"
Compared with the chaos and confusion of the front army, who had no idea what was going on, sitting in the command vehicle ten feet high, Xiang Duan and Yao Qing could clearly see that the source of the commotion originated from the rear camp. Chaos and fires were both It spread from there.
"Could it be that the wounded soldiers mutinied and started a rebellion?" Yao Qing said uncertainly.
In these days of fighting, the Ning army suffered losses of 14,000 to 5,000 soldiers. Not all of these soldiers and horses were dead, but they included some lightly and seriously wounded people, especially those who had lost their combat effectiveness. The number was about 6,000 to 7,000 people. .
And these people, limited by limited medical conditions and medical methods, basically have no good treatment methods.
The only way to deal with it was to lift the people and send them to a separate wounded soldier camp, provide them with enough food to survive, and then let them fend for themselves.
If you can get through it, you can survive.
If you can't survive it, the only fate is to wrap up the body and throw it into a mass grave.
War is so cruel.
It is precisely because of this that these wounded soldiers who have half given up are the most depressed, desperate, fearful, angry and complaining in their hearts.
In the desperate situation, many people developed resentment towards Ning Guo, Ning Jun, the generals, and even their former comrades.
Some of the soldiers guarding them nearby, who were closer to the wounded barracks, saw their comrades end up like this, and they would inevitably have thoughts of death and sadness in their hearts.
Coupled with the harsh daily sieges, the number of deaths is increasing, and no one knows whether it will be their turn next.
Under extreme depression, it is common for some soldiers who cannot bear the pressure to suffer mental breakdown and join in rebellion with the wounded soldiers.
This is the so-called Yingxiao Mutiny.
Therefore, when Yao Qing saw the turmoil in the rear, his first thought was that the soldiers were causing trouble.
"K……"
Xiang Duan also had this suspicion in his mind, so he said with a solemn expression: "This turmoil must not spread. We should immediately drop heavy troops to suppress it."
The Yingxiao mutiny was extremely harmful.
But if we suppress it as soon as it starts to appear, the harm will be limited.
Looking in the direction of the back camp, the area affected by the roar was only five or six camps, affecting at most three to four thousand people, which was not a very large scale.
If troops were sent to suppress it at this time, maybe one or two thousand people would die to quell the turmoil.
Yao Qing also agreed with this proposal: "The matter is urgent. According to this, the rear army is ten miles away. There should be no delay. At this time, we should mobilize our troops to quell the chaos first."
Xiang Duan's large camp was built according to the scale of 100,000 people at the beginning.
A hundred thousand troops, built according to the standard of five hundred men per camp, would require almost two hundred camps.
A standard camp covers an area of about a hundred steps in length and width. Two or three camps plus the gaps between them will occupy almost a mile in radius.
Two hundred camps were spread out, covering an area of ten to twenty miles, and the front and rear camps were more than ten miles apart.
Also because the distance was so far, Xiang Duan and Yao Qing had no way of knowing what happened in the rear camp and could only infer based on experience.
But no matter what the reason is, it is always right to first mobilize heavy troops to block the suppression.
As the military order was passed down, near the command vehicle, nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses originally prepared to attack the city were left, and they were quickly mobilized and assembled.
Xiang Duan directly changed from the rear team to the front team. He also got off the command car, mounted his horse, and personally led them towards the rear camp in a mighty manner.
To suppress turmoil, one must use the power of thunder and cut through the mess with a sharp sword in order to shock people's hearts.
Only with his, the innate master's, personal action can the camp roar be quelled as quickly as possible.
Yao Qing stayed behind and was responsible for coordinating the troops and horses in the front of the camp to guard against the Chu army in the city taking advantage of the turmoil to send troops to sneak attack the camp.
Xiang Duan led his troops and horses all the way to the rear camp.
When encountering various battalions and units on the way, they immediately sent orders to the generals of the battalion to immediately assemble their troops and horses, stabilize people's hearts, and guard the camp tightly to prevent the unrest from spreading.
He himself continued to move forward with his ten thousand men, and at the same time sent vanguard scouts to rush to the rear camp to investigate the situation.
When they reached the middle of the camp, news finally came.
The rear camp was not roaring, but the Chu army suddenly came out from the rear and broke through several camps one after another. At this time, they were heading straight towards the central army.
After hearing this shocking thunderbolt, Xiang Duan's face was full of disbelief: "Behind our army, there are Anjiang and Fengling counties as barriers. There are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses stationed in these two places. How did the Chu army come?
Moreover, in the Dongting area, all the Chu army's troops and horses have been sent out, and our Daning soldiers and soldiers are everywhere to monitor and contain them. Where can they get the troops and horses to make a sneak attack?
Could it be the soldiers from Lingnan? "
In Jiangxia, Changsha, Luyang, and Hengyang, every move of Chu troops and horses was watched by their respective Ning troops.
If there is any change among them, news will come out.
Therefore, the soldiers and horses in this sneak attack cannot be from these four places. They can only be transferred from other places.
From Xiang Duan's point of view, the only one the Chu army could mobilize was the Lingnan army.
This has to be said, it is good news and bad news at the same time.
The good news is that his goal was achieved and he successfully attracted troops from Lingnan to move north.
The bad news is that the Chu army in Lingnan did not attack the Ning army in Luyang and Hengyang. Instead, they traveled thousands of miles to attack the unsuspecting Changsha army on their side.
Now that the Chu army was approaching, he was defenseless. Even the rear camp was breached. His actions were extremely dangerous and bad.
"Immediately send an order to all units in the Chinese army to gather troops and horses, come and join us, and attack the Chu army together." Xiang Duan immediately changed his order.
The incoming Chu army is unknown in number.
At this time, in order to quell the roar of the camp, the ten thousand people he led were undoubtedly no longer enough to deal with the threat of the Chu army.
At this time, it has become an urgent matter to gather more troops and horses and accumulate more strength to stop the Chu army.
After issuing the order, Xiang Duan had no time to wait for more people to join up and continued to lead the army forward, intending to contact the Chu army first and stop the opponent.
However, after taking only two steps, Yao Qing suddenly received urgent news from the front camp at the rear.
"Report to the general, the Chu army has marched out in Changsha City, with a total of 40,000 to 50,000 people. Sun Siwen, the left prime minister of Chu, personally led the troops, and his vanguard has broken through several battalions.
The innate master was unable to resist, so Yao Jianjun sent someone to inform the general, asking him to quickly lead his troops back for reinforcements. "
The messenger with a embarrassed look on his face rushed over to report in a bit of panic.
"Sun Siwen...Chu Jun..."
Xiang Duan gritted his teeth after hearing the news.
At this moment, how could he not know that the Chu army was specifically targeting him.
Today's battle has been planned for a long time.
But now that the Chu people were attacking from both sides, he was defenseless and was completely caught off guard.
At this time, there is no way forward or retreat, and we are in a dilemma.
Fortunately, before Xiang Duan had to make a difficult decision, a Chu army quickly rushed out in front of him and helped him make a choice.
However, they saw a humanoid beast in front of them, charging all the way. No matter the camps or soldiers of the Ning Army passed along the way, they were all smashed into pieces, and there was no one who could stop them.
There is no doubt that the person with such power must be an innate master.
In this battle, the Chu army used two innates, and they were completely in dire straits.
"The Chu thief shall die!"
After understanding his situation, Xiang Duan showed a trace of despair in his eyes, and then became determined and determined. With an angry roar, he slapped his horse and charged forward like the humanoid beast in front of him.
Tens of thousands of soldiers behind him drank together and followed their generals in rushing forward.
In the Ningjun camp with thick smoke billowing and fire everywhere, the two armies started a brutal fight.
…
The eleventh year of Shenwu, the second day of April.
During the Chu army's attack on Changsha City, Huang Xuan led his troops to surprise the rear camp of Xiang Duan of the Ning army in Changsha, and destroyed more than ten villages in the rear camp. Xiang Duan's army urgently returned for reinforcements.
Then in Changsha City, Chu Prime Minister Sun Siwen heard about Huang Xuan's movements and led 50,000 troops to attack the Ning army's front camp.
Ning's army's front camp contained no more than 10,000 men and had no talent, so it was defeated in one fell swoop.
Then Sun Siwen led his troops to meet Huang Xuan, and attacked Xiang Duan from both front and rear. The two armies fought fiercely for half a day, and the Ning army finally retreated and collapsed. Its general Xiang Duan was besieged by the two innate forces of the Chu army and died in the army.
Since the war between Chu and Ning, the first war casualty occurred between the two countries.
On that day, the Chu army killed 20,000 enemies and captured 30,000. The siege of Changsha was lifted.
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