In fact, Ji Wan's order caused a greater sensation than anyone imagined.
You must know that in this era, soldiers who can bear armor are not ordinary people. Those grassroots officers who can command a small team are grassroots nobles who own fiefs.
The grassroots soldiers are also elite off-duty soldiers. These nobles have been trained since childhood to perform military service for the emperor, and their military literacy is quite high.
When Ji Wan's order was passed down, it caused an uproar at the grassroots level.
The elite of the Sixth Army of the Emperor don't know why such an order came down. They are already tired from marching for days. How can they cross the river to attack under such circumstances?
But in the face of the emperor's authority accumulated over decades, these emperor's vassals could only obey.
The generals who commanded the army were all officials of the emperor, and their positions were comparable to those of the princes. However, in the face of the angry emperor, no one dared to contradict him.
Handanhou soon met the most important person on the list - Yu Boxiu, who was also considered Queen Su.
The ancestor was the eldest son of King Su's concubine, who was granted a title in the imperial court. He was also the general in charge of the two armies during this personal expedition.
"Uncle Yu, Your Majesty is messing with your orders. You must not act as ordered. Otherwise, I'm afraid the whole army will be destroyed."
The voice of Marquis Han was a little urgent, and Uncle Yu comforted him: "Marquis Han, there is no need to be so anxious. The Grand Tutor informed Xiu before leaving Luoyi.
If there is chaos in one's life, one will pretend to do so and seek opportunities to protect oneself. Now that the king is in a state of extreme anger, Gu naturally will not obey the order. Is there anything Hanhou can do? "
Hearing that Luo Su had told Uncle Yu a long time ago, Han Hou felt relieved and said in a deep voice: "The army must not be able to cross the river. It must rest and recuperate. I don't know how to command an army. I don't know how many days it will take for our army to rest and recuperate."
Uncle Yu thought for a moment and said, "It's better to march in consecutive days, three days is better."
Hanhou murmured: "Three days, that is to say, we have to delay it for three days. We want the emperor to see our army crossing the river to attack, but we can't really let our army attack."
Suddenly his eyes lit up and he said with joy: "Uncle Yu, I have a plan, see if you can implement it."
"Oh? It doesn't matter, Mr. Han said."
The Marquis of Han expressed his strange thoughts: "There are many auxiliary soldiers and slaves in the army. It is better to send a young general to put these auxiliary soldiers and slaves into our army's uniforms, carry the flags and flags, and cross the river day and night. There will not be many stations on the boat." People only use illusions to cover up and create the illusion of a swarming army. Our army will camp by the Han River to let the soldiers have a good rest. The emperor does not understand the military formations and will be able to deceive him."
"The Marquis of Han has a good plan, so I will send someone to do it." Yu Bo said happily: "The Taifu once told me that the Marquis of Han was quick-witted in the face of chaos, and now it is true. The two of us must cooperate sincerely this time, Yu Ji Both of them have no talent, so we have to rely on the Marquis of Han for this southern expedition."
Hanhou sent messengers to communicate with several people on the list, and then he could only resign himself to fate and see if Xiong Dun was really as unstoppable as Luo Housu said.
The Chu State's envoy took advantage of Ji Wan's fury and sneaked away quietly, heading towards the capital without a moment's rest. Xiong Dun got the news from the envoy that Ji Wan was furious and sent troops, and he also learned from the generals stationed in two places that Wang The vanguard of the army was setting sail on the other side, and it seemed that they were going to cross the river.
Seeing that Ji Wan had indeed fallen into the trap, Xiong Dun smiled to the left and right and said: "Ji Wan is indeed an ignorant boy. How can such a monarch who does not know how to care about the soldiers win the loyalty of the soldiers? I guess that the hearts of the Zhou army must be floating. There must be resentment.
The commanders of the divisions were ordered to let the Zhou army cross the river in accordance with the previous instructions, and then attack when their middle army crossed the river. Remember to be cautious, there must be capable people in the Zhou army. If something cannot be done, retreat first, and wait for the army to wear the armor in person. Go into battle and fight again. "
Xiong Dun was very cautious. He believed that there must be capable people in the Zhou army. It was impossible not to resist Ji Wan's orders. After all, the most he could do to disobey was to be reprimanded by the emperor, and he could still enjoy glory and wealth when he returned home. If he really listened to Ji Wan's orders, then But it will really cost you your life.
There are now 15,000 elite soldiers in Chu State, all brought out by Xiong Dun, of which 5,000 are the best among the best.
The composition of these people is relatively simple. They are mainly the descendants of the heroes who followed the ancestors of the Chu State in the founding of the country, the descendants of the Yin Shang who migrated south in recent years, and the Chinese people plundered from other vassal states. In this place where the Southern Barbarians are everywhere, these people are closely related to each other. Tightly surrounding the Xiong family is the basic base of the King of Chu.
The largest number in the army is naturally the slave soldiers. Xiong Dun has conquered many southern barbarian tribes in recent years, so there are many slave soldiers in his army.
These barbarian soldiers are mainly used as cannon fodder and coolies. There are a large number of slave soldiers in the armies of various countries. If they perform well, they will be rewarded and become free men. Even if they do not gain the status of nationals, they will no longer be killed wantonly. of goods.
Xiong Dun divided his slave soldiers into the hands of the other two generals, and he led his elite troops to confront Ji Wan. If he could defeat Ji Wan's side in advance, or even capture Emperor Bangzhou alive, the other two armies would naturally be able to defeat him. Win without fighting.
Even if Ji Wan was more cautious, he could still attack the other two armies of the Zhou people when they came to rescue the emperor. Encirclement and reinforcements have always been a very useful tactic.
The climate in the south is humid, the land is softer than in the north, and there are many streams and jungles. Xiong Dun has prepared this kind of gift for Ji Wan. He will make the emperor of Luoyi understand that war is never a simple competition of the number of soldiers.
After Xiong Dun and Ji Wan respectively ordered the dispatch of troops, Yu Boxiu, who was stationed in the Deng State, began to show off, while Qi Zi, who was stationed in the Lu State, and Cheng Bo, who was stationed in the Wei State, began to reorganize the army and prepare for the former army to lead a division of men and horses to cross the river first. Explore the road, and then send two divisions of men and horses across the river, so that the entire front army can cover the army that will cross the river later.
Tired soldiers sat on the big boat. Most of these people were from the north. They were already a little acclimatized along the way. When they were shaken by the big boat, many people even became seasick, drowsy and weak. , but military orders cannot be disobeyed and can only move forward. However, there are more and more resentments in the army.
Ji Wan naturally didn't know these things. He stood on the city wall of Deng State, looking at the flags flying and the boundless army. He couldn't help but feel proud in his heart, and he had already forgotten Xiong Dun's provocation.
In his current view, Xiong Dun was just a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered, and his provocation was just a rampage before his death.
In this somewhat strange anger, the three front armies of the king's army basically crossed the Han River, including two elite soldiers and one slave soldier.
After the three armies landed, they saw no trace of the Chu army because there were many hills and jungles within their field of vision, so they began to search forward to find a place to camp.
After crossing the Han River, we walked through the gravel beach not far away, which is the rolling hills. Especially since this is not a completely real world, there are more hills and jungles here.
The generals of the former army thought that there might be an ambush by the Chu army in the jungle, so they specifically ordered to avoid those jungles for exploration.
Although chariot warfare was the mainstream in this era, there were still some horses in the army that acted as scouts, and batches of people were sent out.
As for dispersing the army, there was no way. As more and more soldiers landed, it was impossible to spread them out according to the previous formation. When they were in the Central Plains, they could see the vast plains as far as the eye could see, let alone how many soldiers there were. Thousands or tens of thousands of people can be placed in a straight line.
But now they can only go out one team at a time, and try to avoid climbing over the hills to waste their energy. They don't have a map here, so they can only try to go to places with less jungle. Even so, many soldiers are still trapped in the bushes. It hooked the trouser leg and even directly scratched the skin, leaving a trail of blood marks.
"Woo~"
Loud horns sounded suddenly everywhere, and then large groups of Chu soldiers rushed out from the back of the hills. They were familiar with the terrain and hid in the blind spots of the landing troops, and they were also lying in the low jungles. , the soldiers lifted off the vegetation and other debris used to cover themselves.
"Formation!"
Seeing a large number of Chu troops rushing out condescendingly, the generals were all dying. Most of the front troops were responsible for reconnaissance and small-scale battles. The most powerful troops in the legion had not yet come over.
However, the king's army was a well-trained army after all. Although the soldiers were a little panicked, they could still act in accordance with the military orders and formed a circular battle formation according to the training.
The Chu army formed a formation and fired three arrows at the king's army from all angles. Taking advantage of the height, it caused a lot of damage.
The king's army naturally fought back, but the Chu army was at a high place and was well prepared. They specially brought large shields to guard against bows and arrows. When the king's army fired, they raised their shields in unison according to the order, and the bows and arrows flew to the high place. The strength has weakened, and the bows and arrows brought by the Wang army are not the kind of strong bows that can break shields. Apart from the flowing arrows, they did not cause any major damage to the Chu army.
At this time, the morale of the Chu army was even higher. Waves of arrows were shot out, and the soldiers threw out the prepared rolling logs. However, it was an ambush after all. They were worried that the Zhou army would find out, so they did not prepare too much. The soldiers of the Chu army followed. The rolling logs rushed down together.
When the two armies came into contact, almost instantly, the front row of the Wang army was cut down by the formation, completely unable to resist!
Many soldiers of the king's army were dying. They could feel that their whole bodies were still weak. It was absolutely impossible to stop these Chu troops with strong morale and physical strength.
The officers of the Chu army also discovered this problem, and they were so surprised that they shouted loudly: "The Zhou army has physical problems, so the whole army is pressing on them. All the slave soldiers are also pressing on them, and they are notified to all the slaves that if they can perform meritorious deeds, the king will relieve them." Slave status!"
Although the damage caused by the rolling logs was not too great, it further disrupted the formation of the king's army. The army that had marched the year before was completely in chaos. The generals of the king's army tried their best to maintain the army's formation and try their best to keep the smallest unit assembled.
Having participated in many wars, he knew very well that when facing an army in formation, scattered soldiers were like pigs and sheep to be slaughtered.
"withdraw troops!"
Looking at the situation on the field, the general realized keenly that this was a losing war launched at the wrong time and in the wrong place.
He is a descendant of the surname Ji and was deeply influenced by King Su. From the moment he joined the army, he wanted to be shrouded in horse leather, but he did not want to die worthlessly here. As he ran, he prayed to the two kings in the dark. , "King Wu, King Su, bless Zhou. Many Zhou people will die in this battle."
The same thing happened at the three landing sites. The Chu army chased these weak and weak soldiers and killed them. The ships that originally carried them were continuing to sail with their comrades, and only a few people were able to board. Ship escape.
Seeing that the remaining Zhou soldiers were fighting with their backs against the enemy, the generals of the Chu army stopped the attack and began to try to recruit those low-level officers, not because they wanted to use them for their own purposes, because this was impossible. The territories were all fiefs that belonged directly to the emperor.
The main purpose of recruiting these people to surrender is to extort ransom in the later stage, which can be regarded as a characteristic of this era.
Along the banks of the Han River, from the hills and jungles to the banks of the Han River, countless corpses were laid out. Most of them were soldiers of the royal army. Blood soaked the sand and stones by the river, and even the waves that hit from time to time were stained bright red. of blood color.
Since Ji Zhao reorganized the Sixth Army of the Emperor and led the army to the east, this was the Sixth Army's heaviest loss in decades.
They have the most powerful chariots, which are unstoppable on the battlefield, but they cannot be used here. They are all strong warriors, and the rapid march in recent days has exhausted their physical strength.
No one knew what the dead soldiers were thinking, but the living soldiers were filled with anger, and the low-level nobles couldn't accept that they had become cannon fodder.
Traitor!
There must be traitors around the emperor!
Otherwise, why would you issue such a random order and fight under such circumstances regardless of our lives? If I can go back, I must expose the traitor to the emperor.
At this time, surrender is the only outcome. As a group of low-level nobles laid down their weapons, the soldiers who followed the lord into battle also laid down their weapons.
…
This unconcealable defeat soon reached Ji Wan's ears.
Hanhou held the newly calculated loss count in his hand. He did not expect it to be so tragic. His whole body was trembling and he said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, according to the results of the recent count, more than five thousand people died in this battle." , five thousand were captured, and basically the entire army was gone.”
"What?" Ji Wan couldn't believe his ears.
Handan Hou handed the battle report to Ji Wan, and then couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, King Su once said in the military book that the victory of war lies in the right time, right place and right people.
Most of the officers and soldiers of our army are from the big countries in the Central Plains, and they are not used to it when they come to the southern barbarian land. This is because the weather is not in our army. We don’t know anything about the hydrology, geography, mountains, rivers, forests and lakes in the Chu Kingdom. This is the geographical advantage. Not in our army; the officers and soldiers have been marching for days and are exhausted, and they are not good at water warfare. This is a harm to our army.
With the right time, place, and right people, our army is not with us. Does the king still think that our army can win? I advise the king to withdraw his troops. We should still follow Taifu Luo's old strategy of sealing the five kingdoms to Chu. When Xiong Dun dies of old age and there is civil strife in Chu, we can naturally defeat it easily. "
Ji Wan still couldn't believe the battle report in his hand. He hurriedly scanned it and threw it to the ground. When he heard what Han Hou said, it was as if Luo Su was slapping him in the face. He pulled out the sword and roared: "I have a hundred thousand elite soldiers! You incompetent wastes, how could you lose with a hundred thousand elite soldiers? It must be because you did not conscientiously implement my strategy. If I personally wear armor and command, I will definitely win. If you dare to withdraw your troops again, I will For the crime of collaborating with the enemy, I will kill him with one sword!"
