Liu Chan was waiting for the best time to launch an attack, while Xu Huang and Xia Houshang were also waiting for Liu Chan to send his troops to attack.
The seemingly calm conditions on both sides of the Dushui River can hardly cover up the raging murderous aura here.
Shangyong, under the training of Ma Chao, the two thousand tribesmen have already acquired the most basic knowledge of war and can also know the basic marching orders, which is enough.
These Qiang Di people held their customary hunting bows, the arrows were coated with poison made from local flowers, fruits, insects and snakes, and they carried the rough machetes they used when going into the mountains to chop wood and hunt, ready to fight Cao Jun at any time.
In fact, Liu Chan had already allocated to them a batch of leather armors, leather used to make leather armors, as well as standard ring-headed knives and bows and arrows from the captured trophies.
However, these young and strong tribes accepted leather armor and leather, but declined the Huanshou knife and bow and arrow. The reason was that they were not used to it and were not as comfortable as their machetes and short hunting bows.
Since he didn't have time to train for a long time, Liu Chan just let it go. After all, whether the weapons are smooth on the battlefield is a matter of life and death.
During this period, the Red Star Army, from Red Star Left Colonel Li Er to every village commander, spent a lot of time listening to Liu Chan's lectures, including Ding Feng and Chai Rong, who had just returned to the army recently.
Except for Hu Li and other members of the cavalry team, they were training with Ma Chao at this time.
"...the so-called sixteen-character tactics of retreating when the enemy advances, harassing the enemy when stationed, attacking when the enemy is tired, and pursuing when the enemy retreats, are the essence of the so-called guerrilla warfare." Liu Chan combined the map with the camp location of Cao's army and patiently Explaining.
Chai Rong was greatly inspired by his experience in fighting guerrillas with the Wu Army in Jiangdong, but at the same time he immediately discovered the problem.
"But in this case, wouldn't our army consume more physical strength and willpower than the enemy's army?"
Liu Chan smiled happily: "Yes, that's why I didn't let you do this when we were in Jiangdong before. These sixteen words are indeed a magic weapon to win with less, but there is a prerequisite - the quality of our army's soldiers, The will and belief to fight must be used to crush the enemy.
"Otherwise, this style of fighting will tire us out before we can defeat the enemy. Not only that, in order to be able to continue fighting, our army must also use all offensive gaps to conserve physical strength..."
After explaining the tactical concepts of guerrilla warfare, Liu Chan began to take the next step.
"Our troops are at an absolute disadvantage. At this time, if we gather together to fight the enemy head-on, even if we are one to ten elites, the best result will be a tragic victory.
What's more, the enemy general this time is also a veteran general who is good at recruiting and fighting. He has rich experience in leading troops and running the army. Whether he can win or not is still open to question. "
After listening to Liu Chan's words, Li Er said: "That's why we have to fight guerrillas with them."
Liu Chan nodded: "Yes, but even with guerrilla warfare, we are still at a disadvantage compared to the enemy."
"So we should attack them separately?" Ding Feng was deeply impressed by Lu Xun's failure in the battle of Jingzhou.
"Exactly." Liu Chan smiled happily, "Then...how should we divide them?"
Everyone fell silent at this time.
Liu Chan did not show off. Seeing that everyone could not come up with a good plan, he said: "The reason why I asked you to insist on fighting in units of ten thousand with multiple arms since the time of suppressing the bandits, and everyone must understand the flag language, is so that you can Today’s matter.”
The generals of the Red Star Army looked at each other in confusion. Except for Li Er, Ding Feng, and Chai Rong, who seemed to have some understanding, the others still looked confused.
Especially Qian Duo, whose clear eyes showed the same uprightness as always, just waiting to hear Liu Chan announce the answer.
"Gathering is like a ball of fire, scattering is like a sky full of stars."
Unfortunately, today's answer seems to be more difficult for Qian Duo than the question itself.
…
At the same time, the amount of water in the blocked river began to gradually decrease over time, the river channel gradually narrowed, and the water level dropped every day.
The time to launch an attack is getting closer and closer.
However, neither Liu Chan, Ma Chao, nor Xia Houshang, nor Xu Huang expected that the other party would make a move similar to theirs.
Outside the west city, Meng Da's four thousand troops suddenly came to the city.
Shortly after he met Xia Houshang, he was ordered to secretly return to Fangling, pass by Zhushui and Mianshui, bypass Shangyong, and sneak attack on Xicheng.
Mianshui does not flow directly through Shangyong, but passes through the blocked water branch that branches to the south. Therefore, Meng Dajun, who sailed directly from east to west through Mianshui in the north, was not noticed by Shangyong.
This surprised Shen Zhong, who was responsible for staying in Xicheng.
But fortunately, even though Shen Zhong was in the city, he did not forget to send people to investigate the situation around the city, especially the Mianshui waterway.
When Meng Da and others came by boat, they were already discovered.
Moreover, it was the first time he was ordered to defend the city alone. It was such an important place, so Shen Zhong was very energetic.
The last time he accompanied Zhao Lei to defend Jiangling, he learned a lot about how to defend the city from the general under General Guan.
Xicheng is the home base of the Shen family. After many years of management, the city defense is stronger than that of Shangyong City, and there is no shortage of supplies.
The defense of the city had been prepared, and Mengda's troops seemed to be less than ten thousand, so Shen Zhong remained calm even though he was frightened.
"Listen to the defenders in the city!" Meng Da shouted outside the city with high spirits, "Shangyong has been captured by our army, and the Shu army has been wiped out! Liu Chan and Ma Chao have both been captured. If you want to survive, you'd better attack as soon as possible. The city has surrendered!
"If you don't surrender now, when my army comes and destroys the city... Humph, if you suffer by then, don't blame me for not warning you!"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Suddenly there was a burst of laughter at the top of the city. This laughter was so natural that anyone could hear it. It was definitely not a forced laugh pretending to be calm.
Meng Da felt annoyed, pointed the knife in his hand towards the city, and said angrily: "Who are you laughing at?"
"Haha, ha, hoo..." Shen Zhong finally suppressed his laughter, and took a few steps forward to look at Meng Da outside the city wall, "I'm sure Mr. Nai is laughing, what do you want to do?"
"You!" This sentence made Meng Da very angry. We are all educated people, how could anyone curse on such an occasion?
But the other party scolded him. Not only did he scold, he didn't intend to stop.
Shen Zhong pointed to the city with a smile: "What kind of person is the prince? General Ma is also famous, and people like you, dolphins and dogs, also want to win in battle... Could it be that he wants to laugh to death and destroy our west city without fighting? ?”
The soldiers around him relaxed when they saw Shen Zhong laughing and cursing and paying no attention to the enemy troops under the city. They all laughed along with him.
Moreover, it would be okay if Mengda did not threaten them after breaking the city. This fact only strengthened their determination to defend.
Seeing that he couldn't be deceived, Meng Da asked again: "Who are you?"
"It's easy to say, my surname is Shen Mingzhong, and he is a soldier in the Red Star Army of the Prince of Hanzhong." Shen Zhong proudly puffed up his chest, as if to say that he was a general of the Han Empire.
Can you stop saying everything you say is fair and public?
Meng Da was disgusted, but he still sneered and said: "Humph, a nobody dares to speak arrogant words here. The King of Wei has promised a certain title of prince, and if you surrender, you will also be rewarded, how can you Wouldn’t it be better to be a pawn here?”
"Humph, you are just a soldier under the crown prince's command, and you won't change it if someone else gives you a general." Shen Zhong looked cold and scolded, "If you want to attack, then attack, otherwise, stop making noises and disturbing people here. Clean! Shoot the arrow!"
The soldiers on both sides immediately drew their bows and fired arrows, and a wave of threatening arrows shot out. Mengda hurriedly moved his horse back, causing another burst of laughter from the top of the city.
Fortunately, the embarrassed Mengda did not lose his mind and immediately ordered an attack on the city. Instead, he ordered people to camp outside the city.
If he had to wait a little longer, he would suddenly lead an army to appear in the west city behind him. The morale of the army and the people in the city would definitely be in chaos. Even if this unknown soldier still wanted to resist, others would probably become more alert.
And this is also the base camp of the Shen family. When the Shen family heard that Cao Jun was victorious, why not rush to build a city for themselves?
When the time comes, someone will take Shen Zhong's head and surrender, so Mengda doesn't have to rush.
So he sent people to shoot letters of surrender into the city every day, waiting for chaos to break out in the city.
This is also a helpless move. The biggest purpose of leading his troops here is to use suddenness and false news to cause the enemy to chaos. In fact, there are many successful cases... He can't really let him use his Four Thousand Steps to attack City?
However, the letters sent in were like sinking into the sea, with no response at all.
The west city was still calm, and Shen Zhong was still jumping up and down on the city wall and insulting him every day.
Meng Da, who was angry and anxious, didn't know that there were no Shen family members in Xicheng now.
And just when Mengda found nothing, Guan Xing also led an army and suddenly appeared outside Fangling City...
(End of chapter)
