Chapter 218 Li Bing's Wisdom
Xincheng, upstream of the Wei River.
That night, Su Ze and his generals arrived at the upper reaches of Xincheng. Su Liang pointed to the Wei River section sparkling in the night and said:
"General, I have already surveyed this place and it is the most suitable place to build a cofferdam."
Su Ze nodded. During the military meeting in the afternoon, Murong Shaozong and Hou Jing both wrote the word "water" on the palm of their hands at the same time.
In fact, this was also the siege method that Su Ze had discussed with Su Liang a long time ago.
A dam was built on the Wei River upstream of Xincheng, and after storing water, the Wei River was diverted to attack Xincheng and use water to break into the city.
Water attack is a commonly used method in siege warfare. When the Southern Liang Dynasty besieged Shouyang, they built the Fushan Weir to store water for siege.
However, the construction of Fushan Weir was too difficult. Nanliang spent countless manpower and resources, but the weather was not on their side. A rainstorm caused the water level to surge, which in turn destroyed the Fushan Weir under construction and flooded Nanliang's own camp.
The Northern Wei general Li Chong sensed an opportunity and took the chance to lead his troops in a counterattack, defeating the Southern Liang army. From then on, Li Chong earned the name "Crouching Tiger".
Fushan Weir is a dam built on the Huaihe River. At that time, the water network in the south of the Yangtze River was dense and the water flow of the Huaihe River was extremely large, so the difficulty of building Fushan Weir was naturally extremely great.
However, Longxi County is located in the upper reaches of the Weishui River, and the river channel is relatively narrow, so the construction of damming the river is not difficult.
Su Ze opened the system and looked at the exclamation mark on the new city. After breaking the city, he would gain the new [Directional Summoning] skill and spawn orange followers. He gave orders to his left and right:
"Conscript the army and the people to build a dam here!"
"only!"
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The middle and lower reaches of the Wei River, Wugong, and the western expedition camp.
The fifth day of the sixth lunar month in the first year of Zhengguang.
These days, Xiao Baoyin always felt uneasy.
Since Cui Yanbo went to war, there has been frequent good news from the front line.
Cui Yanbo defeated the rebels once at Fufeng and again at Weishui. The last news was that Cui Yanbo had led his army to force Mozhe Tiansheng to Wuzhangyuan. As long as they waited for the government troops in Chencang to attack together, they would be able to defeat Mozhe Tiansheng.
Mozhe Tiansheng is the largest rebel army in Qizhou. As long as we defeat Mozhe Tiansheng, we can recapture Qizhou and counterattack Qinzhou.
Xiao Baoyin was even a little worried. If Cui Yanbo attacked too quickly, the rebels in Guanzhong would be destroyed too quickly. What if the court summoned him back to Luoyang?
Xiao Baoyin made up his mind that after counterattacking Qizhou, he must suppress Cui Yanbo and not let this old mad dog continue to charge. What if he wiped out all the rebels?
As Cui Yanbo's battle record spread back to Wugong, the contradiction between the Guanxi faction and the Guandong faction temporarily disappeared, and both sides were immersed in the victory on the battlefield.
While Xiao Baoyin was still feasting with his men, a panicked messenger rushed into the tent.
When Xiao Baoyin saw the blood stains on the messenger's body, his heart skipped a beat. He was also experienced in commanding troops, so he immediately dismissed the banquet and brought the messenger to his tent, then asked:
"What happened on the front line?!"
The messenger immediately knelt down, his eyes full of tears, and said:
"General Cui was ambushed by the rebels and died at Wuzhangyuan. Our army was routed!"
Xiao Baoyin almost fainted on the ground. He asked quickly:
"Where's Liu Kai?"
The messenger said: "Sima Liu gathered the remnants of his army and was retreating to Wugong. It was Sima Liu who sent his subordinates to inform the general."
What Xiao Baoyin was most worried about was the losses of Cui Yanbo's troops. He asked, "How many of Liu Sima's troops are left?"
The messenger held back tears and said, "Less than five thousand."
Xiao Baoyin fell down on the Hu bed and shouted to the sky: "Cui Yanbo has misled me!"
Now that Cui Yanbo was dead, it was meaningless for Xiao Baoyin to curse him any more. He stood up and said:
"First block the news and order the army to leave Fufeng and establish a defense line!"
Unfortunately, Xiao Baoyin's attempt to block the news soon failed. His subordinates rushed into the tent and said:
"Commander-in-chief! A large number of corpses were found floating on the Wei River! Many of them were wearing our military uniforms!"
Oh, that’s right, Weishui!
With so many people killed in the battle and so many corpses floating downstream, the army must have known the news of the disastrous defeat at the front very quickly!
After much deliberation, Xiao Baoyin could only order his soldiers to establish a defense line in Wugong and wait for Liu Kai to lead his troops back to Wugong before deciding on the next move.
However, this time Cui Yanbo was defeated, and Xiao Baoyin's army suffered heavy losses. With the limited troops at hand, it seemed that Chang'an could not be defended.
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In the middle reaches of the Wei River, Wuzhangyuan.
"Grand Sima! Armor and weapons have been distributed!"
The most important achievement of Mozhe Tiansheng's victory this time was not only the annihilation of Cui Yanbo's army, but more importantly the seizure of Cui Yanbo's weapons, equipment and food.
Cui Yanbo's front army and central army were squeezed in the narrow terrain between Wuzhangyuan and Weishui. After Cui Yanbo's death, his army was quickly defeated by Mozhe Tiansheng's army that came down the mountain.
After Liu Kai on the other side of the river learned of the progress of the battle, he was afraid that Mo Zhe Tiansheng would cross the pontoon bridge to attack his rear army, so he had no choice but to order the pontoon bridge on the Wei River to be burned.
The result was that Cui Yanbo's army had no way to retreat, and many soldiers jumped into the Wei River for their lives, but were swallowed up by the river.
A few lucky ones crossed the Weishui River and were gathered by Liu Kai. After learning from them the details of the Battle of Wuzhangyuan, Liu Kai immediately led the remaining troops to retreat to Wugong, while sending a messenger to report the battle situation to Xiao Baoyin.
Liu Kai looked at the fire and the sounds of fighting on the other side of the Wei River and sighed, "Chencang is lost."
Mo Zhe Tiansheng has been lacking equipment since he started his army.
There was no way. Qinzhou was not rich to begin with, and now it was fighting on multiple fronts. The rebels were not good at organizing production. Up to now, half of the soldiers in Mozhe Tiansheng's army were still using modified farm tools and kitchen utensils to fight, and as for armor, only a few trusted elite soldiers had it.
This is also the reason why Mozhe Tiansheng was at a disadvantage in several direct battles with the government troops.
Sometimes he didn’t retreat on purpose, he just really couldn’t win!
However, in this battle, Mozhe Tiansheng seized a large amount of armor and weapons from the government army, and Mozhe Tiansheng could finally hold his head high.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng wore the Ming Guang armor seized from Cui Yanbo, held Cui Yanbo's sword and stood up and asked, "How is the morale of the army?"
The subordinate immediately said: "Morale is good!"
Mo Zhe Tiansheng nodded, drew out his sword and said, "Gather the troops and attack Chencang again!"
On June 5th of the first year of Zhengguang, after Mozhe Tiansheng's army defeated Cui Yanbo's troops, they rose up again and ambushed the Chencang government troops that were preparing to encircle Wuzhangyuan.
The commander of the Chencang army and the governor of Yongzhou, Yuan Xiuyi, died in battle. The Chencang army was defeated and their corpses once again filled the Wei River.
On June 10, Mozhe Tiansheng attacked Chencang and announced that the warehouse would be open for three days, recruiting the surrounding people to join the army.
After a series of wars, the western part of Guanzhong was already in ruins, and many people who had lost their homes were also forced to join Mozhe Tiansheng's army. Then Mozhe Tiansheng claimed to have an army of 300,000, and Guanzhong was terrified!
Liu Kai led the remaining remnants of Cui Yanbo to meet up with Xiao Baoyin.
After suffering such a great defeat, the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition, Xiao Baoyin, wrote a memorial to the court to plead guilty and swore an oath in Wugong to defend Chang'an.
As for whether Chang'an could be defended, Xiao Baoyin had no idea, but after suffering such a great defeat, he really could not afford the loss of losing Chang'an again.
Xiao Baoyin had no choice but to follow Liu Kai's advice and ordered that one out of every five adult males in Yongzhou be drafted to recruit soldiers in Wugong to resist the bandits.
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Xincheng, upstream of the Wei River.
Mozhe Tiansheng's elder brother Mozhe Niansheng was stationed in Xincheng. Unlike his younger brother, Mozhe Niansheng had been with Mozhe Dati since he was a child and was familiar with military affairs, so Mozhe Niansheng was appointed by his father to be in Xincheng to resist Su Ze's army coming out of Longxi.
But Hou Gang’s judgment that day was completely wrong!
What? Su Ze is a warrior from a poor family who cannot get the support of Longxi County and can only rely on the few elite soldiers in his hands. Only a strong city can stop Su Ze!
"King of Qin" are you really speaking human words?
It took Su Ze less than ten days to completely remove the fort that Mo Zhe Niansheng had set up near the new city. Now the army has surrounded the new city and it has been completely blocked.
This is called having no prestige? Unable to mobilize the powerful people in Longxi County?
The tyrants of Longxi County gave all their coffins to Su Ze to fight in the war! ?
Mo Zhe Niansheng learned from the soldiers of the fortress who retreated to the new city that Su Ze's army was well-equipped and fought in an organized manner. More importantly, these troops were all infantry!
Attacking a city requires infantry. Mo Zhe Niansheng is not worried about Su Ze's cavalry. He knows that no general would be willing to use cavalry to attack a city.
But Mo Zhe Niansheng was afraid that Su Ze could mobilize so many well-trained infantry. If Su Ze forced his way into the city, could these 5,000 people in the city hold out?
The most desperate thing is not these. The most desperate thing for Mo Zhe Niansheng is that he will not get support from his father and brother for at least two months.
My father, Mozhe Dadi, was in Liangzhou, confronting the Liangzhou governor Fu Shuyan at the foot of Dingjun Mountain.
His younger brother Mo Zhesheng was born in Qizhou, resisting the army of Xiao Baoyin, the governor of the Western Expedition of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
In the three-front war, all the usable soldiers in Qinzhou were withdrawn, but Su Ze had Longxi County behind him and the more distant Hezhou and Liangzhou, so he could replenish his soldiers at any time.
Mo Zhe Niansheng did not reveal the information to his subordinates. Instead, he sent elite troops to break out again and again, and told the defenders in the city that he would ask Qinzhou for help.
Mo Zhe Niansheng was still spreading the news in the city, saying that his father Mo Zhe Dadi had won a great victory and would soon lead troops to support Xincheng, and then he would be able to encircle Su Ze outside Xincheng.
Mo Zhe Niansheng also knew that rumors could not last long, but there must always be hope in defending the city.
The defenders lost their temper and the city was breached.
These days, Su Ze's army has been cutting wood near the new city and building siege weapons under the leadership of craftsmen. Standing on the city wall, Mo Zhe Niansheng is filled with anxiety every day when he sees the bustling construction site.
But he could do nothing. The day before yesterday, Mo Zhe Niansheng wanted to go out of the city to harass and delay Su Ze's progress in building siege weapons, but his cavalry was surrounded by a team of elite cavalry as soon as they left the city.
There was no way. Su Ze's cavalry had fought in many battles and defeated the elite of the elite including the Rouran, Gaoche and Tuyuhun peoples.
This cavalry enjoyed the best treatment in the army, with meat every day and riding the fine horses that Su Ze had gathered.
Mo Zhe Niansheng also saw the gap and stopped sending his men out of the city to die.
But not sending anyone out of the city meant having no idea of the enemy's movements. Mo Zhe Niansheng inspected the city defenses twice a day, always feeling that he had missed something.
There was no problem with the city wall, the food reserves, or the water source. Mo Zhe Niansheng didn't know where his uneasiness came from, but every time he looked at the surging Wei River beside the city, he always had an inexplicable worry.
Mo Zhe Niansheng inspected the new city again before returning to his military residence, having finally survived the day.
-
After nightfall, Su Ze was inspecting the dam upstream of Xincheng.
An old man with white hair and beard, wearing a Taoist robe, stood beside Su Ze.
This is the blue follower that Su Ze bought a few days ago.
[The astronomy student who likes to brag]
Grade: blue;
Effect: None;
Comment: "An astronomy student who claims to be able to predict the weather, but whether he is just lucky or really has some skills is a question."
Price: 200 wen tai and 10 baht coins, and a maintenance fee of wen tai and baht coins is required every month.
This was also a follower that Su Ze bought casually. He did not expect him to be of much use and originally wanted to use him as his eyes and ears.
But yesterday, this follower named Su Xiang suddenly found Su Ze and said that he "observed the sky at night and it will rain heavily tomorrow."
Su Ze didn't believe it at first. There wasn't even any dark clouds seen near the new city in these days, so how could it suddenly rain?
However, Su Ze was not sure whether Su Xiang, a follower spawned by the system, had some different abilities, so he brought him with him to inspect the river dam upstream of the new city.
[The city builders of Tongwan City] Su Tong was directing the laborers, and a group of them came to the river with a huge bamboo structure on their shoulders. Then, soldiers operated a wooden crane and sank the bamboo structure into the river.
Seeing Su Ze coming, Su Tong came over quickly: "My Lord."
But Su Tong glared fiercely at Su Xiang behind Su Ze. In the past few days, this guy had been at the construction site every now and then, shouting that it was going to rain heavily. Last time, the work was stopped because of his wrong prediction, and in the end, not a drop of rain fell the whole night, which greatly delayed the construction period.
From then on, Su Tong kicked him out of the construction site, but he didn't expect that this guy could persuade the lord to come along.
Wooden cranes actually appeared very early. Cranes were used to move stones when building cities in the Qin Dynasty, but what Su Tong sank into the Wei River was the first time Su Ze saw it.
Su Tong explained: "My Lord, this is the method Li Bing used to control floods."
"Dujiangyan?"
Su Tong said, "When I was building the city in Dunhuang, I discussed with Su Miao (the water conservancy expert from the Western Regions who wasted money and manpower) the similarities and differences between water control and city building. Su Miao said that when Li Bing built the Dujiangyan, he split bamboo into cages and put stones in the cages to block the river water."
Su Ze didn't expect that these followers could learn and improve from each other. He looked at Su Tongyi again and thought that this was indeed a good idea.
It is easy to say that building a dam to block water, but the most important thing is to block it.
To block the river, heavy objects are naturally needed, but large stones are inconvenient to mine and transport. Using bamboo cages to hold broken stones may be better than using whole stones to block the river, and it also saves more manpower.
This is the wisdom of the working people.
Just as Su Ze was inspecting the construction site with great interest, a shout came from a distance:
"The dam is closed!"
Happy Dragon Boat Festival!
(End of this chapter)