Chapter 279 Long-distance Attack
Hefei is not too far from Shouchun, only more than 300 miles. Calculated at the regular marching speed of 30 miles per day, Zhou Yu and the others can arrive in twelve or three days. Shouchun.
If you take into account Chengde who can rest, the speed will be even faster.
Chengde is located between Hefei and Shouchun, and is Liu Ye's hometown. At this time, there were still a population of tens of thousands, but in a few years, this place would look like Pengcheng before.
A severe drought and military disaster caused the population of the entire Lujiang River to almost collapse, and the remaining living people were also fleeing and migrating to surrounding counties.
After intense discussion, Liu Feng and the others finally decided to take action before Yuan Shujun arrived in Chengde.
It is about 140 miles from Hefei to Chengde, and nearly 200 miles from Chengde to Shouchun. More importantly, if we take action between Hefei and Chengde, it will easily alarm Chengde and alert Shouchun and Hefei.
In this way, the entire Liu Feng army will be in a dilemma. Although the army is strong, there is food from the autumn harvest everywhere, and Liu Feng is in the army with three strong supports, the army cannot Will collapse.
But the next best situation is to switch to siege warfare. Siege warfare focusing on attacking cities will inevitably bring huge casualties and consume a lot of time.
Of course, this plan also has its reasons that cannot be ignored.
First of all, this is due to geographical factors.
If Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang want to go from Hefei to Shouchun, they must pass through Chengde, and in Chengde, they have two northbound roads. One is to bypass Wabu Lake from the left. Then go north along the plain passage between Wabu Lake and Shaopi, and you can reach Shouchun.
This passage is smooth and safe. The march is not only a flat road, but also has Shaopei on the left and Wabu Lake on the right. There is almost no danger.
The second route is to bypass Wabu Lake from the right and continue north. This road runs along the river. On the left is Wabu Lake, and on the right is a relatively gentle, hilly area with little undulations. , the danger to the army is much greater than the first route.
The only advantage of this road is that it is relatively straight, twenty or thirty miles closer than the first road.
It is conceivable that even a fool will choose the first path instead of the second path.
The main reason for the heated discussion is when to capture Chengde.
There are currently two main plans. One plan is to use Zhou Yu's troops as the leader, quickly close the city gate after entering Chengde and control the city defense, while Liu Feng's army encircles and annihilates Sun Xiang outside the city.
The second plan is to wait for Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang to leave Chengde, continue to go north, rely on Liu Ye's deployment to capture Chengde in a sneak attack, then continue to go north to attack from behind, and then join Zhou Yu Encircle and annihilate Sun Xiang.
Liu Ye is undoubtedly a firm supporter of the second option.
Taishi Ci felt that the first plan was more reliable.
Finally, after allowing them to discuss it, Liu Feng made the decision to launch the first plan.
In fact, there is still selfishness in this. Liu Ye himself also knows that the first set of plans is more secure, but the first step of the first set of plans is Zhou Yu’s, while the first step of the second set of plans is It's him Liu Ye.
How willing he was to give up.
It is precisely for this reason that Liu Feng asked them to argue so that Liu Ye could clearly see the general trend.
Liu Ye is a smart man, but he is just a little selfish.
Liu Feng doesn't care if he has selfish motives, but he can't abandon public service for selfish reasons.
After the decision was made, the entire army was immediately mobilized and prepared to set off in scheduled batches. They only waited for Zhou Yu's letter to be ready for success.
Among them, Zhang Liao is the vanguard, Taishi Ci is the middle army, Xu Huang is the rear, commanding the cavalry to set off early, and Liu Ye joins the army to follow the army to contact the spies, agents and internal agents in Chengde County.
Liu Feng gave Taishi Ci full authority to command. If there is a fighter opportunity, he can take action directly without waiting for the follow-up army.
Later, Liu Feng took Xu Sheng's troops as the vanguard, allocating Jia Bin's cavalry and a large number of cattle and horses to increase their maneuvering speed and follow the cavalry.
Liu Feng personally led Pan Zhang's troops as the central army, and Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin escorted the grain and four thousand civilians as the rear.
The entire army, with 24,000 men on horseback, set out from Dongcheng and rushed towards Chengde.
Between Dongcheng and Chengde, there are large hills. The altitude of these hills is not high, generally no more than one or two hundred meters, and the slopes are gentle and large. Even the cavalry can gallop, and the army can't move at all. No difficulty.
It’s just that the distance between Dongcheng and Chengde is not short, it’s two hundred and eighty miles.
This is the fundamental reason why Liu Feng gathered cavalry in Dongcheng.
Considering that there is a lag of five to seven days or even longer in the exchange of information between Zhou Yu and Dongcheng, even with Zhou Yu's estimated lead time, the maneuverability must be improved.
Although the infantry can set off early and enter the battlefield, how can such a large corps hide in a battle involving more than ten thousand people?
Not to mention asking to hide it for several days.
The infantry's marching speed is generally thirty miles per day, and the regular rapid march is forty miles.
However, this is not the limit of infantry marching. If they really want to run, the elite infantry can still carry out the heavy task of fifty to eighty miles a day. But the problem is that after completing this journey, not only will there be a large number of stragglers, but also the establishment Moderate or even severe confusion may also occur.
This is the realistic basis for why it is written in ancient art of war books that the one who can gain a hundred miles and make a profit can defeat the general, and the one who can make a profit of fifty miles can defeat the general.
There was a saying in later generations that the speed of infantry in modern times had exceeded that of cavalry. This was purely a misunderstanding and a rumor caused by spreading rumors.
The common source of this rumor is that during the American Civil War, in the western United States, when marching continuously for five or seven days, the speed of an infantry company would be higher than that of a cavalry company.
Actually, this statement itself is very interesting. Why do you ask for more than seven days?
The actual situation is that the entire western United States is the Gobi Desert, and there is no material supply supplement. Horses can only eat and drink the material supplies they carry. Horses drink a lot of water and eat a lot, and war horses also need to eat refined feed. .
The so-called limit time of five to seven days is the limit time for the fine feed and water that the cavalry company can carry with them. It does not mean that the war horses will run out after running for five or seven days.
The war horse can still run at this time, but continuing to run is courting death. It must stop, or even retrace its steps to find its own supply convoy.
The pinnacle of light infantry is the battle record created by the Volunteer Army. They ran 145 miles in 14 hours, and it was still a mountainous road.
But the peak of cavalry can be seen everywhere. Li Shimin pursued Song Jingang and ran two hundred miles day and night, and during this period he dismounted and fought eight times.
The Mongols were even more exaggerated. At their peak, the Mongols had one man and five horses, and their daily marching speed was 180 to 190 miles.
What can infantry use to surpass?
You must know that even by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the already depleted cavalry of Guan Ning Army was still traveling at a speed of 150 miles a day when returning to aid Beijing.
Not to mention that cavalry can generally maintain more than 80% of their combat effectiveness when they arrive on the battlefield. Even if the horses are disabled, they can still maintain 80% of their human combat effectiveness. It is impossible for infantry to retain this physical strength.
So the ancients were not fools. It was not until the appearance of the Maxim machine gun that the cavalry fell from its status as the main force. It was not until the emergence of armor that the cavalry was truly sent to the grave.
Only the cavalry's marching speed can seize this fleeting opportunity.
The road from Dongcheng to Chengde is a smooth one. There are fields full of crops everywhere, and you even need to cross a river called Yanjianshui.
The river is not deep or wide, so people and horses can cross it, and there are bridges on the river.
So this long-distance attack can fully demonstrate the speed and endurance of the cavalry.
For this reason, Liu Feng also specially allocated a batch of goods and silk to Taishi Ci to provide for their emergency expenses on the road, such as purchasing food, recruiting civilians, etc.
If there is really something missing, you can cut it off first and report it later, borrow it in Liu Feng's name or pay it on credit.
In terms of military discipline, Liu Feng can only go so far. At this stage, it is impossible to ask soldiers to freeze to death without demolishing their houses or starve to death without grabbing food.
The Yuejia Army has indeed done it, but the military pay of the Yuejia Army is much higher than that of the Xuzhou Army. The gap is dozens of times higher than that of the Xuzhou Army, and may even be as high as more than a hundred times.
Soon, Zhou Yu’s letter was delivered to Dongcheng.
In his mind, Zhou Yu explained his location in detail, as well as the estimated departure time from Hefei and arrival time in Chengde.
Zhou Yu promised to try to control the arrival time in Chengde in the afternoon, which not only consumes Sun Xiangjun's physical strength, increases their fatigue, and reduces their fighting will, but also ensures brightness and ensures that no fish will escape. On September 16th, on the date scheduled by Zhou Yu, Liu Feng ordered to send troops.
Liu Fengjun, who was already hungry and thirsty, galloped towards the west like a tiger out of its box.
The guides who have been prepared will lead the way, and they will walk on terrain suitable for cavalry.
Many powerful villagers along the way were frightened by this army. Farmers even threw down their crops and fled back to the village, hoping to die with their wives and children.
But following them, they discovered that this army under Liu Zichi's flag was actually different. Not only did they not steal food and money, but they were very cautious during the march and would not trample farmland easily.
If there is any damage, some money will be left to compensate the landowner. This is like a dream.
Gradually, the powerful soldiers and people along the way no longer feared these armies. Instead, they took the initiative to send cattle, sheep, wine and meat to the army, and asked where the army came from.
This army took away the meat, but returned the drinks.
But fortunately, everyone finally found out that this army belonged to the hussar general Liu Bei.
The leader of the army was none other than Liu Feng, the eldest son of the hussar general Liu Bei and the imperial general who conquered the south.
I came here this time in compliance with the imperial edict to defeat the traitor Yuan Shu.
Yuan Shu's General Zuo and Marquis Yangzhai were both wiped out by the court and accused of being traitors to the empire.
As soon as the news came out, the powerful nobles along Jiujiang exploded.
You must know that Yuan Shu is the Skeleton King after all. Although he arrived in the Jianghuai area, he learned the lessons of Nanyang, changed the style of Nanyang, and changed the policy of fishing from the lake to a sustainable policy of fishing from the lake.
But his exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are still the highest among warlords in the world. Perhaps only the Xiliang warriors in Guanzhong who do not farm are more tyrannical than him.
The powerful nobles in Jianghuai dared to get angry but did not dare to speak out, so they could only protest by not cooperating with him.
But Yuan Shu doesn't care. If you don't help me, then I will recruit mountain bandits and water bandits.
It’s hard to find people with three legs in this world. Isn’t it still hard to find people who want to be officials?
Therefore, the relationship between Yuan Shu and the local nobles and powerful men in Jianghuai is still very bad. It is just that Yuan Shu has many soldiers and generals, and the local nobles and powerful men cannot resist.
As early as after Liu Bei regained Guangling, Jiujiang scholars and people kept making secret glances at Xuzhou, hoping that Liu Bei would send troops south. They were willing to eat pots of pulp to welcome Liu Bei.
However, Xuzhou's attention at that time was on Jiangdong and the Emperor of Hedong, and did not take care of the Jianghuai area.
Although he politely appeased the other party, Liu Feng did not give up on the other party. Instead, he asked Jianghuai people like Liu Ye and Lu Su to keep in touch with them.
Wouldn’t it come in handy at this time?
Tai Shici led the army all the way and went deep into Yin Ling. When they arrived at the county border between Yin Ling and Chengde, there were actually powerful nobles here to greet them.
"Is this General Taishi here?"
A group of hundreds of people were waiting on the edge of the avenue. The leader was an old man with a bright head, while a scribe and a big man stood on both sides of him.
The vanguard was led by Zhang Liao. He did not step forward to ask, but sent people to report back to Taishi Ci. He also sent people to answer that General Taishi was still behind, and then continued to move forward.
Tai Shici once issued an order not to stay without reason.
Although Tai Shi Ci loved his soldiers as his own son, Liu Bei and Liu Feng would disperse the soldiers whenever they received a reward. He did not like corporal punishment on weekdays and was always loved by the soldiers.
However, he was also very strict in running the army. Anyone who disobeyed orders or violated military regulations would be punished or even executed depending on the severity of the situation.
Zhang Liao has now obtained the position of pioneer and is full of ambitions and achievements, but he does not want to be punished by Taishi Ci for inexplicable reasons and become the chicken that kills the chicken to scare the monkeys.
Captain Zhang Liao's army continued to move north, and less than half an hour later, Tai Shici's Chinese army also arrived here.
Taishici received a report from the vanguard and knew that there was such a group of people here, so he took Liu Ye and his guards away from the marching group and ran towards the old man's location.
"Old Zhu Zheng, pay homage to the general."
As soon as the old man saw Tai Shici, he immediately announced his home and led everyone behind him to salute: "The old man has been ordered by Mr. Ziyang and Zijing to prepare several campsites for the army, and he has also prepared several camps in these places. The wine, meat and food are served.”
“How polite, old man.”
Tai Shici got off his horse, quickly stepped forward to help Zhu Zheng, and slowly lifted him up, saying thanks: “Thank you, old man.” Don't bother."
Zhu Zhengnai is the most powerful family in Chengde County. The scribes and powerful men behind him are also the nobles and powerful people in Chengde County, and they are all the top three families in Chengde.
The three families usually have a good relationship with the Liu family. When Liu Ye's family was taken to Xuzhou, these three families helped a lot.
Liu Ye took the opportunity to contact the other party and asked him to replenish supplies for Taishi Ci's cavalry and prepare a hiding place.
Taishici's army consisted of six thousand men. It was not easy to hide them in Chengde. But with the help of Zhu Zheng and others, this difficult task immediately became easier.
"In this battle, my lord has been ordered to punish the thieves and fight back the rebels. Once successful, the court will definitely reward you."
Although Liu Ye is very selfish, he is both political and strategic. With excellent skills, he immediately started drawing cakes for Zhu Zheng and others.
"My lord knows how to use people well, and knows rewards and punishments well. He is highly valued by the emperor and relies on him as the pillar of the clan. You have contributed to the country this time, and my lord will not ignore your hard work. You will definitely be richly rewarded in the future. , you can rest assured.”
After Liu Ye finished speaking, Taishi Ci also nodded in time and said: "I will send a letter to you young master and submit your performance together, so you can have no worries."
Hearing Taishi Ci With these words, Zhu Zhenglao's face suddenly burst into laughter. Behind him, Zheng Dang and Song Zhu were also beaming. What was the purpose of everyone's hard work?
Isn’t it because of what Liu Ye and General Taishi said?
“I don’t dare to be a general, thank you for your compliments. The general and Mr. Ziyang have worked hard all the way. The locations are divided into seven. They are all villages that we can influence, as well as wild places. One of the terraces can Two thousand people can be stationed on the other side of the river, and more than a thousand people can be stationed on the other side of the river. There is already a sufficient amount of wine and meat, as well as thousands of stones of grain, salt, eggs, and soybeans for the war horses to enjoy. "
"So, thank you very much."
Taishi Ci turned around and ordered, and at the same time asked Zhu Zheng and his guide to follow his cavalry.
Subsequently, according to the information given by Zhu Zheng and others, he began to allocate troops.
Zhang Liao is the vanguard and is stationed by the river. Once follow-up operations are launched, Zhang Liao's troops can immediately cross the river and serve as the vanguard of the forward army.
Taishici's army was stationed on the platform and led all the armies.
Xu Huang's troops were stationed in various villages to provide cover for the army.
This place is only one hundred and twenty miles away from Chengde County.
The cavalry is galloping at full strength, and it only takes one day to reach the city.
Liu Ye secretly sent someone to cross the river first, contact Zhou Yu, and inform the other party of the army's movements so that both parties could cooperate.
Taishici's troops began to settle in various camps to rest and recuperate, and at the same time, they were ready to cross the river to raid Sun Xiang at any time.
So far, Taishi Ci's troops have penetrated 160 miles into Jiujiang, but they can still remain secretive.
Tai Shici's cautiousness and conscientiousness, and Liu Ye's contact arrangements all contributed a lot, but they cannot negate the negative bonus of the Skeleton King.
The people of Jianghuai hated Yuan Shu so much that even if they saw Tai Shici's army, they would not have the thought of reporting it. This credit cannot be ignored.
*******
Zhou Yu had already left Hefei City and was heading towards Chengde.
When he saw that the letter from Liu Ye clearly stated that the battlefield was in the south of Chengde City, Zhou Yu clapped his hands and applauded.
Because Zhou Yu also happened to send a letter, and in his heart he suggested Liu Feng and the others to set the battlefield here.
As Liu Feng and others analyzed, Sun Xiang unswervingly chose to take the left channel. Even Zhou Yu could not change the opponent's decision.
(End of this chapter)