Chapter 495 Training Soldiers
Three days later, at a dock wall less than ten miles outside Zhua City.
At this time, Han Chang was lying leisurely on the hanging tower, watching a group of new soldiers being trained below.
Especially this leisure becomes even more precious after a bloody battle.
But Han Chang's leisure was hard-won. During the siege three days ago, they were the first to board the city and gained the honor of being the first to board the city.
But the price behind this is heavy.
They were very full before the war, but three people died in order to get there first. After the war, when the inspection was over, only Wang Jian, Han Chang, and Ma Zhi were left.
As for the other people, they don't know how they died, but their bodies were found after the war.
After the war, the only three people left were transferred to a dock outside the city. After this dock was captured by the Taishan Army, it was specially used to train new recruits from the nearby army.
I wish the common people have not had a good life these years. As the prefects or Caotou kings of various counties in Qingzhou fought against each other, the water transport from the lower reaches of Jishui River to Kyoto was cut off.
If the water transport is no longer sustainable, the trade routes will naturally also be no longer viable, so the people of Zhu'a who rely on the Jishui waterway to make a living become even more sad. In addition, in the past few years, after the Chen family expelled Zhu Aling and established a separate regime here, in order to expand their power, they even exploited and drained the blood of their subordinates.
As a result, the formerly prosperous Zhua declined.
When these vagrants who were wandering nearby heard about the arrival of the famous Taishan Army three days ago, they were all happy. They brought their families to Zhua and said they wanted to join the army.
At that time, Guo Shu saw that these people were starving and didn't want to accept them at all, but his deputy general and minister Shi were opposed to them.
Guo Shu later learned that in the Taishan military system, it was right to accept lonely and weak refugees. No one wanted to make the senior officials above think that he was an untraditional, cold-blooded person.
Therefore, Guo Shu could only accept these people and select the elite soldiers as officials to teach them.
As for the grain consumed in this process, Guo Shu is not worried. I don't know how the Chen family of Zhu'a plundered it. The savings in the city warehouse are piled up like a mountain. This is one of the few good news for Guo Shu.
After defeating Zhu'a, Guo Shu did not relax. He needed to attack Licheng, the gateway to Jinan to the east, to calm Cao Cao in Jinan.
In fact, Guo Shu's combat mission this time was roughly like this.
Previously, because the Han army in the southern area of Pingyuan took the initiative to attack the Taishan Army Defense Forces in Pingyuanjin, when Zhou Gui led his troops to come to the rescue, he thought this was a minor conflict.
But when he arrived at Pingyuanjin, after seeing the offensive and the flag of the camp head, Zhou Gui judged that the opponent might launch a major offensive.
Therefore, the school captain Jin Quan came here later.
As a middle- and high-level military official, Jin Quan is very clear about the current main strategy of the Taishan Army. The Taishan Army is now in the stage of consolidating its foundations and is unwilling to engage in large-scale wars during this period.
As the Taishan Army led by Zhang Chong, orders and prohibitions are the most important. In other systems, the generals below may go alone for their own benefit, but you won't see that in the Taishan Army.
So after the situation on the front line was reported to Ding Sheng stationed in Guangzong, Ding Sheng ordered:
"Fight."
So, on the one hand, Jin Quan strengthened the river defense in Pingyuanjin, and on the other hand, he ordered Guo Shu to lead his troops across the river in a roundabout way, crossing all the way to Jishui.
Why do this?
This was made by Jin Quan after analyzing the current situation in Qingzhou.
Today, the three largest princes in Qingzhou are Liu Yan of Pingyuan, Cao Cao of Jinan, and Sima He of Qi. Among them, the military reports in the army have the most information about Cao Cao.
The generals of the Taishan Army did not know at first why the king valued Cao Cao, a Kanto general, so highly. But after reading the intelligence about Cao Cao compiled by Fei Junwaijun, everyone thought that the king's insight was right.
This Cao Cao cannot be underestimated.
He made many military exploits in the Han Dynasty, the Guandong court, and in the Battle of Weihan. It doesn't matter if he has military exploits, this person is also quite indomitable. This spirit makes these Taishan generals seem to see a trace of the king.
No wonder the king valued this person.
Later, when Cao Cao arrived in Jinan, it turned out that Taishan's army did not go as expected, as if it was a dragon going out to sea.
First, punish powerful people, gather talented people, cooperate with external forces to strengthen their support, and regulate intelligence internally. After saving up and waiting for several months, it exploded in May, attracting the attention of the heroes of Kanto as soon as it came out.
Cao Cao left Xun Yu behind as a long-term historian, and then personally led an army of five thousand to attack Qi. Sima He of Qi State claimed to have 200,000 soldiers, but they were reduced to snow under Cao Cao's troops.
Within five months, Cao Cao fought against Sima He in the thirty-fourth battle and won a great victory.
His troops swept across the entire Qi State, and the dock masters of Qi State who had been stuck in the countryside responded to Cao Cao one after another. Even Sima and his important general Yin Li surrendered to Cao Cao.
Originally, Cao Cao only took over one county in the Jinan Kingdom, but later on, the Le'an Kingdom to the east had an empty county governor, and many powerful people in the country asked Cao Cao to take over Le'an.
But Cao Cao refused because he had not received the imperial edict from the Han Dynasty. He just borrowed the road from the wall masters of various docks to attack Qi.
These dock masters of Le'an Kingdom are actually on the opposite ends of the snake and rat sides, jumping repeatedly between Cao Cao and Sima He. So Cao Cao didn't trust them from the beginning.
On the contrary, after borrowing the passage, Cao Cao almost defeated Sima He's forces with thunderous force.
After Yin Li surrendered to Cao Cao, Sima He's power in Qi collapsed. In the end, he could only take a few riders from the south to the North Sea.
There, Sima He still had some elite troops.
But unfortunately, this defeated army was hunted down by the Shanliao people lurking in the hills, and Sima and his head were presented to Cao Cao.
Once the Qi State was pacified, Cao Cao directly gathered 30,000 troops from the 150,000 surrendered Sima and troops. Then he returned to Le'an and captured the Le'an State with the power of victory.
At this point, Cao Cao, who had been dormant for half a year, expanded the territory of two counties in just one month, won 40,000 soldiers, and suddenly became the largest prince in Qingzhou.
It was also because of the major changes in the pattern of Qingzhou in May that the Han soldiers in Pingyuan County became interested.
Among them, Shen Pei secretly contacted Cao Cao's special envoy privately, and they provoked the Taishan Army on the border, provoking a counterattack from the other side.
When the time comes, Liu Yu, who is unable to resist Taishan's army, will naturally ask Cao Cao, who has strong soldiers and horses, to send troops to rescue him. And once Cao Cao arrives with his troops, he will naturally command them in a unified way for the defense of the two families.
And the plains and its elite soldiers at that time were not Cao Cao's?
These are Cao Cao's thoughts, but it's a pity that Jin Quan of Pingyuanjin doesn't know.
His plan was very simple, which was to use one force to bypass Jinan's flank and prevent it from sending troops northward. When the time comes, the Pingyuan Army without reinforcements will naturally reduce the intensity of the conflict.
And he, Jin Quan, can achieve a situation where he needs to fight without affecting the stability.
The place Jinquan chose was Zhua.
This city can directly threaten Licheng, the gateway to Jinan, but will not directly attack Cao Cao's territory, so it is really suitable.
And the people Jin Quan selected were also good. Guo Shu was indeed an outstanding general, and he successfully completed the mission in his first command.
So far, Jin Quan seems to have done nothing wrong and has done well.
It's a pity that he couldn't see Cao Cao's deeper meaning, so the Guo Shu tribe he sent out to make a detour became a lone army.
At this moment, Master Guo Shu didn't know the danger he was about to encounter.
……
Han Chang's military exploits have declined.
Although Han Chang and the others paid a heavy price, they also gained the first achievement that everyone envied.
As one of the four major military merits, being the first to achieve merit can be said to be the fastest way for countless ordinary soldiers to change their destiny.
A soldier from Guizhou Province can't change his fate even if he has served hard for twenty years, but as long as you are the first to stand on the city in a battle, as long as you survive, you will be promoted to a military officer by the front line.
The transition from pawn to official not only means a change in status, but also greatly improves battlefield survivability.
As an official, as long as you don't die, you can rise higher and higher as the military progresses. Although there will be a ceiling, it is nothing more than cloud and mud compared to before.
So this is why siege is so dangerous, but there are still so many officials risking their lives to rush up.
And now, it is the harvest moment for Shitou Wang Jian, Han Chang and Ma Zhi.
After the evaluation of meritorious officials, Wang Jian, the leader of the Zuoqu front team of Ganling Camp, was brave and quick, and took the lead in leading his troops to the top of the city.
Special commander Wang Jian is the commander of the front team, Shi Wu Hanchang is the commander of the left team of the front team, and Ma Zhi is the commander of the right team of the front team. And allowed him to rebuild his establishment in Zhua.
As a result, Wang Jian, Han Chang, and Ma Zhi were promoted to the third level in one go, which can be said to be outstanding.
As for now, the three of them didn't drink much to celebrate. They wanted to spend all their energy on training the weak soldiers in front of them.
……
When the first batch of Zhu'a disciples who were recruited to join the army arrived at the training camp.
What they saw was an open military camp that had been renovated.
At this moment, Han Chang and Ma Zhi were already standing outside the camp wall waiting.
But what the two of them gave to these Zhua disciples was not much warmth. These Zhu Aren were already taken for a run by Han Chang before they even had time to drink a sip of water.
At this time, Han Chang put on his military uniform and led the way with an expressionless face.
For Han Chang, running is already a part of his daily life, but for these Zhu'a disciples, it is simply unbearable.
As they ran, more and more people began to fall behind, and then lay down on the field ridge and vomited. They complained to each other why they came here to join the army.
But Han Chang almost didn't give these people any more thought, and just shouted for them to keep running.
At the end of the road, the broth has been cooked.
This time, the strength returned to these people again.
By the time everyone arrived at the camp out of breath, everyone was starving.
Han Chang didn't lie to them, there was really broth here.
Several Guizhou women nearby were busy cooking firewood, and the broth simmering on it was fragrant.
Seeing these people's eyes wide open, Han Chang smiled and ordered everyone to eat meat and drink soup.
When everyone gathered around the bonfire, eating big meat. These Zhu'a disciples, who were still strangers, became familiar with each other one after another. In the process, their understanding of Han Chang also changed.
This guy is pretty good.
Of course, many people think that this Taishan Army is really rich, and they have meat for their first meal.
Little did they know that this pig was bought by Han Yong from nearby farmers with his own blood gold.
After having a full stomach, these young soldiers happily entered the camp under the leadership of Han Chang.
During the process, they even sang a military song with Han Changxue.
It is said that the talent of these Zhu'a disciples in singing is far higher than their military ability.
But it's not their fault. Most of them were just hungry refugees before this.
Just like that, the first day for these new recruits ended.
They laughed in their sleep and felt that they were in a good place.
……
In the days that followed, I ran over and over again, ate corn meal after meal, and then returned to camp to sleep.
Zhu A's disciples already knew that they had been deceived, but even so, they still fell in love with this place and that Han Chang.
Inside the camp wall, they kept watching the soldiers who had completed their training move towards the east under the leadership of their trainers.
There, Guo Shu of the Taishan Army was stepping up his efforts to build Zhu'a's city defense.
These people will be thrown into the wall outside the city to serve as the defensive fulcrum of the Taishan Army on the outside. Guo Shu is quite aware of the strength of these new soldiers. These people cannot be expected to fight in the field, but under the protection of sufficient food and strong walls, they can still defend without any problem.
Guo Shu didn't want to make things so rough, but he had no choice. He was very anxious now.
As the most front-line officer, he had clearly felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere on the front line.
As Zhang Chong's hometown, Lixia, opposite, naturally has a lot of basic foundations.
In fact, not long after Guo Shu defeated Zhu'a, an elder who claimed to be Da Sangli came to see Guo Shu secretly, praying that Guo Shu could return to his hometown.
In the words of those elders, as the king's hometown, other places have been taken, so there is no reason why they have been left out.
Guo Shu could not be in charge, but he asked these people to go back and make local liaisons and report to him the situation in Jinan to the east.
It was in this chaotic information that Guo Shu discovered that the Dongping Mausoleum in Jinan did not take the west seriously and was still transporting supplies to the plains to the north.
This kind of abnormal behavior made Guo Shu very vigilant.
But there is no other way. He can only do what he is doing now, which is to draw on the local people's power as much as possible. As for higher strategic considerations, he could only report the situation here.
This feeling of powerlessness made Guo Shu very anxious.
Han Chang, one of the trainers, was naturally very aware of what Guo Shu had done.
He clearly understands the above's positioning towards these Zhu'a people, but he can't change it because this is war. He knew that these new recruits, who had just had enough to eat, were sent to the front line like this. Their survival depended on whether the battle could be fought.
But as a Han Chang who came from among them, he still tried his best to help them.
For this reason, Han Chang spent all his bounty and selected ten of these new pawns as his own.
No matter how much, Han Chang couldn't do it.
The day finally came.
A warning signal came from the front line, causing all Zhu Abing who had been trained in the rear to go to the front line.
It was raining lightly that day, and Han Chang personally sent his soldiers off.
These people also understood that the war was coming, and the optimistic and open-minded soldiers stopped singing. They stood silently outside the camp, looking at Han Chang.
Han Chang will also go with them, and he will stand in front of the queue with ten selected officials.
Just like this quietly, as the trainers not far away started setting off loudly, Han Chang's group also set off.
At this time, the entire road was covered with a sea of apricot yellow, and as many as two thousand Zhu's soldiers joined the war in order to have enough food.
A big war is coming.
After catching up on the road, I attached a photo of Tianchi to thank you Mr. Bayi for your support.
(End of chapter)