Chapter 92: The army is at the city

Xu was a little south of Zheng State, on the way from Zheng State to Chen State. They were the poor little country who was forced by Zheng State and constantly moved the capital. Not long ago, because Zheng State defected to the Chu camp, in order to avoid the attack of Zheng State, they asked Chu State to relocate and free up their territory for Chu State to bribe Zheng State...

Xun Ying did this, which was equivalent to asking Zhao Wu to go south as the vanguard of the army to move south in advance and clear obstacles on the coalition forces along the way.

Xu State is very famous. He is the descendant of Boyi, the descendant of Emperor Yan, Boyi Shuqi. The legendary two wise men who fled into the mountains without being an official... The real history is: Boyi's descendants are the king of Xu State and the viscount. The current Xu State is located in the area of ​​Xuchang, Henan today.

Zhao Wu stamped his feet: "Although the sparrow is small, it has bones. Xu State is a country. Our new army has only half an army. We will attack Xu State and one country...Aren't you making things difficult for me?"

Xun Ying smiled: "I don't expect Xu State to dare to take action! We are overlords. Even if we only send one envoy, the king of Xu State must be honest and obey orders. Now we send half of the army there, and I still think there are too many people going there.

However, since the army has been dispatched, you must fight. Go and find a small town and take it down... I heard that you lack a servant to build roads, and all the residents of the small town belong to you. I will not tell him such a good thing."

When Zhao Wu heard this, he couldn't sit still: "You'd say it earlier... My soldiers can still rush on the road. If it's still too early today, I'll leave now."

Xun Ying persuaded: "Your soldiers can still rush to the road, but the soldiers of the Wei family may not be able to walk."

Zhao Wu took a lot of money: "It's okay, Xu Guo, I, Zhao's family, have a bag of money - you said just now that Xu Guo didn't dare to do it, are you sure?"

Xun Ying laughed: "You can't just eat what you want to eat with meat - you can leave first, I'll let the Wei army take a break and keep up with you."

The deputy marshal and second ruling orders were naturally better than Zhao Wu's. The Zhao family's army was replaced by cavalry and rushed out. Then, 15,000 auxiliary soldiers also pushed the cart and followed them in a mighty manner. The soldiers of the Wei family were stunned, and Xun Ying's order explained by the order arrived.

If you have meat to eat, even if you don’t have the strength to keep your breasts in your body, the soldiers of the Wei family couldn’t sit still and immediately set off. When they ran out of Hulao City, the Zhao army would have run away long ago.

Wei Jiang's son Wei Shu exclaimed: "I heard that the soldiers of Zhao's family were moving like rabbits. Zheng State once gathered troops from all over the country to chase them. If they failed to chase them, Zhao Wu bit them back. When he saw them today, he said that they were moving like rabbits, and they were negligent. They were like wind. In just a blink of an eye, they could run away and even their shadows could not be found."

Wei Jiang replied: "When the wind blows across the ground, it always leaves traces. Three thousand soldiers and 15,000 Xianyu will be dispatched. Their footprints are signposts. No need to search. Wu Zi is very cautious. The road he has walked will never be attacked within a day. We follow the traces to chase after the traces. Haha, although Zhao Wuzi is generous to others, he is not a generous person. When our army arrives late, he will not leave us some leftover soup."

Wei Shu immediately scolded his subordinates: "Did you hear it? What are you waiting for? Use your strength to chasing me quickly!"

The soldiers of the Wei family followed slowly. At the end of the horizon, they finally found traces of the Zhao soldiers, but the battle was no longer possible. A Zhao warrior leader stood proudly at the head of a village, witnessing the Zhao auxiliary soldiers driving away the people of Xu. The traces left on the village showed that the battle here was not fierce, and it was even possible that the locals had no time to resist before they could break into the city by Zhao Wu.

Wei Jiang didn't say anything. He looked at the traces of the battle carefully, hoping to find something from it. Wei Shu turned to the little leader of the Zhao family and asked, "What about your head?"

The leader of the warrior bowed and replied: "The head of the family has rushed to the capital of Xuguo, and only some people are left here. The head of the family ordered that in order to punish Xuguo's disrespect, we will demolish this small city, turn all people into servants, and bring them back to Jin."

In the Spring and Autumn Period, productivity was low, and wild animals were bred more than humans. In addition, this era was in the feudal era. In order to resist wild animals or divide their own territory, all human gathering points were surrounded by walls. In this era, larger cities were called "countries", and second-level gathering points were called "cities", and gathering points similar to modern small villages were called "countries".

The gathering point in front of me cannot be called a city, at most it is a "country". There is a layer of wooden fence on its outer edge, and only a few earthen cranes have been built at the gate. At present, the village wall of this small town is intact, with a few arrows inserted on the wooden fence, and there is no blood around it. It seems that Zhao Bing shot a round of arrows and rushed into the small town with the speed of a horse. The people in the small town were afraid of Zhao Bing's strength and did not make violent resistance.

Wei Shu wanted to say something, but Wei Jiang saw everything he should have seen and understood. He ordered: "Let's go and continue chasing."

After rushing all the way, the Wei Bing was exhausted. He thought he could still rest in the small village, but the head of the family ordered them to drag their weak legs and continue to move forward with disappointment... Wei Shu looked at the slow-moving Wei Bing and asked his father in confusion: "How did Zhao Bing do it? I mean, our Wei family soldiers have always been known for their tenacity, but now, even our strongest soldiers can't walk. How could Zhao Bing continue to advance after a battle and run ahead of us all the way - even the smallest battle is a battle."

Wei Jiang replied: "I heard that the soldiers of Zhaocheng run long distances every day, and the reserves train their bodies through competitions every day. Our Wei family is known for their soldiers, but these people are not professional soldiers after all, and the soldiers of Zhaocheng... I heard that they all share the land and raise servants to farm for them. They do not pay taxes, but only perform military taxes, so they exercise every day, so they can run even more than our strongest soldiers."

Wei Shu asked again: "Maybe there is any secret method for the new Zhao army? This time we went to the battle, our Wei army has been arranging individually in the Zuoju (left array). Next time we march, we should be mixed with the Zhao people. I want to see with my own eyes how the Zhao army walked."

The military discipline of the Jin State was very strict. When marching, even the king's younger brother's chariots were punished. It was Wei Jiang who advocated this punishment. Therefore, although the Wei and Zhao were in the new army and traveled through Jin to Zheng together, Wei Jiang never entered the Zhao State. Therefore, he still does not understand the way Zhao State marched, so it is understandable.

The Zhao soldiers were indeed very fast. Wei rushed forward and saw three small countries captured by Zhao soldiers on the road, but they still did not catch up with Zhao soldiers. When the dusk was vast, they finally saw Zhao Wu's military flag ahead. This was the fifth small country captured by Zhao Wu.

The fragrance of food wafted out of the Xiaobang. People eat two meals a day in spring and autumn. At sunset, it happened to be dinner time. Wei Bing, who had been running for a day, was tired and hungry. Wei Jiang waved: "Go into the city, we will guard the wings all the way for him. He should also give us a meal."

Wei Jiang said it was furious. Indeed, Zhao Wu pulled out five villages along the way, and each small country left some auxiliary soldiers like sprinkling water, responsible for the harmonious use of violent demolition. The Wei soldiers did not participate in the division of spoils, and pursued them all the way, invisibly protecting Zhao Wu's retreat.

Zhao Wu also knew very well about this - he had a cavalry back and forth news. When he saw Wei Jiang, he immediately greeted warmly: "My soldiers have prepared the food. The people from the Wei family eat first, and the people from this small country will take the things from the Wei family first."

Wei Jiang snorted, took a can of water handed over by Zhao Wu, took a few sips, and asked, "How far is Xu Guoguo?"

Zhao Wu replied: "It's twenty miles away."

The Spring and Autumn System: Three miles are the city and seven miles are the capital. In other words, a place with a radius of three miles is called a city, which is equivalent to the size of a modern gymnasium. Three miles away, within seven miles is called a city wall, and Dongguoli is a free people living in Dongguo.

Zhao Wu said, "It is still twenty miles away from the capital", which means that as long as you walk another thirteen miles, you will enter the sphere of influence of the capital of Xu.

Wei Jiang asked again: "They are fighting along the way, and I'm afraid they won't be shocked by Xu Guo..."

Zhao Wu turned his back: "Then we will sweep away the four kingdoms of Xu State - the four gates of Xu State Capital. One of us is responsible for blocking two gates, and whoever is responsible. He will sweep the city walls near the city gate."

Wei Jiang frowned: "My Wei family only has 1,500 people, and you don't have many troops. It may not be easy for us to block four doors. I have a plan, but at least it takes a rest for a day to restore the strength of the war horses."

Zhao Wu replied: "I understand what you mean. You plan to rest here for a day, and then arm all the auxiliary soldiers, let them bluff with their weapons and block the four city gates. Our main forces are all put on chariots and gather together as mobile forces to attack the Xu army that dares to go out of the city to fight at any time."

Wei Jiang nodded: "That's what I plan."

Zhao Wu shook his head: "We came this time and caught Xu off guard. We cannot lose the advantage of speed. Wei Jun Zuoti's idea was very good, but this idea was based on the speed of chariots and infantry. Jun Zuo did not understand the speed of the cavalry, nor could he feel the speed of the cavalry team..."

Zhao Wu shook with his hand: "The three-mile radius of the city wall is only a few breaths for the cavalry. I use your strategy to block the city gate with auxiliary soldiers, and then use cavalry to attack the soldiers who left the city. I want them to go out of the city to fight. I want the king of Xu to watch me kill their warriors on the city wall."

What does being a overlord mean? It means being the boss of a gangster. You must let your younger brother pay the protection fee and obey orders and follow the commands. Therefore, it is not enough for the overlord to be kind, but also afraid. Wei Jiang's brother, Wei Xiang, the first Chinese orator, said: Overlords are scary, and overlords fight alone, so they are overlords.

Who are the people living in the city walls of the capital? They are basically princes and nobles. They robbed them. Even if they only took away property and did not harm their lives according to the etiquette of the Spring and Autumn Period, they would not be able to sit still in the city. After all, they would send troops. What Zhao Wu wanted to do was: rely on the advantage of cavalry in the wilderness to dissolve the final resistance of Xu. He would make them unable to resist again in the future.

The military rules of the State of Jin were strict. As the chief general of the army, Zhao Wu decided on something that Wei Jiang was a little older, as a deputy general, he could only obey, and according to his personality, he would also do it perfectly.

On that night, the new army slept very peacefully. Wei Shu, who was in battle for the first time, had difficulty falling asleep at first. Wei Jiang reminded: "Don't worry, you should think more about Xiao Wu's personality. This man was surprisingly cautious. He and Xun Ying were attacked once before, and there was someone in the world who could attack him for the second time."

Wei Shu thought about it and said this was correct. Hearing the slight snoring from Zhao Wu's house, Wei Shu fell asleep peacefully.

The snoring sounds made in Zhao Wu's room were not from Zhao Wu himself, he came from Pan Dang. Since receiving the news of Yang Youji's death, Pan Dang has always seemed to be worried and he had insomnia, but strangely, when it was about to fight, his irritable mood suddenly calmed down and fell asleep quickly.

In addition to Pan Dang, Zhao Wu also had a swordsman Ying Chu from the UK. Zhao Wu, who was cautious and careful, arranged these two people in his house. In this way, once something happened, there would be Pan Dang in the distance and Ying Chu in the melee. As for him, he could hide behind safely and be responsible for praising the courage of his generals."

When he went out this time, Zhao Wu brought with him all the brave generals. Because the internal affairs plan arranged by his family was too large and complicated, Qi Ce, Shi Yan, Shi Xiu and others who were good at internal affairs were all stayed in China. Even Dong Guoli, who was responsible for logistics supplies, did not bring him with him. He only arranged a few interns from Zhaocheng Academy to be responsible for logistics.

In addition, except for Wu Qing and Wu Lian who stayed in the Jia clan, Wu Feng was routinely staying in Zhaocheng, and the rest of the people came out. The archer Wei Min was responsible for the vanguard (pioneer), Lin Hu was the rear guard (the power), and the sword-casting master Xun was responsible for the command of the auxiliary soldiers. Zhao Wu's Yurong was still Pan Dang, and Che You became the swordsman Ying Chu... In this way, in large-scale battles, Zhao Wu could use the posture of a powerful general to pose a crazy attack formation that was scary and worth his life.

Just kidding, "the world's number one" is now driving his carriage, and it's his turn to Zhao Wu to "be brave" in this world.

The people of Xu first tasted the "Zhao-style bravery". In the early morning, the new army of Jin built a pot and made rice, and sent weapons to the auxiliary soldiers - you can't say that the Zhao's auxiliary soldiers were more like regular soldiers than regular soldiers.

Other families do not have so many reserved weapons, and the Zhao family has not many other ones, and there are a lot of inferior weapons. Although Zhao Wu doesn't like these inferior iron swords, they are wiped clean and shining, which is very scary. In many countries, regular troops are not equipped with such sharp iron weapons.

Nowadays, it is very luxurious to protect soldiers. It is a piece of wooden armor. However, due to the popularity of baseball, the people of Zhaocheng don’t have a few pairs of protective armor made of wicker at home, so they are embarrassed to say hello to others when they go out. Therefore, once they go to the battlefield, Zhao’s auxiliary soldiers took out their collections and immediately turned into heavy armored soldiers.

The armor distributed by the national arsenal may not be suitable. The soldiers' own collections are tailor-made. As a result, they are even more neat than regular soldiers. At first glance, they are veterans who have been fighting for many years and have been on the battlefield for the rest of their lives - otherwise, their armor would not be so suitable.

In this way, the Wei family auxiliary soldiers who were only equipped with swords were like a group of real amateur soldiers. But there was no way. This was not the different treatment of Zhao to them. Zhao had no obligation to give armor to others. The people of the Wei family also saw that all the armor was taken out of the soldiers' own packages and was not rationed by the national arsenal, so the Wei family soldiers could only look at their heads with grievances and looked at their family heads with grievances.

"How did Zhao Wuzi do it?" Wei Shu was so hungry that his chin was sore. He asked his father in confusion: "It's only been a few years... I remember when Zhao Wuzi was crowned, he even supported the warriors and farmers... Just now, I saw a few warriors from the Wei family. Those boys' eyes are now rising to the sky, and they don't say hello when they see the original head of the family.

Not to mention those boys, they were originally the chief soldiers of the Wei family, and now they have become small leaders, so they should naturally be equipped with the best armor and weapons. But I also met a few farmers from the Wei family, one of whom was in his fifties and could not fight for a few years. But even this old man was wearing wooden armor and a bronze heart protection mirror on his chest... He was wearing a helmet."

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, helmets were rare. Among the modern excavated Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, none of them wore helmets. Therefore, Wei Shu was very dissatisfied with an old man wearing a helmet.

Wei Jiang was wearing the armor left by Wei Qi. This armor given by Zhao Wu has become a family heirloom for the family. It is only for the head of the Wei family to wear when he goes to fight. This armor has a helmet. After hearing Wei Shu's words, Wei Jiang touched his helmet and instigated him: "If you go to Zhao Wu, just wear the wooden armor you are wearing now. He wants to pretend to be confused, so you just shouted to him that he is going to fight. You don't have the right armor yet - ask him to borrow, my Wei family has always been a 'tiger borrowing pig'."

At this time, Wei Min, the leader of the Zhao warrior, led the pioneer of the Jin army. Lin Hu was furious and was dissatisfied with losing the position of the vanguard. Wei Shu was wearing thin clothes and ran over with a bronze sword that could not be polished in his hand. He asked Zhao Wu diligently: "Military General, how should we Zuo Ju act? Please give me instructions."

Zhao Wu wondered: "Didn't it be very good last night? Whoever we do is responsible for the shit? As a mobile force, I, Zhao Bing, rushed to four doors. Why, the children of the Wei family can't even rob? "

After Zhao Wu finished teasing, he urged his war horse to be ready to go. Wei Shu hurriedly grabbed Zhao Wu's Yang (reins) and shouted anxiously: "Military General, we are about to go to fight. Will I go to fight like this?"

Zhao Wu smiled: "Your father asked you to come? Wei Jiazi is not honest."

Zhao Wu waved his whip at the horse and pointed Xun, and ordered: "Get him a piece of armor and weapon and dress him up well. The people of the Wei family are kind to me, Zhao, and he can choose the things in the warehouse, so don't neglect."

Wei Shu jumped excitedly, for fear that Zhao Wu would regret it, so he hurriedly pulled the swordsman Xun to choose armor and weapons - the swordsman Xun is from the Wu Kingdom. He is now responsible for the construction of the Zhao family, similar to the position of "Hou Yan". People usually label him with the country where he was born and call him Wu Xun. Just like the titles of Wei Min and Yingtou.

Wei Shu wore armor and chose a gorgeously decorated sword - he knew that Zhao was known for his good at casting iron tools, so he did not choose a bronze sword, but chose a golden-handled beast-headed sword. The hilt was shaped like a bird's head, and the sword blade was a curved blade... This was actually a saber, but in this era, the word "sword" had not appeared yet.

Wei Shu was neatly dressed and rushed to Xiaobang's central square excitedly, intending to find his father to show off, but found that Zhao Wu had not set off yet. He was arching his body on the war horse and listening to the report of the scouts in the army, with his face full of confusion and confusion.

After receiving other people's good things, Wei Shu felt a little weak in his feet and mouth. Seeing Zhao Wu having doubts there, he leaned forward and asked, "Military General, what's wrong with me? Tell me, the little army lieutenant."

Zhao Wu raised his head to Wei Shu and asked in confusion: "It is said that Xu is a small country. How come according to the news from the scouts, Xu's capital is larger than expected."

Wei Shu also felt unimaginable: "It's impossible. Xu State is a small country. They don't have too much manpower to build a big city. Besides, I haven't heard of Xu State's construction in recent years... How did the military generals and scouts report it?"

Zhao Wu glanced at the scout and said casually: "According to the scout report, they ran for a short time and encountered the city wall of Xu. The distance was wrong. That place was originally where I was going to ambush the army, but now it is the city wall."

The scout was full of grievances, and Wei Shu couldn't believe it. He asked the scout himself. After asking, he tried hard to hold back his laughter and explained to Zhao Wu: "Military General, that's right, it's Xu Guoguo Capital."

Zhao Wu understood, and he nodded calmly: "The scout said it would take about half an hour to circle the city. It seems that the king of Xu has secretly built a city recently. Their capital is larger than our expectations - people say that three miles are the city and seven miles are the capital, and the capital of Xu actually exceeds seven miles in radius."

The left and right were holding back their laughter, and Wei Shu couldn't help but smile. She gasped violently and explained intermittently: "What the military general said is all things in the past. Who still abides by this now? Starting decades ago, all countries have begun to build another wall outside Guo to form several defense walls. The wall the scout saw was not the 'city wall', but the 'Guo Wall'."

Zhao Wu said, "But, why are there scattered settlements in addition to the 'Guo Wall' you mentioned, which look like another city wall."

Wei Shu bent down and shook his whole body for a long time before he stood up and held back his smile and continued to explain: "Military General, we are the overlord country. Have you never been to our capital? See what the capital of Jin is like? Compared to my Jin State, is Xu State's capital still large... I heard that Zhaocheng is connecting the city's seven towns and building another layer of town wall. Isn't this 'Guo Wai-Good Town'?"
Chapter completed!