.Chapter 96: Burning the River (Part 1)

The next morning, the second batch of Dashi troops arrived at the same time as the second batch of Tang Dynasty troops. The Tang Dynasty only had 10,000 troops, which was earlier, with the purpose of escorting materials and food. There were more than 10,000 troops behind, and they had to gather and reorganize them, but they would not be able to come for a while.

This is the number of troops placed on the card. If necessary, some troops can be drawn from the rear from various countries for reinforcements. The same is true for the cannibals.

Salem also led 30,000 troops to the Wuhu River. If it weren't for the Battle of Guazhu Mountain, the number of people would have been slightly superior. Now the number of people on both sides is not very different. If the released prisoners are counted, they will be in the upper hand.

But these prisoners made him feel a headache.

He called Bzarif and Bashaf to ask about the battle.

When Buzarif fought with the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army crossed the Wuhu River as a turning point. But the most obvious turning point was that during the fierce battle, the group of prisoners of war released by the Tang army destroyed the formation of the rear army, and even Persian prisoners took the initiative to shout that they could not fight the Tang army.

He called out a few prisoners of war who had been released and asked. The Governor of the Great Food personally interrogated and did not dare to hide it. He told the story as soon as he had already told Buzarif that after the group of people came back, they also promoted these situations to other puppet troops in Persia.

This group of prisoners of war is not useful, and it is not easy to kill. At this time, killing will affect morale. He said angrily: "Take them back and treat them as slaves."

Buzarif shook his head at him.

He woke up and said, "Let them go to the rear."

They were not allowed to rest when they arrived at the rear, they were mined, made armor, and transported materials, and they were temporarily used as hard labor.

Then he led his army to Guazhu Mountain.

Several very short hills, and even larger maps cannot find their location. However, they have become the focus of both sides.

After looking at it, the mountains were small and the trees were sparse. In addition, many trees were cut down from construction fortifications, and most of the places were exposed. The slope was not steep, so before the war, all the generals of Dashi neglected this place.

However, after looking around, Salem's face turned gloomy.

From yesterday to the middle of the night of yesterday, more than 20,000 people rushed to repair the fortifications. It was not until dawn that it was officially completed. First, three fences were erected outside, with dense fences and the largest gap was only half a person high. Many cross-woods were drilled into each other, with sharp spear tips standing in the holes. The tail of the spear reached behind. If you attack, you can use these holes to shoot the spear out. The bottom of the fence was arranged to resist horses. It looked like three hedgehogs.

There was another trench behind each fence. The soil dug out of the trench happened to be used as a camp wall. Most of the people were tall and became the strongest shield of the Tang army. But the layout was not only here, but it was clearly a sand and gravel mountain, but the Tang army digged out many trenches throughout the hill. Some trenches even became caves, and the digging of soil was placed in front of the trench and used as a bunker again.

Have a clear understanding of the trenches and cannibals.

When Muhammad rose, his strength was very weak, and he was even defeated by a merchant nobleman Abolfoy in the Battle of Wuhoud. But as Li Wei thought, the most terrifying thing was not the combat power of the cannibals, but their modest learning attitude. After this battle, Muhammad reflected seriously and began to train the army to unite all united forces. So when Madina and Maijia attacked, he modestly adopted the suggestions of his Persian disciple Seerman, dug a large number of trenches outside the city of Medina, and repelled the attack of the Meccans.

This battle also gave the cannibals a valuable experience and accumulated a cornerstone for the future attack on Persia. Whether the Byzantines or the Persians, they were good at growing trench tactics.

But Salem has never seen such a shameless, such a headache-inducing trench.

However, he still ordered the soldiers to carry the wooden to carry out a test.

At this time, Guazhu Mountain's defensive power was not yesterday.

The Dashi Sword is very powerful, and Dashi also has some other weapons, at least many of which are better than Tubo. However, in terms of the overall excellentness of weapons, the Tang Dynasty was far above other countries at this time. It was just because of the long distance, it was impossible to guarantee that all soldiers could use the Tang Dynasty's weapons.

In order to ensure that Guazhu Mountain is not lost, the best weapons are transported, including various crossbows and catapults. In addition to weapons, a large amount of food and 10,000 soldiers were also prepared in the trenches on the mountain. However, with strong fortifications, the soldiers in the Hezhong area were mainly sold. The Tang army only left two thousand people, which played a driving role. This arrangement not only reduced the casualties of the Tang army, but also tempered the soldiers in the Hezhong army. Slowly cultivated their confidence and combat experience, increased combat effectiveness, and coordinated with each other.

Seeing that the cannibals were preparing to attack, Luo Wu was calm and ordered the soldiers to prepare.

The big cannibal carried the wood and reached a range of seventy or eighty steps, and ordered the soldiers to start shooting. It was also seen that the big cannibal was only a tentative attack, and he was not even prepared for the catapult. He only used a crossbow. This also achieved very powerful lethality.

Especially for various crossbow machines, the maximum range of the Biaozhang crossbow can reach 230 steps, and the effective range can reach 150 steps, which means that it is absolutely killing at 200 meters. The maximum range of the horn crossbow can reach 200 steps, and the effective range is also 100 steps. The most terrifying thing is that it is a single-player operation mode and the shooting frequency is very fast. The wooden single crossbow has the smallest range, but the fire rate is faster. At the same time, some large crossbows are equipped this time, such as the Fuyuan crossbow, which can reach 300 steps, and the effective range is also more than 200 steps.

It was launched with thunder. Although the cannibals were protected by shields, they also shot through the shield strongly, piercing the body of the soldiers behind the shield through.

Three more alternative crossbow machines, winch crossbows. This kind of crossbow machine originally required nearly 100 people to twist the wheels before it was launched. Later, the emergence of coke improved the quality of the smelted steel, and some improvements were made, reducing the number of people operating. However, sixty or seventy people also needed to twist the crossbow wheels. Because the operation was too troublesome, the Tang army rarely used it.

After bringing it over, the soldiers in the river were very curious when they saw the large, large crossbow arrows that were ten times heavier than the Chang crossbow arrows, and such strange winches.

It happened that the big cannibal was not prepared, and the large team was two or three hundred steps away. After visually measuring the distance, Luo Wu moved three winch crossbows to the hillside, aimed at the big cannibal team, ordered the soldiers to tighten the winch, then loosen the winch, and the thick crossbow arrow shot out immediately.

This kind of crossbow may be the cold weapon with the farthest range at present, with a maximum range of almost nearly 700 steps.

Salem was watching the game, and three black shadows rushed over.

It was like walking through the leaves, and with his armor, in front of these three powerful crossbows, and it passed through the bodies of several big food soldiers before stopping.

Only a few soldiers from the Great Food were shot to death, but it was very encouraging. All the soldiers in the river on the top of the mountain cheered. It was still the Tang Dynasty army that was powerful. If they had arrived in the river, they would not have been invaded by the Great Food.

It also startled Salem and immediately ordered: "Get back, retreat."

Not only did he order the entire army to retreat, but he also ordered the tempted soldiers to retreat. In just this moment, more than 200 soldiers fell down under the dense and powerful crossbows. Although he followed the tradition of being a great cannibal, he used cannon fodder troops and all the Persians, but if this continues, it will hurt morale.

He had to set up camp first, and in order to prevent the Tang army from sneak attacking on Guazhu Mountain, he also ordered the digging of trenches. The Tang army took Guazhu Mountain and successfully broke out a bridgehead on the south bank of Wuhu River. So the Hebei camp also mobilized. The side camp of Xiangliudu became the main camp, the original main camp became the side camp, and the original camp in the west became a satellite camp. Two new camps extended to the east.

A bridgehead made Salem feel like a thorn in his throat, and the Tang army could no longer capture the second bridgehead, so he had to order two new camps to build on the south bank of the river to confront each other.

After giving the order, he looked at Guaju Mountain and felt no worries. But he was asked to judge one thing, the real main attack direction of the Tang Dynasty army.

The Tang Dynasty army was divided into two directions. If you don’t understand the main attack direction of the Tang Dynasty army, you cannot make the right choice.

Both directions have advantages and disadvantages.

The main attack on the city of Moufu, with a flat terrain. Once the city of Moufu, it will be able to obtain sufficient supply and will also shake the rule of Dashi in the entire Khorasan. At least, many people in the Moufu area will form a rebel army to support the Tang army. But the disadvantage of the Tang army is that there is the danger of the Wuhu River. Even if you capture the Wuhu River, you will be able to strengthen your walls and clear the fields in the rear, or attack the Moufu City. Is Moufu City so easy to attack? You cannot capture it quickly and lack supply. As long as you organize it properly, you can not only work on their logistics, but also work inside and outside.

The main attack on Jiling City. Jiling City has powerful Persian rebels, who have not exterminated them many times, and they have strong combat power. Once they join forces, the entire Sestan area will be shaken. At least the entire territory of Tochar is lost, and it may also threaten the granary of the cannibals, Sindhi.

The Tang Dynasty also had its shortcomings. The mountainous terrain here has many cities and barriers, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. When Dashi attacked Gabrou City, he had an absolute advantage in his troops and attacked for several months before he took down the city. Moreover, once the Tang Dynasty obtained the Sestan area, he could form an encirclement from three times. The Tubo people could see this situation formed?

However, the Tang army was divided into two groups, obviously one was a feint attack and the other was a real attack direction to divide its own troops. It also played a role. It was distracted by Tochar and sent many soldiers and generals. It was not until this moment that the Tang Dynasty showed its true fangs.

It's not too late.

I looked at the few short hills opposite, very depressed and dazzling. But I let it go for the time being and ordered another 40,000 soldiers from the rear to support the Wuhu River. I will only release the thorn when my troops are in an absolute advantage.

As evening came, the camp was built and the trenches were dug. At this time, the scout came to report that the Tang army had new trends.

Today, a Tang army came to some merchant ships on the north bank of the Wuhu River and launched an attack on the Persian merchant ships on the south bank. They drove away the boatman on the merchant ship, and then took away the ships they could take away, and a fire that they could not take away was burned.

"I got it," Salem said lightly.

There are many ships in the middle and lower reaches of the Wuhu River, but because of the rise of war, they all sailed to both sides and were not within their protection. Moreover, these ships were all Persians, and the Tang Dynasty burned them as soon as they wanted to. Strategically, they did not want to cross the river and launched an attack on the north bank. These ships had no meaning to them. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty did this, which would have a negative effect. These merchants had a high status in Persia, and angered them, which would make these people feel disgusted with the Tang Dynasty people. It was just in line with their own wishes.

Suddenly he hit his palm.

Not what he thought, he shouted: "Take the map of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Wei sent a scout to inquire about the situation of the great cannibals, and he also sent a scout to inquire about the situation of the Tang Dynasty. However, the scouts were few and the information they received was not as detailed as Li Wei. He also had an unstandard map of the Tang Dynasty.

He also knew that the Tang Dynasty's ship technology came from behind in recent years, no less than that of a great cannibal. It seemed that the Tang Dynasty sailed was initiated by the emperor opposite. After receiving this news, he neglected the nature of the Tang Dynasty soldiers.

But the Tang Dynasty started to attack the ship so quickly, which made him suspicious. His intentions were very clear, and he had never wanted to cross the river and fight the Tang army. Why did he attack the ship? There was no need to anger these Persian merchants. He never regarded the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty as such an idiot.

Looking at the map, he thought of some information he had obtained. The main forces of the Tang Dynasty were not many, only 30,000 to 40,000 people. Of course, his main forces were not many. Although the number of people was a little better, many soldiers had to be left to guard Sestan and Khorasan. But the Tang army did not need to do this, so from this perspective, everyone was equally matched.

He thought of the origin of the Tang army. Some were soldiers from the Western Regions, most of them were soldiers from Qinghai, and some were soldiers brought from Guanzhong and Henan Roads. The soldiers in Qinghai mainly came from Qinghai, as well as Guanzhong, Jiannan and Longyou Roads.

Lean on the map and look for the locations of these three paths on the Tang Dynasty map.

After reading it, he called each general to discuss it, hung up the map first, and said: "The Tang army has a fatal weakness. All the troops are from the inland of the Tang Dynasty. There are few soldiers who are water-oriented, and even fewer soldiers who can drive ships."

"Mr. Governor, many people in the river can drive ships," said Baschaf.

Salem glared at him fiercely. If he hadn't been afraid of affecting morale, he would have wanted to kill him immediately. It was this stupid man who easily lost the Guaju Mountain, which made the situation of the battle very unfavorable to him.

He ignored him and continued, "So they took down Guazhu Mountain and immediately snatched all the ships on both sides, or burned them. This is because we are afraid that we will use the ships to *** the Wuhu River."

As for how many soldiers in the river can drive ships, Salem automatically ignored it. Even if they all know how to drive ships, what combat effectiveness can the soldiers in the river have? It is possible that once the battle starts, they will be slightly unfavorable. They can avoid the orders of Tang Jun and drive the ship to escape the battlefield.

There are not many soldiers who can drive ships in their own tent. However, because the Dashi navigation industry is developed and even crossing the river and fighting the Byzantines many times, some of them can control ships. This is enough.

"Bzarif, immediately arrange manpower to protect the remaining ships. Then send scouts to inquire."

This is easier to find out. If, as Salem guessed, even crossed the Wuhu River the night before yesterday, the Tang Dynasty army had to transfer many soldiers from the river to draw small rafts for them. That is, they could not even draw small rafts. It was not so clumsy. If it were a small river and a small ditches, everyone would draw. But on the wide Wuhu River, Luo Wu would be very nervous when he asked him to draw small rafts. And in order to prevent him from falling into the river, everyone tied something called a lifebuoy.

When he heard this news, almost all the generals' eyes lit up.

If this is the case, the entire Wuhu River will be under the control of its own army. How will the mastery of Wuhu have an impact on this battle!

"Let's go out and have a look." He brought everyone to the Wuhu River.

Although Buzarif sent people to protect him, the Tang Dynasty army still obtained many ships. Some ships were already returning, one after another, seventy or eighty ships of all sizes, parked at the Xiangliu Ferry. The Tang army opposite was cheering and thundering. These were ships, not small rafts. With them, you could easily cross the Wuhu River. With a bridgehead, you could advance or retreat.

The cannibals here are more or less depressed when they see this situation and don’t understand the truth.

But Salem and everyone looked at each other and smiled.
Chapter completed!