Volume 10 Chapter 372
Nie Zewei was a veteran who had been through many battles. He was very experienced and familiar with various battle examples and tactics. The situation in Shiqiao City made him realize that the opportunity to attack Xintian had come. He used a method of mixing fakes with reals to secretly place 10,000 elite soldiers in Xintian City. He knew that in the fierce siege, the role played by these 10,000 soldiers in the enemy city was more important than the hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers outside the city.
After taking down the Shiqiao, the Baizhan Army only rested for half a day in the city, and then did not carry any baggage. The soldiers of the whole army only took three days of rations and marched to Xintian.
The Baizhan Army came too fast. The Shiqiao had just been broken, and the refugees had not all fled to Xintian City, but the Baizhan Army had already arrived at the city.
The defenders of Xintian were greatly panicked by the sudden appearance of the Feng Army outside the city. Its commander hastily ordered to close the city gates and block all the people who had not yet entered the city outside the city.
Nie Ze doesn't care about the lives of the people of Mo country. Seeing that Xin Tian was hastily fighting, he immediately ordered the whole army to attack the city. Since the Hundred Battles Army rushed here this time, the large weapons were left at the stone bridge. The only thing that could be used during the attack was the ladder.
This was a real hand-to-hand combat, which was also a familiar way of fighting for the Zhen people. No siege weapons were used, and it was all manpower that pushed up. The battle between the two sides had not lasted long, and the elite of the Hundred Battles Army who had previously infiltrated the city suddenly attacked and rushed up from behind the defenders.
This was beyond the expectations of the defenders. People were already afraid of the Feng Army and their fighting spirit was not strong. Now there was chaos inside, and the defense line was torn apart at once.
Taking this opportunity, the Feng Army outside the city rushed to the top of the city in one go and started a face-to-face hand-to-hand combat with the defenders.
In a hand-to-hand combat, even the Feng people had to admit defeat in front of the Zhen people, let alone the Mo Army?
The battle of Xintian took only two hours, and the Mo army's resistance was completely destroyed. All the soldiers were scattered and fled to the city like a pile of loose sand. The Baizhan Army would not give the opponent a chance to breathe. They chased the Mo army and the two sides started a chaotic street fight in Xintian City. At this point in the battle, the Mo army had no fighting spirit, and the battle situation was no longer suspenseful. In the end, the Xintian defenders were defeated, including their commander, who was hacked and killed by the Baizhan Army.
Perhaps it was too easy to win this battle, or perhaps the soldiers of the Baizhan Army were too tired after the battles in recent days. After occupying Xintian, there was no large-scale massacre. Half of the Baizhan Army was stationed in the city, and half was stationed outside the city for a short rest and adjustment.
The Baizhan Army was stationed in Xintian for three days. After the baggage in the rear caught up, it continued to move south and headed towards Dingshan. In the eyes of the Baizhan Army, the main force of the Mo Army had fled to Dingshan, and they would have to fight a decisive battle with the Mo Army here.
But the fact was not the case at all. The main force of the Mo Army was not in Dingshan at all. The defenders of Dingshan had only more than 10,000 people. The Baizhan Army easily took Dingshan City in a short time. As for where the main force of the Mo Army went, the spies of the Baizhan Army did not find out clearly. However, on the second day after the Baizhan Army captured Dingshan, an urgent report came from the rear that the army stationed in Panling by the Baizhan Army was attacked by a large number of Mo Army. Now Panling has been lost, and thousands of soldiers stationed there have been killed or wounded.
Hearing this news, Nie Ze was not surprised at all. On the contrary, this was already expected by him. Chen Xiu and others had also made such an analysis at the beginning. The Mo Army led the enemy deep into the country first, and then turned back to Panling to cut off their retreat, hoping to close the door and beat the dog.
But the Mo army seemed to have forgotten one thing. The Hundred Battles Army was nominally the Feng Army, but in reality it was the Zhen Army. For the Zhen Army, logistical supplies were dispensable and unimportant.
He looked around at the generals on his left and right and asked, "Generals, guess what the enemy commander is thinking now?"
Chen Xiu smiled and said, "The Mo army commander must think that when our army learns that Panling has fallen, it must retreat and recapture Panling to open the passage behind."
"That's right!" Nie Ze nodded and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the main force of the Mo army is now ready at Panling, and they will only lead our army back to attack. This time, Panling will not be as easy to break as last time."
A Zhen general snorted coldly and said, "What's there to be afraid of with just the Mo army? Since they want to fight to the death with our army at Panling, then we will fulfill their wish! General, in my opinion, our army will immediately return to Panling and fight with the Mo army. Fight!"
Nie Ze shook his head and said faintly: "We have already fought Panling once. If we go back to fight again, the soldiers will certainly not be motivated enough. In addition, the Mo army will certainly make full preparations in Panling. With the geographical advantage of the enemy, even if our army can win this battle, I am afraid that the losses will be very heavy. "After a pause, he took a deep breath, cheered up, and sneered: "Since the Mo army is waiting for our army to turn back to attack in Panling, then let the Mo army wait in Panling, and our army will continue to move south and go straight to the county city of Zeping-Changdu. "
All the generals had no objection, and they all intervened and saluted: "I obey your order!"
The Hundred Battles Army chose to advance southward even though they knew that their retreat was cut off. This was indeed beyond the expectations of the Mo army. In fact, the deployment of the Mo army was also very ingenious. Giving up Panling was indeed a strategy to lure the enemy deep into the country. After leading the Baizhan Army into the hinterland of Zeping County, the main force of the Mo army was divided into two routes. One route took a detour to take Panling, and the other route hid in the mountains and forests of Panzhong County. As long as the Baizhan Army turned back to attack Panling, the Mo army could attack from the front and back, making it difficult for the Baizhan Army to take care of both ends.
However, what the chief general of the Mo army, Yuan Cheng, never expected was that the Baizhan army used a trick to counterattack the enemy. They did not care about the problem of the rear route being cut off, but took advantage of the absence of the main force of the Mo army to take the county city Changdu.
Now there are only two options before Yuan Cheng. One is to abandon Panling and go back to rescue Changdu with all his strength, and the other is to abandon Changdu and continue to hold on to Panling to block the supply line and retreat route of the Feng army.
Yuan Cheng was at a loss for a moment about what to choose, and he asked his think tank Shen Yuan for his opinion.
It was Shen Yuan who gave him the plan to lure the enemy deep into the country. If he chose to abandon Panling and rescue Changdu now, it would be equivalent to saying that the strategy he offered was a complete mistake. How could Shen Yuan be willing to slap himself in the face?
So even though he knew it was wrong, Shen Yuan could only make the best of it. He proposed to Yuan Cheng that his side must not give up Panling. As for the defense of the county city, they could call on the local troops of each county and city to defend it. As long as they could hold off the Feng Army for ten days or half a month, the Feng Army without logistical supplies would be defeated without a fight.
After listening to his analysis, Yuan Cheng felt that it was not unreasonable. In the end, he decided to adopt Shen Yuan's method. The main force of the central army continued to be stationed in Panling, and let the local army guard the county city Changdu. He did not expect the local army to defeat the Feng Army, as long as they could delay the Feng Army for a period of time.
Of course, the strategy Shen Yuan gave him was itself a fantasy. The fierceness of the Baizhan Army was difficult for even the central army of Mo to resist, let alone the local army that was temporarily recruited and gathered together? Not to mention holding off for ten days or half a month, even three or five days would be too much.
Sure enough. The Hundred Battles Army marched southward with unstoppable force. Along the way, they won battle after battle. They were truly invincible. It took only ten days to fight from Panzhong County all the way to Changdu.
Now, the defenders of Changdu barely gathered about 100,000 people, of which 20,000 were from Zeping County, and the other 80,000 were summoned from various places. More than half of them did not even have military uniforms and armor. They were recruited by local governments and slaves to make up the numbers.
It was undoubtedly a fantasy for such an army to resist the Hundred Battles Army, which was as fierce as wolves and tigers.
On the second day after the Hundred Battles Army arrived in Changdu, the entire army made a tentative feint attack. Although it was tentative, the Hundred Battles Army did not use even a third of its combat power, but it almost broke through the city defense of Changdu. Nie Ze, who was watching the battle, only saw half of it and returned to the camp, and ordered the generals around him to kill the pigs and sheep in the army and wait until tomorrow to celebrate the victory.
Before the city was taken, Nie Ze had already started thinking about celebrating in the city. He was so confident that the soldiers below were naturally confident. The feint ended hastily, and they rested for a day. The next day, the Hundred Battles Army began its real attack.
The 100,000 defenders of Changdu, except for the 20,000 county troops who could fight, the remaining 80,000 troops were basically just decorations, that is, they had no actual combat experience and no combat training. Facing an opponent like the Hundred Battles Army, they were defeated at the first blow, and once they were defeated, they were thousands of miles away, and they had no power to fight back.
The county city of Zeping County, the huge Changdu, could not even hold on for half a day under the full-scale attack of the Hundred Battles Army. Its defense line was torn to pieces and the army was defeated.
The Feng Army outside the city rushed into the city in one go, and even the most basic street fighting did not take place. The defeated Mo Army, led by the county chief, surrendered with a white flag.
The opponent was weak, and the soldiers of the Hundred Battles Army were not in high spirits. For the surrendered Mo army, all those who were not wearing military uniforms and armor were driven away, and the rest were detained and awaited.
Nie Ze did not execute these prisoners of war, but only had the chief of Zeping County hanged, and then changed the flag and hung the Fengguo flag on the top of Changdu.
After occupying Changdu, Nie Ze decided that the whole army would not fight for a short time, and would use it as a base to stay and only send a small force to conquer the villages and towns around Changdu in the future.
Now the Hundred Battles Army has penetrated hundreds of miles into Zeping County. If it goes south, it will reach Haowan County, which is close to Modu Zhenjiang. It will be very troublesome to attract the main force of the Central Army in Zhenjiang. At this time, he needs to wait for the Pingyuan Army and Feilong Army to catch up, and at the same time, wait for these two armies to help him clear out the main force of the Mo Army entrenched in Panling.
No matter what, it is much better to have no worries than to have his retreat cut off. He only needs to do his best to serve the Feng Kingdom, and he does not need to risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the army. ! !
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