Chapter 1192 The never-ending war of attrition


    ??When Han Sui saw the camp by the Qingni River, he looked a little surprised. He couldn''t help but jump off his horse, throw the reins to the guards, and move forward slowly. The generals and Qiang-headed men behind him also dismounted and followed Han Sui with solemn faces.


    Ma Chao was stunned for a moment, then the muscles on his face twitched a few times, he lowered his head, silently jumped off the horse, and followed Han Sui in the same way.


    ?In the direction the group of people were heading, on the banks of the Qingni River, two large tombs were erected at some point.


    One left and one right.


    On the left is the tomb of the Machao Qiang people, and on the right is the tomb of the soldiers who conquered the west.


    Due to time constraints, stone tablets were not used, but wooden boards were used. It is said to be a wooden board, but it is actually a whole tree trunk cut in half, left and right halves, standing in front of the tomb. There is no inscription on the sawn plane, just some large characters written in the center of the trunk with pen and ink. On the right side it says: "Wow! In the first year of Yan Ping, we fought on the bank of the green mud. Ge grows in Mengchu, and vines grow on it. In the wild. Who will be left alone if I die here?"


    On the left tree trunk, it is written: "The Qiang originated from three seedlings, and the three dangers of Shun''s migration were on the shore of Cizhi. The emperor took it and thought that Fan would subjugate it. With Qin at the beginning, they drove together and galloped across the six countries. Now, brothers are fighting against each other and fighting with each other. Is this sad?"


    ?Han Sui stood in front of the two large tombs and remained silent for a long time.


    ?The breeze blew across the Qingni River, swaying the thatch on the riverside and making a thin sound.


    "Good nephew..." Han Sui suddenly said to Ma Chao and let out a soft sigh, "You were not defeated unjustly...this expedition to the west, alas..." After saying that, Han Sui bowed towards the two tombs. And worship.


    ??The Xiliang generals and Qiang heads behind Han Sui also bowed their heads and caressed their chests towards the tomb.


    Ma Chao straightened his back and stared blankly at the two tombs, as if he would be crushed by the two tombs if he relaxed.


    Han Sui straightened up, turned around, looked around, and shouted loudly: "Zhengxi is a hero and a good opponent! But we here, our Xiliang, are too poor and miserable! We can''t afford the taxes from the imperial court. We can''t bear it." There is only room for one hero in this land! Xiliang was ours before, and it will always be ours!"


    When all the soldiers heard this, they raised their swords and shouted.


    Han Sui nodded and pointed his hand towards the south: "Let''s go and show Zhengxi. We are the real masters of Xiliang and the heroes of Xiliang! After we defeat Zhengxi, we will also build something like this for Zhengxi." a grave!”


    "Oh oh oh..." the soldiers roared, gathering and heading south.


    ?Han Sui smiled slightly, reined in his horse and stood by the road, watching the soldiers march forward. His expression looked confident and sure, but his heart sank slightly.


    Which general would dig a grave for the dead soldiers when the entire army was in crisis and retreating? And it’s also the grave of soldiers from both sides?


    What does this mean?


    Originally, Han Sui wanted to bring his troops here to see the tragedy of the Qiang people being burned, and then inspire the soldiers to share the same hatred with the enemy. However, he did not expect to see such a scene. If he had not worked hard to save it, his morale would have dropped. Already…


    General Fei Qian did this to express his regret?


    Or did you expect this to happen?


    This is forcing someone to continue pursuing forward!


    ??If you don’t leave, who knows what weird things will happen if you stay here? Even if they know that their relatives and friends are buried beside them, it does not mean that everyone is willing to stay with the corpse forever.


    ?This is Zhengxi...


    Quite tricky.


    ?Now, all we can do is catch up with General Fei Qian of Zhengxi as soon as possible, and then entangle him, wait until the following Xiliang tribes arrive together, and strangle him, otherwise there will be endless troubles!


    ?However, if...


    ?Han Sui glanced at Ma Chao, then lowered his eyelids. He didn''t say anything to Ma Chao, but turned his horse''s head, followed the large army, and drove the horse forward.


    ……………


    Fei Qian also received the news that Han Sui was chasing him. It was not that Han Sui was not careful, but that the smoke and dust rising up from the troops could be seen from a distance. This was in the Han Dynasty, and it was a sunny time. Anyway, It can''t be hidden. The scouts can see it from a distance without getting close at all.


    "We must find a way..." Fei Qian said, "We are still nearly two days away from Yangping Pass. If we can''t stop its sharpness, if we continue running like this, we will eventually be overtaken."


    During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Li Ling was on his way back to Guanzhong. He was blocked by the Xiongnu army on the mountain eighty miles away from the pass. Although there was a chariot formation guarding it, as all the arrows and bows and crossbows were fired, the chariot formation could not be continued in the end. In the end, the breakout failed and he was captured.


    “Your Majesty, I want someone to cut off my queen!” Xu Huang said, cupping his hands.


    Fei Qian looked at Xu Huang and said, "Oh? If Gong Ming decides to leave, how many troops and horses should be left? How will you arrange it?"


    Xu Huang looked around the surrounding terrain, pointed to a hill in front of him and said: "This hill stands beside the road, overlooking the river. If we set up a formation on the top of the hill, we can block the incoming enemy."


    Fei Qian also looked at it, and it was indeed as Xu Huang said, a hill protruding from the riverside, and then the side facing the Qingni River was relatively gentle and connected to the river beach, while the other side was relatively steep. If it was used to block this A riverside passage is indeed good.


    From Xiabian to Yangpingguan, the journey is not difficult, and the erosion and cutting in ancient times or the glacial period have resulted in many forked valleys, like a water network, with different roads leading to the same destination, and finally converging at Yangpingguan. However, these valleys are basically desolate sandy areas with no water sources. Therefore, generally speaking, there are many marching route options, but in principle, they must follow waterways or water sources.


    But it doesn''t have to be like this all the time. If the best marching path along the Qingni River is blocked, Han Sui will naturally find a way to go around the valley on one side. At most, it will take more time. Just a few hours.


    Hence, Xu Huang’s strategy is effective and can prevent delays for a certain period of time, but its effectiveness is still limited.


    If there is no need to block, how about an ambush instead?


    Find a place to ambush?


    For example, how to make use of these ravines?


    But the problem is, except for the scouts, the soldiers brought this time are basically infantry, and those veteran soldiers have already fought a tough battle in the camp. It is not impossible to send these veteran soldiers into battle again. But once it is used up, it is difficult to recover and replenish it.


    The old belt has always been the rules of the army, and it is also the trick of rapid expansion of the establishment. Without the veteran, the overall strength of the army is not a little bit. Therefore, from this perspective, it is not suitable for the veterans to continue to consume.


    ?So send scouts?


    Although there are some war horses captured on hand now, which can be used, these are the only scouts who are proficient in riding skills, and the war horse riding skills are actually about the same. If Han Sui is slightly prepared, such a small number of scouts will not be able to use them at all. What a big impact it had on Han Sui''s army.


    ?So, what should we do?


    ………………… Gong Jun was lying in ambush among the reeds by the Qingni River. Through the layers of reeds, he was observing Han Sui’s troops on the other side. The scouts around him also had their eyes shining, as if The wild wolf found its prey.


    Although Han Sui chased in a hurry, the camp was not too loose. Perhaps Han Sui''s original battlefield instinct, or his cautious and suspicious nature, was different from the previous temporary gathering place of the Qiang people, which was extremely scattered. Although there was no circle erected The wall of the village was small, but watchtowers were erected at key locations, and two or three soldiers on duty were placed on them, watching the surroundings vigilantly.


    Of course, there are still some shortcomings in this kind of work. When Han Sui arrived here, he had been busy for an hour. Plus the time spent on cooking pots, if it weren''t for most of the Qiang people being accustomed to being simple, The tents and the life of moving from time to time may take more time.


    As night gradually fell, Han Sui''s soldiers who had eaten dinner all got into the tents one by one. Only the rangers patrolling the outside and the guards patrolling inside the camp patrolled back and forth.


    "Most of the war horses are inside. In addition to the rangers, there are two sentry towers on the outside..." Gong Jun pointed and whispered, "...Fortunately, General Zhengxi was wise and let us take the waterway, otherwise we would not have been able to get through. Go in..."


    "Well, there are three or four people in a sentry tower, at least six on each side. If they can''t be shot at the same time, they will definitely be alarmed..." Ling Jie on the side also nodded in agreement.


    Although Gong Jun and others are equipped with powerful crossbows, it is indeed difficult to kill the soldiers on duty on two far apart sentry towers in one sentence when they want to patrol outside and find the best moment to coordinate. possible tasks.


    ?The erratic night wind, the behavior of the sentry, or even an inadvertent sneeze may lead to the failure of the shooting, and if it fails, not only one or two sentries will be alerted...


    "How is it?" Gong Jun turned to Ling Jie and asked, "We are just assisting you. Whether we can succeed or not depends on you..."


    Ling Jie was silent for a moment and said: "Give me the thing..."


    "Okay!" Gong Jun said, "I will attack you as soon as there is any movement over there, and then I will pick you up at the rocky place downstream..."


    Ling Jie took the sheepskin bubbles handed over by a scout, and then said: "If I haven''t arrived before dawn, you can go back first..."


    After saying that, Ling Jie tied the sheepskin bag to his back, and then slipped it from the reed into the Qingni River...


    ……………


    A lamp is like a bean.


    Fei Qian sat in the middle of the tent, looking at the map he had sketched before.


    ? Fei Qian has seen this map many times himself, and is very familiar with the lines on the painting. He lights up a lamp here and reads it at night, but he can''t sleep, and he is also waiting for news about Gong Jun and Ling Jie.


    Special operations were not fun in the Han Dynasty, and they were not very fun.


    Although Fei Qian has some memories from later generations, it is still difficult for the soldiers to understand what special operations are. From Bingbei to now, the only ones who are more established are Gong Jun and Ling Jie, and The few soldiers under these two men who work part-time as scouts.


    Relatively speaking, scouts, especially elite scouts, are soldiers who are relatively close to the requirements of special operations. First of all, they are good at both near and far. They can be put to use with a little training. However, there are too few of them. In Fiji, After focusing on training for such a period of time, a team of more than 200 people was formed. However, such a team would not be very useful in a large-scale military battle.


    ??And the key is that when fighting one-on-one, the destructive power of Gong Jun and others may be stronger than that of ordinary soldiers, but it is definitely not like the ridiculously powerful special forces of later generations. After all, the basic amount of ammunition carried by individual soldiers in later generations is usually about two hundred rounds of bullets. If it is strengthened, it is not impossible to double or even triple it. But when it comes to asking a scout in the Han Dynasty to carry two hundred rounds of crossbow arrows, let’s not start with it. Speaking of whether crossbow arrows can be as convenient and fast as later generations of firearms, these two hundred rounds of crossbow arrows alone are enough to make the scouts difficult...


    ??Whether it is in terms of physical strength or long-range shooting, these rudimentary elite scouts of the Han Dynasty under Fei Qian still cannot be responsible for frontal combat and can only carry out harassment and destruction on a small scale. The actions planned for Gong Jun and Ling Jie this time were more or less Fei Potential''s attempts to further expand in this aspect.


    ? Fei Qian is quite confident about Gong Jun and Ling Jie. After all, after so many battles, Fei Qian has some doubts about the abilities of these people.


    “Your Majesty, Colonel Xu wants to see you.” Huang Xu said outside the tent.


    “Yes, please.” Fei Qian put the map aside, raised his head and said.


    “See you, Lord.” Xu Huang entered the tent and held his hands in greeting.


    Fei Qian pointed to the front of his desk and said, "Without courtesy, sit down... Do you have anything to do?"


    Xu Huang was silent for a moment, then raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty... I have something unclear, and I would like to ask your Majesty for advice..."


    "What''s the matter?" Fei Qian smiled and said, "You might as well speak frankly."


    "...I took the liberty to come here today, and I do have some unanswered questions in my heart..." Xu Huang looked at Fei Qian, frowning, as if there were some questions lingering between his brows, "...what the former monarch said in the martial arts hall...the war of attrition , I seem to feel that it is still a little unclear, and I would like to ask you to enlighten me again..."


    Fei Qian looked at Xu Huang and said: "A war of attrition is a combat method that consumes the enemy''s combat power. Of course, a war of attrition can only be used as an auxiliary. The more important thing is a war of annihilation. However, as long as the entire battlefield is entered, In a state of war, there must be attrition, and what we need to do is to continuously expand the enemy''s attrition until we achieve final victory."


    Xu Huang glanced at Fei Qian, hesitated, and said, "Then... what if we also consume the same amount..."


    "It depends on whether you think it''s worth it..." Fei Qian looked at Xu Huang, understood something, and said slowly, "For example, if you need to harass and consume the pursuers today, you can choose to set up an array on a hill, or you can You can choose to ambush on the flanks, or of course, you can also choose to let Gong Junhou use the Qingni River to attack at night. Both of them can delay the pursuers... However, which one consumes less energy and which one has better effect is a question that we, the commander-in-chief, should consider and weigh... "


    "Although Ci cannot command troops, but he treats soldiers as nothing, he still cannot become a qualified commander..." Fei Qian suddenly remembered the real-time strategy games in later generations, and couldn''t help but feel a little distracted, and continued to say slowly, "If the advantage is huge, , most people don’t need to consider other things, just push it forward steadily, even if there is some damage, it doesn’t matter... However, this is not possible all the time, and it is also necessary to carefully deploy, calculate every soldier, and save the combat power of each soldier. Time... Therefore, if you achieve the ultimate in strategy and tactics, you can be called the God of War..."


    “…Strategy and tactics…God of War…” Xu Huang muttered in a daze and repeated.


    "Yes..." Fei Qian smiled, "We can encourage each other..."


    ??Xu Huang looked at Fei Qian''s eyes, which seemed to have seen something, and couldn''t help but bow with a solemn look, "...I sincerely follow the teachings of the Lord..."


    (End of this chapter)