lcionline Chapter 277 Tricks and Schemes
Chapter 277 Tricks and Schemes
“What are they doing entering the Chahar grasslands? It used to be the territory of the Xiongnu, but now it’s our land. They’ve never tried to attack the north. As long as they can defend the Yellow River and prevent us from moving south, they’ll use whatever tricks they can, regardless of what happens afterward!” Zhong Yao said, shaking his head.
Zhong Yao is a historical figure.
"I remember that just half a month ago, several of my intelligence agents were secretly crossing the river here, and we didn't hear about these things," Yang Hong said in confusion.
"It's probably the latest trick devised by the person who designed the fire attack. It was only put into the river a while ago. This person is quite intelligent! Don't you have any information about it?" Xun You asked Yang Hong.
Yang Hong shook his head and said, "I haven't heard of any recent replacements of generals in the Wuxi Flying Army's Northern Route Army. All the army commanders remain unchanged. If there's one person I haven't figured out, it's the intelligence supervisor who's in charge of intelligence, just like me."
"We haven't gotten any intelligence. It's said that Chen Er has an apprentice named Palau, who just graduated from Luoyang last summer and didn't attract our attention. Later we heard that he joined the army. I speculate that he might be the head of intelligence for the enemy's northern route. Ordinary generals in the Wuxi Flying Army don't have these tricks and schemes."
Xun You and Gao Shun exchanged a glance, and Xun You instructed, "It must be this person! The old generals of the Five Streams Flying Army would never have such flexible methods. Investigate this person thoroughly and find out what kind of person he is. He has caused us great losses twice in a row."
"Okay, I'll arrange it right away!" Yang Hong nodded.
"The feint attack plan has failed. What do we do now?" Xiahou Dun asked.
"We need to find a way to remove the barbed wire at the bottom of the river! But we can't let the enemy find out, otherwise they'll keep scattering more barbed wire into the river even under the cover of our crossbow bolts," Feng Ji suggested.
“I don’t think it’s necessary. Under the enemy commander’s nose, it’s impossible to clear them out safely! Besides, the river water is so cold, the soldiers who go into the river won’t last long! Don’t attack from here, think of other ways!” Gao Shun shook his head and said.
“Other places where you can cross the river directly must have these things too, but it’s uncertain. Let’s send scouts to check!” Xun You suggested, and the special forces battalion commander nodded in agreement.
Two days later, the special reconnaissance soldiers sent out to scout the riverbed returned and reported that the other four places where it was possible to cross the river had indeed been covered with countless caltrops by the people of Xichuan, making it impossible to cross. The leaders and staff of the Northern Route Army sat in the camp, racking their brains, but still could not find a safe way to cross the river.
"Why don't we just skip crossing these sections of the river and find another place to build a pontoon bridge and attack with infantry?" Major Yan Zhi, the logistics commander, suddenly suggested.
"Uh... this is a new idea!" Le Jin exclaimed, slapping his thigh.
“That’s right, why do we have to launch a direct attack from where the enemy is heavily guarded?” Xiahou Dun chimed in, leaving the group of advisors feeling quite embarrassed.
“Even if we build a pontoon bridge from another location, we still need to launch a feint attack. Otherwise, if the enemy realizes what's happening, we still won't be able to get across!” Yang Xiu said.
"Yes, tomorrow, make a great show of force at both crossing points on the east side and fight all day. At night, secretly build a pontoon bridge on the west side!" Gao Shun nodded and said, and the generals nodded in agreement.
On the south bank of the Xichuan River, two days ago in the early morning, Chen Er, who was sleeping in the organization at the third crossing point, was awakened by a guard who said that news had come that the Chinese army had launched a nighttime crossing attack from the fourth crossing point.
Chen Er immediately dressed, mounted his horse, and ordered his guards to send orders to the local garrisons to be cautious and not to let a single Chinese soldier cross the river. He then led Palau straight to the fourth crossing point.
The third crossing point was about 10 kilometers away from the fourth crossing point. Chen Er and Palau rode their Central Asian BMWs at full speed and arrived at the fourth crossing point of the Chinese army's attack in twenty minutes.
Upon arriving at the battlefield, the two armies were exchanging fire across the river using catapults, crossbows, hand crossbows, and bows and arrows. All of the Chinese army's weapons of equal quality had a longer range than those of the Xichuan defenders. Fortunately, the Xichuan people had been building this defensive line for ten years and had numerous shelters.
Along the south bank of the Dahe River, there was a row of large tree stumps and a fence woven from vines, as well as several small earthen and wooden outposts. These structures gave the Sichuan soldiers a certain advantage in terms of shelter, offsetting the superior weaponry of the Chinese army.
Half an hour later, after both sides had suffered hundreds of casualties in the rain of arrows, the Chinese cavalry, amidst the rousing sound of war drums, began to accelerate from a point a kilometer away on the north bank and charged towards the river.
Unsure of the effectiveness of the caltrops, Chen Er ordered a full-scale attack. Tens of thousands of soldiers were driven to the riverbank by the supervisory team and shot arrows at the Chinese cavalry attempting to cross the river. As a result, more than a thousand soldiers were killed by the Chinese army's long-range crossbow bolts.
Then, right before everyone's eyes, the Chinese cavalry charged into the river, but before they had gone less than 20 meters, they were thrown into the water one after another by their wounded horses. The cavalry following behind were unable to stop in time, creating even greater chaos.
Amid cheers and a hail of arrows from the Western Sichuanese, the Chinese retreated in disarray. Apart from a few dozen catapults and crossbows relentlessly launching retaliatory attacks, the Chinese cavalry's dawn river crossing ended in failure.
A general in his fifties patted Palau on the shoulder and said, "Truly, the younger generation is formidable, each generation stronger than the last! Your method of scattering barbed wire on the riverbed is excellent. Now I think the Chinese will have no chance to cross the river!"
Palau was very pleased with the obvious results of his method, but he did not become complacent. During his years of studying in China, he had already become familiar with the invincible fighting power of the Chinese army.
From the Xianbei to Fusang, from the Faqiang to Tianzhu, whether it was towering mountains or vast seas, no difficulty could pose an obstacle to the Chinese army. Palau was unwilling to be arrogant and complacent, lest its joy turn to sorrow.
He said to Chen Er, who was also very happy beside him, "General, don't underestimate the Chinese, or you will easily suffer a defeat. They will either find a way to cross the river or abandon these places where they can cross directly and think of another way. So we must be vigilant and prevent the enemy from building boats to cross from other places. After all, the river is only 50 meters wide on average. If they have boats, it is easy for them to cross by force."
"There isn't a single tree around here, how can we build ships? Unless the enemy forces carry the already built ships over from Chahar Khan!" A middle-aged general, also in his forties, said with a sneer.
"They wouldn't carry boats into battle, but who knows if they'll dismantle their wagons to build ships? So listen to Palau, be careful! If we lose even one place, it won't be easy to hold off more than 20 enemy troops!"
Having served in the military for decades, Chen Er was always cautious and prudent. Upon hearing the suggestion to avoid fatigue, he immediately ordered the garrison to reinforce its troops and not to relax their guard. He also strengthened surveillance and patrols of other river sections that could not be directly crossed, to prevent the Chinese army from crossing unexpectedly from these locations.