Chinese New Year

Chapter 473 City Completed
Jin Zheng came back after dawn, and as expected, he had a few more scars on his body.

But it seemed that nothing was wrong. At this moment, he was holding a human head and chatting and laughing with the military academies.

The human head looks hideous and seems to be a little frightened, which shows how terrified the person was when his head was chopped off.

"Shi Le's old camp is just so-so. It is stronger than the Qihuo Army, but not much stronger."

"It's actually not bad. After the attack on the camp failed, they were able to hold out for a while while I was chasing them. At least it's considered okay in the North."

"You have to farm and fight at the same time, how powerful can you be? Next time, we will fight in formation and defeat them in one blow."

Jin Zheng listened to their words with a smile.

The personal soldier stepped forward to take off his armor, and when he was about to bandage his wound, he was pushed away by Jin Zheng.

"It's just some minor injuries, they've all healed. Why are you so panicked? It's as if I'm going to die." Jin Zheng walked by in a swagger wearing a bloodstained robe.

Wherever he passed, the soldiers of the military farm were all amazed.

General Jin is truly a god. He is so brave, he must be the best general under Taibai, right? He should also be Taibai's most proud student.

Some military academies usually cannot stand Jin Zheng's arrogance, but at this moment, they have to admit that when it comes to bravery, few people in Henan can compare with Jin Zheng.

Yu Liang, Liu Anzhi and others were about to leave the camp and return to Henan. When they saw Jin Zhengzhi, they immediately stepped forward to greet him.

Liu Anzhi just exchanged a few pleasantries and then left.

Yu Liang was about to leave, but after thinking about it, he stopped and said with a smile: "Governor Jin wielded his sword bravely and was invincible. I heard about it in the camp and was also fascinated by it. If I have time in the future--"

"General Yu, go back and deal with the Ru'nan uprising as soon as possible. Don't just stand there." After Jin Zheng finished speaking, he left with the head in his hand.

Yu Liang's face turned red and white. It was rare for him to lower his face to meet a warrior, but he didn't expect that the other person didn't even pay attention to him.

Looking at the few drops of blood on the snow-white robe, his face became even worse. He thought to himself that Jin Zheng was so domineering. When his sister gave birth to a prince in the future, he wondered if he would be able to control him...

Bad luck! Yu Liang flicked his sleeves and left.

Jin Zheng threw the head onto the carriage beside him and said to the clerk, "Liu Bao, a minor commander under Shi Le, is a nobody. Just record him casually. It doesn't matter whether it counts as a merit or not."

"Since he is a general in Shi Le's army, he should be rewarded for his merit." The clerk picked up the head, put it away carefully, and then said.

Jin Zheng nodded and said nothing more.

This clerk came from Liang County's military school and was a student of the fourth term of the Liang State. He was not good at military strategy, so he served as a clerk in the army.

That's good, that's very good.

From now on, all the armies in the world should be managed by their military students, so as to prevent them from being used by ambitious people to launch rebellions.

Before leaving, Jin Zheng asked, "Where is Master Shao?"

Hearing the name "Master Shao", the clerk felt familiar and replied, "Master Shao went to the north city of Fangtou."

"Oh? The North City has been repaired?" Jin Zheng asked with some surprise.

"The government office has been repaired, and Master Shao plans to move in." the clerk replied.

"Yes, we should move in." Jin Zheng nodded and said, "North City will take some time to finish the work and add the defensive equipment. It will be almost complete."

However - Jin Zheng subconsciously looked towards the north. Would Shi Le do something desperate?

Fangtou North City is only missing the last bit of city defense facilities, and it will be completely completed by mid-to-late October at the latest.

Wow, it took seventy or eighty days to build this city. It really took a long time.

******
Shao Xun was wandering around the north city of Fangtou at this moment.

This city, which serves as a military fortress, was built entirely according to his requirements.

There is a moat around the city outside, called "Chenghuang", which draws the Qi River into the city and is connected to the city by a suspension bridge.

The City God needs to be dredged regularly, which is a very important city defense facility for defending the city.

Behind the City God is the Sheep and Horse Wall, which is only shoulder-high and thirty steps away from the city wall.

As the name suggests, the area between the sheep and horse wall and the city wall is used to store livestock to prevent them from polluting the living areas within the city.

The cooperation of Sheep and Horse Wall and City God can reap a large number of lives, which has been proven many times in past wars.

Further back is the city wall.

There are only two gates in the north city of Fangtou, namely the north and south gates.

There is an urn built outside the city gate with two gates.

There was also a crossbow platform outside the city, which was equipped with a large crossbow machine - it had not been installed at that time and needed to be made by the court in Luoyang. The craftsmen under Shao Xun did not have the technical ability to do so.

The crossbow platform was about seventy steps away from the city, just within the throwing range of the bows.

There are parapets and battlements on top of the city wall, which have just been completed.

In short, Fangtou North City has four layers of defense facilities, namely: crossbow platform, city god tower, sheep and horse wall, and city wall.

After turning around once, Shao Xun felt a chill growing.

A normal city would not be built like this, either for the sake of living comfort, business convenience, or even to reclaim wasteland outside the city walls.

Fangtou North City is not a livable city, but it is a serious military city, born for war.

"If I come to attack this city, I'm afraid I will only return in defeat." Shao Xun exclaimed.

The remaining 3,000 soldiers of the Xuchang hereditary army were now stationed in the north city of Fangtou.

At the officer's command, a barracks of 500 men were stationed inside and outside the city gate - the barracks inside the city gate had not yet been completed.

Two thousand men silently marched into the Sheep and Horse Wall, with five hundred on each side.

They built their own makeshift sheds, sorted their weapons, and assigned each person to defend which area.

Finally, another twenty people were selected and sent into the crossbow tower built outside the north city wall.

They opened the door at the bottom of the platform and climbed to the top with ropes. Although there was no crossbow machine yet, it was an excellent place to observe the enemy's situation.

Shao Xun led his personal soldiers into the city again.

There is only one north-south street in the north city.

There were few houses on both sides of the street, but the granary had been built. The men were transporting grain into it with horse-drawn carts and storing it one by one.

In addition to the granary, there is also an arsenal and a large warehouse next to the granary, both of which are unfinished.

These three together constitute Cangcheng, which is located in the southwest corner of the city.

At the end of the street near the south city is the town commander’s residence, which is also his office.

The government office has been completed. Going up the stairs, there is a thick wooden door, which is connected to the gatehouse. It looks majestic.

The town commander's office has a wall made of bricks and tiles, and there is a building on each of the four corners, so people can shoot arrows from a high vantage point.

In fact, the town commander's mansion itself is a fortress, but it is integrated into the overall layout of the city. If an enemy breaks through the city wall, the defenders can still use the mansion as a final defense - of course, when the battle reaches this point, it is basically meaningless to continue defending, and it is purely to drag a few more people down with you before you die.

Shao Xun stood on the stone steps in front of his mansion, looking at the city quietly.

The streets were filled with the constant coming and going of carriages and people. Cartloads of supplies were pulled in and then, under the guidance of craftsmen and the work of young men, they were turned into warehouses, barracks, prisons, workshops, government offices and other facilities within the city.

A military city like this is enough!

When the world is peaceful in the future, perhaps we can demolish the crossbow platform outside the city, fill in the city wall, expand outward, and build an outer city.

But there is no need for that now, as there will be few ordinary people in this city for a long time to come.

******
After the failure of the night attack on September 25, the Huns stopped their attacks for a few days.

On the last day of September, the Huns attacked again, but still failed to capture the Jin army camp. Instead, they suffered heavy casualties and retreated in defeat.

After nightfall, Shi Le wandered around the camp, feeling a little annoyed.

Zhang Bin took a look silently.

If Da Hu was still calm and composed when August just came, he became a little impatient by the beginning of September.

The Qihuo Army lost more than 4,000 people and has now been dispersed and sent home - they were completely defeated along the way.

The men in the various forts also fought several battles and were even more defeated than the Beggars. Although they were outnumbered, with a total of no less than 20,000 men, they attacked more than ten times and were defeated every time.

At the beginning, they were able to try to storm the walls of the Jin army camp, and they were still fighting even with thousands of casualties.

But as the battle progressed, the tolerance for casualties became lower and lower.

The last time, they were even shot apart by the bows and crossbows of the Jin army, and only a hundred people died before they ran away.

They were dispersed again and again, received again and again, and forced into battle again and again, ultimately resulting in more than 5,000 casualties. They were unable to fight again in the short term and have now retreated to the rear, serving as auxiliary troops.

In September, a large number of old camps were transferred in one after another. So far, they have been deployed twice with great momentum.

On the eve of five days ago, General Liu Bao died in battle, and the Jin army killed more than 2,000 people.

In this battle today, more than a thousand people will die.

The casualties were staggering, but the battle line made no progress.

The biggest obstacle is probably Shao Ze's Silver Spear Army.

The Xuchang hereditary soldiers and the Tuntian Army were just so-so, and their strength was similar to theirs. They had been defeated more than once, and suffered heavy casualties. But every time at the critical moment, the Silver Spear Army rushed up to turn the tide, chasing them closely and completely crushing their offensive that was close to success.

What to do now?

After much thought, Zhang Bin felt that this battle was too frustrating.

"Should we send another person to Pingyang?" Shi Le's voice suddenly sounded in the tent.

Zhang Bin raised his head and looked at Da Hu.

The fact that he could ask this question shows what Da Hu is thinking.

"Your Majesty, the fact that Zhao Gu was able to lead his troops here is already a blessing from the Emperor. If there were more, I'm afraid there wouldn't be any more," said Zhang Bin.

Shi Le grabbed the curtain in the tent and then gently let it go after a moment.

Those who want to achieve great things should be calm and composed.

Shi Le took a deep breath, and a smile reappeared on his face. He said, "Well, it's good that Zhao Gu came. I looked down on him before, but now I find that he and I have the same problem."

"Mengsun," Shi Le said again, "When you explained the Art of War to me before, you mentioned 'attack others but not be attacked by others'. In this battle, have I already attacked Shao Xun?"

"Since Fangtou City was built, it has been targeted by this person." Zhang Bin sighed, "In the Art of War, there is a saying that 'use your strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses'. Your Majesty is good at cavalry, but he has stationed his troops under the camp and used infantrymen who are not good at fighting to attack Shao Xun's brave and sharp soldiers. This is called 'use your weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths'."

"Is there any way to get rid of this trap?" Shi Le asked.

Seeing Da Hu's eager eyes, Zhang Bin felt a little reluctant. After a moment, he said, "We can only wait and see."

Shi Le actually understood that there was no better solution at the moment.

It's useless to say anything if you can't attack Shao Xun's camp.

To put it bluntly, the quality of the infantry is too different. We can't defeat them. What can we do?
The Silver Spear Army, which has trained hard for many years and is famous both north and south of the river, would be a joke if they were defeated by your infantry who are both farmers and soldiers when they were defending their camp.

Shi Le actually understood this truth, but due to the heavy casualties, he felt a little upset and couldn't help but complain.

The most ideal tactic in his mind was for Shao Xun to march northward and deep into the heart of Hebei.

At that time, he deployed his own troops to defend the city against the enemy, and then sent out a large number of cavalry to cut off their retreat.

The Silver Spear Army was limited in number and it was impossible for them to block every food route. The cavalry came and went like the wind and could always pick out some weak brigades and defeat them. Over time, Shao Xun's army ran out of food and had to retreat.

By then, the cavalry would chase after the already exhausted Silver Spear Army, harass them repeatedly, and even completely destroy them.

This is the fighting method that makes him most comfortable.

The question was how to get Shao Xun into this situation? Now it seemed very difficult. Instead, he himself was led by Shao Xun into a dilemma of having to storm a well-fortified camp - this was the tactic that Shao Xun was best at, and it was also the tactic that could best bring out the strong combat power of his infantry.

It seems like I lost in the art of war.

"Forget it, let's wait for news from Henan." Shi Le forced a smile and said.

Zhang Bin was silent.

There were hurried footsteps outside the tent, and after a while, guerrilla general Wang Yang walked in.

"What's the matter?" Shi Le suppressed the negative emotions in his heart and asked gently.

"The Jin army retreated." Wang Yang said.

"Huh?" Shi Le was startled at first, then ecstatic, but he calmed down and asked calmly, "Why retreat?"

"Your Majesty, please move to the higher platform. I can't understand it for the moment."

"Okay." Shi Le didn't waste any more words and took Zhang Bin to the platform.

In the darkness of the night, the fire was blazing.

The place where the Jin army camp used to be was completely engulfed in fire, burning half the sky red.

Behind the flames, a solid city loomed.

There seemed to be flags on the top of the city wall, and the faint sounds of drums and horns could be heard.

Zhang Bin understood it all at once.

This is not a retreat, it is clearly an entry into a fortified city.

He subconsciously looked towards Shi Le, but saw that Da Hu seemed to be stunned, and the expression on his face did not change for a long time.

The city was completed.

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(End of this chapter)