When Guo Bin instructed Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang to announce the agreed policy to the residents of the three cities outside the Saiwai, it aroused the people's sense of identity and belonging to the three cities outside the Saiwai in an instant. The so-called sense of identity and belonging, in the final analysis, is nothing more than the formation of common interests, and only by ensuring the survival of the three cities outside the Seychelles can their vital interests be protected. Building the common interests and common relevance of the residents of the three cities outside the Seychelles is the foundation of Guo Bin's strategy.

However, even if a community of interests is built, it is not so easy to quickly form combat effectiveness. The so-called "good men are not soldiers, good iron does not hit nails", the Chinese have had a kind of resistance to serving as soldiers since ancient times, and this psychology was gradually reversed after the founding of New China.

This psychology is caused by a combination of many factors, and the extremely low social status of soldiers is one of the important factors causing this phenomenon. Since ancient times, China has had the practice of enlisting criminals or people with very low status into the army, and the most widely "circulated" in "Water Margin" is the so-called "thorn with the army".

According to the "Historical Records", in the thirty-third year of the first emperor (214 B.C.), "the people who tried to taste the dead, the sons-in-law, and the Jia people slightly took the land of Luliang for Guilin, Xiangjun, and the South China Sea, so as to be suitable for military purposes." The so-called "suitable soldiers" meant that these people were sent to the south as a means of punishment to defend the border against the enemy. This group of people was known as "500,000 people guarding the Five Mountains", so they were extremely unfavorable to the Qin Dynasty, so much so that in the peasant uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty, this group of forces, which were regarded as "elite" by later generations, did not make efforts to save the Qin court.

In the Han Dynasty, there are also records of Lu Zuo and Son-in-law Shubian, the so-called Lu Zuo, refers to the common people who live on the left side of the inner gate, and this is the area where the poor people lived in ancient times. As for the son-in-law, in the Qin and Han dynasties, his status was equivalent to that of a slave. Therefore, the requisition of Lu Zuo and his son-in-law to join the army is basically equivalent to oppressing the poor and weak. In this era, soldiers are also synonymous with the poor or prisoners.

Moreover, at a time when the three cities outside the Cyprus were in danger, the conscription of soldiers was tantamount to death in the eyes of many residents. They were already "prisoners" of the "border", and it was also very "reasonable" for the court to eradicate them by the hands of the Xianbei people. It's just to defend my hometown, isn't there anyone else, why do I have to run to the front and fight hard?

Guo Bin is extremely familiar with this psychology of the Chinese people, but in order to find a way to survive the three cities outside the Saiwai under the siege of 50,000 Xianbei elite troops, he has to arouse the enthusiasm of all the soldiers and people to participate in the war. He also wanted to rely on a few words of encouragement and the so-called righteousness of "protecting the family and defending the country" to influence them and make them work for themselves. But everyone has their own little abacus, this kind of tiger body is shocked, the spirit of the king is overflowing, and the things that others worship may only exist in it, right?

Therefore, the only way to arouse the enthusiasm of the residents to join the army and fight is to stimulate profits. And what Guo Bin, who "doesn't learn and doesn't know", can think of is the strategy of "ploughing and fighting" in the Shang Dynasty reform. Specifically, it is the twentieth class knighthood system in which knighthood is awarded for military merit.

Because of the restrictions of his status and status, it is naturally impossible for Guo Bin to make a promise to confer a knighthood with military merits, and even if he makes such a promise, no one believes it. Therefore, he changed this system, and the residents of the three cities outside the Seychelles could receive corresponding benefits according to their military merits. Anyone who captures an enemy head in battle can give his entire family the status of a freedman, and the freedman can own the house in which he lives, and the "five-year reclamation" rule for land ownership is reduced to three years. If two heads were captured in the war, they could immediately acquire the ownership of fifty acres of land near the three cities on the basis of freeman status, and they could lease official cattle and seeds first.

This kind of interest stimulus made the residents of the three cities outside the Saiwai completely fall into a frenzy: even in the peaceful years, it was never easy to get 50 acres of land. Many families have struggled for generations to achieve this goal, but now they can achieve it ahead of schedule by obtaining two heads, which is tantamount to a stimulant for the former Yellow Turban Army captives who have a little effort under their hands. After all, didn't they follow Zhang Jiao to spread the Taiping Dao in the first place?

For these outlaws who have been in the middle of the world, this is a great opportunity to become the "rich generation", where are they not enthusiastic? Therefore, it took Guo Bin less than a day to gather an army of 30,000, he brought 20,000 to ambush and company in Shenglong Valley, and handed over the rest to Xi Zhicai for use as a civilian husband and guard. It is precisely because of such a careful arrangement in advance that he can not be overstretched in terms of strength when facing the Xianbei army.

The 20,000 troops led by Qian Man, although they are also the most elite warriors among the Xianbei people, are still a lot worse than the 10,000 elite iron cavalry of the Helian guards, and the gap between the two sides is extremely obvious with only one equipment. Helian's 10,000 iron horses, one by one, are the most divine horses in the Xianbei clan, and the armor around them has basically reached the standard of Guo Bin's department. Not only were they equipped with leather armor, but some of them were wearing bronze helmets, so the impact of arrows on them was much less than that of ordinary Xianbei people. Otherwise, Guo Bin only needs to order people to block the two mouths in and out of the valley and let people attack with arrows, where is the use of being so troublesome?

At this time, Qianman's troops calmly set up camp outside the north entrance of Shenglong Valley, but Guo Bin did not force him too much, and only sent Zhang Fei to lead the most elite 700 troops under his command to harass him in front of his camp. The Qianman army marched for most of the day, although it was also sleepy and lacking, but the Han soldiers fought for half a day, although the morale was high because of the victory, but the physical consumption was more than that of the Xianbei army.

Moreover, now that Helian is dead, the morale of the Xianbei army is declining, and the strength of the two sides is similar, the Han soldiers occupy a favorable location, it is Qian Man who should be anxious, where will Guo Bin go to the trouble to attack?

During the night and day, the lights in front of the two sides illuminated the valley mouth as bright as day, but the soldiers on both sides showed no sign of a big battle. Until the middle of the night, I saw a group of things flying out of the mountain slope of the Hanjia camp with a little spark, flying towards the Xianbei camp.

Before the Xianbei soldiers in charge of the sentry had time to beat the drums to warn, the black stuff flew straight over their heads and flew towards the depths of the Xianbei camp. After a while, only a crackling sound was heard to break the silence in the middle of the night, and the sudden explosion of firecrackers only shocked the Xianbei camp.

It is said that the Xianbei army also considered the range of bows and arrows on both sides when it set up camp, and it was more than 300 steps away from the Han camp and nearly 400 steps, which was far beyond the range of ordinary bows and arrows. Don't the Han people have a saying? The so-called strong crossbow can not wear the reckless.

But now, the firecrackers that appeared last night were actually projected into the Xianbei camp again, how can this not make Qian Man ashamed and angry? When he was isolated outside the valley during the day, a Xianbei chief who chose the address of the village called over, and the chief was also full of helplessness. Originally, when the village was established, it was already beyond the range of the opponent's bow and arrow, and because he Lian Dan did not know whether he was alive or dead, the other side set up a village here with the posture of attacking forward, but where did he think that the Han army would have a way to drop firecrackers from such a long distance?

At this time, in the camp of the Han army, Su Shuang stood in front of several stone-throwing machines that had been lengthened and added with wooden tips, and was amazed, and said: "The lord is talented, I didn't expect this thing to have such a long range, plus these dozen firecrackers, I'm afraid that the Xianbei camp will be chaotic." ”

Although Su Shuangyu has a long talent in business, but after all, he is not familiar with military strategy, after serving as the head of the three cities outside the Saiwai, although he has also read a few military books patiently, but he is just swallowing dates, like the stone thrower, a big killing weapon in this era, naturally has never been seen.

And since Guo Bin saw this single-tip stone throwing machine, he moved his mind. Xi Zhicai didn't know the situation ahead, these stone throwers were just for Guo Bin to defend against the Xianbei army to attack the Gukou position, so they were not too huge. This short-range catapult is an artifact in close-range combat, requiring only a net pocket filled with gravel and thrown into the sky and then falling into the enemy's ranks. Although it is extremely difficult to kill people, it can smash the enemy's head to the point and bleed out, and the formation is scattered.

In the consciousness of many people, war is to kill the enemy, but Guo Bin knows that in a battle, the injury is far greater than the death of the enemy.

For if the enemy is dead, he will lie there motionless, neither groaning nor being cared for. But if the enemy is injured, at least one or two people must be assigned to take care of him, that is, the commander of the army does not want the wounded soldiers to affect the morale of the army, but since he is in the army, who does not have three or two friends? If the commander's approach is too ruthless, it will chill the hearts of other soldiers. Besides, how can you walk by the river without getting your shoes wet, as long as you are a man who fights in battle, which one can guarantee that you will not be injured? If you are injured and no one takes care of you, and you are abandoned directly, who is willing to give your life to the coach?

The stone throwing machine with a short range is simpler to make, more convenient to operate, faster to launch, and more casual to transport, and it is precisely because of this that Xi Zhi was able to build nearly ten units in such a short period of time. The so-called ruler is short, inch is long, and as long as the equipment of war is used properly, it can achieve unexpected miraculous results.

Why didn't Guo Bin want to put a big bomb on the Xianbei army and directly collapse Qianman's handsome tent? However, although he had all kinds of wonderful ideas, he suffered from technical limitations, and this kind of bomb in later generations was really not difficult if it was just a big firecracker. But if this is the case, then its lethality is extremely limited, and it loses its original meaning. Moreover, if you build a stone mine like in later mine warfare, it is a question of whether the power of this gunpowder can blow up the outer layer of stone skin, so how can you hurt the enemy?

Therefore, Guo Bin now has an advantage in the research and development of weapons of war, especially hot weapons, but he is still only in the initial stage, and if he wants to sweep away all the ghosts, snakes, and gods with hot weapons, he is still far behind.