Chapter 63: Capture of Stone City
Bai Qi still handed over all the administrative work to Wang Di, and he devoted himself to observing the battle between the two armies.
On this day, Zhao Kuo set up a formation of twelve battalions to fight against the nine battalions of the Qin army in the south, and had a slight upper hand; But after the reinforcements of the Qin army, it was pressed down again. Zhao Kuo's new style of play did not arouse much interest in Bai Qi: winning with more is a way for many people to use their brains. If one person doesn't work, add one, and if it doesn't work, add another; But the effect of increasing manpower is not unlimited, and after adding it to a certain extent, no matter how many people are added, it will not work, or even have the opposite effect! That's how Zhao Jun in Changping is! Bai Qi thought with some schadenfreude. He didn't understand why Lian Po had to use so many people to defend Changping. - Of course he didn't know that this was actually the decision of the young King Zhao, who wanted to overpower the Qin State in terms of fighting determination.
With the arrival of 20,000 swordsmen in Duanshi, Wang Di began to organize the troops in Guanzhong to go to Shangdang. After a day's march, 20,000 men lurked in the valley south of Shangdang. The officers at all levels of the 20,000 Guanzhong Army are all strong generals with combat experience, and the commander-in-chief is the five doctors who participated in the Battle of Kaifeng and the Battle of Yanhe. Wang Ling saw Zhao Jun on the opposite hill as he passed through the mountain pass, and speculated that Zhao Jun could also see him. While reporting the situation, he ordered the troops who had crossed the pass into the valley to seize the ridges on both sides and cut off the prying eyes of the enemy.
After receiving Wang Ling's instructions, Bai Qi also went to the lookout post behind to check the terrain, and then sent an envoy to order Wang Ling to send a public passenger to launch a feint attack on Danzhu Ridge along the foot of the mountain to cover the movement of the army. At the same time, he ordered 5,000 swordsmen to march through the pass by night. Although there is a moon tonight, due to the impact of the war, the clouds are very thick, and the moonlight is dim, and it is estimated that it will be difficult for Zhao Jun to find it.
The next day, under the cover of the attack on Danzhuling, 20,000 Qin troops went around the road down the mountain to the back of the mountain in Changping.
Behind the mountain of Changping is a valley surrounded by mountains. The foothills are interspersed with each other to form a series of roads. The terrain in the valley is relatively flat, while the edge of the valley is relatively steep, forming a natural city. In the city, the barracks and the fangs are together, and the women and the troops are wrong. After the Great War, the Zhao army usually returned to camp here, enjoying the temporary warmth and forgetting the threat of death. Seriously wounded soldiers are also transported here in a centralized manner, where they are treated by doctors. And there seems to be no shortage of wine and meat in the shops and women's houses, as long as you have enough money and food!
It seems that no one will pay attention to the mountains on all sides, which are too wide and too far away from the base camp of the Zhao army, and even if there is a lookout post, it is impossible to exchange news, so there is simply nothing. The Qin army appeared at the pass, and Danzhuling was attacked by the Qin army, although Zhao Kuo ordered all the armies in the valley to prepare for battle, but in that environment, where would anyone be in the mood to fight.
The man who had just returned from the brink of death put down his tired body. The high-ranking ones went to the women's house, the second went to the shop, and the others had a full meal and fell asleep. Those who received the combat mission set off with a depressed mood and waited for the verdict of fate!
On this day, half of the 50,000 men defending Stone City were on the hill and half in the camp at the foot of the mountain; It is customary that after breakfast, 5,000 people go to the city for duty, and after dinner, another 5,000 go to the city for the night. When on night duty, unless the situation is urgent, generally only 1,000 people need to go to the city and rotate on time. The direction of Shicheng's defense was directed towards Changping, and there were no special defensive measures behind it.
The 50,000 new reinforcements from Handan were the main reason for the expansion of the camp. But when they arrived, they were quickly transferred to other places to take on tasks, and these camps largely belonged to the Zhao army for the rest of the war. The Zhao army in different areas was transferred to the south, fought hard, and if they performed well, they were placed in a camp on the hills. It can be said that this is the rear of Changping, full of security and prosperity. These middle- and high-ranking officers of the Zhao army were usually not in the camp, but stayed in the Nülu or the fangs.
The movement of the 20,000 Qin army outside the mountain was completely unnoticed! And Zhao Kuo's entire mind was on breaking through the barrier of the Qin army at the mouth of the valley. To this end, he mobilized three armies, and their defense area was to be filled from here, and the vacated camp would be handed over to the Zhao army fighting today tonight. So after breakfast, all the armies were pulling out their camps, lining up, preparing to pass through the dense camps and drive to the designated area. Yesterday's battle was very long, which lasted until dusk, and the troops participating in the battle were very tired, and after a day's rest, they had to rush to a new camp again, and everyone was very resentful; Those middle and high-ranking officials are still a little reluctant.
At noon, the armies passed through the defense area of the friendly army according to the designated route, and everyone's attention was on the marching Zhao army, and only a few found that countless neatly lined Qin troops appeared on the ridge behind! The frightened Zhao Jun reported level by level, and by the time Zhao Jun sounded the warning drum, the Qin army had already descended the mountain and entered the valley directly.
The military camp in the valley did not have time to line up at all, the camp fence was overturned, the battalion soldiers fled in a hurry, and the Qin army was like no one, and in front of them was the Zhao army that was scattered and fled. Fang Shi and Nulu closed their doors tightly, not daring to come forward; Some of the Zhao Jun who ran to the shop and the nulu also hid inside.
Zhao Jun realized what it means to be defeated! Although the Qin army was far less numerous than the Zhao army, the Zhao army could not organize itself to form a force, and there was no resistance in the face of this organized force. Even if a few people rise up to resist, it will only be a few more corpses lying down and it will not help the overall situation.
The Zhao army who fled in all directions, the preferred direction of escape was naturally the stone city on the mountain. The defenders on the stone city were the Japanese soldiers on duty who went up the mountain after breakfast, mainly observing the situation under the mountain, and everything that happened behind the mountain was vivid. Originally, they had planned to defend for a while with their condescending superiority. But seeing that the Zhao army was defeated like a mountain, and a large number of defeated soldiers all poured up the mountain, he was also frightened. As for the Zhao army, which had just descended the mountain, it was naturally at the juncture when he had already laid down his arms and relaxed his mood, but he encountered a sudden blow from the Qin army, and was overwhelmed by the defeated troops of the Zhao army, and collapsed with it. The officers yelled hoarsely a few times, and when they found that it didn't work at all, they also stepped back.
The Qin army was like a duck, and all the Zhao troops under the mountain were bombarded up the mountain. Zhao Jun's equipment, clothes and armor were abandoned all over the mountains, and no one picked them up, so he only firmly followed Zhao Jun and marched towards the mountain. From the opposite ridge to Shicheng about 20 miles and 6,000 steps, except for a short engagement during the movement, after a slight confusion in the formation, the Qin army always maintained a strict formation, like a moving mountain, firmly and unstoppably pressed down, making people afraid and afraid to compete with it!
Zhao Kuo sent an envoy to order, and the soldiers guarding Shicheng shouted to let the fleeing Zhao army run to both sides; But before the envoys arrived, the defenders of Stone City had collapsed: before the rebels could arrive, they fled down the mountain......
Fortunately, the Zhao army, which was guarding the foot of the mountain, received Zhao Kuo's order and shouted loudly, telling the rout to flee to both sides and not to take the mountain beam; At the same time, control the strings and draw the bow, ready to shoot. Only then did the rout avoid the mountain beam and flee directly to the camp at the bottom of the mountain. The Qin army won the stone city without a fight!
The 20,000 swordsmen who had been supplied with fried millet in Duanshi sent 5,000 people north and marched into Shangdang in a hurry. By the time they arrived at their designated position, the battle to capture Shicheng had ended, and the Qin army was already holding on to the city. Another 15,000 did not enter the valley, but lurked in another valley to the south of the Harvest Valley. There is a small road leading to Gaodu, and when you go out of the valley, it is Hyunshui-Danshui. Here is outside the offensive line of the Zhao army. The swordsmen rested in their respective camps. And the military envoys sent by Bai Qi indicated the route of their attack. Sima Jin took doctors at all levels and public passengers, and according to the order, familiarized himself with the road in advance.
Almost at sunset, the lookout reported signs of chaos on the opposite hill. Sima Jin climbed the mountain to take a look, and sure enough, it was so. Immediately ordered a public ride, led 5,000 swordsmen, all of them rode and shot, and attacked the side of the Zhao army.
The blow was effective. The Zhao army, which was already not highly moraled, immediately collapsed and became the target of the Qin army. Although Lai Zhao Kuo threw the rearguard troops into battle and prepared for them, saving most of the Zhao troops who attacked, the number of beheadings of the Zhao army was still staggering, and the screams and curses on the battlefield were ...... Make this a slaughterhouse of horrors.
The troops from Gaodu turned to the direction of Shicheng under the leadership of a five doctors, Bai Qi did not expect that Shicheng would be captured so smoothly, and Gaodu's reinforcements would turn to Shicheng to assist the Qin army in Guanzhong to capture Shicheng. And the five thousand cavalry, after completing the task of assaulting the flank of the Zhao army, will also turn to the back of the mountain and assault Shicheng! In Bai Qi's plan, the troops attacking Stone City included almost all reinforcements, including 60,000 prisoners and 10,000 swordsmen. It's just that because the collapse of the Zhao army was very complete, none of them played a role.
The five doctors Wang Ling let the reinforcements take over the defense of Shicheng, and he led 20,000 Qin soldiers in Guanzhong to attack Danzhuling. At the same time, let 10,000 swordsmen attack the southernmost foot of the mountain!
As it was getting dark, neither attack worked, and the two armies retreated after a little contact. Trenches were dug overnight and prepared to be garrisoned.
At night, Bai Qi stepped on the moonlight of the Mid-Autumn Festival to climb the stone city and overlook the Zhao army under the mountain. He summoned three of the five doctors together and put them in charge of attacking the foot of a hill and defending the stone castle from the foot of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain. Among them, Guan Zhongbing is in charge of Danzhuling; The Shangjun soldiers were in charge of the foot of the mountain in the middle, where the main general of the Zhao army was located; The Northlanders were responsible for attacking the southernmost foot of the mountain, which seemed to be where the granary was located. Tomorrow, 10,000 swordsmen will attack at the southernmost foot of the mountain as the blades of the Northlanders!
After the arrangements were made, Bai Qi personally inspected the foot of the mountain one by one, instructed the strategy of the attack, and arranged the deployment of offensive and defensive forces. Busy until dawn.
Zhao Kuo experienced a roller coaster ride in his life today, falling from the peak to the bottom: at the moment when the attack was successfully launched, Shicheng was lost. This brought about a collapse across the board!