For thousands of years, all ambush battles at home and abroad have been like this.

Especially in ancient times, armies in most cases could only fight against the wind. The more soldiers and horses there were, the more likely it was that accidents would cause chaos, and they would eventually die at the hands of their own people (horses), sometimes far away.

Far more than being killed by the enemy.

On the other hand, those terrains that are conducive to ambush, such as the "Six Hazardous Places" mentioned in Sun Tzu's Art of War, can actually be seen by ordinary people even if they are not familiar with military tactics.

Regardless of Juejian (deep and steep valley), Tianjing (similar to a basin), Tianlao (surrounded by high mountains), Tiansheng (low-lying terrain), Tianluo (deep grass and dense forests), Tianxi (two mountains facing each other, narrow channel)...

.

What these terrains have in common is clear at a glance.

It is easy to get in and out, and the terrain is either narrow, low-lying, or the road is muddy, with water flowing through it, which is not conducive to passage, escape, or even the adjustment of formations in emergencies.

So why ambushes always work? The key is not where the terrain is, let alone how dangerous the terrain is, but the people's hearts.

As long as the ambusher can make the enemy believe that he will not ambush here, then the ambush battle will always continue to be staged and continue to be successful.

And this time, the commander-in-chief Jiang Kuan also made such a mistake.

At the moment before entering the valley, his experience and instincts from the battlefield were clearly reminding him that this was a dangerous place. However, because of Liu Beifang's judgment on Wang Zheng's troops, there was no need to hold on to him because of Liu Beifang's judgment.

It was a fluke that the men and horses set up an ambush here. He didn't wake up until the moment before the ambush was launched, but it was too late.

Because at this time, the Hongyi knife had ruthlessly wiped this person's neck.

On the other side, the original shortcut has turned into a desperate situation, which has caused many Xiapi troops to fall into chaos. Especially when they set off from Tancheng this time, Liu Bei's army also had many recruits who were not well trained, and even poor soldiers who were drafted with the army.

Husband, their behavior in the face of this situation is even more unbearable.

Along with the killing cry, not only bows and arrows fell, but also falling rocks, and countless fire starters were thrown down.

Bundle and pile up dead branches and leaves in advance,

The remaining branches from felled logs,

Oil or oil "collected" from nearby villages in the lower photo...

They fell overwhelmingly into the valley, letting the flames roll in with a pungent and familiar smell.

Fire attack is as timeless a strategy as ambush!

Regardless of whether it is in any book on the art of war, it is the most basic strategy that will definitely be mentioned. The so-called water and fire are ruthless. Compared with water attacks, fire attacks are often very difficult to implement, but the effects are often amazing. With specific tactics

Due to the favorable geographical conditions, it is impossible to completely wipe out the opponent's army.

And here and now, the weather, time and place are extremely favorable for a fire attack.

The exits on both sides are sealed, and the valley is dense with vegetation. It is also a hot summer day with a severe drought, so it is very easy for wildfires to occur. After countless dead branches and leaves and kerosene are spilled, it only takes a spark to ignite the mountain fire.

A raging fire broke out in the valley.

"shoot!"

With a loud shout above the valley, the archers in Yuan's army used torches to ignite the collodion tied to the arrows, and shot them down at will, without even having to deliberately aim at the target.

boom!

The rockets scattered on the ground ignited the fire almost instantly, spreading crazily in all directions.

Subsequently, the most elite cavalry in this chapter was the first to collapse in a horrific scene like a prairie fire.

Although the cavalry could still maintain their sanity, the horses began to neigh one by one. The beasts that had just been calmed down became frightened again, knocking many riders off their horses, and some even broke free from the reins and threw their hooves into the crowd.

Running wildly caused more serious chaos and casualties.

But when a horseman from the Tianjun side held up Jiang Chuan's head and shouted, "Your generals are dead, and those who surrender will not be killed," the Xiapi Army collapsed completely.

With the help of Heavenly Fire, after half a day of fierce fighting, Liu Bei's army was at a loss as to whether it was advancing or retreating. In addition, after the general Jiang Dan was directly killed by Wu Sheng, the morale of the army was even more shattered.

By dusk, there were no survivors and half of them had surrendered. As for those who refused to surrender, Wu Sheng was naturally happy to see them, and with a smile and a wave of his hand, he killed them all on the spot.

After that, the troops were ordered up. The total casualties of the troops who set up the ambush this time were less than 500. If you look at the ratio, the Tianzhu camp, which was at the forefront of the battle, had more casualties. Nearly 40% of the more than 100 people were injured!

However, no matter what, to be able to almost completely wipe out this 3,000-strong Xiapi reinforcements is already a glorious victory.

It was not until the end of the war that Yuan Jun began to actively put out the mountain fire. By this time, it had been burning for almost half a day!

When it is at its boiling, the fire and black smoke flying in the sky can be seen ten miles away. If a god is in the clouds and looks down through the smoke, he can see the charred ground covered with ashes of burned vegetation and the corpses of soldiers.

This desolate valley seems to have become a hell on earth.

Even if Li Ren and other generals were accustomed to seeing killings, even if the victim was Liu Beijun, whom they hated so much, they could not help but feel sad.

"I heard Master Yan say before that there is a saying in the ancient military book: Fire attack will harm the heaven and earth, and the user will lose his life." Looking at the purgatory scene in front of him, most of Li Ren's joy after the victory suddenly disappeared, and he

He said with emotion: "At that time, I thought this was a fallacy. But now that I saw it with my own eyes, I was shocked to realize that this statement may be true."

"Bullshit!" Wu Sheng didn't take it seriously when he heard this, and snorted heavily: "How can there be such a truth? It's okay to kill with a sword, but to hurt Tianhe with fire? Also lose your life span?"

He seemed to be the only one in the audience who was not affected by the tragic situation. Not only was he feeling proud, Wu Sheng couldn't help but mutter in his heart, this fire attack is a good method, I will use it more if I have the opportunity in the future!

However, there was no time to think too much at this time. Eliminating the reinforcements in Xiapi was only the first step of the plan. The purpose of encircling the reinforcements was to prevent Xiapi from sending reinforcements in the short term, and at the same time use a victory to boost the sluggish morale of Yuan's army.

From beginning to end, Wu Sheng never forgot the true purpose of his trip!

Still conquering the lower phase!

He ordered everyone to write down their merits and allocate some troops to deal with the prisoners. Wu Sheng had no intention of celebrating and simply ordered his troops to leave the mountain and rush towards Xiapi.

.....

Go down to the foot of the city.

In the past few days, although the Yuan army's attack on the city was not violent, it never stopped.

The remaining elites of this defeated Yuan army had long been lost to Sizhenshan, and the rest were just cannon fodder. Moreover, neither the general Yuan Yin nor these ordinary soldiers had much fighting spirit. The so-called siege basically

It did not put any pressure on the defenders of Xiaxiang City, let alone casualties.

If you want to talk about the effect, at best it can only consume some of the defenders' physical strength.

Yuan Yin, who was in charge of the command, was not in a hurry about this. He continued to attack step by step every day, and then looked at the west uneasily in a daze when nothing happened.

He knew that his purpose of attacking the city here was to draw reinforcements from Xiapi.

So how many troops have been dispatched to Xiapi now?

What is Si Zhenshan’s current situation?

Is there a fight?

Can the winner be determined?

These doubts are filling Yuan Yin's mind, but they have never been answered. However, no matter what, Yuan Yin also knows that whether Xiang Xiang can capture it is not up to him from the beginning, and whether the soldiers and horses currently under the city can

decided.

The guard of Xiaxiang City is actually the same at this moment.

Being able to be entrusted with important tasks by Liu Bei at a critical moment and sent here, he had personally defeated Yuan Yin before and captured the prime minister. The guard general is also a well-versed soldier. If it is possible that the siege was not discovered at the beginning, then these days

After coming down and observing carefully, the guard had already seen that the bandits under the city were not only small in number, but also very weak in combat effectiveness!

But the only thing that frightened him was that someone among his subordinates recognized him. In fact, this was not the Yellow Turban bandit, but Yuan Shu's former defeated pawn!

So where did the Yellow Turban bandits go?

An inexplicable panic arose in General Zherang's heart, but even though he knew that his opponent had become a weaker one and was still the defeated general before, he still followed Liu Bei's instructions and patiently defended the city, resolutely not leaving the city to fight in the field.

By chance, a strange scene occurred in the lower photo.

The siege of a city has always been the most brutal. Regardless of the attacker or the defender, the change of the master of a city requires a very heavy price. But in the early stage of the siege, there were no big battles but small battles, and the atmosphere was extremely depressing and desperate.

Now, the attackers are carelessly attacking, and the defenders are lazily defending, as if they are engaging in an offensive and defensive drill, more like a drill than a war.

In troubled times, days like this are actually pretty good.

But whether it was Yuan Yin who knew Wu Sheng's plan, or whether he discovered that the attackers were Yuan Jun's defenders, they all knew that this seemingly harmonious stalemate would not last forever!

What happens next depends on another battlefield.

Yuan Yin knew where the battlefield was, and the guard had roughly guessed it. He even tried to secretly send out sentries at night to alert the reinforcements. However, Yuan Yin could not relax, but there was really nothing wrong with this matter.

Never given any chance.

Day after day passed.

The next day was the fourth day of siege.

Just when Yuan Yin was commanding his soldiers to attack again as usual, a group of galloping cavalry suddenly appeared in the distance and quickly swarmed towards the military camp.

It's the messenger!

Yuan Yin's heart immediately rose to his throat.

He dislikes Wu Sheng, and Wu Sheng also dislikes him. However, the current situation is stronger than others, and both sides have a common enemy. On the surface, the two of them are maintaining a cooperative relationship, but since they came to the next phase, they have communicated with each other.

There was no news, so Yuan Yin didn't know how far it had progressed.

Will it be good news?

At this time, Yuan Yin no longer had any thoughts about siege. He stood up suddenly and stared at the messenger cavalry who broke into the camp. He watched helplessly as several riders entered the camp and turned over.
To be continued...