Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 72: Civil Courage
Sun Ce was stunned when he heard Taishi Ci's evaluation. He had previously thought that Lu Bu was at most as good as Taishi Ci, or that he took advantage of the golden and jade armor by relying on his age and outstanding military achievements...
But he didn't know that when Taishi Ci said "deal with you and me", he didn't mean "you or me" but "you and me"!
Although Guan and Zhang joined forces to put Lu Bu at a disadvantage at Hulao Pass, but... that was only Lu Bu at Hulao Pass!
"General Taishi is indeed brave. Two years ago, when Sun Ce first fought in Lujiang, he was only sixteen years old, but his bravery was unstoppable. He always led the troops, and coupled with Zhou Yu's numerous schemes, I almost couldn't defend Shucheng... Today, General Taishi has broken his spirit first, which is really a blessing for Shucheng." Lu Kang complimented Taishi Ci who had just come up.
"Lord Lu, you are too polite. Only with you here in Shucheng can the army and the people be united. The outcome of my duel will not affect anything." Taishi Ci responded modestly.
At this time, Sun Ce pointed at the tower and said, "Taishi Ci, I think you are also a hero, and I admire your courage to cross the river. I will give you twelve hours!"
After saying this, he led his troops to retreat and set up camp, which was only an arrow and a half away from the city gate - with only 8,000 people, he dared to set up camp right next to the city gate.
The bows and arrows used by ordinary soldiers at this time could shoot as far as 100 steps, or about 170 meters. They were considered strong bows for elite soldiers, and this was the range of projectiles. After all, ordinary soldiers did not need to shoot accurately, as long as they could roughly shoot into the range of the enemy's formation.
If it is changed to accurate flat shooting, the distance will be reduced by half.
The range of the cavalry's archery bow is even shorter. Because the cavalry fights on horseback, longbows are inconvenient to use. They mainly use cavalry bows that are long at the top and short at the bottom, similar to the Xiongnu bow. In addition, due to the needs of cavalry tactics, they also focus more on shooting speed rather than range.
As for the generals' bows and arrows, since the generals' physiques in this world are somewhat abnormal, and coupled with the enhancement of the armor, Bai Tu is not sure, he only knows... it is definitely far superior to ordinary bows.
The defending side had the advantage of being on the city wall and had a longer range, but Sun Ce was now camped 150 steps away, less than a mile away.
It's a pity that Bai Tu hasn't had time to make those powerful bows that surpass the current range. Otherwise, if I give Bai Tu a few hundred crossbows, I will teach him tonight how to launch a night attack without leaving the city...
But this is just an idea now. After all, the craft of crossbow not only requires a huge investment, but the ancient methods are not completely passed down. For example, the Shenbi crossbow only has the composition of some parts. There are still many difficulties in the actual research and development. Bai Tu does not have the spare energy to pursue this technology for the time being.
There were only more than 5,000 defenders in the city, but with Lu Kang's popularity, he was able to convert a large number of "laborers" into "civilian warriors" to supplement the fighting force, so he has persisted until now.
Normal "conscripts" cannot go to the battlefield. It's okay for them to just pretend to go to the battlefield, but it's not only a problem of combat quality. If the conscripts are attacked, they will immediately blow up the camp. Mixing conscripts with the army will definitely reduce combat effectiveness.
However, there are exceptions - for example, on the defensive side that is supported by the people, the conscripts can be temporarily transformed into "civilian warriors". Although they are much weaker than normal soldiers, especially because they have no training and can only do some simple auxiliary work, at least in terms of morale, they will not collapse in battle like ordinary conscripts .
The battle in history that made the most brilliant use of "civilian courage" had nothing to do with the will of the people. Instead, it happened four hundred years ago when Zhang Han, a great general at the end of the Qin Dynasty, used 700,000 slaves from Mount Li as "civilian courage" to defeat the righteous army of Chen and Wu and the various states in Shandong. If it had not been for the emergence of Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Western Chu, he would have almost allowed the Qin State to continue for a few more years.
However, this isolated case is not sufficient evidence. Normally, "civilian bravery" is a special "type of soldier" that can only be used in defensive battles and when the defending side has the support of the people.
Although Sun Ce's Jiangdong veterans were elite, with only 8,000 men, it was impossible for them to capture the city.
Moreover, when Sun Ce said "give up twelve hours", he really meant it. Bai Tu discovered that the other party had only set up camp that day, and even started cutting wood for ladders the next day!
Taishi Ci wanted to go out of the city for a night attack. After all... this guy's camp was too close to him, making it unpleasant if he didn't attack.
However, he was stopped by Lu Su. Night attacks are most effective against an army with unstable morale. Once the camp is blown up at night, thousands of soldiers will only trample on each other.
The so-called "unstable army" is either the arrogant soldiers who have won consecutive victories, or the sad soldiers who have lost consecutive defeats, or the panicked soldiers whose food supply routes have been cut off, or the new soldiers who lack actual combat experience...
Sun Ce's army now outside the city is obviously not a good target for a night attack. Instead, it is easy to lose the few defenders in the city - the "civilian braves" can only assist in defense and cannot be used for attack. Moreover, if the proportion of regular troops is too small when defending the city, the morale of the "civilian braves" will also drop sharply.
After Taishi Ci gave up the idea of a night attack, the next day Sun Ce's army began to cut wood, build ladders, and construct battering rams.
He even specially built a ladder of more than ten feet high in the military camp not far from the city, bit by bit, which made Taishi Ci on the city wall very anxious.
However, Lu Kang specifically reminded him, "More than a year ago, when Sun Ce attacked Wan County, he did the same thing. He built ladders under the city, but when the Wancheng commander went out to destroy the city, he was defeated by Sun Ce. Although the Wancheng commander fled back in a panic, Wancheng fell in less than half a month."
Building ladders close to the enemy during sieges has become a common "skill" used by Sun Ce.
From the speed of building the ladders, we can also see that Sun Ce's army was very experienced and capable. After all, at that time, the army would not have special engineers. When building siege equipment or building forts and digging trenches, at most there would be special officers in command, and then several small teams of ordinary soldiers would be divided to do the work.
Although ladders and battering rams are only the simplest siege weapons, they show that the enemy is very skilled...
"My lord, Governor Lu, I think we should send more brave men to the wall so that the defenders can rest first," Lu Su suggested.
"Zi Jing, are you afraid that they will attack at night?" Bai Tu asked.
"A night attack may not be possible, but we dare not take the initiative to go out of the city to meet the enemy. We can only watch them build ladders anyway, so why not send in the militia to watch?" Lu Su said.
Bai Tu accepted Lu Su's suggestion, and Lu Kang also ordered arrangements...
There was no night attack. On the third day, at dawn, Sun Ce had already led his men to attack the city!
Lu Kang had already ordered his men to be on guard day and night, so they were not caught off guard. Just a quarter of an hour later, Lu Kang and Bai Tu appeared on the city wall to supervise the battle.
There is nothing wrong with Bai Tu, but it is hard work for Lu Kang at such an old age.
"This Sun Ce seems to have only the courage of a common man, but he is actually very sophisticated in tactics. Yesterday, he built ladders and battering rams in front of us to exert pressure, and today he attacked in the early morning... After all, the militia is not a regular army, and they performed poorly in the early morning." Lu Su praised.
During their training, the regular army will definitely have training for meeting the enemy at short notice, or even for raiding at night. Although their energy will be less in the early morning, it will not have much impact as long as they are not panicked by a surprise attack.
But for Minyong, his power was reduced by 3 or 4 points...
Previously, Bai Tu accepted Lu Su's suggestion and used more militiamen during the day, so now the defenders have had enough rest.
More than a year later, Sun Ce led his troops to attack Shucheng again!
