Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 140 Information Battlefield
Chen Gong's "slow intelligence" is not omnipotent. Its effect is that "when reviewing the battle situation or the general trend, there will be additional calculation bonuses for things that have happened." Therefore, Chen Gong was able to accurately judge the overall trend after Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu and Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan.
However, the direct cause of the "Wancheng Incident" was Cao Cao's "good wife", which had nothing to do with the "general situation". Therefore, no matter how much "slow intelligence" added to the calculation, Chen Gong could not have expected such a thing...
Bai Tu didn’t get the news until more than ten days later—the news came almost entirely through official channels of the Han Dynasty!
Cao Cao was ambushed by Zhang Xiu in Wancheng after he pretended to surrender. The guard Dian Wei, whose armor was stolen, broke through in the middle of the battle, like a demon descending to the earth, and killed Hu Che'er and hundreds of his personal guards. Although he was seriously injured, he still forced Zhang Xiu to retreat in more than ten rounds...
Dian Wei's "accidental" breakthrough not only saved his own life, but also enabled Cao Cao's large army to evacuate safely. Xiahou Dun later led a large army to support them.
However, even so, Cao Cao still suffered heavy losses that night. His nephew Cao Anmin and eldest son Cao Ang were killed by the furious Zhang Xiu. Most of the vanguard troops stationed in Wancheng were killed, and the main army was also demoralized, so they had to return to the capital.
Although the information Bai Tu received did not include details, it is certain that this incident must have caused him a lot of criticism within Cao Cao's camp.
After all... the cause of this battle is really hard to look at.
Even in the court, Cao Cao's arrogance inevitably weakened. Yang Biao, who was interrogated by Man Chong, still did not provide any evidence after being tortured severely, so Cao Cao had no choice but to release him.
A group of court officials also put pressure on Cao Cao, urging him to attack the rebels in Huainan.
These court officials actually did not have much of a sense of the overall situation, and they might not understand why Cao Cao wanted to take Wancheng so much. However, as they were very familiar with party struggles, they understood that as long as they stopped Cao Cao from doing what he wanted to do, they would not be wrong in the end!
Zhang Xiu was now more wary of Cao Cao, and moved to Rangcheng behind Wancheng, closer to the heart of Nanyang County, with Wancheng as a mutually dependent outpost...
Moreover, for his own interests, Cao Cao could not allow the imperial court to completely lose its dignity, so he could only prepare to attack Yuan Shu.
Just like that...Cao Cao missed the best opportunity to easily recapture Wancheng and establish a southern barrier!
"Dian Wei... is really not dead? Has he made a breakthrough..." Bai Tu muttered to himself as he watched this belated news.
However, Bai Tu did not pay too much attention to Dian Wei. After all, Dian Wei was a typical warrior, or even a general - he might not even know how to arrange camp!
The world of Castle Princess may seem high in martial arts, but one thing that can never be denied is that individual bravery cannot compete with an army.
After Dian Wei broke through, he only killed hundreds of his personal guards and was unable to shake the army. Even Lu Bu did not dare to let himself be surrounded and attacked by the army.
The biggest feeling that Bai Tu had about this incident was that he had had enough of the spread of this news. After discussing the Wancheng Incident with his staff, he left behind Lu Su, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and Chen Gong, the Minister of Personnel...
That’s right, he was the Chief Clerk of the Ministry of Personnel. Previously, Chen Gong was implicated in Pan Zhang’s affair and was demoted from the Minister of Personnel to the Chief Clerk. However, no new Minister was arranged, so the Chief Clerk was acting on behalf of the Minister.
After Zhou Tai suppressed the bandits, his newly promoted rank of Lieutenant General was also demoted and he is now just a colonel again.
However, both of them were dismissed from their positions and had their salaries deducted, while their powers remained unchanged. This serves as a warning to others - even if they are Bai Tu's confidants, they will be dismissed if they encounter such a thing. If it is someone else... after being dismissed, they will just be left idle!
"How are the preparations for the Wind Catcher going?" Bai Tu asked directly.
Bufengwei was the name of the intelligence agency that Bai Tu was going to establish. Its main responsibility was to transmit intelligence from all over the world as quickly as possible. Chen Gong hoped that Bufengwei could also make some contribution to the Ministry of Personnel's supervision of official administration.
However, Bai Tu had specifically told him not to pry into privacy, and to focus on collecting first-hand public opinion. Secondly, the Fengwei only had the power to pass on information...
Bai Tu did not want to raise a Jinyiwei that would make everyone feel insecure. I believe Chen Gong himself has a plan in mind. Bai Tu also told Chen Gong before that now he just wants the Ministry of Personnel to recommend suitable candidates and set up a framework. Bufengwei will not be a subordinate department of the Ministry of Personnel in the future.
"A hundred people have been preliminarily screened, thirty of whom are scouts drawn from the army, and the rest are candidates recruited by the Naxian Hall. They are being taught encryption, decryption, common sense in spying, and pigeon training... It remains to be seen." Chen Gong said.
Bai Tu had naturally taught Chen Gong several common methods of secret communication a long time ago, and had even started training pigeons, but the latter was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
The use of pigeons to deliver messages only began in the Chinese civilization during the Sui and Tang dynasties. And it wasn’t something that could be invented and then made after knowing the principle. Pigeons had to be domesticated from generation to generation before they could achieve homing flight!
It is not the case that you can immediately take advantage of this characteristic after catching the pigeon.
"The experimental communication line between Jinling and Qu'a has been built, and the effect is amazing! The sites for other signal towers have basically been finalized, and priority will be given to covering the south bank of the Yangtze River... as well as the areas around Wancheng and Huainan." Lu Su took the initiative to say.
Lu Su also felt very novel...this "cousin" always comes up with something new!
The so-called signal tower is naturally not a wireless signal tower, and the white map cannot point out such advanced technology.
Instead, it is a "signal tower" with a huge "Z"-shaped swing arm that can twist and rotate placed on the top of the tower. Its rotation can be controlled by a winch inside the tower.
Its communication principle is similar to that of a beacon tower. The signal towers are connected to each other and can observe each other. They can transmit messages by swinging their arms, and the amount of information is much higher than that of a beacon tower. Complex information can be transmitted through pre-determined "arm swinging secret codes", and sentences can be transmitted directly in combination with the pinyin in "Qieyun".
During the Napoleonic era in France, this method of messaging was very popular and was even used for public and commercial purposes. It later disappeared with the advent of the telegraph.
Now Bai Tu is laying signal towers in Jiangdong . Their biggest function is actually to transmit signals in places with difficult terrain - after all, it relies on visual transmission and must be built at high places. It is limited in flat areas.
It is usually built on both sides of a river or between two mountains, which undoubtedly improves efficiency most significantly. As for the plains... light cavalry can still be used to send messages.
Of course, such a conspicuous signal tower can only transmit messages within Bai Tu’s control range and cannot be built in the territories of other princes.
Therefore, Bai Tu decided to first expand the base in the northeastern part of Jiangdong, that is, the line on the south bank of the Yangtze River including Chaisang, Jinling and Qu'a, and then establish it step by step as the army attacks Huainan!
Because of the existence of the city princesses, the tasks of sending and receiving messages in the tower can be completed by the princess-made soldiers, which is not only more accurate, but also can improve the speed of message transmission between the city princesses.
Before, it took at least one or two hours to send a message between Jinling and Qu'a, but now... during a meal, they can chat with each other three or five times!
Moreover, this is between Jinling and Qu'a, where the road is already very smooth. If it were in Kuaiji, Yuzhang... those areas with many mountains and forests and rugged roads, the efficiency of message transmission would be significantly improved.
Lu Su was looking forward to it. When Bai Tuteng took action to solve the Shanyue problem, how much would the Shanyue people, who had been hiding and running around and making the government troops run around in a hurry, hate these signal towers...
