Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 549: The Movement of the Chu Army
In the name of decentralizing Hanzhong, Zhao Yun once again led his troops to Badong, and this time he deployed his troops directly to the west of Jiangzhou and along the Yanjiang River, preparing to capture Jiangzhou.
The reason why I say "in name" is because Zhao Yun had actually "secretly crossed Chencang" and headed west with the main force...
Badong seems to be just south of Hanzhong. It seems that if you go a little north from Yufu, you can reach Shangyong, Xicheng and enter Hanzhong. But in fact, Badong and Hanzhong are separated by the Daba Mountains!
To enter Hanzhong from Ba County, one can only go through the Bazhong area. Although it is separated by the Migang Mountain - which is also a part of the Daba Mountains in a broad sense, it has a lower altitude and there are rugged mountain roads to walk on, but at least it is not a dead end.
Later generations dug a more than 13,000-meter-long Micang Mountain Tunnel in the Micang Mountain section, connecting Ba and Shaanxi.
As for the southern part of Baxi and Bazhong regions, they are now under the control of Zhang Lu. Historically, in order to avoid Cao Cao, when Zhang Lu evacuated from Nanzheng, he came to Hanchang to avoid disaster - which is Bazhong in later generations.
The main force led by Zhao Yun, originally stationed in Badong County, was preparing to cross the Bucao River, cross the Tongluo Mountain, and head to Hanchang, and then enter Hanzhong to "support" Zhang Lu!
However, this journey was by no means easy. When capturing Badong, Yan Yan had deployed defenses in the Linjiang area. Later, he fell into Fa Zheng's trap and had to abandon Linjiang and retreat to Jiangzhou, the capital of Ba County, to deploy defenses.
At the same time, a large part of the garrison troops originally in Linjiang withdrew to Dangqu and Xuanhan areas - this is the barrier to entering Brazil from Badong, across rivers and over mountains!
If they advance directly, regardless of whether Zhang Lu is willing for the Chu army to enter the country directly, more importantly, if Yan Yan insists on intercepting them, it will be difficult to break through due to the terrain.
Therefore, Zhao Yun once again accepted Fa Zheng's advice and first deployed his troops in Jiangzhou, making a gesture of a decisive battle in Jiangzhou, luring the defenders of Xuanhan and Dangqu over, and then secretly crossing Tongluo Mountain...
However, due to the limitations of terrain and the need for concealment, not only could cavalry and heavy armor not be able to move, but also too much baggage could not be carried, which made the situation quite like a fight to the death.
Zhao Yun was also sure that the battle at Yangping Pass had already started, and that Hanzhong would not be unwelcome by then, so he set out to mobilize his troops.
On the other hand, after receiving the news, the three naval divisions that had been making a big fuss in Jiangling mobilized the Qi warships that had been "hidden" in Yunmengze for a long time and went up the Han River!
Prepare to pass Xiangyang and Wudang, and then take the water route directly to Hanzhong.
The Qi warships here are all suitable for use in rivers. They are much smaller than sea warships, and many of them are flat-bottomed sand boats.
Unlike the previous experimental wheel ships, it no longer relies on outer wheels or inner wheels, but has a propeller installed at the end of the bed...
Thrust is generated by the rotation of the blade-like paddles.
In the modern history of another world, the emergence of propellers has been full of twists and turns.
In the early 19th century, people began to consider better propulsion systems than paddle wheels, and initially people placed their hopes on the "screw", which was a system similar to a giant screw.
However, during the experiment, the screw was accidentally broken. People found that after the long screw was turned into a short screw, the speed actually increased. So the direction of improving the screw became to make it shorter and shorter. Finally... they found that abandoning the "rod" structure and using a spiral propulsion device composed of simple blades was more effective!
Although it was already the 19th century when "science" was in vogue, the propeller gradually replaced the paddle wheel through this intuitive exploration. As for the analysis of the principles and more complete and accurate calculations, they were all things for the future.
Of course, the propeller did not completely outperform the paddle wheel from the beginning. At lower speeds, the paddle wheel is more efficient. Only when the speed increases does the propeller become more effective. In other words... there are prerequisites for the working efficiency of the steam engine.
In addition, the materials and castings from the blades to the bearings, and even the seismic requirements for the hull after the propeller is applied, are all technical difficulties.
Fortunately, the hard drive has relatively complete information in this regard. Although there are no professional data and experimental records because they are all "for thesis needs", since there are principles and directions, after the Ministry of Industry absorbed and experimented, it was able to simply manufacture a propeller structure suitable for existing Qi machines, which greatly improved the efficiency of the Qi boat.
That’s right…
From the very beginning, Sun Ce’s goal... or "Chu’s goal" was not Badong County or Xichuan!
But the real focus is Hanzhong!
After the Han River Weir was built, all sections of the Han River had the basis for navigation. And after the use of the Qi boat, even a boat the size of a river warship no longer needed trackers and could go upstream amid the roar of the Qi machine.
…
At the same time, although Zhang Wei was not at the end of his rope at Yangping Pass, 70% to 80% of his ghost soldiers had been killed.
He was a cultivator who cultivated his spiritual power. Although he also strengthened his body, he was able to be promoted to gold and jade because of his status as second only to the emperor in the Heavenly Master's Army, as well as some secret techniques of the Heavenly Master's Dao.
Fortunately, Zhang Wei was a Taoist, so even though his direct combat ability was terrible, some life-saving methods allowed him to survive under Ma Chao.
Half a month ago, Ma Chao began to lead his army to attack Yangping Pass. He had no strategy or conspiracy. It was just a pure head-on attack. As a result, he gave Zhang Wei a warning on the first day.
It was not until Ma Chao's divine power mode was dragged over that they finally entered a normal battle to defend the pass...
The Qiang people's bravery and fearlessness caused heavy casualties .
Fortunately, Zhang Wei still has the "ghost soldiers", and even more fortunately, even if he is a divine general, he cannot enter the "divine power mode" at any time.
Although you won't be weakened, you will still need to rest for at least a few days after the Shenwei mode ends before you can enter the Shenwei mode again.
When the God General fights in the Gold and Jade Armor, he is still stronger than ordinary Gold and Jade. However, like the Gold and Jade General, he will be suppressed by the power of the people on the city wall and the invisible force field of the Ji-made soldiers in the army, so the damage he causes is limited...
Under such circumstances, Ma Chao did not dare to charge into the enemy camp.
In the fifteen days, except for two days when it rained heavily, the Xiliang army attacked every day in the other thirteen days. Ma Chao "transformed" three times in total. It was these three times that caused great casualties and morale damage to the defenders of Yangping Pass.
If it weren't for the fact that most of the people in Hanzhong believed in Tianshi Dao, and therefore had a great boost in morale and stress resistance when fighting for Tianshi Dao, the army would have been defeated long ago due to low morale.
Even so, Zhang Wei's ghost soldiers are almost exhausted, and Ma Chao... can enter the divine power mode again soon!
Zhang Wei felt that without the ghost soldiers, he might not be able to survive this wave with just ordinary soldiers...
