Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 556: Steel Needle Iron Net
Badong County, which is the several counties in the eastern part of the former Ba County...
It has only been two years since the city was occupied by the State of Chu. Zhang Ren originally thought that the people would welcome the royal army, but unexpectedly... not only did many people take the initiative to retreat to Zhicheng in order to avoid the attack of the Xichuan army, but the people who were intercepted or did not leave were also wary of the Xichuan soldiers.
Zhang Ren even had the illusion that he had invaded the State of Chu...
If the prefect of Ba County was not Yan Yan, Zhang Ren would definitely think that this guy had committed the evil act of allowing his soldiers to plunder the people.
Otherwise, why would the people of Ba County so easily submit to the State of Chu? It has only been two years!
"Gongyi usually only commands the troops, but he doesn't know that these Chu people... are also good at winning people's hearts." Yan Yan sighed and said helplessly.
There had even been a case before where people living near Jiangzhou migrated to Badong, and Yan Yan took this to heart.
At the beginning, Yan Yan also reflected on himself with shame. After all, although his main responsibility was to guard Ba County, he was also the prefect of Ba County, and the military and political affairs of the county were entrusted to him!
To a certain extent, he also has autonomy in domestic affairs.
But later Yan Yan inquired about the policy of Badong County...
The original embarrassment was forcibly gone - it's not that I suddenly became confident, but... there is no way to learn it! It's better to be thick-skinned and pretend that I don't know what's going on!
And you have to know that during the more than two years that Badong County was occupied by the State of Chu, it was in a "wartime" state for most of the time.
In other words, according to the standards of the Chu State, they were leading the people of Badong County to tighten their belts and contribute to the front line.
However, this wartime state is far superior to the most stable time in Xichuan, and is comparable to the stable years of the Han Dynasty. If there is any better... it can only be compared to the period of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing's reign when the people recuperated and developed.
It would be a bit difficult to just ask others to learn. This is not an effect that can be achieved by the princes being kind and forgiving, taking the lead in living a hard and simple life, and saving money for themselves and their civil and military officials. Instead, it is an effect of fundamentally improving productivity.
However, other princes wanted to learn, even if they "learned" some technologies to improve productivity through various channels, including Shennong's essence, they spread it...
We must also liberate productivity first!
If we want to liberate productivity, we must do it smoothly without causing civil unrest... If we were to change to Cao Cao or Liu Bei, we would also need a stable environment to achieve a small part of it.
As for today's era of "If you don't hit me, I will plot against you" and "If you don't sharpen your knife, I will stab you", even Cao Cao, in order to catch up with the State of Chu, can only choose a path that is extremely harmful and has serious hidden dangers.
Liu Bei also found it even more difficult to move forward because he was restricted by the Han Dynasty.
Yan Yan...
A Ba County governor, and one who was appointed by the Marquis of Shu...
Not to mention him, even if it was the Marquis of Shu, this could not be done. Even if they really wanted to pilot it in Ba County, Yan Yan might not be able to support it. After all... Yan Yan is also Yan Yan of the Yan family of Ba County.
Zhang Ren also understood that it was not as simple as winning people's hearts at the moment. Although there were indeed factors that could win people's hearts, such as those drama troupes and those incredible folk stories...but tricks alone could not achieve the current level!
"At least the good news is that there won't be much food stored in Zhicheng." Zhang Ren comforted Yan Yan helplessly, and also enlightened himself.
Indeed, the grain tribute paid to Badong County was far less than imagined, and considering the inconvenience of transporting grain upstream, the main force of the Wancheng Division must have taken away part of the stock when they left, so the grain reserves of the Chu State in Badong should be very limited.
In this way, it would be difficult to trap the defenders of Zhicheng...
"Report! Enemy camp spotted thirty miles ahead!"
Yan Yan and Zhang Ren's words were interrupted by the scouts again.
"Come in quickly and tell me!" Yan Yan quickly called the scout in.
I originally thought that after the Chu army retreated, they would defend the city, but looking at it now... it is clear that the other side has just retreated its defense line. Do they still want to compete with them in the wild?
This is a ten-fold difference in military strength...
Soon the scouts came in and reported what they had discovered to Yan Yan and Zhang Ren - they had indeed discovered an unknown number of Chu troops camped thirty miles away and built a field defense line .
And just as Yan Yan and Zhang Ren had expected, the most incredible situation was that the Chu army really formed a long array, completely blocking the flat area that stretched for more than ten miles!
There were less than 10,000 Chu troops in the entire Badong area, but they were ready to blockade the Shu troops that were nearly six or seven times their size...
"Unknown number? Are you saying that there are steel needles and iron nets blocking us, so we can't detect the number?" Yan Yan repeated the words of the scout.
"Reporting to the general, that's right. The steel needles and iron nets stretch for more than ten miles and are within the range of the enemy's crossbows. We...even with armor, we can't get close!" The scout said embarrassedly and nervously.
Yan Yan didn't quite understand what "steel needles and iron nets" meant, but because he had been so shocked by the State of Chu before, he didn't blame the scouts who failed to complete the task this time. Instead, he decided to go and take a look himself.
after……
Yan Yan and Zhang Ren once again saw what it meant to be "wealthy and powerful". Over a flat area of more than ten miles, there was a long camp of the Chu army. In front of the camp, you could see trenches, bunkers, and crossbow holes...
Further outwards are three layers, and every thirty steps or so, there is a "steel needle iron net" - actually a wire fence.
It was not the flat wire wall used to divide areas outside buildings in later generations, but a military engineering wire mesh that was crumpled into a ball, messy, and had barbs!
This thing may seem inconspicuous, but it is more difficult for ordinary infantry to get through it than climbing a mountain. Even if they are equipped with professional engineer pliers, it is not easy to cut the barbed wire under the enemy's guns.
And although it doesn't look good, it is only necessary to use it when steel production reaches a certain level - if it is a short piece, it will not have any effect, and if you want to pull it, you have to make the net bigger and longer!
Cut with a knife?
Even if there is such a sharp knife, it cannot cut through the tangled wire that deforms and moves when cut. Moreover, the barbed wire is usually continuous and can be said to be unbreakable by hammers or explosions. The barbs on it will make everyone who wants to pass by feel its presence personally...
Before the advent of tanks, the best tactic for infantrymen facing barbed wire was sacrifice...
If there are enough people willing to sacrifice themselves, lie on the barbed wire and use themselves as stepping stones, the barbed wire will no longer be scary.
However, such armies are rare in modern times...
Usually they charge in waves, and the charge ends only when there are enough corpses to pass through the barbed wire!
