Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 625: Wei's Winning Point
When Ma Chao and Sun Ce led the Longyou cavalry to attack Hetao in the east, Lu Xun also commanded the Chu army and led the Northern Expedition, fighting with the Wei army in Yanjin and Baima areas!
Because Ma Chao did not surrender, the State of Chu only provided food and fodder, as well as some high-quality swords, guns, armors, and other cold weapons and light protective gear. Don't even think about Qi bombs, crossbows, and artillery.
Only the few hundred people led by Sun Ce have these...
Weapons and light armor are indeed a significant improvement for the Qiang cavalry, but it cannot be considered a "generational change."
Moreover, in Sun Ce's view, direct replacement may not necessarily be a good thing - the era of true Qi and firearms is very different from that of cold weapons in terms of tactics and even strategy.
Although the training cost of Qi bullet crossbow is very low and much simpler than bows and arrows, this refers to the "low training cost" of grassroots Ji-made soldiers. In terms of tactical command, it is not simple, especially it is completely different from the previous strategic conception and tactical command. The Chu Army Privy Council has specially trained for this purpose...
Ma Chao himself didn't understand, let alone the Qiang cavalry officers who were the majority of the Liang army. What could they understand?
However, even the cold weapons eliminated by the Chu State were a remarkable equipment upgrade for the original Qiang cavalry!
For this purpose, Sun Ce specially ordered his personal guard company and an artillery company to demonstrate the Chu State's combat methods when fighting the enemy on the battlefield, which could also be regarded as a "reminder" to Ma Chao and the Qiang people.
Lest they think that if the iron content of the equipment per capita is slightly higher, they can fight against the Chu State...
Ma Chao quickly quelled some internal unrest in Longyou caused by the military rebellion, and abolished Han Sui's title of Marquis of Liang. He was conferred the title of "Duke of Liang" by his father Ma Teng and was worshipped. He called himself "King of Yongliang", commanded Western Liang, and prepared to attack Hetao eastward.
Although Ma Teng was deposed and could only retire at home, Ma Xiu and Ma Tie still supported their eldest brother ...which made Ma Teng so angry that he jumped up and down.
As for Pang De and others, they were Ma Chao's confidants and friends, not to mention their positions. The ones who caused chaos in Longyou before were mainly Yan Xing under Han Sui.
However, he was still defeated by Ma Chao and fled eastwards. I think he wanted to surrender to Wei or Yuan Tan...
In theory, the Hetao Xiongnu were stronger than the Qiang people in Xiliang, and most of the Qiang people in Hetao were also enslaved by the Xiongnu.
Previously, when Zhang Fei was covering the rear, he bravely killed the Huns' Khan Huchuquan. Although this greatly dampened the morale of the Huns who were affiliated with the Wei army, it actually helped the Wei Kingdom and Yuan Tan!
When Huochuquan was alive, he could barely cooperate with the State of Wei. As for Yuan Tan... he was allied with the Xiongnu in name, but in fact he was seeking shelter from Huochuquan.
However, as soon as Huochuquan died, the Wei State immediately incorporated Huochuquan's troops and the elite Xiongnu troops that had moved south.
Yuan Tan was also in Hetao, and he subdued the various Huns who were in chaos. Now, several major tribes in Hetao have already paid homage to Yuan Tan!
This is also why Lu Xun's resentment towards Zhang Fei increased after he learned about this matter - Huochequan died at the wrong time.
Fortunately, Huochequan did take away a lot of elite troops before. Although he had originally planned to send out a surprise attack from Hetao to wreak havoc in Xiliang, so it was not a full-scale attack, but after all, his force was not as strong as before.
Just because they were surrendered by Yuan Tan, the Hetao Xiongnu, who were originally a loose group and had straightforward tactics, became more threatening.
Moreover, the Qiang people were divided into many ethnic groups. It was not the case that as soon as the Qiang cavalry from Xiliang arrived, the Qiang cavalry from Hetao welcomed their compatriots and fought back against the evil Xiongnu... Instead, they were still forced by the Xiongnu to fight against the Liang army!
The only advantage of the Liang army was that the enemy's equipment was very poor - Yuan Tan was also very poor, and it was even less likely that the Wei State would support Yuan Tan with any weapons.
The struggle for Hetao will have little impact on the conflict between Chu and Wei as long as the outcome is not a big one.
The real main battlefield was in the area of Yanjin and Baima. The Wei army was defending along the Yellow River, while the Chu army was attacking from many directions...
The Wei army should be very familiar with the terrain here. After all, when Cao Cao went north, he had a decisive battle with Yuan Shao here!
What made Cao Cao depressed was that when he was in the south, he was waiting for Yuan Shao to attack and then he could launch a defensive counterattack. Now that he was sitting in the north, he still had no choice but to defend himself.
Just like Bai Tu in Xiangyang, Cao Cao in Yecheng was always ready to go to the front line in person.
For the State of Chu, as long as the vanguard army can cross the Yellow River, it can turn to a full-scale northern expedition, and naturally Bai Tu will personally take charge of the army.
As for Wei, if Chu succeeded in crossing the river, it would have to make a decision: to fight a decisive battle with Chu or to temporarily avoid the attack - if it chose the latter, it would have to move the capital from Yecheng to Yijing or even to Liaodong...
Cao Cao decided early on that once the Chu army moved north, he would use the geographical advantages to engage in a decisive battle with them and would never move north again.
In the plains, with the bonus of cavalry, the weakness of cold weapons can be smaller.
As for moving further north? Cao Cao no longer had this thought!
Liaodong had only recently been under the control of Wei. In addition, many wealthy families had plundered people from the Chaohai Peninsula, which had a great impact on Liaodong.
When Cao Cao was seriously ill and Cao Zhi was in power, Liaodong was eroded and turned into the base camp of radical families - because of the suppression by the Gongsun family and historical reasons, the influence of the local gentry in Liaodong was generally not strong and did not constitute any constraint.
Similarly, the situation in the north, which borders the Wuhuan and Xianbei, is also like this. On the contrary, only the Hebei area is something that Cao Cao can truly control.
Moving northward will only put Wei in trouble both internally and externally and accelerate its demise!
Cao Cao can now see three points of "chance of victory". The first is to recover Guanzhong and stabilize the position with the 800-li Qinchuan as the foundation;
The second is to resist the powerful Chu in the south, use the winter to forcefully use the army, and suppress the internal troubles in the north;
The third option was to bet on the negligence of the State of Chu and the carelessness of Bai Tu, and to fight a decisive battle with them in Hebei and defeat them with a crushing victory - just like the victory over Yuan Shao at Bai Ma.
Of course, there is another thing that is always done, which is the "imitation" of the Craftsmen Camp.
But now they can barely make a degraded version of the "earth cannon", and there is no way to use the Qi crossbow. Ma Jun proposed to use gunpowder to drive the crossbow, but...
This thing needs to be poked with a stick for a long time, and it must be stood upright before bullets can be loaded. Cao Cao feels that it is unreliable no matter how he looks at it!
Unfortunately, Cao Cao didn't know that the development of gunpowder-driven technology really started from this point. He just thought that Ma Jun had taken the wrong path and didn't let him continue...
Besides, even if we continue, it will be too late!
As for the three points of victory, the first one has now been blocked by the State of Chu - Guanzhong cannot be pacified for the time being, and the second, third... we still have to wait for an opportunity!
For the time being, Wei's generals and strategies are not bad, and the Yellow River defense line has been built with all Wei's strength, so there is hope that it can hold out until winter!
What? The Yellow River freezes in winter?
Ice does not mean that horses can run or troops can pass through. Even if the troops can pass through, what can the Chu army do in such cold weather?
If the Chu army, which is mainly composed of southerners, really uses its own weaknesses to attack the strengths of the northerners and fights in the dead of winter, Cao Cao instead feels that... there may be a chance to win another big one!
