eurekapd Chapter 257 Kun Kingdom's Maginot Line
Chapter 257 Kun Kingdom's Maginot Line
The news that Yan State broke the city and annihilated 200,000 elite Kun State central troops in one day shocked all the countries in the world.
Especially the two countries of Qi and Liang, they were even more convinced that the news brought back by the envoy was true, that Yan State really had a powerful weapon that could ignore the city walls, and the siege battle was as easy as walking on flat ground.
The two countries were not very reassured at first and were skeptical. After all, Kun Country was an old and powerful country, and the cost of offending it was very high.
The army they sent out had been advancing slowly, wanting to wait and see the combat effectiveness of Yan State and whether it could defeat Kun State.
Now that Yan State was so powerful, they had no more worries and immediately ordered the army to advance at full speed to attack Kun State’s army stationed on the border.
The Kun Kingdom is now facing internal and external troubles and is in a state of panic. It is conscripting young men from all over the country to support the front line. No matter what, it has to stop the enemy first.
After resting for three days in Yangbei County, the Yan army set out again.
Shen Changgong appointed a new county governor, and other counties also surrendered. The situation in Yangbei County stabilized. They led the army southward and continued to advance towards Qiuxin County.
Qiuxin County is home to all the local troops recruited in the north of Kun State during this period, totaling 400,000 people. Their combat effectiveness is not strong, but the commander Nie Bei is no mediocre person.
Nie Bei is not as young as Yuhuatian and Han Xuan. He is already fifty years old and is a veteran who has risen step by step based on his seniority and military exploits. Originally, the factions of the various central armies have all been fixed and divided up by the nobles, and he has nothing to do with it at all.
But this time the local army gathering gave him an opportunity.
The main reason was that the nobles looked down on these local troops, thinking that they were all recruits and cannon fodder, and were completely useless. If they went, they would lose the battle and would be punished instead.
So the chore fell to him.
After he arrived in Qiuxin County, he immediately began to vigorously reorganize the local army. He did not ask for them to be very strong, but at least they should be able to understand the flag signals, hear the sounds of drums and gongs, and know how to deploy troops.
After receiving the defeated soldiers of Han Xuan's army, Nie Bei immediately summoned these people, listened to the battle report in detail, and found a painter to draw the artillery according to what they described.
When he saw the huge body and iron wheels of the cannon, Nie Bei concluded that this thing must be extremely heavy and need to be pulled by horses.
Moreover, it is very powerful. If a large number of people gather together, the casualties will be extremely heavy.
Is there any way to prevent these artillery pieces from advancing and reduce casualties?
He pondered for two days and finally came up with an idea.
That is positional warfare.
Abandon the city defense, pull the army into the wild, fight the enemy in the field, take advantage of the hilly terrain of Qiuxin County, occupy the high ground, dig trenches widely, advance layer by layer, and use the complex terrain of the hills to slow down the enemy's advance speed and consume the enemy's manpower.
The troops under his command are all local troops with weak combat effectiveness. No one will feel sad if they die, because he still has 300,000 central troops behind him.
But the Yan army has dispatched all the elite troops of the central army. Can they afford the consumption?
Nie Bei immediately ordered that trenches be dug, hilly heights be occupied, and defensive fortifications be arranged in the northern area of Qiuxin County, which was a hundred miles long from east to west and dozens of miles wide from north to south.
Not only did he mobilize 400,000 local troops, he also directly captured local civilians and able-bodied men to dig trenches and move stones. He even diverted water from surrounding rivers to form some artificial rivers, which could provide drinking water for the army and slow down the enemy's advance.
Moreover, he wrote a memorial about the matter and reported it to Emperor Kun.
After seeing his method and the artillery drawings, Emperor Kun was overjoyed. In front of all the civil and military officials, he repeatedly praised Nie Bei as a talented person who could come up with such a good idea in such a short time.
After praising him, he bestowed upon Nie Bei the title of Marquis of Pingbei on the spot, hoping that he would show his great power and eliminate the troubles in the northern part of Pingkun Kingdom.
The news of Qiuxin County's large-scale construction projects naturally reached the Yan army on the march.
After Shen Changgong learned the news, he immediately summoned all the generals to come to the tent to discuss the matter.
Shen Changgong and Southern King Ma Ling stood inside, and the generals surrounded the city in a circle, with a sand table of the terrain in the north of Qiuxin County in the middle.
The sand table is covered with hills and highlands, which are filled with the ochre flags of Kun Kingdom.
After hearing the information, Ma Ling narrowed his eyes, looked at the flags scattered all over the ground, and said,
"Nie Bei, he's really quick to react. He found a way to counter our artillery fire so quickly. Their forces are scattered, and we don't have many shells, so we're just fighting a siege.
Even if all of the more than a thousand shells were used up, they could only kill tens of thousands of people at most. The rest still depended on our troops.
The trenches were all over the ground and the cavalry could not escape. Although our infantry was elite, there were only more than 400,000 of them, while the enemy also had 400,000.
Although the enemy is a local army, they have the advantage of terrain and are located on high ground. If we attack them forcefully, we will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.
The key is that even if we win, we can't move forward. Shengjing still has 300,000 elite troops waiting for us, and we can't afford to waste time with them."
Shen Changgong looked at the generals and said,
"If you have any ideas, please feel free to speak up."
The generals were stunned when they heard this. You have already spoken, what should we say?
This kind of tough battle can only be fought one hill at a time.
But attacking head-on is not a solution, they can't afford the waste of time.
Firstly, the battle was fought in a foreign land, and the enemy could recruit soldiers continuously. Secondly, Yan State could not afford to waste its national strength in a protracted war.
Seeing that no one spoke, Shen Changgong laughed and said,
"Is there nothing I can do about this Maginot Line?"
and many more!
Shen Changgong's eyes lit up.
Maginot Line?
He immediately shouted,
"Come here, get the map of Kun Country."
"Yes!"
The guard immediately brought out the map of Kun Kingdom and spread it on the sand table.
Shen Changgong looked at the map and murmured,
"Since we can't defeat them, we can just go around them. Why do we have to fight them head-on?
The Yidong Commandery to the east was more mountainous, making it difficult to march; the Ziyang Commandery to the west was mostly flat, but the land was barren, with little grain production and population.
We will go west, bypass their defenses, then head south to Fenglu County and head straight for Shengjing City."
Shen Changgong's words made the generals frown, and they felt it was unreliable no matter how they thought about it.
But he was a prince, so no one dared to say anything and could only turn their eyes to Ma Ling.
If Ma Ling doesn't say anything, they will be the ones to persuade Shen Changgong.
Ma Ling said,
"Ignoring the retreat route is a major military taboo. If we lead our army around Qiuxin County and enter Ziyang County, what if the enemy intercepts us halfway? They will also go to Ziyang County to fight us."
"Isn't that exactly what we want? Without Qiuxin County's geographical advantage, how can these 400,000 rookies with incomplete armor and no cavalry defeat us?"