ushernet Chapter 48 The battle begins
Chapter 48 The battle begins
When Dian Wei heard Li Jue's words, he was displeased. Although he and Yuan Shao had fought side by side and he knew Yuan Shao well, he also saw that Lu Zhi's army flag had been raised outside the pass, indicating that Lu Zhi had joined the attack today. But so what? Did he have to ask for reinforcements before the battle even started?
Dian Wei said to Li Jue, “General Li, we now have 50,000 soldiers in Hulao Pass. Although our strength is not as great as that of the Guandong Army, we have the advantage of the terrain of Hulao Pass, 10,000 musketeers, 5,000 archers, and 20,000 cavalry. Asking for help before we have even started fighting would be a loss of face for us.”
"Lord Wen." Li Jue wanted to persuade him again, but Dian Wei ignored him and waved his hand to interrupt, saying to Li Jue, "I am the commander-in-chief. My mind is made up. Don't say any more."
Seeing that Dian Wei had made up his mind, Li Jue glanced helplessly at the pass and then said to Dian Wei, "Since Marquis Wen has made up his mind, I will not say anything more. In that case, I will go down and prepare the army for battle."
Seeing that Li Jue was so sensible, Dian Wei nodded in agreement.
In fact, he did not know that Li Jue's purpose in going down there was not only to reorganize the army and prepare for war, but more importantly, to send a trusted confidant to Luoyang. Otherwise, why would a general like him need to do something as simple as preparing for war? The soldiers at Hulao Pass were already in a state of readiness at any time.
Li Jue's actions were well-intentioned, but he was unaware of Dian Wei's magnanimity, which sowed the seeds for Dian Wei's later falling out with the Xiliang army.
The news that the Kwantung Army had a new leader quickly reached Luoyang. Upon hearing Li Jue's analysis, Li Ru took the matter very seriously and immediately informed Ding Yuan. Ding Yuan was initially indifferent, but after much persuasion from Li Ru, he finally agreed to send 20,000 ragtag troops recruited from Luoyang to support Hulao Pass.
In the ensuing battle, Lu Zhi showed no mercy, taking tens of thousands of musketeers from the allied forces with him. In effect, Lu Zhi had taken command of half of the allied forces' fighting strength. Of course, Lu Zhi couldn't take these troops with him, since he only had command authority.
"shooting!"
Under the guidance of the new Bingzhou army officers sent by Lu Zhi, the allied musketeers quickly mastered the technique of volley fire. Volley fire was not actually a particularly sophisticated tactic, and these musketeers who understood three-stage firing immediately grasped the meaning of volley fire.
Of course, in reality, the practical significance of volley fire for arquebusiers was not particularly great, since their firing efficiency was far lower than that of the arquebusiers under Chen Er's command.
However, tens of thousands of musketeers and more than twenty cannons still suppressed the Xiliang army at Hulao Pass for a time. What about the war god Dian Wei? In this era of firearms, his martial prowess no longer had an absolute advantage.
Under the cover of musketeers, the allied infantry quickly stormed the city walls. When the allied swordsmen and shieldmen reached the top, the real battle began.
"kill!"
Generals Dian Wei and Hua Xiong led the surrounding Xiliang soldiers to charge forward. The musketeers were no match for them, but the swordsmen and shieldmen on the city wall could be taken down one by one. With their comrades already on the city wall, the allied forces stopped their long-range fire, since the city wall was now full of their own men.
Under Lu Zhi's command, the allied forces moved naturally, unlike when Yuan Shu was the leader of the alliance, when he only knew how to send his men to charge forward without ever considering tactics or strategy. In addition, Yuan Shu had no understanding of musketeer tactics and only knew how to order his musketeers to fire and reload in unison. However, the reloading speed of these musketeers was really not impressive. With Yuan Shu's command and Dian Wei's sudden attack, it was no wonder that he could not lead his troops to victory.
Looking at the current situation, under Lu Zhi's command, although the allied forces lacked experience in coordinated combat and were not accustomed to Lu Zhi's command, the allied infantry still formed mutually supportive formations, especially the musketeers. Each square provided cover for the others, and within each square, they also provided cover fire for each other. Although, apart from the new Bingzhou army, the musketeers of other forces were relatively unfamiliar with the movements.
However, Liu Bei's musketeers from Ba Commandery surprised the allied forces, and even Lu Zhi himself was shocked. In Lu Zhi's opinion, the musketeers from Ba Commandery were as elite as the musketeers under Chen Er's command. Moreover, after careful observation, it seemed that the musketeers from Ba Commandery were also equipped with telescopic bayonets!
Could it be that Liu Bei has also gained Chen Er's support? Lu Zhi wondered to himself. Could it be that Chen Er's influence has already extended to the south? If Chen Er heard this, he would definitely shout that he was wronged. Even if he were to support someone, he would never support Liu Bei. Moreover, where would he find the energy and money to support forces in the south?
Of course, if Chen Er were at Hulao Pass, he would definitely be shocked by Liu Bei's army. How could Liu Bei, who was far away in the south, have mastered the slide bayonet? Moreover, Liu Bei's troops were all arquebusiers, without a single melee soldier. Was Liu Bei really that confident in his arquebusiers?
Even Chen Er only dared to gradually phase out other types of troops after acquiring flintlock muskets. Even so, Chen Er still retained some elite melee battalions for close-quarters assault attacks.
However, these are not things that Lu Zhi needs to think about right now. As a veteran general, what Lu Zhi needs to do now is to use his army to break through Hulao Pass and rescue the emperor. At the same time, Lu Zhi also needs to try to preserve the strength of his army. This is why the army that Lu Zhi brought was mostly composed of musketeers. Even if the various forces have objections, they can't just let the musketeers attack the city directly, right?
This was also Lu Zhi's own ulterior motive. He knew very well that none of the warlords outside Hulao Pass truly cared about the imperial family. Perhaps Liu Biao had some intentions, but the other warlords were all there to gain benefits. As a staunch royalist, Lu Zhi disliked these people, but sometimes reality was just like that, and he had to use them to enter Luoyang. However, once in Luoyang, he needed to have the strength to get these warlords to sit down and have a proper talk.
"Let Wang Lu push forward!" Lu Zhi said to the messenger behind him. Lu Zhi was now desperately deploying troops to gain more say in the matter. In order to avoid gossip, Lu Zhi ruthlessly waved his hand and ordered his three thousand most elite swordsmen and shieldmen to take the lead.
Those were his old subordinates who had followed him since the Yellow Turban Rebellion. But now was not the time to be indecisive. He had to be ruthless. With a wave of his hand, Captain Wang Lu led three thousand men to charge towards the walls of Hulao Pass.