My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 251 Both Sides Must Learn from Their Failures

Zhou Yu was so overwhelmed by Chen Deng's superb defense that he began to doubt his life. He had to temporarily withdraw his troops to lick his wounds and sum up his experience and lessons.

That night, in the Jiangdong army camp, Zhou Yu sat behind the desk with a sullen face, staring blankly at the dim light of a lamp.

There were several drawings on the table, with a wine cup pressed on the drawings. There were also a few drops of residual wine splashed on the drawings that he once cherished, but now he ignored them.

Zhou Yu was not good at craftsmanship and mathematics. Although he was familiar with military books and proficient in military tactics, it was not necessary for wise generals in ancient times to understand mathematics. Professional matters could be left to professionals.

But today, for the first time, he truly realized the importance of mathematics and craftsmanship.

He could only pick up the trivial matters that were originally thrown to the craftsmen and accountants, and humbly ask for advice and figure it out on his own. When he encountered something he didn't understand, he would put down his status and discuss it in depth with the accountants and craftsmen whom he originally looked down upon.

"Zhuge Liang's wisdom is truly divine! This time, the Ge Gongche only imitated the shape, but the essence is far from what Zhuge Liang created... It's not unfair to lose! I owe Bofu all this! I was too arrogant!
I should have thought of it earlier. When building a car, the wood should be thicker at the bottom and thinner at the top. The load-bearing capacity increases towards the bottom, so the wood naturally needs to be thicker to support it. At the top, the load-bearing capacity is smaller, so why not make it thinner?

If it is thinner, even if it cannot withstand a strong crossbow, once it is shot through and pulled by a huge force, it will easily break and break, and it will not drag the whole thing overturned. Sometimes it is better to sacrifice a little protection for the soldiers in the tower to avoid arrows in exchange for more stability!
Moreover, this vehicle should be built larger at the bottom and smaller at the top! The support angle should be increased to make it more stable! Unfortunately, it was too late. It took about ten days to prepare materials before the war and four days to assemble them before the battle. Only then did these Ge buses go up in flames in one battle.

Even if we try to improve it now and start from scratch, it will take at least 20 days or even a month to complete. By then, Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu's main forces will have already come from Wuhu to reinforce us. We should think about how to fight a naval battle... However, if I cannot threaten Guangling, will Zhuge Jin come to rescue us? Will he accept this naval battle?"

Zhou Yu was caught in a dilemma. Countless difficulties flooded into his mind, making him depressed.

While he was thinking hard, the curtain of the general's tent was lifted. Zhou Yu came to his senses and saw that it was the deputy general Huang Gai who came.

Zhou Yu had just lost a battle and was worried that he would not be able to convince the crowd, so he stood up quickly and said, "General Huang, you came here in the middle of the night. Do you have any advice for me?"

Huang Gai did not show any reprimand or dissatisfaction, but said calmly: "I heard that the commander-in-chief has been reflecting on himself behind closed doors since he withdrew his troops and did not see anyone, so I came to see him.

Victory and defeat are common in the military. This Ge Gong Chariot was originally built by Zhuge. The enemy army understands the ingenuity and use of it better than us, and there is nothing we can do about it. As long as we learn from our mistakes, my lord will surely understand. "

Zhou Yu hurriedly explained humbly and shared with Huang Gai his thoughts and concerns.

After Huang Gai heard this, his original dissatisfaction was slightly alleviated.

It seems that Zhou Yu's reflection is very quick. After suffering a defeat, he can immediately realize where the problem lies. This makes him much better than ordinary generals.

Huang Gai comforted him and then asked, "If that's the case, should we continue to attack Guangling? It will take quite some time to prepare a new Ge Gongche, right?"

Zhou Yu stroked his sparse stubble, hesitated for a while, and said, "The hope of breaking through the city quickly is not great. Even if we can break through, it will take at least a month of protracted battle.

However, we cannot stop attacking the city. If we stop, Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu will find another way to consume us. It is too late to back down. Regardless of whether we can capture Guangling or not, we must build momentum.

Originally we were surrounded on three sides, east, west and south, with one side missing. Now we can send another battalion to the north of the city to completely cut off the canal between Guangling, Sheyang and Huaiyin. This will not only ensure that enemy reinforcements cannot enter the city, but also isolate it from internal and external news.

In this way, we can spread the false news that Guangling is in danger. I will arrange how to spread it, so General Huang does not need to worry about it.

If the reinforcements of Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu are lured out by us, we will fight a decisive naval battle on the river to annihilate their main force. By then, it won't matter whether the city is captured or not. The worst that can happen is that we can maintain the siege of Guangling and then divide our forces to plunder the enemy's rear.

But before we have annihilated Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu's main forces, we cannot take such a risk. If we divide our forces and go around them, they will be defeated one by one by the enemy's reserve forces. We can only divide our forces after we have annihilated the enemy's main forces."

Huang Gai thought about it and found that this statement did make sense. When they attacked Guangling, they wanted to see if they could break into the city directly, and they also wanted to surround the city and attack the reinforcements. Now that they have confirmed that there is little hope of attacking the city, they can still attack the reinforcements, it all depends on how well they can deceive the enemy tactically.

As long as the information is isolated well, even if Guangling is as safe as Mount Tai, it is possible to lure the enemies outside the encirclement into thinking that Guangling is about to fall and must be rescued. This can also achieve the purpose of forcing the enemy to rescue and decisive battle on water.

However, compared with the original ideal situation, the Jiangdong army suffered several thousand extra casualties.

Moreover, once the decision is made to change from encircling three sides and leaving one side open to encircling the city on all sides, the enemy defending the city will definitely fight to the death, which is also not conducive to breaking the city. It is equivalent to exchanging the opportunity to break the city for the opportunity to attack the reinforcements. There is gain and loss.

By this time in the war, the Jiangdong Army had failed in all three or four offensives, including the attack and defense of the Han Canal Dam and the exploratory siege of Guangling City.

The actual number of casualties in the Jiangdong Army was not that high, adding up to only a little over 10% of the total force. The key point was that morale was very low. No matter how Commander Zhou attacked, it was all in vain, and the morale of the soldiers had begun to waver. Zhou Yu actually realized this, so when he explained the follow-up deployment to Huang Gai, he also reminded him:
“While dividing our forces to besiege the city in the next few days, we must ensure that each camp is on guard at night to prevent Chen Deng from sending troops out of the city to raid the camp at night.

It is better to let the soldiers take turns sleeping and sleep one-third less, to ensure that one-third of the soldiers are always on duty. Anyway, there will be no full-scale attack during the day, so it doesn't matter if they are a little less energetic during the day."

Huang Gai was slightly surprised when he heard this, but he still decided to carry out the order: "I obey your order... But do you really think Chen Deng will fight back? He has less than 5,000 men defending the city."

Zhou Yu frowned and analyzed earnestly: "At this point, I suspect that Chen Deng's 'serious illness' may have been part of a plot to trick us into lowering our guard. We have already been tricked twice since the war began. I would not be surprised if Chen Deng has other tricks.

I just can't figure it out. Hua Tuo is known for his noble character and benevolence, and he travels around the world to practice medicine. How could he be willing to cooperate with Chen Deng to cheat for the sake of military affairs? Isn't he afraid that if he offends Bo Fu, he will not be able to travel to Wuhui in the future and be retaliated by us? "

Huang Gai felt that this analysis made sense, so he followed it strictly and adjusted the night duty arrangements to guard against the enemy.

……

Zhou Yu adjusted his deployment, changing from a forceful attack on Guangling to isolating the inside and outside, creating the illusion of a crisis in Guangling in order to force a decisive battle on water.

In Guangling City, Chen Deng was also very busy that night.

After a great victory in defending the city, of course the soldiers had to be rewarded and encouraged. Chen Deng asked someone to open some good wine to ensure that all the soldiers who participated in the battle could have two or three bowls of wine tonight.

The huge amount of dried salted fish stored in the city were also taken out and distributed. They were boiled slightly and then roasted until cooked through so that the soldiers could feast on them.

Guangling City is the place with the largest catch of marine fish in the world. With the Guangling Tide of the Yangtze River bringing twice daily high and low tides to the mouth of the Han Canal, Zhou Yu would not be able to finish eating all the salted fish even if he surrounded Guangling City until all the rice and wheat were eaten up.

The biggest drawback of these things is that they are too salty. Modern people would definitely choke on them, but the soldiers at the end of the Han Dynasty were very tolerant. Especially the garrison in Guangling, they were used to eating fresh food and only relied on the salty taste of dried fish to supplement the salt. In addition, the soldiers in the war consumed a lot of energy and sweated a lot, so they were not afraid of exceeding the standard.

Rewards and incentives are necessary, but accountability and recourse are also necessary.

After the general rewards, Chen Deng gathered the teams of soldiers who were responsible for operating the city defense equipment such as crossbows and catapults that day, and then personally announced additional rewards and punishments.

"The crossbowmen of the C-class horse-faced team deserve the most credit today! The crossbow cable arrows they fired instantly pulled down the enemy's central Ge bus! This shows that they did a good job of measuring the distance before firing! The length of the rope tied to the tail of the arrow was very precise!

Therefore, the impact force of the boulder falling from the city was all transmitted to the lateral pulling force on the Ge Gongche! This is also what General Fu Bo repeatedly emphasized when he was teaching this tactic of breaking the Ge Gongche! They learned it very well! All the soldiers of the C-grade horse face will be rewarded with 300 five-zhu coins each! A piece of linen cloth!"

As Chen Deng spoke, he waved his hand, signaling his military law team to distribute the rewards in public. The other soldiers nearby looked at the rewards and couldn't help but feel jealous. They also envied the good luck of the crossbowman with the number C horse face.

After delivering the messages, Chen Deng's face changed and he started scolding the other groups, with varying degrees of severity.

"Two captains of the A-class horse-faced detachment, how do you usually train the crossbowmen and observers to measure distance? Before releasing the arrows, the distance between the enemy Ge Gongche and the bed crossbow was misjudged by several feet. The rope was let down so long that in the end, the boulder fell to the ground and the rope was not tightened!

If the two reinforcements from the nearby horsemen hadn't come to help, and if more than a hundred people hadn't gathered to play tug-of-war, your section of the wall would have been rushed up by the enemy soldiers! The captain in charge of guarding the left side of the A-class horsemen was directly demoted to a platoon leader! The one in charge of the right side was demoted to a sergeant! The crossbowmen and observers were punished to be ordinary soldiers and participate in ten days of math training!

I have said it many times. To defend the city and operate sophisticated equipment under General Fubo, you cannot just rely on bravery and courage. You must learn mathematics and physical knowledge! Even if you can't learn to measure distance by eye, can't you learn to count the battlements directly?
When the enemy's Ge Gongche approached, the distance between the position where the planks were set up and the battlement was several feet away from the battlement. Multiply the width of each battlement by seven feet at the convex part and five feet at the concave part. Multiply the number of battlements by the number of twelve feet. Isn't the distance figured out?

What? You can't even calculate how many feet is 1.2 feet times 15? How did you become a village chief? "

After severe criticism and thorough investigation, Chen Deng discovered that some of his officers who operated the city defense equipment could not even calculate ten times ten, and their mental retardation was beyond his imagination.

He quickly dismissed these people or transferred them from the technical troops to other close combat units.

In addition to being garbage in math, in today's battle, he also found out that several low-level officers in charge of precision equipment had no knowledge of structural mechanics. They couldn't even install a pulley system stably, and the fixed pulleys broke when encountering impact force. In short, they made fools of themselves in various ways.

Those who needed to be demoted were demoted, and those who needed to be trained were all dealt with by Chen Deng.

He finally realized that if the soldiers he led were to perfectly replicate Zhuge Jin's tactics, they would need a lot of running-in and training, especially the learning of theoretical knowledge.

The math and physics knowledge of grassroots officers is so poor that some of them can't even do simple multiplication!
(End of this chapter)