12dz Chapter 133 Reservations
Chapter 133 Reservations
The composition of the autonomous region's army is not a secret; almost all forces can find out about it. However, no force's spies can find out more specific information. They don't even know the generals of the autonomous region's army. The Seventh Army belongs to the Third Army Corps and has been stationed on the northern border for a long time. People in Yanzhou know even less about it.
"General, shall we continue the attack?" After two assaults, the Yanzhou army was already showing signs of fear. Their forces far outnumbered the defenders of Rencheng, yet they could barely even reach the city walls. The battle seemed unwinnable. Hearing his subordinate's question, Ju Yi fell silent. He too was unsure whether to continue the attack. Yuan Shao's orders were delayed, and he struggled to decide whether to continue the assault on Rencheng. Given the current situation, Ju Yi found it difficult to imagine the sacrifices that would ensue if they continued.
In Rencheng, Li Ji and Chen Bang were discussing their next plan in light of the current battle situation. According to intelligence, Ju Yi did not bring all his troops back. He had divided his forces, but the other Yanzhou army did not attack Lu. Instead, it continued to advance towards Qulu. Ju Yi's obsession was very deep.
"What if I send the 22nd Division to attack Ju Yi's detachment directly?" Li Ji asked Chen Bang. Chen Bang hesitated and said, "Ju Yi's detachment has more than 30,000 men. I'm afraid the 22nd Division alone won't be enough."
"Nonsense. Although the enemy has 30,000 troops, our army is better equipped and trained. Although the enemy has 30,000 troops, most of them are armed with matchlock guns, and they only have a few artillery pieces." Li Ji looked at the intelligence in his hand and said to Chen Bang, "In terms of firepower, although the 22nd Division is only one division, I believe that one division is enough to defeat 30,000 enemy troops."
“You’re the army commander, so you can make the decision. But I reserve my opinion,” Chen Bin said.
Li Ji nodded: "That's only right, you're the chief of staff."
“In that case, I will send the messenger to deliver the order,” Chen Bin said. As the chief of staff, his duties included not only providing advice to the commander but also supervising him. When the commander made a clear mistake, the chief of staff had to stop him from issuing the wrong order in time. Although Li Ji’s order was a bit bold, it was not impossible. Chen Bin was just being more cautious, which is why he only said he reserved his opinion.
Of course, as chief of staff, Chen Bang would eventually add the advice to the order to act according to circumstances, and not to do something if it is impossible. However, according to Chen Bang's analysis, even if the 22nd Division could not defeat the 30,000-strong detachment of the Yanzhou Army, it could still ensure its own safe retreat.
When Zhang Li, the commander of the 22nd Division, received the order from the military headquarters, he laughed and said to his chief of staff, "I knew the commander understood me best. He knows that I, Old Zhang, love challenging missions the most."
Ouyang, the chief of staff of the 22nd Division, smiled and said, "This mission is not simple. Ten thousand men against thirty thousand men, we cannot afford to suffer too many casualties. Most importantly, we know roughly how the enemy's troop deployment is. What if they have a backup plan?"
"But we still have a plan, we can always retreat if necessary. I don't believe that 30,000 Yanzhou troops can hold my 22nd Division back," Zhang Li said confidently.
Ouyang thought about it and realized that made sense; what was there to be afraid of?
“Let’s do it!” Zhang Li said.
Zhang Li sent messengers to urgently contact the First and Second Regiments that had been dispatched two days earlier. After making contact with the two regiments, Zhang Li led the Third Regiment, which was left behind in Lu State, and the division's directly subordinate units on a forced march to the First and Second Regiments.
After the battle of Rencheng began, Gao Shun, who was stationed in Qingzhou, also began to mobilize two armies in the rear of Qingzhou to go south to support the Seventh Army. The Seventh Army was quite strong and was able to hold Rencheng, but it still lacked the strength to severely damage the Yanzhou army or even annihilate the main force of the Yanzhou army. It needed Gao Shun's support. At the same time, as the overall commander of the battle, Gao Shun also issued a combat order to Huang Zhen, the commander of the Second Army of Jizhou, to go south to Yanzhou to threaten Yuan Shao in accordance with the pre-battle plan.
This time, Chen Er did not intend to annihilate Yuan Shao in one fell swoop, as that would be detrimental to his long-term plan. Chen Er planned to severely damage a portion of the Yanzhou army, restricting Yuan Shao's development while leaving Yuan Shu's expansion unchecked. Previously, Chen Er had some doubts about whether Yuan Shu would declare himself emperor, but after such a long period of observation, he was now 100% certain that this idiot Yuan Shu would definitely do so. And this was the moment Chen Er was waiting for. Once Yuan Shu became emperor, Chen Er would seize the opportunity to march south and bring all of Yuan Shu's territory under his control. Therefore, although Chen Er was from Xuzhou... Although nominally allies, Chen Er had no intention of letting Tao Qian remain in his position. He wanted Yuan Shu to control the southern part of Xuzhou, and as for Tao Qian, he should be grateful if he could retain one or two counties. Chen Er was no good person; all his plans were merely paving the way for his future schemes. Therefore, while anyone in this world could be trusted, Chen Er was truly untrustworthy. However, Tao Qian, along with his close friend, saw through Chen Er's intentions. He naively believed that Chen Er was genuinely there to help him, never imagining that Chen Er was simply there to exploit him.
With the four states and one prefecture that Chen Er currently controls, which account for nearly a third of the empire's population, and possess a relatively complete military industrial system and ample reserve troops, it wouldn't be impossible for Chen Er to march directly south. However, that would inevitably provoke a backlash from all the southern lords, making it somewhat counterproductive. Although Chen Er wants to end the current situation as soon as possible, he prefers to minimize the bloodshed, which is perhaps the real reason he came to this world.
When the 22nd Division appeared in front of the Yanzhou army, the 30,000 Yanzhou soldiers were completely panicked. These 30,000 Yanzhou soldiers had just occupied Qulu and were preparing to continue their advance on Jiqiu when they were caught off guard by the 22nd Division. Although the Yanzhou army was also basically composed of musketeers, their muskets were far inferior to those of the autonomous region soldiers. Their range and power were not as good, and the rate of fire of the autonomous region soldiers' muskets was also much faster than that of the Yanzhou army.
The battle had only been going on for less than ten minutes when the Yanzhou army had already suffered four or five thousand casualties. The 22nd Division's heavy artillery was relentlessly firing at the Yanzhou army. Zhang Li boldly used more than 10,000 men to surround 30,000 enemy soldiers. The Yanzhou army was in despair. The enemy's formation looked so thin, but why couldn't they break through?
An atmosphere of despair permeated the air. Many of the arquebusiers in the Yanzhou army had lost the will to fire. They raised their bayonets and launched a deadly charge against the 22nd Division.