Chapter 663: New Tactics of Warfare

"Yes, General."

Upon receiving the order, the Qi soldiers turned and left.

To guard against the Yan Wang soldiers crossing the river, they had built three Fortresses on the Nan'an.

The three Fortresses were arranged in a triangular formation.

The Fortress he was in was the most forward; if danger were encountered, the other two Fortresses could provide timely assistance.

Together, the three Fortresses held a total of 100,000 men, firmly controlling this area.

And less than twenty li to the south of the Fortresses was Dongping City, the seat of the Dong Commandery of Qi.

Once this place fell, Dongping City would be in danger.

"General, watch your step."

The North Bank ferry crossing.

While the first batch of soldiers was closing in on the Fortress, Chang Wei boarded a Troop Transport Ship with the second batch of soldiers.

Arriving at the Nan'an, as he stepped off the boat, Chang Wei's foot slipped, and he was pulled steady by his personal guards just in time.

The first batch of 15,000 soldiers crossed the river successfully.

He was in high spirits and joked, "This General is so happy that I've forgotten how to walk."

The group let out good-natured laughter, and Qin Shan said, "Indeed, I also wish I could step into the Fortress ahead in one stride; I just feel this road is being walked too slowly."

Guan Tong chuckled twice, then complained, "General, you are too biased toward this kid Lv Chang. Last time we attacked Pingyuan City, you let him pick up the easy gains, and this time you let him lead the vanguard again. How did he suddenly become the child of the biological mother, while we all became the children of the stepmother?"

"What biological mother, what stepmother? If you don't keep a gate on your mouth, when we go back, I will surely skin you alive! How I arrange things on the battlefield is how you will fight, enough nonsense!"

In these two battles, he was relatively biased toward Lv Chang, the purpose being to let Lv Chang adapt to commanding firearms troops as quickly as possible.

After all, this kid used to wear Heavy Infantry Armor and charge into the fray.

He was just afraid that he would be used to relying on brute force.

Scolded by Chang Wei, Guan Tong immediately became cheeky, "The General is right to scold me, it is deserved. Look at this broken mouth of mine, it just has no gate on it."

Chang Wei couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind. Qi had built three Fortresses here; these three Fortresses were interdependent. If one Fortress was in trouble, the other two Fortresses would provide support.

"You each lead your own soldiers and lie in ambush between the other two Fortresses and the first one. If they dare to come out of the city, give them a sound thrashing."

"Yes, General." Qin Shan and Guan Tong acknowledged the order and left separately.

He remained at the ferry crossing, directing the soldiers to cross the river.

Without the threat of the Fort, the Troop Transport Ships traveled back and forth between the two banks continuously.

Large numbers of Yanzhou soldiers continuously boarded the Nan'an, gathering under the command of Lv Chang and the other two.

At the same time, Commander Gong Ying patrolled the nearby river surface with twelve Warships to prevent the Qi Navy from launching a sneak attack.

In the span of one morning, the 120,000 Yanzhou soldiers stationed in Pingyuan City all boarded the south bank of the Jin River.

By this time, Lv Chang had already completed the encirclement of the first Fortress,

and was waiting for Chang Wei's order to attack.

Qin Shan and Guan Tong, following Chang Wei's orders, blocked the roads leading from the second and third Fortresses to the first.

Once any Qi soldiers emerged from the city gates, they would strike as soon as they showed their heads.

This forced the Qi soldiers to retreat back into the Fortress.

Once all the troops, including Zhong Li's Cavalry, had crossed the river, Chang Wei arrived at Lv Chang's camp.

At this moment, he asked, "How is the digging of the trenches coming along?"

He was crossing the troops safely at the ferry, but he was not missing the opportunity for battle.

Rather, he was letting Lv Chang adopt a new method of siege warfare

to minimize the sacrifice of soldiers during the siege.

"Reporting to the General, it is almost done. Now we are about fifty meters from the city wall; dig another ten meters, and it will be sufficient."

Chang Wei nodded.

All the soldiers under Lv Chang were in a loose skirmisher formation, distributed across the battlefield, each looking for obstacles to prevent attacks from the Fortress wall's Artillery.

At the same time, thousands of soldiers were currently holding shovels and digging trenches.

He looked forward; he could not see the soldiers' bodies, only shovelfuls of dirt flying out of the trenches and landing on either side. The soldiers had already dug very deep.

Seeing this, Chang Wei revealed a satisfied smile.

Back then, when he ordered the three to form the Grenadier Squad, this method of siege warfare had appeared in his mind.

Under the protection of a large number of skirmishers in the rear, he ordered the soldiers to advance and dig trenches at a position one hundred meters from the city wall, digging all the way to a position forty meters from the city wall.

This way, the Grenadier Squad could enter the trenches and throw Hand Grenades at the city wall from a distance of forty meters.

The reason it was not fifty meters was that throwing Hand Grenades from low to high would certainly be strenuous; if it were too far, he feared they wouldn't be able to throw them up.

"Boom, boom, boom..." As the two were talking, the Artillery on the Fortress wall began to roar.

Cannonballs flew toward the soldiers who were digging the trenches.

However, this was destined to be futile.

Their Cannonballs could not harm the soldiers in the trenches at all.

After all, when the sound of the cannons rang out, the soldiers in the trenches would crouch down to avoid the Artillery attack.

Sure enough, the soldiers digging the trenches only paused for a moment, and then more soil was thrown up from the trenches.

"What on earth are they doing?" On the Fortress wall, the Qi general was restless.

The roads for the other two Fortresses to come and provide aid had been cut off by the Yan Wang soldiers.

Now, he could only fight alone.

Currently, he was extremely sensitive to any movement by the Yanzhou soldiers.