Chapter 858: Psychological Warfare

"Your Highness, these leaflets seem a bit..."

Outside Jiangxia city, Chang Wei looked at the pictures on the leaflets, his old face actually turning slightly red.

Because the pictures on these leaflets were of daily life scenes like farming, coaxing children, eating, and celebrating the New Year, and they even included scenes of men and women making love.

Zhao Xu chuckled twice.

The Hot Air Balloon that had just drifted over Jiangxia had come from Jingzhou.

Now, the Propaganda Department's newspaper offices were spread all over Jiangbei and could be mobilized at any time.

Therefore, while in Anqing, he had given orders to the newspaper office opposite Jiujiang.

He had them print these leaflets while also dispatching the Hot Air Balloon.

In fact, the "erotic" part of the leaflets was intentional on his part.

This was a psychological tactic aimed at destroying the soldiers' will.

Using leaflets to wage psychological warfare in modern warfare was a very common thing.

During World War II, various countries dropped leaflets on each other.

And the content of the leaflets mostly involved erotica.

Because research showed that pornography was the easiest way to destroy the enemy soldiers' will, making them weary of war, miss their wives, and at the same time doubt the correctness of their own actions and choices.

Especially in this era.

Almost all men over the age of sixteen in the Great Song had already married.

These leaflets had an even greater impact on them.

And once their will was weakened, it would be much easier to take the city.

"You'll get used to it," Zhao Xu said; compared to Chang Wei, he was much more indifferent.

Then, he chatted with Chang Wei about the function of these leaflets.

Chang Wei looked astonished, and in the end, he could not help but admire him.

"I fear these six days of artillery fire have already left the Shizu Army in Jiangxia terrified; with these leaflets added, I wonder how many soldiers will lose their fighting spirit," Chang Wei laughed.

Zhao Xu nodded, "One more day of shelling, then launch a full-scale attack tomorrow."

One more day of shelling would make it a total of seven days.

He was rounding it up to a lucky number to wipe out this Wu army in one fell swoop.

Next, the two of them watched the shelling while keeping an eye on the Hot Air Balloon in the sky, looking relaxed.

However, compared to them, Liang Tong and the other Shizu generals were almost going crazy.

The moment the leaflets drifted down from the sky, someone had delivered them into his hands.

Afterward, the generals reported that the soldiers who received the leaflets were either shedding tears or looking dejected.

Even more soldiers were gathered in twos and threes, not knowing what they were discussing.

Hearing this, Liang Tong crumpled the leaflet into a ball and threw it on the ground, "Issue an order immediately: no one is allowed to pick up the paper scraps, or they will be executed without mercy."

"Yes, General." His order was given, and the general immediately went out.

After everyone had left, Liang Tong stared blankly at the paper ball he had crumpled on the floor.

He recalled the days he spent dallying with his beautiful wives and concubines.

Then he started, immediately shaking the images from his mind.

"Today is the seventh day.

The reinforcements from Changcheng have been slow to arrive; what is to be done?" Liang Tong felt as if his heart were being gripped, and he could not even breathe smoothly.

He endured another night in a state of chaotic thoughts.

The next morning, the roar of the Artillery lasted only half an hour before it stopped.

Then he heard the sound of "kill" rising like a tidal wave.

The Yan Wang Army had launched a general offensive against Jiangxia.

He immediately climbed the city wall and dispatched soldiers into the Trenches to fight the Yan Wang soldiers to the death.

But next, he saw the most terrifying sight of his life.

The sound of gunfire rang out like a violent storm.

The Yan Wang soldiers rushed toward their Trenches in a way he could not understand.

Relying on the shell craters in front of the Trenches, they were actually lying down to shoot and reload, then shooting again, without needing to stand up at all.

There were also some soldiers who, after entering the range of their Flintlocks, ran like snakes.

When they encountered danger, they would lie on the ground and advance like geckos, occasionally lying on the ground to fire.

Approaching their Trenches, these soldiers threw explosive firearms into them.

Under such an offensive, their soldiers simply could not hold on.

Although their troop strength was eight or nine times that of the enemy.

However, such a large force could not be deployed on the battlefield all at once.

The remaining soldiers could only be used as reserves, replenished into the Trenches time and time again.

Therefore, suddenly facing such a fierce attack, after the Yan Wang soldiers jumped into the first row of Trenches, their soldiers immediately collapsed.

The soldiers in the front row no longer resisted, but fled toward the back rows.

"Bastards, a bunch of cowards!" Liang Tong shouted in a rage, "Reserves, send in the reserves! You must block their attack!"

Yet, his roar was powerless.

The Shizu soldiers in the Trenches were disintegrating at an astonishing speed, as if they had lost their fighting spirit overnight.

Because during the shelling, they still held onto a glimmer of hope that perhaps they would not be blown to death.

But now that the Yan Wang Army had launched an attack, they had no way out.

Either die in battle, or surrender.

Between the two, many low-ranking soldiers chose to surrender.

Although Liang Tong forbade them from picking up the slips of paper, the slips still spread among the soldiers.

After all, on a battlefield where one is bored and might die at any moment, the slips of paper themselves could also relieve boredom.

But because of this, the will of more soldiers was affected.

Furthermore, before the war broke out, the affairs in the three southeastern prefectures had already dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the aristocratic soldiers.

The matter of land redistribution in the three southeastern prefectures had long since spread through the army.

Their generals had consistently denied the fact of land redistribution in Jiangbei, but now it could no longer be hidden.

"Kill!"

The roars of the Prince's Personal Army soldiers grew louder and louder.

They entered the second Trench from the first, then occupied the third Trench, getting closer and closer to the Jiangxia city walls.

And under these seven days of bombardment, the Jiangxia city walls had already collapsed in many places.

Chasing the routed aristocratic soldiers to the edge of the city walls, the Prince's Personal Army soldiers charged into Jiangxia city without hesitation.

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