Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 470 Thor's Hammer!

"Won?"

Lin Dao, who had squeezed time from elsewhere to get here, learned as soon as he arrived that the Shu army had won again.

"It was Sima Yi who took the initiative to withdraw his troops."

Prime Minister Zhuge explained, "Seeing that fighting recklessly in the open field would not lead to victory, he took the initiative to lead his troops in a retreat."

Chen Shou said that Prime Minister Zhuge was not good at military strategy, which was in comparison to those top experts.

Moreover, during Chen Shou's time, the Shu Kingdom was far weaker than the Wei Kingdom, which made it difficult for Prime Minister Zhuge Liang to implement his strategies in many situations.

But things are different now.

Prime Minister Zhuge Liang had all the advantages: favorable timing, advantageous location, and popular support.

Without any ingenious schemes or clever plans, they simply relied on sheer strength to overwhelm Sima Yi, forcing him to retreat.

"During wartime."

"Our troops are in high spirits and will fight to the death."

"Cao Cao's troops are difficult to harm with their bows and crossbows, and their morale is low, so they are defeated in every battle."

"Sima Yi had no choice but to retreat and regroup."

Prime Minister Zhuge pointed out on the map, "He didn't retreat far; his main camp is only a few dozen miles away."

"Troops were stationed in cities along the way, and small groups of men were constantly sent to harass them."

"Oh." Lin Dao nodded in realization. "Layer upon layer of delays to buy time."

Here, Prime Minister Zhuge waved his feather fan and said, "Zihou is indeed a man who understands military affairs."

"Sima Yi only resorted to delaying and exhausting our troops because he could not win in a direct confrontation."

"To break this strategy, we must rely on Zihou."

Lin Dao understood what he meant.

Sima Yi's move was the purest form of attrition warfare.

You can go to Luoyang, but you have to take down all the cities, strongholds, military posts, and hilltops along the way.

Otherwise, once the main army has passed through, the supply lines behind it will be blocked.

Even if you are invincible in an attack, you will still have to spend time, energy, and the blood and lives of your soldiers.

This would allow the Wei state in the rear to have more time and energy to concentrate more forces to fight back.

In modern terms, this is trading space for time.

It must be said that Sima Yi chose the right path to deal with the situation when the Wei army was unable to win.

However, there's a cheater on the other side~~~
"no problem."

Lin Dao immediately agreed, "I will provide logistical support."

When a large army is on a campaign, the worst thing is to be caught in a scorched-earth policy and have its supply lines cut off.

Without food, no matter how powerful an army is, it will all meet the same end.

With Lin Dao acting as a human-shaped supply transport node, the large army's weakness instantly became its strongest point.

Not only does it eliminate the risk of logistical routes being cut off, but it also directly eliminates logistical risks and threats, enhancing strategic mobility.

As a result, when Sima Yi watched helplessly as the Shu army sped towards Luoyang like lightning, he was not anxious at all; on the contrary, he was overjoyed.

He felt that Prime Minister Zhuge had either gone mad or become arrogant, disregarding logistical supply lines and forcibly attacking Luoyang.

That's suicide!
Sima Yi swiftly led his troops to cut off the Shu army's retreat and severed their connection with Tongguan.

At the same time, he sent a messenger to Cao Rui, firmly demanding that the area around Luoyang be fortified with a scorched earth policy, so that the Shu army would not be able to find even a single grain of food.

Cao Rui fully agreed with Sima Yi's opinion.

The people and soldiers around Luoyang were all moved into various cities.

He even ordered that all the unripe grain in the fields be burned.

Faced with the crisis of national annihilation, he also became ruthless.

At this time, Chen Qun returned successfully from his mission to the State of Wu, bringing back good news.

Sun Quan not only agreed to a temporary reconciliation with Wei, but also sent envoys to Shu, demanding that Shu withdraw its troops, otherwise he would join Wei in attacking Shu.

This is what a tripartite balance of power looks like.

Once that foot stands up, it will immediately be suppressed by the combined force of the other two.

When Cao Wei was powerful, Eastern Wu could maintain close relations with Shu and fight against Cao Wei together.

But now that Shu has risen in power, Eastern Wu is not happy about it.

Sun Quan understood very well that once the fragile balance of the Three-Body Problem was broken, the consequences would be disastrous.

Unless you are the one who breaks the balance!

Moreover, Cao Xiu's army finally made it back after a great deal of effort.

Although the group fell behind significantly due to the forced march, they eventually arrived in Luoyang one after another.

In addition, there were county and prefectural troops, border troops stationed for farming, and private armies of powerful families, all converging on Luoyang.

Meanwhile, Zhuge Liang led his army deep into enemy territory and reached the outskirts of Luoyang.

Sima Yi, however, severed its connection with the rear.

Strategically speaking, Wei, which had been repeatedly defeated by Shu, had actually formed a strategic encirclement around Luoyang, surrounding the main force of Shu.

Once we can use our superior strength to defeat the main force of Shu, we can not only take back everything we have lost, but also launch a counterattack and invade Shu!

Because of this change in the strategic environment, Cao Rui, who had previously been bedridden, even regained his color and was able to get up and drink millet porridge.

Then~~~
'Crunch~ Crunch~~'

Outside Luoyang, the creaking sound of metal tracks grinding against the ground was piercingly loud.

Lin Dao, driving a self-propelled cannon from the Flower Series, parked this behemoth only two miles from the Luoyang city wall.

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, Lin Dao called out to Wei Yan, "Load the ammunition!"

The shells for a 152mm caliber artillery piece can weigh up to 100 kilograms.

This thing is definitely something that only a strong man can lift.

Lin Dao lowered the cannon barrel, pointing it toward the distant Luoyang city wall.

Once aimed and locked on, a flame several meters long erupted from the dark muzzle of the cannon.

The high-explosive warhead tore through the air at an unprecedented speed, whistling as it crashed into the city wall. The deafening explosion was like a bolt from the blue.

The flames and smoke instantly obscured a large section of the nearby city wall.

Everyone who witnessed this scene and heard the thunderous sound had a single thought in their mind.

Thor's hammer has come crashing down!

Lin Dao originally wanted to use armor-piercing shells, since the seller had given away armor-piercing shells the most when he bought the self-propelled gun.

However, it was impossible to find a suitable target for such a large-caliber armor-piercing projectile.

Lin Dao fired a total of three high-explosive shells, all of which landed in the same spot.

Once the smoke cleared, the experienced Jiang Wei led his armored soldiers forward in formation.

They crossed the moat that had long been filled in, stepped onto the slope formed by the collapsed city wall, and headed into the city.

The smell of gunpowder was extremely pungent, and even though all the soldiers were wearing masks, they were still coughing from the fumes.

The advantage is that this pungent smoke is indiscriminate, affecting both friend and foe.

This not only provokes the Shu soldiers, but also the Wei army that wants to plug the gap.

Without masks, the Wei army was choked by the smoke and could only watch helplessly as large numbers of Shu troops poured into the city.

In the era of cold weapons, the main battleground for siege warfare was the city walls.

With the city walls breached, the defenders' morale was also shattered.

Not to mention, the fact that the walls of Luoyang were breached by lightning this time caused a significant drop in the morale of the Wei army.

When the Shu army entered the city, the defending troops, mainly composed of Cao Xiu's soldiers, were immediately thrown into panic and almost all collapsed at the first touch.

After all, they had traveled a long way back and hadn't even had time to rest before going to the city walls to defend the city.

At this point, morale had been severely damaged, and the troops were simply unable to continue fighting.

Cao Rui was drinking porridge when he learned of the city's fall.

Then a mouthful of porridge mixed with fresh blood was spat out.

After being rescued and awakened, Cao Rui took Cao Xiu and Cao Shuang's hands and instructed them to take Cao Mu, the Prince of Fanyang, and quickly escape from the city to cross the river to Ye City.

"The land south of the Yellow River no longer belongs to the state."

"Immediately order Sima Yi's troops to cross the river northward and join the others."

"If we cannot hold out, we can retreat to the plains, Nanpi, and Ji."

Cao Xiu pressed further, "If even Ji cannot be defended, where should we retreat to?"

"We can retreat to Xiangping."

Cao Shuang pressed further, "After Xiangping, where can we retreat to?"

Cao Rui, lying on the bed, opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. His head lolled to the side and he was lifeless.

This emperor of Cao Wei was so enraged by a series of terrible news that he died of anger.

He never understood why the Shu Kingdom was so powerful, defeating Cao Wei so thoroughly that they couldn't even put up a fight.

From the time Zhuge Liang launched his Northern Expeditions, Cao Wei was left with nothing but being beaten.

Cao Xiu, Cao Shuang, and others wept and wailed in grief.
After a while, they got up and found the infant Prince Cao Mu of Fanyang. Under the protection of their guards, they found the city gate and broke out of the city.

The Shu army camp outside the city.

"Prime Minister, do not forget our agreement."

Sitting in the four-wheeled carriage, Prime Minister Zhuge looked up and met Lin Dao's gaze. "Zihou, isn't this going a bit too far?"

"Oh?"

Lin Dao responded with a half-smile, "Does the Prime Minister think the situation is settled and wants to back out?"

"If you want to back out, fine, then I'll do it myself!"

He wasn't threatening; he was stating the facts.

If Prime Minister Zhuge refuses to honor the agreement, then Lin Dao will send over a batch of Young Pioneers and start a Red Turban Rebellion.

We'll wipe out Wei, Shu, and Wu all at once.

Prime Minister Zhuge sighed.

He understood that Lin Dao was not threatening him, but stating the facts.

That's really what they think, and they really have the ability to do it!

After careful consideration, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang had no choice but to decide: it's better to sacrifice a friend than himself.
"remember."

"The bones of nobles and officials are trampled on the streets, and the imperial treasury is burned to ashes!"

"If I fail to kill all those powerful clans, I will use your Shu Kingdom's high-ranking officials to fill the gaps."

"You know me; I always do what I say I will do."

"By the way, don't kill the Sima family members. Tie them all up and send them to the banks of the Luo River to wait for me."

Having said that, Lin Dao stopped talking nonsense and turned to leave.

Not far away, Zhao Yun and more than a thousand cavalrymen had been waiting for a long time.

"Walk."

Lin Dao mounted his horse and shouted, "Let's go capture Sima Yi!"

Sima Yi's troops were not far away, less than a hundred miles away.

No matter how he calculates it, Zhuge Liang is doomed this time.

With troops stationed beneath the fortified city, supplies and external aid cut off, and Wei troops constantly arriving from all directions.

In such a situation, even if Han Xin and Sun Tzu were resurrected, or if Bai Qi and Wang Jian were to come out together, they would be powerless to deal with it.

He put himself in their shoes and thought about it many times, but he couldn't think of any way to turn things around.

But for some reason, I always had a vague feeling of unease, as if something bad was about to happen.

Until the roar of the engine, accompanied by the trembling of the earth, came.

Sima Yi, having left the main tent, looked incredulously at a mountain not far from the camp that was rumbling toward him.

A mountain that gleams with a dazzling metallic luster under the sunlight!

(End of this chapter)