In this realistic war game, only I understand the course of the battle.

He saw Zhao Laoliu walking over, looked up and said, "Li Baihu wants you to come in."

The tent was brightly lit by an oil lamp. Shen Du sat behind a desk, with a newly drawn sketch spread out in front of him.

The map is densely marked with the topography of Jinan City—Lishan Mountain is to the east of the city, Luoshui River is to the west, open land is to the south, and the old course of the Yellow River is to the north.

He placed the silver token and command flag given to him by Zhu Neng next to the map and looked up at the person who walked in.

"Please sit down," Shen Du said.

Zhao Laoliu, Gu Zhang, Zheng Biao, and several train captains who had followed them all the way from Dezhou sat down around the sketch.

These people were still recovering from their injuries, but no one mentioned them. They knew that Shen Du hadn't called them here in the middle of the night to celebrate a victory.

"Dezhou has been taken. But Jinan is different."

Shen Du cut to the chase, pointing his dagger at the city of Jinan in the center of the sketch.

"Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan are both capable of fighting tough battles."

Sheng Yong had at least 200,000 troops under his command, with Tie Xuan in charge of logistics and city defense.

Jinan's city defenses did not have the interconnected structure of the Twelve Linked Cities, but the city walls were higher and stronger, and there was a moat outside the city, with several auxiliary cities supporting each other on the east side of the moat.

"To defeat Jinan, courage alone isn't enough; we need something new."

His dagger moved northwest from Jinan City and stopped on an open space next to the Luo River.

"I'm going to the camp of the Duoyan Three Guards early tomorrow morning."

We need to develop a new mixed infantry and cavalry combat tactic before we reach Jinan.

The infantry are responsible for breaching the defenses, while the cavalry will advance through the breach. The objective is to break through the eastern outpost's blockade and force Sheng Yong's main force back into the city.

"Will the three guards of Duoyan be willing to cooperate?" Zhao Laoliu took down his pipe and asked earnestly.

"Huo Zhen agreed," Shen Du said, "but he has to bring alcohol."

Gu Zhang couldn't help but chuckle, and after laughing, he asked, "How do you organize a mixed infantry and cavalry force?"

Shen Du drew several lines on the paper with the tip of his knife.

"The infantry were organized into small groups, each equipped with a pointed wooden donkey or battering ram, responsible for breaking open the auxiliary city gate and the antlers."

The mounted archers of the Doyan Three Guards followed behind the infantry, firing arrows from the opening to suppress the enemy.

The walls of the auxiliary city are not high. A volley of arrows from the horse archers below the walls can scatter the defenders on the top of the walls, making it even easier for the battering rams to climb up.

The key is rhythm—the infantry breaching obstacles, the mounted archers suppressing the enemy, and the infantry scaling the walls—these three actions must be executed seamlessly without any gaps in between.

He sheathed his dagger and glanced at everyone sitting around the sketch.

There are no existing battle examples to refer to for this tactic.

From now until we get to Jinan, we have less than ten days to master this skill.

These comrades who followed us from Baigou River all the way to Dezhou, we were hoping to lead them to the very end in the Battle of Jinan.

Starting tomorrow, we'll practice in groups from 4 AM every day. Infantry will practice obstacle-clearing speed, and mounted archers will practice shooting at stationary targets from the swaying backs of horses. During combined training, we'll focus on smooth transitions.

The next day, at the fourth watch, at the camp of the Duoyan Three Guards.

Huo Zhen sat by the campfire, watching Shen Du place a jar of sorghum liquor in front of him. The mud seal on the jar was broken, and the aroma of the liquor mingled with the morning mist. Huo Zhen sniffed, his eyes lighting up.

"Good wine," he said in broken Mandarin. "So, how many do you want?"

"First, borrow fifty elite cavalrymen and divide them into five teams."

"Each team is assigned 15 to 20 infantrymen to form an assault group, and they will train with us for five days," Shen Du said.

Huo Zhen drew a dagger from his waist and drew a circle on the muddy ground beside the campfire. Inside the circle, he drew a horse, and behind the horse, he drew a person.

"The archery skills of the Three Guards of Doyan are like wolves on the grasslands."

Infantry are like sheep on the ground. How can wolves and sheep fight together?

Shen Du took Huo Zhen's dagger and drew a wall outside the circle, with several crenellations drawn on the wall.

He drew a four-wheeled vehicle with a canopy directly in front of the wall, with an arc on the canopy labeled "Wet Hide". He then drew an arrow that looked like a springboard from the canopy upwards, followed by several small figures, and behind the figures was the horse.

"The walls of the auxiliary city are low, and when mounted archers fire arrows from below the walls, their horses are easily startled."

But with the pointed wooden donkey blocking the way, things were different. The foot soldiers pushed the pointed wooden donkey, knocking aside the deer antlers and breaking through the stockade wall.

At this moment, the archers of the Doyan Three Guards nocked their arrows from the rear and unleashed a volley of arrows at the breach, suppressing the defenders inside the breach.

Then the infantry scaled the wall and secured the crenellations, while the mounted archers charged through the gaps, penetrating the rear defenses.

Huo Zhen looked at the drawing on the muddy ground, and the tip of the dagger in his mouth twirled beside the torch.

He drew his dagger and drew a line between the infantry and cavalry, then drew a meandering arrow outside the line to indicate that the cavalry would flank from the side.

"Infantry block the front, cavalry flank. You open the gap, I'll stab your rear." Huo Zhen grinned. "This battle is fightable."

Five days later, on the drill ground.

Shen Du stood on the command platform, looking down at the five assault teams composed of the Po Cheng Camp and the Duo Yan Three Guards.

Each group was led by a veteran of the Pocheng Camp, followed by twelve to fifteen infantrymen, and then ten mounted archers from the Doyan Three Guards.

The infantry pushed a modified, pointed wooden donkey—its canopy was thickened with wet cowhide, its axles replaced with iron shafts, and firing ports were added to the side panels. The mounted archers, instead of carrying scimitars, had three quivers of arrows and a recurve bow hanging from their saddles.

The rammed earth walls of the simulated auxiliary city have been erected, with antlers and simple moats placed in front of them.

"First group—break through the barrier!" Shen Du ordered.

Zhao Laoliu led his foot soldiers, pushing the pointed wooden donkey out. Short-handled axes chopped at the deer antlers, and sacks filled the trenches; the whole process was twice as fast as at Baojia Camp. The moment the pointed wooden donkey crashed into the rammed earth wall, the climbers had already scaled the roof and scaled it.

"Mounted archery - suppress!" Shen Du roared.

Ten mounted archers from the Three Guards of Doyan charged out from the side and rear of the pointed wooden donkey, simultaneously drawing their bows on the swaying backs of their horses. The sound of their arrows piercing the air was compressed into a single, uniform neigh. Almost at the same time, the arrows of the ten men struck the wooden target behind the crenellation, riddling the target with countless arrows.

"Change formation—flanking maneuver!"

Mounted archers circled around the infantry from both sides, while fast horses outflanked the target wall from both flanks. At the same time, the infantry scaled the wall and secured the crenellations, while hand axes pressed down from above. The entire sequence of actions took only two breaths—faster than Shen Du had requested.

Shen Du stood on the command platform, looking at the infantry and cavalry below who were still panting, his expression remaining calm. He pulled out a newly written military report from his sleeve and handed it to the messenger beside him.

"To General Zhu Neng: The combined assault tactics of the City-Breaking Battalion and the Three Guards of Duoyan have taken initial shape. We request that they be formally deployed in the battles surrounding Jinan."

Jinan. Shandong Provincial Administration Office.

Tie Xuan had been studying the city defense map for two consecutive hours.

The candlesticks on the table had been replaced three times, the ink in the inkstone had been refilled four times, and the white silk painting depicting the defenses of Jinan had been densely covered with corrections made with a vermilion brush.