Chapter 915 Siege
On July 16th, all the bones are bound.
In one week, the Great Xia army reached the foot of the Somali royal city in just one week.
At the same time, the Atlantic Fleet led by Álvaro also completed the blockade of the sea area around Mugudusu, and the entire royal city was besieged by the Great Xia army.
During this period, the Somali territorial army also thought about sniping the Xia army on the way to reduce the pressure on the royal city.
But it didn't work.
Whether it's solid fortifications, ambush traps set by the terrain, or even poisoning in the water, the famous general Di Qing can easily crack them all.
The Black Snake Guard's meticulous intelligence work made the Daxia army march in Somalia like a stroll in a garden. Where there are mountains, where there are rivers, where there are canyons, and where there are deserts, all the information about the arms, military deployment, and logistics supply points of the Somali territories are all controlled by the Black Snake Guard.
This is destined to be an unequal war.
The local resistance of the territorial army is doomed to be futile, like a praying man's arms.
The Somali army is not a master of tactics. Many times, Di Qing's generals take advantage of them and beat them into a panic. In terms of tactics, Somalia has no generals who can match Di Qing.
Even the fierce general Lu Bu can completely blow up the enemy generals.
This advantage is overwhelming, and victory cannot be won by a strong will to resist.
Just yesterday, the Somali Imperial Guards conducted their last sniper battle outside the city, but it still ended in a disastrous defeat. The dispirited Somali coalition forces finally had no choice but to obediently retreat to the royal city and became a shackle.
The successive victories also ensured the logistics of the Daxia army.
The officials of the dynasty almost followed behind the army, accepting them city by city, even towns and villages. The core task was to raise food and grass for the frontline army.
At the same time, the food and supplies purchased by Daxia through the caravan also arrived at the Port of the Brave one by one.
The two major supplies go hand in hand, forming a stable grain and grass supply route from Friendship City to Mugudushu, and continuously transporting a large amount of grain and grass to the front line.
This is also the reason why Di Qing didn't lead his troops to attack Wangcheng directly, but swept all the way. In the ancient battlefield, only the city has the ability to raise food and grass for the army.
An army that has been marching in the wilderness is like a tree without roots, and it will never last long.
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What about outside the battlefield?
Just as Ouyang Shuo expected, during this week of fighting, the surrounding countries of Somalia were silent.
Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti...
There was no sound.
No African lord dared to stand up and speak out for Somalia. Everyone just silently watched this powerful dynasty from the East conquer Somalia with iron hoofs and crush the "rebellion" with awe.
The African continent fell into a deathly silence.
Even the sea breeze that blows across the mainland has a breath of death, without a hint of coolness.
The Mediterranean lord was also in a complicated mood, and he didn't even feel like negotiating with the Great Xia envoy. Violet is also very "understanding" and agrees to temporarily suspend the negotiations.
Everything will be known when the war in Somalia comes to an end.
The Great Xia Dynasty has never been so awe-inspiring. The local army can easily slaughter several cities and destroy a country without even dispatching much, making the world's lords lose their voices.
In addition to admiration, there is only awe.
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Barracks outside the city.
Di Qing, dressed in military uniform, looked up at the Xiongcheng not far away, expressionless. The mask on his face gave the army a different kind of charm, making the soldiers in awe.
The wooden bones are bundled, the last hard bone.
Attacking the king city seems to be a deadlock. The rules of the national war determine that both sides will not die. Except for the fire attack technique like the battle of Morocco, the two sides cannot stop without draining the last drop of blood.
This kind of mentality is a huge hidden danger for both the defending side and the attacking side. A bad one may cause heavy losses, and the gains outweigh the losses.
During the First World War in Somalia, Di Qing tried to solve this problem.
Di Qing's tactic is not worth mentioning, but it is also very simple, that is, "siege". The so-called siege means to surround without attacking, trapping the enemy in the city, and the enemy will be destroyed without attacking for a long time.
"Sun Tzu's Art of War" has a saying: "Ten can encircle, five can attack, double can fight, enemy can be divided, less can be defended, and less can be avoided."
It means that to encircle an enemy army, ten times the enemy's strength is required.
These statements are not absolute, and the Battle of Changping was an exception. The god of killing Bai Qi took advantage of the favorable location to trap the Zhao army with the same force, creating a miracle in the history of war.
Right now, there are 80,000 forbidden soldiers, 50,000 territorial troops, and 100,000 combat professional players stationed in Mugudushu City. In terms of the number of troops alone, the number of coalition forces even exceeds that of the Great Xia army.
Although the Great Xia Army is claimed to be 200,000, but the real defense in Mugudu is only 150,000.
In addition to leaving 20,000 troops to guard Friendship City to prevent people with ulterior motives from raiding the old nest, Di Qing also arranged a full 10,000 troops to supervise the transportation of food and grass along the way.
There will always be riots and attacks of one kind or another in the newly occupied cities. If there is no large army to hold the line, the food transportation team may riot in minutes.
In order to save manpower, those who are responsible for transporting food are all conscripted laborers on the spot, and there is a lot of resentment.
Fortunately, ordinary people dare not have any thoughts in front of the regular army. Di Qing had already said that once there was a riot, he would be punished and even sit down.
The laborers from the same village, as long as one person participates in the riot, the whole village will slaughter him.
The food transportation route is the lifeline of the army, and Di Qing must use iron and blood methods to subdue the mob.
After the army arrived at Mugudushu, Di Qing arranged for another 10,000-strong cavalry to bypass Mugudushu and continue southward to sweep away the remaining cities in Somalia.
Coupled with the troops guarding the prisoners of war along the way, there are only 150,000 people who can really participate in the battle, including the fourth formation of the Atlantic Fleet led by Álvaro.
As for the fifth formation, it shoulders the same heavy responsibility as the defenders of Friendship City. It is stationed in the waters near Port of the Brave and defends the core hub of Friendship City.
Friendship City is the link between the dynasty and Somalia, and it is far away from all the bones, and the surrounding situation is complicated. Di Qing has to be cautious to prevent anyone from taking risks.
If someone attacked Friendship City, it would definitely be bad news for the Great Xia Expeditionary Army.
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Fortunately, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" does not talk about the simple number of troops, but to convert it into a comparison of troops.
Considering factors such as generals, equipment, morale, and tactical literacy, it is roughly estimated that the "strength" of the 150,000 Daxia army is about four times that of the Somali coalition army.
Obviously, this is far from meeting the tactical conditions of "surrounded by ten".
Fortunately, this is a national war, and the Great Xia army has a natural advantage, that is, the Somali coalition army has no way to retreat at this time, even if they break out, it will be a dead end.
When the southward cavalry sweeps through the southern part of Somalia, all other parts of Somalia will fall into the hands of Daxia except for the wooden bones.
Therefore, Mugudushu is a real lonely city.
If the Somali coalition forces want to break through, where will they break through? Everywhere is a dead end.
They have only one fight.
Therefore, Di Qing was not in a hurry, and set up camp outside the city, surrounding the wooden bones so that nothing could leak out. While there was still time, the army even began to build fortifications to prevent the Somali coalition forces from jumping over the wall in a hurry.
Di Qing is not in a hurry, and there is another decisive factor, that is, this war will not be disturbed by the outside world.
In the battle of Morocco, Daxia was the one who provoked the war for no reason. It was morally untenable, and the situation in the Mediterranean was very sensitive, and it was facing the rush of the Mediterranean army at any time. Therefore, the battle must be resolved quickly.
Only in this way did Jia Xu's strategy of attacking with fire, using a trick in exchange for time.
It is different now, the king of Somalia broke his promise first, morality is on the side of the Great Xia Dynasty, and other countries have no reason to interfere in this national war, so Di Qing is given room to play.
Therefore, what determines the success or failure of a war is by no means limited to war skills. The Great Xia Dynasty already knew how to use diplomatic means appropriately to serve the war and reduce the pressure on the front line.
This is the sign of a great country.
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After the siege, Di Qing, like a seasoned hunter, began to wait patiently, waiting for the city to be chaotic, waiting for the chess pieces buried in the city by Daxia to play a role, waiting for the changes he expected to appear on the battlefield.
During this period, Di Qing did nothing.
Although the early sweep went smoothly, it also exposed many problems of the Somali Corps. In order to avoid chaos, in addition to Moroccan prisoners of war, the members of the Corps were also mixed with other field army soldiers.
If you say so, the entire corps is a "mixed army" of various nationalities, a bit similar to the former Qin army in the Battle of Feishui, and the core backbone is all mid-level generals transferred from other field armies.
Such a force naturally has a process of mutual integration and adaptation.
Although in order to allow the prisoners of war to smoothly integrate into the new environment, Gaia will fuzzify the prisoners of war to reduce the obstacles to reorganization as much as possible, but objective difficulties still exist.
In the previous battles, if there were no Imperial Guards standing by, troubles would probably have occurred.
In addition, Morocco's weapons and equipment, training system, military regulations, etc. are completely different from those of the Great Xia Dynasty, and the new prisoners of war also need a process of adaptation.
Fortunately, Gaia eliminated the language barrier in the military, otherwise it would be impossible to integrate.
Taking advantage of the time of the siege, Di Qing kept an eye on the movement in the city while speeding up the rectification of the corps to eliminate hidden dangers as much as possible.
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One day, two days, one week...
Ten days passed in a flash, the entire battlefield was dead silent, and the two sides faced each other silently. This time, the soldiers and civilians in the city were in a hurry, and the food reserves were getting less and less, and it seemed that they would not be able to last for long.
As mentioned earlier, the population of each royal city is astonishing. If there is no external material supply, the royal city will suffer from famine within half a month at most.
Three days ago, Mugu Dushu began to implement the material collection response. Even so, I'm afraid it won't last ten days and half a month. Hunger began to descend on the city, and commotion grew.