On the tenth day of the Battle of Muye, the capital of the Shang Dynasty sang a song. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Chaoge City, which means singing the dawn, welcoming the rising sun, and thriving.

Facing the rising sun and bathed in the warm sunshine, the Shang Dynasty army set off from the south city gate and marched to Muye. The army included more than 40,000 Inhuman legions, 100,000 slave crossbowmen, 10,000 Su Guards, 6,000 royal guards, and 12 war elephants, with a total strength of more than 150,000.

The Shang Dynasty war elephant appeared for the first time, which brought a great shock to Ouyang Shuo and his lords.

The elephant was clad in armor made of rhinoceros skin and hardwood, with a bronze face and a sharp spear tied to its tusks. The war elephant carries a wooden war tower shaped like a chariot on its back, on which are a driver, two archers, and two changgo.

Such a giant beast armed to the teeth is simply a human bulldozer on the battlefield, no one can stop its edge, and wherever the war elephant passes, it will definitely leave a bloody path.

The only regret is that there are too few war elephants, and most of the elephant arrays are still fighting with Dongyi in the east. Otherwise, the chariot troops of the Zhou army would not be a cause for concern at all.

If the Su Guard is the elite of the dynasty, then the Royal Guard is the elite of the elite. They followed the Shang king Emperor Xin, fought a hundred battles in the south, and made great achievements. The members of the guard, all of whom were children of nobles, were the real sons of the Shang Dynasty and were loyal to the Shang king.

The soldiers of the Su Guards and the Royal Guards were filled with righteous indignation at the rebellion of the Zhou State and the alliance of princes, and for their shameless behavior of taking advantage of the situation and ignoring the threat of external troubles, and were determined to resolutely defend the glory of the Shang Dynasty with the spear in their hands. Their morale was high and their fighting spirit was boiling.

The people of Chaoge lined up at the city gate to see off the soldiers who went out on the expedition. Whether it is the Su Guard or the Royal Guard, they are all the children of Chaoge, and they are the real Shang people, not the slave army can compare.

Emperor Xin, the king of Shang, rode in a chariot inlaid with gold, silver and precious stones.

The mighty army, the flags are fluttering, the spears are numerous, and the army is solemn. Rows after rows of troops passed through the southern gate and walked onto the official road leading to Makino Castle, stirring up puffs of dust.

The people on both sides of the road spontaneously danced to pray to the gods to see off the army. They prayed to the spirits and gods to protect their sons and daughters who went out on the expedition, so that they could return safely. For in the city there were their parents, their wives, and their young children, waiting for their sons, husbands, and fathers to come home and be reunited.

Sitting on a golden chariot, Di Xin waved to the people, drawing cheers. Their king, though brutal, though stubborn, though moody, but their king, with great military achievements, did not abandon his own people, but rode his own army, which was enough to be supported by the people.

When rows of slave legions armed with strong crossbows appeared, the people screamed in amazement. As the last slave dynasty in Chinese history, slaves had a very low status in society, they were captives, commodities, goods, and livestock, but they were not regarded as "people".

One can imagine what kind of impact such a group of non-"people" will have on ordinary people, merchants, nobles and slave owners when they are issued with strong crossbows and trained into an army.

If it weren't for the fact that the Shang Dynasty had reached a life-and-death moment, then there would definitely be a large group of people who would have stood up against the Shang Dynasty's approach, because it had already violated the vital interests of the nobles and slave owners.

They were able to be selected from among the 700,000 slaves, all of whom were relatively strong and obedient slaves. They walked in the middle of the array, frightened, and very uncomfortable at the gaze of the people around them, as if they were walking naked on the street.

They are far from adapting to their new identity.

A slave-turned-evil general, he is at the forefront of the crossbowman army. This fierce general, with excellent martial arts and great strength, was also warmly welcomed by the people.

At the back of the line is the Inhuman Legion. The cavalry unit, although somewhat damaged in the previous battle, was still the most powerful force, walking at the forefront of the legion.

Immediately after the cavalry troops, there were 20,000 sword and shield troops, one phalanx after another, stepping on the same beat, passing through the south city gate, the peak military appearance, exquisite armor, all of which were moving.

The army walked on the official road, and there was no end in sight. The front army had already arrived in Makino, and the rear army had not yet passed through the south gate of Asaka Castle. On the official road, there are all rows of troops, and there is no room for any pedestrians.

It wasn't until three o'clock in the afternoon that the last row of sword and shield soldiers arrived in Makino.

Makino was a small city, with dilapidated and low walls, simply made of loess, and had little defense. It's just that as the last gateway to the capital court, Makino will be so crucial.

The army did not enter the city at all, and camped directly in the southern suburbs. One by one, the camp tents occupied all the plains, high slopes, and valleys in the southern suburbs, and they were densely packed, almost enclosing the entire city of Makino.

At this time, the southern suburbs have already been unrecognizable, with trenches one meter wide and two meters deep, covering the entire southern suburbs, separated from each other, less than 100 meters, and the overall span is 1,000 meters, almost eliminating the possibility of chariot charge. And such a trench will not affect the cavalry attack.

Emperor Xin, the king of Shang, stationed in the government of Makino Castle, used this place as the temporary headquarters of the army.

The people of Makino City, including 600,000 slaves, had all been transferred to Chaoge so as not to consume the grain and grass stored in the city, and it was also a careful work to prevent the Zhou Dynasty. The entire Makino Castle suddenly became a military fortress, and in addition to the soldiers, only the logistics personnel responsible for the grain and grass were left.

The royal guards, who took over the guarding of the palace, must ensure the safety of the Shang Emperor Xin.

That night, Di Xin was in the palace and gathered all the generals to discuss tomorrow's arrangement. Ouyang Shuo, as a representative of the aliens, was honored to attend this military meeting.

In fact, at this time, Ouyang Shuo had already become a celebrity in front of the Shang King Di Xin, and his status was far beyond the authority of the Yiren representative, and many of his suggestions could be adopted by Di Xin.

Of course, many of Ouyang Shuo's strategies are indispensable behind the frustration.

……

Mengjin, Yong, Lu, Peng, Pu, Shu, Qiang, Wei, Ji and other princes finally led their troops to arrive.

After gathering all the princes, in Mengjin, King Wu of Zhou and the princes of all walks of life held an anti-business oath meeting.

At the oath-taking meeting, King Wu of Zhou issued a document discussing the consultation, listing six crimes of the king of Shang: the first is alcoholism; The second is that there is no need for noble relatives and old ministers; the third is to reuse villains; the fourth is to listen to women; the fifth is faith that destiny is in heaven; The sixth is not to pay attention to sacrifices.

A small western state under the rule of the Shang Dynasty openly accused the lord of the crime, and even such a life habit as alcohol could be included in it, which shows how hypocritical the Zhou State was. is obviously committing chaos and rebellion, but he wants to package himself as the embodiment of justice.

Subsequently, a grand sacrificial ceremony was held, and King Wu of Zhou and other tribal leaders swore an oath to the heavens and swore to destroy Yin Shang. The sacrificial ritual was also a living sacrifice, but the sacrifice was exchanged for a captive of the Shang Dynasty.

After the sacrifice, Bingfeng pointed directly at Makino.

The army dispatched by the Western Zhou Dynasty included 300 chariots, 3,000 royal guards and 45,000 armor soldiers. These were truly regular troops, with well-trained, experienced soldiers, disciplined and well-equipped. Together with the armament of the princes, the total strength reached 70,000. In addition to this, there are more than 50,000 Inhuman legions.

Even so, the weapons and equipment of the Zhou army were still far inferior to those of the Shang army. The bronze smelting and manufacturing level of the merchants was extremely high, and the bronze weapons and armor they produced were of excellent quality, and their performance far exceeded that of the Zhou army.

This is especially true of infantry armor. The merchant army had popularized the armor made of bronze and rhinoceros leather, especially the bronze helmet was the standard equipment of the merchant army soldiers at that time, and its structural design, manufacturing process, product quality and protection were second to none in the world even in the same period.

However, the Zhou army of the same period only had ordinary leather armor and even wooden armor, and even the noble officers and guards of the Zhou army did not have bronze armor, and the two were not the same in terms of protection.

Of course, compared to the slave army in history, which had almost no armor and only a bronze ge, although the Zhou army was inferior to the Shang army, it was much stronger than the slave army in history.

Zhou and Shang are feuds and long-cherished enemies.

Among them, there is the feud between the Shang royal family against King Wu of Zhou for three consecutive generations of killing his father, slaughtering his father, and punishing his brother, and there is also the struggle for territory, population and ruling power between the two countries due to Shang's repeated expeditions to Zhou.

Therefore, whether it is between the royal families of the two sides, between the state and the people, the two sides have always been filthy. By the time of King Wu of Zhou, the whole country of the Western Zhou Dynasty had a deep blood feud against Shang for at least a hundred years.

This time, the Western Zhou Dynasty spared no expense and made a desperate bet to pour out all the troops that could be used in the country. Therefore, the Zhou people had no way out, and once defeated, the consequences would be unimaginable. In the army, from the king of martial arts to the soldiers, their morale and morale are extremely high and unified.

The princes also dispatched the most elite and powerful regular army in their country.

Since the founding of the country, Shang has continuously conquest neighboring countries, tribes and ethnic groups. The purpose is to expand the territory and plunder the population. In addition to increasing slaves and expanding production, an important purpose of plundering the population was to obtain living sacrifices for theocratic divination and sacrifice, or to obtain living people for burial for nobles.

The theocratic rule of the Yin Shang was extremely severe, and human sacrifices were often required. And these "materials" also pay attention to "quality", and most of them require that they must be young and strong, which is destined to require a large number of living people. Therefore, the Shang Dynasty plundered the population very frequently and severely. Moreover, the entire Shang clan is too advocacy and belief in violence and force, and most of them adopt direct and simple violent means against the tribes and countries in the West.

This eventually led to the unforgettable hatred of these peoples towards Shang, and once the time was ripe, they were bound to take revenge and blood hatred at all costs, and their military morale was the same as that of the Western Zhou.

The Zhou royal family's consistent gentle and virtuous "benevolence, goodwill and love for the people" led to the fact that the royal family of the third generation of the Western Dynasty had considerable appeal both in the country and among the royal families and people of the tribes and princes, so it could be responded to.

The mighty army, along the Weishui, rushed straight to Muye. The flags of the vassal states of all walks of life, fluttering in the wind, showed the determination of the vassal states to raise troops against the merchants, and this is a group of enemies with deep hatred in the sea of blood.

The overcast sky and a flock of birds swept by, leaving endless loneliness. (To be continued.) )