"According to Li Changsheng's knowledge, the Tatars have gathered over 10,000 cavalry near Baimiaobao. The Qing cavalry are all over the fields on both sides of the Nerv River in Jinxi, and the camps are densely populated. A rough estimate is that there are 40,000 to 50,000 horses. The Tatars obviously have a conspiracy.
!”
Lin Fangping reported to everyone in detail the results of the consecutive days of sentinel inspections, and finally concluded that the most suspicious place for the Qing army was in the Baimiaobao area.
Everyone's eyes were focused on the daughter river section west of Jinzhou City on the sand table. Everyone was thinking secretly. After a long time, Guo Yingxian was the first to speak: "If you ask me, we will also lead the army back to the west and hide among the pines and apricots.
In the valley, if a Tatar really dares to attack our Xingshan grain road, I will make dumplings for him and eat them in one bite."
Zhang Guangda said: "General Guo is really heroic. However, I am afraid that the stuffing of this dumpling will chew up your teeth very much. Don't ruin the good teeth of our brothers."
"Afraid of balls. Tartars are also flesh and blood raised by their mothers and fathers. What's so scary about a white knife digging into the same bloody holes?"
Guo Yingxian said with a stubborn look on his face. Ever since Yang Guozhu died, he had always gritted his teeth whenever he mentioned the Tatars, as if he wanted to eat their flesh alive.
At this time, Wei Zhice said: "What General Guo said is not unreasonable. It's just that our Xuanfu Army family may not be able to fight against the Tatars' tens of thousands of elite cavalry on our own.
Moreover, the mobilization of the army requires military orders from the governor's camp. At present, everything is just inference, and I may not be able to get the order from Governor Hong. After all, the military situation on the Jinzhou frontline is also extremely urgent, and the army should not be mobilized lightly."
He pointed to Jinzhou City, Shimen Mountain, and the Huangtu Ridge area on the sand table, and said to everyone: "Now most of these places are occupied by Mongolia, the slaves of the Han army, and the Korean army. At most, there are some soldiers of the Eight Banners of Mongolia."
horse.
Even if there are 50,000 Qing cavalry hidden in the Baimiao Fort area, where are the remaining Tatar soldiers hiding?
If we don’t understand this issue clearly, I don’t think Governor Hong will agree to our Xuanfu army returning to Xingshan to aid us. After all, it’s just speculation that the Tatars want to attack our Xingshan grain road, and there is no solid evidence.”
Zhang Guodong then continued: "In my opinion, the Tatars may not just be staring at me at Xingshan and Gaoqiao Liangdao."
He raised his hand and pointed to the area on the sand table at the Empress Palace fish market at the mouth of the Xiaoling River, and then said: "I'm afraid that the place where our army stores food at the mouth of the Xiaoling River is also part of the Tatars' plan!"
Everyone was stunned when they heard this, but Zhang Guodong continued: "The elite Tatar thieves are hiding, and they must have a plan. Looking at the situation in Jinzhou, they are just trying to induce our army to attack, seize Huangtu Ridge, and break Jinwei.
.
In this way, the army of our aiding Liao King's Division was pinned down at the foot of Jinzhou City. At that time, the attack could not break through the Tartar defense line around Jinzhou, and their retreat was blocked by their hidden cavalry.
And in Xingshan, Xiaolinghekou and other important places on the grain road, warning signals were sent frequently. Our army was entangled by Tatar thieves and could not escape. We must be unable to save them.
If the Tartars are lucky enough to capture the important food road areas of Xingshan and Xiaolinghe, our troops who are assisting the King of Liao will definitely be in morale chaos, and how can we talk about working together to defeat the Tartars?"
Zhang Cheng never said a word. He always encouraged his generals to stimulate their ability to think independently. After all, most of the people in the military tent today have to stand alone.
Now everyone has adapted to this environment. During every military meeting, everyone can express their opinions. Watching them mature day by day, Zhang Cheng also feels an extremely proud sense of accomplishment!
He Zhenxiong, a guerrilla from Zhenbiao Zuoying, also spoke at this time: "According to what General Wei and General Zhang said, our army of the King's Division is now in a dilemma. How to make a decision?"
After all, he was a new member of Zhang Cheng's camp. Although he often met with the generals, they were not familiar with each other and were still a little cautious.
Sure enough, Zhang Guangda felt that his title was a bit awkward, and interjected: "Brother He, we are discussing matters in private, not in front of outsiders, so don't mention the titles of general and short.
If not, it will appear that you and I are brothers, right?"
"Hahaha……"
A burst of laughter came from the military tent, and everyone felt a little more relaxed.
At this time, Zhang Guangda sighed and said: "Now the Tatar thieves are rushing to attack Jinzhou. Although I guess they must have deep intentions, Wu Sangui and others are already a little unable to restrain themselves and are eager to go to rescue.
Even Governor Hong and Commander-in-Chief Zhang are also worried that Jinzhou will be difficult to defend, and are afraid that if the city is stormed by the Tatars, they would not dare or be willing to bear the consequences."
Everyone in the military tent nodded their heads. Because the Tatars were rushing to attack Jinzhou, Wu Sangui, Zu Dale and other Liaoxi generals were a little impatient. After all, Zu Dashou was the leader of Liaoxi generals and there was no room for failure.
"If not, how about I give him a thunderous blow and punch the Tatar thief in the belly?"
Zhang Cheng followed the call and saw Li Jiyu couldn't hide his excitement, his eyes fixed on the sand table, looking eager to try.
Guo Yingxian stood aside and asked angrily: "What do you mean by digging in the belly?"
Li Jiyu has been getting along with Zhang Guangda and others for a long time, and they are already familiar with each other, but for some reason, he is really in awe of the veteran Guo Yingxian in front of him.
He cupped his fists and said, "The old general knows this. I just think that the Tatars withdrew their troops from Shimen Mountain and Loess Ridge to lure me to attack, so that they can lead my army to Jinzhou City and then entangle them."
Since this is the case, why don't our army take advantage of the plan?"
Zhang Guangda was also a little impatient and asked urgently: "How to use the trick? Come quickly and don't wait here for me to show off!"
"My Xuanfu army and horses have been engaged in repeated battles with the Tatars on the Huangtu Ridge for many days. There are several grasses on the ridge that have been touched and ripened. Since the Tatars intend to lure me to attack the mountain.
Why don't we secretly send more elite warriors and sharper artillery during tomorrow's battle to catch it by surprise and seize the opportunity to capture it in one fell swoop? In this way, we will not have the right to decide whether or when to rescue Jinzhou in the future.
In my hands?"
Everyone was discussing the specific content, and everyone was thinking faster.
Wei Zhice added: "Although the thieves and slaves have such a plan, our army can still use it and attack Huangtu Ridge. In this way, our army's camp can reach the west bank of Xiaoling River.
Later, they controlled various sections along the river and directly used ships to transport grain, grass, fuelwood, cannon powder, and gunpowder into Jinzhou City through waterways. Even reinforcements could go up the river and enter Jinzhou City from the south gate.
In this way, even if the siege of Jin cannot be completely solved for the time being, it can at least alleviate the temporary danger in Jinzhou, calm the minds of the generals in western Liaoning, and enable them to continue to stand firm and wait for reinforcements.
Today, I have observed with the commander that all sections of the Xiaoling River in the south of Jinzhou City can be used by smaller boats."
Zhang Guodong also said: "If this is true, our army will have one more choice. We can send a group of troops and horses to cross the Xiaoling River and set up camp on the east bank.
In this way, we can not only protect the safety of the river, but also be able to attack at any time to disturb the Tatar food route. This is the so-called reciprocity of courtesy!"
"I'm afraid that the Tatars are hiding a strong army in a hidden place on the east bank of the Xiaoling River and will attack me while I'm halfway across the river. That would be dangerous."
Lin Fangping deserves to be by Zhang Cheng's side for a long time. Thanks to his guidance, he not only thinks carefully, but also can be prepared for danger in times of peace.
Wei Zhice also said: "In fact, under the current situation, the best policy is to stick to Songshan and maintain a long-term stalemate with the Tatars!"
He continued: "Today, hundreds of thousands of armies are fighting among the pines and brocades. It is difficult for both sides to supply food and grass. However, our Ming Dynasty is more powerful, and now we have dried fish and other supplies to supplement it. We will definitely be more powerful than the Tatar thieves."
Durable.
If the stalemate continues like this, once the Tatars run out of food and grass, their army will definitely be disintegrated, and the soldiers will be exhausted due to hunger. Then if they march into Jinzhou, killing slaves will be like chopping melons, cutting vegetables, and digging into bags to get things!"
Seeing that Wei Zhice looked resolute, spoke eloquently, and acted like a general, and what he said was realistic, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but nodded in approval.
He wanted to test Wei Zhice, so he asked: "The enemy's situation is like this. According to General Wei, how should our division respond in the safest way?"
Wei Zhice pondered for a moment and then said: "No matter what, we must not let the Tatars lead us by the nose. This war has to be fought, and it should be fought. But how to fight and where to fight must be up to me. I must try my best to fight back."
Come here and fight to hold the Tatars by the nose."
He pointed to Rufeng Mountain and Shimen Mountain and said: "Our army, General Ma of Shanhaiguan Town, can kill from Rufeng Mountain and pretend to break the siege of Jinzhou to contain the Tatars in the west and south of Jinzhou City and not dare to turn elsewhere.
The front camp of the Shenji Battalion used artillery to intensively bombard the Shimen Mountain Tatar front, and then sent a general soldier to pretend to attack Shimen Mountain to trap the Tatars around Shimen Mountain.
As for our front line, according to what Li Jiyu said, we took advantage of the unpreparedness of the Tatars in Huangtuling, opened the way with a large number of artillery, launched a fierce attack, and directly captured it. Then we consolidated the defense line and pretended to cross the river to advance eastward to watch the reaction of the Tatars.
.”
He added: "If this is true, even if we temporarily halt our troops and break the siege of Jinzhou, at least the initiative will be in the hands of our army.
Moreover, there is an additional way to cross the river and go eastward, so the Tatars want to prevent our army from crossing the river, capturing Xiaolinghe Fort, and harassing their important food routes!"
After hearing Wei Zhice's strategy, everyone was excited for a while.
They all stared closely at the place at Huangtu Ridge, looking again and again, and then looked carefully at Xiaolinghe River. Some of them had already looked in the direction of Xiaolinghe Fort.
Indeed, as long as we capture Huangtu Ridge, we can cross the Xiaoling River in the east and break Jinwei in the north. If we stick to Huangtu Ridge, we can also defend the southern section of Xiaoling River until the grain road at the mouth of Xiaoling River is safe.
What's more important is that the Niangniang Palace Fish Market, in which all the generals hold shares, is not far to the south of Huangtu Ridge.
Now, the dried fish market is a treasure they use to make money. If we rely on loyalty, it will be difficult to drive the current general soldiers of various towns, but if we use money, it will be different.
He Zhenxiong also said: "Commander, I think the best cavalry from each town should be drawn out, and another mobile force should be formed, which can not only rush to Xingshan and Gaoqiao at any time, but also support various battlefields in Jinzhou at any time.
In order to prevent the army of our king's division from being held back by the Tartar thieves, if there is a beacon signal elsewhere and there are no soldiers to use, then we will fall into the trap of the Tartar thieves."
Upon hearing this, Guo Yingxian immediately praised: "Soldiers are unpredictable, water is unpredictable, and the battle situation changes rapidly, often beyond our imagination. We should retain an elite force in case of emergency needs!"
Zhang Cheng nodded slowly. He was very satisfied with the performance of the generals today. Many key points were discussed to some extent.
It’s true that one person is planning the shortcomings and three people are planning the advantages. What’s more, there are more than three people participating in the military meeting today!
He also believed that the opinions finally reached by the generals were feasible.
According to his guess, after the arrival of the captive chief Huang Taiji, the Qing army not only mobilized the whole country and increased its troops in large numbers, but even the morale that had been slightly low before was revived.
In this regard, he still admired Huang Taiji very much. He was indeed a hero and a great person of his generation.
In fact, when Huang Taiji had just taken over the position of the Great Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty from the old slave Nurhachi, it was also a critical moment when the military group of Jiannu was facing a major crisis of its own.
At the beginning of Huang Taiji's succession to the throne, the situation faced by Hou Jin was already very serious.
At that time, Houjin had been in an isolated and helpless situation in the external environment, and was tightly surrounded by Ming Dynasty, Mongolia, and North Korea.
And internally, Huang Taiji's accession to the throne was the result of the recommendation of the Eight Baylors.
As the elected new king, he presided over the government together with the other three princes at the beginning. It was called the Four Great Baylor Period. They were called Heshuo Baylor, and they "discussed the national affairs together and each appointed officials and subordinates".
It can be said that during this period, many affairs of Huang Taiji were severely restricted, whether it was internal politics or external military matters.
But among the four, Huang Taiji ranked last, which does not mean that his status is low.
It was not until the fifth year of Tiancong that Erbeile Amin was rebellious, disobeyed his orders, burned, killed, looted, and was deposed and imprisoned by Huang Taiji, and the situation began to be gradually reversed.
In the sixth year of Tiancong's reign, Huang Taiji became more and more powerful. He ordered the cancellation of the four Baylor's co-administered political system, and replaced it with Huang Taiji's "sitting alone in the south", saying that he was alone and few, which greatly improved his status.
At the same time, the old slave Nurhachi had always been hostile to the Han people during his period. They initially kidnapped Han people as slaves, which aroused great resistance from the Han people in Liaodong. For this reason, Nurhaci once massacred the rebellious Han people in Liaodong.
In the end, even the Han people who had not participated in the resistance were massacred by the Tatars. This approach once made thousands of miles of Liaodong desolate and there was no human habitation.
A large number of fields lost their owners and were left uncultivated, eventually turning into wasteland, which greatly aggravated the food shortage in Liaodong.
After all, the Tatars make a living by fishing and hunting, and are not good at farming. Moreover, the weather in Liaodong is bad, and the yield is originally very low. Now that a large number of fields are abandoned, famine is inevitable.
When Yuan Chonghuan was the governor of Liaodong, the food supply in Shenyang City in Houjin Dynasty even increased to ten taels of silver per dou, so it was difficult to buy grain.
Fortunately, it was Huang Taiji who, through his own efforts, consolidated the foundation of his rule step by step and formulated a system that prohibited the indiscriminate killing of Han people. He cherished the power of the people and proposed "working exclusively on Nanmu and focusing on his own duties", which alleviated social conflicts.
Then he reformed the Eight Banners system and mobilized the elites of the Eight Banners to fight, while Yu Ding stayed at home to engage in production, conquered Mongolia and North Korea successively, and changed the dilemma of being attacked on three sides.
It can be said that without Huang Taiji, there would be no Qing Dynasty today!