During this period of time, Wu Yingxiong, the governor of Jiliao, personally led various reinforcements to fight against the Jianzhou Jurchens, either confronting each other, fighting head-on, or wandering around to contain them. Their battlefield performance was quite good.
Not only did Wu Yingxiong command decisively and win at the last moment, the military attaches at all levels also spared no effort to enforce orders and prohibitions. The soldiers at the bottom were even more fearless and fearless of death, with a firm will to fight.
Because there is still a gap in strength, when the various reinforcements fought against the Jianzhou Jurchens, they were generally at a disadvantage, but they were not without the ability to fight back. After several confrontations, a considerable number of Jianzhou Jurchen troops were defeated. Casualties.
For the Ming Dynasty army, this kind of performance was undoubtedly beyond the standard. The Jianzhou Jurchens quickly felt the pressure and no longer dared to look down upon it. They believed that the combat effectiveness and fighting will of this Ming army were far superior. In the past, he was definitely his rival.
But the Jianzhou Jurchens did not know that on the surface, the reinforcements from all walks of life seemed to be working together, but in fact they were still inseparable and had their own plans. The internal factions and intrigues were far worse than in any previous period.
Even when the fighting between the two armies was at its most intense, Wu Yingxiong was still ambitious and wanted to seize the opportunity to annex Liaodong Town. Liaodong Town had always been secretly wary of Wu Yingxiong and was ready to knock Wu Yingxiong to the ground at any time.
However, under Zhao Junchen's skillful guidance, the specific form of this factional strife is no longer to hold each other back and secretly retain strength, but to mutual supervision and competition, thus promoting a virtuous circle. It had a positive effect.
So far, Wu Yingxiong's annexation plan has been progressing smoothly, because he holds two "trump cards", one is "the military morale is available", and the other is "righteousness is with him"!
The Jianzhou Jurchens are currently besieging Fushun Pass in Liaodong Town, and are plundering the people in Liaodong everywhere. Moreover, the blame for He Yu's murder has been completely placed on the Jianzhou Jurchens. In addition, Wu Yingxiong has greatly increased his military merit awards. A series of events aroused the bloody spirit of the border army officers and soldiers in Liaodong Town, and they actively requested a fight and dared to fight against the Jianzhou Jurchens.
Under the common hatred of all the soldiers in the army, as long as Wu Yingxiong brought out the righteousness of hatred between the country and the family, the generals in Liaodong Town would not dare to act openly and covertly during the battle as before, and stay in private. They could only bite the bullet and strictly abide by Wu Yingxiong's military orders. Fight desperately with the Jianzhou Jurchens, otherwise not only will Wu Yingxiong take advantage of them, but the loyalty of their soldiers will also be shaken!
As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Wu Yingxiong naturally took the greatest advantage in this situation. As the army achieved more and more victories, his prestige in the army became higher and higher. Moreover, Wu Yingxiong knew how to win people's hearts, not only by actively He came out to comfort the wounded after the war, and he was always the first to reward meritorious soldiers in public, which further won the goodwill of the entire army and more and more potential supporters.
Under such circumstances, as time goes by, Wu Yingxiong's accumulated prestige and support will inevitably increase. If Wu Yingxiong can successfully persist until the Jurchens in Jianzhou are exhausted and withdraw from the war, the prestige and support he has accumulated will also be instantaneous. Climb to the top!
At that time, no one can stop Wu Yingxiong from taking complete control of Liaodong Town...
In order to counter Wu Yingxiong's growing prestige and support, the generals in Liaodong Town were also in a desperate mood. They could only change their past normality and no longer dared to retain their strength when fighting the Jianzhou Jurchens. They also followed Wu Yingxiong's lead and frequently visited the army. For the wounded, he immediately commended the meritorious soldiers in public, and tried his best to compete with Wu Yingxiong for the prestige and military exploits of the entire army.
Such healthy competition can not only urge reinforcements from all walks of life to fight bravely, but also prevent any one party from becoming dominant and dominating, thus achieving a delicate balance.
But after the news came that Zhao Junchen led his army to Qinghe Fort, this delicate balance, this virtuous cycle, was quickly broken.
On this day, after receiving the news that Zhao Junchen had led his army to Qinghe Fort, all the generals in Liaodong Town were overjoyed.
Faced with Wu Yingxiong's growing prestige in the military and the growing number of potential supporters, they all felt deeply pressured. Naturally, they eagerly hoped that Zhao Junchen would come to the frontline battlefield as soon as possible to help them counter Wu Yingxiong's aggressiveness.
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Thinking of this, all the generals in Liaodong Town quickly rushed to Acting Commander-in-Chief Xu He's tent for a secret meeting to discuss countermeasures together.
Xu He looked around the crowd with a serious face and asked first: "Everyone should have received the news. Zhao Gechen has led his army to Qinghe Fort, and has also sent a fast horse messenger, asking us to send troops to respond to him...
Because of our deliberate attack, Wu Yingxiong still doesn’t know about this matter. Do you think we should report the news to him?”
Because they were fighting at home, the generals of Liaodong Town had huge advantages in intelligence collection and logistical supplies, and they had been using these two advantages to counterattack Wu Yingxiong.
Since the war started, although the generals in Liaodong Town did not let Guan Ning's cavalry go into battle hungry, they also kept the food reserves of Guan Ning's cavalry at a low level. They could only meet three days of consumption at most, and they were always
It will be replenished only when the Guan Ning cavalry's food and grass supplies are about to be exhausted.
At the same time, the generals of Liaodong Town also restricted Wu Yingxiong's intelligence channels. Except for information related to the war, all other information was deliberately blocked by them.
For example, regarding the recent changes in Jinzhou Camp and the news that Zhao Junchen left Jinzhou Camp and led his army northward, the generals of Liaodong Town chose to conceal the news from Wu Yingxiong.
Li Zehe shook his head slightly and said helplessly: "If you want to successfully respond to Zhao Gechen, you must send troops to Qinghe Fort. This kind of thing must not be hidden from Wu Yingxiong, nor can it be circumvented from him. After all, he is the nominal commander of the entire army.
.”
Gan Cheng looked unwilling and retorted: "We deliberately concealed the news about Zhao Gechen's movements from Wu Yingxiong, just in the hope that Zhao Gechen would be able to catch him off guard when he arrived. If we report the relevant information to Wu Yingxiong now, wouldn't all our previous efforts be wasted? It will definitely cause trouble.
His early vigilance will also allow him to take precautions in advance. Even if he successfully assists Zhao Gechen and rushes to the frontline battlefield, he may not be able to use Zhao Gechen to suppress Wu Yingxiong!"
After Li Shijie hesitated for a moment, he couldn't help but remind him: "I also think that it is best to keep this matter hidden from Wu Yingxiong! Otherwise, not only will Wu Yingxiong be alerted in advance, but with Wu Yingxiong's temperament, he will definitely do evil in secret.
There is a way to prevent Zhao Gechen from coming to join us on the frontline battlefield... He thinks he has the upper hand, so naturally he doesn't want Zhao Gechen to come on stage and disrupt the situation."….
Li Zehe lowered his head and thought for a long time, then suddenly raised his head and suggested: "Perhaps, we can report a false news to Wu Yingxiong, saying that the Jianzhou Jurchens want to capture Qinghe Fort next, and Qinghe Fort is an important fulcrum of the North Road Defense Zone and must not be tolerated.
Lost, so after Wu Yingxiong receives the news, he must send troops to support, and we only need to find a way to get the task of leading troops to support Qinghe Fort. On the surface, it is to support Qinghe Fort, but in fact, it is to support Zhao Gechen. Isn’t it the best of both worlds?
?」
After hearing Li Zehe's suggestion, all the generals in Liaodong Town's eyes lit up, thinking that Li Zehe's suggestion was a brilliant one. It made full use of their own advantage in controlling intelligence, and could smoothly coordinate Zhao Junchen to come to the frontline battlefield to help them.
To counter Wu Yingxiong, you can also continue to hide information from Wu Yingxiong and catch him off guard.
Therefore, while everyone agreed one after another, they also put forward more suggestions to further improve Li Zehe's plan to prevent Wu Yingxiong from noticing the flaws.
However, the generals in Liaodong Town did not know that Wu Yingxiong was not a blind person who could just let them do whatever they wanted.
Wu Yingxiong is very aware of his huge disadvantage in intelligence and what this disadvantage means, so naturally he will not sit still and wait for death.
During this period of time, after several private contacts, Wu Yingxiong had bribed an insider among the top generals in Liaodong Town.
After this spy took refuge with Wu Yingxiong, his attitude was also very positive, and he frequently secretly conveyed various confidential information to Wu Yingxiong.
Therefore, Wu Yingxiong was already well aware of the intelligence information that the generals of Liaodong Town had deliberately concealed, and he just pretended to be unaware of it in order to continue to paralyze the other party.
At the same time that the generals of Liaodong Town gathered in secret to discuss matters, Wu Yingxiong also received a secret letter.
"Zhao garrisoned troops at Qinghe Fort, accompanied by artillery rear troops."
After opening the secret letter and looking at the few words on it, Wu Yingxiong's expression suddenly changed.
It was extremely solemn at the time.
Wu Yingxiong's current situation is good. As time goes by, the chances of annexing Liaodong Town will become greater and greater. Naturally, he does not want Zhao Junchen to come in and disrupt the situation at this time.
"We must find a way to prevent Zhao Junchen from rushing to the frontline battlefield! Otherwise, Zhao Junchen's despicable character and despicable methods will inevitably destroy the great situation I have worked so hard to create!"
Thinking of this, Wu Yingxiong had secretly made up his mind.
But before Wu Yingxiong could further formulate a specific plan, he saw a Guan Ning cavalryman hurriedly entering the tent to report, saying that many high-ranking generals from Liaodong Town were jointly seeking to see him, and it seemed that they had something important to report.
After Wu Yingxiong pondered for a moment, he quickly nodded and summoned the generals of Liaodong Town.
After the Liaodong town generals headed by Xu He entered the tent and saw Wu Yingxiong, they immediately went straight to the point, followed the plan, and reported to Wu Yingxiong the false news that "Jurchens in Jianzhou intend to send troops to capture Qinghe Fort."
"...In short, all signs indicate that the Jianzhou Jurchens want to send troops to capture Qinghe Fort, and Qinghe Fort is an important fulcrum south of Fushun Pass. Once it falls, it will worsen the entire battlefield situation, so Bei Gong and others hope that Wu
The governor sent troops to Qinghe Fort as soon as possible to assist in the defense to ensure that our army has a safe road to the south!”….
Wu Yingxiong was a smart man. He thought of the information in the secret letter and immediately guessed the true plan of the generals in Liaodong Town.
It was a lie to send troops to help defend Qinghe Fort and push back the rebels. Taking the opportunity to support Zhao Junchen was the real purpose of the generals in Liaodong Town!
Thinking of this, Wu Yingxiong kept sneering in his heart. He was about to directly expose the lies of the Liaodong Town generals, but suddenly thought of something, and his heart couldn't help but move.
The next moment, Wu Yingxiong still pretended to be unaware, and asked with a serious expression: "If the Jianzhou Jurchens want to capture Qinghe Fort, they must be on guard... How many troops do you think should be sent to Qinghe Fort?
What's better? Which troops should be arranged to go to Qinghe Fort to help defend it?"
Xu He also pretended to think for a moment and suggested: "I believe that the Guanning cavalry and the Liaodong cavalry are the main force in the battlefield against the Jianzhou Jurchens. Naturally, they cannot be dispatched easily at this time. This task should be left to the ordinary people in Liaodong Town."
Just the border army is fine. As long as we select five thousand elite soldiers, it will be enough to complete the mission, and it will not affect our fight against the Jurchens in Jianzhou!"
Although the strategic position of Qinghe Fort is crucial, there is no need to send 5,000 troops for support. Although the Guanning Cavalry and the Liaodong Cavalry both remain in the army, it will not affect too much combat power, and there is still some
Making a fuss out of a molehill.
You must know that the reinforcements from all directions under Wu Yingxiong and the garrison on the northern route total only about 30,000 troops.
But Wu Yingxiong did not raise any objections, and just asked again: "Then who should lead this support army to Qinghe Fort?"
As soon as Wu Yingxiong finished speaking, Li Zehe stood up and offered himself up first, saying loudly: "I am willing to lead the army in this humble position!"
Seeing Li Zehe's initiative to ask for military service, all the generals in Liaodong Town were a little surprised, but they did not express any objection.
Wu Yingxiong took a deep look at Li Zehe, but still did not raise any objections, and nodded: "In that case, General Li will lead five thousand ordinary frontier soldiers from Liaodong Town to rush to Qinghe Fort! We can set off tomorrow morning!"
As Wu Yingxiong finished speaking, the expressions of everyone in the tent couldn't help but reveal a hint of a calculating smile.
The generals in Liaodong Town never expected that Wu Yingxiong would be so easy to talk to, and that they would be able to defeat Wu Yingxiong so easily. All preparations were made beforehand.