About half an hour later, the army moved to a place ten miles south of Yunluan Mountain and set up camp.
Previously, Zhao Junchen's "physical discomfort and urgent need for rest" was not just a pure lie and excuse. After the ups and downs of the Xiaochuan River War, Zhao Junchen's body and mind had been seriously exhausted, especially after seeing the Mongolian army's defeat.
The moment the tense heartstrings relaxed, it was as if all the energy and strength were drained out of thin air in an instant.
In fact, the fact that Zhao Junchen was helped down Yunluan Mountain by Fang Zhenshan was not just Fang Zhenshan's deliberate attempt to please him - Zhao Junchen indeed had no strength left in his body at that time.
But it was said that after Zhao Junchen was helped into the commander's tent by Mao Jiadong, he didn't even take care of the most basic cleaning and grooming, so he slumped on the seat and closed his eyes for a long time.
On the other side, Mao Jiadong stood with his hands down, quietly watching Zhao Junchen's haggard face, his eyes full of worry.
When helping Zhao Junchen, Mao Jiadong could really feel the weakness of Zhao Junchen's body. He also witnessed Zhao Junchen's hard work these days, and he knew in his heart that Zhao Junchen might have reached the extreme.
Mao Jiadong is Zhao Junchen's close confidant in the military, and he is also very aware of Zhao Junchen's current significance to Shaanxi and Gansu. Naturally, he does not want anything to happen to Zhao Junchen.
After a long time, Zhao Junchen finally slowly opened his eyes.
On the side, Zhao Dali, who had been waiting for a long time, quickly handed Zhao Junchen a glass of warm water and a wet wipe.
Zhao Junchen first took the warm water and drank it in one gulp, then took a wet wipe and wiped his face. The face covered with dust and blood was finally a little cleaner.
However, after his face became cleaner, his pale and haggard look became more obvious.
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Envoy, has been really miserable these days. You must take care of your health!" After seeing Zhao Junchen's haggard appearance, Mao Jiadong advised him seriously: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Envoy, is the backbone of the northwest border defense. Shaanxi
The civil and military officials, soldiers and civilians on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu are all counting on you. If you are sick and unable to preside over military affairs, I am afraid that the entire three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu will be completely in chaos... I heard that this time you are trying to reduce the pressure on the battlefield on the south bank of the Xiaochuan River.
, and even showed up on the battlefield in person to lure the enemy, using his precious body to put himself in danger. This move is too risky and should never be done again in the future."
Zhao Junchen shook his head slightly and said: "Since the war started, who has had it easier than the other? Isn't it hard for you and General He to hold on to Zhenning Acropolis under the siege of the Mongolian army during this period? What's more, under the current situation,
, how could I have a chance to rest?... As for risking my life this time, it was just a last resort expedient. If the North Shore reinforcements hadn't been delayed in arriving, I wouldn't have risked appearing on the battlefield in person...
…”
Having said this, Zhao Junchen raised his eyes and looked at Mao Jiadong, his eyes still sharp on his pale face, and asked: "Let's talk about business now! General Fang, General He and you three suddenly rushed to the battlefield of Xiaochuan River.
Working together with the ambush troops on the north bank, maybe there was an incident in the battle at Zhenning Acropolis? The ambush troops I arranged on the north bank of the Xiaochuan River have been unable to arrive on the south bank for support. I am afraid it is also because of this incident, right? Let me tell you, after all,
What's going on?"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Mao Jiadong explained in a deep voice: "As the imperial envoy expected, there were indeed some changes in the war at Zhenning Acropolis, and these changes were all caused by the selfish motives of Guyuan Commander-in-Chief Fang Zhenshan!"
Zhao Junchen frowned and asked: "What exactly is going on? Tell me in detail."
Mao Jiadong said: "You know, your Majesty, the Imperial Envoy, has already made arrangements for the war at Zhenning Acropolis. According to the plan you made in advance, after General Fang led his troops to arrive near Zhenning Acropolis, he should first fight with General He who was guarding the city.
Secretly get in touch, the two armies should cooperate inside and outside, and act together. It is best to hit the Mongolian army when they are caught off guard. But if the other side receives the news in advance and is prepared, the main task of General Fang and General He is to hold them back.
By the time you, the Imperial Envoy, arrive at Zhenning Acropolis to support you after finishing the Xiaochuan River War, our army's strength advantage will be completely consolidated, and we will naturally be able to easily defeat the Mongolian army near Zhenning Acropolis."
After seeing Zhao Junchen nod in agreement, Mao Jiadong said: "However, General Fang and General He had old grudges. I am afraid that they are also jealous of General He's military achievements during this period and are not willing to be suppressed by General He.
The next one actually ignored the plan made by you, the imperial envoy, and wanted to take all the credit. He had no intention of cooperating with General He. When he led his army to the vicinity of Zhenning Acropolis, he did not notify General He.
He directly raided the Mongolian army's camp...
...Unfortunately, the Mongolian army had already known the news of the attack led by Commander Fang in advance, and had already made preparations. The seemingly unsuspecting camp was actually a premeditated trap, and in the end it attacked Fang.
The commander-in-chief was caught off guard and almost defeated Commander-in-Chief Fang’s army. Fortunately, the imperial envoy, you handed over some of the elite of the new army to Commander-in-Chief Fang. Because of their heroic performance, Commander-in-Chief Fang’s army was defeated in one fell swoop.
The soldiers finally stabilized their position...
...At the same time, because General He didn't know about General Fang's solo attack on the Mongolian army camp before the military, he didn't have much preparation, but he was blocked by the Mongolian army in the Zhenning Guard City and was unable to support General Fang. Some
The measures taken to defend against the Mongolian army's siege actually became a hindrance to support from the city... The situation at that time was extremely dangerous. Fortunately, the Mongolian army only had a size of about ten thousand people, otherwise our army might have suffered a major disaster.
Lost...
...After paying a heavy price of casualties, General Fang finally led his army to break through. When the Mongolian army saw that it was inevitable, they were extremely decisive and quickly withdrew from the battlefield, planning to return to Jiezhou City and Mongolia.
The main force of the army converged, and General Fang and General He finally took the opportunity to join forces...
... At that time, neither General He nor General Fang was willing to just let the Mongolian army leave calmly, especially because General Fang had suffered a big loss, so after the two armies merged, they began to attack the Mongolian army.
However, the Mongolian army has always been dominated by cavalry. How can it be so easy to pursue them? During this period, the Mongolian army has been hanging on us, and occasionally turned their horses' heads to counterattack. Not only did the soldiers' pursuit fail,
The results were too great, but a lot of damage occurred...
...In the end, no one expected that the Mongolian army fought and retreated to the north bank of the Xiaochuan River... At that time, the ambush arranged by you on the north bank of the Xiaochuan River, the Imperial Envoy, had just wiped out the remaining Mongolian troops on the Xiaochuan River battlefield.
They planned to rush to the battlefield on the south bank to support, but they happened to block the Mongolian army's retreat. The two armies met without any preparation, which naturally triggered a melee. This melee also caused the death of General Fang and He Lao.
The general bought a lot of time. After the two generals rushed to the north bank of the Xiaochuan River, they annihilated the Mongolian army together with the ambush troops on the north bank... However, precisely because of this, the ambush arranged by you, the imperial envoy, on the north bank has been unable to escape.
The inability to provide timely support to the South Bank battlefield caused difficulties in the South Bank battlefield, and ultimately forced you, the Imperial Envoy, to take risks yourself to lure the enemy..."
After listening to Mao Jiadong's explanation, Zhao Junchen sighed softly, with helplessness and a wry smile on his face.
From this point of view, Zhao Junchen did not have any problems with his arrangement of the Xiaochuan River battlefield.
Unfortunately, things on the battlefield are always changing. No one could have guessed in advance that the Mongolian troops on the Zhenning Acropolis battlefield would appear on the north bank of the Xiaochuan River. This eventually led to a series of changes that made Zhao Junchen's many spectators
All the seemingly correct arrangements turned out to be a failure!
After the Xiaochuan River War, Zhao Junchen originally felt that his intervention in military affairs this time was a mistake of an amateur commanding an expert, and that he should leave full power to the military generals. However, Guyuan Commander-in-Chief Fang Zhenshan is a veritable expert. Zhao Junchen
This time, he was also given full responsibility for the war at Zhenning Acropolis, but the final result was still frustrating.
"In the final analysis, there are too few reliable generals in the army, and there are only a few available. I have no choice but to personally direct the war, and I have no choice but to reuse the selfish Fang Zhenshan, but in the end, I can only have the consequences.
Taste it..."
While thinking about it, Zhao Junchen shook his head with a wry smile, but his expression became more serious, and he asked Mao Jiadong again: "So, our army was seriously damaged on the battlefield at Zhenning Acropolis?"
Mao Jiadong had a heavy expression and nodded: "For this period of time, General He has been defending Zhenning Guard City under the strong attack of the Mongolian army. More than 30% of his 3,000 soldiers and horses were lost, and General Fang fell into the hands of the Mongolian army.
After the trap, more than 5,000 soldiers were killed and injured in a short period of time... Coupled with the various subsequent injuries, the total number of casualties in the armies of General He and General Fang was probably tens of thousands... Fortunately,
Because this Mongolian army was blocked by the ambush arranged by the Imperial Envoy on the north bank of the Xiaochuan River, and they were finally wiped out in one fell swoop, otherwise this battle would definitely be a huge defeat for our army!"
"Were there losses of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses?" Zhao Junchen murmured to himself, his expression was rather gloomy, and there was a hint of murderous intent in his eyes.
This time, Zhao Junchen led his army into Gongchang Mansion. The total number of troops under his command was about 55,000. However, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses were lost on the battlefield of Zhenning Acropolis. The casualties on the battlefield of Xiaochuan River were at least tens of thousands.
More, but they have lost more than one-third of their troops in total!
This ratio of casualties to casualties can be described as extremely disastrous!
Of course, the casualties of the Mongolian coalition forces were even more severe than those of the Ming army!
After paying such a huge price, the Ming army also wiped out two branches of the Mongolian coalition in one fell swoop, totaling 25,000 troops. This force was already nearly half of the total strength of the Mongolian coalition!
In addition, the main force of the Mongolian coalition forces has also suffered a lot of damage in the attack on Jiezhou City during this period. I am afraid that the remaining troops will not be able to pose much threat to the territory of the Ming Dynasty!
From this aspect, the Ming army did not suffer a loss, but actually took advantage of it!
However, the accounts cannot be calculated like this. It was obvious that greater results could be obtained at less cost, but in the end it turned into the current miserable victory. Although the remaining forces of the Mongolian coalition are no longer a threat, the Ming army is also
The vitality is also severely damaged, and the military strength is increasingly stretched. All this is due to Fang Zhenshan's selfishness!
Therefore, after learning the whole story of the battle at Zhenning Acropolis, Zhao Junchen was naturally furious and wanted to chop off Fang Zhenshan's head with his own hands!
However, despite being angry in his heart, Zhao Junchen still remained calm, but he hesitated for a while before expressing his position.
Seeing Zhao Junchen's performance, Mao Jiadong seemed to have seen some clues, and he hesitated and asked: "Whether it is the Zhenning Acropolis battlefield or the Xiaochuan River battlefield, the difficulties in both battlefields are caused by Fang Zhenshan... Imperial Envoy, you should
You’re not going to let Fang Zhenshan go, are you?”