Chapter 5114 Where do thousands of troops come from?
Liu Yu frowned and said: "The Northern Wei Dynasty is indeed the biggest problem. They are stronger than the Later Qin Dynasty. Our Jin Dynasty made several Northern Expeditions to Hebei, but suffered heavy losses in front of the Hulu cavalry. Almost the entire army
Destroyed, even me......"
Speaking of this, Liu Yu thought of the brutal battle of Wuqiao Ze and his expression became gloomy.
Wang Miaoyin said quickly: "Brother Yu, the defeat of Wuqiao Ze was not your fault. It was because a traitor betrayed the intelligence. Liu Laozhi is so happy about his success. Even Uncle Xuan underestimated the enemy and rushed in. You can save several people with your own strength."
Thousands of soldiers are already a great achievement."
Liu Yu shook his head: "What I mean is not as simple as discussing victory or defeat, but the strongest infantry of the Beifu Army in the world. It is also very difficult to charge and kill such iron cavalry as Ju Jia cavalry on the plains, not to mention the number of cavalry in the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Far more than the Hou Yan at that time, there are also various types of troops, including reconnaissance cavalry, light cavalry, sentry cavalry, and heavy cavalry. If we were to fight against the Northern Wei Dynasty, they would not care about losing some cities and land at all, and could retreat in large strides
.”
"When we are far away from the Yellow River and other water systems and unable to provide supplies through water and land, they can use the mobility of the cavalry to suddenly assemble, or use light cavalry to cut off our food routes, or use heavy cavalry to form a decisive battle
What's more, they can also use a large number of Hebei Han troops as infantry to consume us in the front, and then dispatch cavalry legions in the decisive battle. Even if we win, we will suffer heavy losses, and because of the disadvantage of mobility, we cannot pursue and defeat them.
The fleeing enemy troops.”
Wang Miaoyin laughed and said: "Yes, just like the Battle of Linqu when Nan Yan was destroyed, we won a great victory on the battlefield and annihilated most of the Yan army, but most of their armored cavalry were lost because we lacked
The cavalry cannot pursue them. If it is in the Qianli Plain of Hebei, the gap in mobility in attack and defense will only be more obvious. Therefore, if you leave the Northern Wei Dynasty in Hebei without fighting, you want to win the easy thing first and then the difficult thing.
Is it a strategic choice, rather than just considering it from the political perspective of regaining the two capitals?"
Liu Yu sighed: "Actually, I have thought about this matter repeatedly. Our previous Northern Expedition was to go straight to Hebei, to regain Yecheng, and then control Youzhou. Then we would have the opportunity to march westward to Taihang, capture Bingzhou, and finally consider making progress.
Matters in Guanzhong.”
"But the situation is different now. The political power in Hebei is no longer the local separatist force before, but the powerful Northern Wei Dynasty. They have the desert grassland and western Liaoning land to retreat to. Even if they retreat from the Great Wall, they still have room for counterattack.
, During the previous war between Yan and Wei, the Northern Wei Dynasty withdrew from Hebei several times, returned to the grassland, regrouped, and came back again. Therefore, if we really want to capture Hebei in the future, we must meet several prerequisites."
Wang Miaoyin asked without hesitation: "What's the premise? Brother Yu, please tell me."
Liu Yu smiled slightly: "The first premise is to have a strong cavalry unit, at least in terms of mobility, and a legion of tens of thousands of cavalry that can fight large-scale encounters with the enemy's cavalry. In this regard, we
I can't do it now. I can fight at full capacity. The elite cavalry I can fight now is only about 8,000, and the sources cannot be replenished. I almost have to fight one less, and the tall war horses suitable for all armored cavalry are less than 6,000.
Horses, this is why after the fall of Nanyan, we could quickly expand our infantry and build warships, but we were unable to form a larger cavalry legion."
Wang Miaoyin shook her head: "Then Goguryeo proposed war horse trade, and exchanged war horses for our armor, rice grain, and sent troops to help them destroy Baekje and Silla. Why didn't you ever consider this?
?”
Liu Yu said seriously: "Goguryeo is ambitious and has always wanted to find opportunities to move westward. Either it wants to capture Liaodong and Sushen's hometown, or it wants to unify the peninsula, or even has the idea of crossing the sea and entering Qilu. Although this regime is in a remote location,
They are in one place, but their ambition and combat effectiveness are very strong. Once they get the Hu cavalry in the far north and have the ability of field cavalry, they will become a serious problem in the Central Plains."
Wang Miaoyin said disapprovingly: "It is a small, remote country with many mountains and people's livelihood is difficult. Even Beiyan can suppress them now. Are you overestimating Goguryeo?"
Liu Yu sighed: "A country is not about its size, but its spirit. The bitter cold mountains of Goguryeo and the people's livelihood are difficult. It has always been an undesirable place in the Central Plains. However, the ethnic groups that survived in such a harsh environment have a very tough character.
At that time, even the Yan Kingdom, which was in its heyday before taking over the Central Plains, had very difficult battles with Goguryeo. It barely forced its opponent to surrender and no longer enter the land of Liaodong. Murong Chui's famous battle was the battle with Goguryeo.
We won a hard-fought victory, but few people noticed that although the capital of Goguryeo was captured in that battle, the army on the other side was completely wiped out by the main force of Goguryeo. In my opinion, this battle was just a tragic battle with a slight upper hand.
It’s just victory, otherwise how could the Yan Murong clan have allowed the neighboring countries that had enmity against them to continue to exist because they could not be eliminated by force."
Wang Miaoyin frowned: "However, if the matter is urgent, let's transfer some benefits first, give them more rice and armor, and exchange them for tens of thousands of horses to form our cavalry regiment for the Northern Expedition. Isn't that right?
Is it better? After all, Goguryeo is separated from us by the sea, and we can’t get across for a while.”
Liu Yu curled up his lips: "They have a navy, and they have the ability to land at long distances. This time I asked their fleet to transport Sun's headquarters from Zhoushan to Guangzhou. I also want to try their ability.
, if this ability poses a great threat to us, then we must treat Goguryeo more carefully in the future. After all, they can directly land in Donglai and attack Qingzhou. Moreover, even if they give us some war horses, let alone
It’s true what they said. War horses need racecourses and grasslands. Now we only have some small racecourses in Qilu land, which cannot supply the needs of a large number of cavalry legions. Only by entering Guanzhong Longyou can we have a large number of cavalry.
Only at the racecourse can it be possible to form a cavalry regiment."
Wang Miaoyin smiled slightly: "So, you still want to capture Guanzhong first, and then capture Longyou and Lingbiao. It is best to capture Hetao Grassland as well, so that you can have cavalry troops and compete with the Northern Wei Dynasty head-on?"
Liu Yu nodded: "Yes, if we capture the Hetao, we can directly threaten the core grassland area in the Yinshan Mountains of Monan. Only then will I have the ability to kill the Northern Wei Dynasty with one blow, not in Hebei and Hedong."
Fight a war of attrition with them." (End of Chapter)