If there are more than a thousand soldiers, there will be no borders; if there are more than 10,000 soldiers, there will be no borders. This proverb means that a military formation with more than a thousand people will look like a vast expanse of land. Once the number of soldiers exceeds 10,000, it will look like a boundless area.
Li Jie's current official position is the commander of the front patrol battalion. In the past six months, he has been studying while recruiting troops, and finally "barely" gathered together five battalions of troops.
Reluctantly means that he finally reluctantly recruited the 'new soldiers' who were walking around in various places into the front patrol camp.
Five battalions and a team of more than 2,000 people walked on the road, and there was no way to hide their traces. What's more, the Manchu and Qing intelligence systems were like a sieve, leaking air everywhere. As soon as Li Jie set off, a telegram traveled thousands of miles.
It spread to Taonan.
This telegram was sent by the Russian consul in Fengtian. Mongolia relied on Tsarist Russia. As early as the beginning of the Mongolian rebellion, Tsarist Russia secretly provided some assistance to the Mongols.
It was an open secret that Tsarist Russia funded the Mongolian bandits. Maozi knew it, the little devils knew it, and the Qing government also knew that Maozi and the little devils had ulterior motives. They wanted the Northeast to be in chaos.
The Qing government knew this clearly, but did not dare to pierce the window paper. After all, after kneeling for a long time, it would be difficult to stand up again.
Although in the previous Russo-Japanese War, Maozi, who was at the height of his power, was "educated" by the little Japs, the Japs were Japs and the Qing Dynasty was the Qing Dynasty, and the strength of the two was completely different.
Therefore, even if Mao Zi's "myth" was shattered, the Qing government still did not dare to offend Mao Zi. In view of this, the Qing government could only turn a blind eye to Mao Zi's funding of the Mongolian bandits and pretended not to have seen it.
Taonan is located at the junction of the Northeast Plain and the Horqin Grassland, and is connected to the Daxingan Mountains. It has a typical temperate continental monsoon climate, with rapid warming in spring, little precipitation, and very dry grasslands.
Fortunately, Li Jie's departure date was in spring. If it were summer, the grasslands in Taonan would be filled with dense mosquitoes, the largest of which could almost be compared with bees.
If protective measures are not taken, it will be difficult to move around surrounded by so many mosquitoes.
In addition, wolves are also a huge threat. Of course, the threat of wolves is limited to communications troops and small-scale infiltration troops. When encountering large-scale troops, the role of wolves is at most a meal for the soldiers.
On the plate, add a little more scattered minced meat.
Half a month later, Tongliao.
After marching for more than half a month, even the soldiers trained by Li Jie were a little unable to hold on. Seeing this, Li Jie immediately ordered to camp on the spot and rest for three days.
The reason why it is three days of rest instead of one day is because Li Jie wants to wait for someone here.
The vast grassland stretches for thousands of miles, and the strategic depth is extremely wide. With more than 2,000 people in Li Jie's hands, he is simply unable to push forward.
This bandit suppression operation must be a pursuit battle that spans a long time.
As one of the leaders of the rebellion, Taoke Taohu was naturally not a fool. He would never attack Li Jie's side rashly like he did before, knowing that he could not defeat them.
These 'rebels' are basically herdsmen born and raised in the grasslands. As a people who live on horseback, almost every one of them has superb riding skills.
Moreover, nomadic people have been well versed in the essence of "guerrilla warfare" since ancient times. The same is true for Taoke Taohu's tribe. They also inherited the tactics of their ancestors.
When the enemy advances, I retreat, when the enemy retreats, I pursue him, when the enemy is stationed, I harass him, when the enemy is tired, I attack, and I can sneak away better than anyone else.
Because of this, Taoke Taohu was able to escape from encirclement and suppression many times, and the more he was suppressed, the stronger his power became.
While waiting for others, Li Jie summoned a group of his officers to discuss ways to deal with the Mongolian bandits.
Inside the tent, a large topographic map of Taonan was spread out on the table. Li Jie stretched out his hand to look at the table and said.
"The Mongolian bandits have been suppressed repeatedly. How do you view this situation? Today, we will discuss how to fight this battle."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone turned their attention to the map, thoughtfully.
Everyone present was all old people who had been following Li Jie for a long time, and the youngest among them was more than two years old. Therefore, everyone was already used to the process of conducting seminars.
After a while, Zhu Chuanwu was the first to collect his thoughts and was the first to break the silence at the scene.
"Captain, I think this battle information is the most important!"
Zhu Chuanwu revealed some different things as soon as he opened his mouth. For example, the title of "Head of the Head" was used. There was no establishment of "Head of the Head" within the Qing court.
Obviously, the position of regimental leader was formulated by Li Jie with reference to the establishment of later generations.
"You said before when you taught us that in modern warfare, the importance of intelligence is becoming more and more prominent. Whoever masters intelligence will take the initiative in the war."
"Looking at the Qing court's previous failures, it is obvious that they did not pay attention to intelligence at all, or did not have the ability to obtain intelligence."
"If we want to win this war, we must suppress the opponent in obtaining intelligence, and it is best to make the enemy blind."
Having said this, Zhu Chuanwu immediately realized that what he said was too idealistic, so he quickly added.
"Of course, this only exists in an ideal state."
After listening to Chuanwu's speech, the others nodded in recognition. In the small internal classroom, information science was an extremely important subject. When they first learned it, they were all tortured to the point of death.
Li Jie smiled slightly and nodded.
"continue!"
Zhu Chuanwu stretched out his hand and drew a large circle on the map while analyzing.
"The Taonan area is connected to the vast Horqin Grassland. With our military strength, we simply cannot block the other side. Therefore, if we want to establish an advantage in intelligence, we must integrate into the local area."
"My suggestion is, use coercion and inducement!"
"Not all herdsmen support the anti-Qing and anti-reclamation alliance. These people are our breaking point. After all, in the final analysis, we are all outsiders. We are certainly not as familiar with the local terrain as the herdsmen."
"With the 'support' of these local people, we can establish a network throughout the grassland at a very low cost."
"Secondly, although our cavalry team is not in large numbers, we are definitely on the advantage side in terms of communication equipment."
"Understanding the speed of information dissemination means that there is a time difference between the two parties in receiving the report. We can completely use this information gap to infinitely suppress the other party's survival space."
"Once they lose their living space, the Mongolian bandits will have to confront us head-on."
As he spoke, a confident smile appeared on Chuanwu's lips.
"In the final analysis, the Mongolian bandits are just a group of herdsmen who have just put down their riding whips and picked up weapons. Although they come and go without a trace, as long as they have no mobility, they are nothing more than a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered."