According to the current military structure of the Ming Dynasty, the deployment of troops is very dispersed, and the command authority is also very dispersed.
Thousands of soldiers and horses may seem like a small number, but it is rare to be able to quickly mobilize thousands of soldiers and horses in the first place.
Even at the level of staff general or deputy general, when encountering an enemy, they can often only command a few hundred men to fight in a hurry.
Only a big boss like Qin Zhongtang, the commander-in-chief, could have the willfulness to directly mobilize thousands of troops to go on an expedition without asking the court for instructions.
In order to confuse outsiders and reduce the threat, Qin Zhongtang's troops were claimed to be two thousand, but in fact they were four thousand.
Among them, there are 500 Liaodong soldiers and 1,500 Nanjing soldiers. These are the main force of the Biao camp and follow Qin Zhongtang in the front line.
The other two thousand guardsmen were transferred from northern Zhejiang and western Zhejiang, slowly walking behind to fill up the number of people in a prepared manner. If more manpower is needed, there will not be no one available.
Then a new news was reported to Ningbo City. General Lu Borong of Fujian Dusi, on the orders of Qin Zhongtang, led two thousand soldiers to go north by boat and temporarily stationed on the coast of Ningbo Prefecture.
These news immediately made the atmosphere in Ningbo Mansion tense, and the intention of this troop deployment was so obvious that even a three-year-old child could see it!
Qin Zhongtang personally led his troops to advance by land, and was outflanked by Lubo from Fujian by sea, forming a two-sided attack on the ground in Ningbo Prefecture!
The local wealthy families in Ningbo immediately held another meeting of village sages at the Chenghuang Temple. This time the situation was urgent, and almost all the leading figures from the major families were present.
Yang Meihuang of the Yang family, Tu Ren of the Tu family, Zhang Shixing of the Zhang family, and even the leading figure of the Lu family who rarely appeared in public, Lu Bo, the former governor of Baoding, Northern Zhili, also came out.
Tu Ren couldn't help complaining to Zhang Shixing: "Aren't your Zhang family too frivolous and undisciplined? It's your Zhang family that causes trouble every time!
He burned the official ship twice, and this time he beat the commissioner sent by the shogunate to serious injuries!"
Zhang Shixing almost suffered internal injuries. Can you blame the Zhang family for this?
It can only be said that the Zhang family is unlucky. Every time something happens to the shogunate, or there is a malicious incident, it happens to be someone from the Zhang family!
But it was hard for Zhang Shixing to refute. As for the relationship, Tu Ren was his uncle, so what could he say?
Lu Wei, the head of the Lu family, tried to smooth things over by saying, "At present, all of our families should be in the same spirit, and we should not hurt each other by blaming each other.
So let’s discuss the matter first! The most urgent thing now is, should the rural soldiers be disbanded? How to deal with Qin Dewei who is pressing forward with his troops? "
Yang Meihuang, the oldest, was very clear-headed and said firmly: "The rural soldiers cannot be disbanded. This is an important means for us to protect ourselves!
Whether facing Qin Zhongtang or Japanese pirates, what can we do if we don’t have local soldiers? Wouldn’t we just let the mermaids do it?
Besides, the formation of rural soldiers was approved by the imperial court, so why should Qin Dewei disband them with just one word?"
A second-level family representative who was present subconsciously muttered: "The imperial court is too far away, and Qin Dewei is too close."
The people around me who heard this sentence were all stunned. This sentence is indeed correct, and it explains the current situation to a great extent.
Zhang Shixing, the youngest, said harshly: "The imperial court allowed the rural soldiers, but Qin Dewei wanted to disband the rural soldiers. The two contradict each other, and there is no way to reason."
In my opinion, in the end, we have to use force to solve the problem! The truth is the big fist!"
Tu Ren reminded: "But the situation is also obvious. The rural soldiers will definitely not be able to defeat the official army!"
The weapons and equipment on both sides are not of the same level. Although the officers and soldiers of the guard station have deteriorated greatly in recent years, the rural soldiers themselves are not elite.
So the discussion reached a deadlock, and we couldn't fight, and we were unwilling to disband. What should we do?
Even if the court was asked to come forward, it was too far away, and Qin Dewei had already called at the door of his house, so it was too late to ask the court to come forward.
At this moment, someone outside suddenly laughed and said, "Please forgive me, I came a long way and was late!"
Everyone looked towards the door of the house and saw a fat man with one eye walking in. Who could it be if it wasn't Yan Shifan?
Everyone has a strange view of this man.
He was said to be the son of Yan Shoufu, but he was hanging out with Qin Dewei; he was said to be hanging out with Qin Dewei, but he kept sneaking around to attend meetings of their local wealthy families.
Yang Meihuang was afraid that Yan Shifan would be rejected, so she told everyone: "I invited Master Yan to help us plan for the future! We can also use Master Yan's wisdom!"
The rest of the people were very surprised, why did you, Yang Meihuang, get together with Yan Shifan? You actually invited Yan Shifan to attend the Rural Xian Conference many times.
Yang Meihuang has no choice. Although the Yang family is known as the head of the four major families, its popularity has dropped a lot in recent years.
The Tu family produced Tu Qiao, the Zhang family produced Zhang Bangqi, the Lu family also produced a governor of Baoding, Northern Zhili, but the Yang family had nothing, and Yang Meihuang was only a fourth-grade official.
Therefore, in order to stabilize the position of the Yang family, it is also necessary to win over foreign aid allies.
Tu Ren looked at Yan Shifan and asked suspiciously: "Master Yan, do you have any insights that can solve the problem?"
Yan Shifan said calmly: "You have just said that the first township soldiers cannot be disbanded, and the second township soldiers will definitely not be able to defeat the official army. These are all correct!
But if you can’t win, then you can’t fight? If you can’t win, does that mean you have to admit defeat?”
Someone urged: "Just tell me what to do! Do you still want us to guess riddles?"
Yan Shifan said confidently: "Of course you can say it directly. My policy is eight words: when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we advance!"
Others didn't understand the meaning for a while, so Yan Shifan continued to explain: "Just because you can't defeat the army, you don't want to face the enemy head-on!
The rural soldiers would do whatever they were supposed to do, and when the official troops arrived, they would disperse and sneak into surrounding villages and towns!
The rural soldiers are all locals, so it is not a problem to sneak into villages and towns to hide.
And it is impossible for the officers and soldiers to destroy all the villages and towns where the rural soldiers are hiding just to find a few rural soldiers! If such a situation really happens, Qin Dewei will not be able to deal with it!
This move will force the enemy to advance while we retreat! What we rely on is not magic weapons, nor fortresses and cities, but the people, so that the officers and soldiers will fall into the vast ocean of local people!"
After everyone thought for a while, they understood the meaning.
Yan Shifan continued: "Then after the officers and soldiers retreat, the rural soldiers can come out again and continue to do whatever they have to do. This is called the enemy retreating while we advance!"
"Okay!" Someone shouted subconsciously. Yan Shifan's suggestion solved a big problem. If you can't fight head-on, just pull it again and again!
But there are still pessimistic people, such as Tu Ren, who said: "Even if the officers and soldiers are repeatedly pulled and pulled, there is nothing they can do, but the rural soldiers cannot be considered to have won.
Since we still can’t defeat the army, what’s the point of trying to get around?”
Yan Shifan refuted Tu Ren: "A person must have a long-term vision, how can he be short-sighted?
This confrontation is not something that can be accomplished overnight. You must be prepared to persist for a long time! This is a protracted battle!
Although there is indeed no hope of winning in the short term, we will win in the end! Time must be on our side!"
Someone else asked: "How can you be sure that you will win after a long time?"
Yan Shifan sneered: "Why can't you understand such a simple truth?
First of all, the rural soldiers are all locals, so the expenditure required is very small.
And Qin Dewei's expedition with thousands of troops cost a lot of money! The longer it goes, the less he can afford!
Secondly, the new trade wind season is coming soon, and Japanese pirates will be rampant again!
It was impossible for Qin Dewei to leave the Japanese pirates alone and just use thousands of troops to fight against the local soldiers in Ningbo! So he couldn't afford to wait!
Judging from these two reasons, isn’t time on our side? The longer the delay is, the worse it will be for Qin Dewei!”
Everyone in the room was talking a lot. What Yan Shifan said was indeed very reasonable, but these ideas sounded so novel that everyone had to discuss them.
Yan Shifan concluded: "So you don't have to think too much. Although the rural soldiers are far inferior to the official army, as long as you remember two points, you can achieve a huge victory!
First, we must insist on relying on the local people, from the people, to the people!
Secondly, make long-term preparations, don’t be anxious and use time to delay Qin Dewei and the army to death!"
The old country squire Yang Meihuang couldn't help but take the lead in applauding and praised: "Master Yan's views are like enlightenment for us, and we can see the sun through the clouds!"
Yan Shifan, as the person he brought, can be regarded as gaining face for himself!
Then Yang Meihuang said to everyone: "If there are no different opinions, just do it as it is?"