On August 12, the third year of Jianji, outside Cangzhou City, the two armies had been in a stalemate for many days.
On this day, Ge Congzhou secretly came to the front line.
The Art of War says: If a general leaves the army, he can be attacked quickly.
However, it was the first time for Ge Congzhou to command such a huge war. On the surface, he seemed as calm as an old dog, but in fact, he was under great psychological pressure. At night, he tossed and turned and slept very lightly. Sometimes he couldn't sleep at all, so he got up.
Consider the war and see if there are any omissions.
I came to Cangzhou this time because I was worried about the war here, and I was afraid that Zang Dubao and others would not respond appropriately.
If you respond too weakly, you may suffer a loss. If you respond too strongly, you may scare away the Jin army. I am really worried, so I can only take a look.
It is conceivable that Tianxiong and the entire Tujiang Army will not look upon him well - Tujiang General Kang Yanxiao's face is quite good-looking, but Tianxiong Army Envoy Zang Dubao is obviously not happy.
Already.
It's just a surrender, why do you look so human? You know how to fight, but we don't know how to fight, right? I don't want to think about who was defeated under Sishui City and the whole army was wiped out.
Ge Congzhou seemed not to notice the resentment - or arrogance - among the Tianxiong army. He climbed up to the high platform and carefully observed the enemy's movements.
The Jin army camp moved forward again. They set up camp in a village three or four miles northwest of Cangzhou. Judging from the banners and the scale of the camp, the total strength of the army should be over fifty thousand. According to the intelligence obtained from previous spying, the number of troops here was
The real Jin soldiers should not exceed 20,000, and the rest are either Cangjing soldiers or Cangzhou native soldiers.
The combat effectiveness of these soldiers, judging from the results of many previous battles between the two sides, should still be acceptable.
There is no real weak force in the north.
Even if Wei Bo, who has been defeated, can really be as obedient as Xia Bing, if the military atmosphere changes, it is still uncertain who will win in a frontal field battle.
Ge Congzhou looked at Cangzhou City again.
With the help of the Jin army, the city has been relieved from siege. Lu Kuang, the commander of the Henghai Yanei Army, went to the Jin camp to work with the troops. The two sides interacted frequently, morale was restored, and the combat effectiveness was also increased out of thin air.
Ge Congzhou's powers of observation were very strong. From the resolute actions of the Cangjing soldiers in patrolling, changing defenses, and attacking, he could tell that they had eased out of the most dangerous stage.
From an objective point of view, it is now impossible for the Xia army to capture Cangzhou, and they are very stable.
"Zang Dutou, can the stalemate continue?" Ge Congzhou asked.
"Relax Ge Shuai, I haven't reached the point where I'm an old fool yet," Zang Dubao said.
There is nothing wrong with this, but it always feels different. Fortunately, Ge Congzhou didn't care and said with a smile: "Tianxiong Jun Erlang can still fight. He is worthy of being a saint's guard."
Zang Dubao smiled and said: "Where does Ge Shuai's words put the Tielin Army?"
Ge Congzhou laughed loudly, avoided the question, and asked: "If the whole army withdraws south and garrison in Rao'an, is it possible to be sure?"
Zang Dubao took a deep breath and was stunned by Ge Congzhou.
"Can you just say it?" Ge Congzhou's face straightened and he asked.
Zang Dubao glanced at Ge Congzhou suspiciously but said nothing.
"Zang Dutou, this is a military order, is it okay?" Ge Congzhou asked in a serious tone.
Zang Dubao was silent for a moment and then said: "I asked Li Lin to stay and lead the battalion with more martial arts students. It will not be difficult to fight to the death. However, after so many days of stalemate, the rebel army clearly knows the capabilities of our army.
If you leave like this, you will definitely be suspicious and may not be able to achieve your goal."
Ge Congyi heard it on Monday and thought it made sense, but he no longer insisted on his previous thoughts and said: "This is true. Just obey the order and be prepared to retreat. As for whether to leave, let's see."
The stalemate between the two armies does not mean that nothing is done. In fact, the "technical content" of the confrontation between more than 100,000 troops is quite high.
Take the confrontation between Li Shimin and Liu Heitai as an example. The Tang army continued to circle back and harass Liu Heitai's grain road, which reduced his transportation efficiency and gradually ran out of supplies transferred to the front line. The longer the confrontation lasted, the more Liu Heitai lost his composure.
He is more and more inclined to take the initiative to seek a fight. Once he becomes impatient, it is easy for him to reveal his flaws and eventually be caught by his opponent. Needless to say, his fate will be the end.
And how did Liu Heita look so vigorous when he had enough food and grass?
In July, he led a small number of people to defeat Tang Beizhou and the governor of Weizhou, collected their surrendered troops, and officially rebelled.
In August, he defeated the garrison general Wang Xingmin and killed him.
In September, the combined forces of Huainan King Li Shentong and Youzhou General Manager Luo Yi captured Xue Wanjun's brother alive.
In November, Li Xuantong, the general manager of Dingzhou, was defeated and killed.
In December, he defeated Jizhou and killed the general manager Qu Leng. In the same month, he defeated Li Ji again and was spared by riding away.
Within a few months, three senior generals of the Tang Army were killed and two were captured alive. Li Shentong, Luo Yi, Li Ji and others were blasted.
After Li Shimin arrived, he was still unable to contain Liu Heitai's offensive. Several battles were fought, but neither was ideal and it was difficult to win. There was no other way but to waste it and wait for Liu Heitao's army to decline in condition and weaken in combat power before trying to defeat it again.
Now Xia and Shanxi are in the same situation.
Both sides constantly sent people to attack the woodcutter sergeants, the grain transport teams, and even tried to sneak attacks from behind. There were many tricks.
Beating your woodcutter sergeant will make you unable to drink water and not have enough firewood for cooking. As time goes by, your morale will decline.
Although the teams transporting grain cannot be cut off for a long time, the amount of grain transported is less, the time is longer, and the morale is also reduced.
These seemingly simple and boring tricks are actually the norm on the battlefield, and they are all effective methods that have been summarized bit by bit by predecessors over thousands of years.
A stalemate is not that simple. It actually tests the level of the generals on both sides.
"Has Li Cunzhang arrived?" Ge Congzhou got off the high platform after observing the enemy's formation and asked again.
"After capturing a few banditry horsemen, and after torture and interrogation, it was determined that they had arrived and brought many soldiers and horses from You, Ying, and Mozhou, but the main force of the Jin army should still be Jingsai, Lulong, and captured
Give birth to three armies."
"In the past few days, give the thieves a little sweetness and let them see some hope." Ge Congzhou said: "Don't defend it tightly. Doesn't Zhao Kuangming still have a few hundred remnant soldiers? Doesn't there still be a lot of Helongfan soldiers?"
Think of a way."
Zang Dubao grinned and said: "Shuai Ge is very particular about people and did not risk the death of one of our own."
Ge Congzhou frowned slightly.
Is Zang Dubao's words implying that he wants to kill Tianxiong's army? He is so strong-minded that he simply doesn't know what to say.
"They are all imperial troops." Ge Congzhou adjusted his mood, smiled, and said.
Of course, this is just what I said.
They are all "court armies", but some armies are more like the court. This is obvious. Things like distance and estrangement will always exist no matter when.
"The Texas side hasn't been taken yet?" Zang Dubao asked as he walked with Ge Congzhou for a while.
Both have the surname Wu Zang and are both from Hengshan Dangxiang, but Wu Zang Dubao's birth origin is very problematic strictly speaking, and he cannot be considered a person of the Wu Zang clan. On the other hand, Wu Zang Jieming is a direct descendant of the Wu Zang clan.
, the two origins are so different that it is difficult to compare them.
But Zang Dubao dared to fight, dared to risk his life, and just relied on his own ability to slowly stand out. From the bottom of his heart, he looked down on Wu Zang Jie Ming, thinking that his level was limited, and joining the army as a rebel was simply a waste of time.
Ge Congzhou glanced at him and smiled without saying a word.
He fully understood Zang Dubao's carefully hidden thoughts deep in his heart, and would not laugh at him for it. It is understandable that the serf who had turned over wanted to see his former master shriveled to prove that he was stronger than him.
"There are so many people and horses, it's hard to take them down. Hehe, Wang Qixian can't do it with only three heads and six arms? If the Jin people hadn't gone south, I would have conquered Cangzhou here." Zang Dubao sighed with pretense of regret.
"Dezhou is not a problem." Ge Congzhou said: "As long as the Jin army, Lu Yanwei, Lu Kuang and his son are defeated, they will not be able to make a big splash. If their father and son are defeated, Texas will be at their fingertips."
"Li Keyong's capital this time is not small. If we can wipe out all of them, the situation will suddenly become clearer." Zang Dubao nodded and said: "However, in my opinion, the Jin people still have some strength. Recently
Now that we are comfortable, we move large and small cars home every day, and our morale has even improved. At this time, it is not appropriate to confront them head-on."
There is an institution in Luoyang City called the "Martial Arts Lecture Hall", which is specially designed for senior officers with grassroots backgrounds to further their studies. Shao Shude once gave lectures in person - in fact, he had tea and discussions with his generals. Xia Jun, who attended the Lecture Hall
Senior generals all understand one thing. When the enemy's morale is at its peak and their combat effectiveness increases sharply, they must first avoid fighting, then use various means to lower their morale, and then make the final decision.
To lower the enemy's morale, from a small perspective, it is nothing more than what everyone is used to: attacking woodcutters, cutting off their food routes, or creating noise, making them sleep poorly, or even spreading rumors, etc. From a large perspective,
It would be even more suspenseful and there would be more means.
"The opportunity is coming. Here in Cangzhou, the stalemate will continue for a while. If the Jin army wants to rob, let them do it. If they rob too much, they will not have such a strong desire to fight to the death, which will be beneficial to our army." Ge Congzhou
Said: "You have so many people, control the situation, do whatever you want, follow the strategy. You make the decision on who to send to fight, so as to paralyze the enemy. Remember, don't waste the battle. If the Jin people
Don't ignore the invitation to fight. If you don't get the chance to fight, they are the ones who are impetuous, not our army. However, you must also pay attention to the morale of the camp. When it drops, you can select elite soldiers and fight a few good battles to boost it.
The morale is low. In short, stay calm."
He is satisfied with Zang Dubao's overall performance. Although this person is not a famous general, he can be regarded as a qualified general with extremely rich experience and control of the field is not a problem - of course, then again, if he fights
If you have won many battles, you will become a famous general, and you can write a special note in the history books, even if your actual level is not particularly high. Whether you can become a famous general depends on a bit of luck. If the opponent's level is very high, he will not give you face or make mistakes.
, you can’t fight a good fight either.
Ge Congzhou only stayed on the Cangzhou front line for one day, and then went straight to Dezhou to carefully understand the first-hand intelligence. After the arrangements were made, he returned to the Longxiang Army's garrison and continued to entangle with Cangjing and Chengde's troops.
On the battlefield in Hebei, the stalemate continued on the surface. However, both the Xia and Jin sides were deploying their troops and generals behind the scenes, and the undercurrent was endless.