Could it be that Niu Jizong's sending troops to march eastward was just a false shot, and his real purpose was to pull up the army to go south?
You Shigong's thoughts changed rapidly, but the battle of Yuhe Stone Bridge, the battle of Gonghua City, and the battles that are still fiercely fought are real.
You Shigong didn't believe that Niu Jizong could make a false shot at such a high price. That would be too much.
Or maybe Niu Jizong has already prepared two paths, depending on the situation?
You Shigong was only the commander-in-chief of Jizhen and did not know what was happening in the capital city or the changes in the direction of the court. He could only make inferences and judgments as a military commander.
No matter how you look at it, these bloody battles do not look like feints.
In the Battle of Shiqiao, the Xuanfu army suffered thousands of casualties, all of them Xuanfu troops and elites. Even You Shigong felt distressed when he learned about it later, and the same was true in the Gonghua City offensive and defensive battle.
The He Huchen Department of the Fifth Army Camp fought such a beautiful blocking battle, which made You Shigong full of expectations for his two units, the newly recruited Huang Degong Department and Zuo Liangyu Department.
You must know that He Huchen's department was quickly established by the veterans of these two departments. It only took a year to establish, and it could have such combat effectiveness. He was immediately full of curiosity and interest in the combat effectiveness of the new firearms battalion...
He was also thinking about what was going on here. He was afraid that he would immediately apply to the Ministry of War to eliminate and replace the various departments under his command, and strive to quickly organize a new firearms unit like He Huchen's department.
Of course, You Shigong also knew that although He Huchen's department was newly built, it had been the focus of the emperor and the Ministry of War for more than a year. There was a major change of blood in the capital camp. This was the emperor's priority. Whether it was soldiers, equipment, or food, they were all priority.
, it is probably impossible for Jizhen to have such preferential treatment.
But he also made up his mind that no matter what, at least a few more units like this new firearms battalion and Jizhen should be reorganized. Just by relying on this, Jizhen blocked the great achievements of the Xuanfu Army. This should be the case.
It’s only right to give back.
These thoughts only flashed through You Shigong's mind. After calming down, he asked again: "Before you came, did you know how many Xuanfu troops went south? What is the situation of the three guards in Zhulu now?"
"Sir, I only know that the army is marching southward in an endless stretch, but they are too far away to get close. The Xuanfu Army is also under martial law along the route, and their scouts are spreading widely. We were almost touched several times.
"Enter." The messenger shook his head repeatedly: "I don't know what happened after the rebellion of Zhulu Sanwei, but there is a large amount of food, equipment and materials inside. These are all prepared for Shanxi Town and were originally going to be transferred there soon.
, but now I don’t know what to do.”
What else could happen? You Shigong secretly sighed in his heart, he must have fallen into Niu Jizong's hands, but all the troops on this route were heading south, and You Shigong was also a little strange. Could it be that Niu Jizong wanted to divide his troops into two groups?
We have already passed Zhuozhou and reached the realm of Baoding Prefecture. It seems that it is impossible to go back again.
After sending away the messenger, You Shigong was still undecided on how to deal with it, but it was necessary to report it to the Ministry of War first, but he didn't know whether the sneak attack on Sihaizhi by Huang Degong, Zuo Liangyu and others would be affected?
If the Xuanfu army has already made up its mind to go south, is there any point in such a sneak attack?
Just when You Shigong was worried about Huang Degong and Zuo Liangyu's troops, Huang Degong and Zuo Liangyu's troops were arduously passing through the valley between Luoshan and Mutianyu, and were painstakingly passing through the Bohai Sea.
After passing Bohai Station, you have entered the border area bordering Xuanfu Town.
Looking at the soldiers under his command, they were all exhausted. Although they had traveled less than 150 miles after several days of trekking, this was a solid mountain road. Fortunately, they got a little rest and supplies at Bohai Station, otherwise, otherwise
I really can't stand it any longer.
"Hushan, brothers are all a little tired." Zuo Liangyu wiped his sweat and panted with his hands on his hips.
"Kunshan, let's cross the valley in front and take a rest." Huang Degong also knew the difficulty of this long-distance attack.
Unlike the battle in Liaodong, the border walls guarded here are almost all endless mountains, either climbing or descending, or walking through ravines. Fortunately, we have consciously strengthened long-distance training since last year.
, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to survive this trip at all.
"You can see the side wall after passing the entrance of the valley in front. There is a passage there, and then it will be relatively flat when you go down. It is very close to Sihaizhi." The scout next to him introduced.
There are towering cliffs on both sides, and below are streams and ravines. Walking along the ravines is not only slow, but also extremely laborious and tiring.
This is a branch of the Yanshan Mountains. The mountains are undulating. In late autumn, with swaying grass, sparse vegetation, and rugged rocks, it looks quite desolate and beautiful.
"Conquering the Four Seas is not our goal. We want to capture Yongning." Although Zuo Liangyu was very tired, he was not deterred at all. "Conquering the Four Seas is of no importance to the Xuanfu Army. Only by capturing Yongning can we threaten it.
Only in Yanqing can we pose a threat to the Xuanfu army."
The scout was a native of Huairou and was equally familiar with the situation in Yanqing. He grinned and said, "Sir, that's not easy. There are still forty miles from Sihaizhi to Yongning. And although Yongning is small, it is still a county town. We are stationed here.
The Xuanfu army has a full complement of thousands of households."
"How is the defense situation of Yongning in peacetime?" Huang Degong doesn't care how many people there are on the other side, the key lies in the level of vigilance of the other side.
The scout hesitated for a moment and said, "It's just average, because the Black Hanling Fort and the Thursday Gou Fort in front are the key passes, and the Xuanfu troops stationed there are very highly guarded, so relatively speaking, there is less tension in Yongning County behind.
.”
Huang Degong nodded. The scout was right. Black Hanling Fort and Zhou Zhou Gou Fort were the first line to face the Chahar people. Yongning was more of a second line station for troops and supplies. Once the front line was tight, then here
The number of troops will be transferred there, but the number of permanent garrison troops is not too large at ordinary times, but people come and go, and the transfers are very frequent.
After crossing the valley, Huang Degong and Zuo Liangyu both knew it was time to rest, otherwise the number of people falling behind would increase significantly after they lost their strength.
But you can't rest for too long. Once your body cools down, it will be difficult to keep going at the original speed.
Soon the team regrouped, passed through the passage under the side wall, and meandered westward along the mountain valley road, winding down.
When they were only three miles away from the Sihai Zhi, the two troops finally stopped.
Although Sihaizhi is a fort, this fort is not simple. It is the most important fort between Heihanling Fort and Mutianyu. It is not only responsible for supporting the easternmost section of the entire Xuanfu Town, but also
Once the Chahar people break through the border wall from the mountain path and swarm in, the garrison of Sihaizhi will meet them as soon as possible and block their way.
Usually a battalion from Xuanfu Town is stationed here, but it is basically difficult to fully staff it. It is only about 2,000 people. If you add the garrison in Fengsuiwu Fort on the front line, it is about 3,000 people, but they are all
They are truly elite.
"Kunshan, let's take a break here and go and check out the situation with a few people." Huang Degong wiped the sweat from his forehead and raised his eyes to look into the distance, "I guess the garrison in the Sihai Administration Office will not be as large as we imagined.
"Since Niu Jizong wants to lead his army to the east, he must mobilize a large number of elites to assemble. It is impossible for the four seas to rule here without leaving any troops. If the total can be maintained at an average level, it will be good."
"I hope so. To be honest, I don't really want to fight this battle with the Xuanfu army." Zuo Liangyu sighed, "What's wrong with us going to fight the Chahar people and fight the Jurchens?
But we had to come here all of a sudden from the inside. It’s a pity that military orders are hard to disobey, so I have to say sorry.”
"Why are you becoming sentimental now? I have never seen you like this when I was in Liaodong?" Huang Degong said angrily: "No one else can ask for such a meritorious service opportunity, but you are so picky.
Four are up."
"Hehe, I'm just complaining casually. If someone else's turn comes to bear such a good thing, they may not be able to bear it. I've traveled more than a hundred miles in the past three days, and it took two of us. Who else can bear it?"
Zuo Liangyu laughed.
"Okay, let's arrange for the brothers to go quickly without delaying the main business." Huang Degong wanted to make meritorious deeds. This trip was so hard. If he couldn't produce some decent results, I would be sorry for myself and the brothers below.
Huang Degong's and Zuo Liangyu's troops were both standard guerrilla troops, with a full strength of 3,000 men, and a specialized logistics department of 100, but Huang Degong's troops were equipped with an additional 300 men for mobility.
In other words, the second division has a full strength of 6,500 men, of which the basic combat strength is six battalions of 1,800 gunmen, followed by three battalions of spearmen and one battalion of sword and shield soldiers. This is different from the troop configuration of the Beijing camp.
This is because both units are frontier troops who are responsible for garrisoning around the border wall and undertaking field missions. It is difficult to fully adapt to the narrow terrain of mountains, border walls and valleys by relying solely on firecrackers. Therefore, measures need to be adapted to local conditions.
Make some adjustments.
For example, Huang Degong's army was fully staffed with 3,400 men. In addition to the 1,800 firemen, he had 900 spearmen and only 300 sword and shield soldiers. However, Huang Degong felt that there were some problems with sword and shield soldiers in field battles.
They are more flexible than spearmen and can be appropriately strengthened, so he made this mobile battalion mainly composed of sword and shield soldiers, so that he had two battalions of sword and shield soldiers with 600 people.
The two waved their hands, and both groups had their own sentry scouts. Two or three people from each group came out. They greeted each other and then quickly sneaked away along the mountain road toward the east.
Song Zhibao is a local. In fact, scouts usually choose locals. Huairou and Yanqing are very close, and there are even many villages where he has relatives, so he is very familiar with Yanqing.
He and his other partner, Liu Baishan, noticed something was wrong before they even got close to the Sihai Administrative Office.
Firstly, there was almost no one on the road, and secondly, you could vaguely see the sound of horse hooves and rolling yellow dust in front of the fort.
