It is obvious that the Zhengzhou Corps has now transformed into an army that "fights for itself." From the top officer Chen Wangwu, to the officers below, to the soldiers at the bottom, they are all fighting for the rest of their lives. Especially those who
To the illiterate soldiers, the Ming army tanks and soldiers opposite them were just piles of walking money. As long as they were defeated, it would be theirs.
The Ming Army High Command finally figured out why this battle was so difficult to fight. However, a few old men were very cautious and ordered the frontline troops to interrogate the prisoners of war extensively and draw conclusions from as many prisoners of war as possible.
As a result, the answer was the same as reported to Xiaoqiang. This shows that the prisoners of war in the first interrogation were not lying. Indeed, the entire Zhengzhou Army fell into the eyes of money.
Once you know the reason, you need to think of countermeasures.
Li Guoliang gritted his teeth and said:
"Master Zhang, Master Tang, I suggest that the 'Red Boy Project' originally prepared for Hangu Pass be used tonight in the Beiru River Corridor to let the Qing soldiers understand that they are destined to earn the money, but
There may not be a life flower!"
The Beiru River Corridor is a narrow plain between the mountains where the Ming army attacked Luoyang from the south and was advancing with difficulty. Because there is a small river running through the center of this narrow plain called the Beiru River, it is called the "Beiru River Corridor".
Several generals looked at each other.
Zhang Zhao first looked at the map, shook his head and said:
"No. The North Ruhe Corridor is no better than the Hanguguan Valley. It is a plain with many villages and towns along the way, including Ruzhou Town and Ruyang County. The 'Red Boy Plan' is extremely destructive and cannot be used in places where there are residents.
.”
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Commander Li, those incendiary bombs of Army Aviation were collected by the whole army. If they are all concentrated, it may not be enough to deal with the Hangu Pass fortification zone, and if they are used separately here, it will not be enough. Besides, it is late autumn now, and the weather in Henan is dry.
, the Beiruhe Corridor is not like the Hanguguan Valley, which is two isolated small mountains. Several large mountains here are connected. Maybe the fire can spread to the entire Qinling Mountains... This is no joke.
Already."
Li Guoliang sighed and stopped talking. But he glanced at his bosses to see if they could come up with any good ideas.
Zhang Zhaoxian was the chief of general staff of the headquarters and wanted to control the overall situation of the war, so he did not plan to get too involved in this matter. He handed this issue to Tang Yunsheng, chief of the army general staff, and stipulated that Tang Yunsheng should solve it within 36 hours, and he must attack after 36 hours.
Entering Luoyang Plain.
Tang Yunsheng immediately held a meeting, with General Staff Lu and the main senior generals of the People's Guard participating to study countermeasures.
After the one-hour meeting, everyone focused on two plans.
The first one is political means. This is an idea proposed by Tumache. He said that since the morale of the Qing army was bought with money, it would be easy to handle. Because they can buy it and so can we. But of course we are not trying to compete with them.
The reward, because Chen Wangwu was basically a blank check, was supported by the wealth reserves of the banks in these two cities and the blackmailing of Ming Dynasty. Nan Ming could not afford a higher bounty than him. However, Ming Dynasty could use another
Ways to open bounties.
"We can kill Chen Wangwu," Tumache said with a sinister smile, "We can spend money to buy Chen Wangwu's head. For this head, we can offer...for example, a reward of 1,000 taels of gold. Whoever kills him
Chen Wangwu, the Ming Dynasty gave him 1,000 taels of gold. These 1,000 taels of gold
In general, gold is not much, only more than 80,000 mingyang, but for someone around Chen Wangwu, such as guards, staff officers, drivers, cooks, and orderlies, it is a huge sum of money. That person will be happy to kill him
Chen Wangwu’s. Chen Wangwu is still very defensive. He can’t isolate himself.”
There was silence in the conference room, and Tang Yunsheng asked:
"Then what?"
"What?"
"What happens after Chen Wangwu dies?"
stomachache said:
"Then... naturally the Zhengzhou Corps is leaderless, and our army is in dire straits. The 'King of Guanzhong' himself is dead, so who will pay the Qing troops?"
Li Guoliang stared at him and asked:
"Commander Du, I dare say that after Chen Wangwu dies, other officers will take over the command in the next second and replace Chen Wangwu as the 'quasi-King of Guanzhong'. The situation of 'leaderless' is unlikely to happen. Even if we kill continuously
If you lose ten commanders, someone will continue to take this position. This attraction is too great, and it is worth risking your life."
Stomachache retorted:
"Commander Li, you only saw the first one, but not the second. It is precisely because everyone wants to be in this position. After Chen Wangwu's death, there will be a period of chaos, and everyone will come to grab it. Then, who is still thinking about it?
Commanding the war?"
Li Guoliang also said immediately:
"Although the Thirteenth Army of the Northern Qing Dynasty is a Qing captive, it is not a bandit or a bandit in any way. It is still a regular army. It has strict procedures for superiors and subordinates. If the superior cannot perform its duties, there is a clear sequence and process for who will take over temporarily.
Moreover, Chen Wangwu is now the focus of attention of the Manchu Emperor. His death will be known to the pseudo-emperor immediately, and the pseudo-emperor may even personally intervene to determine the successor. In any case, there will be no leaderless situation."
His stomach ached and his brain moved quickly. He rolled his eyes in pain and immediately "upgraded" his idea and said:
"In this case, we will not kill him directly. We will first notify Chen Wangwu and tell him that we are interested in paying for his head and ask him to be careful. We will give him a time limit to surrender. When the time is up, we will kill him.
Flyers offering bounties on people's heads were scattered into the city of Zhengzhou. We told him clearly that he must consider it carefully."
Li Guoliang immediately took it and said:
"How long will it take in total? Can it be completed within 36 hours?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang spoke slowly:
"Ahem... You two, do you know how high the price Emperor Qinglu paid for my head, Xiang Xiaoqiang?"
Everyone in the conference room was stunned, not knowing what Xiang Xiaoqiang wanted to say.
Stomachache immediately replied:
"Sir, it's 5,000 taels of gold."
"5,000 taels of gold." Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and said, "The high price of 5,000 taels of gold has been available for a month and a half, and I am still alive and well. Even if my security defense is better. Then Commander of the Zhengzhou Army
How many days can the security defense last without being killed? I think it would be more realistic to last for a week, right?"
Stomachache and Li Guoliang stopped talking. They both looked at each other.
Xiang Xiaoqiang continued:
"The two of you have been fighting for a long time, but you have forgotten the most important factor: time. If we have no other goal, just to kill Chen Wangwu, it is easy to do. We can just offer a reward and sit back and wait for the head to be delivered.
It doesn’t matter if it takes longer. But now General Staff Zhang gives us 36 hours to enter Luoyang.
It will take at least a few days to complete the full operation of 'buying a head'. Even if we don't buy his head first, we first send a letter to threaten him and make him surrender... If I were him, I would delay the time through negotiation first and block the Ming army at the same time.
While transporting the troops to Guanzhong on the Qinqi Railway at night, they also strengthened their own security...
"He doesn't even need to withdraw the entire corps into Hangu Pass. It's enough to withdraw half or one-third, which is enough to guard Hangu Pass. Then by tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, he is likely to be in the middle of the pass. Next we will
What should I do? Continue to threaten him with buying his head.
Hangu Pass? That's even more unrealistic. As long as his security is good, he can waste time with us. Now we need to seize the main force of the Qing army and quickly occupy Shanshan before reinforcements come back. We can't afford to waste another day.
It makes sense for General Staff Zhang to limit us to 36 hours."
After much discussion, the idea of having a stomachache proved to be a bad idea.
…
Next, everyone will focus on the second method.
This is a military method proposed by a staff officer of the Army General Staff. The staff suggested that while attacking Luoyang and Zhengzhou, a light force should be sent from Nanyang north to the Qinling Mountains, taking the same road Liu Bang took to enter Guanzhong. This
It's Wuguan Road.
Guanzhong has been called the "Land of Four Fortresses" since ancient times because its geography is surrounded by mountains. Generally, there are only four gaps to enter. There is Hangu Pass to the east, Wuguan to the southeast, Dashan Pass to the southwest, and Dashan Pass to the northwest.
Xiao Guan. Traditionally the most meaningful to the Central Plains struggle for hegemony
There is only one, and that is Hangu Pass. Hangu Pass is the closest to the main battlefield in the Central Plains, and the mountain road is the shortest and easiest to walk, so it is also the most important. The regimes that occupied the Central Plains in the past dynasties have all strictly fortified Hangu Pass. Hangu Pass has also always been
It is the most difficult to pass among the four major passes.
But once a certain regime first occupies Bashu and Hanzhong, it can consider attacking Dashan Pass in the southwest. If it occupies Xiangfan and Nanyang Basin (the northern part of the legendary "Jingzhou") first, it can also
Consider attacking the central part of Guanzhong from Wuguan in the southeast. When Liu Bang entered the pass, he first captured Nanyang. In order to bypass the heavy troops of Hangu Pass of the Qin Dynasty, he chose to go to Wuguan in the south.
But whether it is Dashan Pass or Wuguan, it means crossing the entire Qinling Mountains. The mountain roads of these two passes are ten times more rugged than Hangu Pass, and the distance is a hundred times longer. Along the way, there are high mountains, cliffs, and many places.
It all depends on cultivation
Only the "plank road" on the cliff can be passed. Counting the twists and turns of the trails, the total length of the mountain roads at each pass is more than 200 kilometers. As for the mountain roads in Hangu Pass, the total length is only 15 kilometers. And it is still there.
Access to railway.
In Chinese history, several times in Chinese history, Wuguan Pass and Dashan Pass were chosen to enter Guanzhong, but there was no other way. Because Hangu Pass was too tightly guarded, the Guanzhong regime must have put its most elite troops there. And Wuguan Pass and Dashan Pass were
Pass, because the mountain roads are long and difficult to walk, the Guanzhong regime often only dispatches a small number of troops with weak combat effectiveness. Therefore, choosing these two passes in the south can often avoid the main force of the defenders and attack at a smaller cost.
Guanzhong.
What this staff officer meant was that since the Ming army has now occupied the Xiangfan Basin and Nanyang, why not repeat the route Liu Bang took to enter the pass and take the Wuguan Road?
He added: This does not necessarily mean marching from Wuguan Pass to Guanzhong, but using this action to put pressure on the Zhengzhou Corps and ask Chen Wangwu to think about it. Don't think that if you hold Hangu Pass, the world will be peaceful. The Ming Army
They will not listen to your mercy. The Ming army is very determined to enter Guanzhong, even if they enter Guanzhong from Wuguan or Dashan Pass.
…
This suggestion was hotly debated at the meeting. One group believed that this was a bad idea. Because of the "road conditions" of Wuguandao, there was no way to think about mechanized marching. It would definitely only use two legs. Even if the Qing army defended Wuguandao,
It is weak, but how long does it take to march on more than 200 kilometers of mountain trails? Even if it is a forced march, including fighting and walking, ten days is considered fast. In these ten days, the day lilies are cold.
Moreover, if there is a forced march on Wuguan Road, they will definitely not be able to carry heavy weapons. They can only carry light weapons, and at most they can carry some small-caliber light artillery. They will definitely not be able to carry heavy vehicles. Even if this army breaks through Wuguan and appears in Guanzhong
How effective can it be in the plains? A tired division with only light weapons and two legs, and a very limited amount of ammunition (no heavy supply vehicles), facing hundreds of thousands of people, the Zhengzhou Corps, which is waiting for them, will naturally
Insurance is a problem.
However, another school of thought believes that the forced march on Wuguan Mountain Road is still feasible, but it cannot be taken seriously and cannot be expected to really take ten days for this army to enter Guanzhong. They believe that this move is just to put pressure on the Zhengzhou Corps and express an attitude, called
Chen Wangwu didn't have too many unreasonable thoughts. If everything goes well, maybe in two or three days, the negotiations in Luoyang or Hangu Pass will have results.
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't interrupt too much. However, he was very irritated when he heard it. He moved his hips back and forth on the chair, raising his eyes and looking at Tang Yunsheng from time to time. He felt that Old Tang was also disappointed like him. Anyway, Xiang Xiaoqiang
I think both plans are bad ideas, and I guess Old Man Tang feels the same way.
He accidentally glanced at Xiuxiu beside him, his heart moved, he tilted his head and whispered:
"Do you have any good ideas?"
Xiuxiu was a little surprised, but she still shook her head. She also leaned into Xiang Xiaoqiang's ear and whispered:
"Got to think about it."
He nodded to Xiaoqiang and sighed. He leaned on the back of the chair and listened to the generals arguing in his ears, feeling increasingly irritated.
Sigh... I told Xiaoqiang's wives and wives-to-be, except for Qiu Qiu and Rong Rong, all of them are like human beings. It's a pity that even if you don't understand military affairs, you can't come up with any ideas for this kind of thing... Even if you are like Xiu Xiu
Yes, a little fox, but the basic skills of the army are not solid, and I can't come up with any good ideas...
Suddenly, a light flashed in Xiaoqiang's mind——
Oops, how could I have forgotten her! She has a good brain and solid knowledge of the army, who else can she be?
…
He waved to Xiaoqiang, then asked Xiuxiu to come closer, and whispered:
"Xiuxiu... you go to the phone room outside, call back to the headquarters, and find Princess Liaoyang... you can learn from her about this situation and ask her for advice on my behalf. Does she have any good ideas? Her bad moves.
Most of all, to deal with someone as harmful as Chen Wangwu, you have to use Princess Liaoyang."