The next day, Yang Sichang suddenly sent someone to invite Liu Yan to the Chinese army's tent. After Liu Yan arrived, he saw only Yang Sichang himself in the Chinese army's tent, and the other generals were nowhere to be seen. He was also a little confused: Is this Yang Sichang again? What are you trying to do?
Liu Yan clasped his fists and said, "I've seen the Superintendent, but I don't know what the Superintendent is calling for."
Yang Sichang smiled and said: "General Liu, sit down first. Let's talk about something later. Come and watch the tea!"
Liu Yan sat down and a personal guard brought a cup of hot tea. Liu Yan took a sip and found that it was still Longjing tea. He was also very surprised. At present, all the ministries are in short supply of money and food. Yang Sichang can still entertain his subordinates with Longjing tea. What a luxury!
Then Liu Yan put down his tea cup, looked at Yang Sichang and asked, "If you have anything to say, Superintendent, please speak directly."
Yang Sichang also took a sip of tea, and then said with a smile: "Haha, I once asked General Liu about the strategy to defeat the enemy. At that time, General Liu and the governor had a clear understanding of each other, and the governor was very happy."
Then Yang Sichang immediately changed the topic and said: "It's just that when I was planning carefully, there are still some things worth considering, so I want General Liu to review it in detail."
Liu Yan sneered in his heart, this Yang Sichang still couldn't escape the nature of party struggle. He already had a strategy to defeat the enemy, but he still had to arrange a way out for himself.
Liu Yan knew very well that after he raised his point today, if there was a setback in the war, Yang Sichang might pull him out to speak out, or even make him a scapegoat.
At this time, Liu Yan looked at Yang Sichang and saw that Yang Sichang's face was gray and blue, and his breathing was rapid. Although his eyes were still bright and bright, there was a trace of laxity. It could be seen that Yang Sichang's condition was not under control, and It's aggravated.
Historically, Yang Sichang died of illness in Hunan just after defeating Zhang Xianzhong's troops. Judging from the current situation, Liu Yan's calculation of the course of history will not be too biased: Yang Sichang was already dead!
So Liu Yan was ready to take a gamble, betting that Yang Sichang would not survive this year, and that Zhang Xianzhong would lose in this battle! No matter what the situation is, Liu Yan has won the bet. Not only can he gain military exploits, but he can also escape from the battlefield here as soon as possible.
So Liu Yan said: "I wonder what the governor wants to discuss with the general?"
Yang Sichang said: "I am planning to use internal tactics to defeat the enemy, but there are no suitable candidates now. I wonder if General Liu has any suggestions?"
Liu Yan said with a smile: "The supervisor is joking. The general has just arrived at Agate Mountain and is not very clear about the battle situation. How can we recommend such internal candidates?"
"hehe,"
Yang Sichang smiled and said: "There are no outsiders here today, it's just you and me. We are innocent of speaking, how about that?"
Liu Yan pretended to be deep in thought, and after a moment, he said: "If the Superintendent said that, the general is thinking of someone."
"who?"
Yang Sichang asked hurriedly: "Who is the candidate General Liu has in mind?"
Liu Yan said: "The general knows that the supervisor has also thought of the candidate, but he can't make up his mind. How about this, the general and the supervisor write the candidates they think of in the palm of their hands, and then stretch out their hands to show it at the same time to see if they have a clear understanding. How about this? "
Yang Sichang laughed and said: "Okay! General Liu's words integrate my thoughts."
Yang Sichang immediately took two writing brushes, and then he and Liu Yan each wrote a name on their palms.
After the two finished writing, Liu Yan said with a smile: "The supervisor has been decided?"
"Well, it's settled!"
"Then please invite the Supervisor and the General to reach out together."
After saying that, Liu Yan and Yang Sichang stretched out their left hands at the same time. They slowly opened their palms and saw the same name written on their hands: Liu Guoneng!
"Ha ha!"
Yang Sichang burst into laughter, and his laughter was extremely hearty: "I know that General Liu is a powerful general today. He will definitely investigate the battlefield situation from all sides, and he will definitely think of the same thing as me. It turns out that heroes have the same views." !”
Liu Yan also smiled. In fact, this candidate is not difficult to guess.
In the early years, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi and the people were in dire straits. Liu Guoneng, together with Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others, rose up to attack the state and destroy the government. They were quite famous for their bravery.
Liu Guoneng led his troops across the north and south, and became famous in long-term battles with various Ming armies. He was ranked among the top among the bandits, and he was also regarded as a fierce general among the bandits.
Then Prime Minister Xiong Wencan was ordered to suppress the bandits. Because of his reputation, the bandit army was very afraid of him. Once they encountered Xiong Wencan's troops, they fled elsewhere. Later, when the rebel tribesmen saw that Xiong Wencan had issued an order to recruit and surrender, they were eager to return to the fold.
Among the bandits, Liu Guoneng had always had conflicts with Zhang Xianzhong, and he often worried that he would be annexed by Zhang Xianzhong. Immediately afterwards, Liu Guoneng was defeated by the army led by Zuo Liangyu, so he simply surrendered to Xiong Wencan in Suizhou in the first month of the eleventh year of Chongzhen. He was appointed as a garrison by the court. His troops and horses remained intact and were still led by Liu Guoneng.
However, as Zhang Xianzhong rebelled again, the situation in Huguang and Henan deteriorated sharply. The imperial troops and horses were defeated in a row. Liu Guoneng was also persuaded by the envoy sent by Zhang Xianzhong, so he led his troops to rebel again and took refuge with Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Xianzhong did not care. Accept it despite previous suspicion.
Yang Sichang smiled and said: "According to intelligence from all parties, Liu Guoneng is in Agate Mountain at this time. If he can act as an internal agent, our army will win this battle!"
Liu Yan clasped his fists and said, "The Superintendent is wise, but this matter must be handled strictly. It is best to have capable people to contact Liu Guoneng. In addition, the Superintendent must also scrutinize the information sent by Liu Guoneng in case Liu Guoneng sends it. False information confuses the public.”
"Well, that's natural."
The two discussed for a while, and then Liu Yan said goodbye and left.
After returning to the New Army camp, Liu Yan first handled some daily military affairs, and then fell into deep thought.
Today's conversation with Yang Sichang made Liu Yan realize that intelligence matters are of vital importance to the army. However, the new army does not yet have a specialized intelligence agency. All ministries still rely on the sources of battlefield intelligence. Not collected at night.
Although the New Army is very effective even if it is not collected at night, the source of information is too narrow and relies too much on enemy prisoners. There are too many uncertainties in searching for intelligence, and it is very easy for the enemy to take advantage of it. Use false intelligence to turn the tide of battle.
"It seems that it is necessary to plan a special intelligence system!"
Liu Yan sat alone in the Chinese army's tent, staring at the map hanging on the side, thinking: "Now the new army has more and more troops, the scale of the war I face is getting bigger and bigger, and I am more dependent on intelligence." It is growing rapidly, and it is no longer enough to just keep harvesting at night, we must establish an institution similar to the Jin Yiwei, or the later generations of Guoan."
Liu Yan thought about it for a long time, but now that the war is urgent, the preparation of the intelligence agency will have to wait until he returns home in triumph.
"After you return, you must pay attention to suitable talents, either recruit them or train them. You must promote several intelligence talents as soon as possible."
At the same time, Yang Sichang was also planning in the Chinese army's tent. At this time, he was writing a handwritten letter, which contained thousands of words. After writing it, he sealed it with fire paint, and then called a few elites to keep it in the night. Give them the letter.
"This letter is of great importance. You must get it into the hands of General Liu Guoneng. The letter must be kept and there must be no mistakes!"
"yes!"
After the Ye Bushou left, the tension in Yang Sichang's heart did not diminish at all. He didn't know whether Liu Guoneng would receive his letter, and whether the news sent back in the future would be true. Everything was unknown.
Until three days later.
During these three days, the Ming army only besieged Manao Mountain and did not mobilize troops to attack the mountain. Agate Mountain and the surrounding area for dozens of miles are calm and peaceful, but what ordinary people don't know is that under this seemingly calm atmosphere, there are actually turbulent waves hidden.
At dawn on the fourth day, Ye Bushou from various Ming army units seemed to have gone crazy and began to search frantically around Agate Mountain. Any pedestrian passing through Agate Mountain would be severely interrogated by Ming army scouts.
At the same time, the Ming army did not stop at night and began to search the outside. Team after team of Ming troops did not stop at night and galloped everywhere, almost completely covering the area of Agate Mountain for dozens of miles.
Liu Yan also received Yang Sichang's order, so he called in the commander Xu Ming and said, "Yang Sichang has received information from inside. He must be looking for the secret food route of Zhang Xianzhong's command."
Xu Ming said in surprise: "The army of thieves is besieged on Agate Mountain, and they actually still have food access?"
"Whether it's Zhang Xianzhong, Ge Liyan, Guo Tianxing and others, they are all fierce bandits who have been running rampant in the northwest and southwest for many years. They all have extraordinary abilities. Don't underestimate the world's figures!"
Liu Yan said: "Although the three main roads in the Agate Mountain where the bandit army was besieged have been blocked by various ministries, how big is the Agate Mountain? It is not more than a hundred miles in circumference, regardless of the large and small mountain roads. It’s just that most of them are inaccessible to the army.”
"But these Yangchang mountain roads can convey messages and transport money and food supplies. No matter how tight our army's blockade is, we can only look back and sigh."
Xu Ming said: "My subordinates understand that the bandit Zhang Xianzhong transported money and grain through these small roads, and his grain transport team also went up the mountain from these places, but our army has not found it yet."
"That's right!"
Liu Yan said: "But I should have guessed the general direction. You take the soldiers of the cavalry battalion to the north of Agate Mountain for inspection. That side should be the activity range of the bandit army's food transport team."
"But there is no main road up the mountain to the north."
"Yes, it is precisely because of this that he is ignored by various departments of our army!"
Xu Ming understood immediately and hurriedly went to mobilize troops.
"I hope Xu Ming can get the news soon!"
The Battle of Agate Mountain is also quite famous in history. Yang Sichang relied on the information provided by internal forces, and cooperated with internal forces and external forces to capture Agate Mountain and win the battle.
Although Liu Yan joined at this time, the wheel of history has not deviated too far. Yang Sichang still placed his hope of victory on internal response.
"It's just that this time Yang Sichang has placed his hope on the generals to earn troops. I don't know if the information Liu Guo can provide will allow Yang Sichang to earn this grain transport team!"
Some people died, but not completely...
