Wu Sangui did not listen to Liu Yan's explanation at all, but united with a group of Liaodong generals and insisted on saving Jinzhou City first. Hong Chengchou also said nothing and looked thoughtful. Although the others, such as Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu and others, supported Liu Yan, they did not insist on it. They were obviously waiting and watching Hong Chengchou's attitude.
Seeing this, Liu Yan had no choice but to be patient and continued: "Supervisors, gentlemen, as long as our army captures Huangtu Ridge, it will not only be able to threaten Rufeng Mountain and other places from the side, but as long as one of our troops is stationed on Huangtu Ridge, In the future, it will be much more convenient to get water from the Xiaoling River. Now our army of more than 200,000 people only relies on some wells for drinking water. This is also a major hidden danger. If the Qing army blocks our army's waterways and the weather continues to be hot, our army will inevitably have difficulty with water. This will The danger of this situation is comparable to cutting off the food road!"
When Liu Yan mentioned the water source issue, Wang Pu, Yang Guozhu and others became energetic. After all, it was a major matter related to the safety of various armies. Everyone supported Liu Yan one after another. Even the Liaodong generals became hesitant.
However, Wu Sangui still insisted on his own opinion. He believed that as long as the reinforcements reached the gates of Jinzhou City and the siege of Jinzhou was relieved, water sources could still be obtained from the Jinzhou area. Why not get the best of both worlds?
As a result, the generals in the lobby were divided into two factions, led by Liu Yan and Wu Sangui respectively. They refused to give in and quarreled.
Seeing this situation, Hong Chengchou still looked kind, but there was a hint of anger in his eyes. Supervisor Zhang Ruoqi and Supervisor Ma Shaoyu frowned, but since Hong Chengchou didn't say anything, they both held back and said nothing.
Everyone quarreled for a while, but Wu Sangui saw that no one could convince anyone, so he said to Liu Yan: "Just now, Commander-in-Chief Liu thought that after our army captured Huangtu Ridge, it could threaten Rufeng Mountain and other places from the side? But according to the investigation conducted by our subordinates, According to the intelligence, the slave bandits are also heavily deployed on the west side of Shimen. When attacking from there, our army will also have to face a mountain defense line that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. What is the difference between attacking Rufeng Mountain?"
Liu Yan said: "What General Wu said is right, but relatively speaking, the main force of the slave soldiers and horses is concentrated on the west side of Rufeng Mountain, which is on the main road into Jinzhou. There are fewer troops on the west side of Shimen, and the mountain is The gentleness is conducive to our army's attack on the mountain. If we attack West Shimen, our army can follow the mountains and hills to the Nuer River, thereby threatening the army of bandits besieging the south of Jinzhou, and we can also break the siege of Jinzhou."
"Furthermore, we have to choose the lesser of two evils. From a strategic point of view, after capturing Huangtu Ridge, our army will have more places to move. We can cross the Xiaoling River to the east and attack Shimen Mountain to the west, taking the initiative on the battlefield. It is firmly in the hands of our army!"
After Liu Yan finished speaking, everyone fell silent, and Wu Sangui was also rendered speechless by the rebuttal. At this time, Hong Chengchou nodded approvingly, and Liaodong Governor Qiu Minyang and the supervisors Zhang Ruoqi and Ma Shaoyu also had no objections.
Seeing that everyone was speechless, Yang Guozhu, the chief military officer of Xuanfu Town, immediately said: "I will follow General Liu's wishes."
Wang Pu, the chief military officer of Datong Town, Li Fuming, the chief military officer of Shanxi Town, and Zuo Guangxian, the chief military officer of the assistance and suppression force, also stepped forward to support Liu Yan's strategy.
Even Ma Ke, the chief military officer of Shanhaiguan Town, and Tang Tong, the chief military officer of Miyun Town, were a little swayed, and the others were silent. Only Wu Sangui was still a little unwilling, but could not find a reason to refute Liu Yan.
At this point, Hong Chengchou saw that everyone had almost reached a consensus, so he made a decision. However, when they discussed how to attack Huangtu Ridge in detail, everyone started to quarrel again.
Yang Guozhu, Li Fuming, Zuo Guangxian, Bai Guangen and others scrambled to take the initiative to take the lead. Ma Ke, Tang Tong and Wang Pu were worried that they would be transferred to the first wave to attack the mountain, so they kept emphasizing the difficulties of attacking the mountain. . Wu Sangui remained silent, while the rest of the group were either preparing to compete for credit or wanting to preserve their strength. 33
However, everyone surprisingly unanimously did not mention the new army in Qinglai Town, which surprised Liu Yan. Liu Yan originally thought that he must be the first to bear the brunt, and was pushed to the front by Hong Chengchou and others to gnaw on the hard bones.
However, Liu Yan looked at the people arguing and immediately understood in his heart that he and the Qinglai Town New Army were the trump cards of this army. No one would throw away the trump card as soon as they came up, otherwise how could they fight next?
At this time, Hong Chengchou said: "According to the reports from the sentinels of various ministries, the main ones stationed in Songshanling are the Dongnu Xianglan Banner and the Zhenglan Banner, as well as some Mongolian cavalry. The number exceeds 10,000. The specific number is unknown. It’s hard to pinpoint.”
"In the land of Huangtu Ridge, a large number of Eight Banners Han troops were occupied. They had many red barbarian cannons, blunderbuss and other firearms, and their strength was very strong. In addition, there were some Tatars with white flags and white flags fighting against the dangerous mountains. The Tatar cavalry can rush down from the mountains and flank our army at any time. In this way, Huangtu Ridge is actually very difficult to fight."
Everyone frowned and thought deeply. Cai Maode, the military commander, had been in Songshan for a long time and knew the local terrain well. He suggested: "Master Governor, our army can follow the example of the slave thieves and dig trenches in the plains between Huangtu Ridge and Songshan Ridge. The communication between the two places is cut off. In this way, Huangtu Ridge and Songshan Ridge cannot be connected together, and it is equivalent to fighting alone, so our army can divide and attack them."
Zhang Dou, the commander of the army, disagreed and said: "Even if the slave cavalry in Songshan Ridge cannot support Huangtu Ridge, and there are slave cavalry in Rufeng Mountain and Shimen Mountain, how can our army still dig trenches in several places?"
Cai Maode disagreed and said: "Master Zhang is right, but I think it is better to be able to break one place into one place than to connect them in three or four places."
After a quarrel, the military discussion did not come to an end until dawn, and Hong Chengchou also decided on the candidates to attack Huangtuling and other places.
Yang Guozhu, the chief military officer of Xuanfu Town, and Li Fuming, the chief military officer of Shanxi Town, each led their troops to attack Huangtu Ridge head-on. Bai Guangen, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, and Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan, led their troops to block the Qing army's attack in Songshanling. Wang Pu, the chief military officer of Datong Town, led his troops to deploy defenses northeast of Songshan to block the Qing army's attack in the Rufeng Mountain area.
In addition, Ma Ke, the chief military officer of Shanhaiguan Town, and Tang Tong, the chief military officer of Miyun Town, led their troops to deploy defenses to the west of Songshan Fort to prevent the Qing army from attacking from the west.
Zuo Guangxian, the commander-in-chief of the reinforcement and suppression force, served as a reserve force and temporarily stayed with the Chinese army together with the Dubiao Battalion.
The new army led by Liu Yan, the chief military officer of Qinglai Town, was deployed five miles south of Huangtu Ridge as a mobile force for this battle and was put into action depending on the battlefield situation.
Everything has been deployed, and Hong Chengchou and the generals are very confident. If they win this battle, the siege of Jinzhou may even resolve itself without a fight, and the war situation will completely tilt towards the Ming side.
But Liu Yan stared at the location of Huangtu Ridge on the map, frowning and not knowing what he was thinking.
Hong Chengchou had just laughed and chatted with everyone when he noticed Liu Yan and asked, "What has General Liu thought of? Can you tell me about it?"
Liu Yan pointed to the location of Huangtu Ridge on the map and said: "The slave bandit army deployed a large number of artillery, muskets, etc. on the mountains such as Huangtu Ridge. The slave bandit troops were stationed on the mountain. Their firearms were shooting from a high position. It can be said that they occupied everything." If you take advantage of it, it will inevitably cause greater casualties to our military formation."
"In addition, although various units of our army are also equipped with a large number of artillery, this battle is a battle to attack the mountains. Our artillery bombarded the mountains from the bottom up, which already suffered a big loss. The artillery was limited by the elevation angle and could not attack the mountains at all. Bombardment from the middle and upper parts. In addition, the slave thieves have built a large number of fortifications on the Loess Ridge, and the power of our weapons will be further reduced."
Then Liu Yan looked at everyone and said: "So, everyone must be mentally prepared for this battle. Our army will definitely suffer certain casualties when attacking the mountain."
Everyone's expressions changed instantly. Hong Chengchou didn't notice this either. He frowned and asked, "Does Mr. Liu have any good ideas?"
Liu Yan thought for a moment and said, "There is still a way."
"General Liu, please tell me quickly."
"First of all, each ministry should prepare more bamboo baskets and sacks, filled with soil to block in front of the army formation, which can effectively block the bombardment of slave artillery."
"Secondly, each army has many types of rockets, tiger cannons and other firearms. Although the power of these firearms is not as powerful as the artillery deployed by the slaves, they are more numerous and convenient for bottom-up bombardment. "
"Especially the Tiger Cannon. It can even be carried forward by soldiers and bombarded along the way. It is specially designed to shoot loose bullets or gray bottles. This can cause a lot of damage to slave soldiers and horses."
Liu Yan is recognized as the general who is best at using firearms in the army. At this time, Liu Yan's words immediately made everyone see the light.
Yang Guozhu said with a smile: "That makes me feel relieved. There is no one who can't die in a war. As long as more slaves and thieves die than us. Anyway, our army has a lot of big rockets. When we attack, we will shoot them all. It’s best to burn the Huangtu Ridge and burn those dog Tatars to death!”
Li Fuming also smiled and said: "That's right, I will use all the Tiger Cannons in the army for this battle, specifically to shoot loose bullets. When encountering the low walls and large groups of soldiers and horses of the slaves, I will bombard them one by one. Let’s see who has the stronger firepower!”
Seeing the morale of everyone, Hong Chengchou was very happy and said: "But the generals should also prepare more sacks and bamboo baskets. The governor will also send men and horses from the Supervisory Biao Battalion to assist the various ministries in preparing."
"Thank you, Governor!"
In addition, Hong Chengchou also decided to take out a large number of rockets and Tiger Cannons carried by the Dubiao Battalion to support Yang Guozhu and Li Fuming in their attack on the mountain, which made the two of them feel grateful again.
However, although the Ming army's artillery suffered a greater disadvantage in the battle to attack the mountain, more should be mobilized in order to increase the Ming army's firepower.
So Hong Chengchou transferred all the artillery in Dubiao Camp and Songshan Fort to Yang Guozhu and Li Fuming, bringing the number of large and small artillery in the two armies to an astonishing more than 300!
With such a number, even Liu Yan was amazed, knowing that his artillery battalion was only equipped with more than two hundred artillery pieces of various types. It can be seen that the Ming army was equipped with a large number of firearms. Even during the Opium War in later generations, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties did not have such luxurious heavy firepower.
Then, Liu Yan cheered everyone up and said: "You don't have to be too afraid of the slave thieves' Hongyi cannon. As long as you fight their range with casualties, they will shoot from the mountain to the bottom, but it will be useless. At the foot of the mountain is the red cannon." The cannon's shooting blind spot. According to my estimation, within a hundred steps at the foot of the mountain, the slave thieves' red cannon cannot hit it. That's where our army's firepower dominates!"
Liu Yan briefly explained the problem of the blind spot. Although the artillery can hit the mountain far away, due to the field of vision, as long as it passes through their range, the artillery cannot hit the target.
Now Yang Guozhu, Li Fuming and others were more relieved. Hong Chengchou also gave an impassioned speech, and then ordered everyone to return to their camps to prepare for the attack on Huangtu Ridge.
Some people died, but not completely...
