They are all pawns, but the enemy's pawns are all very powerful. Our own little pawn can only be beaten.
Military reports from Yidu were sent day by day, but there was never any good news.
"How could Jinan be defeated so quickly? What arrangements are made for Wanyan Salara's troops? Why was Zizhou lost? Is Jinling Town still in Wanyan Salara's hands? "Guo Ning asked again and again.
Standing in front of the hall to report back was Yang Chengzhi, who had been detained for several days before.
When he first arrived in Yidu, he found that the situation was not good, so he immediately bribed the guards at the gate of Yidu, intending to sneak out of the city and escape. However, the matter was not kept secret, and he was arrested by Wanyan Sala, who was effectively under house arrest. Later, Guo Ning acted more and more unscrupulously, but the treatment he received became better and better. When he set off back to Laizhou a few days ago, he was personally received by Wanyan Sala, had a drink and received a bag of gold and silver.
At first glance, it seemed that Yang Chengzhi was on his way to Shandong, but was caught halfway. But one good thing about this person is that no matter where he goes, even if he is in prison, he can still deduce a lot of useful information from clues.
At this time, Guo Ning asked, and Yang Chengzhi responded fluently:
"The headquarters strength of Wanyan Tongjun was originally based on Meng'an Mouke from Yidu Prefecture, plus the town defense army that was previously affiliated with Yuncha Division and the local Yidu grain-shooting army, native soldiers, archers, Xiaojie army, etc. , with a total strength of about 45,000. After the Mongolian army entered Hebei, the Tongjunsi urgently recruited another 20,000 brave men from both sides of Shandong."
Yang Chengzhi took a few steps forward and wrote on the map: "Two months ago, Wanyan Sala led an army of 20,000 people and tried to go north to support Zhongdu. However, he was attacked by Mongolian light cavalry in the Bin and Cang area. So Wanyan Sala La La did not dare to advance further and retreated to Yidu. Later, the Mongolian army marched across Hebei, and Wanyan Sala used Meng'an to defeat the army and sit at the three fulcrums of Dongping, Jinan and Yidu, while the rest of the troops garrisoned the places. Like this."
After Yang Chengzhi had properly marked out, he could see that there were many strongholds densely covered on the map. When he added the numbers of troops everywhere, it looked dark: "Use many garrisons on the periphery to disperse and contain the strength of the Mongolian army, and use the main force of the army in the important towns in the rear to provide strong support. Since ancient times, this has been a common method for large armies to occupy strategic locations to block enemy cavalry, but now it seems that this arrangement has a fatal weakness..."
Before the people of Jing'an joined the army, they were just ordinary people; even now, they were indifferent to the art of arranging troops and strategizing. But after so many years of military service, he had gained a wealth of knowledge and experience. He immediately shook his head and sighed:
"City defense and field warfare cannot be neglected. When it comes to war, how can we not rely on field warfare and rely entirely on city defense to succeed? The strength of the peripheral city defense requires the coordination and support of our main army. At least, you must let the defenders The soldiers in the city have hope! But over the years, the more generals who have experienced the battlefield in person, the more they understand that Meng'an's plan to conquer the army is purely on paper. It is full of slaves and slaves who take over the posts, and there is no fighting in the field. Power……"
"Therefore, the Meng An Mou Ke army in those important towns in the rear can only shrink and have no ability to support them!"
Li Ting also sneered again and again: "Wanyan Sala used those Meng'an soldiers as reinforcements for subsequent reinforcements. He was clearly telling the garrison soldiers on the outskirts that there were no reinforcements in the rear. The commander wanted to use them as a backstop. Once the Mongolian army arrived, They can only die one by one!"
"That's right. So once this line of defense is established, the soldiers on the periphery will immediately become disorganized. Even some Jurchen generals deployed around Jinan are not at ease. For example, on the Jeju side, Li Yan, the governor, died in the city, and The Jurchens, who were under the control of Jiata Lahun, turned against the Mongols and surrendered to the Mongols. The Mongolian army finally captured Jinan, and it was these surrender troops garrisoning on the periphery that played their role and deceived the Jinan city defense."
Now, it was Monk Luo's turn to shake his head.
Monk Luo was the leader of the elite scouts who stayed behind in Xijing, and he was well aware of the army's methods of preventing camp robberies and city thefts.
A large army defending a city is bound by a complete set of military laws and orders. Even if the soldiers garrisoning outside surrender, how can it be so easy to gain the city?
The response and mobilization of the garrison, as well as the commands for different areas during periods of immobility, are all particular. Not to mention that there will be various additional arrangements based on the actual conditions of different cities.
For example, martial law should be enforced during a certain period of time, movement is not allowed in a certain area, and a certain road is only for cavalry... A city is a complete defense system composed of countless details. When outsiders who don't know the details arrive, everything will be affected. They are all out of place. Unless the general guarding the city is a fool, how could he not discover it?
The city can be easily captured by surrendering troops, which shows that the city defense of Jinan Prefecture is loose to an unimaginable extent. Those fierce Jurchens can neither fight in the field nor sit still, they are completely finished!
"Wanyan Commander-in-Chief is also very aware of this situation. Fortunately, although Jinan has been lost, Wanyan Commander-in-Chief still has more than 30,000 troops deployed around Yidu. In the past few days, he has spent a lot of money and food to provide large amounts of food and supplies to the soldiers. To boost morale, we then made urgent adjustments to the defense lines in Yidu and other places."
"What kind of adjustment?"
"Most of the various units of the Meng'an Mouke Army are now located in the Shouguang and Linqu areas in the east, while the newly recruited brave and local garrison troops are the main force stationed in the line from Ma'er Valley to Linzi and Le'an in the west."
"In other words, relying on the Zi River in the west, relying on the local garrison to fight tough battles, and relying on the Qu River in the east, they pretend to be Jurchens."
"yes."
"Where's Yidu City in the middle?"
"Wanyan Salara learned a lesson from the experience, so he personally stationed himself in Linzi and directly commanded to meet the enemy. At this time, the people responsible for guarding Yidu were the local rebels who retreated to Yidu to avoid Mongolia. The two rebel leaders, one named One is called Zhang Lin, the other is called Yan Ning, both are talented, and are quite popular among the local people and soldiers in Yidu."
Yang Chengzhi wrote and scratched on the map again: "Jie Shuai, that's it."
"He has indeed learned from the experience." Guo Ning tugged on his mustache and thought for a moment: "The local rebels can't be more reliable in defending the city than those fierce An Mooke. Yidu City will not be lost as easily as Jinan . However, since Wanyan Salara is in Linzi, how come Zizhou is lost? How far apart is it? Can't he even capture those few soldiers who surrendered?"
"The surrendered general from Jatta Lahun knew the details of the various soldiers and horses in Shandong. Wanyan commanded his troops to fight with him in Jinling Town. Although there were not many casualties, he was restrained and very passive, so he did not dare Go forward. We can only voluntarily abandon Jinling Town and do our best to maintain the Zishui front line."
All the generals shook their heads: "Difficult! Difficult!"
Except for the mountainous areas in central and southern Shandong, most of the land in Shandong Lianglu is flat. If the surrounding area of Jinan is lost, the other places will face the Mongolian army. Unless they escape into the mountainous areas and rely on the deep gorge mountain strongholds, there will be no natural dangers for them to defend.
Zishui is not a big river and cannot stop the Mongolian cavalry. To use Zishui as the line of defense, it is necessary to integrate Jishan and Shangshan to the west of Zishui, and use Jinling Town as the hub for the movement of troops and horses, so that it is possible to move forward and retreat for a long time.
Relying on only one Zi River, the formations were deployed along the river. In fact, if one point was broken, the entire line of defense would be broken. And if Wanyan Salara gathered heavy troops in several military forts... Over the years, as the northern Xinjiang pastures have changed hands one after another, the number of cavalry in the army of the Jin Kingdom has become smaller and smaller. Such an operation would be like opening a door to rob a thief.
Wanyan Salara's arrangements in Yidu were no different from those in Jinan. It is still a passive situation of being beaten, but more local volunteers are used, so when being beaten, the various strongholds may be able to hold on longer.
Yang Chengzhi responded: "Wanyan Salara also knows now that he does not have strong soldiers capable of fighting in the field. That's why he repeatedly begged the Commander-in-Chief to come forward. If the elite troops under Commander-in-Chief march forward to Yidu, the Mongols' long-distance attack will be imminent. Only when it is contained can the defense of Yidu be stable."
Guo Ning stared at the map, and a vast battlefield appeared in front of his eyes, with the army rushing everywhere.
"The main force of our army cannot move. If it does, it will fall into the Mongolian trap."
He raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Jinan on the map, and then rowed hard to Laizhou.
"No matter where the Mongolian army is, they strive to defeat the enemy in the field. If I were the commander of the Mongolian army, I would lurk in the rear with light cavalry. Once Laizhou soldiers and horses are dispatched, the light cavalry will ignore the obstacles along the way, go straight into Laizhou, plunder the inside and outside, and then defeat them. The Laizhou soldiers and horses have returned for reinforcements. After that, we can calmly remove the cities and forts in various places without any hindrance."
Monk Luo also said: "I don't know where the Mongolian army headquarters is, but they released a few surrendered generals to act as monsters. No matter how you look at it, they all look like bait."
Jing Anmin frowned and said: "But the bait is also very ferocious with its fangs and claws. If we don't move at all, the bait will press on step by step and continue to go deeper. Now that Zizhou is lost, God knows what will happen to Yidu next? Wanyan Once Sala falls, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to just sit back and watch the other generation get under our noses little by little."
"Then, the main force of our army remains unchanged, and a team of capable troops are sent forward to arouse the enemy?"
"I'm afraid it plays into the hands of the Mongols."
After everyone deliberated for a long time and couldn't agree on what to do, Guo Ning waved his sleeves and dismissed the meeting.
7017k
