The night of April 13th in the eighth year of Chongzhen.
In Anding County, adjacent to Gongchang Prefecture and Lintao Prefecture, there is a place called Neiguanying, where Liu Chengzong's camp was located.
As midnight approached, the marshal's camp where the internal officers' camp was located was still brightly lit. Information from all directions was sent to the camp day and night through various means, and was summarized by Yu Lin in the army according to importance, and was finally placed on Liu Chengzong's desk.
In the handsome tent, Liu Chengzong looked at the simple Shaanxi sand table made of paste, sand and dye, held a three-inch long small flag, and slowly planted it in Paomaquan Fort east of Qinzhou Wei.
On the other side, Monk Xue, who was staring at the dark circles, immediately led several cartography apprentices to reflect this change on the hand-drawn march map.
Monk Xue was the instructor of the Cartography Department at Xincheng Academy. He was a Shaanxi bandit. He made the sand table in Liu Chengzong's tent. However, this sand table was a useless place and was particularly delicate and useful... It was almost like a floor plan.
After all, the place Monk Xue is most familiar with is Hexi, and the Marshal's Mansion's terrain surveying basically stops at Hexi. Further east, there is only the road that the Lion Battalion took when it entered Qinghai, and there is barely any information left for reference.
However, as preparations for this war began, the Marshal's Mansion gained a more and more comprehensive understanding of the mountains and rivers to the east.
To the east of this sand table, near Qin'an and Qingshui counties where Zuo Liangyu's troops were stationed, He Renlong and Yang Yanchang were stationed respectively; in Longzhou of Fengxiang Prefecture, and Huating and Zhenyuan of Pingliang Prefecture, there were Deng Qi, Zhang Yingchang, and Tang Kyushu Three Parts.
In addition, there are many flags without names in Huan County and Ningzhou in Qingyang Prefecture, Wugong County in Xi'an Prefecture and other places. According to the information from the Marshal's Office, it is only known that there are troops there, but the strength and strength of the troops have not yet been ascertained. general.
In the direction of Ningxia, due to the difficulty of traveling and penetrating military towns, Liu Chengzong currently only knows that there are two battalions of troops. One is an old acquaintance, Shen Guangxian, who is now a staff general, stationed in Ningxia Town; the other staff general is stationed in Wei. The state is called Bu Yingdi.
Yingdi was a very common name in the Ming Dynasty. Similar names were Yingxuan and Yingyu, both of which placed good hopes for success. But adding the surname Bu was a bit strange, not to mention that the owner of this name was a military general.
Theoretically speaking, names like Yingdi, Yingxuan, and Yingyu should be for civil servants, because the wishes they entrust are related to the imperial examination.
Liu Shishi felt that this name was a bit offensive. He thought that this old man might have taken the imperial examination in his early years. When the examiner saw it, you shouldn't have passed the exam, so he will grant your wish and go practice martial arts.
However, Bu Yingdi was a very capable general. When Chahar was crossing Ningxia, he was beaten twice a month. The first time was in defense and the second time in pursuit to Helan Mountain. He took more than 400 yuan. Go back with your head.
Compared with the Ming army in the north, the situation in Sichuan is a bit scary.
There are three groups of Sichuan troops that have been discovered so far.
The first piece of information was sent by Gao Yingxiang, saying that Qin Liangyu, the commander-in-chief, commander-in-chief and wife of Shizhu, had led his son Shizhu as envoy Ma Xianglin and nephew deputy commander-in-chief Qin Yiming to station in Guangyuan to defend Baishui, Qipan, and Chaotian. close.
The second piece of information came from Feng Shuangli. Yunnan local official Long Zaitian led four war elephants, two thousand horsemen, and seven thousand five infantry into western Sichuan. He might stay in Chengdu, or he might continue to northern Sichuan.
The third group was Marshal Mansion Tangqi who intercepted the Ming Army Tang News. It said that Sichuan Commander-in-Chief Hou Liangzhu had led nine thousand troops out of Sichuan and stationed in Hanzhong Mansion to defend Ruifan. Another two thousand elite troops were sent to Hanzhong Mansion. Marched into Sanjiangkou of Feng County in an attempt to cut off Shaanxi's route to Sichuan.
This information made the Yu Linqi and subordinate officials around Liu Chengzong uneasy. Each opponent was more powerful than the last, and they were all very famous. They were all killed.
The only one who was not famous was Long Zaitian, but he brought nearly 10,000 troops and four war elephants. That kind of big thing was obviously more intimidating than the famous Qin Liangyu.
Each of these pieces of information meant overwhelming pressure to the Huben officers and Yu Linqi in the commander's tent.
Taking advantage of the fact that the military camp in the middle of the night brought supper to the assistant officers in the commander's tent, the cartographer Monk Xue walked up to Liu Chengzong, looked at the sand table worriedly, and said: "Commander, there are more enemy troops than we prepared."
Monk Xue is indeed afraid. In fact, it is not just low-level officers like him who work in the Central Military Camp. Most of the officers who have been in the marshal's tent, even Zhang Tianlin who was transferred from Zhuanglang to Jinxian, Gao Yingdeng who returned from Gansu, those marshals The top generals in the government, facing the Ming army's large net spread out from all directions, were all worried about the situation.
Of course, the direction of worry is different. Like Zhang Tianlin, the worry is that the general has stopped moving again. The Ming army's net has been spread. If they are given time to mobilize their troops and generals, then the big trouble will be when all the ministries have arrived at their positions.
Monk Xue, who is closer to Liu Chengzong, is not too worried about the situation of the war - he knows himself very well. Although he has the title of captain, his job is to be a cartographer. No matter what his mentality is, he will not have any impact on the situation of the war. Influence.
This is how he comforted the students from the Cartography Department of Xincheng Academy around him: No matter how many enemies there are, there is no need to panic. You just scare yourselves to death. Whoever deserves to lose this battle will still lose, and whoever deserves to win will still win, so keep a good attitude and work hard. It's a good job, just follow the commander in camp and wait for the dust to settle.
Monk Xue was worried about Liu Chengzong's mental state.
He saw that the commander was ill again, but he ate well and kept eating. He also specially ordered his soldiers to add fat to the central camp.
But after two days and two nights, except for Liu Chengzong who squinted for less than an hour between meetings with the generals, he was either busy arranging affairs and dispatching troops or dispatching generals, or he was staring at the sand table in the dead of night, writing, drawing, and talking to himself.
Very excited.
If this continues, the commander himself will collapse before the battle begins.
But if Liu Chengzong has remained in this highly nervous and excited state, Monk Xue may not be so worried. Instead, as more and more intelligence comes from Ningxia, Henan, Xi'an Prefecture, and Sichuan, and the Ming army supports more and more, the entire The total defensive garrison and mobile troops of the Ming army on the sand table exceeded 80,000 - but Liu Chengzong suddenly became obviously relaxed.
This is scary.
"Is it much?"
Liu Chengzong was sitting in front of the sand table, holding mutton soup in his hand and blowing away the oil soup floating on the top. Hearing this, he asked back, raised his chin towards the sand table, and said: "There should be 40,000 to 50,000 troops that have not yet been discovered, but it doesn't matter. …Half the battle is already won.”
Monk Xue looked defeated and his heart was broken.
The marshal still can't handle the pressure. This is really crazy.
Seeing his expression, Liu Chengzong smiled and asked, "Why, are you scared?"
Monk Xue thought that this was not a matter of whether they were frightened or not, but that the situation was indeed very scary.
Not to mention anything else, the four war elephants in the dragon in the field alone can scare people out of their wits - these are not the elephants that will be seen four hundred years later when the Internet, photos, and books are overwhelmingly popular.
Now the Marshal's Mansion has assembled 40,000 troops on the front line of Jinglu Guard and Gongchang Mansion. Among these more than 40,000 people, not to mention blind men touching the elephant, none of them have seen an elephant at all.
Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of troops surrounding them from all directions. This is a huge force that the Marshal's Mansion cannot organize no matter what.
Monk Xue was originally a painter who struggled to survive in troubled times. He had worked with bandits and joined the army. It was only with Liu Chengzong that he picked up his painting brush and resumed his old career. However, he did not expect that he would be involved in such a big thing after being transferred from the academy. I was scared to death when I came into contact with the Marshal's Mansion's most detailed intelligence on the enemy.
"Before the war started, I knew that the imperial court would definitely mobilize 120,000 to 30,000 troops. Shaanxi was worth this number, but I didn't know where they would be, so I was also afraid at that time."
Liu Chengzong did not despise Monk Xue because he was timid. Of course, the braver the warrior, the better. However, Monk Xue was a skilled professional, and his specialty was not rushing. As long as he could make a good map, he would be timid. It’s okay to be like a mouse.
However, Liu Chengzong still intends to boost the confidence of such a person who has mastered confidential information.
After taking a sip of the warm mutton soup, he suppressed the smile on his face, raised his hand and pointed at the dense markings on the sand table representing the battle between Tang soldiers, and said: "It seems that they are more scared than me now. Look at these Tang soldiers fighting at each other." The locations are all concentrated near Liupan Mountain, and they are all near Guandao."
"Why don't they take the small road or the mountain road? Do they not want to go?"
Liu Chengzong grinned happily, shook his head slowly, and said solemnly: "I don't dare."
Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. At this time, all the forces in the north, including Liu Chengzong, are not qualified to consider retreat. When the war starts, there are only two outcomes: victory or death.
Liu Chengzong had to gather 10,000 troops on the front line, 20,000 troops on the second line of defense, and finally gather the garrison troops to produce a mobile force of 60,000.
As long as 20,000 of these 60,000 people are lost in the war, the Marshal's Mansion, a small political power in the northwest, will fall apart in the next two or three years.
But Liu Chengzong didn't have much pressure, because there was no way out, and they would fall apart within two or three years if they didn't fight, maybe even faster than if they lost a war.
Only Daming is a shoe wearer.
Assembling an army of 120,000 to 30,000 troops with the strength of the entire western region was already too large for anyone to afford. Before the encirclement was achieved, the pressure was enough to make all generals afraid.
In other words, if Ming Dynasty is defeated miserably in this battle, the initiative in the northwest will be completely lost.
"Therefore, wise kings and wise generals can conquer others by their actions. Those who succeed come from the crowd are also prophets."
Liu Chengzong quoted a line from Sun Tzu's Art of War and waved it on the sand table: "Since the marshal's army gathered at the end of March, in half a month, to the west of Liupan Mountain, the two armies have fought on a thousand-mile front. More than ten times.”
"At the beginning, the battle took place in Qinzhou and Guyuan, and then Guyuan's soldiers were suppressed in the city. Qinzhou was able to overwhelm our army in Tangma, but it could only protect itself, so it was bypassed."
"Subsequent battles took place in various mountains and plains west of Liupan Mountain. The Tangqi army of the Ming Dynasty was completely suppressed. The location of the last twenty battles has even reached the east of Liupan Mountain - our army ranks first in the northwest of Tangma!"
This is not Liu Chengzong's boast.
In the three sides and five towns in the northwest, by the fourth year of Chongzhen, eight out of ten Lao Tangqi who had been trained in the army were in the Marshal's Mansion, and those who were not in the Marshal's Mansion were all beaten to death.
Tangqi is different from other arms. Even in the marshal's mansion like Xincheng Academy, which teaches various military schools, Tangqi still practices the old tradition of a master leading an apprentice, because he stands alone on the front line to cover the battlefield. It cannot be taught by textbooks alone.
You need a trustworthy and reliable master to stand in front and teach you through words and deeds.
When the master dies on the battlefield, the manner of death imparts the final lesson to the disciple, and the disciple truly becomes a master.
Due to the presence of Liu Chengzong in the Northwest Ming Army, there was a huge gap in Tangqi. Not to mention the loss of the old Tangqi, in some places even the second wave of Xintangqi formed was gone.
Not to mention that Liu Chengzong also distributed weapons, armor and military supplies to his Tangqi army specifically for the Tangqi army of the Ming Dynasty. Their three-eyed blunderbuss had longer tubes, their armor was more sophisticated, their horses were more powerful, and they carried rations and tea. It also provides a greater guarantee for morale.
The comprehensive strength of this kind of individual soldier with more experience, better equipment, and higher morale is reflected on the battlefield, which is a stable force that wins nine out of ten battles.
Their victory in the battle between Tang Qi was completely expected.
As for Qinzhou, it was just a small accident.
The general of the Ming army stationed there was Zuo Liangyu, who was clever and could easily admit defeat after two battles with Tang soldiers. Later, whenever he saw Marshal Tang Ma, he directly selected front cavalry from the camp to attack him.
Even if Liu Chengzong's Tang soldiers had Lu Bu per capita, it would be impossible for one person to attack a team, so a defeat would be normal.
A partial defeat is not harmful. As long as Zuo Liangyu's army is still stationed in Qinzhou, the selected vanguard cavalry cannot run far. Marshal Juntang's soldiers are still the world ten miles away from Qinzhou City, which has no impact on the battle situation.
"At present, the Ming army is divided into several groups, where they are stationed, and their strength." Liu Chengzong pointed to the sand table and turned to look at Monk Xue and Yu Linqi in the tent: "We have a clear view. As for what we don't know, it is between Qingyang Mansion and Xi'an Prefecture and even Henan, and they know almost nothing about our military strength and location."
The reason Liu Shishi said it was almost because the letter from the Ming army general intercepted by Tang soldiers the day before yesterday mentioned that they already knew that there was a garrison in the Marshal's Mansion in Jingning Prefecture, but they did not know who the general was or what the strength of the force was.
Yang Chengzu's troops stationed there were transferred there last year. Originally, Wei Qian'er was supposed to be in Jingning Prefecture, but Wei Qian'er led a camp of 5,000 people. There were only 1,900 people in Jingning Prefecture. , the consumption of the camp stationed there is like marching every day, and the logistical pressure is too great.
Later, it was replaced by Yang Chengzu. Yang Chengzu's battalion was originally a standard battalion of 3,000 people. Five hundred were transferred to Monan, and there were still 2,500 left. But even so, it was difficult to station in Jingning Prefecture, so he ran back to Gongchang Mansion. In Huining County, I only put a boss there to make a living by growing vegetables.
"At this time, the intention of the Ming army is obvious. If they want to take advantage of their strength, they must encircle. The target is Lanzhou. They even want to push me back to Hehuang. If they want to encircle, they must move first. But when the ministries start to move, Our army’s chance of victory.”
After Liu Chengzong finished speaking about his thoughts, he said: "If you can predict the enemy ahead of you based on intelligence and cover the battlefield west of Liupan Mountain, you will naturally win half the battle."
At this moment, the sound of calling for the camp came from the direction of the camp gate, and soon Yu Lin rode up and said: "Commander, the senior counselor wants to see you."
Liu Chengzong walked out of the tent, and not long after he saw the tired Gao Yingden, his eyes full of excitement, he stepped forward and saluted: "The commander is not asleep? That's great, our troops have recruited prisoners to find out where the money and food are!"
Liu Chengzong was overjoyed when he heard this. He glanced at him and said, "Enter the account and tell me in detail!" (End of Chapter)
