According to the deduction of the General Staff Council, in order to achieve the strategic goal of quickly defeating the resistance forces of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Ming army needed to dispatch an army of tens of thousands to attack Lin'an from land.
In order for the Ming Dynasty to achieve the best strategic goals in this war between the two sides, it needed to be fought quickly and win a complete victory in a duel with standing military forces that both sides could mobilize in a short period of time, and go straight to Lin'an, leaving no possibility for the Southern Song Dynasty to initiate mobilization.
In this case, the decision-makers of the Southern Song Dynasty would definitely be frightened and desperate, and would never dare to resist again.
In this way, the Ming Dynasty can obtain maximum benefits at the minimum cost and achieve strategic goals.
From an implementation perspective, going straight to Lin'an requires crossing the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River.
From the current point of view, the Ming and Song Dynasties ruled the south and the north across the Huaihe River, but fundamentally, the Huaihe River does not matter. As long as the preparations are complete and the speed is fast enough, the Ming army can quickly pass through without the Song army being able to make effective resistance.
This is not the case with the Yangtze River. Without a large number of ferries and suitable ferries, it would be difficult for the Ming army to pass through the Yangtze River.
Even if there are ferries and ferries, it will take a certain amount of time for the main force of the army to pass, and during this period, the Southern Song Dynasty will inevitably dispatch its powerful navy to block the Ming army's actions.
If the Ming army wanted to cross the river, they not only had to face the Southern Song Army's defense and establish a beachhead, but they also needed to defeat the Southern Song navy and ensure the safety of the waterway.
"The Song Army's horse infantry is weak in combat. According to the intelligence obtained by our agents who entered the Lianghuai area, the Song Army is no different from the Jin Army in the past. Except for a few elite troops, most of them have silver-like pewter gun tips. , vulnerable."
Hankook hosted this tactical seminar.
"Having said that, I think what your Majesty said is right. It is said that you should despise the enemy tactically and value the enemy strategically. Although the Song army is weak, it may not have elites. For example, in this battle south, our army mainly broke in from the Jianghuai area. , the main Song army defenders we faced were the Zhenjiang Prefecture Song Army and the Jiankang Prefecture Song Army."
Han Tai pointed at the hung military defense map of the Ming and Song Dynasties in the Jianghuai area with a long stick, which clearly marked the main defense positions of the Song army in the Jianghuai area that the Ming Dynasty knew so far.
"Generally speaking, the Song Army's defense deployment in the Jianghuai area highlights the characteristic of defending the Jianghuai River but not the Huaihe River. Specifically, the main border defense forces are located south of the Yangtze River instead of the south of the Huaihe River. Zhenjiang Prefecture, Jiankang Prefecture, including the west side Chizhou and other places deployed defenses along the river.
This defense feature of the Song Army was obviously affected by the diversion of the Yellow River. They were worried that once the Yellow River overflowed, the Huainan and Huaihe areas would become a flooded country. Military buffer zone.
Therefore, if the army wants to break through the Huaihe River area and enter Huainan, it can be said that it is like entering an uninhabited territory. The Song army will definitely not be able to continue fighting with our army in the Huainan area. Neither the navy nor the horse infantry will be possible. Our army can reach Huainan safely. Prepare to cross the river. "
Su Yonglin had no objection to this.
The diversion of the Yellow River and the huge possibility of seizing the Huaihe River into the sea made the traditional military strategy of defending the river and the Huaihe River become full of crises.
Because we don’t know when the Yellow River will burst and flood, turning the Huainan and Huaihe areas into a white land, it is not necessary to invest money to set up defenses here. The small court of the Southern Song Dynasty chose to directly abandon the defense of Huainan and regard Huainan as a strategic buffer zone. .
If the northern army wants to go south, let it go south. The main force of the army is set up on the bank of the Yangtze River, relying on the rolling Yangtze River to build a defense line, focusing on defending against invading enemies in the direction of the Yellow River crossing, leaving the risk of Huainan being washed into a white field to the northern army.
This is undoubtedly a viable strategy.
Although there are many ferries on the rolling Yangtze River, it is not possible to cross the river just anywhere.
Especially when a large army crosses a river, because of the large number of people and the tight time limit, they must choose a place with relatively gentle water flow. If the ferry is chosen incorrectly, among other things, our own logistics team will definitely be the first to scold them.
So this greatly limits the northern army's backup options.
Basically, the Song army set up key defenses at several ferry crossings that allowed the army to cross the river. After the Ming army broke through the Huaihe River and entered Huainan, it would immediately face the Song army's tight Yangtze River defense line and powerful navy.
This time it was a local battle. Su Yonglin did not plan to comprehensively threaten the national defense of the Southern Song Dynasty. He focused on the Jianghuai Theater and did not fight the Sichuan Theater and Jinghu Theater of the Southern Song Dynasty. Therefore, the Southern Song Dynasty defenders he mainly faced were the Jiankang Prefecture garrison and the Zhenjiang Prefecture garrison.
"According to the information currently available, the guard general of Jiankang Prefecture in the Southern Song Dynasty was named Wang Quan, and the guard general of Zhenjiang Prefecture was named Liu Qi. Wang Quan was a mediocre and incompetent person. Whenever people in the Southern Song Dynasty talked about him, they criticized him. They said this People are better at lining their own pockets than leading troops. Some people say that he became the commander-in-chief because he bribed high-ranking officials in the DPRK.
In contrast, Liu Qi, the capital of Zhenjiang Prefecture in the Southern Song Dynasty, was a veteran and famous general who had been famous for many years. He had led his troops to bloody battles with the Jin army many times and won many times. He was very feared by the Jin army. He had always had rules and experience in leading troops. Abundance is an absolutely powerful enemy. "
Han Tai briefly introduced what he currently knows about the Song Army's defense in the Jianghuai War Zone, as well as the main leading generals.
Xin Qiji said: "I passed through Jiankang Mansion when I went south. When I crossed the river, I was accompanied by Wang Lun, the privy envoy of the Southern Song Dynasty. It was this Wang Quan who was responsible for welcoming us on the river bank. This man has a kind face and a slightly fat body, like a businessman. Having more than one general gives me the feeling that rather than hiding the edge, it feels like there is no edge at all.”
"Do you think he will be a good soldier?"
Su Yonglin asked Xin Qiji.
Xin Qiji shook his head.
"People cannot be judged by appearance, and sea water cannot be measured. It would be too arbitrary to judge whether this person has talent or not just by meeting him. I dare not make false claims. However, intelligence reports claim that this person is good at enriching his own pockets and not good at running an army. The reason we have reached this point is because we are good at maneuvering and it seems more believable.”
Su Yonglin agreed with Xin Qiji's opinion.
"People in the Song Dynasty liked to use civility to control military affairs. If those military men with some skills were not good at interacting with civil servants, they might not be able to become high-ranking officers. From this point of view, this king's power is not like Liu Qi who has excellent military exploits. This step is probably because I am good at sneaking into camps."
"Then the priority in this battle should be to conquer Jiankang Mansion?"
Su Yonglin looked at Xin Qiji.
Xin Qiji thought for a moment.
"According to what I see, we should attack Zhenjiang Mansion first."
"Oh? Why? Don't fight the weak, only the strong?"
"Liu Qi is a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty, with high military exploits and senior qualifications. There are few generals in the Southern Song Dynasty who can compare with Liu Qi. Defeating Liu Qi head-on will help our army quickly destroy the confidence of the Southern Song Dynasty and make all the armies of the Southern Song Dynasty fear our army.
I have studied the war history of the Southern Song Dynasty since the Southern Song Dynasty's southern crossing. The Southern Song army often lost all the way in battle, and then the whole army retreated. The organization was extremely poor, and there was basically no mutual coordination. As a famous general and veteran, Liu Qi once defeated the rest of the Southern Song Dynasty. The attack by the army is no small matter.
Wang Quan is doing nothing, and if Liu Qi is defeated, he is very likely to flee south, give up fighting, and give up Jiankang Mansion. If Wang Quan is defeated, Liu Qi may not give up fighting, but may fight to the death and divide his troops to compete with me for Jiankang Mansion. , instead of fighting two battles, it is better to fight only one battle. "
After Xin Qiji thought deeply, he gave his own opinion.
"That makes sense."
Su Yonglin nodded slowly, and then asked: "But you also said that Liu Qi is a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty. He must have extremely rich combat experience and has defeated the Jin army many times. He is very brave. The Zhenjiang Prefecture army under his command must not be a weak force. , our army is fighting against it, are we sure of winning?"
"Your Majesty, it is true that Liu Qi defeated the Jin army many times, but our Ming army is the army that destroyed the Jin Kingdom. No matter how brave Liu Qi is, will he destroy the Jin Kingdom?"
Xin Qiji spoke with strong confidence: "Liu Qi is certainly good at fighting, but so what? It was my Ming Dynasty that destroyed the Jin Kingdom, and it was also my Ming Dynasty army that completely destroyed the Jin Army!
If Liu Qi is good at fighting, why can't our generals and soldiers who have fought for the rest of their lives in the Ming Dynasty not be able to fight? If Liu Qi had the ability to reverse the situation, why didn't he make the Northern Expedition? Why not restore the Central Plains? Why not fight to the death with the golden thief? After all, the so-called famous generals of the Southern Song Dynasty were nothing more than household dogs! "
After giving such an evaluation that could anger all the Southern Song generals, Xin Qiji raised his head proudly, his face full of disdain.
