As the Ming army marches south, it must need food roads.
It is not easy to analyze the specific location of the food channel. It must have been well hidden by the Ming army. However, it is the essence of the art of war to attack the enemy where he must save it.
Nanyang is an important town in the rear of the Ming army. Regardless of whether the food road is close or not, can the Ming army still leave it alone?
The main force of the army all went south to attack Xiangfan, and the main force was held back by the Xiangfan defenders. Isn't this a good time to surround Wei and rescue Zhao?
Li Xianzhong decided to use his subjective initiative and launch a bold attack on the Ming army.
Since the beginning of the war between the Ming and Song Dynasties, the generals of the Song army were afraid of the Ming army and did not dare to confront the Ming army head-on. However, Li Xianzhong, who had experienced a previous active offensive battle, did not think that he was inferior to the Ming army at all, and did not feel that he would definitely lose to the Ming army. military.
He dared to use 10,000 people to challenge the Ming army of more than 20,000 people before, but this time he dared to use 80,000 people to fight against the Ming army of 70,000 people.
Among the 80,000 reinforcements, 30,000 were the absolute main force, direct troops trained by himself. He was very confident that using these 30,000 as the basis to fight against the Ming army, he was sure of victory.
Then he began to devise tactics.
He had heard some battle cases of the Ming Army before, and he really admired Su Yonglin, the founder of the Ming Army.
When Su Yonglin's troops were weak, he had repeatedly exploited the weakness of the powerful Jin people to wreak havoc in the territory of the Jin Kingdom, turning the enemy's main force around while he himself eliminated the enemy's main force in mobile operations.
He felt that he could also learn from Su Yonglin.
Judging from the current situation, it is a good way to attack the enemy where they must save. .
Use the strategy of attacking Nanyang to mobilize the Ming army to return for assistance, reduce the pressure on Xiangfan, create opportunities for the main army to attack Xiangfan, and cooperate with the Xiangfan defenders inside and outside to defeat the Ming army.
When the Ming army surrounded Xiangfan and attacked, they had the idea of encircling the point for reinforcements, but Li Xianzhong decided to do the opposite.
He believed that the solidity of Xiangfan could not be easily broken by the Ming army. Under such circumstances, what would happen if he attacked Nanyang, which was far less solid than Xiangfan?
And according to the intelligence, the main force of the Ming Army is the Henan Corps. There are currently no other Ming Army Corps going south to participate in the war. Except for the 30,000 troops stationed on Huainan East Road, the entire Henan area actually only has 70,000 Ming troops.
To attack Xiangfan, a large army must be dispatched. The number of Ming troops left to defend Henan must be very small, only ten or twenty thousand. Therefore, the number of Ming troops heading to Xiangyang is probably only fifty thousand.
According to previous judgments, the total number of rebels on the Jiangnan West Road may be relatively large, but their battle lines are so wide that the number of troops that can be invested in the Xiangyang area is estimated to be only 20,000 to 30,000. Taken together, the total strength of the Ming army is about the same as that of the Song Dynasty. The number of military reinforcements is about the same.
In the absence of first-hand information, Li Xianzhong made this judgment - it was not that he was unwilling to get more reliable information, it was because they could not get more accurate information.
The craftsmen and sentries sent to spy on the news went out more and less came back, bringing back even less news. At present, they can only do this. Li Xianzhong clearly noticed that the Ming army consciously made spying on the Song army. response.
And the effect is pretty good.
Despite this, Li Xianzhong felt that he could analyze the approximate figures, and the rest would have to be achieved through tactics.
In the art of war, it is very reasonable to say that attacking the enemy must save the enemy. He believed that if he sent troops to attack Nanyang, he would definitely mobilize the Ming army to come back for reinforcements. He did not need to send many troops, 10,000 was enough, but the momentum had to be loud and create an impression for the Ming army. The main force of the army rushed to Nanyang, forcing the Ming army to return for reinforcements.
Taking this opportunity, he used the main Song army to attack Xiangyang, lifted the blockade, and wiped out the remaining Ming troops, thereby turning the tide of the war.
Therefore, although the battle situation is critical and the enemy is powerful, the Ming army can only retain about 40,000 to 50,000 troops on the battlefield, while the Song army still has a main force of 70,000 and a Xiangfan garrison of 40,000.
110,000 vs. 50,000, the advantage is mine!
Li Xianzhong decided to believe that his comrades could rely on the strong city of Xiangfan to hold on and they would be able to support him until his support arrived.
So he immediately began to deploy troops and generals, choosing "excellent generals" to take on the task of attacking Nanyang.
Who is this lucky guy?
After choosing and choosing, he chose Wang Chong.
He decided to send Wang Chong to lead 10,000 more elite troops to attack Nanyang with their own rations. They did not want to have any conflicts with the cities controlled by the Ming army encountered along the way, and attacked Nanyang in one go.
There should be Ming troops garrisoning Nanyang, but the number will not be large. As long as the raid is fast enough and unexpected enough, taking Nanyang will not be a problem.
In that case, the Ming army's retreat route and logistics supply line could be cut off, causing chaos to the Ming army.
Even if Nanyang cannot be captured quickly, then burn, kill, loot and replenish food rations around Nanyang, then continue to harass and destroy the production in the Ming Dynasty to the north, make a big circle and then return to Xinyang to end this combat mission.
They do not need to achieve any important strategic mission, the main thing is to mobilize the main force of the Ming army to return reinforcements from Xiangyang. As long as this goal is achieved, it will be considered a success.
In order to mobilize as many Ming troops as possible, they also needed a large number of flags to make the Ming people think that the main force of the Song army was coming to attack Nanyang, forcing the Ming army to return for reinforcements.
He himself led the main army not to advance for the time being. After the Ming army began to take action, he then detoured through Tongbai County in the border area to the Zaoyang area, waiting for an opportunity to capture Zaoyang, and then rushed to the aid of Xiangfan, defeating the Ming army and the peasant army in Xiangfan. Lift the siege of Xiangfan.
He felt that the tactics he designed were good, but Wang Chong had a slightly different view on the execution of this tactic.
"General, it is quite difficult to carry out this mission. The last general feels that he is not capable enough and cannot successfully complete this mission, so I ask the general to choose another good general to go."
Wang Chong, the deputy commander-in-chief of this march and the commander of the Guards Ma Junsi, believed that his ability was not enough to complete this forced march, so he hoped that Li Xianzhong could choose generals who were good at fighting to go.
Are you kidding me? Attack Nanyang first. The best is to attack. If you can't defeat it, you have to continue northward into the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, make a big circle and then return to Xinyang...
Who do you think I am? A super brave general?
Or do you think my army is the best in the world?
Guard Ma Junsi's army is considered elite, but this elite does not mean how strong the combat effectiveness is, but that the soldiers are of good quality. They are all young and strong, not old or weak, and the soldiers' health is still good.
But fighting also requires combat experience and combat literacy. In this regard, the recently rebuilt bodyguard Ma Junsi is relatively lacking.
They are all new recruits, and the training time is only more than half a year. The soldiers have little combat experience, let alone combat literacy.
Li Xianzhong's request was obviously for them to march long distances or even forced marches. In this case, he would bring a group of new recruits...
Isn’t this making yourself unhappy?
Maybe I’ll be the only one left running around, just a polished commander!
Wang Chong expressed his difficulties to Li Xianzhong in a very embarrassed manner.
"Although most of the soldiers and horses under the general's command are young and strong, they have only been trained for half a year and are not yet proficient in combat techniques. They may not be able to carry out such a heavy task. I am afraid that they will fail the general's entrustment and delay national affairs. Therefore, I still hope that the general can do something else." Choose good generals and elites to go."
Li Xianzhong looked at Wang Chong and was immediately very dissatisfied.
"Commander Wang, your mission is not to fight to the death with the Ming army, but to attract the Ming army to return reinforcements through bluffing. I don't need you to defeat the Ming army. I only need you to do some destruction, even burning, killing and looting, to mobilize the Ming army." The main purpose of returning reinforcements is enough.
I believe that General Wang and his army can accomplish this. As for the rest, Ben will lead other elite main forces to complete it, and will fight to the death with the Ming army here. Does General Wang think it is easier to fight to the death with the Ming army? "
It's not that it's easier for anyone, he just thinks that if he stays here and fights to the death, he has a greater chance of survival. If he goes to the Ming Dynasty to fight against the autumn wind and attract the main force of the Ming army, he might be set on fire.
Then it will be difficult to come back.
Wang Chong is not a fool, of course he knows the difference between the two.
So he still insisted on resigning.
"Please understand, general, that the general is incompetent and the new soldiers under his command are not strong enough. He may betray the general's trust and delay national affairs."
