"Their goal is indeed to suppress the military city!"
Fan Wenzhong's old face was full of solemnity.
According to the military report this month, ten military cities, large and small, were attacked dozens of times by the Rongguo cavalry. Although they were always surrounded but not attacked, they retreated midway and engaged in harassment tactics.
But how could such a cover-up trick deceive the veteran Fan Wenzhong.
Even though Zhenyuan City received the fewest attacks and suffered no losses, the several acropolis around it and the two military cities that were close to each other received the most harassment.
One of the attached acropolis was almost breached half a month ago. If it had not been rescued in time, it would have been in danger.
Their purpose was to test the deployment of troops around Zhenyuan City, and to use such frequent harassment to paralyze their opponents, until other military cities got used to the strange behavior and continued to send troops according to their regular posture.
With the high maneuverability of the cavalry, they quickly gathered to attack Zhenyuan City and caught them off guard. Even if Zhenyuan City reacted, they would only be waiting for the arrival of Da Rong's army with no end in sight.
Why would Da Rong be so interested in Zhenyuan City? For no other reason than Zhenyuan City, which is responsible for the entire Ningzhou’s food supply and is the granary for Ningzhou’s 300,000-strong army.
As the saying goes, before the soldiers and horses are moved, the granaries go first. If Zhenyuan City is lost, it will be a heavy blow to the Ningzhou army.
Fan Wenzhong naturally understood this truth, his face tightened, and he turned his head to issue orders to his subordinates.
"Quickly, inform the three cities of Zhenyuan, Zhenxin, and Zhenwei of this information as quickly as possible, and ask Zhenxin and Zhenwei to pay close attention to the movements near Zhenyuan. Don't be fooled by the Da Rong Cavalry."
The soldier received the order and left quickly.
Fan Wenzhong's face was still tense, "I hope the news will be timely."
After this incident, the atmosphere in the lobby quickly became tense. The laughter just now suddenly disappeared, and everyone realized the seriousness of the matter.
At this time, Fan Wenzhong raised his head and said to Su Qi'an, "As expected of the person brought by Xie Wawa, you can see the hidden plot behind it at a glance. I am here to express my gratitude."
Su Qi'an quickly raised his hand and said, "General Fan can't help it. Su just expressed his opinion. If there was anything wrong just now, please forgive me General Fan."
Of course, Su Qi'an would not accept it calmly like those dandy princes. This was not only a matter of politeness, but actually contained many rules for being an official.
Who was the person opposite Su Qi'an? He was an old general who had fought for the Great Liang all his life. Regardless of his strength or reputation, Su Qi'an was not allowed to stand out from the limelight.
If he behaves like those dandy princes and forgets everything, Su Qi'an's future may be over.
Fan Wenzhong didn't care about Su Qi'an's modesty on the surface, but in his heart he looked slightly higher on Su Qi'an.
As for Su Qi'an's identity, Fan Wenzhong had already investigated it clearly when Xie Cang arrived.
Scholars from Lingbei County in Xizhou not only had outstanding talents and shone in Lingbei County, but were also recommended by Xie Cang and the local county magistrate, allowing Su Qi'an to join the ranks of candidates.
To be honest, Fan Wenzhong has met many talented literary students like Su Qi'an, and he is not cold to these people.
After all, no one can look down on any of these great talents who are not proud of themselves because of their outstanding talents.
Just as military generals look down on these poor literati, so literati look down on these reckless men who only know how to fight.
And this Su Qi'an, from the moment he came in to the time he expressed his opinions, showed no arrogance at all, but only a lot of humility.
A young talented person who spoke with reason and reason, without being arrogant or complacent. Fan Wenzhong had not seen such a junior for many years.
Of course, Fan Wenzhong will never think highly of Su Qi'an just because of this incident. After so many years of fighting, he has never seen anyone. In Fan Wenzhong's eyes, Su Qi'an is at best not annoying to him. As for whether he values him, it depends on him. Have you really learned from the facts?
But even so, Fan Wenzhong's attention to Su Qi'an still made the princes envious. At the same time, he began to pay attention to Su Qi'an, a seemingly transparent scholar, and had many thoughts in his heart.
At this moment, the subordinate who had just left quickly ran in and said directly.
"Commander, not long after our intelligence was delivered, the soldiers from Zhenxin and Zhenwei have been deceived by the Da Rong cavalry and left the city to support them."
As soon as he said this, Fan Wenzhong punched the sand table hard, "Damn it!"
Although Fan Wenzhong was angry in his heart, as a veteran who had been on the battlefield for many years, he quickly came up with a response plan.
"The troops in Zhenxin and Zhenwei have been mobilized, and they may not be able to come back in a short time. Once the two military cities are contained, the strength of the nearby acropolis cannot resist them for long. The current plan is to quickly send troops to Zhenyuan support."
As soon as these words came out, the princes who had not said anything just now became excited and wanted to lead troops to support.
"Mr. Fan, let me lead the 3,000 armored troops to support Zhenyuan this time."
"Zhao Ang, if you only have a few thousand armored troops in your hands, I'm afraid you'll end up thousands of miles away, so you might as well let my five thousand tiger soldiers go. Mr. Fan, I promise that I will fulfill my mission."
"Bah, Zhou Yan, you're not afraid of the wind blowing your tongue. You have many tigers and soldiers, but they are lower than me in terms of combat power. If you go, you won't be giving heads to the Great Rong Cavalry.
"Zhao Ang, what did you say? Okay, I happen to be free now, so let's have a good fight."
Seeing that the young masters were about to quarrel again, Fan Wenzhong cursed angrily, his long beard trembling constantly because of his excitement.
"Shut up, I'm all! This is a battlefield, why are you so playful here? If you are still talking nonsense, get out of here immediately."
The noise in the lobby immediately fell into silence, and the young men quickly shut up and backed away angrily.
Su Qi'an, who was standing next to Xie Cang, could not see the purpose of these young masters.
Although this time of leading troops to support seems dangerous, it is actually very safe. The mobility of the Da Rong cavalry is very powerful, but it is impossible to contain the support forces of the two cities while also raiding Zhenyuan City without 50,000 troops. .
In addition, the walls of Zhenyuan City are thick and high. If you really want to conquer it, you will need to gather at least 70,000 to 80,000 people. Da Rong's cavalry can gather very quickly, but you still need infantry to attack the city. If you want to mobilize the remaining tens of thousands of infantry, it will take time.
If we really wait for this time, the reinforcements may arrive at Zhenyuan City early. The Zhenyuan Army is not far from Zhenyuan City, only a few hundred miles away. It takes half a day to march quickly.
And along the way, there were other soldiers from the military city to cover them, so there was no need to worry about a surprise attack by the Daei army.
When the time comes, the reinforcements will gather, and with the defense of Zhenyuan City, Da Rong will withdraw its troops in a few days at most. Such an easy thing can earn military glory and so on. Anyone who doesn't go will be a fool.
Fan Wenzhong glanced at the people in the lobby, and then said, "This time to support Zhenyuan's troops, don't have too many troops, it's more important to be fine. This time, we will be led by Xie Cang's Split Mountain Army, supplemented by Liu Zhen's brave cavalry and Chen Dao's Yan cavalry. , go straight to Zhenyuan City as quickly as possible."
"Yes, I'll wait for the order!"
Xie Cang, Liu Zhen, and Chen Dao clasped their fists and accepted the order, then turned and left, gathering their soldiers.
The speed of the three people was very fast. In about a quarter of an hour, the three armies gathered, the city gate opened, and a torrent quickly moved away.
At this time, everyone had already walked out of the lobby. In front of the lobby was the towering tower.
Everyone looked around, looking at the army that was flying away quickly with a cloud of dust rising up. Everyone had different expressions on their faces.
Fan Wenzhong's arrangement is very exquisite. This time to support Zhenyuan City, the key is to race against time.
Don't look at Zhenyuan City. It is well-defended and has high and thick walls. It will take time for Da Rong's army to conquer it.
But no matter how high or thick the city wall is, it still needs soldiers to defend it. If there is no support this time, there are only more than 20,000 soldiers in Zhenyuan City, and most of them are infantry-based troops.
Da Rong will never let go of such a good opportunity. By then, the people who come to attack the city may not be the so-called sixty or seventy thousand, but at least one hundred thousand or more.
This kind of thing has happened during the many years of war between Liang and Rong. Da Rong was able to establish a country in the northern grassland, and defeated Daliang and ceded the two states of Qingyou.
In addition to the highly mobile cavalry, there are also infantry and cavalry who cooperate and transform with extremely tacit understanding.
First, a large area of cavalry is used to create a feint attack. If it cannot be conquered, the cavalry can retreat calmly with its high mobility.
But once it is discovered that feinting is profitable and can even be conquered, the Daei cavalry will immediately switch from feinting to fierce attack.
The infantry following behind will quickly follow up like a tidal wave, catching you by surprise.
Even if they finally reacted and defended with all their strength, the Daei cavalry could rely on its mobility to not only retreat calmly, but also to cover the evacuation of the infantry.
This kind of tacit understanding of transformation and cooperation between foot and cavalry was played to perfection by Da Rong, and Da Liang was deeply affected by it. In addition to being disgusted, it was more of a bit of envy.
If Da Liang could achieve this kind of tacit cooperation between foot and cavalry, this idea could only be thought of.
Today's Great Liang has a small number of cavalry, and they are no match for Darong. There are various unspoken rules in the court. Otherwise, how could a war make these poor princes with little war experience? , go to the front line just to gain military merit by gaining experience.
Even Fan Wenzhong, a veteran general with such authority and command of an army of 300,000 men in Ningzhou, could not stop the imperial guards from coming in.
This time to support Zhenyuan City, only the cavalry could agree to the request. In order to balance the situation, in addition to Xie Cang, two young masters after the Duke were also sent.
No matter how weak the Cavalry and Yan Cavalry are, they are still worthy of the name and can still help to some extent.
If we really let Zhao Ang, Zhou Yan's infantry, or heavy armored infantry go, what else can they do besides giving away their heads?
With an army of 300,000 in hand, even 10,000 to 20,000 troops were required to support it. The army could not fight Da Rong happily, and could only be scattered in ten cities of Ningzhou, passively defending. It seemed that everything was impossible. It is a kind of helplessness.
And this may also be the reason why the former emperor felt relieved about Fan Wenzhong.
