The geographical situation of Thanh Hoa City is that it is roughly adjacent to the Ma River in the east, and Gao Pingshi crossed the river in the north of Thanh Hoa City. The next step was to surround the city to the west. He only needed to give an order.
Originally, in his opinion, Zheng Jun's home base was Thanh Hoa. If Thanh Hoa was lost, there would be no point in escaping south. But he underestimated people's desire to survive. Zheng Jun actually chose to abandon the city and escape immediately after Ruan Youliao collapsed.
Since Gao Jingshi had horses under his command, Ye Bushuang of the Jia Ding Guard Group took on most of the horse exploration tasks. According to their report, there were still about 30,000 Zheng troops accompanying him.
Both the chieftains under Gao Jingshi and the surrendered generals of the Mo army urged him to immediately send troops to pursue, but after some thought, he rejected these suggestions.
He ordered his ministries to launch a clearing campaign centered on Qinghua City, and first wipe out all the defeated troops along the original defense line along the river left by Zheng's army before making other plans.
However, elimination does not mean killing all the prisoners without taking them. Zheng Jun who is willing to surrender will still accept the surrender according to the original method. He only needs to collect the weapons and armor and then centrally guard them.
It’s not that Gao Pragmatic thinks it’s unlucky to kill prisoners, but that he always regards people as strategic resources. Zheng Jun’s hard losses in the battle across the river were only 10,000 people at most, which means that there are still about 30,000 defeated soldiers who can be captured. Prisoners, prisoners are a very good labor resource. Even if they are not allowed to fight, they still have many uses. Wouldn't it be a waste to kill them?
If nothing else, when the time comes, the Ha Tinh Iron Mine will no longer be dug?
Although Gao Pangshi now regards southern Annan as the first springboard for his Nanyang expansion, it is not impossible to take advantage of the opportunity that the Ming Dynasty is about to enter the Little Ice Age in the north to immigrate from the north. However, immigrants from the north have to adapt to the weather in Annan, and it is hard to say whether there will be any changes in the country when they migrate all the way to a "vassal state".
Therefore, utilizing the local labor force in Annan is at least the best option during the transition period.
Of course, he must have known that "it is better to chase the poor bandits with the remaining brave men than to use the name of the overlord", so it was not that Zheng Jun who fled south did not give up pursuit, but he had to spend a few days to stabilize Qinghua first.
After all, he is not engaged in rogue warfare now, and the stability of the rear must be ensured. If there is a problem in the rear of the 100,000-strong army, it will not be a joke.
In fact, comparing his combat thoughts, he is very similar to Zeng Guofan: He knows that he is not a military wizard, and does not consider fighting any "magic war", so he just "keeps the stronghold and fights stupid wars". Anyway, his strengths are " "Internal affairs construction", as long as the war is fought like this, we can win steadily - at least we won't lose!
Zeng Guofan is regarded as a model of an official. Gao Pragmatic also studied him very carefully when he was a secretary. Although the main direction at that time was to study his way of life, he also studied his military strategy. It was inevitable that he would see some of it. Later, after he inexplicably traveled through time, Gao Pragmatic set Zeng Guofan's fighting style as his own commanding style when he might fight in the future.
Zeng Guofan's so-called "strengthen the stronghold and fight the war stupidly". Specifically, no matter who you are fighting with, you should first survey the terrain outside the city, choose a camp, dig trenches, and put up flower fences to isolate yourself from the enemy.
When surveying the terrain, we usually look for a place with mountains and water, which can prevent sneak attacks and ensure the supply of drinking water. Of course, we must also leave a way out for ourselves.
The trenches are usually one foot deep and are used to protect the enemy's infantry. The soil dug from the trenches must also be moved to a farther place to prevent the enemy from backfilling the trenches with the excavated soil. The flower fence must not only be high, but also have two or three layers. It is used to prevent the opponent's cavalry from attacking.
In this way, Zeng Guofan's stronghold was formed.
Once such a stronghold is formed, in the era of cold weapons + muskets + a small number of red cannons, it can prevent both sneak attacks and cavalry charges, which is destined to trap the enemy to death.
Of course, there is no enemy in the world who is stupid enough to sit still and wait for death. Even if there is, don't expect the enemy to be stupid. Therefore, the enemy will definitely harass and attack to avoid the formation of this encirclement.
At this time, the strategic advantage of Zeng Guofan's "hard stronghold" became apparent. The Hunan Army under his command is not willing to fight with you at all. When the enemy attacks, they will be driven back with a row of muskets. As soon as the enemy retreats, the Hunan Army will start digging trenches.
This cycle continued for a period of time. After the trenches were dug, the Hunan Army simply hid in the stockade and could not come out.
The benefits are obvious. Because the Hunan Army has a "hard stronghold" that can be attacked when advancing and defended when retreating, it is in an invincible position. Being in an invincible position, and not rushing for success and attacking, but focusing on defense, the Hunan Army under his command will have a very low mortality rate every time it fights, and its morale to win the battle will be very high.
Because the enemy is besieged and unable to obtain external supplies, it is consuming food, ammunition and soldiers every day, and cannot win a protracted war.
Relying on digging ditches and building fences to "fortify a stronghold", not attacking unless absolutely necessary, only defending, besieging the enemy until they run out of ammunition and food, this is the so-called "fighting a stupid war". Basically, once they are besieged by the Hunan Army, the final result is that they will run out of ammunition and food, lose their morale, and surrender obediently. There is no other way out.
This style of play is suitable for commanders who are highly pragmatic and consider themselves to have average commanding abilities, but are good at logistical supply operations and can ensure sufficient material resources to besiege the enemy.
Originally, he planned to fight a stupid battle under Thanh Hoa City, but Zheng's army fled south, making his plan come to nothing.
A large-scale pursuit? It doesn't seem impossible under the current circumstances, but Gao Pragmatic is extremely cautious about fighting a war. As the saying goes, "Consider defeat first in order to win." What if the opponent sets up an ambush?
Didn't he become Cao A'ao who chased Dong Zhuo who abandoned Luoyang, only to be ambushed by Li Ru and annihilated his entire army?
Although he seems to be in great military glory now, you must know that half of the people here are the former Mo Jun.
This kind of people have no problem following the so-called "Great Tomorrow Soldiers" to fight with the wind, and they dare not have any dissent. But if by any chance, the "Great Tomorrow Soldiers" actually suffer a defeat, then they will start running I'm afraid it's faster than the wolf soldiers!
What's more, the other half of the main force of the wolf soldiers is still with Cen Ling, who will not be able to arrive in Qinghua until tomorrow. If they pursue Zheng Jun now, the main force will only be Huang Zhiting's department. This is a risk that the pragmatic people do not want to take at all.
It’s a win-win situation, so what’s there to be anxious about? Zheng Jun lost Thanh Hoa, and his morale must be low. Hue and Quang Nam further south are in the hands of Nguyen Huang, who is on both sides of the head. Now he will definitely not support Zheng Song. Even if Zheng Song flees south, he will only have one Yi in his hand. An - How can I make him make waves?
So don't be in a hurry, just fight the battle steadily and slowly push it through.
Zeng Guofan's command was lackluster, but who can deny that he was the first to pacify the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?
Everyone wants to pay the least and gain the most, and everyone likes to get rich quickly and get promoted to the third level. But it’s good to have this kind of good thing, but don’t be discouraged if you don’t have it. Most people still need to gain experience, skills and energy through persistent efforts and through the small advantages accumulated through each effort, in order to advance their abilities, increase their wealth, and consolidate and enhance their power.
It's good to get all the results in one battle, but maintain the advantage in every battle, don't be afraid of how small the advantage is, focus on accumulation, accumulate small wins into big wins, and you can have the last laugh.
Moreover, this battle of Qinghua is not a small victory at all - the enemy troops defeated in the cross-river battle are estimated to be 10,000 in total. It is estimated that more than 20,000 to 30,000 people can be killed in the clearing of the remaining enemies. Wan, also drove away Zheng Song and captured Qinghua City, the den of thieves.
How could this be Xiao Sheng? After this battle, Zheng Song lost his home base and at least half of his army. The only territory he actually controlled was Yi'an. Ruan Huang in the south would definitely be more fearful after hearing about it... This is a great victory, a great victory!
Gao pragmatically gave the order and the army entered the city cautiously. At the same time, he had already begun to think about how to go to the imperial court.
Taking Thanh Hoa does not mean taking Thang Long. Thang Long is theoretically the "Ming Dynasty territory". And Thanh Hoa is the hometown of Le Loi, the founding emperor of the Le Dynasty. Who was Le Loi? He was the culprit who relied on the Lanshan Uprising and ultimately forced the Ming Dynasty to withdraw from Annan!
The Ming Dynasty was called "Gang Ming" in later generations. What was the Ming Dynasty's concept of revenge?
"Is it possible to take revenge in nine lifetimes? It can be done in a hundred lifetimes!"
After a violent beating, the Li Dynasty rebelled against his ministers and captured Li Li's hometown. If Gao Pragmatic could not use this to gain some benefits from such a great achievement, would he still be Gao Pragmatic?
