The next morning, the highly pragmatic Economic and Strategy Headquarters arrived at a place that was once called Ming'an Station in the early Ming Dynasty. The biggest feature of this place is a large lake called Lightning Lake.
This lake is located in Guyuan, Hebei Province in later generations, about 200 miles northeast of Shacheng at this time. It is the largest lake in the upper reaches of the Luan River. It is named because the river before entering the lake is the Lightning River.
Of course, there is also a saying that when looking down from a high place, the shape of the lake looks like a lightning bolt. However, after Gao Pragmatic arrived here, he believed that the rumors were wrong. Perhaps the shape of the lake had changed later. Anyway, it now seemed to have nothing to do with lightning. It was not even a strip, but almost circular.
Lightning Lake is not small in area, but the water is not deep. It is crystal clear, with swaying water plants. Occasionally, you can see small shrimps swimming freely. Black and white water birds rise and fall quickly on the water, embellishing the lake in summer. A vivid golden color was painted on the grassland, turning it into a golden carpet.
Riding on a horse and strolling by the lake, feeling the breeze, your high and pragmatic mood also has a hint of the relaxation of the soft water plants at the bottom of the water. The sight of such a bright, clear and beautiful lake on the vast grassland with a clear sky and wild fields always makes people relax.
However, there was no sign of relaxation in what he said: "Ye Busuang spotted Chahar prowling his horse four times in a row within three hours in the morning. One of them, Ye Busuang stepped forward to challenge Chahar. Bai Ying's personal guards left without fighting... What do you think this means?"
Seeing that the other generals were silent in silence, Tong Yangzhong, the guerrilla general of Baoding Cheying, was the first to speak: "The last general thought that the strategy of Jingtai had worked, and Tumen had already entered the strategy hub."
"Really, what do you think?" Gao Pangshi trusted the horse and continued to ask while admiring the lake view, seemingly casually but persistently.
Ye Bangrong, as the core general of this trip, had to speak at this time, but his words were not so optimistic: "It is naturally possible that Tumen fell into the trap, but the general thought that this matter seemed to be doubtful."
"Yeah." Gao Pingshi nodded slightly and asked, "What's the doubt?"
"If we don't collect them this night, we have already discovered that the number of Chahar's scouting horses is gradually increasing. Judging from today's situation, it does look like a large army is approaching me. However, so far, although it is common for Chahar's patrolling horses to have white tassel guards sneaking in, , however, this time they no longer dared to take the initiative to fight as they did a few days ago, and they no longer even responded to the challenge. The general thought this was a very suspicious move.
It stands to reason that in the previous encounter with Tanma, the losses of the Mongolian army's Baiying guards were slightly greater than ours, but considering that there were at least thousands of Baiying guards, such losses were insignificant in comparison. They took advantage of it. In this case, why do they not dare to fight against our army's scouting horses when the number of their scouting horses is gradually increasing? "
Chen Can, the Tianjin coastal defense guerrilla general, interjected at this time: "I have something to say to Ye Yourong: Do you think this is a sign that the other party has fallen into a trap? I mean, for example, the other party is starting to launch an attack on our army, so in the formal Before the attack, they don't want their subordinates to do something that might 'alarm the snake'?"
Ye Bangrong nodded and said: "Chen Yourong's words are reasonable. This situation is possible. However, I don't know whether Chen Yourong noticed that the latest reports of our army's night stay and horse exploration occurred in the southwest, while there were no reports in other directions. abnormal.
I thought that if the opponent was Tumen, he would still have an army of 60,000, which is not a child's play. At present, our army has less than 30,000 riders, all gathered at the shore of Lightning Lake in Ming'an Station.
As a result, if the Tumen army wants to launch an attack on our army, it is really unlikely that they will gather their troops all the way. Not to mention being surrounded on all sides or surrounded by three walls, at least it should be flanked by two sides. "
Without waiting for Chen Can's answer, Pogui interjected: "This tactic of sandwiching two sides is usually used in Mongolia to create a picture of righteousness and strangeness complementing each other. Oh, I mean, usually a large frontal force is used to attract the enemy. Pay attention, then use elite sneak to the enemy's flank.
After the two sides faced each other head-on, the elite troops from the flanks suddenly rushed out to collapse the enemy's army, and the front took advantage of the situation to cover up the enemy. Since the front is also cavalry, a small victory will usually turn into a big victory, and a big victory will turn into a complete victory. "
Ye Bangrong asked: "So Po Yourong also agrees that Tumen may have deliberately refused to alert others?"
"That's not the case. I'm just talking about the tactics the Mongols are used to." Pogui shook his head and said, "But if Tumen really wants to do this, then assuming that the southwest is where his main force is, he should be more alert. . If we don’t draw our army’s attention to his frontal army, how can we launch a surprise attack on the flanks?”
Xu Long may still have some quarrel with Pogui, but he objected when he heard this, saying: "But to attract the attention of our army, it is not necessarily necessary to alert the enemy. In my opinion, alerting the enemy is more suitable for targeting reckless people. It's not my compliment - how dare Tumen regard the sutra platform as a reckless person?
Therefore, I think that if Tumen really wants to fight, it is more likely to do the opposite: there is no need to leave too many flaws, because the sutra platform can be seen through at a glance; the flanks do not necessarily have to be on the flanks, they can also be placed in the rear, as Ye Yourong said Attack from behind and behind. It is said that soldiers have no permanent momentum and water has no permanent shape. Even if the Tutu people don't understand this truth, Burihatu must understand it after all, right? "
The generals all talked about it one after another, and every word you said and what I said was a bit like a hundred schools of thought contending. It's just that although everyone's speech cannot be said to be unreasonable, the opinions of each party are not completely consistent, and the final decision must still be made by a high pragmatism.
It was Gao Pragmatic's intention to let them speak freely, but it did not necessarily mean strictly referring to their opinions. To a certain extent, what Gao Pragmatic does is more to cultivate their independent thinking ability.
It's not that these generals have survived to this day and don't even have the ability to think independently, but because Gao Pragmatic knows that his prestige in the military is too high, and in fact has formed a certain myth, which has led many generals-especially guerrilla and The following generals had little confidence in expressing their opinions in front of him, but relied entirely on his orders to act.
Although this can also ensure that once Gao Pragmatic gives an order, they will obey it honestly and in a disciplined manner, without having the courage to disobey military orders. Not to mention the classic "lower to overcome upper" traditional art that is often used by later generations to ridicule certain countries that had a good life.
However, this is still a very bad phenomenon. Although soldiers have a bounden duty to obey orders, but this is "ancient times" after all, and orders are difficult to convey in a timely manner, so many times they can only be more general. Generals need to have strong independent decision-making ability and authority, so the so-called obeying orders is actually The above is "the gist of obeying orders" rather than all the details.
This is just like what Gao Pingshi said in the memorial he wrote when promoting the reform, "Following the will of the ancestors may not necessarily follow the laws of the ancestors." For generals, especially generals like guerrilla generals who may often lead an army of cavalry alone, it is difficult to develop and progress if they just follow orders. Unless you plan to let him serve as a guerrilla in the Chinese army forever, which is equivalent to the commander of the cavalry reserve retained by the commander-in-chief.
High pragmatism leads them to talk and argue, mainly to cultivate and exercise their abilities, and in addition to that, of course, it is to examine. Through these arguments, Gao Pragmatism can also better judge their strategic and tactical literacy, personal style, etc., which in turn will help Gao Pragmatism arrange the various tasks they will undertake in the war.
When they had finished talking, Gao Pingshi stopped and stood still and asked: "Don't any of you suspect that the other party may not have fallen into the trap?"
As soon as this question came out, the generals were immediately speechless. In fact, Gao Jingshi himself also knew that not all the generals might really doubt this, but in front of his presence, even if they really had such suspicions, they might not dare to express it.
The huge gap in prestige, status and record made them dare not question Jingtai's clever plan face to face, and it might actually fail. They can only be forced to set a precondition for all their arguments, that is, the other party must have fallen into the trap, and the rest must revolve around this point.
Is this senseless? Maybe a little, but it's human nature.
For example, if your boss says something stupid, would you jump right out and ridicule him? Almost no one will do this. You will just find a way to play dumb, or simply "go with the flow"-unless you have already planned to "stop doing it."
Of course, all the generals still intend to continue, so they can only selectively ignore the possibility of "the strategy failing". Therefore, when Gao Pragmatic asked such a question, everyone was embarrassed, and even looked very surprised on their faces, as if to say: "How can this not make sense?"
However, Gao Pragmatic obviously believed that this was true, and said calmly: "The person who came is probably not Tumen, or perhaps not the main force of Tumen."
Everyone looked at each other, not daring to jump out, lest Gao Jing would inadvertently write it down in his notebook.
Only Ye Bangrong, as the core general of this trip, had no choice but to remain silent. He had no choice but to use the "shock body", a famous stunt of later generations, and asked dumbfounded: "The last general is stupid, I don't know what Entang meant by this?"
Gao pragmatically didn't answer, but turned around and shouted: "Why is it so expensive?"
"Hui Entang, the general is here!" Pogui quickly straightened his back, clasped his fists and saluted on his horse and replied.
"Suppose you were Tumen, who was besieging Guihua two days ago, and suddenly heard that a cousin from your headquarters was leading 30,000 cavalry from the west to relieve the siege. You sent a scout to find out that there was no other Ming army for 300 miles around. What would you do at this moment? What are your plans?" Gao pragmatically asked.
"This..." Pogui thought for a while and replied: "Hui Entang, if you take this as an assumption, there are several points that need to be observed and considered first. First of all, you have to judge how long it will take to get naturalization; if it is not possible for the time being, How many troops are needed to capture and maintain the siege? Or if the siege is withdrawn, will the Guihua City dare to send troops to follow? If they dare to send troops to follow, how many troops will be needed.
Secondly, if the last general wants to attack Entang, how many troops will he need to gain the upper hand? Whether Entang’s troops are just the vanguard of the Ming army? Even if there are no other Ming troops within three hundred miles, when the last general fights Jingtai, the rest of the troops will be Whether the troops will arrive in time to join the battle; whether the naturalized troops behind them will cooperate with Entang's troops and attack the generals from front to back... All of the above must be considered carefully first. "
Gao pragmatic smiled and said: "That's true, but what will you do if you can't get other news at the moment?"
This question was a bit overwhelming. Pogui thought for a moment before slowly answering: "If this is the case, we can only send an army to test it first." After saying this, he was suddenly stunned and asked: "This Is this why Endang thinks that the person coming is not the main force of Tumen?"
"It's not that simple. After all, the above are just suspicions, and suspicions need to be supported by facts." Gao Pragmatic breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Let me ask you again, do you think who is short of time, our army or the enemy's army?"
Pogui was startled, and the other generals were also startled. Pogui thought for a while, then suddenly opened his eyes and said: "Ah, both of us are racing for time now! Tumen were originally eager to conquer Guihua, and our army was originally eager to rescue Guihua... But Endang headquarters quickly chased after Tumen. They first faced the dilemma of whether to conquer Guihua before our army arrived, or to defeat our army first and buy more time to conquer Guihua. He had to make a choice.
However, from the perspective of our army, whether Guihua City can withstand it and how long it can withstand it is really a question. Therefore, if our army wants to rescue, it must be as soon as possible. Otherwise, once Guihua falls, not only will it be difficult to explain to King Shunyi, but by then Tumen will have already seized a large amount of Guihua's supplies, and the morale of his troops will inevitably be strengthened. With no worries, they will be able to freely engage in a decisive battle with our army. Yes, this is an unfavorable situation that should not occur at all for our army, so our army's time is also very tight.
At the end of the day, I thought, perhaps this was the reason why Entang had insisted on making rapid progress. At this time, since Baiying's personal guards appear more and more often as detective horses, it can be seen that Tumen has already made a choice. Either he has withdrawn from the siege and wants to fight the decisive battle with Endang's headquarters; or he has divided his troops and wants to prevent our army from the outskirts of the naturalization... It's just that the general couldn't think of how Endang judged the troops sent by Tumen. It's just a branch of the army, please ask Entang for advice. "
Gao pragmatically said: "Actually, you shouldn't ask Honbudo about this. As long as you enlarge the pattern a little more and consider the wider situation, you should actually be able to determine Tumen's thoughts better than Honbudo.
For example, although the headquarters of Jinglue is here and there are no other branches of our army within 300 miles around, how many days does it take to reach 300 miles away? Is this enough time for Tumen to defeat my management headquarters? Even after being defeated, is there still enough energy left to escape? "
Pogui suddenly understood and shouted: "Ah, so he can only send a small force, pretending to launch a large-scale offensive against our army, forcing our army to stop and prepare to fight. In fact, these people are just here to delay our army." Move forward to cover the attack on Naturalization!"
The generals next to him also understood immediately, Xu Long said: "No wonder Baiying's personal guards refused to fight with me Ye Bushou. They seem to be in the open, but in fact they are in the dark, so they dare not reveal their true strength, but place their hopes on This will make our army mistakenly think that they are the Tumen headquarters, thereby giving up the last chance to rescue and naturalize them immediately!"
Ye Bangrong asked nervously: "Even so, the opponent has now come closer. Even if it is a separate force, our troops are less than 30,000, but it is difficult to continue on the road without making preparations for the battle. How is this? good?"
The implication of his words is that if he loses his naturalization because of this, isn't it just playing into the Tu's plan? The other generals also talked a lot, all of them looked worried.
Gao pragmatic stretched out his hand to give them some reassurance, and said: "It doesn't matter, the headquarters over at Guihua has already arranged it. The real key for our department now is another thing: how to engage with the opponent's branch as early as possible." By doing so, they will not be able to temporarily retreat outside the Huihua City to join Tumen."
The generals couldn't help but be a little puzzled, thinking that this detachment of troops came to us to delay the time. Why did they temporarily withdraw and reintegrate? If it is really withdrawn, it will be a good thing for us! Why don't we follow them directly? As long as the large banner of Jingtai appears in the eyes of the Tumut people in Guihua City, they will naturally be able to work harder to defend the city if they have hope.
Ye Bangrong was so happy at this time that he asked in surprise: "Could it be that... a main force of our army has not only gone to Guihua City, but has even almost arrived at the city?"
The other generals also looked at Master Jinglue in shock, while Gao Pingshi smiled slightly and said, "Of course."
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