In the lobby of Governor Ji Liao's residence, everyone was in deep thought. When they saw that Zhang Cheng was willing to leave part of his troops to guard Changling and control the Songxing arterial road, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhang Cheng brought more than 18,000 troops and horses to the Liao Dynasty this time, as well as hundreds of artillery vehicles. They all saw it. Now that he has asked to leave a force of troops and horses to guard the grain road, everyone feels at ease.
Moreover, there are at least 10,000 Xuanbei elites who want to march into Songshan together with the army. The strength of the main army has not weakened much, and they are still very energetic.
Zhang Cheng saw that everyone was speechless, so he continued: "About ten miles southwest of Xingshan Mountain are the Wudaoling mountains and hills. At the foot of the mountains are our two forts, Daxing and Dongqing. The Qili River flows through the two forts. Governor, you can choose one or two more reinforcement generals to take up residence here, rely on Wudaoling and Qili River, and deploy deep trench artillery to echo the defenders of the second fort."
He glanced at the commanders present and continued: "If the slave bandits come to attack Xingshan, they will definitely come from the Nür River Valley Road. Wudaoling is a dozen miles north of the Nür River.
If we attack Xingshan Fort again, our Daxing and Dongqing Forts, as well as the garrison in Changling Mountain, will be able to echo the Wudaoling garrison. Although the slave thieves are strong, they will definitely have few soldiers. As long as the surprise attack cannot succeed, they will be difficult to defeat. As long as we can withstand the first wave of attacks by the slave thieves, our division can send elite cavalry back to support. If Xingshan is not lost, the food route will be safe, and the food stored on Bijia Mountain will be safe. Only in this way can we be with the slave thieves in the Song Dynasty. The Jin front line will last for a long time, looking for an opportunity for a decisive battle! "
Everyone in the room was surprised when they heard Zhang Cheng's eloquent talk about how he knew the topography of the mountain ranges such as pine and apricot. They must know that it had only been more than a month since Zhang Cheng came to Liaodong to aid, and it had only been nearly a month since his subordinates had started to inspect various places. After that, he already knew the location between pines and apricots well.
Hong Chengchou and other officers and generals in Liaodong were all impressed in their hearts, thinking: Zhang Cheng became famous at a young age, and in just three years, he was promoted from the rank of chief general to the rank of general soldier. Now it seems that he was definitely not lucky.
As for the terrain he just mentioned, some of them were not even known to the veterans of Ziliao Town, but Zhang Cheng knew it so well that it was amazing.
However, Yang Guozhu, Chen Jiugao, Wang Pu and other generals who came to the rescue were all confused. What is Wudaoling, and where are Daxing Fort and Dongqing Fort?
They have never even heard of it!
Seeing the doubts on their faces, Zhang Cheng asked the governor Hong Chengchou if he could display a map of western Liaoning for the generals to observe.
As soon as the map was spread out, Zhang Cheng felt a splitting headache.
In his opinion, what he saw in front of him was an "Impressionist" painting. Although there were many key castles, villages, and rivers everywhere, they were not painted according to reality at all.
He felt dizzy while looking at it. It took him a long time to get used to this "impressionistic" map of western Liaoning, and he found Nervhe, Changling Mountain, Wudaoling, Daxing Fort, Dongqing Fort and other places for Yang Guozhu. When the generals nodded frequently, Datong's commander-in-chief Wang Pu even shouted: "Wonderful, Changling Mountain and Wudaoling sandwich the Songxing Road, and Daxing and Dongqing Forts protect each other. If the thieves don't capture these places, how can they get to Xingshan Fort?
He was so excited that he clicked on the map with his hand and said: "These places can be used to form a stronghold, with multiple artillery inside, to kill the slaves and thieves of Niangcao!"
Wu Sangui also nodded and said: "These places are extremely dangerous, and our military camps and forts are located at a commanding height. It is indeed easy to defend but difficult to attack."
Chen Jiugao, the commander of the front camp of Shenji Camp, also shouted: "Hey, in this way, Tashan, Gaoqiao and other places do not need many defensive troops. Changling Mountain, Wudaoling, plus Xingshan Fort, only need to defend If the levy is done properly, we can stop the incoming slave thieves."
Zhang Cheng said with a smile: "This is just a defense. There are not enough troops everywhere. We are still waiting for help. We are still barely able to help each other, and we can't rescue each other. I thought that we need to prepare a team of elite cavalry as our division's mobile force to support us in this way. .
You can either follow the army to Songshan and fight the slave bandits head-on, or you can quickly return to Xingshan to provide reinforcements when attacked from behind. "
He turned to look at the governor Hong Chengchou, clasped his fists and said: "This is just a humble opinion of my duty, and I hope that Governor Hong will not blame me. As for how to deploy the various troops and horses, I would like to ask the governor to face Zhang." Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, remained silent despite the sincere petition.
After listening to the discussion between Zhang Cheng and the generals, I felt in my heart that what Zhang Cheng proposed was indeed reasonable. With this arrangement, the food road leading back was indeed safer.
Although he was deeply dissatisfied with Zhang Cheng's repeated mention of grain road safety in public, as the supreme commander of the Liao Shu military in the Ming Dynasty, he had to think about the overall situation.
What's more, Zhang Cheng's proposal has already received support from Xuanda generals, Shenji camp Chen Jiugao and others.
Zhang Ruoqi, the supervisor of the army, and Ma Shaoyu, who joined the army, also had an eye with Zhang Cheng. If he firmly denied it, they would definitely report to the emperor that they were specialized in Liao affairs and had their own way. If the war was to be repeated in the end, they would not be good people inside or outside. .
Thinking again about Chen Xinjia, a soldier in the imperial court, and even the current emperor has the same idea, what can I do!
It seems that we have no choice but to compromise on the issue of food routes. Instead of fighting with Zhang Cheng, Zhang Ruoqi and others, what benefit will it have to the Liaodong military?
It's better to take a step back.
This made Hong Tao smile and said: "General Zhang is indeed full of strategies. Today you have filled in the gaps, which really makes me feel at ease. Let's do it accordingly."
"Hahaha.…
After he finished speaking, he laughed happily, and all the officials in the hall also laughed, and the atmosphere instantly became harmonious again.
Only Ningyuan Commander-in-Chief Wu Sangui bit his lower lip gently, his face a little gloomy. He sighed secretly in his heart: Compared with Zhang Cheng, he is still a step behind!
However, choosing who to stay in Xingshan and garrison in Wudaoling is also a difficult problem.
Bai Guangen, Tang Tong, Ma Ke and others all looked at the mouth through the nose and the heart through the mouth, just like the old Buddha entering meditation. It was obvious that they were unwilling to divide their troops and stay behind.
Chen Jiugao and Wang Pu had already made up their minds to work side by side with Zhang Cheng, and naturally they did not want to stay and garrison Wudaoling. However, Yang Guozhu, Wu Sangui, Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen and other town commanders naturally wanted to follow Hong Duchen to the Songjin front line. .
For the rest, Xiping could only choose one or two from a few people such as Zuo Guangxian and Li Fuming to stay at Wudaoling.
Fortunately, there were nearly 30,000 troops stationed around Xingshan. Now Zhang Cheng is willing to leave another battalion of 3,000 troops to garrison Changling Mountain. If there is another general with several thousand troops stationed on Wudaoling, , not to mention fighting back the slave thieves, but it is also safe to hold on
