In Songshan City, the atmosphere in the temporary residence hall of Jiliao Governor Hong Chengchou was a bit strange. None of the generals could figure out why Governor Hong suddenly announced a plan to attack Shimen Mountain.
But now that Hong Chengchou, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, has made up his mind, all the officials and generals are powerless to make a comeback. Those who reacted quickly enough have already expressed their support. This discussion seems to be a foregone conclusion.
For example, Wu Sangui and Zu Dalue supported Governor Hong Chengchou on the surface, but in fact they supported Mrs. Zuo behind the screen, and Zu Dashou, the largest military leader in Liaodong who was trapped in Jinzhou City.
Cao Bianjiao, on the other hand, sincerely supports Governor Hong. He was originally trained and promoted by Hong Chengchou. Although he is also brave and brave, if he doesn't know Ma Bole, what does it matter no matter how brave he is?
Li Fuming was also a sinner. He followed Hong Chengchou to seek merit to atone for his previous sins, so he was naturally willing to fight. As for where he fought, he didn't care much. Liu Zhaoji and Wang Tingchen basically thought the same way.
As for the remaining Tang Tong, Ma Ke and others, they just expressed their loyalty to the governor Hong Chengchou. How the war was fought was an afterthought, but they could not be worried by the governor because they did not express their stance in time. This was their purpose. .
Chen Jiugao, the commander-in-chief of the front camp of Shenji Camp, looked at Hong Chengchou, then at Zhang Cheng, who was sitting calmly, and finally looked at Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong. He seemed to not know how to express his position, whether to support Zhang Cheng or support Governor Hong. ?
"The last general also believes that we should be the first to attack Shimen Mountain and give the Tatars a head-on blow."
Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, clasped his fists and continued loudly: "Director Hong, I have asked for orders to go out to fight. I am willing to rush to the front and fight the first battle!"
Bai Guangen, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, said even more carelessly: "We listen to the governor. We are not visiting the mountains and rivers in Liaodong. It doesn't matter whether we attack Rufeng Mountain first or Huangtu Ridge first. We have to attack them anyway." Tartar thieves.”
Then, Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town, also expressed his support for the governor. Chen Jiugao glanced at Zhang Cheng again, shook his head gently, and then quickly expressed his support.
At this time, Zhang Ruoqi, the commander-in-chief of the army, clapped his hands and praised: "Wonderful. Only in this way can the generals live up to the majestic grace of the Holy Spirit. They must show their loyalty and bravery and report the truth to the court so that the soldiers know and the Holy Spirit is comforted!" "
When he said this, he paused briefly, turned to look at Zhang Cheng, and asked, "General Zhang, what do you think?"
Zhang Cheng raised his eyes to look at Zhang Ruoqi, with a smile on his face. He turned to look at Hong Chengchou and said in a deep voice: "Director Hong is worried about state affairs and has been working day and night. Now we have decided to attack the Tatar bandits in Shimen Mountain. Our department is willing to As the vanguard of the army, whether it is mainly attacking Shimen Mountain, or going elsewhere to contain the Tatar bandits, it only depends on the orders of the governor."
Zhang Ruoqi said: "Praise! If all the generals can work together, there is a lot to be done in the Liao Dynasty. Not to mention relieving the siege of Jinzhou, recapturing Yizhou and restoring Guangning is not impossible."
Your performance today will never be forgotten, and your achievements in the future battles will be faithfully recorded for you and presented to you! "
Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, sighed in his heart and said: "I would also like to ask the governor to make arrangements on how to attack the East and West Shimen, and which troops and horses to use to attack Huangtu Ridge and Songshan Ridge to contain the Tatar thieves."
His words brought everyone back to reality, and all eyes in the hall turned to Hong Chengchou to see how he would make arrangements.
Everyone's thoughts are different. Some are as stable as Mount Tai, just waiting for Hong Chengchou's dispatch; and some really have a lot of beautiful words, but they are constantly weighing in their hearts whether they should contain them or attack Shimen Mountain.
Although Hong Chengchou decided to attack Shimen Mountain first, he was forced by the situation and not his original intention. However, he also knew that the war was dangerous and he had been repeatedly calculating the strategy in his mind since last night, both before the military meeting and with his staff. We discussed it repeatedly.
At this time, under the attention of everyone, he said in a deep voice: "According to the sentinel inspection, the number of Jin soldiers and horses in Dongnuwei should be no more than 60,000. They have a Zhenghong Banner stationed in Huangtu Ridge; the Maojiagou area is inlaid. One part of the red flag; and thousands of Dongnujing cavalry are stationed in Songshan Ridge. It seems that it is more responsible for the important task of coordinating Huangtu Ridge and Maojiagou."
He paused briefly before continuing: "Although the specific number of troops and horses deployed by the Tatars in the above places cannot be fully investigated for the time being, it is roughly estimated to be more than 10,000 Tatars.
Judging from the color of the flags, the troops stationed at Shimen Mountain should be mainly composed of Tatar soldiers with Zhenglan, Bianlan, Zhengbai and Bianbai banners, and their number should be more than 20,000 captives.
In this way, coupled with the Dongnu stationed at Rufeng Mountain and the Tatar bandits from various tribes surrounding Jin, the total number should be more than 60,000. This is the arrangement of the Tatar force under our control. "
Hong Chengchou glanced at the officers and generals below, and then said: "According to the sentry report, there are Tatar thieves and soldiers of various banners of the Han army entrenched in Rufeng Mountain, Shimen Mountain, Huangtu Ridge, Songshan Ridge and other places. It is speculated that these places There should be many large and small artillery, blunderbuss and other firearms deployed, as well as fire soldiers recruited by the Tatars from North Korea. No trace of them has been seen yet, and it is unknown where they are hidden.
The bannermen of the Tatar rebels and the Han army defended themselves against the danger of the mountain, and then used their captives to rush down from the mountain, or attack our army from the flank, which was extremely difficult to defend against.
And whether our army attacks Shimen Mountain, or attacks various parts of Huangtu Ridge, Songshan Ridge, or even attacks the mountains in front of Rufeng Mountain, the captives from all over the place will support each other, forming a pincer attack on our army, which is really difficult to deal with! "
Everyone in the hall frowned and thought deeply when they heard this. Even though they were very enthusiastic when they expressed their stance just now, when it comes to specific wars, few people often dare to speak out.
In this way, it is not that I am afraid of saying the wrong thing, but I am afraid that once I say something, I will be sent to lead the battle. After all, most generals still like to follow behind and pick up some small military merits. If the war goes unfavorably, they can still be at the forefront.
After all, strength is the foundation for warriors like them to settle down!
Zhang Dou of Bingbei Dao had been in Songshan for a long time and had a good understanding of the local terrain. He suggested: "Hongdu, in the plain area between Huangtu Ridge and Songshan Ridge, the army can be used to protect the civilians and dig trenches to block the two areas. communication between.
In this way, the Tatar thieves in these two places will not be able to join together. If they fight alone, there will be no need to send out a large number of officers and soldiers to intercept them. "
Supervisor Wang Zhizhen had a different opinion. He said: "Even if the cavalry from Songshan Ridge are blocked by the ditch and cannot come to support Shimen Mountain, there are still cavalry from Huangshiling, Rufeng Mountain and other places who come to support. They can't stop it." !”
Zhang Dou didn't take it seriously and continued: "That's true. However, it is better to break off one place, that is, one place, than to have the Tatars and their cavalry in three or four places connected together."
Everyone nodded in agreement. It seemed that under the current situation, this was the only way. Next came the discussion about the deployment of the officers and soldiers to the war.
After a long and fierce quarrel and discussion, until late at night, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, decided on the officers and troops of various ministries to attack Shimen Mountain, as well as the generals who would feign attacks to contain Huangtuling and Rufeng Mountain.
