Chapter 27: Under the City of Zhangde
In fact, Jin Shengyu marched each department separately. The number of enemy troops they encountered was almost the same as his own, so neither side had a numerical advantage. The only problem is that Sheng Yong has actually been preparing for this battlefield for a long time.
Therefore, only by being familiar with the terrain and blocking the enemy separately can you be in position before the Northern Army.
Of course, Sheng Yong's troops were also the elite of the Southern Army and had the most firearms. When the two sides fought, it was hard to say who would win and who would lose.
Break the big battle into a series of smaller battles. This is for Sheng Yong. It's also very risky.
However, Sheng Yong was also prepared.
This preparation is nothing else. It’s preparation for retreat.
Every time an army is sent out, the chief plans a retreat route. Sheng Yong's headquarters built a large camp in the rear with more than 10,000 troops. Once all the troops collapsed, the other groups would retreat to Sheng Yong's headquarters in accordance with previous regulations.
If the Northern Army could still advance in unison when pursuing, and the front and rear were not disconnected, and the left and right responded to each other, then Sheng Yong had nothing to say. He turned around and withdrew into Zhangde Mansion, using the city wall of Zhangde Mansion to fight an offensive and defensive battle. war.
Although Sheng Yong had no intention of defending Zhangde Mansion, the city wall of Zhangde Mansion would not be of any use in the face of the heavy artillery of the Northern Army.
But it is still possible to delay for a while.
But if one part of the Northern Army pursued too hard and lost contact with the rear, then Sheng Yong would have to test his teeth to see if he could swallow it.
But Sheng Yong didn't expect such a situation. Without him, once such a situation occurs, it means there will be heavy losses ahead.
Even if he eats a part of the pursuit, it is just to regain the situation, not a victory.
However, things went according to Sheng Yong's idea, and Jin Shengyu withdrew his troops.
Many people under Sheng Yong did not understand this. Jin Shengyu was also considered a fierce general. How come he retreated when encountering such a thing?
Sheng Yong explained with a smile: "Courage and cowardice are relative. People will be brave about things they are sure of, but they will become cautious about things they are not sure about. Jin Shengyu is certainly a brave general, but a brave general It’s also different from the brave general. Is he a Mongolian?”
For a moment, no one understood what Sheng Yong meant.
There were many Mongolian generals in the Ming army. Didn't you think there was anything wrong?
Sheng Yong said: "The Mongols fight bravely, especially in battle formations, and they are indomitable. However, this kind of commanding multiple aspects of war is not what the Mongols are good at. I originally thought that this golden man The general is an anomaly among the Mongols, but now it seems that he has not shed his true qualities as a Tartar general."
Sheng Yong said this not to belittle the Mongols.
But a fact.
Since war has entered the age of firearms, military organizational and command capabilities are more important than bravery. If Jin Shengyu is asked to command a battlefield and preside over a battle, Jin Shengyu may be qualified. Even performed well. But this kind of army is distributed within a range of dozens of miles and fights separately. A war between each other where even the sound of cannons could not be heard.
It is really difficult for many generals.
Especially some Mongolian generals.
Many of the achievements of Mongolian generals were achieved on the battlefield by fighting without regard for their own safety. But now the war no longer requires them to do this. Instead, generals are required to stay at the headquarters, look at maps, listen to reports, determine the opponent's intentions, and decide how much troops to invest where.
Such a war is indeed not suitable for Jin Shengyu.
It can be said that the Northern Army already has twelve corps and a new army of 600,000 people, but it does not yet have twelve fully qualified commanders. Many generals are still immersed in the principles of the previous war. In other words, he was simply elevated to a position that was not suitable for him due to his own achievements.
In this regard, Sheng Yong is better than Jin Shengyu.
In the Northern Army, there is no problem that Sheng Yong's talent is worthy of being a military commander. Let him command the Third Army, and he will definitely fight better than Jin Shengyu. However, although the soldiers under Sheng Yong are considered elite, they are inferior to those in all aspects.
The systematic training of the Beijun Army is still a bit poor.
However, Jin Shengyu is not a fool.
After being stagnant for two days, he quickly understood that he had been cheated by Sheng Yong.
He was angry at first, then accepted the reality. That is to accept the reality that you are not as good as Sheng Yong. Then he made a decision, which was to attack step by step.
Don't think of any novel tricks, just follow the staff's most standard plan and move forward step by step.
So, on the way south to Zhangde, we encountered enemy positions. Jin Shengyu didn't escape either. Divided into three regiments and besieged on three sides. If the enemy comes to rescue, the cavalry will move in behind.
Sheng Yong's treatment of Jin Shengyu before was not to humiliate Jin Shengyu, but to test Jin Shengyu. That is, when the scale of the battlefield expands, what is Jin Shengyu's commanding ability?
Jin Shengyu knew that he couldn't control it. Therefore, he limited himself to the battlefield in front of him and did not let the army go too far beyond his sight. And Sheng Yong was extremely familiar with such a battlefield. Because this itself is Sheng Yong's default battlefield.
As a result, the war entered a prosperous rhythm.
Although Jin Shengyu relied on his strong firepower to press forward step by step. Sheng Yong retreated step by step. However, Sheng Yong's headquarters did not use many troops. On the contrary, many guards in Henan Province under the command of Sheng Yong withstood Jin Shengyu's attacks again and again.
This is certainly because Sheng Yong wants to maintain his combat power, but more importantly, it is Sheng Yong's discovery. If you only use firearms to defend a solid line of defense, the training of the army can actually be reduced a lot.
So these guards troops trained on the front line one after another. After they get used to firearms combat, it's okay to let them do some defensive tasks.
In this way, Sheng Yong could free up more troops.
that's all.
Jin Shengyu successfully fought all the way to the gate of Zhangde Mansion.
It's just that Jin Shengyu is not happy at all. Although Jin Shengyu is not as good as Sheng Yong, he is not a fool. He naturally knows that the current battle rhythm has always been under Sheng Yong's control.
From this perspective, he failed.
He had been in the middle of a battle before, and he had no time to summarize the problem. Now the troops were at the gate of Zhangdefu City, although Zhangdefu City could not stop the army. However, it takes time to transport cannons from the rear or bombard the city with cannons.
Only then did Jin Shengyu have time to reflect on his own affairs during this period, and wrote a letter of apology and sent it to General Zhengnan, Ye Chen.
In fact, Jin Shengyu couldn't hide it even if he wanted to.
After all, in the reorganized army, the staff department has great power. All orders from the commander will be kept on file. After the war, as a military academy teaching material, it will be reviewed in the future regardless of failure or victory.
In this case, it is better to report it yourself, and it will be embarrassing to be exposed by someone who is interested in the review in the future.
More importantly, Jin Shengyu also has some worries, that is, he can't see through what Sheng Yong wants to do?
This situation is actually very dangerous.
Can't see what your opponent is going to do? This shows that you and the opponent are not on the same level. It is possible that the opponent is a weak player and makes all kinds of mistakes. It is more likely that the opponent is a powerful character and may have a hidden killer move.
If it's the latter, the current situation is actually very dangerous.
Jin Shengyu is also experienced in commanding tens of thousands of troops. But that experience was completely different from today's experience. Before, he only managed a few generals. Everyone would lead their own troops and listen to his instructions. When they met the enemy, your side and my side were assigned, and then they would charge with their troops.
But now, the task of commanding an army is too complicated.
Even with the help of the staff, he still found it difficult to do the job. He used the most conservative method of the staff, but still felt that there might be unseen dangers. It's better to report it honestly.
Of course, this is because Beijing has a very good political atmosphere. Jin Shengyu’s actions will not bring political risks to him. Although the problems between He Xi and Zhu Xiongying are big, they both have limited conflicts. The idea is not as good as the overt and secret fighting between various forces in Nanjing, that is, Xu Da can temporarily suppress all parties.
The struggle, from this point of view.
Zhu Yunwen's use of Xu Da cannot be said to be unwise.
