Baisha Town is adjacent to the Jinshui River and has two Jingyi Roads passing through it. It is an important town from Kaifeng Prefecture to Zhengzhou. Liu Lin conquered Luoyang's army, and the vanguard was stationed here.
Li Cheng, fully dressed in military uniform, walked slowly through the military camp to see the breakfast served by the soldiers. The expression was extremely serious. When the soldiers saw that they were not well fed, they called their leading commander to severely punish them. As long as he is in the army, this is what Li Cheng must do every day, and he never neglects it.
After seeing the soldiers' food, Li Chengcai returned to the commander's tent and his men served food. It's nothing more than a big bowl of corn and a plate of pickles, just like a soldier.
When fighting, he takes the lead. When stationed in camp, the soldiers do not eat themselves, and they must take care of those who are sick. This is Li Cheng's characteristic in leading troops. Li Cheng almost did the same behavior as famous generals in ancient books. His army orders were strict and he was brave and powerful. He was a powerful general at the turn of the Song Dynasty. It is precisely because of his strict self-discipline that Li Cheng has great ambitions. He twice accepted official positions in the imperial court, only to rebel again. Until Zhang Jun advanced to suppress the army and was defeated by Yue Fei.
Now that he has surrendered to Liu Yu, Li Cheng still maintains his previous habit of leading an army of 10,000 as Liu Lin's vanguard.
Just after eating a few mouthfuls of food, a soldier came in, crossed his hands and said: "Lieutenant, the prince sent someone to pass the command!"
After hearing this, Li Cheng stood up quickly. Said: "Quickly invite the person who delivers the order to come in!"
Not long after, a soldier of Liu Lin entered the commander's tent and saluted Li Cheng.
Li Cheng returned the gift. Asked: "I wonder what the prince's military orders are?"
The soldier said: "The prince ordered the vanguard to garrison at Baisha. Stop advancing and wait for military orders!"
Li Cheng was stunned for a moment. He said: "The front is approaching Zhengzhou, why don't we march and wait here?"
The soldier said: "Lieutenant, the prince wants me to tell you that the Jin army on Hedong Road has been completely wiped out and cannot come to the Central Plains. Without the Jin army, how can we dare to fight Wang Xiaolie's 100,000-strong army? We should wait here. Let’s see how the Jin army is fighting in the west.”
Li Cheng smiled and said: "The prince is too timid! Even without the Jin Army, we can take back Luoyang!"
The soldier said: "The prince's military order has also been sent, and the Taiwei will make his own decision. Now I'll say goodbye!"
Li Cheng repeatedly asked to stay, but the soldiers just said that they would go back to resume their duties and went on their own.
Looking at the soldiers leaving, Li Cheng shook his head. Said: "The prince has grown up in a deep house and has never seen the world, yet he is so timid. What use can three thousand gold troops do? If they don't come, this battle will not be fought?"
He is just living under someone else's roof and has no choice but to obey orders. He called his own soldiers and sent an order to the whole army to station themselves in Baisha Town and stop advancing.
At the Weishi County Government Office, Niu Gao put down the official document in his hand. Said: "Jiang Min is young, but he is very good at fighting. With more than a thousand people under his command, he wiped out three thousand gold troops in just a few hours. Who has been able to fight this kind of battle before? With such a record, he is also a famous general. ”
Xie Linong hurried in and said to Niu Gao: "Du Yuhou, Li Cheng was in Baisha Town yesterday and did not move forward. According to Youqi, he set up camp and seemed to want to live in Baisha Town. Doesn't the Puppet Qi Dynasty not want to attack Zhengzhou? ?”
Niu Gao handed the official document in his hand to Xie Linong. Said: "The Jin Army is the courage of the Puppet Qi. Without the help of the Jin Army, Liu Lin will give up."
After reading the official document, Xie Linong couldn't help but praise: "It's amazing! Jiang Min is less than twenty years old, and he can actually fight such a battle!"
Niu Gao said: "Please read the official document carefully. Jiang Min made full use of the artillery to achieve such a record. The production department specially reminded us that in this battle, the role of artillery must be fully utilized. Using the artillery with fire is better than anything else. .”
Xie Linong read the official document carefully again, nodded and said: "Yes, the artillery is really a magical weapon! Once the cannon is fired, it can smash a bloody path! The Jin Army likes to form heavy formations to fight tough battles, but it happened to be restrained by the artillery!"
Niu Gao said: "Yes, the artillery just happened to restrain the Jin army, and that's why Jiang Min had such a record. We also have artillery in the army, so we have to use it well."
Xie Li Nong said: "Li Cheng is stationed at Baisha and has stopped moving forward. Even if we have cannons, what's the use? They won't come to fight!"
Niu Gao smiled and said: "If they don't come, we will go. In battle, either the enemy attacks and we defend, or we attack the enemy and defends. Wait two or three days. If Li Cheng still doesn't move, we will move. Production Department The official document emphasized that this battle cannot be delayed for too long and must be ended as soon as possible. After destroying Liu Lin's army, we have to cross the Yellow River to capture Longde Mansion. The commander-in-chief's intention is to leave Kaifeng Mansion alone and attack Hedong. !”
Xie Linong picked up the official document again and read it again. He said: "Yes, Commander Zhi ordered us to end it as soon as possible. Then we can only attack."
After saying that, he lay on the table and looked at the map for a while. Said: "If we attack, we should directly attack Liu Lin in Zhongmou, and together with Cao Zhiyan in Zhengzhou, encircle Li Cheng in Baisha Town. In this way, we can annihilate as many of the puppet Qi troops as possible."
Niu Gao nodded and said: "That's right. The original arrangement of Commander Ji was for Zhengzhou to block the puppet Qi army, and we surrounded the enemy's rear from one side. Now that the enemy army is immobile, we can only attack Zhongmou, destroy Qi Lin's army first, and then encircle Li Cheng from Baisha Town. We need Cao Zhiyan to act together on this matter. Ask him to come to Weishi tomorrow and we will discuss it together."
Xie Li Nong said yes.
In this era, it is not so easy to obtain information about the other party, and Liu Lin did not pay attention to this matter. He never knew that Xie Linong's main force had been concentrated in Weishi County. If it weren't for the unexpected failure of the Jin Army on Hedong Road, he would have arrived outside Zhengzhou within a day or two.
Wang Xiaolie's arrangement was for Liu Lin to attack Zhengzhou. Cao Zhiyan defended Zhengzhou City and blocked Liu Lin's army. Xie Linong led his army out of Weishi to attack Liu Lin's retreat. If the two sides cooperate well, they can annihilate Liu Lin's army in one battle.
Now that Liu Lin suddenly stopped moving in Zhongmu County, Xie Linong could only take the initiative to attack.
This area is the vast Yellow River impact plain, with thousands of miles of fertile wilderness and no danger to defend. If you cannot encircle the enemy, it will be difficult to destroy it. What's the use of occupying a few cities if you can't destroy the enemy? With an army of 100,000, Wang Xiaolie's combat thinking was different from before.
In the past, it was to rescue people from danger. Wang Xiaolie would lead his troops to rescue wherever they were attacked. As long as the enemy is defeated and the place is defended, victory is achieved. It's different now. What Wang Xiaolie pursues is to annihilate the enemy's vitality, not to gain or lose one city or one place.
The maximum number of troops that the Jin Army can recruit does not exceed 200,000. Of these 200,000 people, if 10,000 are wiped out, there will be 10,000, and the Jin people will have no place to replenish them. In the vast Central Plains area, occupying local areas is of little significance. We should pursue annihilation of the enemy. As long as 70,000 to 80,000 Jin troops are annihilated, the balance of power between the two sides will change.
If Wang Xiaolie had an advantage in military strength and could gain the initiative to fight against Jin, then things would be completely different. In the vast area that has fallen now, dozens of cities can be recovered in a single battle, but now we can only disperse our own forces. What's the use?
