Spring came early this year, only the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, and it will be the ninth day of the lunar month. However, it is bitterly cold in Shizhou, the wild grass has not yet sprouted, and the rivers have not yet thawed. Only the wind blowing in the face, without the biting chill, tells people that spring is approaching.
Wang Xiaolie sat in the sun, casually flipping through recent official documents, and his time seemed lazy.
Wang Ruohai came in and said to Wang Xiaolie: "The sunshine has been good these days. Is Xuanfu feeling well?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "It's basically nothing serious. I've been eating well and sleeping well these past few days, so I should be fine."
After saying that, he ordered his soldiers to move a chair and let Wang Ruohai sit down.
Putting down the official document in his hand, Wang Xiaolie said: "Liang Xing was originally asked to stay in Fangshan County for a while, and when we were ready, we would move northward. Who would have thought that because of Aunt Zhou, Chini Fort and Feiyuan Fort After capturing Lanzhou, we had to go north. Yesterday, Liang Xing sent us a message saying that we had captured Lanzhou and Xianzhou and asked us if we wanted to continue marching. According to his intention, we should continue north along the Fen River and occupy the Ninghua Army. "
Wang Ruohai said: "This is not just his intention, but also the division headquarters' intention, especially Jiang Min's intention."
Wang Xiaolie sighed: "Yes, Jiang Min is ambitious and has always wanted to occupy the Ninghua Army. That is the ancient Ningwuguan, the main route to the north."
In the Jinzhong area, there are three roads going south and north. Pianguan Pass in the west, Yanmen Pass in the east, and Ningwuguan in the middle. Before the Ming Dynasty, Pianguan and Ningwuguan played little role due to their remote location, mixed settlement of Tibetan and Han people, and inconvenient marching. The wars mainly occurred at Yanmen Pass. Things were different after the Ming Dynasty. Due to local development, the increase in human activities, and the improvement of conditions, Ningwuguan replaced Yanmenguan and became an important place.
In order to build roads, Wang Xiaolie organized all the prisoners from the recent battle into an engineering team and gave them to Jiang Min. Now Jiang Min has two regiments of engineering troops and an engineering team of about 20,000 people, with extremely strong engineering capabilities. With such a powerful force, Jiang Min has more ideas.
If the road to the Ninghua Army is built and the Ningwuguan is opened, Jiang Min's threat to the Jin Army will no longer be south of Yanmen Pass, but directly to Datong Prefecture.
What kind of scene is this? Wang Xiaolie didn't dare to think about it carefully. In short, after conquering Datong Mansion, the western route of the Jin Kingdom collapsed, which was equivalent to cutting off an arm of the Jin Kingdom.
Does Wang Xiaolie have such thoughts? This has been the case since Jiang Min was sent to Shizhou and continued to increase his military strength. But this idea was too bold. Wang Xiaolie didn't dare to say it, and others didn't dare to ask.
But Jiang Min knew it. So he refused to cooperate in the battle of Taiyuan, but wanted to act on his own. If you act on your own, you have to go straight into Datong Mansion.
There is no Ningwuguan now. It has been buried in weeds during the wars over the years. Even in Ningwuguan, there are no prefectures or counties. There is only one name nearby, Chenjiagukou. It was here that Yang Ye fought hard with the Liao army during the Yongxi period. He was finally defeated and captured, and died on a hunger strike.
During the Liao and Jin dynasties, the strategic focus was in the east, and the west route was mainly for conquering Shaanxi. After occupying Datong Mansion, they did not pay much attention to the peripheral defense. The main defense direction was Yanmen Pass. Places like Ningwuguan are mostly deserted and not heavily guarded. Wang Xiaolie even suspected that the current Jin army did not know about Ningwuguan and its great reputation in history.
Wang Ruohai was silent for a while and said: "Although Xuanfu has not said that he will attack Datong Mansion, he still supports Jiang Min's approach. At least he has no objections."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Why are you opposed? If we can really break through Datong Prefecture, we will have a great victory on the west route, and we won't even mention the battle of Taiyuan Prefecture. If we don't succeed, it will just mean that these tens of thousands of people will suffer a little, so we can train ourselves." Yes. At least this is a positive idea. As long as you prepare carefully, you may succeed."
Wang Ruohai nodded, somewhat understanding Wang Xiaolie's thoughts.
When Jiang Min came to Shizhou, Wang Ruohai didn't understand it at first. Later, Wang Xiaolie gave priority to increasing troops for Jiang Min, allowing him to freely choose his generals, and even gathered all the good soldiers and generals here, thinking that this was Wang Xiaolie's preference for Jiang Min and Zhang Jun. From the perspective of the chief of staff, Wang Ruohai believed that doing so was using the important strength of the entire army in unimportant places. It wasn't until they moved to Shaanxi that Jiang Min's army showed its value and he reluctantly accepted it.
It wasn't until Liang Xing approached Ningwuguan that Wang Ruohai suddenly realized that he had underestimated the value of this army.
After passing Ningwuguan, we approached Shuozhou City. From Shuozhou to Datong Prefecture, there are no more dangers and the journey is smooth.
If the Jin army concentrated its forces and went south to Taiyuan, and the rear was empty, and such an army suddenly appeared in the rear, what would happen? The results obtained are unmatched by any battle. Directly destroy the right flank of the Jin Kingdom and decide the outcome in one battle.
Sighing, Wang Ruohai couldn't help but shake his head. I was by Wang Xiaolie's side and knew all his deployments. It was only now that I understood the strategic intentions of Jiang Min's army. What about the rest? I'm afraid I still don't understand it yet. As for the Jin Army, they were kept in the dark.
Wang Xiaolie didn't say anything about this matter, but Jiang Min could understand it and implement it resolutely, which was a rare relationship between generals and generals. As the chief of staff, I can only be a bystander. It’s not until now that I’m involved.
After thinking for a long time, Wang Ruohai said: "Liang Xing has occupied Xianzhou, what will Xuanfu do next?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "Liang Xing's army wants to occupy Ninghua Army and build a road. Other places, such as Kelan Army, Baode Army, Huoshan Army, including Hehe County, will all be handed over to Fuzhou. Jiang Min’s army should be prepared to march north, and don’t spread its forces elsewhere.”
Wang Ruohai said: "But Zhe Yanzhi from Fuzhou disagrees. He said that it is not easy for Fuzhou's soldiers and horses to be controlled by themselves, and they are unable to garrison other places."
Wang Xiaolie sneered: "Is it up to him at this time? If he wants to, he can stay in Fuzhou. If he doesn't want to, then he has to be replaced. The people of the Zhe family in Fuzhou won't listen to him, and If you are willing to listen to my orders, then there will still be Zhejia Army. If you want to listen to Zheyan's pledge, there will no longer be Zhejia Army."
Wang Ruohai listened and nodded secretly.
Wang Xiaolie's meaning was very clear. He could only cooperate with his Zhe family army if he needed it. If you don't cooperate, the Zhe family army will be completely disintegrated.
There are many ways to dismantle the Zhe family army, and it doesn't necessarily involve killing people. Sending core personnel such as Zhe Yanzhi and Zhe Yanwen to other places as officials left the Zhe family army without a backbone. Then the core family of a few hundred people will either use it as a camp or work, and then break it up and move it to other places. Although Fuzhou is still there, the Zhejia army is gone.
Wanting to understand all this, Wang Ruohai said: "If we want Zheyan to come to Shizhou, let's make it clear to him face to face."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Let him do it. This Zhe Yanzhi feels that he has capital after he has mastered the Zhe family army. This is not possible."
(End of chapter)
