Zhang Yuan walked out of a tavern, looked at the people coming and going on the street, then walked towards his shop. When he arrived at the store, he saw Li Benyu sitting in the store. He bowed and moved to the back.
After pouring a cup of tea, Zhang Yuan sat under the big apricot tree in the yard, closing his eyes and relaxing.
After a while, Li Benyu came to the yard. I saw Zhang Yuan lying down on a chair with a pot of tea next to him, looking very relaxed. He couldn't help but get angry and said: "Director Zhang, the business in the store is bleak now, don't you want to think of a way? Are you still here to rest your mind?"
Zhang Yuan opened his eyes and saw Li Benyu and said, "Come here and sit down. I have something to tell you."
Seeing that Zhang was serious and not joking, Li Benyu sat down next to him dubiously. Said: "The supervisor had better say something useful, I don't have time to chat!"
Zhang Yuan approached Li Benyu and whispered: "I went out just now and heard the military situation of the Song Army. I am thinking here about how to send it to Taiyuan."
Li Benyu was startled and asked hurriedly: "What military situation? Is it important?"
Zhang Yuan nodded: "Of course it's important! With this news, Taiyuan will be as solid as Mount Tai!"
Li Benyu hurriedly said: "Tell me, tell me, tell me quickly! With this news, I will also let Jun Jun know that I can do it!"
Zhang Yuan took a sip of tea and saw Li Benyu looking at him eagerly. Said: "In the past few days, I have met a junior officer in the Song Army. I just went out and invited him to have a few drinks in the tavern. I heard from him that the Song Army has made major deployments on the front line of Jinzhou recently!"
Li Benyu said: "A person like this, who is an officer himself, must have a lot of information. You should socialize more. Do you have money? Get more money!"
Zhang Yuan waved his hand and said: "Of course it's enough. The officer said that there are three generals in Shaanxi, and they have been idle since the death of Sa Li and Bo Jin. Recently, the three of them went to Luoyang together to meet Governor Zhao."
Li Benyu nodded: "I heard that Governor Zhao is controlling the troops in the west of Beijing, Shaanxi, and Hedong. They should come."
Zhang Yuandao: "After meeting Governor Zhao, the three of them got an assignment. They immediately transferred their troops to the front line of Jinzhou. In August, they will attack Taiyuan!"
Li Benyu was startled: "In August, the autumn grass is not yet yellow, the horses are not yet fat, and the army has not yet marched south. The Song army's plan is really vicious! Taiyuan Yinshu can only have 20,000 soldiers and horses, how can they stop them? Fortunately, , we got the news! Let’s tell Taiyuan now and let Taiyuan Prefecture prepare early!”
Zhang Yuan nodded and said to Li Benyu: "Who do you think is appropriate to send to Taiyuan?"
Li Benyu said: "Taiyuan Yinshudu has sent three people to deliver the news. I'll send Li Ji back this time, so I won't miss anything."
Zhang Yuandao: "Let him walk faster on the road, and don't miss anything. It's already mid-June, and we don't have much time."
Li Benyu nodded heavily: "I will arrange these. In your free time, you can go out more and get to know some officers. There is so much important military information in their mouths. If you come back after hearing such a few pieces of information, we are loyal to the imperial court." "
Zhang Yuan nodded: "I can take care of this matter."
Wang Ruohai entered Wang Xiao's hunting office and said: "I asked Zhang Yuan to tell the Jin army today that the Shaanxi army is going to attack Taiyuan. He should send the news out in the next two days. Xuanfu, if we do this, will it happen? Will it bring trouble to the Shaanxi Army?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "In the battle of Taiyuan, our most important thing is to attract the main force of the Jin army to Taiyuan. At the same time, the news of Shizhou should not be leaked. No matter how miserable the battle in Taiyuan is, as long as Jiang Min can occupy Datong, everything will be over. It’s worth it. Besides, this matter will get out sooner or later, just a few days sooner.”
Wang Ruohai said: "But I think this matter is not good after all."
Wang Xiaolie said with a smile: "We want to use Zhang Yuan to complete the strategic deception of the Jin Army and cover Jiang Min in Shizhou. To achieve this, how can we not give the Jin Army some benefits? After getting the news a month in advance, Jin The army may move south ahead of schedule, so the Shaanxi army should be careful."
Wang Ruohai shook his head and said nothing more.
Wang Xiaolie asked: "How is Shizhou lately? Has the road to Ningwuguan been repaired?"
Wang Ruohai shook his head: "No. However, the roads south of Xianzhou have been repaired, and all the engineering troops have concentrated on the Ningwuguan section. It is estimated that the roads will be repaired in less than a month, and Jiang Min's army has already done the work Prepare."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Recently, the factory in Luoyang has made a batch of barbed wire. You have to find a way to transport it to Shizhou. You must keep it secret and don't let others know about it."
"Barbed wire?" Wang Ruohai frowned after hearing this.
Wang Xiaolie said: "It can be made into iron wire, which can be stretched into a net during war. It is more useful than horseback and caltrops. When we get to the north, the Jin army's iron cavalry is everywhere, so we must find a way. Otherwise, we will defeat the enemy but not Escape, once defeated, you will have no way to escape, this is not an option."
When Wang Ruohai heard this, he hurriedly said: "If it is so easy to use, why not make more of them? Give them to all armies."
Wang Xiaolie sighed: "It's still too expensive now. I can't afford it if the whole army uses it. The states and counties we occupy don't produce iron, so it's a bit difficult to deal with. How can we give it to Jiang Min's troops first? From now on." If you have iron, this thing will be of great use.”
Wang Ruohai nodded, not sure whether he really understood or pretended to understand.
Barbed wire is a powerful weapon against cavalry. Once the battlefield is opened, it can greatly restrict the movement of cavalry. Without mobility, most of the advantage of cavalry is lost. Barbed wire is not difficult to build, the key is to think about it. Wang Xiaolie tried it several times and succeeded, but the cost was too high.
The price of iron in this era was not high, but there was very little iron smelting under Wang Xiaolie's rule, especially since there were no large iron mines, so it was subject to restrictions. Since last year, iron smelting has been established in Huaizhou, but there has not yet been large-scale iron production.
Although the barbed wire fence doesn't use much iron, it's still too tight for Wang Xiaolie. In the battle of Taiyuan, Jiang Min's troops could only be used in sufficient quantities.
To deal with cavalry, whether it is machine guns or cannons, they must be coordinated with barbed wire. Barbed wire restricted the mobility of the cavalry, allowing powerful weapons to be effective. Otherwise, if you have a gun here, he will follow there. Wherever he is, he will attack from here and be invincible.
Wang Xiaolie knew very well that when fighting against the Jin Army, he could not rely on the same weapon to defeat the Jin Army. If necessary, even if the road is paved with corpses, Jin Jun will not blink an eye. In previous battles, the Jin Army demonstrated this more than once. They can only consume the Jin Army's strength bit by bit until their psychology collapses, and then they can be exhausted.
In the Battle of Taiyuan, if the Jin Army's West Route Army could be annihilated, it would be a fatal blow to the Jin Army.
(End of chapter)
