Xiaogu Mountain is more than 300 feet high and has a circumference of more than 20 miles. The mountain has sparse vegetation and rough rocks, making it look very desolate. However, there are no other peaks connected to it within a radius of dozens of miles, so it is called " The name "Gushan".
The second group of troops led by Jiang Xuan and Wang Tong suffered heavy losses after being ambushed by the Jurchen army. The remaining defeated soldiers had nowhere to escape, so they had to retreat to Xiaogu Mountain, relying on the favorable terrain to wait for help.
In order to pursue the Jurchen army, the Ming army soldiers all carried dry food, killed the remaining horses, dug some wild vegetables, and drank some mountain spring water, which was enough to last for about ten days.
On the other side, the Jurchen army camped at the foot of the mountain, surrounded the Ming army on the mountain, and set up a large chariot formation: with Xiaogu as the center, tens of thousands of cavalry were divided into several teams and arrayed around the foot of the mountain.
Once attacked, the formation will rotate, and tens of thousands of cavalry will surround and charge continuously until all the enemies are wiped out!
………
After the three teams gathered together, Superintendent Lu Xiangsheng led a group of generals to view the battlefield situation, and what they saw was the situation above.
After reading it, everyone's face was gloomy, and eight big words emerged in their hearts: surround the area to call for help, with evil intentions!
The Jurchen army set up an ambush during their retreat, and they could have wiped out Jiang Xuan and Wang Tong's troops who underestimated the enemy and rushed in. However, the Jurchen army did not do that. Instead, they forced them to go up Xiaogushan. The purpose was very simple, to lure other people. The Ming army came to the rescue.
You must know that Xiaogushan is surrounded by flat plains, which is very conducive to cavalry charge. However, the Ming army is mainly infantry. Competing with Jurchen cavalry in such terrain is almost the same as death.
what to do?
If only Jiang Xuan and Wang Tong's troops were besieged on the mountain, Lu Xiangsheng would rather abandon these troops than be fooled by the Jurchens and lose more troops.
The problem was that Gao Qiqian was also besieged on the mountain. He was one of the most favored eunuchs of Emperor Chongzhen and was appointed as the supervisor of the army. If there was something wrong with him, he would not be able to explain it to the emperor!
Therefore, even though you know there is a pit in front of you, you still have to grit your teeth and jump in.
But how to jump?
Lu Xiangsheng thought for a long time and cast his hopeful eyes on Qin Feng beside him: "General Qin!"
"The general is here!"
"Among all the people in the town, your Tianwei Army is the most well-equipped, brave and skilled in fighting. If we fight with all our strength, can we break through the Jurchens' formation and rescue the besieged people?"
"Returning to the Commander-in-Chief, the Jurchens set up a chariot formation, with tens of thousands of cavalry surrounding them in a circle. Once they charge into battle, they are continuous and powerful. Even if they are low-ranking Tianwei troops, they will not be able to rely on them when there is no danger. We can't resist it. If we attack forcefully, not only will we not be able to save the people on the mountain, but we will also suffer the consequences."
Qin Feng's tone was very lonely and he looked helpless, but he was actually lying.
With the powerful combat power of the Tianwei Army, if they attack by force, they can break through the Jurchen formation and rescue the besieged people. However, they will have to pay a heavy price, at least half of them will be injured.
Qin Feng was not a saint and would not use the lives of his brothers to save people who had nothing to do with him, especially when there were three scumbags among those people.
Lu Xiangsheng didn't know this and thought that Qin Feng was indeed powerless, so he had no choice but to sigh helplessly. Then he talked with Hu Dawei, the commander-in-chief of Daming Town, and discussed using the Tianxiong army as the vanguard to carry out forced rescue regardless of casualties.
This situation made Qin Feng a little unbearable, so he patted his belly and let the bad water inside surge up, and soon a bad... No, it was a good plan to kill three birds with one stone.
"Lord Superintendent, I will finally have a strategy to rescue the besieged troops without spending a single soldier!"
"You can rescue the besieged people without spending a single soldier. What a wonderful idea! Tell me quickly!"
"It's very simple. Our army can dig a trench three feet wide and one foot and five feet deep on the outside, and then use the dug soil to build a tall barrier, creating a long-term siege. The Jurchen army is worried about being besieged. If you live there, you will naturally give up surrounding the mountain and evacuate to other places.
! "
"Dig trenches, build forts, besiege the Jurchen army, and force them to leave Xiaogushan... It's a good strategy, but it's a pity that we don't have enough time!"
After listening to Qin Feng's strategy, Lu Xiangsheng thought for a moment, looked at the surrounding terrain, and shook his head helplessly.
Xiaogushan is more than 300 feet high and has a circumference of more than 20 miles. The Jurchen army surrounded the mountain and set up a company camp that was more than 40 miles long.
If you want to besiege the Jurchen army, you must dig a trench sixty miles long, three feet wide, and one and a half feet deep. You must also use the excavated soil mixed with stones, wood and other materials to build a trench more than sixty miles long. Tall barriers.
This project is not small. If it is to be completed, it will require a large number of manpower. How many people are there in the Ming army?
The Ming army originally had a strength of 120,000, but after many battles, more than 20,000 were lost. More than 20,000 were besieged on Xiaogushan. The available troops now are less than 80,000.
The problem is that once the Ming army digs trenches and builds barriers, the Jurchen army will not sit idly by and ignore it. They will definitely send troops to harass them day and night, or even launch large-scale attacks.
The 80,000 Ming army must be able to mobilize enough troops to resist the Jurchen army's attack. It would be good to have 20,000 troops that can be used to dig trenches and build barriers.
The besieged Ming army on Xiaogushan was short of food and drinking water and could only hold on for ten days at most.
It is simply impossible for such a small force to dig a trench of more than 60 miles and build a barrier of more than 60 miles in such a short period of time.
Unless the time is increased five times or the manpower is increased five times, and the Ming army has neither time nor manpower, Lu Xiangsheng thinks Qin Feng's strategy is not feasible.
"What the Superintendent is worried about is that there is not enough time and manpower?"
"Exactly!"
"If there is a way in the end to increase the number of hundreds of thousands of strong laborers who are good at digging in a few days, what do you think, Sir Superintendent?"
"In a few days, hundreds of thousands of strong laborers who are good at digging will be added. Is it possible that General Qin was joking?"
"Haha, it's a major military matter, how can I joke about it, general? There is a way, as long as... like this... like this... and like this again."
Qin Feng came over and whispered for a while. After Lu Xiangsheng listened, his expression became very complicated, including shock, nervousness, worry, helplessness...all.
Then he looked at Xiaogushan in the distance, and then at the soldiers under his command. Finally, he stamped his feet, gritted his teeth, and nodded his head resignedly. He ordered someone to fetch the Four Treasures of the Study, and wrote a little bit by bit. Warrant.
"General Qin, it's up to you!"
"Don't worry, Lord Supervisor, the general will definitely get things done!"
Qin Feng took the order and quickly returned to his camp. He called in all the generals and began to divide his troops and dispatch generals:
"Han Shanjun, lead your troops to stay in the camp. Use more flags and more smoke to make it look like the main troops are still in the camp. Don't let the Jurchens see any flaws!"
"As you command!"
"Dong Tianbao, Lei Dapeng, you two will lead our troops and quietly leave the camp with me at the second watch tonight. Let's go to Hunyuan Prefecture!"
"Going to Hunyuan Prefecture?"
"That's right, let's go there and get some labor back."
Hunyuan Prefecture is located in the east of Datong Prefecture, not too far from Xiaogushan. There are a large number of mineral resources buried there, mainly coal mines. As early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, some people were mining coal mines there. By the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, During the two dynasties, coal mining has reached a considerable scale.
After the rise of the eight major Shanxi merchants, they regarded the Hunyuan Coal Mine as a cornucopia, invested a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, and opened hundreds of coal mines successively, earning a large amount of profits every year.
It is said that the number of coolies digging coal for the eight major Shanxi merchants exceeds 100,000. Many of them were deceived and worked for free every day with no wages, no food to eat, and were bullied by supervisors. Countless people were beaten to death and maimed!
For example, Xiong Da and Xiong Er were once deceived into working in a black coal kiln run by eight major Shanxi merchants, and almost died there. Fortunately, the two brothers had good martial arts and found an opportunity.
After meeting, he killed a dozen supervisors and ran away from the black coal mine. Later he met Qin Feng and became a personal soldier, guarding the people around him. Now he has been promoted to the rank of Qian Zongzong.
What Qin Feng wanted to do was to seize all the coal mines of the eight major Shanxi merchants in Hunyuan and borrow hundreds of thousands of coolies to use them. (The kind that you borrow but never pay back)
These hundreds of thousands of people are strong laborers with complete excavation tools and rich excavation experience. They are used to dig trenches and build barriers. One can be used as two, and the speed will definitely be fast.
In this way, not only can the Jurchen army besieged, the troops on Xiaogushan be rescued, and the eight Shanxi merchants' treasure trove can be destroyed, but hundreds of thousands of poor people can be saved. The merits are immeasurable. It can be said that it is three birds with one stone!
