weaving

Chapter 799
In Songshan Fort City, in the Xingyuan Hall of the Governor of Jiliao, facing Governor Hong Chengchou's inquiry, Zhang Cheng said: "The governor, the commander of the army, the current intentions of the Tartars are already obvious.

He wanted to lure me into attacking Shimen Mountain and Huangtuling, sticking my army to support the Liao King's Division on the front line of Jinzhou, and then use elite cavalry to rush into the rear, invade Xingshan and Gaoqiao, and cut off our food roads. Forcing my king's army to mess up. "

He also said: "Looking at the deployment of the Tartar bandits' troops, there is another group of elite captive cavalry. I still don't know where they are hiding. According to the general's guess, they may hide in the south of Jinzhou City to ambush us to help Jin's army; or hide in Xiaoling. on the east bank of the river, so as to sneak attack on our grain stockpiles at the mouth of the river.”

Zhang Ruoqi continued to speak again: "There is General Li Bing guarding the mouth of the Xiaoling River to resist the sneak attacks of the slaves. It should be no problem."

Seeing Director General's army's inquiry, Li Fuming quickly stood up, cupped his fists and saluted, "No problem. The last general will try his best to guard the Palace of the Empress, and protect Director Zhang completely."

After he finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Zhang Cheng, and Nuonuo said: "What's more, there is Zhang Zongbing Xuanzhen's army horse, just to the left, if there is a slight emergency, they can come to help immediately."

Zhang Cheng smiled slightly and said, "It's easy to say, easy to say. When the Niangniang Palace fish market is in crisis, I will go to rescue myself, and I will never put the director's army in danger!"

He then said to Hong Chengchou: "Minister, the meaning of the last general, it is better to take the initiative to jump into the pit dug by the Tartars, follow the trend, let the Tartars guess the first half, and our army strives to move in the second half." Go back to a game, grab the upper hand again, and take the initiative!"

Wu Sangui listened to what Zhang Cheng said just now, and now he supports the attitude of advancing troops, so he listened carefully to his analysis of the distribution and intentions of the Tartars' soldiers and horses, and kept meditating.

At this time, he suddenly interjected: "How can I get the upper hand and not be controlled by the Tartars?"

Zhang Cheng glanced at Wu Sangui, saw that his face was full of anxiety, and said with a smile: "The Tartars lured me to attack Shimen Mountain and Huangtu Ridge, with the intention of sticking the main force of our army here.

In this way, when he attacked our king's grain road, our army had no soldiers to send, so we could only look at the ocean and sigh, let him wreak havoc at will, or attack Xingshan and Gaoqiao in one fell swoop, or dig trenches to prevent me from transporting grain, so that I can be counted by ten Wan Dajun was trapped here, besieged and starved to death. "

"The tartars are so insidious. How about we also send an army back to help Xingshan?"

Tang Tong's face showed a look of panic. As soon as he said this, Bai Guang'en and several others immediately seconded the proposal and asked the army to return to Xingshan to protect the grain road.

Without even looking at them, Zhang Cheng already guessed that they just wanted to use this reason to withdraw their troops back to Xingshan, the farther away from the Songjin front line the better, and if the situation really changed, they could escape faster.

Even Zhang Cheng couldn't hide their small thoughts, how could they hide it from the old and cunning Governor of Jiliao Hong Chengchou, he just didn't want to make it clear.

As the supreme commander of the first army, he had to discover the problems of his subordinates in a timely manner, and also considered how to deal with them. Not everything needed to be dealt with immediately.

Just like now, this is the case with Bai Guangen, Tang Tong and others returning to aid Xingshan and Gaoqiao.

Hong Chengchou ignored Tang Tong, Bai Guangen and the others, but asked Zhang Cheng again: "General Zhongchen, what do you think, you can tell me in detail."

Zhang Cheng glanced around the crowd in the hall, and then said: "The governor, the commander-in-chief army, the last general thinks that our army should follow the trend and pretend not to know what the Tartars are thinking, so that the Tartars mistakenly believe that we are in the middle of the trap. , it is easy to do.

The Tartars garrisoned Shimen Mountain and Huangtu Ridge with the Han and Korean troops, and our division only attacked with infantry. First we opened the way with guns and guns, and then with several times the enemy's strength, we pressed up hard and fell in one fell swoop.

If Shimen Mountain is in your hands, you will still set up camps and cannons on the mountain, while digging trenches and setting up strongholds at the foot of the mountain. In this way, the upper and lower mountains cooperate, and the slaves will use the cannonballs first, and the slaves will rely on the strong camp to deal with the enemy.

The location of Huangtu Ridge is even more important. It guards the west bank of the Xiaoling River, and taking Huangtu Ridge can prevent the Tartars from going south along the west bank of the Xiaoling River, so that they can only cross the river to seize the food storage places at the mouth of the river. "

He stopped, took a sip of water, and continued: "Our army can also select brave and fine cavalry from each battalion to form an army alone. It should not be less than 2 horses, and [-] is better.

In this way, if the Tartars really cut off our Xingshan grain road, they can return to help in time, pack lightly and rush forward, and in less than half a day, they can rush to the Xingshan Fortress.

What's more, if Xingshan holds strong and there is no need to return to help, this fine cavalry can also rush to help any place around Songshan, such as Niangniang Palace and Xiaoling River Estuary.

This battalion is directly dispatched by Governor Xingyuan, and it should be the elite of our army. "

Hong Chengchou's always serious old face also showed a smile at this time, his eyes were full of approval and he looked at Zhang Cheng, but he said lightly: "General Zhongchen's opinion, what do you think?"

Perhaps this is the self-confidence of the superior. When he asks you a question, he will never look at you.

The commanders of the towns were all silent, and some of them even stared at Zhang Cheng with such vicious eyes that they seemed to be able to roast and burn people.

You must know that the servants are almost the private property of the generals, and the elite cavalry in each battalion are second only to the servants, and they are the core combat power of the generals.

Now Zhang Cheng suggested that each battalion should transfer elite cavalry and form another army. This is not the same as asking for their lives, it is equivalent to seizing their military power.

But the generals also knew that Zhang Cheng's excuse and reason were very good, and it was hard to refuse in the face of the general situation, so they kept silent, thinking who would be the commander of this cavalry army in their hearts!

Sure enough, Ma Ke said from the side: "Minister, the general soldiers in Songshan now have thousands of cavalry, I don't know how to draw?

I can't call out all the elite subordinates like me, if so, then it's a fart! "

"That's right, how the battalions are drawn and transferred, this must be clarified first. The elite can't be emptied, so what do we do here in Songshan, don't we fight?"

The crowd chattered for a while, but Hong Chengchou remained silent. After a while, Bing Xian Zhang Dou said: "I agree with what Zhang Zongbing said, that we should leave an elite mobile force in the central army. in case the emergency.

As for how to mobilize the cavalry from each battalion..."

He stopped here and didn't continue.

Everyone knows that this is a very sensitive topic, just like Zhang Dou of the military constitution, as he is, he doesn't need to be afraid of any general, but he doesn't want to offend everyone at once.

Zhang Dou's eyes stopped on Zhang Cheng's body, and the meaning was already very obvious: You proposed the selection of elites from each battalion. Let me explain how to do it specifically!

Since Zhang Cheng dared to make such a suggestion, he was naturally not afraid of catching the ball. He straightened his mind and said, "The general thought that the generals had [-] to [-] cavalry, so there would be more than [-] horsemen." People and horses, plus Hong Du's superintendent battalion elite cavalry, can add up to about [-].

As for the commanding general..."

He looked at Hong Chengchou, and said: "All the commanders are very suitable candidates, but the battle at the front of Songshan is tense, the commanders are divided into key points, the task of offense and defense is particularly important and they must not leave easily.

Therefore, the person who commands our army of cavalry needs to be personally appointed by the governor! "

Hong Chengchou stroked the three beards under his chin, and said in a gentle and strict tone: "The proposal made by General Zhongchen is not necessary."

He directly made a final decision, and even if the general soldiers were unwilling, they could no longer refute. The hall fell silent instantly, and everyone was waiting for Hong Chengchou's assignment.

I just heard him continue to say: "However, if all the fine cavalry drawn out are included in the first battalion, not only will there be too many people and horses, it will be inconvenient to lead, and it will not be suitable for flexible deployment.

The fine cavalry drawn by the generals in Liaodong will be grouped into one, and the deputy general Zu Dale will be the main general; The fine cavalry drawn by several general soldiers were grouped into one division, and for the time being, Guo Yingxian, the general of the Xuanfu, was the main general.

In this way, our Wangshi army has three mobile forces, just as General Zhongchen said, either to aid Xingshan, or to save Niangnianggong Fish Market, or to enter Jinzhou City.

In short, no longer worry about the shortage of soldiers! "

When Hong Chengchou said that, how dare everyone object, even though some people didn't want to, they had no choice but to accept the order loudly.

Next, everyone began to discuss the specific matters of attacking Shimen Mountain and Huangtuling, such as which towns to be the main attack, which towns to cover the flanks, and reserve teams.

There are also many details such as the arrangement of advance and retreat routes during wartime, the distribution of food, gunpowder and cannons, etc., and the discussion did not end until late at night.

…………

In the 14th year of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, on August 27th, when we woke up in the morning, the sun was still hidden in the valley to the east, and he was reluctant to show his head.

A tall wooden platform was built on a hill, Zhang Cheng, the chief soldier of the Xuanfu, Zhang Ruoqi, the chief soldier, Zhang Dou, the general of the army, and Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong, and Fu Yingchong, the deputy general of the former camp of the Shenji camp, They are all paying close attention to the situation in the northeast direction.

Zhang Ruoqi, the commander-in-chief, put down the binoculars, stroked his beard and laughed, and said, "Zhongchen, are you the reincarnation of 'Zhuge Wuhou'? Zhang Zifang in the early Han Dynasty!"

Fu Yingchong behind him immediately praised: "Tall, really tall. Don't look at Brother Zhang's young age, the twists and turns in his stomach are much stronger than us rough old men."

"Hahaha……"

Wang Pu also laughed and said: "Brother Zhang's ingenious plan to secure the world is certainly a great contribution, but Director Zhang has a clear vision and a discerning eye to recognize talents. He is also an outstanding person in the world."

Zhang Cheng smiled slightly, put down the binoculars in his hand, and said with a relaxed expression: "My Xuanfu army and the Tartar bandits have been fighting on this Huangtu Ridge for more than ten days, and we have already gotten used to each other.

Today, my whole division is on top, and under heavy artillery fire, the thieves guarding the ridge must have panicked for a while. I am an armored warrior, but I can only break into the formation of slaves, and the battle here will be over. "

He turned to Wang Pu and Fu Yingchong, and said: "Once the Huangtu Ridge is captured, our army will immediately dig trenches around the ridge and erect trees to form a stronghold for defense.

I kindly ask Wang Zongbing's Datong army to march into the valley road on the north side of Huangtuling, intercept and defeat the fleeing Tartar defenders. If the slaves counterattack immediately, please hold on for a while, thinking that our Xuanfu army will repair the position and wait for an opportunity to forcefully cross the Xiaoling River and win the battle. time. "

Wang Pu readily agreed: "Brother Zhang, don't worry, my Datong sons are all brave, and will never let a Tartar go, and will never let a Tartar reinforcement enter the Yellow Earth Ridge."

He went on to say: "When attacking the mountain, our Xuanfu army's small and medium-sized cannons are enough. However, if the slaves counterattack, we still have to rely on the cannons of the Shenji Battalion to assist us."

Fu Yingchong also replied carelessly: "Mr. Zhang, please rest assured. The cannons in our Shenji Camp are not vegetarians. As long as the tartar dares to come, I guarantee that he won't be able to eat today's dinner!"

"Hahaha……"

The two of them laughed again, as if they were beside Zhang Cheng, fighting side by side with the Xuanfu army, there was nothing to be afraid of, Wang Pu and Fu Yingchong looked extremely relaxed.

Zhang Ruoqi stood side by side with Zhang Cheng in front of them. He raised his binoculars again and looked at the mountains in the distance. After a long time, he stroked his beard and smiled and said, "Looking at the movements of the slave soldiers in Huangtuling, they must think that my division is still the same as before. No difference, no extra precautions.

Zhongchen's strategy of doing whatever he can is bound to be a great success. Our division went down Huangtuling with a drumbeat and killed the Xiaolinghe. From then on, the strategic space for maneuvering was much larger, and the battlefield was no longer limited to the surrounding area of ​​Songshan. "

Zhang Dou of Bingbei Dao also stroked his beard and said: "Although this strategy is clever, it will never succeed without the cooperation of the Tartars. Today it is only the first strike, thanks to the surprise, it is safe to win a big victory.

But it can only confuse the Tartars for a while, when our division takes Huangtu Ridge and leads the army to cross the Xiaoling River, the Tartars will surely react quickly, the opportunity is fleeting! "

He looked into the distance and said: "I hope that General Zhongchen can quickly attack Huangtu Ridge and take advantage of the unpreparedness of the Tatars. Under the protection of Wang Zongbing and Deputy General Fu, he can successfully cross the Xiaoling River to the east, establish a stronghold, and stand firm." .”

The strategy of the Ming army this time was to storm the two Qing army positions at Shimen Mountain and Huangtuling in order to further control the access to Jinzhou.

Wu Sangui, the commander in chief of Ningyuan, joined forces with Bai Guangen, the chief soldier of Jizhen, and Tang Tong, the chief soldier of Miyun, to attack Shimen Mountain.

On the Huangtuling side, Zhang Cheng and Wang Pu's Xuanda troops were the main force, and Fu Yingchong was ordered to lead a part of the Shenji Battalion to help out.

Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, and Zhang Ruoqi, the commander in chief, each supervised the battle and commanded it.

In fact, this was invited by Zhang Ruoqi himself. After he met Zhang Cheng outside the south gate of Songshan, he had heard him talk about this strategy. From what Zhang Cheng said, he was extremely confident. .

Therefore, he discussed with Hong Chengchou, and each of them sat in the same town, Zhang Ruoqi naturally asked to come to Xuanda to sit in the town to supervise the battle.

Here, as long as Zhang Cheng's troops successfully captured Huangtu Ridge, it would be regarded as a meritorious service. It doesn't matter whether they can cross the Xiaoling River and build a camp on the east bank.

In the beginning, Zhang Ruoqi still relied on Zhang Cheng's confidence to make a decision, but now he saw the reaction of the Qing army on the mountain, and looked at the strict lineup of the Xuanfu army below the mountain, especially the rows of black and white soldiers. Big and small guns, he was even more calm in his heart.

(End of this chapter)