In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 156 The bold Lu Xiangsheng
While Lin Rui was struggling and thinking of countermeasures, Tan Ma came to report again. The Jiannu army actually went south, and the Ming army did not return to the Great Wall.

At this time, the envoy sent by Lu Xiangsheng also arrived.

After reading Lu Xiangsheng's letter, Lin Rui was also quite excited.

"Rui Lang, what did Governor Lu say in the letter? Does he want us to return to Datong and submit to the Ming Dynasty?"

"As you would think."

Lin Rui rolled his eyes at her and handed the letter over.

"Governor Lu wanted us to hold back the 15 naturalized Jiannu as much as possible, while he and the Ming army were stationed north of Yanghe to hold back the [-] main Jiannu army. As long as both sides persisted until winter, the Jiannu would be defeated. We will retreat without a fight!”

After reading the letter, Namuzhong said with some doubts: "There must be no problem on our side, but can they stop Jian Nu's 15 troops in the wild? This time Jian Nu has pulled dozens of cannons."

"As long as there is no problem with food and grass and we stay in the camp, there shouldn't be any big problem."

Lin Rui waved his hand and said.

If it were other generals and supervisors of the Ming Dynasty, he would definitely not believe it, but Lu Xiangsheng was a different story.

First of all, there is no doubt that Lu Xiangsheng dares to fight and will not be timid. Furthermore, this time the Ming army also has more than [-] troops, including elites like the Tianxiong Army. Relying on the defense of the camp, there is still no way. questionable.

After all, even Zhuge Kongming had nothing to do when faced with Sima Yi's inability to hold on, and in the end he could only retreat in despair.

Because the casualties of attack will always be greater than those of defense.

"That means we won't do anything from now on and just waste our time like this?"

Namuzhong nodded, and then looked at Lin Rui blankly, obviously not used to the Han people's style of play.

When the Mongols fight, they always start the battle directly. If they can't defeat them, they will bow their heads and surrender. If they don't want to surrender, they will just run away. Unlike the Han people, if they can't defeat them, they will stick to it and fight for their lives.

"Don't underestimate this tactic of stalemate and attrition. This is the highest level of our Han people's art of war. We can subdue the enemy's troops without fighting, and use our strong national power to bring down the opponent alive.

In the face of this kind of tactics, all conspiracies and tricks are nothing. You have read a lot of books. You should have read Zhao Kuo's allusions on paper, right? "

Lin Rui patiently explained to her.

"Well, it's about the Qin and Zhao countries during the Warring States Period. Zhao Kuo, the general of the Zhao State, usually spoke eloquently, but he couldn't do it once he went to the battlefield. In the end, 40 troops were trapped and killed alive by the Qin State in Changping. "

Namuzhong nodded and looked at Lin Rui with some doubts.

She doesn't know what this paper talk has to do with the current war.
"Haha, in fact, there is no talk on paper. It's just that the millions of armies of the two sides have been confronting each other for too long. Zhao's national strength is far inferior to Qin's and it can't hold on anymore. King Zhao had to replace Zhao Kuo as commander and attack forcefully."

"I see. So Zhao Kuo knew in advance that he might be ambushed by the Qin army, but he had to attack, right?"

"Yes, there was no food in Zhao at that time. All the young and strong people were on the battlefield, and the farmland was uncultivated. The other countries also wanted to make both countries lose out, so they chose not to borrow food. In this case, let's give it a try. There is still a chance, if you don’t take it, you will have to wait for death!”

"It's too complicated. I still don't want to learn the art of war from the Han people."

Na Muzhong thought for a while, seeming to understand, and finally shook her head.

Lin Rui just smiled, ignored her and called Mrs. Lu over.

"Commander Lu, how much food is left in the camp?"

"Go back to the commander, there are still more than [-] stones."

“It’s only May, how come it’s consumed so quickly?”

Lin Rui frowned. In April, he still had more than 8 stones, but he had consumed more than 3 stones in just one month.

"Commander, the main reason is that in the past half month, the consumption of war horses has been too great. Each war horse has to eat three kilograms of food every day. More than 6 horses are 19 kilograms, a total of 12 shi, half It has consumed nearly [-] dan in one month, and our current number has exceeded [-]. Even if each person only eats half a catty of grain per day, it will still cost [-] catties."

Mrs. Lu explained patiently, and glanced at Na Muzhong as she spoke, as if to say, don't look for me, just look for your eldest lady.

"Rui Lang, Duduo has been causing trouble these days, and we can't graze with peace of mind. With three kilograms of grain a day, the horses have already lost some fat. We must not reduce it any more." Namuzhong quickly defended.

"It's absolutely not possible to continue like this. Not to mention surviving until winter, even one month is probably enough. Let's do this. From now on, everyone will eat meat and eat one meal every three days. If the dried meat is not enough, we will exchange it with other tribes and use war horses. Change.

The rations of the war horses were reduced to half a catty per day, and they were allowed to eat grass as much as possible. At worst, if they ran a little further, I don't believe that the war horses of the slaves did not need to eat food, and they would certainly not be around for long. "

Lin Rui didn't listen to Na Muzhong's explanation and said without any doubt.

"It's the commander-in-chief." Madam Lu didn't care about the life or death of those war horses, nor how much food was left. Anyway, she would do whatever Lin Rui asked her to do.

"Rui Lang, half a pound of ration is really too little. If you often go to other tribes' pastures to graze, those tribes will definitely have objections." Na Muzhong said helplessly.

"Then let's go to Baotou to eat for a while. Don't go to Wuyuan for the time being to avoid being blocked."

Lin Rui also had a headache and could only wave his hand. "All right!"

Namuzhong didn't know why Lin Rui gave the grassland in front of Wuyuan such an unpleasant name as Baotou, but thinking about it, this was the only thing he could do at the moment.

There is still a lot of grassland on the inner sleeve, but it's a pity that we can't get through it now.

After arranging the logistics, Lin Rui called the envoy sent by Lu Xiangsheng in, handed him a reply letter and said:

"Brother Lu, go back and tell Governor Lu that as long as the Ming army can hold back the main Jiannu army, my Lin family army will not withdraw first. If the naturalized Jiannu cavalry dares to go to support, I will definitely lead the army to overwhelm them."

"With General Lin's words, we can feel relieved."

"General, please don't worry, I will definitely bring your words and letter back to the Governor."

The messenger also had the same surname of Lu and was a clan brother of Lu Xiangsheng. After hearing what Lin Rui said, he was very excited and hurriedly took the letter and sealed it.

In the following days, Lin Jiajun's daily meals basically changed to meat, and Dorgon and Duoduo may have received orders from Huang Taiji, and finally stopped eating to reduce food consumption.

Obviously, both sides chose to wait for the Ming army and the main army of Jiannu to decide the outcome before responding.

After all, neither Dorgon nor Lin Rui can do anything to anyone now.

However, Lu Xiangsheng and Huang Taiji, who were far away in the north of Yanghe, were full of confidence.

At this time, Huang Taiji had led his army and approached ten miles away from the Ming army's camp before leaving the camp.

Obviously worried that the Ming army would retreat, they directly attacked Maimang without giving the opponent a chance to retreat.

There are nearly 30 troops in the two armies, and they are only ten miles apart. There is really no way for anyone to retreat. Retreating at this time is not much different from being defeated.

Because the distance was too close, Huang Taiji also chose to build the camp honestly first and did not launch an attack hastily.

At this moment, in the commander's tent of the Ming army, Lu Xiangsheng was furious that Jian Nu had arrogantly approached and camped outside their camp. He wanted to lead his troops out and frustrate the opponent's spirit, but he thought of the opponent's five Wan Tieqi has always been watching with eager eyes, but he can only endure this tone for the time being.

Wang Pu on the side was even angrier than Lu Xiangsheng.

At this time, he still didn't know that he and others had been tricked by Lu Xiangsheng. He gritted his teeth and said: "Governor Lu, you are going to bury all of my [-] border troops here!"

"Snapped!"

"Wang Pu, as the deputy commander of the army, if you dare to say such things to disturb the morale of the army again, don't blame me for enforcing military law!"

Lu Xiangsheng slapped the desk hard and stood up with the handle of the knife in his hand.

"Hmph! Did I say something wrong? How much food and grass did my army bring? How much food and grass did Jiannu bring this time?" Although Wang Pu felt guilty, he still snorted.

"You don't need to worry about food and grass. There is plenty of food and grass in the camp. It won't be a problem for another month."

"What? Only a month?"

Wang Pu and the eight guerrilla generals were shocked when they heard that there was only one month's worth of food in the camp.

In total, they have an army of [-] and [-] civilians. For an army of this size, they have to carry at least three months' worth of rations before they can go on an expedition.

Who would have thought that Lu Xiangsheng was so crazy that he dared to break out of the Great Wall with only a month's worth of food and grass.

"Governor Lu, what should my 15 troops eat in one month?" a guerrilla general asked nervously.

"I have already informed your Majesty that the food and fodder allocated by the imperial court will arrive within one month. What else do you have to worry about?"

"Then what if the food and grass don't arrive by then?"

Everyone was obviously still a little worried. They didn't expect Lu Xiangsheng to be so unreliable. He didn't prepare enough food and supplies in advance, so he dared to confront the slave-building army and temporarily requested food from the court.

"What, do you think the imperial court will abandon my [-]-strong army?" Lu Xiangsheng said coldly. This time he did have the suspicion of killing first and then showing off, but he knew that if he didn't do this, the imperial court would probably not give him food and grass. He led an army to the expedition.

Of course, he did not expect that so many soldiers and horses would come to Jiannu at once. If it were just the [-] naturalized cavalry, a month's worth of food and grass would actually be enough.

Wang Pu also knew that it was too late to say anything now. For now, he could only work together with Lu Xiangsheng to stick to the camp and wait for food and grass from the court.

The next day, the Jiannu army launched a probing attack towards the Ming army's camp, officially kicking off the war.

Although Huang Taiji brought [-] infantry this time, the only ones with real combat effectiveness were the [-] Han army flags that had just been formed. The remaining [-] were mostly Korean servants and young Han people.

There was three times more food and grass than the Ming army, a full 30 shi, but the daily consumption was also several times that of the Ming army, so Huang Taiji naturally wanted a quick victory.

(End of this chapter)