In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 228 The audacious Sun Chuanting
"Report to your Majesty that the Ming army has stopped near Chaigou Fort and has not continued to advance. They are reinforcing the camp."

In the Chinese army's commander's tent, after the sentinel reported the latest movements of the Ming army, Lin Rui immediately placed a small white flag on the sand table at Chaigou Fort.

The generals were amazed when they looked at the clearly visible terrain on the sand table and the positions of the two armies.

Lin Rui frowned as he looked at the location of Chaigou Fort. Although there were many trails from Datong to Xuanfu, there was only one real avenue.

That is, along the upper reaches of the Yanghe River, from Yanghe, Zhenluwei, Yongjia Fort, Chaigou Fort, and then through Wanquan Zuowei, all the way to the northeast to the foot of Xuanfu City.

During this period, Chaigou Fort was located at the junction of the two places, with rolling mountains on both sides. The Yang River passed through the canyon, making it a choke point. The Ming army now chose to be stuck there, obviously not wanting to have a happy decisive battle. .

After all, although the canyon is wide, the combined forces of the two armies, which total 40 million people, are absolutely unable to move. If they want a decisive battle, either the Ming army must move forward and the two sides fight in Datong, or they can directly retreat a little and the two sides declare a decisive battle. A decisive battle within the government.

If they were just looking at the map, no one would be able to tell anything, but now that Lin Rui had made a sand table, even Namu Zhong could see the Ming army's intentions.

"Rui Lang, the area near Chaigou Fort is not suitable for a decisive battle between large armies. This river has already restricted our cavalry. If we choose to fight here again, we will be at a huge disadvantage."

"The concubine is right. The Ming army obviously wants to use defense instead of attack. It will consume our army's strength first, and then take the opportunity to fight decisively when our army is exhausted."

Zhang Cunren nodded, then raised his hand and said to Lin Rui: "Your Majesty, the general suggested that we send an elite force from the south to Huai'an Guard, take a small path and penetrate directly into the rear of the Ming army, cutting off their food routes and forcing them to fight! "

"I think this method is feasible. Your Majesty, General Mo, is willing to lead [-] elite troops there!"

Zhou Meng immediately called for battle, and the commanders of other infantry battalions also nodded.

Obviously with this sand table, everyone has become a famous general.

Lin Rui waved his hand and said: "That old dog Hong has always been cautious and cunning like a fox. You can all think of it, but how could he not think of it? I'm afraid he is just waiting for us to divide our troops and take a small road, and then ambush us on the way. Don't forget Since he has stayed in Xuanfu for three or four months, he must know the terrain nearby well."

To be honest, this kind of splitting up the troops and taking a sneak attack under the eyes of the opponent is simply treating the opponent's coach as a fool.

Not to mention an old fox like Hong Chengchou who knows military skills, even a person with a little military knowledge cannot be unprepared.

"Then what should we do? Attacking Chaigou Fort directly will be a huge disadvantage."

Everyone thought it was right, and then looked at Lin Rui again.

"We have enough food and grass, but that old dog Hong wants to consume it, let's see who can't afford it first!"

Lin Rui also hated old foxes like Hong Chengchou who always dragged him away and refused to fight happily.

If it were Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting, they might not have led their armies to Datong to compete.

However, the opponent still has 15 troops, most of whom are elites from Liaodong, and their cavalry is restricted. Lin Rui will naturally not go to Chaigou Fort to attack the Ming army's camp. After all, they are good at field battles, not in narrow areas. The terrain is difficult to conquer.

Therefore, Lin Rui and his army did not move forward, but stayed near Yongjia Fort to see if they could lure the [-] Ming troops from Ningwuguan to Shuozhou and annihilate them first.

Here, Hong Chengchou learned that the Chinese army did not continue to march to attack Chaigou Fort, nor did he divide his troops to take circuitous routes. They stopped directly at Yongjia Fort dozens of miles away. He also frowned and stared at the map in trance.

"Governor Hong, the terrain near Fort Yonga is open. Since the rebels are afraid of fighting and cannot come, then our army will take the initiative to go there."

Gao Qiqian saw that Hong Chengchou was just staring at the map without saying anything, and suddenly said impatiently.

"Eunuch Gao, our army now occupies a favorable terrain. It can advance to attack and retreat to defend. Once we take the initiative to attack, there will be no way out. If we don't win, we will be defeated!"

"Huh, Governor Hong, don't try to increase the morale of the traitor army. If you destroy the majesty of the army, the traitor army will not be afraid. Why should we, the dignified army, be afraid?

What's more, although the rebels are more numerous than our army, except for the Mongolian cavalry, the rest are just a bunch of rabble. How can they be compared to the elite of our frontier army in field battles?

Governor Hong resisted and refused to engage in a decisive battle with the rebels. It was clear that he was afraid of the enemy and feared the enemy like a tiger. "

Gao Qiqian snorted coldly, and continued to sneer and mock at the end.

No matter how good-tempered Hong Chengchou was, he was half-infuriated by his words, but it was better not to offend such a eunuch, so he could only patiently explain: "Eunuch Gao, that thief Lin is definitely not an ordinary criminal." The thieves are comparable. Just judging from their marching queue, they are definitely not a mob.

At this time, our army occupies a geographical advantage. With the Ming Dynasty at its back, supplies can be continuously transported from Juyongguan. On the other hand, the rebel army can only be trapped in Datong and will not be able to persist with our army for a long time.

In the end, they will either attack by force, retreat to attack the fortified city of Yanghe Datong, or retreat directly to the grassland. Therefore, it is the bandit army that should be eager for a decisive battle, not our army. "

As the saying goes, you can get a glimpse of the whole picture. The day before yesterday, Hong Chengchou personally went to secretly inspect the appearance and marching status of the Chinese army. At that time, he was deeply shocked, and he became more determined in the tactic of defending first and then attacking.

Because he found that if the two armies had a fight in the open with gongs and drums, the Ming army would probably lose.

It's not that the opponent's combat effectiveness is stronger than that of the Ming army, but that the eight generals have their own thoughts and it is difficult to work together in the decisive battle. He knows the thoughts of these generals of the Ming Dynasty very well.

It's okay to let them chase the enemy or hold on to one city or one place, but if you let them fight to the death against a powerful enemy, I'm afraid they will all have to conserve their strength. "So, Governor Hong plans to continue spending time here? So where is my great power?"

"Eunuch Gao, I have been ordered to supervise the division. It is up to me to decide whether to fight or defend. If you think that I am afraid of fighting and timid against the enemy, you can report it to Your Majesty. I will leave it alone!"

As the saying goes, the clay figurine still has a temper. Facing Gao Qiqian's aggressiveness, Hong Chengchou became a little impatient and started to show off again. After all, it was good to win this fight. Once he lost, not only would his reputation be ruined, but his reputation would be ruined for the rest of his life. , Your Majesty will never spare him.

Compared with Hong Chengchou's cautious approach, Sun Chuanting was much more direct. After leaving Ningwuguan with an army of [-], he went straight to the Chinese army's camp outside Shuozhou City.

At the same time, a cavalry letter was sent to Wang Pu in Datong City, asking Wang Pu to lead his army south, first attack the rebel army in Shuozhou with him, and then go east to attack the main force of the rebel army.

However, Wang Pu did not even bother to reply to Sun Chuanting's letter. He only wanted to stay in Datong City and was unwilling and did not dare to leave the city. After all, he knew the fighting power of the Chinese army better than anyone else.

Once out of the city, it may be difficult to return to the city under the attack of the opponent's cavalry.

Therefore, he estimated that the reason why Lin Rui led the main force eastwards was probably to lure them out of the city.

The three guerrilla generals in Yanghe City also did not dare to leave the city. Fortunately, Hong Chengchou did not order them to leave the city to attack.

Facing the attack of [-] Ming troops, although the troops were of equal strength, Shang Kexi did not fight, but chose to stay in the camp and not leave.

Seeing that Wang Pu was reluctant to lead his troops south, Sun Chuanting had no choice but to let the three generals attack the rebel camp.

However, after attacking for three consecutive days, Sun Chuanting's heart gradually sank. He did not expect that the fighting power of the rebel army would be so tenacious, unlike the rebels in the Central Plains.

"Futai, the bandit army's strength is no less than ours, and there are [-] cavalry. Now they are huddled in the camp. If we attack like this, the casualties will be too high."

"Yes, let's choose siege!"

Except for Cao Bianjiao who didn't say anything, He Renlong and Fengruhu obviously didn't want to attack anymore.

"Prolonging this delay is not a long-term solution!"

Sun Chuanting shook his head.

If he had not seen the fighting power of this group of bandits, he might still choose to confront each other and wait for Hong Chengchou and the main force of the bandit army to decide the winner, and then come to surround Shuozhou's bandit army.

But now his 5-strong army cannot defeat the 15-strong rebel army, and the 20-strong army led by Hong Chengchou may also find it difficult to defeat the [-]-strong main force of the rebel army.

Once the two sides reach a stalemate in close combat, the advantage of the opponent's cavalry will be brought into play, and the cavalry will definitely be concentrated to annihilate the Ming army first.

"Futai, why don't we simply bypass Shuozhou and send the army directly north to attack the main force of the rebel army in Xuanfu."

Cao Bianjiao clenched his fist and said, obviously he was so bold that he didn't take those Mongolian cavalry seriously at all.

"Absolutely not. There are as many as [-] to [-] cavalry on the other side. It is too risky to bypass Shuozhou and go directly north. If you are not careful, you will be surprised by the other side's cavalry, and the entire army will be defeated."

He Renlong and Meng Ruhu were also startled and quickly shook their heads.

"Hmph, with the three thousand cavalry under my command, how can the other side's cavalry make a surprise attack? What's more, Datong Yanghe and other cities are all in the hands of our army, so what is there to be afraid of?"

Cao Bianjiao snorted coldly and said indifferently.

"Be calm and don't be impatient. If my estimate is correct, the opponent's cavalry is probably already on the way. They are waiting for our army to go directly north, and then annihilate them in the field."

Sun Chuanting waved his hand, then looked at the map and said in a deep voice, the troops and horses left in Shuozhou could clearly fight with them, and even had an absolute advantage in the number of cavalry, but they refused to fight.

It was obvious that they had no good intentions and wanted to lure them to bypass Shuozhou and go directly north, and then eat them in one bite without giving them a chance to return to Ningwuguan.

"Futai, what should we do? Or we should return to Ningwuguan first!"

"It's not enough to retreat to Ningwuguan. We can just rely on the city to camp."

"Let's do this. You two will lead your army to camp and defend Shuozhou City. I will lead General Cao to kill Hukou through the northwest trail tonight and directly attack the traitor's lair."

Sun Chuanting said slowly, and then punched the location of Guihua City. Now the rebel army is obviously stronger than the official army. If they want to win, they can only use surprise troops.

But this time, the rebel army actually dispatched so many horse and infantry troops. Both the grassland tribes and the Guihua City must be extremely empty, which is a great opportunity for a sneak attack.

"what?"

After hearing this, the three of them opened their mouths in surprise. Apparently, they did not expect Sun Chuanting to be so crazy.

(End of this chapter)