In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 242 The military only serves politics
The generals of the Ming army conserved their strength and did not want their elite servants to take the lead in bloody battles. Neither Hong Chengchou nor Gao Qiqian could do anything about this.

Because these servants are all private soldiers of these general soldiers, even if the emperor comes, he cannot force the servants to fight.

However, if the servants did not take the lead in the attack and allowed the ordinary soldiers to continue the attack, it would only waste troops and lower morale. For a time, even the wily Hong Chengchou became helpless in the face of this situation.

In this way, the two sides were in a stalemate again, which lasted until mid-March. It was not until the news that Sun Chuanting and Cao Bianjiao failed to attack Hetao that the deadlock was broken again.

Originally, Hong Chengchou expected Sun Chuanting to defeat the Chinese army in Shuozhou, and then bring Wang Pu and other generals over to attack the main force of the Chinese army in Yongjia Fort with him. Who would have thought that Sun Chuanting would be so careless about his job and choose to use dangerous tactics? A long journey to the Hetao.

Although Hong Chengchou had to admit that this was indeed a strange move that could change the situation of the battle, just like the Chinese army crossed the Taihang Mountains to sneak attack on the capital, he would never use this dangerous move under any circumstances.

Now that Sun Chuanting's sneak attack failed and he was trapped in the Hetao without knowing his life or death, Cao Bianjiao fled back to Shuozhou with only more than a thousand defeated soldiers. This made Hong Chengchou completely desperate and no longer had any hope for the battle between Datong and Xuanfu.

On the other hand, Namuzhong also took away the [-] cavalrymen rushing to the grassland and the [-] cavalrymen from Shuozhou, preparing for a decisive battle with the Ming army.

Of course, Namuzhong did not have the courage to choose a decisive battle with the Ming army when he had all the advantages and could even be said to be invincible.

It was a decision that Lin Rui made decisively after analyzing the latest battle situation. Although Lin Rui was in Beijing, messengers traveled between Zijingguan and the capital almost every day, making Lin Rui deeply involved in the war situation between Xuanfu and Datong. Palm.

Although as long as the consumption continues, the Chinese army will win without a fight, the main force of the Ming army is likely to take advantage of the favorable terrain to withdraw to the capital. That's why Lin Rui wants the Chinese army to defeat the Ming army in an upright manner in the field in order to shock the world and let the Chinese army defeat the Ming army. All heroes surrendered.

After all, since ancient times, if an army wants to gain political power, and if it wants to win over all the people and surrender from all over the world, it must fight a large-scale tough battle and defeat a powerful army openly and openly.

Therefore, this decisive battle was not for military purposes, but for political considerations, because from a purely military perspective, a decisive battle at this time was extremely unwise and inconsistent with the laws of war.

But the military can only serve politics.

At this moment, Na Muzhong was also very nervous and excited. After all, the combined strength of both sides exceeded 40. She had never commanded so many soldiers and horses to fight the opponent in the wild, so she was really unsure.

When the generals saw Na Muzhong's appearance, they all felt a little guilty.

Although the morale of the Ming army is now low, and the total strength is only [-], it is still capable of fighting. Although their strength is twice that of the Ming army, no one can say that they will definitely win.

After all, field battles are no better than defensive battles and siege battles. The battlefield will change rapidly, and one mistake will result in the entire army being defeated. The more troops and horses there are, the more miserable the defeat will be.

Therefore, everyone did not agree with the decisive battle at this time. However, the commander-in-chief's order had been issued, and everyone had to go down to prepare and mobilize before the war.

Na Muzhong also formally issued a letter of war to the Ming army in the name of Hua. Three days later, the two armies fought decisively in the wild.

After receiving the war letter from the Chinese army, Hong Chengchou and the generals who were about to retreat were immediately stunned.

Originally, Hong Chengchou planned to pretend to retreat hastily after three days, and then lure the Chinese army to pursue it to see if he could ambush the Chinese army in the valley of Chaigou Fort, but he also knew that the success was unlikely.

After all, as long as the opponent's general is not a fool, it is impossible for him to march all his troops into the valley and blindly pursue them, sending out at most [-] to [-] cavalry.

Therefore, he planned to leave two general soldiers behind the Valley Palace to stop the attack, and the main army took the opportunity to withdraw directly to Juyong Pass. After all, as long as Juyong Pass was defended, the situation in Ming Dynasty would not collapse directly, and there would still be room for transfer and adjustment. The time for dispatching generals.

Because after they retreated to Juyong Pass, the main force of the Chinese army would definitely not dare to immediately detour to Zijin Pass to attack the capital. They would definitely capture the entire Xuanfu of Datong first and completely resolve their worries before advancing.Therefore, Ming Dynasty had at least half a year to deploy troops and generals.

But Hong Chengchou never expected that the Chinese army would actually request a decisive battle at this time.

"Superintendent, it is unwise for the rebels to declare a decisive battle at this time. Is it possible that they are playing some conspiracy to delay our army?"

"But how many days can this drag on? It's completely meaningless?"

Wu Sangui frowned and couldn't figure it out.

After all, the Chinese army is now guaranteed to win. As long as they continue to stay in the camp, they can only retreat and abandon the entire Xuanfu.

Once the decisive battle comes, won't we give them a chance?

The other commander-in-chiefs also looked at Hong Chengchou with doubts on their faces. Obviously, this behavior of the Chinese army that violated military common sense was beyond their understanding.

Hong Chengchou thought for a while, but he guessed the purpose of the Chinese army. He was filled with admiration and said slowly: "It seems that the thief Lin Rui wants to establish his dominance with this battle. This thief is really confident and crazy! "

"Hmph, this thief is really arrogant. He actually wants to step on the corpses of my more than [-] troops to shock the world. Does he really think that we are just vegetarians?"

"It's unreasonable. It's too much to deceive others. This thief underestimates us and waits too much. If we don't show him how powerful he is, he really thinks we are afraid of him!"

After Hong Chengchou's reminder, everyone woke up and their faces became very ugly.

After all, they are all warriors leading troops. Lin Rui's behavior was simply determined that he would win. To put it bluntly, he did not take their army of more than [-] people seriously.

"Supervisor, since Lin is so arrogant and arrogant, and gives us a chance, let's fight!"

As the saying goes, talented people are bold, and Wu Sangui was still young and vigorous at this time. He was already a little jealous and dissatisfied with Lin Rui in his heart, so he was the first to stand up and clenched his fists.

Although the other seven generals were unhappy with Lin Rui's disregard and were equally jealous and dissatisfied, they did not speak. They neither shouted for a decisive battle nor expressed their refusal.

After all, they have passed the age of youth and vigour, and they know that fighting in the field is no child's play. Once defeated, their lives and family fortune may be lost.

The reason why Wu Sangui dared to say such harsh words was simply because he relied on his [-] Guan Ning cavalry.

Because the cavalry is no better than the infantry, if the situation goes bad, they can leave the battlefield at any time, while the infantry will definitely be killed, leaving their helmets and armor, and blood will flow like a river.

"Eunuch Gao, what do you think?" The survival of the Ming Dynasty was at stake, and Hong Chengchou didn't dare to make a rash decision, so he looked at Gao Qiqian, obviously wanting to throw the blame away.

Gao Qiqian also didn't dare to make a decision. After all, he also knew a lot about military affairs. He knew that once defeated, the rebel army would definitely take advantage of the victory and directly go out of Xuan Mansion to surround the capital.

When there are no reinforcements from outside, the capital is likely to be captured, so in the end the two can only jointly submit a petition to Chongzhen, asking for instructions whether to fight decisively?

(End of this chapter)