I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 677: Did you catch anything?

"Qinglian, you are too hard-hearted and treat these soldiers as worthless. That's not okay either."

"why?"

"In the past, the country used civil power to control military power, but border affairs were in chaos. Why?
First, many civil officials only know the Four Books and Five Classics, and their military tactics are all based on their imagination. In their eyes, they are smart and good at using troops, and their defeats are all due to the military generals who missed the opportunity to fight and were afraid of the enemy.

Secondly, many civil servants regarded the border soldiers as grass and only asked them to fight for their lives with their heads on the line. Not to mention rewards, even giving them a full meal was considered a great blessing by the civil servants.

With such a hard-hearted heart, how can you avoid defeat? "

Qiu Qizhuo nodded, "That makes sense. But Ziming, isn't this blocking both ends? A kind man cannot command an army, but you have to love your soldiers like your own sons. Isn't that a contradiction?"

"What's the contradiction here?" Li Mingchun disagreed. "Don't be soft-hearted. Be willing to let the soldiers sacrifice, but make sure their sacrifice is valuable and meaningful."

Qiu Qizhuo nodded repeatedly: "That makes a lot of sense, Brother Ziming, your words really make me think twice before I read ten years of books."

"Okay, didn't you say earlier that the Command Department wanted to see me about something? Will it cause any trouble if I delay for so long?"

"Actually, it's nothing. Commander Zhu was worried that Yang Zhaolong would escape, so he wanted to talk to Ziming about how to keep them. But judging from the situation today, Yang Zhaolong is still the same, and he won't be able to leave for a while."

"If he can't leave today, he may leave tomorrow. If he can't leave tomorrow, he may leave the day after tomorrow. We must find a way to keep Yang Zhaolong from leaving for ten days or half a month."

After Li Mingchun said this, Qiu Qizhuo nodded repeatedly: "Ziming, now that you put it this way, I think it is really possible. Decisions are often made in a moment of change of mind.

Let's go to the command center and have a good discussion with everyone."

The command headquarters was located in Shuidejiang's headquarters. After entering the heavily guarded gate, the yard was bustling with activity. The rooms on both sides were all offices of the command headquarters, the General Staff Department, the Political Work Department, and the Logistics Department. Officers and non-commissioned officers in field gray army uniforms came and went, and when they saw Li Mingchun and Qiu Qinzhuo, they nodded and greeted them.

After passing through two doors, we entered the middle courtyard, which was the operations hall of the command department. A fierce quarrel could be heard coming from the main house across the courtyard.

The one with the loudest voice was Yang Piandao, deputy commander of the Shuidejiang Commandery. He was in charge of the local soldiers in Sinan City and was the deputy commander of the Sinan City Commandery.

His shouting was like thunder, echoing in the front hall, reverberating in the yard, and making the window frames rattle.

"This is the first time for me, Old Yang, to fight such a frustrating battle. You said that we have few soldiers and are weak, so we should just be cowards. Old Yang will accept it.

We have fewer soldiers, but we are not weak! In the first three days of the war, those turtle sons of Bozhou were almost defeated. We are in a high position, just like fighting turtles in the Merit Pond, we kill them one by one.

Two to three hundred Bozhou military leaders were killed or wounded, and the morale of the rest of the soldiers was completely destroyed.

In my opinion, we should have defeated the Bozhou soldiers at that time, and then rushed out to capture them all."

"Defeat? Old Yang, you are so arrogant. How many people do we have? The First Battalion of the Fourth Division's Vanguard Regiment, one thousand people. Add the 2,410 soldiers from the Shuidejiang Division and the Manyi Division, and the total is only three thousand.

How many soldiers did Bozhou have? Thirteen thousand. How could they be caught if they were defeated and ran all over the mountains and plains? Even if they were thirteen thousand pigs, how long would it take to catch them if you ran all over the mountains and plains? These were still thirteen thousand soldiers, armed with swords and guns, and experienced in many battles.

We chase them out to the wilderness, and if we can get caught in a certain place, the other Bozhou soldiers will hear the news and come to surround us, and we will be the ones to be defeated."

The one competing with Yang Piandao was Wu Dafei, deputy commander of the vanguard regiment of the 4th division and one of the fiercest generals of the Zhenxiang soldiers.

"But this is not how you fight a war. Do you feel comfortable being a coward? Old Wu, you are a soldier in the Zhenxi Army after all. Are you willing to accept this?"

"Why would I be unwilling?" Wu Dafei replied disapprovingly, "As long as we can win the battle, I can be a turtle crawling on the ground."

Yang Piandao was stunned for a moment, paused for a few seconds and then shouted: "Since you want to defend the city, defend it well. There is a tower at the official wharf. Once the city gate is closed, the wall is high and the city is strong. Even if Yang Zhaolong breaks all his teeth, he can't attack.

You guys are so good, you insist on including the official wharf. That damn place is indefensible! There are only two dams and a few wooden fences, and they are all supported by human lives.

At Guan Wharf, we have already suffered four to five hundred casualties. There are only a few of us in total. If we continue to fight like this, our Tusi soldiers will be wiped out, and you, the Zhenxiang soldiers, will be left alone. Can you hold on?"

"Yang Piandao, what do you mean?" Wu Dafei asked angrily.

"It's meaningless. You hide behind and fear the enemy, so give us those muskets and cannons. You are afraid of death, but we are not!"

"Ai Manmin, who do you think is afraid of death?"

"Whoever is hiding behind the head chopper is the one who is afraid of death."

"Believe it or not, I will kill you with one shovel!"

"Come on, come on, if you don't dare, I'll chop your head off!"

Li Mingchun and Qiu Qizhuo looked at each other and continued walking forward.

"Okay! Stop arguing!" The one who came out to put out the fire was Zhang Yong, the chief officer of the Shuidejiang Commandery. He was the only one in the entire Sinan City who could suppress Yang Piandao.

"Yang Piandao, what nonsense are you talking about! Wu Dafei and his men are from the Zhenxian Army. You should ask around in Hunan, Guizhou and Sichuan. The Zhenxian Army is a group of heroes who will live forever.

Didn't you admire them the most in the past? Why are you still arguing with them face to face now?"

"It's better to hear about them than to meet them in person! They are just famous for nothing!" Yang Piandao added.

"Shut up!" Zhang Yong was completely furious. "If you dare to make another sound, I'll beat you to death with my cloth shoes."

"Okay, I won't say anything."

Zhang Yong continued, "In the first three days of defending the city, the Zhenxiang soldiers used that method of fighting, one shot at a time, and in three days, more than half of the officers and leaders were wiped out. Who could stand it?

Li Canjun was right. If the fighting continues like this for another day or two, Yang Zhaolong will turn up his ass and run away. Wang Duxian, Yao Dushi and Ren Dushi had put in a lot of effort to finally coax Yang Zhaolong out, but you, the bastard, scared him back to that Tuanyu Kuokuo in Bozhou.

How are we going to fight later? You, my son of a bitch, will be the vanguard to take down those mountain strongholds in Bozhou."

"Uncle Zhang, the mountains in Bozhou are much higher than ours, and the terrain is much more dangerous than ours. You asked me to be the vanguard to eat the grouper Kuokuo. Do you think I am not dying early enough?"

Zhang Yong continued to scold him: "You know what's going on now! What were you yelling about just now? The Zhenxiang soldiers fought too hard and were afraid that Yang Zhaolong would run away, so they had no way to retreat to the back.

Are you afraid of death? What are you talking about, you son of a bitch! "

Li Mingchun pulled Qiu Qinzhuo to stand outside the door and continued listening.

Zhang Yong scolded Yang Piandao, then turned to Zhu Yu and Wu Dafei and said, "Captain Zhu, Commander Wu, don't take the nonsense of Yang Piandao to heart. But I think he has some truth in what he said.

The official wharf was really hard to defend. In addition to attacking from both sides, Yang Zhaolong would occasionally maneuver boats to dock at the wharf or directly charge at the wharf, which was a big problem.

Yang Zhaolong attacked the official wharf, and the battle lasted for five or six days. We only suffered about 100 casualties from the two attacks. We sent ships to charge the wharf twice, and suffered about 400 casualties.

There were only a few of us in total, and Yang Zhaolong was gathering more boats. If we rushed to the dock twice more, we would really be unable to hold on.

Zhu, Wu, Sinan City has stored enough food and weapons to last for three months. The situation of the war must have changed in three months.

Please help persuade Li Canjun to not defend this official wharf."

There was silence in the front hall.

Ren Boan, Luo Sheng, Yang Yan and others looked at each other.

Luo Sheng said, "Commander Zhang, Deputy Commander Yang. Our situation is very good now. Commander An and Deputy Commander Zhang, with 500 soldiers, have joined forces with the soldiers from Yinjiang to defend Yinjiang City and secure our retreat in Sinan.

The most taboo thing in defending a city is to defend a dead city. Guan Wharf connects us to Yinjiang City through Wujiang River. It is the only passage between Sinan City and the outside world. If we abandon Guan Wharf, it means we have also given up this only passage, and Sinan City will become a dead city. "

Yang Piandao started yelling again: "It's a dead city. If we keep defending it like this, our more than 2,000 Tusi soldiers will be killed or wounded at Guan Wharf, and you Zhenxiang soldiers will not be able to defend this Sinan City."

These words immediately exposed the little thoughts in his mind.

He was heartbroken for his soldiers.

The Zhenxiang soldiers were too powerful, so they dared not use them lightly. The official wharf and the city defense now depended entirely on the Sinan Tusi soldiers. The two Tusi of Shuidejiang and Manyi only had 3,000 soldiers in total. Anyue and Zhang Chengzu took some of them to Yinjiang, leaving only more than 2,000 soldiers in Sinan City.

There were about 500 casualties at the Guardian Wharf, almost one-fifth of the troops were lost.

Yang Piandao was heartbroken, and Zhang Yong was also heartbroken!
Zhu Yu and Wu Dafei were also the chief officers leading the troops, and could understand the heartache of the two men.

But this decision was made by Li Mingchun against all odds.

Although he was a military officer in name only, he was the official of the Governor of Huguang, Wang Duxian, and was ordered to come here, which was equivalent to a military supervisor. Even the chief officer of the commanding office, Zhu Yu, did not dare to easily refute his opinions.

Besides, Li Mingchun’s decision makes sense.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Leaving the official wharf as a loophole gave Yang Zhaolong hope that he could capture Sinan City if he tried harder.

Governor Wang gave Sinan City a very clear mission, which was to pin Yang Zhaolong and his 13,000 soldiers and horses down under the city so that he would have no time to look around.

Now Li Mingchun is using the official wharf as a bait to hook Yang Zhaolong, and there is nothing wrong with that.

But we also need to understand the feelings of Zhang Rong and Yang Piandao.

They are the masters of Sinan City. How can we defend Sinan City without their strong support?
"Since the official wharf is difficult to defend, then we won't defend it!"

Li Mingchun's voice came into the front hall, breaking the silence.

Everyone turned around when they heard the voice and saw Li Mingchun and Qiu Qinzhuo walking in one after another.

"General Li, we can't lose the big picture for the sake of small gains." Yang Yan advised quickly.

"Yes, it's important to restrain Yang Zhaolong." Zhang Yong said with a conflicted look on his face.

"Everyone, I understand the feelings of Commander Zhang and Deputy Commander Yang, but please believe that I am not an emotional person. Qinglian and I just witnessed a battle at the official wharf, and it was obvious that the morale of the Bozhou soldiers was very low.

This doesn't work.

It's like when I go fishing, the fish takes the bait, but after a few pulls, the fish decides the bait is no longer tasty and is ready to give up. No, guys, we can't just let them go.

We have to give Yang Zhaolong some sweetness.”

Li Mingchun's words made everyone's eyes light up.

Yes, Yang Zhaolong had been stranded in Sinan City for more than ten days, and had gained nothing except a lot of trouble. Maybe he was already discouraged and ready to pack up and leave.

Now we have to give him some sweet treats and then hook him.

Zhu Yu's eyes were filled with joy. "Yes, if we keep pulling like this, Yang Zhaolong might get off the hook. Once he gets off the hook, it will be a big hassle to catch him again."

Zhang Rong slammed the table and said, "That's right, we have to give Yang Zhaolong some benefits."

Yang Piandao muttered to the side, "You are both a god and a ghost. You are the only one who has said all the good things."

Zhang Yong didn't even turn his head and kicked him.

"You are the only one who talks too much nonsense."

Li Mingchun smiled indifferently, "Everyone, I estimated that now may be the most critical moment of the war. It has been twelve days, and the various divisions of the imperial army should have been deployed and are on their way to various strategic points.

Yang Zhaolong must not retreat at this time!

If he retreats, it will bring unpredictable changes to the war situation. So I suggest that we simply give up the official wharf and let Yang Zhaolong surround Sinan City and turn it into a dead city. "

Qiu Qizhu nodded and agreed, "Official Wharf is the only way for Sinan City to connect with the outside world. For Yang Zhaolong, occupying it is equivalent to cutting off the last access to Sinan City. If Sinan City is trapped, it will be easy to capture it.

Full of temptation. Once Yang Zhaolong swallows it, he will definitely not be able to escape for ten days or half a month. "

Zhu Yu didn't say anything more and asked directly: "Li Canjun, when will we evacuate the official wharf?"

"Now. Half an hour ago, Yang Zhaolong's troops were defeated again on the east side of Guan Wharf. It is estimated that there will be no new attacks in the next two to three hours.

Take advantage of this good opportunity to withdraw all the garrisons back to the water gate. In addition, send a fast boat down the Yin River to inform them that we have abandoned the official wharf and ask them not to send boats up the river to perform a show. "

"Okay! Wu Dafei, Yang Piandao."

"To!"

"Wu Dafei, you will take over the defense of the water gate immediately and cover the brothers at the official wharf to withdraw. Yang Piandao, you will immediately organize the evacuation, evacuate in an orderly manner, and do not let Yang Zhaolong's troops notice.

All personnel and weapons have been accounted for and must be withdrawn without missing a single person or a single weapon."

"Yes!"

An hour later, Yang Piandao came back.

"Six hundred and forty-six brothers have all retreated to Shuimen. No one is missing, and nothing was left for the Bozhou guys, not even a stick."

Ren Boan also came back to report, "The express ship sent to Yinjiang City has also been launched. There are four other ships at the dock, and they have all been launched as well."

Two hours later, Wu Dafei sent someone to report the news.

"The local soldiers of Bozhou soon noticed something was wrong with the official wharf and quickly sent troops to investigate. After discovering that we had withdrawn our troops, they immediately sent troops to occupy the official wharf.

They are now setting up camp in the area around the official wharf, with five ships docked, and the whole army is cheering."

"Let them cheer. After twelve days of fighting, we finally have a result. It wasn't easy."

That night, Li Mingchun was sleeping when he was suddenly woken up.

When I opened my eyes, it was Zhu Yu, with a serious look on his face.

"What's wrong, Master Zhu?"

"The Yebushou reconnaissance team just reported that Yang Zhaolong's troops have retreated!"

"Withdrawn, did he give up the official wharf?" Li Mingchun was still a little confused.

"No, they have completely evacuated from Sinan City."

(End of this chapter)