Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 159 The Style of a General
That night, Wei Guosong arrived late.

Danchu had been fighting all day and was sleeping soundly. When he heard that Wei Guosong had arrived, he immediately sent for an audience.

"General, I am sorry for being late. Please forgive me."

"Hurry up. If you hadn't been chasing the enemy troops from behind in the battle of Huanghuayi today, how could I have won such a great victory? By the way, how many soldiers did you bring?"

"I brought three hundred cavalrymen."

The infantry battalion only has one cavalry unit, so where do the three hundred cavalry units come from? Before Danchu could ask, Wei Guosong said proudly, "The first battalion fought with the enemy in Hengzhou and captured more than two hundred horses. The rest of the main force is still in the Hengshan area, a day's journey away, and is led by Mr. Fang."

"You came just in time. The Imperial Guards made a lot of gains at Huanghuayi today. We beheaded more than a thousand people and captured more than three thousand prisoners. I was just worried about how to deal with the prisoners."

The Zhaoyong Army had already had a wealth of experience in dealing with prisoners of war, and usually selected elite soldiers from the prisoners to supplement the camp. For the prisoners that they did not like, the strong ones were used as hard labor, and the weak ones were simply released and left to fend for themselves.

During wartime, the army had no energy to deal with prisoners of war, so killing them was the easiest way. Danchu had always been against killing prisoners, but today there were so many prisoners and the Zhaoyong Army was short of manpower.

Wei Guosong tried to figure out what Danchu meant, and said carefully, "Does the commander-in-chief mean to kill these prisoners?"

"Haha," Danchu smiled and said, "You misunderstood me. Today I fought with the bandit army and found that they were quite organized. They had war elephants and musketeers. The front country had been defeated, but the central army was able to form a spear infantry formation.

"Although Xu Biao was born into a bandit family, he has defeated Chen Bangfu many times, and the troops under his command are certainly extraordinary. I plan to recruit Xu Biao's captives and expand an infantry battalion."

Wei Guosong said without hesitation: "Our army has captured Nanning, and it is no problem to add an infantry battalion of 3,000 people. However, this matter will take a long time, so we can take it slowly.

"The most urgent task is to quickly lead the troops westward and seize the Nanning base. Otherwise, Xu Biao's life or death is unknown. If he escapes back to Nanning, the rebel army will have something to rely on and will revive again."

Danchu did not comment.

A rooster crowed in the distance, and gradually, more roosters crowed, breaking the tranquility of the night. He went to bed early last night and was no longer sleepy, so he said to Wei Guosong, "Let's go outside the tent."

Two personal soldiers were standing guard. When they saw the commander coming out of the tent, they immediately saluted.

"What time is it now?"

A personal soldier entered the tent, checked the self-ringing clock, then checked the clepsydra, and replied, "General, it is already three quarters past three in the morning."

It was early winter, and the daybreaks came late. The Zhaoyong Army had set up four simple camps, with fires burning everywhere inside and outside the camps. The Kunlun Mountains in the distance were still pitch black, but the nearby Yu River was already glowing with light from the fires.

"The commander defeated an army of 5,000 bandits with less than 1,000 cavalrymen. He is like Xiang Yu reborn. He was able to sleep peacefully among the captives. He has the spirit of Zi Yuan!"

Wei Guosong became a flag commander and considered himself the best general of the Zhaoyong Army. He only regretted that he had not read enough, so he determined to study the history of the Ming Dynasty and worked quite hard.

"Ziyuan? Which Ziyuan?" Danchu really couldn't remember who Ziyuan was.

"The commander-in-chief also has a time when he doesn't know? It's Sima Shi!" Sima Shi is Sima Yi's eldest son. He is ruthless and calm, and has great talent and strategy. When Sima Yi was planning the Gaoping Yi Rebellion, he was worried all day and couldn't sleep at night. Sima Shi, however, was chatting and laughing, and snoring like thunder at night.

"You are such a good analogy. Am I a person like Sima Shi who is disloyal and has no descendants?"

Danchu didn't mind Wei Guosong's words, and he often used this joking tone when talking to his confidants. Over time, his subordinates also understood his temper. If they were teased by him, it was often a sign of close relationship, and his subordinates would talk about it with relish for several days.

Wei Guosong also laughed and said, "The Marshal misunderstood. I meant that the Marshal was calm and composed, and had the demeanor of a great general. I really had no other intentions."

"Well. According to legend, Wild Boar Skin led his tribe to rise, and was hated by other Jurchen tribes. The Yehe tribe joined forces with eight other tribes to form a nine-tribe coalition to besiege Wild Boar Skin. Wild Boar Skin was not afraid of danger and slept peacefully. Why do you think that was? Is it really possible that Wild Boar Skin has a leader?"

Danchu answered his own question and said, "It's just a matter of knowing yourself and knowing your enemy. For example, if the enemy army is defeated and Xu Biao loses his army and flees into the fortress, it's like a tiger without fangs or an eagle without wings. I only need a letter to force the tyrant to execute Xu Biao.

"Although there are many captives, they are all gutless and without a leader, like a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered. I marched all day the day before yesterday and only rested for an hour in a day and night. Yesterday I fought for half a day and was already exhausted. Being able to sleep peacefully during the battle is said to be the style of a great general, but in fact it is just like this."

Wei Guosong seemed to be thinking about something, and then he said: "Even so, the general is still the general. To be honest, I have not been able to sleep well since I passed by Xunzhou. I finally fell asleep, but I was quickly awakened by the slightest movement."

This? Danchu's expression changed. Wei Guosong might not be a great general. On second thought, Wei Guosong was only the captain last year, in charge of only 50 people. Now he is the commander, in charge of 3,000 people. His status and role are very different. He can't sleep, which means he thinks about many problems and has a strong sense of responsibility. It's better than the kind of idiot who doesn't think about anything and does everything roughly.

He didn't want to put too much pressure on Wei Guosong, so he said: "As a general, you have to consider all aspects of the problem, and things come one after another. Insomnia is common. However, you must always take time to rest and conserve your energy so that you can withstand and persist for a long time at the critical moment."

"Yes, I will remember it."

Back to the issue of prisoners, Danchu said: "I have decided to keep our troops in Huanghuayi and not rush to attack Nanning. In the next few days, we will focus on dealing with the prisoners."

"Ah?" Wei Guosong was surprised and puzzled. He asked, "General, capturing Nanning is our primary mission in this battle. Nanning is within reach and within easy reach. Why not seize Nanning while we are victorious? If Xu Biao escapes back to Nanning, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?"

"To win every battle is not the best way to win. I plan to defeat the enemy without fighting and make the Nanning defenders surrender automatically. Xu Biao is no longer worth mentioning, but these prisoners of war must be dealt with properly and as soon as possible. How many prisoners do you have?"

"About a thousand."

"I have three thousand prisoners, which adds up to four thousand. It shouldn't be difficult to select two thousand strong men from them. So, add three infantry battalions. Expand your first regiment's three infantry battalions into six, and disperse the prisoners to make full staffing for the six infantry battalions. The three newly formed infantry battalions will be temporarily affiliated with your regiment. After Nanning is captured, a new third infantry regiment will be established and directly transferred to it."

"Yes." Wei Guosong asked, "Do you want to deploy troops in Hengzhou and Yongchun?"

Chen Bangfu was mobilizing troops to besiege Hengzhou, and we had to prevent him from invading Nanning and Yongchun.

Danchu said without hesitation: "First, you should organize a battalion of soldiers and send another battalion across the river to monitor the enemy in Yongchun. There is no need to attack the city. The main thing is to prevent Chen Bangfu from advancing westward."

As the night faded and the morning light began to appear, he could not help but emphasize again: "Kunimatsu, remember. The most important task at the moment is to deal with the prisoners of war. There is no need to rush to attack the city."

(End of this chapter)