Chapter 462 Initiative
Lu Ming climbed to the top of a dock, overlooking the south.
Qishui flows windingly, all the way south, through the flat and boundless wilderness.
The wilderness is deserted and quiet, and wild meadows can be seen everywhere.
When reaching Fangtou, Qishui seemed to have encountered great resistance and was tamed by the earth. It turned eastward and merged into Baigou.
In the triangle area where Baigou and Qishui intersect, there are many flags and crowds of people.
Countless men are shirtless, laying a solid foundation.
A large group of auxiliary soldiers held nets woven with hemp ropes and repeatedly sifted the fine soil.
There are still people pointing and planning the layout of the city.
What a lively fortification scene!
To the north of the fortification site, a trench has been dug, and a second trench is being excavated.
The trench is connected to the Qishui River and plays the role of a moat.
Behind the trench, a low earth wall was built. There were soldiers guarding behind the earth wall, looking quietly ahead. At regular intervals, they even placed strong crossbows, and the sergeants operating them sat on the ground, ready for action at any time.
Before the trench, it seemed to be flat and boundless, but in fact there were many horse pits dug, and they had already suffered losses.
Needless to say, this attitude must be based on the idea of holding for a long time.
"Bang!" The suspension bridge on the first trench wall was lowered.
The cavalry filed out and lined up in the field.
Lu Ming didn’t even look at it and continued to observe the huge camp.
"General, do you want to fight or not?" someone came up and asked.
"You choose people and fight with them." Lu Ming waved his hand casually and said.
The men took the order and left.
Lu Ming sighed, feeling even more worried.
The imperial court was still asking them to attack the northern city of Heyang. Before setting off, Lu Ming learned that Dahu had received two edicts one after another, and seemed inclined to mobilize troops and go to Heyang.
But what about Fangtou? You will definitely change your tune, right? This place is only two hundred miles away from Yecheng. Once the Jin people gain a foothold and march all the way north, Yecheng will face a siege, which will have a huge blow to Hu's prestige.
Heyang or Fangtou, a choice must be made.
Or they could resume their old tricks, choose a location to cross the river, invade Henan, and force the Jin people to retreat.
Three choices, three endings, all seem quite difficult.
The cavalry from both sides were already fighting as a group, but Lu Ming didn't want to look too much, so he went directly down from the high building and came to the Wubao courtyard.
Wubaoshuai's family stood aside respectfully.
Lu Ming glanced at them casually, and suddenly found Wubao Shuai's young son peeking at him.
This is not surprising. He looks different from Jin people. He is often peeked at, so he has long been used to it.
But today he felt something strange, which made him alert.
The Jin army crossed the river in large numbers. This has not happened for several years. Some people will speculate whether the situation is about to change significantly. After all, they are both from Jin, so they naturally feel close to each other and it is easy to hook up with them.
Lu Ming felt a chill in his heart, and suddenly felt that Da Hu had no choice.
Yes, all three options are bullshit, he only has one option: push the Jin army down the river and keep them away from Hebei.
Otherwise, it would be ordinary for the Hebei nobles, powerful men, and Wubao commanders to hook up with Shao Xun, and it would become an affair.
In the final analysis, people still support each other.
Sima Yue may not have a good reputation in Hebei, but Shao Xun may not.
This man conquered Hebei twice, and in one of them he regained Yecheng, set up a monument to commemorate his achievements, and created a great reputation in Hebei.
Although those people from Hebei who had good relations with Shao Xun either moved south to serve as officials under Shao Xun or died, there are still many who remain. This is a big hidden danger that must be guarded against. .
"Come here, report to the General..." The more he thought about it, the more nervous Lu Ming became, and he immediately summoned the messenger.
Shi Le had actually left Yecheng and came straight to Dangyin.
After receiving Lu Ming's letter halfway, his staff read it and then threw it directly on the ground without even reading it.
"General." All the generals looked at him.
Shi Le suddenly smiled, drew out his sword and said, "No need to look, just go south to Fangtou."
The generals looked awe-inspiring.
The autumn harvest is coming, and the army is not yet ready. The only ones that can be dispatched now are cavalry and a few infantry.
But Da Hu’s order was very firm, which made everyone abandon all kinds of distracting thoughts and cheer up.
It’s just a fight to the death, what else is there to say?
"Kong Dolphin, Zhao Lu." Shi Le wiped his sword with a cloth and called.
"The general is here." They both stepped forward.
"You two each lead five thousand riders, and bring more horses..."
"Zhi Quliu, you lead three thousand riders, and go to..."
… …
In an instant, Shi Le had issued several orders and sent out more than 10,000 riders.
When the autumn is high and the horses are fat, it is the time when the cavalry is in the best condition and has the strongest combat effectiveness of the year. It is the right time to drive.
After the three generals took their people away, the number of troops going south suddenly decreased a lot.
"Your Majesty." Diao Ying, the commander on the right, stepped forward but hesitated to speak.
Shi Le waved his hand and said, "Don't say more."
Diao Ying was stunned.
Shi Le smiled softly and said: "How long have you been, do you still care about that? Shao Xun is a bold man, but also extremely stable. Now he has put the knife on my lower abdomen. If I still think about this and that, wouldn't it be a joke? ? If Ye City is lost, will the imperial court send troops to capture it for me? Haha. Even if the emperor comes personally, this army will not be able to withdraw." Diao Ying surrendered after a moment.
"Your Majesty, Yewang and Pingyang need to make some changes." Zhang Bin reminded.
Shi Le followed Shan Ruliu and turned to look at Diao Ying.
Diao Ying immediately accepted the order and said: "My servant will go there myself."
"Thank you for your hard work." Shi Le said harmoniously.
After seeing Diao Ying leave, Shi Le looked at Zhang Bin again and asked: "Meng Sun is quite wise and familiar with military strategy. He has many good strategies during the expedition. Why did he confront Shao Xun?" , but there was nothing he could do."
Zhang Bin was silent for a long time, and finally sighed and said: "In ancient times, warriors were eager for success, so they advanced with troops without any equipment, or only with rough equipment. There are opportunities that can be taken advantage of; there are those who look ahead and look at the latter, and scare them a little, so they create a suspicious formation, which slows down their actions; there are also opportunities that can be taken advantage of; there are also those who claim to be wise generals, who may move around in various ways, or show the enemy that they are weak, or It is not difficult for this person to deal with the alienation and heart attack. With his various tricks, I seek to be honest. In battles, I still have to fight with swords and spears. In this way, I still have a chance to ask the king a few words - "< br>
“But it’s okay to talk.”
“Is Shao Xun taking the plunge?”
Shi Le thought for a while, shook his head and said: "It seems that he likes surprise attacks, but in fact he is heavily deployed and has many back-ups. This is not a one-shot deal."
"Is he looking forward and backward?"
"I'm afraid I can't scare him. In the battle of Zhemati, the whole army crossed the river on a rainy night and acted decisively. This time they went to Fangtou to build the city and took risks themselves. This is a very bold person."
"He likes it. Are you playing tricks?"
Shi Le laughed: "He is just a warrior who wins over the army all day long and is good at using force to suppress others."
"He has very few flaws." Zhang Bin sighed: "If someone were in his position, he might have amassed an army of more than 50,000 and marched directly into Ye City. The outcome would depend on God. But he built the city and made a camp at every step. To deal with such a person, you can only fight with him."
Shi Le pondered for a while and said: "It is too risky to go north from Fangtou and go straight to Yecheng. Even I will not do it. Once the army is under the fortified city and the grain road is repeatedly harassed, The morale of the army is disordered, and it will be a huge defeat when they retreat."
Speaking of this, Shi Le also sighed a little.
A few years later, they met Shao Xun and could only rely on the superiority of the cavalry to protect themselves.
The side with a large number of cavalry is happy because they have the initiative on the battlefield. You can choose to fight or not, where to fight, when to fight, and how to fight. This advantage is so great that it could have swept Henan.
But after several years of fighting, before we knew it, the initiative in the war suddenly disappeared.
Shao Xun is building a city at Fangtou. Can you choose to fight or not? No choice.
The initiative lies with others.
It’s really inexplicable when you think about it. The side with the advantage of cavalry actually lost the initiative on the battlefield.
Based on the current situation, Shao Xun chose the battlefield - it can only be at Fangtou.
The fighting method was also chosen by Shao Xun - siege warfare.
The time for fighting is also limited - the sooner the better, because once the city is successfully built, it will be more difficult to fight.
What the fuck!
******
North of Fangtou City, the fight between the cavalry from both sides ended quickly.
Like Lu Ming, Shao Xun didn't read much, but sat directly behind the desk and started writing a letter.
The letter was written to the shogunate. There were no other requests, just one: transport more grain.
The construction of Fangtou City is a big project. The construction of water gates outside the north and south cities may take until the middle of winter, and the consumption is huge.
This is also the limitation of city building tactics.
But facing the side with the advantage of cavalry, there is no way, the only choice is to play it safe.
The cities he built were actually military stations. Not only did they have to be able to station troops, they also had to have warehouses, which were quite large.
The four directly governed counties have already collected taxes, and the rest can only be obtained from the wealthy families of Henan.
In fact, they have already given a batch of military rations, but it is not enough and they still have to ask for it.
Shao Xun first wrote a letter to his father-in-law. What he didn’t say was that his relatives should take the lead.
The Yu family doesn’t provide food, so you expect other families to provide food?
After writing this letter, he wrote to his two military advisors in the Yanzhou shogunate, Bian Dun and Lu Qiuchong.
Especially the Bian family of Jiyin, a wealthy family in Yanzhou. During the heyday of the Six Dragons of the Bian family, I don’t know how much benefit they brought to the family, but now the family has a solid foundation.
What I didn’t say, provide food!
Next are relatively close noble families such as the Wang family of Chen County, the Yuan family of Yangxia, and the Taiyang family.
After writing it, I sealed it and took it back.
Awkward? It seems a bit.
But that’s the background of the times.
Shi Le withdrew his troops from Gepi. A powerful family with strong walls and clear fields could make Shi Le's soldiers eat each other.
Even Liu Cong, who is known as the "Two Hundred Thousand Riders", has to be polite to the Pei family, Liu family, Xue family, Song family, Wang family and other Bingzhou gentry.
People can't beat you, but they can hold you back and make you fail in the competition with your opponents.
As the city-building tactics are pushed forward all the way, the wealthy families in Henan will definitely be "ecstatic", and Shao Xun seems to have seen the expressions on their faces.
Haha, the cash machine smells terrible.
After putting down his brush, he climbed onto the city wall again and looked at the sunset on the horizon.
At the end of the horizon, a team of carriages and horses is returning.
The officers and soldiers of the Silver Spear Army escorted thousands of auxiliary soldiers, cutting grain and returning.
It's August, and the autumn harvest is around the corner. There is a lot of grain waiting to be harvested in the fields, which can be used to supplement military rations.
This move will certainly offend the powerful nobles in Hebei, but it can’t be controlled that much.
If we win, everyone will forget these bad things.
If you can't win, you won't lack this hatred.
The night has completely fallen, and it is dark inside and outside Fangtou. It is so quiet that it does not seem like a war is about to break out. Or maybe it's just the calm before the storm.
(I forgot to update regularly this morning... Starting from tomorrow, I will update three times a day. All the soldiers will supervise me. If I don’t achieve it, they will kill me and I will get gold coins. After midnight tonight, the monthly ticket will be doubled, so smash me to death.)
< br>(End of this chapter)