Chapter 3272
Chen Yixin's call back gave Sun Bing a clear instruction, requiring him to lead his troops to continue northward and enter Shuntian Prefecture to cooperate with the troops led by Chen Yixin to perform combat missions.
However, Cangzhou City, which had taken a lot of effort to capture, would not just abandon the city. According to the pre-war plan, after the Haihan army captured a city with a relatively important geographical location like Cangzhou, it would be brought under its control, further compressing the Ming Dynasty's ruling area.
Therefore, before Sun Bing led his troops to leave Cangzhou, he had to complete the handover procedures of government affairs and defense with the officials who came to take over the city.
Before the battle in Cangzhou began, Chen Yixin appointed the top leader in Cangzhou in advance. Sun Bing took Cangzhou City with his front foot, and the official followed the large army into the city with his back foot.
After Sun Bing received the telegram, he immediately went to the official office in the city to meet with the newly appointed administrator.
"Master Shen, this is the commander's telegram. You should also take a look."
Sun Bing said straight to the point: "I will lead my troops to leave tomorrow, and the affairs of Cangzhou must be entrusted to you!"
The official Sun Bing calls "Master Shen" is Shen Zhixiang, deputy chief of staff of the Northern Region Combat Command, and his father is Shen Shikui, the former Dongjiang general who was stationed in Pidao, Liaodong.
Both father and son changed their flags and joined Haihan after Haihan regained Liaodong, and then successively entered the Northern Region Headquarters as combat staff officers. However, Shen Shikui was old and had retired a few years ago.
Although the Shen family and his son hold high positions in the Haihan Army, after all, they were military attachés of the Ming Dynasty and were not considered to be the most upstanding military attachés in Haihan. Therefore, the father and son's responsibilities in the army were only shared. In terms of training and service matters, in recent years, I have rarely had the opportunity to carry out the task of leading troops to fight.
Not being able to fight in battle and only serving as a civilian military attache at the headquarters means that there is no military merit to be gained. Without military merit, promotion will not be fast.
Shen Zhixiang's promotion to deputy chief of staff was mostly due to the contribution of his father and son in leading Dongjiang soldiers and civilians to join the Haihan Army, as well as the qualifications they accumulated in the Haihan Army in the following twenty years. It has basically hit the ceiling.
In places like Cangzhou, the influence left over by the long-term rule of the Ming Dynasty cannot be eliminated in a short time. After the occupation of Haihan, military control will inevitably be implemented for a long time. In addition, we have to prepare for Ming's counterattack, which ordinary civilian officials will definitely not be able to withstand, so the first administrator must choose an official with a military background.
Shen Zhixiang's qualifications and abilities are sufficient for this task. Only by handing Cangzhou into his hands can Sun Bing's Fifth Lu Division move north with confidence. For Shen Zhixiang, this special appointment is also an extremely rare opportunity to perform.
If he could take care of Cangzhou after the war, it would be considered a weighty achievement, and it would be of great benefit to his own career and even that of future generations.
Maybe before he retires, he will have the opportunity to take another step or two to the top.
Shen Zhixiang took the telegram, read it carefully, then nodded and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Sun, Shen will definitely live up to the commander's trust. However, I went out for a walk before, and the Cangzhou city defenses were seriously damaged. In case of the Ming army, The pressure to counterattack and defend the city is not small. Mr. Sun should leave some capable troops for me."
Sun Bing responded: "Master Shen, please forgive me for being unable to help. You have also read the Marshal's telegram. His order was for the Fifth Lu Division to leave for Shuntian Prefecture as soon as possible, but he did not mention that the Fifth Lu Division should be divided into troops to garrison Cangzhou."
Shen Zhixiang spread his hands and said: "Then you can't let me take over the empty city, right? If the Ming army in Hejian fights back, I won't be able to defend it even if I have three heads and six arms!"
Sun Bing said with a smile: "Master Shen, don't be anxious. Although the Fifth Lu Division has to leave, Cangzhou will not become an empty city. At the latest this afternoon, troops to change defenses will arrive."
Shen Zhixiang asked: "How many troops are there?"
Sun Bing stretched out a finger and shook it. Shen Zhixiang's face relaxed and he said: "One group? That's almost enough."
Sun Bing shook his head and said: "We are going to attack Shuntian Mansion next. How can we squeeze out a regiment to guard Cangzhou... It's a battalion!"
Shen Zhixiang frowned and said: "A battalion... are you kidding me?"
Of course he also knew that Sun Bing could not joke about such a thing. But with just one battalion of troops, can he really secure Cangzhou?
According to the establishment of the Haihan Army, an infantry battalion generally only has five or six hundred people, and a reinforced battalion can have about a thousand people. However, reinforced battalions are often the best-equipped and most capable ace troops. It is absolutely impossible for Chen Yixin to mobilize such troops. Went to Cangzhou to look after the house.
Shen Zhixiang had a bad premonition in his heart. Judging from the current situation, the troops sent to Cangzhou to defend the city were likely to be some unknown and unknown troops.
Sun Bing didn't have time to discuss this issue slowly with him. He just handed over the matters at hand as soon as possible and hurried to the camp outside the city to arrange the next step.
That afternoon, a troop arrived in Cangzhou City.
After receiving the news, Shen Zhixiang went out of the government office to greet the team. But when he saw this troop, his heart sank.
His previous hunch was right, but not entirely.
This force that came to Cangzhou to take over the defense was not a certain miscellaneous force, but a mixture of several miscellaneous forces.
This included a militia company from Pingdu County, Laizhou, a militia group from Fushan County, Dengzhou, and an armed cavalry force from the Pyongyang Xiaoqi Battalion who came across the sea from North Korea to assist in the battle.
In addition, there was a team of 200 people, which was said to be the elite soldiers of Sun Quanming, the commander of the guards who had just defected in Tianjin. This person handed over all the armed forces he needed to save his life into Haihan's hands, presumably to win Chen Yixin's trust and secure a good future for himself.
These miscellaneous troops put together, plus the twenty artillerymen left by Sun Bing, are the entire armed forces that will guard Cangzhou.
Regarding such an arrangement, Shen Zhixiang could only smile bitterly. He knew that this was not because Chen Yixin did not pay attention to Cangzhou, but that he wanted to gather all combat troops to Shuntian Mansion and launch a thunderous attack on the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
As for whether the Ming army in Hejian Prefecture in the west would launch a large-scale counterattack against Cangzhou after the Fifth Lu Division broke out of camp, Shen Zhixiang estimated that Chen Yixin was also betting that the Ming army would not have such efficient mobility.
As long as the Haihan Army advances fast enough on the Shuntianfu front, even if the Ming Army recaptures Cangzhou, it will not make much sense, and returning to the capital will become their top priority.
For the Haihan Army, the most ideal situation may not be that the Ming Army stands still, but that Hejian Prefecture really sends troops to attack Cangzhou, and then Shen Zhixiang can hold off the Ming Army in Cangzhou for a few days and win more opportunities for the northern battlefield. More time to prevent the Ming army in Hejian Prefecture from going north to steal the retreat of the Haihan army.
But if that happens, can these miscellaneous troops be able to defend Cangzhou City, which has incomplete city defenses?
When Shen Zhixiang thought about this, he couldn't help but feel a little headache. How could he take on such a difficult task?
(End of chapter)