The thirteenth of this month! Ten days before the Xihu army stormed Dingyuan City on the 23rd,

In the marshal's military tent, Han Boxian was holding a "military meeting".

It turned out that the Xihu people suddenly attacked Fengzhou at the place of invasion, and the attack was extremely ferocious. Fengzhou Assassin Han Wenxian sent people to break through the siege and ask for help from Han Boxian, the commander of the border army.

Fengzhou doesn't want Lingzhou to have a large border army here, the Xihu people come to attack Fengzhou, Fengzhou is like a soft persimmon, ravaged and ravaged by the Xihu people, so Han Boxian can only lead the army to pacify the Xihu army in Fengzhou.

Fengzhou and Lingzhou are not far from each other, and they jointly formed the northwest frontier defense line. If Fengzhou is broken, Lingzhou will die and the teeth will be cold, the northwest defense line of the entire Great Xia will be opened, and the Xihu people will loot countless prefectures and counties.

Therefore, the generals under Han Boxian unanimously decided to ask for help from the imperial court in the rear on the one hand, and resolutely to help Fengzhou on the other!

But now that the Xihu people in Fengzhou have been repulsed, they can also turn around and clean up the West Lake army in Lingzhou with peace of mind

"As the saying goes, a plan is worth ten thousand taels. How to repel the Hu soldiers, what do you think? Han Boxian suddenly asked.

The military general on the left hugged his fist and said: "Gao Jian can't talk about it, the last general only feels that the Xihu people suddenly attacked Fengzhou, and it may not be that they really want to take Fengzhou." ”

"Oh?" Everyone screamed together.

"What do you think?" Han Boxian asked.

The military general said: "Lingfeng is one, but Lingzhou has always had our border troops stationed, and the Xihu people dare not attack." But if I were the commander of Xihu, I would definitely regard the Lingzhou garrison as a real thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh. The Xihu people are good at running and plundering, and they never want to occupy the city, nor are they good at garrisoning the city. So I don't think they're going to be too interested in Toyoshumoto. ”

Han Boxian's eyes lit up, "So, the Xihu people want to divert the tiger from the mountain, their real purpose is to attack Lingzhou?" ”

"If I were the commander of Xihu, I would definitely want to take Lingzhou the most!" The military general said, "Lingzhou is the strongest point on the northwest defense line of Great Xia, and it is the hardest bone. If Lingzhou is taken, Fengzhou and other prefectures and counties will fall into isolation and can be easily broken, and the northern defense line of Great Xia will definitely collapse and be completely lifted. So, to Sihu Dali! ”

"On the contrary, if you take a Fengzhou Xihu person, you can only plunder and flee in a hurry, otherwise you will face the encirclement of the army and fall into a dangerous situation, and you will not be protected. Spending such a big price and risking the world's great fortune just to fight a robbery, generals, do you think it is worth it for the Xihu people to do this? ”

The generals' eyes lit up, "Look! ”

"But if the city of Fengzhou is looted, all the soldiers under the command of our border army will also be unforgivable! Therefore, our army still chose to return to Fengzhou and temporarily give up expelling the Xihu army in Lingzhou! ”

"However, when I watched the retreat of Xihu in Fengzhou, it was not a complete defeat, but a convergence with the Xihu army besieging Dingyuan!"

Han Boxian nodded with a silent face, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked, "If you were me now, how would you decide?" ”

The military general smiled, "This military event, the last general is humble, and he doesn't dare to speak falsely." ”

"You just have to decide, how to decide, it is up to me." Han Boxian said, "The pre-war discussion is to open up the way of speech and work together. Even if it is an ordinary pawn or even a rural villager who has true knowledge, Han has always been obedient! ”

"Okay, then I'll do it!" The military general hugged his fist and said, "Right now, the main forces of the enemy army are all gathered under Lingzhou City, so they completely take the initiative. No matter how our army moves, they can calmly deal with it and be invincible! At this time, our army must launch a surprise attack against common sense in order to seize the initiative! ”

"How?"

The military general took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "When the Xihu army goes on an expedition, the garrisons of its tribes will inevitably be empty. At this time, why didn't our army send a team of surprise soldiers to attack the camps of these tribes to dig out his heart and seize the initiative?! ”

As soon as the general's words fell, several fiery and upright generals stood up on the spot.

"That's a great plan!!"

"Draw salary from the bottom of the kettle, surround Wei to save Zhao, it is feasible!"

"The Xihu are accustomed to harassing us with ranger tactics, and we are accustomed to defending the city. This time we took the initiative to dig out his heart, and the Xihu people must be defenseless! ”

"General Wu's brain is really alive, it's different from us, no wonder that time! …… Ahem, ahem! ”

Han Boxian waved his hand violently, and the passionate generals instantly stopped.

"It sounds like a good idea. But do you know how difficult it is to execute? Han Boxian said, "General Wu, I'll ask you first." Do you know how far Lingzhou is from the camp of the Xihu tribe? ”

"Straight-line distance, more than 700 miles." The general replied without thinking. The tribal camp of the Xihu people, this military general had been to that area alone, so it was not too strange.

"It seems that you have not read a lot of military books, and you have not worked hard to understand the geography of Mobei." Han Boxian said, "That's right, if it's not a war, it's about seven or eight hundred miles to go straight out of Lingzhou. But now it is obvious that you can't go in a straight line, because the army of the Xihu people is moving around Lingzhou and Fengzhou, and if you want to surprise attack, you must bypass their main army, which is at least a thousand miles away. ”

At this point, Han Boxian paused, "All of you here are cavalry generals, you tell me, if I want the cavalry under your command to kill a round trip to the hinterland of Xihu in the shortest possible time, how many days will it take?" ”

"Uh......" The generals were stunned, and they replied in six days at the earliest and eight days at the slowest.

"In six to eight days, Dingyuan City is estimated to have fallen." Han Boxian said, "Moreover, the lone army is not familiar with the geography and has no supplies, and it is easy to fall into the encirclement of the enemy army, even if it digs out the hearts of the Xihu people, it is difficult to achieve great achievements, and it is possible that the whole division will be lost." That is, the risk of this surprise attack is very high. The chances of success are slim. ”

There was silence.

Han Boxian said: "The plan is a good plan. But in practice, it is not enforceable. Let's continue to discuss how to lead the army to rescue Dingyuan City. ”

"Good ......" all the generals sighed, and they all listened to Han Boxian.

The general's brows were furrowed, his expression was very grim, and he was contemplative.

Han Boxian glanced at him and met his expression, but as if he hadn't seen it, he and his generals continued to discuss the tactics of a head-on battle with the Xihu army.

This military general knows that Han Boxian is not a person who is jealous of the virtuous and capable. As the commander of the border army, if he was not forced to do so, he would not have "taken a dangerous and surprising attack." Now as long as he tries his best to ensure that the distant city is not lost, the border army can still carry out a rolling blow to the Xihu people by relying on the two states after relieving himself.

Han Boxian has led soldiers for so many years and has become famous, why should he take such unnecessary risks at such a time?

From Han Boxian's standpoint, there is nothing wrong with him doing this.

But this general's idea is completely different.

Starting from a pawn, isn't it just waiting for a day like today, where you can make amazing moves and make special achievements?

Wealth and wealth are sought in danger, and Mr. Big has made meritorious contributions, at this time!

"Han Junshuai, I have a word!" The military general said suddenly.

Everyone turned their heads to look at the military general in surprise, and Han Boxian asked, "General Wu has something to say, please speak." ”

"Surprise attack on the hinterland of Xihu, I think it is feasible!" This military general is unequivocal.

All the generals turned their eyes and looked at him suspiciously, and some people secretly slandered, are you questioning the decision of Marshal Han?

These people are all Han Boxian's confidant brothers, and they will never express any doubts about Han Boxian's words.

"I've thought about it again, but I'd better give up!" Han Boxian waved his hand easily, but his heart tightened for no reason, don't embarrass me!

"Why doesn't Marshal Han listen to me?" This military commander said.

Han Boxian frowned, "Okay, open your mouth, please speak." ”

The military general said: "I think that the strategic goal of the surprise attack on the hinterland of Xihu does not need to be to destroy all the tribes of Xihu, but to break one or two tribes and capture a few important people." ”

"What do you mean?" Han Boxian frowned and asked.

The military general said: "I mean, there is no need to send too many soldiers and horses to attack the hinterland of Xihu, just a partial division, a surprisingly difficult cold gun into his heart, kill a few people with lightning speed, capture a few prisoners and then slip away, not give them a chance to encircle and chase at all." ”

"Then how to move the root and make the Xihu people return to the division from Dingyuan?" Han Boxian asked.

The military general smiled and said, "We know that there is only one team of people from the division, how can the Xihu people know?" We can strike his hinterland today. Break one or two small tribes, take some prisoners, and tomorrow there may be a large army that will cut off his army's return from behind! What this strange army wants to do is not to deal a serious blow to Xihu, but to make Xihu people panic and suspicious, thinking that we may have to steal from the back and may carry out a devastating blow to them! This is the greatest use of Strange Heart and Suspicious Soldier! Moreover, if this strange army was particularly lucky, it would be an unexpected surprise if it could catch the leaders of the big tribes left behind in the hinterland or even the wives and children of the Xihu Khan. The Xihu people will inevitably be shocked and the whole army will be in a panic, where will they have the heart to continue to attack Lingzhou? They must rather believe in what they have than what they don't, and immediately wave their troops to help. Let me use a very inappropriate analogy, if we know that there is a Xihu army in the rear prefecture and county, killing many people and kidnapping a few high-ranking officials and generals, and then they are missing, what will we think in our hearts? ”

Han Boxian's expression changed slightly, and the other generals discussed in a low voice, then we will definitely worry about whether something happened to our close relatives and good robes? Where will those Sihu people continue to cause trouble? If we let these people in, what kind of punishment will we receive in the future?

"For the Xihu people, compared to their own place of survival and the safety of their relatives, the victory or defeat of the first battle of Dingyuan is not worth mentioning at all." The military general said, "So I conclude that as long as we can make a disturbance in the hinterland of Xihu, the Xihu army will definitely retreat in panic!" Moreover, Han Junshuai calculated that the time between the attack and the return was six to eight days, and I thought that there was no need for such a long time at all, just calculate the time to launch the attack, and the return trip did not need to be counted. That is, if we send troops now, we can dig out the hearts of the Xihu people within three days. If it is a cavalry under my command, each person can bring an extra horse, and change horses to ride to ensure that the horses have enough physical strength to sprint, day and night are enough to run for two days! ”

Han Boxian's face changed, and he shouted, "No! ”

"Why not?" The general asked rhetorically.

Han Boxian's face tightened and hinted with his eyes that the general told him not to ask for any more battles, and said in his mouth: "How can you only think about the way and not the return journey?" Every soldier is our brother in robe, how can we not care about life and death? ”

The military general smiled and said, "If the three armies do not have dead soldiers, they will not be armies." ”

As soon as this military general said this, Han Boxian and several generals under his command all changed their faces.

"What do you mean, are you greedy for life and afraid of death in our whole army?" One of the lieutenants slapped the table vigorously, "I'm going to surprise the hinterland of Xihu!" ”

"Shut up!" Han Boxian let out a loud shout, and the general snorted and shut up.

The military general hugged his fists and said: "The generals forgive their sins, and there is no sarcasm in the future, just a matter of facts." I dare to assert that, emotionally speaking, no soldier of Great Xia would want his robe to die; But war, there is never no death. For a big battle, it is worth it if a small number of people can be exchanged for a big strategic victory. That means that there will be a lot fewer people going to die. Commander Han, generals, am I right? ”

Everyone was speechless. They knew that the general had to be right. Soldiers have a deep affection for their robes; However, no one knows whether they will survive a war or how much their robes will die. For a general who leads troops, he must be able to accept such things, he must take into account such things as "dead people", and of course, he needs to consider how to die a little less!