"Actually, in retrospect, it was a mistake to divide the 60,000 cavalry into three lanes."

Zuo Helin stated while thinking:

"If you gather in one place and face a Jurchen Tartar of up to 40,000 people, even if you lose, you shouldn't lose so badly."

Xu Shiyang looked at him and wanted to laugh a little.

This guy may indeed be a tactical genius, or he may just have no experience with strategic issues, so he can't understand this kind of logistical problem for the time being.

This is not surprising, and there is no need to be too harsh, after all, Zuo Helin has not experienced the baptism of massive data and information in the Internet era like Xu Shiyang, and he has never had strategic experience and learning before.

Xu Shiyang asked, "At that time, there were 60,000 people in Zamuhe?" So how many horses does he have? ”

Zuo Helin replied: "There were a lot of Mughuls, almost one person and two horses at that time, and there were almost no foot soldiers. ”

"If you only eat roughage, a horse needs at least 15 catties a day, and 120,000 horses need 1.8 million catties of feed a day."

Xu Shiyang smiled:

"Sixty thousand people gathered together, not to mention what people eat, what do you want Zamuhe to feed his 120,000 horses?"

"This ......"

Zuo Helin never thought about this problem, he always thought about the war, always only thinking about how to win more easily, but never thought about how to maintain an army that could make it easy for him to win, so that they would not starve to death.

"Have you ever thought that the reason why the Jurchen Tartars shrank on the Liaoshen line and did not come out was actually due to the consideration of shortening the supply line and saving food consumption?"

Xu Shiyang explained:

"Also, from the grassland to Liaozhong, how is the road condition? Can you support the 60,000-strong army to advance together? Not to mention supplies. ”

"The Mughal army can carry a large number of cattle and sheep, and they usually eat cheese ......," Zuo Helin weakly defended.

"If you bring a lot of cattle and sheep, what will the cattle and sheep eat?" Xu Shiyang shook his head: "Even if all the grassroots roots in Liaodong are dug up, it will not be enough to supply so many horses and cattle, so Zamuhe does not dare to bring so many cattle and sheep - of course, he is also afraid that these livestock will slow him down and be caught by the Jurchen Tartars." ”

"In fact, at the same time as the Mughal Tatars attacked, we also carried out a sabotage operation on the Liaozhong Plain."

Xu Shiyang said with a smile:

"We dispatched fewer troops, and the total number of people who actually entered Liaozhong was only 3,000 light cavalry, and a team of 100 people was divided into more troops than Zamuhe."

"But we have a temporary stronghold in the scorched earth area set up by the Tatars, and the so-called scorched earth of the Jurchens is not so clean, there are always people who can avoid the forced migration of the Jurchens and continue to live in their hometowns, and the presence of these people is also beneficial to our supply - the pressure difference between supplying 60,000 cavalry and supplying 100 cavalry is not only 600 times on the surface."

"Moreover, my cavalry is not for plundering, they don't need to march with a large number of looted cattle, sheep, wealth, and women, and they can always maintain strong mobility, so the Jurchen Tartars have nothing to do with us, but they can seize the opportunity to defeat Zamuhe through a series of mobile battles."

These words are not difficult to understand, and after listening to them once, Zuo Helin can roughly understand the meaning of Xu Shiyang's words.

But when he thought about it, he felt that these things just sounded easy to do, but they were too difficult to do.

The most important one in Xu Shiyang's words is nothing more than that:

The logistical supply capacity determines the maximum ceiling of the front-line force.

If you can transport 100,000 horsemen by a road and give them plenty of supplies, then you can gather an army of 100,000 and use them together.

If you can only supply 20,000 men through one road, then your army of 100,000 can only be divided into five routes, otherwise the more people there are, the more likely it is to break out into a disaster.

It's just that it's easy to know this, how can you have the ability to use a road to supply 100,000 iron horsemen?

As soon as he thought of this, Zuo Helin felt a little headache, you must know that so far he has not exceeded a thousand cavalry at most.

"You don't have to think about how to solve this kind of problem now, you have to do it behind closed doors."

Xu Shiyang said to Zuo Helin:

"Do you know why I want to see you today? Because I have seen from you the enterprising spirit of the younger generation of our Han people. ”

Zuo Helin glanced at Xu Shiyang, as if to say, "Young generation? Say it as if you're much older than me. ’

Xu Shiyang pretended not to see it and continued:

"Zuo Helin, I admire you very much, so I can be honest with you - it won't be long before I will deal with the Marquis of Shanxi, because their existence in the country is useless!"

"It's just that when the time comes, whether to deal with it by force, or by softer means, to leave a way for the princes, it depends on the performance of the princes themselves."

"Zuo Helin, you are also the prince of the world, you are willing to take the initiative to help, I am very pleased, I can count this on the head of the Zuo family, and I will give your family a little other preferential terms when the time comes, but the specific discount depends on your actual performance!"

"You want to go to war, I agreed."

"Now, I will give you two choices, and you decide for yourself what to do: first, you take your six hundred private soldiers into battle as a separate formed unit, and just obey the order to complete the mission; Secondly, you personally interned as an observer in my former enemy staff, and you don't get any specific credit here, but if you are serious, you can learn a lot. ”

"Which one do you choose?"

If it was in normal times, Zuo Helin, who thought highly of himself, would definitely choose the first path without hesitation.

Because he is familiar with this kind of cavalry unit of hundreds to more than a thousand, and can skillfully use his six hundred old brothers to achieve corresponding results, no matter where he is, it will be a record worth showing off.

However, after realizing that he did not have the ability to command a 100,000-strong strategic legion, Zuo Helin felt that he should find a way to make up for this shortcoming-he didn't want to be just a sharp sword forever, he wanted to become a real 10,000-strong enemy!

What's more, an internship in a command organization like the General Staff can better understand the operation of the Qi army, so as to see whether this army has the ability to sweep the world.

"I choose the second one." Zuo Helin made up his mind: "I'll go to the staff for an internship." ”

Xu Shiyang nodded:

"Okay, I'll give you the rank of temporary captain to facilitate your actions, but you should listen and watch as much as you can in the staff department, and try not to talk. I will give you a notebook, if you have any comments or suggestions, you can write them down and report to me after the war. ”

"Remind you again, the military regulations of the Qi army: before the war, everyone can give opinions, but in wartime, the Supreme Staff has decision-making power on the front line! Once the staff has made up their minds, everyone has to carry out the plan to the letter! No bargaining allowed! ”

"Okay."

Zuo Helin agreed briefly but forcefully.