The low courtyard walls, the narrow streets, and the civil structures that were easily smashed by the indiscriminate attack of less than 300 catties of stone bullets were the scenes that Zhi Yuqing and Wei Xun saw on the streets of Shangxian As for those Tuoba herdsmen and slaves with tired and panicked faces, they trembled in front of the guns of the Guanbei coalition army, and they did not see at all that this was once a fierce race that was deeply feared by the Han soldiers and civilians south of Luzi Pass.

The raid on Shangxian finally began after eighteen days of siege, and there was no suspense about the process and outcome. The defenders of the city, who had been tossed for eighteen days in a row, were indifferent to any noise made by the Guanbei army outside the city, not because they had lost their vigilance, but because the protracted fatigue tactics had caused these soldiers to lose their instinct to react, and when the six stone throwers outside the city began to throw stones into the city, although Tuoba Yilin and some strong-willed officers and nobles were still doing their best to drive the soldiers to the city to fight, the result was very effective. As soon as the soldiers who had been driven up the walls by force reached the city, they fell asleep against the walls with their weapons in their arms, ignoring the boulders that were constantly whistling and leaping overhead.

In this case, the assault detachment led by Kang Shi, fifty veterans of the Eighth Route Army, had almost no losses before breaking through to the city, and it was not until they landed in the city that the soldiers on guard woke up from their sleep and fought back against the assault team in an orderly manner. Under the cover of the commandos, the three infantry of the Eighth Route Army and the strength of a battalion of the Zhejia Army climbed to the top of the city in less than half an hour with the help of cloud ladders, and quickly controlled the city walls on both sides of the southwest.

After a short battle, the troops who ascended the city quickly routed the Tuoba soldiers stationed on the city walls. The city gates on the north and southwest sides of Shangxian were controlled in his hands.

When the sun rose overhead, the three city gates were opened at the same time, and the three battalions of the Zhejia Army rushed into the city from the three city gates under the cover of the three cavalry of the Eighth Route Army, and launched a "street battle" with the stubborn enemy troops in the corner of the city, and the Suizhou Battle came to an end.

By the time Zhi Yuqing and Wei Xun entered the city. The officers of the prison were still busy counting the results of the battle and the list of seizures. In order to prevent the enemy troops in the city from taking advantage of their own laxity to counterattack, the first thing Zhi Yuqing did after entering the city was to issue martial law, and all party herdsmen and Han slaves must be registered and checked one by one until it was confirmed that these people did not pose a threat to the safety of the army.

Originally, it was in accordance with the rules of the military land. The easiest and most effective way to break such an alien city and prevent the enemy from counterattacking is to slaughter the city. However, after serving as a counselor in the Eighth Route Army for a year, Zhe Yuqing already had a basic understanding of the military discipline and rules of this new type of army, and although he did not think so, he still adopted this relatively laborious way to appease the law and order in the city according to Wei Xun's suggestion. The two of them established a temporary Chinese army in a building in the city that was originally Tuoba Yilin as the place of the Assassin's Prefecture, and orders were sent from here to various areas of the city, and at the same time, an infantry battalion of the Eighth Route Army outside the city was on standby as a reserve force and was never released from the state of alert. This is a just case in case deployment.

"Behead two hundred and thirty-two levels, two of which are Tuoba Yilin and Tuoba Guangqi, and the experience is clear!" Wei Xun calmly took a page of white paper and folded it to Yuqing and said.

Zhi Yuqing breathed a long sigh of relief, and let go of the most suspenseful thing. His attention turned to the results of the battle: "What about the captives and the captures?" ”

Wei Xun picked up the paper below with an expressionless face, and said lightly: "Three thousand eight hundred mouths to eat, and three sheep, this is all!" ”

Fold Yuqing was shocked. Immediately, a wry smile appeared on his face: "In order to fight Suizhou, we almost consumed half of last winter's grain and grass reserves, but we only got three sheep, and we also carried an additional burden of 3,800 mouths. This battle is really not worth fighting. ”

Wei Xun pouted, no stubble.

War is not based on the gains and losses of one city or one place, this is the first lecture of the Liutaoguan strategy course, although Wei Xun is the commander of the supervising army. This verse was also listened to.

An officer of the Marquis Yu walked in briskly. He walked out quickly, leaving behind a simple bamboo tube.

Fold Yuqing and open the bamboo tube. Poured out the nitrate sheepskin inside, read it quietly, raised his head, and sighed: "There is still no movement to the west of Hengshan, Ye Ji asked for instructions to expand the search range to the northwest for another fifty miles, and the three cavalry and two infantry battalions under the command of Yang have been in ambush in the mountains for a day and two nights, and the troops are exhausted, so it is time to transfer them back." ”

Wei Xun looked down at the scroll of paper in his hand in turn, and said in a calm tone: "In terms of military command, since you have full authority to check the school, you are in charge, and you need to countersign the order, and I will countersign it myself." ”

Zhi Yuqing shook his head and smiled bitterly, although he was temporarily given full authority to command the Eighth Route Army by Li Wenge, even he knew that this was just for the sake of Zhe Congruan's face. In this Northern Expedition, Li Wenge's real greatest concern was not the branch attack on Suizhou and Yinzhou, but the western front attack on Xiazhou Tongwancheng, so although the Suizhou front line had gathered all the elite troops of the Eighth Route Army and the Zhejia Army at this moment, it was not the real main direction of attack.

Li Wenge was the first to reveal his strategic intentions to Zhe Yuqing, but at the last moment, he transferred Shen Chen from Yanzhou to the direction of Gyeongju, and handed over the command of the soldiers and horses of the Eighth Route Army to Zhe Yuqing.

It's not important, it's just that

It's not that he is worried about Yuqing's loyalty, but because he is not worried about his ability.

This made Zhi Yuqing feel helpless in his heart, and he didn't understand how Shen Chen, a guy from a poor background, didn't speak much, and was not even much older than himself.

Despite this, the feeling of having the military power in his hands is really good, Zhi Yuqing feels that he has nothing to complain about, Li Wenge can hand over all the elite soldiers under his command to him, an outsider, to command, and this amount of equipment and generosity has also made the Zhi family really sigh for a while.

Only Zhi Yuqing himself knows that it is not a measure, but self-confidence.

It wasn't until Shen Chen handed over the military power seal letter to him that Zhi Yuqing discovered the command system of the Eighth Route Army. It is completely different from the private soldiers of any feudal town in the world, and it is also very different from the forbidden army of the imperial court.

Just like the boldness of Li Wenge's entrustment of military power, Zhi Yuqing found that his partner named Wei Xun was really straightforward.

Zhi Yuqing has the right to transfer the Yan'an Regiment and the Fushi Regiment, the right to transfer the Security Cavalry Regiment, and even the local regimental training in Yanzhou has the right to command the transfer. However, he did not have the right to transfer the barracks that were in charge of guarding the Chinese army around the command organ of the Eighth Route Army at all times, and this corps of only more than 300 people directly belonged to the Eighth Route Army's Metropolitan Supervision Division, and only accepted Wei Xun's orders.

With millions of soldiers in his hands, the people standing guard outside the door are people who cannot be commanded by themselves. How could Zhi Yuqing not shake his head and smile bitterly.

It's not just about pro-barracks.

The location of the Chinese military was selected by Zhi Yuqing, but the whole process of the guard work was arranged by Wei Xun, and even the setting of the guard posts was arranged by Wei Xun himself, and the Chinese military pass order was also set by Wei Xun himself every night, and he would never pretend to be someone else.

What made Zhi Yuqing feel terrible was that this situation did not only happen in his own Chinese army, but also in the basic establishment of the team at the capital level, there was a similar restraint mechanism.

If these prison officers were to launch a mutiny against the military commanders. Zhe Yuqing believes that the success rate is basically above eighty percent.

However, under the wartime system, the combat troops did not receive any orders that did not originate from the military commander, who had to convey the orders of the military commander, who had to convey them to the heralds. The military commander is usually appointed immediately by the military chief, and in general, in times of war, the military chief will establish a set of herald rules according to the date. This set of rules is not allowed to be interrogated by the military supervision department. For example, at the end of every order issued by Zhe Yuqing through Duyu Hou Cao, there will be three Chinese characters written at the end, the first character is the heavenly stem, the second character is the earth branch, and the third character is the five elements; These three words, together with the token that each herald carries with him, allow the military commander to accept orders to move troops.

In addition, when camping at night, the Ping An horn will be played every other hour between the Chinese army and the garrisons of the troops above the battalion level, and the tone of this Ping An horn is sometimes only one long and one short two notes. Sometimes it's as many as five or six notes. It is entirely up to the military chief to decide on the spot, and only the commander-in-chief of each unit at and above the battalion level has access to this military secret. Wei Xungui is the chief officer of the Eighth Route Army, and he sits firmly in the fourth position in the army, but he has no right to intervene in this matter.

These systems of mutual restraint are not completely without loopholes, but at this stage, Li Wenge's prestige in the army is in full swing, and neither the command system nor the military supervision system has enough strength to challenge this system, and perhaps over time, this system will gradually be corroded and invalidated, but even if he is as smart as the imperial secretary, he thinks that that day will probably be more than ten years or even decades later at the earliest.

Li Wenge himself is a warlord, but he is in the army to guard against the slightest and strictly prevent the emergence of warlords, which is actually quite ridiculous, especially the current scale and chassis of the Eighth Route Army are still very small, with such a complex and strict system to rule, so that the Emperor Yu Qing has a sense of killing chickens.

If Li Wenge had become prime minister or privy envoy, he would have deserved to implement this kind of reform in the forbidden army.

Today, Li Wenge, although he is famous, is still far from the central power.

Zhi Yuqing sighed, drove these thoughts out of his mind, turned his head to Wei Xun and said, "If it weren't for the defeat of Gyeongju and the capture of many military supplies, this battle would have ended at this moment." If we continue to fight, the Tuoba family will not be comfortable, but our own difficulties will be even more! ”

Wei Xun looked at Zhi Yuqing, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "You have only been sharpening your gun for a month in the Liutao Pavilion, and all your efforts have been spent on the tactical course, and the first few classes of the strategy course are all absent, in the words of adults, this is not enough!" ”

Zhi Yuqing frowned: "How do you say this?" ”

Wei Xun put down the paper scroll in his hand, stood up, slowly walked to Zhe Yuqing's side, and said slowly: "The first lecture of the strategic elective course of the Wentao Academy of the Liutao Pavilion is clear at the beginning, war is the continuation of politics, and politics is the direct embodiment of people's livelihood and economy. In other words, the ultimate goal of fighting a war is to earn money, food, population, and territory, and all wars that are profitable for the army are wars with fixed goals, and on the contrary, they are unnecessary wars! ”

In a word, to fight a war, it is necessary to calculate the gains and losses of interests. The generals who don't calculate the gains and losses of interests are unqualified generals! ”

This sentence stabbed Yuqing's cheeks hot, and he couldn't help but argue: "Although I haven't listened to this class, I understand the reason, otherwise how can I feel this emotion?" ”

Wei Xun sneered: "It's useless to just understand the truth." If there is no solution, can just talk about it change the overall situation? ”

Seeing that Yu Qing was still not convinced, the military envoy of the inspection school lowered his head and thought about it, and slowly spoke: "Let's take the current situation as an example. At this point in the war, if you don't care about the situation on the Western Front, you will probably order the withdrawal of troops, right? Leaving two battalions or so of troops to defend the territory, the brigade will be pulled back to rest, and Suizhou will be used as a military salient in military studies, or according to the words of adults, it is called a strategic buffer zone, and in the future, there will be repeated tug-of-war with the Tuoba family in this area, right? ”

Zhi Yuqing said: "No. My father has united the soldiers and horses of the Yang family, and he will soon go down to Yinzhou, as long as Yinsui is united into a line, the Tuoba family will be powerless! ”

Wei Xun shook his head: "I don't know much about war. But we also knew that it depended on the general trend, and we suddenly sent troops, and all parties were caught off guard, so that we were able to calmly use troops. If it is according to the law of your land. Both the north and south sides have to station troops in the Yinsui area, we are a little better, how can Ling Zun and Yang Huoshan be relaxed? As long as the summer drags on, can the Khitan and the Northern Han sit back and watch the Zheyang family get through Yinsui and be indifferent? ”

Although he was still unconvinced, he also knew that what Wei Xun said was the truth. As the war drags on, Yanzhou may not feel the pressure in a short period of time. However, Fuzhou and Linzhou were absolutely unable to maintain the pattern of fighting on both sides for a long time. Once the Khitan and Northern Han moved. The Northern Route Army will inevitably withdraw its troops to help, even if Yinzhou is taken. In the end, it will also be taken back by the Tuoba family soldiers without blood.

It was not until this moment that Zhe Yuqing woke up to why Li Wenge was disappointed in his strategy.

Now the Eighth Route Army and the Zheyang two families are both prosperous and one loss, and the Zheyang two families withdraw their troops, and the Tuoba family will be able to free up their hands and use all their strength to compete with the Guanbei Army for Suizhou, at that time the battle on the front line will be a stalemate, and the Tuoba family has more cavalry than the Guanbei Army, and the mobility ability is stronger, so it will naturally take advantage of it.

Wei Xun continued: "Actually, there is another way to fight this kind of battle, but you can't! ”

Zhi Yuqing raised his head, but saw that the old god of the prison army was sitting down beside him: "On the Yanzhou side, the first soldier battalion has been formed, and there are about eighty young people who have studied and experienced local government affairs in the state and county yamen, and they will board the boat on the road in about one or two days, and they will arrive in Suizhou within five days." Before the official appointment of the governor of Suizhou, the military envoy will set up a military and political envoy yamen, and I will also serve as the chief envoy to act as the military and political affairs of Suizhou. Twelve of the 40 newest graduates of the Liutao Pavilion will be selected to follow the Shizi Battalion to the north, and they will be responsible for organizing regimental training in Suizhou......"

"Hurriedly formed a group training, weapons and equipment training can't keep up, it's just a rabble!" Zhi Yuqing pursed his lips disapprenously.

"There has never been a natural elite soldier in the world!" Wei Xun said with a slight sneer, "The so-called elite soldiers and strong generals are all beaten out!" How can you know who is a talent and who is a waste without experience? No matter how weak the rabble is, it is better than nothing, these rabble can't fight a tough battle, even if it is good to use it as eyes and ears, our scout cavalry is a treasure, and it should be used in the most critical place. Of the more than 3,800 people in the city, only more than 1,500 are party members, and the remaining 2,000 people are Han slaves. Whether it is to reclaim wasteland and farmland or open up pastures to appease public security, as long as they are used, these people will no longer be a burden, but a help, a soldier and a horse, a money and food, an armor and weapon, and everything that is powerful to us and unfavorable to the enemy! ”

Zhi Yuqing was dumbfounded when he heard this, Wei Xun shook his head slightly: "Playing a place is not just as simple as a few white-bladed charges, otherwise it is better not to fight!" To be able to attack is to be able to defend, to turn nothing into something, to turn the enemy into me, to turn the guest into the main, the war is not only military, the time and place are favorable, you can't wait to wait, it is one thing to conquer the city, to receive the city, to control the city, to use the city, this is another thing! ”

Zhi Yuqing was already dumbfounded when he heard it, and asked in a demented daze, "Can this be done?" ”

Wei Xun smiled faintly: "My lord said that there is nothing in the world that cannot be done, only the distinction between doing and not doing!" It's better to do it than not to do it well, even if it may not be able to have an effect, if you don't do it, it will never have an effect! Since we have sent troops to attack the Dingyan army, it is a battle of life and death, and this kind of battle is to fight for time, land, and people, and do everything! ”

He paused and said with a smile: "This truth, adults understand, Lao Shen's stewed mouth gourd understands, and I, a layman, also understand, but you don't understand!" ”