Chapter 747: Pacification (I)

A sharp blow to the Ming army. With the initiative of the Lai bandits to give up, the situation of the battle returned to the situation of the main areas controlled by the officials and troops, and the Lai bandits wandering among the mountains. The vast mountainous area is continuous and deep, and tens of thousands of people walk in, like a fish entering water, and he can't find it at all if he doesn't show his head.

It should be said that the failure to take advantage of all kinds of advantageous conditions and the defeat of Lai Qinggui in one go has caused great difficulties to the entire campaign. In this situation, it was completely futile to rush to divide the troops to search, and there was also the danger of being broken by the concentrated forces, so the Ming officers and soldiers had to stop, repair in the county town of Xiali, and wait for the next order.

The so-called next calendar is Dingnan County established by Wang Yangming, but the ruins here can never be linked to the new city decades ago, and it is more confident to say that it is the remains of the ancient city. After more than a decade of war, the new city was completely abandoned. After the officers and soldiers were stationed, there was not a single person on the street, and not even a complete house could be seen. They cleaned up the old site of the county government, repaired it as much as they could, and then used it as the garrison of the commander's camp.

At this moment, it is October, and the whining west wind comes in through the cracks in the lobby, blowing people even if they put on cotton jackets, they still feel the biting cold. But the three commanders, dressed in cold armor, gathered around the huge sand table, intently watching the situation of the enemy and us.

Seeing this, the surrounding officers all slowed down their movements, and did not dare to speak loudly, and the lobby seemed even quieter.

On the sand table is the topographic map of the next calendar, standing on the side, you can see it all in a radius of 100 miles, but you can't find Lai Qinggui's hiding place.

"You say, will he have left the next calendar?" Liu Xian finally broke the silence.

"No, it's impossible." Yu Dayou shook his head and said, "Although they are already rogues, they still can't do without food and water, as well as winter clothes...... This is his foundation, every village has his people, and he can raise food. The conversation changed: "But if he leaves the next calendar, he will have no foundation, and he will not be able to buy food with money." ”

"Yes," Yu Yin on the side said loudly: "Lord Jingluo chose to start the war in autumn and winter. Considering the lack of materials on the other side and the difficulty of wintering, although there is a way to escape, they dare not leave the nest. After a pause, he said: "If it is delayed until next spring, this mountain will be able to feed them, and there is really no way to take them." ”

Listening to the discussion of these two people, Liu Xian couldn't help but nod. He couldn't help but admit that what the two said was indeed very reasonable. According to his original idea, he surrounded the next group from all directions, and came to 'close the door and beat the dog', and Lai Qinggui had nowhere to escape even if he was an immortal. However, when he really got to this point, he realized that he was wrong—although the 'door' was closed, the 'courtyard' was too big to grasp.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that the dog could always get food from the yard, which made him helpless as a dog. After thinking for a long time, he narrowed his eyes into a line, and a few words burst out from between his teeth: "Then smash his dog food bowl first!" As he spoke, he smashed his fist on the edge of the sand table and said: "Now I have ten great general cannons that open mountains and crack stones, and the bones that Zhang Butang can't gnaw off, but they can't stump us!" "He's talking about the cannons that Silence has gotten. The range can reach more than ten miles, and the power is very amazing. Shen Mo once demonstrated for a group of She elders, and without much effort, he collapsed a watchtower, and Liu Xian was also present at the time, which left a deep impression on it.

"No, don't," Yu Yin hurriedly said: "Our general's cannon is indeed amazing, but if you want to knock on the wall more than a zhang thick, not to mention wishful thinking, but it is definitely not something that can be done by just ten cannons." "Silently remembered the famous words of the great mentor Marx, 'The appearance of gunpowder destroyed the feudal castle', so he took great pains to ask Xu Hai to unload a batch of cannons from the ship for him and transport them into the mountain at any cost.

But after experiments, it was found that the plump ideal is always illusory, and the reality of the bone feeling is extremely cruel, Mr. Ma was born three hundred years later, and the current artillery is still the era of front-loading smoothbore after all, and it cannot meet the sacred requirements of 'destroying feudal castles'.

Therefore, those imposing big iron guys can only play a deterrent role, and silently instructed Yu Yin that if Liu Xian wants to use this cannon to do something else, let him go, but if he attacks the city, he must be stopped, don't show his stuffing.

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Hearing that the cannon with high hopes was not bright, Liu Xian suddenly became anxious. Slap the table and say, "Then put all the oil bombs in and burn their turtle shells!" ”

"You can't do this unless you have to." Yu Yin said in the opposite tone: "Although there is no shortage of bandits in the walled house, there are more ordinary people. Here the clans intermarry with each other, and if we slaughter one, we will reverse the whole territory of the next calendar, and even change the attitude towards us elsewhere...... It's easy for us to be less passive, and we can't go back. After a pause, he said bitterly: "It was only because of the rebellion of the Three Nests that we came to quell the rebellion." However, the rebels have not been pacified, but you are going to attack the village in blood, stirring up a civil uprising and worsening the situation. I dare say that if you do that, within a month, you will be locked up and brought into Beijing for questioning! ”

"This doesn't work, that doesn't work......" Although Liu Xian had a bad temper, he could listen to persuasion, he knew that Yu Yin was reasonable, and he paced irritably when he heard the words and said, "Then this bandit is still not suppressed?" ”

The atmosphere in the lobby was a little stagnant, except for the whistling of the north wind. But everyone didn't think there was anything wrong with Liu Xian. As the commander-in-chief of the front. The pressure on his shoulders is very great, tens of thousands of troops are nested here, plus the people who serve it, there are more than 100,000 people, and tens of thousands of military funds are consumed every day, and the longer it drags on, the greater the pressure on him.

Seeing that Liu Xian was embarrassed to be like this, Yu Yin couldn't bear to say: "The admiral doesn't have to be like this, the initiative of the battle is still in our hands, and we still have a way to lure the snake out of the hole." ”

"Oh?" Liu Xian urged: "Don't sell Guanzi, say it quickly!" ”

"Actually, there was a big drought this year. In the spring, the hardest hit by the war is the boundary of the lower calendar, and I have already inquired, and more than seventy percent of the cultivated land here has been lost. Yu Yin said: "The rations of the local people are all bought from Guangdong. ”

"I know that." Liu Xiandao: "Every month, grain is transported from the south, because of the people's livelihood involved, our checkpoints can only check whether there are prohibited items, and then let them in." ”

"Why can they afford to buy food?" Yu Dayou asked in a deep voice.

"There is a salt ......" Liu Xian said suddenly: "What does Mr. Yu mean, control the salt well?" ”

"This is also a solution, but the idea of the students is to cut off the food that is shipped from other places to the next calendar." Yu Yin said in a flat tone: "As for the people's rations, they will all be allocated according to the head and from the military salary!" So he told a few generals about a huge plan that had been conceived in his heart for a long time.

According to his plan, the officers and troops should, on the one hand, block the grain routes leading from the outside world to the lower calendar, and on the other hand, let out the wind among the lower-level officers and soldiers to say that seeing that it is winter, and there is no way to deal with the bandit army entering the mountains, it is better to retreat to Longnan and return to Dingnan to seek a decisive battle for the enemy after the spring is warm.

"But with so many supplies and grain in the county, it is very normal for the transportation speed to lag behind the speed of the withdrawal of troops." Yu Yin's expression was still lacking, but the words he said made several general soldiers feel excited: "We artificially created an opportunity for them to guard the emptiness and chaos of the situation, and we don't believe that the hungry and green-eyed wolf can endure it." ”

Several general soldiers looked at each other, and they all felt that this plan was feasible, so they all looked at Yu Yin and said, "I would like to hear about it." ”

"Hehe, I'm just thinking about it, how to do it depends on the decision of the chief soldiers." Yu Yin smiled humbly.

"Supper." Liu Xian was in high spirits and said: "Let's talk by candle and night, and we will come up with a Ding Mao tonight!" ”

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So several civil and military officers moved to the brazier and began to deliberate Yu Yin's thoughts little by little.

"The withdrawal of the army must be carried out with great fanfare, so that the spies of the people and rebels along the way really believe that our army is going back to Longnan to spend the winter. Let the army retreat quietly in the night, do not move during the day, and withdraw in a few days. Qi Jiguang didn't say anything. It was only at the specific tactical level that he spoke.

"Why is that?" Liu Xian asked: "If the other party didn't notice it, wouldn't it be a bad act?" ”

"It's impossible not to notice." Qi Jiguang pointed outside and said: "Dingnan County is low-lying, on the mountains outside the city, you can have an unobstructed view of the city, Lai Qinggui will definitely send spies to stare at us, a little bit of wind and grass, and I can't hide from them." ”

"There's no need to sneak around." Liu Xiandao.

"No, he was put on a hard fight by us last time, and he must be more careful this time." Qi Jiguang shook his head and said: "If you make a big fanfare, you will think that it is another trap and don't fall for it...... On the contrary, the more cautious we are, the more convinced he is that it is true. ”

"And we can take advantage of the night to put on military uniforms for the people, and the army and the people will withdraw together. But on the way, the troops had to be divided into several groups and secretly ambushed at the designated places. Yu Yin continued: "This time, we will also use the cover of the mountain to serve as an ambush troop, and we must lurk in the mountain not far from the city, without raising fire or making noise, and completely hide our tracks." ”

"Then go out day and night, secretly transfer, and finally complete the outer line encirclement of Dingnan County." Yu Yin added: "Everyone must know in their hearts, what we are singing is a fake 'empty city plan', and the key is that we must create the false appearance of our army secretly moving eastward." As he spoke, he said with a fierce expression that did not match his appearance: "So anyone who flees halfway will be captured and beheaded." And all armies must have the idea of sweeping the tail after breaking off, and secretly place the people who have fallen behind - the other party is already a frightened bird, and it is difficult to let them be fooled again, only if we do not show our flaws, can we induce the other side to attack Dingnan, and then surround on all sides and annihilate the enemy army! ”

Yu Dayou thought for a moment, and said with some concern: "There is no city in Dingnan, there is no defense at all, and if you want to induce the other party to be fooled, you can't transfer the grain and straw." If we had just left on our front foot, the enemy would have come right away, and the remaining troops would not have been able to cope with it. Once the grain and grass are lost, then we will be self-defeating, and we will not be able to withdraw our troops. ”

"Don't worry about this!" Liu Xian said fiercely: "As long as Lai Qinggui can be wiped out in this field, what's the use of leaving that food?" Saying that, he gritted his teeth and said: "If you are still not at ease, when the time comes, you will directly order the grain and burn it clean, it will definitely not be cheap for them!" ”

"What if they don't fall for it?" Yu Dayou asked again: "It's freezing cold, our army is scattered and exposes its baggage to the enemy, this is a taboo for soldiers!" ”

"It doesn't matter, Mr. Yu is right, the grain is as big as the sky! As long as we cut off all the grain routes leading to the next calendar, within half a month, Lai Qinggui will be short of food! He was judgmental in what he said, because after chasing Lai Bandit all the way here, the other party had already lost all his baggage, and he only relied on the little food he brought with him to last for half a month.

"If you can't buy grain, the whole calendar will fall into a food shortage, although there may still be grain in the villages, and under the premise of not knowing when the embargo will be lifted, those patriarchs and elders will not allow a grain of grain to flow out of the walled houses." After this discussion, Liu Xian already had a complete plan in his heart, and regained his confidence and said: "People, as long as they are hungry, they will not care about anything." At this time, the hundreds of thousands of catties of grain in Dingnan City became their lifesaver, and they couldn't resist this temptation at all! ”

For these battle-hardened veterans, once they have a unified understanding, all aspects of the entire campaign will be quickly finalized, and the last question left is who will defend Nancheng. This undefended ghost place will attract tens of thousands of desperate bandits to attack, and the remaining troops should not be many, otherwise the enemy will be scared back.

So this is destined to be a dangerous errand, and Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou are both vying for help. But Liu Xian didn't plan to give them to them, he smiled and said: "Since the adults let me be the commander-in-chief, I have to make the best use of people to live up to the trust." Yuan Jing and Zhifu, I, Liu Xian, am conceited by nature, but I am very convinced of you, the two of you who lead the troops to fight, command the battle, and even grasp the battle situation are much better than me. Scratching his head and smiling, he said: "You two strong hands, let's take on the burden of leading troops to surround and wipe out the bandits." As for the simple errand of defending the city, leave it to me......"

"Admiral......" The corners of their eyes moistened a little, and they hissed, "You don't have to ......"

"Say no more!" Liu Xianyi raised his hand and said with a straight face: "This is the final military order, I will report our plan to the adults overnight, but without further ado, the blockade will start tomorrow, for the sake of insurance, first cut off his food and grass for a month-as long as the adults approve, we will officially start in a month!" ”

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The battle plan drawn up by the front line was quickly reported to Jingluo Xingyuan, and after reading it silently, he was silent for a long time before he sighed in a low voice: "This time, I don't know how many people are going to starve to death......

"My lord, there has never been a war that is not cruel." Shen Mingchen said in a deep voice: "Although there will be some costs, if you can end the war quickly, you can avoid a more serious disaster." ”

"I know, I know ......" Shen Mo slowly closed his eyes, and a trace of bitterness hung on the corner of his mouth: "I want to have fewer deaths, but I also want to win quickly, it is indeed my wishful thinking." ”

"It's time to make a decision." Shen Mingchen said softly.

"Well......" nodded silently, picked up the pen and wrote five words behind the paperwork: "Xu Sheng is not allowed to lose." ”

"In this way, Lai Qinggui will not be able to pass this year." Shen Mingchen said softly: "The only worry is, how will the imperial court explain?" "The plan at the front is certainly fierce, but it is also a little too cruel, and it will inevitably cause criticism from the imperial court.

Shen Mo actually pays attention to the matter of discussion, otherwise he would not have worked so hard and done so much homework, just to judge the success cleanly and neatly, and he would not fall into the handle of being attacked. But when the plan changed and he had to bear something, he also said very calmly: "It is my duty as a leader to bear the black pot for everyone......"

Although this was a joke, Shen Mingchen felt a strange feeling from the bottom of his heart...... When he left Hu Zongxian, the real inducement was that after Hu was defeated in Cen Gang, he brought Yu Dayou out as a scapegoat. Shen Mingchen couldn't get used to this kind of selfish behavior, so he didn't want to give advice to Hu Zongxian anymore.

Maybe this is really a guy worth following for a lifetime, Shen Mingchen had such a thought for the first time in his heart.

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In the search of the Ming army again and again, all of them returned without exception, and in the blink of an eye, it was November......

This month has not been good for all aspects, and the biggest trouble for the officers and soldiers in the Ming Department is that the temperature has been extremely low since the beginning of winter. It is said that in the mountainous area of southern Gansu, winter should not be too cold, but this year's climate is abnormal, and it begins to freeze soon after winter, and the cold seems to have reached the north. The officers and soldiers were unprepared for this situation, and as a result, the preparation of winter clothes was insufficient, many soldiers suffered frostbite, and their morale was sluggish day after day.

In fact, Shen Mo has urgently mobilized a batch of warm clothes, but in order to make the play more realistic, Liu Xian did not allow this batch of materials to enter the country, because this real predicament has a confusing effect on the enemy, which cannot be compared with no matter how clever his acting skills are.

Before the embargo by the official army, they had already sold their grain to the Lai bandits at a high price, and then used the salt in exchange to buy grain in Guangdong. If it was normal, it should have arrived a long time ago, but now it has all been seized by the officers and soldiers. As a result, the villages can only rely on the county seat to receive food rations to survive, how can that little food be enough to eat? Not even a hungry man.

Of course, this is only a situation to show to the public, according to rumors, many villages actually have grain in stock, but their patriarch is not allowed to leak secrets.

partition

I can write another half a chapter, and it's still more comfortable to send it tomorrow morning.

Chapter 747: Pacification (I)

Chapter 747 Pacification (above, to the website