What is the core purpose of Chapter 196?

On the east bank of the Sand River, the army had already begun to camp, but the sappers were not idle at all. The river was bitterly cold in winter, but they had to build two bridges on this night. There was a fire lit on the shore, and from time to time the sound of firewood was crackling.

Under normal circumstances, building bridges is not an easy task, even if the river is not very wide. The water depth of the Shahe River is no more than waist deep, and the river surface is not too wide, but about 20 meters. Originally, there was a wooden bridge over the river, but it was a little narrower, and four people could be paralleled at a time. The horse team can pass, and so can the artillery. However, in Chen Xie's opinion, that is too inefficient. Besides, the sappers also have to undergo similar training, and the results of the training in peacetime are now necessary to be tested.

More than a dozen sheepskin rafts were blown, and some of the sappers walked over the wooden bridge and began to drive piles from that side. A sharpened wooden stake is driven down, and the sheepskin raft is fastened to the stake with thick hemp rope, which is a working platform. One by one, the piles were driven into the river, and the prefabricated structures were brought down from the wagons, and the wooden piles were placed on them, and they were firmly fastened with thumb-sized nails. Then lay planks on top. Three sappers worked together, cutting stakes from the nearby woods, and the two ends were constantly pressed together in the middle of the river, and the prefabricated bridge slabs were put together one by one, and the two ends of the bridge would eventually be connected.

Chen Xie has been standing silently by the river and watching, behind him is a group of young officers and staff officers, these young people, imitating Chen Xie is a subconscious behavior. Chen Xie stood straight, and they all stood like wooden stakes.

The sky was getting darker, and the wind lanterns hung on the platform of the sheepskin raft. A string of lights appeared on the surface of the river. The sound of a wooden hammer smashing against a stake was heard far away in the wind.

"Prepare a little more ginger soup and a few more fires. Going down to the river to work changes every moment. Chen Xie didn't look back, and the orders he gave were naturally recorded and passed on. The river surface is well organized, and Chen Xie is deeply satisfied with this. This sapper army is still a bit immature, but as a class of troops that has never existed in this era, Chen Xie is already very satisfied with such an appearance.

Five hundred meters from the river, the battalion had already been erected, and the soldiers were still busy with some last things. In fact, against Kong Youde. There's no need to be so rigorous. But this army has always had to do it in accordance with the relevant regulations, and the slightest violation is a severe punishment.

The sound of horses' hooves of Tatar shattered the calm river. The end of the stone pier and the wooden bridge. A fast horse appears.

"It's the scouts who came back to deliver the news." Wang Qinian saw it clearly. In the past, it was customary to call it at night, but the scout was called so at the request of Chen Xie, and he got used to it when he called too much.

The fast horse was stopped by the sentry at the bridgehead. After a simple inquiry, they were released, and even if they were acquaintances, they had to check their documents during wartime. Strict discipline and system are the guarantee of victory in Chen Xie's mind.

"Report, last night my scout team encountered a fifty-man scout team of rebels in Qianwangzhuang, and the team officers who led the team gathered each team and led their troops to attack at night, except for one who escaped, all the others were annihilated." The formation of the scout team is different, a team has five squads, each squad plus eleven squad leaders. Moreover, the scouts are composed of the most top-notch soldiers in the army, and the items of lurking, tracking, and fighting have undergone rigorous training.

"Let's talk about the details of what I found." Chen Xie smiled, took out a cigarette, handed one to the hard-working scout, and lit a fire. The flattered scout looked a little clumsy and choked, and everyone laughed, and the atmosphere of Yan sù eased.

"Yesterday afternoon, our undercover post spotted this rebel scout, and word came out immediately. The team leader immediately reported to the team officer and decided to him. Unexpectedly, they didn't leave when they entered Qianwang Village, and the brothers waited outside for an hour, but they didn't see them come out. Feel like these grandsons, lazy in the village. In the first half of the night, the team officer sent two brothers in to investigate, but fortunately, they all lived in a large family's house, but the horses were not gathered together. The team officer pondered and decided to touch it in the second half of the night. No, we went in, and there were four sentries in it, and two of them were still dozing. What's so polite about this, I touched it all in one breath, and the other doors were blocked, and when I was about to do it, a horse ran away. The brother at the entrance of the village was not prepared and was rushed out, and then he kept chasing, but unfortunately he didn't catch up. The other rebels captured thirty-three people alive and killed seven. The captain asked the little one to come back and report that the rebels had captured Changyi the afternoon before yesterday, and it was only seventy miles away from us. The exact number of troops remains to be further investigated. ”

Chen Xie asked the scouts to go down to rest, beckoned the others to squat, opened the map and looked around for a while, and still habitually asked: "What do you think, you can talk about it now." ”

"As far as intelligence is concerned, there is no surprise from the estimate of the General Staff, tomorrow our army will cross the river, as long as the rebels do not run and fight an upright battle, our army will undoubtedly win."

"The previous deduction has thought of all kinds of possibilities, and the only thing that has not been studied and deduced is that the opponent runs away without a fight, and I think now we can make some deductions about this possibility."

"It is not difficult to defeat, but it is difficult to annihilate completely, and this problem should be taken into account. The cavalry battalion was built to make a detour behind enemy lines and block the retreat. Aim to finish the battle and solve the rebels at once. ”

"No, the number of rebels was originally more than 3,000, and this time they came to the east, and they successively captured the city, and coerced the people to at least 10,000. If total annihilation is emphasized, then the casualties of our army will increase considerably. It is the best policy to defeat them head-on, to carry out an uninterrupted pursuit with the mobility of the cavalry battalion, to eat the rebels bite by bite, and to defeat their courage to fight. ”

The discussion of the young staff officers was very lively, and Chen Xie stood aside and smiled and smoked, and did not intervene. I waited patiently for them to come up with a conclusion. At this time, a staff officer suddenly said: "I think everyone has overlooked one of the most important questions, what is the purpose of our war?" When the battle plan was drawn up before, didn't you repeatedly emphasize that you must seize the rebels' supplies? Do you think there is a problem with the battle plan we have formulated around this core? If there is no problem, just go ahead and do it. According to the battlefield situation, the cavalry battalion set off overnight, crossed the Jilai River in Haicang Town, and rested and lurked in Yu'er Town. Yu'er Town is only thirty miles away from Changyi, and the cavalry is a little more than half an hour's marching speed. Set off at the right time and attack Changyi. When the cavalry battalion takes Changyi, the money, food and materials are in hand, and the frontal battlefield is estimated to be almost over. If the rebels want to run, then run, it's best to run away, where is the place on the ground in Shandong? ”

This young staff officer, Chen Xie has the impression that he is the Lin He who was involved with the little widow in Luanzhou. Isn't he an artilleryman? How did you get to the staff officer? It should be a staff office with excellent grades and was recommended to the shore by the instructor captain.

After saying a word, everyone was speechless, and then Chen Xie said with a smile: "It seems that you have a conclusion, just follow this conclusion, modify and supplement the original plan, and after an hour, I need to see the new battle plan." ”

"Yes!" More than a dozen young staff officers stood up and answered loudly.

When the staff officers went down, Wang Qinian smiled and said: "Master, the water of the Jilai River is a problem, since winter, it has rained a little, is the river suitable for swimming?" Where will the rebels' battlefield choose? These are these questions, as if they have not taken them into account. ”

Chen Xie smiled slightly: "It's okay, there are many of them, someone will always think of it." I don't think they will ignore this detail. Don't worry, these young staff officers have grown up after experiencing the battle of King Qin. Besides, I didn't think about annihilating the rebels. Let's turn the loot into ours first, five cities, how much food do we need? ”

Wang Qinian listened to the blue light in his eyes and was eager to try.

Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng are also having a headache now, the opponent's scouts are too fierce, so it can be seen that many batches of scouts can't come back. In this case, it will be difficult to figure out the situation of the opponent, how many people they have come, and this question is not clear, it is a confused account. They are all old wars, and of course they know that they can't fight in a confused war.

"If we don't fight, we won't work, and we have no way out. Even if you want to be appeased, you must first play the majesty of the Dongjiang Army. It's better to go to bed early tonight, cook on the third watch tomorrow morning, and send troops on the fifth watch. Arrive at the Lai River before the green skin, and then see what to do with the surname Chen. If he wants to cross the river, we will give him a half-crossing to attack. Li Jiucheng thought for a while and came up with such an idea.

Kong Youde was silent for a moment, and wanted to ask rhetorically: "What if he doesn't move?" Just on the other side of the river? But after thinking about it for a while, Kong Youde didn't have any good methods, and in general, this method was the most reliable.

"That's the only way, fortunately the greenskins don't have cavalry, otherwise we won't be able to run away if we want to." Kong Youde said a word, and Li Jiucheng was very disdainful in his heart, but he didn't refute it.

When he returned to his residence, Li Jiucheng heard a woman's cry in a room, and the clouds in his heart had not dispersed, and his expression was naturally not good-looking. He is not afraid of the Shandong Army, and it turns out that the Zhandong Army is a piece of rotten shit. But this green skin, who really doesn't know the depths, has sent people to investigate many times, and he can't get close to the place where people are training. Occasionally, you can see the green skin doing some kind of pulling exercises, running in full gear. This army is too strange to look at with past experience.

"Come to my room when you're done." knocked on the door, Li Jiucheng said a word and left. After a while, Li Yingyuan, who was walking while tying his trouser belt, came in, and the rosy and excitement on his face had not subsided.

"Dad, are you looking for me?" Li Yingyuan has been very hilarious recently, eats well, dresses well, and sleeps casually with beautiful women.

"You, you can't always be like this, you have to care about things in the army, right? I know that I have eaten and drunk enough to sleep all day long, and Dengzhou Greenskin has called. Li Jiucheng said a word to his son, and Li Yingyuan hummed unconvinced. (To be continued......)