Holding the golden rice bowl and asking for rice, this is the most obvious portrayal of the Song Dynasty.

It is said that the Song Dynasty lacked horses and was defeated repeatedly. In fact, the Song Dynasty lacked horses, but it was not only money, with strong financial resources, it was completely possible to form a cavalry, even if it could not be compared with the Liao Iron Cavalry, the Jin Army Iron Cavalry, and the Mongolian Iron Cavalry, it was entirely possible to form a 30,000 Iron Cavalry.

During the era of Song Renzong, he planned to organize iron cavalry, but was opposed by the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, even Fan Zhongyan.

As a result, from Sichuan, Liaodong, Dali, Qingtangqiang and other places, many war horses were introduced, and the number of war horses was also quite large, which was enough to form an iron cavalry to compete with the Liao State and the Jin State. But it is very tragic, there are a lot of war horses, but they are scattered like pepper noodles and scattered to various troops. As a result, each unit had cavalry, but there were not many of them, three or five hundred horses

Cavalry can only exert its power if it is used intensively. As a result, the Song Dynasty dismantled the cavalry and distributed it among the various armies, so each army had iron cavalry, but they were all scum.

The cavalry has always played the role of the "concubine" of the infantry, did not pay attention to the cavalry, and misused the cavalry, resulting in the lack of offensive in the Song Dynasty.

Don't pay attention to cavalry, pay attention to infantry, at least resist cavalry with foot, and also have the strength to fight. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the strength of the infantry of the Song army was comparable to that of Wei Wushu during the Warring States Period, and the combat power was very strong, but it was a pity that the strong combat power did not last long, and it declined rapidly, and the decline reached an outrageous point.

Today, the Great Song Dynasty only has the Western Army left.

But in Zhao Pu's view, he is also a strong outsider, and it is okay to fight a tailwind battle, but if he loses some battles, he will be defeated immediately. The prospect is extremely worrisome, but we must fight, even if this battle is a must be lost, or even a battle must be lost.

…………

After listening to Zhao Pu's analysis, the seed master was immediately stunned and surprised by Zhao Pu's ruthlessness.

is indeed ruthless, using some soldiers as bait to attract the attention of the Jin army; With another part of the soldiers as a fishing hook, ambush the Jin army that came to support. This battle plan is not profound, it focuses on ruthlessness, and the soldiers who are used as bait may be completely annihilated, just to ambush a part of the Jin army.

"This won't work!" The planter hesitated.

"General, this battle itself is a battle that must be lost. The Jin Army's East Route Army went south, seriously damaging the economy of the important areas of Gyeonggi, and could not send sufficient grain and grass to our army, and the Hedong Road was also attacked by the Jin Army, and the grain and grass provided were limited. But blindly sending troops, on the Jinzhong Plain, fighting with the Jin army's iron cavalry, can we withstand the Jin army's attack? ”

"Since it is a game of inevitable defeat, why don't we fight hard, break the wrist of the strong man, and at the expense of some soldiers, eliminate part of the Jin army, and consume the living force of the Jin army. The Jin army is different from us, the Jurchen population is limited, and it is difficult to replenish it after death! Kill one is enough, kill two and earn one! ”

"As long as the Jin army loses more than 100,000, it will be difficult to invade the south, and my Great Song will also have time to breathe!"

"Have you thought about the consequences?" "This plan is extremely vicious, entrapping some allies and making some allies fall into a certain death. If you let some great Confucians in the court know, you and I will definitely fall into a place of no return! “

"I didn't think about it, I knew that this battle was a battle of national fortune!" Zhao Pu said, "If this battle is lost, the elite of the Western Army will be wiped out, the Jin Army's Western Route Army will go south, capture Tongguan, and besiege Bianliang on the east and west, my Great Song will die, and the Great Song Dynasty will die, do you care about this?" ”

There was silence among the planters, and it was a huge choice.

"Okay, let's put it together!" The Seed Master Dao finally spoke.

Zhao Pu took a deep breath, and at this moment he was linked to the fate of the old general.

………………

Fighting on the battlefield, the more you think, the more you think, the less you lose.

The general operational policy has been specified, but the specific plan still needs to be carefully considered. For example, where the ambush location is, how to avoid the detection of the Jin army by day and night, and the time when those foot soldiers are responsible for execution, and the time when the Jin army's iron cavalry goes south. These need to be thought about by the planters, and Zhao Pu can't intervene, and he is happy to be idle.

A day later, facing the map of Hedong, the seed master told the details of this ambush battle.

Listening to the narration in the seed division, Zhao Pu also nodded secretly in his heart, he is worthy of being a veteran in the seed division, and the battle plan is not leaky, and there is almost no loophole to be found.

Zhao Pu said: "Everything is perfect to death, and the old general deserves to be war-hardened!" ”

"It's just that the number of troops in the ambush should not be too much, no more than 10,000, and these 10,000 people are best selected in the whole army, and the best soldiers in the whole army will participate in the ambush!" Zhao Pudao.

The planter nodded.

There are 10,000 people, and there is no boundary. On the flat land in the suburbs, 70,000 soldiers stood on the plain, some were family soldiers, some were other departments in Shaanxi, some were temporarily recruited, and some were from the forbidden army in the capital.

No matter how good the battle plan is, it also needs elite soldiers as support, otherwise everything will be in vain.

And the selection of troops is the key to the victory or defeat of this battle

On the high platform, the planter Zhongdao, Zhao Pu and others looked at the soldiers below condescendingly. He didn't speak, just quietly looked at the audience, and next to it was an hourglass, the sand kept leaking, and time passed little by little, and after ten minutes some soldiers couldn't stand it anymore, or reached out to scratch it, or whispered to the side, or looked around.

"General, this battle is about discipline, and only by strictly enforcing discipline can you qualify! Those who make small gestures are excluded! Zhao Pu whispered, his eyes full of disappointment. Standing is the simplest action, and it is also the easiest test of a soldier's discipline.

When the sand of the hourglass runs out, it is only ten minutes, but after a general glance, the number of qualified people is less than one percent, that is, a team of 70,000 people, and only 700 people can "stand like a pine", which will be focused on.

At the same time, several clerks on the side quickly ticked the box, recording the soldiers who were not moving

"It is as fast as the wind, its promise is like a forest, its aggression is like fire, and it is as immobile as a mountain. Soldiers, discipline first, immobile as a mountain first. Zhao Pu said, "The first level of military selection is discipline, please give the general an order!" ”

The planter nodded and began to select troops.

"The first level, test endurance, lie on the ground for an hour, and leave if you can't hold on!"

This level is a test of discipline, as long as the discipline is good, it can be better hidden in the ambush and not be detected. At this time in May, the sun is hot, lying on the ground for an hour is itself a torture, and being able to endure the torture and have a strong will is a skill in itself.

At first, 70,000 people lay quietly on the grass, but as time went on, some people couldn't bear it. At this time, some military discipline officers went down to eliminate those who were unqualified, and those who were eliminated were eliminated and had no chance to participate in the ambush.

An hour passed, and less than 20,000 people persevered;

"In ancient times, Wu Qi selected soldiers, drilled Wei Wushu, soldiers wore triple armor, held Ge with swords, exercised 12 stone crossbows, 50 crossbow arrows in the negative arrow bag, carried three days of rations, and could walk a hundred miles in half a day. And my selection criteria have dropped a lot, the second level, as long as you carry your respective weapons, reach Yuci City from here, go around twice, and return here, you will reach the standard! ”

With the order of the planter, more than 70,000 soldiers began to run, and among the planters, Zhao Pu and others followed on horseback.

From here to Yuci City, and then back is about thirty miles, and if you can hold on to it back and forth, you are qualified soldiers. The Song Dynasty lacked horses and did not have too many means of transportation, so they could only rely on two feet to travel. This level is a test of physical strength, good physical strength, fast running, not being caught up by a four-legged horse, in order to have a chance to live.

In an hour and a half, 8,000 people reached the target.

"Eight thousand is enough!" Looking at these 8,000 people, Zhao Pu's heart was full of pride. originally thought that less than 5,000 people could pass these two levels, but in fact, 5,000 reached the standard. It seems that compared with modern people, ancient people generally had higher physical strength and endurance.

"If the Jin people reinforce Taiyuan from the clouds, at least tens of thousands of people, 8,000 people ambush the Jin army, is this enough?" There was some suspicion in the tone of the seed master, the ambush pays attention to surprise, and also pays attention to the fact that there are more soldiers and bully fewer soldiers, and 8,000 people ambush, is this enough.

However, even he didn't notice it, and gradually centered on Zhao Pu in his suspicions, from disdain in the past to listening carefully to opinions.

"Ambush and, above all, concealment. There are too many troops, the easiest to expose, eight thousand is just right! Zhao Pu said, "Don't worry about the lack of soldiers, what you need to worry about is that the soldiers are not elite enough, and the details are easy to make mistakes!" It is best for these 8,000 people to concentrate on closed training, and train them to be the ace division of urban and mountain warfare, and become a nightmare for the Jin army! ”

"The Jin army is strong, but it is only on the plains, and the iron cavalry is invincible; Fighting in the mountains, they will taste the fruits of evil like never before! ”

"Besides, I don't plan to fight against the main force of the Jin Army with eight thousand, focusing on avoiding the strong and attacking the weak!"

For some time to come, the Iron Cavalry of the Jin Army is invincible, and it is a nightmare for all enemies on the plains. Since it is impossible to compete on the plains, it is to fight in the mountains, and in naval operations, it is a great victory over the Jin army. In the future, the main battlefield will be fought in Hedong, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei and other mountains and hills. As long as you defeat the Jin army there and hold the line firmly, you will have a chance to turn the tables.

"This is eight thousand elite soldiers, it is best to train according to the formation map above, it is enough to be invincible in the mountains!" As he spoke, Zhao Pu took out a stack of paper and handed it to the planter. It contains detailed instructions on how to set up the formation, how to train the soldiers, how to divide the attack, and how to deal with the hoplites.

"Mandarin Duck Array!" The seed master didn't think so at first, but the more he looked at it, he was gradually fascinated by the content, and couldn't help but sigh, "What a powerful array!" It seems that there is no similar formation in the ancient books, it must have been created by His Highness himself! ”

The seed master is proficient in all kinds of tactics and all kinds of formations, but he doesn't have the slightest impression of this formation, obviously this formation is the latest creation.

Zhao Pu said in his heart: "This is Qi Jiguang's fame array, which only appeared after hundreds of years, so you naturally don't know!" ”