Soon Jia Minghe received the news that the Ming army of Guide Prefecture responded to his call, and Yu Dong, the general soldier of the Bianjun army, was particularly active, expressing his willingness to obey the moderation of the new army, but Jia Minghe was the first to look forward.

With the help of Yu Dong, a fierce general who had defeated Xu Ping and persevered until the end, the whole army stopped for ten and stopped for seven before withdrawing from Kaifeng Mansion, and Jia Minghe was more confident in taking the county in one fell swoop. The strategy of delaying time and grinding foreign workers is close to success, and the remaining problem is how to contain Xu Ping and prevent him from making trouble at a critical moment.

Since only one battalion has been dispatched, this issue must be considered, and in addition, the combat effectiveness of the western battalion is already stronger than that of ordinary displaced people, and the western battalion has been extremely active in recent times, and both its morale and combat effectiveness have been greatly improved. Jia Minghe wanted the new army to take Qixian unscathed, so he needed careful analysis from the officers and staff officers. He Ma, the commander of the Xuanfeng Battalion, made a suggestion: "My lord, you might as well let the Xuanfeng Battalion launch a feint attack on Kaifeng, so that we can contain Xu Ping's troops." ”

"That's a good idea." The staff officers of the third battalion and Jia Minghe both agreed, and tens of thousands of Bian's troops were surrounded in Kaifeng, and the urgent shortage of food seriously affected the combat effectiveness, and once they were released, they would form a new threat. If these Bianjun troops can cooperate closely with the new army, the pressure on the intrusion army will be greatly increased, and the relief of the siege will undoubtedly be a shot in the arm for the Bianjun, whose morale is low. And if Xu Ping can't quickly take Kaifeng by starvation, then the army in Kaifeng Mansion will not be able to get rid of the situation of being attacked by the enemy on their backs, and in general, the entire camp in Henan will not be able to get rid of the situation of the new army, the Qin army, the Chu army, the Jin army, and the Hebei army being attacked from several sides.

Although a feint is Jia Minghe's favorite tactic, the current situation still makes him feel a little helpless, because the place where he plans to launch a feint is the correct direction of the main attack, but the purpose is to attract attention to an attack that has little military significance. But since a feint was to be launched, it was still necessary to pretend to be like it enough, and Jia Minghe sent people to Kaifeng to try to get in touch with the defenders, so that they could prepare for the relief army; ordered Zhu Yuanhong to assist in carrying grain and grass into trucks; At the same time, it also actively investigated the movements of the intruding army.

After receiving the news of Jia Minghe, the Kaifeng defenders took active action, they carried out reconnaissance operations on the side facing the reinforcements, and handed over the information to the liaison personnel to send out.

These activities of the Ming army naturally attracted the attention of Xu Ping's General Staff.

"The imperial court's newspaper said that the new army could open the siege at any time, desperately appease the gentry in Henan, and even selected a new batch of magistrates in Kaifeng Prefecture, it is conceivable that General Jia must be under great pressure." Xu Ping judged that the new army would decide to advance to Kaifeng because it could not withstand the pressure of the imperial court, which was what he had been looking forward to for a long time: "The biggest strength of the new army is the number of their artillery, so we must make more use of trenches and earthen walls to conduct field battles." However, the guns of the Forces nouvelles move slowly, and we can easily determine their attack route. ”

On the western front, there was news that King Chuang had won another great victory, Luoyang was lost, Kaifeng was besieged, and the imperial court not only mobilized new troops to Henan, but also strictly ordered Qin, Jin, and Chu armies to aid Bian. The Jin army has been refusing to send troops, Zuo Liangyu has only sent 8,000 people from Huang Shouqian so far, and the main force is still guarding against Li Zicheng going south to Huguang. However, unlike the Jin army and the Chu army, which had low morale, the Qin army, as the most effective unit of the Ming Dynasty outside the new army, immediately mobilized and assembled after receiving Chongzhen's order.

This is after the battle of Songshan, the Ganshan border army once again went out of Tongguan to help, in any case, Liaodong is outside the pass and far away, the last time Hong Chengchou brought reinforcements to Liaozhen was 30,000 Qin troops; Henan was the heartland of the Ming Dynasty and a neighboring province of Shaanxi, and Fu Zonglong gathered 50,000 Qin troops to attack Li Zi's troops at Tongguan.

For Li Zicheng, this was the first time he fought with the Qin army since the recovery of the 18th cavalry, and the invasion army concentrated a total of more than 20,000 elites in five battalions, and 18,000 allied troops such as Luo Rucai and Lao Huihui launched a field battle with the Qin army. As a result, the Qin army was defeated, more than 10,000 people were captured, countless soldiers were killed and fled, and less than thirty percent of the Qin army fled back to Tongguan.

This battle was the first time since the peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty that the Qin army was defeated by the righteous army in the case of a comparable number of people, and the loss was so great that it also replaced the defeat of Songshan as the heaviest one since the Wanli Dynasty.

……

Jingshi, Zhendong Hou Mansion

"The Son of Heaven is furious, and he has ordered Fu Zonglong to enter Beijing, and it is estimated that Tiqi has already set off."

Today, several henchmen around are talking about the incredible defeat of the Ganxi border army, and it is okay if the new army or the Bianjun army was defeated by Xu Ping before, but the Qin army, which has always been regarded as a dry city by the Ming court, will be defeated by the peasant army, which really makes everyone feel incredible.

The Marquis of Zhendong did not interrupt their discussions, and today he received secret representatives sent by the Fujian and Guangdong Councils, and they proposed a new commercial law for the Marquis of Zhendonghou to see, but now it seems that their interest was all attracted by the war in the northwest.

"There is no strong enemy in the encounter." Zhendong Hou silently recited in his heart his original evaluation of Li Zicheng after breaking through Luoyang, Fu Zonglong's defeat should have happened a long time ago, following this defeat, Li Zicheng led his tens of thousands of old battalion elites across the Central Plains, and gave the Qin army four annihilating blows, two Chu troops, and one Hebei army in two years, eliminating 200,000 Qin troops, 200,000 Chu troops, 100,000 Hebei troops and all the Bian's troops. In just two or three years, the Ming Dynasty, which claimed to have 2 million troops, lost 600,000 troops in the Henan battlefield, which far exceeded the blow of Tumubao to the Ming Dynasty, which was almost twice the total loss of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong in the past 20 years, from Sarhu to Songshan—this was the short-lived golden age of Li Zicheng.

For a long time, the Marquis of Zhendong had no time to go to inquire about military affairs, and then a thought suddenly popped up: "Should I take a month out to carefully inquire about the situation of the new army?" ”

"Master Hou." A respectful voice came: "Tomorrow, we will ...... with the countries of the South Seas"

"Master Hou, ...... in the Indochina Peninsula."

"I'll see." The thought that had just risen in Zhendong Hou disappeared without a trace.

……

Due to Xu Ping's outstanding performance in Kaifeng, there was no need for Li Zicheng to march east with the whole division to personally command the third siege of Kaifeng, while the Ming army on the western front only left the Sichuan army with more combat effectiveness. Therefore, Li Zicheng only sent part of the reinforcements after hearing that the new army and Xu Ping were in a confrontation, and Li Guo was the largest of them.

In Li Zicheng's original plan, his main force would consider moving south or east after defeating the Sichuan army. But the Sichuan army behaved tenaciously, and they slowly retreated westward, leading Li Zicheng further and further westward. As he went deeper and deeper, Li Zicheng's mind also changed, and all the generals who broke into the camp felt that if they really wiped out the Sichuan army, it would not be bad to harvest the eastern Sichuan army like lightning.

Xu Ping was confident that he would blockade Kaifeng with the strength he was currently having, so when Li Guo arrived in Kaifeng Mansion, he asked Li Guo to garrison the county town to monitor the Ming army in Guide Mansion to guard his flanks, so as not to disturb his defense of the new army.

In the face of the active activities of Kaifeng and the new army, Xu Ping insisted on digging trenches and building fortifications between Lanyang and Kaifeng. After a long period of observation of Xu Ping, Jia Minghe gradually relaxed, and today he received another holy decree, once again strictly ordered to immediately attack with the surrounding generals, and take advantage of the arrival of the large army that defeated the Qin army to relieve the siege of Kaifeng. Jia Minghe no longer hesitated, and immediately sent people to contact Huang Shouque and Yu Dong, and once again organized the staff officers of the third battalion to discuss the plan for attacking Qixian.

"The speed of our army is easy to master, but it is difficult to say whether friendly forces will arrive in time." Needless to say, the whole army knew this, so the staff officer suggested the opposite: "We let the friendly forces determine the time of arrival, and our troops will arrive at the same time on the day when the friendly forces can attack, not on the day when the friendly forces will attack." ”

Jia Minghe agreed: "It's very appropriate, just do it." ”

On 5 September, Xu Ping received a report from Li Guo that the Ming army opposite him had behaved abnormally, and that Yu Dong and Huang Shouque had mobilized and collected grain and grass, apparently intending to launch an attack on Ci County. Since Xu Ping had already informed Li Guo of the new army's unusual behavior and his analysis, Li Guo believed that the Ming army in front of him was a feint in order to attract troops from Xu Ping. Li Guo didn't want Xu Ping to send troops, he just reminded Xu Ping that the Ming army's action to lift the siege of Kaifeng was close at hand, and asked Xu Ping if he needed him to send some reinforcements.

This letter made Xu Ping very happy. Li Guo was Li Zicheng's nephew and confidant, and since he arrived at Kaifeng, Xu Ping repeatedly emphasized the significance of containing the new army in Kaifeng, and asked Li Guo to cooperate with him for this purpose. Since Li Guo guaranteed that he could defeat the attacks of Huang Shouque and Yu Dong, Xu Ping asked him to send rich troops to himself, and the more soldiers to deal with the new army, the better.

After the letter was written, Xu Ping alerted the Guards Battalion and the West Battalion that a major battle was imminent, and at the same time asked his staff officers to intensify their study of the possible offensive route of the Jiaming River.

Only half a day after the alarm was issued, Zhou Dongtian came to Xu Ping: "My lord, the staff team asks you to come over." ”

"Is there anything serious?" Xu Ping got up and followed Zhou Dongtian to meet the staff officers, if he hadn't found a serious defense hole, it was said that Zhou Dongtian would not have come to him in such a hurry.

When Xu Ping walked into the tent of the staff team, he found that everyone had serious faces. At present, the guards battalion has a huge staff group with more than 50 members, which is five times the number of staff officers in the new battalion.

"My lord, we have found a great possibility." Zhou Dongtian reported to Xu Ping on behalf of the staff of the Guards Battalion: "We believe that the New Army will send a battalion to participate in the attack on Ci County, and the time should be within three to five days, and the New Army's actions in front of us are to cooperate with the feint attack on Qi County. ”

This judgment made Xu Ping very surprised, because the county was not important at all, even if he lost Xu Ping, he would not frown, but he still asked the staff officers to continue: "Brother Zhou, can you tell me how you made this judgment?" ”

"As soon as the news of the arrival of the county was reported today, Staff Officer Hu immediately noticed the abnormality."

The staff officer named Hu Chen was a young boy, and Zhou Dongtian motioned for him to speak. Hu Chen said to Xu Ping: "My lord, please think, is it possible for the Bianjun and Chu armies to sacrifice their own forces to launch a feint attack for the new army?" ”

Hearing Hu Chen say this, Xu Ping also felt that something was wrong. Zhou Dongtian nodded and said, "As soon as Brother Hu Chen said it, we all immediately understood that the Lord and General Li had guessed wrong. The adults paid too much attention to the new army's relief of Kaifeng, and General Li was also influenced by the adults. ”

"That's right, that's right, you go on."

"We know very well what kind of goods Yu Dong is, he will never dare to attack General Li in Ci County; Huang Shouque was anxious to make meritorious contributions, and since he reached Guide, he has been desperately persuading Yu Dong to attack the Kaifeng Mansion boundary, but no matter what he says, Yu Dong refuses to do it. When General Li first arrived in Ci County, Yu Dong didn't dare to come, but now that General Li has gained a firm foothold, how can Yu Dong dare to come? So we decided that this couldn't be what Yu Dong and Huang Shouque meant, there must be someone else behind them to support them, and this person can only be the new army. ”

"Then why did the new army attack Qixian?"

"We suspect that the new army may have been forced by the imperial pressure." Zhou Dongtian took a step back and gave Hu Chen the opportunity to speak again: "Brother Hu, come on." ”

"My lord, I think that the new army is killing good and risking merit."

"Killing good and risking merit?"

"Yes, my lord, when the officers and soldiers are unable to exterminate the righteous army, they will kill the common people and give them to the imperial court," Hu Chen replied fluently: "Now that the new army is under pressure from the imperial court, and they can't relieve Kaifeng, they have to kill the good and take the risk, and the county is the 'good' they want to kill." ”

Xu Ping fully agreed with the analysis of Yu Dong's unusual behavior, and since the New Army also had plausible motives, he also agreed with the judgment of the staff team: the New Army was likely to send troops to attack Xixian.

"But why did the new army let the Ming army of Guide participate in the battle?" Xu Ping still had one last question that he hadn't thought through: "Why did they risk leaking secrets to contact Yu Dong?" ”

"As the adults said, the county doesn't matter, and they don't care about this credit, as long as they can give an explanation to the imperial court. In our opinion, the Forces nouvelles are not willing to lose their own troops. Most of the time, the new army suppressed the defenders of Qixian County, and then let the soldiers and horses of Guide Province enter the city to fight General Li's troops hand-to-hand. Hu Chen paused for a moment and added: "My lord, I thought that the new army might not know the details of Yu Dong at all, and the governor of Henan praised him. Thinking that the new army might be influenced by the government, he greatly overestimated Yu Dong's strength. ”

Seeing that Xu Ping was deep in thought, Zhou Dongtian said his suggestion: "The most effective part of the new army now is the Shanlan battalion, and most of the battalions sent to attack Cixian are this battalion. Most of the Xuanfeng battalion will grind with us in Lanyang, fight for a day and then retreat back to the camp at night, and we only need to leave one wing to stop them from breaking the siege. In order to thwart the new army's attack on Qixian, I suggested sending a wing to reinforce General Lee. ”

"If I send a wing, will I be able to inflict heavy damage on the Yamalan camp?" Xu Ping shook his head and said: "Definitely not, since they have brought the troops of the Guide Mansion, they will definitely not attack the city by themselves." It is useless for us to leave a wing here, surely we are hiding behind trenches and walls, and the Jamin River shelled it for a day, and he did not attack. ”

"It's useless to leave a whole battalion here." Zhou Dongtian retorted: "We have several plans to rebuild the army, but first they have to seriously relieve Kaifeng, if they are feints, we will have no chance." He thinks that Brother Hu's words are very reasonable, General Jia must be a feint attack on Kaifeng and a real attack on the county, and it is useless for us to leave two wings here, so let's send them to the county, and the new army will definitely return. ”

"General Jia always said that before making a plan, you have to ask yourself a question three times in a row." Xu Ping smiled and asked Zhou Dongtian, "What's the problem?" ”

"Can you fight a war of annihilation?"

"Two more times."

"Can you fight a war of annihilation?"

"Can you fight a war of annihilation?"

The staff officers in the tent spoke twice together.

After everyone finished reading, Xu Ping immediately asked, "Okay, if I lead the whole battalion to the county, how sure is it that the Shanlan camp will be hit hard?" ”

"Not a chance. First of all, we have to let the Shanlan battalion attack, so that we can inflict heavy damage on them. If the Shanlan battalion is determined to hold on, then they have twelve cannons and we have only two, and besides...... The selection battalion is not an ornament, if we transfer all the guards battalions, maybe Jia Minghe will break through the defense line in one fell swoop and relieve Kaifeng. ”

"As long as the Shanlan camp can be severely damaged, it is not impossible to lift the siege of Kaifeng......

As soon as Xu Ping said this, he saw Zhou Dongtian's face showing surprise. Xu Ping smiled softly: "As long as the Shanlan camp is hit hard, only one battalion of the Xuanfeng battalion can be able to hold such a long grain road." ”

"I understand what my lord means, but there is absolutely no problem in choosing the Feng battalion to escort the grain hoarded in Lanyang into the city. Moreover, after the selection of the front battalion enters the city, if we storm Kaifeng, the casualties will be very large. Once Kaifeng has these grains and the Xuanfeng battalion, we will stop the city. ”

"At the beginning, I attacked Kaifeng with a battalion of troops, hoping to quickly take Kaifeng and connect with Ji Huisi, but this plan is obviously impossible to achieve. Later, I changed my mind, hoping to attract new troops to rescue Kaifeng and disperse the pressure of Ji Huisi, so I was not afraid of the Feng battalion entering the city, and I was not afraid that Kaifeng would be able to hold on, because I didn't want to fight it anymore.

Zhou Dongtian asked: "My lord, that means you don't have to consider the issue of Kaifeng when making plans?" ”

"Yes, Sun Tzu has a saying: It is better to cut off one of his fingers than to hurt his ten fingers. I don't want to just hit the Shanlan camp hard, this kind of result can't satisfy me, and I can't turn the tide of the war in Henan and even the world. Xu Ping looked at the staff officers who were full of tents and announced to them: "Staff officer, let's concentrate the troops of Kaifeng Mansion to besiege the Shanlan camp, we must annihilate it." ”

Readers who are unhappy with my deletion of the post please come here, I wrote a blog post: p////?d

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