Chapter 522: Third Young Master Fried Noodles
Kuoduan shook his head and said: As we go further south, there are more and more passes in the New Song Kingdom, all of which are mountainous and gully-filled. Our cavalry will not be able to run and will lose their advantage. I am afraid that before we can take the city, their troops will have surrounded us.
If there were too few men and horses, they would not be able to defeat the enemy. If there were too many men and horses, even the horses would not have enough fodder.
Once you are surrounded by the Divine Might Army, you will just have to wait for death.
Your friend was seriously unconvinced and asked him what to do next?
Expanded version: There are rumors that Zhao Qier personally led an army of 100,000 to the north to lift the siege of Yulin.
He judged that Zhao Qi'er must have set up a conspiracy to lure and annihilate our grassland cavalry. We are not afraid of the 100,000 Shenwei troops, and Cao Heizi has not shown up yet.
We must not be fooled by Zhao Qi'er. We should retreat to the grassland and occupy the advantageous position first.
Guiyou was very unhappy with Kuangduan's cowardly fighting style. He felt that the two gentlemen were really no good. Tahai and Menggudu, who attacked Huaiyuan Prefecture, were also sending him reports of defeat. He estimated that the Western Route Army would soon retreat to Wuhai.
However, the princes and nobles who followed Kuangduan to the south to rob were happy. These princes were more or less aware of the power of the Shenwei Army. When they received the order to retreat, they immediately rushed away. When they learned that the defenders of Jining had been annihilated, they were glad that they ran fast.
Your friend thought that they should concentrate their forces to capture Yulin Village. But now that the Shenwei Army has arrived, they are running back to the grassland like rabbits, which greatly increases the prestige of the Shenwei Army and greatly loses face for the grassland empire.
Haha, this guy said that he didn't want the position of crown prince and didn't want to be the Khan but the emperor, but he was still thinking about it in his heart.
Kuo Duan told him that we had attacked Yulin Village when we went south. The village was built wide and steep relying on the mountain terrain. The city walls were strong and thick and were not afraid of artillery bombardment. Nearly ten thousand men were killed and wounded but failed to climb up the city walls. That's why we came up with the strategy of crossing Yulin Village and infiltrating into the heart of New Song.
Now we have to retreat to Mobei, we have gained something, it is not shameful. We retreat to the grassland to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out. If Zhao Qier dares to lead his troops into the grassland, wouldn't it be better to teach him a lesson?
While the two brothers were still talking nonsense, Zhao Yulin had already entered Yulin Village.
When Feng Guiqi saw that Lu Huacai, Miao Gui and other main generals of the Shenwei Army had arrived, he smiled and said to Zhao Yulin that Yulin Village was big enough to accommodate as many soldiers as possible.
Led by the staff officer, the brothers have been looking for a place to settle down. Zhao Yulin was amazed when he saw the village that Feng Guiqi had built. He thought it could accommodate tens of thousands of horses.
He called Miao Gui and told him to issue a military order first: immediately gather all the pots and stoves that could be freed up to cook noodles.
Miao Gui asked him in confusion: What is fried noodles?
Zhao Yulin called several brothers together and said: We are going to march into the grassland, so we must bring enough food and fodder. Fried noodles are the simplest and most effective way. If we can't make a fire, the brothers can eat the fried noodles with the accumulated snow to satisfy their hunger.
Let’s make fried noodles.
He handed the prepared fried noodle recipe to Miao Gui and told him to hurry up and arrange it immediately.
A secret project was quickly launched in Yulin Village, and Feng Guiqi quickly cleared out a restricted area and worked overtime on it.
Zhao Yulin personally experimented and watched his brothers operate. He dried and crushed as many vegetable leaves as possible and added them in. He tasted the fried noodles with a little salt and said with relish that it was not bad. That was it, and urged his brothers to work harder.
The soldiers were great! When did the Third Young Master work with the cooks all day? Now he lived and ate with them every day, and every pot was filled with the constant cooking of fried noodles.
Three days later, Cao Youwen arrived with his cavalry.
Lao Cao concealed the news of Wu Yuqi's illness as requested by her, and praised Zhao Yulin as soon as they met: "Brother, you are really a god. As soon as that guy smelled your scent, he ordered the troops to withdraw. Now the northern barbarians have retreated to the grassland. If we really go north to Phosphorus State as you said, we can catch that guy and fight him."
He smiled and said: It's not as magical as Lord Cao said, it's just a coincidence.
Miao Gui reported: The information obtained by the scouts is that the Mongolian army has gone to the Guanyanggou area in Linzhou. The Northern Barbarians are going to have a decisive battle with us on the grassland.
Feng Guiqi was very confident that the Mongolian army was not that powerful and could not even attack his Yulin Village and Hengshan Village in the southwest. They would naturally not be able to sleep well staying in our encirclement and would definitely run back to the grassland.
The generals laughed.
At night, the brothers discussed military affairs together.
Lao Cao wanted to lead the cavalry to attack in the front, but Zhao Yulin firmly disagreed.
He asked Lao Cao to be responsible for the transportation of logistical supplies.
The generals were stunned and looked at him in confusion. Lao Cao also had a very unhappy look on his face.
Zhao Yulin personally refilled Lao Cao's tea bowl with water, then looked at several cavalry commanders and said: We all know that cavalry run fast. This is the advantage of cavalry and also the advantage of the Mongolian army, because they almost always march on horseback.
If we want to destroy the enemy's main force this time, we must fight the enemy cavalry and defeat most of them to win.
He asked: Can the cavalry reach Linzhou?
Seeing his brothers' confident faces, he simply said: Of course we can.
However, can cavalry alone destroy the enemy's main force and annihilate most of them? The answer is definitely uncertain.
Regardless of whether the Mongolian army wants to fight us to the death, even if it does, the enemy will not necessarily be annihilated by our cavalry. There are hundreds of thousands of Mongolian soldiers with their families, and even if we use knives to chop them down and shoot them with rows of arrows, it will consume a lot of military supplies and manpower.
The generals gradually understood.
He went on to say: Therefore, in this battle the infantry must be in the front.
When the Mongolian army sees our infantry heading there, they will certainly not worry about not being able to escape. Instead, they will think about how to eat up our infantry, which will create an opportunity for our cavalry to surround and destroy them .
Cao Youwen had long had a hunch that Zhao Yulin would take the initiative to act as bait, and today when he heard him explain in detail, it turned out to be true.
Lao Cao strongly disagreed, thinking it was too risky for him to do so.
Zhao Yulin laughed and said that the safety of the New Song army and our Shenwei army at the dock in Yibin has increased by ten or even a hundred times, so there is no need to worry.
All the generals had fought their way out of the Yibin wharf with swords and guns, and they all said excitedly that there was no need to worry, and they would definitely ensure that the third young master was safe and sound.
Zhao Yulin said: We are advancing with 150,000 troops at a time. Whether he can expand his force or become your friend, we must weigh our options.
The Lord of Cao used cavalry to escort the baggage and food to Ganyanggou to prepare for the battle. The Mongolian army was dreaming of attacking our food transport team. If the Mongolian army did not fight a decisive battle with our army here, we would directly rush to Linzhou, and then we would need cavalry to go ahead.
Feng Guiqi thought it was a good idea. In this way, our army would have enough food and grass to reach Linzhou. Even if we couldn't destroy the northern barbarians, we could still capture Linzhou and occupy their nest in the center of the grassland.
Zhao Yulin said confidently: The Mongolian army cannot build a city, but we can. Even if we get an empty city, we will build a solid city so that the northern barbarians will never dare to run rampant on this land again.
So, the brothers reached a consensus, with Zhao Yulin leading the main infantry of 100,000 in the front, Miao Gui leading 50,000 to guard the left wing, and Cao Youwen leading the cavalry to escort food and grass in the rear, preparing to attack.
At the Suide Prefecture government office, Tan Yousan, the logistics envoy of the Ministry of War, coughed twice and said with a smile: "My wife is going into battle despite her illness, so the two of them who are sick are in charge of the logistics."
Wu Yuqi's face also turned pale and said that there will definitely be a rare battle in Yulin this time, and we have to urge them.
Tan Yousan told him: The Third Young Master forwarded the military order to make fried noodles. After he saw it, he guessed that the Young Master was going to go deep into the grassland to have a decisive battle with the Mongolian army, because this was cooked food and very convenient to eat.
Yuqi nodded and thought it would be better to transport it to Yulin Village, at least not for now. She said: Even Brother Yousan can think of it. The Mongolian spies will definitely report to that guy Kuangduan when they learn that we are making a large-scale noodle stir-fry. The northern barbarians are very cunning. If they flee far away after sensing danger, it will be difficult for me to track them down.
Tan understood it in seconds and immediately adjusted the deployment. He transported a large amount of raw materials along with the pots to Yulinzhai. At the same time, he prepared fried noodles in Suide and issued a military order to collect pickles from all over Guanzhong.
Wu Yuqi personally took part in the battle, trying the best ratio and heat of fried noodles according to Zhao Yulin's recipe in the government office. All the affairs related to the support of the front in the northwest were carried out in an orderly and accelerated manner. Personnel and materials from all over the country were gathering in Guanzhong, and a large amount of military supplies were quickly transported to Yulin Village along the main artery of the Qin Straight Road.
Three days later, Zhao Yulin shook hands tightly with Lao Cao and Miao Gui outside the village gate, then jumped on his horse and set off. Teams of Shenwei Army soldiers advanced towards Linzhou in a vigorous and high-spirited manner.
Meng Gong has been guarding Jialuzhai of the Southeast Jinning Army for nearly ten days. The number of garrison troops that have arrived behind him has exceeded 60,000. Gu Shan anxiously asked him when he would take action?
I’m afraid the third young master has already left Yulin?
These military commanders had been paying close attention to the war. When they saw the Mongolian army withdraw from Suide, they knew that they had no choice but to go to the grassland to fight a decisive battle with the Mongolian army. They were all nervous and excited and looking forward to the attack.
Meng Gong was also anxious, but his face remained calm.
At this time, the lieutenant colonel outside the tent reported: Urgent military report.
Everyone stood up immediately. Meng Gong took the secret document from the lieutenant colonel's hand and opened it. He said that it was just as Commander Zhao had judged. The Northern Barbarians retreated to Guanyanggou and stationed there. The commander ordered us to cross the river to the east to fight in ten days, and ordered Lai Chuanfang's group to cross the river to fight two days later.
The generals were delighted.
Gu Shan immediately became worried about Zhao Yulin's safety. He said that the Third Young Master was using himself and 100,000 brothers to buy us an opportunity.
Du Baiyue said worriedly: The Third Young Master always walks ahead regardless of his personal safety. This time the stakes are a bit too high.
Meng Gong said with a firm expression: This is our New Song Kingdom gambling its national destiny with the grassland empire. If we want to attract the northern barbarians, we have to have Commander Zhao. If we concentrate our forces to the north, the northern barbarians will not dare to attack.
Commander Zhao is betting on our victory. I believe our Shenwei Army will win. Send a message to Lai Chuanfang, and everyone should prepare well.
Five days later, Zhao Yulin arrived at the big grassland 50 miles away from Ganyanggou and received news that Miao Gui and part of the Mongolian army in the west had fought fiercely with Wusun, annihilated more than 10,000 enemies, and seized a large number of cattle, sheep and horses.
