Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 164: Shanhaiguan Strategy (II)
"Your Highness, I am a rough man and cannot speak elegantly. If I were to evaluate this plan, it would be as bad as shit and stinks. If we use this strategy, our army will surely be defeated!"
"Liu Jing, how could you humiliate me like this?!"
"Humph! According to the strategy you just mentioned, Yang Jinglue, you divided the army of less than 100,000 into four groups, each of which is more than 100 miles or even hundreds of miles away. How can the four armies respond to each other? What if Nurhaci takes advantage of this and concentrates all his main forces to defeat one group first and then another?"
"Of course, we need to set a date first, and all departments must arrive at the designated location strictly according to the date."
"Ha! Yang Jinglue, you and I have both been to Korea. When we went there, we passed by the current Jiannu's lair. There are high mountains and dense forests there, and there are no roads at all. Moreover, it is almost December now, and the snow in Liaodong will be very thick by then. With such terrain and weather, how can we ensure that the marching speed of various armies is consistent? This is only one reason. Secondly, if the generals of one route are forced to stop because of the main force of the enemy, and the other three routes are still advancing without knowing it, and they arrive at the designated location and find that the friendly army has not arrived, how can the morale of the generals and the army be maintained at this time? Thirdly..."
"General Liu, everyone can discuss strategies, but you must not speak ill of your colleagues."
"Yes, Your Highness, please forgive me. I was angry and said something harsh. I hope Yang Jinglie will understand."
"snort!"
"Hahaha, alright, alright. Yang Jinglie is very magnanimous, that's great. Well, generals, do you have any other ideas? Tell us, tell us."
"Your Highness, I, Li Rubai, agree with Commander Liu. It is absolutely not feasible to divide the troops into four groups!"
Li Rubai was the one who knew best how powerful Nurhaci was. When Nurhaci began to rise, he repeatedly asked to suppress him, but Li Chengliang did not listen to him. When the Ming Dynasty launched a large army to attack the Later Jin in 1619, Li Rubai knew that the battle would be lost. So he was the slowest along the way and the only one who escaped unscathed.
In this plane, the Li family has been deeply tied to the crown prince. So, this time, not to mention Li Chengliang's handwritten letter, Li Rubai himself mobilized all the servants of the Li family.
Naturally, at this moment in the Shanhaiguan Strategy Conference, His Royal Highness the Grandson had already clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with Yang Hao's strategy. In addition, as a military man, Li Rubai himself was also dissatisfied with this strategy. So, he also stood up and began to criticize it.
As an old revolutionary, Liu Jing held a very high position in the military circles of the Ming Dynasty. Li Rubai was the biggest local boss in Liaodong after Li Chengliang. Once these two opened their mouths, other generals followed suit. For a moment, Yang Hao's four-pronged strategy was drowned in everyone's saliva.
In fact, from an objective perspective of later generations, this four-pronged march plan in the historical plane can be said to be the result of subjective consciousness and objective situation. Even if it was not Yang Hao at that time, and other civil officials were replaced as commanders, the final plan would probably be similar.
First of all, except for the generals in Liaodong who often dealt with the Jianzhou Jurchens, everyone from the emperor to the ordinary soldiers was underestimating the enemy. They all thought that dividing the troops was no big deal. Du Song of the Western Army and Liu Jing of the Southern Army kept advancing recklessly in order to gain credit. On the contrary, Li Rubai, who knew Nurhaci the best, moved the slowest because he knew that he could not win at all.
As for Ma Lin, the commander of the Northern Army at that time, as a military commander, his main energy was poetry and songs, and he often sponsored various cultural salons of Liaodong literati. After hearing that Du Song had encountered the enemy, this kind of person naturally made the choice to defend in place. After his two sons died heroically in battle, it was only natural for him to abandon the army and escape.
Secondly, the finances of the Ming Dynasty were really bad at that time: Wanli had been forced to stop collecting mining taxes at that time, and when the Ministry of Revenue could not be relied on at all, the silver in the inner treasury was used up. Wanli certainly hoped that the war would end quickly - the soldiers in the nine important towns usually had their own land in the garrison, and it was not a big problem for the court to delay the military pay. Now everyone was stationed in Liaodong, and the daily consumption of food and horses was real. So Wanli kept issuing orders to urge Yang Hao to advance quickly and finish the war as soon as possible to save money for the country.
Therefore, Yang Hao could only force his way forward when many troops, such as the powerful Sichuan, Ningxia, and Gansu soldiers, had not arrived in Liaodong, and when the entire army's weapons and clothing had not been replenished.
Similarly, due to the shortage of supplies and the great financial pressure on the court, in order to save supplies, advancing in different routes was a relatively cost-effective method: at least Li Rubai and Ma Lin's troops set out from their bases and could bring their own dry food.
Also, since Li Chengliang and Ma Gui, it has been difficult for the Ming Dynasty to find a commander who can command a large-scale battle of more than 100,000 people at the same time. The remaining generals have similar military achievements and qualifications. No one is willing to submit to the other, and there are various conflicts between them. Since you can't rely on your combined strength, just let you fight separately.
For all these reasons, in the historical dimension, no matter who is the commander of this battle, it is estimated that he will come up with a strategy of dividing and conquering in the end.
Therefore, Zhu Youdong had no prejudice against Yang Hao at first and was willing to listen to him. But he did not expect that Yang Hao would come up with a four-pronged plan.
This made Zhu Youdong unhappy, so at his suggestion, many generals spoke out one after another and shot down this plan.
Okay, since you don't want my plan, why don't you come up with one? After figuring this out, Yang Hao, who had just been arguing with the generals with a red face, sat down leisurely and looked at Zhu Youdong with a playful look.
As a time traveler, although he has never fought in a war, he has read countless battle analyses. Therefore, Zhu Youdong may not have the talent to be a famous general, but he still has a general idea of what to do before a war. Not to mention, he has the support of people like Yuan Keli and Xiong Tingbi.
"Everyone, wars are fought on the ground. In this battle, the foreign troops from the interior account for the majority, and they don't know much about the terrain and climate of Liaodong. How can we fight effectively without knowing these? Someone, go and bring up my Liaodong topographic map."
Following Zhu Youdong's order, Cheng Zongyou, Cao Huachun, Tian Ergeng, Li Shizhong, Zhang Shize and Li Chunzhong, six people downstairs, each carried a huge wooden board and climbed up. Then, after a simple splicing in the center of the meeting hall on the city wall, a three-dimensional, modern topographic map of Liaodong was revealed.
"Everyone, this is the Liaodong topographic map created by Mr. Xiong, the Liaodong Censor and Kuandian Military Commissioner, who spent four years investigating each site one by one and combined it with previous Liaodong maps."
"Great! Your Highness, with this map, the entire battlefield is under our control."
Haha, Zhu Youdong just smiled: Xiong Tingbi was a man of this era after all, and the map he drew didn't meet his requirements. He spent a lot of effort on the subsequent production. But there's no need to show off these.
"General Du, you are the general of Liaodong. Although you have been in the capital for the past few months, you should be most familiar with the situation in Liaodong, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness, Yang Jinglue, everyone, after the Jiannu usurped the title, in addition to destroying Yehe, they have crossed the border wall in recent months and invaded Fushun, Puhe, Tieling and other garrisons in my Liaodong Town. The latest news I received is that Fushun was breached ten days ago, and the guerrillas defending the city died in battle. In addition, more than 20 forts including Dongzhou Fort, Sanyangyu Fort, and Magendan Fort have been breached. The above losses are no less than 100,000 soldiers and civilians! I have ordered the Liaoxi armies to advance towards Liaodong, and first defend Shenyang and Liaoyang."
"Well, General Du has made good arrangements. As long as Shenyang and Liaoyang are not lost, even if the Jiannu make a fuss, they will have to retreat after our army arrives." After confirming Du Song's arrangements, Zhu Youdong stood up and said, "Everyone, I would like to ask everyone to understand that the Jiannu are not ordinary barbarians. You are all experienced generals who have fought many battles for the country. Among the opponents you have fought, have you ever had such a sophisticated organization as the so-called Four Banners and Eight Banners like the Jiannu today? There were so many Beile among the Jurchens, why were they all eliminated by Nurhaci? Second Uncle Li, you have fought against Mongolia and Japanese pirates, and you have frequent contact with the Jiannu. Tell me, how strong is the Jiannu?"
"I don't deserve the title of your Highness's second uncle." Li Rubai's face was ashen when he heard Yang Hao's strategy just now, but now his face is obviously much better: "Everyone, it's not that I, Li Rubai, am timid, but to be honest, among the opponents I have fought over the years, the Mongolian Tartars are definitely the weakest. They rush forward in a rush during the battle, and scatter in a hurry when there are casualties. It's just that everyone relies on their superb horsemanship, so our army doesn't gain much each time. As for the Japanese pirates, the combat power of the Japanese pirates in different places varies greatly, but no matter what, even if the troops of Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa, who were the strongest in the past, were to face the current Jiannu with the same number, I'm afraid they would also end up in a big defeat."
"Ah? Deputy Commander, is this a bit exaggerated?"
"Yes, Deputy Commander, we followed you and Li Rusong to Korea to fight against the Japanese pirates. The Japanese pirates were really strong. From what you said, the Jiannu are stronger than the Japanese pirates?"
"Everyone, what is the occasion now? How dare I speak nonsense?"
"Hiss~~ So, Deputy Commander Li, if the Jiannu were to mobilize all of their forces, how many soldiers would they have?"
Finally, this time Zhu Youdong didn't have to ask the question himself, and other military generals began to slowly pay attention to this issue.
