Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 612 Lu Xiangsheng's Strategy
Any world religion, after spreading from one place to another, will always make appropriate changes to adapt to the local culture so that the religion can develop faster.
Specifically speaking, when the Star and Crescent religion entered the magical land of India, it also changed in a way that was in sharp conflict with its original doctrine: the Star and Crescent religion in India also had a caste system. Although compared with Hinduism, the caste hierarchy and rights of each caste were not so absolute, the saying that followers of Allah were equal brothers was openly denied in the Star and Crescent religion in India.
In the Indian Star and Crescent religion, the surname Sayyid is the first-class caste, and its status is similar to that of the Brahmins in Hinduism.
Therefore, the reason why Sayyid from Bihar was able to become the governor of the core area of the middle reaches of the Ganges was that his surname played a big role.
As a high-ranking noble, Sayyid certainly knew about the war between the Empire and the Kingdom of Vijayanagar a few years ago. But he did not go to the battlefield in person: the people who resisted the Datars on the southern front were the Sikhs, a lower caste in the Star and Crescent religion.
So, although he had heard that the weapons of the Vijayanagar Kingdom were very powerful, he had no specific idea of how powerful they were.
But today, he experienced it deeply.
Run away, keep running away, and when your exclusive mount gets tired, just switch to another horse and keep running. Damn you Zhendan people, I've already lost, why are you still chasing me?
After fleeing for a whole day and half a night on various war horses, he finally escaped into Patna. After entering the city, the Governor-General did not say a word and flew into the Governor-General's Mansion. The maids and servants who greeted him smelled a foul odor when they were still a few meters away from him.
The Governor has pooped!
At this time, the Sikh commander who followed him into the city played a valuable role: after he entered the city, he first ordered the closure of the city gates in other directions, leaving only one city gate to take in the defeated soldiers. When he saw the Ming soldiers chasing him from the city tower, he immediately issued an order to close the city gate.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo~" After his lungs gasped for air like a broken bellows for a while, Huang Degong finally recovered : "Damn, I was almost able to seize the city in the chaos. Alas, I failed at the last moment."
"Huh~ Commander, that's enough. We've been chasing for a whole day and have captured tens of thousands of prisoners. What else do you want?"
"They are just chickens and dogs. What else can they do except to do hard labor? The key is that our army lacks heavy weapons. Facing such a strong city, I am afraid it will cost a lot to capture it."
After saying this, Huang Degong looked at the silent Huang Fei and shouted, "Send the message."
"Please give the order, Commander."
"Gather the troops and have officers and soldiers of all levels return to their posts as soon as possible. Have the three regiments at the back send a battalion over and do their best to capture prisoners."
"Yes, command."
On September 5, 1632, Huang Degong's First Army of the Ming Dynasty's Expedition to India had its first direct confrontation with the Mughal Empire's army. The entire battle was estimated to have lasted less than 20 minutes, and the rest was nearly 15 hours of chasing and capturing. When this news reached the town of Asansol in the rear on September 6, everyone from Liu Zhaosun to the rest of the army was shocked.
"Hiss, how can such a vulnerable army and such a weak country own such good land?"
"Hey, Brother Zhennan, didn't you listen to what the professor at the military academy said before you set off? The Indian continent is basically a closed plate. Except for the gap in the northwest, the rest of the country is surrounded by mountains and oceans. Before the navigation technology developed to a certain level, people from other places, except Persia and Afghanistan, could not launch a military attack on it."
"Haha, we now have the ability to transport a large army from the sea... Well, no matter what, this is a good thing. Hey, General?"
While many generals below were delighted by Huang Degong's loud shout, Liu Zhaosun, who was sitting in the main seat, frowned.
"Alas, the advance is too fast." He looked at the map and measured the distance from Calcutta to Patna with his hand. "Our army currently has only 30,000 combat-capable soldiers, and they are temporarily lacking heavy equipment. But now they are stretched into a long snake formation that stretches for hundreds of miles. This is extremely dangerous in terms of military science."
"General, so what? The Indians' fighting power is so weak, what if we stretch it a little bit?"
"Nonsense! Since you were just reminding Mao Wenlong of the things in the military academy, you should know that the Mughal is a big country with a deep foundation. And according to the intelligence provided by the Jinyiwei, the northeastern states of the Mughal have been peaceful for many years without war, and their soldiers are the weakest. The troops that have been resisting foreign enemies on the northwest border for many years, and those that have been fighting on the southern border and the Deccan Plateau are definitely much stronger than these troops now. Everyone, we are fighting deep in the heart of a big country, and we must not relax our vigilance because of a temporary victory. You must know that arrogant soldiers will be defeated."
"General, your teachings are correct. I will obey your orders."
"Next, let's discuss our army's next move. You can raise any opinions you have."
"...General, I have an idea."
"Oh? Prince Consort Lu, don't be so reserved. Please go ahead."
"Yes." The dark-skinned Lu Xiangsheng stood out from the crowd and said, "General, I think our army has two things to do right now. The first is to send a messenger to General Cao in Yangon and ask him to send a certain number of soldiers to supplement our army's combat power. As for the number, I think it should not exceed 10,000 at most. If it is more, it will affect the logistics support. In addition, we must find ways to provide us with enough medicines."
"Well, this piece of land is really great. There is no shortage of food. In the short term, there is really no need to sacrifice precious transportation capacity to transport food. Oh, Prince Consort Lu, please continue."
"Yes. Second, I suggest that the general give an order to Division Commander Huang to lead the troops to withdraw after capturing a certain number of prisoners."
"Hmm? You mean, even though our army has won a great victory, we still won't attack Patna?"
"Yes, General. I think there are three advantages to not taking Patna. Although Patna is the capital of a state, I think the city is high and the walls are strong. Although the enemy's field combat skills are terrible, we still have to pay a certain price to take it down when our army lacks heavy weapons. If we don't take this city, our army can reduce unnecessary casualties. This is one of the advantages.
Secondly, it is said that the city has a very large population. If we capture this city, the things we will face will be very complicated, which will not be conducive to our army concentrating on fighting.
Third, this city is hundreds of miles farther from the Hooghly River than Asansol. At present, because the rainy season has not yet ended and our heavy equipment cannot be transported, our army should hold on to this place and make relevant preparations for the arrival of General Cao’s main force in the future.”
"...Well, everyone, what do you think?"
"General, I think what Prince Consort Lu said is very right. At this moment, we cannot care about the gains and losses of a city or a place. As the vanguard, we should gain a firm foothold and prepare for the arrival of follow-up troops. In my opinion, although this town of Asansol is small and has a small population, it is just right for us to rebuild fortifications, and the small population also makes it easier for us to control..."
"What you said makes sense, but..." Liu Zhaosun sighed, "According to the plan of the Privy Council before departure, our main force should have dealt a heavy blow to the Mughal army in September to attract its main force to come over. Then in October, the Mangui Detachment in the northwest would have rushed out from the direction of Pangong Lake and headed straight for Delhi... If we turn a blind eye to a mere Patna city, the enemy would probably think that our army is not strong enough and would not dare to go deep into it. In this way, I'm afraid we won't be able to attract the enemy's main force to come over."
"General, if we go to besiege Patna without heavy siege weapons, won't the enemy also be able to see through our strengths and weaknesses?"
"That's true, huh? Prince Consort Lu, do you have anything else to say?"
"General, I think we can do both without taking Patna and attracting the main force of the Mughals."
"Oh? What's the plan?"
"General, it would be better to show weakness to the enemy. I suggest that we proceed in two steps. First, let Commander Huang lead the troops to surround the city of Patna. Do not attack it, but use bows and arrows to shoot letters into the city every day. The content of the letters can be arrogant. Anyway, we can do whatever makes the enemy angry. Second, after besieging the city for a few days, our army will take the initiative to retreat. Alas, I hope the enemy is not too stupid and knows to check the camp we left behind. Then they will soon find that our army is short of food and heavy weapons..."
"Hahaha, Prince Consort Lu has a good plan. Did everyone hear it clearly? Hurry up and act according to the plan."
