Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 424
There were two documents spread out in front of Shao Shude, one of which was a report of success, saying that the Bian army Hao Zhenwei and Feng Ba's troops had been defeated in Hebei, and nearly [-] people had been captured and killed.

The second is a letter, obtained from the messenger of the Bian army who was intercepted, saying that Zhu Quanzhong ordered Ge Congzhou to go to Erxiao Mountain and Xiong'er Mountain, retreat to Ruzhou, and join the Zhongwu Army.

When the two are combined, it becomes much clearer.

Hao Zhenwei and Feng Ba were unlucky. They received Ge Congzhou's order to go to the north bank of the river and look for an opportunity to cross the river. Feng and Feng sent orders, but due to poor traffic, they failed, resulting in the annihilation of their entire army.

This is the advantage of having more cavalry.

In this battle, Shao Shude also felt a little surprise, that is, Zhe Silun was brave and resourceful.Frightening Hao and Feng away with suspicious soldiers at the ferry crossing, the credit is not small.And this is actually the direct cause of Hao and Feng's defeat.

If they brought enough supplies and vehicles, marched steadily, and had enough food and grass, it would not be so easy to eat, and they might not even be able to eat it, or even if they did eat it, it would be too bad to settle the score at the end.

In the future, the situation on the battlefield will become bigger and bigger, and every battlefield needs qualified generals to sit in command, and one person alone cannot take care of it.

Whether the subordinate generals are capable or not directly determines the victory or defeat, because the overall strength is compared.

When Chen Cheng walked into the barracks, he saw that Shao Shude was studying the cases of ancient military campaigns.He glanced curiously, and he was still studying Liu Yu, which meant that he had substituted himself into Zhu Quanzhong.

"Vice Envoy Chen came at just the right time. I saw Liu Yu's battle to destroy Nanyan with fascination." Shao Shude put down his book and said with a smile, "Liu Yuzhen is a god. The Xianbei iron cavalry can't cut off the food, and the strategy of harassing and exhausting the enemy can't work, and they just watched the long drive go straight under the capital."

Although Murong Xianbei's tactics were inappropriate, for example, he gave up guarding the dangerous pass and underestimated the enemy with courage, thinking that he had a large cavalry army, so it would be better to let Liu Yu's infantry enter the pass and annihilate them in one fell swoop on flat terrain.

In theory, yes.

Shouldn't it be difficult for infantry to move an inch in the face of overwhelming cavalry on the open plain?
I divided the cavalry into three parts, some take turns to harass, some rest, and some move to support, how many days can the infantry last?

However, the harassment and surprise attack did not seem to have any effect in the end. When they approached, they were blocked by the car array, and they were shot and killed by the infantry bow with a range and power greater than that of the cavalry bow.

The infantry group even marched while fighting, sat on the ground to rest when they were tired, and drove straight to Guanggu, the capital of Nanyan.

Even Liu Yu sent out a force to attack other cities.The Xianbei cavalry, which had the advantage of intercepting the battlefield, couldn't stop the surprise attack of others and broke the city.

Cavalry, theoretically have the initiative on the battlefield, you can choose to fight or not to fight, but sometimes you lose the initiative and have to fight.For example, when the capital or other important cities were attacked by infantry, they had to attack frontally, resulting in a disastrous defeat.

In the battle of Liu Yu's destruction of Nanyan, the Xianbei cavalry had the initiative at first, but they lost it later, and were eventually wiped out.

The overall strength of Xia and Bian is actually somewhat similar.

Shao Shude replaced himself in Liu Yu, and he also wanted to find out how to break this tactic. After all, Zhu Wen and Li Keyong were characters who could come and go freely in the sea of ​​cavalry in the three towns of Hebei.

What's more, Ma Long's and Liu Yu's infantry were able to drive straight for hundreds of miles or more than a thousand miles, and were surrounded by cavalry regiments, and finally they were safe and sound, defeating the enemy.

Li Keyong and Zhu Wen were also able to subdue Hebei with infantry, gaining the upper hand.

Even after Yelu Deguang entered the Central Plains, he took control of the Bianliang Forbidden Army, and the Henan Fanzhen soldiers and militia armed forces attacked in groups, which could exhaust more than [-] Khitan cavalry?In the end, Liu Zhiyuan found an opportunity to proclaim himself emperor and found a country.

But why was Song Jun killed by this trick?

"Commander, to do this, the first thing is to have elite infantry that are durable and seasoned in battle. Go deep into the enemy's territory without timidity or panic, and dare to fight." Chen Cheng said.

"It's the same as I thought." Shao Shude said with a smile: "I dominate the Northwest, and the prefectures I pass by, the Qiang and Hu people are all dominated by cavalry pawns. Using cavalry pawns to defeat cavalry pawns, there are more than ten states in Dezhou, and hundreds of Han people. Yu Wan."

"However, the commander defeated Tuoba Sigong, attacked Lingzhou, and attacked Li Changfu, all with infantry to win."

"So to deal with Zhu Quanzhong, we still have to combine cavalry and infantry, with infantry as the basis and cavalry as a supplement?" Shao Shude asked.

Chen Cheng did not answer directly, but talked about Liu Yu's affairs: "Before Liu Yu entered Daxian Pass, he built a city dozens of miles away where he passed. , Infantry marching, at most two days, or three days. For two or three days, there are carts on both sides, and the cavalry can't do anything about them."

But Song Jun couldn't hold on for two or three days after being exposed to the wilderness...

"Why build the city? Because the vehicle array is very limited, first of all it is affected by the terrain." Chen Cheng continued.

"The rugged and dangerous road is not conducive to driving."

"It's raining and snowing, which is not conducive to driving."

"The swamp is sticky, which is not conducive to driving."

"There are acres of river fields, which is not conducive to driving."

"The road is collapsed, which is not conducive to driving."

……

"I have ten methods for the disadvantages of chariot warfare, and I present them to the commander-in-chief." After finishing speaking, Chen Cheng took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, which was full of small script, and handed it to Shao Shude. , these ten disadvantages can all be avoided, or solved. To use a cart to defeat a cavalry, the first thing is that the infantry is brave and good at fighting. Without this point, no matter how well the cart is made, it will be useless."

This is on point.

If the infantry formation of the Zhaoyi Army was driven away by the cavalry, and they were still not broken up, and dared to hook the cavalry off their horses and kill them, what kind of cavalry could break the infantry?
After Shao Shude took it, he looked at it hastily, and some of them coincided with his thoughts.

However, there are ten disadvantages in vehicle warfare, many of which overlap with cavalry, such as rivers, woods, swamps, etc., cavalry cannot go there either.On rough mountain roads, chariots are not as easy to walk as cavalry, but to put it bluntly, they are not as easy to walk as infantry.

If only Zhu Wen's infantry were not good at fighting!
Shao Shude reckoned that from the late Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty, the infantrymen were not as good as the next generation, and gradually stretched their hips. Most of the reasons were the economic collapse and fewer and fewer resources invested in the military.

Zhu Wen first started to build the Bianliang Forbidden Army.

After the fall of Houliang, Li Cunxu brought tens of thousands of soldiers from Hedong, together with the [-] Zhuliang Forbidden Army incorporated, formed the main body of the Later Tang Bianliang Forbidden Army.

This forbidden army system was passed down to the Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou, and Northern Song Dynasty like a family heirloom.The climate is getting worse and worse, the population in the north is getting smaller and smaller, and the economy is declining year by year, which leads to worsening equipment and training, and the horse administration is even worse.

At Zhao Dana's meeting, this forbidden army had gone through many mutinies, and it was as slippery as grass on the wall, and it had become a rogue army.

Anyone else willing to fight to the death?

"The commander-in-chief now has tens of thousands of cavalry soldiers, not inferior to Chengde Wang Rong, far surpassing Li Kuangwei in Youzhou and Wei Boluo Hongxin. He has a great advantage in intercepting and killing the rangers of the Bian army, reducing the scope of its scout activities, and intercepting the messenger. Zhu Quanzhong gave Ge From Zhou's order, there are probably a few messengers, but I intercepted one of them, so I can see the inside story." Chen Cheng said confidently: "If the main forces of the two armies confront each other and our army is defeated, we can order the cavalry to intercept it desperately. , the commander calmly dealt with the defeated army and reorganized his army. If the Bian army is defeated, the commander can use his cavalry to chase and kill him. How will Zhu Quanzhong deal with the defeated army? Such an advantage, what is so small?"

"The two armies of iron cavalry and silver guns can go deep into the enemy's rear. When encountering enemy armored cavalry, they will flee, and if they meet, they will burn, kill and loot—" Chen Cheng was stopped by Shao Shude before he finished speaking.

"If you do that, you're really a barbarian. Li Keyong doesn't burn, kill and loot, how can I do it?" Shao Shude said.

It is a very sensitive thing to be labeled as a Hulu, especially the Shuofang Army's current appearance.

Yelu Deguang came from all over the country, took over Bianliang and proclaimed himself emperor.

It was nothing at all. The late Tang and Five Dynasties did not discriminate against Hu people too much. After all, the Northern Dynasties came all the way.

But the Khitan soldiers burned, killed and looted too much.It was actually the people of the Central Plains who attacked them first, and the rebel militia swarmed up, beating more than [-] Khitan cavalry, exhausted and battered.

After the professional warriors joined, Yelu Deguang had no choice but to ride a camel.

Do you really think the people in the Central Plains are sheep?Do you really think that people's martial arts are not strong enough?The feudal town has been separated for more than a hundred years. Which of the adult males in Henan, Hebei, and Hedong can't handle crops?Which one is not cruel?

If you leave room for others, if you don't do things to the extreme, they will naturally not have to work hard.

But if it is done absolutely, it is really enemy everywhere, it is difficult to move an inch, and you still want to occupy the Central Plains?

Li Keyong's military discipline is so poor, among his subordinates, except Li Hanzhi, the ogre king, who else would do this?

Don't think of others as fools.

The late Tang Dynasty was very special in Chinese history, in that many people from grass roots occupied high positions.The folk customs are tough, brave and ruthless, and the sergeants are domineering, daring to fight and fight hard.

Shao Shude didn't want to become a barbarian, that would mean losing his chance to rule the Central Plains forever, just like Yelu Deguang.

Because the people of the Central Plains are not sheep.The proportion of soldiers in the whole population is also too high. There are so many government soldiers, foreign town troops, state soldiers, county town soldiers, and local peasants, which means the degree of organization.

Especially the Tutuan peasants, who are ordinary people who work when the farming is busy and train when the farming is slack.During the mid-Tang Dynasty, the imperial court crusaded Zhaoyi and Liu Zhen, and offered rewards to the heads of Tutuan peasants, each worth a bolt of silk.

Ordinary people whose heads are worth a piece of silk, can they really not be beaten at all?
It is the biggest mistake to compare the social ethos of the late Tang Dynasty, which has been separated for more than a hundred years, to other centralized dynasties.

"Now that the people in Henan Province are forced to relocate, my reputation may have been damaged, and I will have to make up for it in the future. If I burn, kill and loot again, everything will be over. I am afraid that the rebel army will be everywhere, and there will be no chance to make progress." Shao Shude continued.

Millions of people in Henan are against you together. I still can't ride a camel, so I secretly complained.

"Speaking of the people, there are more than [-] people now. If Huazhou and Weibei cannot be resettled, some of them will be sent to Shengzhou. There are a lot of Qianghu people in the local area, and the atmosphere is a bit strange." Shao Shude also ordered: "Don't worry. Urge them to hurry, that will cause more casualties. Prepare rest places along the way, prepare more carriages, isolate sick ones, and minimize losses as much as possible.”

"Of order." Chen Cheng replied.

"The biggest profit this time is these common people." Shao Shude said: "When the main force of the pawns arrives, we will make another big one."

Of course, this requires Zhu Quanzhong's "cooperation".

If he repelled Li Keyong, a 10,000+ army would overwhelm him, and a village twenty miles away in Henan would not be able to cut off the food roads.

The four armies of Tielin, Tianzhu, Tianxiong, and Wuwei had 1 infantry and more than [-] cavalry.

It would be quite troublesome if he drove the army to detour to attack Shanzhou and cut off the return of the Fang army.

But fortunately, Shuofang Army has an information advantage, if they can't beat them, they just need to withdraw.

To deal with Zhu Quanzhong, I went east to harass him from time to time, and retreated to protect the narrow pass.Tactical exhaustion can't be achieved, but strategic exhaustion can work.

　Not necessarily at night, I can only say as much as possible, depending on the time left.

　
(End of this chapter)