The Book of Troubled Times

Chapter 774 Suzaku’s first military meeting

This world map is not a complete replica of the current map known to Zhao Changhe. For example, a few geographical locations such as Beimang and Gujian Lake are different, but most of them are still the same.

 Different oceans and monsoons, different mountains and rivers, different plateaus and valleys will result in completely different climate distributions, which will have a great impact on species and culture. Since the landscape is so similar to that of ancient China, the geography must also be very similar.

The same is true for the geography after leaving the Great Wall and going north. There may be some small differences that are not found in the modern world, such as the rocky mountains in the Xuanwu Secret Realm, the Xuanwu Lake in the Yellow Sand Collection, etc., but the general distribution will still not change.

If you leave the fortress from Yanmen and cross the Yinshan Mountains, you will first see a vast grassland. This is called the land of the northern desert and the southern part of the fortress, where the Batu tribe is located. In fact, Inner Mongolia in today's world has a very favorable environment, with a lot of arable land and minerals. Of course, no arable land has been developed in the hands of Batu and his predecessors.

Further north is the Gobi Desert—this is not an adjective, the name is just the Gobi Desert. The desert stretches across the west and east, becoming the dividing line between Monan and Mobei. After crossing it, there is the Golden Horde in Mobei. Most of it is now within the scope of Outer Mongolia.

If Huangfu Yongxian's troops cross the desert and head north, they will go straight to the royal court, which is somewhat similar to Wei Qing's route.

 With a royal route like this—it naturally wouldn't be possible to bring only the original Yanmen garrison, so how many people would that be? In fact, after the capital swore to go on the expedition, only half of them followed Zhuque and Zhao Changhe, and the rest left the capital and reported to Yanmen. For example, Cui Yuanyong's Hebei Army was disliked by Suzaku, so he was simply assigned to his father's side. The powerful Yujing man sitting with the army over there is Sanniang.

 The Gobi Desert did not separate the entire Mongolian Plateau, but broke off in the east. As a result, a grassland belt running from north to south was formed in the east, which was a connecting corridor between southern Mon and northern Mo.

To the east, Huangfuqing Zhao Changhe crosses the Yanshan Mountains to the north and enters this grassland belt. From here, go around to the northeast and drive straight in, defeating countless grassland tribes all the way to a famous mountain east of Wangting.

It is called Langjuxu Mountain, where the Temple of Immortality is located in this world.

Going further north, there is a famous large lake, which is called Lake Baikal in this world and the vast sea in this world.

 Both routes can also take a turn in the middle and agree to meet at one of the points. This does not necessarily mean that each one will fight separately.

 There are several biggest problems when marching and fighting in such a place.

 First of all, in this kind of environment without clear mountain roads and other landmarks, and there is no GPS navigation, it is very similar to sailing on the sea, and it is extremely easy to get lost while traveling. When it comes to judging the direction by looking at the sun, moon and stars, we can only judge that we are going north, but we cannot be more specific. A slight deviation may lead to the wrong direction at all.

 The second is water supply. You can also bring your own military rations, but it is difficult to bring enough water with you. If you don't find a water source for a few days, there may be disastrous consequences.

Due to the full dependence of the Batu tribe, both groups of the Han Dynasty now bring a lot of old herdsmen from the Batu tribe. They are familiar with how to get to the Holy Mountain, how to get to the royal court, and any route they take, especially the Holy Mountain. I have to go several times every year to get a good batch. Wherever there is a water source or where there are tribes living on the road, everything is clear. Even if there is no storage box, these two items are basically no longer a problem, and the current storage box is even more comprehensive, so you are not afraid of getting lost.

 The third question is that the opponent's army comes and goes like the wind. They are not waiting for you to fight in a city like in the Central Plains. You will often find that your army has passed by, but the opponent comes from behind you. There are also often inexplicable encounters on the road that neither party is prepared for, and they get into a confused fight. This was not something that could be avoided simply by being a good scout. The eagle master sent by Sisi perfectly solved this problem.

 Last question, in fact, the Royal Court can be changed. Nomadic tribes rarely have such a clear attack point. Wherever Timur is, there is the Golden Tent. Often, large armies would rush towards what they thought was the royal court, but not even a single person could be found, wasting military money and food. The same applies to the temple. The so-called sacred mountain is also a continuous mountain range. If a person hides in the mountain range, what's the big deal in building a temple for him? The place where the Immortal God is located is more likely to be a complete secret and cannot be found.

 But this time Timur also wanted a decisive battle.

At night, the Suzaku army was encamped. Zhao Changhe entered the commander's tent holding a roasted eagle leg, and said with a smile: "Come, come, eat some, this is Timur's eagle, the meat is delicious."

There was a large group of generals surrounding the camp who were looking at the map on the sand table. When they saw Zhao Changhe coming in holding the barbecue like this, they all turned their heads.

Suzaku in military uniform wearing a soft armor cloak sat behind the handsome case and glared at his man angrily: "We are having a military meeting, what are you doing?"

“I don’t know how to fight, why don’t I get you some food?”

"You didn't come in with an eagle's legs like this. What are you talking about? Don't you want to eat?"

"Look what you said, didn't everyone just eat? This is a snack." Zhao Changhe couldn't help but put the eagle leg into Suzaku's hand, and put his head over to look at the sand table: "What are you studying?"

 Suzaku held up a bird's leg and really felt that the image was nondescript, but looking at the expressions of the generals, they looked like they were smiling. I wonder what's wrong with the generals nowadays, aren't they serious?

She took a bite angrily: "We are discussing something else, but Weiyang just came to complain. Do you want to listen?"

 Zhao Changhe looked at the Demon Suppressor General Wu Weiyang in the tent in astonishment. He was previously assigned to be the deputy to striker Xue Canghai. This was his own intention. He was afraid that the Blood God Sect would go too far and would harm Tianhe. So asking people from the Demon Suppression Division to assist him would also suppress the evil spirit of the Blood God Sect. . As a result, we were not even halfway through the march. We didn’t even fight a single hard battle and ran back...

Wu Weiyang reluctantly handed over to Zhao Changhe: "We also know that war is not a place for mercy, especially in the past when the Hu people were defeated and dispersed in a hurry, and then came back to gather again, and it was reincarnation again. Therefore, the tribe caught this time, General Xue wanted to kill an adult man, but we didn’t say anything..."

Zhao Changhe said: "He wants to kill women and children? Didn't I tell him not to kill those who are lower than the wheel?"

 “But General Xue turned the wheel over.”

 Zhao Changhe: “…”

"I stopped him with sweat profusely, but General Xue said, if only women and children are left here, they won't survive. If we are really merciful, we might as well send them to the pass, break them up and stuff them in various places." It can replenish the population." Wu Weiyang said: "It sounds reasonable to me, but it requires a lot of troops to do this. Whether it is suitable or not, I need the commander-in-chief and King Zhao to make an idea. Or we can move after the war. It’s also a way. Anyway, no matter whether we win or lose, this battle won’t last long.”

 Zhao Changhe looked at Suzaku. He himself is really a woman in this kind of thing and cannot make the most reasonable decision. However, Suzaku is a big demon who can kill a whole family without even frowning. He is also afraid that Suzaku will say that the wheels are flat. …

But Suzaku nodded: "It can indeed be done after the war... This kind of war will not last long, so give them a basic living guarantee first."

Zhao Changhe and Wu Weiyang both breathed a sigh of relief, and Wu Weiyang held up his hands and said, "Then I'll go and convey this to General Xue." "Don't worry, Weiyang also knows the military, so we might as well consult together." Zhuque said, "We are analyzing it now. The situation of Lu Jinfa cannot be hidden, and Timur should also know it well. According to common sense, he can't foolishly divide his troops to deal with them separately. He can only try to entangle one group and concentrate superior forces to destroy the other group. Do you think that he Where will the main force appear?"

Zhao Changhe said: "What do you say?"

"Now everyone's mainstream opinion is that our side mainly uses light cavalry, which is very mobile and not easy to be blocked. Moreover, we have three imperial realms including you, me and Hong Ling. So the other side is more likely to put the main force in My father's side only has some restrictions on our way, as long as we don't let us drive for a long time, otherwise they won't be able to withstand the destruction."

Wu Weiyang said: "If you ask me about being humble, that's the same view. Even according to the current situation where Timur and Bo'e are at odds with each other, it is possible that we will really make a long journey to their sacred mountain to fight with Bo'e. You fight to the death, and he comes back to pick peaches."

Many generals said: "That shouldn't happen. If we can really drive forward unimpeded, we may not go straight to the sacred mountain. Can't we make a detour and attack Timur's back?"

“It’s hard to say, after all, the two roads are quite far apart, so it’s hard to figure out the timing of this roundabout.”

Zhao Changhe watched the generals discuss and shrugged. Therefore, the coach himself cannot really do anything. It is easy to come up with ideas. How to make the most correct choice from various opinions is the real level. The scribe who wrote the record can say in hindsight that a certain general failed to listen to correct opinions and failed. Who would be able to determine which sentence is correct so easily if he is in a different position of making decisions?

The current situation is pretty good. There are differences in details. Generally speaking, they all believe that Temur's main force will appear on Huangfu Yongxian's road. It is a consensus. What the coach needs to think about is how to take the next step based on this consensus. Should he go around the corner and attack Timur's back, or should he simply drive away from the sacred mountain? And how to support my father along the way, when, who to send, and how many people.

The distance is far away and there is no phone, so it all depends on judgment.

I saw Zhuque looking at the sand table and pondering for a long time, and whispered: "We all think so...Does Timur think that we think so?"

Zhao Changhe was stunned, and everyone in the audience was also stunned. This is not the time to play "I've predicted your prediction". You need a reasonable basis. Otherwise, this kind of thing can be done endlessly and no judgment can be made.

Suzaku waved his hand: "Of course I am not lying about the matryoshka without any basis, because I personally settled the matter in northern Shanxi, and I know the situation more carefully than you. First of all, all the tribes in northern Shanxi are completely afraid of me. They surrendered under threat, but they were not convinced in their hearts. They had no choice but to contribute so much money, food and horses, and they were even more resentful. When my father was stationing troops in Yanmen County, they were still honest. Now that the army has left Yanmen, what will they do? "

Seeing that the generals were deep in thought, Suzaku said again: "At first, I wanted to go south, but the Demon God Feng Yin was sitting in Jinnan, and I did not act rashly. In other words, there is actually an extremely powerful Demon God who serves as their backbone. , whether it is to make the various tribes in northern Shanxi switch sides or to attack Yanmen himself, it is completely possible. Once the three Jins are in chaos, and the families of the army who left the fortress are all in Yanmen, what will be the result? "

Wu Weiyang said: "The morale of the army is unstable, and they just want to return to the pass. Timur only needs to send people to harass them, and he can contain them. Maybe he can drive them back without spending a single soldier. On the contrary, if the main force encounters, say Uncertainty can lead to a sinking mentality.”

All the generals said: "Yes...but Commander, since you know this situation, why don't you solve it in advance?"

 Suzaku smiled slightly: "Of course I have made arrangements, but Timur doesn't know about it. On the contrary, he will think that we rely on our mobility and eliteness and will not face the main force..."

As she spoke, her eyes swept across the generals, taking in their expressions.

 Actually, it was her first time as a head coach. When she said these words, she didn't have much confidence in her heart, but everyone's reaction gave her confidence.

 During the Spring Festival, she got to know the generals well, and she had a very clear feeling—everyone was submissive on the outside, but actually they were looking down on them in their hearts. You said that you come from a family of generals, and you did go to war with your father when you were young, but you have never served as a general. What you usually do is all the magic tricks in the world. Are you really good at fighting? Anyway, you are the Royal Realm and the Holy Religion Venerable. You are still the Queen Mother, should you say it or not. No one can compete with you for the leadership position, but the distrust in your heart can be revealed inadvertently.

Just like when they thought they were playing with prediction dolls, the speechlessness in their eyes almost overflowed. If they catch you making any obvious mistake, you will definitely refute it in court without giving any face.

 But no one refuted, even the speechless expression just now disappeared, everyone was deep in thought.

 Show that your judgment is reasonable in the eyes of these battlefield veterans, and that will give you confidence.

Suzaku took a deep breath and made a conclusion: "I am 80% sure that Temur's main force will appear on our side... and I dare to assert that there will be no discord between Temur and Bo'er in this battle. The Khanate and the Temple will work together sincerely to encircle and suppress us in the Modong Grassland!"

Yue Hongling, who had been sitting cross-legged in the corner without saying a word, slowly opened her eyes: "My sword is trembling... My sister's judgment may coincide with my sword."

 With a clear mind and a clear sense of crisis, no one in the world can compare to Yue Hongling.

Even if you don’t encounter the main force, there is a high probability that the opponent’s imperial realm will be here.

The battalion is the master who has been fighting for a lifetime. It is predicted that the main force will not only be counseled by the main force.

Immediately, a veteran general in the army said: "In this case, we simply create a more standard... Since we want to show that we believe that the main battlefield will be on General Huangfu's side, then we should make it look like this, and seem to divide our troops and rush to the west for reinforcements. , in fact, they didn’t leave at all…we need to completely block the opponent’s aerial reconnaissance.”

Suzaku pondered for a moment: "Not enough. From now on, don't use the storage box. We have to march straight in, eat the enemy, and chase the water source. Timur will set a trap for us, and we will wait."

 That night, Wu Weiyang, the powerful general of the Suppressing Demon Division, led ten thousand horses to the west to support the western front. Soon after, they left the eastern front. The hawks in the sky saw this movement and reported back to the north.

Early the next morning, forward Xue Canghaibu, who had slept well all night, received an order from the rear army while eating breakfast. The Blood God cultists raised their knives and roared towards the next water source settlement ahead.

　　——

ˆ PS: It’s still a bit short. There is a sketch of a march in the Easter egg chapter, which gives a rough idea.

 (End of this chapter)