Chapter 40: The Way of Commanding the Armed Forces
Ling Jian, Liu Shiwang, Han Wende, Yu Gong, and Yu Zheng were ordinary military officials and jailers before, but they were either brave, resourceful, or chivalrous, so they were recommended when Zhu Xun and Gu Dajun were in danger of their lives.
Naturally, everyone has their own merits.
They also have high prestige among the lower-level generals.
Xu Huai's judgments are not wrong at all.
The military officials they initially selected were all familiar or good friends, so with the full support of King Jing Zhao Tuan and Xu Huai, it was not difficult to command more than a hundred soldiers to take over the defense of the four cities and the security of the city.
The next day, the remaining troops guarding the tomb were organized into capital teams, and the capital generals led the troops out of the city to the Yiluo River to cut ice on the Yellow River. Xu Huai also asked King Jing to stand in front of the tower early in the morning and set down the rules for cutting ice:
If all generals dare to lead their troops out of the city to cut ice, they will continue to command their troops and be assigned to the four cities to obey the control of Ling Jian, Han Wende, Yu Gong, and Yu Zheng. If all generals dare not lead their troops out of the city, they will be dismissed on the spot and appointed as deputy generals.
If the deputy general does not dare, he will be selected from the team general, flag leader, and ten generals in order.
Although he led his troops to attack Yanshi, the leader of the captive soldiers between Meng and Jin did not know that King Jing Zhao Tuan entered Gongxian under the escort of Xu Huai. The Chihu West Route Army knew very little about the soldiers of Tongbai Mountain. Ordinary soldiers and low-level soldiers
The generals had never even heard of Xu Huai's name, but they knew that there were two thousand troops stationed in Gong County to guard the mausoleum.
Yesterday afternoon in Gong County, hundreds of men and horses went out of the city to cut ice. Although it was of little significance to restrict large groups of captives, it was impossible for the captive generals to ignore this.
Early the next morning, there were no longer four or five small teams of scouts and reconnaissance cavalry on the outskirts of Gong County, but more than four hundred cavalry stationed near the woods on the east bank of the Yiluo River.
Ling Jian, Liu Shiwang, Han Wende, Yu Gong, and Yu Zheng led a team out of the city yesterday to dig ice. Xu Huai and Guo Junpian personally led their elite cavalry to cover the flanks. They faced few enemy cavalry, so of course there would be no casualties.
.
Xu Huai's main purpose last night was to see their courage, and it was impossible for them to suffer any casualties.
Otherwise, the more than 2,000 soldiers guarding the mausoleum, with the resentful Gu Dajun and others instigating them behind the scenes, would be a fool. Xu Huai asked Ling Jian and others to leave the city yesterday, which was also semi-forced. They got close to each other.
When people suffer heavy casualties, they will also feel resentment in their hearts.
The situation is different today.
Before the elites of the Western Army arrived, Xu Huai knew that their elites were not enough to defeat the Red Guards. At least until reinforcements from Caizhou arrived, he wanted to avoid exposing their strength as much as possible.
Therefore, except for Wu Chihai, Yuan Lei, Xu Sihu, Wei Daya, and Fan Zongqi, who took turns leading a small number of cavalry out of the city to guard, the main force of the cavalry was hidden in the city. Instead, Ling Jian, Han Wende, and Yu
Gong and Yu Zheng led their troops out of the west city and formed a formation in the north city to provide cover and pick up the troops who were going to dig ice on the Yiluo River and the Yellow River.
Although the captive soldiers could not fully understand the strength of the Gongxian defenders, and they did not have an advantage in terms of strength, and they attacked fiercely before they came up, but even the tentative contact and suppression were far more fierce than yesterday.
Ling Jian, Han Wende, Yu Gong, and Yu Zheng led their troops out of the city. Outside the West City and North City, they mainly provided cover and response. There was no ice cutting task. The weapons and shields were complete, the formation was organized, and they were not afraid of attacks.
It is impossible for the soldiers and light cavalry to rashly attack the well-organized infantry formation, and it is difficult to cause any casualties by galloping from the outside. They may even suffer some losses when shooting against the infantry bows.
The scattered ice-cutting troops and horses were exposed and were the key targets of the cavalry's attack.
Xu Huai even intended to expose the ice-cutting men and horses, and ordered Ling Jian, Han Wende, Yu Gong, and Yu Zheng to lead their troops out of the city, which was not too far away. They were mainly responsible for covering the rear wings of the ice-cutting men and horses; the cavalry who went out of the city to guard,
It was just to cover the rear flanks of Ling Jian and other troops, to prevent the cavalry from suddenly penetrating inside and seizing the city gate.
Facing the incoming Japanese soldiers, if the ice-cutting troops could form a formation in time, or if they knew to leave enough warning manpower on the outside, there would not be many casualties, but those who would lead their troops out of the city would already be in trouble.
Unwilling, flustered and unexpected, and poor in restraining his troops, the troops were in a state of chaos. When the soldiers came, they even took the lead in fleeing, and the casualties were out of control.
At every turn, more than a dozen people were shot and killed on the ice, and the remaining people almost had to escape within the cordon guarded by Ling Jian and others' troops in order to be safe and escape the pursuit of the captives.
One morning, twelve teams of people went out of the city to cut the ice. Facing the harassment of the Japanese cavalry, four of them took the lead in fleeing, one of them shot and killed the soldiers, and all five of them were able to fight and retreat, which was barely qualified;
Only two generals were able to restrain their soldiers to form a formation in front of the embankment, waiting for reinforcements to arrive and take them back to the city.
More than a hundred ordinary generals were killed on the spot by the captive cavalry, and almost more than a hundred were injured. Fortunately, the armor of the soldiers guarding the mausoleum was much higher than that of the ordinary imperial guards, so most of the injured soldiers suffered arrow wounds that were not serious.
Even so, in this kind of tentative contact battle, the loss of hundreds of people in one morning can be said to be quite tragic. If it were an ordinary forbidden army, it would probably be defeated and collapsed.
However, not only did Ling Jian and his troops suffer very little casualties, many of their cavalrymen even rushed into the city when they were chasing them. They shot and killed many of them, sniping many of them, and they killed more than a dozen heads in one morning.
Seeing that the arrogant generals in the past led their troops into such chaos, Ling Jian and other troops not only did not panic, but also gained more confidence from top to bottom and became more determined. They guarded the city and ordered the troops to be lightly armed
The soldiers did not dare to approach rashly.
Among the ten guards sent by King Jing Zhao Tuan to assist Ling Jian and others in commanding the troops, two of them relied on their martial arts skills and were good at riding and shooting. They wanted to show off in front of King Jing who was provoking the formation at the top of the city, so they went out to fight without permission.
, one person was shot dead by the captive cavalry before the battle, and the other escaped with injuries, knelt under the city, and apologized to King Jing and Xu Huai.
Xu Huai did not look at the guard who was kneeling in front of the city tower with three arrows stuck in his back that had not yet been pulled out to stop the bleeding. He turned sideways and looked at King Jing and said: "The way to lead an army is mysterious, but it really controls everything.
With everything spread out in front of your eyes, Your Highness probably won’t think it’s so mysterious, right?”
King Jing Zhao Tuan looked at the battlefield far and near, nodded thoughtfully, and said:
"Your father was killed by the traitor Cai Jiaozhao. Someone in the capital cried in front of the official's house and complained that Vietnam was saddened by the loss of a good and famous general. The court officials wanted to cover up the matter and retorted that the commander of the army was Xiaoshu'er. There were dozens of famous generals in the Western Army. Whatever
One person can replace it. It's a pity that no one saw through the absurdity. I was young and energetic at the time and didn't take it seriously. It was only in recent years that I thought about it, but it was still not as profound as witnessing it all. What was passed down by the generals of the Wang family is really true.
The magic of military control!"
In the view of King Jing, Zhao Tuan and others, Xu Huai's ability to lead troops in battle, apart from his superior personal bravery, could only be inherited from his family.
Even though Xu Huai was still in his infancy when Wang Xiaocheng died and Wang Ju took refuge outside, no matter whether it was his writings or Xu Wuqi and others as Wang Xiaocheng's personal followers, they had long been taught by Wang Xiaocheng, ensuring that the inheritance would continue.
There is no problem.
"Your Highness is ridiculous!" Xu Huaiqian said.
"Zhang Xin, what kind of knowledge can you see?" King Jing Zhao Tuan looked at Zhang Xin and asked.
"..." Zhang Xin nodded with a solemn expression. He stood on the tower and watched the whole morning. Of course he felt deeply, but he wanted to tell him, but for a moment he felt that he couldn't do it.
Fortunately, King Jing Zhao Tuan did not insist on testing him and allowed him to think about it slowly.
Zhang Xin was very clear about one thing at this time.
As long as Ling Jian, Yu Gong and others lead their troops and remain stationary under the city, no matter how scattered the ice-cutting troops are or how heavy the casualties are, there will be no danger for the time being.
And it was precisely those who led the team to cut the ice that performed so unsatisfactory. Not only Ling Jian, Yu Gong and others were more confident, but also the generals and soldiers who were fighting inside and outside the city tower, and even the officers and soldiers who had been defeated and fled back.
, determined that King Jing’s choice of Ling Jian, Yu Gong and others as generals before the war was the most correct choice.
Otherwise, even if King Jing ordered Gu Dajun and other commanders to serve as bodyguards, how could it be possible for so many generals and deputy generals to truly obey the restraint and control of Ling Jian, Yu Gong and others?
The most terrifying thing in the army is to be upside down. When the enemy is really facing the enemy, those generals with resentment will definitely have a lot of things they can do. Even if Ling Jian and other troops are in danger, they can influence the situation of the battle by standing still.
And in a short period of time, it was impossible for them to completely disband and reorganize the more than 2,000 tomb-defending troops.
Therefore, Xu Huai arranged to continue cutting ice today. It is still not cutting ice, but a continuation of yesterday's selection of generals. Only then can we truly rebuild the city defense troops with Ling Jian, Yu Gong and other five troops as the core.
"What should Chengde do with him? He is also eager to perform meritorious deeds..." Zhang Xin asked King Jing as he looked at the guard who was kneeling at the foot of the city to plead guilty.
Seeing King Jing Zhao Tuan looking over with hesitation, Xu Huai said calmly: "It's all up to Your Highness to make your decision!"
King Jing Zhao Tuan gritted his teeth and said: "When Xun Yu persuaded Cao Cao to attack Shao, he had four victories and four defeats. The core of 'Wu Sheng' was to strictly enforce military discipline and not be lenient or arbitrary. This is probably the so-called kindness.
I don’t control the troops. Cheng De is the person next to me, but just like that, I can’t break the rules because of him! Zhang Xin, you go to supervise and kill..."
"Bind up Cheng De who disobeys the military orders and take him to the execution platform to be executed!" Zhang Xin's eyes widened, trying not to avoid Cheng De's pleading eyes, and ordered Cheng De to be taken to the North City Tower temporarily.
The execution platform was filled with earth, and the four people who had escaped from the battle would have been tied there, waiting for execution.
Watching Zhang Xin walk down the tower, he took Liu Shiwang and rode to the execution platform in the north of the North Tower. Soon, he saw five people's heads falling to the ground, their bodies lying on the ground, and blood gurgling from their necks. This situation was actually better than that of soldiers.
They were shot and killed by the captives in the distance, which made Qiao Jien, Gao Huihong, Chen Yougui, Zhu Xun, Gu Dajun and others feel excited and frightened...
