Liu Chengzong himself never thought that it would be so easy to enter Guanzhong.
When he was in Qinghai, he had secretly thought about the situation of entering Guanzhong ten thousand times, but it turns out that human imagination is still too lacking.
His army was divided into six groups and walked through the barren mountains with almost no obstructions. The garrison troops from all walks of life they encountered thought that he was about to engage in a battle, so they all defended themselves. As a result, the six groups of soldiers and horses came out of Qingshui County so easily.
Panling Pass.
The dangerous Liupan Mountain can be passed in just a day.
This is a very bizarre thing, because with the state of the Marshal's army on the mountain, there is no need for the Ming army to do anything. As long as someone comes nearby, they can cause enough trouble to Liu Chengzong.
But there is none.
Because Liu Shizi found that he was leading the army this time. When marching, dispatching, and commanding, he obviously felt that it was not smooth enough. He only marched more than 600 miles and was in trouble.
He knew what the problem was. The problem was that the brigade commander was behind to look after the house and set up the defense line. He led two brigades and ten battalions by himself, a total of fourteen battalions. Although no matter whether he was an old brother or a surrendered general, he was now a direct descendant.
, it’s not difficult for him to lead troops.
But with the endless problems that cropped up during the march, even though he was very energetic and a high-ranking figure in the platoon, with two brigade commanders and ten generals reporting on their work twice a day, his head was filled with problems to consider and solve. Mental fatigue is only secondary. The main reason is that the command hierarchy is too flat, which brings many unnecessary burdens and risks to the army. Moreover, if you have too many things to worry about, you will inevitably miss them. The problems in the army when walking to Guanshan Grassland and crossing Liupan Mountain
It showed up.
The road from Qingshui County to Panlingguan is a mountainous road, and it is particularly difficult to walk with twists and turns. More than a dozen battalions were divided into six routes. When they arrived in Qingshui County and wanted to cross Liupan Mountain, they had to merge. Originally, some should arrive first, some should arrive last, and some should arrive later.
After crossing the mountains, there was a flaw in the arrangement. Six battalions were crowded on the mountain road where soldiers and horses could not move, and the way was blocked by baggage. The army behind them could not pass, and the army in front could not go.
After half a day of congestion, more than 40,000 troops had gathered to the west of Panling Pass, leading horses and mules to transport supplies on the mountain. The scene was spectacular.
The trouble caused by the large number of people increases exponentially, because the number of wells, firewood, horse grass and other ubiquitous things on the land is limited. Once the number of soldiers and horses passing through a place in a short period of time exceeds the limit of the land, the soldiers will have to work hard in their daily work.
The time spent increases exponentially.
Firewood that can be collected nearby has to be found five or six miles away, and the water from the well is not enough to distribute, so the time to start a meal will be delayed. After everything is done, it is time to eat the next meal.
It was getting dark, and we walked fifteen miles on the last day.
The stalls in the Marshal's Mansion are too big and too shabby, and only a few people can take the lead.
The eldest brother has gone to Tianshan, Cao Yao is currently in Gansu and conquering Ningxia, Basang is stationed in Golmud and Daedang, Yang Yao is looking at his hometown in Hehuang, and Wang Wenxiu is stationed in Lanzhou to prepare for any unexpected events.
Speaking of which, he has quite a few brigade commanders, and there are three of them beside him. One is Xie Erhu from the Mongolian brigade, and the other is Shi Xiang from the Lintao brigade. However, both of them are characters who can only command their own troops.
There is also Zhang Xianzhong, the Minister of Rites.
Just as he said, at Panling Pass in the northwest of Longzhou, Liu Chengzong was looking at the formation map, and Zhang Xianzhong entered the curtain and said: "Commander, there is a fight in the west. The Zuomanzi sent a team of cavalry to pursue Zhang Yichuan. Mines
It was buried too loosely and had no sound, so it was driven out for twenty miles. As a result, the cavalry soldiers stepped on a mine when they retreated, and rockets were fired on the mountain. I heard from the soldiers in the pond that the explosion was very lively."
Hearing that Zuo Liangyu was defeated, Zhang Xianzhong's yellow face was filled with uncontrollable joy: "This bastard has his day, but it's a pity that he is too coward and did not personally lead the army to kill him!"
"There is no need to blow him up. As long as we can scare him for two days, let us climb over Liupan Mountain and attack Baoji to block him from the front and back. There will be nowhere to run."
"Commander, I would like to suggest that, if this doesn't work, we should call Brigade Commander Wang here. Anyway, the army is blocked on the mountain. I guess we haven't reached Baoji yet if he comes." Zhang Xianzhong said: "If we continue like this, there will be trouble."
Liu Chengzong glanced at Zhang Xianzhong and said to himself that it was because you, the Minister of Rites, did not do your job properly and lacked prestige.
Originally, he wanted to take this opportunity to ask Zhang Xianzhong to help him command three small battalions in Gansu. Anyway, he had the official position of brigade commander of the Western Brigade, so he didn't need to use it in vain.
I never expected that the Eighth Prince's prestige and qualifications in the Commander's Mansion were too low. It would be no problem to let him lead his Xiying brothers who still have about a thousand people. He would assign other generals to his command, and no one would be able to do so.
Happy.
The only one in Gansu's Third Battalion who had no objections to this decision was Ganzhou General Zhang Zhen...Zhang Zhen himself was a general without much ambition. If Zhao Fuqian hadn't been involved in assassinating the Imperial Preceptor Khan, he would have
Thanks to my own hard work, I’m sure I haven’t become a general yet.
He was afraid that if Liu Chengzong was directly under his command, he would be sent to take the leading role. After all, he was one of the lower-ranking generals among the generals in the Marshal's Mansion. He didn't seek merit but sought failure... but he hoped that when there were mistakes, his faults would be smaller. However, his worries are completely unnecessary. He only knows himself and does not know the other side. Don’t Mr. Liu know what role you are? Leave Zhang Tianlin alone and Gao Yingdeng is not needed. Let you take the lead? Think too much!
The remaining two are different. Ding Guodong and Mi Laoyin, who have always obeyed orders, are not happy.
That Mi Layin was a thief. After Liu Shizi surrendered, he followed him to Gaotai City. He still had the Ming army's tassel in his arms.
But for such a person who can hide things in his heart, when Liu Chengzong asked him what he thought about being assigned to Zhang Xianzhong's banner, the corners of his mouth drooped, and he was filled with joy and anger.
The man felt extremely aggrieved and said: "Commander, our brothers from Gansu fought with all their lives and gave their best, how come they fell into the trap of being a minister of etiquette and a foreign man?"
When Liu Chengzong heard this, he thought, forget it, it seems that the only one who has the temptation of the Marshal's Mansion to these two old Ming army generals is himself.
They fight with their lives, just to follow him, not to mention being like a dragon, at least to get ahead and have a lot of room for advancement.
I was assigned to Zhang Xianzhong, but I was not convinced or convinced. Anyway, I probably felt that the commander was trying to marginalize me. Maybe when I got to Baoji, I would have the idea of recruiting him anyway.
The problem is that both Mi Layin and Ding Guodong have this idea. As for Liu Chengzong's group of arrogant and powerful generals, Zhang Tianlin, Wei Qian'er, Gao Yingdeng, Luo Rucai, and Li Wanqing, all of them are Liu's boss, Tian's second, and grandpa's No. 1 in the world.
Three characters, can they convince Zhang Xianzhong?
This group of demons and ghosts did not even regard Zhang Xianzhong, the Minister of Rites, as an important member of the Marshal's Office, but only regarded him as the mascot of the Duntaulus Khanate.
Each of them felt that they could defeat the Eight Kings.
But Tianxing Zhang Tianlin even shyly came to Liu Chengzong at the beginning of the war, hoping to have the Minister of Rites come to his camp to have fun during the war.
How glorious it is to fight with the Minister of Etiquette!
"I have already sent people there. Hehuang can no longer defend it. Let Brigadier Yang guard the second line of defense - this is a natural danger."
Liu Chengzong shook his head as he spoke. He really didn't expect that the soldiers and horses would collide. The road was really too narrow and too few, but it was unnecessary to divide the troops to get through Pingliang in order to march. It was good for him to open the battlefield in Guanzhong. p>
Seeing that Liu Chengzong had made arrangements, Zhang Xianzhong stopped talking. Then he saw the formation diagram on Liu Chengzong's desk and asked, "Commander, what is this?"
"Changshan Snake Formation."
Liu Chengzong said: "Liupan Mountain is difficult to cross. We are blocked here. We are worried about encountering danger, so we arranged the military camp like this."
As he said this, he glanced at Zhang Xianzhong in confusion, thinking that you don't even know a soldier who leads a war?
Then I couldn't help but feel relieved. Changshan Snake Formation is not a long snake formation of a column, but a strategic arrangement that facilitates the rapid gathering of troops in all directions.
This name comes from the ancient legend of the Changshan Snake. The snake's name is Suran. It has two heads. If you touch one head, the other will bite it and help each other. Sun Wuzi used it as a metaphor for people who are good at using soldiers in The Art of War.
The so-called hit from head to tail, hit from head to tail, hit from head to tail.
However, the number of troops led by Zhang Xianzhong has always ranged from seven to eight hundred to three to five thousand. At this scale, there is no need to consider the rapid gathering of troops. With just a few people in total, there is no need to divide the head and tail.
"Snake in Changshan, I think I've heard of you recruiting scholars to read military books earlier."
Zhang Xianzhong nodded in sudden realization, but then asked again: "Commander, what do these winds and clouds mean? The scholar didn't know before, so he could only follow the text. After he read it, I was confused and didn't understand anything." "Haha!"
Liu Chengzong became happy when he heard this and said with a smile: "It's not the wind and clouds, it's the winds and clouds of heaven and earth. Dragons, tigers, birds and snakes come from the eight formations. It's normal that you don't know, and it doesn't affect leading the troops to fight."
"You can understand these things once you are taught them, but if you don't teach them, you may never know them; people who don't lead soldiers don't know what they are called, and people who don't study don't know what they mean... I am a scholar leading soldiers, want to know? I'll teach you
."
Zhang Xianzhong was very curious about knowledge. Liu Shizi just said it casually, but Zhang Xianzhong knelt down and kowtowed: "Please teach me, Commander!"
Liu Chengzong felt embarrassed all of a sudden, and hurriedly helped him up and said: "Please get up quickly, this is not very important, it is a difficult thing."
In fact, all peasant army leaders, as long as they consciously kidnap scholars in mobile operations and are willing and able to spare time to study, will definitely achieve great things if they do not die.
This is of course not because they are good at kidnapping, or they can definitely learn knowledge of great significance, but it means that this person has extremely strong control over himself.
"The earliest formation was the Eight Formation. It is said that it was set up by Feng Hou, a subordinate of the Yellow Emperor. It was at that time that the wind and clouds in the world, dragons, tigers, birds and snakes appeared. In fact, it is a code name for the team name. You can change it to A, B, C, D or one or two.
Three or four, or the popular front, back, left, center, right, are all fine."
Zhang Xianzhong was stunned: "Ah?"
That’s it?
Is it that simple?
Then my knocking on the head is not in vain?
Seeing his astonishment, Liu Chengzong couldn't help laughing and said: "It was that simple at that time. The so-called eight formations were eight vertical and eight horizontal square formations. If it was small, nine people would be enough; if it was large, sixty-four military formations could be arranged." p>
As he spoke, Liu Shizi drew a nine-square grid on the table: "This is the eight formations, because eight formations are used, but there are actually nine. The ninth one is in the middle, which is zero. The main general controls it in the center, so it is also called holding.
Strange formation."
"The eight formations are four upright and four odd. The fourth is the green dragon on the left, the white tiger on the right, the red bird in the front, and the black dragon in the back. They are dragons, tigers, birds, and snakes; the four dimensions and four corners are the wind and clouds of the heaven and earth, which are no different from one, two, three, and four. They are in all directions, no matter which side they are.
When enemies come, they always use the right combination to defeat them by surprise."
"It turns out to be a team banner, so since it's just a title." Zhang Xianzhong was still a little dissatisfied with this. This answer made him bang his head so hard that he still felt that Liu Shishi was hiding his clumsiness and asked: "Commander, I heard that
Besides the four beasts, there is gossip, what is it?"
"Attached."
Liu Chengzong laughed: "I have already told you the origin of the name of the Eight Formations. It has nothing to do with the Eight Diagrams. Even in the Tang Dynasty, its name was the Nine Army and Eight Formations, not the Nine Palaces and Eight Diagrams Formation. The so-called Eight Diagrams is just a far-fetched idea by later generations.
That's all, otherwise what does the battlefield have to do with us? The most capable generals should be those who tell fortunes and read graves."
Hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong was also happy. It turned out that it was not that these military formations were too difficult, but that the term "affiliation" had become a cover-up, making it difficult for people to understand.
On the contrary, with Liu Shizi's explanation, Zhang Xianzhong could easily see the difference between the ancient Eight Formations of the Nine Armies and the modern Five Formations.
The Eighth Formation of the Ninth Army consisted of three formations on each side, defending in all directions; the Sancai Formation now commonly used by the Ming Army uses rangers to cover in front, the vanguard to strike first, and the jumping troops to break in immediately and station to support or outflank. p>
The shape of the large array diagram has changed, but in the final analysis, the ideas are the same.
"The ancients are also human beings, and their words cannot be fully trusted, because not everyone in the ancients understood the art of war. Most of the formation diagrams handed down today were made by future generations under the pretense of the sages. Even if they are truly ancient formation diagrams, they must have undergone modifications." "For example, up to now, I have seen not fifty but thirty formation diagrams. They all claim to be ancient formation diagrams, but most of them contain horse troops. Where could there be cavalry in ancient times? What's even more outrageous is that the name is Huangdi Hold.
Strange picture, the paper looks quite old, but there are not only rangers, but also artillery and musketry in it. Is this reasonable?"
Liu Chengzong laughed again as he spoke, but it was a pity that Lao Zhang couldn't receive his laughter at all.
Because Zhang Xianzhong is not a scholar, he has neither read the Four Books and Five Classics, nor has he had the opportunity to borrow books and anthologies from the gentry's collections. His understanding of history is very limited, and his knowledge mainly comes from drama.
He is serious about studying culture. In fact, he only started after he raised the army. Even though he has been learning from others, the things in his mind are still very limited.
He didn’t think it was unreasonable for Huang Di’s soldiers to have cavalry in front of the army, an artillery array behind them, and a musketry unit in the middle. Huang Di’s soldiers pushed Fran cannons and bombarded Chiyou wildly - to him
, very reasonable.
He still feels that the biggest reason for the demise of the Shu Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms was that Zhuge Liang was too obsessed with individual weapons and asked Pu Yuan to forge three thousand knives in Xiegu.
Ten Franco cannons were cast, and Qishan still used them six times?
Liu Chengzong saw that Zhang Xianzhong was confused by his words, and then he realized that although his Minister of Rites was not illiterate, he had limited knowledge of ancient things, and there was no way they could talk together.
Fortunately, the two did not remain silent for too long, and someone soon broke the awkwardness.
After reporting the report, Ma Xiang, the leader of Tangqi, rushed to the tent and saluted: "Commander, the movement of our army has been known to the enemy. The enemy Tangjiuzhou in the north is moving south quickly. Calculating their distance, they can reach Longzhou City tonight.
!"
Liu Chengzong was not surprised but overjoyed when he heard this. He took a look at the map, raised his hand and tapped twice on the table: "The person who fills Deng Qi's position is here, let's eat him first, and then surround Zuo Liangyu!"