Chapter 135: Judging Nurhachi's plan (available now)
The two armies faced off at a distance of one mile, and no one moved until dark.
Jiannu did not attack again. There seemed to be troop movements in the night, but there were still many enemy troops not far away.
The more Wang Hongyu thought about it, the more he frowned. This was a bit different from what he expected.
Nurhaci, Daishan and Huang Taiji are all here. Zhenghuang Banner, Zhenghong Banner and Zhengbai Banner are the three flags that the Jiannu banners have suffered relatively little losses at present. Do they not attack?
"Third brother, will the old slave attack you at night?"
The eldest brother also noticed something strange about Jiannu, so he thought that Jiannu might not want to attack with huge casualties during the day, but wanted to take advantage of night fighting and chaotic fighting.
"I think it's possible." Commander-in-Chief Jiang Bi analyzed.
He had just taken care of his wounds. Fortunately, they were minor injuries and there would be no problems in the cold weather.
"Should we withdraw to Liaoyang overnight? There are still more than 30,000 combat troops, auxiliary troops, and tens of thousands of Mongolian troops there."
"No."
Zhou Dunji decisively rejected it.
Wang Hongyu and he spent so much effort to build a fortress on the south bank of the Hun River, accumulate supplies in advance, and secretly lead the army northward, just to avoid being killed by Yuan Yingtai, an upright, incorruptible, stubborn, and authoritarian layman.
When we go to Liaoyang and are under his control, there won't be that much room for manipulation.
Brothers Qin Bangping and Qin Minping also came to discuss together. They also believed that Jiannu was likely to attack at night. It was better to set up bonfires hundreds of steps around the formation so that the enemy could be discovered once they got close.
Zhou Dunji thought for a while and felt that this was the solution.
Wang Hongyu had been deep in thought, and when he saw that the generals were almost ready to arrange their arrangements according to this method, he hurriedly said:
"Our army has already used this method in the Hunhe Bastion. Nurhachi and Huang Taiji must have considered this. They may not launch a night attack, and they may make other arrangements."
"Other arrangements?" Qin Bangping was a little surprised, because most Ming troops here believed that Jiannu was about to launch an attack.
"That's right, Nurhaci didn't attack just now, which is extremely abnormal!"
Wang Hongyu patiently analyzed it for the generals:
"Nurhachi deployed troops very quickly and never sloppily. This was true in Fushun Pass, Sarhu, Tieling Kaiyuan, and this time in Fengjibao and Shenyang.
But just now, from dusk to dark, they neither attacked nor moved. This is not the way the opponent used to be at all. What does this mean?"
This is indeed abnormal.
The generals followed Wang Hongyu's train of thought and thought quickly, and found it really strange.
Qin Minping slapped his head and seemed enlightened: "If Nurhachi really wants to capture our army, he will launch an attack at dusk to consume us. He will continue to launch attacks at night and wipe us out in one fell swoop.
But he didn't do this, which means he had no intention of fighting us head-on!"
Wang Hongyu nodded to him. It was obvious that this analysis direction was reliable. Nurhachi used his troops very quickly, but there was no attack just now, which meant that the opponent probably would not fight hard here.
After Qin Minping took the lead, everyone else also started thinking.
Jiang Bi was inspired. He had been in Liaodong for a longer time and was no stranger to Nurhaci:
"When Xiong Tingbi was in charge, he would first prepare defenses to frustrate Nurhaci's offensive, and then concentrate his forces to counterattack, which would often allow the enemy to retreat without a fight.
Today, the Southern Army's defense in the south of the Hun River frustrated Jiannu, but there were too few reinforcements, and they were defeated by Jiannu twice in a row. If all the troops can be concentrated to support, they will surely win!"
He also felt more and more that Yuan Yingtai was wrong. First, he allowed Wang Shike, a general with 3,000 soldiers, to die, and then the so-called three general soldiers supported him, and his strength was much smaller than that of Jiannu.
"General Jiang can send his confidants to ask Yuan Jinglue for help immediately. He must lead the main force."
"good!"
Wang Hongyu made arrangements, and together with Chen Ce, Tong Zhongkui must have been sending people to Liaoyang to ask for help. As long as Liaoyang dispatches most of the main force, the enemy will definitely be defeated.
"But, I still can't figure out what Nurhaci wants to do?" Qin Minping thought for a moment and couldn't figure out what the enemy would do.
You Shilu also thought for a while, feeling that he had no clue.
Wang Hongyu and Zhou Dunji looked at each other, and the same worry flashed in their eyes.
"Hunhe Bastion!"
The two said in unison.
The enemy will raid Hunhe Bastion.
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's return for help quickly!" The Qin brothers immediately shouted.
"My cavalry is very fast, and they still have physical strength!" You Shilu said with high fighting spirit.
Jiang Bi also quickly called his servants and Wu Jingying to prepare for departure.
"Wait a minute!" Zhou Dunji said decisively.
"We can't call back immediately!" Wang Hongyu said firmly.
Jiang Bi, You Shilu and the Qin brothers were dumbfounded. Since they analyzed that the enemy would suddenly return to attack, why not immediately return reinforcements?
"We can imagine that Nurhaci and Huang Taiji must have made arrangements in advance."
Wang Hongyu looked around and saw that there was no one around Yuan Yingtai. He didn't say anything cryptic, but directly said that the two enemies were very powerful.
Zhou Dunji then added: "Jiannu Zhenghuang Banner, Zhenghong Banner, and Zhengbai Banner are extremely powerful. Almost all of them are heavily armored, with one person and two horses. They can quickly return to attack the Hunhe Bastion, or they can pretend to retreat and then deliberately
Set an ambush."
When he said this, he turned around and pointed at the Ming army formation not far away.
"Both the Southern Army and Wu Jing Camp are mainly infantry. General You has 3,000 cavalry, but 2,000 are light cavalry. Our total strength, cavalry and scout numbers are all at a disadvantage. Once we are ambushed, the entire army will be annihilated."
What the two brothers were talking about was Nurhachi’s favorite tactic.
It is precisely this kind of words that cannot be said next to a high-ranking civil servant like Yuan Yingtai. If he says it, it will only encourage the enemy's arrogance and undermine the offensive plan, and he will be punished to death.
But in a war situation, we must make true judgments, speak the truth, and take actions based on objective reality.
Official rhetoric always belittles the slaves, but on the battlefield, there is a heavy price to pay.
"What should we do?"
Qin Bangping trusted Zhou Dunji and Wang Hongyu very much, and now he was waiting for them to make up their minds.
Zhou Dunji moved his lips, but hesitated because he was not very sure.
"Brother!" Wang Hongyu patted him on the shoulder and supported him with extremely determined and enthusiastic eyes.
With the full support of his third brother, Zhou Dunji said loudly:
"The more than 10,000 soldiers and horses here, sleep well! Tomorrow morning, we will rush to support the Hunhe Bastion with all our strength!"
this
Except for Wang Hongyu, everyone else was stunned.
"The soldiers and horses that Nurhachi faced off just now?"
"We must withdraw now. If we stay, we will leave a few scouts behind. Our army does not need to pay attention to them."
Zhou Dunji continued his analysis: "We still need to send someone to the Hunhe Bastion immediately to inform our department of the situation and agree to attack tomorrow morning."
"Why only send one person?"
"Because it was determined that Jiannu was setting up an ambush along the way, and if he sent more people, he would be ambushed and all the people would be killed or injured. Only with a small number of people would it be possible to sneak through."