Yang Yiqing was a little surprised when he entered the lobby of the military government office and saw Zhang Yanling. He found that Zhang Yanling was fully armed, wearing a full set of armor and cloak, and he was somewhat heroic. But Yang Yiqing soon had the idea of "gold and jade are ruined on the outside" in Yang Yiqing's mind.
In one sentence.
"You are so polite as the Marquis of Jianchang, how did you sleep last night? Are you used to the weather and food here?" Yang Yiqing smiled, bowed his hands, and said loudly.
Zhang Yanling stood up, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Thank you, Mr. Yang, for your concern. I am very used to everything."
Yang Yiqing nodded and said: "That's good. I invited Mr. Hou to attend the meeting last night, but he didn't attend. I thought you were not used to the environment here and were tired. Mr. Hou is dressed like this because you are going out of the city.
Huh? Mr. Zhang, didn’t I say that? You don’t need to worry about military affairs, I will arrange them properly. You only need to..."
Zhang Yanling waved her hand to interrupt Yang Yiqing's ramblings and said with a smile: "Master Yang, I am here to say goodbye."
Yang Yiqing was stunned for a moment, frowned and said: "Farewell? Is Mr. Zhang going back to the capital? You are here to put down the rebellion, so you are going back to the capital now. I'm afraid it won't be easy for you to do business."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Master Yang, that's not the case. How can I do business when I return to the capital now? I have to quell the rebellion before I can go back. I just want to leave Lingzhou and take my people around. It is a major matter to counter the rebellion.
Since Mr. Yang has taken care of everything, I am too lazy to intervene. It is my first time to come to the northwest. How can I not experience the customs and customs of the northwest and broaden my horizons. Therefore, I decided to go around. "
Although Yang Yiqing was surprised when he heard this, he was also relieved. He was really worried that Zhang Yanling would cause unnecessary trouble after returning to Beijing in anger. But it was obvious that Zhang Yanling was not stupid. If he knew that he would return to Beijing like this, he would
The trouble is even greater.
"Wandering around? The war is about to begin, but you leave Lingzhou. Isn't that bad?" Yang Yiqing said in a deep voice.
Zhang Yanling laughed twice, then suddenly his voice became colder, and he said word by word: "Master Yang, face is given to each other. I have the overall situation in mind, so I don't care about you, and you don't have to push yourself too far. I already had it last night.
The memorial was written and ready to be sent to the capital, but after thinking about it, I still didn’t do it.
In order to take the overall situation into consideration, do you think that I am afraid of you? I can go wherever I want to go. I tell you to give you face. Do you still want to restrict my freedom? If you don’t know how to advance or retreat,
Don't worry, I don't mind having a fight with you to see who wins and who loses in the end."
Yang Yiqing said angrily: "What are you saying, Lord Zhang? How dare you say such things?"
Zhang Yanling sneered and said: "Yang Yiqing, I have no grievances with you, and I don't want to argue with you and ruin the overall counter-insurgency situation. Since you want to take charge of the counter-insurgency military affairs, I will give it to you. You want me to stay
Are you going to be a spectator in Lingzhou? I can stay, too.
I will be the one to decide the matter of leading the army to counter the rebellion. If you want to deprive me of the right to lead the army, I will immediately report to the court and we will comment. The military supervisor Gu Dayong will be arriving in the next two days, and he and I will report to the court together.
Want to see who can beat whom?"
Yang Yiqing's face was livid and he couldn't help but sneer. But he also knew in his heart that if Zhang Yanling really wanted to make trouble at all costs, things would be a bit tricky.
It is not allowed for the General Controller of Military Affairs to usurp the power of the Chief Military Officer. In addition, if Gu Da uses this supervisor to report, I am afraid there will be another disturbance. Rather than doing this, it is better to let Zhang Yanling go his own way, as long as he does not make a fuss.
It’s done.
"Master Zhang, if you want to go out to enjoy the mountains and rivers, I will not stop you. But in the future, if the court asks you, I will not defend you. In the current war, if you leave the battlefield without authorization, I will not ask, and the court will take care of it.
Accountability. You have to figure it out yourself." Yang Yiqing said coldly.
Zhang Yanling laughed and said: "Who said I was going to enjoy the mountains and rivers? I just said I was going to experience the customs and customs of the northwest. I will be back in a few days. Didn't you say that you just want me to sit back and wait to receive my reward? I will
Waiting for you to quell the rebellion
I just want to come back after winning a complete victory. Besides, I just went west along the Yellow River to have a look. By the way, this is called patrolling the defense line and strengthening the vigilance to prevent the rebels from sneaking across the Yellow River. This reason will not be criticized, right?
"
Yang Yiqing frowned and was about to speak. However, Zhang Yanling was no longer interested in listening to him. He raised his hands and said: "Master Yang, I'm sorry, I am in a hurry to inspect the defense on the south bank of the Yellow River and have no time to explain to you, Master Yang. Master Yang can prepare with peace of mind."
To put down the rebellion, I will not come to compete with you for the right to lead the army. I am too lazy to fight with you. I will say goodbye!"
After Zhang Yanling finished speaking, he strode out, leaving Yang Yiqing standing there with a sullen look on his face.
At 4 o'clock in the morning, Zhang Yanling led three thousand cavalry out of the west city of Lingzhou and headed west. The uninformed generals in the city thought that Zhang Houye had some important military affairs to handle or some military operation.
Many people came to ask Yang Yiqing.
Yang Yiqing didn't talk nonsense. He only said that Zhang Yanling went to inspect the Yellow River defense line and inspect the defense.
Hearing this, all the generals burst into jeers, and all said: "This guy can't stay in Lingzhou any longer. Find something to do for yourself. What patrolling for defense? Why is there no need for him to patrol what defense? It's just unnecessary."
Zhang Yanling and his party galloped all the way to the southwest along the south bank of the Yellow River. On the way, Zhang Yanling and others stopped several times and went to the bank of the Yellow River to check the terrain. Zhang Yanling had to admit that the Yellow River here is indeed a dangerous place. The rolling torrent flows from steep walls.
Walking between the cliffs, the rocky cliffs on both sides are extremely steep.
When passing a place called Qingtong Gorge, the Yellow River here is only three hundred feet away from the other bank, but the cliff drop is as deep as a hundred feet. The roar of the river below can be heard for miles, like a roaring dragon, which is amazing.
.
It seemed that Zhang Yanling was really enjoying the mountains and rivers, but that was obviously not the case. Zhang Yanling kept checking the terrain of the river, and naturally he had other ideas. He was checking the defense situation of the rebels along the Yellow River to verify one of his thoughts.
idea.
Before arriving in Lingzhou, someone suggested to Zhang Yanling whether he could station troops to block several ferries and trap the rebels. But this method was obviously not feasible.
The land north of the Yellow River in Ningxia Town has a vast territory and fertile land. It is called the Saishang Plateau and the River of Gold and Silver. It is completely self-sufficient. It would be a joke to trap the rebels to death.
Because of this, if you want to quell the rebellion, a passive approach may not work.
If there was no natural barrier along the Yellow River, there wouldn't be a big problem. Tens of thousands of troops advanced and fought head-on. The battle was about strength, combat power, and strategy. But it was precisely because of this natural barrier that things became difficult.
Zhang Yanling also thought about the possibility of crossing the river to attack. However, after arriving in Lingzhou, Zhang Yanling abandoned the plan of crossing the river to attack. Not to mention Cao Xiong's mistake before, even if Cao Xiong had not been defeated, facing the Yellow River's natural chasm, he would have to cross the river on a large scale.
Attacking is an extremely stupid method.
This is not to say that this matter is completely unfeasible, but when there is no choice, this is the only way to do it.
Zhang Yanling also thought about whether he could sneak across the river. But it was obviously unrealistic. Except for a few ferries, it was too naive for tens of thousands of troops to cross the river by sneaking. Other rivers with towering cliffs and fast flowing water obviously made it impossible to sneak across.
Successful. And the rebels on the other side will obviously take precautions against this.
Because of this, Zhang Yanling was quite troubled about how to lead his army to attack. Until yesterday at the dock, Yang Yiqing made such a fuss, which gave Zhang Yanling a bold idea.
Yang Yiqing made a big show of building ships to cross the river to attack, and the rebels on the other side also saw it. They must have stepped up their precautions and tried their best to prevent the imperial troops from crossing the river.
The rebels only have 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses at best. Maybe if you give them time, they can recruit more civilians to join the army and increase the number of soldiers and horses. But in a short period of time, they cannot have too many soldiers and horses.
If Yang Yiqing is ready to cross the river to attack, the rebels will obviously put most of their troops on the bank of the Yellow River to prepare for the battle. The imperial army has tens of thousands of troops, so the rebels will naturally have to have a considerable number of troops to defend. In this way
, except for the soldiers and horses along the Yellow River, the rebels' rear defense must be empty. Even if there are soldiers and horses garrisoned, there must not be many.
From this, Zhang Yanling decided to implement his central flowering plan. The reason is simple. If Zhang Yanling can get his three thousand cavalry to the hinterland of the rebels north of the Yellow River, he will definitely be able to achieve great results. As long as he attacks Ningxia
City, capture the Anhua King Zhu Zhixiu, start an internal flowering, draw out the fuel from the cauldron, capture the thieves and capture the king... Then the rebellion will immediately subside. Maybe some people will fight to the death and resist. However, under the attack from both inside and outside, it will inevitably be destroyed.
After returning from the dock yesterday, Zhang Yanling was very excited about the bold plan he came up with. Therefore, he did not make any reaction to Yang Yiqing's actions. Because if he wanted to do this, he just needed to let Yang Yiqing
Here, preparations were made to cross the river and attract the attention of the rebel army.
Of course, Zhang Yanling did not make up his mind immediately. After all, although this plan was exciting, it was extremely risky. Many things were based on conjectures and predictions without real intelligence support. This made Zhang Yanling feel hesitant.
But Shi Yong's request for an interview last night brought Zhang Yanling a lot of precious information, which finally prompted Zhang Yanling to make up his mind.
From the information provided by Shi Yong, Zhang Yanling learned that there were currently only a few thousand soldiers and horses stationed in Ningxia City. Obviously, this news confirmed Zhang Yanling's conjecture. The reason why Zhang Yanling asked about the source of the news was to confirm the authenticity of all this.
After receiving the confirmation, Zhang Yanling decided to implement this bold plan.
Zhang Yanling did not tell Yang Yiqing about the plan, because the key to the success of the plan is to keep it secret. Once the information is leaked, it will be dangerous. If Yang Yiqing is trustworthy, he can cooperate. Unfortunately, Yang Yiqing's actions have made Zhang Yanling lose
He had no good impression of him, let alone trust. Therefore, Zhang Yanling chose to leave Lingzhou on the pretext of patrolling.
Of course, Zhang Yanling could not completely trust Shi Yong, so he still needed to conduct reconnaissance. This reconnaissance along the south bank of the Yellow River was to confirm whether the rebels' defense on the north bank was at full strength.
Facts have proved that Zhang Yanling found a large number of beacon fire alarm devices and a small number of cavalry scouts on the top of the cliff on the north bank. This obviously shows that the rebels' vigilance and defense on the north bank of the Yellow River are all-round. And it is also consistent with their own
It is judged that most of the rebel forces were gathered along the Yellow River. This is also consistent with the information provided by Shi Yong.
The key to the problem is how to bring these three thousand people to the hinterland of the rebels without the rebels noticing. This becomes the key to success or failure.