Seeing that the Puppet Tang thief army not only bypassed Yizhang, but also prepared to bypass Chenzhou and continue northward, anyone with a little military knowledge can see that the main force of the Puppet Tang thief army is definitely heading towards Hengzhou.
of.
And Hengzhou is the most important strategic support point for the Ming army in southern Huguang!
Hengzhou is not only the strategic defense support point of the Ming army in southern Huguang, but also a transit point for troops and supplies. If the puppet Tang rebel army takes Hengzhou, it will almost wipe out the nearly 100,000 troops in southern Huguang.
Being locked up in the southern Huguang area, I dare not make a super big dumpling, but it will definitely shake the entire southern Huguang defense line, and finally force our own army to strategically abandon the defensive bridgeheads on the front lines such as Chenzhou and Yizhang.
Because if Hengzhou is captured by the puppet Tang rebels, the entire Ming army on the frontline in southern Huguang will be cut off from its logistics supply line. Although they can transport some supplies to the front line in a small way, the defenders will hoard them in various cities.
The supplies are enough to sustain them for a few months, but in the end they will still inevitably be completely wiped out.
Because in the entire southern Huguang area, the Tang Army's troop strength was not only an infantry division and a temporary regiment, but also a third infantry division and a temporary first regiment.
The total strength of the First Army is 40,000, which is enough to feed the more than 100,000 troops in southern Huguang.
Even if they sense the danger and then take the initiative to make a strategic retreat, as long as the Ming army in these areas moves slower, there will be a huge collapse.
And this is a potential crisis that many Ming army generals can see. Therefore, after discovering that the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army was heading north, the Ming army in Chenzhou and even Yizhang direction and even the nearby Linwu and Guiyang directions could not sit still.
.
If we really want the main force of the more than 10,000 puppet Tang thief army to go north to Hengzhou, let alone the fact that the defenders on the Hengzhou side are all second-line reserve troops, then can 10,000 or 20,000 people be able to defend Hengzhou, just let the puppet army
It is unacceptable for the Tang rebel army to station troops outside Hengzhou City, because this will also cut off the supply line from Hengzhou to transfer materials and troops to the front line.
Don't think that the Ming army has mostly cold weapons, so the requirements for logistical supplies are not important. In fact, regardless of whether it is a cold weapon army or a firearms army, the logistics requirements are very high, because the soldiers have to eat, and the Ming army also has
They are not all cold weapon troops. In fact, the proportion of their firearms troops is not small. Various types of miscellaneous firearms troops actually still account for more than 20% of the total force, and artillery of large and small calibers is what they defend.
important support for the city.
Without the supply line, there will be no food and no ammunition replenishment. Relying on the existing reserves can last for two or three months at most, but will it last longer?
When many generals of the Ming army saw the main force of more than 10,000 puppet Tang rebels heading towards Hengzhou, they immediately reacted badly. Many of them even thought of the Battle of Jingzhou.
At that time, the puppet Tang rebel army besieged Jingzhou, and then cut off the supply line from Jingzhou to Xingquan Prefecture, forcing the officers and soldiers in Xingquan Prefecture to divide their troops to return for reinforcements. As a result, they suffered a disastrous defeat in the encirclement and reinforcements.
The Ming army lost most of their baggage and ran all the way north. This is how they managed to escape from the huge pit of Xingquan Mansion!
And now, these pseudo-Tang rebels seem to want to have another 'Jingzhou Battle', and it will be a larger Jingzhou Battle. Thinking of this, they can't sleep or eat well!
But while most of the Ming army generals were extremely worried, a few Ming army generals were overjoyed when they saw this scene!
These daring puppet Tang rebels actually dared to attack Hengzhou. Could it be that they thought the garrison in the direction of Chenzhou and Yizhang didn't exist?
I admit that the main force of your puppet Tang thief army is powerful. If you can't defeat it in the field, you can only be trapped in the fortified city. But the main force of your puppet Tang thief army has gone north. Is it possible that we still can't defeat your logistics transport team?
Just like the troops used to transport various baggage in the Ming army were actually civilian men recruited temporarily, the troops used to transport in the Tang army were actually mainly civilian men. They would only be used in dangerous areas near the front line.
Baggage troops escort or transport.
As for the transportation troops on the rear supply line, they are at most a very small number of troops escorting large-scale civilian transportation teams, and their combat effectiveness is almost zero.
This is not because the Tang Army wants to see its logistics and transportation troops so fragile, but it is something that cannot be helped. To maintain the operations of the frontline troops, especially long-distance operations, basically requires an almost equal number of civilians to supply the frontline troops.
Supplies are needed, that is to say, a soldier needs a civilian to provide logistical supplies.
Counting from Fucheng in Shaozhou Prefecture, the main material transfer base for the Tang Army heading north, almost ten thousand people traveled from Shaozhou Prefecture to the front line. And where is the front line now? That has already bypassed Yizhang, and even
After bypassing Chenzhou, we arrived at Guiyang, the northern part of Chenzhou. The entire supply line was winding for almost more than 500 miles.
During this distance, if they sent large troops from the garrison in Yizhang, Chenzhou and other places to attack the logistics transport team of the puppet Tang rebel army, they would definitely be able to completely cut off the logistic supply line of the puppet Tang rebel army.
Once the supply line of the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army heading north is cut off, the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army heading north will be the fish on the sticky plate. Whether it is steamed or braised depends on the mood of the Ming army.
The best thing is to send out all the main forces of the Ming army in the surrounding directions, and then surround and annihilate the main force of more than 10,000 people from Hengzhou to Chenzhou.
So at this time, many Ming army generals saw an almost once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could change the current strategic turning point: first cut off the supply line of the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army, and then mobilize troops from all directions to surround this group that dared to go north.
The main force of the puppet Tang thief army.
Then with a force advantage of three to four times or even five to six times, even if the main force of the puppet Tang rebel army is powerful, they are not made of iron. Once the supply line is cut off, how long can they last without ammunition and food?
Even if they can hold on, as long as they are determined, even at the cost of some casualties, they will surround and annihilate this main force of the puppet Tang thief army.
Once this main force of the puppet Tang thief army is defeated, it will definitely be a turning point in victory for the entire suppression campaign to annihilate the puppet Tang Dynasty. This means that our side is very likely to be able to move from a strategic defensive posture to
Strategic offensive posture.
Why?
Because the generals of the Ming army also knew that the real thief force of the Puppet Tang thief army going north was the 1st Infantry Division of the Puppet Tang thief army. Although this number was a bit weird, it made many civil and military officials of the Ming army sound or say it.
It's hard to say, but they know very well that the First Infantry Division of the Puppet Tang Bandit Army was formerly the First Army of the Puppet Tang Bandit Army, and its core was the First Infantry Brigade.
Its commander is Hao Bainian, who is the most famous among the puppet army of the Tang Dynasty. He is also the most familiar to the civil and military officials of the Ming army. Even Emperor Zhengde knows about him. The Ming army even calls him Hao Bainian, the left arm of the puppet emperor Li Xuan.
bladder.
This army was a powerful force. Under the leadership of the Tang thief leader Hao Bainian, they successively conquered Liuzhou, Wuzhou, Zhaoqing, Guangzhou, Shaozhou and other places. The Ming army alone lost a lot of money to this powerful force of the puppet Tang thief army.
The number is one hundred thousand.
If we can annihilate this powerful force of the Puppet Tang Dynasty and kill the Hao thief, then it will not even be as simple as annihilating the 10,000 people of the Puppet Tang thief army, but we can break the arm of the Puppet Tang Dynasty!
Although the Puppet Tang thief army was large in number, and the numbers reported by the Ming army on the front line were often exaggerated, in fact most of the senior Ming army generals in the Huguang area also knew that the main force of the Puppet Tang thief army was those soldiers.
Just, well, there are already several divisions now, and not every one of these divisions has such a strong combat effectiveness.
Only the First Infantry Division, the ace force of the Puppet Tang Bandit Army, could get them to take it so seriously!
They firmly believe that after destroying the First Infantry Division of the Puppet Tang Bandit Army, the impact will definitely be very great. For example, after annihilating the First Infantry Division of the Puppet Tang Bandit Army, who else can stop the invasion of southern Huguang?
One hundred thousand troops march south to Guangdong?
At that time, the army going south can capture Shaozhou Prefecture first, and then attack Zhaoqing, a city that was stolen by the Tang thieves and used as a puppet capital. By that time, although the puppet Tang thieves army will have several other divisions,
But after being divided, the situation was over, and the subsequent imperial officers and soldiers could slowly divide, surround and destroy them.
And such a turning point can definitely be called a turning point of victory!
So when they thought of this possibility, many Ming army generals couldn't help but get excited!
Immediately, many generals of the Ming army began to send out fast horses to pass news to each other, and then worked together to fight together. After all, to complete such a grand strategic concept, it was not enough to rely on a certain part of the Ming army alone.
Apart from anything else, even if the supply line of the Puppet Tang thief army was successfully cut off, if the main force of the Puppet Tang thief army was to be entangled and prevented from escaping immediately, it would be impossible without a force of 20,000 to 30,000 people.
If you want to be more safe, it is best to have more than 50,000 people!
Only in this way can we entangle the last and besiege the main force of the puppet Tang thief army!
At the same time, if they want to attack the supply line of the puppet Tang rebel army, they must first contain the three thousand puppet Tang rebel army near Chenzhou. Otherwise, as long as they are around, the Ming army will not be able to easily cut off the supply line of the puppet Tang rebel army!
In just a few days, after countless fast horses traveling to and from Yizhang, Chenzhou, Guiyang and other places, the Ming troops in various places were already gearing up and preparing for a big fight!
Although Hao Bainian noticed the Ming army's unusual movements at this time, even he himself could not have imagined that the Ming army's movements would be so large.
Now Hao Bainian is like fishing. He originally just got on a small boat and went out to sea to catch a few sardines, but unexpectedly he caught a ferocious shark. If he was not careful, the fishing rod or line would break, and there would be
Maybe even the boat under your butt will be overturned!