Although more than 20 years have passed since the Battle of Haoshuichuan, the people of Qinzhou have a very deep understanding of the war.
Zhao Xi did not issue an order to strengthen the walls and clear the country, mainly because he was influenced by the humanitarianism of later generations and ignored this point. He really didn't care whether the Xixia people could plunder food and grass.
But the people of Qinzhou did this very well.
Since the beginning of the war, people have dragged their families into the mountains.
The Western Xia people's riding horses collecting food and grass traveled farther and farther. They had war horses, excellent war horses, and they really didn't care about the journey of hundreds of miles.
Moreover, the Xixia cavalry that attacked the Yongxing Army and the Huichuan Army and contained the two wings of the Song Dynasty were only two or three days away from the main battle line.
In other words, the entire territory of Qinzhou, from Xiaoguan to Dingchuan Village, has been occupied by the Xixia people.
I don’t know if it counts as a real occupation.
The Xixia people do not maintain camps, but from the south of Xiaoguan, every thirty or fifty miles, there are a thousand people or two thousand horsemen... This is the retreat.
The Xixia people attacked almost all the way, leaving their cavalry behind to ensure a smooth retreat.
The border stronghold was broken, but the cavalry they sent out did not pursue Song's defeated troops. This was the biggest difference from the past.
This was different. They were suppressed by the force of a long march... In the past, the rangers could be sent out to kill the defeated troops and collect supplies from those villages.
"The people of the Song Dynasty seem to know their Crown Prince very well. They knew that there was no chance of victory and fled early. Even the defenders did the same."
"Keeping all the elites by his side, he doesn't care about the life and death of the border guards... He really cherishes his life."
This is the most common understanding among Xixia people.
For this person, once a certain point of view is formed in his mind, all factors will be interpreted around this point of view, and all factors can be interpreted to support the establishment of the point of view.
Just like the Xixia people today.
During the siege, the Xixia people did let their horses adapt to the gunpowder bombs. At the same time, they also felt that there were no more troops in each border village.
Therefore, I understand the situation that the entire Qinzhou is like a fortified wall and a clear wilderness.
The prince of Song Dynasty was afraid of death, so he left all his elite troops in Qinzhou and didn't care about the border defenders at all.
This also explains why the soldiers could not be found after the camp was broken, because the soldiers had all run away and became ordinary people, hiding in the mountains to avoid the war.
It is estimated that even the people on the border of Qinzhou think of Zhao Xi this way.
Zhao Xi couldn't care about this, let alone not knowing, he wouldn't care even if he knew... The final result is the best explanation.
At this time, he was summoning all the generals to make the last deployment before the station.
The defenders of Sanchuan Village retreated last night and returned directly to the main force. The defenders of Desheng Fort will retreat the day after tomorrow. In three to five days at most, the main force of Xixia will enter the Haoshuichuan area and come into contact with the Central Route Army.
This was the last meeting of all generals before the encirclement and suppression, and even Guo Kui and Zhong E were present.
Of course, Zhe Keke and Cao Lin were also present...the encirclement and suppression campaign was dominated by the new army.
"The war is just a few days away. I estimate it will be within ten days... In mobile warfare, we have no advantage against the Xixia people. Therefore, we must use our own strengths to attack their weaknesses. If we want to win this war, we must fight
Positional warfare. This is why I ordered all units to enter the stronghold in advance."
"With nearly 200,000 cavalry, it is impossible to attack across the entire line, nor is there a situation where hundreds of thousands of people are fighting in a single area. The battlefield, in the coming time, should be north of the entire Qianlong City, and every place is full of
battlefield."
Hundreds of thousands of people are fighting against each other...~ Zhao Xi can't imagine that there is no such a big battlefield.
This is the Song Dynasty, not later generations. Even the famous decisive battle of later generations was fought in different cities and different battlefields within a radius of hundreds or even hundreds of miles, with soldiers from both sides fighting in different forms.
The Hundred Regiment War in later generations spread from the north of southeastern Shanxi to the south of Yanbei, and even the west of Hebei was a war zone. Not to mention the three larger battles.
Although the main battlefield this time was set to be Haoshuichuan, Zhao Xi knew that the entire Qinzhou territory, north of Haoshuichuan, would be a war zone.
The basic tactical literacy of the soldiers of the imperial court forced Zhao Xi to deploy sufficient troops in any combat area to form a situation of using more to defeat fewer... Only in this way can this battle be won with an overwhelming advantage.
"Now Haoshuichuan has been surrounded. In other words, Haoshuichuan will be the first battle of this war, and the outcome will determine the entire battle."
"Now I order...the east and west routes to be stationed about ten miles on both sides from Desheng Fort to Yongning Village, forming a long and narrow passage with a width of twenty miles. The combat mission is to block the retreat of the Xixia people on both sides, and wait for opportunities to retreat or rout
The Xixia people were dispersed so that they could not retreat in an organized manner, laying the foundation for troops to ambush and suppress along the route. This will determine the outcome of this war."
"All the new troops, as well as all the chariots and wheeled artillery, were deployed in the Haoshuichuan area, forming an encirclement situation against the Xixia people, leaving only an opening in the north for them to retreat."
"After Haoshuichuan starts, depending on the battle situation, I will issue an order to attack. The attack will start at Haoshuichuan, and signal fireworks will be sent out at the same time. After seeing the signal fireworks, the east and west routes will advance to the middle to block and disperse the Xixia people.
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"Once the break-up combat mission is completed, signals will be sent to the east and west routes, and the signals will be advanced in layers, so that the soldiers who have been ambushed in the mountains and forests of Qinzhou in advance will begin to carry out large-scale and indiscriminate encirclement and suppression missions."
There is no way, the current communication is like this, and we can only use this relay form of communication.
The signal fireworks are still effective at intervals of three to five miles, and fireworks orders have been arranged in advance.
Of course, Zhao Xi did not give up the role of messengers. He still arranged messengers, but their role was more focused on checking for deficiencies. Once a melee situation formed in this area covering an area of tens of thousands of square kilometers, the role of these messengers was really great.
It won't be that big, and it's really not as useful as the Fireworks Order.
After all, the scope of the war zone is too large. Don't look at three or five miles... This is a square circle, not a straight line, but three or five miles on top of each other. One three to five miles is nested within another three to five miles. Zhao Xi's arrangement is too fragmented.
If the messenger soldiers are allowed to run away, it is very likely that the soldiers at the first point will go into battle and the entire army will be wiped out, while the soldiers at the last point will not receive the order to fight.
The generals who participated in the meeting were already clear about the grand strategy and had no objections to Zhao Xi's arrangement.
To be honest, in all battles, the commander has always only considered the main front of the offensive. No one has considered the entire theater after the offensive.
After the main battlefield ends, not to mention the various strongholds, all the soldiers belonging to each group are fighting independently and entering a state of melee. There are no combat missions at all, and there are no combat objectives. They just rely on luck to fight encounters.
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There has never been such an arrangement as His Royal Highness, with almost every command being detailed.
This allows every command in the country to have a target to attack, and at the same time, there is no need to worry about being surrounded and annihilated.