"First we must make two preparations." Shao Shude greeted Chen Cheng, and Zhao Guangfeng got on the carriage and headed for the inn outside the city.
"If Li Keyong takes over Youzhou, he won't have the energy to trouble us for a long time." Shao Shude opened the curtains of the carriage and looked out at the streets where there were already three or three pedestrians.
The big-headed soldiers who once roamed the streets have disappeared.
The senior generals were killed by the rebel troops in Duyuhousi, and more than 20 mid-level officers were killed in Duyuhousi. Today, the army in the river is in a semi-paralyzed state.
After the soldiers received the reward, their emotions were soothed, and they were no longer interested or able to cause chaos in a short period of time, which bought precious time for consolidation.
Of the remaining 16,700 Hezhong Yamen troops, Shao Shude planned to select 5,000 strong ones and break them up into various armies.
Among them, 2,000 people were incorporated into the Tianxiong Army. Together with the 3,000 people who had been selected previously, the Tianxiong Army will have 10,000 infantry.
The number of people has doubled, but the combat effectiveness has been greatly affected in a short period of time. This army also needs to retreat to digest the new people, and it is not suitable to go to war for the time being.
Two thousand people were incorporated into the Wuwei Army who stayed in Lingzhou, bringing the number of the army to nine thousand. Shao Shude planned to let the cavalry escort these two thousand people. If they made trouble midway, they would just kill them. There was no other way.
The last thousand people were incorporated into the Tielin Army.
As a result, the Tielin Army will reach 10,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, and its strength has slightly increased.
The only thing Jiedushi Wang Yao can rely on now is the more than 10,000 Jiangzhou troops he brought over.
The new shogunate in Hezhong that is being built is also dominated by Jiangzhou forces.
There is no other way. He has lost his reputation in the government army. It is impossible for him to get the support of the local warriors and officials in Hezhong Prefecture for the time being. Who else can he use if he doesn't use his own people?
Gao Renhou still had more than 7,000 surrendered troops on hand, which was the result of the Fenshui Battle.
How to deal with these 7,000 people is actually very tricky. Shao Shude prefers to send them to Shengzhou, together with their families. This can offset the population loss in Shengzhou caused by the relocation of Wuxing, Guzhen, and Chishui armies to Shanxi and Jiang. Otherwise, Song Le would probably not
happy.
Of course, none of the above can be completed within a few months. Shao Shude has already asked his family to leave Changchun Palace and cross the river to the east. There are still some palaces in Longchi Palace in Anyi County, and the county is also recruiting them.
After the manpower renovation, it will serve as a temporary residence for Shao Shude and his family, and it will also serve as the "headquarters" of Shuofang's army.
"Commander, my subordinates think that Ke Yong cannot conquer Youzhou." Chen Cheng had obviously thought about this problem for a long time. He only heard him say: "You, Tan, Ji, Zhuo, Ying, Mo, Yi, Gui, Xin Jiuzhou,
The two prefectures of Ying and Mo are places with prosperous household registrations, with a total of 11 counties and a population of more than one million. It is the turn of Youzhou counties later, with less than 400,000 people. The remaining six prefectures add up to more than 100,000 people.
However, there are quite a few Shiwei, Khitan, and Xi tribesmen who have defected to the Lulong Army and have not been registered as household registration."
"Ying, Mo'er Prefecture is in the south, adjacent to Chengde Wangrong to the south, Cangjing Lu Yanwei to the east, Ke Yongzhi's in-laws to the west, and Yi Dingwang Chucun." Chen Cheng continued to analyze: "Ying, Mo'er Prefecture has eleven counties.
With millions of household registrations and strong military strength, they will definitely not give in easily. How can Wang Rong and Lu Yanwei just sit back and watch?"
Wang Chucun of Yi Ding Er Prefecture was related by marriage to Li Keyong's family for generations. Naturally, they had an excellent relationship and were staunch allies. These two prefectures were also traitors in the eyes of Hebei people. They actually turned their hearts to the imperial court. Wang Chucun was even more of a loyal minister.
What is he but a traitor?
Li Keyong has already acquired several remote areas with large Tibetan populations, and rewarded them to his adopted son Li Cunxiao (Xinyi Guidu regiment training and guarding the envoy). If the three states of Youzhou, Tan, Ji, and Zhuo are successfully controlled, they will most likely be surrendered.
, which is equivalent to controlling the northern half of Youzhou Town and one-third of the population, and bordering Wang Chucun's territory. The situation is actually good.
But will he act recklessly? For example, support Gao Si, who surrendered to Shun, to succeed Youzhou Jiedushi, so that Youzhou will not be divided?
"Youzhou is known as 'One Hundred Thousand Infantry Cavalry', but now it has been tortured by Li Keyong, and more than half of its troops have been lost. But Hebei and Henan have always had a strong martial arts style. They recruited a group of new people and trained them for a year and a half. Even if they were unable to fight in the field, they could still defend
There is no problem in the city." Shao Shude put down the curtains, turned to look at Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng, and said: "Let's find out the information first and see how Li Keyong plays. Xinyi Gui, he probably won't return it.
.Li Keyong's current mood is unpredictable. I'm worried that he will drag King Yi Ding Chucun's forces into Youzhou, or help a few more people to prevent the Lulong Jiuzhou family from becoming dominant."
"Commander, do you think Li Keyong will not directly lead Youzhou Town?" Zhao Guangfeng asked.
"If I were in that position, I wouldn't be able to lead directly. I don't have the strength. First, support an agent to stabilize Ying and Mozhou, then cut off a small piece and eat it slowly. In order to prevent rebellion, you can
There are a few more people to keep each other in check. But the Youzhou government soldiers are unruly and it is not that easy to deal with. My sworn brother, I will be stuck there for a long time. This will help me slowly conquer the river, but there are also disadvantages, and that is Zhu Quanzhong's
The pressure is greatly reduced, and there is no major threat from the north. Things in the world have pros and cons, and it is impossible for you to take all the advantages."
Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng basically agreed with this judgment.
If Li Keyong directly appointed Gao Si as the governor of Youzhou, plundered a lot of property, and then led the army back, that would make people laugh out loud. But is there really such a political fool?
The carriage soon arrived at the inn. Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng saluted, said goodbye to Shao Shude, and then walked back to the city.
"Your Majesty, please accompany me to Jinzhou." Shao Shude said immediately after entering the inn and seeing Feng Yanqing.
"The commander is really non-stop." Feng Yanqing said with a smile.
"I'm anxious." Shao Shude also smiled and said: "I have been fighting for many years, and this is the first time I have acquired such a large vassal town. It has never happened before. There are four prefectures in the river. Compared with Shuofang, Tiande, Zhenwu,
The combined strength of the seven vassal towns of Yifang, Yandan, Yingning, and Jingyuan is even greater, so naturally they are eager to eat them."
It is not a lie that one town is worth seven towns. Shao Shude won many battles in the northwest in his early years, but most of the small vassal towns he destroyed were small vassal towns. These vassal towns could not compare with the Central Plains vassal towns in terms of population, financial resources, and military strength.
Why did Wang Chongrong dare to sit next to Shao Shude and Li Keyong at Huayue Temple? He was not the strongest in Hezhong.
"The commander-in-chief is indeed doing things safely." Feng Yanqing also flattered him and said with a smile: "You can't reach a thousand miles without taking small steps. No matter how much effort you spend to deal with the affairs in the river, it is more important than rushing to conquer the world.
This world is different from the ancient times. Let’s take it wherever we go. The foundation must be solid. No matter what, I will follow the commander-in-chief for a while. I am already old, and I have been tossed by the commander-in-chief to offer suggestions and suggestions. Two strategies for money and food.
, If this is implemented, I don’t know how many people in Puzhou will scold me. But I really don’t want the commander-in-chief to still be pacifying chaos in his later years, and his great cause will be ruined."
Feng Yanqing's words were suspected of relying on his elders, but Shao Shude didn't take it seriously. He really thought about himself, so what could he do if he didn't speak so nicely?
Shao and Feng arrived in Linfen County, Lisuo, Jinzhou on the fifth day of June.
"Commander." Feng Heng, the new governor of Jinzhou, came out of the city to greet him.
Feng Heng is theoretically a subordinate of Wang Yao, the governor of Hezhong, but on the surface, he actually belongs to him. He must know clearly in his heart, so as not to take the wrong path.
"Commander, I have prepared a few seats in the city."
"No need!" Shao Shude waved his hand and said, "Follow me north to Huoyi immediately. I want to comfort the soldiers."
When they came out this time, Zhenwu's army stayed in Hedong County, and Tielin's army took them with them. Also accompanying them were the money and silk they received from Wang Yao. Tielin and Zhenwu's troops both received the rewards.
, of course there are also other armies.
Feng Heng also realized Shao Shude's vigorous and resolute style of doing things, and immediately handed over the matter to the state's senior officials, and then led a thousand state soldiers to follow the army northward.
On June 11, Shao Shude arrived in Huoyi in person, climbed up the city tower and looked to the north.
"When did Kang Junli withdraw his troops?" Shao Shude asked Guan Kairun and Qi Bizhang.
"Just yesterday." Qi Banzhang replied: "It must have been because they heard that the commander was coming, and the bandit army was frightened and collapsed without a fight."
"Stop giving me such nonsense." Shao Shude scolded, and Qi Bizhang looked embarrassed.
"Yinshan Erlang, the loss is not small, right?" Shao Shude asked again.
"We have been fighting for days and more than two thousand people have been killed." Qibi Zhang replied.
They made a surprise attack on Jinzhou, attacked Huoyi, defended Huoyi, and even went out of the city to attack the Hedong army several times. The losses were indeed considerable.
"Coach Zhu has prepared a cavalry infantry force in Lingzhou, with more than 3,000 people. Yinshan Erlang does not want to go back, but has moved to Jinjiang. The remaining people will be with the new army trained by Coach Zhu.
To form an army, you can recruit more people from Jinzhou and gather 8,000 people, which will be called the 'Flying Dragon Army', with 4,000 combat soldiers and 4,000 auxiliary soldiers." Shao Shude said: "You will be the military envoy.
Yinshan Erlang, give me a good practice in foot combat, which is very different from mounted combat. If I can train the mounted infantry well, I will be of great use."
In terms of practical use, mounted infantry may be more useful than cavalry.
This is destined to be a highly offensive unit. It has the mobility of cavalry and a frontal combat capability that surpasses cavalry. The only thing it lacks is the impact of cavalry.
The cavalry strength of the Eight Banners of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties in later generations may not be as strong as that of the Ming army, but they have a large number of infantry that rely on horseback mobility. If you look carefully at their tactics, they are almost the same as the orthodox Central Plains infantry tactics: when the infantry of the country and the dynasty are arrayed, there must be in front
Carefully selected warriors wear heavy armor and form separate groups to charge and disrupt the enemy's formation. There are also separate groups of archers and crossbowmen in front and on both wings of the formation, divided into fixed garrisons and wandering groups.
In fact, infantry tactics have been developed for so many years, and everyone has the same idea of what is most effective.
You have Sauron people and wild Jurchens as death soldiers, and I also have a team of skilled warriors who charge to the death and shake up the enemy's formation. The casualty rate of the team is extremely high, and they are often killed and injured, so they are all desperate warriors.
Desperadoes are among the superior beings among the government soldiers.
You have archers with accurate archery skills, and I also have carefully selected crossbowmen roaming in separate groups.
Is there a big difference in fighting styles? In the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, almost all infantry tactics were of this kind, and all the vassals and towns used them this way.
In the future, if Shao Shude conquers the grasslands, he plans to use a large number of mounted infantry. After finding their nomadic land, he will kill them so that they cannot avoid them and can only fight head-on.
It is better to use cavalry to fight head-on with cavalry than to use dismounted infantry to fight head-on with enemy cavalry. In this way, you can get a very good exchange ratio at a smaller cost. It is possible that all the enemy cavalry will die, and you have not lost many people.
It is difficult to achieve this exchange ratio in cavalry battles.
"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief, for your cultivation!" Qi Binzhang was promoted on the spot and became the Feilong Army Envoy, so he was naturally overjoyed.
Shao Shude asked him to stand up, and then continued to look to the north.
Suddenly, a horse galloped from the north. He reined up his horse and stopped a stone's throw away. He shouted: "The king of Longxi County sent me to complain, 'Since my sworn brother has returned my soldiers, I don't want to owe my brother any favors.'"
, Now we send each other off at Fenshui Pass, and from now on we will not owe each other anything.'"
Shao Shude laughed when he heard this and said: "My sworn brother is really heroic, and he still has this temper. Only such a hero is worthy of being my brother."
Brother-in-law, we have really shifted our strategic focus.
This is also what it should be. I want to occupy Hedong and not control Hebei. Is there something wrong with my brain?
Li Keyong's strategy should be to take advantage of the terrain, namely the passes in the Shizhou Mountains, Queshu Valley in Fenzhou, the Taiyue Mountain Pass in Zelu, Shanxi and Jiangjian, and Yanmen in Daibei, to defend from the west and attack from the east.
This is also the best choice under the current situation, if Li Keyong can still develop.
If he really allowed him to swallow up the entire Youzhou, it would have more than three million registered households, and it would still be a wealthy place, which would be quite powerful. If he takes over the relatively weak Yichang Army, joins forces with his in-laws and allies Wang Chucun, and those who are in his own
Xing Mingci controlled the three states and almost surrounded Chengde Town. What could Wang Rong do if he didn't surrender?
If he could really do this, he would be the most powerful vassal in the world, even Shao Shude and Zhu Quanzhong could not compare to him.
But my sworn brother is good at destroying a good hand. I wonder what trouble he will cause in Hebei.
But no matter what, a new era may be coming, and everyone is not idle.