choke element

Chapter 988 Enemy Force (Part )

The information marked on the map changes all the time, and because there is too much information and it is too dense, four maps have been changed in less than ten days. So starting yesterday, Wang Shixian had two celadon flower drum-shaped go pots brought in, and placed the chess pieces directly on the map.

Judging from the current situation, the black chess pieces representing where the Mongols might gather are densely packed along the northern border mountainous area. So many chess pieces were not enough, so I took two extra Go jars this morning.

Compared with the large number of black chess pieces, the white chess pieces representing the Great Zhou army’s garrison are extremely few.

Only one line was maintained around Hebei Road and Datong Prefecture. Experienced generals knew that the defense of this line was complete enough and would not be easily shaken. But just one line was always frightening at first glance.

The northeast end of the line segment was mostly disconnected, causing many chess pieces placed in the northeast, representing the source of tribal soldiers, to be almost separated from the Central Plains.

To the north of the line, there are the tunbaos that have been the fruits of farming and business in the grasslands in the past few years. The tunbao community originally relied on the road and had formed a network structure. This structure is different from the Jurchens' boundary trench defense line that would collapse everywhere if it was broken. It has a great depth, enough to delay the Mongols' actions.

But the Mongols apparently sent elite troops to infiltrate the south, and the troops heading south killed indiscriminately while passing through the mountainous areas, resulting in the Mongols's side being unable to obtain accurate information about the enemy.

The Great Zhou had long shown leniency to the mountain bandits, allowing them to survive in the gray area of ​​the border. This was partly because they valued their ability to collect information outside of normal channels. However, since they were slaughtered so quickly, the information they could gather was almost nonexistent.

Right now, the Marshal's Office could only follow the military intelligence reported by the garrisons and passes in various places, so the white chess pieces representing their own troops were inevitably submerged in the black chess pieces representing the Mongolian army.

Several generals around him nodded: "Scary, scary."

Although they said this, they didn't show any fear. They had seen too many scary things in their lives, and they were all numb to it.

Guo Ning, who was standing in the center of the crowd, lowered his head and looked at the map. "It is right for the soldiers of all armies to stay still. The Mongolian army has not yet moved south and rushed into the mountains. It is those foreign surrendered people who are directly threatening the Hebei border defense line."

After this was said, some people nodded and asked, "Why do you think so?"

Jing Anmin, who was standing by, replied, "We have tried to deal with those bandits before. At the beginning of the year, I even arranged for people to bring thunder cannons into the mountains to attack. But thunder cannons are inconvenient to carry, and it took more than half a month to break through a village. Do we have to go from mountain to mountain for a whole year? At that time, we thought that if we could break through a few villages, we could set an example. But those groups of bandits turned out to be like stones in a toilet, smelly and hard. A single stone is not big, but it takes a lot of effort to break through all of them. It's not worth it."

"so……"

"We can't even sweep through so many villages in such a short time, so how can the Mongols do it? They hate attacking cities and passes ten times more than we do. It's all in the lyrics, used when swearing and swearing!"

The Zhou monarchs and ministers faced tremendous pressure from the Mongolian army from the beginning of the uprising. The generals who could lead the army were all experienced and had learned lessons from the war. It can even be said that the Mongolians were their best teachers. The lyrics mentioned by Jing Anmin roughly meant that if I can't do something, let me climb the iron pass and grind my fingers to bleed. Many people could sing it on the spot.

Thinking about it this way, it would be too unrealistic to say that the Mongols suddenly developed the ability to treat mountain castles as paper.

"Perhaps the Han craftsmen captured by the Mongols were accompanying the army?"

"What the Han craftsmen can do is nothing more than the stuff that the Jurchen army used to make. A stone cannon requires dozens of people to operate and weighs over a thousand pounds. How can it be moved to the mountains? It's not necessarily true that those slaves who have nothing on the grassland have better brains than the craftsmen in our military equipment bureau. So, if there are any new things that can be made, nine out of ten times they come from the Hui people in the Western Regions."

At this point, a general who had served in Longshang earlier said: "I have heard that the Xixia people's whirlwind cannons are made by Western Region craftsmen. The great country in the Western Region is none other than Khwarezm, which has a territory of thousands of miles and dominates one side. If the group of people who broke into the mountains are the remnants of Khwarezm, they may have some unique skills. Maybe the number of people who broke through the northern border defense line and went south was very small, but they just broke through the stockades one after another to deliberately publicize their momentum."

"So, don't be scared by this fierce momentum. We still have to wait."

"Yes, we have to wait."

The Mongols' tactics have always been like this. Even if they only have a thousand cavalry, they can move back and forth quickly, creating the illusion of a huge army under the cover of smoke and dust. When the Jin army faced them, the royal family did not know where the enemy was heading, and even if they had heavy weapons like the Iron Float, they could only passively take the beating.

This was true on a single battlefield, and in strategic directions or multiple strategic directions, the Mongols were even more skilled in feinting, disguise, and bluffing. Moreover, they were used to holding the people of the defeated tribes hostage on the grasslands. When they invaded the Jin Kingdom, they drove tens of thousands of traitorous troops to run around, making it increasingly difficult to find the movements of the Mongolian army headquarters.

Fortunately, the generals of the Great Zhou had accumulated enough war experience and often reviewed it in the military academy. Everyone had gradually learned to abandon the false impressions and wait for the main force of the Mongolian army, which was deeply hidden under the illusion, to emerge on its own.

It was like fighting face to face with a martial arts master who was wielding a sharp weapon. The sword in the master's right palm was flying back and forth, shining with a silver light, and he was swinging a meteor hammer in his left hand, bringing with it a whirring wind.

If a novice is blinded by the opponent's sword light, or listens too much to the sound of the meteor hammer dancing in the wind, he will be confused by the changes in the reality and illusion, and will die soon.

But the veterans knew that no matter how dazzlingly the master wielded his weapon, in the end he would have to strike at the vital point. The long sword had to cut the throat, pierce the heart, or the hammer smashed the top of the head, and the battle would be won or lost.

Therefore, when facing an opponent who is constantly making a fuss, an experienced warrior will guard his own gates carefully and never allow himself to be disturbed. All his energy and spirit are waiting for the enemy to attack, and then he will suddenly rise up and counterattack.

Before the decisive moment, there was no need to worry about the temporary disadvantage, not to mention that the unlucky ones were just bandits. Those who were still thieves in the mountains today, if they were not too stupid to see the situation clearly, then they were hostile to the court in their bones, and it was not an exaggeration to say that their death was not a pity.

Guo Ning temporarily lost interest in them and turned to continue analyzing the deployment of several lines of defense with everyone. After a few words, he casually said:
"However, we still need to grasp the situation in the mountains as soon as possible. If the Khwarezmians can break through the stockade one after another, they may threaten our fortress. If we don't grasp it in time, the enemy may take advantage of it one day."

"Your Majesty, don't worry."

(End of this chapter)