The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 837 Divide and Conquer

Zheng Guochang sighed inwardly when he saw that the emperor was in a hurry and the chief assistant didn't respond, so he could only come up with the correct answer:

"His Majesty hastily issued an order to Governor Fu Zonglong of Sichuan and Mrs. Qin, the general who conquered the west, ordering them to stick to Sichuan without any mistakes, so as to prevent the Sichuan army from rushing in alone and being surrounded and wiped out by the bandits and the Qing army.

If Sichuan is driven straight in again by bandits, the entire Southwest will be at stake, and the consequences will be disastrous. "

This suggestion was targeted, and Chongzhen immediately ordered the cabinet to draft an edict and send it to the Supervisor of Rites for approval.

Liu Zhilun was worried that the emperor would make another foolish move, and said: "Your Majesty, Xianyang, Xi'an, Guyuan, Yan'an, and Hanzhong have already been lost, and the bandits in Shaanxi have become a climate now, and it is absolutely impossible to send reinforcements there at this time.

Now we can only take a defensive position to prevent the bandits from spreading to Sichuan, Henan, and Shanxi. Lintao Mansion is too far away, and the imperial court can't reach it. We have to give up. It would be lucky if the army and civilians could be withdrawn to Ningxia Town.

Mr. Zheng Chongjian, the governor of Ningxia, should be able to organize [-] to [-] frontier troops. It is difficult to take the initiative to attack, but it is still possible to defend the territory. "

Chongzhen said with tears: "I don't know that the reinforcements are all wiped out, and there is nothing to do in Shaanxi.

I am now worried about the safety of Tongguan. If the rogues and Dongnu break through Tongguan, how many troops can I, Ming, gather to resist? It is very possible that I will be beaten all the way to the capital. "

Liu Zhilun said: "Your Majesty, you can rest assured that Tongguan not only has the [-] troops from the capital camp of Dudu Sun, but also at least one battalion of the 'Red Banner Army'.

It is impossible to be breached in the short term. I am actually worried that the Yellow River will freeze after autumn. The rogues and slaves can directly kill Henan and even North Zhili without capturing Tongguan. "

Chongzhen said: "I don't know if Aiqing has a plan?"

Liu Zhilun said: "Of course there is a plan. I am afraid that all civil and military officials have thought of it. I think that His Majesty actually has a decision in his heart."

Chongzhen was not mentally handicapped, he understood that Liu Zhilun meant to turn to General Zhenglu for help, and asked, "Does it have to be like this?"

Liu Zhilun affirmed: "That's the only way! The situation is so corrupted that only the 'Red Banner Army' can turn the tide."

"Yes! In the face of so many rogues and the Qing army, who else in the imperial court can stand up to the battle?" Feeling sad, Chongzhen once again chose to compromise, agreeing to ask the general to send troops to solve the urgent need.

When asking for help, you have to show your attitude!The emperor issued an oral order to the cabinet, asking them to discuss the canonization of the Duke of Liao as "Hanjiang County King".

Three days later, it was an auspicious day, and the Ming court sent Zheng Guochang and Liu Zhilun to Shanhaiguan to issue a decree.

Contrary to the wrangling of the Ming Dynasty, the "Red Banner Army" system had a clear goal. At the beginning of February, ten Type A battalions plus the personal guard battalion entered the grassland, and more than a hundred Mongolian tribes were conquered like a dead man.

As soon as the earth thawed, the Acropolis of Chifeng continued to grow taller in the hands of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians.

Not only to build the Acropolis of Chifeng, but also to restore some of the Baihusuo and Qianhusuo cities. These small castles are responsible for cutting off the communication in this area.

A small castle must be garrisoned by a guard army of one hundred households, which means that 800 people of the guard army and family members live in the fortress without being crowded.

A medium-sized castle is of course a thousand households. The garrison here is controlled at about three hundred households, and at least 2000 people must live there.

All the small and medium castles are arranged in two points and one line in the large city of Chifeng Acropolis and Ningyuan City, and the distance between the castles is [-] miles.

A tall watchtower is built in each castle, similar to a lighthouse, designed with muzzles and holes for defense, and the material is brick-concrete or stone and concrete.

The watchtower is guarded by guards around the clock. The liaison officer on duty uses a 32 times fixed telescope to look far away. During the day, he can see the semaphores displayed on the two nearest castle lookout posts twenty miles away. At night, he can use the agreed light code to convey information.

After the defense was completed, it was found that the enemy's situation passed through the semaphore relay of each castle, and it only took an hour for Ningyuan City, which was [-] miles away, to get the news.

The agreed semaphore is very simple. When conveying military information, it is as concise as a telegram, and it is generally kept within ten words.

For example, after the Ningyuan Zanhua Branch received the information of the five characters "Three East and Ten Jiading", they could understand that it was discovered by the sentry post of a hundred households with the number Jiading. Two hundred enemy cavalry.

The number of enemy troops was agreed upon in advance. One represents single digits of enemy cavalry, two represents ten digits of enemy cavalry, three represents that the number of enemy cavalry exceeds one hundred but less than two hundred, and four represents two or three hundred enemy cavalry will not exceed four hundred...

Each small castle will be equipped with eight three-pound Francois machine guns, and there will be more than a hundred defenders with self-generating guns and miniguns. The Manchu and Mongolian cavalry launched a surprise attack to surround such a fortress and it is impossible to seize it in a hurry.

The besieged castle can report the military situation at any time, and can receive instructions from the superior in time. Within six hours, the nearby "Red Banner Army" cavalry will complete the assembly and rush to encircle and wipe out the invading enemy.

With a castle twenty miles away serving as a supply point, and thousands of "Red Banner Army" cavalry patrolling uninterruptedly, this line of defense will extend all the way to the desert, and when it is completed, it will roughly divide the Monan Prairie into two.

After defeating Jiannu and conquering Mongolia, this line of defense can extend across the Gobi Desert to the north, through the Mongolian country of later generations to the shore of Lake Baikal.

Divide and conquer is simple and effective. Once this line of defense is built to the edge of the Gobi Desert, it will be impossible for Jiannu to detour through the prairie to plunder Daming, unless they concentrate their forces to pull out these castles one by one.

Although the castles of the "Red Banner Army" are not large, they are all steel, masonry, and concrete structures, and they all have at least eight anti-aircraft guns, which are absolutely indestructible in the Middle Ages.

Moreover, each fort is not isolated, at least there will be two adjacent castles twenty miles apart, and under normal circumstances, one of the three castles will have a medium-sized bastion with a garrison of more than [-] people.

With the poor ability of the Manchurian cavalry to attack fortifications, it is impossible for [-] Manchurian cavalry to attack in a short time with such a fortress.

And as long as the Mongolian cavalry approached this line of defense, their deployment would be clearly seen by countless lookout posts.

On that day, not only Ningyuan will get accurate information, but even Shanhaiguan headquarters will be able to get the specific situation of the enemy.

Knowing oneself and knowing the enemy will never end in a hundred battles. The Manchurian cavalry's eyes were darkened, and the "Red Banner Army" knew their situation well.

Under the precise attack of the "Red Banner Army" whose equipment was an era ahead, the Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry who came to touch this line of defense had to be questioned whether they could escape back.

This is not talking to themselves. The Manchurian cavalry never thought that the small castle that was suddenly besieged by them would keep in touch with the headquarters thousands of miles away at any time, and the big net to encircle and wipe them out had already begun.

Even if they take the initiative to retreat, they cannot be easily escaped, and they will continue to encounter accurate attacks.

(End of this chapter)