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Chapter 793 Go My Own Way
"What plans do the General Staff and the Army have?" Hong Tao came to the map as usual, holding a cigar in his mouth, with his hands behind his back, thinking and listening to opinions.

"...I plan to wait for a while and send troops to rescue the enemy after finding out their strength." The Army Commander and the Chief of Staff looked at each other, and Li Ruzhang expressed his opinion on behalf of the Army.

"The city is well-prepared with weapons, ammunition, food and water. The 2,000 garrison troops are all from the First Guard, with rich combat experience and strong will. Although the enemy is numerous, they are restricted by the terrain and cannot exert their full strength. The General Staff conducted a simulation and found that Fuyu City can hold out for three months based on the highest consumption."

Seeing that the emperor did not respond, Ding Shun felt that Li Ruzhang's answer was not comprehensive, so he supplemented it, focusing on the troop deployment and combat effectiveness estimation of Fuyu City.

"What you see is not necessarily the truth... Fuyu City is only a few days away from the border wall. The terrain restricts the army from deploying. A full-scale siege is likely to be attacked from both sides. The Jurchens have suffered two major losses and understand the army very well. They should not follow Ligdan Khan and make the third mistake."

Hong Tao was not interested in the various parameters of Fuyu City, nor was he very interested in the number of the Mongolian and Jurchen coalition forces. Strictly speaking, he was not good at leading troops in battle, and he preferred to understand people's hearts and conduct logical analysis.

As the ancients said, things that are out of the ordinary must be demons. The sudden siege of Fuyu City by the Mongol and Jurchen coalition forces seemed to be a result of the frustration of the Western Expedition of Lingdan Khan and his anger towards the Ming Dynasty, which was reasonable. However, upon closer examination, there are serious doubts.

Jurchens, if there were indeed Jurchen soldiers participating in the attack, and they were not just a few for show, then the question arises. Why did Huang Taiji, knowing that he could not capture the city, still sacrifice his troops and follow Lin Danhan to bring bad luck?

It is human nature to seek benefits and avoid harm. Ordinary people may do stupid things, but as the leader of a force, with many smart people assisting him, the possibility of him becoming confused again is very low.

That is to say, Huang Taiji knew he was no match for the enemy but still wanted to attack the city. He must have other purposes. Hong Tao really couldn't guess what the purpose was, but he knew that he couldn't judge by common sense at this moment, because the other party might want to use common sense to set a trap.

"…Your Majesty is worried that the Jurchens are cheating and deliberately luring our troops out of the border wall?" The General Staff received the battle report at the same time as the emperor. There was no clever trick to offer in such a hasty manner, so they simply listened more and spoke less.

Until this time, Yuan Keli finally understood something, but he couldn't figure out why the emperor was worried. Even if the army went beyond the border wall, what would happen if they were ambushed halfway? It was only a day or two's journey, and reinforcements could be sent at any time. It was hard to say who would surround whom by then.

"I don't have the magic to predict the future, but I think Huang Taiji's actions this time were a bit rash and unreasonable."

Hong Tao really couldn't guess whether it was a feint attack on Fuyu City to lure the army out of the border wall to rescue, and then to surround the point and attack the reinforcements. Moreover, as the commander-in-chief, every decision was related to the life and death of thousands of soldiers and generals, so how could he rely on guesses with little certainty?

"…Your Majesty, can you please dispatch one or two guards from the Northern Military Commission? The valley from Xifengkou to Fuyu City cannot accommodate too many troops. Two guards will be enough to provide assistance. I am willing to lead the army to fight and will not return until we win!"

With the emperor's cold water, Li Ruzhang was no longer as confident as before. But he was still confident, and just doubled the number of troops sent out of the border wall to rescue, which was considered to be the maximum cautious attitude.

"Don't rush to lead the troops to fight. The ancients said that war is a matter of deception. So pretend to be incapable when you are capable, pretend not to use when you are using it, pretend to be far away when you are near, and pretend to be near when you are far away. Since Lin Danhan and Huang Taiji want to fight in Fuyu City, I can't satisfy their wishes. The ancients also said that you should attack them when they are least prepared and take them by surprise. Think about it the other way around. Do they have any unexpected weaknesses? I think not only do they have, but they are everywhere. You just need to pick the most painful place and hit it hard. Not only can the siege of Fuyu City be lifted, but you can also give them a heavy blow!"

Perhaps because Hong Tao is not a general, it is easier for him to take a bird's eye view when considering specific issues, so he can observe more comprehensively and propose solutions that are more unique and unexpected.

The ancients said that one cannot see the true face of Mount Lu because one is inside the mountain. Many times, as long as one can step out of the matter itself and look at the problem from a neutral perspective without taking a standpoint, it is like taking an aerial photo of Mount Lu, breaking through all the clouds and mist and twists and turns, and it is easier to see the truth.

Yuan Keli, Li Ruzhang, and Ding Shun were all focused on Fuyu City, and at most considered Shanhaiguan. Their minds were full of counterattacks. When they heard the emperor's opinion, they looked at each other, unable to change their thinking immediately.

"...Your Majesty, where do you think its weak spot is?" Fortunately, Ding Shun was thick-skinned, so when he couldn't figure it out, he just asked directly, not feeling embarrassed at all.

"If the Jurchen army wants to advance westward, it is very important to replenish food and supplies in a timely manner. Ziliang, you have led troops in Liaodong Town before, so why not guess where Huang Taiji will choose to store and transport supplies?"

It was the same old problem. He already had the answer in his mind, but Hong Tao still let others guess, just like asking students in class. It is said that it is difficult to change a person's nature, no matter how he traveled through time, even if he didn't even have a physical body, the core part of his character remained the same, and he would never repent.

"..." Yuan Keli, Li Ruzhang, Ding Shun, and more than a dozen staff officers all gathered around the big map after hearing what was said. They stared at the towns and villages, the roads and rivers, and the contour lines on it, and used their brains to calculate at high speed.

"If I were to lead the Jurchen soldiers, I would first gather the baggage and food at Haizhouwei City, and then transport them forward from there. This place is only 300 miles away from the Daling River, which can meet the supply needs of the front line and is not easily penetrated by the enemy."

After about a minute, Li Ruzhang looked away and gave an answer. Before him, many staff officers had already shown expressions of understanding, but they did not say anything.

"Yes, it is Haizhouwei. No matter what purpose Lin Danhan and Huang Taiji had in besieging Fuyu City, they had to mobilize a large amount of baggage and be prepared for a long siege. But they probably didn't expect us to raid Haizhouwei. This is called taking the enemy by surprise and attacking them when they are unprepared."

Hong Tao nodded, signaling everyone to return to their tables and sit down. The question-and-answer session was over, and it was now Mr. Hong's turn to grade the answers and assign homework.

In fact, the question posed by Hong Tao is not complicated at all. Not to mention a general who has been in many battles and is quite familiar with Liaodong, even if you ask a centurion of the army to answer it correctly, he will most likely be able to answer it correctly.

The reason is very simple. The terrain of Liaodong Town determines that the choices are very limited. Anyone in Huang Taiji's position can only choose Haizhouwei as a transit station for the western expedition.

(End of this chapter)