Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 367 A strategy to lure the enemy?

During the period of national mourning, rebels raised their flags, and when foreign enemies invaded, the Tongzhou granary caught fire.

This series of events combined together made the entire cabinet feel at a loss, as if struck by lightning.

Emperor Chenghui, who saw all this clearly, acted decisively. There was no time for discussion. Just do as I say.

Often the more chaotic the situation is, the more we need someone to come out and give a rallying cry.

When everything was arranged, Emperor Chenghui leaned tiredly against the chair, looking at the ceiling blankly.

The previous decisiveness was an instinct, but the current state was real. Even the emperor was at a loss at this moment.

As the footsteps came closer, Emperor Chenghui sat up straight again. The determination in his character told him that he must never let others see his depressed side.

"Saint, everything has been arranged. But should I inform Lord Jia?" Qiu Shian was worried because too many things had happened recently.

"Let's wait for the loss results to come out before we talk about it." Emperor Chenghui played it safe, hoping that the loss would not be too great. Although this hope was very slim, because it was more likely that a group of rats had emptied the granary, and seeing the outbreak of war, food would definitely become the focus, and the dogs would do something desperate.

"I understand!" Qiu Shian lowered his voice by three degrees. Emperor Chenghui looked at him and added, "You go to Tongzhou in person and arrest the relevant officials and put them in separate cells to prevent collusion."

………………

Tatata, the horse's hooves are getting closer and closer, fast and urgent.

Ding Zhun, who was hiding in the woods, jumped on his horse. Behind him, more than 20 soldiers from two teams who were taking turns to rest also got on their horses and prepared for battle.

There are two groups of people in the smoke and dust ahead. The eight riders fleeing in the front are our people, and there are more than thirty riders chasing behind. Judging from their attire, they are grassland cavalry. They keep shooting arrows while riding their horses. They are elite scouts.

When Ye Bushou escaped to the front, one of his horses was hit by an arrow. It let out a mournful cry, lunged forward, and knocked Ye Bushou off his back.

When the others saw Ding Zhun and others hiding in the woods, they turned their horses around and took out their rifles to load ammunition!

Before the scouts approaching could react, there were bangs and smoke rising from the forest! Scouts kept falling off their horses. As soon as the gunfire stopped, Ding Zhun led his men out of the forest, firing short guns at the enemy's face.

This trick worked every time, and the Night Warriors led by Ding Zhun found that the new equipment was too cool. The breastplate could not be penetrated, and in 80% of the cases, the opponent was in a state of being beaten before the two muskets shot.

As for the grassland scouts in the direction of Zhangjiakou, at first only a few dared to come out, but it developed to the point where less than ten people dared not come out. After just two days, no one dared to come out unless there were thirty or fifty people.

The ambush was very successful. A middle-aged grassland scout who was leading the attack fell off his horse after being shot and broke his leg. When he struggled to get up, he saw his enemy finishing off his companions. He instinctively reached out to draw the scimitar from his waist, staring at the enemy in front of him like a hungry wolf. He wanted to pounce forward fiercely, but his legs were so painful that he couldn't do anything. He could only breathe heavily, letting beads of sweat drip down, accumulating strength and preparing for a fatal blow.

Seeing the hungry wolf eyes of the grassland scouts, Ding Zhun felt an irrepressible anger in his heart. In recent days, he had seen many villages that had been looted, innocent people who had died tragically, and villages that had been burned. Whenever he saw the grassland people, Ding Zhun would think of the tragic scenes.

"Ah!" The middle-aged scout roared and rushed forward. The night guard who had lured the enemy had finished reloading and did not give him a chance. A dense stream of bullets came out of the gun. Bang, bang, bang, the body struggling forward was stopped and fell to the ground! Blood was all over the ground!
The tribes in the grasslands of the south and north of the desert did not have a good impression in the minds of the officers and soldiers of the Great Zhou. During the heyday of the Great Zhou, even if the grassland tribes suffered disasters, they would obediently send envoys to the south to ask for help and trade. In the last ten years of the reign of the Emperor, the court became weak, the combat effectiveness of the border troops declined, and the grassland tribes became fierce. Even if there were no natural disasters, they would still raid the grassland every now and then.

This time, the tribes south of the desert marched south in large numbers. According to the intelligence we have received so far, there are 20,000 grassland cavalrymen in Zhangjiakou, from Khorchin, one of the four major tribes, and about 100,000 cavalrymen from the grassland tribes heading west to Datong. It is said that some of them are heading to the passes of the Great Wall and Juyongguan.

"Clean up the battlefield, retreat after cleaning it up, and find a place to rest." Ding Zhun spat without even looking at the enemy leader who died in front of him.

In Xuanhua, after two days of rest, the Shenji Camp recovered its vitality and also waited for the arrival of the main force of the Xishan Camp brought by Master Sun.

"The main force should not be stationed in the city. Go directly out of the north gate. There is a hillside five miles to the west. Set up camp with the hillside as the center! Half of the logistics and baggage should be left in the city. It is safe!"

After the meeting, Jia Lian directly assigned the tasks in a concise and clear manner. Sun Boye had no intention of resisting. He was just thinking about how to comfort his subordinates who were tired after the long journey!

"I understand!" General Sun answered straightforwardly. Although his rank was higher, these things were useless when facing Jia Lian.

"After you have given your instructions, come to this governor's office for a meeting to discuss the next battle plan."

Half an hour later, Commander Sun arrived at the military camp in the city and met Jia Lian who was looking at a huge hand-drawn map.

"No need to be polite, come and take a look at the map!" Jia Lian waved when he saw Mr. Sun coming in. The two were old acquaintances, so there was no need for so many formalities.

"There were more than 5,000 soldiers stationed in the city, and with the young and strong recruits, there are almost 8,000 people. Our two divisions, plus the baggage and auxiliary troops, total over 50,000. It is not appropriate for all of them to live in the city. My plan is to leave the city defense to the original garrison, and I will camp outside the city to support each other. It would be best to attract large groups of enemy troops to besiege our camp, give full play to our firepower advantage, kill a lot of enemy troops, and then seek a counterattack."

Looking at the map, General Sun couldn't help but nod his head, but still asked: "Good idea, if I were the leader of a grassland tribe and found that the main force of the reinforcements was not stationed in the city, but camped outside the city, I would definitely be tempted. It is always easier to attack a camp than a city! But why put half of the food and grass in the city? Doesn't this increase the risk?"

Jia Lian looked at him and smiled without saying anything. Commander Sun suddenly thought of something and laughed, "Great, fake and real, a wolf will be tempted when it sees fat meat. By then, if there are too many people, it will make too much noise, and if there are too few people, it will be difficult to defeat them. It's not too many, not too few, and we will definitely suffer a great loss when facing the chariot formation and firearms. It's good to come two or three times to consume some of the enemy troops."

"As long as the enemy chieftain is tempted, he will definitely mobilize two or three times the number of troops to besiege us, which will greatly relieve the pressure on Datong. Our army can take advantage of our equipment and seize the opportunity to defeat the current enemy. The enemy army in Datong will collapse without a fight." Jia Lian's plan was really painstaking. In the recent scout battles outside the city, the enemy army has suffered losses repeatedly. Small cavalry units dare not go out. It is estimated that the enemy chieftain is also angry and is looking for an opportunity to turn the tables. As long as they come, they will want to take advantage. If they suffer a few more losses, they will not take the bait under the psychological bonus of revenge.

"Let's do it!" General Sun felt much more comfortable. Jia Lian did not give a direct order but was seeking opinions. It was just this plan that convinced him.

When the main force of the Xishan Camp passed through the city, Guo Dongliang panicked a little but could still bear it. The prefect also said that there was no big problem, after all, the Shenji Camp was still there.

But when the Shenji Camp also started to march out, the prefect panicked and hurried to Jia Lian: "Sir, are you going to attack? This is not the right time. It's already afternoon!"

"Don't worry, Prefect Lin. I am leading my troops to camp five miles outside the city. After all, they are reinforcements. It would be difficult to report to His Majesty if we don't hide in front of His Majesty! Don't you see that most of the baggage is left in the city? If the battle situation is unfavorable, we can retreat at any time." Jia Lian didn't tell the truth to the prefect and Guo Dongliang. After all, he didn't expect them to go out to fight the enemy, but they would be of great help if they could defend the city. "In that case, I am relieved." Prefect Lin quickly said, I am not nervous, it was all hallucinations just now.

Jia Lian smiled, turned around and told Guo Dongliang: "General Guo, listen to your orders!" Guo Dongliang quickly stood at attention and saluted: "I am your humble servant!"

"Your army's only mission is to defend the city. Even if you see me die outside, not a single soldier is allowed to go out of the city to fight." Jia Lian suddenly became serious. Guo Dongliang was not the prefect Lin, and nodded as if he had suddenly realized something: "I understand, and I promise not to attack."

After surveying the terrain in advance, the entire left army set up camp at Wulipo west of the city very smoothly. This was thanks to the efforts of the Yebushou team. At the cost of hundreds of casualties, they made the grassland scouts in the direction of Zhangjiakou dare not move out and unable to obtain relevant intelligence.

Jia Lian did not stay in the city, but followed the main force out of the city, and personally led the Shenji Camp to form a defense array, just in case. While waiting for the camp to be built, Jia Lian saw that it was already late, and when the Shenji Camp retreated back to the camp, the night fell and enveloped the earth. The officers and soldiers of the Xishan Camp were also resentful at first, but when they saw Jia Lian also leaving the city, the resentment dissipated quickly.

Again, such a precious young master lives outside the city like everyone else, what else can I say? As for the logistics baggage of 500 cavalry and 1,000 infantry artillery of the Shenji Camp staying in the city, isn't it for the safety of food and grass? Soldiers are actually quite reasonable as long as they patiently explain reasonably.

Under the cover of night, Jia Lian and General Sun inspected the camp together. He took out his pocket watch to check the time: "It's time to send the signal!"

Bang, bang, bang, three cannon shots rang out, three fireworks soared into the sky, and three gorgeous flowers spread out in the night sky!

"Sir, look at the signal!" Ding Zhun, who was taking a nap, was awakened. He took a look at the fireworks in the sky and grinned in the dark: "Let's go back and rest for a few days!"

The night soldiers who were scattered outside saw the fireworks that night, and they packed up everything and returned to the camp to rest and prepare for the next battle.

………………

Zhangjiakou, Wen Naxing heard nothing but bad news yesterday. The reinforcements from the Great Zhou court arrived in Xuanhua and gained a huge advantage in the scout battle, suppressing the headquarters' scouts and making it difficult for them to obtain intelligence.

Wen Naxing didn't sleep well last night and felt pain in the corner of his mouth. He asked someone to bring him a mirror and saw a big blister at the corner of his mouth.

"Damn those barbarians from the Central Plains, where do they come up with so many weird tricks?" He muttered, came out to take the mare's milk tea, drank a bowl of it, and came out with a whip.

Seeing his subordinate standing outside, Wen Naxing looked at him fiercely: "Akarimu, if I still find accurate information today, I will not whip you, but cut off your head with a scimitar."

Chi Limu, who was tall and burly, quickly bent down and replied: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will personally lead 3,000 cavalrymen to investigate in the direction of Xuanhua today. If we can't get any news, we will die outside and never come back."

What a scene it would be if three thousand cavalrymen marched together. It is no exaggeration to say that the rising smoke and dust could be seen ten miles away.

Chilimu was very careful and sent out ten teams of scouts with a hundred men each. He believed that if he could do this, no matter how powerful the night watchmen of the Central Plains barbarians were, they would not be able to cover the battlefield.

News kept coming back one after another, and Chilimu, who was marching cautiously towards Xuanhua, became even more cautious. Surprisingly, there was no news about the enemy.

Isn't this a little too incredible? All the night weapons of the Central Plains barbarians were taken back overnight?
Could it be that we have replaced the commander who doesn’t know how to fight a war?
Don't tell me, don't tell me, the Central Plains barbarians have had similar cases. There are many cases where the front is fighting well, but the back is sabotaging and replacing people in order to grab the results of the battle.

But this battle hasn’t lasted long, and it’s still too early to tell who will win or lose.

The grassland warrior Chilimu became more cautious and kept sending scouts forward to gather information.

They finally arrived twenty miles outside Xuanhua City. It was already afternoon. Looking at the city and a huge camp on the Wulipo slope outside the city through the confiscated telescope, Chilimu suddenly understood.

The reinforcements arrived, but they did not dare to fight. They were probably worried about impeachment by the censors in the Central Plains court, so they camped outside the city.

Looking at the direction of the camp again, the doors on both sides opened, and about two thousand cavalrymen poured out from each side, gathered together, and slowly pressed forward.

"Blow the horn and tell the scouts to withdraw!"

"Woo-woo-woo!" The horn blew, and the scouts scattered outside gradually escaped from danger and returned to the team. Akagi ordered to form a battle formation!

Now it depends on whether the barbarian cavalry dares to fight! Seize the opportunity and measure the background of this barbarian army.

Chilimu had to admit that the Night Warriors of this army were very good at fighting and had strong combat effectiveness. They had defeated even his own small cavalry units and they did not dare to go out.

What determines the outcome of a battlefield is often not a small group of elite troops, which the barbarians call servants.

Judging from the size of this cavalry, this reinforcement is definitely one of the main forces from the Beijing Camp. The distance is a bit far and the flags cannot be seen clearly.

Akarimu raised his hand and swung it forward vigorously, while at the same time spurring his horse forward, and all the cavalrymen slowly pressed forward.

Akarimu was very confident in the 3,000 elite cavalry under his command and wanted to use this opportunity to test the strength of his opponent.

........................

At the highest point of the hillside in the camp, Jia Lian held up a telescope and looked at the advancing grassland cavalry. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Raise the flag and have the cavalry withdraw!"

The cavalry who were driving out the enemy scouts heard the sound of gongs behind them and turned around and retreated to the vicinity of the camp without hesitation!
"Lure the enemy deep into our territory? This is too...!" Akarimu couldn't help laughing. Five miles away from the camp, he raised his hand to signal to stop.

The cavalry stopped in unison following the flag signal. Akarimu raised his telescope and saw cannons in the camp!
"Are you kidding me? Leave a thousand cavalrymen to keep watch, and the others will follow me to retreat! I want to see if the barbarian cavalrymen dare to catch up with us!"

(End of this chapter)