Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 457 Military Intelligence
  In the northern border of Zhao State, Yanmen County has good governance but no city.

It took six days, Li Mu worked day and night, galloped under the stars, and finally came back. Not to mention the exhaustion of several horses, even though he and Sima Shang had reached the top in martial arts, it was quite overwhelming.

This was one of the reasons why he returned to the county first instead of going straight to the border of the Great Wall. In order to take a breather, the other was to understand the overall situation of the three counties in the North. He could not just rush into the military camp without knowing anything. go.

The next day, Li Mu, who had rested, summoned a group of staff and generals from the General's Mansion to discuss the war.

"How many troops will the Wolf clan send this time?" Li Mu looked at the simple sand table map in front of him and asked to the side.

"General, according to the intelligence collected so far, the wolf tribe has arrived at the border of Zhao State with a total of 30,000 troops. They are currently attacking Jiuyuan County, and there will be at least 60,000 more troops in the follow-up, aiming directly at Yanmen. "A staff member who was probably in charge of intelligence work replied, and at the same time, he made gestures on the sand table that ordinary people could not see anything at all.

"How is the situation in Jiuyuan?"

"According to your instructions, general, the county guard and his troops cannot hold out. There will be casualties on both sides, but the situation is not considered urgent."

In fact, everyone present, except for Li Mu and Sima Shang, didn't pay much attention to this war. After all, the wolf clan, large and small, had invaded many times over the years. As long as they fought steadily and defended strictly, nothing would happen.

The wolves don't know how to use any sophisticated strategies. They only have some skills in using the mobility of the cavalry. Everything else is a mess. However, because of their strong physique, they have some advantages in close combat, which is common. He is not afraid of death and suppresses the morale of the Central Plains army.

However, with Li Mu here, his reputation as the God of War spread throughout the northern border, and no one could suppress the northern border troops under his command, not even the wolf clan.

Li Mu was not in a hurry to continue asking questions. He lowered his eyes and took a closer look at the sand table - judging from the current situation, the main force of the wolf tribe's forwards was attacking Jiuyuan in the west of Yinshan Mountain, while a small number of scattered soldiers were wandering in the clouds, and the main army was passing through. Yinshan, coming straight to Yanmen.

The maximum number of enemy troops is one hundred thousand, which is basically the maximum force that the wolf clan can send without sending troops to the entire clan. For Li Mu, it is easy to stop these one hundred thousand people, but the problem now is that he not only wants to Defeat the wolves.

"What are you thinking about, Grandfather?" Li Mu didn't speak for a long time, leaving many generals and staff confused. At this time, a young voice suddenly sounded, interrupting the silence.

He was a handsome and tough young man with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes. He should not be more than twenty years old. He looked somewhat similar to Li Mu and had a rather elegant temperament. He was Li Mu's grandson - Li Zuoche.

Li Mu looked up at his most satisfied grandson and asked with a gentle smile, "What do you think I am thinking?"

Li Zuoche was not polite and replied calmly, "Although the wolf clan is coming this time, it will not worry my grandfather so much... If the military situation hadn't changed, I guess you want more than just the wolf clan retreating."

"Hahaha!" Li Mu couldn't help stroking his beard and laughing a few times after hearing this. He was very happy. "Your mind has always been delicate and quick, and your guess is good."

"What I want is the lives of these 100,000 wolves!"

"Ah, what's the purpose of this?"

"General, why do you suddenly want to wipe out all the wolves?"

……

As soon as Li Mu said this, many generals asked questions. They didn't question Li Mu's thoughts, but they just didn't understand how he could change his past habits.

However, Li Mu did not answer. He raised his hand to signal them to be quiet, and then asked Li Zuoche: "Zuoche, what do you think about this matter?"

Li Zuoche was silent for a moment, and then slowly replied, "...The wolves raided the border areas, just like usual. However, my grandfather, you changed your usual strategy and insisted on killing the enemy. I can only return to the capital with you this time." It’s time to report on your duties… Is this what our new king wants from your grandfather?”

Li Mu shook his head, "No, this is just my personal wish. As for the king... you must not criticize the king at will in the future."

"...Yes, my grandson knows." Li Zuoche was quite unhappy, but he didn't dare to confront his grandfather, so he responded in a muffled voice.

Li Zuoche is different from Li Mu. Li Mu is absolutely loyal to King Zhao. He is not foolishly loyal, but he will never betray him. His attitude is always respectful enough.

But Li Zuoche's sense of King Zhao was very average. He was dissatisfied with King Mouxiang when King Mouxiang was alive. Now that Zhao Wangqian, a complete failure known to the whole country, has ascended the throne, Li Zuoche is naturally even more disdainful.

"Let's get back to the war. What do you think of my decision?"

Many generals and staff looked at each other and replied in unison, "Of course we support the general."

However, although they supported Li Mu, practical problems still had to be solved. Someone immediately raised the question:

"General, now that the wolf tribe's troops are scattered and their mobility far exceeds ours...how can we encircle and annihilate a hundred thousand wolves in one fell swoop?"

The most difficult thing about the wolves is that they are all mounted cavalry, and their riding skills are superb, and their mobility far exceeds that of the short-legged infantry under Li Mu.

Battles in the Central Plains are generally large army battles, and Li Mu is no exception. However, when there are too many people, the marching speed is limited and the momentum is too loud. It is difficult to hide the enemy from the enemy and complete the encirclement. Once the opponent notices a problem, they can run out at any time. Encirclement, failure, and futility.

And if there are fewer people, they will be hidden... But they can't win. The Wolf Clan's troops are not small this time, and the quality of the individual soldiers is not bad. If Li Mu wants to ensure that the annihilation battle is won, he must send at least 80,000 elite troops. .

Many years ago, Li Mu was able to encircle and annihilate more than 100,000 wolves in one fell swoop, but it took him several years of planning to relax the wolf clan's Shanyu's vigilance, and then he successfully lured the enemy into the urn and used the surprise troops arranged in advance to surround the wolf army. Even so, he also took advantage of the geographical advantage and laid out a complete tactical strategy to restrain the enemy's cavalry, and the final battle would be decided.

Now, there is obviously no such near-perfect opportunity.

"Zuo Che, what do you think?" Li Mu looked at it again
  "Grandfather, this is simply impossible. The wolf clan's maneuverability far exceeds ours. You have no chance to encircle and annihilate the opponent." Li Zuoche couldn't think of a solution. The troops were restrained and there was no other way. "If you insist on starting a war, you can only The army all pulled out of the city wall defense line and fought head-on with the wolves, but..."

Li Zuoche paused at this point. Even if he didn't say anything else, everyone present would know it.

In frontal combat, the Northland border troops do not have an advantage. It should even be said that they are completely at a disadvantage. The wolves who are good at riding and shooting cannot be dealt with by infantry at all. In this case, the role of chariots is also limited. If cavalry is also sent, the Northland army will be at a disadvantage. The number of cavalry in the frontier army is far less than that of the wolves.

This is how the former northern generals dealt with the wolves. They often had to pay several times the casualties to repel the wolves, and it was difficult to ensure the stability of the territory behind them.

　The pre-Qin cavalry should actually be regarded as mounted infantry. Bows and crossbows were the main weapons. The method of combat was to use mobility to shoot arrows and fly kites. Charge was not the main method of cavalry combat, at least not for the Huns.

　　Zhao's defeat of the Xiongnu was the most classic battle in the pre-Qin period in which a large infantry army encircled and annihilated a large cavalry army. Li Mu not only attracted the enemy troops to penetrate deeply based on the Xiongnu's purpose of plundering supplies, but also used chariots, cavalry, and a large number of infantry and archers. It was not easy to achieve this victory, because it was really troublesome to deal with the cavalry in the open area.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)