My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 306: Raising troops for a thousand days
The topic was obviously not over yet, but it was forcibly ended by Liu Rong, and the ministers, meritorious officials, and generals no longer had the opportunity to volunteer.

They just looked at each other, bowed and said goodbye, then went back to think about Liu Rong's intentions.

But what they didn’t know was that after the meeting, Liu Rong left a few people alone.

These people will appear in the Daibei Mayi front and the northern front in a few months...

"The garrison at Mayi is crucial to the success or failure of this battle."

"——In this battle, the strategic goal of our Han family is to use the Mayi garrison to contain the main force of the Chanyu court, making it impossible for them to return to support;"

"As for the northern part, we should take advantage of the opportunity to seize Henan and build preliminary defenses before winter comes to prevent Henan from being lost again."

"Use Mayi as bait to trap the main force of the Chanyu court, and then launch a surprise attack to seize Henan - it is risky, but the plan is very promising and the benefits will be huge!"

"Therefore, in order to prevent the war from getting out of control, we have to make plans as much as possible before the war begins to prepare for any unexpected events..."

While Liu Rong was speaking, everyone followed Liu Rong's footsteps into the back hall.

What came into view next was a huge sand table that almost filled the entire floor of the rear hall, with strange stones, small logs, and even "rivers".

The lower half of the sand table is composed of mountains, lakes, rivers, gullies, and intermittent high walls, forming the northern Longyou-Daibei Mayi line.
The rest is the Hetao region, which is composed of large tracts of grassland, and Munan, which is surrounded by a large piece of "desert".

In the Han Dynasty's territory, the border defense forces deployed by the Han Dynasty in the border areas were lined up in a row, basically evenly distributed along the entire border line, and the soldiers from various counties and countries were used as reserve mobile forces.

In the grassland territory, small wooden horses representing the armed forces of the Xiongnu tribe were clustered in the salt lake about 300 miles north of Mayi.

There are also several Trojans in Hetao outside the north.

However, compared with the "large army approaching" Mayi front, the Huns' garrison forces left in Hetao seemed somewhat weak.

"After Marquis Tiao, the first is Marquis Quzhou, who is the most skilled veteran general in the Han Dynasty."

"Let the planning of this battle begin with Marquis Quzhou."

As soon as Liu Rong said this, everyone raised their heads abruptly and looked around - they could all see excitement and joy in the eyes of the people around them.

Temple calculation!

This means that the previous discussions in the front hall with the participation of other dukes, ministers and meritorious officials could at best be regarded as informal communication between the emperor and his subjects before the war.

And the next meeting is the real pre-war strategic seminar for this war!
At this moment, those who can appear here to participate in this meeting are basically the generals who can participate in this war!

Even if they cannot lead the troops directly into battle, they are at least indirect participants responsible for logistics support and material mobilization.

Everyone had a rough idea of ​​why Liu Rong was like this.

——In the past, almost every war between the Han and the Xiongnu began with the Xiongnu launching a surprise attack, or even stealing the city gates and breaking into a border city.

For the Han family, the entire grassland during the war seemed to be covered by the fog of war;

The Huns would jump out from anywhere in the fog of war and catch the Han people off guard.

Therefore, in the past, the Huns valued and paid more attention to maintaining confidentiality before a war.

This is also the reason why whenever the Huns launched a large-scale invasion to the south, they would first control the Donghu King Lu to prevent the news from leaking.

But this year's war is different from any previous war.

On the Mayi front, the Xiongnu basically used open attack, with the main strategy being "I told you, I want to attack Mayi, can you really defend it?"
The Han family had no intentions or plans that needed to be concealed in Mayi.

The main force of the Huns came in a mighty force, and the Han court sent troops to garrison Mayi to slow down the Huns.

The Han Dynasty’s real plan was on the second battlefield: Henan, also known as the Hetao region.

If this plot was discovered by the Xiongnu before the war and they deployed heavy troops to defend Hetao, not only would the Han plan fail in the process, but the Xiongnu would also know that the Han was quite coveting Henan!
From now on, whether the Huns move westward or southward - no matter what they do, they will never relax their vigilance in Hetao, and will never leave the Han Dynasty with even the slightest opportunity to take advantage of.

There is only this one chance;
The Han Dynasty has only one chance to take back Hetao.

Only at this time did the Huns determine that Hetao was high up and easy to defend but difficult to attack, and that it was impossible for the Han to cross the river first, fight a battle with their backs to the river, and then use a cluster of infantry to truly occupy Hetao, thus giving them the opportunity to "carelessly lose Hetao."

Having wasted this opportunity, if the Han wanted to seize Hetao again, it would be difficult to do so even if they had to sacrifice human lives.

In other words, in this battle, the Huns openly marched southward with their army approaching the border, but it was the Han who needed to conceal their strategic intentions before the war.

Since the intention is to be concealed, the existence of the second battlefield: the Northland-Hetao battlefield should be known to as few people as possible.

It is not that the Han Dynasty was rotten to the core, and even the officials and nobles in the court were infiltrated by the Xiongnu;
This is because strategic intention will have a very obvious impact on the generals' combat deployment and troop formations.

Let me give you a very simple example.

You are a general;
This autumn, the Han and the Xiongnu will meet in Daibei. You will follow the order of the current Emperor Rong and lead your army to garrison Mayi.

You don't know what the emperor is planning for this battle;
Therefore, you just take it for granted that in this battle, you only need to defend Mayi, protect the territory and the people, and you can become a hero of the country.

Tian Zirong did tell you this.

So, from the first day you entered Mayi, you began to do everything you could to keep the Huns out of the country and to repel and drive them away as soon as possible.

From the beginning to the end, you only wanted to repel the enemy, and you even wanted to make the Xiongnu Khan and his generals retreat inexplicably, allowing you to gain a great advantage for nothing.

From your deployment of troops and the dispatch of your generals, the Huns also realized that you just wanted to defend Mayi and repel the enemy. They no longer had any other concerns and focused on attacking Mayi.

Until the earth-shattering news came: Henan changed its owner!

The Huns, who had been advancing step by step and attacking the city slowly, were thrown into chaos. They tried their best to leave the Daibei battlefield to support Henan!
And you soon realized that you could not let the Huns escape, so you changed your strategy and tactics from defending the city and repelling the enemy to attacking and holding on to the Huns, preventing them from returning to Henan for support.

The Huns were caught off guard, and so were you;
Therefore, you did not reveal the Han Dynasty's plan for Henan from your deployment of troops - because you were not aware of it at all, so it cannot be said that you revealed it.

The Huns were kept in the dark, and you are kept in the dark too.

It was precisely because you were also kept in the dark that you expressed from the bottom of your heart your strategic intention of "only wanting to protect the territory and the people and drive away the Huns", thus deceiving the Huns.

On the contrary, if before the war, Emperor Rong summoned you privately and said: In this battle, my Han family intends to seize the Henan area, and the general needs to delay the Huns in Mayi so that they cannot return to support?
Once this happens, I'm afraid that on the first day you arrive in Mayi, you will have to start making strategic and tactical arrangements based on the principle of "holding on to the Huns and not letting them go."

The Huns are not stupid. Seeing that you are trying to keep them as guests, how could they not think of the Han people? I'm afraid you are trying to make a feint to the east and attack in the west somewhere else?
Even if you expected this, you did not reveal your intention to "force the Xiongnu to stay in Mayi" at the beginning, pretending to "just repel the enemy";
But after all, pretending is not as real as genuine feelings.

Rather than letting the generals on the Mayi battlefield know the overall strategy in advance, and then pretending to be hesitant and saying, "Oh, please go away. I really don't want to fight with you," it is better not to tell them at the beginning.

Just tell them directly: In this battle, my Han family must defend Mayi!

If you hold on, you win!

Anyway, even if we tell them about what happened in Henan, it would be meaningless and would only increase the risk of leaks.

Once Henan is truly in our hands and the news reaches the battlefield in Mayi, the generals will naturally know what to do.

This is also the reason why everyone who walked into the back hall with Liu Rong was so overjoyed at this moment.

——Since everyone has entered this back hall, they undoubtedly want to know the strategic details of the Northland-Hetao battlefield.

To put it more directly: everyone present, whether they will fight or not - whether they are leading the troops to fight or are responsible for logistics, will participate in the Beidi-Hetao battlefield, not the Mayi front.

What is the difference between the two?
Very simple.

The Mayi battlefield will definitely be a fierce offensive and defensive battle.

After this autumn, Mayi will become a meat grinder that selects its prey.

The strategic goal of the Han Dynasty in this battlefield was to defend Mayi (which was acceptable), to have fewer casualties than the enemy (which was good), and to hold on to the enemy and allow the Han Dynasty to completely take over Hetao (which was excellent).

On the other hand, looking at the North-Hetao line - every step forward by the Han Empire is a tremendous military achievement, waving to every soldier who participates in the war!
The ultimate strategic goal: to seize Henan, which also includes the merit of "opening up new territories" based on the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households, as well as tens of thousands of Hun heads!
Although the risk is greater, the rewards are terrifyingly generous!
How could people not be excited to be able to participate in a war that will go down in history regardless of success or failure?

Just look at everyone's faces and you'll know.

——As the undisputed number one figure in the Han Dynasty’s military, Quzhou Hou Li Ji’s mouth was dry and his face was full of regret.

As a second-generation meritorious official with some of the qualities of a founding father, Li Ji is already very old.

Even during the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, it was the young general Li Ji, who was less than 20 years old, who followed his father, Li Shang, the first Marquis of Quzhou, in campaigns across the country and made great contributions. Now, Li Ji is already a veteran in his seventies.

In this battle, Li Ji may have the opportunity to lead the army, but it is unlikely that he will go to the front line in person and achieve success.

But apart from regret, Li Ji felt more relieved.

After all, the achievements Li Ji made in his life are beyond the reach of most military men in later generations.

Slightly different from Li Ji's regret and relief: Han Tuidang, the Marquis of Gonggao, who is slightly younger than Li Ji, has excitement and desire written all over his face!

In this battle, if the Han wanted to seize Hetao, it would be impossible to rely solely on infantry.

Only a super-mobile cavalry cluster can quickly achieve actual control over the Hetao area in the northern battlefield of this battle - after the Han army successfully crossed the river and gained a foothold!
Now in the Han Dynasty, there is no one more expert in cavalry combat than Han Tuidang.

——In this battle, not only Han Tuidang, but the entire Gonggaohou family has great potential!
Looking at the younger generation - the Imperial Censor Ji An, the Chief Justice Zhao Yu, etc., their faces are full of vigor and vitality.

Since Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the Han Dynasty has suffered from the lack of young and talented military commanders and the lack of successors.

In this battle, a new generation of generals will emerge in the Han Dynasty, and they will become the pillars of the Han Dynasty for at least the next twenty years...

"I have a general idea about the Beidi-Henan line. I will tell you all the generals so that we can find out the gaps and fill them in."

Seeing everyone's passion, Liu Rong didn't waste too much time and quickly got the topic back on track.

"The Beidi-Henan War can be roughly divided into three parts."

"The first part is that the participating troops will disperse and sneak to the north. Without alerting the Xiongnu people - or even alerting the people of our Han family - they will enter the north in disguise and regroup."

"I'm sure all of you generals know that both the Xiongnu's Munan and the Han's border counties actually have spies and secret agents lurking on both sides."

"If the Xiongnu are aware of this in advance, then our Han dynasty's plan to seize Henan will be half-failed..."

After hearing this, everyone, who had gradually calmed down from their joy, nodded in agreement.

But he was also wise enough not to respond to Liu Rong's words.

——Liu Rong can arrange this matter himself, there is no need to discuss it.

As expected, after briefly mentioning it, Liu Rong naturally skipped over this topic.

"The second step is that after the battle on the Mayi front begins, the vanguard troops on the northern front will cross the river at night and launch a surprise attack on the tribes along the Henan River, in order to prevent the news from leaking out as much as possible."

"For this step, we need to rely on the two Suiying in Shanglin Garden, as well as the two cavalry commanderies that I have ordered the border counties to secretly gather and reorganize."

As soon as these words were spoken, Gonggao Hou Han Tuidang stepped forward without hesitation and bowed solemnly!

"Your servant, Han Tuidang, requests to be appointed as the Cavalry General and lead the vanguard!"

Liu Rong nodded calmly, and then said seriously: "Two cavalry captains, with a total of 10,000 cavalry, are already most of the wealth that my Han family can gather now."

"I will entrust all these important military and national weapons to the hands of Marquis Gonggao..."

"Hou, encourage yourself."

The two light words "encourage yourself" are Liu Rong's exhortation and the Han emperor's expectation for Han Tuidang - for this battle.

Han Tuidang's silent bow was a promise to the king and a silent military order...

"The third step is to occupy most of Henan Province in the shortest possible time after crossing the river!"

"After taking control of Henan, we quickly stationed heavy troops in northern Henan to prepare for the counterattack of the main force of the Xiongnu!"

...

“This step;”

"It requires the whole nation of Han to do its best!"

(End of this chapter)