Song Yi

Chapter 431 Unifying the Mind
Pang Yuqin nodded: "Master has always studied medical skills, leading troops to fight is also a recent matter, and our army's chronic disease did not develop in a day or two, and it is intricately rooted, causing it to affect the whole body, so we must be cautious. Otherwise, Xianggong went to ask those famous generals who lead troops well, and asked them about the way to lead troops and run an army, maybe it will be enlightening, I don’t know.”

Du Wenhao nodded again and again: "You're right! As an amateur, I must seek advice from experts, and I can't be self-righteous. I have many famous generals, but who can lead the soldiers well?"

"I often hear Xianggong say how powerful the Yang family is, why don't you ask them for advice?"

"Yes! The general of the Yang family! That's right! I have long said that I would visit Tianbo Yang's mansion, but I just admired it, but today I have something to ask for. Okay. I will visit Tianbo Yang's mansion early tomorrow morning!— ——It’s still my wife Lan Xinhuizhi, who came up with this idea as soon as she thought about it, my husband’s wooden fish head can’t think of it.”

Pang Yuqin burst out laughing: "It's only been two months, then you can hear it!"

In the early morning of the next day, Du Wenhao practiced swordsmanship with Lin Qingdai as usual. After these three days, under Lin Qingdai's careful guidance, he has completely mastered this set of swordsmanship, and only needs time to hone it.

After eating in the morning, Pang Yuqin had already prepared a generous gift for Du Wenhao, let his servants carry it, and followed Du Wenhao to Tianbo Yang's Mansion to visit.

Du Wenhao was about to go out with his guards, when he came galloping, but it was the messenger soldier from Sanya.The report said that the Western Expeditionary Army deployed Lu Gong's writings, the deputy all deployed Qu Zhen, and the supervisor Li Xian waited in the front office of the Sanya Yuqian.

Du Wenhao, as the envoy of the Western Expedition Army, the Generalissimo of the Army and Horses, had to propose a battle plan for the Western Expedition and give face-to-face instructions to the frontline commanders. According to the rules, after the edict of the expedition was issued, they had to set off within three days at the latest.The urgent military situation requires an edict to leave Beijing on the same day.This cannot be delayed.Du Wenhao decided to deal with this matter first.

He brought the guards to the ministerial hall in front of the hall.

When the three of them saw him coming in, they all got up and saluted together.Du Wenhao hurriedly bowed his hand to return the salute, and sat in the middle.He didn't know these three people, but Lu Gongzhu and Li Xian were acquaintances. Li Xian had served as a border army supervisor many times, and had also served as an envoy to Xihe Economic Strategy, and was transferred to Jingyuan and Xihe Lanhui to appease the system. .Due to the failure of the battle, he was withdrawn and returned to the capital to serve as Xuanqing envoy.So I know General Qu Zhen, but it's just a nodding friendship.Qu Zhen has been leading the army to fight on the border of Xixia, and she is only the deputy general manager, so naturally she has no chance to get acquainted with Lu Gong, the powerful minister in the court.So the two don't know each other.

The three of them introduced themselves.Du Wenhao also introduced himself.It was another courteous talk like bowing hands and bowing to each other for a long time.

Du Wenhao saw that Qu Zhen's hair was gray and her face was wrinkled. From a distance, she couldn't tell whether it was a wrinkle or a scar.Although he was tall and strong, his body was a little stooped, but his eyes were sharp and energetic.Unknowingly nodding secretly, he cupped his hands and said, "General Qu, I have admired your name for a long time, and I often hear Li Pu talk about your battles in Xixia. I admire the great achievements of the general."

Qu Zhen hurriedly got up, and bowed deeply: "The general is terrified, the general praises it, and the general thanks the general for his support!"

Mr. Lu said that this old man is a senior figure, and even Wang Anshi was recommended by him at the beginning, and he is a bit dependent on the old man. Seeing that Du Wenhao is in a high position at the young age of twenty, he really can't see what is special about him. There is some contempt in my heart.Now the Empress Dowager Yizhi has appointed him as the commander of the capital, and Qu Zhen is only his deputy commander. Du Wenhao did not greet him as the commander first, but praised the deputy commander. This made Mr. Lu very upset, so he said lightly One sentence: "General Qu should thank General Du for his support. That is to say, General Du is young. If he were replaced by a thoughtful veteran, he would not support a defeated general like you."

As soon as this remark came out, Qu Zhen's old face flushed, and the smile on Du Wenhao's face froze for a moment. He squinted at Lu Gong, thinking that you old man is too unreasonable, and wanted to retort, but the army did not move. Alright, so I pretended not to hear, changed the subject, and first explained my combat thinking in detail.

After listening to Du Wenhao's battle ideas, Qu Zhen nodded and said: "The general's battle plan is very good. He will fight steadily and step by step, forcing him to face-to-face decisive battle with our army and fight a war of attrition. To take advantage of our army's numerical advantages, as long as this plan If it can be carried out without compromise, it will definitely be effective!"

Lu Gong said indifferently: "I'm afraid that I won't live until the day when the effect will be exerted!"

Du Wenhao looked at him and said: "I heard that all deployments, do you think this tactic takes too long?"

"Yes."

"Then based on the deployment of the capital, how should we fight this battle?"

"It's very simple. Divide troops into multiple routes, intersperse and encircle them, cut off the enemy's rear, and use superior forces to gather and annihilate them."

Du Wenhao said coldly: "Deploy all of them, our army has suffered a lot from this tactic, we can't let the tragedy happen again!"

Lu Gong raised his gray and thick eyebrows: "General, tactics are dead, but people are alive. This tactic has also created miracles and defeated the Liao army. As long as it is used well, it can still play a role."

Du Wenhao said: "You are right. If our army can maneuver quickly, have tenacious perseverance and combat effectiveness, it is indeed the best choice to intersperse and outflank and fight a war of annihilation. However, what our army is facing is cavalry. In the Xixia army of the Lord, the two legs of a person cannot run a horse. Moreover, the enemy army is heavily armored cavalry. It is impossible for our army to carry heavy armor. There is absolutely no problem tearing apart our encirclement. Therefore, we can encircle the enemy, but we may not be able to completely annihilate the enemy. This has been fully verified in many battles such as the Battle of Lingchuan."

"That's the ineffective command of the coach!" Lu Gong also said coldly.

"So, all deployments are very confident in their military command ability?"

"It's not that this old man is arrogant. Even though this old man has never led a soldier or fought a war, he still has this confidence. If this old man leads [-] troops this time, he can conquer according to his intention, and keep the great shame of being able to report the defeat of Yongle City!"

Du Wenhao said: "The current state of our army is not suitable for this kind of outflanking and annihilating war..."

"The general is too timid. Leading troops in battle must be bold and cautious. If you want to be like a general, you will only lose the battle."

Du Wenhao was furious, but he suppressed it and tried his best to calm himself down: "Lord Lu, the step-by-step battle plan is decided by the executive committee. This plan..."

"This plan doesn't work! It's too conservative!" Lu Gong said with a gloomy face, "If we fight like this, we can defeat Xixia in the Year of the Monkey? We have a huge country, and there is no reason why we should attack with the force of a thunderbolt against mere Xixia tartars." If you fight like you, why not wait 50 or 100 years?"

Du Wenhao said in a deep voice: "Compared with the Xixia Army, except for the numerical advantage, our army has no other advantages. The thinking of underestimating the enemy and the thinking of quick victory are our biggest enemies!"

"General, he was bitten by a snake early in the morning and was afraid of well ropes for ten years!"

Du Wenhao realized that it might be a major strategic mistake for him to tolerate this old-fashioned pedant as the enemy's commander in chief. Now that the imperial decree has been issued, there is no way to change it. He can only try his best to persuade him not to advance rashly.He swallowed hard, and said slowly: "Master Lu, we don't need to argue, the step-by-step battle plan was approved by the Empress Dowager..."

"So what if you agree? If you make a mistake, you should correct it!" Lu Gong squinted at Du Wenhao. "Yesterday afternoon, the Empress Dowager summoned me and told me to strictly implement your battle plan, General. She also asked me to listen to the advice of Deputy Commander Qu Zhen, saying that the battle plan he opposed could not be implemented by the old man. The Empress Dowager said, the so-called "will not accept the orders of the military abroad"! The battlefield is changing rapidly, and the opportunity for combat is fleeting, so we can only make a decisive decision! The deputy commander can make suggestions, but he must obey the decision of the commander! Otherwise, this battle will not be possible. !"

"Then what do you want?"

"As the deployment, the old man asks the general to agree, and the old man decides the battle plan independently!"

(End of this chapter)