The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 153 Coping
"Xing'an City is as solid as gold, and the price of attacking Xing'an cannot be afforded by the bandits."

"Gao Yingxiang will not attack Xing'an, he is a smart man and will not do stupid things."

In the pavilions of Xing'an East City, all the generals focused their eyes on Chen Wang.

Chen Wang held up a red flag in one hand and leaned on the edge of the sand table with the other hand. After looking around at everyone, he turned his eyes back to the sand table in front of him.

In front of Chen Wang, there was a huge square table, and on top of the table was a simple sand table made of sand.

This sand table was made by Chen Wang, who recruited a group of artisans based on the mountain and river topography map in his hand, and directed the artisans to make it.

Compared with Yuping's map, the three-dimensional sand table is more intuitive, and it is more convenient to deploy and arrange troops and formulate military plans.

Because of this, after the First World War, sand tables began to be widely used under the continuous innovation of technology.

The sand table made by Chen Wang is naturally not up to the level of the professional sand table of the later generations, but now it is only the era of cold weapons, and the sand table does not need to be so fine to meet the needs of war.

The area covered by the sand table is not large, but it also includes the four prefectures of Hanzhong, Xunyang, Xiangyang, and Nanyang.

Of course, Xiangyang Mansion and Nanyang Mansion only appeared half of the place on the sand table, and the west of Hanzhong Mansion, that is, the city mountain range to the west of Hanzhong City, was not shaped.

In the direction of Xunyang Mansion, Xiangyang Mansion, and Nanyang Mansion, red flags were densely planted.

These red flags naturally represent the battalions in Xiangyang Mansion, as well as the troops under Lu Xiangsheng's command.

Now that Lu Xiangsheng has not recovered from the previous defeat, he has set up defenses along the banks of the river, and has not pursued to cross the river.

Because of this, the rogues had no way to go north and return to Nanyang Mansion.

A slightly larger red flag was planted at the location of Xing'an City, with a rather eye-catching "Chen" character written in white ink on it.

This flag naturally represented the reinforcement battalion led by Chen Wang himself.

But above the three cities of Xunyang, Pingli, and Ziyang, there is only one small red flag.

There are only militias and guards in the three cities, so there are only small flags.

The westernmost side of the sand table is Hanzhong City in Hanzhong Prefecture. There is also a red flag above Hanzhong City, which says "Zhou".

This flag naturally represented Zhou Yumao and his Ranger Battalion.

In order to prevent unexpected situations, Chen Wang asked Zhou Yumao to lead more than 3000 soldiers back to Hanzhong to defend Hanzhong City.

The reason used was that there was another bandit riot in the hinterland of Hanzhong Mansion, and someone needed to lead troops to quell the rebellion.

But in fact, it was to protect Hanzhong City, more precisely, to protect King Rui.

The military order issued by Hong Chengchou clearly stated that the defense of Hanzhong Mansion should be based on protecting the safety of King Rui, and Chen Wang naturally needed to respond.

Not responding, I'm afraid it will make Hong Chengchou feel that he doesn't listen to his orders.

And even if Hong Chengchou didn't send the order, Chen Wang wouldn't let King Rui make any mistakes.

Of course, this was not because of the pigs, sheep, food and grass rewarded by King Rui, but because once King Rui died, Hanzhong City would be captured.

This responsibility needs to be borne by Chen Wanglai, the fall of Fucheng, the death of the vassal king, even nine heads are not enough to cut off.

Chen Wang originally planned to lead the troops back to Hanzhong City by himself, which would not only ensure the safety of Hanzhong City.

Your own safety is also guaranteed, and you can minimize the impact on the historical trajectory.

But after repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, Chen Wang gave up on this idea.

At that time, when he led the troops back to Hanzhong City, he undoubtedly announced that he would directly abandon the entire eastern part of Hanzhong Mansion.

The eastern part of Hanzhong Mansion can be lost, but not like this.

So Chen Wang chose to stay in Xing'an, so that even the cities around Xing'an would be lost.

He was also defeated after facing hundreds of thousands of people who tried their best to resist, instead of running away and watching the city fall, and the responsibility would not be too heavy.

"Gao Yingxiang's first plan is to capture the surrounding cities of Xing'an City and isolate Xing'an City."

Chen Wang held the red flag in his hand and pointed it at the sand table.

"The first thing they have to do is to eradicate the three cities of Xunyang, Pingli, and Ziyang..."

Following the red flag in Chen Wang's hand, the eyes of all the generals turned to the sand table.

The fall of Xunyang County is a matter of time, and it should be the first city to fall among the three cities.

Xunyang City is in the northeast of Xing'an, and the second city that the rogues passed through on their way from Xunyang Mansion was Xunyang.

The first city is Baihe, which is located at the junction of Xunyang Mansion and Hanzhong Mansion. Baihe City was captured by Gao Yingxiang's troops as early as the beginning of March.

In fact, Chen Wang's original plan was not to let Gao Yingxiang enter the country, but to set up defenses in Baihe County to prevent Gao Yingxiang from going west.

However, the troops under his command are not enough. Although he can occupy a certain geographical advantage, it is difficult to stop a large number of rogues.

And the most important point is to stop the bandits led by Gao Yingxiang in Baihe County.

Gao Yingxiang could also turn to the south of Xunyang Mansion and enter Hanzhong Mansion via Zhuxi in Xunyang Mansion and Pingli Line in Hanzhong Mansion to threaten Xing'an.

Pingli and Ziyang counties.

Pingli is in the southeast of Xing'an City, bordering Zhuxi County of Xunyang Prefecture in Huguang Province.

Ziyang is in the southwest of Xing'an City, adjacent to Kuí (kuí) state capital of Sichuan Province.

The two cities are located on important roads, and the rogues occupying the two cities can effectively hinder the officers and soldiers coming from the direction of Huguang and Sichuan, and relieve their worries.

Moreover, after capturing these three cities, the rogues can not only obtain a large amount of food supplies, but also manpower supplies.

It is foreseeable that the people of the three cities will become cannon fodder when attacking Xing'an City or other cities later.

Then those lucky ones who have survived the baptism of the battlefield and the big waves will become troops, cavalry soldiers and even elite cavalry.

The bandits use such a bloody method to continuously enhance their combat power.

Whether it is Zhang Xianzhong, Ma Shouying, Li Zicheng, or Gao Yingxiang, they all use this method to select soldiers and raise them.

There is neither compassion nor benevolence, because the world is like this, and the world is like this.

The world is not peaceful, and the world is not peaceful.

This is a troubled world, natural selection, survival of the fittest, although cruel, but this is the reality that needs to be understood in a troubled world.

To put it bluntly, today's world is like a huge Gu farm for the rogues.

Only the most poisonous, ruthless, and fierce Gu worms are eligible to survive.

"Then there is Hanyin."

The red flag in Chen Wang's hand moved a little towards the northwest of Xing'an City, and the location where the red flag pointed was exactly where Hanyin City was located.

"Before the Chuangjun, more than tens of thousands of cavalry galloped towards Hanyin. Their destination should be Hanyin."

"So many cavalry went to the army"

Chen Gong frowned, his eyes wandered around Hanyin.

"Won't you go further afield?"

Although the city defense of Hanyin City is okay, there are not many defenders among them, only more than 1000 guards and more than 800 militiamen.

It's okay to defend the city, but there is no way to control the cavalry outside the city.

In the past, there were tens of thousands of cavalrymen in the army, and now there is no armed force in the entire Hanzhong Mansion to stop their actions.

Hu Zhili and Hu Zhiyi also raised their heads to look at Chen Wang. They also felt that the cavalry dispatched by the Chuang army should not only be active around Hanyin.

"The cavalry who broke into the army will go to Shiquan at most, and they will not go too deep."

Chen Wang shook his head, pointed at Han Yin and continued.

"All those who broke into the army were cavalry, and they didn't bring a single infantry. This proves that they didn't go to attack the city."

"Most of the cavalry who broke into the army were lightly dressed and had one more man and two horses. One of their purposes must be to plunder."

Chen Wang took a smaller yellow flag, planted it in the northwest of Hanyin City, and then pointed to the northwest of Hanyin City.

"Gao Yingxiang is a cautious person and will not act rashly,"

"He sent this cavalry for reconnaissance besides looting."

"At most, a small group of scouting cavalry will go to Shiquan to scout the situation, and the number will definitely not be too many."

Hu Zhiyi's eyes narrowed slightly, he hesitated for a moment, and then asked,

"General, why do you conclude that Gao Yingxiang is a cautious person?"

Hu Zhiyi's problem is actually Chen Gong's problem.

Chen Wang spoke with certainty, as if he knew Gao Yingxiang very well.

But they had no contact with Gao Yingxiang before, and all the information they knew was just a few words.

"It's simple."

Chen Wang smiled, looking at Hu Zhiyi with some relief in his heart.

He didn't want Hu Zhiyi, Hu Zhili and others to be his echoers.

He couldn't do everything himself.

Now there are only a few thousand soldiers under his command, and he can still lead it alone.

But when there are more and more soldiers, 1, 2, 3, or even 10, he has no way to personally command them all.

The power to command and command the troops will inevitably be delegated, and Chen Gong, Hu Zhiyi, Hu Zhili and others must follow in his footsteps.

Chen Wang looked up at Tang Shiping and Zhao Huailiang, then explained.

"Know yourself and know the enemy, and you won't be in danger in a hundred battles."

"Many times, you want to know a person, but you don't even know him, and you don't even need much information. Some details are enough for you to know a general character and characteristics."

Chen Wang tapped the edge of the sand table, paused for a moment, waited until everyone's eyes had gathered, and then said
"Take Gao Yingxiang as an example."

"Looking at Gao Yingxiang's behavior since he started his family, we can actually see what kind of person Gao Yingxiang is."

"In the Battle of Chariot Gorge, the bandits and others were trapped in the Chariot Gorge and almost wiped out."

"Since then, no matter where Gao Yingxiang leads the troops, he will ensure that there is a way out and a back hand."

"Of course, there is no way to be sure about these things. What makes me sure is that we were still in Xi'an Mansion."

Chen Wang turned his gaze to the north of the sand table and continued.

"Hong Junmen set up suspicious troops in Zhang Fu of Xi'an Mansion, so Gao Yingxiang never dared to return to Xi'an Mansion, and he dragged his troops into Xi'an Mansion until August."

"This time, the Chuang army left two large groups of soldiers to set up camps in the east and west of Xing'an respectively, in order to fear that our army would leave the city."

"Gao Yingxiang has 20 people under his command, our army is only 6000, and the cavalry is no more than [-], but he is so cautious."

Chen Wang turned his head, looked at Hu Zhiyi and asked.

"Zhiyi, can you deduce from this why I said that Gao Yingxiang won't let the cavalry under his command go too deep?"

Hu Zhiyi didn't expect Chen Wang to ask a question suddenly, but he didn't panic, and after thinking for a while, he gave his answer.

"Gao Yingxiang doesn't have our perspective, so he doesn't know our reality."

"He doesn't know how many soldiers and armaments we have in Hanzhong Mansion now, and how I arrange the troops under my command."

"The general transferred Zhou Yumao to Hanzhong City before, but they didn't know about it. They just knew that the general transferred an army to the northwest."

"From Hanyin to Shiquan, there is only one road to go. The road along the way is narrow, and there are many places for ambush along the way, and it is not convenient for cavalry to move."

"So Gao Yingxiang will never let the troops under his command go too far. He is worried that the troops he sent will be ambushed."

Tang Shiping is good at logistics, Zhao Huailiang is good at dealing with people and the world, Hu Zhili is good at observation, Chen Gong has a keen sense of smell on the battlefield, is brave and decisive in battle.

Hu Zhiyi, on the other hand, is stronger in commanding the army and military strategy.

In just a short time, he had already figured out the key points.

Chen Wang nodded slightly, affirming what Hu Zhiyi said.

"Except for looting and reconnaissance, Gao Yingxiang sent so many cavalry troops there, there is actually a little..."

"He wants to make sure that no army is coming from the northwest to help us."

Because of the threat of Zhao Taishan, Gao Yingxiang set up a camp in the east and west of Xing'an City, and the two camps were not connected to each other.

If officers and soldiers suddenly attack from the direction of Hanyin, the rogues stationed in the west will be threatened by two sides inside and outside the city.

Gao Yingxiang's arrangement was precisely to prevent such things from happening.

"Xing'an City is safe for the time being, we just need to beware of the enemy sneaking in through the tunnel."

Chen Wang turned his head to look at Tang Shiping, and ordered.

"You go to the government office to report to the magistrate of Xing'an Prefecture later, and you say that the bandits are very powerful, and there are roughly 30 people."

"The current plan is to stick to the city. I am afraid the siege will last for a long time. Please pay attention to the consumption of food."

As long as there are no accidents, Xing'an City will never be breached. The only thing that can put Xing'an City in danger is internal problems.

The problem of food and grass is the biggest problem. There is no shortage of military rations. When Chen Wang led the troops to come, he also brought a large amount of military rations, but Chen Wang has nothing to do with the consumption of the rest of the people.

He has no power to manage these matters, and can only rely on the magistrate of Xing'an Prefecture.

Chen Wang raised his head, looked over the sand table in front of him, and over the crenelation of the city wall not far away, and finally landed on the camp of the Chuangjun outside the city.

Gao Yingxiang was indeed a cautious person in history.

He led the peasant army that was about to be wiped out and turned into a mess, escaped countless dangers, and revived.

Fighting thousands of miles along the way, he relied on his own judgment to save the fate of the peasant army time and time again.

But in July of the ninth year of Chongzhen, he took a huge risk to go north from Hanzhong Mansion to Xi'an Mansion...

(End of this chapter)