Jiuxi

Chapter 278 276 [Dragon and Phoenix]

Li Bingxue has a slender figure and picturesque features, as if wrapped in a wisp of spring breeze when she steps into the main hall, slightly diluting the solemn and solemn atmosphere in the hall.

She came here to ask Xiao Wangzhi for instructions on Feiyu Camp's next move, but when she came in, she felt an unusual atmosphere here.

This made Li Bingxue feel curious and puzzled.

In her opinion, Xiao Wangzhi's attitude towards Lu Chen was even closer than that of his own son. In the past two years, he had been entrusting Lu Chen with important tasks and he could be said to obey his words. Lu Chen did not disappoint him, repaying his trust with victory after victory, and his military rank and title were constantly improving.

Therefore, when she was keenly aware of the extremely rare confrontation between the two people, she temporarily put aside the purpose of her trip and stood quietly aside.

Seeing this, Xiao Wangzhi smiled indifferently and said to Lu Chen: "Li Duwei has been leading troops to compete with the enemy on the border all year round. He has rich experience in facing the enemy. You might as well listen to her opinion."

"The great governor is so full of praise that he would not dare to be a general."

Li Bingxue said humbly, then turned to look at Lu Chen who was not far away.

After listening to Lu Chen's ideas for the next strategy of the Northern Expedition, she understood the source of the disagreement between the two people.

"I think the Grand Governor's consideration is more prudent."

After a moment, Li Bingxue gave his judgment, and at the same time, his big eyes looking at Lu Chen showed an apologetic look.

Lu Chen didn't mind and asked calmly: "Why?"

Li Bingxue pondered: "You said you wanted to create some unrest in Heluo City. I believe you can definitely do it, but these unrest are limited to the pseudo-Yan Emperor and those ministers. It will not directly affect the people stationed in the city. The Jing Army. According to the information we currently have, the Jing Army in Heluo City has at least 15,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalry. Now there are 5,000 cavalry brought by Qing Yu Zhongwang."

"In other words, even if we ignore the Yan army in Heluo City, the total strength of Jing army is still more than 30,000. After the battle of Leize Plain, maybe Jing army will not dare to leave the city for a decisive battle with our army in a short time. , but how many troops do we need to gather to conquer Heluo?"

Li Bingxue's calm tone pointed out a cold fact.

The three people in the hall all know the importance of Heluo City and the benefits of conquering Heluo. However, all strategic ideas must be based on reality.

The great victory of Leize was not due to Lu Chen's exquisite or unexpected design. The root cause was that the main force of Jing's army was willing to fight. That's why the female Lu Huan led her army to station in Leize Plain, knowing full well that the Huaizhou army traveled from Tongshan City to Ningling City. The momentum was overwhelming, pressing towards them step by step but still turning a blind eye.

On this basis, Lu Chen could formulate a strategy of attacking from all sides, and use Jingzhou Feiyu Camp as the last insurance to crush the enemy.

Now that he wants to plot Heluo City, doesn't Xiao Wangzhi see the benefits of this idea? Doesn't he know the importance of maintaining the fire of the Northern Expedition?

The fundamental problem is not here, but that as a general, it is not enough to have strategic vision and courage. You must have specific conditions for implementation.

What’s the point of just knowing the benefits of conquering Heluo City?

The key is how to defeat it.

The Huaizhou army is not a heavenly force, so it is impossible for them to cross thousands of mountains and rivers and fly directly to the Heluo city wall.

Lu Chen remained calm and looked at Li Bingxue and said, "Please continue."

Li Bingxue nodded slightly, walked to the sand table, pointed at Heluo City and said, "Look, our army's westernmost strongholds on Dongyang Road are Fengfu City and Ningling City. No matter where the troops are sent from, the shortest distance to Heluo City is More than four hundred miles. Neither of these roads is a smooth and flat road. There are three passes and seven cities in between. Qingyu Zhongwang only needs to arrange troops to garrison in these places. Even the weak Yan army can maximize the hinder the advance of our army."

There was nothing false about her feelings for Lu Chen, and she never thought of hiding it deliberately. Even Xiao Wangzhi could see some clues.

However, they were talking about military affairs at the moment. She was not only Li Bingxue, but also the captain of Feiyu Camp in Jingzhou. She had to think calmly from the perspective of a professional soldier and would not let Lu Chen do it just because the person who proposed this strategy was Lu Chen. No principles.

Lu Chen knew this very well. He had expressed from the beginning that he would not mind, so he retorted unhurriedly: "As you said before, Qing Yu Zhongwang currently has more than 30,000 troops. , how many people can he dedicate to defend these city passes? In other words, does he dare to reduce his control over Heluo City and extend Jingjun's defense line outward? After these two years of war and the Battle of Leize, I think he dare not place his hopes on Yan Jun anymore."

Li Bingxue frowned and said, "Are you betting on Qing Yu Zhongwang's courage?"

Lu Chen calmly replied: "We don't need to gamble. Whether Qing Yu Zhongwang deploys troops cannot be hidden from everyone. We have elite spies in Heluo City and everywhere. This large-scale deployment of troops is easy to detect. After a period of time, we have elite spies. After that, we will know whether Qingyu Zhongwang will stick to Heluo or divide his troops."

"Okay, let's deduce based on the best situation. Qing Yu Zhongwang did not extend the defense line, but only deployed defenses at certain strategic points, and the main force still stayed in Heluo City. So how many troops should our army prepare for a forced assault of more than 400 miles, and then To attack Heluo City with only a few days of dry food?"

Li Bingxue's military knowledge is obviously not that superficial, especially this kind of tactical thinking involving long-distance attacks, which is actually her best field. Feiyuying broke through the Beiyan Moyang Road defense line and rushed thousands of miles to support the Battle of Leize. She never raised any objections from the beginning to the end. This was because the decisive battle site was located in the flat Leize Plain, and Feiyuying could just arrive at the battlefield. Jump into battle immediately.

But this time the situation is different. Let’s not talk about how many troops the Huaizhou Army can invest in attacking Heluo. The enemy is not deaf or blind. Could it be that the Huaizhou Army rushed for more than 400 miles and rushed to the Heluo City. Qingyu Zhongwang had no defense. ?

Once it falls into an arduous siege battle, how can the Huaizhou Army ensure logistical supplies?

Li Bingxue saw Lu Chen's brows furrowed slightly, so she lowered her tone and said, "There is another question. Our army is traveling long distances to pursue surprise. Do we need to carry large siege equipment? If we don't bring siege equipment, we can't go there with both hands and feet. Climb the towering Heluo City Wall. But if we bring equipment, we can only maintain a very slow marching speed."

Lu Chen nodded and said, "You are right."

For some reason, Li Bingxue was a little nervous. She didn't want Lu Chen to be hit, so she said seriously: "Lu Chen, I completely understand your original intention of establishing a victory for the Northern Expedition, and I believe you will never underestimate the enemy just because of your previous victory. But As mentioned before, my support for the Grand Governor’s judgment is based on the actual situation.”

At this moment, she seemed to ignore Xiao Wangzhi's existence and inadvertently changed her title.

Lu Chen coughed twice, and when he saw Li Bingxue looking at him in confusion, he held back his smile and glanced to the side.

Li Bingxue looked around and saw the dignified Governor of Huaizhou sitting leisurely, holding a tea cup in his right hand and sipping fragrant tea, watching their argument with interest.

"Hey, go ahead and don't worry about me."

Xiao Wangzhi said with a smile.

Li Bingxue suddenly felt embarrassed, but she tried to maintain calm and said to Xiao Wangzhi: "Grand Governor, after comprehensive consideration, the general believes that our army should aim to regain the entire Dongyang Road for the time being. You can ignore Heluo City."

Xiao Wangzhi did not give a conclusion immediately, but only praised: "Looking at you young people's quick thinking and discussing the battle situation, I really feel that I am getting old."

Li Bingxue was a little ashamed, and then quietly glared at Lu Chen.

Lu Chendeng felt very wronged. It was obviously you who didn't hold back for a while, but I didn't say anything...

Xiao Wangzhi turned a blind eye to the little actions of the two people. While they were discussing, the middle-aged man was certainly not just watching the show.

In fact, after Li Bingxue's analysis, he gradually became aware of Lu Chen's true thoughts, so he asked without hesitation: "Lu Chen, do you want to forge a false front to hide the truth?"

Li Bingxue looked slightly surprised.

Lu Chen was refuted by them in turn and kept a calm demeanor. Seeing Xiao Wang's point, he smiled and said: "Grand Governor, Lieutenant Li, I have never thought of attacking Heluo. As everyone knows, Heluo The city wall is towering and solid, and the city defense facilities are extremely complete. The unstoppable Jing army at that time also gathered more than 200,000 cavalry and infantry troops and attacked for more than ten days before they reached the top of the city. Our army currently has less than 100,000 troops. Even if Dongyang Road is completely ignored, all If you send him to Heluo City, you may not gain anything in a month or two."

Xiao Wangzhi stood up and walked to the two of them, looked at Heluo City in the northwest corner of the sand table, and said thoughtfully: "So you want to use the battle line on Dongyang Road to pull away Qing Yu Zhongwang's troops and eat away at Jing's army bit by bit?"

Lu Chen replied: "Judging from the current situation, it is very likely that Qingyu Zhongwang will not rescue Dongyang Road. Even if Li Shouzhen asks for help every day, it is meaningless, because the root cause is that Qingyu Zhongwang does not believe in the Yan army, and he will not be doomed in this situation." He will lose strength by losing territory. But if our army's progress is not so smooth and we are unable to capture Ruyin City, will he have other ideas?"

Li Bingxue's eyes lit up and she said, "Do you want to pull the main force of Jing's army out of Heluo City?"

She naturally understands the difference between a siege and a decisive battle in the wild.

Lu Chen said unhurriedly: "I don't think Qing Yu Zhongwang is that simple. He will definitely not follow the rhythm of our army easily, because the most important responsibility for him is to protect the river and Luo. Want to To lure him into taking the bait, our army has to make a lot of confusing moves. For example, if we open up the battlefield slightly to the west at the beginning, he may not think that we really want to attack Heluo. So we want him to make a wrong judgment. , Our army is marching westward to clear away hidden dangers, and the next step is to turn north and concentrate our forces to deal with the Yan army in Li Shouzhen's hands."

"Then our army's offensive was blocked and it was still unable to conquer Ruyin City?"

Xiao Wangzhi smiled lightly and took over the conversation.

Lu Chen nodded in agreement, used wooden sticks to draw three lines on the sand table, and then explained: "We can cut the battlefield into four pieces, and through continuous roundabout maneuvers, we can mobilize the enemy as frequently as possible, and ultimately make them lose their way. In this mountainous wilderness with a radius of hundreds of miles.”

I don’t know how much time passed, but Lu Chen, who was already thirsty after talking about it, pointed the wooden stick to a location on the north side of Dongyang Road and said with a smile: "If the development of the situation meets our expectations and everything goes very smoothly, this will be the final place. The starting point of the decisive battle.”

He then moved the wooden stick and pointed at the distant Heluo City, and said confidently: "This is the end point."

(End of this chapter)