pdf-ebookys Chapter 195: March into Northwest County
Chapter 195: March into Northwest County
Du Chong didn't expect to pass Daxiguan so easily! The most important thing is that from beginning to end, Sun Ting did not let those soldiers shoot arrows. If those soldiers were allowed to shoot arrows, their losses would definitely be great.
After passing Daxiguan, they did not stop and ran directly to the deep mountains in Henan County. Next, they would take root and develop in Henan County to support Yuan Quan and others.
Sun Ting felt like he was playing with an eagle and got his eyes pecked by it. After all, he never expected that the refugees would suddenly attack together. In addition, he couldn't bear it, so he didn't let the soldiers shoot the refugees from the city wall.
"Sir! Do you want me to send people to chase them?" At this time a deputy general suggested!
"No need! They are just ordinary refugees! As long as Henan is well-defended, it won't be a big deal!" Sun Ting still has the mindset of a scholar after all. Of course, he would not admit that he had miscalculated at this time.
"Send the order to Henan County to send out troops! I will enter Northwest County soon!" Sun Ting immediately sent the order! He also looked at the defense situation of various places along the way. He knew that he could not rely too much on these local troops. However, he thought that if he gathered the elite troops from several places, they could still be used.
At this time, Yuan Quan was discussing countermeasures.
"Uncles, what should we do next? Should we attack Northwest Prefecture directly? Or advance eastward to Henan County?" Yuan Quan asked these uncles who were experienced in battle!
"The news that the imperial court has asked the refugees to return to their respective places of residence and distributed relief food has already spread! Many of the refugees who were originally following us have already begun to leave! If this continues, we will be isolated and helpless!" someone said anxiously.
"There are still more than 1 defenders in the Northwest Prefecture! Plus the citizens already there! It may not be easy to capture it! If we have enough time and consume their food and grass, we can naturally capture it! But now the situation has changed, the court has sent a large army! I think we should move! Being trapped in one place for a long time is a taboo in military strategy!" Another person expressed his opinion. These people have experienced war. Naturally, they know that it is very difficult to attack a prefecture.
"Uncle Tang, what do you think?" Yuan Quan was a little confused at this time. He originally thought that they had the capital to negotiate with Emperor Chongming. Now it seems that Emperor Chongming only used one move! He cut off their foundation.
"Young Marshal! The current situation is really unfavorable to us! I didn't expect there is such a powerful person in the court! This Sun Ting is also a man who knows military affairs! Legend has it that he brought 1 troops! If we add the troops from the surrounding counties, if we go head-to-head with him, we can only count 55- against him!" Is this a conservative statement by Tang Hai? In fact, they don't have much chance of winning. After all, Sun Ting brought the elite of the court. In addition to the people who followed them, many people may have already thought about leaving. The court is already preparing to give them food, so they don't need to take risks.
"What should we do? Are we going to hide in the mountains again?"
"Don't be anxious! Isn't our goal to negotiate with the court? Now we can send someone to negotiate with Sun Ting! As long as he can restore the reputation of the Marshal, we can let him achieve this great merit! You forgot that the people led by Du Chong have now entered Henan! At that time, at most we will take a small number of people into Henan! The drought there is not so serious, and there are plenty of food and grass for us to gather troops! At worst, we can go there and occupy the mountain and become the king!" Tang Hai said with a smile.
In his opinion, if the court could implement Sun Ting's suggestion and really distribute food relief to these disaster victims, then they would really lose the source of soldiers they rely on for development and growth! But he knew that this possibility was very low. After all, he had long seen the morals of these officials of the Dakun Dynasty. However, the most anxious thing now is these refugees, who are eager to return home. I am afraid they are unwilling to follow them.
"What's so good about Sun Tingguo! He forced us into this situation!" Yuan Quan also sighed and agreed with Tang Hai's suggestion.
Sun Ting's side was not going very smoothly either. He ordered the counties to send soldiers to support. Some counties were slow to respond. The number of soldiers sent was indeed very limited. Some of them were even obviously untrained.
"I never thought that the local armies of the Dakun Dynasty, a country founded on military power, have become so rotten!" Sun Ting looked at the more than 1 troops that had been assembled, and couldn't help but sigh and shook his head.
You have to know that when Taizu founded the country, he set up local armies! The local armies were elite troops who had fought in many battles. Unexpectedly, at this time, the troops sent by the surrounding counties obviously had no real experience.
"Lord Sun! There's nothing we can do about it! Chen Ping has been going on for too long! All other places have long stopped paying attention to armaments! It's not easy for Henan to gather so many people!" A general commanding the troops in Henan County explained carefully.
Sun Ting finally understood why there were so many rebels in Northwest and Southwest counties. It turned out that the local army was rotten and could not defend the local area at all.
"Time is running out! Now I can only take these people with me!" Sun Ting sighed. He only hoped that these people could burst out some combat effectiveness under the leadership of his 5000 elite soldiers.
In this way, Sun Ting stayed at Daxiguan for a few days. A total of more than 16,000 people were gathered! In addition to the 5000 cavalry he brought! A total of more than 2 people, plus those civilians responsible for escorting food and grass. Nearly 4 people marched towards the direction of Xibeifu.
Although Sun Ting had assembled so many troops, as he himself observed, the combat effectiveness of these armies was uneven, and many of them were put together temporarily and lacked training and actual combat experience. Although the 5,000 cavalry he brought were elite, in terms of overall combat effectiveness, it was still difficult to fight a tough battle! Especially considering that the rebels led by Yuan Quan and others had a high combat effectiveness.
On the way to Northwest Prefecture, Sun Ting not only had to face the potential threat of rebels such as Yuan Quan, but also refugees displaced by drought. Although these refugees were temporarily attracted by the court's relief policy, once Sun Ting's army failed to win quickly, their mentality was likely to change again and support the rebels, further complicating the situation.
For the rebels such as Yuan Quan, although they are temporarily at a disadvantage, they are not without opportunities. They can take advantage of the weakness of Sun Ting's army's weak combat effectiveness and adopt guerrilla tactics to continuously consume Sun Ting's troops. At the same time, they can also take advantage of the psychology of refugees and win more support through propaganda and other means.
In addition, Sun Ting also had to face pressure from within the court. Although he had been authorized by the emperor to go on this expedition, the court did not fully agree with his approach. If he could not quickly win in Northwest Prefecture, he would likely be questioned and criticized by the court.
Therefore, for Sun Ting, this expedition was full of challenges and uncertainties. He needed to properly handle the relationship with refugees, rebels, and the court while ensuring the combat effectiveness of the army. Only in this way could he gain a foothold in this complex situation and ultimately achieve victory.
Sun Ting's army had tens of thousands of soldiers. Many of the soldiers sent from the local areas had not received any training! There were also so many food and supplies that needed to be transported, so the marching speed was not fast.
Moreover, Sun Ting never thought of using force to solve the problem. After all, he was a civilian. Even if he went to war, he was thinking of the highest goal of defeating the enemy without fighting.
They walked for more than 20 miles after walking for most of the day. Sun Ting looked at the soldiers who were obviously very tired and had to give the order to set up camp on the spot.
As they were on their way, people kept passing messages to Yuan Quan!
"It seems that the army brought by Sun Ting is not very good! They can't move forward after walking only a dozen miles!" Yuan Quan couldn't help laughing when he saw the information reported by the scouts.
"Except for the 5000 elite soldiers that Sun Ting brought with him, the rest are soldiers recruited from various places! These people lack training and naturally cannot be compared with those elite soldiers! However, these people can still fight a favorable battle. In other words, if we want to go to war with him, we should think about how to deal with his 5000 elite cavalry!" Tang Hai analyzed at this time!