The drastic changes in the situation in Tianshui were quickly reported to the Taiping Army Cheng Dayou who was rapidly advancing from Hejian to Tianshui. Cheng Dayou never expected that the three main army divisions of the empire under Situ Jun would turn around and flee so quickly. An empty city was left for the Northwest Army, which arrived first, and the Taiping Army lost such an opportunity in vain. Cheng Dayou, who was extremely regretful, had to re-examine the bloody nature of these so-called royal nobles. When the regular troops of three huge divisions heard that the rebels were coming, they actually ran away without saying a word, and even ran away one after another. Er Jing, even local government officials disappeared together. This is really a strange thing in the world.
The entry of the Northwest Army made Cheng Dayou face a difficult choice. Cheng Dayou, who had dealt with the Northwest Army twice, knew clearly that the combat effectiveness of the Northwest Army was far beyond that of the empire's several large legions that claimed to be regular armies. A Lulong raid had made Cheng Dayou deeply aware of the bravery and tenacity of the Northwest Army. Although he successfully escaped, he knew that it was just because the other party regarded him as an ordinary Taiping Army. Even then, he He also paid a considerable price. Not only did his disciples escape by chance, but almost all of his subordinates were abandoned in Lulong and became corpses and prisoners.
The lesson taught to him by the Northwest Army is still vivid in Cheng Dayou's mind, reminding him of a sentence at any time - there are people outside the world. Now they were planning to use Situ Jun's pride to surround and annihilate Situ Jun's army in one fell swoop. Unexpectedly, Situ Jun ran away and let the evil wolf of the Northwest Army in. How should this battle proceed
This put Cheng Dayou into extreme distress. There is no doubt about the combat effectiveness of the Northwest Army, especially the Liang Chongxin division, known as the northwest's number one ace. According to the intelligence report from Tianshui City, another one from Bo The division that arrived later with reinforcements from the south was an infantry division composed of pure Gaoyue soldiers. Gao Yueren is not only famous for his bravery and fearlessness of death, but also his personal loyalty to Li Wufeng is an open secret. If he wants to take over Tianshui City from this opponent, Cheng Dayou himself knows that he must pay a huge price. Maybe The only advantage of his side is the disparity in numbers. Of course, Cheng Dayou also has full confidence in the Taiping soldiers who have been trained by himself.
Should we fight this battle or not? If it is opened, can we be sure to capture Tianshui within a few days? Once it cannot be solved, it is said that the northwest rapid reaction force mechanism, which has begun to take shape, is likely to be transported by one or even two army divisions. This will make itself a passive party, and now although it does not have the ability to take advantage of it in one fell swoop, Despite the strength of Tianshui, he still maintains the strategic advantage over Tianshui. He has many choices.
In fact, Cheng Dayou has already made up his mind. Although he likes to use surprise and deceit, it is also based on a certain degree of certainty. Cheng Dayou has always disdained such a brutal attack and relies entirely on the bones of soldiers. Accumulating military merit can only show the incompetence of the general.
After making some arrangements, the Taiping Army, which had approached less than fifty miles away from Tianshui City, began to retreat slowly. However, they only retreated to the border area with Hejian Prefecture, which was eighty miles away from Tianshui City. They began to set up camp and continued to Conducting large-scale military exercises, whether to show off force or intimidate Tianshui's Northwest Army, even Liang Chongxin, who had been paying attention to the changes in the situation, could not figure out what Cheng Dayou was doing.
While almost all the surrounding forces were watching the performance of this huge military force with nervous and suspicious eyes, time passed day by day. When the sunrise began with the beginning of a new day, the Taiping Army was still in the river and Boring exercises were going on at the Tianshui border, and even spies and scouts from all forces were tired of this worthless and aesthetic performance. The Taiping Army seemed to plan to stay here for a long time. A large number of grain and baggage trucks continued to arrive from the direction of Hejian at Panlong Town, where the Taiping Army camped. Large military camps were expanded and bigger, trenches were dug deeper and deeper, and patrols The scouts have become increasingly strict, strict traffic control and curfews have been imposed, and high transit taxes have been levied. Even single travelers in the past have been forced to pay expensive head fees. This has caused passing business travelers to change their routes and cross the rugged road from Longdongnan. The Surabaya Mountains enter Hanzhong, and then go south or east from Hanzhong into the Central Plains and Jiangnan. Although the journey is difficult and far, it is still much more cost-effective than the high transit taxes.
Liang Chongxin, who had already received reinforcements from the Guards Division, did not send the Guards Division to Tianshui, but asked Song Tianxiong to sit in Longdong to provide support. After all, it was only a short time before the Northwest Army took control of Longdong, and there were still some unstable factors in Longdong. The spies and agents planted by the Taiping Religion are all over the government, and they are no longer prepared to start a new riot. The conservative nobles are also hostile to the arrival of the Northwest Army. Perhaps only the wealthy industrial and commercial merchants and some enlightened nobles are hostile to Wu. We welcome the eastward expansion of frontier forces, but these contradictions and doubts will take time to adjust and resolve.
What exactly is Cheng Dayou planning? Hundreds of thousands of troops just circled the border line inexplicably, but refused to take another step forward. For more than half a month, the posture looked quite similar, but Liang Chongxin could be sure that Cheng Dayou has definitely given up on attacking Tianshui, but he let these hundreds of thousands of elites stay here like this. Training is not like training troops. The exercises have been carried out several times, and nothing new has been seen. Liang Chongxin has imagined it countless times. Although they have achieved the goal of opposing each other, they have never been able to figure out the other party's true intentions. I believe that the other surrounding forces are also in this confusion.
The traffic was not blocked, but such a high transit tax was levied. Business travelers simply stopped taking this road and switched to Hanzhong. If it was to reduce financial pressure, then the other party should change their ways when they saw this situation, but what happened? Unexpectedly, the patrols seemed to be enjoying themselves and became even more intense. This is too strange, then their purpose is not for money. A flash of inspiration seemed to flash through Liang Chongxin's mind as he was thinking hard again.
"You said that a large number of baggage trucks and grain and grass trucks have been coming from the river during this period?" Liang Chong felt slightly confident and immediately summoned several experienced scouts and spies.
"Yes, sir. During this period, many transport vehicles have been coming almost every day, bringing in large amounts of grain, grass and other supplies. It seems that the Taiping Army will stay here for a long time." A scout did not know why the general would do this. Suddenly interested in this information, I still answered honestly.
"What about these vehicles?" He looked at a few people under his thick eyebrows, revealing the nervousness in the general's heart.
"This is not clear. The Taiping Army implemented a curfew, and because of high taxes, no one was willing to take the road from Tianshui to Hejian. A curfew was implemented at night, and the control was even stricter. We couldn't understand it. These conditions," one of the scouts replied.
"Doesn't anyone know where these carriages from Hejian have gone?" Liang Chongxin did not give up his efforts.
"Sir, it seems that these carriages returned to Hejian overnight. Someone reported to me that the Taiping Army probably did not have enough transport vehicles and had to return the unloaded transport vehicles to Hejian overnight to reload. When the goods come back, he once saw the convoy driving towards the river at night." Another spy hesitated for a while before saying.
"Oh? Did he see any cargo in the carriage?" Liang Chong's confidence tightened and he asked immediately.
"He didn't mention it, and I guess he couldn't see it, because this time the Taiping Army's transport vehicles were all large trucks with high cabins. They were covered so tightly that you couldn't see inside at all, and they drove directly from the military camp. If you come out, I'm afraid outsiders won't know what was pulled out."
"Oh? High-board trucks? Are they covered tightly? Can you tell whether the transport trucks returning to the river are empty or heavy?"
"Sir, I didn't pay attention to this. Unless you get close at night, it's hard to tell whether it's an empty truck or a heavy truck. During the day, there are heavy trucks coming from the river. It's the dry season now, and the tracks of the passing vehicles are all mixed in. At the same time, it’s really hard to tell.” Unexpectedly, the general asked so carefully, and the intelligence officer had to explain it hard.
"Humph, it's hard to tell? I'm afraid you didn't even notice to check the tracks of those vehicles, right?" Liang Chongxin snorted coldly, but didn't say anything more. It's no wonder that the intelligence officers are paying attention to the enemy's actions and exercises. The vehicles coming from Hejian are just pulling some food and supplies. There is nothing surprising. Who will pay attention to the return to the air? Will the car pull something
However, this information is enough. Liang Chongxin has already realized that this Cheng Dayou is not only cunning in general. Not only is he good at observing the situation and changing the situation according to the situation, but he also uses the same tricks to deceive others, such as drills, digging trenches, and strong logistics. , pretending to be stationed there for a long time to fight a protracted war, keeping the outsiders in the dark, but inside they were secretly planning a vicious killing move. If he hadn't suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of this transport vehicle, I'm afraid I'll still be fooled.
He turned around and asked the man next to him who had never spoken, "Where are you over there? Don't you have any news?"
The man shook his head, "There is no news. Ever since we retreated to Panlong Town, there has been no news from inside. It is probably that confidentiality measures have been taken or something happened to them. In short, there has been no news for so long."
"How are the Taiping Army's drills going during this period?" Liang Chongxin nodded and continued to ask.
"It was very lively some time ago, but it has calmed down a lot this time, and the scale has become much smaller. Maybe they also feel that such exercises are not interesting." A scout replied.
My new book "Devil's Luck is Vast" is expected to be published by Adventurer Publishing House in Taiwan. Everyone is welcome to read it and provide valuable comments.