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Xiayi was the main capital of the middle period of the Xia Dynasty, the ancestral land of the Chinese nation, and only 200 miles away from Shangqiu. Now Meng Ke's 100,000-strong army is stationed in Xiayi.
Unlike Dangshan, which is located on the bank of the Yellow River, Xiayi is more than 100 miles away from the Yellow River. This distance is very subtle, it will not make Duoduo completely desperate, and at the same time, if Duoduo really digs the dike, the Qin army will have enough time to react and will not be buried in the flood.
Jiang Yihan was formerly the operations officer of the Operations Department of the General Staff, and is now the military staff officer of the Eastern Route Army. He walked quickly into the county government office where Meng Ke's tent was located.
In the county government, in addition to experienced combat staff like him, there were also a group of students from the Daqin Army Academy;
According to the King of Qin, the battlefield full of flames of war is the best school. During this Northern Expedition, all the students of the Royal Military Academy were sent to various armies to study.
Seeing Jiang Yihan coming in, the busy students stood at attention and asked Yihan, "Where is the Grand Commander?"
Just as he finished asking, he saw Meng Ke walking out from the back hall with the gait of a dragon and a tiger.
"Grand Commander."
"No need to be polite. Has the King of Qin sent back an order?"
"Yes, Grand Commander. Regarding the matter reported by the Grand Commander, the King of Qin only said one thing: the Grand Commander is the commander-in-chief."
Meng Ke thought for a moment, then bowed solemnly to the south and said, "I thank the King of Qin for his trust."
Since the King of Qin allowed him to do what he wanted, Meng Ke immediately recruited generals such as Su Jin, Hui Dengxiang, Jin Shenghuan, Hao Yaoqi, Hu Shouliang, Guo Yunlong, Yan Yingyuan, Qin Zuoming, and Qin Zuoming.
After everyone gathered together, Meng Ke said, "According to the intelligence obtained by Ye Bushou, Duoduo does intend to dig up the Yellow River embankment and flood our army. Although we have avoided it now, the possibility of Duoduo digging the embankment is still very high. Once the embankment is dug up, hundreds of counties downstream will become swamps. Countless people will die in the flood, and the pace of our army's northern expedition will be delayed. Now, what we have to do is to stop Duoduo from digging up the Yellow River embankment."
Jin Shenghuan said with difficulty: "Grand Commander, it is difficult to stop Duoduo. It is not difficult to dig up the Yellow River embankment. It only takes one or two hundred people and enough explosives to do it easily. If Duoduo intends to do it, how can we stop him?"
All the generals nodded, agreeing with Jin Shenghuan's point of view that this matter was not just difficult, but extremely difficult.
Meng Ke's calm eyes swept across the faces of the generals, pointed to the map on the table and said, "I know it's difficult, but no matter how difficult it is, we must try. I have been thinking about it for a long time these days and have some preliminary ideas. Now I will tell you. Let's think about it together and see if we can succeed."
"Grand Commander, please speak."
"Please see, our army's actual control area is close to Yucheng. From Yucheng to Shangqiu, it is only about 60 miles. If Duoduo wants to dig the Yellow River embankment, it is impossible to flood Shangqiu where his troops are stationed. Therefore, the place he chooses to dig the embankment should be the section of the river embankment between Shangqiu and Yucheng, and it cannot be too close to Shangqiu.
To stop Duoduo from digging up the Yellow River embankment, the key is to hide a group of troops and quietly control the embankment of several dozen miles between Shangqiu and Yucheng."
Meng Ke's words gave everyone a glimmer of hope, and everyone came up with more ideas.
Niu Wanchuan said first: "We can send the navy. It's not easy to control the riverbank with one naval gun."
Meng Ke shook his head and said, "The navy is no match for them. Their gunboats have a deep draft and may not be able to navigate this section of the river. Moreover, their ships sail slowly. As long as the enemy avoids the navy and digs the dike in a different place, the navy will be too late to put out the fire."
Qin Zuoming said: "It doesn't take many men to dig the dike. Without knowing that our army has a plan, Duoduo will definitely not send many people to dig the dike. We only need to hide two or three hundred men near the downstream of Shangqiu and send secret guards to keep an eye on it. As long as Duoduo sends people to dig the dike, we can launch a surprise attack and stop them."
Hu Shouliang also said: "Logically speaking, when my 100,000-man army advances towards Shangqiu, Duoduo will definitely wait for the most ideal moment to breach the dike. We must seize the opportunity, and the place where he digs the dike cannot be too far from Shangqiu, otherwise it will be difficult to grasp the opportunity.
That is to say, my 100,000-man army will not be far from Shangqiu by then, probably only 50 to 60 miles away; we have 35,000 cavalry, so we may not be powerless to fight Duoduo. When the time comes, the infantry and cavalry will suddenly separate, and the cavalry will rush to the city of Shangqiu at night to entangle Duoduo, and the infantry will quickly follow up, and the outcome will be settled. "
Jiang Yihan objected to Hu Shouliang's statement, saying, "The ideas of all the generals are based on the premise that we can control the river bank from Yucheng to Shangqiu. This is too risky. If we can't control it, won't my 100,000 troops be buried in the belly of the fish?"
Yan Yingyuan pondered and said, "It is not difficult to secure the embankment between Yucheng and Shangqiu. As long as the cavalry advances quickly, it can be completely safe. But if we do this, Duoduo will know that digging the embankment between Shangqiu and Yucheng is no longer feasible. He will definitely give up Shangqiu and dig the embankment upstream. The key issue now is that we must secure the embankment between Shangqiu and Yucheng without letting Duoduo know that we control this section of the embankment."
Yan Yingyuan has always been quite resourceful. When he was defending Jiangyin, he came up with many ingenious strategies. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the common people in the city to defend Jiangyin for so long.
Meng Ke asked, "Does General Yan have any countermeasures?"
"As General Qin said, digging the dike does not require many people. In order to conceal the digging action, Duoduo would not deliberately send many people to dig the dike in a high-profile manner. It is estimated that at most three hundred people would be enough. When these three hundred people leave the city, it is not difficult to track their whereabouts. The difficulty lies in how to make them disappear without Duoduo knowing."
"Yes, if we can do this, when Tudor finds out that our army is coming and the embankment has not been dug, it will be too late."
"To kill 300 Qing soldiers without anyone noticing and not let Duoduo know, it's difficult, very difficult, very difficult!" Jiang Yihan said the word "difficult" several times. He really had no confidence in this.
Yan Yingyuan thought for a while before saying to Meng Ke, "If the Grand Commander trusts me, I will handle this matter."
Jiang Yihan said, "General Yan, it's not that we don't trust you, but this matter concerns the life and death of 100,000 troops. If you have a plan, you should tell us first so that we can see if it is feasible. Only in this way can we feel at ease."
Yan Yingyuan understood Jiang Yihan's concerns, so he whispered his plan to him.
Jiang Yihan said after hearing this: "I don't agree. This is still too risky."
However, Meng Ke resolutely made the decision and said, "According to the current situation, it is only a matter of time before Duoduo digs up the Yellow River embankment. This concerns the lives of millions of people. Since there is no better solution, it is worth taking a risk. General Yan, you can do it."
Jiang Yihan didn't expect that the usually calm Meng Ke would agree to take this risk, and he couldn't help but shout, "Grand Commander!"
"Master Jiang, there is no need to say more. I am the commander of the army. If there is any problem, I will go and apologize to the King of Qin."
Meng Ke had made up his mind, and others had no choice but to follow his orders. Meng Ke was a calm man, and he certainly would not take risks blindly. He then carefully selected the marching route, preferring to take a longer detour to ensure that if a flood really came, the army could move to high ground as soon as possible to avoid being submerged by the flood.
In addition to Yan Yingyuan, he also sent guerrilla Xie Heng to lead hundreds of troops, some disguised as civilians, some dispersed as cavalry, to hide near the dike between Yucheng and Shangqiu. Once Yan Yingyuan's plan failed, Xie Heng would forcibly stop the enemy from digging the dike. By then, it would take some time for Duoduo to evacuate Shangqiu, which would give the Qin army some time to respond. However, the people downstream would not be able to be saved by then.
That night, after Yan Yingyuan issued a military order to Meng Ke, he set out at night with 200 men. Among his 200 men, in addition to the selected elite soldiers, there were also five young and beautiful women, who were all nurses accompanying the army.
After leaving Xiayi, they headed east, first heading towards Yucheng. The five women didn't know where they were going, and they sat in the carriage feeling nervous.
Yan Yingyuan rode his horse to the side of the carriage and comforted them: "Don't be afraid. According to what the King of Qin said, you are the last guardian angels of the soldiers. We will definitely ensure your safety first."
Yan Yingyuan had a sturdy body, strong eyebrows, fine and powerful eyes, a red face and long arms. He looked just like Guan Yu, which made women feel safe. After hearing his words of comfort, some women replied, "We are not afraid as long as General Yan is here."
"General Yan can defend Jiangyin City by himself. We will definitely be safe if we follow General Yan."
"That's right. We believe in General Yan."
.How is this related? Is this the same as defending Jiangyin City? Yan Yingyuan's Guan Gong face looked a little embarrassed, and the Qin soldiers who were traveling with him couldn't help but laugh in a low voice... .
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.(To be continued..)
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