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Didao City, the seat of Lintao Prefecture, had become the focus of the Khoshut army's attack, while at the western end of the Hexi Corridor, Li Dingguo's 25,000 troops and Batur's 60,000 troops had no focus at all.
In the frontal battle, the Qin army's Type 68 rifles were a one-sided massacre of the cavalry. Out of caution, Batur and Sengge, father and son, adopted a tactic of dispersed attack, rapid raid, and flexible mobility.
They made use of all available terrain, such as deserts, grasslands, woods, passes, swamps, etc., to offset the power of Qin's firearms and launched night attacks from time to time.
The key point is that outside Jiayu Pass, there are almost all nomadic tribes, of which Mongolians account for half. The seven guards set up by the Ming Dynasty to the west of Jiayu Pass, including Chijin Mongolian, Handong, and Anding, are almost all Mongolian tribes.
The Qin Dynasty ruled for too short a time, and these foreign tribes never returned to their original aspirations. Instead, they helped Batur Khan, who was also a Mongolian. After several fierce battles, Li Dingguo repelled more than ten sudden attacks by the enemy and barely defended Chijin City west of Jiayuguan.
Chijin City was the location of the Chijin Mongolian Guard in the Ming Dynasty. The city is low, but because it is located in the middle section of Jiayuguan and Guazhou, it is about 300 miles away from the two places.
Don’t underestimate the 300 miles. Having this stronghold will play a very important role in the future expedition to recapture the two states of Gua and Sha. Otherwise, the Qin army will have to cross a distance of 600 miles from Jiayuguan to reach Guazhou.
The 600-li journey would take the infantry more than ten days, and the enemy could set up ambushes and sneak attacks everywhere. Therefore, Li Dingguo would rather bear the bad reputation and cleanse the Mongols in Chijin City than give up this strategic stronghold.
Suzhou, also known as Jiuquan, is said to have received a great victory in the conquest of Hexi. To celebrate, Huo Qubing poured a pot of wine given by Emperor Wu of Han into the spring and drank it with his soldiers. This is how the name Jiuquan came about.
Li Dingguo has been under heavy pressure recently. Before coming to Hexi, the emperor summoned him and placed high hopes on him. He also vowed to "repay the emperor's kindness on the Golden Terrace and support Yulong until his death for the emperor."
Last time, when he gave up Shazhou, he failed to catch the turtle in the jar. The emperor did not reprimand him, not even a word came. But the more this happened, the more uncomfortable Li Dingguo felt.
He had already heard about the situation in Longyou, and even about Qitate's invasion of Hetao. Each and every one of these things was like a slap in the face to him.
That day, while drinking Jiuquan water and recalling the heroic deeds of Guanjun Hou, Li Dingguo was suddenly inspired and came up with a bold idea.
However, as soon as this idea was put forward, it was questioned by some of his generals, especially Guo Ning, the chief judge, who opposed it most strongly.
Generally speaking, the Qin army's assistant officers were not allowed to interfere in combat operations.
On the other hand, the power of the military assistants was actually very great. Li Dingguo lost several cities and hundreds of miles of territory in succession. Fortunately, he was one of the five military commanders. If he had been replaced by an ordinary general, the assistants would have had the full power to deprive him of his command.
In the governor's tent of Suzhou, Guo Ning's voice was so loud that even the soldiers fifty steps outside the tent could hear it clearly.
Guo Ning was not afraid of Li Dingguo's authority at all. He criticized him for trying to draw a tiger but ended up drawing a dog instead. He even used the emperor to put pressure on Li Dingguo: "The Grand Commander wants to be on par with Your Majesty. Your Majesty's command of the battles may seem risky at first glance, but in fact, it is a thorough plan. The time, location, and people are calculated to the last detail, which is why you have won victory after victory.
On the other hand, Commander Li, if you had not taken the initiative to give up Shazhou City, how could you be so passive today? Even if you gave up Shazhou City in order to catch the turtle in the jar, did you take into account the right time, place, and people
You didn't consider the desert weather, the vast northwest border area with few people and the enemy's cavalry mobility, and the mixed population of Diyi and Yi people in this area, and the complicated customs. If it were Your Majesty, would you not consider these factors? You want to learn from Your Majesty to launch a surprise attack, but can you learn it?"
Although Guo Ning's words were harsh, they hit the crux of Li Dingguo's previous failure. In addition, he was using the emperor to pressure others, so Li Dingguo could not refute it.
Li Dingguo remained silent. Guo Ning probably realized that his words were a bit too much, so he stopped talking. Suddenly, you could hear a pin drop in the tent. Several generals in the tent looked at each other in silence.
After a while, Li Dingguo said solemnly: "Mr. Guo, I have already learned from you. The previous failure is indeed my fault. I will apologize to Your Majesty in the future.
However, before Your Majesty removes me from the post of Grand Commander, I am still the commander of the army, and I still have the final say on how to fight. If I shrink back because of the previous failure, I am definitely not Li Dingguo. Remember the past and learn from it... "
Guo Ning interrupted him and said, "But by doing this, you are clearly sending these two thousand men to their deaths!"
Due to the successive defeats, Li Dingguo repeatedly gave in: "Mr. Guo, please listen to what I have to say..."
"I won't listen! Although I am not allowed to command the battle, I am not a military idiot. The enemy has an army of 100,000 like a tiger or a wolf. You send 2,000 men and horses. There are deserts, snow-capped mountains and deserts along the way. The enemy only poisons a few important water sources. Without fighting, they can kill your 2,000 men and horses with thirst. To borrow your Majesty's words, never think that the enemy is stupid."
Li Dingguo was furious when he saw Guo Ning was so stubborn. Yan Yingyuan, who was always quiet, suddenly said, "I think Governor Li's plan may be very effective..."
"Marquis Jiangyin, you..." Guo Ning was furious when he saw that Yan Yingyuan actually stood up and agreed with Li Dingguo's risky move.
Li Dingguo was just planning to use his power to enforce the plan regardless of Guo Ning's opposition, when he suddenly saw Yan Yingyuan standing up to support him, so he asked, "General Yan, what do you think?"
"Reporting to the Grand Commander, I think this plan is not feasible if we go through Hami."
When Li Dingguo heard this, an almost invisible smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He was indeed the King of Hell, and he saw things very clearly.
"General Yan, please continue."
Yan Yingyuan nodded and said, "If we go to Hami, we will have to face an enemy force of nearly 100,000 and cross 800 miles of Gobi Desert. As the saying goes, there are rocks as big as buckets in the river and the rocks are blown all over the ground by the wind. This is not an exaggeration. Marching in such a harsh environment and being chased and blocked by enemies dozens of times our size, it is indeed impossible to achieve the plan.
But if we take a different route that the enemy cannot detect, it will be different. Please see, from Hexibao, through Tuerguan, along the Zhangye River all the way north, and then west through the desert Hanhai, we can enter the Moxi grassland. "
The other generals in the tent came to their senses and started discussing the matter one after another.
Guerrilla Deng Sanqiao said: "General Yan, although this way we can avoid the enemy's army, the desert is vast, sandstorms are unpredictable, and there is no trace of people. It is very easy to get lost, and the whole army may be wiped out."
Yan Yingyuan said: "As the Grand Commander said, there are definitely risks, but if it succeeds, Batur and his son will surely cry and their troops will be in chaos. When that happens, our army will take advantage of the situation to counterattack, not only will we be able to recapture the two states of Gua and Sha in one fell swoop, but it will also not be difficult to severely damage Batur."
Li Dingguo smiled calmly and said, "General Yan, don't think too highly of yourself. Tell me, how can we cross this vast desert?"
Yan Yingyuan said: "Grand Commander, I am willing to take on this mission."
"Okay, as long as you have a comprehensive plan, I will give this mission to you."
"Thank you, Grand Commander. Everyone, although the desert is terrifying, it is not completely impossible to cross. Abandon the war horses and switch to camels, and each person has three camels, one of which is used as a reserve ration. Find a few good guides. If it doesn't work, just bring enough drinking water, use the compass to guide, and go straight west, and you will always be able to cross..."
If you think about it carefully, Yan Yingwu's plan is not very clever. In terms of food, if one person brings a camel as reserve food, he will not have to worry about food. This reserve camel can also be used to carry a lot of water in the early stage. Combined with what the other two camels carry, even if they act recklessly, it is indeed possible to cross the desert.
The difficulty of this plan also lies in the fact that after crossing the vast ocean, if we quickly obtain war horses, although camels can also run, they can hardly compare with war horses. After entering the Moxi grassland, if there are no war horses, then our fate will be like a dragon stranded on the beach and being played with by shrimps.
Regardless, Li Dingguo resolutely decided to implement this battle plan. Two days later, Yan Yingyuan, who had made sufficient preparations, led two thousand Qin troops and thousands of camels and quietly set off at night... (To be continued...)
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