Chapter 417: Wise Battle Plan
Duke Xu Wenbi is considered a relatively reliable one among the nobles of the Ming Dynasty.
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, he was the chief minister of the Wanli Dynasty. His main job was to help the Wanli Dynasty pay homage to the mountains, rivers, sun, moon and ancestors. He was busy in these mausoleums and temples all day long.
Sacrifice is inherently a complicated matter. Xu Wenbi has been the high priest for so many years in the Wanli year without making any mistakes, and he is considered to be quite good among the nobles.
Although today's Dingguo Duke Xu Wenbi is not the high priest of the Ming Dynasty, he is already one of the most senior among the nobles.
Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Cheng, was originally the most distinguished person. He was a figure in the generation of Duke Lao Ding, Xu Wenbi's father, and he also led troops and fought in battles.
But when Zhu Xizhong followed the emperor to the west, he was killed by angry soldiers during the mutiny in Taiyuan.
Once Zhu Xizhong died, the older generation of nobles basically stood in the wrong team and followed the emperor, and they scattered to death.
Among the younger generation of nobles, only Xu Wenbi is still useful.
Xu Wenbi made a contribution in "persuading" the emperor to return to the capital, and also gained the trust of Emperor Longqing.
Xu Wenbi, who was in his thirties, was naturally very proud when he took command of the expedition. However, the level of this new army minister was actually average.
Xu Wenbi's two previous positions were that of General Red Helmet, the commander of the imperial guards in charge of the inner court. General Red Helmet was the last elite person assigned to the emperor. They were usually held by nobles and nobles. They wore red armor, so they were called the Red Helmet Army. .
By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Red Helmets were already the ceremonial troops of the inner court and had no combat capability at all.
During the first half of escorting the emperor on his hunt to the west, the army was all led by Chengguo Duke Zhu Xizhong.
After the Taiyuan Mutiny, most of the imperial troops stayed in Taiyuan or returned to the capital. The emperor only fled to Xi'an with some of his close associates. Only then did Xu Wenbi begin to truly command the army.
Xu Wenbi's advantage is that he is quite law-abiding. If you think of him as a military wizard, it would be too high a view of him.
In addition, Xu Wenbi's style of being a noble disciple is also obvious.
For example, he indulges his domestic slaves, protects his subordinates, has an extravagant style, and likes to show off.
If these times are stable, it doesn't matter. Such nobles are already considered good babies among the nobles. Most of the nobles, such as Xu Wenbi's relatives, Wei Guogong Xu Pengju, etc., let them command the army and they will definitely be free and greedy. There was a mutiny.
It's a pity that it's wartime now, and the Shandong battlefield can immediately verify the quality of Duke Dingguo.
After Xu Wenbi entered Shandong, he did not speed up to the front line, but stopped and stopped along the way to accept the hospitality of Shandong officials.
In this way, Xu Wenbi stopped and went, and it took half a month to reach the Shandong front line.
Wang Bengu led the officers of the three towns to visit Xu Wenbi, but Xu Wenbi blocked all other mid-level officers from the door and only saw Wang Bengu and the chief officers of the three towns of the New Army.
The middle and low-level officers of the New Army in the three towns were very dissatisfied with Xu Wenbi's arrogant attitude.
You must know that although Wang Bengu is a civilian official, he always uses military discipline to control the troops and treats middle and senior officers with dignity.
But on weekdays, he would also visit military camps to win over lower-level officers.
As the new general, Xu Wenbi did not even show up for the first military meeting at the middle and lower levels. This arrogant attitude is really chilling.
When Wang Bengu and the commanders of the three towns came out, their faces were very ugly.
The generals gathered around, but Wang Bengu just forced out a smile and said, "Commander Xu, let everyone perform their duties and prepare for the war."
However, everyone gathered around and asked how to fight.
Wang Bengu immediately scolded him with a straight face and just asked the army to prepare for war.
Li Rusong, the co-chairman of the Second Association of the First Town, is the son of Li Chengliang.
When he returned to the camp, he saw Li Rushe who had rushed back from the capital.
"What did Dad say?"
Li Ruzhen quickly conveyed Li Chengliang's words exactly. Li Rusong took off his armor under Li Ruzhen's service and said, "Xu Wenbi is nothing to worry about.
Dad is right. As long as Wang Bengu is squeezed away, we will Then you can control the elites of the three towns."
Although Li Rusong is young, he is quite successful among the three towns thanks to Li Chengliang's connections.
The commanders of the three towns were all Li Chengliang's old subordinates and students, and the middle and low-level officers had all attended Li Chengliang's classes at the Capital Military Preparation School. In addition, Li Rusong had won over people in the army, and these middle- and low-level officers quickly gathered around him. .
Wang Bengu returned to his military camp, feeling very angry.
Xu Wenbi just called them to a meeting and said one thing in total.
The imperial court required the new troops from the three towns to dispatch to attack the southeast and achieve certain results.
Wang Bengu quickly asked Xu Wenbi how to fight, what scale the fight would be, how much logistical supplies would be provided, and how much reward would be given.
Xu Wenbi once again displayed his official authority as a minister of the New Army, completely ignoring these specific details and only conveying the court's orders.
Then Xu Wenbi put on a majestic look and demanded that the three towns must send troops as soon as possible to achieve victory, otherwise he, the new army minister, would not be able to keep his position.
Wang Bengu and the chief officials of the three towns looked at each other and wanted to continue questioning, so Xu Wenbi announced that the meeting was adjourned.
Back in the camp, Wang Bengu became more and more angry as he thought about it. Xu Wenbi, the minister of the new army, just turned his back on the boss and ignored them. As soon as he took office, he threatened everyone.
As a civil servant, Wang Bengu was very familiar with this routine.
When the superiors assign a task, they don't specify the procedures for doing it, and they don't provide funds. They just let you do it.
As long as this thing is done, it will naturally be Shangguan's credit.
If something cannot be done, it is not the Shangguan's responsibility.
Xu Wenbi, the newly appointed Minister of the New Army, did this to Wang Bengu just after arriving in Shandong?
Fight? What to fight with? The enemy's situation is not clear, where to attack is uncertain, and the supply of food and grass has not kept up, how can we fight against the southeast?
Wang Bengu sneered. Since Xu Wenbi wanted to play like this, he had a plan.
Since you are no longer the leader of this army, if you act rogue above, it will be a mess below.
Wang Bengu simply used the skill that civil servants are best at - lying down on Xu Wenbi.
No matter how Xu Wenbi asked, Wang Bengu always said that the operation to the southeast was being planned. Sometimes he used the excuse that the morale of the troops was low, sometimes he used the excuse of lack of food and grass, and sometimes he used the excuse that diseases were rampant in the army. In any case, he remained motionless at the border and never advanced half way south. step.
Li Rusong was overjoyed to know the inside story. Originally, Li Rusong planned to find a way to drive a wedge between Xu Wenbi and Wang Bengu, but he didn't expect that the two of them would fight like this before he took action?
Li Rusong immediately contacted the middle and low-level officers of the New Army in the three towns, and also cooperated with Wang Bengu to play delaying tactics.
In this way, Xu Wenbi took office in early October, and the new Ming army in the three towns still made no progress in late October. The Ming court could not sit still again.
The emperor personally sent eunuchs to the army to ask Xu Wenbi why he hadn't marched yet. Now Xu Wenbi couldn't stand it anymore.
Xu Wenbi went to the military camp from the bustling city of Jeju and held another high-level meeting with Wang Bengu and other officials. This time, Xu Wenbi's attitude was not arrogant, but an attitude of raising an army to investigate.
"The headquarters has already urged you to march, why have you delayed it so far?"
Xu Wenbi put on his ancestral armor and was surrounded by red-helmeted guards with leg armor. The momentum was quite intimidating.
However, Wang Bengu and the commanders of the three towns did not agree with him. Wang Bengu said:
"The army is not united and the strategy has not yet been decided. We still need to ask Xu Butang for instructions on how to advance."
Wang Bengu has a strong character, so naturally he will not Xu Wenbi was used to it and said directly.
Xu Wenbi looked at Wang Bengu angrily, and Wang Bengu looked back again, and the atmosphere became even more tense.
Xu Wenbi slapped the table and said, "It's not like you are afraid of war! I want to show you to the imperial court!"
Wang Bengu became even more angry. After all, he was being cautious about his career when he led the troops. After Xu Wenbi came to Shandong, he ignored the presence of the army. On the front line, they hid directly in Jeju City and did not even patrol the military camps.
Wang Bengu simply threw his official seal of control on the ground and said:
"I will resign without Xu Butang impeaching me! Before resigning, I will also make public what Xu Butang did when he took office in Shandong!"
Wang Bengu also lost his temper.
Originally, the three giants of Shandong, Shandong Governor Han Ji and Shandong Governor Chen Yiqin, were dismissed by the imperial court and Xu Wenbi was sent to lead the troops in the battle. The imperial court wanted to unify military and political orders and send the new army out as soon as possible.
At this time, Wang Bengu and Xu Wenbi had a conflict. Mingting would definitely support Xu Wenbi but not himself.
Wang Bengu simply did not want to file a memorial to impeach Xu Wenbi. Instead, he planned to submit an article directly to the newspaper to make Xu Wenbi's actions public.
Since Gao Gong started his new business, in addition to the "Huangming New News", many public and private newspapers have appeared in the north.
Wang Bengu followed Hu Zongxian in fighting the Japanese pirates and watched the Ming Dynasty deteriorate day by day.
Wang Bengu was ready to resign anyway, so naturally he didn't mind breaking up with him. He published Xu Wenbi's actions after taking office in the newspaper, criticizing Xu Wenbi for not knowing how to command the military and being careless about the life and death of the New Army soldiers because he only cared about personal enjoyment.
Wang Bengu hung up the seal and left. Xu Wenbi was urged by the court and could not sit still. He had to convene a meeting of officers above the New Military Association to discuss how to march.
Li Rusong sat among the officers and saw the newly arrived military minister for the first time.
Xu Wenbi was still wearing the silver armor, but Li Rusong was quite disdainful. This kind of armor looked powerful, but in fact it was useless on the battlefield. Instead, it was a target for the enemy.
The new army of the Ming Dynasty is also a new army, and I have to say that Li Chengliang is also capable.
After painfully studying the firearms of the Southeast New Army, Li Chengliang clearly pointed out in the course of the Capital Arms Academy that heavy armor was useless in the age of firearms.
It's not that armor can no longer block muskets. Today, the earliest muskets in the southeast will still be blocked by heavy armor.
However, the bulky heavy armored infantry had no way of fighting against the highly mobile southeastern musket phalanx, let alone the opponent's artillery.
In front of artillery, heavy armored infantry is a living target.
What about the cavalry?
The defeat of the Liaoyang Cavalry has already explained the result.
Therefore, the new army of the Ming Dynasty almost copied the military system of the southeast, with musketeers as the main body and some artillery units.
However, Li Chengliang also developed a new type of arms. This was a cavalry unit using short muskets and muskets based on the nine-side elite cavalry who were good at horseback archery.
This cavalry was named the Winged Cavalry and was specifically responsible for reconnaissance and assault. However, the short muskets used by this cavalry were expensive to make, and there were only two Winged Cavalry in the three towns.
The Second Association of the First Town where Li Rusong was located was a winged cavalry unit.
When Xu Wenbi wore this set of silver armor, he knew that he didn't understand the new army's operations at all. It was child's play for the Ming court to send such a person to be the commander-in-chief of an army.
Like Li Rusong, many association leaders also became determined to preserve their own strength after meeting Xu Wenbi with their own eyes.
Compared with Xu Wenbi, Wang Bengu can be regarded as a soldier.
Xu Wenbi also knew that he could no longer delay at this time, and he could only announce his marching plan in person.
After Xu Wenbi announced his plan, the soldiers were silent.
"What, what's the plan of the headquarters?"
Li Rusong looked at Xu Wenbi with a look that looked like a fool. This guy is really a fool, he actually came up with such a "smart" plan.
Xu Wenbi's plan was not to attack Peixian along the canal, nor to attack Xuzhou City from the south of Surabaya, but to advance in two directions and divide his forces to attack the two cities!
Li Rusong looked at his commander. Sun Tingzhi, the first town commander, said bravely:
"Xu Butang, you must not do this."
"The thieves in the southeast are elite and good at defending the city. Our army can still win if we join forces. If the troops are divided and defeated individually, it will be a big defeat!"
After starting, the other generals naturally followed suit, and for a while the entire council hall was filled with objections.
Xu Wenbi frowned. The strategy he finally remembered was opposed by the generals. He said displeasedly:
"I think you are just afraid of the southeastern thieves and refuse to fight!"
Xu Wenbi simply walked away, leaving the discussion behind. All the generals in the hall looked at each other and could only disperse.
Sun Tingzhi, the first town commander, returned to his military camp and suddenly heard his subordinate Li Rusong asking for an audience.
Sun Tingzhi was originally a member of the Qianhu family in Xuanfu. He was promoted and recommended by Li Chengliang to become the first town controller. He respected Li Chengliang very much.
Although he was not part of Li Chengliang's closest circle in western Liaoning, he had always taken great care of Li Rusong.
"Young General."
Although Sun Tingzhi was Li Rusong's superior, he called Li Chengliang "Old General" and naturally called Li Rusong "Young General."
"Commander, if our new army in the three towns is tormented by that idiot Xu Wenbi, we will probably lose all our elite troops!"
Li Rusong knew that Sun Tingzhi was a general and said straight to the point.
"Hey! But it's the imperial military order."
Li Rusong said: "I have a plan, what do you think of the control?"
(End of Chapter)