RPAGF Chapter 642 Breakthrough
Chapter 642 Breakthrough
"How about this, we send a pigeon to the Marshal and let him make the decision." Zhao Renzhi didn't dare to take the risk, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally decided to let Yang Zhong make the decision.
After all, he is the commander-in-chief and the emperor's confidant. If anything happens, he is the only one who can take responsibility.
"Actually, there is another possibility, which I just thought of," Liu Sanlang said with a frown.
"What?" Zhao Renzhi turned his head in confusion.
"I just thought of this. Since the Yellow River has broken its dike, the disaster will definitely not only affect Liaocheng. It is very likely that Zhencheng, Heze and other places below will also be affected. Once the disaster occurs, what do you think the victims will do?" Liu Sanlang asked.
"Needless to say, they will naturally make trouble, or flee to other places to escape famine. It has always been like this. But now the Yellow River line in Shandong is occupied by Tatars. They will definitely not flee from famine in misery. The poor people are the ones!" Zhao Renzhi shook his head and replied.
Then he realized, "You mean to say that after they've almost finished fighting each other, we can sit back and reap the benefits?"
"Yes, in my opinion, we can temporarily retreat to Daming Prefecture, keep our troops in place, and observe the situation.
You just said that the entire area along the Yellow River in Shandong is Tatar territory. They won't flee when a disaster strikes, they'll only have one thought: loot! And Daming Prefecture is a well-known important food transit point. If they can't loot locally, I suspect they'll head to Daming Prefecture.
Guan and Xin counties are essential passages on the way to Daming Prefecture, so they'll undoubtedly discover Bai Chao's army. "Now that Bai Chao has been severely weakened by his battles with Yan and Zhu, this presents a prime opportunity. They won't let it go easily, will they?" Liu Sanlang said slowly.
"My father once told me that the Tatars admire the strong. Unlike us Han people, we don't care about the hierarchy between father and son. It's not uncommon for a son to beat his father. Moreover, the relationship between them and Bai Chao has always been one of half-enemy and half-friend. It's very subtle and can indeed be used to our advantage. However, there are still many details that need to be considered one by one." Zhao Renzhi responded.
The more I think about it, the more feasible it seems. Otherwise, I would be unwilling to give up.
"There are indeed many details that need to be dealt with. We can't just throw a few pieces of paper at a dog and never come back. Now that Yan and Zhu have been dealt with, it won't be difficult to return to Daming Mansion. Lord Huang is in Daming Mansion right now. Let's first send a pigeon to deliver a letter, asking him to make preparations, and then send a fast horse back to report to the Marshal and ask him to make the decision!" Liu Sanlang nodded and said in a deep voice.
After both sides had sent the letters, Liu Sanlang finally expressed his suspicions: "Brother Zhao, to be honest, when I learned that Bai Chao's men were in Guan County, I was really shocked. I was worried that they were planning to go to Daming Prefecture or even further, to attack Kaifeng, to use the tactic of besieging Wei to save Zhao and cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron. When I learned that the Yellow River had burst its dike, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least Kaifeng is safe for the time being.
Therefore, I personally feel that this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To capture the thief, we must first capture the leader. As long as the main force of Bai Chao is defeated, the war in Shanxi will also make great progress. This is a big step forward for the Northern Expedition. This battle will come sooner or later!
"I've thought about this too. They must have some sort of plan for a surprise attack somewhere, but a surprise attack on Kaifeng is not an easy task. Wouldn't it just make things more chaotic?" Zhao Renzhi felt that this possibility was not very high.
"It's just my intuition. No matter what, I'm glad you're okay," Liu Sanlang said with a smile without further explanation.
Not long after, Yang Zhong brought his men to reunite with the two, and it was obvious that they agreed to the idea of retreating back to Daming Prefecture together.
"Thanks to Bai Chao for driving these two away, otherwise it would be difficult for us to go back south. We would surely die if attacked from both sides. There must be God's will in the dark!" Yang Zhong put his hands on his hips and laughed, very happy.
At this moment, he was full of confidence and was even more convinced that the Great Zhou Dynasty was the destiny!
They ordered their soldiers to put horseshoes made of soft grass on the horses' hooves and to put muzzles on the horses to prevent them from neighing. They also ordered them to choose soft grass or sandy ground to travel quietly.
It happened that the wind started again after the rain stopped. Taking advantage of the sound of the wind, everyone rushed all the way and returned to Daming Prefecture smoothly.
After learning the whole story, Lord Huang was shocked: "How dare they? Anyone with eyes can see that unification is the trend of the times. Wouldn't rebellion at this time be chaos? If they really split the land and crowned themselves kings, others would follow suit, and all the hard-earned gains would be thrown back to the beginning!"
"That's right," Yang Zhong agreed. "But fortunately, our Great Zhou is blessed with dragon energy, so we don't have to be afraid of these ghostly tricks. They can't do anything to us!"
His tone was full of confidence and disdain.
Zhao Renzhi's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and all the little flames went out.
His expression remained unchanged.
Liu Sanlang tilted his head with a worried look on his face. "Brother Zhao and I previously sent some people to Liaocheng and Yucheng to spread the news, instigating the Tatars to come to Damingfu. This move has both advantages and disadvantages. Why don't we discuss the real business first? We need to decide on the city defense deployment and the strategy for dealing with the enemy as soon as possible!"
"Sanlang is right. The Tatars grew up on horseback and can march very fast. Let's talk business first," Yang Zhong nodded and stopped joking.
"Daming Prefecture is a piece of fat meat now. You must make good arrangements to avoid losing everything," Lord Huang said with some concern.
"Don't worry, you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child. This battle will come eventually," Yang Zhong replied.
Then he restrained his expression, opened the map, and began to discuss with Liu Sanlang.
"The walls of Daming Prefecture are quite strong, and they have guard towers and watchtowers, as well as a moat and a city wall fortification. No matter who they are, it will take a lot of trouble to capture Daming Prefecture by force, so I guess they will definitely use a surprise attack first. Especially since Bai Chao knows that I was driven to Jizhou by Yan and Zhu, they will find it even more difficult for the main army to return to support me. If they launch a surprise attack, they will most likely come in from the north gate.
So I plan to lead my troops to an ambush in the northeastern Wuxian Mountain. There, the forest is tall and the grass is deep, and there is often heavy fog in the mountains, making it difficult for them to determine our position. We occupy the high ground and have an advantageous position. As long as they go through that point, we will have won half the battle!
Liu Sanlang and Zhao Renzhi also thought it was feasible and had no objections, so they nodded in agreement.
"This is just the first step. I see there's still a lot of kerosene in the city, which can be put to good use. If we can't wipe out all the enemies outside the city, we can use fire to attack when we cross the moat. This is the second step. Most of the Tatars are not good at swimming, so this can also consume some of their manpower!"
"It depends on whether this war can proceed as planned," said Zhao Renzhi.
"I have a feeling the Tatars will definitely come," Liu Sanlang said. "Even a cornered rabbit will bite. Besides, the Tatars have suffered severely from the disaster, and they don't have the ability to provide relief. The best way is to plunder."