Chapter 828(1/2)
All his efforts are accomplished in one battle
Author: Middle-aged paper tiger
Strategic deception is a bit different from lying.
The scope of lying is often not too large, and sometimes it is just a matter between two people.
In this case, lying can sometimes really deceive others for a lifetime.
But strategic deception is not good. It covers too many aspects. Especially after the initial stage of action has been passed, it is even more difficult to continue the deception. There will always be times where the secret will be revealed.
At this time, we must seize the main cause, just cover up the most important information, slowly release the secondary initiative, and pull the enemy's awareness into your own rhythm.
For example, Murong Nobunaga did a great job this time. At the moment when his true purpose was about to be exposed, he took the initiative to release the specious misleading of driving the tiger to devour the wolf.
This time, Murong Nobunaga, who originally relied on Zhou Dynasty and had strong backing, was described as a helpless Liu Xuande.
Goryeo people also read the Three Kingdoms. This novel, which I, Zhang Shengren, personally edited, is an extremely best-seller in the Three Thousand Miles Country. Even a Goryeo slave knows the name of Uncle Liu Huang.
As soon as this "Driving the Tiger and Swallowing the Wolf" came out, it was easy for the Korean people to automatically assume the role of Yuan Shu.
They are indeed very similar! They, Goryeo, are sitting on the home field and have well-equipped troops. Although they cannot compete with Cao Mengde, the great Zhou Dynasty, who holds the emperor in power to command the princes.
But to deal with Liu Bei (Murong Nobunaga), who is vaguely hostile to the imperial court, as long as you don't imitate Yuan Shu and directly declare himself emperor and annihilate the world, what's there to fear?
At the same time, Murong Nobunaga was concerned about the fact that he had tens of thousands of armored soldiers, fearing to scare the entire Goryeo army, and then slowly released the news that he only had 20,000 armored soldiers, and most of the rest were collected and captured by the Jurchens in the Forest, Bohai and others.
And this news, in the eyes of Korean people, is very true.
Who could have imagined that Murong Nobunaga had 40,000 armored cavalry under his command alone, and that the unarmored cavalry were also elite. This was completely beyond the imagination of Goryeo.
Or to put it to the extreme, if Murong Nobunaga said that he now has 50,000 super elite soldiers, there is a high probability that the whole country would not believe it.
Goryeo was far away in Haidong, so he still lacked some intuitive feelings about the crazy martial arts of the Yuan Ya soldiers in recent years.
They did not see much of the combat effectiveness of the Central Plains warriors. On the contrary, they even felt that the combat effectiveness of the Central Plains warriors was much lower than that of the Tang Dynasty because the Central Plains warriors did not go abroad to commit crimes.
Not to mention at this time, this concept is a common belief among later generations.
Generally speaking, people think that the warlords fighting at the end of the dynasty can be compared with the heyday.
After Anshi, the military power of the Tang Dynasty dropped like a meteor falling, which is in line with public perception.
Well, strictly speaking, it's not too wrong. Compared with Xiangji Temple, the combat effectiveness of the Five Generations Warriors has definitely declined.
But the magnitude is not large. What has declined most is organizational strength and logistical supply, not force.
So Murong Nobunaga was deceived and was double deceived by the fact that he only had 20,000 armored soldiers.
Wang Zhao ordered the Red Guard Horse Army Zhonglang General Huangfu Zhao to lead 3,000 cavalry northward and camp in Longgang County, which was only more than 60 miles away from Pyongyang, Xijing. At the same time, Wang Zhao quickly mobilized domestically.
The defense of the city at this time was not as imagined by later generations. I had a fortified city in hand and was condescending. As long as there was enough food, I could continue to defend it.
In fact, being trapped in an isolated city is a great torture for the defenders, because it means that all your hopes have been cut off, and if you are not careful, your whole family will die.
In such a situation of extreme mental pressure for a long time, the most likely thing to go wrong is the human heart.
Many times there will even be a strange situation where the attacking side does not have much of an advantage, but can win the city by just trying to persuade them to surrender.
All of this stems from the self-collapse process of the city defenders who have been under tremendous pressure for a long time and faced unknown fears.
That's why Lu Wenhuan defended Xiangyang and Zhu Wenzheng defended Nanchang in history, so they were so famous because it was really too difficult.
Under normal circumstances, without great generals like Lu Wenhuan and Zhu Wenzheng, the city defenders must be given some hope to support their defense.
Therefore, Wang Zhao is indeed relatively knowledgeable. Although he was unable to mobilize the army to go north to relieve the siege in a short time, he still shrewdly sent Huangfu Zhao to go north with the only mobile force that could be dispatched at any time.
Huangfu Zhao was born into the Huangfu family, a wealthy family in Huangzhou. His uncle Huangfu Tigong was a hero in the founding of Goryeo, and he could be regarded as a son of a general.
When he arrived at Longgang County, he saw that the Liao army had surrounded Pyongyang on all sides, with flags waving and gongs and drums roaring. He immediately understood that his thousands of men might not be enough to fill the gap between the enemy's teeth.
After sending two groups of dead soldiers to rush into Pyongyang City to report the news, but both were killed by the Liao Army's cavalry, Huangfu Zhao decisively led his troops away from Longgang County, which was undefeable, and arrived at the remaining veins of the Mercy Ridge Mountains northeast of Pyongyang.
This place is about thirty miles away from Pyongyang City. Huangfu Zhao ordered his soldiers to put up red flags on the top of the mountain and set off fireworks every morning to inform the soldiers and civilians in Pyongyang City that the reinforcements were still there and encourage them to hold on.
When Murong Nobunaga saw him in the distance, he actually showed some love for talents. He smiled and said to Wang Pu:
"This man led his troops to the south. He conducted detailed marches and reconnaissance along the way. Seeing that our army was in good order, he quickly assessed the situation and set up camp in the mountains and forests.
Now you can still think of using fireworks to encourage the army and the people. If you don't die, you can guard a place for me."
Wang Pu also smiled and responded: "In my opinion, your Majesty should tell the generals about this matter, so that they don't degrade the Korean people into worthless soldiers, lest they become arrogant soldiers."
Murong Nobunaga was convinced that the combat effectiveness of the Koryo people was not yet completely certain. Since they were all soldiers and generals left behind in Xijing, attention should be paid to this aspect.
Immediately, Murong Nobunaga ordered the messengers to start informing the soldiers of each battalion, and then ordered Gao Song to give part of the armor to the accompanying soldiers and civilians and the conscripted Jurchens and Bohai people, so that these people could pretend to be the main force and attack Pyongyang City with all their strength.
Huangfu Zhao was actually more daring than Murong Nobunaga imagined. He did not stay on the Mercy Ridge. Instead, he wore Jurchen attire and led dozens of knights to a place only a dozen miles away from Pyongyang for observation. Several times
They were almost caught by Zhou Jun You Yiqi who was on patrol.
But it was Huangfu Zhao's bold and careful actions that further strengthened Murong Nobunaga's strategic deception.
Outside Pyongyang, he saw the "Liao Army" storming Pyongyang like a tidal wave. It was by no means that they were encircling the points to support them with loud thunder and rain, but they were attacking with all their strength.
At the same time, he also discovered that although the "Liao Army" had excellent armor, brave attacks, and high morale, its combat effectiveness was not very high.
It is roughly equivalent to the elite soldiers of Goryeo and the soldiers of prefectures and counties, or comparable to the elite soldiers of Goryeo, but certainly not as good as the soldiers of Wuban.
Huangfu Zhao observed carefully for several days, and after confirming that everything was correct, he sent Pegasus south to inform the king, Wang Zhao.
....
After opening the capital, the anxious Wang Zhao was still urging the Goryeo court to operate at high speed. The matter of conscription was not an easy task in any ancient dynasty.
The Wang family in Korea seems to have more than a million people, a standing army of 20,000 to 30,000, and a reserve army of hundreds of thousands, but it is very difficult to really mobilize them.
April is a critical period for spring plowing. Whether it is the auxiliary troops of the state or county, the semi-permanent regular soldiers, or the private soldiers of various noble families and military classes, they all have to carry out agricultural production. The only difference is whether they carry out more or less agricultural production.
Just less.
If Xijing and Pyongyang cannot be defended, the biggest loser will be the royal family, which has little to do with the wealthy families in various places.
They are even willing to watch the king's family suffer. In this case, King Wang Zhao will definitely not have the strength to show his teeth and claws against the wealthy families like before.
On the contrary, if you respond positively, the spring plowing affected will belong to your own family, and the harvest of tens of thousands of kilos of grain in the autumn will be reduced, and the loss will be huge.
Therefore, even if Wang Zhao urged with red eyes, the troops gathered in Kaijing were still unhurried. Pyongyang had been besieged for fifteen days, and he could only recruit 20,000 troops.
But soon, as Huangfu Zhao's news came back from the front, the powerful Goryeo men who were fishing were like donkeys that had been whipped. Instead of continuing to be stubborn, they flew into the air.
It's almost time for a spark to appear.
The biggest reason for this situation is that Huangfu Zhao learned through investigation that with the Liao King Murong Nobunaga going south, in addition to 20,000 armored soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians, there were more than 300,000 civilians.
Soon, the eminent monk Sri Vuluo of Puji Temple also received a reply from the monks in the north, confirming that more than 300,000 people had followed the King of Liao southward.
At this time, powerful people from all over the country were attacked. If these Liao people came to plunder, then they only need to hold on to Kaijing and protect their interests. Anyway, Pyongyang belongs to the royal family.
But now, the King of Liao came to invade with a total of 300,000 people. He came not to plunder, but to occupy the magpie's nest.
This is to take their share from the powerful! That's okay, mobilize quickly and go north to rescue!
....
Murong Nobunaga stood on a high place, looking at the civilian husbands and Jurchen conscripts who were being carried back from the distance. Although there was a look of intolerance on his face, he did not mean to stop.
This is the only way to transform from an invincible general to an emperor.
At the top of Pyongyang City, the shouts of killing began to sound again after half an hour.
The civilians and conscripts, who were armed with heavy armor, fought evenly against the 6,000 Korean defenders in Pyongyang.
During the 30-day siege of the city, corpses lay everywhere under the city and mountains of corpses piled up on the city. Xin Kang, who was left in Xijing in Korea, rushed to the city in person to participate in the defense. The fierceness of the battle was not a lie in anyone's opinion, and it was indeed the case.
But the only difference is that Murong Nobunaga's elite troops were not really used.
"Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from the Marquis of Datong. Zhao Kuangyin, the war commander, and Chen Jie, the deputy commander, have led the navy at Henghai Town with 16,000 officers and soldiers, 18,000 sailors, and 300 warships. They have arrived at Xuanzhou Port, and
Ready to go south.
The Marquis of Puyang also sent a fast ship to arrive at Henghai Town, saying that the trade wind was late this year, so we could not set off in early April. Now that the trade wind has arrived, the vanguard will arrive at Jianghua Bay by the end of May."
The Marquis of Datong is Zhe Deyuan, and the Marquis of Puyang is Zhao Yanjin. Murong Nobunaga was overjoyed when he heard this, "If Xiang Hai'er and Sixth Brother can arrive together in May, Haihai will have no worries."
Send the order to withdraw the troops for three days. The soldiers are ordered to take back their armor and prepare for the war. If the Koreans still do not go north after three days, then we will go by land and water to find them!"
After finishing speaking, Murong Nobunaga said to Wang Pu and Han Kuangtu who were beside him: "The civilians who died in the battle in Pyongyang City will be compensated according to the treatment of armored soldiers, and the injured will be treated with all our strength!"
On May 17, in the Pyongyang Plain, Wang Zhao finally gathered together the army that went north to relieve the siege.
In this battle, Goryeo dispatched 10,000 regular soldiers equivalent to the standing army, 30,000 auxiliary soldiers from prefectures and counties who could basically only be used as civilians, and 20,000 tribes of various noble families, including about 1,500 martial arts classes.
Ten thousand.
There are a total of 70,000 troops, including 10,000 horsemen, 1,500 armored horses, 60,000 infantry, and nearly 30,000 armored troops.
But among them were iron armors, that is to say, there were 15,000 armored ones, and the rest were relatively inferior, including old-fashioned armors called short armors and other low-quality leather armors.
Plate armor, this thing, is actually a sinkhole, because unlike pierced armor and cloth-covered iron armor, which can unload force on other areas that are not hit, plate armor can only resist.
This leads to the fact that if plate armor wants to have high defense, there is only one option, and that is to use extremely strong and sophisticated materials to make it.
In an era when smelting technology was insufficient, it was simply impossible to smelt such iron.
To be continued...