Chapter 188

"You want to be General Ke's staff?" This person is really interesting; where does the confidence come from? "Have you been to the front line? How much do you know about leading troops to fight?" "I was a border resident in the north; before I was twelve, war and migration were the focus of local people's lives." Sun Hongye smiled, "Later, I was a reading companion in Lord He's house, and the library was flipped through by me very early. Even the National Academy in the capital, I stayed in it for four winters and summers."

"Only four years?" Sitting idle is boring, He Lingchuan took the opportunity to eat strawberries, "I heard that famous scholars do research, and they all have to study hard until their hair turns white. People's hair turns white, and it definitely takes more than four years." It's not that he is picking faults, but just reading books for four years isn't enough to qualify as a military advisor.

Strawberries are not seasonal fruits at the moment, and I don't know how the locals grew them. He Lingchuan estimated that it was still with the help of a warm shed. However, although the fruit looked bright red and beautiful, and the moisture was sufficient, he just couldn't taste the unique fragrance of seasonal strawberries.

"If you want to do good research, you must have good books to read." Sun Hongye shook his head, as if it were a pity, "The National Academy in the capital is large, but the collection of books is full of errors and omissions, and no one has maintained or updated it for a long time, so there are few books to read. I went there to find books, some were missing pages, some were dirty, and some crumbled into powder as soon as they were opened, causing me to eat a mouthful of powder!"

This kid has a big tone, even burying the National Academy. But He Lingchuan thought about the current Great Yuan Nation—"You speak clearly, you are right."

He Lingchuan changed to eat a date.

Sun Hongye watched him eat happily, subconsciously swallowed his saliva, and also reached out to pick a red date.

He hadn't eaten fruit for a long time.

Once he started eating, he couldn't stop.

He Lingchuan asked him again: "Then, did you persuade General Ke?"

Sun Hongye hesitated again: "General Ke was also skeptical, and took the situation of the Wuzhou battlefield to test me. But the strategy I offered differed from his view. So I wrote down my own insights on the Wuzhou war and offered it to General Ke."

"Oh?" He Lingchuan was very interested, "Can you tell me?"

The new Xiazhou General Manager has had high exposure in the capital and the Wang Ting in the past few months, and Sun Hongye has long paid attention, but the He family's eldest son is not well-known, and Sun Hongye doesn't know what kind of person this is.

But judging from the on-the-spot counterattack when Lu Ming Garden was attacked last night, the He family's eldest young master is not lacking in courage and strategy, and can adapt to circumstances. It is not strange that such a person is warlike, capable of fighting, and likes to fight. So Sun Hongye didn't consider too much, and said: "Fine. Anyway, General Ke didn't adopt it, so I don't need to keep it secret."

At the moment, he used his finger to dip in water and drew the mountain and river terrain on the table.

"Because of the narrow terrain in the south of Wuzhou, the official army can only be divided into west and east routes to conquer Wuzhou. Let's not talk about the east route; the west route army led by Generals Wu Di and Ke Jihai fought very smoothly at first, eating three small cities in a row, but completely stalled after encountering Gucheng, until today."

He drew a circle in the center of the map: "This is Gucheng, the city is like its name. Dong Haoye has long had the intention of rebellion, and in the past few years, he has been quietly strengthening important city passes within his fiefdom. This Gucheng sits on high walls and deep moats, and is the first stumbling block the official army encountered when entering Wuzhou."

He Lingchuan pointed to the circle east of Gucheng: "What is this?"

"This is Luyun Lake." In order to offer advice to General Ke, Sun Hongye did his homework very thoroughly, "Its upstream is the Qingbai River north of Gucheng, which is one of the main tributaries of the Hongchuan River, with abundant water."

"This lake seems to be very close to Gucheng, so it is very difficult to cut off their water source."

In the past few nights, in addition to practicing martial arts in the Panlongcheng dream, He Lingchuan also encountered lectures at the Wenxian Hall. The Panlongcheng officials invited experts every few days to preach and teach in the form of public lectures, with a wide variety of content.

That lecture happened to be an analysis of military strategy, and He Lingchuan listened to every word, which mentioned basic siege tactics, and cutting off the water source was just one of them. The original body was basically blank in this regard, so he had to learn from scratch.

"Yes, the basin where Gucheng and Luyun Lake are located is not short of water. Even if General Ke can cut off the road between the city and the lake, I heard that there are many springs and wells in Gucheng, which can supply people and horses for drinking at ordinary times. Sun Hongye pointed to the location of Gucheng again, "Its city wall is built on bedrock and will not be soaked by lake rain, causing collapse, so tactics like diverting water to attack the city or surrounding the city to cut off water are not easy to use."

"The two generals have been attacking Gucheng for more than thirty days. If they can't take it for a long time, morale will be affected, and coupled with the increasing logistical pressure, the situation will become more and more unfavorable."

He Lingchuan nodded: "This should be within Dong Haoye's expectations. He has been in the Wang Ting for a long time and should know the characteristics and shortcomings of the official army like the back of his hand."

"To be honest, the combat power of the official army is not as good as the Wuzhou army, and this time they are fighting on someone else's territory, so the disadvantage is even greater." Sun Hongye said solemnly, "Dong Haoye doesn't reinforce Gucheng, but focuses on sending troops to the east line; he must have confidence in Gucheng, believing that it can drag down the pace of Generals Wu and Ke. And precisely because of this, the east line is also fighting particularly hard."

"Once the official army fails to attack, retreats and thinks of other ways, Dong Haoye might start a counterattack. This hidden danger, General Ke said very clearly at yesterday's night banquet."

He Lingchuan understood. "Then what is the strategy you offered?"

"Let go of the hard bone of Gucheng and turn to attack Bao Pass on the west side!" Sun Hongye dipped in water and pointed lightly west of Gucheng, "Bao Pass is about forty li northwest of Gucheng, right by the Qingbai River, and is further upstream relative to Gucheng."

"What's good about this place?"

"The garrison Dong Haoye sent to Bao Pass mainly guards the Qing Embankment." Sun Hongye explained, "Before the Qing Embankment was built, the Qingbai River often opened its mouth from Bao Pass to flood fertile fields; thirty years ago, the local official built the Qing Embankment and successfully blocked the water. Since then, the Qingbai River water basically doesn't harass this place, but instead impacts Luyun Lake downstream."

"The terrain of Bao Pass doesn't seem to be anything special, unlike Gucheng, which is accessible in all directions, and occupying it can cut off water and land thoroughfares." He Lingchuan crossed his arms, "What is the use of occupying it?"

"If Gucheng survives the official army's winter offensive, after spring, the water level of the Qingbai River will rise, and it will likely rush into Luyun Lake and flood wantonly. At that time, the lake surface will expand rapidly, and the entire basin will become a swamp, which humans basically cannot pass through."

"The best route for the official army is to pass through the basin and go north; this way, the journey to Hechong, the capital of Wuzhou, is the shortest and easiest to walk. And it is conducive to meeting with the east line army later to discuss Hechong together."

He Lingchuan looked at the table: "Since this route is the best, why doesn't General Ke take advantage of the good opportunity of the winter lake freezing to drive north?"

"It's still because of Gucheng." Sun Hongye sighed, "Even if the official army can cross the frozen lake to go north, I'm afraid they don't have the confidence to take Hechong within two months. By the time the spring flood arrives, the Qingbai River will flood the basin, directly cutting off the official army's retreat and supply. An isolated army deep inside without logistics is a taboo in military strategy. At this time, Gucheng can send troops leisurely, and the chance of winning is great."

"So the two generals are attacking Gucheng fiercely, just to take down the entire basin, so they can go north calmly?"

"Yes, yes, Eldest Young Master hit the point! For the two generals, Gucheng is a thorn in their side; if they don't pull it out, there will be endless future troubles." Sun Hongye pointed to Bao Pass, "But I intend to take Bao Pass, and then blow up the Qing Embankment!"

He Lingchuan was stunned, looked at the map twice, and suddenly clapped his hands: "Wonderful!"

Finally someone affirmed himself, Sun Hongye breathed a sigh of relief: "Eldest Young Master is intelligent."

"Blowing up the Qing Embankment is equivalent to diverting the flood for Luyun Lake in advance. After all, before the Qing Embankment was built, Luyun Lake downstream rarely expanded, which just shows that the original natural flood discharge was effective." He Lingchuan followed the train of thought, "After blowing up the Qing Embankment, as long as the lake surface expansion is limited during the spring flood and doesn't flood the entire basin, people, cars, and horses can all pass through."

Sun Hongye's tone was urgent: "The army and logistics can all go north according to the original plan, and the necessity of taking Gucheng is greatly reduced; then it depends on the two generals to adapt to circumstances. This can also preserve military strength and reduce losses."

"I think this plan is good; why doesn't General Ke like it?" At the Lu Ming Garden night banquet, He Lingchuan did see General Ke shake his head, clearly dissatisfied with this plan.

"Bao Pass is also not easy to fight; there are Wuzhou cities in the west and south, and Gucheng in the east; if it can't be taken quickly, it will be surrounded by the Wuzhou army; furthermore—" Sun Hongye lowered his voice, "The predecessors built the Qing Embankment for a reason. If the Qingbai River breaks here, it will flood countless fields and houses, and the commoners in the affected counties will be at least one hundred thousand. It is said that before attacking Wuzhou, the King reminded the official army that the commoners in Wuzhou are also the people of the Yuan Nation, and they are not allowed to kill and loot wantonly. If the two generals take the initiative to blow up the embankment, that is knowingly violating the law and violating the King's order. With the temper of that one in the court, even if the Wuzhou battle is a great victory, they will have to be punished when they return."

He asked He Lingchuan: "If Eldest Young Master were in General Ke's shoes, how would you choose?"

On one side is victory or defeat, on the other side is the common people. He Lingchuan thought for a while: "If you don't fight Gucheng and Bao Pass, is there no other way to win?"

"If neither is fought, the official army can only bypass the northwest mountains, which is twice as long as going east, and the road is full of mountains and ridges, which is very difficult to walk." Sun Hongye frowned, "The only goal of war is to win! Binding your hands and feet, how can you go far?"

He Lingchuan shrugged: "I will go back and think about it carefully; first, I wish Brother Sun success."

Sun Hongye gave a bitter smile.

"Why, you don't have confidence?"

"I'm afraid there's no play. I saw General Ke hand the book to the adjutant, but that adjutant already died in the ghost ape's surprise attack last night, and the corpse and the carriage were thrown down the mountain together. I think General Ke won't specifically find the book back." Sun Hongye gave a bitter smile: "I am lowly and light, he didn't care about me at all."

"By the way, why did you say just now that staying in Shi Huan is just waiting for death in a daze?" He Lingchuan still remembered this sentence, "I have seen hunger and displacement all the way here. People who can live in the capital and Shi Huan City are already the happiest commoners in the Great Yuan Nation."

(End of chapter)