Chapter 224: Military Intelligence

"On the thirteenth day of the seventh month, the Guanning Army began constructing the Dalinghe Central Left Battalion headquarters. Dalinghe City lies on the west bank of the Daling River, a little over thirty li from Jinzhou and likewise a little over thirty li from Guangning's Right Garrison. Between the Daling River and Jinzhou stretches a large expanse of hilly, mountainous terrain."

In the Wendeng Camp meeting room, Liu Pojun used a bamboo stick to point at a large cloth map of Liaoxi. Below him sat every officer from Squad Commander up. This was a routine military intelligence briefing, held once every two months to cultivate the officers' strategic perspective and analytical ability, while keeping the army psychologically on alert at all times.

The officers below busily took notes with charcoal pencils. For the few characters they did not know how to write, they drew an X — all in all, a motley assortment of methods, but still a vast improvement over the utterly illiterate roughnecks of the earliest days.

Liu Pojun pointed at the location of Dalinghe City. "This city was first built in the third year of the Xuande reign. Its walls measured three li and twelve paces in circumference, one zhang wide. In the forty-second year of the Jiajing reign, Provincial Governor Wang Zhihao had it rebuilt, raising the walls to a height of two zhang five chi. Since the Jianzhou bandits raised arms, it has been destroyed twice. After the Ning-Jin battle, it was torn down by the Later Jin troops and never rebuilt, but the city foundations remain. We assess that this construction will likely build walls atop the original foundations. The dismantled stone and other materials are all nearby, so the speed will be faster than building a new city. The Liaozhen plan is to complete construction within one month, including several watchtowers around the city."

Liu Pojun had always been a bit nervous when giving briefings in the past, but after several battles, his professional skills had sharpened, his self-confidence had soared, and his voice was now very resonant. "The Liaozhen forces deployed are the various units of Zu Dashou, He Kegang, Zu Kefa, and Zu Zerun — roughly five thousand combat troops. There are five thousand White Rod troops from Shizhu and Youyang, commanded by Qin Yiming. Additionally, thirteen thousand rotational troops have been drawn from Shandong and Henan, along with roughly ten thousand merchants and civilian laborers accompanying the army. Dalinghe City is still far from the Sancha River. Whether the Jianzhou bandits will mobilize on a large scale for this remains unknown."

Lu Chuanzong raised his hand. Only after Liu Pojun nodded did he speak. "The Guanning Army is still quite good at defending cities. If the Jianzhou bandits come only after the city is fully built, I fear it will be difficult for them to take it."

Most of the assembled officers agreed with Lu Chuanzong's view. In recent years, the Jianzhou bandits had performed clumsily in siege warfare. The Guanning Army, by contrast, had gained considerable experience in defense, so no one thought highly of the Jianzhou bandits' prospects this time.