Chapter 23: Zhu Ying offers a strategy!

Seventy li from the Danning Prefecture border!

Where the Great Ming camp is located.

This place was also originally a tribe of the Jianzhou Tatars.

Inside the main camp!

All generals gathered.

Everyone above the rank of Battalion Commander came here to listen to the discussion.

Bu Wan sat in the main seat, with Chen Heng and Liu Zhen on his left and right.

As a civil official, Bu Wan had suffered a lot on this bumpy journey, but for the sake of this victory, Bu Wan still endured it.

"My lord."

"The battle results are just like this."

"Our army continues to march north, the Tatars continue to retreat, although we caught up with many and killed many, we ultimately failed to find the Tatars' lair."

"However, according to the scouts and cavalry, a Tatar tribe was discovered thirty li away, seemingly with many troops stationed there," Chen Heng reported to Bu Wan.

"In General Chen's opinion, what is the intention of these Tatars?"

"They don't fight," Bu Wan looked at Chen Heng and asked.

"Very simple."

"The Tatars are waiting for the Northern Yuan to send troops to reinforce them, so they are deliberately delaying, deliberately retreating, and luring our army deep into the northern territory," Chen Heng replied without hesitation.

"In General Chen's opinion, our army cannot continue to march deep?" Bu Wan frowned.

"Reporting to my lord."

"The northern frontier is vast, and the further away from our Great Ming, the more difficult the transport of supplies and baggage becomes."

"If we continue to march deep, once the Northern Yuan moves troops, launching an attack from Liaodong, our army will be in danger."

"Perhaps, at this moment, the Northern Yuan has already moved troops," Chen Heng said with a serious expression.

"En."

Bu Wan nodded.

As a Prefect and concurrently a Commander, he understood government affairs, but he really didn't understand much about marching and commanding troops.

But he also had one good point: he never talked too much along the way, and all matters of marching were left to Chen Heng and Liu Zhen.

"Then what should we do this time?"

"Continue the pursuit, or remain still?" Bu Wan looked at Chen Heng and Liu Zhen and asked.

"Do the generals have any suggestions?"

Chen Heng smiled and looked at the generals in the camp.

"This..."

Many generals looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

At this moment, the battle results were like this; advancing could achieve more results, but there was the danger of being lured deep, after all, it was difficult to maintain logistics far from the Great Ming territory, but retreating would mean the battle results of these days could not be consolidated.

"Reporting to the Commander."

Zhu Ying spoke up at this moment.

"Battalion Commander Zhu."

"What is your opinion?"

Seeing it was Zhu Ying, Bu Wan asked with a smile.

There were many Battalion Commanders in the army, but Bu Wan had a very deep impression of Zhu Ying.

"If my subordinate's guess is correct."

"The Northern Yuan has already moved troops at this moment, but the Northern Yuan will not directly reinforce the Tatars," Zhu Ying said.

"Will not reinforce the Tatars?"

"What does Battalion Commander Zhu mean?" Liu Zhen asked in surprise.

And Chen Heng looked thoughtful, as if he had thought of something.

"The Northern Yuan will definitely attack our Danning Prefecture and cut off our army's retreat."

"They will only let the Tatars drag us down, and in the end, our supplies and baggage will be cut off, and we will be attacked from both sides, which will definitely lead to a great collapse," Zhu Ying said very affirmatively.

Hearing this.

Bu Wan's face changed.

"Danning Prefecture still has tens of thousands of troops stationed there, and there is also Danning City as a town; the Northern Yuan should not have the opportunity to easily break the city," Chen Heng said.

"General."

"Although the Northern Yuan was driven out of the Central Plains by our Great Ming, its national strength is still strong, and Nahachu has stationed troops in Liaodong, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers; he has always wanted to counterattack our Great Ming."

"Now that such a good opportunity has come, it is impossible to miss it," Zhu Ying said affirmatively.

"Battalion Commander Zhu, if it is according to your opinion, what should our army do?" Bu Wan looked at Zhu Ying and asked immediately.

"Give up the attack on the Tatars, leave a force to contain them, retreat while fighting, and the main army should move east to attack the Liaodong territory controlled by Nahachu," Zhu Ying replied without hesitation.

Hearing this.

All the generals in the camp looked at Zhu Ying in surprise, clearly not expecting such a strategy to be proposed.

"Battalion Commander Zhu."

"Just now you said that Nahachu has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, how can our Danning Prefecture border troops deal with them?"

"Yes."

"With our army's current force of less than 20,000, attacking Nahachu is not like a moth to a flame? Seeking one's own death?"

"I think Battalion Commander Zhu's strategy is inappropriate."

"Since the Emperor has already decreed to mobilize the army to destroy Nahachu, our army can completely retreat from this Tatar territory and station in Danning Prefecture. Even if Nahachu sends troops to attack, our army can defend."

"Not bad."

"I think retreating is the best."

"I second that."

"At this moment, retreating to Danning is a stable way, which can avoid our army being attacked from both sides, and can also avoid Danning falling."

Many generals spoke up one after another, most of them not agreeing with Zhu Ying's dangerous strategy, turning instead to retreating to Danning Prefecture as the stable way.

Seeing the generals like this.

Bu Wan did not make a decision immediately, but looked at Chen Heng and Liu Zhen: "What are the two generals' thoughts?"

"I think Battalion Commander Zhu's proposal can be tried."

"The Yuan court will definitely move troops to attack our Danning. Once Danning is lost, our army attacking Liaodong will instead slow down the Yuan court's attack, drag down the Yuan court, and attract the Yuan court's attention, which is better for dragging out time and waiting for our Great Ming's main army to arrive," Chen Heng smiled.

"I think so too."

"Now the situation cannot continue to march north."

"It is better to follow Battalion Commander Zhu's strategy, do the opposite, and catch the Yuan court off guard. In this way, our army will not affect the Great Ming's overall situation of destroying the Yuan, and will drag down the Yuan court," Liu Zhen also said loudly.

Hearing this.

Bu Wan nodded.

Since the two Regional Military Commissioners under his command both agreed unanimously, he naturally had nothing more to say.

"Since that is the case."

"How many troops should be left to contain the Tatars, retreating while fighting?" Bu Wan asked directly.

"Reporting to my lord."

"The northern frontier is vast, which is not conducive to foot soldiers. We only need to leave some cavalry to delay them. Once the Tatar army launches a large-scale attack, we will immediately retreat to Danning. If the Tatars do not come, our army can wander in the Tatar tribes, only needing sufficient dry rations."

"Of course, the fundamental purpose is to contain the Tatars, making them unable to move south, unable to reinforce the Northern Yuan," Zhu Ying said immediately.

"Which general is willing to take on this great responsibility and contain the Tatars?" Bu Wan looked at the generals in the camp immediately.

But for this responsibility.

Many generals looked at each other, and no one came to take it.

Using a few thousand soldiers to deal with the Jianzhou Tatars with a population of over a million, even if their population was only a small fraction of the Great Ming, they were all soldiers, and once they launched a large-scale attack, a few thousand soldiers would be a piece of meat easily chewed to pieces.

"No one is willing to take on this responsibility?"

"Whoever completes this responsibility and drags down the Tatars, this is a great merit," Bu Wan said again.

But this merit, compared to the danger, seemed not worth it.

At this moment!

Zhu Ying stood out immediately and said loudly: "Subordinate is willing to take on this responsibility and drag down the Tatars."

"Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers!"

Seeing Zhu Ying take on this responsibility, many generals in the camp thought secretly in their hearts, and some even carried mockery.

This responsibility sounded like that, as long as the Tatars moved troops, they could retreat, but in reality, once bitten by the Tatar cavalry, and even possibly reinforced by Northern Yuan cavalry, once bitten, it was highly likely to be a situation of annihilation.

PS: Well, ask for some tickets, ask for everything.

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(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 24 =====