Chapter 969: Entrenching Tool

"Returning to the subject, let us now discuss how to fight this battle well." After laughing with the group for a while, Chang Wei's expression turned serious again.

The generals knew the joking was over; each straightened their posture and pricked up their ears.

After pondering for a moment, he walked over to a sand table.

Before he arrived, Ma Han had already had the Staff Department of the White Tiger Army construct a war sand table for tactical simulation.

Now, on the sand table, there were small wooden plaques representing the Northern Di at the Yin Mountain position, and the Jin River section was also marked with places where the Northern Di might prioritize crossing, as well as nearby minefields.

At the same time, the important roads leading to the south and the positions where the White Tiger Army was stationed were also marked.

The entire battlefield situation was clear at a glance.

"Currently, there are 80,000 men of the White Tiger Army, 50,000 of the Black Tortoise Army, 120,000 of the Central Army, and 30,000 of Chen Hu's Independent Cavalry gathered in Yongzhou, totaling 280,000 men," Chang Wei said.

Although Chen Hu led 60,000 cavalry to support Yongzhou this time, only 30,000 of them truly belonged to his command.

The remaining 30,000 all came from the other three armies, so only his 30,000 cavalry were counted.

"This time the Northern Di are moving south with great momentum, looking as if they want to devour the Great Song alongside the Westerners, with a clear intent to fight to the death. Thus, they will inevitably spare no cost to break through the defenses of Yongzhou, strike south of Yongzhou, and disrupt the entire war situation."

"Since that is the case, they are the ones in a hurry. We shall dig trenches and fortifications, waiting at our ease to let them break their heads and bleed," Chang Wei analyzed.

Hearing this, the generals nodded one after another.

Relying on the Qin-series Rifle and the recently equipped breech-loading Artillery, their offensive would certainly be very sharp.

But if they were on the defensive, their advantage would be even greater.

Picking up a pointer, Chang Wei pointed to the sand table and issued orders: "From now on, the Central Army will garrison Lingwu County, the Black Tortoise Army will garrison Dingbian County, and the White Tiger Army will garrison Yulin County. Establish trench fortifications immediately."

The three points Chang Wei mentioned spanned the entirety of Yongzhou.

They belonged to the three major military strongholds in the north of Yongzhou.

Among them, Lingwu County was in the east, Dingbian County in the center, and Yulin County in the west.

Of the three counties, the position of Lingwu County was extremely important.

It was at the "Ji"-shaped section of the Jin River in Yongzhou.

The position of the left stroke and the top horizontal stroke could be said to have no defenses, as both banks of the Jin River were flat grasslands.

The other locations along the river were mountain ranges, making passage impossible.

And at the junction of the mountain range below the left stroke and the grassland was Lingwu County.

This county seat faced the Jin River to the west and leaned against the sprawling Zhutou Mountain to the east, with a passage over twenty li wide in between that could lead directly south into the heart of Qinzhou.

Precisely because the position of Lingwu County was so important, he placed the Central Army there.

As for Dingbian County, it was a county seat within the mountains of Yongzhou, with dangerous terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Many mountain paths leading south converged here.

If the Northern Di troops wanted to break into smaller units and head south through the mountain trails, they could not bypass this place.

And because the mountain trails were narrow and inconvenient for the deployment of large-scale armies, there was no need to station too many troops here.

Thus, he had the Black Tortoise Army stationed here, and if Lingwu County came under heavy pressure, he would have the Black Tortoise Army support them at any time.

Yulin County was the gateway to Yongcheng, with mountain ranges behind it.

A wide valley of about five li led directly to Yongcheng.

In front of Yulin County lay the boundless Hetao Grassland.

He believed that besides Lingwu County, this would certainly be the second major direction of attack for the Northern Di.

Therefore, he stationed the White Tiger Army here.

"Yes, General," the generals responded loudly.

Chang Wei sat in command at Yongcheng; he was the supreme commander.

The three armies had to obey his orders.

"Great General, what about our cavalry?" After Chang Wei's voice fell, Chen Hu said timidly.

Ever since taking over the Independent Cavalry, he could be said to have lived the most stifling life.

Because they could not gain much advantage in front of the Northern Di cavalry.

They had been unable to fight independently, basically acting as assistants to the infantry, doing the work of pursuing after the enemy had been routed.

But ever since being equipped with the Cavalry Rifle, he felt the cavalry had been reborn, possessing both the mobility of cavalry and the combat power of infantry.

This time he had come full of enthusiasm, prepared to show his skills.

Therefore, he hoped extremely much to receive an important mission.

Hearing this, Chang Wei looked at Chen Hu and laughed.

He said, "Do not be anxious. This time His Highness specifically instructed to give you cavalry a chance to engage the Northern Di cavalry. If your cavalry performs excellently, once the Northern Di army is routed, you will be the ones to head north into the Grassland and drive out the main force of the Northern Di."

Chen Hu was instantly overjoyed, scratching his head and giggling foolishly.

Chang Wei continued, "Therefore, this time I will not give you any orders. You may find your own opportunities on the battlefield to annihilate the enemy cavalry."

In fact, by not giving him orders, he was giving the greatest order of all.

If he gave the cavalry orders, the cavalry would merely assemble in one place and fight in coordination.

By not giving orders, it meant the cavalry might have to face the encirclement of all the Northern Di cavalry.

"This subordinate will certainly not let the Great General down, nor will I let His Highness down." Chen Hu naturally understood this point.

But he was not afraid at all, and he gave Chang Wei a heavy military salute.

Chang Wei nodded, and at this moment he said to all the generals, "From now on, act immediately."

"Yes, General." The group turned and left one after another to mobilize their troops to their respective garrison locations.

Watching the generals leave, Chang Wei looked at the sand table, his eyes flickering.

Before this heavy snow and extreme cold weather appeared, he had thought about using Hand Grenades to blow up the ice on the narrow river section to prevent the Northern Di from crossing the river.

But then he thought, this war also seemed to be an excellent opportunity to wipe out the Northern Di army.

This is far better than them having to go to the Grassland in the future to search everywhere for the Northern Di.

Now that the extreme cold weather has arrived, there are too many stretches of the thousand-mile-long river that might freeze over, and it is impossible to blast them open using Hand Grenades or other explosive methods; after all, there are too many, and there is no time.

Because of this reason, the Northern Di are even less likely to give up this opportunity, which suits his intentions even more.

This time, in Yongzhou, he is determined to heavily strike the Northern Di.

After thinking for a while, he ordered the telegraph operator to send his arrangements to the Prince's Mansion in Yancheng to be delivered to the Yan Wang.

At this moment, in the Prince's Mansion.

Zhao Xu was in the study discussing a matter with Yang Feng.

Feng'er delivered Chang Wei's Telegraph.

He glanced at it, felt there were no issues, and then had Feng'er go to send a reply.

Once Feng'er's figure disappeared, he and Yang Feng continued with their previous business.

"Old General, with this thing, it will be much more convenient for the soldiers to dig trenches and the like in the future; not only that, but it can also chop trees and be used as a Weapon." Zhao Xu brandished a short-handled shovel in his hand.

It was precisely the Folding Engineer Shovel he had tinkered with over the past two days.

He prepared to mass-produce this item to supply to the army.

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