Chapter 984: Hidden Position

Thinking of this, Qubing immediately decided to discuss it with Youye. After all, Youye was the person who was most familiar with this place, and he should try to get his opinion.

"Uncle You, I just thought of a battle plan. Come and hear if it works. I plan to send out troops in three routes. One route will ambush the hunting grounds in the east, and the other route will seize the cannibal's salt pond to force them to move south. Then, I will divide some of them here to block their way to the south ."

Qubing pulled Youye aside, and then told him all his ideas just now. Then he stared at Youye and asked, "Uncle You, do you think this method will work?"

Youye thought for a while and said, "It works, but do you have enough troops? Your Shen Ce Guards only have about 2,000 people in total, and they have to be deployed in three places. Isn't it too dispersed? I think it's better to fight bit by bit and concentrate your strength on one place. At least you won't suffer any loss."

Qubing grinned after listening, "This is not a problem. Although we don't have many soldiers in the Shen Ce Guards, our combat effectiveness is absolutely no problem. We can't lose. It's just a matter of how much we can earn.

"Besides, the leader told me before I came that an army like the Shen Ce Guard needs to use its forces flexibly and there is no need to put them all in one place. Sending out a platoon each time is enough to complete many tasks. We happen to have three battalions of reorganized troops, each with more than 700 people and more than 700 guns. Each battalion has 1,000 auxiliary soldiers, which can be deployed in three places."

After Qu Bing finished speaking, he looked at You Ye and found that he was frowning and not speaking. He seemed to know what he was thinking, so he continued.

"Uncle You, I know what you are worried about. Our Shen Ce Guard soldiers have never fought in a war and have no combat experience, but they absolutely obey orders. As long as they are clearly told what they need to do, they can definitely complete the task.

"I also know what the chief is thinking about coming here to fight. In the chief's mind, this battle is to train soldiers and generals. Soldiers need to be trained, and generals need to be trained. The Shen Ce Guard is the first pure firearms unit in our Han tribe, and no one knows how to use it. Although the chief has his own ideas, he has never used such an army to fight a war after all. So he has to give it a try to see if it works.

" "To be honest, the power of the cannibals is not very strong, at least not as big as the Xin tribe. Since the chief only sent our Shen Ce Guard, an experimental guard army, it means that the chief is confident and has considered it. I also have confidence in my soldiers, and I think we can give it a try. "

Youye nodded after listening to this. In fact, through the performance of the personal soldier beside Qubing just now, he was a little worried about this new army. They have only been trained for a few months, and have only been formed for a few months. They have no combat experience at all, and they are still so arrogant. It is still a question whether they can fight. But Qubing has said so, what else can he say? He can only agree.

Besides, it is not his turn to make the decision on the affairs of the Shen Ce Guard. How to fight is originally Qubing's business. Qubing took the initiative to ask for his opinion. It is called respect for the elders and the young. It is a respect for himself, but he cannot be ungrateful and take advantage of his age.

After confirming the battle plan, the two began to discuss the details, mainly the deployment of troops and the mobilization of food.

Now the Han tribe has a total of three large camps in the north. One is the camp with the largest population located in the river valley, with a total population of about 120,000 to 130,000. Currently, they mainly make a living by farming, supplemented by animal husbandry. It is also the earliest camp of the Han tribe here. It is currently the place where the main force of the Shen Ce Guard is stationed, and it is given to the slaves. The houses prepared by the slaves for the winter were all in this camp.

Another camp was located on a plain southeast of the valley camp. It was backed by the river and faced the salt pond. It was also a large camp with a population of about 10,000. It was mainly engaged in farming. It was also responsible for the consumption of white salt for all the people in the three camps, that is, it produced salt. In addition, this camp also had a small amount of livestock breeding and fishing. Because it occupied the salt pond, this camp was called the salt marsh camp.

The last camp was located northeast of the valley camp, right next to the hunting ground of the cannibals. It had the fewest people, only 6,000 to 7,000 people, and was called the hunting ground camp.

The hunting ground camp was mostly mountainous and had water sources, but it was not suitable for irrigation, so only a small amount of corn was planted, and the food was barely self-sufficient. If there was not enough food in winter, they could only get some support from the salt marsh camp. However, if they hunted more prey, they could also exchange animal skins and meat for some food, and the two sides would exchange what they had.

All these contents were drawn in detail on the map, so when Youye mentioned it, Qubing knew which location he was talking about.

"If we follow your plan, then we should focus on the battle on the eastern front in the early stage. According to what you said, we should deploy a battalion of troops in the hunting ground camp and the salt marsh camp respectively, and then assisted by a thousand auxiliary troops, to take the initiative to attack the cannibals, so as to force them to move south, and finally deploy the remaining battalion here at the river mouth to ambush the enemy once more.

"But it's a bit troublesome to transfer so many people over there. Our land transportation is not good, there are too few large livestock available for service, and there are not many vehicles. You are sending nearly two thousand people over there at once, and they simply don't have that much food over there.

"I know you brought a lot of food this time, but we can't transport it over now. The river has been frozen and the boat can't go. We don't have a car to go to the shore. You can't let everyone carry the food over there. Even if each person carries a bag, it won't last long. What's more, you still have to capture prisoners, and those prisoners also need to eat. "

You Ye immediately analyzed the difficulty of this deployment, which made Qu Bing frown. Without food and ammunition, what can he do? Let the soldiers go to die?

"Then what can Uncle You do?"

"It's not that there is no way. That is, don't use the auxiliary soldiers from the Valley Camp. Send your battalion directly there, and you can add a few hundred auxiliary soldiers, a total of one thousand people. Then bring less food, more ammunition and handcuffs, so that the number of people who eat food can be reduced by half.

"The Hunting Ground Camp and the Salt Lake Camp are all arranged in this way, so we don't have to transport so much food. As for the problem of your insufficient auxiliary soldiers, you can recruit them from the two camps respectively. Although the population there is not as large as that of the Valley Camp, it is more than enough to recruit only one thousand auxiliary soldiers.

"And the two or three hundred people you brought from the Valley Camp can be used specifically for transportation. They can deliver ammunition to you from the main camp. After you go there, you can also escort the prisoners you captured back to the Valley Camp for detention. After all, the houses prepared for the prisoners are still there. What do you think?" "

After hearing this, Qubing nodded and said, "This is a good idea. The battle plan has not changed, but the details are more operational. Let's do it this way!"

"Well, if this is decided, we should start mobilizing now. You Shen Ce Wei still need to go to those two camps to train auxiliary soldiers. The auxiliary soldiers in the valley camp should also deliver some ammunition and food as soon as possible. Those two camps do not have enough supplies to support your army." You Ye saw Qubing nodded and immediately reminded him.

"Well, I'll arrange it now."

Qubing nodded again, and then called his messenger. He dictated the order, and the messenger wrote it. After writing the order, Qubing read it and found no problem, so he signed and stamped it. The order took effect immediately. The messenger took the order and the young man at the observation post led him to the valley camp to deliver the letter.

Then they just had to wait for the deputy commander and the military officer to lead a battalion of soldiers to come.

But Qubing was not idle at this time. He called all the soldiers out of the cave to redeploy.

"The location of our current observation post is not very good, nor is it bad, but it does not meet our combat objectives. We can indeed kill the passing enemies here, but we cannot stop them, so we cannot put all our people together."

Qubing said after observing with a telescope, "The guard platoon is now divided into three groups. Classes 1, 2 and 3 are the first combat group, commanded by the deputy platoon leader, and will go to the edge of the forest in the northwest to conceal their defenses. Classes 4, 5 and 6 are the second combat group, commanded by the platoon leader, and will go to the snow slope in the east to conceal their defenses. Classes 7, 8 and 9 are the third combat group, commanded by the platoon instructor, and will stay here to defend. The three positions form a horn with each other. Once the enemy is found, they can be surrounded.

"At the same time, the three groups, you are also responsible for the meals of the other two groups. The three groups rotate once a week. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"I understand."

"I understand, but commander, how should we deploy the positions of Group 1 and Group 2? Should we dig a hole now? It's not easy to dig in the winter. Also, if we dig now, will the enemy find us? If they find us, then it's all in vain. They won't be fooled." The platoon leader of the guard platoon shouted, "I understand." Then he asked.

Qu Bing grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and said,

"I've just thought about this question. Isn't there a lot of snow here? Then build a few snow houses. Use the accumulated snow to build a big snow pile that can accommodate three people lying in it to rest. Leave a hole for people to go in and out, and pour a layer of water on the outside. When the outer shell of the snow pile freezes, hollow it out, and put a layer of thatch or pine trees inside. Wrap yourself in a quilt and you can sleep."

The soldiers were stunned. Building a house with snow? ! Pour water on the outside, then isn't it an ice house? Sleeping in an ice house? How cold it would be!

"Commander, is this okay? Can people really sleep in an igloo?" The platoon leader of the guard platoon asked with some disbelief.

"Why not? This is actually no different from a tent. It can also block wind and rain. It's just that the materials used to build the house have changed. If you don't believe it, then make one here first, so that everyone can learn it." Seeing that they didn't believe it, Qu Bing immediately suggested it.

Everyone nodded, and then began to build an igloo behind the high ground of the observation post. Everyone chose a place where the snow was already very thick, and then piled up a pile of snow on it, and then used an ordnance shovel to pat it firmly, and finally made a big snow bag, which was the size of a three-person outdoor tent.

Then everyone took the accumulated snow and put it in the pot. After it melted, they didn't wait for the water to heat up, and directly scooped water from the lunch box and poured it on it. After half an hour, the outer layer of the snow bag really froze and froze into an ice shell. Then everyone used the ordnance shovel to hollow out the snow bag again, and then sprinkled a layer of snow on the ice cover as a cover to prevent the ice cover from reflecting light.

Finally, he used a military shovel as an axe and cut some soft branches in the woods and put them inside to make a bed. You know what, this snowpack looks pretty good after it was made.

Everyone looked at the newly made snow hut with curiosity. From inside, some light could actually see through, and it looked a little gray-blue.

Qubing then said, "Didn't you say that we can't sleep? Who will go in and try it for everyone?"

"Let me do it. I think this thing is not bad. It should be no problem to sleep." The platoon leader of the guard platoon also smiled when looking at the hut. He was a southerner from Takumi County and had never seen snow. How could he have thought that snow could be used to build a house.

However, such things were not new to Qubing, who had lived in Hanyang County since he was a child. When he was a child, he played with a friend in the alley in the snow. He made snowmen, dug snow caves, and dug houses in snow piles to play hide-and-seek. These were all things he had experienced personally. Who said that you can't sleep in a house made of snow?

The platoon leader of the guard platoon went in immediately. The cold air in the snow pack and the fragrance of pine and cypress branches smelled quite good. He wrapped himself in a military coat and lay on the bed made of branches and leaves. The thick pine branches were very soft. The round ice dome blocked the cold wind outside, but there was still cold air blowing in. As long as the hole was blocked, it would not affect the sleep of the people inside.

He lay there and felt it for a while, then climbed out, and then said excitedly.

"Commander, this house is fine. It can block the wind. The ice cover is also strong enough. If you put more branches underneath, you won't feel cold. But you have to block the hole when you sleep. I think it's appropriate to pack a bag of leaves in a backpack to block the hole. It's more convenient to go in and out."

"Well, of course. You are from the south, so you may not have done this before, but we northerners played with snow a lot when we were young. Almost everyone can dig a snow cave, so sleeping is definitely not a problem.

"Okay, now everyone should have seen it, let's start. It's about two hours before dark. Everyone will form a tactical team according to the usual training, three people in a group, and dig their own shacks.

"Group one and group two will go to the position to build shacks, group three will leave a squad to boil water and deliver water to everyone, and the remaining two squads will help them cut branches and come back to make beds. Everyone, hurry up and try to finish all the shacks before dark. Let's start." Qubing nodded and immediately began to give orders.

"Yes!" Everyone bowed and agreed, and then began to form a team and prepare to go to their respective preset positions.

But at this moment, You Ye suddenly stopped them.

"Wait a minute!"

Qu Bing looked over in confusion, "Uncle You, is there anything else?"

You Ye then explained, "Do you have any extra cloth? If not, it's best to have someone send some from the camp to cover the soldiers' mouths and noses."

Seeing that everyone was puzzled, You Ye continued, "Wrapping the mouths and noses is to keep warm, so that the soldiers don't get frostbite on their faces, and secondly, it can cover the white breath exhaled from the mouths and noses. Otherwise, you are so close to the enemy, and the white breath exhaled from the mouths and noses is likely to be discovered by the enemy."

Qu Bing's eyes lit up. He really hadn't thought about this question, so he nodded and said.

"We have some extra cloth, but we really don't have it here, so we can only send it from the camp. Is there any cloth in the camp?"

"Yes, if you need it, it's best to send someone back now, so that they don't have to go back to get it after they come out." You Ye immediately reminded.

"Okay, I'll send someone back. In addition, each group should pay attention to this problem in the future. When hiding, don't expose yourself because of the white breath you exhale. Also, when digging a snow cave, build the cave entrance in a hidden position away from the wind to avoid being discovered by the enemy." Qubing nodded and instructed everyone again.

"Yes!" The soldiers of each group responded again, and then went to their respective camps to start building huts.

(End of this chapter)