On the surface, Tang Tong's rebellion and the annihilation of the Jinyiwei seemed to have put the Chen Dynasty, whose main force had not yet arrived at the border, into an extremely unfavorable situation.
But in fact, if he looked at it calmly, Chen Yu found that he didn't lose much.
Originally, the Chen Dynasty's Ministry of War hadn't taken Tang Tong's troops into account when calculating the relative strength of both sides. While Tang Tong's presence would have been beneficial, his absence wouldn't have had much of an impact. The Jinyiwei's personnel and organization within the Chen Dynasty still existed. After he urgently appointed an elderly, retired Jinyiwei commander, the Jinyiwei across the country didn't fall into disarray as initially anticipated, but instead gradually recovered their functions.
There is no way to attack from outside, but defense is still possible.
So if we really talk about losses, the biggest loss is probably the loss of Zhaoyang City.
But this is not a big deal for Chen Yu and Chen Chao.
Zhaoyang has been lost many times in these years of war.
Besides, a mere city is really nothing big for a national war. If the subsequent war is strong, retaking Zhaoyang will be just a by-product.
In order to march into Qinghe, he left enough forces in the central battlefield and still mobilized 250,000 combat troops, plus several times more auxiliary troops and civilian laborers. It was no exaggeration to say that he had an army of one million.
Fighting with such strength, it would be difficult for any rational person to say that their side is at a disadvantage.
As for what the Jinyiwei once mentioned, that Qinghe seemed to be equipping new weapons, it should indeed be taken seriously, but the Jinyiwei are gone and I have no more sources of intelligence, so there is no point in saying that.
Besides, the arrow is on the string and has to be shot. You can't just call a halt.
It's like you meet up with the woman you like at night, you've had dinner, gone shopping, watched a movie, and received gifts. Now you tell me you want to go home. Does your house have access control?
hehe...
Chen Yu was even a little glad that the Qinghe people occupied Zhaoyang.
After all, he had heard about how strong the fortresses built by Qinghe on the border were. If he drove a large army to attack these strong fortresses with geographical advantages, it would be a thankless task. Now, as long as the people of Qinghe were reluctant to give up the city they had captured, they would have to fight against the Chen Dynasty's army outside the fortress. The fortress that they had built with great effort and huge cost could not provide even a little sense of security.
That would be great for the Chen Dynasty.
However, it is said that Qinghe's general on the front line is Cheng Guorong. He has made many contributions in the war to destroy Cambodia and can be regarded as Qinghe's top military general. Such a person should not send soldiers to fight the superior enemy head-on in the wilderness. In other words, Chen Yu has to guard against Cheng Guorong directly abandoning Zhaoyang and then retreating directly to the fortress. By then, the Chen Dynasty will be in a difficult situation whether to fight or not, and the initiative of the war will change hands again.
So Chen Yu spread the word that no city in the Great Chen Dynasty was redundant, and that he must recapture Zhaoyang and fight a decisive battle with Qinghe. He wanted to do the opposite and let the people of Qinghe take the initiative to stop his plan.
After all, Cheng Guorong may be an expert in military tactics and a cunning veteran, but Lin Hai is also a young man.
Young people are normally competitive. If Chen Yu said that he must summon Yang, Lin Hai would definitely stop him.
If Cheng Guorong does not withdraw his troops at that time, it will be exactly what he wants.
If Cheng Guorong disobeyed the order and withdrew directly, wouldn't that create a rift between the front-line generals and the monarch?
No matter how you look at it, it’s not a loss.
While releasing the smoke bomb, Chen Yu also ordered a cavalry to go straight to the position between Zhaoyang and the fortress group, trying his best to cut off the connection between the two sides, and then cooperate with the army that arrived later to encircle Zhaoyang. In other words, as many of Qinghe's manpower as possible should be eliminated in Zhaoyang to prevent them from retreating to the fortress group and causing themselves more trouble.
I have to say that this tactic is very correct.
After receiving the news, Lin Hai's first telegram to Cheng Guorong was: Abandon Zhaoyang and leave Chen Yu with an empty city...
Anyway, it’s not our city, so we don’t feel bad about throwing it away. Let our Crown Prince recover the territory and have some fun.
The heavy horse hooves crushed the wasteland that was hot and hard under the scorching sun. The growls of armored horses and the growls of armored cavalry controlling their horses came from all directions. The archers at the rear of the cavalry formation had taken down their hanging horse bows and sorted out their quivers so that the arrows were in the most convenient position for them.
In front of this armored cavalry that was like a steel torrent, at the midpoint between the fortress and Zhaoyang, the walls and trenches on all sides of the transfer station named No. 1 were already visible in the distance.
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