The tenth day of May.
Wang Yongji received news from Li Dingguo and Ma Shiyao successively: tens of thousands of Jiannu jumped across the Liaohe River from the east and attacked Dalinghhe Fort.
"The main force of the Jiannu...is actually not on the grassland!" Wang Yongji was very surprised.
"Governor," Liu Zhaoji immediately suggested, "Since the main force of the Jiannu is not on the grassland, let the infantry march slowly behind, and I will lead the cavalry to support them."
Wang Yongji said nothing.
He was thinking about the disadvantages of doing so.
As far as he knew, the total strength of the Jiannu army was around 70,000 to 80,000.
Li Dingguo and Ma Shiyao wrote clearly in the Tangbao that there were 40,000 to 50,000 Jiannu troops besieging Dalinghhe Fort.
Although this number is not accurate, it should not be very different from the actual situation.
Calculated based on 40,000.
The Jiannu still have 30,000 to 40,000 troops.
Excluding the Liaoxi Corridor and the Jiannu who invaded Yizhou, Jirgalang still had at least 30,000 troops available.
These people were all cavalry and were right on the grassland.
Otherwise he wouldn't have chased after me.
At this time he was still more than two hundred miles away from the Great Wall.
If the cavalry were to abandon the infantry, Jirgalang's 30,000 cavalry would be a disaster for the infantry in the remaining 200 miles of journey.
However, if the cavalry was not allowed to leave first, Dalingh Fort would most likely be lost.
At a marching speed of fifty miles a day, it would take the army four days to leave the grassland and return to the Great Wall.
The Great Wall is nearly 200 miles away from Dalingh River.
Another four days of march would be required.
The two together add up to eight days!
Can Ma Shiyao hold on for eight days?
He doesn't dare to gamble!
Li Xingzhong saw Wang Yongji's concerns and suggested, "Governor, divide the troops! Divide the cavalry into two, one part will stay in the grassland with the infantry, and the other part will go south to support Dalinghe Fort."
"It seems that this is the only way!" Wang Yongji nodded helplessly and asked, "Wu Sangui is in charge of the rear guard, and his men cannot be moved. So we can only transfer troops from the two generals. How many troops do you think are appropriate to transfer?"
After several discussions.
Wang Yongji decided to transfer all 12,000 cavalrymen under Li Xingzhong.
In addition, 3,000 cavalrymen were drawn from Liu Zhaoji, 1,000 from Gao Di, and 2,000 from Huang Degong.
Finally, Wang Yongji selected another 2,000 cavalrymen from his own command to form an army of 20,000.
Twenty thousand versus forty thousand is certainly not realistic.
However, to the east of Dalinghhe Fort, there were Li Dingguo's 10,000 cavalrymen and Li Guo and Li Laiheng's 3,000 soldiers.
In this way, there were 33,000 troops.
Plus the 3,000 soldiers and horses in Dalingh Fort and the 3,000 soldiers and horses in Songshan.
The total strength of the Ming army in the Dalinghhe Fort area will be as high as 39,000!
The number of people on both sides is basically the same. Even if the Jiannu are all elite, the Ming army is still able to fight!
"I order your troops to rush to the rescue of Dalingh Fort immediately. There must be no mistakes!" After Wang Yongji finished writing the military order to Li Dingguo, he felt that something was wrong, so he tore up the order and wrote a new one.
Li Xingzhong stood nearby and watched.
He found that the second military order rewritten by Wang Yongji had changed the wording from the previous rescue of Dalingh Fort to tying down the enemy and waiting for Li Xingzhong's main force to arrive to lift the siege of Dalingh Fort.
The postman carefully collected the letter and whipped the warhorse hard with the whip.
The message was sent out amid the neighing of war horses.
Li Xingzhong set out first, followed closely by the rest of the troops.
The cavalrymen under his and Liu Zhaoji's command all rode two horses each, and some even rode three horses each.
With light equipment and a small number of followers, the limit for other cavalrymen was to march a hundred miles a day.
Li Xingzhong was able to march 150 miles and still maintain his combat effectiveness.
Theoretically, cavalry can travel a maximum of 300 miles a day.
However, it is said in "Zizhi Tongjian" that if one travels 300 miles a day, the general will be missing.
So Li Xingzhong deliberately controlled the marching speed.
But even so, the long-distance journey not only consumed the horses' physical strength very quickly, but also quickly consumed the soldiers' physical strength and endurance.
On May 11, Li Xingzhong left the grassland and entered the Great Wall.
On May 12, Li Xingzhong arrived at Guangning Wei.
Dalinghhe Fort is less than fifty miles away from Guangning.
In order to avoid an ambush, Li Xingzhong let the army rest in the city while sending scouts to inquire about the situation in Dalingh Fort and the whereabouts of Li Dingguo.
Li Dingguo received the military order from Wang Yongji on the afternoon of May 11.
He neither waited for Li Xingzhong nor sent troops to Dalingh Fort.
But... do the opposite.
Li Dingguo said to Gao Wengui: "The Governor-General said in the letter that the total strength of the Jiannu is about 70,000 to 80,000. There are 40,000 to 50,000 Jiannu who attacked Dalinghe Fort, 5,000 to 6,000 in Yizhou and Liaoxi Corridor, and 20,000 to 30,000 on the grassland!"
"That is to say... the Jiannu army is short of manpower in the rear!"
Gao Wengui's pupils suddenly shrank. "General, what do you mean... to attack the rear of the Jiannu and rescue Zhao by attacking Wei?"
"Keep guessing."
"Please tell me clearly, sir." Gao Wengui really couldn't think of anything, so he bowed to Li Dingguo.
"Encircle the point and attack the reinforcements!" Li Dingguo patted Gao Wengui's head. "When the Jiannu hear that the rear is attacked, they will definitely return to rescue. Then we can take advantage of the opportunity to surround the point and attack the reinforcements!"
"Wonderful, it's really wonderful!" Gao Wengui could no longer use the word "shocked" to describe his mood at this moment.
It’s a great feeling to be in control of the situation.
"Aren't the Jiannu good at besieging a point and attacking its reinforcements? This time, let them taste the feeling of being surrounded and attacked by its reinforcements!" Li Dingguo spread out the map on the table and began to search for the target.
He first looked at Haizhou Wei, and then at Liaodong Town (Liaoyang).
Finally, we set our sights on Shenyang, the "capital" of the Jiannu!
"Here!" Li Dingguo raised his right index finger. "The so-called 'Emperor' of Jian Nu lives here, right?"
Gao Wengui was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat: "General, this cannot be done. Although the main force of the Jiannu is not in Shenyang, there must be a large number of elite troops in Shenyang City. Not to mention the number of more, there must be at least 18,000 people."
"Making a direct advance is a taboo in the military. If we encounter them, our army will have almost no chance of winning with the same number of troops!"
"No," Li Dingguo shook his head, "Who said we should fight them?"
"What does your Excellency mean?" Gao Wengui was even more confused.
Li Dingguo stood up, put his hands behind his back and said leisurely: "I mean to carry the Ming national flag and take a stroll around Shenyang City."
"In the second year of my dynasty, the Jiannu invaded the pass and plundered, and their troops approached the gates of the capital. In the twenty-fourth year of my dynasty, I, Li Dingguo, will also approach the gates of the Jiannu capital. Tell the Jiannu bandits in the city that if they can go, I can go too!"
hiss--
Gao Wengui was immediately impressed by this idea.
What kind of behavior is this?
The act of slapping the Jiannu in the face.
"Then how do we surround the point and attack the reinforcements?" Gao Wengui was a little confused.
He really couldn't figure out how to connect slapping the Jiannu in the face with besieging and attacking the reinforcements.
"Come closer," Li Dingguo pointed at the map and discussed countermeasures carefully with Gao Wengui.
What Li Dingguo didn't know was.
His move not only broke the balance on the battlefield, but also accelerated the power transition within the Jiannu.
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