War is not a romance opera, where did it come from, the wisdom used to support a certain character is almost like a demon, and some are just pre-war material preparation and personnel scheduling, and then rely on the sweat and blood of the soldiers participating in the war, using the corpses of their own people or enemies to pave the way, paving a road to victory or defeat.

The arrangement for the war is not to be more and more complicated, and it is not to do stupid things like interlocking. The more complex the layout, the higher the error rate, if one of the links collapses, what is the play?

The power of an individual is limited in a huge war, after all, the army is not a person's limbs, it has never been like an arm, and there will be times when the hands and feet can't keep up with the reaction, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people do exactly what they want according to their wishes, or are they playing real-time strategy games that can be played with a mouse and keyboard?

As the commander of a large army, Meng Tian never had the luxury of relying on a few stratagems to win a war, and the stratagem was based on the right timing and permissible comparison of strength. In many cases, a stratagem can turn the tide, but how many times has a stratagem turned the tide of war in countless military history? It is only when it is pitiful that it is enough to succeed once in a while that it is worth writing about, and how many times should those who have failed!

What is the war fought? Some of them only learned as much as possible about the mountains and rivers of the combat site, and made a thorough understanding of the personnel, equipment, personnel scheduling, and material reserves of their subordinate units. Logistical sustainability and so on to grasp more, and then send enough scouts to find out as much as possible the enemy's movements, and gather staff officers and intelligent personnel to formulate several or more battle plans, accommodating the actual need for optionality.

The battle plan of each battle is divided into only two types, one is to attack on the premise that one's own side is advantageous, and this offensive posture is divided into easing and urgency, slow is generally used as a defensive position, and urgency is the part that is delineated as the main offensive direction. Local defensiveness and local offensive are the norm in every war; The other is the deployment in the face of one's own unfavorable situation, what kind of defensive position should be under the unfavorable conditions of the battle situation for one's own side, where the retreat route should be, and even which troops need strong men to break their wrists.

After the two major directions are determined, there will be several details in the battle situation that is favorable to one's own side, and there will also be many details in the case of unfavorable conditions for one's own side, and the battle plan that Meng Tian is now implementing is based on the set of operational arrangements that are favorable to oneself in terms of the judgment of troops, materials, and logistics on both sides.

"The 21st Mixed Regiment is currently in this position," Zhang Liang pointed to a place on the sand table with the whip in his hand, where the mountain type was on the left. Directly in front and on the right side is flat land, and the back side is a basin, and it seems that the woods represented by small branches are not small: "The troops are forward, and the right side is fan-shaped to organize fortifications, and the grain and straw and equipment to be replenished are placed at the foot of the mountain," and pointed to a water source mark next to it: "They need to walk five miles to get water, and this is the biggest flaw at present, and the Hu people will specialize in the water intake route." ”

There is no military objective that is not flawed, and the flaw of the 21st Mixed Army is not only in the water source, but also in the basin in the rear. Once the frontal battlefield collapsed and the scattered foot soldiers entered the basin terrain, it was obvious that it would become a natural slaughterhouse under the pursuit of the Hu.

"Hmm." Meng Tian didn't seem to see the unfavorable terrain on that front, and perhaps he also had confidence in the 21st Mixed Legion. The most he could ask was, "How much water is in reserve?" ”

As Zhang Liang, who has a long history, his main responsibility is to pick up the missing pieces for the Western Expeditionary Corps, and also to understand various data and wait for Meng Tian to ask questions, and immediately said: "There was no accident." Able to last for half a month. ”

According to the scouts, there are about 70,000 Hu cavalry currently opposite the 21st Mixed Regiment, and this part of the Hu cavalry is not the henchmen under the command of Tou Man. The scouts repeatedly ventured to observe closely, and came to the conclusion that the sources of the Hu people in this part were a bit mixed, and they could see the highland Qiang from the plateau and the flat Qiang on the Qingtang side, and it was known that Qule, Ruoqiang, and Ronglu in the Western Regions were only about 20,000 outside the Xiongnu.

The so-called Xiongnu outside is the product of the current regional and friendly nature, such as Hutu, Hun evil, Baiyang and other tribes in the northwest steppe belong to the Xiongnu outside the public, the Xiongnu once occupied the Hetao and gathered many tribes, basically belong to the long-term cooperation with the Xiongnu tribes.

"Obviously, Touman also thinks that that there is not too important, and the 70,000 Hu cavalry did not launch an attack after arriving, and did not even send soldiers to test it, but so far it is still a calm confrontation." After Zhang Liang finished speaking, he stood quietly, waiting for Meng Tian to digest the information, and he was also waiting for Meng Tian to give any new instructions.

"We have placed the 21st Mixed Corps there to prevent the enemy from penetrating in a roundabout way, to ensure the flank of our main force, and Touman has taken the same consideration in sending such a force up." Meng Tian's thinking is very clear: "Once we are frustrated on the frontal battlefield, the 21st Mixed Legion needs to exert its strength. Until then, the enemy will not move, I will not move. ”

After understanding the basic situation on the side of the 21st Mixed Legion, Meng Tian motioned for Zhang Liang to transfer to other legions.

"The 22nd Mixed Regiment and the 5th Cavalry Regiment are the closest to the front." Zhang Liang pulled the whip from left to right on the sand table in the air: "The width of this battlefield is more than seventy miles, the Fifth Cavalry Corps is a way of swimming, twenty miles away from the headquarters of Touman, and the pattern of the twenty-two mixed army has always maintained an interval of more than thirty miles behind the cavalry corps. ”

Meng Tian's gaze paused on the plain represented on the sand table, which was very wide in length and width, and it was a very suitable battlefield for cavalry duels.

"Entering the first stage of the launch of the battle plan, the Fifth Cavalry Corps has already engaged the enemy in 53 battles, large and small," Zhang Liang did not read any literal report, obviously reciting the battle loss ratio in advance: "At present, we have 307 casualties, 3,610 minor and serious wounded, of which 746 are wounded and can no longer participate in the battle. ”

Almost half of the cavalry of a school was damaged, and as many as 1,253 cavalry were directly removed from the battle sequence, which is equivalent to a song plus a team of cavalry disappeared from the battle sequence. And this is only the sixth day after the start of the battle, and it is only the sequence of the Fifth Cavalry Corps.

"We are only engaged in the Fifth Cavalry Regiment, and the data reported by Wei Zhonglang will be able to count the enemy's head of 1,824, and it is guessed that the overall casualties of the enemy army will not be less than 8,000." Zhang Liang paused when he said this. Glancing at the pensive Meng Tian, he continued: "Wei Han once again confirmed to the general, is it still the current war situation? ”

Meng Tian didn't make any answers, in his plan, what the Fifth Cavalry Corps needed to do was to test the strength of the Touman Division, to test whether the combat strength of the Hu Cavalry had been improved after rectification, and to slowly pull the Touman Division out of the relatively complex terrain near the source of the Yellow River with relatively low strength.

The cavalry corps led by Wei Han can also capture the head of the enemy, which proves that the advantage of obtaining the battle is greater from another matter, after all, the cavalry can only be annihilated or defeated if they want to win the head, unlike the infantry who can do it by bending down slightly, so for Meng Tian's understanding. Either Touman didn't send his own elite, or there was a problem with the deployment of troops.

"What we are doing is not complicated, the Fifth Cavalry Corps to lure Touman to lead the army out of the difficult terrain can be regarded as an attempt, and if the attempt fails, it is to cooperate with the First Cavalry Corps that detours from the direction of Woye to the Western Regions." Meng Tian smiled and said, "This is still Changshi's suggestion. ”

It is indeed from Zhang Liang's opinion, but everything is based on the premise of cooperating with the overall battle situation, which can be said to be a kind of confusion, and it can also be said to be a harmless tentative attempt.

Now it seems that Touman is not very happy to leave the vicinity of the source of the Yellow River, and the Hu people should have a mentality of waiting for work. Do you also want to further extend the supply line on the Han army's side as the army advances?

The routine of fighting between nomads and agrarian peoples is almost unchanged, and the Hu people always like to use high mobility to drag the agrarian people who lack cavalry, and the longer the battle line is stretched, the easier it is for the agrarian people's army to be dragged down, which depends on the lack of cavalry on one side. It is also the difference between the two sides in the choice of food.

Not to mention whether Touman has a vast and vast depth to lengthen the logistics line of the Han army, and the current era is not those congenitally deficient dynasties that have lost all the racecourses, so Touman is either dragged down by something or has a forced reason?

"General, I am afraid of change. But...... I'm also afraid that Touman will move when he hears the wind. Zhang Liang couldn't see the composure that a peerless strategist should have, on the contrary, because the situation was not as he expected, it became more than indecisive. It's even a bit of a misguide.

Meng Tian is not a time-traveler, and without the expectation of some celebrities more than 2,000 years later, he has no idea that Zhang Liang should have become a supreme strategist. However, it was precisely because he didn't know that there was no hope for Zhang Liang's plan in the first place, but it was just a harmless attempt for Zhang Liang at the right time.

The complex terrain at the source of the Yellow River has advantages and disadvantages for Touman, and the complex water system coupled with a large number of wetlands will cause the Han army to attack quite a lot of trouble, but it is also difficult for the Hu people to give full play to the advantages of cavalry.

After the Han army went north, the cavalry on all fronts played well, and the repeated battles with the Hu people rarely suffered losses, on the contrary, they were more likely to win in cavalry battles.

"For three days, Wei Han is ordered to maintain his current combat posture for three days, and if Touman continues to move after three days, we will slowly press it." Meng Tian will not regard Touman as a fool: "A total of seven days is the limit, and if it drags on, there is a risk of exposing the First Cavalry Regiment to make a detour." ”

Zhang Liang had no other better way but to fully agree with Meng Tian's caution.

It's not that the First Cavalry Legion's roundabout maneuver was detected, but what Meng Tian was referring to was that Tou Man's own actions were different from the posture that the Han army should have, which would inevitably make Tou Man have some suspicions.

Meng Tian didn't say what he wanted to say to Zhang Liang, in fact, he also realized his mistake in the battle situation, which existed since he took over the Expeditionary Legion. That mistake was that Meng Tian didn't recognize one thing, and that was related to the Han army's combat style.

The combat style of the Han army is simple and simple, and complex is complicated.

The complication lies in the importance attached to various preparations before the war, including but not limited to pre-war work such as material preparation, troop dispatch, and battlefield reconnaissance.

What is simplicity? That is, after a series of preparations have been completed, the commander in command of the army after the war is just constantly faced with a multiple-choice question, in which there is only a simple "war" or "no war".

Why did Meng Tian realize this? In fact, it is due to the various feedback of the Fifth Cavalry Legion after the battle, which is very laughable, the First Cavalry Legion is not suitable for Meng Tian's command style, and Touman's side is probably not confused.

Tou Man was indeed a little dazed, when he got the news of the Han army's advance, he was actually mentally prepared to fight a large battle, and the necessary troop mobilization also began to move.

The Han army had a mixed corps stationed on the flanks to set up a defensive line? Tou Man could understand why, it was nothing more than to consolidate the flanks, and he also made his own response, thinking that that that there was not a strategic place in a short period of time, and sent some miscellaneous Hu who had recently gathered and deployed 20,000 cavalry from the Xiu Tu Department and the Aries Department.

A cavalry corps and mixed corps of the Han army are approaching the frontal battlefield? Touman almost didn't hesitate to dispatch troops and concentrate 130,000 people to meet him, but this time the Han army didn't know what the hell was doing, the mixed army of the Han army immediately twisted its ass and retreated, and the cavalry corps of the Han army left behind was not directly killed as before.

Everything that happened was telling Tou Man that something seemed to be wrong, he thought about it, and he couldn't think of it, so he gathered all the leaders to sum up, and the answer was that there must be some conspiracy on the Han army's side, and he didn't think of it for the time being.

Or a guy reminded a little bit, saying that the main general over there has been replaced, and the new one is Meng Tian from the original Qin army, this time Touman is finally a little sudden, but suddenly there is something wrong with it, they have been entangled with the Han army for nearly two years, not only the Han army has adapted to their style of play, they have also adapted to the style of play of the Han army, and the style of play has changed for a while, and I don't know what to do!

To put it funnily, there is an inertia that has been fighting each other for so long, and the reaction in action has slowed down. It is not uncommon for the situation to arise in this situation, and it is really not uncommon in the history of orthodox warfare for the enemy and us to suddenly change their tactics, causing normal wars to stagnate and slow down...... (To be continued......)