Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 74: Marching and deploying troops, fighting on the chessboard! (Please read on)

Kang Maocai walked back and forth in the hall, and finally stood in front of the map for a while.

Bao Yu stood aside, waiting for Kang Maocai to think. He could provide suggestions on when to attack and who to attack, but as a scholar, he was not sure how to attack specifically. In the end, Kang Maocai had to make the final decision.

Just like the last ambush on Zhao Pusheng, Bao Yu was responsible for providing the timing and target, while Kang Maocai made the decision on the specific implementation.

After waiting for a long while, Kang Mao finally spoke.

"Lu Jin has too many troops. There are thousands or even tens of thousands of them in Chao County alone. It's hard for us to break through. We have to lure him to split his forces."

He turned his head to look at Bao Yu, and said seriously, "We must also increase our own troops, at least to gather 10,000 soldiers."

"Ten thousand? Can we mobilize so many soldiers? We also have to defend Heyang!" Bao Yu couldn't help but remind.

This is a little different from what Lu Jin imagined. Don't get carried away.
Kang Maocai said, "We already have 7,000 soldiers in the city, and this time we have transferred 2,000 from Taiping Prefecture, which makes 9,000.

"There are 4,000 naval forces in the nearby Hezhou Port. We don't need that many naval forces. We only need to leave 1,000 naval forces to guard the ships in the port and transfer 2,000 naval forces to guard the city. Heyang City is not big, so 2,000 people are enough to defend it.

"This way, the remaining 1,000 naval forces can go ashore and join the main army. Nine thousand plus one thousand will make up more than 10,000 people."

Bao Yu's scalp tingled when he heard this. The last time they ambushed Zhao Pusheng, they only sent out 6,000 men and left 1,000 men in the city to guard it.

Based on Bao Yu's intelligence, Lu Jin predicted that Kang Maocai would transfer troops from Jiangnan. He also "estimated the enemy's strength", thinking that Kang Maocai could only gather 7,000 to 8,000 troops to defend the city. Unexpectedly, this was still not enough.

Kang Maocai suddenly assembled tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, which suddenly added two or three thousand troops. This shattered Lu Jin's advance estimate.

Bao Yu suddenly became anxious.

He pretended nothing happened and asked Kang Maocai again.

"What is the plan of the envoy's plan to lure the enemy into splitting their forces?"

Kang Maocai pointed to the map and said.

"Currently, Chao County is guarded by a land force of only a few thousand people, while the Chaohu navy is larger in number and accounts for the majority.

"How can we defeat a small county like Chao County, which has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses?

"So I plan to send a detachment of troops from the Ruxu River to attack Chaohu upstream. With just a feint attack, we can tie down most of Chao County's navy. This way, there will only be a few thousand land troops left in Chao County, and it will be easier for us to take action."

Good fellow, he even wants to trick the Marshal into dividing his forces.
Bao Yu could not help but remind him again, "Sir, Lu Jin will never let the navy and land forces stay in Chao County. It is not only unaffordable to keep tens of thousands of troops in a small city, but also a waste of manpower. He will definitely divide his troops and even mobilize most of them to attack other states and counties.

"Now that the Luzhou bandits are full of ambition, how can they resist attacking the prefectures and counties? You don't need to use the navy to lure him to split his forces, otherwise it will alert the enemy.

"Taking the initiative to lure his navy away and weaken Chao County's defenses, isn't this telling him that we want to attack Chao County?"

Kang Maocai was shocked and hesitated when he heard this, because what Bao Yu said made sense. Using the Yuan army's navy to contain the Chaohu navy could indeed tie up some troops, but his own combat intentions would also be exposed.

"Yuxiu's words make sense, thanks to you for checking and filling in the gaps for me, otherwise I would have almost made a big mistake!
"But what if Lu Jin doesn't send troops to Chao County? Or what if he wants to wait until after the wedding to attack other counties? Wouldn't that be a waste of the opportunity? Moreover, Chao County is adjacent to Heyang. What if he is worried about my attack and keeps a large number of troops to confront me?

"We can't just sit there passively waiting for the enemy to reveal their weakness!"

Kang Maocai started to worry again.

Bao Yu hurriedly comforted him, "Your Excellency, you can be at ease. Anyway, there are still a few days before the wedding of the Luzhou bandit. It is better to wait and see. If he divides his troops, that would be the best. If he does not, then it will not be too late to use the navy to contain him."

"Alas, this is the only way." Kang Maocai sighed.

After leaving the Xuanwei Envoy's Office, Bao Yu returned to his residence and hurriedly wrote down the latest deployment of the Yuan army and Kang Maocai's combat intentions in the form of intelligence, intending to send it to Lu Jin.

But his servant who was responsible for delivering intelligence had just delivered a piece of intelligence, and it would take at least three or four days to go back and forth. By the time this intelligence was delivered back, would Lu Jin still have time to adjust his deployment?
As a high-level spy lurking within the enemy, Bao Yu felt for the first time that the mole should be assigned a special intelligence team to serve him.

Thinking of this, he wrote another letter, in which he wrote about what support he needed and the ideas of the intelligence team, and wanted to send it to Lu Jin together with this intelligence.

At the same time, in the Marshal's Mansion in Luzhou City, Lu Jin asked a tailor to make wedding clothes for him and temporarily refused to meet him.

A small black-sailed boat went upstream from Chaohu Lake, passed through the water gate on the east side of Luzhou City, and followed the Jindou River that ran through the city until it stopped near the Marshal's Mansion.

Not long after, Lu Jin changed his clothes and, under the protection of the guards, boarded the small boat inconspicuously, got into the cabin of the black-sailed boat, left the city from the west gate, turned around along the Fei River, and headed straight for Chaohu Lake.

On a large boat deep in Chaohu Lake, Liao Yongjian, Liao Yongan, Yu Tonghai, Zhao Zhongzhong, Hua Gao, Zhang Desheng, Yin Congdao, and even the newcomer Jin Chaoxing were all waiting for Lu Jin to arrive.

When Lu Jin's boat docked, the guards went on first, followed by Lu Jin who jumped onto the big boat. A group of military officers immediately knelt on one knee to greet him.

"See the Marshal!"

"We are all brothers, no need to be polite."

Lu Jin hurriedly helped the brothers Liao Yongjian and Liao Yongan up, and then went out of his way to help Jin Chaoxing, whom he had not met yet, and pulled him aside to talk.

"Captain Jin has made great contributions in breaking the city this time. Although Qin Zhubu interfered, I know your contribution. You are bold and careful, brave and resourceful. If you perform well, you will be able to take charge in the future."

Jin Chaoxing was deeply moved when he heard this. He thought that since Qin Li had offered the city, Lu Jin would not acknowledge his contribution. Unexpectedly, after Lu Jin arrived, even the old general from Chaohu did not have time to speak, but came up to affirm his contribution. Jin Chaoxing was so excited that he bowed to Lu Jin again.

"Thank you for your appreciation, Marshal. I will definitely live up to your expectations!"

Lu Jin helped him up again, patted his shoulder and encouraged him, "Work hard, you will have another chance to make merit soon."

"Yes!"

"Marshal, are we going to fight again?" Yu Tonghai, Lu Jin's little fanboy, hadn't seen Lu Jin for almost a month. He was very happy to see Lu Jin and asked.

"Of course, I came here this time to give you combat orders. All the generals have their own tasks, so you all need to be alert. This time we must annihilate Kang Maocai's main force and achieve our goal in one battle!"

"Yes!" All the generals shouted excitedly.

Lu Jin pressed his hand and immediately asked Liao Yongjian.

"Brother Yongjian, Kang Maocai is in the water fort of Ruxu River, and there is also a naval detachment. What has happened recently?"

Liao Yongjian was stunned when he heard this. He was the commander-in-chief of the navy. He must have paid attention to the estuary of the river in the lower reaches of Chaohu Lake. After all, Chaohu Lake was the Chaohu Lake of the Chaohu Navy. If the government army and navy also poured in, there would be two forces in Chaohu Lake, and it would be difficult for them to survive in Chaohu Lake.

Liao Yongjian immediately shook his head and said, "There has been no movement on the Ruxu River recently. Since we attacked the water stronghold at night before killing Zuo Junbi and burned a few of their boats, they have been staying indoors.

"They've already begged us not to fight, how dare they come upstream on their own initiative?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately frowned and said.

"Brother Yongjian, you are too proud and careless!"

Liao Yongjian immediately understood what Lu Jin meant and asked seriously, "Does the Marshal think they are attacking from Chaohu Lake with the navy?"

Lu Jin nodded, "It may not be an attack, it may just be a feint. The purpose is of course to tie down the main force of the navy and lure you out of Chao County."

Liao Yongjian immediately understood that the navy was only a part of the battle between Kang Maocai and Lu Jin. Both sides were making arrangements and it depended on whose tactics were better.

He immediately asked, "Should we take advantage of their trick and cooperate with them?"

Lu Jin shook his head and said, "I don't have that many troops to play along with him. I must concentrate every bit of strength I can. But the enemy is here, so we can't be afraid. If I don't let his navy survive, I'm not Lu Jin!

"Drive seven stakes in the Ruxu River for me. I will block all his boats from coming aboard. Then I will burn down the coalition camp!"

There is one more chapter today

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(End of this chapter)