New Shun 1730

Liu Yu was not the stallion that Galdan Tseren compared him to, but when the grass turned green in the spring of the fifteenth year of Taixing, he was really as excited as a war horse.

In the fourth month of the lunar calendar, the weather gradually warmed up, and green grass had already appeared in some places. Snow lilies squeezed out the layer of ice and snow covering it, and tried to produce yellow and white flowers.

The light cavalry, who had been holding back for a winter, began to attack in all directions, attacking tribes, capturing people, exploring roads, and mapping. Everything was busy in an orderly manner.

The herdsmen who moved to other places became the best prey for these light cavalry, and more detailed maps of the Altai Mountain Pass were also asked and sorted out from the herdsmen.

The news came from the Western Army where the emperor was, saying that the main force of Daze Lingdundub was near Luntai, and Liu Yu didn't care at all.

Whether it was acting or real, he just kept the same in the face of changes.

If there was no enemy main force, he would cross the Altai Mountains.

If there was an enemy main force, then he would fight in the field and defeat them.

Across the Altai Mountains is the Irtysh River. Along the way is not a desert, but the best alpine pasture area, so supply is not a problem.

Judging from the time of ice melting this year, it should be a warm year.

Chief of Staff Wu Fangrui hurried to Liu Yu, disturbing Liu Yu who was watching the melting of the glacier, and shouted a report and said: "Sir Liu, the light cavalry has captured a few more Junggars. It is said that Xiao Tsering Dunduobu's pastoral tent is not far away, and he has only a few thousand private soldiers around him. Part of the enemy troops on the southern foot of the Altai Mountains are on their way."

This is the fourth time that such news has been received. The group of palace soldiers from the Songhua River may not be strong in battle formation, but they are really talented in stealing chickens and dogs, catching people and raiding camps.

The Altai Mountains are also called the Golden Mountain by the Mongols, and herders here often pick up dog-head gold. A few days ago, several light cavalry robbed a Junggar outpost, robbed horses, cattle and sheep from the herders there, and even robbed a dog-head gold weighing more than four kilograms.

When the news came, these light cavalry were like crazy, swarming like locusts, full of energy.

Thinking about the "caravan" that Du Feng hid in the tree and tried to rob him, Liu Yu smiled and said, "Whoever catches him will be rewarded with silver."

"Sir, according to the art of war, we should take the initiative to attack at this time. They are gathering their forces, and we should defeat part of them before they gain a firm foothold."

Liu Yu shook his head and said, "Why rush? What about after the battle? It's not easy to cross the Altai Mountains now. Wait for another month or two until the weather warms up completely."

It's not time to send troops yet. The snow on the mountain has not melted yet. Some herdsmen said that there will be heavy snow from time to time.

This is not a desert. The mountains are covered with larch and birch, making the light cavalry recruited from the Songhua River feel like they have returned to the place where they lived since childhood.

For Liu Yu, he didn't take the Junggar army seriously. The only obstacle was the power of nature. The towering mountains in the distance really make people feel hopeless and helpless.

Wu Fangrui understood what Liu Yu meant and asked, "Sir, since it is said that Da Ce Ling Dun Duo Bu has gathered troops opposite the Western Army, whether it is true or not, we should take the opportunity to continue to build the city."

"Well, the city can be built. Let the engineers take 2,000 auxiliary soldiers and send another regiment to protect them. Go and build it. Don't worry now. When the weather is warmer and there is no problem crossing the Altai Mountains, we can talk about the rest. It's just right to ask the Junggar people to see the city building methods of professional engineers. You take the people."

Wu Fangrui was a little excited when he saw Liu Yu let him lead the troops alone, and nodded hurriedly.

The plan for where to build the city has long been made. Going forward a little means taking less distance in the future.

The strength of a regiment, plus engineers and some auxiliary soldiers, is also the appropriate number of people deduced by the General Staff.

If the Junggar army is here, it must want to eat up Liu Yu's more than 10,000 troops.

A regiment of processing troops sent forward, not counting the combat effectiveness of auxiliary troops, is enough to resist the siege of 7,000 to 8,000 Junggars. The main army is not far away, and once they support the Junggars, they can only run away.

If it is a small part of the troops, they can't fight, and they dare not fight.

If the main force of the Junggars is here, they will not expose their strategic intentions for the sake of a regiment of troops.

Liu Yu is not in a hurry. Regardless of whether the main force of the Junggars is here, he is waiting for the weather to get warmer.

Once the main force of the Junggars is here, after defeating the main force of the Junggars, they must quickly cross the Altai Mountains, chase the enemy to the north, and learn from Huo Qubing to plunder cattle and horses for supplies, and kill all the way to the heart of the Junggars.

He must ensure that he can directly cross the mountain after defeating the main force.

Instead of defeating the main force, the snow on the mountain has not melted yet, so that he can watch the remnants of the Junggars run away.

The Junggars can cross the mountain in the heavy snow at the risk of their lives. He will rely on the Qingzhou army to fight the whole game and will not take such a risk.

Wu Fangrui, who received Liu Yu's order, led the Fourth Regiment and the Engineer Corps to the designated location. The professional Engineer Corps began to command the auxiliary troops to build the city.

The main force of the regiment was on guard outside.

With professional engineers, the city was built very quickly.

When they were building the city, many eyes were staring at this newly built small fortress that was a corner of the big city.

The Qingzhou Army light cavalry, which annoyed Xiao Zeling Dunduobu, appeared and disappeared every day, and he could only lead more than a hundred people to observe the newly built city.

Looking at the city walls and edges that had already taken shape, Xiao Zeling Dunduobu's face was extremely ugly.

The siege of the Yamesh Lake Fortress was still fresh in his memory, and the feeling of despair could not be forgotten to this day.

"These Han people are very good at building cities. That Liu Yu is just like a marmot, and the soldiers under his command are also marmots. If we let them cross the Altai Mountains and build such a city, what should we do?"

Otok Zaisan, a Mongolian noble named Dalin, who was originally stationed in Almaty in the Seven Rivers Basin to defend against the Kazakhs, was also very worried.

This time, the Khan took a gamble and even transferred the soldiers stationed in Almaty to suppress the Kazakhs.

Now it seems that the concealment is very successful, and the Kazakhs are not aware of this troop transfer.

But the longer the time drags on, it is hard to say whether the Kazakhs will take the opportunity to start an uprising.

This is also a gamble for Galdan Tseren.

Once the gamble is lost, not to mention the pressure from the Dashun, the Kazakhs and Torghuts in the west will immediately pounce on them like hungry wolves.

Dalin observed the vague city construction in the distance and said, "These Han rats are very timid. They are either in the city or building the city. Are we just going to watch them build the city like this? They attacked our outposts, plundered our cattle and sheep, and many warriors died. Did our Junggar warriors die in vain? They only have a few thousand people, and the city has not been built yet. Why don't we fight them?"

Dalin wanted to say something like a coward, but he suppressed it. Everyone knew that Xiao Tsering Dunduobu was the most courageous. In front of such a brave man, he was not qualified to use the method of provoking like a coward.

Xiaoze Lingdun Duobu looked for a while and shook his head, saying, "We can't attack like this. Their light cavalry is always watching us, and our main force can't avoid these light cavalry. If our army attacks, they will run back to the big city if they can't build the city well. If they build the city well, they can defend it. They may not fight in the field, but they should be very good at defending the city."

Xiaoze Lingdun Duobu didn't have a special staff, but his years of practical experience gave him an almost intuitive judgment.

The reconnaissance distance of these annoying light cavalry is about 40 to 50 miles. If the army is dispatched, the light cavalry can't fail to discover it.

Most of these Han soldiers are infantry, and according to Xiaoze Lingdun Duobu's intuition, they can't walk fast.

The warning range of 50 miles, including the time of fierce fighting, will at least make the army leave the big city for about 200 to 300 miles.

In this way, even if the light cavalry gives early warning, they can't run back to the big city, and the army in the big city can't support before annihilation.

This time difference can be calculated by the staff.

And people like him who have fought all their lives can also know what's going on with their intuition and experience.

The army cannot be exposed.

If it is exposed on the northern front, the Han soldiers on the western front will immediately advance and go to Luntai to build a city. At that time, the head and tail will not be able to take care of each other and will inevitably perish.

"Wait, wait. Don't be impatient. Now the water and grass will be lush and our warriors don't need food. They can continue to wait. Their emperor will urge them to send troops to cross the Altai Mountains."

After giving an explanation to shut up his subordinates, Xiao Zeling Dundub continued to observe the construction of the city with the captured Russian telescope. The speed of the construction was beyond his expectations.

While watching, there was a sparse gunfire in the distance.

Dalin heard the gunfire and cursed.

"It's the Han light cavalry again. They are like wolves. These people are not easy to deal with. Their riding skills are not bad, and their muskets are better. They all carry two pistols. Let's go."

Xiao Zeling Dundub nodded, got on the horse, and left quickly without entangled with the light cavalry in the distance.

Hidden in the tent in the valley, Da Celing Dunduobu was also waiting for the arrival of a warmer summer without any hurry.

The news brought back by Xiao Celing Dunduobu made him more convinced that Liu Yu on the opposite side was a good player in building cities and advancing. There was no way to deal with such a person defending the city.

His strategy was a gamble. Once the gamble was started, the army of more than 10,000 people must be annihilated before the Western Army on the southern line could react.

Otherwise, the Western Army on the southern line would know that the main force of the Junggar tribe was in the north, and they could quickly move westward and build a city in Luntai. Once they squeezed into Luntai and built the city, and this side did not take it, then the Junggar would be in danger.

"Those Han soldiers don't leave the city, so it's hard to fight them. Their light cavalry is very skilled, just like hungry wolves, and it's hard to know where they will appear. If we want to defeat their army, we have to trick them into leaving the city at least two or three hundred miles away, otherwise it will be hard to stop them."

Little Ce Lingdun Duobu expressed his thoughts, and Big Ce Lingdun Duobu said: "Don't be impatient. It's useless for them to build a city here, they have to cross the Altai Mountains. Their emperor thought our army was in the south of the mountain, and he would urge them to cross the mountains to build a city. Besides, didn't someone get caught? That Liu Yu must know you're nearby."

The news of Big Ce Lingdun Duobu's army didn't leak out, and many people knew that Little Ce Lingdun Duobu was staying here, and the tribes here were originally his subordinates.

However, this news did not lure those people to attack, and those who built the city just built the city and herded every day, and did nothing else.

"After a few days, take some people to attack their small town. Don't let too many people die. Just attack and surround them, so that they will think you are luring them to attack. Let the Han people see at a glance that you are tricking them out of the city to chase you."

Big Celing Dundub's strategy was completely incomprehensible to Little Celing Dundub.

Tricking them out of the city was the established strategy.

But if you deliberately let them see that you want to trick them out of the city, wouldn't they be more cautious? In that case, wouldn't it be even more impossible to leave the city?

Faced with doubts, Dace Lingdun Dobu smiled and said: "Let them see that you are luring them out of the city, and they will leave the city. Don't you think they don't want to come out of the city to attack your pasture now?"

"It's just that they are not sure how many of our people are in the south of the mountain and how many are in the north of the mountain, so they are cautious."

"If you make a move that lets them see that you are deceiving them, they will think that you don't have many soldiers, and you are just deliberately making such a move to prevent them from leaving the city. Instead, they will go out of the city to pursue you."

"In Han Chinese art of war, this is called bluffing. The more you bluff, the more they think you don't have many soldiers."

Xiaoce Lingdunduobu still didn't understand.

Da Ce Lingdun Duobu's idea was right. Da Shun's strategy was to advance from the north to the south, cutting off the beginning and ending. Restrictions on the supply line meant that each advancing army could only muster 10,000 to 20,000 troops.

If the main force of the quasi-force is in the south, then advance to the north; vice versa.

It is necessary to build cities and cultivate settlements at several key points to squeeze the pastures of the general area. At least that seems to be such a strategy now.

In terms of the art of war, take the initiative to attack when the enemy's assembly is not completed, and defeat one part of the enemy, so that you can seize the strategic initiative. It would be unwise to wait until the enemy has assembled before attacking.

The strategy of the great strategist Ling Dun Dobu is to make the small strategist Ling Dun Dobu adopt a "bluffing" attitude. Liu Yu was convinced that Xiao Ce Lingdun Duobu was just bluffing, so he set up a suspicious formation, but in fact he didn't have many soldiers at all.

Let the Han soldiers think that the main force of the quasi-unit is on the southern front.

If you want to climb the mountain, you must deal with Xiaoce Lingdunduobu who is in the north of the mountain.

Because in his opinion, the Han army's strategy is very clear: if this side is the main force, then build the city and hold it back; but if it is not the main force, it should first attack Xiao Ce Lingdun Duobu's pastoral tent to lift the North Route Army's overthrow. After the threat from the mountains, they built a city and defended it along the Irtysh River.

After finally explaining the strategy clearly, Xiaoce Lingdunduobu also understood the key and asked: "If they are cowards and just don't dare to come out, wouldn't it make them even more afraid? They may even think that Our main force is here, what should we do if we march on the southern front?"

Dace Lingdun Dobu sighed and said: "Can everything about the war be expected? Now we have even recruited the troops to suppress Kazakhstan. It was originally a gamble. If they knew everything, now The southern front will advance to build the city, and we will lose. Now the southern front can still deceive them and make them afraid to attack and build the city for the time being. This is our opportunity. "

"Go ahead, no matter what, you have to give it a try. Nothing can be predicted in a war. Don't bring too many soldiers and horses, just six or seven thousand people. People in small towns don't dare to chase, they will Waiting for people in big cities.”

"As long as the people in the big city leave the city and go two to three hundred miles, we can try to surround them. As long as they are defeated, we can bypass those cities, plunder the Khalkha people, and attack their Station."