In Hongwu, we started as rebels

Chapter 697 Ming Dynasty Military Strategy in the Jurchen Camp
The three of them crawled through the snow.
Their movements were zigzagging and twisting, avoiding the layers of hidden sentries surrounding the camp.

Qin Yuanfang quickly realized something was wrong with the camp in front of him; there were far too many hidden sentries.

His previous experience told him that

The camp of over a thousand people had only one hidden sentry post in one direction.
It was also patrolled by more than ten cavalrymen, with plenty of gaps to slip through.

If they wished, they could even breach the camp silently without alerting the sentries.

But now, this camp in front of us is different in every way.

At least three hidden sentries have already been discovered.

Moreover, the patrolling cavalry has increased from one large squadron to three squadrons, and their level of elite troops is significantly different.

At least in Qin Yuanfang's view, these patrolling soldiers were all fully armored.
Even the leading centurion was wearing iron armor.

"Hiss, looks like we've run into something big."

Qin Yuanfang, who was lying on the ground, gasped and a look of interest appeared in his eyes.

He quickly changed the battle orders:

"Surround the sentry post and sneak up to investigate."

"Yes"

The two people beside them quickly responded, while spreading the three of them out as much as possible.

In this way, even if one of them is discovered,

The other two will also be unharmed.

This can be considered a strategy that minimizes losses.

So the three of them crawled through the snow in different directions toward the camp.

Qin Yuanfang was the fastest; his ears twitched incessantly.
Collecting voices from all directions,
Even the slightest sound cannot escape his ears.

He quickly climbed to the base of a large tree and slowed down to a minimum.

If I heard correctly, there are two hidden sentries in the tree.
One of them was breathing evenly and even snoring occasionally, so he must have been resting.

This discovery greatly shocked Qin Yuanfang.

When did the Jurchens acquire such a disciplined ability?

The two men formed a secret sentry, monitoring the area continuously for twelve hours a day – this was clearly a Ming army setup!

Qin Yuanfang couldn't understand it, but he didn't stop what he was doing.
Instead, it climbed towards a dense thicket of bushes.

If you ignore the thick snow on the ground, the bushes could be half a person tall.

Qin Yuanfang breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the bushes.
The Jurchens were nothing special.
Because when the Ming army set up camp, all the weeds and trees that could provide shelter were cut down.
This is to prevent anyone from sneaking in.

Filled with mixed emotions and wild thoughts,
Qin Yuanfang quickly passed the last sentry post and arrived at the edge of the camp!
He was half-hidden in the grass, with the other half exposed.
He took a strangely shaped telescope from his waist and passed it through the gap in the wooden stake.

Qin Yuanfang's pupils contracted sharply upon seeing this, and his body trembled in fright.
Just because a Jurchen was squatting right in front of them,

The long sword at his waist almost touched the telescope.
"That was close."

Qin Yuanfang was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

They've been discovered all the way here, but if they were discovered at the safest point, that would be truly disastrous.

He carefully pulled the telescope back.

Slowly moving forward, preparing to change position, while pondering...

Jurchens were guarding the edge of the camp, and this camp was indeed different.

Soon, Qin Yuanfang peered inside with the telescope.

This time he found a good place.

After the telescope passes through, it will be right between two tents, providing the best view of the camp.

Qin Yuanfang watched, and the more he looked, the more solemn his expression became.

The Jurchen camp before them was remarkable, both in its military layout and the arrangement of its personnel.

Even during breaks in his patrol, he felt a sense of familiarity.

Aren't these Ming soldiers?

Especially the campfire two zhang away from the tent,
He had personally handled this many times; he knew exactly how far it was with his eyes closed!
After careful examination, they were indeed Jurchens.

Especially her dry, red face, and the numerous deep furrows on it.

"Strange...really strange," Qin Yuanfang thought to himself. "Did he steal my skills?"

After carefully observing and recording, he quietly withdrew.
Retreat with even greater care than advance.

Two hours later, Qin Yuanfang led a ten-man squad back to a Jurchen camp.

This place was originally where 1,500 people were stationed.
Now it has been usurped by the former army's scout unit.

They also discovered that the Jurchens seemed to have no intention of turning back, nor had they sent messengers to the rear.
This resulted in them breaching countless fortified villages along their journey.

However, the Jurchens who left the camp were unaware that their homeland had been destroyed.

Qin Yuanfang hurriedly entered the camp.
While taking off her clothes, she also disassembled her backpack.
Two soldiers followed beside him, constantly taking the things he handed them.

When Qin Yuanfang arrived at the army's main tent,
He was left only with his black armor.

Before long, he met Lu Yunyi and the others in the central command tent.
They were gathered around a huge sand table.

The sand table is no longer limited to the Liaodong region as it used to be.

Instead, the Three Guards of Duoyan and the land of Daning have been newly added, with red dots scattered densely across them.

Hearing footsteps, Lu Yunyi glanced over casually.
Upon seeing Qin Yuanfang approaching in a hurry, a smile immediately bloomed on his face:

"Yuanfang is back, how is it?"

"Sir, something is wrong."

Qin Yuanfang didn't stand on ceremony and quickly recounted the search that had just taken place, while also handing over a document to the clerk for copying.

After he finished speaking, Yao Tongchen had already taken six documents and distributed them to the generals present.

A moment of silence fell over the scene, and everyone frowned.

Lu Yunyi casually glanced through the camp layout and the places resembling Ming soldiers, his eyes filled with an inscrutable expression:
"Has he started studying military strategy?"

Wu Fuliu spoke in a deep voice:
"Sir, the camp before us has a large number of people."
Judging from the arrangement and the spaces between the tents, there were at least three thousand men.

Moreover, their elite troops were even more elite than those who had marched all the way from Haramulin.

This time, we need to be careful.
"It would be better to gather our troops and join forces to break through the camp."

Lu Yunyi nodded:
"We're almost at Liaodong, it's time to join forces."

Once the other scout teams return and confirm that this is the only military camp blocking their path, then they will join forces.

Hearing this, many people breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Huai'an breathed a long sigh of relief.

As the commander-in-chief, the pressure he felt along the way was immense.

However, he himself can feel the growth!

Lu Yunyi took a red chess piece and placed it on the sand table.

He looked at her thoughtfully and said in a deep voice:

"Judging from the current battle deployment, the Jurchens have mobilized at least 50,000 troops for this battle."
It may be divided into three combat zones: left, center, and right.

The Jurchens on the left side of Liaodong have now been completely wiped out by us; their numbers were approximately 20,000.

but"

Lu Yunyi changed the subject, his face showing doubt.

"Twenty thousand people disappeared without a trace, and the Jurchens at the front line seemed unaware of it."

This indicates that the troops in the three locations did not establish a corresponding coordination mechanism, but instead fought independently.

The Jurchens on the left were mostly Haixi Jurchens.

This general has reason to suspect that the Jurchens in the other two directions are the Jianzhou Jurchens and the Wild Jurchens.

Wu Fuliu frowned upon hearing this and said softly:
"My lord, the Jianzhou Jurchens have always been caught between Liaodong and Goryeo, facing enemies on both sides."

I think it's somewhat impossible to send elite troops to northeastern Liaodong.
In addition, very few of the Jurchen tribes were capable of fighting; most were just a motley crew.

If the three directions represent three different forces...

The Jurchen people may not necessarily be able to occupy one side of the group.

My subordinates are more inclined to believe that the Jurchen people are distributed among the three forces.
They served as auxiliary troops, or as a vanguard sent to their deaths.

"Yes, this guess has some basis."

Lu Yunyi turned to Yao Tongchen and instructed him:

"Order all staff officers to combine the distribution of local forces with the information collected to deduce the enemy's combat level and composition."

"Yes!" Yao Tongchen said as he wrote. After he finished speaking, Lu Yunyi looked up at the generals in front of him and gave the order in a deep voice:

"Once all the scouts have returned and their reports have been compiled, the battle order will be issued."

Now all units have returned to their camps to reorganize their soldiers and maintain their weapons.

The upcoming battles will be much more difficult than the previous ones.
We must not let our guard down, nor be complacent because of previous victories!

Li Guangyuan and Zhang Huai'an both noticed the gazes moving across their faces.
Knowing that these words were meant for them,
Therefore, when they answer "yes," their voices are the loudest!
After everyone in the room had left, Lu Yunyi stood in front of the sand table for a long time without saying a word.

After a long silence, he spoke in a deep voice:
"Give Tuoluhuchar a military order, commanding him to depart from his unit, head south, and follow the route we came from."

Keep a distance of ten miles and do not initiate contact with us.

This matter must be handled in secrecy; no one may disclose it.

Yao Tongchen pursed his lips:
"Yes!"

At noon the following day, a muffled groan echoed simultaneously from the outer camps of the Jurchen people.
Soldiers fell from the trees one by one.

The previously perfectly calm snow surface suddenly began to move.
The two men emerged from the snow and began searching their bodies.
Before long, at the signal of the two,
The group behind them emerged from the snow and steadily advanced eastward.

In less than half an hour, the thirteen pre-recorded sentry posts were eliminated.
Two other newly discovered hidden sentry posts were not in the trees, but in the snow.

Like the Ming army, they dug a pit and hid inside.
At the same time, wooden planks were placed above the pit.
After the heavy snow fell, there was no sign of anything unusual.

This made most of the people who followed become much more wary.

Judging from all the encounters along the way, the Jurchen camp in front of us is truly elite!

However, the forward scouts did not change their tactics.

Faced with absolute elite forces and standard equipment,

Such superficial tactics, which merely imitate others, are not worth mentioning.

Soon, the group of over a hundred people reached the fence on the east side of the camp.

The leader was Han Junyan, a centurion. He was the son of Han Xun, the Marquis of Dongping, and had joined the vanguard scout unit for training while in the capital.

He had dark skin and a resolute face.

After nearly three months of long journeys and battlefield battles,

This allowed him to become completely familiar with the battlefield.
There was no apprehension in his eyes, only composure.

It wasn't that he was exceptionally talented, but rather that the forward scout unit truly had rigorous training.

The sons of nobles received preferential treatment, but on the battlefield they were treated like livestock.

Han Junyan took a deep breath, said nothing, and simply waved his hand:
"Place the gunpowder!"

A group of over a hundred soldiers simultaneously raised their heads from the snow.
The prepared gunpowder packets were neatly fixed to the fence of the camp.

After doing all this, Han Junyan waved his hand again:

"Retreat fifty paces."

Everyone crawled back fifty paces.

Once they were far from the camp, they crouched down neatly and quickly moved away.

Han Junyan took the large bow and the oil-soaked arrows from the soldiers who were there to meet him.
He crouched on the snow, trying to catch his breath from the exertion of his journey.

Thirty soldiers stood in a row beside him, dressed in snow-white camouflage uniforms.
Holding the snow-white bow, he half-squatted to recover his strength and calm his breathing.

Han Junyan, sensing his own condition, said softly:
"Launching a salvo of rockets in 15 minutes to detonate the gunpowder!"

"Yes!"

"The announcement will be followed by a large number of horseback and foot riders, which can close the distance to 400 paces!"

"Yes!"

"Notify the surrounding scouts that the gunpowder can be detonated in fifteen minutes to destroy and distract the enemy!"

"Yes!"

Military orders were issued one by one, and everyone listened silently, their eyes fixed on the tall camp.

The initial excitement had long been overshadowed by the thrill of repeatedly breaching the stronghold.

Now they only have one feeling: let nature take its course.

Inside the Jurchen camp, Centurion Huibu Rigude was leading more than ten soldiers on patrol on the east side of the camp.

His leather armor, wrapped in a cotton coat, kept him very warm.
But at that moment he was flipping through the parchment scroll in his hand,

It lists many precautions for patrolling.

This also caused his hands to be very cold, with his knuckles turning bright red from the cold.

He would occasionally put his palm in front of his mouth and breathe on it, which would produce a thick white mist.

"During patrols, always pay attention to the outer fence of the camp."

When the camp gates are strong enough
What was not as sturdy as the gate of a camp became the gate itself.

Instead of going to great lengths to break down the gate,
"It would be better to make an opening in the fence, pour in through, and attack the enemy where they are unprepared."

Burigude stared at the text above, his mind filled with questions.

Although he had engaged in trade with the Ming people and could understand their official language,
But he didn't understand why the fence had turned into a door. Was it magic?
As he walked, Burigude kept glancing to the west.

Passing past rows of well-spaced camps, you can see neatly woven fences.

Although there are some gaps
But compared to their past selves, they look much more beautiful now.

"The fence is well done."

He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, and some people behind him also turned their gazes over, nodding and smiling.

"It does look much better."

When someone offered praise, Burigud's face immediately turned cold:
"You can't talk while on patrol, and you can't be distracted."

The people behind quickly turned their heads back to look ahead.
When Burigud saw their action, he smiled and nodded, clearly very satisfied with his power.

"Huh? What is this?"

It didn't snow today, and there was some sparse sunshine.
Light shone evenly through the gaps in the fence.

But his view was blocked by some evenly spaced objects.
He calculated that roughly half a person's worth of sunlight was blocked.
He kept counting, but he couldn't count past fifteen because that was the only number he could count to.

"You guys continue patrolling, I'll go check it out."

Burigude left a message and walked towards the fence, quickly arriving at its edge.

He also saw things that blocked the sunlight.

Something about half an arm's length and the width of a palm was wrapped in oiled paper.

"what is this?"

He moved closer, trying to peek through the gap with his fingers.
But the relatively tight gap prevented him from moving.

Burigude cursed under his breath, "The old camp was much better."

Having no other option, he could only walk further away and peer at it sideways, hoping to get a full view of the object.

But when he looked out, he was immediately stunned.

"What's that?"

Not far in sight, there were also neatly arranged "things".
The difference is that those things are red, like burning flames!
He squinted, trying to see more clearly.

The next moment, his pupils suddenly contracted; he saw... a person!
One person after another stood on the snow.

That red color wasn't anything strange.
Instead, they were flames burning on each arrow!
"enemy--"

His voice abruptly stopped as fifty red dots shot into the sky.

It drew a graceful arc under the dark clouds and shot straight toward him.

His pupils followed the red dot as it gradually expanded.

Finally, with a loud "boom,"
Burigud felt that the fence in front of him had returned to its old appearance, with gaps wide enough to stretch out an arm.
Then the gap continued to widen, until a head could stick out.

Then, Burigud felt himself flying.
He climbed higher and higher, until finally he could clearly see the entire eastern side of the camp.
They also saw the sparks from the explosions around the camp and the empty "gate".

Upon seeing this scene, he immediately understood: fences really can turn into doors.
The next moment, darkness engulfed Burigud's consciousness.

With a "smack," Burigud's head flew to the west side of the camp.

It rolled on the ground and came to the feet of the two soldiers on duty.

Their eyes widened as they wiped the drops of blood from their faces.
Then, a strange thing happened.

The attack occurred in the eastern camp, where there was widespread shock.
The western camp, which remained unscathed, was the first to shout:
"Enemy attack——"

"Enemy attack——"

The drumbeats intensified, and the soldiers on duty rushed toward the western camp!

(End of this chapter)