The area of ​​the Korqin Grassland is more than 40,000 square kilometers! And this is not the entire battlefield. One of the Qianli Pine Forests and Yelai Mountain (Daxinganling) needs to be added. I am afraid that more than 670,000 square kilometers will be added!

Such a large battlefield is not boundless when there are planes and satellites in later generations.

But now it is an era when scouts and horses rely on remote stops to reconnaise. It is basically impossible to use scouts and horses to cover tens of thousands of square kilometers of battlefields, and to timely summarize information to their respective command centers.

Moreover, both sides are armies on horseback, and no one is short of scouts or horses. When the northern horseback nation is moving on the open battlefield, it does not spread a small number of scouts and horses, but will spread one-third or one-quarter of the troops to ensure a large enough battlefield coverage. This is conducive to searching for the enemy and covering oneself.

If you have a little more vivid image, this style of play is a bit like the aircraft carrier war during the Pacific War, and search and concealment are very important tactics.

For cavalry marching on four legs, the vast grassland is the same as the Pacific Ocean where the US and Japanese aircraft carriers travel.

If you can’t find an opponent, you are busy working hard. If you let the opponent find it first, you have to be worried!

The grassland is accessible everywhere, but it is no better than the Central Plains or Jiangnan where mountains, rivers, rivers and muddy fields block the grassland. On the grassland, the enemy will rush over from all directions!

Therefore, the best defense is not to list a strict formation and be ready to enter the battle at any time, but to hide yourself with a shielding circle composed of a distant stopper horse so that the enemy's scouts cannot get close to it.

Only by letting the enemy not discover it can we achieve true foolproof.

Similarly, only by discovering the enemy's position and situation as soon as possible can we not fight a battle without confidence.

Therefore, after the Dongliao Left Army commanded by Wu Yixin crossed the Huanghe River and entered the war zone, it did not advance towards Linhuang Mansion in a vast way.

It is very unprofessional to march and fight on the grassland because the battlefield is too large and there are no dangerous mountains and rivers that can restrict the movement of the army. The water level of the Huang River is not deep and the water flow is not fast, so it is not a natural barrier.

If Wu Yixin accidentally hides himself and does not search for enemies seriously, it is very likely that he will catch him off guard.

Although Wu Haogu's son was only a young man in his twenties and had only a major in the Zhou army (it was promoted by the Wanhu, the agent of the Dongliao Army), he was familiar with the principles of grassland combat. Moreover, Wu Jie and Xiao Teuden (a cousin of Empress Dowager Xiao, who also studied in the Cavalry Academy) were both officers who had been practicing on the Korqin grassland for many years, so of course they would not make any low-level mistakes.

Therefore, the Dongliao Left Army used the protection of the night to quietly cross the Huanghe River on the first day of July 19, 2018. Then the army did not stop at all, and marched for more than a hundred miles, entering a hexagonal castle called Baoyiguan built last year when Xiao Sesse led his army north.

This basin is only more than 100 miles away from Linhuang Prefecture City. There are Jin army fortresses in front and thirty or forty miles away - not brink of the basin, but ordinary fortresses used to monitor Baoyi Pavilion.

While crossing the Huanghe River, Wu Yixin, Wu Jie and Xiao Teqin sent 6,000 cavalry as far-blocking horses and spread them on the grasslands 50 miles north and south and 100 miles east and west. A squadron of 0 to 50 cavalry fought with the Jin people's scout cavalry.

Later, when the troops entered Baoyi Pavilion, they also sent offensive troops composed of cavalry, dismounted cavalry and artillery to clear the nearby Jin soldiers' strongholds one by one.

In other words, Wu Yixin is preparing to turn the surrounding 5,000 square kilometers of grassland into a battlefield where he can fully master it.

After controlling this battlefield, the bleak army of the Empress Dowager Dongliao would arrive with enough supplies and artillery. Then plan the next action...

In Linhuang Prefecture City, more than 100 miles north of Baoyi Hall, the Jin Dynasty's Tokyo stayed behind, and the deputy governor Wanyan Xie also knew that at this time, the major shareholder Liao troops had arrived at Baoyi Hall.

But he didn't know how many "big stocks" were? There were 3,500,000 or 50,000 or 50,000 or 50,000 or striking stocks. He didn't know about how many people there were.

"Live behind, our son has suffered a lot of losses. There have been more than 500 people these days, and six fortresses have been broken by them! This is not a solution!"

Xieye's deputy was Aguda's second son Wanyan Zongwang. In history, he was the one who broke the Kaifeng Prefecture City and arrested Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan to the Five Kingdoms Department to watch the snow.

But now, Wanyan Zongwang was stumped by a low hexagonal bastion.

This hexagonal castle, which doesn't look very strong, only requires more than a dozen artillery pieces and 1,000 soldiers to be firmly guarded.

Even if the Jurchens are determined to pay 10 times the loss, they may not be able to overcome it.

Anyway, the tug-of-war on the Korqin grassland has been fought until now, only Xiao Sesse broke the large and medium-sized fortresses of the Jin army, and no Dongliao bastion has ever been broken.

This fortress, which only requires 1,000 people, covers a large area and can store a large amount of supplies and stuff tens of thousands of people into it.

This made the Dongliao able to station a large number of troops in the bastion, and it was difficult for the Jurchens to investigate.

There is no way to find out the enemy situation. How to fight this battle? Who knows whether Xiao Sesse or Wu Haogu is coming? The support of Zhou State for Dongliao is obvious, and they may come to the battlefield in person!

Wanyan Xie also knew that his nephew could fight, so he asked him, "Wu Libu, what do you think you should do?"

"Either bring the troops into Linhuang Prefecture City and hold on to the rescue." Wanyan Zongwang touched his thick beard, "Or give me ten thousand people and I'll go and test it."

The reduction of troops was to avoid unnecessary losses. Now half of Wanyan Xie's troops were scattered among dozens of fortresses. Every time he lost a fortress, he would lose hundreds of people.

If the Eastern Liao army had no artillery, he would not be afraid. The names of hundreds of Jurchens could be exchanged for at least four or five hundred Khitan thieves' lives.

But now they have cannons! They can easily knock down the fortress and knock the defenders to run away with their heads.

However, Xi cannot easily give up all the fortresses and only guard one of Linhuang Mansions.

Because in this way, the Jin army did not have enough support points to cover the scouts, and they would block the horses from far away, and the scope of reconnaissance and search would be greatly reduced, leaving only the surrounding area of ​​Linhuang Mansion.

Moreover, the fortresses abandoned by the Jin soldiers will be restored and occupied by the Dongliao Army. At that time, the Dongliao Army will be able to use these forts to deploy far-distance horses to block the surrounding areas of Linhuang Mansion, and finally turn the Jin soldiers in the Linhuang Mansion into blind and deaf people.

If tens of thousands of opponents come, it is fine if the Jin soldiers of Linhuang Mansion shrink. Linhuang Mansion is a strong city, and if there are enough defenders, it will be difficult for the Eastern Liao army to break through.

It is completely possible to make the enemy's troops stand firm under the city. When the teacher's veteran is exhausted, he will work with the main force led by Aguda to fight inside and outside to annihilate it.

But if the Eastern Liao army had only a few thousand or ten thousand people, the Jin soldiers in Linhuang Mansion would be doing stupid things if they blindly contracted.

Because the mission of the Jin soldiers in Linhuang Prefecture, in addition to defending the Linhuang Prefecture stronghold, it is to search the Korqin grassland. If you give up the mission of searching for the grassland, the Jin soldiers, even the approximate number of the Eastern Liao army, do not know. How do you fight Aguda?

"Give you eight thousand people," Wanyan Xie also thought, "but don't go to the Baoyi Pavilion."

"I know," Wanyan Zongwang smiled, "I have to lie down during the day and walk at night, kill chickens! It will make Liao dogs unable to figure out the situation. As long as they can pull out their large troops, fight one battle, and grab more tongues, you can find out the situation."

Interrogating prisoners is an important way to find out the enemy situation, but the scouts of the Eastern Liao Army may not necessarily set out at the same time as the army. They may not necessarily know the location and specific situation of the main force, and there is not much information they can ask after they catch them.

Therefore, a battle of thousands or even ten thousand people is undoubtedly the best way to find out the enemy situation.

Xi nodded and said, "If possible, lead the Liao Dog to the vicinity of the Qianli Pine Forest."

"Okay, I understand!"

...

The main body of the Qianli Pine Forest is called the Pingdi Forest, which is located on the flat ground between Yelai Mountain (Daxinganling Mountains) and Yanshan Mountains and on the west side. If you include Yelin Mountain, part of the forest on the Yanshan Mountains is the Qianli Pine Forest, which is really an endless forest. To the west of the forest, there is the vast Bashang Grassland. To the east is the Korqin Grassland.

If the Dongliao's current advantage lies in the Korqin grassland, then the Jin Kingdom undoubtedly has the advantage in the Qianli pine forest.

Because the Jurchens were originally fishing and hunting people in the mountains and forests, when it comes to hunting and drilling old forests, how could the half-agricultural and semi-animal Husbandry Khitans be their opponents?

Therefore, in the years-long Korqin tug-of-war, Qianli Pine Forest and Yelaishan were always home to the Jurchens. The unlucky King of Eastern Liao Yelu Aoluo has been guarding the southern part of Qianli Pine Forest in recent years to prevent the Jin soldiers from raiding Dading Prefecture through the pine forest.

However, the central and northern parts of the Qianli Pine Forest are basically the world of Jin soldiers, and it is difficult for the scouts of the Eastern Liao Army to enter, let alone establish strongholds in the pine forest.

As early as after the Second Linhuangfu Battle, the Jin Kingdom began to build a city where soldiers could be stationed on the hillside of Yelai Mountain on the western foot of Yelai Mountain.

This is a huge wooden fort made of local materials and made of the most common pine wood in the Thousand Mile Pine Forest. It occupies a large hillside, which is enough to accommodate all Aguda's army. The wooden fort stores a large amount of grain and supplies, which is enough for Aguda's army to eat for more than half a year.

Moreover, the location of Yelai Mountain City has always been a secret. Dongliao did not know that such a mountain city existed. Even if they knew, they could do nothing. The Khitans did not dare to go deep into the boundless forest.
Chapter completed!