Chapter 250 Guerrilla Warfare Practitioner

Yesterday’s battle seemed to be happening right before our eyes.

Jin Mao had to review his own mistakes, but he did not do so in front of the generals.

He was no longer the same person he used to be, and gradually he acquired the dignity of a ruler.

The big meeting room.

Xun You is reporting the losses and gains of this battle.

Although both sides stopped fighting at the last moment, overall, Jinmao was still better.

At least he is the only one who dares to pick up loose pieces and steal corpses on the battlefield!

"Captain Ling Cao of the first battalion paid close attention to the unconsciousness. Only 437 of the 4,000 soldiers survived, all of them spearmen. 1,523 were seriously injured, and 2,040 were killed."

This was the battle with the heaviest losses in the history of the First Battalion. It would be great if we could rescue half of the seriously wounded.

Not only that, the First Battalion was defeated and its organization was incomplete. Among the generals above the rank of team leader, only Ling Cao survived, and all the rest were killed.

Jin Mao's face was gloomy and he did not comment. The atmosphere in the entire tent was extremely heavy.

But when it comes to strategic issues, there are none.

Who could have predicted the change of generals and commanders on the city walls? And Jin Mao did not expect to face a super player like Xu Rong for the first time.

This was an intelligence error, and the best outcome is to avoid defeat.

"Second Battalion Captain Zhang Fei was slightly injured, 307 men were killed, 521 were seriously injured, and 950 were slightly injured."

Those who were killed or seriously injured were the first batch of personnel involved in the battle. At that time, Jin Mao did not expect that after Xu Rongming withdrew his troops, there would still be enough strength to counterattack the sneak attack.

The rest of the casualties, added together, were not as many as those of the Second Battalion.

This is also the reason why Xu Rong did not dare to clean up the battlefield. Who knows how many soldiers like the first and second battalions Jin Mao has.

At least Xu Rong was impressed by the 900 personal guards led by Dian Wei. They could fight against Han cavalry on horseback and easily beat five infantrymen when dismounted. Each of them was very powerful.

Xun You continued, "We seized 2,143 high-quality war horses, of which 1,574 were injured."

"We seized 1,255 inferior war horses, of which 889 were wounded."

Dong Zhuo's army was really well-off; inferior war horses were not common, and most of them were superior war horses.

If all the war horses were intact, Jinmao would feel that it was worth it just by fighting this battle.

He has too few war horses!
Just looking at yesterday's battle, if he had enough war horses, he could also use Xu Rong's trick to let the cavalry quickly support the battlefield.

This is an ace force that can hold back a trump card!

Unfortunately, even if the war horses are healed, it would be good if a small number of them could return to the battlefield.

Putting aside the losses, it was a small profit.

Xun You reported for a full hour, covering every detail, from the consumption of arrows to the amount of food consumed each day.

After Xun You left, Jin Mao looked at the solemn atmosphere and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Why are you all so gloomy?"

"We are the ones who won the battle!"

Jin Mao shouted, "Everyone, smile!"

Without Sun Jian's presence, all the generals showed ugly smiles.

The last battle made Sun Jian realize that without his own troops, he might be used as cannon fodder by his junior brother Jin Mao at any time, so he returned to Guangcheng Pass to mobilize troops.

"That's right."

Jin Mao said indifferently: "It's just a loss of a few thousand people, I still have tens of thousands of people to replenish!"

"As long as we hold back Dong Zhuo's army and don't let them escape, victory will belong to us!"

Even so, the generals were still in low spirits.

How can that be possible? We must find a way to boost morale!
"Give me the order!"

Jin Mao simply used his ultimate move and said, "Today and tomorrow, we will hold a celebration banquet. Except for the troops who are necessary to defend the camp, everyone else can drink to their heart's content!"

Zhang Fei's originally drooping head suddenly became alert, like a cat that smelled blood.

"My Lord! Are you serious?"

Jin Mao said seriously: "Don't joke!"

"Haha, that's great!" Zhang Fei danced with joy, not caring at all that his arm was still bandaged, and shouted to the generals: "I haven't had a good drink in almost a year!"

"This time, I'm going to drink to my heart's content!"

Jin Mao was present, and only Dian Wei dared to joke with Zhang Fei: "Zhang Yanren, why do I remember that last Spring Festival, you drank the most, got drunk and made trouble, and were beaten with twenty boards by the lord?"

Seeing that the atmosphere had finally eased, Jin Mao also smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Get lost!"

"It's only two days, no more waiting after that."

Suddenly, Zhang Fei jumped up like a bouncing ball and shouted anxiously, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Time is short, get moving."

The generals then began to laugh.

Dong Xi was not happy at all, as Ling Gong, a general of the same period as him, was seriously injured and unconscious.

Although life and death are unpredictable on the battlefield and this kind of thing is normal, but when it really happens, who can bear it?

Gong Lei, who was standing by, noticed this keenly and came over to touch Dong Xi's waist.

"Yuan Dynasty, why bother yourself with troubles?"

"If he was seriously injured and unconscious, Kun Tao probably wouldn't remember so much. He was definitely the first person to compete with Zhang Fei in drinking, no doubt about it!"

Gong Lei is only seven feet three inches (168 cm) tall, half a head shorter than Dong Xi, and is even a whole size smaller.

But Gong Lei's tone of voice was a bit like that of an older brother: "Remember, during the Spring Festival last year, it wasn't just Zhang Fei who got drunk and caused trouble. Ling Cao was also beaten..."

With Gong Lei's guidance, Dong Xi gradually let go of his grudges and began to look forward to the banquet in the next two days.

But who can understand the pain in Gong Lei's heart?

As a model of climbing up from the bottom, Gong Lei's early brothers were not these generals, but soldiers who had died long ago!
Who would remember the people who were rescued by Jin Mao in the early days? Now only two of them are still alive. Only Gong Lei is still serving in the army. The other one has lost one hand and one foot and is being taken care of by Gong Lei, working as a landlord in Jianye County.

In almost every war, Gong Lei would hear that another comrade had died somewhere. Now he could only hear that some of the soldiers he led had died.

Maybe it's because Gong Lei has experienced so much suffering that he can be more open-minded.

Moreover, after years of careful training by Jinmao, Gong Lei has made great progress in guerrilla warfare.

He is a genius in this area.

I still remember the grand event in the early days when Gong Lei led 300 people to destroy 1,000 fully armed people. Perhaps no one remembers this unknown man anymore.

But Gong Lei dare not forget it for a moment!

This is his expertise and his foundation!
In terms of bravery, he couldn't even beat Dong Xian with one hand; in terms of military strategy, he might not be even half as good as Guan Yu.

But when it comes to small-scale guerrilla warfare, Gong Lei is second to none!

Even Jinmao has to refer to Gong Lei's opinions in many aspects.

Night falls.

There were laughter and joy in the camp, and outside the camp was strict security. As long as he was on the battlefield, Jin Mao dared not relax for a moment.

At the dinner table, Gong Lei and Dong Xi drank another bottle and then left with the excuse of going to the bathroom.

As he staggered out of the tent, the drunkenness on Gong Lei's face suddenly disappeared, as if he was not the one who was about to pass out just now.

After passing through one tent after another, Gong Lei saw a huge tent in front of him. It was six meters high, with a two-meter-high wooden platform underneath.

Outside the tent, the lights were on and the guards were tight. In addition to the eight personal guards guarding the main entrance, there were eight personal guards patrolling under the platform, as well as the back and left and right sides. There were a total of sixty-four personal guards on guard.

This is Jin Mao's central army tent. The surrounding tents are all occupied by his personal guards. Dian Wei is on duty tonight, so Dong Xi went to have a drink. "Captain Gong."

Dian Wei saluted Gong Lei very respectfully.

Gong Lei has many identities. As one of the people most trusted by Jinmao, he is the leader of the entire army's deputy generals and one of the directors of the Shenxin religion.

His main job is usually ideological education. This time he went to the battlefield because Jin Mao did not have many generals who could lead troops to fight.

Gong Lei just happened to be drafted into the army, not because of his ability, but because of his prestige.

Someone who can command a large army does not necessarily have to have outstanding military talent, but can also have outstanding personal connections.

"Captain Dian."

Gong Lei also very respectfully returned the greeting to Dian Wei and said, "Please tell them that Gong Lei wants to see the lord."

Gong Lei has always been very self-aware. Even if he wants to prove himself this time, he will not show too much arrogance.

Perhaps people who have done more ideological work are more humble.

"Captain Gong, please wait a moment." Dian Wei apologized and went into the central military tent to report.

Soon, Dian Wei came out and held out his hand, saying, "Captain Gong, the lord wants to see you!"

Gong Lei clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for your help."

Climbing up the stairs step by step, Gong Lei's mind was working quickly, wondering if there was anything he had missed from what he had talked about tonight.

After confirming that everything was correct, Gong Lei calmed himself down, took a deep breath, lifted the curtain and walked in.

"Gong Lei greets the lord!"

This was a huge tent, covering an area of ​​about one hundred meters. Opposite Gong Lei was Jin Mao, who was sitting behind a desk. There was a step on each side, where the civil and military officials stood when they held meetings.

The tent was brightly lit. Everyone in Yangzhou knew that Jin Mao didn't like darkness and liked light. Therefore, wherever Jin Mao was, as many lights as possible would be lit.

"Shi Kai (Gong Lei's courtesy name) is here."

This courtesy name was given to Gong Lei by Jinmao, which means that with sincerity, even metal and stone can be moved.

Gong Lei likes it very much.

"Is there a problem?"

Jin Mao was holding a large piece of horse meat in his greasy hands and tearing it apart. Every time there was a big battle, he could never finish eating all the horse meat.

Gong Lei did not dare to look any further, and bowed, saying, "My Lord, I have a plan that will exhaust the enemy."

Jin Mao didn't even raise his head, and said without surprise: "You want to go deep behind enemy lines and fight guerrilla warfare, right?"

When Gong Lei's thoughts were exposed, cold sweat immediately covered his forehead. In this cold winter, it was obvious how nervous he was.

"Lord Mingjian!"

Looking at the reserved Gong Lei, Jin Mao changed the subject and asked, "Have you been drinking?"

Gong Lei answered truthfully: "I drank five bottles."

A bottle of wine weighs one liang, or five liang. Fortunately, no strong liquor was shipped to the front line. Instead, it was low-alcohol liquor collected from around Luyang County.

"You are quite sober."

Jin Mao put down the horse meat, looked at Gong Lei for the first time tonight, picked up the silk step to wipe his hands, leaned back, raised his hand and said: "Tell me about it."

"What's the plan?"

Gong Lei let out a long sigh, feeling secretly in his heart that his lord's majesty was growing day by day and was no longer the same as before.

"My lord, I did make a rough plan."

Gong Lei did not dare to speak too slowly, and then elaborated in detail the guerrilla warfare plan that he had been thinking about for a long time.

After listening carefully, Jin Mao nodded his head in approval and said, "Very good, the plan is very detailed."

"The combat part is impeccable!"

Just when Gong Lei was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Jin Mao changed the subject and said, "But you forgot the most important part of guerrilla warfare!"

Gong Lei was so scared that he knelt on one knee and clasped his fists and said: "My Lord, I..."

Jin Mao waved his hand, stood up and said, "Get up, I don't mean to blame you."

"Besides, if I won't listen to any opinions, what's the difference between me and a mediocre leader?"

Wow, he's putting up a show at this time.

What the hell were you doing so early in the morning!
When conquering Jingzhou, who was the person who acted on his own?
Gong Lei thanked him and then stood up, but his nervous look remained unchanged.

Looking at Gong Lei's appearance, Jin Mao felt helpless.

As his position became higher and higher, he gradually realized how lonely it was at the top.

It’s not that he’s deliberately cultivating authority.

Just like when he conquered Jingzhou, Jinmao felt that he had the ability to make the decision, but he was opposed by almost everyone, and no one could come up with a feasible plan.

As a result, all problems were solved as soon as Xun Yu arrived.

This shows that it was not that he was wrong, but that no one under him could help him solve the problem, which led to the problem being exposed and unable to be solved.

It made the whole thing look like he had done something wrong.

Since then, Jinmao began to change, to the point where even he himself felt unfamiliar with him.

Perhaps this is growth.

Jin Mao continued: "The most important thing about guerrilla warfare is not the battle plan, but finding the mass base!"

Jin Mao gave an example: "If you go deep into the rear, who will provide you with food and grass?"

"Besides, you are going to enter the enemy territory on foot, so you can't bring too much baggage. Apart from the necessary rations, you can only bring weapons and equipment."

"So how are you going to rest?"

Although these are basic common sense about marching and fighting, under normal circumstances, Jin Mao would only discuss and solve them with Xi Zhicai.

It is normal that Gong Lei doesn’t know. If he has considered this completely, he would be a military genius and a famous general!
“How can we solve the drinking water problem?”

Jin Mao began to break down some common sense questions that are usually not easy to notice and feed them to Gong Lei bit by bit.

It is different for one person to fight guerrilla warfare than for a thousand people to fight guerrilla warfare.

And this time is different from the last time.

Last time, the mountains were Gong Lei’s best barrier, but this time it’s not the case.

Except for the mountains and forests near Dagu Pass, the whole area is flat once you enter Luoyang. Moreover, the people of Luoyang are different from those outside, so they cannot serve as a mass base at all.

The reason why great men were able to establish bases behind enemy lines was because of the experience gained through countless bloodshed.

No one is born omniscient and omnipotent.

Therefore, Jin Mao did not beat around the bush and ordered someone to bring the geomancy map and said, "Your plan is very good, but you need to make some adjustments."

"Don't take such big steps."

Jin Mao pointed to the Songshan area and said, "Let's start from this area, familiarize ourselves with the terrain, and build small paths."

"I'll send someone here to bring you supplies."

Jin Mao pointed to the place where Sun Jian had fought a great battle.

"Your mission is to operate in this area."

"If necessary, you can plunder the enemy."

"But remember one principle!"

"Don't do anything you are not sure of!"

(End of this chapter)