Chapter 947
: Night Banquet to Discuss Strategy
Chapter 947: Night Banquet to Discuss Strategy
Jiangnan Jinling Wharf,
On the nearby canal, three magnificent ships slowly passed by the dock.
bow,
A young man in an elegant brocade robe stood there, his hands behind his back, looking at the busy scene on the dock, with a look of surprise in his eyes.
It is said that the docks of Jinling City are more lively than those of Beijing City, with huge crowds of people scrambling to get in. However, nowadays, not only is there no such scene as rumored, but there are only a few people on the dock, which is quite different from the description. This scene is very interesting.
Thinking of the urgent news from Jiangnan in the capital, the people of Lord Lu, the people of Prince Zhongshun, and later the people of Marquis Luo Yun and Nan Zixian, it is possible that the Prime Minister and Lord Gu's people were secretly involved. The land of fish and rice in Jiangnan has been turned into such a "miserable" state. In the end, let's see how they will deal with it.
"Your Highness, the guards reported that they will arrive at Suzhou Water Stronghold at midnight tonight. The Jiangnan Camp is there. However, Your Highness, if we rush to the Jiangnan Camp, its commander Jiao Xiong will have already established his own faction. Will he..."
The person who was talking beside him was Mu Shi's confidant, Qin Xiao, who was in charge of the Jiangnan secret guards. He came to follow the prince this time to assist him in handling the affairs of Jiangnan. The commander Jiao Xiong was no longer the same as before, and he firmly controlled the 50,000 soldiers in the Jiangnan camp. If he had any ideas, the prince would be controlled by him everywhere.
"Ahahaha, you are destined to be a worrywart. How capable is Jiao Xiong to dare to really break away from the reputation of the East Palace? Think about Qi Yun from Ping'anzhou, who is stationed at the border and has made great contributions. Who doesn't want to start his own business? But will those people in the court give them a chance? Dream on."
It's not that Mu Shi pretended to be relaxed. Logically, the governor of Ping'anzhou, the left guard of Qiyun, had 30,000 elite troops at the border, forming a frontier army. Unfortunately, the four kings and eight dukes were suppressing him, and no duke's mansion would care about him. Now that Prince Beijing had received a letter, he had to lead his troops south obediently. He spent a lot of money. Jiao Xiong would not do that either. If it weren't for the secret support of Prince Dong's mansion, it would be good if he could have half of the 50,000 troops.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I am stupid. A lot of things have happened in Nanjing and Jiangnan these days. Officials in Nanjing have gathered around the governor, Mr. Zhuang, and the inspector, Mr. Jing. There is also the eunuch Yang from the textile bureau intervening. Now that Jiangnan has been flooded, it seems that there has been a dispute."
Although the Jiangnan Secret Guards led by Qin Xiao are spread throughout Jiangnan and well-informed, they have not been able to find out the specific situation inside. It seems that officials from the capital are constantly going south, and the situation at the government office is confusing and involves many people.
"Hmph, it's those people again. How do you say the matter of converting fields into mulberry trees? They want to be a patron saint and also want to build a memorial archway. They push things around and mess things up. Your Majesty has no intention of dealing with these things in Jiangnan. If the rebellion in the south of Beijing is quelled and stable, these people will be counted by the emperor. Just keep an eye on the affairs of the government. The court has also sent an inspector, Su Chong, to the south. I think it is to stabilize the situation."
Mu Shi shook his head. Many things in Jiangnan were old stories. The Zhen family, the Shi family, the Wang family, the Jia family, the Liu family, etc., all had complicated forces and involved many people. Even if the East Palace was a dragon crossing the river, it would feel restrained. Therefore, he must take over the Jiangnan camp. Jiao Xiong hoped that he would consider the old friendship.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I know about this. In addition, more than a thousand secret guards from the East Palace have gathered at the Suzhou dock and are ready to take orders at any time. Is His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu going to stay in Suzhou or go to Yangzhou?"
Qin Xiao now also felt that it was a good idea to ask again. After all, the King of Chu was the military supervisor. Suzhou and Yangzhou were both in the hinterland of Jiangnan. With soldiers protecting them, there would definitely be no chaos. However, he didn't know which of these two places the prince would choose.
Mu Shi frowned and thought a lot. His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was the military supervisor, but he was also the eyes and ears of His Majesty. If he was accompanied by so many people, there would be chaos if he was left alone. He was afraid that he could not go to Suzhou or Yangzhou.
"The King of Chu is not going anywhere, so it's better for him to stay by your side. Since Tang County is a barrier to the canal and there is no shortage of places for entertainment, let's go to Tang County. Once Suzhou is done, we will make arrangements as soon as possible."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand."
As the river flowed, the ship slowly headed south, and I don't know how many sails and oars were blown.
At the end of Anyang Mountains,
The camps stretched for dozens of miles, and the spots of campfires were like stars in the night sky, shining brightly.
In front of the central tent,
There were soldiers roasting fat lambs, golden and crispy, emitting an enticing aroma.
Inside the account,
All the generals gathered together excitedly. His Royal Highness Prince Jin sat in the first seat in the east with surprise in his eyes. He still remembered that in the evening, Marquis Luo Yun led his troops back to the tent and he asked anxiously. He didn't expect that after the marquis said a great victory, he was so excited that he could hardly stand. He was really ashamed.
"Well, everyone, in today's battle, thanks to the brothers who fought to the death, especially the brothers of the Right Guard of the Imperial Guard, who stood there resolutely until the last moment. In addition, there are also soldiers from various divisions of the Beijing Camp. Today, I can see clearly from behind the battle that they are all good men, and no one has retreated a single step.
It is said that the Taiping Rebellion Army is more powerful than a tiger. In my opinion, they are just like pigs and dogs in front of you. Everyone, come, we have won a great victory today, and send off those brothers who died in the battle. "
After saying that, Zhang Jinyu filled the first glass of wine and poured it directly on the ground with a solemn expression. Everyone followed suit.
"Seeing off the brothers,"
The generals suddenly lost their joy, their hearts were heavy, their eyes were red, and He Xiaocheng looked even more miserable, as if a family member had died. Of the 50,000 troops, only 20,000 were left. If it happened again, the Right Guard would be gone. Together with the other generals, they drank wine to bid farewell to the brothers who died in the battle.
Just finished all this,
The extremely excited Prince Jin stood up, bowed to the generals, picked up the bowl, poured the wine on the ground, and then filled another bowl with wine, and said to the generals in the tent;
"I am new to the battlefield and do not know how cruel it is. I never thought that today's battle would be so brutal. I am deeply shocked. The Marquis is so powerful that he broke through the elite formation of the enemy army in one battle. In addition, all the generals are fearless and fought against the enemy army, so that all the generals were injured. They dared to do such a loyal and brave thing. Today, I, Yueyue, on behalf of the court and my father, toast to the Marquis and the generals with a bowl of wine."
Unable to restrain his emotion, King Jin's eyes also turned red. At a young age, he picked up a bowl of wine and gulped it down. He coughed and his face instantly turned red.
When Zhang Jinyu saw this, how could he dare to neglect it? He couldn't hold back his temper and stood up and bowed to the northern capital.
"Thank you, Your Highness. We are the subjects of the Great Martial Arts Army. It is our duty to kill the enemy and serve the country. We do not deserve Your Highness's behavior. Thanks to the great blessing of Your Majesty, we will win the battle today. May Your Majesty be safe and sound."
"Great victory, may the emperor live long and safely."
None of the generals in the tent were fools. Following Marquis Luo Yun, they bowed to the north, then stood up at the same time and drank the wine in the bowl. After a while, they sat down again and watched Marquis Luo Yun calmly.
The later General Dingxi Duan Wenyuan had a serious face, worthy of being the Marquis of Luo Yun. He could not change his expression and make light of such a great victory. Although we did not see the fighting on the battlefield today, the south of the camp was covered with corpses, and even the river water in the west was dyed red, which showed how tragic it was.
"Okay, we've finished the first two bowls of wine, so don't rush to drink the third one. General Yin, have you counted the number of those above the rank of lieutenant who died in battle?"
"My Lord, I have roughly calculated that this time we annihilated about 200,000 Taiping rebels, with nearly 70,000 casualties in the Beijing camp and more than 20,000 casualties in the Imperial Guard, a total of about 100,000."
Yin Renchang was silent when he said this. The memorial in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. He killed one thousand enemies but lost eight hundred of his own. The enemy army was not made of clay, especially the elite soldiers. They fought to the death and caused heavy casualties among his men.
"The various units lost guerrilla generals, deputy generals, and battalion commanders, a total of 36 people, and about 183 colonels and lieutenants. The battalion commanders were not counted, all of whom were old brothers from the Beijing camp."
Yin Renchang could no longer hold back when he said this. His eyes turned red even though he was a seven-foot tall man. Many of them were the trusted aides of the commanders of various divisions.
The rest of the people felt the same way, how could they not feel distressed?
"Alright, stop being a girl. No matter who it is, even if they are soldiers under my command, all casualties must be recorded. I heard that the Taiping Sect has a lot of silver. This time, no matter what, we can't let the Taiping Sect have an easy time. Who doesn't have a wife, children, and elderly? Their future lives will all depend on you to take them back with your knives. I guarantee that everyone will have a share of everything. It depends on how much you can give to your brothers." Although Zhang Jinyu was a little numb to this, he couldn't be heartless. If those who ate soldiers' food died in battle, the court couldn't give so much pension silver. Therefore, making some side jobs on the battlefield to make up for the brothers has been a practice since ancient times. There are really not many people who can say it as openly as Zhang Jinyu.
"Yes, Lord, I have more than 200,000 soldiers in the rear army, and we are already impatient. I heard that many wealthy families in Linshan County left in a hurry, and many government warehouses and treasuries have not been completely moved out. The next battle should be fought by the rear army."
General Duan Wenyuan of Dingxi stood up, clasped his fists, and volunteered. He had even forgotten that the King of Jin was sitting next to him. Linshan County was so big that he could plunder it anyway.
"Well, this battle is yours. Linshan County is not easy to fight, so I really don't plan to attack Linshan County first. It's not that I'm afraid, but I want to have fewer casualties."
Zhang Jinyu shook his head. This was not the way to fight a war. He had to fight today, but he would have the initiative in his hands. He would have to gnaw on the bones one by one. No matter how many soldiers he had, they would not be enough. So, he would wait for General Gu Ping from Jingnan and the government troops in Daliang City to supplement them. There would be another 100,000 troops. In this way, many problems could be solved.
But the others had not thought about these things. They were all discussing whether the Marquis was not going to fight anymore.
"My Lord, I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean that we won't attack Linshan County City?"
In the whole south of Beijing, if you want to talk about where there is the most silver, it must be Linshan County City. Now the main force of the Taiping Sect's bandit army has been annihilated, how much is left? It's easy to capture them. The one who spoke was General Xuanwu Ling Yuantao. He was the most seriously injured in this battle. His whole arm was wrapped in three layers, and he was gritting his teeth in pain.
"Yes, Lord, most of the main forces of the rebel army have been wiped out. Even if they retreat and hide in the city, they will only survive. It is better to pursue them and wipe them out in one fell swoop."
General Xuanwei Li Zongbao stood up and clasped his fists. He was the first to snipe a part of the bandit army on the west bank of the river, and then used bows and crossbows to cooperate with the imperial guards to strangle the Taiping sect bandits on the opposite side, so that the main force of the Taiping sect in the central army formation collapsed. Therefore, this first credit should be given to him.
"Yes, my lord."
"My Lord, how about this? No matter what you want to do, we can split up into two groups and take it all together."
Many people were excited and started to shout. Zhang Jinyu found it a little funny. He turned to look at King Jin, who had drunk some wine. His face was slightly red and his eyes were clear, but he was already drunk.
"Your Highness, what do you think? Our next step is to attack Linshan County City or find another way. Someone, bring up the Jingnan feng shui map."
"Yes, Lord Marquis."
Wait a moment,
The two personal soldiers hung the entire Jingnan feng shui map on the west side of the main seat of Marquis Luo Yun. After it was put down, the eyes of the generals also focused on it.
The King of Jin quickly picked up the bowl and drank some water to sober up, then looked at the geomancy map hanging there. The topographic map of the entire southern part of the capital was almost completely visible. The road ahead was Daliang City, and then Linshan County City in the south of the capital. Further down were the cities deep into the south of the capital, Huaizhou in the east, Chenzhou in the south, and Weizhou in the southeast. How could they proceed to the next step without taking down the county city?
Everyone knows the Taiping Cult's means of bewitching people. It is unknown whether there will be another hard battle after they have recovered. But the Marquis does not want to attack the county town. In this case, he can only attack the other three cities and go deep into the hinterland. Isn't this a taboo in military strategy?
"My Lord, the route to the south of Beijing is Daliang City and Linshan County. Only with these two cities in hand can we stabilize the rear and continue to advance. As the Art of War says, if the food supply is not stable, how can we win? My Lord just said that we will not attack Linshan County, so we can only attack other cities. In this way, the Taiping Rebellion Army in Linshan County will not be easy for them."
The main force of the rebel army has gone, but those who escaped, plus those who besieged Daliang City, still have a breath of main force left. These are threats and must be guarded against.
"Well, well said. Your Highness has read military books in depth."
Zhang Jinyu smiled, and he really had a new respect for King Jin. He just calculated in his mind that at least 50,000 bandits had escaped, and there were at least 50,000 bandits under the city of Daliang. Linshan County was so important, and there might be 50,000 bandits, not counting the masters behind them.
Thus,
It can be said that there is still a tough battle to be fought. Linshan County is not a spineless person. After the White Lotus Religion disaster, the city walls and the city were rebuilt, which are extremely solid. Even if he desperately attacks the city, if 100,000 or 200,000 people die in this battle, the entire court may be in chaos.
Therefore, when fighting a war, we should fight smartly. There have been nearly 100,000 casualties, and we haven't even discussed writing the war report.
"What you said makes sense, but you can do the math. With the elite bandits who escaped, plus those in the south, there are at least 150,000 people. These people are hiding in Linshan County. I am not sure that I can capture this city with few casualties. Therefore, we still have to divide our troops into two groups. One part of the main army, that is, the front troops in today's battle, will be supplemented by 50,000 people from the rear army to form a deterrent force. We will station troops in Linshan County and surround him. On the other hand, we will divide our troops into three groups. In the south, General Dingdong Song Yutian will lead 50,000 troops to capture Chenzhou and then garrison this city."
Zhang Jinyu stood up, walked to the west, followed the Jingnan feng shui map, found the location of Chenzhou, pointed it out, Chenzhou is not far from the county city, it is considered a defensive city, 50,000 soldiers are enough, then pointed to Huaizhou on the west side, the road is a bit far, but it is an extremely important place, further down is Weizhou in the hinterland of Jingnan, his hand stopped at Weizhou, and gave instructions;
"Weizhou is more important. We can continue to threaten Qinzhou to the east, and the official road at the southern crossroads. We must not only take it down, but also defend it. Now we have no intelligence to know who has captured Weizhou. Therefore, General Duan Wenyuan of Dingxi will lead 150,000 troops from the rear army, plus some siege troops, to quickly raid Weizhou. As for Huaizhou City, "
Zhang Jinyu had not yet made up his mind. The cavalry still needed to be led by Hu Shoucheng, and the main force needed to be led by Yin Renchang and other generals to continue besieging Linshan County. As for Huaizhou City, who would lead the troops?
When he was hesitant, he looked around the entire tent. All the generals were qualified, but there were only a few who had some leadership talent. Fifty thousand soldiers were not enough.
All the generals in the tent looked at Luo Yunhou with eager eyes. There were not many opportunities to lead the army alone. If Luo Yunhou could give them a chance and make great contributions, these would be enough to support them for the rest of their lives.
"As for Huaizhou City, we still need to be vigilant against the White Lotus Sect in the east, so I am still hesitating, or waiting for someone,"
Below, among the generals with the Ding character in their names, only Hu Shoucheng was left. He looked anxious. The Marquis had just assigned everyone, and he was the only one left without any orders. How could he not be anxious? Gritting his teeth, Hu Shoucheng, who was impatient, stood up and bowed.
"My Lord, it would be better for me to lead the troops to attack Huaizhou City. I will definitely live up to your trust."
The generals were full of envy. Only these few generals could lead the army on their own. But seeing the look on the Marquis' face, it seemed that there must be someone else leading the army in Huaizhou.
Yang Shixiong, Ling Yuantao, Yue Muning and others thought for a while, wondering if they could recommend themselves. Perhaps this good thing could happen to them.
King Zhou Ding of Jin was puzzled. Was it too risky to send troops in three directions? In addition, General Hu led the cavalry and advanced and retreated in moderation, which showed his ability to lead troops. The Marquis could not agree yet. Perhaps there was another candidate. Who would it be?
I looked around the tent and saw all the generals were there. What about these?
"General Hu, don't worry. Sit down for now. You have to lead the cavalry. We can't do without you."
Zhang Jinyu disagreed. The selection of the leader of the troops had to be carefully considered.
"Report, Lord, Your Highness, General Gu Ping of Jingnan has arrived at the camp with 40,000 soldiers!"
Zhang Jinyu raised his head suddenly and his face immediately showed joy. It is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. Look, the candidate for Huaizhou’s military commander is here!
(End of this chapter)