books44 Chapter 236 Prelude to the War
Chapter 236 Prelude to the War
The fourteenth day of July, the second year of the Yongli reign.
The soldiers led by Meng Jun officially arrived in Xuancheng and joined the Ningwu Town of Lin Shiqi's troops, the Wuning Town of Qian Biao's troops, the Ten Battalions of the Service Army, Huang Cheng's cavalry, the scout battalion, and the Conquering Army led by Meng Jun himself, the Wusheng Town, the heavy armored army, the personal guards, etc. The total number of the army was more than 76,000 people, and the remaining auxiliary soldiers and civilians also numbered 60,000 to 70,000, all of whom assisted the army, either by setting up camp or transporting supplies.
As soon as he arrived in Xuancheng, Meng Jun summoned all the generals to discuss the war strategy.
Inside the big tent were Lin Shiqi, Huang Cheng, Qian Biao, Liang Sanhu, Song Wuque, Yang Wulie, Gao Yi, Gu Yanwu, Yu An and others. Seeing all the generals gathered, Lin Shiqi spoke first and introduced the information he had obtained so far.
"Hu Zhan, a general of the Jin bandits, led an army of about 40,000 to 50,000 men. They entered Tongling the day before yesterday. Scouts reported that the vanguard of Hu Zhan's troops had already left the city and were advancing along the river, heading straight for Wuhu."
Lin Shiqi paused for a moment and continued, "I have sent Wang Tongzhen's troops to Wuhu and ordered them to act according to circumstances. If they can fight, they can fight. If they can't, they can defend Wuhu to the death. As for the battle and defense of Wang Deren's troops, Your Majesty has already made a plan. We are facing the Jin bandit headquarters. Now we have obtained the following information. The number of Jin bandit troops is unknown, but it is at least no less than 180,000 and no more than 250,000. The Jin bandits have divided their troops into two groups outside Jixi City, intending to attack Xuancheng from both sides. One group is led by General Zhao Han and will go straight to Ningguo Mansion along Jixi. There are about 30,000 people. The main group is led by the Jin bandit himself. The army will attack Nanling City along Jing County."
Meng Jun and other generals looked at the military deployment map. Nanling City and Ningguo Prefecture City, one in the north and one in the south, threatened Xuancheng like a pair of pincers. When Jin Shengheng divided his troops, Lin Shiqi had already sent one battalion of Ningwu Town and two battalions of the Service Army, totaling 9,000 people, with battalion officer Zhou Zikui as the vanguard, to Nanling. He also transferred one battalion of Ningwu Town, one battalion of the Service Army, and 10,000 civilians to set up camp at Huangdu Town, the key road that Ningguo Prefecture City must pass through to march to Xuancheng.
Qian Biao asked in confusion, "Isn't Ningguo Mansion a big city? Why doesn't this Jin take the Ningguo Mansion route?"
Lin Shiqi explained: "Although Ningguofu is a big city, there is only one road from Ningguofu to Xuancheng, and there are high mountains on both sides. At the exit, there is a Zhaishan Mountain and a Longtou Mountain, standing on both sides. There is also a river flowing through. The terrain is complex and it is difficult for a large army to move. In my opinion, the Jin thieves divided their troops and entered Ningguofu, but they intended to disperse our army's strength. Nanling City is different. There are large plains suitable for a large army to move. If it weren't for the several small mountains to the west of Xuancheng, the road between the two cities would be like a smooth road!"
Qian Biao nodded thoughtfully. At this time, Huang Cheng said, "Can we cut off the Jin bandits' food supply, so that they are starving and weak, and the battle will be easy?"
Lin Shiqi heard this and shook his head, saying, "Gan is a land of mountains and dense forests, unlike the northern plains. Cavalry cannot gallop here, and the Jin bandits have many troops scattered in various places, so it will take time to annihilate them all."
Qian Biao looked at the simple map again and again and said, "This map is not easy to read. If you ask me, I have to go to the scene to see it!"
"Since Jin Shengheng's main force is heading for Nanling City, we must focus on attacking his main force! As long as we kill Jin Shengheng, no matter how many people we have, it will be useless!" Liang Sanhu also spoke up.
"Haha." Qian Biao laughed twice and said in a somewhat yin-yang tone, "General Liang, Mr. Gu is almost praising him to the sky in the newspapers. He is the most powerful general under the king's command, and he is braver than ten thousand men. He is as brave as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. General Liang is trying to gather all the merits of being the first to climb the mountain, beheading the general, and seizing the flag!"
Liang Sanhu heard this and responded unwillingly: "What's so difficult about this? If you want to learn, I will teach you, but you have to do the apprenticeship ceremony!"
"you……"
"Say something useful, why are you arguing?" Lin Shiqi cursed angrily.
Meng Jun ignored the two and said after a moment's silence: "Although Jin Shengheng has a large number of troops, his combat effectiveness is probably worrying. Moreover, with 200,000 troops, Jin Shengheng can only feed the troops with the strength of Gan alone. It will be difficult for him to sustain the army. If he wants to fight, there is a large wilderness outside Nanling City, so maybe we can have a decisive battle outside Nanling City."
At this time, Gu Yanwu asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, since Jin Shengheng cannot last long, why should we follow his will? The Art of War says that we must stop the enemy from doing what he wants. Why not delay until his food and grass are scarce?"
"Although the Jin bandits cannot last long, our army cannot delay for long either. Li Chengdong has already arranged to attack Fujian. Han Xiong cannot hold on alone. The enemy troops in Jiangbei are eyeing us covetously. Nanjing is under their control and surrounded by enemies. How can we not seek a quick battle?" Meng Jun looked at the generals and said earnestly.
All the generals frowned when they heard this. The situation was originally good, but in an instant it became surrounded by enemies. Then they continued to discuss countermeasures in order to decide the outcome of the battle.
If you ask yourself, Meng Jun also thought about destroying Jin and Li. As the saying goes in ancient times, if you get Long, you will want Shu. Meng Jun is no exception. He has already occupied large areas of Nanzhili, Suzhou, Songjiang, Huzhou, Zhejiang, and Fujian Province. If he can take the land of Guangdong and Jiangxi, the Zhou army will be the most powerful force in the south. On the other hand, Jin and Li massacred cities and destroyed people. Their crimes are heinous. Even if they finally turn against the enemy, it cannot wash away their shameless behavior.
Although Meng Jun had this idea, he wanted to take it step by step, trying to ease the situation on one side and attack the other side with all his strength. He never thought that the two sides would go to war at the same time. Unexpectedly, Li Chengdong and Jin Shengheng couldn't help it first. The two of them joined forces and went all out when they attacked. This made Meng Jun lose sight of one thing while focusing on another. Although his military force was strong, they could not gather in one place.
But the rest of the places had to be defended as well. If there were no garrisons guarding the river defenses, the Qing army might launch a surprise attack across the river, and once Nanjing was lost, Meng Jun's retreat would be cut off. It was not impossible that the army would be disintegrated overnight, and by then the entire line would collapse, and it would be too late to regret.
If Han Xiong cannot defend Fujian, Meng Jun has even made the worst plan, which is to hand over Fujian Province as a bargaining chip to the Zheng family, letting the two fight each other. After he defeats Jin Shengheng, he will send troops into Fujian and Guangdong.
However, this is only the worst plan. If Han Xiong can hold on, that would naturally be the best. Zheng Chenggong is a man of determination. Historically, he was a ruthless man. When Zheng Zhilong was held hostage by the Qing court, he still held high the anti-Qing banner. In order to seize Xiamen Island, he killed his cousin Zheng Lian. Later, Xiamen was raided by the Qing army, and his uncle Zheng Zhiguan was killed. In the end, when he heard that his son had an affair with his wet nurse, he ordered the killing of his wife Dong and son Zheng Jing. If his subordinates had not disobeyed the order, Zheng Jing would have no chance to become the master of Taiwan. From this point of view, Zheng Chenggong is a man who does not recognize his relatives.
If Zheng Chenggong occupied Fujian and had a powerful navy, and Meng Jun was unable to conquer him, it would be a pipe dream for him to pacify Fujian with his current naval strength. Therefore, Meng Jun did not want to give up unless it was absolutely necessary. The only feasible way was to destroy Jin Shengheng in one battle, occupy Gan, threaten Guangdong, and force Li Chengdong to return to defend!