books44 Chapter 351 Huguang Camp
Chapter 351 Huguang Camp
After returning to the army, Du Yinxi did not summon all the generals, but only asked someone to invite Liu Tichun over.
After a while, Liu Tichun hurried over.
As soon as they met, Du Yinxi told Liu Tichun all the conditions he had discussed with Meng Jun.
Liu Tichun was a little worried after hearing this. After a while, he said to Du Yinxi, "Lord, there are 80,000 soldiers from the Loyalty Camp gathered under the city of Jingzhou, and there are more than 30,000 soldiers left behind. The King of Zhou is only willing to recruit soldiers from the four towns, which is only 30% of the total. How should the remaining soldiers be arranged? Besides, the various departments may not agree to the rotation of officers."
Du Yinxi shook his head slowly and replied: "So what if you disagree, Erhu, I may be able to ask King Zhou to expand another town. As for the other requirements, they will not change."
Liu Tichun was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "Lord, I will discuss this with the various ministries and give you a reply tomorrow."
Liu Tichun returned to his tent and talked with them one by one until the next morning. After not sleeping all night, Liu Tichun found Du Yinxi with a tired face.
Du Yinxi looked at Liu Tichun in surprise, only to hear Liu Tichun say in a hoarse voice: "Lord, I talked with the various departments last night for a whole night. According to the Zhou army organization, the officers are rotated, and everything is fine. Only the military garrisons, the four garrisons are understaffed."
Du Yinxi heard this and asked, "How many towns should be needed to meet the two tigers' views?"
"If possible, eight towns would be best."
Du Yinxi smiled bitterly and said, "Erhu, aren't you making things difficult for me?"
Liu Tichun said in a tangled manner: "If it really doesn't work, seven towns will be enough. At least six towns are needed!"
Du Yinxi sighed: "I will make another trip now."
At this time, Meng Jun was already preparing to return to Nanjing. Many soldiers had already started packing their luggage. Shen Tingyang's navy had also arrived at the dock in Jingzhou, ready to transport the army back to Nanjing at any time.
However, since Meng Jun had left Huguang, there had to be someone to take charge of Huguang’s military affairs and oversee the entire army, and Lin Shiqi was the only person who could do it.
At this moment, Du Yinxi rushed over again and wanted to meet Meng Jun.
As soon as they met, Du Yinxi said to Meng Jun: "Your Majesty, all the generals are wholeheartedly willing to serve you as their master. The organization and officers are rotated. All the generals have no second thoughts. However, the number of military towns is not enough to accommodate the various troops of the Loyal Camp. I hope that your Majesty can add four more towns!"
Meng Jun frowned. Four towns became eight towns, which was almost enough to match the number of military towns that Meng Jun had established over the years, not to mention the expenditure on food and wages, and the cost of military equipment. These eight towns were a huge force. After joining the Zhou army, the generals from the Loyal Camp would inevitably gather together. As the superiors, they were in different positions and would inevitably be worried about this.
Seeing Meng Jun frown, Du Yinxi continued without waiting for Meng Jun to refute, "Your Majesty, the world is not yet settled, and it is time to use troops. Although it is often said that quality is more important than quantity, the soldiers of the Loyalty Camp are all left over from Li Zicheng's wars in the past. They may not be very elite, but at least they are better than the newly recruited soldiers."
Hearing this, Meng Jun hesitated a little, but still shook his head and said, "Establishing eight regiments will cost a lot. Besides, the war in Huguang has just ended, and the treasury of Nanjing is not enough to support such a large-scale expansion."
Du Yinxi advised: "The Zhongzheng Camp is in Kuidong. They have been through hard times for too long. We can still get through it if we endure more hard times. We can slowly replenish the baggage and pay for now."
"…It's just that the Eight Towns are too large."
Du Yinxi heard this, his weathered eyes understood everything, he said slowly: "My king, ever since King Chuang died in Jiugong Mountain and the Loyal Camp was defeated in Jingzhou, these soldiers have been like orphans, no one cares about them. My king is willing to accept them, they will be loyal, my king must not doubt them."
Seeing Meng Jun's thoughtful look, Du Yinxi said more bluntly: "The various divisions of the Loyalty Camp have long been leaderless. Although Liu Tichun is the leader, he has no power to command the other divisions. Moreover, Liu Tichun has no ambitions. If the king is worried about the issue of party affiliation, no matter which dynasty it is, there has never been such a thing!"
Yes, people naturally like to stick together. They live in groups, regardless of country, province, county, or even township. Even people from the same township and village still have to distinguish between close and distant relatives.
Thinking of this, Meng Jun nodded and said with a smile: "What you said is quite reasonable. I am not worried about the party affiliation. It's just that the reorganization of the eight regiments is really a bit difficult for the shogunate. How about this, the four regiments will be expanded to six regiments. The loyal camp will eliminate the weak and retain the strong. The families and weak soldiers will all be resettled by the shogunate. What do you think, shogun?"
Du Yinxi thought for a moment after hearing this, then nodded and said, "Your Majesty's words are as you say. If that's the case, then I'll follow your words."
"Okay, the Lord can discuss the list of military commanders of each town with the generals of the Loyalty Camp and then report to the King."
After Du Yinxi left, Meng Jun thought for a long time alone. The Zhongzheng Camp was fully subjugated. This was the first time that the Zhou army had merged a large army. This was not a reorganization of surrendered soldiers, but a truly independent army. Meng Jun, who had been thinking for a long time, suddenly exhaled a foul breath and whispered: "The general situation is in my hands, what is there to fear!"
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In the Zhou army, the establishment of 10,000 people in one town was obviously not enough in the face of the complex situation in Huguang. Therefore, Meng Jun decided to add a larger organization above the military town, which was called a regional camp. The camp organization was not permanent. It was set up when needed and cancelled when not needed.
Now that Jingzhou has been taken by Meng Jun, it has become the de facto front line of the Zhou army. To the north, Wu Sangui occupies Xiangyang, and to the west, along Daning, Fengjie, and Wanzhou, one can reach Chongqing and threaten Sichuan and Shu. To the south is Li Dingguo's Western Army. Meng Jun was a little worried about such a complicated situation, but he still let Lin Shiqi guard Huguang independently.
Meng Jun appointed Lin Shiqi as the commander-in-chief of the Huguang camp, and left behind Wang Fugui's Wuxing garrison, Wu Tiao's Wuping garrison, Zhang Yingwei's Pingguo garrison, Liang Sanhu's Wusheng garrison, and Lin Shiqi's own Ningwu garrison, totaling 50,000 garrison troops.
As for the six regiments reorganized from the Loyal Camp, it would be impossible for Meng Jun to place all of them in Huguang. At that time, three regiments could be retained and belong to the Huguang camp. In this way, Lin Shiqi would have 80,000 troops under his command and should be able to cope with the situation in Huguang.
Especially Wu Sangui in the north, who ruled Xiangyang and Nanyang, although he had not yet raised the banner of rebellion, but no matter what, at least the Qing court had gained a disobedient vassal and lost taxes from Xiangyang and Nanyang.
When the south was not settled and the Zhou army had not yet recovered, Wu Sangui was like standing in front of Jingzhou. If Wu Sangui was attacked, he would be pushed into the arms of Dorgon.
Therefore, Meng Jun and Lin Shiqi discussed for a long time and the future direction of Huguang was "to firmly defend Jingzhou and Wuchang, wait for an opportunity to seize Chongqing, enter Sichuan, and strictly guard Wu Sangui and the south, and not to open a gap privately."