Chapter 1816 The Renzijuan peeks into the throat and Feng Tang wants to stab him
After several months of training, Feng Tang still has some confidence in his Northwest Army.
Perhaps it was because they had been discriminated against for a long time and suddenly gained the attention of the court, and the entire Northwest Army glowed with a different spirit.
Especially during the training period in Qingyang, Feng Tang personally supervised the formation and the army, and conducted training and training for the entire transferred army from three sides and four towns one by one. Survival of the fittest, including the Yulin army he originally led, was no exception, plus the logistics support Keeping up, the training effect this time was better than imagined.
The 120,000 troops mobilized cannot be said to be all elite, but they basically include all the troops that can be fought in the other three towns except Yulin Junzhong. Yulin Town is considering facing Tumut. People must retain some of the elites, so only some of them were transferred. Considering the current situation, the other three towns basically only left an army to guard the gates, and all the other elites were transferred as the main force of the West Route Army.
Most of the silver obtained from the imperial court was used to supplement food and salary, and a small amount was also used to purchase some firearms from the Gyeonggi Military Factory. Feng Tang had realized that as the times changed, firearms would surely replace cold weapons on the stage. Feng Ziying had reiterated this to him countless times, but it was only after this round of training that he realized it deeply.
When a well-disciplined firearms unit gathers together and forms a formation, whether it is an infantry or a cavalry unit, they will face a fierce fight if they want to rush into the formation. The price paid is extremely high, and the formation time of a firearms unit is longer than Cavalry and infantry are too short.
This advantage is unparalleled.
However, financial difficulties have also limited the speed of the Northwest Army's firearms replacement. At the same time, considering that firearms replacement is to be completely transformed into a well-disciplined and coordinated firearms army as Ziying said, it also requires arduous training, and for the Northwest For the army, there is definitely not enough time now, so Feng Tang did not think that he would have to rely on firearms troops in this southern expedition. In a sense, he felt that this southern expedition might be the northwest The final glory of the army with cold weapons.
“Has the news about Dong Yang come back?” Feng Tang stood up, stretched his body, and looked out the window.
Luoyang is the largest city in Henan Prefecture, and it is also the core of the Yiluo Basin. Going east from here into Kaifeng, it is the land of the Four Battles.
"The last news was three days ago. If you calculate it, the news will come today and tomorrow." The staff member is an old man who has been with Feng Tang for decades. He asked with a smile: "Your Excellency, you are considering Dong Yang's suggestion. ?”
"Well, Dong Yang has an extreme temperament, but has a keen sense of smell. He is a natural warrior. However, we have just entered the Central Plains, and the army still needs to adapt. I am still a little worried that he is too impatient." Feng Tang rubbed his chin. Thoughtfully: "His wandering on the Yifeng-Yucheng line may have made Mr. Chen Jizhen feel afraid. Do you know who came yesterday?"
“Could it be Chen Jixian’s envoy?” The staff was surprised and a little unbelievable.
"That's right, they are Chen Jixian's people. Although their identity has not been revealed, I can recognize that they are people around Chen Jixian." Feng Tang smiled, "On this basis alone, Nanjing cannot succeed."
“Chen Jixian wants to communicate secretly with the imperial court?” The staff found it incredible.
From the very beginning, he discussed with the coach what the purpose of establishing Huaiyang Town was, and who was Chen Jixian, the Supreme Emperor, the Emperor, or Prince Yi Zhong?
It is difficult to judge no matter how you look at it. The final conclusion is that Chen Jixian is a person who sits on the fence. I am afraid that he can be related to any party, so either party can reluctantly accept it, but no party dares to completely believe it.
However, after the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army entered Shandong with great fanfare, Chen Jixian was indifferent to the court's order to attack the Xuanfu Army and used various excuses. The court lost trust in this man. From this point of view, he should be a talent from Nanjing. But this sudden contact with his boss, what is his intention?
Does it mean that you want to imitate the vassal towns in the late Tang Dynasty and separatist rule in Xuzhou? This would be looking down too high on himself.
This year is completely different from the situation at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The authority of the Zhang family's imperial power is still relatively stable. Whether it is the capital court or the Nanjing puppet dynasty, they can only rely on the Zhang family's descendants. Scholars still recognize the Zhang family, whether they are Neither Emperor Yuanxi nor Emperor Yonglong were mediocre kings, and their performance was still remarkable. Even if there were some shortcomings, they were within the acceptable range of the scholars.
Even Prince Yi Zhong who raised the banner of rebellion, to be honest, he still had some talents. During his time as the prince, except for having an affair with the British concubine, which was intolerable to Emperor Yuanxi, he had no other failures.
"It's hard to say. He just asked us not to attack Xuzhou. If we go to Shandong, he won't care. If we want to enter Xuzhou, then he will break up." Feng Tang seemed to be smiling but not smiling.
"A broken face?" The staff felt amused, "What if he broke his face? Completely surrendered to the Nanjing puppet government? Now, no matter how much he expresses his loyalty to the court, I'm afraid the court won't believe it, right? Unless he can give the Xuan Mansion The army stabbed him in the back, but the Xuanfu army is also guarding him now, right?"
Feng Tang was silent.
To be honest, he didn’t know what Chen Jixian wanted to do with his mysterious operation.
If we say that he was an "undercover" sent by the imperial court, when the Xuanfu army marched eastward into Shandong, he turned a blind eye. The Ministry of War ordered him to go north and block the Xuanfu army at the canal line, but he ignored it. If we say that he was from Nanjing, I think he was from the puppet court, but he felt a little bit like he would listen to the propaganda rather than the propaganda. The Nanjing puppet court also had a vague attitude towards him, and did not ask him to send troops to assist the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army.
It would be too stupid to say that he was just sitting on the fence and watching the show. In this situation, no matter who wins or loses, he will be hard to please. In the end, he will probably be liquidated. This is the stupidest choice. Nothing more than this.
In Feng Tang’s opinion, Chen Jixian should not be so unwise.
But he couldn't see through Chen Jixian's thoughts either.
However, Chen Jixian sent someone to contact him and asked the Northwest Army not to enter Xuzhou. Feng Tang still allowed Feng Tang to figure out some of Chen Jixian's thoughts. It seemed that this guy did not want to sit on the fence and wait and see as he initially guessed, but just wait and see temporarily. He He hopes that he will have a chance encounter with the Xuanfu Army in the next step. The outcome of the war between the two sides may become a decisive factor in his choice.
If you look at it from this perspective, it is really possible.
The war between the Northwest Army and the Xuanfu Army can almost determine the fate of the northern and southern courts. If they lose, the Huaiyang Army will take the opportunity to join the battle and attack their flanks. I am afraid that they will really be unable to withstand it. Once they retreat into Henan, then Almost the entire prosperous eastern region was lost, and the impact of the severe drought in the Northland in the past two years may put the entire Northland, including Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Beizhi, into trouble, unable to support the subsequent war. , and places like Guangdong, Guangxi and Huguang will probably change their current attitude in favor of the imperial court.
Similarly, if I defeat the Xuanfu Army in one fell swoop, I am afraid that the Huaiyang Army will either go north to attack the Xuanfu Army, but it is more likely that they will take the opportunity to go south to attack Yangzhou, or even storm Jinling, becoming the vanguard of the southward march. By then, they will capture Yangzhou, With Jinling's great contribution in hand, how could the imperial court refuse to acknowledge it or give an explanation?
Perhaps what Chen Jixian is doing now is to prepare his troops and make all preparations before launching the final blow.
"Maybe Chen Jixian hasn't made up his mind yet, or he doesn't dare to make up his mind to make a bet, but once he makes a bet, he may strike with all his strength at all costs." After a long time, Feng Tangcai slowly said: "He wants to see our Northwest Army Whether he can defeat the Xuanfu Army or not is the indicator for his observation and decision-making."
"Then what should we do now?" The staff ignored this issue, and it was not his turn to worry about it. What he needed to consider was the upcoming battle against Shandong, "Dong Yang has a big appetite, he wants to raid Jining Or Xuzhou?”
"It's not necessarily these two places." Feng Tang shook his head: "In fact, many areas along the canal are choke points. As long as one of them is cut off, the logistics supply of the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army can be completely interrupted. I'm afraid that This is also what Niu Jizong is most worried about. Dong Yang said last time that the Xuanfu army has garrisoned troops in Jiaxiang, Juye, Yutai, and Jinxiang counties, obviously to prevent us from raiding this section."
"Then go through Feng County and Pei County and capture Xia Town!" The staff member's eyes were sharp. "Didn't Chen Jixian say that we can't attack Xuzhou? Well, we will pass through Feng County and Pei County without touching them, and then directly enter Shandong and capture Xia Town. Town, then he will have nothing to say."
Xia Town is the original Xia Village. It is located to the south of Dushan Lake and Zhaoyang Lake. It strangles the main route of the canal to the north. Merchants gather together and Xu Yan's throat. If we capture this place, we can cut off the entire Shandong Canal and the inevitable communication with Xu Yang. .
"Capture Xia Town?" Feng Tang laughed, "Then you are forcing Niu Jizong to fight hard. If you capture Xia Town, Niu Jizong will go south with all his strength. Can we stop it? Although Xia Town is a choke point, it is not It's a good defensive position, if Chen Jixian takes the opportunity to hit us in the back, we may be outflanked."
The staff thought hard, and obviously realized this. Taking Xia Town might not be possible, especially with Feng County and Pei County in between. Once the Xuanfu army failed to attack, Chen Jixian would probably take action. , which will instead worsen the situation.
But if they occupy Peixian County, Fengxian County, they will directly go to war with the Huaiyang Army.
This is a dilemma.
(End of this chapter)