In addition to the conferment of fields for military merit, the dependents of other Forbidden Army generals will also be moved out in batches from Jiangdong, Zhejiang and other places that are small and densely populated, and resettled in Shouzhou, Guangzhou, Haozhou and other places.
At that time, the state and county governments will turn a large amount of unowned wasteland into official farmland, and rent it to the families of generals for farming. Generals with military merit can also rent additional land for farming, and the rent can be deducted from military pay.
The significance of extensive allotment of fields, including the conferment of fields for military merit, is far more than just protecting the interests of the soldiers, improving the status of the soldiers, and stimulating the morale of the generals to kill the enemy;
It is not only to attract more ambitious people to join the army, but also to ensure that the armies will receive a steady stream of new recruits in the future;
Not only does this effectively reduce military pay expenditures.
At the same time, it can fully release the huge idle labor force of hundreds of thousands of generals and their families, and use it to quickly restore production in the disabled areas on the south bank of the Huaihe River.
Filling hundreds of thousands of generals and their families into Guangshouhao and other states can also effectively consolidate the defense foundation along the Huaihe River.
Beijing and Xiangzhou have endured such huge war pressure in recent years, but they have never been crushed, and their strength in all aspects has even continued to climb. The most critical factor is that
For more than ten years, we have persisted in organization, relied on the generals and their families, and actively developed local farming, industrial and mining production.
This is not only conducive to the rapid recovery of local production, not only provides cheap and sufficient combat materials for the war, but also is much more reliable than ordinary people when the situation is critical, when military dependents organize themselves to participate in the defense of local cities.
This point can be fully reflected from the Niushou Mountain Rebels.
In the battle to cross the Huaihe River, in Xu Huai's view, it was not too difficult to seize the cities of Xiacai, Huaichuan, and Yingshui from the north bank of the Huaihe River as bridgeheads.
These cities control key locations such as Rukou and Yingkou, which are must-win areas for crossing the Huaihe River. At the same time, they are close to the Huaihe River.
At present, the armies of Jingsheng, Xuanwu, and Xiaosheng are stationed in Huangchuan, Huoqiu, Shouchun and other cities on the south bank. On a clear day, you can see the carriages and horses moving in the cities on the other bank.
In the early stage of crossing the Huaihe River, on the one hand, we can rely on iron-clad ships to launch an attack. On the other hand, we can quickly form a strong formation on the north bank of the Huaihe River to withstand the impact of the Red Husband Cavalry. We can also rely on water camps to transport materials and return sick and wounded soldiers south in an orderly manner.
With organization, you are not afraid of the red cavalry attacks. You can even organize superior troops and horses to surround these cities, build companies and camps, and attack them bit by bit.
However, after capturing these cities, it will be much more difficult to advance deeper into the Hehuai River.
The Red Husbands can organize up to 70,000 to 80,000 elite cavalry in Hehuai. They can gallop across the vast land of Hehuai on the flat plains, posing a threat that no one can ignore.
Perhaps the Tianxiong Army, the Jingsheng Army, and the Xuanfeng Army formed a large elite army to advance north, and would not be afraid of the Red Husband cavalry attacking from the front. Xu Huaihui even expected the Red Husbands to choose a frontal decisive battle.
In that case, as long as Zhennan and the main force of Prince Yan Zong's palace are defeated from the front, the subsequent recovery of Hehuai Nai, Hedong, Hebei and other places will be a matter of exploration.
I am afraid that the Red Husband will order the Han army to surrender and defend the fortified city, and shrink the main force of their elite cavalry, intending to lead the Huai army deep into the hinterland of the Hehuai River. At this time, it is meaningless even to attack individual cities such as Bianliang.
In the hundreds of miles deep area between Bianliang and the Huaihe River, how to maintain logistical supplies and how to ensure that they will not be cut off by the mobile cavalry that has the absolute advantage of the Red Husbands was something Xu Huai was also faced with at this time.
Problems that cannot be solved immediately.
This is the key reason why the Jianghuai military forces organized several Northern Expeditions in the past dynasties, but ultimately failed, suffered setbacks, and even suffered a disastrous defeat.
The bottom line is that the Hehuai region was destroyed, population loss was serious, and the entire area was barren. The Northern Expedition was unable to obtain sufficient supplies locally, and everything relied on dispatch from the Jianghuai and even Jiangnan regions.
The overly long supply line became the biggest weakness of the Northern Expedition.
Even if all the Khitan cavalry stayed in Jingxiang and did not return to the western foot of Qionglai Mountain, Jingxiang could only organize 20,000 cavalry at most, which was far from enough to protect the long logistics supply line after the Huaihe River crossing from being cut off by the Red Husband cavalry.
Therefore, Xu Huai's final strategy for crossing the Huaihe River did not intend to go straight in all at once.
He planned to use the Tianxiong Army and select the vanguard army to attract the main troops of the Zhennan Zong Palace in Rucai and other places, and use the Jingsheng Army, Xuanwu Army and Xiaosheng Army to cross the Huaihe River with the cooperation of the navy. In addition to seizing Huaichuan
, Yingshang, Xiacai and other cities outside the city on the north bank of the Huaihe River, and then mainly attack the city all the way north along the Yingshui, Woshui, Caishui and other rivers that run through the hinterland of the Huaihe River, and first recapture Ying???? on the north bank of the Huaihe River.
????????????zhou, Chenzhou, Songzhou and other places.
After restoring the defenses of Yingzhou, Chenzhou, and Songzhou in the south of Beijing, Xu Huai will consider recovering Xuzhou and Chenzhou, the most critical areas in the west of Beijing, which are currently occupied by the rebel general Yue Hailou; and after regaining Xuzhou and Chenzhou
After two states, Xu Huai still would not consider Bianliang City, which was exposed to the front of the Chihu Iron Cavalry. Instead, he would consider sending troops from Ruzhou to recover the Heluo area where the mountains and rivers are dangerous and restrict the use of the cavalry, and control the Yellow River.
midstream.
In short, we must humbly accept the experiences and lessons of the failed Northern Expeditions of previous dynasties, and we must not rush for success.
Of course, according to this strategy, the entire counterattack across the Huaihe River will be protracted, and it is likely to last two to three years or even three to five years longer. Therefore, it is even more necessary to relocate hundreds of thousands of soldiers and soldiers to settle along the Huaihe River.
lay a solid foundation.
Whether it is to requisition grain, fodder and other materials from the banks of the Huaihe River, organize a large number of civilians to accompany the army from the banks of the Huaihe River, or recruit volunteers from the banks of the Huaihe River to participate in the defense of the walled city on the north bank, it will be far more difficult than recruiting from Liangjiang and Zhejiang.
More convenient and more economical.
Of course, in the next two or three years, the war consumption north of the Huaihe River is destined to be far beyond imagination. However, Xu Huai agreed with Jiangdong, Jiangxi, Jingnan, Jingbei, and Guangxi Five Road Supervisors that the money and food provided by the Five Roads and participation in the rotation
The size of the garrison will be reduced by 20% from this year's level, and the shortfall will be made up by Beijing and Xiangzhou.
The shortfall will be made up by Jingxiang?!
What else could Wei Chujun say about this?
Wei Chujun originally expected that Jingxiang could gather a large army in the hinterland of the Hehuai River and engage in a decisive battle with the main forces of the Chihu Prefecture, in which both sides would suffer losses. Or he could drive straight in and head towards the iconic cities of the Central Plains such as Luoyang or Bianliang. However, in the end, due to supply difficulties, he could not resist.
Repeated attacks by the Red Husband Cavalry forced the troops to withdraw.
Both of these can undoubtedly greatly consume the strength of Jingxiang and Xiangxiang, or damage Xu Huai's reputation and power.
That way they will have more opportunities to plan everything.
He did not expect that Pingliang Gong, who was always good at using surprise troops to attack and win, this time the strategy of crossing the Huaihe River was so mediocre and strange. To put it mildly, it was just a step-by-step plan. In reality, it was still attrition with the Chihu people, but it was just that the original coast of the Huaihe River was destroyed.
The attrition operations were carried out to the north of the Huaihe River.
In the past, Dai Viet did not have this condition.
First, the navy was not strong enough to control the Huaihe River, and was even at a disadvantage.
Second, the Huaixi soldiers and horses in the past could not withstand such huge military pressure.
Although the two Huainan battles lasted for a total of two and a half years, during the longer war interval, due to the existence of the natural moat of the Huaihe River, the defenders suffered much less pressure, and they mainly had to recuperate. Only in the Huaihe River
During the short freeze period, large numbers of horsemen would cross the Huaihe River and invade southward.
Third, the consumption of money and food is completely disproportionate.
In the past, the intensity of the confrontation was low, and the Huaihe River relied on natural dangers, so the defense line was short and narrow. Most of the time, the size of the troops could be kept small, and soldiers could even be organized to garrison on the spot to replenish part of the military supplies. After crossing the Huaihe River,
To capture Ying, Chen, Bo, Song and other prefectures along the Ying River and Wo River, we will need to be prepared at all times for the intrusion of large groups of Japanese troops, and the entire defense depth will be several times wider. Correspondingly, the scale of standing war garrison troops will also increase.
There will be a sharp increase in the number; therefore, every city has the possibility of being attacked by the enemy at any time, so there will be no way to organize soldiers to farm, and the consumption of military supplies will increase by three or four times, and it will be impossible to stop it.
Now that the first two restrictions no longer exist, the armored warships built by Jingxiang and Xiangzhou have caused great suffering to the Chihu Navy. They are currently deployed in Huangchuan, Shouchun and
Haozhou's navy has made the Lu soldiers dare not set foot in the Huaihe River. They usually hide in the rivers and lakes in the hinterland of the Huaihe River. Occasionally they come out to harass, which is like scratching an itch.
This battle in Huainan also convinced the world that the four elite infantry groups of Tianxiong Army, Jingsheng Army, Xuanwu Army, and Xiaosheng Army would not be at a disadvantage in a head-on confrontation with the Japanese soldiers.
Wei Chujun originally thought that the huge consumption of military supplies and excessive expenditure on money and food would force Xu Huai to choose a quick victory and not dare to engage in a protracted war with the captive soldiers in the Hehuai area and a war of attrition.
He didn't expect that he still made a mistake.
However, after the two-year confrontation in the middle, Jingxiang quickly built so many armored warships. Can he say that Xu Huai was boasting about Haikou?
Not to mention that during the two-year confrontation on the Central Road, Jingxiang concealed it from the eyes and ears of the imperial court, invested countless manpower and material resources, and opened a remote mountain road between Sichuan and Shu in the Qionglai Mountains to connect Tubo, and brought seven to eight thousand Yan tribes.
The backup cavalry came in...
Beijing and Xiangzhou are strong and abundant, and we can get a glimpse of it from this land grant.
After the Chihu Navy successfully raided Jianye, the Nanzong Palace of Chihu Town also sent more troops to the upper reaches of the Ru and Yi Rivers to contain the elites of Beijing and Xiang. This means that the military pressure on Beijing and Xiang in the middle did not weaken after the middle of the year.
, but it has been greatly strengthened, requiring the temporary recruitment of a large number of defenders to participate in defense.
However, Xu Huai still dispatched more than 20,000 elite infantry cavalry from Jingxiang and Huainan to participate in the Huainan battle, not to mention the Yan tribe's reinforcement cavalry and the navy force that ultimately determined the victory or defeat of the battlefield, all came from Jingxiang.
Logically speaking, Beijing and Xiangzhou should have more money and food than they can make ends meet.
However, as soon as the Battle of Huainan ended, Xu Huai immediately mobilized tens of thousands of troops from Rucai and other places to march eastward, repaired the houses in the city and roads and bridges, and also mobilized millions of dan of food, clothing, etc. from Rucai and other places for resettlement.
The movement of supplies eastward would not give them an excuse to delay the implementation of military merit-based land transfers due to lack of money and food.
All this can only show that in the previous two years of confrontation in the middle, Jingxiang once assembled 300,000 troops to confront the captives, and did not reach the limit, and even managed to do so with ease...
Wei Chujun couldn't help but wonder, do they really have a chance?
