Chapter 386: Capture the thief first, capture the king
Well, this operation seems quite silly at first glance!
Isn’t this a contribution to the development of the place?!
However, you can’t just look at things in front of you, you have to take a long-term view!
Zhu Hongyu is not stupid, he has his own considerations in this matter.
In recent years, in order to win over the landlords and gentry, there is no harm in handing over local power to them.
Arranging local grassroots officials to become landlords and gentry allowed the local government to better and more efficiently collect taxes and recruit soldiers for Zhu Hongyu.
After waiting for the past two or three years, the war situation has stabilized.
Zhu Hongyu will start to boil frogs in warm water and use promotion as an excuse to transfer local officials to other places for rotation.
One can imagine what choices these children of landlords and gentry would make if they were promoted to become chief officials elsewhere, or to stay where they were and serve as minor officials.
Then, Zhu Hongyu can fill the local area with his own people to control local power.
Then, it’s time to start reforming!
To put it bluntly, it’s just a conspiracy!
Conspiracies and tricks may be successful for a while, but it is the conspiracy that is truly powerful and unsolvable.
As for what if the Ming army was defeated in the war with the Qing army, the war situation failed to stabilize, and the Ming army was forced to withdraw from the mainland?
In that case, Zhu Hongyu wouldn't care what happened to the place.
The bigger the local power, the better!
Let’s cook in a pan with oil!
…
Immediately, Zhu Hongyu summoned the generals of the Liberation Army to discuss the next strategy.
In the large tent, the generals of the Liberation Army sat around a sand table.
The sand table is very detailed, and you can see a general outline of the mountains and rivers geography of the entire southern country.
Small red or green flags were planted on the sand table, indicating the military deployment of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The generals of the Ming army pointed at the sand table and stated their different opinions.
"For our army, the most important thing at the moment is to stabilize the battle situation on the front line in Guangdong."
"The next counterattack by the Qing army will most likely come from three directions: Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi."
Xu Bin held the baton in his hand and moved it on the sand table, describing in detail the movements of the Qing army during this period.
The reason why he said this was because whether it was Geng Jingzhong in Fujian or Wu Sangui in Yunnan-Guizhou, there was a high probability that they would stand still.
Needless to say, Geng Jingzhong has wanted to wear a white hat for a long time, and now he is just worried that the world will not be in chaos.
As for Wu Sangui, he had already had dissatisfaction with the Qing court.
He would not dare to directly raise troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty, but with Li Dingguo in the direction of Mengla as a check, Wu Sangui would most likely not move his troops eastward.
Except for Geng Jingzhong and Wu Sangui, if the Qing government wanted to send troops to Guangdong, it could only send troops from three directions: Guangxi, Hunan, and Jiangxi.
Zhu Hongyu sat in the top position, with an expression on his face full of approval.
Xu Bin felt the looks from all around and then spoke.
"The Qing government's green battalion troops in Hunan, Guangxi, and Jiangxi provinces totaled about 130,000 to 40,000 people!"
"Excluding the necessary troops left behind, the Qing government can mobilize approximately 70,000 to 80,000 mobile troops."
"But if you add in the local supervision and control, and the Eight Banners garrisoned in Nanjing that the Qing government may mobilize to supervise the war, if the Qing army wants to invade Guangdong this time, the number of troops mobilized will be more than 100,000!"
"And the number of troops our army can mobilize for this battle will not exceed 40,000!"
Forty thousand is too much!
This is because the Liberation Army is constantly expanding, and new recruits who have completed recruit training are constantly being added to various establishments.
While replenishing battle losses, new organizations were formed one after another.
Calculate the speed of the Ming army's expansion, as well as the speed of the Qing army's communication of messages and orders, gathering of troops, preparation of food and grass, and the speed of the army's march.
By that time, the Army of Liberation's army will be expanded to a maximum of 50,000 troops.
Excluding the troops stationed in the local area, at most 40,000 people can be mobilized to participate in the war!
Forty thousand versus one hundred thousand or more, the strength comparison between the two sides will reach an astonishing 2.5 to 1, or even more exaggerated.
At that time, if the two sides fight head-on!
Although the Ming army's victory rate is still not low, this does not conform to the basic principles of war.
This is the so-called principle of achieving maximum results at the minimum cost!
Although the Ming army was capable of winning in a head-on battle, a head-on battle must be a desperate choice.
Li Guangyuan sighed.
"The strength of the Qing court in the south cannot be underestimated!"
"This is still before the two thieves Geng Jingzhong and Wu Sangui are put to death."
"If the Qing court works together, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will have to retreat overseas this time to wait for the future."
Zhu Hongyu nodded slightly and said.
"At present, the Qing court is full of suspicion, the young ruler is suspicious of the country, the emperor and his ministers are untrustworthy, and party disputes are rising. This is our greatest opportunity to restore the Ming Dynasty!"
Zhu Hongyu finished speaking, then turned his gaze to Xu Bin, and then spoke.
"What is the opinion of the General Staff regarding this battle?"
Xu Bin bowed slightly and then spoke.
"Reporting to His Royal Highness the Supervisor, the opinion of the General Staff is to capture the king first before capturing the thief!"
"This time the Qing Dynasty wants to conquer the Ming Dynasty from the south, its real core is definitely not the Green Camp with a salary of 100,000 or the Supervisor and Fubiao."
"But the only Manchu Eight Banners soldier of the Qing Dynasty in the South, the Nanjing Eight Banners!"
"If our army sends an elite soldier to land at the mouth of the Yangtze River before the Qing government gathers all the heavy troops in the south, and surprises Nanjing, it will destroy the Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing army in Nanjing in one fell swoop."
"In this way, even if the Qing government gathered all the 200,000 to 300,000 green battalions in the south of the Yangtze River to send troops to Guangdong, without the Eight Banners to suppress the formation, it would only be a mob of 200,000 to 300,000 people."
"You will be vulnerable in front of my Ming Dynasty King Master!"
"At that time, if the Qing government wants to mobilize heavy troops to reinforce the southern country, it will have no choice but to mobilize troops from the north!"
"If you go back and forth, you can delay it for at least half a year!"
Zhu Hongyu pondered for a while, and then spoke.
"In addition, if our army moves north along the coast, it can also support the Zhoushan war!"
"Severely inflicted heavy damage, or even completely annihilated the Qing Dynasty's Yangtze River Navy, and destroyed the Qing Dynasty's Longjiang Shipyard in one fell swoop!"
Zhu Hongyu thought of the war in Zhoushan.
Although Zhao Erhu's troops still persisted, as time passed, the Qing court continued to mobilize soldiers, horses and civilians from all over Jiangnan.
The war in Zhoushan is becoming increasingly difficult.
So far, Zhoushan has asked Zhu Hongyu for help several times!
Wu Ming's navy was also designed by Shi Lang to enter the encirclement, and was almost surrounded and annihilated.
The war in Zhoushan was very difficult!
It’s time to give them some support here!
Thinking about this, Zhu Hongyu made a decision.
"Go down with the order, gather troops and horses, prepare warships and supplies, and the staff will formulate relevant plans and be ready to head north at any time!"
The generals agreed one after another and then prepared to go.
…
On the other side, inside Kunming City!
Wu Sangui received the specific news of the Battle of Xinhui. He was shocked and felt quite complicated at the same time.
For Shang Ke's death, he couldn't help but feel sad!
But he felt a little surprised and puzzled by the Qing court's defeat in the decisive battle of Xinhui.
You must know that in that battle, it was the Qing Dynasty that had the advantage in military strength!
How did Ming thieves win with fewer enemies and more enemies?
You must know that in the past, the Ming army was able to defeat the Qing army with less, and it was usually the Qing army!
However, when he received the imperial edict from Zhu Hongyu recognizing his title as King of Pingxi and his permanent rule in Yunnan, joy and complacency replaced the sadness and surprise of the rabbit dead and the fox dead.