The military flag was flying and the war horses were rustling. Lu Xiangsheng looked at his Tianxiong army arrayed neatly, and couldn't help but show a look of satisfaction on his face. After so many years of hard work, this powerful army finally put him into the ranks of top civil servants.
In fact, in the construction and use of the Tianxiong Army, Lu Xiangsheng is quite similar to Wu Shigong, who has the Runing Army. They focus on Anning and Yunyang, conduct limited attacks, and use Xunyang to support them. This approach can not only preserve their own strength,
And being able to rely on the base area to achieve greater results can be said to be twice the result with half the effort.
Of course, Lu Xiangsheng had good reasons for doing this. Yunyang is the modern Shiyan City in Hubei Province. It is located at the northern foot of Wudang and south of the Han River. It is the intersection of the four central cities of Wuhan, Chongqing, Xi'an and Zhengzhou.
It was originally a thoroughfare for the movement of peasant armies, so it needed a strong army to garrison it. Moreover, Lu Xiangsheng was the governor of Yunyang, so it was justifiable for him to use his own army to defend his territory.
However, it can also be seen from here that Lu Xiangsheng, who did this, gained a very high prestige in the court, while Wu Shigong, who did the same thing, became notorious. Putting aside those messy reasons, one can only lament that this civil and military thing is so damned
There's a difference.
At this time, the Tianxiong Army already had more than 14,000 people. Except for the 6,000 cadres that Lu Xiangsheng brought to Yunyang, the rest were recruited by him locally in Yunyang.
Due to the continuous battles and the fact that Lu Xiangsheng was familiar with military affairs and well-trained troops, the Tianxiong Army's combat effectiveness was quite strong. In addition, with supplies from the imperial court and local support from Yunyang, their equipment was also very sophisticated.
There are nearly 3,000 war horses alone, and more than 4,000 other mules and horses. Each soldier has armor above cotton armor, and the most elite 6,000 are also wearing leather armor and iron armor. Judging from the armor, this
Its popularity has surpassed that of the Runing Army. However, due to the personal characteristics of the coach Lu Xiangsheng, the firearms and equipment of the Tianxiong Army are not as good as those of the Runing Army.
Because the weapon Lu Xiangsheng used when he went into battle was a broadsword weighing more than a hundred pounds, the Tianxiong army preferred hand-to-hand combat. However, even so, the quantity and quality of their firearms and equipment exceeded that of the general Ming army.
It can be seen here that Yunyang alone can support more than 14,000 elite soldiers. Let’s look at Wu Shigong, who raised tens of thousands of soldiers with the land of two prefectures; and Wu Shigong, who raised 8,000 troops with the land of one state
Yu Zilian, it can be seen that as long as you are careful, it is not difficult to raise soldiers in the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty was still very wealthy, and the cost of recruiting soldiers was quite cheap. But why could Lu Xiangsheng and others be able to do it, but other local officials couldn't? Without other ears, there is no corruption!
"Superintendent, do you really want to keep these two thousand people?" Lu Xiangsheng's counselor Yang Tinglin asked. Yang Tinglin has been following Lu Xiangsheng's staff since the Tianxiong Army was formed. He is also known for his knowledge of military matters and his good decision-making skills.
, is an important assistant of Lu Xiangsheng.
Lu Xiangsheng smiled and replied: "I am no longer the governor of the past. I am now in charge of the military affairs of the five provinces. Yunyang is such an important place that I must leave an army to defend it. This is the only way."
Because he had to fight a peasant army with a large number of people, the more troops Lu Xiangsheng led must be the better. However, in order to keep Yunyang and not leave an empty frame to the new Yunyang Governor and make the two of them look ugly in the officialdom, Lu Xiangsheng still had to
There are no two thousand Tianxiong troops left. Therefore, the location is different and the angle of thinking about the problem is also different. There is nothing we can do about it.
"The troops in Yunyang are enough!" Although he knew Lu Xiangsheng's reasoning, Yang Tinglin still couldn't help complaining.
When Lu Xiangsheng was governing Yunyang, he also recruited an auxiliary army of more than 4,000 people. Due to frequent wars in Yunyang, the auxiliary soldiers often joined the battle, so this auxiliary army also had a certain combat effectiveness.
However, Lu Xiangsheng did not pay attention to Yang Tinglin's complaints because he also knew that Yang Tinglin had this temper. So Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said: "Zuo and Zu two towns have respected the orders of the governor and their troops are sufficient. Now the thieves are in Shaanxi and
Governor Hong is engaged in a fierce battle. For me, the most important thing is to prevent thieves from entering Huguang and Henan again."
But Yang Tinglin knew that Lu Xiangsheng had issued orders to four troops. In addition to Zuo Liangyu and Zu Kuan's troops, Yu Zilian's army and Runing army, which had been in the limelight recently, all received Lu Xiangsheng's orders.
However, the two armies refused the order unceremoniously. Yu Zilian responded politely and told Lu Xiangsheng: Because the Ruzhou army fought too many battles today and the soldiers are tired, they cannot send troops immediately this time.
.However, when the rest is completed, Yu Zilian will also lead his troops to join Lu Xiangsheng.
But the Runing Army ignored Lu Xiangsheng at all, and just asked the messenger to bring back a message: the Runing Army is a local army in Henan, and must first obey the orders of Henan Governor Li Xianfeng.
However, Lu Xiangsheng knew that although he could nominally control Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan, Li Xianfeng was also responsible for the peace of Henan, so he would not let go of any Henan army. If he negotiated with Li Xianfeng to mobilize the Runing army, he would definitely be seeking the skin of a tiger.
Therefore, the matter of mobilizing the Runing Army can only be left alone.
"But Governor Hong's policy is not to suppress thieves, but to drive the thieves out of Shaanxi. Then they will all be responsible for the governor!" Yang Tinglin spoke frankly in front of Lu Xiangsheng.
Because he was surrounded by his own people, Lu Xiangsheng did not stop Yang Tinglin. He could only smile bitterly and said: "Everyone has his own way! I really don't know where the rebel army will go, and there are two towns in Henan, Zuo and Zu.
The governor is also responsible for ensuring the peace of Huguang."
Intercepting the powerful peasant army on a long defense line is always a very passive thing, because Lu Xiangsheng simply does not know which road the peasant army will take out of Shaanxi.
However, in addition to being the governor of the five provinces, Lu Xiangsheng also served as the governor of Huguang. In addition, Huguang, the world's granary, was always more important than other regions, so Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army could only choose to defend the peasant army before entering Huguang.
Besides, when the peasant army re-entered Henan, Yu Zilian and Wu Shigong, who did not obey the orders, had to fight tooth and nail, because Henan was also their territory. Hong Chengchou could change the situation from suppression to force and throw the problem to Lu Xiangsheng, so of course Lu Xiangsheng could also use this method.
In one move, the problem was thrown to Li Xianfeng, Yu Zilian and Wu Shigong.
But Yang Tinglin was still a little dissatisfied: "The new disciple of Yu Yushi was lucky enough to win a big victory; Vice General Wu is a rich man, how can he stop the thieves? It would be a pity to bring his division back to the superintendent!"
Lu Xiangsheng laughed out loud after hearing this. On the one hand, Yang Tinglin belittled Yu Zilian and Wu Shigong, but on the other hand, he wanted to recruit the powerful army in the hands of these two people. Although Lu Xiangsheng also had the same idea, it was still whimsical after all.
So Lu Xiangsheng said with a smile: "Yu Ruzhou and Wu Runing are still in their infancy, but they always have great talents. After all, I control the five provinces. After meeting with them, it is better to appease them and win them over!"