By the Lantern Festival in the fifth year of Yongxing, Jiangning had gone through the most difficult year.
It's just that the gentry and nobles suffered much more damage than the common people in last year's Jiangning War, and their strength has not recovered. The number of palace attendants in the inner palace has also been reduced to the previous eleven, which is still insufficient.
Jiangning's past prosperity was largely supported by the large group of gentry and nobles in the city. When this class has lost its vitality, it will be difficult and long for Jiangning to restore its past prosperity.
The temporary decline in market prosperity did not put the livelihood of urban civilians into jeopardy.
On the one hand, the Privy Council took over the workshops belonging to the Jiangning Ministry of Industry and quickly resumed production. It also encouraged gentry, civilians, and merchants to open workshops in Jiangning City and peripheral towns such as Hekou, Quyang, and Chengnanpu near Jiangning City, providing services to those who could no longer rely on the old
The urban poor who maintained their livelihoods with the gentry and officials created new ways to make a living; on the one hand, the Privy Council organized large-scale relocation of the surplus population to surrounding prefectures and counties to meet the labor demand for quarrying, Jinshan, Liyang and other places such as industry, mining and reclamation.
For a time, the number of households in Jiangning City dropped sharply from 160,000 before the war to 120,000, which greatly alleviated Jiangning City's food pressure and labor surplus.
After the sharp drop in salt prices, last year when autumn grains came on the market, the price of grains in Jiangning fell to the level of one dou of grain and one dime of silver. This was actually the lowest grain price in Jiangnan since the collapse of Yanji. After the Yanyan Canal was dug, Lishui Mountain could directly
When charcoal was transported into Jiangning, the price of Jiangning charcoal fell by nearly one-third. Following the sharp drop in salt prices following the rectification of the salt incident, the prices of oil tea, iron cloth and other commodities also continued to drop significantly, falling within the range that the people can afford.
Even if it cannot be compared with the chaos in Huaisi and the collapse of Yanji, at a rough look, there is peace in Jiangning city; the refugees have disappeared for a while, and the poor people in the city can barely survive.
During the Lantern Festival, the palace held a banquet to reward ministers as usual.
In order not to interfere with the ministers' gathering with their families, the banquet in the palace also started early. During the banquet, a scout rushed back from Guanzhong to report secretly. Lin Fu resigned midway and rushed to the Privy Council to discuss the military plan.
From late August last year, Yanhu launched a second large-scale offensive against Guanzhong.
Obviously, Yan Hu also saw that the long coastline on the east side was its weakness.
If they don't want Huaidong to annihilate the She family first, pacify Jiangxi, and gather heavy troops in Xuzhou to launch a large-scale counterattack from the eastern front against Yanlu and other places, Yanhu must take Guanshan first and increase the strategic depth of the western front.
It can also threaten Jianghuai's right wing.
The Huaidong Army sent troops to western Zhejiang to besiege Shangrao, and Yanhu troops marched into Guanzhong. They all rushed to launch offensives before the end of last year. In fact, the two sides were competing for the next strategic initiative.
Compared with the first roundabout attack on Guyuan, Pengyang, Qingyang, and Yanhu from the western front, Yanhu's attack on Guanzhong this time still focused on the western front, but at the same time, two more partial divisions were added: one from Yulin and the other from Qingjian.
Taking the Gangu Road south, they attacked Yanzhou, an important town in the north of Xiqin County; along the way, they transferred 20,000 elite troops under Chen Zhihu from Henan to Jinzhong, crossed the Yellow River via Pujin, and attacked Heyang in the west, directly threatening the core of Guanzhong.
Although after Jiangning decided to unite with Cao to resist the invaders, the Cao family was able to gather 100,000 troops and horses in Guanzhong to defend the territory; but this time, Yanhu actually gathered 200,000 troops and horses on the western front and attacked from three directions.
, it is necessary to destroy the foundation of the Cao family in Guanzhong in one fell swoop.
Liang Chengyi considered that if Guan Shaanxi was lost, it would be difficult to survive alone in the river, so he led his troops across the river from Shaanzhou to the north and attacked southern Shanxi to divide the pressure in the pass. Chen Zhihu crossed the river from Pujin and captured Heyang, then led his troops southward to attack Weibei from the south.
The general Wei Shiyan of Guanzhong was lured to station troops on the north bank of the Wei River to confront each other, while Chen Zhihu crossed the Yellow River again in Chaoyi, returned to the east of the river, and set up an ambush in the reeds on the riverside south of Ruicheng to lure Liang Chengyi's soldiers and horses heading north to southern Shanxi.
Liang Chengyi's troops were defeated in one battle, and Liang Chengyi retreated to Shaanzhou with only a few thousand remaining soldiers.
In order to prevent Hezhong Prefecture from suffering losses, the Privy Council had earlier ordered Nanyang and Huaixi to reinforce Hezhong Prefecture. Years ago, Liang Chengchong and Dong Yuan sent their generals to lead troops northward, so that Hezhong Prefecture would have no worries for the time being. However, the land in Henan was all in ruins.
Due to the threat from the flanks of Hezhong Prefecture, it is difficult for the combined forces of Nanyang and Huaixi to move north, so it is difficult to effectively contain the Yanhu forces. However, it is not within the capabilities of Nanyang and Huaixi to move north to the south of Shanxi or east to Shandong - the situation in Guan-Shaanxi is precarious.
In order to accurately grasp the situation in Guan and Shaanxi at any time, the Military Intelligence Department of the Privy Council sent scouts to the north. Every once in a while, people were sent back to report the military situation in the north in detail, so that the Privy Council could have more accurate information to pass to the Cao family and the Liang brothers.
The memorials corroborate each other.
Lin Fu, along with Gao Zongting, Song Fu, Qin Chengzu, Cao Ziang and others, listened to the scout's report on the on-the-ground intelligence in the North, and then asked the scout to go down and rest.
"If the Weishui River is penetrated by the enemy after the spring, it will be difficult for the Cao family to survive in Guan and Shaanxi until next year," Gao Zongting said. "If the Cao family does not say hello and retreats to the two rivers to preserve its strength, the situation on the center line will be very bad.
, it is not appropriate to delay the Changshan Army's march southward any longer..."
Lin Fu stood in front of the map hanging on the west wall of the capital hall, frowning deeply as he looked at the movements of Beiyan's three soldiers and horses; Qin Chengzu, Cao Zi'ang, Song Fu and others also frowned deeply.
It has always been easy to attack the south from the north, and difficult to attack the north from the south.
The north is a land of bitter cold. If you fight from a bitter cold place to the south, supplies can be confiscated or plundered on the spot. But if you fight from the south to the north, supplies must rely more on a complete logistics system.
After being crippled in Henan, the Huaixi troops had to move northward and were unable to obtain supplies from the uninhabited remaining land of Henan. Logistics and supplies alone limited the Huaixi troops' northward movement and threatened Yanhu's depth.
For Yanhu, he only needs to occupy a few key passes such as Daliang in Henan. Even if he temporarily abandons the entire territory of Henan, there will not be much loss. After winter, most of the rivers and Huaihe waters are frozen, and they cannot use them.
Ships, it is even more difficult for soldiers from the south to go north.
After autumn, Yanhu transferred Chen Zhihu to Jin, but strengthened the defense of Xu Si's troops on the eastern front. Although it left a gap in Henan, it was still difficult for Jiangning to take advantage of it. Even though Dong Yuan had been recuperating in Huaixi
For a long time, one hundred thousand soldiers and horses can still fight, but the expedition logistics is a weakness. In addition to covering the Hezhong Mansion from the flanks, they still dare not go deep to fight along the Yellow River.
Guanzhong is a fortress for the Central Plains, but if you put all the pastures of the Yanxi barbarians on the battlefield, you will find that Guanzhong has large areas in the northwest, north, and northeast where it meets Jinzhong.
Like Jiangxi, the situation seems to be easy to defend but difficult to attack, but there are still several channels around that can be used for troops.
Of course, the Cao family cannot give up Guanzhong easily, but when the situation is so critical that they have to give up, can they expect the Cao family to be selfless and fight tooth and nail to defend the Western Front for Jiangning?
Unlike the She family's Chad in Jiangxi, the Cao family has occupied the two rivers for three years. Furthermore, Jiangning has officially recognized the Cao family's right to govern the two rivers. The Cao family can still rest and recuperate by retaining its strength and retreating to the two rivers——
After the Cao family lost Guanzhong, it was not that they had no way out.
Now I am afraid that the Cao family will not be able to withstand the pressure and give up Guanzhong on their own initiative.
Lin Fu turned around, looked at Qin Chengzu, Cao Ziang, Song Fu and others, and asked: "Do you all agree with Zongting's proposal?"
"I'm afraid it can't be postponed until next year!" Cao Ziang said.
The original plan was to drag the Shangrao war for a year, drag the She family to the extreme of weakness, and then defeat them in one fell swoop. The current situation in the north requires that the Changshan Army be mobilized south in advance, and the Shangrao attack be carried out early in the spring.
conduct.
Lin Fu nodded and said: "Immediately order Ao Canghai to lead Zhang Jiheng and Zhang Gou to go south first; Zi Ang, go to Luzhou to supervise the army on my behalf..." After thinking about it again, he said, "I will divide the cavalry camp into two camps.
The soldiers and horses were led by Sun Zhuang and followed Zi'ang to Luzhou. The war horses that arrived after the spring were given priority to Luzhou. Xu Sunzhuang drew generals who were good at riding and shooting from various armies and supply barracks and organized them in Luzhou as soon as possible.
The Third Brigade of the Cavalry Battalion; Huang Zuyu has not recovered from his injuries, but he has written a letter requesting to return to the team to lead the troops, so he should be asked to go to Luzhou with Ziang..."
Ao Canghai led his elite troops into western Zhejiang, joined the Chongcheng army, and stayed in Yijiang. The most senior general in Luzhou was Ge Cunxiong.
However, Ge Cunxiong was good at managing the navy, and the focus of the Privy Council's operations in Luzhou was on land. Therefore, Cao Ziang, who was proficient in this aspect, was needed to go to Luzhou to control the overall situation.
Cao Ziang nodded. Another purpose of his going to Luzhou was to deceive others. If the situation on the Western Front cannot be sustained and collapses first, Luzhou will use Jiangning as a strategic support point on the inner layer of the Western Front and send Cao Ziang to supervise the army. The main force of the Changshan Army will be
It is a normal arrangement to go south and transfer Sun Zhuang, Huang Zuyu and other generals to strengthen Luzhou.
The Huaidong Army could only obtain qualified war horses from Jeju and Fusang Islands, and the number was limited. All armies were required to have a certain amount of armored light cavalry. They could serve as generals' guards in their spare time and serve as scouts in war. The development of the cavalry camp has always been affected by
Great restrictions. When the total number of soldiers in the Huaidong infantry camp reached 150,000, the cavalry camp only had two brigades. One brigade was deployed in Xuzhou, and the other was deployed as a forbidden cavalry in Jiangning. The total size was less than 10,000.
It was at this point that Lin Fucai decided to send Sun Zhuang to Luzhou to form another brigade of pure cavalry troops.
Compared with the previous year, the size of the reserve soldiers of the Huaidong Troop Barracks is still lower than that of the previous year and needs further recovery. However, the plate is large and it is not difficult to recruit three or two thousand soldiers with good riding skills. In order to make the third brigade of the Cavalry Battalion into an army as soon as possible, Lin Fu
This was the first time that Sun Zhuang made an exception and asked him to draw manpower from various armies.
In the future, the decisive victory against Yan and Hu in the Central Plains will be very difficult without a certain number of cavalry.
Huang Zuyu was born in the Yuwangao tribe of the East Fujian Army. After returning to Huaidong with Tang Fuguan, he was also highly used. However, in the autumn of last year, when he was responsible for suppressing bandits in Yishan, Zhongliuya was injured and retired to recuperate. Huang Zuyu was asked to follow Cao Ziang to Luzhou.
, you can directly organize and train a new army to make up for the shortage of troops stationed in Luzhou after the main force of the Changshan Army was transferred south.
Song Fu immediately drafted a letter of order, and Lin Fu signed it, then left the Privy Council through the side door and returned to Chen Garden. By this time, the sky had completely darkened.
Lin Fu was sitting in the carriage, listening to the ruts of the carriage and thinking about something. Suddenly the carriage stopped and heard Chen Daozi shouting from the front: "Who is it? Stop!"
Lin Fu opened the curtain of the carriage and looked at the four young men in Tsing Yi in casual clothes at the front of the carriage team.
This is the corridor outside the imperial city. It is adjacent to the Privy Council's military aircraft area, and soldiers and civilians are prohibited from entering. These four people were walking in the corridor. They were neither officials nor generals, but they were very abrupt. No wonder Chen Daozi and the others looked like they were facing a formidable enemy. They were driven by dozens of cavalry.
Ma drew his sword and stepped forward, surrounding the four suspicious-looking people.
"Mr. Lin!" The young man in green clothes in the middle did not panic and called back.
Lin Fu laughed dumbly and said, "Why did Princess Yuan Yan sneak out of the palace again?"