Since defeating the main force of the Ming army led by Su Jiakang half a month ago, Li Xuan has sent many spies to Zhengtai County, Longhua Town and even Fucheng to observe every move of the Ming army.
Naturally, it is impossible for these spies to find out the secret information of the upper echelons of the Ming army. For example, the prefect Song Zhiwen learned that Zhengtai County had been lost half a month ago, and that the Ming army was severely damaged when Su Jiakang pursued it.
We have raised troops and horses to prepare to send troops to Zhengtai County.
Because at that time, everyone could see that the power of Zhengtai County alone was no longer able to extinguish the puppet Tang bandit army with five to six hundred people.
However, it was not something that the prefect Song Zhiwen could do in a day or two if he wanted to assemble troops. Even if it was faster, it would still take ten days and a half. In addition, although the puppet Tang rebel army had become a trend, they still failed to win.
Zhengtai County, this gave Song Zhiwen more buffer time to slowly raise troops.
If Li Xuan quickly captured Zhengtai County, then of course Su Jiakang died without a complete body, and Song Zhiwen would also feel huge pressure. At that time, he would not care too much about the impression, and might report it directly
The governor who arrived at the provincial capital relied on the army sent by Shangfeng to wipe out the puppet Tang rebel army.
However, Li Xuan did not conquer Zhengtai County immediately, which gave Song Zhiwen a chance to save everything!
As long as Zhengtai County is not lost, the impact caused by the puppet Tang bandit army can be controlled even if there are hundreds of people. Su Jiakang cannot suppress it by himself, but Song Zhiwen, as the leader of the government, can suppress it.
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Of course, the news that should be reported still needs to be reported, but it can be reduced to minor issues through clever writing skills.
Next, Song Zhiwen began to raise troops!
The actions of these upper-level figures in the Ming court were naturally unknown to the spies of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty. However, Song Zhiwen's movements in mobilizing troops and horses were not small, and they would naturally be known to the spies of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty who were lurking in the city.
The spies reported that in the past ten days, Ming troops had entered Fucheng one after another. In addition, Song Zhiwen also recruited a large number of young men.
Preliminary estimates show that Song Zhiwen has assembled a Ming army of at least 3,000 people, the main force of which are soldiers recruited by Song Zhiwen himself, some are guardsmen, and half are young men recruited temporarily.
"Judging from the current news, the Ming army from Fucheng will set off to attack our Zhengtai in the next few days. The number of troops exceeds 3,000, of which more than half are regular troops. If we add Su Jiakang led by Zhengtai County and Longhua Town
The total strength of the remnants of the Ming army exceeds 4,000." Fang Dongquan continued:
"Even after the expansion of our army, the Ming army is four times as large as our army. Moreover, more than half of our soldiers were recruited in the past few days and have not received the most basic training. Their combat effectiveness is worrying!"
Fang Dongquan explained the current situation, and after everyone heard it, their expressions were not very good. Immediately, Butcher Chen said loudly: "I'm afraid of him. When the time comes, I will lead a group of people to attack him, even if they have three or four thousand."
People can also disperse them!"
Although Butcher Chen spoke loudly when he said this, everyone was very familiar with him and knew that his loudness at this time was just to hide the worry in his heart.
At this time, Wang Shanxu said: "There is a big difference in the strength of the enemy and our troops. A head-on attack will definitely not work. We can take advantage of them to cross the river and attack them halfway across the river!"
When he said this, he walked to the large hand-drawn military map next to him and said: "I am between Zhengtai and Fucheng, blocked by the Lanjiang River. Although the Lanjiang River is long, there are not many places that can be used to cross the river.
, If the Fucheng Ming army wants to cross the river, the most suitable place is at the Lanjiang Ferry. As long as we ambush at the Lanjiang Ferry and wait for the Ming army to cross the river halfway, we can expect a great victory!"
Zeng Ziwen also said: "Yes, our best way now is to block the Ming army in Fucheng from the Lanjiang River, let alone let them meet with Su Jiakang's troops. Otherwise, their strength will be reduced after one round.
If there are more than 4,000 people, it will be even harder to fight!"
"I'm afraid it won't be easy to attack halfway across the river. The Ming army will definitely send forwards across the river to explore the road first. There are more than a thousand of us who can't hide. If they find us ambushing on the other side of the river, they will definitely
If we choose other places to cross the river, then we will be passive!" Huang Xueren also said: "In my opinion, let them cross the river. After they cross the river, we will send people to lure them to divide their troops. After they divide their troops,
, then use the main force to ambush and defeat them one by one!"
As soon as his voice fell, Fang Dongquan spoke again: "What if the Ming army does not divide its troops and goes directly to Zhengtai County to find Su Jiakang?"
Listening to the arguments of many generals under his command, Li Xuan himself was also deep in thought, and he listened to what everyone said in his heart.
Among the many plans, Li Xuan still prefers the method advocated by Wang Shanxu and Zeng Ziwen, which is to block the Ming army from the Lanjiang River as much as possible. As for how many Ming troops can be killed, it is secondary. The key is to keep the Ming army out of the Lanjiang River.
The army blocked the Lanjiang River to buy itself enough time to develop.
What the Tang Dynasty needs most now is time. New soldiers need time to train, and muskets also need time to build, and this time is at least three months.
After three months, the Tang Dynasty will have a main force with more than 1,500 troops. By then, it will be more confident to fight the Ming army.
It's just obvious that the Ming army doesn't want to give them this time!
After everyone debated for more than half an hour, they managed to come up with several plans.
His first choice plan is to attack half way across the river when the main force of the Ming army in Fucheng is in, and strive to defeat the Ming army when they cross the river. This will not only block the Ming army from the Lanjiang River, but also block the Ming army from the Lanjiang River at least for the next one or two months.
It is impossible for the Ming army to launch another large-scale crossing of the river.
To implement this plan, you must leave immediately and go to the Lanjiang Ferry, otherwise you will not be able to make it in time.
If the plan to attack halfway across the river fails, then heavy troops will be stationed at the Lanjiang ferry to block the Ming army from the Lanjiang River.
The above two plans are what Li Xuan and everyone want, and they are also the most beneficial to the Tang Dynasty.
But if the Ming army successfully crosses the river, the next step is to prevent the Fucheng Ming army and Su Jiakang's troops from joining together as much as possible, and instead use various strategies to divide the Fucheng Ming army and try to defeat them one by one.
If the strategy of luring the Ming army to divide their forces failed, then there would be big trouble in the follow-up. At that time, the new army of the Tang Dynasty would have to rely on the mountains to fight a defensive battle in which the enemy advances and we retreat, and the enemy retreats and we advance, just like in the past few months.
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After setting the main strategic plan, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty also quickly moved into action. The first infantry battalion, sword and shield team, archer team, cavalry team, and transport battalion were quickly prepared. These troops are the current core force of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty.
, how this battle goes, whether we can win or not depends on how well these troops perform.
Although the 2nd Infantry Battalion led by Fang Dongquan and the 3rd Infantry Battalion led by Wang Shanxu are almost full, most of them are new soldiers, and they are not equipped with muskets. They are still in the era of cold weapons such as spears, swords and shields.
Therefore, although their number accounts for more than half of the total force, they can actually only serve as a second-line force.
The new army of the Tang Dynasty, numbering more than 1,400 people, was quickly mobilized, and it took only one day to complete preparations for the expedition.
The next morning, Li Xuan first arrived at Empress Dowager Bai's room. Dressed in military uniform, he did not kneel down and salute, but bowed his head slightly and saluted: "Empress Mother, I have come to say goodbye!"
Queen Mother Bai sat on top and looked at Li Xuan without saying a word for a long time. After a long time, she softly said: "Go ahead, swords and guns have no eyes, remember not to be reckless!"
Li Xuan bowed slightly before leaving the door. After Li Xuan went out, Queen Mother Bai sighed heavily, then closed her eyes and said softly: "Damn old man, you saw it, because you are stupid
If you want to be the emperor, our son will fight with the Ming army many times. If Xuan'er does anything bad, I will go to the ground and I won't be able to spare you!"
After Li Xuan said goodbye to Empress Dowager Bai, he also visited Dong Yunyun, Zhu'er, and Ye Shi successively. However, this was the first time for these three women to experience this kind of thing. Li Xuan had led his army to conquer many times, so they
It wasn't too rude, I just said a few words to ask Li Xuan to pay attention to his safety.
After talking, Li Xuan left the Earth Temple, then got on his horse and rushed to the school grounds with Liu Bagou, Qian Mengjiu, Wang Wenhua, Ma Wei and other civil servants who were waiting outside the temporary palace, where a thousand new Tang Dynasty troops were gathered.
Already waiting for it!
When he arrived at the school grounds, Li Xuan did not dismount, but continued to ride on the horse!
With the sound of the emperor's arrival, Fang Dongquan, Wang Shanxu, Huang Xueren, Chen Tufu, Zeng Ziwen and other major military generals of the Tang Dynasty who had been waiting here also stepped forward to greet them. Naturally, it was not convenient for them to kneel down and salute in military uniforms.
Instead, bend down slightly.
"I respectfully welcome your Majesty!"
Li Xuan looked at everyone, then nodded slightly, stretched out his hand with white leather gloves and raised it slightly, saying: "Flat body!"
When everyone came up, Li Xuan turned his attention to Zeng Ziwen: "Are all the departments ready?"
During this expedition, Li Xuan did not set up any positions such as forward generals and central army generals. Instead, he directly commanded each unit. The person responsible for specific daily defense and various miscellaneous affairs was the Operations Department under the Privy Council.
Lieutenant Zeng Ziwen of the Operations Department will be responsible for the daily defense of the follow-up operations. This is Li Xuan's first opportunity for the Operations Department. As long as it performs well, the Follow-up Operations Department will slowly assume its true responsibility: responsible for the troops.
Daily training and combat command.
Now the Operations Department is participating in actual combat for the first time. This is also Li Xuan's attempt to establish a real staff system. If the effect is good enough, he will gradually strengthen the power of the Operations Department and finally command the entire army's operations.
In this way, he won't have to lead an army to conquer in person every time.
After all, he is also an emperor, so what does it mean if he personally fights every war?
But now, there is no combat organization like the General Staff, and in order to control the army, Li Xuan does not lead the troops to fight in person. Li Xuan is worried. He is worried that bandit leaders like Fang Dongquan will mess around, and he is even more worried that Fang Dongquan and others will rebel on the battlefield.
After being prepared, Li Xuan didn't talk too much and quickly ordered the departure!
As the order was issued, a thousand new troops of the Tang Dynasty marched eastward facing the rising sun!