The impact of the Tang Dynasty's opening of schools to recruit scholars was far greater than Li Xuan himself estimated, because Li Xuan's experience was not obvious enough, but to the outside world, especially Guangzhou and Guangzhou, which were still controlled by the Ming army,
In areas such as eastern Guangdong, news about the opening of colleges and universities in the Tang Dynasty to recruit scholars was widely circulated among scholars and had a great influence.
Even though these places are still under the control of the Ming Dynasty, many people know that the reason why the Ming Dynasty is still able to control these places is because the Tang Dynasty has suspended large-scale military operations in Guangdong due to the arrival of the rainy season.
That's all.
After May and June, when the rainy season is over and the hot summer arrives, especially during the summer harvest, the puppet Tang bandits will launch a new large-scale attack.
Ancient and modern wars are greatly affected by the seasonal climate. It doesn’t mean you can fight whenever you want. At least after the capture of Zhaoqing, there was constant rain every day, and there were only a few sunny days in a month.
, the Tang Dynasty's most powerful army in the world was unable to do anything about this, and could only suspend its large-scale offensive in Guangdong, especially against Guangzhou.
Instead, they rested on the spot and sent small forces to seize some small cities without many Ming army garrison, such as Foshan.
After capturing Zhaoqing, the First Army led by Hao Bainian welcomed the Holy Emperor to Zhaoqing, and then continued to lead the main force of the First Army southward. Part of it approached Guangzhou, and the other part went to capture Foshan and other places. At the same time, it also sent troops to attack the central areas of Guangdong.
In the western region, there is no large-scale Ming army in these places, at least a small number of local garrison troops.
Even though the rainy season has arrived, making it difficult for the Tang Dynasty's royal divisions to march, transport supplies, and even fight, it is still possible to capture these places.
The strategic focus of the Tang Dynasty King's Division in the Guangdong region was adjusted to a local small-scale attack to seize other places in western Guangdong, with the main force resting and reorganizing. This also gave the Ming army in Guangzhou a large amount of strategic buffer time.
This allowed Wang Yue, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, to say in the battle report sent to Zhang Yue, the governor of the four provinces, that after a fierce battle, the plot of the puppet Tang rebel army to attack Guangzhou was foiled.
After the Tang Dynasty King's offensive against Guangzhou, eastern Guangdong, and northeastern Guangdong was slowed down, these places were still under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, but this rule had become shaky.
The gentry and landlords were in panic. Some wanted to escape. Some of them fled to Guangzhou. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, Guangzhou was the last remaining city in Guangdong that could resist the attack of the puppet Tang rebels. If they fled to Guangzhou,
, at least you can save your life, and if the situation is desperate, you can directly escape by boat from Guangzhou. Beyond the Pearl River Estuary is the sea. No matter how powerful the puppet Tang rebel army is, it is impossible to come to the sea to fight them.
When the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty marched south to Guangxi for a long time, many people could also agree that the land force of the puppet Tang rebel army was very strong. When the official army fought with them in the field, they would often lose more than they won. However, the navy of the puppet Tang rebel army was not very good. The number of battleships
There weren't many, and they were all small boats. Let alone going out to sea to pursue them, in fact, they couldn't even get any advantage on the Xijiang River east of Zhaoqing.
Therefore, as long as the land and mountains cannot be defended, you can still escape by hiding in the sea.
A group of senior officials of the Tang Dynasty Royal Division also knew this very well. Even the emperor Li Xuan knew that his navy was too weak. It was okay to transport supplies without the threat of enemy navy in the rear, but let them
Going to the Pearl River Estuary to fight head-on with the Ming Navy would be too difficult for the Tang Navy.
Li Xuan knew that there were only two ways to change the navy's disadvantages. One was to learn from the Ming Navy and build countless small boats to use traditional fire attacks and hand-to-hand combat, and the other was to take the road of strong ships and powerful artillery.
No matter which one of these two items it is, it is extremely difficult for the current Tang Dynasty King Master.
In terms of numbers, the Royal Navy of the Tang Dynasty could not compare with the navy of the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention the navy of the Ming Dynasty, even the navy in the Guangdong region could overwhelm the navy of the Tang Dynasty.
The only feasible way is to move towards the road of strong ships and powerful guns, build big ships and cannons!
But two new problems have arisen, that is, the shipbuilding capabilities of the Tang Dynasty are not very good. Even if they purchase ships from the private sector, the number is not large, and there is not enough time. If there are problems with the hull itself,
If it can still be solved, then the problem of naval guns is almost unsolvable.
According to the size of the Tang Navy, a main warship used on inland rivers would need at least two five-pound cannons, four two-pound cannons, and one or two large-caliber shotguns.
These artillery pieces are roughly equivalent to the artillery needed by an artillery team of the Army.
The artillery output of the Tang Dynasty was still very low, and even the needs of the army were far from being met. There was not much output to supply the navy.
Currently, there are five artillery battalions in the King's Division of the Tang Dynasty. According to the full establishment, they should be equipped with ninety five-pound field cannons and eighteen seven-pound field cannons.
But in fact, all five artillery battalions are severely understaffed. Even the most powerful one, the First Artillery Battalion used by the First Army, only has twelve five-pound field guns and three seven-pound field guns.
There are only fifteen field cannons in total, and there are also six bowl-mouth cannons of two to three hundred kilograms captured from the Ming army.
The other artillery battalions are even more miserable. The Fourth Artillery Battalion under the jurisdiction of the Third Army fighting in western Guangxi does not have a single field gun, only a few three- to five-hundred-pound bowl-mouth cannons captured from the Ming Army.
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The army troops of the Tang Dynasty King's Division, including the Guards, only had about twenty five-pound field cannons and six seven-pound field cannons.
The army, which is the core of the empire, only has a few dozen artillery pieces, but now the navy is equipped with six five-pound cannons, and there are also more than a dozen two-pound cannons specially built for the navy.
It can be said that the artillery power is not weak.
It is actually very difficult to equip more artillery.
Without enough artillery, a few more hulls are of little use.
For the navy, a warship with only a few cannons is already very few. Real warships, especially warships engaged in fleet duels, have dozens of cannons, and they all have to weigh more than seven kilograms or even ten kilograms.
A heavy artillery weighing 20 kilograms or even 20 or 30 kilograms!
The weak navy also meant that when attacking Guangzhou along the coast, the army should not be disappointed as it could get strong support from the navy. It was already very difficult for the Tang Navy to maintain the fleet transportation escort in Xijiang.
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The naval strength of the puppet Tang rebel army was weak, which was also an important reason why Wang Yue and many other senior Ming army civil and military officials in the Guangdong and Guangxi areas dared to defend Guangzhou.
Because they all knew that even if Guangzhou could not be defended, the worst possible outcome would be to retreat from the Pearl River, and their lives would be safe.
Naturally, these senior officials were not the only ones who knew this. Some knowledgeable and discerning gentry and landlords also headed towards Guangzhou, a city where they could defend when entering and escape when retreating.
However, some people simply fled Guangdong to Jiangxi, Huguang, Fujian and other places. The gentry and landlords who fled in these directions believed that even if Guangzhou could resist the rebels for a few months, they would not be able to resist the rebels until summer arrived.
, when the main force of the rebel army gathered under the city of Guangzhou, Guangzhou still could not be defended. If they had to flee again then, it would be better to flee to other provinces now.
Of course, those who are able to escape are actually only a very small part of the local population. Most farmers are in the middle class of society, and they have no way to escape.
Because if you run away, you are leaving everything behind at home. Ordinary people who run away will become refugees in minutes. For the ordinary middle class, running away is equivalent to leaving behind their family property and going outside to escape the flames of war.
, it is inevitable that the family will be broken up and people will die.
Furthermore, although the Ming Dynasty advocated how brutal the U.S. forces of the Puppet Tang Dynasty were, people were very discerning, especially when the news of the Tang Dynasty's recruitment of scholars spread, which made this rumor even more self-defeating.
The reason is simple!
When a rebel group begins to recruit scholars, it means that the group has broken away from the bandit mode and has entered the stage of a regular dynasty.
For any dynasty, population and resources are the basis of rule.
Therefore, those ordinary middle-class people, such as small and medium-sized landowners and small and medium-sized businessmen, do not think that the puppet Tang bandit army will burn, kill and loot like before. As long as they do not resist foolishly, their wealth and life can be saved.
As for ordinary farmers, they are even less concerned about major national events such as dynasty changes. As long as they can continue farming and maintain a stable life, they actually don't care about changes in the outside world.
Those who really care are those big businessmen and landowners, especially the official families who are closely related to the Ming Dynasty. For example, the families whose clan members served as lieutenants in the Ming Dynasty are most concerned about the puppet Tang rebels and are also the most afraid of the puppet Tang rebels.
Li Xuan doesn't care or care about these changes in the outside world now. Now his eyes are fixed on Guizhou and Huguang.
Although the large-scale military operations of the Tang Dynasty King's Division in the Guangdong area stopped, the military operations in Huguang and Guizhou did not stop. On the contrary, the fighting became more intense.
Coastal Guangdong has entered the rainy season, and even Guangxi has entered the rainy season. However, although the weather in Guizhou and Huguang is a bit gloomy, they can still continue to fight.
Because both the Ming and Tang armies continued military operations.
Fang Xitong on the Guizhou side has led the main force of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Second Army and the 4th Garrison Regiment of the 2nd Garrison Brigade in central Guizhou, a total of about 5,000 people, back to Liping Prefecture, and in March
In the middle of the year, they repelled many Ming army partial divisions that had penetrated into Liping Prefecture and recovered the Tonggu Acropolis.
After wiping out the partial division of the Ming army in Liping Mansion and ensuring the strategic security of Liping Mansion, Fang Xitong continued to lead his troops eastward, trying to break the siege of Xingquan Mansion City, repel the Ming army, and rescue thousands of remaining garrison defenders in the city.
However, as soon as he entered Xingquan Prefecture, Fang Xitong suffered a huge defeat. His more than 4,000 troops suffered 700 or 800 casualties. In the end, they could only flee westward in embarrassment, all the way back to Liping Prefecture.