Li Chun on the side nodded: "Isn't it Zhang Yue who wants to attack the main force of our army? Just in time, I will send the fourth mixed regiment to sneak attack Nanchang!"
Wang Shanxu said: "There used to be a lot of troops in Nanchang City, but now the main force has been sent out to find the main force of our army. The Ming army left behind in the city is probably less than 10,000 people, and there should not be many main troops. If our army sends a partial division
There is a great chance of succeeding in a sneak attack on Nanchang!"
But when he said that, Wang Shanxu also showed a hint of worry: "But if there is only one fourth mixed regiment, the strength will be a little thin. Even if the Ming army in Nanchang City comes out, there may be more than 10,000 enemy troops left in the city.
Moreover, Nanchang’s defenses are complete and even stronger than those of Luling City!”
"So I will send the First Heavy Artillery Battalion to reinforce them!" Li Chunjing said while pointing to Nanchang on the map: "According to our intelligence, all the enemy's main supervisors and border troops have left Nanchang to pursue us.
Here, although there may be more than 10,000 Ming troops in the city, they should all be ordinary recruits and guard soldiers. Even if there are more than 10,000 people, I believe that the fourth mixed regiment can win it!"
"If there is a heavy artillery battalion to help, this battle can be fought!" Wang Shanxu also nodded: "It's just that the enemy still has four thousand cavalry, we must draw them away, so that the fourth mixed regiment has the opportunity to break into Nanchang City and launch an attack
Raid!"
At this time, Li Chunjing smiled, then looked at Wang Shanxu and said, "That's right, and this depends on us!"
Immediately, Li Chunjing drew a long straight line on the map: "The main force of our army will march all the way to Fuzhou, increasing the distance between us and Zhang Yue's troops to more than five days' journey, and make an attack on Fuzhou."
A determined attitude, what do you think Zhang Yue will do when he finds out?"
"They will definitely speed up their march, and if their infantry cannot increase their speed, then they will choose to send cavalry to advance first and try to intercept our army!" When Wang Shanxu said this, he said in a firm tone: "If
If they don't do this, then our army will be able to raid all the way to Fuzhou, and within five days, it will be enough for us to capture Fuzhou!"
"Although Fuzhou is of little importance to our army, it is very important to the enemy, and this is our opportunity!" Li Chunjing said this with strong confidence: "As long as
Attract the enemy's main force from Nanchang City, and then attract the enemy's cavalry to chase our army, and then the fourth mixed regiment will have the opportunity to raid Nanchang!"
"Once Nanchang is captured, our army's strategic situation will be greatly improved. Relying on the Gan River, a large amount of ordnance and ammunition will be able to continuously arrive in Nanchang, and then radiate to the entire Panyang Lake Basin!"
"Even if Zhang Yue's troops wanted to return to attack Nanchang, it was too late by that time. The fourth mixed regiment was holding on in front, and the main force of our army was attacking behind. If Zhang Yue did not want to be wiped out under the walls of Nanchang, he had no choice but to retreat.
Other methods!"
Although Li Chunjing said it with great confidence, he also knew that this was an adventure. It was not just the adventure of the fourth mixed regiment, but also the main force of the second army!
Once the strength of the Ming army in Nanchang City exceeds expectations and the fourth mixed regiment cannot capture it in time, then when Zhang Yue's main force returns to defend, it is very likely that the fourth mixed regiment will suffer heavy losses.
At the same time, if the main force of the Second Army is entangled by the Ming Army cavalry, and finally the main force of the Ming Army catches up, more than 20,000 of our own troops will have to face an enemy army of more than 80,000 or even 100,000 people. At that time, the victory will be Unpredictable.
But this kind of worry only flashed through Li Chunjing's mind, and soon he strengthened his determination!
There is no way to fight without taking risks, and besides, the risks are controllable. This battle is just a small adventure.
Li Chunjing thought that he was taking only a small risk and that the risk was controllable. However, in fact, he risked the entire Second Army. This kind of risk taking the main force of the entire army would not be possible if If it were Hao Bainian, he would never do this.
Hao Bainian's tactical style is far more mature and steady than Li Chunjing's. Hao Bainian prefers to fight steadily and advance step by step.
In July, when he rushed to Changsha, he chose to retreat when facing the main force of the Ming army. But if it was Li Chunjing, he might find an opportunity to fight a decisive battle. One battle would determine the outcome. Win or lose.
Li Chunjing and Hao Bainian were both the first generation of professional generals in the Tang Army. Although they were both said to have outstanding military exploits, their tactical styles were quite different. Li Chunjing's tactical style was mostly more radical. Hao Bainian, on the other hand, is mostly stable.
However, it was the difference in tactical styles between the two men that was the main reason why Li Xuan chose to let Hao Bainian continue to be based in Huguang and transferred Li Chunjing to Jiangxi to preside over the autumn and winter offensive.
Because after last year's autumn and winter offensive failed, and this year's confrontation lasted for more than half a year, Li Xuan already felt that the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for the Tang Dynasty.
Although on the surface it seemed that the Tang Dynasty was still winning victories, annihilating a large number of enemies and gaining a large amount of territory, in fact it was gradually consuming the war potential of the Tang Dynasty.
In the first year of Xuanping, the Tang Dynasty only took a mere year to come out of the mountains and then sweep across most of Guizhou and Guangdong and Guangxi. The movement was extremely fast.
However, from the second year of Xuanping to the present, it has been a full year and a half. Although the Tang Dynasty seems to be stronger and has captured Huguang and several prefectures and counties in Jiangxi, compared with the sharp offensive in the first year of Xuanping, , that is totally not worth mentioning.
In this process, the Ming army collapsed at the first touch and lost thousands of miles of ground, to now defending the city. In Huguang, the Ming army used the two strong cities of Hengyang and Changsha to block the northward offensive of the First Army. In Jiangxi, Ji'an, Fuzhou, and Nanchang were previously used to block the Second Army's northward passage.
I dare not say that a turning point in the war has been achieved, but it is a fact that the Ming army has gradually reacted and stabilized its position.
What worries Li Xuan even more is that the Ming army also began to make large-scale firearms to train new troops. The supervisors under Zhang Yue and the bandits under Yu Dayou were stuck in the throat of the Tang Army like a bone spur. , making the Tang Army extremely uncomfortable.
If the front line continues to be unable to achieve large-scale strategic breakthroughs, Li Xuan can almost foresee the future.
The Tang Army was trapped in three provinces and could not have enough population and finances to sustain high-intensity wars, and became weaker and weaker. However, the Ming Dynasty, relying on the wealth and population of its huge ruling area, If we continue to build guns and train new troops, maybe the Tang Dynasty will not be in any danger for three to five years, but what about after three to five years?
When the Ming Dynasty trained hundreds of thousands of new troops, the situation was worrying!
Therefore, Li Xuan hoped to keep the situation stalemate, even if he had to pay a certain price, but to break the current stalemate, the Tang Dynasty King must drink from the Yangtze River, and then burn the war to the south of the Yangtze River to shake the rule of the Ming Dynasty
Foundation!
Based on these considerations, Li Xuancai chose Li Chunjing as the commander of the Second Army to be responsible for this year's autumn and winter offensive.
Even if Li Chunjing crippled the entire Second Army, as long as he entered Jiangnan, Li Xuan would be able to accept it!
Isn't it just tens of thousands of troops? As long as the Tang Dynasty increases its recruitment efforts, it will take less than three months to raise a second army!
Although the loss of ordnance is a pity, it is not insurmountable. Today, the six medium and large arsenals under the Ministry of Industry of the Tang Dynasty are producing large amounts of ordnance and ammunition every month.
As for the military expenditure issue, Li Xuan is now preparing to rely on the Royal Bank to issue "bank notes" to solve it.
Therefore, Li Xuan was mentally prepared that the Second Army might suffer certain losses in Jiangxi, or even be severely damaged!
Since Li Chunjing has been used, one must be mentally prepared for Li Chunjing to destroy the entire Second Army!
Li Xuan had even made preparations in advance, instructing the Ministry of War to increase recruitment efforts and recruit recruits in advance to provide a source of recruits for subsequent Second Army departments.
At the same time, after the Battle of Ji'an, because the Second Army suffered more than 2,000 casualties, plus the hundreds of casualties lost in other small battles, the total military strength was already 3,000 casualties, and the 4th Supplementary Brigade was already
Almost an entire supplementary regiment was sent to the front line to supplement the various units of the Second Army.
However, Li Xuan felt that with Li Chunjing's fighting style, the number of casualties would probably increase further, so he gave priority to the supply of recruits from the Fourth Supplementary Brigade. At the same time, the Fifth Supplementary Brigade that stayed in Guangdong also sent a supplementary regiment.
Head to Ganzhou and be ready to provide reserve troops to the Second Army at any time.
Even in order to prevent the Second Army from being wiped out and causing major changes in the strategic situation, Li Xuan has ordered the Sixth Infantry Division deployed in Guangdong to defend the central and northern parts of Guangdong. The Sixth Infantry Division headquarters stayed in Shaozhou and an infantry regiment was stationed in Shaozhou.
Nanxiong, an infantry regiment stationed in Dingnan.
The entire Sixth Infantry Division's defense has been transformed from the previous Pearl River Delta to the central and northern Guangdong areas.
The defense of other areas in Guangdong has also undergone changes. First, the Second Mixed Regiment is stationed in Lianzhou, Qiongzhou and other prefectures and counties in western Guangdong. Its defense area has been expanded to cover the entire western Guangdong area.
Although the defense area of the First Mixed Regiment is still mainly Chaozhou Prefecture, the defense of part of Huizhou Prefecture is also included. Almost the entire defense of eastern Guangdong is handed over to the First Mixed Regiment.
The defense of the Pearl River Delta region has been handed over to the Guards and the Fifth Supplementary Brigade.
Li Xuan went to get it, and they went there. If Li Xuan didn't move, they stayed in Zhaoqing. The Guards, who did not move, now began to send troops abroad to alleviate the army's shortage of troops.