Now Ding Qirui, the supervisor of the Presidential Assistance and Suppression War, has been patrolling the northern Anhui area under the pretext of pursuing Zhang Xianzhong. He neither returned to Huguang to pacify Li Laiheng nor went to Henan to fight Li Zicheng decisively.
Moving like a mountain.
It was not that Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang, did not have troops at his disposal. There were about 18,000 Huguang official troops, Fubiao, Zhenbiao, and Ebing troops who were nominally under his jurisdiction.
However, the 5,000 soldiers in Chengtian Fangling Tomb cannot be moved, and the thousands of defenders in various places cannot be moved to deal with the local bandits. The remaining mobile troops in Fubiao and Zhenbiao are approximately close to 10,000, but if we take into account
With no quota and no pay, Song Yihe only had a few thousand mobile troops, which may not even be more than Li Laiheng's.
What's more, Zhang Xianzhong and Ge Zuo's fifth battalion were active on Song Yihe's bed. He couldn't place all his hopes on Ding Qirui to deal with Xian and Ge. What's more, the question now is not whether Ding Qirui can deal with Zhang Xianzhong, but whether Governor Ding can.
A problem that cannot be solved by Zhang Xianzhong!
Therefore, although the Huguang official army still has 18,000 people in name, its strength is far greater than that of Li Laiheng. However, they are scattered throughout the vast Huguang province and have their own missions and tasks. Most of the troops cannot be moved easily. Li Laiheng was there
Suizhou has gained a comfortable and stable development window period.
but!
Just like what Fang Yiren said, if the Chuang army attacks Xiangyang in order to capture Zaoyang, it will really be a waste of watermelon for sesame seeds. It is very likely that Song Yihe, under the pressure of the government and the opposition, will piece together the troops from various parts of Huguang and gather them into one.
A powerful army came to encircle and suppress Li Laiheng.
"Zaoyang is only one county. If we fight for this one county and the entire Huguang Province's military forces are concentrated on one commander, it will be too short-sighted. General Guo has always been very miraculous in his military use. He should not be unable to understand this."
?”
Fang Yiren's words were full of sarcasm and he retorted. However, Guo Junzhen lacked experience in the world of people and was not aware of the other party's secretary's cynicism. He thought to himself: "Xiangyang is a big city and is heavily defended. Back then, Zhang Xianzhong could easily capture Xiangyang City with three hundred cavalry. It was
Because I intercepted Yang Sichang's document and seal, I was able to use deception to attack. This is a good opportunity given by God to the Eight Kings. Others do not have such good luck. If they want to capture Xiangyang City, they must fight to the death."
Guo Junzhen's words were quite objective and pertinent. Li Laiheng, Gao Yigong and others nodded, and even Fang Yiren shook his fan and hummed twice.
But he then added: "But Zaoyang belongs to a county under the jurisdiction of Xiangyang Prefecture. As long as we want to capture Zaoyang, a conflict with the Xiangyang army will inevitably occur."
Guo Junzhen's self-righteousness finally made Li Laiheng unbearable. With a bitter look on his face, he hid his unhappy emotions, held Guo Junzhen's head and asked: "Junzhen, what kind of medicine did you buy in your gourd?"
?Speak directly if you have something to say, what is your clever plan? Say it quickly and let everyone who is not convinced listen to it! "
Among the people present, Hao Yaoqi and Guo Junzhen have been old friends for many years, and he is also a person similar to Guo Junzhen, without any calculation. He is just a simple man, and he is not as careless as Guo Junzhen.
Gao Yigong and Bai Wang are both people who have some understanding of Guo Junzhen's original character, but have always felt helpless about it. They always smile bitterly and don't know what to say.
As for Li Laiheng and Fang Yiren, Li Laiheng couldn't hold back his anger and felt that the image he had cultivated as a military genius was being challenged, while Fang Yiren felt deeply offended and almost couldn't control himself no matter what kind of self-restraint he had.
Li Laiheng could still have something to say at this time, and asked Guo Junzhen to tell him his own strategy for taking Zaoyang as soon as possible. This proved to a certain extent that this young tiger commander who had no other merits except "insight into history" was indeed
I have made some progress and am working hard to possess some of the characteristics that a "leader" should have.
Guo Junzhen still habitually shrugs his shoulders. His indifferent expression after shrugging often makes people who are inadvertently offended by Guo Junzhen even more angry.
But that's just the way he behaves, and he doesn't mean to show off his sarcasm.
"On my way back to Suizhou, I learned a lot about the geography and people of Zaoyang from local people. As far as I know, there is a market called Shuanggoukou to the west of Zaoyang, which guards Bishui and is stuck between Xiangyang and Zaoyang.
If we want to take Zaoyang, then according to my idea, we should not limit ourselves to attacking and occupying Zaoyang, but should use surprise troops to rush directly to the entrance of Shuanggou, and then defend Bieshui to cover Zaoyang."
Guo Junzhen had just laughed at Li Laiheng's strategy of deploying defenses along the river after capturing Zaoyang as "a child's use of troops", which was extremely dull. But now it seems that the strategy he conceived was not very clever at all.
, and push to the west in the direction of Xiangyang to the mouth of Bishui and Shuanggou.
But why is this necessary? It is just to occupy one more market that is not of much value, but the price paid is that the main force of the invasion army rushes closer to Xiangyang. If the army attacks with naval forces, isn't it imminent?
Fang Yiren laughed and said: "Okay, what a strange strategy. But I don't know what the difference is between this strategy and Jie Shuai's defense along the river? Could it be that General Guo planned to use Shuanggoukou as a stronghold, and then move forward further to directly attack the entire
Did you capture all of Xiangyang Prefecture? That’s really courageous, and it’s indeed a big deal.”
Although others were not as sarcastic as Fang Yiren, they all disapproved of Guo Junzhen's strategy and felt that it was not very clever.
Only Li Laiheng suddenly felt something in his heart and ordered Zhang Pizhu to immediately fetch the map of Huguang that had been seized from the Yamen of the Prefecture.
He unfolded the map, showed it to everyone with his fingers dripping water, and then said: "Everyone, come and take a look. The water is a tributary of the Han River. It flows from west to east. Zaoyang is in the lower reaches and Xiangyang is in the upper reaches. If we
To set up defenses along the river in Zaoyang is to compete with the upper reaches in the lower reaches. Since ancient times, naval battles have always been based on the upper reaches to gain the upper hand. Therefore, if we defend Zaoyang, we will indeed be easily overrun by Xiangyang's navy and lead to our own destruction."
Guo Junzhen's eyes lit up as he listened to Li Laiheng's analysis, and he finally showed a look of admiration. He then said: "As Commander Ji said, the water flows out of the Han River, and Zaoyang is downstream, and is connected with the Xiangyang Guanjun River.
The war will definitely be disadvantageous. In comparison, what about Bishui? The source of Bishui is in Henan, and it flows into the Han River from north to south. Xiangyang is located downstream of Bishui. Only by guarding Bishui can we make use of our own strengths and avoid our shortcomings.
.”
Strive for.
For any force in the Yangtze River Basin, striving for the upper reaches is the top priority. This is the consensus of military strategists and politicians of all ages.
Therefore, even though Nanjing was still surrounded by the northern and southern battalions of the Qing army, and the prosperous Jiangnan Su Chang was next to his bed, the Taiping Army still used all its elite soldiers and generals to conquer the west and gain momentum upstream.
Before the advent of steam power, in inland water battles, the party occupying the upper reaches had a huge advantage if it went downstream. Therefore, although the Taiping Rebellion occupied the prosperous Suzhou and Hangzhou areas in the later period, once it lost its advantage upstream, it would lose its advantage in the Battle of Anqing.
After the defeat, the Hunan army could immediately move eastward along the river and reach the gates of Jinling City, reenacting the drama of Jingzhou forces taking control of Jiangdong during the Six Dynasties.
Of course, Li Xiucheng, the loyal king of the Taiping Rebellion, insisted on giving up the upper reaches and fighting for Shanghai with the main force because he saw that the Shanghai Concession had the conditions to build steamships, and his vision had transcended ancient wars and entered the field of modern wars.
But it was impossible for him to defeat the Manchus in treason, and it would be impossible for him to win the support of the great powers, let alone obtain steamships, and lose his upstream advantage. The result would be his own destruction.
Seeing the advantage of upstream, Guo Junzhen really looked higher than others. Li Laiheng took a picture of the map and praised: "With Junzhen's strategy, I predict that Zaoyang will be owned by the Chuang army, and the Xiangyang army will be