Li Laiheng did not have a full understanding of Chen Kexin. But he trusted Bai Wang's opinion. What's more, Chen Kexin served first as a village envoy and then as a camp envoy. He had already accumulated a lot of experience and achievements in the new system of the army.
, which is enough to prove his reliability.
"Lao Bai is a prudent person, and I fully listen to your opinion." Li Laiheng nodded and ordered, "Then Commander Zuo will also serve as the formation commander, Lao Bai will serve as the prison commander, and Chen Kexin will serve from the camp in Huangzhou Prefecture from now on.
The field envoy was transferred to Suizhou Mu."
The formation commander and the prison commander were both official names in the Tang Dynasty, but they were given a new definition by Li Laiheng. In his case, the formation commander was equivalent to the commander-in-chief of the former enemy in later generations, and had the power and responsibility to integrate and coordinate front-line operations.
The city envoy is equivalent to the city defense commander.
The official position of Suizhou Mu is actually the magistrate of the Ming Dynasty. However, because Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing both liked to imitate the style of the Tang Dynasty, they changed the names of the Ming Dynasty's Bingbeidao, magistrate, magistrate, and county magistrate to defense envoy.
Fu Yin, Zhou Mu, County Magistrate.
In this way, the trinity of former enemy commander-in-chief, city defense commander, and local chief executive formed a structurally reliable command team.
Li Laiheng then discussed the topic with He Jin and Bai Wang, and talked about the current enemy situation. At present, the army will be moved to the north of Suizhou. The number of remaining troops in Suizhou is small, and the two battalions of He Jin and Liu Xiyao must carry the front.
According to Ye Bushou's intelligence report, after Zuo Liangyu conquered Zaoyang, he rarely restrained his troops and did not carry out large-scale massacre and destruction. Instead, he continued to maintain an extremely fast marching speed for officers and soldiers.
On the road between Zaoyang and Suizhou, troops gathered in Zuozhen, and the sails of the shafts and boats were covered with clouds. The intruders were waiting in tight formations, and a big fight seemed inevitable. Li Laiheng went on to analyze the political and military situation in Xiangyang, saying:
"After the defeat of Zhuxian Town, Zuo Liangyu was trapped in a corner of Xiangyang Prefecture. His 30,000 soldiers and horses were all newly defeated troops. Their morale was low and they were short of food and clothing. They had to frantically hunt for food near Xiangyang. The situation could not last long.
To the east of Xiangyang is Suizhou, needless to say. To the south of Xiangyang is Chengtian Mansion. Although the two Gehui battalions are unwilling to fight with us, they have already gone straight to Chengtian. If the left army is defeated, the southern route will be cut off."
Fang Yiren said:
"To the north of Xiangyang is the main force of the Generalissimo, and the left army will never go there to die. Only to the west is Yunyang Mansion, which is under the jurisdiction of Gao Dou Shu of Yunyang Road. Although the land is small and the people are poor, it is still a place to stand. So we
As long as Zuo Liangyu's retreat to the west is blocked, he will eventually be defeated and killed."
After more than half a year of governance, both the De and Huang mansions have abundant material and manpower resources. If Zuo Liangyu underestimates them like this, his canine teeth will definitely be shattered.
Li Laiheng finally said:
"The situation is changing all the time, and the best way to use troops is to concentrate on it. Zuo Liangyu is willing to go on an expedition, making a desperate move. Once we seize the opportunity, Zuo Town will inevitably fall apart, and the entire Huguangda Bureau will be shaken up. Commander Zuo, you are among us.
, you have the most qualifications and the most experience, so it’s better for you to control the overall situation.”
Although He Jin was not one of Chuang Jun's own, Li Laiheng still gave him full trust. He did not intend to let He Jin, Bai Wang, and Chen Kexin restrain each other and have different opinions, so that in the end everything could not be done well.
Rather, he believed that since He Jin had been appointed as the commander of the formation and the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, he should be given full military power and fully let go, allowing him to coordinate the overall situation. Only with the six bridles in hand and able to control them freely can we be sure of victory.
The Laocheng envoys and the Suizhou Mu each have their own scope of responsibility and must not be restricted by others. The eunuchs of the Tang Dynasty supervise the army, Guo and Li could not achieve great success, and Yin Jian, who failed to siege Xiangzhou in Jiujiedu, was not far away.
Not to mention that the Song Dynasty used to use different opinions to confuse each other and control each other, resulting in repeated defeats until the end.
Even if the superior wants to control the faction, it is not the right time to do so at this time.
Therefore, Li Laiheng was still determined to give He Jin full autonomy and give it a try!
Total victory is possible.
What he wants is not a sure victory, but a complete victory!
In the past, Chen Kexin was just a civil servant who ran the militia, and later he was just a clerk around Li Xianfeng who did paperwork. After joining the army, although he was responsible for many details of the reform of the camp system in Huangzhou Prefecture, he was not an officer and did not command a general.
Battle experience, let alone having a strategic perspective that takes into account the overall situation.
But he was a clear-headed, common-sense, practical person, not a delusional person, which was very rare in the late Ming Dynasty.
Before Li Laiheng led his army to set off, Chen Kexin tidied up the household registration, equipment, and food information in Suizhou City in this short half-day. The problem at the end of the Ming Dynasty was that the older generation's muscles and bones were declining, and their twilight was getting deeper, but the imperial court
The old system cannot give newcomers a chance to get ahead. Talented scholars like Chen Kexin often have to waste half their lives in their hometown.
It is no wonder that Li Zicheng's foundation-building articles emphasized that the Chuang Army opposed the trend of "re-reforming subjects and relying on qualifications".
This is the biggest drawback of the imperial court's recent recruitment of scholars.
However, the old system of the imperial court was stagnant and could not be reformed at all. A shabby house that was papered over and barely supported could be maintained for a while if an ordinary mediocre person like Emperor Tianqi sat back and watched the wind and rain. But if he encountered Emperor Chongzhen,
The emperor, who was determined to revitalize the country and insisted on making major reforms, immediately fell apart.
Therefore, the old system of the imperial court will die slowly if it is not reformed, and it will die immediately if it is reformed.
The Ming Dynasty is in doom.
If you want to break the situation, you can only come from outside the situation. Therefore, the world is not owned by barbarians, that is, by thieves and bandits.
Compared with the bandits, the barbarians were superior to each other.
Therefore, even Huang Zongxi, the Confucian master who hated "rogue bandits" the most, complained bitterly in "Liu Shu": Use China to control China, and use barbarians to control barbarians. Humans cannot be mixed with beasts, and beasts cannot be mixed with humans.
Therefore, even if you use Chinese thieves to rule China, you are still Chinese.
After Li Laiheng arranged all the affairs left behind in Suizhou, he finally took a breath. At this time, the night was already very dark, and the full half-moon hung like a slightly opened jade bow on the branches of the sycamore tree outside the court. A group of people were alarmed by the bright moonlight.
The little birds were perched on this tree for a while, and then flew to that tree, chirping and unsteady.
The night is also like a bird covered with black cloth. It jumps restlessly under the stuffy black cloth, trying to flutter its wings and fly high.
Later, a shrill horn sound cut through the trembling black cloth, as if a fire was burning in the sky. After a while, I heard people nearby using windlass to bring up the well water and give it to the marching soldiers.
Wash your face, and some citizens bring you a hastily prepared breakfast.
Soon, the first footsteps and horse hooves, summoned by the sound of the bugle, sounded in the farther streets. These were groups of soldiers walking out of their barracks and homes, junior officers, and family members of the old camp who saw them off.
Li Laiheng closed his eyes, a decisive battle with Zuo Liangyu was about to come.
Everyone is waiting for the dawn to come.
The lights were swaying in the dark night. He Jin and Bai Wang stood side by side in front of the steps, while Liu Xiyao and Chen Kexin stood behind them. The four of them looked at the back of Li Laiheng as he mounted the horse, feeling uneasy in their hearts.
Fang Yiren and Gu Junen also went on the expedition, and they also had to paint military planes beside Li Laiheng. The most important one among the remaining generals was General Guo Yi, Gu Kecheng. This "Nine Dragons" joined the Huguang Army not long ago.
It was the first important battle he participated in, so he was even more excited and excited.
The remaining three cavalry generals, Hao Yaoqi, Ma Bao, and Ai Zhuo, also mounted their horses. These three were all fierce generals under Li Laiheng. Their skills were quite extraordinary, and their mounting movements were sharp and clean. Hao Yaoqi used to do this.
This has always worried Li Laiheng, but he has become more mature and steady recently. At this time, his face is as dark as water, and he has begun to possess the demeanor of a general.
Finally, there are the mighty generals Zhang Pizhu and Li Shiwei, the mighty artillery generals. The young men promoted by Li Laiheng are also honored as generals.
"The army moves out!"
Hao Yaoqi used his iconic thunderous voice to shout out the order to dispatch troops. Then the horn and conch were blown together, like the howling of a storm and the sound of war shaking the mountains, resounding throughout Suizhou City.
"The army moves out!"
Xie Zheng, who came to see Gu Junen off with the army, looked at the people of Suizhou on the roadside bringing drinking water and breakfast to the army and couldn't help but ask:
"Folks, in the past few years, it has become a common practice for the people to be afraid of the soldiers. The soldiers have always been the only ones to collect food. How can the people send food? What is the difference between the intruders and the army?"
The villagers were surprised and replied:
"Sir, have you recently arrived in Suizhou? Last year, I was just a tenant farming outside Suizhou City. Once there was a disturbance or a slight drought or flood, I couldn't even pay the rent, so I had to borrow a debt from the King of Hell to pay for it.
But since King Xiao Li came, I have fields to farm, and I don’t have to pay taxes. As long as I can’t pay half of the rent I used to pay. If Zuo Bing comes back, my land will be small, and I won’t see any improvement in the future.
Hope is the most important thing."
Xie Zheng didn't know what to say because of the sincerity and sincere expressions of the villagers. He frowned and watched the intruders forming columns and marching out of the city in neat steps, as well as the look of death on each person's face.
His resolute expression finally moved, and he said:
"The river is so far away that I can't cross it, and the embers and trees are burning.
Clusters of flames reach across the abyss, and a little life approaches death."