The news that Chongzhen had set up the Four Suppression Generals also reached Xiangyang. Li Laiheng had just returned to Xiangyang from Hanchuan when he was summoned by Li Guo and Chen Xin. Both of them received letters from Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing, and watched
There is likely to be another large-scale war in the Central Plains, and it is necessary for Huguang to speed up its actions.
This incident was expected by Li Laiheng. After the Qin army was defeated in Shiyuan, Sun Chuanting returned to Guanzhong to train in Zhigu. Now Emperor Chongzhen set up the Xi'an Suppression General, which greatly strengthened Sun Chuanting's power. Judging from the character of Emperor Chongzhen
, he had given such strong support to Sun Chuanting, how could he allow Sun Chuanting to continue to sit in Xi'an?
It seems that the Central Plains War will start again. This war will definitely determine the life and death of the Ming Dynasty and a key step in the development of the Chuang Army.
This is not surprising why Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing sent letters at the same time, urging Li Guo and Chen Xin to calm down the situation in Huguang and send troops north as soon as possible to participate in this war.
Li Laiheng was slightly happy. Since Li Zicheng urged him like this, it seemed that Li Guo would not stay in Xiangyang for long. Although Niu Jinxing made suggestions, he split the Huguang Jiedushi into three towns: Jingxiang, Dehuang and Wuyue.
However, it seems that it still cannot check and balance its own plot to dominate the Chu land.
Li Guo thought about what happened in the Central Plains and said slowly: "Sun Chuanting's troops are much more powerful than Fu Zonglong and Wang Qiaonian. The land in Guanzhong is easy to defend and difficult to attack. With Sun Chuanting's talent and military strength, if we insist on holding Shaanxi, we will attack by force, and the damage will be inevitable."
Larger.”
Chen Xin also said: "It would be much easier if we lure him to Henan to fight. With the overwhelming strength of the rebel army, they will almost certainly be able to win this battle. Once Sun Chuanting's main force is annihilated, it will be impossible to take Guanzhong."
It's as easy as picking up mustard. It's just that the imperial court also set up a suppressor general in Xuzhou. If Shi Kefa, the suppressor general in Xuzhou, attacks eastern Henan, the rebel army will have to divide its forces into two wings. It is inevitable that the left branch and the right branch will be overwhelmed, and they will fall into passivity."
"The Xuzhou Suppressor General should leave it to me to deal with it." Li Laiheng said with a smile, "Since the Generalissimo has appointed me as Jianghuai Economic and Strategic Envoy, after my adoptive father raises his troops to go north, I will immediately lead the army eastward and first annex Yuan Shizhong to provide his troops.
, attack Xuzhou again."
Li Guo did not have a deep understanding of the situation in Huguang, and he was not interested in Niu Jinxing's intention to divide the three towns and control Li Laiheng. So he quickly made the final decision, agreed with Li Laiheng's opinion, and immediately started discussions with Li Laiheng and Chen Xin
In order to resettle the old camp, and then divide the troops to go north for reinforcements, and then move east to solve Yuan Shizhong's problem.
Li Guo was quite worried about Sun Chuanting. He knew that Sun Chuanting was recruiting troops in Shaanxi to raise pay, training soldiers and horses, repairing equipment, and conducting field work to accumulate military supplies. In terms of military strength, unlike before Fu Zonglong and Wang Qiaonian only mobilized Shaanxi and Lintao.
Town, Sun Chuanting mobilized most of the troops from three sides, five towns and three governors this time.
In addition, Sun Chuanting also followed the methods of Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, manufacturing thousands of chariots and carrying artillery and armor to deal with the rebel cavalry. If the Qin army relied on the favorable geographical location to hold on to Tongguan, it also arranged the train camp from Wuguan to Lantian.
On a certain section of road, it is extremely difficult to win Guanzhong in one fell swoop.
Chen Xin knew the military situation of the government and army very well. Regarding Sun Chuanting’s train camp, he commented this way:
"During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, warfare was mainly based on chariot warfare and infantry; however, chariot warfare could only be conducted on wide flat areas. The terrain was a little cramped and bumpy, and it would be inconvenient for the chariot to move forward. Therefore, since King Wuling of Zhao used Hufu to ride and shoot, he won
After the success, various countries also followed suit, and cavalry gradually replaced chariots and became the most active main force on the battlefield. Although some people in later generations also used chariots to fight, most of them ended in failure. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Fang used chariots to fight against An Lushan.
They suffered a disastrous defeat at Chen Taoxie. As for Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou in modern times, they resumed the use of chariots. Firstly, it was because they fought on the plains, and secondly, because of the extensive use of artillery and fire systems. Putting cannons on vehicles is of course better than people carrying horses and packs.
It is much more convenient, and at the same time, the chariot can shield firearms and prevent them from being attacked by arrows and stones, so Qi and Yu's use of chariots was successful."
Chen Xin then analyzed Sun Chuanting's military strength. According to Song Xiance and the red team's strict salary reports from Huguang, the main force of the Qin army was about sixty or seventy thousand. Sun Chuanting also used the method of three households and one clan to increase a large number of civilians, known as
With a tribe of 300,000 people, it is very powerful.
Then thousands of Chen Yongfu's troops are still active in the eastern Henan area. It is not known whether they are enemies or friends. Although Chen Xin wrote several letters to Chen Yongfu, Chen Yongfu still did not completely surrender to the Chu army.
Finally, Chen Xin said: "If Sun Chuanting leaves the border to fight against the Chuang army, he will definitely call on Gao Doushu from Yunyang to come and attack. Gao Doushu has limited troops and will definitely not dare to leave Yunyang, but as long as he moves behind the Chuang army, he will surely
It will contain some of our strength."
Li Laiheng immediately understood Chen Xin's intention and replied with a smile:
"Gao Doushu is a self-defended thief, and Wang Guangen, who he relies on, is also an old friend of mine. I heard that when Zhang Xianzhong besieged Wuchang, He Fengsheng urged Gao Doushu several times to come to the rescue, but the Yun soldiers did not move, and the King of Chu laughed at him.
If you are riding a sow, you should also come."
Li Laiheng pointed to the location of Yunyang Mansion on the map and said: "Don't worry, my adoptive father will go north, and Yunyang will be uprooted by me. After I uproot Yunyang and help my elder brother capture Wuchang and Yuezhou, I will immediately use the Jianghuai Economic Strategy to envoy
The flag goes eastward to contain the Generalissimo Xuzhou Suppressor."
Li Guo was of course trusting Li Laiheng and didn't think too much about it. However, in Niu Jinxing's previous plan, in order to persuade Li Laiheng to lead his troops to leave Huguang, he wanted to hand over 15,000 of the 30,000 elite troops in Li Guo's hands.
Commander Li Laiheng.
Now the situation has changed. The imperial court has set up a general to suppress the Central Plains. Li Guo is eager to lead his troops north to join the war. At this time, it seems unreasonable to give 15,000 elite troops to Li Laiheng's command.
But this matter had been discussed before, and Li Laiheng had resigned from the post of Huguang Jiedushi, leaving Chen Xin, Bai Wang, and Gao Yigong to take charge of the three towns. It seemed even more unreasonable to go back on his words.
It was Li Laiheng who gave his adoptive father a suitable step. Now that Hu is vast and settled, the Chuang army has abundant human and material resources at its disposal. Li Laiheng's suggestion is to select 2,000 sharp soldiers as the backbone from Li Guo's 30,000 elite soldiers.
Then recruit 10,000 new soldiers from Xiangyang, Jingzhou and other places to form a new army.
In this way, Li Guo could help Li Laiheng replenish quite a lot of troops without losing too many troops.
For Li Laiheng, having Li Guo help provide a large number of officers and veterans can also speed up his army expansion. Now the Chu army has occupied the six prefectures of De'an, Huangzhou, Xiangyang, Chengtian, Jingzhou and Hanyang.
The Huguang army with more than 10,000 people was completely insufficient for use.
Even though the remnants of the Zuozhen troops have been incorporated, the Huguang Army of more than 30,000 people can be expanded to nearly 50,000 people. But Li Laiheng is now preparing to build the regular navy of the Army of the Army:
According to Li Laiheng's plan, the Huguang Chuang Army Navy was commanded by Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng. In addition to the original Zuozhen Navy, in order to dilute the influence of Zuozhen's old generals, he also transferred the better water-resistant troops in the Zhiying and Lin camps. All the people were also integrated into the Navy. This not only effectively refreshed Zuozhen's bad habits, but also invisibly digested Liu Xiyao's strength by converting the Army into the Navy.
Since most of the warships of Zuozhen Navy were temporarily modified civilian ships, Li Laiheng adopted the method of returning most of the civilian ships to their original owners or auctioning them off to merchants, while only retaining some of the better quality warships. In order to ensure future wars To supplement the ships, Li Laiheng also asked Baijiuhe to set up new shipyards in Xiangyang and Xiao Weisong in Hankou to build small warships for inland warfare.
The navy of the Chuang Army was organized into ten units, with a total of about 11,000 men. Each unit was equipped with a varying number of gunboats, warships, boats, and dozens of baggage ships. The sails were like stacks of snow and the rafters were like reeds.
As for the sailors and boatmen, except for the old people from Zuozhen and Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng's old brothers, after the Chuang army occupied Hankou, Li Laiheng made full use of the advantages of the nine-province thoroughfare in Hankou according to local conditions and gathered merchant ships from Hankou Town. Many old sailors were recruited into the army.
The navy of the Chuang Army occupied more than 10,000 manpower. In addition, after occupying several prefectures in Jingxiang, the Chuang Army had to set up separate garrison troops in various states, counties and towns. The field force directly controlled by Li Laiheng was reduced to The point where expansion must occur immediately.