Chen Xin then led the accompanying officials to the west end of Sheshan Mountain, dismounted their horses, and stood on Huangheji near the river. Here, Guishan Mountain and Snake Mountain faced each other from east to west, locking the river and forcing the river to flow northeast like an arrow.
The breeze blows from the west, and the river waves beat against the yellow crane protruding from the center of the river, making a surging sound and causing silver waves to splash everywhere.
Civil and military officials all boasted: "The mountains and rivers in Huguang are dangerous and solid, and they control the north and south. His Royal Highness, the King of Jin, is the envoy in Wuchang, which is also the important position of the envoy Zhanglong."
Chen Xun was unmoved. He held the official position of Huguang Economic Envoy. According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, the Economic Envoy was equivalent to the position of Governor. Since the Ming Dynasty, there has been no such thing as an envoy or prime minister in the Tang and Song Dynasties, let alone
Even if there is, the envoy should still be respectfully addressed as the governor's cabinet, not just a governor.
The three towns of Huguang have been experiencing peace for a long time. The nearly two years of stability have indeed exposed these Chu Chuang officials to the Ming Dynasty habits and formed some bad habits.
But Chen Xin is very capable and talented, and his personality is different from Fang Yiren's scheming and Gu Junen's fierce wit. He is kind, tolerant, able to pack things, and treats others with kindness and loveliness, without delaying major events.
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Chen Xin smiled gently and did not scold these officials or flatter them. Then he saw the canvas of the Yangtze River Navy fleet had appeared on the skyline, and pointed to the river and said:
"Our naval general finally rushed back from Jiujiang. He first settled the naval fleet near Parrot Island and ordered the officers and soldiers to go ashore to rest and have meals. After the militiamen from Yangwuzhou, Jiangling, Huanggang and other places have arrived, we will move
Yueyang, sweep away Wu soldiers."
Chen Xin wanted to first gather the militia forces of the states and counties closest to Wuchang and Yuezhou. As for the militiamen in farther places, he believed that mobilization was more difficult and would not help the urgent situation, so he did not force them to mobilize, but only ordered various local states and counties to mobilize.
The officials acted prudently and in accordance with the routine.
It can also be seen from this point that Chen Xin's acting style is relatively stable. Li Laiheng chose him to sit in the Huguang rear base camp precisely because of this, hoping to play a calming role.
As far as the results are concerned, it is quite good.
A dozen large ships docked at the pier outside Wuchang City. Chen Xin and many officials went to personally greet Liu Xiyao. On the first ship, a hundred soldiers stood in line and stood in awe. On the second ship,
A group of prisoners of Ming Dynasty officials from Jiangxi escorted by Liu Xiyao.
The third ship was particularly large, several times larger than the small river warships of the Yangtze River Navy. The flags on the ship were hunting. This was Liu Xiyao's own ship. A group of well-armored generals and soldiers surrounded Liu Xiyao and got off.
Boat.
Immediately behind the big ship were four ships of the same size and decoration. The people on board were all retinues and soldiers, with bright flags and dazzling swords and guns. Behind them were four more big ships, carrying war horses and cannons respectively. They were also majestic.
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Further behind is the massive fleet of the Yangtze River Navy. The deafening salute followed the flash of fire, rumbled across the river, hit Turtle Mountain, and reverberated from the other side of Guishan.
Liu Xiyao, who was also the last survivor of the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo, was different from Lin Chengcheng, who had lower qualifications and a flexible body. His qualifications were hardly inferior to those of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and Luo Rucai, and he was also a brave and capable soldier relatively speaking.
A powerful general, now he only serves as a naval general under the junior Li Laiheng.
In terms of qualifications, Liu Xiyao certainly has some sense of disparity.
However, he had a strong sense of responsibility. After receiving Chen Xun's request for reinforcements, he immediately set sail from Jiangxi and rushed back to Wuchang day and night. The fleet did not stop at all along the way, traveling day and night, and then rushed back at an astonishing speed.
Even the militiamen in Jiangling, Huanggang and other places close to Wuchang had not been completely recruited, and Liu Xiyao had already arrived with his troops.
Such a vigorous and resolute action made Chen Xin very pleased:
"The urgency of commanding the commander to aid Chu will make He Tengjiao taste the pain of drowning."
Liu Xiyao stood up and crossed his hands and said: "Chen Jinglue, the emperor has entrusted us with the land of Chu. Most of the family members of the old camp are in Wuchang. It is related to the country of Dashun. We must not lose anything. After I received the transfer order, I left a thousand soldiers to occupy the prefectures and counties in Jiangxi first, and the rest
Eight thousand elite soldiers of the boat division have been transferred to Chu."
Chen Xin nodded happily: "The troops of Dashun will be mobilized like arms and fingers. This is the reason why Chu defeated Wu."
The generals of the Dashun Army mobilized their troops and horses as fast as they could, of course not only because they were loyal to the three generations of leaders Li Zicheng, Li Guo, and Li Laiheng. In this way, during the Maeda Ushi Incident, Li Guo, Li Laiheng and his son obviously could not mobilize people who were not part of the system.
Veteran of the camp.
However, Li Laiheng's flexibility in mobilizing various departments in Huguang was based on institutional advantages.
There are recruiting and training envoys in all prefectures and counties in Huguang. Chu Chuang generals are not allowed to recruit soldiers privately. Instead, all levels of recruiting and training envoys conduct unified military training after recruiting soldiers. The recruits who have received preliminary military training are then assigned to the generals at all levels.
According to their needs, they are incorporated into their troops.
In addition, Chu Chuang completely blocked the logistics channels of the troops at all levels, so it is not surprising that the generals mobilized their troops and horses like arms and fingers.
Chen Xin and Liu Xiyao returned to Wuchang by boat from Yingying Island. In order to stabilize the people in Chu, Chen Xin also ordered Liu Xiyao to mobilize the boatmen to go up to Jinkou and down to Wuxue, and patrol around Wuchang for a week to show the local gentry.
The force of the Dashun Army.
However, Chen Xin was overly worried about this. After all, Li Laiheng had been running Huguang for more than two years, and his foundation had become more and more solid. Two years ago, the local gentry may have felt that their interests were harmed due to the reform of the farmland system. But now Chu
The middle gentry had either passed the imperial examination and served as officials of the shun dynasty, or made huge profits in industry and commerce through public-private partnerships, or they had actively joined the army, participated in military operations, and had become the founding heroes of the country.
Therefore, when He Tengjiao went north, although he displayed the long live tablet of Emperor Zhongxing Hongguang of the Ming Dynasty, he actually failed to attract any gentry from Chu to guide him.
Dashun's rule in Huguang is becoming increasingly stable, which can also be seen from this.
Then Chen Xun waited until Jiangling and Huanggang militiamen arrived one after another, and ordered Liu Xiyao to lead 14,000 land and water troops. They also marched by both land and water, from Wuchang south to Yuezhou, passed Yueyangkou, and reached Xinqiang, together with He Tengjiao and Zhang Kuang.
Commanded the Northern Expedition "Jiangnan Soldiers" in the First Battle.
The Dashun Army had 14,000 troops, which was less than half the Ming Army's 30,000-plus troops, and more than half of them were the navy commanded by Liu Xiyao, while the remaining half were just the improvised Huguang militia.
But before Liu Xiyao arrived in Yuezhou, he had already received a lot of military information from the front line. He knew that although the "Jiangnan soldiers" were menacing and powerful, in fact, the ministries were not subordinate to each other. In order to prevent the "warlords" from sitting on the throne, He Tengjiao
It was so large that the various armies and horses were deliberately restrained from each other, resulting in a situation where multiple forces were advancing simultaneously and could not support each other.
Moreover, most of the "Jiangnan soldiers" were newly recruited soldiers, whose combat effectiveness was very questionable, and their military discipline was also very bad. They were good at disturbing the people during the march, and they constantly raided villages and areas that had regained vitality under Dashun's governance, so the marching speed was also very slow.
Liu Xiyao was overlooking the vast Dongting Lake on his ship. The Yangtze River navy rushed through the Yueyang Pass, and the white sails looked like floating clouds. The soldiers of the Dashun Army carried on the warship were all blue arrow jackets and red tassel felt hats.
The slightly cold and humid west wind blows in the southern winter, and the red tassel flutters like a raging sea of flames.
Liu Xiyao put his hands on the railing of the battleship, clapped his hands and said:
"Today the weather is clear and the waves are high. The Wu troops invade from the north, harm our Chu people, destroy our Chu fields, and serve our Chu villages. All generals should brace their armor and fight in full force to deal with it!"
The soldiers on the warship raised their muskets, crossbows and swords high and cheered in unison:
"Follow the king to defeat the Jiangnan thieves!"
The crowds were full of voices and their ambitions were fierce. So far, the three hundred years of orthodox power of the Ming Dynasty and the three hundred years of kindness and grace that Zhu Yuanzhang had contributed to China by expelling the Tartars had finally completely disappeared.
The sanctity and majesty of the Ming Dynasty have long ceased to exist.
In the eyes of the Shun army officers and soldiers, He Tengjiao's troops were no longer even official troops, but just "Jiangnan thieves".
"Da Shun is going to punish the people today, and the fleet will go south to suppress the local bandits in the south of the Yangtze River. All generals should fight bravely to repay the favor of the emperor and the imperial court."
Today's Dashun Army is the imperial court, the orthodoxy, and the official army.
To attack counterattacks with tact and to attack bandits with orthodoxy will naturally lead to destruction and defeat in a hundred battles.