The first thousand and twenty-six chapters assess the situation
Since the Jin army attacked Liu Shining's adventurous actions, the situation in Jiangnan unexpectedly calmed down. Liu Shining became very quiet in the next month, and no border disturbance incidents occurred.
The Jin army is also stepping up training. In addition to the 10,000 troops retained as cavalry, the other 40,000 troops are integrated into one. Li Bing continues to conduct various military competitions among the fifty battalions. The biggest benefit of military competitions is that they can strengthen the cohesion of the team.
This feeling made Jiangnan soldiers begin to identify with their team.
That morning, Runzhou Wharf was extremely busy. Two hundred large-scale ships arrived at Runzhou Wharf under the escort of the Runzhou Navy. It took a month to finally transport 10,000 war horses from Jiangxia to Jiangnan.
Li Bing had already made arrangements for the Northwest Tenth Battalion out of the fifty battalions to take over the war horses and form a hussar army, led by General Su Zhen.
The Tenth Northwest Battalion did not integrate with the Jiangnan soldiers. They also carried out dispersion and reorganization. They selected 10,000 strong and powerful Guanlong elite soldiers from the 30,000 troops to form ten battalions and established the Jiangnan Hussars Battalion.
Su Zhen is also a Hexi veteran who has followed Guo Song for many years. After more than ten years of fighting in the north and south, he has also grown from a young general in his early twenties to a general of Wei in his mid-thirties. He is one of Li Bing's right-hand men.
The Jin army currently has five major legions, one is the Hebei legion led by Yao Jin, one is the Jiangnan legion led by Li Bing, one is Liang Wu's Heshuo legion, and one is forming Kangbao's southern legion. The most powerful
Of course, it is the Central Army Corps under the personal command of Guo Song. Famous generals such as Zhang Yun, Pei Xin, Liu Guanghui, Yang Xuanying, and Zhou Fei all belong to the Central Army Corps. The Central Army Corps has the largest number of people, with an army of 200,000, and controls the widest territory.
Including the territories of Guanlong, Guannei, Hedong, Bashu and Jingxiang.
Li Bing personally went to Runzhou to welcome these 10,000 war horses, and Han Gao also rushed to the dock after hearing the news.
On the pier, all 10,000 war horses have disembarked from the ship. Although the bumpy water transport along the way has made some of the war horses not in good spirits, they are 10,000 war horses after all. The overwhelming momentum is also extremely spectacular, especially in Jiangnan, which is extremely rare.
, tens of thousands of people from Dantu County also rushed to the pier to watch and witness the grand event.
Han Gao was infected by the warm atmosphere. He couldn't help but ask Li Bing: "General Li, I don't understand much about combat. Are these horses important to the battle situation in Jiangnan?"
Li Bing smiled slightly and said: "Cavalry has many advantages. When fighting on the plains, the cavalry can massacre the infantry. Although there are not so many flat ground battles in the south, the cavalry can move at high speed. For example, if I decide to attack Xuanzhou in the morning, the cavalry will move at night.
Being able to reach Xuancheng is actually about seizing a fighter opportunity. Many opportunities are fleeting and difficult to seize, but the cavalry can often seize them because they are fast."
"So General Li is actually waiting for these war horses. As soon as the war horses arrive, he can attack Liu Shining?"
Li Bing said calmly, "I can indeed issue an ultimatum to Liu Shining. He will at least give me Xuanzhou."
Several officials nearby nodded in agreement. They had a deep understanding that Xuanzhou poses the greatest threat to Jiangnan. First, Xuanzhou is large in area, equivalent to Suzhou and Changzhou. Secondly, Xuanzhou can form a three-line attack on Jiangnan, which can greatly contain Jiangnan.
troops.
Therefore, when Li Bing stated that he wanted to capture Xuanzhou first, he immediately aroused the consensus among the officials.
Among the tens of thousands of people who came to see the horses, there was naturally the shopkeeper Qian of Xuancheng Paper Shop. He stared anxiously at the group of war horses in the distance, and his heart was as heavy as a piece of lead stone.
He now deeply felt the powerful strength of the Jin army. Liu Shining might be in danger. Under the overthrow of the nest, there would be no intact eggs. What fate awaited him made him shudder.
Shopkeeper Qian is from Xuancheng. Three generations of the Qian family have made rice paper, and the rice paper they make is the most famous. More than ten years ago, he was entrusted by his family to open a shop in Runzhou. His rice paper is of excellent quality and has gradually become popular in Runzhou and the entire Jiangnan.
fame.
But it was this fame that made them targeted by Liu Shining. Five years ago, under Liu Shining's hard and soft tactics, his family gave in and agreed to let the paper shop become Liu Shining's intelligence point in Jiangnan.
Over the past five years, Shopkeeper Qian has collected a large amount of information about Jiangnan's officialdom, finance and taxation, people's sentiments, crops, as well as the topography and city walls of various states for Liu Shining. It was precisely because of his intelligence that Liu Shining determined three routes to attack Jiangnan, and Liu Shining also
He is very aware of Changzhou's city defense and the food situation in the city.
However, the more information was provided, the deeper the guilt felt by Shopkeeper Qian. Especially after Liu Shining's tragic defeat in Changzhou, Shopkeeper Qian became more and more afraid that his family would be implicated by Liu Shining.
Shopkeeper Qian returned to the shop with a heavy heart. As soon as he entered the shop, a clerk came up to him and said: "Shopkeeper, there is a pigeon letter from my hometown!"
Shopkeeper Qian was shocked. He had actually been waiting for this pigeon letter. This was the first pigeon letter sent by Liu Shining after the tragic defeat in Changzhou. During this period, he had been on tenterhooks, not knowing how angry Liu Shining would be. There was the main force of the Jin army in Changzhou.
He was stationed there, but he didn't tell him in time.
In fact, this is not the fault of shopkeeper Qian. He knows a lot about the Jiangnan militia, but the Jin army has just arrived in Runzhou. How could he grasp the movements of the Jin army so quickly?
Shopkeeper Qian hurried back to the shopkeeper's room, opened the pigeon letter, and read it carefully under the lamp. In the letter, Liu Shining severely reprimanded him for his wrong intelligence, which led to the defeat of the army, and ordered him to return to Xuanzhou immediately to report on his duties.
Shopkeeper Qian was speechless for a long time. He actually asked himself to go back to Xuanzhou to report on his work?
I have never held any of his positions, and have not received a penny of his salary, so what kind of position can I claim? Isn't this just trying to kill the donkey, and intending to make myself bear the responsibility for the defeat?
But what makes Shopkeeper Qian even more uncomfortable is that if he is asked to go back to report on his work, he will obviously not be allowed to come back again. What will happen to the store? This is the asset of the Qian family. If he sends another person over, then whose store will belong to him?
?
In the afternoon, shopkeeper Qian came out of the shop. He calmly said to the clerk: "Should I go out to inquire about some news?"
"Shopkeeper, what are you talking about back home?" the waiter asked with a half-smile.
The guy was actually asking what the pigeon letter said?
There are three clerks in the shop, two of them are shopkeeper Qian's old clerks, brought from the family, they only sell goods and don't care about intelligence, but the clerk in front of him is an intelligence spy sent by Liu Shining.
Shopkeeper Qian immediately became wary. This guy must have peeked at the information and hoped that he would leave quickly! Could it be that he said something to Liu Shining?
"I didn't say anything. I may have to go back in a few days to buy some goods. Just keep an eye on the store."
After saying that, Shopkeeper Qian turned around and left. The waiter looked at Shopkeeper Qian walking away with a smug sneer in his eyes.
.........
In the camp outside the city, 10,000 war horses have entered the camp. They need to be nursed back to health for a few days before they can fully recover their strength.
Li Bingzheng and Wang You were discussing the strategy for the war against Xuanzhou. Wang You said: "You can win every battle only if you know yourself and the enemy. Since the general wants to capture Xuanzhou, he must first know Liu Shining's military strength in Xuanzhou, and Xuanzhou is an important logistics area for Guo Shining to attack Jiangnan.
I estimate that his troops in Xuanzhou will not be small. If we have 10,000 cavalry to raid Xuancheng, the first thing to solve is the food problem. It is not too late for the general to send scouts to get a thorough understanding of Xuanzhou before taking action."
Li Bing smiled and said: "Your Highness means to drive away wolves and swallow tigers, and let Guo Shining go and fight with Ma Sui's tribe. If Guo Shining is compressed to Hongzhou, then he will not be able to gain a foothold and will inevitably expand westward. The conflict between Ma Sui and Guo Shining
It is inevitable. Of course, this is just His Highness's idea, not a mandatory order. We can determine the tactics according to changes in the situation. I estimate that in the end, the strategy of driving away wolves and devouring tigers may not be realized, so this time, our eyes
We must not just focus on Xuanzhou."
"What does the general mean, not only to capture Xuanzhou, but also to capture Jiangzhou?"
Li Bing nodded slowly, "We capture Jiangzhou, and the Yangtze River route is basically opened. Of course, there is also Liu Pi's Jiangling. He will not last long, but our attack this time is not just about adding another Jiangzhou.
What I mean is, it’s best to annihilate Liu Shining’s army in one go!”
Just as he was talking, a soldier reported outside the tent, "General Qi, there is a man coming from outside the camp, claiming to be Liu Shining's intelligence spy in Runzhou."
Li Bing and Wang You looked at each other. This situation was beyond their expectations. Li Bing quickly said: "Bring him in!"
Not long after, the intelligence agent was brought in by the soldiers. It was shopkeeper Qian. He had no choice but to surrender to the other party.
Shopkeeper Qian came in and knelt down and said: "Qian Yi, a small citizen, is a member of the Qian family in Xuanzhou. He opened a rice paper shop in Runzhou under the orders of his family. It has been twelve years. But five years ago, Liu Shining provoked and arrested him.
My father is also the head of the Qian clan. Under Liu Shining's coercion, the family was forced to agree to collect intelligence for him. However, he did not expect that Liu Shining would attack Changzhou and become an enemy of the imperial court. This was definitely not the original intention of our Qian family. The Qian family would not
I am willing to join forces with Liu Shining again!"
Li Bing motioned to the soldiers to help Shopkeeper Qian up. He smiled slightly and said, "Shopkeeper Qian just needs to explain the matter clearly and then redeem himself. I believe your family will be safe and sound!"