I want to be emperor

Chapter 169 The pressure of Zuo Liangyu
After the No.16 Infantry Battalion under Wang Dazhuang and others entered the city, they began to arrange defense and take over all important areas in the city.

Especially the area around the wharf, which is an important material transfer station for the Rural Protection Army, and has a large amount of strategic materials stored, so it is necessary to focus on ensuring safety.

Wang Dazhuang previously served as the deputy brigade commander of the [-]st Infantry Brigade, and there were many small battle stations, so he made some contributions. This time, Luo Zhixue directly promoted him to be the brigade commander of the [-]th Mixed Brigade, which was regarded as a reward.

Of course, it was also because of Wang Dazhuang's poor ability, otherwise Luo Zhixue would have waited a while and assigned him to the Seventh Infantry Brigade or the Eighth Infantry Brigade, two new main infantry brigades, as brigade commander.

But, after a long period of investigation, Luo Zhixue felt that Wang Dazhuang's ability was just that. He was a bit lacking in being a brigade commander of the main infantry brigade, and he was barely okay as a brigade commander of a traditional old-style brigade.

After Wang Dazhuang took office as the brigade commander of the Sixth Mixed Brigade, he also had ambitions. He wanted to organize and train the Sixth Mixed Brigade into an army earlier.

But it's embarrassing to say that the number of the Sixth Mixed Brigade under Wang Dazhuang's command had been assigned as early as when Xiangyang was conquered, but so far there is only one battalion of troops, because the number of surrendered troops in Xiangyang City was limited at the beginning, and it was compiled into the No. After the five mixed brigades were formed, there were only a few hundred qualified soldiers left.

The captives surrendered in the Battle of Sanyuanzhuang were formed on the spot into the Ninth Mixed Brigade and the Tenth Mixed Brigade with about [-] troops. They have already been led by Huang Guangmao to the Guanghua and Gucheng areas. Follow-up Will continue to travel to Junzhou and Yunyang.

Implement the westward strategy formulated by the staff to completely solve the threat of the rural protection army on the western front.

According to Luo Zhixue's order to Wang Dazhuang, after the Sixth Mixed Brigade entered Xinye City, it trained while guarding this strategic city located in the middle of Nanyang City and Xiangyang City, along the banks of the Baihe River.

At the same time, they will also gradually accept surrendered troops from the Ming army from surrounding areas. The Township Protection Army also received a batch of surrendered troops in Dengzhou, Neixiang and other places before, and it is estimated that they will be organized into a battalion, and a new one is planned. The completed battalion will be stationed in the inner countryside to guard against possible enemy troops in the mountains to the west, regardless of whether they are officers, soldiers or bandits.

Before Luo Zhixue led the army to leave Xinye City, he had formally ordered the battalion to be organized as No.17 Infantry Battalion and incorporated into the Sixth Mixed Brigade.

At the same time, an order was also left. When the 18th Infantry Battalion led by Li Duo is the core of the eastward marching troops, the captured soldiers of the Ming army after taking Tang County and even Biyang will also select qualified soldiers from among them and organize them into No.[-]. The infantry battalion is also under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Mixed Brigade.

In this way, the three infantry battalions needed by the Sixth Mixed Brigade can be preliminarily assembled. As for the artillery and cavalry, we will arrange them later. The artillery of the cannon is relatively easy to set up.

When Wang Dazhuang stayed in Xinye City, Luo Zhixue had already led the absolute main force of the [-]st Infantry Brigade and continued to march northward.

Their marching speed was as fast as ever. Their main force not only had excellent physical fitness, but also collected a large number of mules and horses. Their marching speed was very fast.

When you are in a hurry, if the roads are good, you can walk [-] kilometers a day. If you march in a hurry, you can go a few more kilometers.

The straight-line distance from Xinye City to Yuzhou is only about 150 kilometers, but the road cannot be a straight line. , Even if it is a shortcut, the total distance will be more than [-] kilometers.

According to the speed of the main force such as the First Infantry Brigade, it will take at least five days to reach Yuzhou.

And considering that the soldiers are tired from the long march, they also need to leave a certain amount of time for rest. It is impossible to maintain a high-intensity march every day, so the time is relaxed, and it is estimated that they will arrive in Yuzhou in about six or even seven days.

However, can the Fourth Mixed Brigade in Yuzhou City stand guard for another seven days?
Luo Zhixue didn't know, all he could do now was to lead the army there very quickly, and at the same time, he also made second-hand preparations.

That is, once the Fourth Mixed Brigade is defeated, Yuzhou falls, and the Nanyang Basin is opened wide, he is ready to use the high mobility of the main force of the rural protection army, better field capabilities and the incoming Ming army in the Nanyang-Yuzhou area Fight a large-scale field battle in the plains.

Just like defeating Lu Xiangsheng back then, strive to directly defeat Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong's troops in the field.

As long as the two main forces of the Ming army can be defeated in the field, it is logical to counterattack Yuzhou in the future.

Based on this point, Luo Zhixue even told the 500 members of the [-]rd Mixed Brigade to slow down, absolutely not to advance rashly, and wait until the direct main force arrives before moving eastward.

If Yuzhou falls, then when Luo Zhixue is preparing to fight a large-scale field battle, the third mixed brigade will also be an indispensable force.

Among other things, just the third artillery post is a big help.

Therefore, Luo Zhixue would not let the [-]rd Mixed Brigade advance rashly, and lose troops and generals in the end, or even lose the [-]rd Artillery Post.

----

When Luo Zhixue led his troops northward and rushed to rescue Yuzhou, Zuo Liangyu outside Yuzhou city also frowned and looked forward.

Right in front of him is Yuzhou City, and below the city wall are his own soldiers who are gradually retreating!

The first siege campaign launched by his soldiers failed!

The army under his command came to the city of Yuzhou on May 23, after three days of making various preparations such as building siege equipment.

Early this morning, that is, on May 27, he ordered the army to officially attack the city.

It wasn't that he wanted to delay for a few days, but that the city of Yuzhou City seemed inconspicuous, but it was a serious strategic location, and the moat and the city walls were extremely complete.

When the Fourth Mixed Brigade stormed Yuzhou before, it paid nearly a thousand casualties, but there were actually only more than 1000 officers and soldiers in Yuzhou city at that time.

It has always been very difficult for a traditional army without heavy artillery to conquer a well-fortified city where the defenders resist surrender.

Therefore, Zuo Liangyu was not in a hurry after the soldiers came to the city of Yuzhou. After discussing with He Renlong, he decided to build siege equipment while resting, and wait three days before attacking.

Originally thought that after the attack was launched today, the bandits in the city with only more than 2000 people would be able to resist for a while, but they could not stop the pace of their own army.

However, he didn't expect that today's first attack was just a tentative attack. His side hadn't even climbed to the top of the city yet, and he had already lost at least 200 people under his command.

These 200 people are not young and strong cannon fodder, but real soldiers.

Although most of them were ordinary guards, Zuo Liangyu's heart ached for so much loss.

This tentative attack killed or injured 300 people. If we really want to launch a large-scale general attack, and really rush under the city wall or even climb the city wall desperately, the casualties will have to rise rapidly.

There are many casualties under this command, how will Zuo Liangyu mess around in the future?

Thinking of this, Zuo Liangyu couldn't help but look at He Renlong beside him, let He Renlong's troops take charge of the main attack?
As soon as this idea came up, it was thrown away by Zuo Liangyu.

He Renlong is not so stupid, and now he can still agree to jointly send troops to attack, but if he is allowed to attack Yuzhou alone, Zuo Liangyu probably will ignore him immediately.

He, Zuo Liangyu, knows how to protect himself by supporting soldiers, and not taking advantage of strong bandits to protect himself, and He Renlong is not stupid, so he knows the same.

But if you can't win Yuzhou City after a long battle, I'm afraid it's not easy to explain to Hong Chengchou!
After all, if you can't win Yuzhou, you won't be able to enter the Nanyang Basin. Once the security thieves are allowed to occupy the Nanyang Basin for a long time, the situation in northern Chu will be completely corrupted.

Don't talk about Zuo Liangyu at that time, it is estimated that Hong Chengchou can't bear the pressure of the court princes, and Hong Chengchou can't bear the pressure, so he naturally has to transfer the pressure.

At that time, Zuo Liangyu might be the scapegoat!
Before Zuo Liangyu went south, Hong Chengchou also told Zuo Liangyu very clearly that in the past, you Zuo Liangyu played with self-respect and passively avoided war, and I, Lao Hong, also saw it. It's over.

But if you, Zuo Liangyu, mess up this time when you go south and cause the situation in northern Chu to completely deteriorate, then Hong Chengchou will inevitably borrow your head from Zuo Liangyu to silence the princes of the court.

Ordinary governors dare not say harsh words to Zuo Liangyu, nor are they incapable of doing something to Zuo Liangyu, which does not mean that Hong Chengchou dares and has the ability!

It's still the same sentence, if Hong Chengchou is pissed off, and you will be killed every minute, even if Zuo Liangyu wants to play mutiny and rebellion, Hong Chengchou can send troops to destroy you!
With a 10,000+ army in hand, Hong Chengchou is very confident. Otherwise, how could he supervise several provinces and let a group of governors, chief soldiers, and deputy chief soldiers obey orders to fight!
At the same time, others didn't know, but Zuo Liangyu knew very well that Hong Chengchou had endured tremendous pressure in order to mobilize himself and He Renlong's total of [-] troops to go south.

At the beginning of May, Hong Chengchou, who had just learned the news of the fall of Nanyang City, had already begun to try to mobilize troops to go south.

But because the Ming army in Henan and Shaanxi was fighting hard with Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other ministries, and a large number of rebels had already crossed the blockade of officers and soldiers and fled back to Shaanxi to threaten the Guanzhong area.

Under such a situation, it is actually not easy for Hong Chengchou to deploy troops from the northern line to go south to Nanyang.

However, the fall of Nanyang City, the crisis in Xiangyang, and the crisis in northern Chu also had to be taken seriously by Hong Chengchou.

On the one hand, he sent an urgent letter to the Ming army in Yunyang, Huguang and other places to remind the local Ming army to be vigilant, and to keep Xiangyang no matter what, and at the same time try to counterattack Nanyang.

At the same time, he himself began to tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall and mobilized troops from Shaanxi, the Central Plains and other places. In order to free up Zuo Liangyu's troops to go south, Hong Chengchou almost mobilized all the troops in the Central Plains on a large scale.

After all, the officers and soldiers were at a critical moment to encircle and suppress the thieves, and the mobilization of troops involved the whole body. If Zuo Liangyu's troops were to be transferred out, then Hong Chengchou would have to transfer other troops to fill the vacancy, redeploy and so on.

In the follow-up, after Cao Wenzhao led his troops to the south and prepared to follow Hong Chengchou into the Guanzhong to fight, he was able to truly send Zuo Liangyu's troops south.

Nanyang fell, Chubei was in crisis, and at the same time, Hong Chengchou mobilized such a large army to go south under such difficult circumstances, so the pressure on him was naturally not small.

Hong Chengchou was under pressure, so he would naturally apply downward pressure.

So, in the end Zuo Liangyu endured the pressure!
However, the security thieves in the city are much stronger than Zuo Liangyu expected, and they are not comparable to ordinary thieves at all.

This Yuzhou city is not easy to fight!
(End of this chapter)