I want to be emperor

Chapter 193 Stand firm
During the four days in Nanyang City, Luo Zhixue was very busy, holding meetings, inspecting, and receiving officials from morning till night.

Even on the morning of the day when he was about to leave for Xiangyang, he took time to meet some officials who had defected and gentry in the city.

During the capture of Nanyang Mansion by the Township Protection Army, although most of the middle and senior officials of the Ming court died or fled, some of them were captured but refused to surrender.

But inevitably, there will still be a small number of officials who will choose to defect to the rural army.

Of course, most of the defecting officials are low-level officials, especially low-level officials and officials.

For these surrendered officials, the Township Protection Army will also selectively appoint them. As for whether they will be reused in the future, it depends on their follow-up performance.

After meeting some of the defecting officials and gentry in Nanyang City, Luo Zhixue hurriedly got on the boat heading south.

In fact, before Luo Zhixue set off, most of the main force had already moved south yesterday, including the main force such as the [-]st Infantry Brigade.

The batch that departed today is already the last batch, mainly consisting of more than 3000 troops and personnel directly under the General's Mansion, including officials from various government affairs ministries, the Guards Brigade, the General's Mansion Guard Room, and the Internal Affairs Office.

Among them, the guard brigade and the guard room of the general's mansion were still a family not long ago, and they all belonged to the pro-barracks.

After the Battle of Yuzhou, the Qinbing Battalion was divided into the Guards Brigade and the Guard Room of the General's Mansion.

The main field force in the personal battalion was separated and upgraded to a guard brigade. It was given three infantry battalions, one field artillery post, one cavalry post, and one supply post. At present, new recruits and equipment have just been added in Nanyang City .

After independence, the Guards Brigade will abandon the nature of guards and directly transform into the main field force.

The soldiers and others who originally belonged to the qin barracks and provided personal protection for Luo Zhixue were separated and set up the guard room of the general's mansion. This guard room will be an organization specifically responsible for Luo Zhixue's personal safety.

Temporarily, there are more than 250 bodyguards in charge, divided into three shifts, with 80 hours in rotation. Each shift has more than [-] bodyguards responsible for protecting Luo Zhixue's personal safety.

The head of the guard room is Qu Shuyang, the former deputy battalion commander of the personal army battalion. This person is not very good at leading troops to fight, but he is loyal to Luo Zhixue, and at the same time he is more concerned about the details. When he was in the barracks, he was also in charge of Luo Zhixue's personal security affairs, so it is only natural that he was transferred to the head of the guard room now.

It is worth mentioning that the guard room is also a military institution, and each guard will be awarded a military rank, and the rank is relatively high, starting as a corporal, and Qu Yangshu, the head of the room, will be awarded the rank of major.

At the same time, although the guard room is called a military institution, it is not under the jurisdiction of the four major military ministries, nor is it under the jurisdiction of the Guards Brigade.

Except for the two armed forces, the Guards Brigade and the Guard Room of the General's Mansion, those who went south were all civilian officials or personnel from the General's Mansion.

However, the number of civil servants among them is relatively large, and there are more than a dozen ministers alone.

After the continuous development in the past two months, Luo Zhixue is also constantly improving and adjusting the various institutions under the General's Mansion.

So far, there are three major systems of institutions under the General's Mansion of the Rural Protection Army.

The first category is Luo Zhixue's personal service organizations, mainly the Ministry of Affairs, the Guard's Office, and the Internal Affairs Office.

The Ministry of Staff Affairs is Luo Zhixue's personal secretarial organization, which was reformed from the former Internal Affairs Department and mainly assists Luo Zhixue in handling many military and political affairs.

The guard room is responsible for personal security issues, and the internal affairs room is responsible for personal life issues.

The second category is the military organization, including the staff department, the ordnance department, the logistics department, the military and political department, the cavalry director, and the artillery director.

The three major categories are government agencies. There are many government agencies, including the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Taxation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Ethics, the Ministry of Supervision, and the Inspection Department. , Ministry of Justice, a total of ten institutions.

Among them, the Legal Affairs Department of the Inspection Department is a new institution established just two days ago. collection of courts.

Together with the Inspection Department, which is responsible for public security and law enforcement, and the Inspection Department, which is responsible for anti-corruption, public prosecution, civil litigation, and prison management, the Ministry will jointly form the judiciary within the Rural Protection Army system.

The establishment of the Ministry of Justice also means that the judicial system of the Rural Protection Army has officially entered the right track.

Also, with the gradual improvement of the functions of various institutions, it means that the various institutional systems of the Rural Protection Army have been able to cover most of the affairs.

Even the Anti-Corruption Division of the Ministry of Supervision, which specializes in anti-corruption among officials, has been established.

The current rural protection army is a small sparrow with complete internal organs.

This time Luo Zhixue went south and brought many officials from various ministries who had stayed in Nanyang City to Xiangyang.

Because in the next few months or even a longer period of time, Xiangyang City will be the military, political, and industrial center of the Rural Protection Army.

In Xiangyang, the Xiangyang Army set up various factories with the Xiangyang Arsenal as the core. The factories in Liqingdian have been relocated here one after another, and the scale has also been expanded during the relocation process.

In Xiangyang, Luo Zhixue will temporarily set up the General's Mansion here to coordinate and set up various military and political affairs.

At the same time, because Xiangyang is located in the middle of the core area of ​​northern Chu, no matter whether you go south to Hanyang, go north to Nanyang, or go west to Yunyang, or go east to Suizhou, the distance is moderate.
More than 3000 people and a large amount of supplies, weapons and equipment took hundreds of ships of various sizes and traveled southward along the Baihe River.

Although it was a large fleet, they walked slowly for safety, so after three days of tossing, they finally arrived at Xinye City.

After arriving in Xinye City, Luo Zhixue did not rush south, but stayed in Xinye City for a while, met with local and nearby officials, inspected the defense of Xinye City, and listened to the recent situation report of the Sixth Mixed Brigade.

After the Sixth Mixed Brigade finished its report, Luo Zhixue also received the battle report from Huang Guangmao who had gone west to Yunyang that day. After reading Huang Guangmao's battle report, Luo Zhixue was in a good mood.

Because Huang Guangmao reported that he had led the Ninth Mixed Brigade to capture Junzhou and was currently advancing towards Yunyang.

Xu Zhixian on the side was also in a good mood. After drawing a mark for Junzhou on the map, he drew a big circle in Yunyang: "Brigade Commander Huang has already marched into Yunyang, and according to the report, the city of Yunyang The main force of the army had been taken away by Lu Xiangsheng before, and was annihilated by our army in the Battle of Sanyuanzhuang, and it is estimated that the official defenders in Yunyang City will not exceed a thousand people, and the soldiers will not exceed two hundred."

"The Ninth Mixed Brigade and the Tenth Mixed Brigade join forces, and taking Yunyang will not be a problem!"

Speaking of this, Xu Zhixian pointed to the map and said: "In this way, we can really gain a firm foothold in the area north of Xiangyang!"

"In the northern part of Nanyang Prefecture, we have successively captured Nanyang City, Nanzhao County, Luyang Pass, Zhenping, and Yuzhou, and the above-mentioned areas are garrisoned by various units of the North Route Army, which is as stable as Mount Tai."

"In the eastern region, we have also captured Tang County and Biyang. The main force of the Sixth Mixed Brigade will be stationed in this area to guard against the enemy forces in the direction of Runing Mansion."

"On the West Road, our army has captured Xichuan and Neixiang, and has part of the [-]th Mixed Brigade stationed there. At the same time, we have captured Junzhou. After taking Yunyang, the [-]th Mixed Brigade and the [-]th Mixed Brigade will join forces. Defend, worry-free on the western front."

"On the southern line, the [-]rd Infantry Brigade and some artillery and cavalry units that went south first have already gone to Zaoyang. According to intelligence, there are few defenders in Zaoyang City. It should have been abandoned by the enemy's strategy, and the attack will not be too difficult. !"

"In this way, our army has gained a firm foothold in the area north of Xiangyang!"

"What our army has to do in the follow-up is to go south along the Han River, capture Yicheng, Nanzhang and other areas along the way, and strive to annihilate the main force of the Huguang Ming Army in this area, and then go south to Chengtianfu, Hanyangfu, and even cross the river to capture Wuchang. Government, lay the foundation!"

"According to the information we have collected successively, the Ming army in Huguang is mainly based in Yicheng, supplemented by Nanzhang, and has hoarded at least 5000 troops, and the Ming army is still continuing to deploy troops from various parts of the south and even southern Chu to the above two cities. land, and have the intention to counterattack Xiangyang.”

"In the end, the number of Ming troops in this area may exceed 3."

At this time, Xu Zhixian made a big X in the direction of Yicheng on the map, and said: "Since the enemy army is gathering the main force here, it is just right, we don't have to let the two main brigades run around, we just set up a posture here Fight them!"

"It's best to let them take the initiative to go north to Xiangyang. When they are about to arrive in Xiangyang, we will send troops to fight the enemy."

"Strive to annihilate the remaining main force of the Ming army in the Huguang area through this battle!"

"As long as we get rid of this Ming army, then when we go south to Chengtian Mansion, Hanyang Mansion, Jingzhou Mansion, De'an Mansion and other places, we will not encounter large-scale main Ming army again!"

"The battle of Yicheng can directly determine the ownership of Chubei!"

Xu Zhixian's words were full of pride, but Luo Zhixue didn't show any excitement.

Because Xu Zhixian's strategic plan is good, but there is a premise that the enemy is really following the route planned by his own side.

For example, will the enemy really counterattack Xiangyang?

If the enemy took the initiative to counterattack Xiangyang, that would be excellent, and the rural protection army would be able to give full play to their relatively strong field capabilities and directly defeat their opponents in large-scale field battles.

However, what if the Ming army stayed in Yicheng on the edge of the Han River?
At that time, if the rural protection army wants to continue to go south to capture the Jianghan Plain and realize its own Chubei strategy, then it must smash the hard bones of Yicheng.

If Yicheng is not captured, the Southward Protecting Army will not be able to use the Han River as a logistics transportation channel, and the enemy will bury a big knife in the rear hinterland.

A knife that can kill the rural army!
But can the current rural protection army really conquer the city guarded by tens of thousands of Ming troops?
(End of this chapter)