King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 597 Zhu Jinghong’s will
The Ming army was only the vanguard when it arrived near Changyuan, led by Zhu Jinghong himself.

Two days later, on the first day of November, all his troops marched to Changyuan.

The captured places such as Yizhou and Anzhou were garrisoned by subsequent reinforcements, including cavalry from the Jurchen tribes.

On the afternoon of the first day of the new year, Zhu Jinghong inspected the outskirts of Changyuan again and returned to the market town where the army was stationed.

After two days, he still has not made up his mind, so he plans to convene a military meeting today to listen to the thoughts of his generals.

The people who are qualified to participate in the discussion are all generals who command Qian Shi or above. Now that the Korean War is going smoothly, these senior generals have come to the front line, intending to increase their presence and gain some military glory.

Of course, these people did not come in vain. They brought with them reinforcements of the army, as well as a large amount of military equipment and food allocated by the imperial court.

All these people have arrived in the past two days. The reason why today was chosen to convene everyone for discussion is because the Liaodong Navy Admiral Zhao Chengwu and the Minister of War Gao Zhiwen were arriving in the afternoon.

When Zhu Jinghong returned to the headquarters, he saw Zhao Chengwu scolding his men as soon as he entered the courtyard gate, while the other generals were talking among themselves.

Throwing the whip to Zhang Lin who was accompanying him, Zhu Jinghong asked, "What's going on?"

Shi Ke is twenty-seven years old this year. Generally speaking, a general with a good background like him is easy to be criticized, but under Zhu Jinghong, he is very obedient.

Zhao Chengwu was the last one to go in, just because he reprimanded his men again.

"Okay... showing loyalty is not about words, but actions!"

"Is it a Japanese warship?" Zhu Jinghong asked again.

All the generals were silent at the move of his finger. Zhu Jinghong's ability to control the field shocked Gao Zhiwen, the Minister of War.

He speaks in such a down-to-earth manner. If he were an ordinary person, he would definitely be laughed at. However, the generals present felt that he was straightforward and did not engage in nonsense.

"The Holy One is as virtuous as heaven. After drinking this bowl of tea, I feel like spring in March..."

In fact, it wasn't that they didn't catch up. It was because they remembered Zhao Chengwu's strict order after chasing for more than ten miles that they returned with great reluctance.

After hearing this, Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but become curious, so he asked: "What's going on?"

"Alright, let's go back and talk about your navy matters slowly. Now go in and discuss the matter first!"

"Your Majesty, who takes care of everything in the world, still cares about stupid people like us. I am deeply moved..."

He picked up a thin wooden stick and walked to the sand table under the watchful eyes of a group of senior generals.

About a few minutes later, Zhu Jinghong took another sip of tea and asked: "Everyone... you all know the situation. Now let's talk about your opinions!"

"The military rations were delivered to the port. Today, it was the turn of these two idiots to patrol and guard. At about 2:00 a.m.... they discovered an enemy ship at sea. Ignoring my previous military order of strict vigilance and no unauthorized contact with the enemy, they chased after it! "Zhao Chengwu said with a livid expression.

After drinking the emperor's tribute tea, you must say a few words of praise to the saint, otherwise it will be disloyal and unfilial.

"I called you here today to discuss the current situation and next steps!"

If nothing else goes wrong, if this guy comes to the front line and hangs around for a while, he can become a full-time guard of the army, and that is already a fifth-grade military attaché.

After Shi Ke finished speaking, Zhu Jinghong did not rush to ask questions, but gave everyone time to think.

"This is the tribute tea gifted by my father...well, the Holy One. It tastes delicious!"

The sand table and the small flags marked on it display the battlefield situation very intuitively, making it easy for everyone present to understand.

In the meeting hall, Zhu Jinghong sat at the top, with four chairs on the left and right. There was a prepared sand table in the center of the hall.

Afterwards, Shi Ke began to explain seriously, and everyone present also listened carefully.

A group of generals lined up on both sides to make way for Zhu Jinghong. After he passed, everyone could enter.

Seeing that Zhu Jinghong had returned, the generals present stepped forward to salute one after another. Later, they heard Zhao Chengwu say: "My subordinates don't know the rules and almost made a mistake... I am teaching them a lesson!"

"Yes!"

Everyone was chattering, and Zhu Jinghong felt tired of hearing it, so he tapped the table with his fingers to silence everyone.

After everyone thanked them, they each picked up the imperial tea on the coffee table, and after drinking it, they began to taste it.

This man's name is Shi Ke, a cousin of Xiangyun. His official position is the deputy Qianhu of Jinwu's left guard, the bodyguard of the Jinwu army. He is now moved to the Liaodong front line by his father.

After saying this, Zhu Jinghong looked at the staff officer on the side.

Zhu Jinghong would never have imagined how much his casual words would increase the training intensity of the Liaodong Navy.

The reason why Zhao Chengwu was not allowed to attack without permission was because his men were afraid of being ambushed in depth alone.

"Master Thirteen's teachings should be remembered carefully!"

"Generals, by the order of the Thirteenth Master, I will first introduce to you the situation between the enemy and ourselves near Changyuan..."

One of the Qianhus replied: "Reply to the prince, the enemy ships saw our ship approaching and withdrew in advance, and our army could not catch up!"

On the sand table, the location of the Ming army's garrison and the deployment of the North Korean army were marked.

Hearing this, Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but sigh, and then said: "If you can't catch up or hit... is it because the battleship is not good? Or are you not practicing well enough?"

After Zhu Jinghong sat down, he motioned for everyone to sit down, then took the tea from Yu Hai and signaled to everyone: "It's cold, let's drink some tea to warm up, and then we can talk again!"

Japan's 30,000-strong army is in Changyuan, and their fleet has been transferred to the west coast of Korea. Therefore, the Liaodong Navy has recently increased its alert.

Another thousand households replied: "It's their ship. We also fired two cannons, but unfortunately we missed!"

"Zhao Qing, you need to practice more in the future!"

Looking at the two Qianhu who looked anxious, Zhu Jinghong asked: "Then... have you caught up? How is the situation?"

"Zhang Yuan is our stumbling block. Should we continue the confrontation and wait for the opportunity, or try to attack and take it down, or choose a detour... You can express your opinions freely!"

The generals present all had their own opinions at this time, but no one took the initiative to speak.

Zhu Jinghong is not surprised by this. After all, the idea of ​​​​shooting the first bird makes everyone afraid to take the lead casually.

The best way to break such a deadlock is to point people out. This is something Zhu Jinghong understood when he was in school.

"General Cai, tell me first!"

When Zhu Jinghong called on him, Cai Chuansheng did not refuse. He stood up and saluted him first, and then said: "I thought... the enemy's various departments were in complicated situations. They said they had an army of 100,000, but they were just a bunch of miscellaneous fish!"

"They also had a quarrel recently. I thought I could delay it for a while longer and wait for them to show their flaws before taking them down in one fell swoop!"

"During this period, our army can send a small group of elite troops to attack its food routes. If we can succeed..."

Cai Chuansheng's idea was very clear, that is, not to rush to attack, but to find various ways to weaken the enemy's army, and then try to capture the city.

After Cai Chuansheng, Sun Maozhi, commander of the Liaodong capital, spoke. His ideas were different from Cai Chuansheng's, focusing more on harassment and proactively creating fighter opportunities.

As for the other people who followed, except for a few who put forward other opinions, most people agreed with Cai Chuansheng or Sun Maozhi's ideas.

Zhu Jinghong always felt that he could not make up his mind, but after listening to everyone's thoughts, he found that he had already thought of everything.

And his idea is to capture Changyuan as quickly as possible, and then attack Seoul within this month. After all, what he wants is not only to win the battle, but also to win it beautifully.

This will increase his reputation, and secondly, it will allow him to give gifts to the emperor in the New Year.

Rather than giving other gifts, escorting the rebellious Li Shuo and his son back to the capital would suit the old man's taste.

Zhu Jinghong's thoughts also verify the old saying that war is the continuation of politics.

To put it bluntly, politics is about interests. Based on the imperial court's overall plan, North Korea must be pacified. However, based on Zhu Jinghong's personal interests, North Korea must be pacified quickly.

Hearing everyone's discussions, none of them satisfied Zhu Jinghong, so the more he listened, the more uncomfortable he felt.

bang bang bang...

The sound of hands tapping on the table sounded again, and everyone at the scene fell silent again.

"Everyone...you all said very well, but I have a little bit of knowledge. Please listen carefully!"

Then I heard Cai Chuansheng reply: "Please give me some advice from the Thirteenth Master!"

"As you have said, the enemy forces around Changyuan City are in a complicated situation and it is difficult to work together. It is not difficult to defeat them..."

"And if our army captures Changyuan, the main force of North Korea will be completely defeated, and there will be no barrier from Changyuan to Seoul. The thief will be terrified and trembling... and there is no way he will be completely defeated!"

"Therefore, capturing Changyuan with lightning speed may have the effect of completing all the achievements in one battle!"

"Your Majesty is in the capital, waiting for us to deliver the good news soon. Since we, the ministers, have been favored by your Majesty, how can we bear the thought of your father... not even having a good year this year?"

"And the lieutenants of the army have been fighting for a long time, and I am afraid that their homesickness will get worse. If the war can be ended as soon as possible, the morale of the army will be high, and the chance of winning Changyuan will be even higher!"

Zhu Jinghong's words were both a change of concept and a moral kidnapping, which left the generals speechless.

"What do you think?"

Many times, when discussing things, it is not about right or wrong but to express a position. Obviously, if anyone stands up and refutes at this time, he will be labeled as disobeying King Xiang.

People with a slight sense of justice are hesitating, while people who see clearly have taken this as an opportunity.

Just listen to Cai Chuansheng's reply: "What Thirteenth Master said is reasonable, but I am short-sighted!"

Cai Chuansheng was the first to speak, not just to take sides in time, but because he believed that Zhu Jinghong could always win, so he could do whatever the other party did.

Zhu Jinghong, the God of War of the Ming Dynasty, is indeed very bluffing, and has made people unconditionally believe in his commanding ability.

Cai Chuansheng took the lead, and the others expressed their opinions one after another, which basically had the same meaning as Cai Chuansheng.

This is called enough prestige, and one person in the army can have the final say.

"Master Gao...what do you think?" Zhu Jinghong looked at Gao Zhiwen.

Most of the time, Gao Zhiwen was in the rear coordinating the supply of grain and grass, but he himself received the imperial edict a few days ago and took on the additional task of supervising the army.

Therefore, Zhu Jinghong had to ask Gao Zhiwen what he meant when it came to such a major decision.

Gao Zhiwen is a smart man. From what happened before and after the discussion, he knew that Zhu Jinghong was determined and would push for a war even if he opposed it.

Once he objected, he would stand on the opposite side of Zhu Jinghong, which would be extremely detrimental to his career.

But if he was asked to agree, he was worried that he would be labeled as the party's assistant king, which was also very detrimental to his career.

"Your Highness, although I am the Minister of War, I have little knowledge of military affairs. You should discuss this matter with the generals. I dare not make any rash comments!"

Although it seems incompetent to say this, it is better than the result of being on the wrong team.

"Well...since everyone has no objections, the attack on Changyuan is settled!"

"Everyone, look at the sand table. If you want to attack Changyuan, you must first capture the two hills to the north. This way you can overlook Changyuan!"

"Yudong Mountain is further north and is the first place to be uprooted. If we occupy this high ground... we can bombard the city!"

Next, Zhu Jinghong told the situation of Yuandong Mountain again and put forward his own combat concept.

To put it simply, we still used artillery to suppress the enemy, and then the infantry advanced to harass the cavalry, and finally captured Yuandong Mountain.

"Thirteenth Master, the enemy troops are located high up and there are so many of them. If we want to capture them... I'm afraid it won't be easy!"

"If our army attacks with the main force, we will be in danger if the enemy troops come out of the city for reinforcements!"

Although he was the first to support Zhu Jinghong, Cai Chuansheng still raised questions.

Zhu Jinghong replied: "The army attacking Yuandong Mountain only selects three thousand soldiers...the rest of the troops will hold down the formation!"

Cai Chuansheng gritted his teeth and said: "Three thousand soldiers... even if they are elite, I'm afraid it will be difficult to capture Xia Yuandong Mountain in one fell swoop!"

Zhu Jinghong replied: "I made it very clear just now that the first priority in this battle is artillery suppression, not to kill people!"

"So, we must have more artillery and the suppression effect must be good!"

The next moment, he glanced at Zhao Chengwu and asked: "How many artillery pieces does your navy have?"

Hearing Zhu Jinghong's question, Zhao Chengwu was dumbfounded for a moment. He didn't understand what this had to do with the navy. Could he still sail the ship to land?

Although he was confused in his heart, his mind was moving very fast and he immediately replied: "Totaling all kinds of warships, there are almost 1,700 or 800 warships!"

The most basic Category C ship is equipped with thirty artillery pieces, so building a naval force is indeed very expensive.

"One thousand seventeen or eight hundred... I don't want any more. You can dismantle five hundred artillery pieces for me!"

The navy's artillery has a shorter range because of its small size, but it is easier to maneuver, so it can also be used as a rifle.

Of course Zhu Jinghong can mobilize more cannons, but the problem is that Yuandong Mountain is so big, and if there are more cannons, there will be no room for them.

It was of course a very outrageous order to dismantle the navy's cannon and use it as infantry artillery, but because it was Zhu Jinghong who spoke, Zhao Chengwu had no objection.

"Yes!"

"For this mission, Liaodong Dusi and Yanshan Dusi each selected 1,500 people to participate in the battle, and an additional 1,000 Jurchen cavalry were deployed!"

With such an arrangement, it is equivalent to saying that all departments have credit, but the prerequisite is that they must win.

Next, Zhu Jinghongping withdrew the others, leaving only Cai Chuansheng and three others to discuss and finalize the specific battle plan.

To put it simply, continuous harassment is still needed to keep the North Korean army in a state of fear to undermine its morale.

At the same time, in order to conceal the true purpose of the battle, they should harass the east and west of Yuandong respectively, and at the same time send cavalry to attack their grain roads.

In other words, all available means must be used to conceal one's true combat intentions on the basis of damaging the enemy's morale.

Of course, what Zhu Jinghong and the others discussed was a broad framework, and the specific steps needed to be improved, and finally a very sophisticated and complex plan was formed.

It's just that these are the errands of the staff.

(End of this chapter)