Jiuxi

Chapter 481 Chapter 479 [Confusing]

In Nancheng, a stretch of grand government offices stands on Shengwu Street.

From the Privy Council to the Military Academy, it is obviously more than just changing a name.

Gone are the days when the Privy Council had sole power. Any transfer, appointment or removal of generals at or above the level of captaincy must be approved by the emperor. Most of the appointments and removals of military attachés below the level of captaincy are decided by each governor's office. .

The most important upper-level personnel power in the military belongs to the emperor, and when it is decentralized depends entirely on the emperor's needs.

The heads of the Twelve Divisions of the Military Academy are directly responsible to the emperor, further dividing and weakening the authority of the military ministers. In the future, as long as the strength of the imperial army and the Beijing camp are ensured, the imperial power will naturally be extremely stable, and there will never be anyone like Guo Congyi and Wang Yan again. ambitious people.

When Lu Chen walked into this official office, he was still admiring the emperor's power-centralization strategy in his mind. He could learn a lot from it.

In the festival hall, several other military ministers have arrived.

Lu Chen came to see him one after another. Among them, Liu Shouguang, Zhang Xu and Shen Yulai were all familiar with each other. Only Han Zhongjie, the eldest son of Jing Guogong Han Lingfu, had not had much contact with him before.

Han Zhongjie was forty-three years old at the time. He had served in the army for eighteen years, reaching the highest level of the commander of the capital of the capital. This was because his father deliberately suppressed his promotion in the army, otherwise he would have been qualified to take charge of a military force. Border Governor's Mansion. Later, he resigned and returned to the government to take care of his old father, and it became a good talk in Beijing. Therefore, this time he was promoted to Minister of Military Affairs by the emperor, and there was no objection from both the government and the public.

Liu Shouguang's words were recognized by everyone present.

Shen Yulai frowned slightly and said, "Where are the other armies in Dingzhou?"

Everyone's expressions were a little serious.

A very simple reason is that in the past, the Dingzhou Army only needed to defend at one point. No matter how strong the Jing Army was and how many troops it had, they could only launch an attack at this point.

Several scribes moved a wooden frame with a large map hanging on it. Liu Shouguang stood up and walked to the frame and stated to everyone: "Currently, the Dingzhou Feiyun Army has nearly 10,000 troops trapped in Fengqiu City. The role they can play is limited because This time, the enemy's strength is at least 60,000. Once the Feiyun Army leaves the city, it is possible to fall into the enemy's encirclement. Apart from the Feiyun Army, there are only some garrison troops in the big cities left in the entire northern part of Dingzhou."

"Yes, Governor Xiao has already apologized to His Majesty, but now is not the time to discuss responsibility. The crisis in Dingzhou is already imminent."

This means that the Dingzhou Army only needs a small number of troops to block the main force of the Jing Army. After all, wars throughout the ages have always been easy to defend but difficult to attack.

After a while of greetings, Liu Shouguang, as the Chief Minister of Military Affairs, turned to the topic and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, yesterday the Military Academy received a joint urgent report from Governor Xiao of Huaizhou and Governor Li of Dingzhou. Jingjun used 20,000 people in Leize Plain as bait. , Assemble the main force to attack Dingfeng Road in the north of Dingzhou. So far, Jing's army has captured all the forts north of Fengqiu City. The northern gate of Dingzhou is wide open, and Jing's army can march straight in to invade various places. "

Zhang Xu calmly analyzed: "Even if this partial division can be annihilated, it will not be able to make up for the losses caused by the fall of Dingfeng Road."

Everyone present is a person who knows the military, and of course they understand the consequences of the Dingfeng Road defense line being breached.

His face is resolute and angular, and his temperament is like a cold plum, proud of frost, and unbreakable in the cold snow.

Liu Shouguang raised his hand and pointed to Leize Plain in the southwest of Dingzhou and said: "There is an enemy army of about 20,000 people here. The Dingzhou Governor's Mansion wanted to eat them, so it mobilized all troops except Feiyun Army and Lai'an Army. All troops, as well as the Pingshan Army heading north from Huaizhou. When we received this urgent message, Governor Xiao had already ordered a general attack, and there would be no surprises in the outcome of this battle. "

Now that Dingfeng Road has fallen, Jing's army's attack surface suddenly becomes clearer. They can either camp step by step along the official road from Fengqiu to Ruyin City, or they can disperse and attack in circuitous ways. The Jiangbei Plain is the favorite racecourse of Jing's cavalry.

Liu Shouguang continued: "The collapse of the Dingfeng Road defense line will put the entire northern part of Dingzhou in a dangerous situation. Your Majesty ordered us to discuss a countermeasure on how to stop Jing's army from going south without affecting the overall situation. "

It can also be seen from this that the current high-level military officials of Daqi are completely different from those before. If Guo Congyi, Wang Yan and others were still in power, even if they knew that Qing Yugong was the number one general of the Jing Dynasty, such people would have achieved great success on the battlefield. It is not surprising that they have a temporary advantage, and they will also use this to launch continuous attacks on Xiao Wangzhi.

Now, Xiao Wangzhi's strategic blunder was just mentioned by Liu Shouguang, and others did not take advantage of the situation. No matter what they thought in their hearts, at least this kind of atmosphere would make people feel comfortable.

Perhaps part of the consideration was because of Lu Chen who was sitting there in silence. After all, everyone knew about his relationship with Xiao Wangzhi.

Zhang Xu glanced at Lu Chen, and then took over Liu Shouguang's words: "The most urgent task now is to send some troops of the Huaizhou Army north to support Dingzhou. Since the door has been broken open by Jing's army, the Dingzhou Governor's Mansion alone may be able to defend it. You can’t live in such a large territory.”

Liu Shouguang nodded and said: "Yes, Governor Xiao explained to His Majesty that he has transferred the Zhenbei and Guangling armies to the north. Together with the Pingshan army that has been transferred before, the total strength of Ding and Huai now exceeds 100,000. In a short time, There should be no problem in defending the major cities in Dingzhou, but if Jingjun continues to add troops to the battlefield in Dingzhou, the situation may not be optimistic. "

Han Zhongjie, who had been thinking about it, suddenly said: "In this case, wouldn't Huaizhou's territory be empty of troops?"

Since the reorganization of the border army at the beginning of the year, the number of troops under the jurisdiction of the Huaizhou Dudufu has been reduced from the ninth army to the seventh army, and the Feiyun Army and the Lai'an Army have been directly transferred to Dingzhou for garrison.

The Xunyang and Jianghua armies are again to the west of the Shuangfeng Mountains. Now the Pingshan, Zhenbei, and Guangling armies are heading north, which means that there are only less than 30,000 Panlong Army and Taixing Army left in Huaizhou.

Liu Shouguang was a little strange, but he still explained: "Brother Han, there are Shuangfeng Mountains in the west of Huaizhou and Dingzhou in the north. The only place that may be attacked by Jing's army is Panlong Pass in the northwest, where Panlong Army is stationed. It’s absolutely foolproof.”

Han Zhongjie said calmly: "I'm not questioning Governor Xiao's military strategy. I'm just worried that if Panlong Pass is breached by the enemy, the entire Huaizhou will be undefended. Compared with Dingzhou, I think Huaizhou is safer. Even more important. If we prepare for the worst and Dingzhou cannot hold it, it will mean returning to the stalemate two years ago. Once Huaizhou is occupied by the enemy, it will affect the safety of all parts of Jiangnan. We will have to Defend."

Liu Shouguang did not argue with him whether Panlong Pass could be defended. This was obviously not an issue they should argue about.

A general must consider every possibility, not to mention that there is never an absolutely safe pass in this world.

After Jingjun captured Dingfeng Road, Xiao Wangzhi had to transfer the Zhenbei Army and other troops to Dingzhou. Otherwise, he would have to sit back and watch the situation in Dingzhou gradually deteriorate. This has nothing to do with Li Jingda's ability. The territory of Dingzhou It is vast and has a small number of troops. Facing the main force of Jing's army, it will inevitably be stretched.

Zhang Xu raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "Brother Han, what do you mean by the fact that Jingjun created such a huge battle in the north of Dingzhou to plot against Huaizhou?"

Han Zhongjie said unhurriedly: "I think it is possible. Judging from the current situation, Jing's army can be roughly divided into two groups. One is the East Route Army with Jing's main infantry as the core and some cavalry. , they continued to threaten the northern part of Dingzhou after breaking through Dingfeng Road. The second one was the West Route Army, whose main force was the puppet Yanmoyang Road soldiers and horses, supplemented by a small amount of Jingjun cavalry and infantry. Their attack direction was the Jingzhou border. No matter which army it is, we must admit that the initiative on the battlefield is in the hands of the other side. "

Everyone nodded in approval.

Han Zhongjie continued: "Judging from the information provided by the Sutra Weaving Department, Jing State used at least 300,000 troops in the war to annex Zhao State. How many troops have they dispatched now? Even if there are 100,000 Jing troops in Dingzhou, There are at most 30,000 to 40,000 people in Jingzhou, which means that Jing's army has still not exerted its full strength. I don't think Qing Yugong's plan is that simple. He continues to expand the front line and increase the battlefield, which leads to the strength of the frontier army. Gradually dispersed, if Panlong Pass falls at this time, Huaizhou's internal troops are empty, and Jingjun takes the opportunity to invade in a large scale, I am afraid that the entire situation in Jiangbei will be corrupted. "

Although he had been away from the army for several years, he had been with Han Lingfu since he was a child and had solid experience in leading troops. He was obviously not the kind of person who talked about military affairs on paper. This analysis quickly revealed the situation on the Jiangbei border. The general situation is clear.

Jing's army invaded on a large scale, and of course the responsibility for guarding the territory could not rest solely with the border troops. The emperor asked the Military Academy to formulate countermeasures, obviously to mobilize part of the Beijing army to go north for support.

Which part of the Beijing army should be mobilized specifically, which border area should be supported, and the replenishment of grain, grass and weapons for the Beijing army and the border army, these are the problems they have to solve as the Minister of Military Affairs.

Now that Han Zhongjie's views have been recognized by others, if nothing unexpected happens, Beijing army reinforcements will go north to Huaizhou. On the one hand, they can help defend the crucial Panlong Pass, and on the other hand, they can also support Dingzhou in the north. The next step is to Decide which Beijing camp to mobilize the troops to go north.

Before moving on to the next topic, Liu Shouguang looked at Lu Chen, who had never spoken a word from beginning to end, and asked, "What do you think, Marquis Lu?"

As soon as he said this, everyone else looked over, including Han Zhongjie.

In fact, they all knew that any military issue involving the Jiangbei border could not bypass Lu Chen, who had risen from the border army. Perhaps in the emperor's heart, Lu Chen's opinion was the most important.

With everyone's attention focused on him, Lu Chen remained calm and said slowly: "Everyone, I always feel that all the responses we are taking now are actually within the expectations of Jing Jun or Qing Yugong. In other words, we are very likely to He has always been leading the way."

A cold look flashed across Han Zhongjie's face, then he returned to his original state and said calmly: "I would like to hear from Marquis Lu."

(End of this chapter)