Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 245 Touring Various Places
Three days later, Chen Gu left Chongqing with two hundred personal guards and began his inspection tour of various places.

The two hundred personal guards were there to protect Chen Gu's safety. They were divided into three large sampans. Chen Gu chose Jingzhou, where Yun Hua was, as his first stop. In addition to the three escort ships, Chen Gu also brought ten cargo ships full of supplies.

Three of the ships were loaded with armaments, and the other seven were loaded with bacon, intended as a reward for the soldiers on the front line.

The leader of Chen Gu's personal guards was named Zhang Zhe, who was Zhang San's elder brother.

Chen Gu felt guilty towards Zhang San, so when Zhang Haomin recommended Zhang Zhe to Chen Gu as his personal guard, Chen Gu did not refuse.

Zhang Zhe was originally a very honest young man. When he was in Jiangjin County, he worked as an apprentice in a winery. Later, he followed Zhang Haomin to Fobaocai and initially followed Zhang Haomin to handle government affairs. He transferred to a military position after Zhang San died.

I didn't expect that Zhang Zhe was quite talented in shooting and had good physical fitness. Although he didn't make much contribution because he had been guarding the Buddhist treasure all the time, it was good enough for him to be a personal guard.

After all, the most important thing for a personal guard is loyalty, and combat effectiveness is secondary.

The fleet reached Fengjie in less than half a day, and then passed through the Three Gorges. Today, Yanhuidui has disappeared, but although the river water has receded, there are still large ships going up and down the Three Gorges.

The fleet arrived in Yichang before dark, and after a night's rest, set off for Jingzhou the next day.

The two places are very close to each other, and it only takes an hour to get there.

Knowing that Chen Gu didn't like face-saving projects, Yun Hua didn't arrange any grand welcoming ceremony. He just brought some personal guards and the logistics battalion to welcome Chen Gu.

"Hello, Leader!" A firm and powerful standard military salute, coupled with a sonorous greeting, Yunhua's eyes were full of excitement.

Chen returned the salute and said with a smile, "General Yun, you have worked hard!"

"Compared to the leader, my life is not hard!" Yunhua said with a smile. He knew that Chen Gu did not like to deal with government affairs, but for the sake of the Huaxia Ministry, he had to stay in Chongqing for eight or nine months, which was much harder than fighting in a war.

"Let's go into the city first. I brought some bacon for the soldiers. Please arrange for the logistics battalion to receive it!" said Chen Gu.

"Leader, please go first!"

The two men rode into the city, chatting as they walked.

"What's the current situation around Jingzhou?" asked Chen Gu.

"Now Jingzhou Prefecture has been completely cleared out by the vassal army. The imperial army has retreated to Wuhan to arrange defenses. In addition, there are detachments stationed in Xiangyang and Changsha, forming a siege situation for our army!" Yunhua introduced.

"Siege!" Chen Gu couldn't help but smile. He said that to say siege was a bit of an overestimation of the imperial army. If a siege was possible, they would not have done so, but instead concentrated their forces to attack.

Yun Hua also smiled and said, "In fact, it is mainly to prevent the rampage of the vassal army. Now the vassal army has expanded to 30,000 troops. With the training and command of my troops and logistical support, the vassal army can completely sweep across Hubei."

"Thirty thousand people is a bit too many. If we continue to develop it, it will breed ambitions, and then it will become a force that is difficult to get rid of!" Chen Gu frowned and said.

"It shouldn't be!" Yun Hua thought for a moment and explained, "Although the vassal army is large in number, it is just a mob after all. Of course, compared with the imperial court's Green Camp, it can barely be considered an elite force.

But facing tens of thousands of troops, they are still just a mob. I am sure I can control them!" "Okay, just know what's going on!" Chen Gu nodded. Since he had handed over the Eastern Theater to Yunhua, he should give him enough trust.

The strength of an army involves many aspects. In addition to armaments, it also requires strict training, a strong fighting spirit, faith, and so on.

The Huaxia tribe has no shortage of its own army, but its vassal army lacks everything. Such an army is indeed nothing to worry about.

The vassal army's power comes from plunder.

During the hundred years of peace in the Qing Dynasty, local landlords and gentry accumulated a lot of wealth. Hubei not only has a lot of arable land, but also has the convenience of shipping on the Yangtze River, so the landlords and gentry here are very wealthy.

The vassal army reaped great rewards.

After defeating the landlords and dividing the land, the vassal army was able to obtain a steady supply of reinforcements, so it developed very rapidly.

After entering the city, Yunhua brought Chen the Executioner to the government office.

Jingzhou City is now under martial law, and the various Chinese tribes have not moved in. Yunhua directly uses the joint defense team to manage the area, and the effect is quite good. Anyway, after the land is distributed equally to ordinary people, all businesses are operated under a rationing system, so there will not be any chaos.

The most important thing is that the vassal army continuously brings back various supplies, and if there is a shortage, Chongqing will provide support, which can fully guarantee the living needs of the people of Jingzhou.

After drinking a cup of tea, Chen Gu came to the military map and looked at it for a while, then said: "When the vassal army clears the siege area of ​​Xiangyang, Wuhan and Changsha, we can let them try to concentrate their forces to attack Changsha or Xiangyang.

If we can break the city, we will continue to fight. If we cannot break the city, we will recruit the best troops into the regular army. The rest can be divided into three groups to continue harassing the imperial court's defenses."

Yun Hua thought for a moment and said, "It shouldn't be that difficult to concentrate our forces to attack one city. After all, the main force of the imperial court is in Wuhan, and the two detachments in Xiangyang and Changsha only have more than 10,000 troops, and their combat effectiveness is very poor, much worse than that of the vassal army!"

"Not necessarily. We'll have to fight to know whether it works or not. After such a long time, the court's military equipment must have been replaced!" said Chen Gu.

"Then let's give it a try!" Yun Hua thought for a moment and then asked, "Leader, which direction do you think is better to attack?"

"That's all fine. If we take Xiangyang, Henan will be open to the outside world. If we take Changsha, it will be easier to take over the whole Hunan province." Chen Gu said with a smile.

After taking Xiangyang, we can turn around and develop westwards. If the vassal army is lucky enough, we can even reach Luoyang and Chang'an. Then we can work with Lao Piao to attack Hanzhong from both sides. That would be the ideal situation.

In this way, Lao Piao can be liberated, and then the whole Shaanxi will fall into Lao Piao's hands.

Given Lao Piao's personality, he would never implement Chen Gu's defensive counterattack strategy. He would most likely lead his troops to conquer the entire Shaanxi Province.

At least it is easy to capture a city, but it is not so easy to defend it and manage it well. Moreover, by then, the problems of Gansu, Mongolia, and even Xinjiang will be placed in front of the Huaxia Department.

However, with the current strength of the Huaxia Department, it is not enough to deal with so many problems at the same time, especially since these places are far away. Once a problem occurs, it will require a long expedition!

Therefore, Chen Gu was more inclined to let the vassal army attack Changsha.

(End of this chapter)