golden scales

"Xuzhou is the thoroughfare of the four provinces, the important place where the north and the south meet, and the place where the throat and lifeline are closed..." Zhu Jiajun pointed to Xuzhou, and reported the surrounding prefectures and counties one by one, as if giving everyone a geography lesson. Sure enough, a lot of effort was put into it.

"Occupying Xuzhou can shield Nanjing, or the whole of Shandong." Zhu Jiajun said, seemingly pointing to Huai'an and Luzhou.

Huai'an was the place where Liu Zeqing fled, and Luzhou was where Huang Degong lived.Together with Gao Jie from Xuzhou and Liu Liangzuo from Shouzhou, it is the four Jiangbei towns in the original historical script.For Nanming, these four towns were the last line of defense in the north.But in this world, it is the shield or spear behind Shandong.

From Zhu Jiajun's point of view, it is more likely to become a spear.

The composition of the Eastern Palace Army system is so different from other Ming military towns that after the soldiers integrated into the Eastern Palace system, they spontaneously felt repulsive to other Daming military towns.Especially for an old man like Zhu Jiajun, he saw only the Donggong army fighting bloody battles along the way, while the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty surrendered in anticipation.

In line with the instructions of the Eastern Palace: pig-like friendly troops are of the same type as enemy troops.

Zhu Jiajun's first thought was to get rid of these friendly troops like pigs, so that the Shandong base would be safer.

"But the more important thing is to go south for food, and other book friends are reading:." Zhu Jiajun put the bamboo whip in his hand, bent it into a bow lightly, and said: "After I was stationed in Rizhao with the army, I saw it with my own eyes. Earth-shaking changes. If there is a means of remediation by the county magistrates of the Donggong family, even in a disaster year, the people may not be able to survive. Xuzhou has a dense water network. Although there is flooding in the Yellow River, there is still a lot of land that can be cultivated. If our army Occupied Xuzhou. With the abilities of the officials of the Eastern Palace, they should be able to save more people."

More people means more soldiers, which means you are stronger!The "protecting the people is protecting oneself" that the trainers talk about every day has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. .

"Captain," Cao Ning asked, raising his hand, "although the military council thinks that the main force of the eastern captives will not go south immediately, but if the army of the eastern captives invades the border and robs Xuzhou, how will your department defend?"

"The whole army is heading east, going to Huai'an and Andongwei. Return to Shandong. Get closer to the Second Guards Battalion." Zhu Jiajun blurted out: "The nearest field training of the Second Guards Battalion has already passed our garrison. The army of captives is going south, and they will definitely be able to support our troops."

Zhu Cihong immediately turned to Cao Ning, the Chief of Staff of the Second Guards Battalion just smiled.He waved his hands in vain, and then stopped talking.

The Second Guards Battalion did not lose their active character due to the constraints of the drills, and they were especially good at mountain warfare.The southwestern part of Shandong is the famous Yimeng mountainous area - mountains, hills, and plains each account for one-third.There are many bandits here, Xiao Donglou used the name of training to suppress the bandits, every time it was a "battle by chance", he thought it was enough to deceive people, but today Zhu Jiajun pointed it out.

Zhu Cihong beckoned to Min Ziruo, and Min Zhanlian immediately followed him.

"Show me the latest battle damage chart of the Second Battalion." Zhu Cihong said.

Min Ziruo quickly stepped out of the meeting room, found the staff officer on duty, and called up the documents.Sent in.

Seeing Min Ziruo going in and out, Cao Ning regretted it a lot, knowing that he had attracted the attention of the crown prince, and there must be a reasonable explanation.He didn't intend to make things difficult for Zhu Jiajun, but news of the expansion of the Guard Division has long been spread in the army. Of course Xiao Donglou wants to bring the Guerrilla Battalion under his command.Cao Ning took the opportunity to ask questions, because he had already decided that the guerrilla battalion would never go south to retreat, and could only go to the second guard battalion.Who knew that Zhu Jiajun was not a fuel-efficient lamp, he answered neither humble nor overbearing, and he even sold the second battalion by the way. .

The whole independent battalion also wanted to expand into an independent division, and it would be best to get a majestic title.As for the claws of Lushan extended by the first battalion and the second battalion, they must be cut off cleanly!

Another major raised his hand in the corner and asked, "If we stick to Xuzhou and let the [-]st and [-]nd Guards battalions attack the Eastern captives from the flanks, would it be more generous?"

You Shiwei coughed lightly: "Whether to let the guerrilla battalion go south to Xuzhou has not yet been decided."

The major said: "General Bing, capturing Xuzhou is beneficial but not harmful, the key lies in how to make good use of Xuzhou." He paused, and said: "Xuzhou has iron, coal, and water power, which is suitable for casting cannons. If Xuzhou can be controlled by our army, the speed of artillery casting will be more than ten per day."

Zhu Cihong moved his body.Shandong is indeed a large province of coal and iron, but no ready-made iron or coal mines have been found in the Second Mansion of Denglai.The coal currently used is transported from Yanzhou.Although there is iron ore, due to the quality of iron ore and smelting methods, it can only be used to make farm tools. The iron molds and materials for casting cannons mainly have to be purchased from Wuhu.

If Xuzhou is occupied, there will be great support for building a coal-iron composite industry center, whether for military or civilian use.

Zhu Cihong suddenly discovered: these officers under his command have a stronger desire to fight than himself!

"But if the guerrilla battalion can't be defended, we naturally can't put the artillery factory in Xuzhou." The major said.

Zhu Jiajun had already calculated the combat capability of the guerrilla battalion in his mind, and immediately said: "As long as the eastern captive army is less than 1 people, there is no problem for our troops to defend alone."

"Captain, is there any basis for your statement?" Zhu Cihong finally spoke.

Zhu Jiajun turned to Zhu Cihong, bowed and saluted, and said: "The eastern captives are mainly cavalry. If our troops are defeated in a field battle, but if we just use the terrain to defend the city, we are confident that one enemy will be ten. Other book friends are look:."

Zhu Cihong shook his head: "We haven't fought Donglu yet, so don't be too blindly confident. Especially military decisions, you must never take them for granted!"

Zhu Jiajun blushed and saluted respectfully: "Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness!"

Zhu Cihong nodded to You Shiwei, and leaned back.

You Shiwei cleared his throat: "If there is no objection, the guerrilla battalion's plan to capture Xuzhou will be reported to the military for discussion."

"Report!" Cao Ning stood up: "Report, our department believes that we should focus on the guerrilla battalion's occupation of Xuzhou, and formulate a combat plan to consolidate Xuzhou and preserve Shandong. For this reason, our Second Guards Battalion requested to move the line of defense forward. To Yanzhou Mansion."

Hearing this, the major who was considering cannon casting couldn't help but be eager to try.However, Cao Ning was second only to Xiao Donglou in the Second Guards Battalion, which school lieutenant would not look at his face?Even though the major wanted to learn from Cao Ning, he knew that he could not represent the Firearms Division. Such proposals had to be discussed and decided by the Division before they could be raised.

Zhu Cihong had a little understanding of the operation of the army, and he was still referring to general organizational behavior.The situation in front of him made him realize that it was actually the lack of the general staff in formulating the big campaign, and the battalion-level staff below couldn't focus on the overall situation.

It is impossible to have an all-knowing and all-powerful general staff immediately, but it can be cultivated gradually.

"General You," Zhu Cihong said, "you can call out staff from various ministries to form a temporary staff group to discuss this matter in Xuzhou."

You Shiwei saw that Zhu Cihong was paying attention, and immediately responded, "The general will obey the order."

Zhu Cihong turned to the major, and asked with a smile, "Your accent is a bit strange, where are you from?"

"His Royal Highness Bing!" Seeing the crown prince talking to him in person, the major gave a military salute a little excitedly, but his tongue tied up when he said the words: "Hu, Hu..."

"Huguang?" Zhu Cihong was a little strange, Huguang's accent didn't seem to be like that.

"Hujian!" the major finally said.

"Fujian?"

"Yes, Hujian!" The major replied.

Zhu Cihong smiled and said, "What's your name? When did you join the army?"

"Hong Zuwei, a humble officer, joined the army in Xi'an in the 16th year of Chongzhen." Hong Zuwei said: "At that time, I was fortunate to hear His Highness's speech on Guan Xue, and I admired it in my heart. Later, I moved with the army and decided to abandon my pen and join the army. Now I am tired as a colonel."

Hong Zuwei reported his resume, which made Zhu Cihong even more amused. It seems that this is one of the batch of scholars who were domesticated back then.However, most of those people have been transferred to civil servants, and now they are working as administrative assistants in various places. Unexpectedly, some people actually joined the army and even became majors.

"Which one are you from?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"The humble job is now serving as the staff officer of the Firearms Department." Hong Zuwei said.

"Firearms Division?" Zhu Cihong asked in surprise, "The Firearms Division has never fought much. How did you accumulate meritorious service and get promoted?"

"Before enlisting in the army, I was a recruiter, and after being assigned to the Firearms Division, I was named a captain of the staff bureau." Hong Zuwei said: "Because of the improvement in the casting method, I was just promoted to a major."

"Are you the one who erected the muzzle of the cannon?" Zhu Cihong thought of the only recent improvement in the casting method.

Sure enough, Hong Zuwei grinned and said: "It's a humble job!"

Ps:

Please recommend tickets and monthly tickets~~ It’s almost the end of the month~~~