Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 337
In the early morning of the next day, Li Guo and Man Dazhuang, who were the pioneers, led the army to set off. Nearly [-] large ships loaded with food and supplies, as well as naval warships, began to leave the bank of the Yangtze River and sailed down the river to the east. Wang Yan led an army of [-] behind, and marched towards Jiujiang in mighty fashion.

The army passed the ten-mile long pavilion outside Wuchang City. He Tengjiao led a large group of Hubei officials and waited outside the pavilion, which surprised Wang Yan.

Although he notified He Tengjiao, the relationship between the two was somewhat discordant after all, and he did not expect that He Tengjiao would come to see him off.

At this time, Wang Yan had no choice but to whip his horse and separate from the brigade. The generals and personal guards behind him also patted their horses to keep up, and finally stopped outside the pavilion.

Wang Yan got off his horse, threw the whip behind him, let the guards catch it, and then strode towards the pavilion. Seeing this, He Tengjiao greeted him with a bowl of wine from the stone table, and said with a smile: "The governor wishes the stallion of Chu state all success , Liberate all of Jiangxi~" Maybe it was the Battle of Wuchang, or maybe it was the relief of refugees that made He Tengjiao's sense of Wang Yan changed, and he even became a little dependent, and he didn't even notice it.

At this time, he saw Wang Yan took the wine bowl and drank it down, so he couldn't help asking: "This time Shiheng attacked Jin Shengheng and brought all the elite soldiers into Jiangxi. Hubei is the front line against the Qing Dynasty. If The Qing soldiers come again, how should I deal with it?"

Wang Yan was a little surprised when He Tengjiao called him. This showed that He Tengjiao had the intention of resolving the conflict with him. He smiled slightly. After all, no major conflict broke out, and Wang Yan kept his promise and handed over Hubei to He Tengjiao, and He Tengjiao took credit for the recovery of Wuchang.

Before Wang Yan was about to attack Jiangxi, he had already discussed with He Tengjiao about Hubei's future strategy, which was to become a barrier for Nanming. As long as Hubei was in hand, Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi in the south could develop and restore their economies with peace of mind. It can be said that He Tengjiao was responsible major.

Perhaps it was precisely because He Tengjiao was aware of this and had no idea, so he took the opportunity of seeing him off to ask Wang Yan, who was better at fighting than him.

After hearing He Tengjiao's words, Wang Yan turned his head and said to the guard behind him: "Go and get the map of Hubei~"

"No need~" He Tengjiao said with a smile: "The governor has already prepared!"

While he was speaking, the officials in the pavilion had removed the drinks from the stone table in the middle, and laid out a map.

Wang Yan was very happy for He Tengjiao to ask him, but he was afraid that he would make trouble for him, so he strode to the stone table, and a group of Hubei officials immediately surrounded him.

Hubei has just been recovered, and the imperial court has no time to appoint them. These people are all newcomers promoted by He Tengjiao. They have no experience, and they are as uncertain as He Tengjiao.

Wang Yan looked at the picture on the map, pointed to Hubei and said, "Edi connects the east to the west, and connects the south to the north. There is the Qinling Mountains in the north, surrounded by mountains on three sides, so it is easy to defend but difficult to attack."

Wang Yan gestured with his hands on the map, and every time he said something, the surrounding officials nodded.

"Let's look at the situation in Edi, Governor He. Where do you think the threat from Edi comes from?" Wang Yan stopped, looked up at He Tengjiao and said.

He Tengjiao was slightly taken aback, and pointed to the map, "Except for the south, the other three directions are all possible."

Wang Yan nodded, and then continued: "Let's talk about the west side first. Zhang Xianzhong and Haoge fought fiercely in Hanzhong. If Zhang Xianzhong wins, Governor He will try his best to maintain a tacit understanding with Daxi and instigate Zhang Xianzhong to continue to march into Guanzhong. If Zhang Xianzhong loses, Qing The army occupies Hanzhong, and Governor He does not need to panic, he only needs to send 1 troops to garrison the Shangyong ancient road, guarding the dangerous points, the Qing soldiers want to enter Hubei from Hanzhong, unless they cross the rolling mountains, so there is no worry about the west road.”

"Zhang Thief is the enemy of our dynasty, can he live in peace with us and obey my words?"

"In today's world, the Qing is strong and the Han is weak. Zhang Xianzhong understands his situation, and His Majesty also believes in the strategy of uniting the bandits to resist the Qing. In addition to the tacit understanding between Zhang Xianzhong and I in Hanzhong, as long as Governor He does not attack Zhang Xianzhong, the Great Western Army will You will not make enemies on both sides, of course you still need to be vigilant, so Governor He must take strict precautions against Shangyong and build fortresses in dangerous places."

He Tengjiao nodded slightly when he heard the words, and he accepted Wang Yan's words. Wang Yan then continued: "Furthermore, to the north, if the Qing soldiers wanted to go south, they had to follow the route that Cao Cao entered Jingzhou back then. Xinye goes south, and as long as the supervisors fortify the walls and clear the fields, and stick to Xiangyang, they will also be able to stop the Qing soldiers."

"I know this. This time Azig is going this way. I will manage Xiangfan with all my heart, heighten and thicken the city, and then follow the previously discussed strategy to relocate all the people to the north of the Han River so that the Qing army cannot Get food~"

This strategy is tantamount to giving up hundreds of miles of land, but at the same time, it also makes it impossible for the Qing soldiers to harvest grain locally, but to send it from Henan through mountain roads, which will undoubtedly speed up the consumption of Qing soldiers' grain and grass. If you break the city, you must return to Henan.

Wang Yan nodded and said: "Hao Yaoqi and Ma Jinzhong are both capable of fighting. They can be regarded as two mighty generals. With them stationed in the second city of Xiangfan, there will be no worries on the North Road."

"Let's talk about the last one. The threat to the east comes from the south of the Yangtze River. Now the Yangtze River is a natural moat, which is shared by the Manchu and the Qing Dynasty. However, Wuchang is in the upper reaches and the Qing army is in the lower reaches. I think the key to guarding Wuchang is to make full use of strengths and avoid weaknesses, and vigorously build Warships develop the navy. When the Qing soldiers arrive, the city will be fortified with artillery and will not fight the waves. The navy will harass along the waterways and wait for the reinforcements from Hunan to arrive."

Wang Yan paused, and then continued: "Besides, if I can successfully recover all of Jiangxi this time, then the supervisor will not have to face the threat of the Qing army in the south of the Yangtze River alone, and the situation of our Great Ming against the Qing court will also improve. Master He, as long as you guard the three sides and restore people's livelihood, it will not be difficult to defend Edi~"

After hearing this, He Tengjiao gained some confidence in his heart, and immediately laughed, and asked his subordinates to bring a bowl of wine for Wang Yan to drink, and then led the officials to see Wang Yan off.

Distilled alcohol already existed in the Ming Dynasty, but the government’s attitude towards alcohol production was generally restricted or even banned, and relatively speaking, literati, poets, and southerners did not like to drink high-grade distilled alcohol.

Li Bai's Hundred Poems on Wine, that bucket of wine is low-alcohol wine, no normal person can drink a bucket of distilled wine, just now Wang Yan made two bowls, which is also low-alcohol wine.

At this time, Wang Yan got on the horse again, took the whip from the personal guard, whipped the horse, and together with dozens of riders behind him, left the long pavilion and galloped towards the brigade.

(End of this chapter)