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  Chapter 193 191 [Landscape-shaped victory]

   Zhu Xieyuan also went to survey the terrain in person when he exterminated the chieftains in Guizhou.

  What is marked on the map and what the spies say is not as real as seeing it with your own eyes. Only when you have actually been to that place can you have a clear understanding of the terrain of the war.

  Of course, it is too dangerous to go to the territory of the rebels, so Zhu Xieyuan pretended to be training soldiers, and even his aide Wang Tingshi did not know that he had left Nanchang.

   This guy pretended to be an old man going to Guangdong to visit relatives, boarded a merchant ship transporting porcelain, and observed the topography on both sides of the strait along the way.

"My lord, there is Jinshui, leading to Shanggao County and Wanzai County," the guide was recommended by Chen Yuding, the inspector censor, who is familiar with Jiangxi's geography. Get off the boat in Zai County, and then cross the mountains and ridges to take Yichun. Yichun is the territory of the sweeping king..."

  Zhu Xieyuan interrupted: "Isn't Yichun the territory of the thief Zhao?"

The guide corrected and said: "No, Yichun, Pingxiang, and Yongxin counties are all in the territory of King Sweeping the Dirt. If the Zhao bandits cannot be wiped out quickly, the four counties of Fengcheng, Qingjiang, Fenyi, and Xinyu can be taken back first, so that the Zhao bandits Lost a lot of business taxes and iron ore."

  Zhu Xieyuan nodded in approval, and at the same time he paid more attention to the navy in his heart, and he had to march along the river in Jiangxi.

  At that time, Chen Youliang occupied the whole territory of Jiangxi, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to eat Chen Youliang, and he had to win the water battle at Poyang Lake.

  Zhu Xieyuan pointed to the east bank and asked: "I see there is another river within the river bank. What kind of river is that?"

The guide replied: "That is the old road of Fuhe River. Starting from Nanchang along the old road of Fuhe River, you can go straight to the rear of Fengcheng County in the southwest. You can send a surprise soldier to go day and night and hide in the mountains in the southeast of Fengcheng County as an ambush. From Nanchang to the southeast along the old course of the Fuhe River, you can enter the current Fuhe River, and then turn into a tributary after reaching Fuzhou. You can send troops to cross the mountains and take Yongfeng County and Jishui County straight to attack the base lairs of the rebels."

   Suddenly, a merchant ship passes by a bustling estuary town.

  Zhu Xieyuan asked: "What town is this?"

The guide replied: "Xigang Town, this small river is a tributary of the old course of Fuhe River. Don't look at it as a small river, but when there is a flood, this is the only river channel connecting the Ganjiang River and Fuhe River in the south of Nanchang, so it is at the mouth of the river. There are several flood gates specially set up."

  Turn another ten miles and you will arrive at Fengcheng County.

  The merchant ship did not dock, and arrived at Zhangshu Town, where it finally stopped to supply drinking water and food.

  Zhu Xieyuan did not dare to disembark, but hid in the cabin and took out a map to digest what he saw and heard today.

  The next day, after the merchant ship set sail, Zhu Xieyuan continued to go out to observe.

   This section of the waterway is very magnificent, with mountains on both sides, and the Ganjiang River passing through the middle.

Pointing to Xingan County, the guide said: "Occupying this city, you can control the north and the south. Grandpa Yue and Han Shizhong used to train troops here. Moreover, if you send troops from Xingan County, you can bypass the riverside mountains and directly attack Xiajiang County by land. , Jishui County."

  The more Zhu Xieyuan looked at it, the more he had a headache. He couldn't figure it out with only a map. Only by observing it on the spot could he know how terrible it was.

  Jiangxi's mountains and rivers are too suitable for war, and there are too many places for military strategists to contend for.

   If you want to conquer the rebels, Linjiang Fucheng must be defeated, but it is very difficult to attack by force.

  Even if Linjiang Mansion is taken down, Zhao Thief can still guard Xingan County.

  Even if Xingan County is captured, Zhao Thief can still guard Jiajiang County, Jishui County, and Ji'an Fucheng, all of which are stuck in the mountains and rivers.

   Moreover, due to the mountains all over the place, the marching route of officers and soldiers is very single. Even if you can send surprise soldiers to go around, you can only send a small group of surprise soldiers, because you have to go over mountains and mountains to go around.

  The officers and soldiers have a single marching route, which means that the Zhao thieves are very easy to defend.

  Zhao thieves can completely avoid water battles, hide the navy, guard the city, and wait for work at ease. When the officers and soldiers were exhausted, the waterways advanced side by side, killing the officers and soldiers and fleeing in embarrassment.

  Zhu Xieyuan thought to himself: You can't fight city by city, you must lure the rebels out to fight a decisive battle. Otherwise, if we fight an offensive and defensive war with the rebels, we will not be able to wipe out the rebels after ten years.

  The cities along the river in Jiangxi are too outrageous. Those small county towns are all built beyond specifications.

  The main reason is that there are frequent floods, which can easily damage the county. Every time the county seat is destroyed, funds are raised to repair it, and then it is built more magnificent and stronger. The defensiveness of the county seat here far exceeds that of most state cities in other provinces!

   Can't fight, really can't fight offensive and defensive battles.

  Going south all the way, enter the cabin when it lands, and get out of the cabin when it leaves the shore. Zhu Xieyuan arrived in Wan'an County a few days later.

   Seeing the scale of Wan'an County and the towering mountains on both sides of the river ahead, Zhu Xieyuan only felt his scalp go numb.

  According to the guide, the guest soldiers from Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian can only go north to suppress the thieves from here, otherwise they will have to make a big circle and cannot form a north-south pincer situation.

  The rebels don't need to do anything else, they only need a few chains to Hengjiang, and they can blind the soldiers of Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian.

  Even if the chains are removed, Wan'an County will still be blocked there.

  The city wall of this county is more than 7 meters high. To the west is the Ganjiang River, to the east are mountains, and to the south are mountains.

  If officers and soldiers attack from the south, they must first capture the mountains in the south of the city, or go around to the north of the city to attack the city (very dangerous). It seems that the city wall is not as good as Nanchang City, but with the victory of the mountains and rivers, the difficulty of conquering this city is no different from that of Nanchang City.

  After Wan'an County, it is the territory of the government.

  Zhu Xieyuan met Zou Weilian, the governor of Fujian in Ganzhou. The two exchanged pleasantries for a while, and then began to discuss the suppression of bandits.

Zou Weilian sighed and said: "Ah, after stationing troops in Ganzhou last year, due to the corruption of military discipline, lack of food and grass, and shortage of warships, the army has been rectified. I wanted to attack Ji'an this spring, but I sent spies many times. There are heavy guards there. A few days ago, Zhao Yaonian, the number one general of the rebels, led troops to guard Wan'an County himself."

   "Confused, why didn't you surprise Wan'an last year?" Zhu Xieyuan asked.

Zou Weilian said: "The Fujian guest soldiers entered Jiangxi, and the military discipline is very corrupt. I must clean up the army. Moreover, although the Zhao bandits did not occupy Wan'an last year, Wan'an was occupied by two bandits surnamed Fang. Only thousands of people are needed to garrison this time. The city will be difficult to attack. If I sent troops to occupy Wan'an at that time, the bandits of Zhao would definitely attack. He has the advantage of a navy, so he doesn't need to take back Wan'an at all, but can send troops to take Ganzhou directly. Under the lack of preparation, I really dare not send troops lightly .”

  Zhu Xieyuan said: "Last winter, the bandits Zhao fought in Fengcheng County, and fought with Guangxin soldiers and Fuzhou soldiers in Jishui. How can they have the time to go south?"

"But it's so far away, I don't know," Zou Weilian said, "The spies I sent to Ji'an didn't find Zhao thief making a big move. There is only one possibility. Zhao thief didn't use his full strength last winter. Zhao thief If you use all your strength, you will order to gather farmers and soldiers. The supervisor knows that under the rule of Zhao Bandit, every household must send out farmers and soldiers to practice, and once they are all recruited to fight, the number of troops may exceed 20,000!"

  Zhu Xieyuan was silent. He knew the news and had no way to deal with it.

  Zhao thief distributed the land to Xiaomin. In order to keep the land, Xiaomin sent people from every family to train and form an army. Serving the people in leisure time and serving as soldiers in wartime, fighting for their own land, their morale far surpassed that of officers and soldiers. It is said that Yang Jiamo was captured by a group of farmers and soldiers.

  Zhu Xieyuan changed the topic and asked: "Has the civil unrest in Guangdong and Guangxi not subsided?"

   "How can it be so fast," Zou Weilian said, "Shen Fushuai (Shen Youlong) wrote a letter a few days ago, saying that most of the rioters in Guangdong have been wiped out, and they will go to Guangxi to suppress bandits next."

   "It seems that we can only find a way from Hunan." Zhu Xieyuan said.

  Now Huguang is divided into two theaters.

  The area north of the Yangtze River in Huguang, referred to as Hubei, is under the jurisdiction of Lu Xiangsheng, Prime Minister of the five northern provinces.

  The area south of the Yangtze River in Huguang, referred to as Hunan, is under the jurisdiction of Zhu Xieyuan, governor of the five southern provinces.

  Zou Weilian said: "Hunan must send troops, and they can go straight to Zhao's lair. At that time, the north, south and west will attack from three sides, and the Zhao bandits will definitely be at a loss."

Zhu Xieyuan said: "The three counties of Yichun, Pingxiang, and Yongxin have been stolen by the rebel Sweeper King. I will order all the prefectures and counties in Hunan to recruit troops to form an army. First sweep the land king, and it is best to force him to surrender. Only when Hunan is established After the army, you can go to war, and it is impossible to use troops within this year. Once you use troops, you will definitely lose."

  Zhu Xieyuan was really not in a hurry to suppress the bandits. He fought against the chieftains of Sichuan and Guizhou during the reign of Tianqi.

  He believes that the administration of officials should be rectified first, the tax should be lightened, the army should be trained, and then the rebels should be dealt a fatal blow.

  Zou Weilian cried bitterly: "I'm afraid the Fujian soldiers will be in chaos before next year."

   "Why is that so?" Zhu Xieyuan asked puzzled.

  Zou Weilian said: "My whole family was taken away by the Zhao thief, and all the relatives who were close to me were taken away."

   Zhu Xieyuan was speechless immediately.

Zou Weilian said: "It is that I can ignore my mother, wife and children, but who would believe it? The Zhao thief is cunning and sent people to spread rumors that I have joined the thief. Now the soldiers in the army suspect that I have already joined the thief. Moreover, these The soldiers are from Fujian. I don’t allow them to plunder in Jiangxi, and I don’t allow them to deduct military pay. Officials must take advantage of the autumn harvest to plunder the villages."

"We will not be able to fight within this year," Zhu Xieyuan sighed. "When I first came to Jiangxi, I found that the officers and soldiers were very difficult to use. They had to train for at least a year before they could fight. Moreover, the soldiers in Hunan were not formed into an army and could not form a three-sided encirclement. There is a chance of winning. I will have to besiege Linjiang City for several months with my army."

  Zou Weilian said: "The government trains soldiers, don't the rebels not train soldiers? The longer the delay, the stronger the Zhao thief will become. His territory has been harvested year after year, and the government's jurisdiction is indescribable!"

   "Do you have someone who can calm down the confidants of the soldiers?" Zhu Xieyuan asked.

  Zou Weilian shook his head and said: "No, these Fujian generals are used to being arrogant and domineering. They were all involved in smuggling before, and they have always ignored the imperial court."

  Zhu Xieyuan was even more troubled, he wanted Zou Weilian to divide his troops.

  No matter how many Fujian soldiers are stationed in Ganzhou, the attack on Wan'an County cannot be launched. One-third can be divided to go to Fuzhou by detour. Jiangxi officers and soldiers can also send some to join forces and attack Yongfeng County from the east over the mountains.

  But the current situation, not to mention the division of the Fujian army, is afraid that if they gather together, they will cause trouble.

  Da Ming Supervisor is so difficult, very hard, only one point can be used for fighting.

  What do you do with the remaining nine points?

   To deal with Emperor Chongzhen, to deal with court battles, to deal with local civil servants, to deal with domineering generals, to deal with eunuchs in charge of the army, to deal with powerful gentry, and to rack their brains to raise money and food.

  As for rebels, it is enough to rebel wholeheartedly.

   Just when Zhu Xieyuan was heading south all the way, surveying the terrain along the river. Zhao Han, the rebel, had already dispatched troops ahead of time, not to attack the government, but to conquer the sweeping king.

  Pingxiang County must be taken. If you occupy the pass of Pingxiang County, you can block more than half of Huguang officers and soldiers, so as to ensure the safety of your rear.

  (end of this chapter)