Chapter 345: Prepare the army for war, everything is ready
The news was transmitted through the Jinyiwei route. When Li Wanchang's 170,000-strong army failed in Jiangbei, the Jinyiwei immediately sent the news of Li Wanchang's defeat back to Songjiang, but two horses died on the way.
"Yang He's troops were divided into two groups. One was led by him personally, and the other was led by troops from Zhao'an, Shaanxi. Wang Ziyong was the commander-in-chief and went to Hezhou. Yang He restrained Li Wanchang's main force in Chuzhou, but Wang Ziyong occupied Hezhou at night. Both sides were in Jiangbei. A battle broke out in Wujiang Town, and Li Wanchang's men were severely defeated, killing a deputy commander and two guerrillas;"
"Wang Ziyong's unit was dubbed the 'Qin Army' by Yang He. The manpower formed by this group of refugees is really powerful."
In the governor's office, detailed military reports for three consecutive days arrived as scheduled, and the news delivered by train was indeed faster than war horses.
The round table meeting was a bit lively, and everyone wanted to see how the Nanjing court would end.
Chen Cao said nothing and listened to the people below analyzing the current situation.
"I thought that Yang He would definitely take advantage of the situation to attack Luzhou Prefecture. After occupying it, he could threaten Anqing to the southwest, and advance to the east to gain peace. This season is the flood season of the Yangtze River. If we go down by boat, it only takes one day to reach Dasheng Pass. .”
"Li Wanchang still has more than 80,000 troops stationed at Xijiangkou in Liuhe. I heard that the Nanjing court issued a death order, and I think they will transfer Zhang Gaoping's troops from Yangzhou."
The discussion below was very lively. Huang Chunyao looked at Chen Cao who was silent and said, "Your Majesty, are you worried about the situation in Yangzhou?"
After Huang Chunyao spoke, the originally lively round table meeting quickly quieted down, and all eyes were fixed on Chen Cao.
Chen Cao took his eyes away from the military information document in front of him, looked around for a week, and then said: "Hundreds of thousands of Northern Army troops are stationed in Yangzhou, Zhang Gaoping is stationed in Jiangdu, and there are also 300,000 people. Nanjing is naturally dangerous, if Zhang Gaoping gives up Yangzhou returning to Jiangbei is a recipe for death."
Chen Cao breathed a sigh of relief: "Wang Ziyong's troops are composed of people from the west after all. After the flood season on the Yangtze River began, the sand boat was not stable at all. If we take the boat directly to Nanjing, hehe..."
Although the Yellow River flows through the dry land of Shaanxi, not everyone is a fisherman on the Yellow River. Most of Wang Ziyong's subordinates are men from the plateau in northern Shaanxi. How to take a boat?
"So, as long as Li Wanchang is not stupid and holds the Dangtu Waterway, there is no need to worry about the Yangtze River." Chen Cao pointed to the map behind him: "Yang He's specific information about Jin Yiwei has just been delivered, but judging from his arrangement, it should be To respond to the Northern Army in Yangzhou, if they arrive in Nanjing any way, the imperial court will definitely choose to shrink the defense line, so the rest of the way can be easily connected."
"Your Majesty, so the imperial court is facing a dead end?"
As soon as Tang Yannian said this, Chen Cao shook his head: "Even if we fall north of the Yangtze River, as long as we hold on to the Yangtze River, Yang He will have no chance of crossing the river. Dasheng Pass and Xijiangkou are the key."
Xu Fuyuan interjected: "Li Wanchang's troops are now in disarray. The students think that they cannot hold the Xijiang estuary and may cross the river and rush to Dasheng Pass in the next few days."
"I heard that Qin Liangyu took away many Nanjing elites before the fall of Nanjing, and now they have joined the Yangzhou Northern Army."
Chen Cao stood up and adjusted his robes: "The Dingwu Army suffered heavy losses in the First World War in Korea. We must immediately replenish troops in Songjiang. The situation in Nanjing is now imminent. I believe that people from the imperial court will definitely come in the next few days. Therefore, all the troops went back to practice hard and wait for orders."
Everyone is gearing up, destroying the Koreans is not enough, but the current situation is that everyone here will become Chen Cao's hero after the founding of the country.
.
Um...
Chen Cao used all his strength to grasp the edges of Shen Zhuangling's hip bones, and slowly backed away from her, and sat on the chair behind him slippery.
Shen Zhuangling turned around and cleaned him up. Chen Cao touched her hair: "Bo Lin, are you obedient?"
After finishing cleaning up Chen Cao, he looked up and said, "Well, obedient, he can already play with his brothers."
"How is the situation at the company?"
"Portugal and Spain are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and the flintlock guns they bought from us were sold to the Northern Dynasties."
Chen Cao smiled. Now he found that Shen Zhuangling paid attention to her moral character when doing business: "In front of rifles, flintlock rifles are outdated."
"I know this, but now the north and the south are fighting, and what they are fighting for is strength. If the northern army has flintlock guns, isn't that suppressing the southern army?"
Chen Cao tapped the bridge of her nose: "Don't worry, the flintlock guns provided by Nanjing are no less than those sold to the north;
Zheng Zhilong has now surrendered. You can use his fleet with confidence. In addition, in the name of our foreign trade company, we will send more ordnance supplies to the old port and store them all there. "
Shen Zhuangling was curious: "Does the prince have plans in the South China Sea?"
Chen Cao squinted at her: "It's not about fighting, but the South China Sea was my Chinese territory in the Western Han Dynasty. Now that the Europeans have come to us, after I eliminate the Jiannu slaves, my main goal is to occupy that area and beat the dogs. You have to keep the purpose a secret from me and don’t let the news leak out.”
"Well, I understand, Your Majesty, I want to do it again..."
"ah..."
.
"melt?"
Chen Cao stared at Bi Maokang, then pointed at the pile of black rotten iron pieces that were melted together: "Old Bi, you are not a newcomer anymore. Don't bother me with this problem. Everything is busy now. If it was made in the arsenal, If a minigun melts after firing three hundred rounds, what else do you produce?
To use my money to experiment, I have to get enough returns. "
Faced with Chen Cao's questioning, Bi Maokang did not panic at all, and pointed to the pile of scrap iron: "It's not the official's fault. It's just that the quality of the iron ore shipped from Shanxi is not good. If it comes from outside the hands, the price will be higher." After going up, the molten steel production during this period was too low and the quality was poor;
If it hadn't been for the prince's urging for weapons, we wouldn't have been able to do it here. "
"Hey, do you still blame me for your feelings?"
Chen Cao had a look of surprise on his face, and then he smiled helplessly: "The control over the North Korea has reached a crazy level. North Korea's iron ore will not be delivered until at least the end of the year. At this stage, our iron ore trading can only be done with Those made by foreigners are not cheap, but they can last for a while."
Bi Maokang handed over his hand: "Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty. All the current machine guns have been sent to Oman. Except for those few reserves in Liangfan, we have not made a lot of efforts to build them."
"What about improvements to rifles?"
Song Yingxing came up, pointed at the drawing and said: "My teacher and I studied the drawing given by the prince carefully for a long time, and then we jointly tested it with the students of the Military Academy;"
There was only one semi-finished product on the assembly table, which Chen Cao had seen before.
"The magazine design is really good," Song Yingxing looked at the semi-finished product with some envy: "When it is fully loaded, it can hold six rounds. The sergeants can greatly reduce the reloading time during actual combat."
Bi Maokang held his beard and said, "It is indeed a life worth living for me to have the guidance of the prince during my lifetime."
Chen Cao was very good to Bi Maokang, so he allowed him to indulge himself in front of him.
Chen Cao nodded, and then asked: "The progress of the rifle must be fast, but the quality must be guaranteed. Although the machine gun issue is troubled by the iron ore, we can still guarantee the replacement of the troops. Do you understand?"
"Yes, please rest assured, Your Majesty."
.
Chen Cao wanted to delay, but Zhu Yousong couldn't afford it. The eunuch who delivered the order did not have the chance to get on the train from Zhenjiang to Shanghai, but used the old method to hurry up. As a result, the journey took three and a half days.
"Failed?"
Chen Cao looked at the eunuch who delivered the order in surprise: "Li Wanchang is His Majesty's confidant. How can an old man who is hiding in the residence surrender? It must be a alienation plan by the Northern Army."
"Your Majesty, please order General Song to send troops quickly. The Northern Army Yang He's troops have already passed the Xijiangkou, and Dasheng Pass is almost undefeatable."
The eunuch who passed the order did not answer Chen Cao's words because his rank was too low and his knowledge of such matters was really limited.
Chen Cao nodded: "Go back and reply to His Majesty, saying that I will go to Nanjing in person soon."
The eunuch was overjoyed and went back again and again.
Zhao Xin came up and handed over the compiled official documents: "My lord, I have seen it. Two days ago, Yang He and Li Wanchang, who retreated to the north of the Yangtze River, fought at the mouth of the Xijiang River. The two sides fought an artillery battle for a day and a night. The Qin Army of the Northern Army dug with earthwork. The embankment at the Xijiang estuary was cut off, and the water from the Yangtze River poured into the Xijiang estuary. Li Wanchang's troops were defeated and intercepted when crossing the river. Li Wanchang was temporarily missing;
Therefore, the Northern Army spread the news that Li Wanchang surrendered in order to undermine the morale of the Nanjing defenders. "
"The Nanjing garrison can't suppress the gang of soldiers. It will have to be Zhang Gaoping or Li Wanchang."
Huang Chunyao analyzed.
Chen Cao put down the official document: "Zhang Gaoping is leading the main force in Yangzhou. Once they evacuate, Nanjing will have to attack from two fronts. The Northern Army's intention will be achieved. It seems that those in the Northern Dynasties are not fools."
"Your Majesty, the best policy is to guard the Dantu Waterway." Xu Fuyuan said.
Chen Cao looked at the map behind him: "The canal waterway is nothing to be afraid of. Zhao Tianlin doesn't have the guts to enter the Yangtze River."
"What if the Union Army came down the canal?"
"Unless Zhang Gaoping really chooses to give up Yangzhou."
..
"I will never give up on Yangzhou..."
Facing the eunuch who delivered the order, Zhang Gaoping looked serious: "Go back and tell your Majesty that giving up Yangzhou means giving up Nanjing."
Lieutenant General Zhang Yuan stepped forward and looked at the eunuch and said: "Excuse me, please go back and inform the court. If the commander-in-chief abandons Yangzhou, the Northern Army's hundreds of thousands of troops will be able to reach the capital in an instant. The commander-in-chief is here and can hold back the main force of the Northern Army."
Zhang Gaoping became impatient and cursed: "Is Li Wanchang a shit-eater?"
The eunuch was so frightened that he turned pale and quickly bowed: "Gong An Guo, please calm down. Duke Chang Guo is missing now. The Northern Army has gathered at the mouth of the Xijiang River and can cross the river to attack Dasheng Pass at any time. Therefore, Your Majesty is very anxious and asks the Duke to We must return to the military capital for rescue."
