Zhu Cixiang's Chinese army camp has now moved to the royal villa that Zuo Mengmei originally arranged for him.
This is a summer villa located on the waterside of a place called Yuhu Lake. This Yuhu Lake is very close to Gongan County and not far from the Yangtze River. It should be surrounded by lively places with dense rural areas. However, there are layers of woods near the prince's villa, which isolates the villa from the surrounding rural farmland and creates a blanket of shade.
Just from this layout, you can see that this villa has really been thoughtfully put into. After Zhu Cihong entered, although he didn't see how luxurious it was, he felt comfortable everywhere. It was indeed very good.
However, comfortable living was not the reason why Zhu Cixiang chose this place as the location of the Chinese army. The most important thing for him to station here was to facilitate his command.
Although the current battlefield situation in Huguang is gradually favorable to Zhu Cixiang, Li Zicheng's inside advantage is still there. In contrast, Zhu Cixiang's army has to be distributed on the relatively long outer front.
The previous meeting at Hudukou did not have military significance, but was a political meeting.
After the meeting, all parties met for a meeting and bargained. They granted officials where they should be granted, made wishes when they needed to be made, frightened those who needed to be frightened, and handed over hostages to those who needed to be given hostages.
After some operations, the army that was about to disperse into sand was pinched together by Zhu Cixiang. This was too difficult for He Tengjiao, but it was a piece of cake for Zhu Cixiang.
Because he still has common interests with people like Zhu Cizhao, Zuo Mengmei, Jin Shenghuan, and Zhang Yong!
Everyone is a northerner coming south with two fists in hand! Only by uniting can we find food in the south. If we don't unite...hehe, the landlord class in the south can't use their big swords, but they can poke people with their pens!
Therefore, under the control of common interests, everyone unanimously supports Zhu Cihong to go further - he must make progress! If he doesn't make progress and rely on Emperor Chongzhen, everyone will end up sooner or later!
After reuniting at Hudukou, the troops naturally had to be re-deployed and deployed along the river. From west to east, they occupy Yidu, Zhijiang, Songzi, Hudukou, Xiabailizhou, Jiangbei Bridgehead, Gong'an County, Yuhu Palace (Yuhu Villa), Shishou County, Diaobangkou, Shimenshan, Tashi, Huarong County, Dongting Junshan, Baling County, Linxiang County and other places.
If you look at the situation map, it looks like a long and winding snake formation. However, Zhu Cixi also knew not to spread his troops too thin. Therefore, most of the strongholds do not have many troops deployed, just a few hundred or thousands to set up a warning. The main force is still deployed at Hudukou and Gong'an respectively. The former faces Jiangling, and the latter is where Zhu Cihong's army gathers grain. Gong'an itself is a land of plenty and is also under the jurisdiction of the King of Chu. Part of the grain harvested last year was The police station had hundreds of thousands of stones of rice, enough to feed Zhu Cixiang's army.
In order to understand the enemy's situation in time, Zhu Cixiang also accepted the suggestion of Mrs. Qin Liangyu and ordered people to build beacon towers along the river. Once it was discovered that Li Zicheng's army was about to cross the river, he would immediately light a fire to warn.
After the arrangements were completed, Prince Zhu was determined to "vacate" with Wu Sanmei in the Yuhu Villa.
Just wait... There are fast and slow tempos in wars these days, and the two armies have been facing each other for a year and a half.
However, Zhu Cixiang didn't think he would wait that long. In a month or two at most, Li Yan and Zhu Yujian should turn over Li Zicheng's "home"!
As expected, Li Yan and Zhu Yujian's ability to fight landlords did not disappoint Zhu Cixiang. He was raised comfortably in Yuhu for less than twenty days when the beacon towers to the east started to emit smoke one by one.
"Do you know where it is?" Prince Zhu was wearing a thin silk robe and holding a fan in his hand, standing in front of a map table made up of several tables. He Tengjiao, Yan Yingyuan, Du Yinxi, and old lady Qin Liangyu were all invited over to look at the map with Prince Zhu.
"It's either Shishou or Baling." Qin Liangyu already had the answer, so he was the first to speak, "There is Shishou Mountain outside Shishou County, which can guard the Yangtze River waterway. As for Baling, it is connected to Dongting, Xiangjiang and A dangerous place on the Yangtze River. If the bandits want to make a big move, they must go to Baling."
"A big fight?" Zhu Cixiang asked, "What is a big fight?"
"Enter Hunan, force Wuchang, enter Jiangxi... If it had been a few years earlier, Li Zicheng would have done this." Qin Liangyu said, "But now that he has become the emperor, he is increasingly unable to let go. So most likely We are attacking Shishou!"
Not to mention, the old lady had many dealings with thieves, so if Li Zicheng made a move, she would be inseparable.
"What was his purpose in taking the stone head?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
Qin Liangyu said: "Of course it is to mobilize the main force of our army to go to Shishou...Shishou is also an important place, close to the public security, and threatening our retreat. How can the prince sit back and ignore it?" "
"A decisive battle at Shishou Mountain...are you sure?" Zhu Cixiang glanced at Yan Yingyuan, who now took over the positions of Li Yan and Wu Sanfu and became Zhu Cixiang's senior adviser.
Yan Yingyuan said: "If we can fight in Shishou Mountain, we have a great chance of winning."
Zhu Cixiang looked at Qin Liangyu again. The old lady smiled and shook her head: "If you have a good chance of winning, you won't win much... How could Li Zicheng bet big if he knew he was going to lose?"
"That's right!" Zhu Cixiang nodded repeatedly, "Li Zicheng's purpose must be to lure me into a trap, and then use Shishou Mountain to contain the main force of our army, and then attack elsewhere."
He Tengjiao said: "Where else is he...returning to Xiangyang? His hometown in Xiangyang is about to be raided by Commander Li. It seems that he can't calm down anymore!"
Du Yinxi said: "Hanyang Mansion is the critical place. Once Hanyang is lost, our naval brigade will be able to enter the Han River and the Jing River."
Zhu Cixiang looked at the old lady again, while Qin Liangyu smiled and said nothing.
"Captain Qin, what do you think?"
Qin Liangyu said: "Why do Qiansui Master have to guess blindly?"
"Don't guess?" Zhu Cixiang thought for a moment, "What should we do?"
Qin Liangyu said: "Since the advantage lies with me, there is no need to figure out what Li Zicheng wants to do... His Highness the Crown Prince can take the initiative and attack Jiangling!"
"Attack Jiangling?"
"Capture Jiangling," Qin Liangyu said, "the overall situation will be saved! Li Zicheng cannot hold Hanyang and Xiangyang, and it is impossible to even go west to Sichuan. At that time, he will have to retreat to Shaanxi and Henan to fight with the Donglu! "
Zhu Cixiang looked at Yan Yingyuan again.
Yan Yingyuan shook his head, "The Yangtze River channel has not yet been opened, and the heavy artillery cannot be pulled over. Only twenty-four three-pound cannons can be used. Jiangling City is strong, so I am afraid it will be difficult to attack."
Qin Liangyu smiled: "Without such three-stick cannons, our Ming army can't fight?"
Ah, how can we fight without a three-pounder? Zhu Cixiang thought to himself: Nowadays, fighting is just about fighting with cannons!
He Tengjiao was twirling his beard at the side: "Your Highness, what the Governor of Qin said was very good. When the Japanese attacked Jiangling, they didn't even have a three-pounder. Didn't they almost succeed?"
So it’s almost!
Zhu Cixiang had no hope for He Tengjiao's military skills, so he had better listen to what the old lady said.
Qin Liangyu smiled and said: "Master Qiansui, I don't know how to use the cannon, but I have been leading soldiers all my life. I can tell at a glance what kind of soldiers can and cannot fight.
In my opinion, the 100,000 troops under the Crown Prince are the most powerful force that our Ming Dynasty has not seen in decades! "
That’s right!
How could the Ming Dynasty provide adequate military pay to the army in the past decades? Now whether it is Zhu Cihong's new army to overcome difficulties, or the Xiangyong of He Tengjiao and Chang Yanling, or the "Dian Army" of Zuo Mengmei and Zhang Yong, or Jin Shenghuan's troops who are about to enter Guangxi, they can now all have full quotas. Get paid.
This alone has not happened in decades!
Zhu Cixiang nodded: "What the old lady said is still true!" He thought for a while, "Let's go north to attack Jiangling! Li Zicheng wants to mobilize me, and I also want to mobilize Li Zicheng... It's better to see if Jiangling is more important. , the stone head is more important!"
