There are mainly two types of generals in the Sui Dynasty's army, one is those who can fight, and the other is those who know how to control soldiers, that is, they are proficient in the art of military training.
Needless to say, those who can fight mainly occur in times of war. There is no way to prove that you can fight without war. So generals in peacetime are mainly those who know how to train troops. As long as you have the ability to control the soldiers under your command, you can be a general.
The ability to train soldiers is either taught by a master or passed down from ancestors. It is impossible to rely on self-taught, because self-learners cannot advance even if they become talented.
Of course, there are exceptions, as long as the background is strong enough and there are people who support it.
For example, Yuan Shikai, if his father were not Li Hongzhang, would Li Hongzhang allow him to go to Tianjin Station to be responsible for training the new army?
Unfortunately, the generals under Yang Ming's current command were both good at fighting and good at training. If these people were placed in Yang Ming's hands, they would feel a headache, let alone Yang Jian.
He couldn't take care of others at all, Yu Wenshu was unable to do his job, and Wei Xuan was perfunctory, even more awesome when he came to take care of his children, and simply refused to obey the dispatch.
The only remaining one, Wei Yunqi, fell out with Yang Xian.
Such a lineup, if used well, will be invincible, but if used poorly, it will be a mess.
Lai Huer stopped fighting, but Yang Jian planned to continue because he was afraid that Lai Huer would take away all the credit, so he asked Wang Shichong, Cui Hongjun, Yu Wenhuaji, and Yu Wenzhiji to each lead an army, with a total strength of 45,000 Thousands of people attacked Xuancheng County and fought a decisive battle with Du Fuwei.
Yu Wenshu and Wei Xuan disagreed at the time, because the logistics were not guaranteed, the food in Jiangdu's treasury was running low, and the ordnance was half used by the people who came to protect the children. Now was not the time to use a large number of troops.
Yang Jian's answer at the time was: What are you afraid of? Does Luoyang dare to stop my military supplies?
Hey~~~ Do you dare to guess?
The area of Xuancheng County is twice as large as Danyang and Liyang combined. The left bank of the Yangtze River waterway is more than 200 miles long. If the logistics cannot keep up, fighting here will be very fatal.
Today, there are only three counties left in Du Fuwei's territory, Lujiang County to the west of Danyang, Tong'an County to the southwest of Danyang, and Xuancheng County to the southeast.
These three counties happened to be surrounded by Danyang, Liyang, Jinling, Wujun, and Yuhang who came to protect the children. In other words, Du Fuwei was now a turtle in the urn who came to protect the children, and his destruction would be a matter of time.
Yang Jian couldn't help but come to protect his son, so he came up with a bad idea and ordered Feng An from Lingnan to lead his army north to attack Du Fuwei with his officers and soldiers.
If everything goes well, the rebels between Jiangdu and Lingnan will be attacked from the north and the south, and the pacification of Jiangnan will be just around the corner.
When Lai Huer learned about this situation, he was completely confused.
"It's over, King Qi is really powerful, I'm convinced by him," Lai Hu'er looked up and sighed in the camp.
Fei Qingnu, who didn't know why, frowned and said, "It would be a good thing if Lingnan is willing to send troops? Why is Duke Rong lamenting?"
Lai Kai gritted his teeth and said: "This is a big mistake. The Feng family in Lingnan has been waiting and watching. Something has gone wrong with them a long time ago. Now Yang Jian has given the Feng family a legitimate excuse to send troops. As for what they will do after sending troops, then It’s out of our control.”
Lai Hu'er nodded and said: "Li Shimin is also very strapped in Lingnan. This place is not easy to manage. It is extremely difficult for him to control Lingnan West Road without causing trouble. He wants to involve Feng An, but he is also powerless. What he fears most is if Feng An moves. , there will be trouble in the Guizhou area, after all, he is the leader of Lingnan appointed by Madam Xian, and he can respond to everything in the Lingnan area."
Fei Qingnu said: "It seems that the opportunity to rebel at this time has been lost. The Feng family can't be so confused, right?"
Chief Staff Shen Yuan sighed: "This is not called confusion. Your Majesty is dissatisfied with the Feng family. This is not something that happened overnight. Shi Wanshou took over Feng An's Zuowuwei general. This can be seen. The Feng family knows that sooner or later, your Majesty will have to settle accounts with them in the future. The troops are in danger." Yes, it’s expected, but it’s such a big event, why didn’t Duke Xu and Duke Wei fail to persuade King Qi?”
"I didn't tell them at all," Lai Hu'er said, "Yu Wenshu also realized it later. Now it's too late to save him. Now, Feng Ang can use an excuse to send troops to conquer Jiangnan. He can hold back Lingnan, which has been in power for fifteen years, is going to play a big game with us."
"Father, are you asking for an order? The only one who can turn the tide now is His Royal Highness," Lai Kai said.
Lai Hu'er shook his head: "It's useless to ask for an order, why bother? Yang Jian is stupid and incompetent. Only by stirring up public sentiment can he force your majesty to allow the prince to go south. But at that time, what will happen to Jiangnan is unknown."
"Why did you let him come when you clearly don't know how to fight?" Fei Qingnu complained: "Look at the prince, he can still hand over full authority to Rong Gong during the Zhuojun battle. He knows, employs and trusts people impeccably."
Of course, Lai Hu'er would not explain so much to them, but said: "I don't know what banner the Feng family will use this time to send troops? It is already May, and His Majesty visited Jiangnan in June. Because of this incident of King Qi, I'm afraid I won't be able to make the trip if I make a mistake. What I'm most afraid of is that His Majesty is already making preparations."
Yes, Lai Huer knew Yang Guang very well.
When the capital received the news that Lai Hu'er had taken back eight counties in one go, Yang Guang had already begun preparations.
Hebei is in peace, Shandong is in a hurry, Jiangdu is progressing smoothly, and there is no problem about Yang Guang's safety on his way south. He will naturally come.
On the capital side, preparations have begun, and a hundred thousand troops will follow Yang Guang southward to Jiangdu.
As for all the expenses of the army, they are provided by the counties along the way. This is tantamount to forcing the local officials along the way and stripping the civilians.
Yang Ming, who was in Luoyang, didn't know about Lingnan yet. His focus was currently on Jingzhou.
The Xiangyang navy passed through Xiao Xian's territory in a graceful manner. Whenever they saw large ships on the way, they sank them all to avoid falling into the hands of the rebels. There was no force in the entire Yangtze River that could challenge this fleet.
"Xuanzhong is already marching towards Hanyang. After joining forces with Murong Sanzang and cooperating with the navy, we can recapture Jiangxia," Li Jiancheng said in the Luoyang East Palace.
Yang Xuanzong shook his head and said, "It's not easy to deal with. Xiao Mian's soldiers and horses have all arrived. It can only be a confrontation now, not a battle."
"Yes," Xue Shou said: "The situation in the south of the Yangtze River is unclear. Xuanzhong and the others are the last troops in Jingzhou. There must be no problem. Xiao Mian's troops are too heavy. We can only use the naval superiority to delay. Once the war starts, Our weaknesses will be exposed."
"Unable to gain control of the Yangtze River, Xiao Mian will definitely develop southward," Li Jing said: "Baling County, Changsha County, etc. in the south are all rich places, and Xiao Mian will definitely take them to supplement his power."
Jingzhou is divided into two areas: the north bank of the Yangtze River and the south bank of the Yangtze River. Both areas are rich in food. After all, it is close to the Yangtze River and has many waterways, which is very suitable for crop cultivation.
Xiao Mian didn't dare to cross the river to fight, and Yang Xuan didn't dare to pass the prize. How many people did he have? Including Murong Sanzang and Navy Master, there are more than 30,000, and Xiao Mian has 200,000.
The counties south of the Yangtze River have a very large territory. Baling County and Wuling County have Dongting Lake, and Changsha, Yuanling, Lingling, Hengshan, and Guiyang have Xiangshui, Yuanshui, Leishui, Zishui, and Fushui. There are more than ten large rivers such as , Weishui and so on, making it an absolute land of plenty.
Xiao Mian is already on an expedition in the south. Once he captures these places, he will pose a direct threat to Li Shimin on Lingnan West Road.
If Feng Ang really rebelled, Li Shimin would be caught on both sides, and the situation would not be much better.
"This situation is unavoidable for the time being," Dou Kang said: "If you want to deal with Xiao Mian, you need help from Jiangnan. It is impossible to rely only on Xuanjia. Shimin cannot leave Lingnan. Give it a try and let Qiu and Lead the troops north, station in Lingling and Guiyang early, and deploy defense lines."
Li Jing nodded: "With Xuanzhuo involved on the north bank, Xiao Mian must not dare to divide his troops on a large scale. Then the troops for the southern expedition must be limited. The pressure on Pingcheng County Duke to go north will be less. One less county will be given to the rebels. Count it as one county. Once they are recruited aggressively by Thief Xiao, we will be even more unstoppable."
"Would you like to say hello to the Feng family?" Li Jiancheng asked.
Li Jing was stunned and said quickly: "Absolutely not. It is lucky for us if they don't move. General Feng An was deposed and Lingnan East Road still refuses to implement the imperial policy. Your Majesty is very dissatisfied. Now Feng An Home is just a pile of dry firewood that can be lit at the drop of a hat.”
Yang Yichen said: "Then who should we send to deliver this letter? This person must be reliable, and as soon as the people see it, they will know that it is the prince's intention."
"Xu Shiji is the most suitable," Li Jing looked at the other party and said.
Xu Shiji stood up and said, "I would like to go to Lingnan."
His trip south this time was very dangerous because he had to cross the area controlled by Xiao Xian before he could reach Guangxi.
Yang Ming nodded: "How many people are needed?"
"Twenty people are enough," Xu Shiji said.
"Okay!" Yang Ming said solemnly: "You set off south as soon as possible. Make sure Qiu He goes north as soon as possible to compress Xiao Xian's expansion."
"Yes!" Xu Shiji accepted the order seriously.
Their deployment was based on the condition that Lingnan was fine. No one here knew that something was about to happen to Lingnan.
Feng Ang was originally a very cautious person and did not want to be an enemy of the imperial court, but now that the entire Jiangnan region was rebelling against him, he sensed a glimmer of opportunity.
After all, the south had only surrendered to the Sui Dynasty for twenty-five years, and it was entirely possible for it to split off again.
Coupled with the conflict between various forces within the clan, Feng An had been waiting and watching. Once Yang Xian's order came, it was equivalent to removing the last bit of psychological burden from Feng An.
I am sending troops to quell the rebellion, but I am not rebelling.
If his eldest brother Feng Xuan takes the lead, not many people in Lingnan will be obedient, but if it is Feng An, it is completely different.
Because he is the legal heir appointed by the Holy Mother of Lingnan, his words represent Madam Xian and are almost equivalent to the imperial edict in Lingnan.
Yang Guang chose to alienate Feng An when he least should have, and finally completely detonated the explosive depot in Lingnan.
On May 15th, Feng An sent troops in the name of annihilating the rebels. One hundred thousand Lingnan descendants joined the battlefield.
(End of chapter)
