Chapter 145: Collision of National Powers
He Xi arrived in Cangxian County.
Ye Chen and Tie Xuan came to greet him.
When Ye Chen met He Xi, he directly apologized and said, "I have failed to live up to your expectations. Please punish me."
He Xi waved her hand and said, "It doesn't matter. I'm not here to accuse you. I'm here to solve the problem. It's not terrible to lose, but you have to know where the defeat was. Let's review it first."
Soon, He Xi and Ye Chen reviewed the battle together.
He Xi crossed his arms and said, "Why is it that Jin Shengyu defeated Jin Zhen and Tie Xuan was able to stop Xingyang Hou's attack? Without these two victories, the command of this battle would have been even worse."
Ye Chen felt a little ashamed and said, "It is the last general who has embarrassed you."
He Xi said: "I'm not asking this. I'm asking, why can the two of them win?"
Ye Chen was a little confused for a moment. Didn't grasp the point of He Xi's sentence.
Tie Xuan thought thoughtfully and said, "Sir, do you mean that Xingyang Marquis Zheng Yuchun has a false reputation?"
He Xi said: "The reputation is not in vain, but they have lagged behind the times. And Jin Zhen is not as good as the veteran. But do you think these two people are Fu Youde's mistake in hiring people, or Fu Youde has no one available."
Ye Chen suddenly understood what He Xi was thinking and said: "There must be no one left. We have fought against Fu Youde many times. Fu Youde is old and strong, and he is impeccable. How could such a person reveal such flaws? Unless he is It’s a last resort.”
He Xi smiled slightly and said: "Yes. This is our chance of victory. How Han Gaozu defeated Xiang Yu. This is how we defeated Fu Youde."
Ye Chen's eyes lit up, then dimmed again, and he said: "My lord, your intentions are good. However, the Han army has generals such as Han Xin, Peng Yue, etc. Although they are no match for Xiang Yu, they can stand alone, but Han Gaozu himself has the ability to general. It should not be underestimated. But we are different. Because of the training of the new army, the people below have very little qualifications, let alone ability. It is impossible to stand alone. But Fu Youde's side is full of famous generals, and there are ten names that can be counted. There are just a few of them. Isn’t it inappropriate for these unknown people to fight against these famous generals?”
He Xi said: "Isn't Zheng Yuchun a famous general?"
Ye Chen was speechless for a moment. A thought flashed through his mind. He felt that this thought seemed important. But I couldn't catch it for a while.
He Xi said: "In order to organize and train the new army, I started discussing firearms warfare with you three years ago and selecting talents who can use firearms in the army. I remember that I selected a group of people from Yingkou University and the Imperial College in Beijing. There are only more than a hundred people. A batch was formed, and the Beijing Martial Arts School was established last year. No one has graduated yet. But you also know how much energy you and I have spent on selecting suitable officers. Fu Youde is Military reforms started only after the war started last year. Do you think Fu Youde has suitable officers?"
Ye Shen was overjoyed, and then his eyes dimmed a little, and he said: "But many of our generals have never fought in any battles and have no idea what their abilities are? Under such circumstances, is it okay to place hope on them? And Zheng Yuchun, People like Tang Shengzong are certainly outdated. But not everyone among the nobles is like this. For example, Fu Youde. What if you lose?"
He Xi said calmly: "If you lose, you will lose."
Ye Chen's eyes widened and he didn't understand why He Xi said that.
He Xi smiled slightly and said: "You haven't adapted to your status yet. You are a commander-in-chief who sits on one side, not a general who leads troops to fight. For a general, what is needed is to be victorious in every battle, but for a commander-in-chief , what he needs is the implementation of the imperial strategy. Temporary success or failure doesn't mean anything. As you said, these people under our command have never fought hard battles. I don't know if it will work. Just because it works on the training ground, it doesn't mean it can work on the battlefield. But if you don't let them fight, you will never know whether they can do it. And I am here this time to fight for Your Majesty. Don't worry, at this moment, the Liaodong Army and the Eastern Expedition Army are fully mobilized. There are 300,000 people in total. , the Beijing camp has fully moved south, and has even begun to recruit cavalry from various tribes in Monan, with a total of 300,000 troops. Add the troops in your hands. The people of Hebei are already strong. It is not a problem to have a million soldiers. Defeat. How much loss, I'll give you as much as you need. Don't be afraid of losing the battle."
He Xi did not tell Ye Chen that this was all Beijing's war potential. Even if it is being squeezed, it will affect the industrial and agricultural output value. That would be true militarism. Even the time to maintain such a large army is as short as possible.
Otherwise there will be great consequences.
Moreover, once all these millions of troops are exhausted, Beijing will have no choice but to surrender.
If He Xi didn't want to die, going to America might be a way to go.
For He Xi, it will be a big gamble and a decisive battle.
By placing such a large sum of money, he was betting not only on the military outcome, but also on Nanjing's reaction speed.
Preparations for Japan's withdrawal began very early. It is currently underway and will be completed in about a month. And because of the railway, the Liaodong army was quickly dispatched to Beijing. Not to mention Jingying. It was originally a strategic mobile army, ready for action at any time.
As for the Monan cavalry, the cavalry naturally has sufficient maneuverability.
In other words, who can move He Xi's army into position within one or two months? But what happened over there in Nanjing?
The troops from Jiangbei, Henan, Shandong, and Huaiwei Guard Stations, as well as the Nanjing Jingying Division, are all in Fu Youde's hands. This is the source of nearly half a million troops in Fu Youde's hands. The soldiers from Shanxi and Shaanxi have also arrived in Shanxi. This is the source of the troops of Geng Bingwen, King of Jin, and Zhao Yong.
If we move troops to the front line, the most likely ones will be troops from the Beijing camp. It is most convenient to go north from Nanjing Jingying via the canal.
But it is also the most unlikely.
Because Zhu Yunwen could not put the entire country's troops into the hands of one person. Zhu Yunwen no longer had soldiers and horses to protect him.
Moreover, the Beijing camp has already mobilized some of them, and it is impossible to continue to mobilize them. Then we can only mobilize soldiers from the Southern Guards Station. That is to say, Sichuan, Huguang, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian and other places all have troops.
The soldiers and horses in the southwest cannot be moved. Because of the rebellion of the southwestern chieftains, it almost never stopped.
In the past, the Ming Dynasty's military system was only about three million at full strength, and there were still gaps in many establishments. He Xi mobilized millions of people and almost evacuated people from all over the country. Zhu Yunwen also gathered on the front line, with nearly a million people. If we add more troops, we will have to use up space.
This is not something Zhu Yunwen can do.
And after the victory, Nanjing also had the mentality of underestimating the enemy.
I think Fu Youde can handle it. Additional troops are unlikely.
This is also the difference between Nanjing and Beijing.
Under the auspices of He Xi, Beijing at this moment has almost entered a wartime state, with military-first politics. All resources are directed towards the military. Nanjing does not, not to mention that Nanjing's governance model is fundamentally different from Beijing's. The degree of mobilization of social forces is also different from that in Beijing.
Simply put, many gentry in Nanjing have always despised Beijing. They are also unwilling to let the nobles sit in power. Therefore, the support for frontline generals such as Fu Youde was actually within the scope of the imperial government's financial support, and it did not reach the level of selling iron.
This is what gives He Xi the confidence to defeat Fu Youde.
No matter how powerful Fu Youde is, he is still a human being. In a war between countries, the balance of national power is more important than one person.
Even if Fu Youde has Han Bai's talent. is also like this. After all, is Lian Po and Li Mu really inferior to Bai Qi and Wang Jian in terms of military skills? Not really. It can only be said that the national strength of Zhao State is much worse than that of Qin State.
He Xi didn't expect Ye Chen's ability to surpass Fu Youde.
He just wanted Ye Chen to be less inferior than Fu Youde. The previous battle also proved this. Ye Chen may not be as good as Fu Youde, but he is not helpless in front of Fu Youde.
This is enough.
He Xi can just use manpower, material resources, financial resources, and firepower to make up for the rest.
The gap in national power is enough to crush Fu Youde.
Ye Chen didn't understand He Xi's intention, but after hearing what He Xi said, he couldn't help but burst into tears and said, "Please rest assured, Sir, you treat me as a nobleman of the country, and I will repay you as a nobleman of the country."
Some people died, but not completely...
