Chapter 140 The War in Guanzhong
Qu Neng thought about it carefully and had to admit that he was inferior to this old man in many things. Qu Neng was able to fight in the northwest, mostly by force and hard fighting. On the one hand, the popularity of firearms and the emergence of new firearms tactics have made it impossible to play tricks on the battlefield.
On the other hand, Qu Neng's ability is actually limited.
Qu Neng could only coordinate all parties and complete the task step by step under the collective opinions of his staff. Although he won, he was essentially ingenious and did not have the aura of Xu Da, Fu Youde, and even Geng Bingwen who fought in battles.
Take Geng Bingwen, who creatively focused on defending the city. Of course, everyone knows that to defend the city, you must defend the country. But the degree of emphasis is never the same.
There were too many losses, so they hunkered down in the city.
And Geng Bingwen almost placed the battlefield outside the city, turning the original siege into a continuous field attack and defense. Strongholds were arranged one by one. These strongholds had intensive firepower. The North Army attacked with large-scale troops, and most of them died. Qu Neng could only send a small number of troops to grind it out bit by bit. Therefore, after months of fierce fighting, it was not only that Qu Neng had no intention, but that the battlefield situation could only be like this.
Moreover, Geng Bingwen even personally led several raids targeting Qu Neng's weaknesses, which scared Qu Neng into a cold sweat. It takes a while to adjust before you can continue your attack.
Geng Bingwen's overall strategy was no different from when he fought against Zhang Shicheng's 100,000 troops in Changxing City. It's defense plus counterattack. It's nothing more than a change in tactics.
This change made Qu Neng's staff and even the staff of the General Staff Headquarters in Beijing appalled. Of course, the terrain near Yan'an has thousands of ravines, which is conducive to defense.
But let’s also talk about one thing, that is, will the city wall be important in the future?
As long as great efforts are not made to build the city wall to the level of Nanjing and Beijing, it is unlikely to be of any use in the face of an artillery offensive. And it would have cost a lot of money to build the city wall to the level of Nanjing and Beijing.
Is it necessary?
Qu Neng understood Geng Bingwen's talent. But it’s also pity Geng Bingwen’s talent. Because he believed that the fate of the Changxing Houfu in the future would definitely not be as good as his. One of his princes is already in sight. As for his son's achievements at sea, the Duke would not dare to think about it. But an earl or a marquis is possible. When the time comes, a family with two nobles will not be much more respectable than Geng Bingwen and the Geng family.
A single thought can make the difference between clouds and mud.
He was still a guest at the beginning. The Geng family may come to ask for help in the future.
-------
In the spring of the third year of Longwu. Yan'an fell and the war reached Guanzhong. This incident shocked the world.
There was an immediate chain reaction. That is the fall of Xiaoguan.
Part of the Northern Army moved south from Xiaoguan, but was blocked by the Southern Army in the Jinghe River Valley. But everyone can see that it is already a matter of time before Guanzhong falls.
And the Guanzhong beacon fire is just the beginning.
Almost at the same time.
A fleet of ships appeared at the mouth of the Yangtze River.
This fleet is none other than Fang Chengfeng, who has been silent for a long time.
After Fang Chengfeng conquered Taiwan, he devoted himself to trade between the north and the south. Transfer goods from Beijing to Nanyang, Fujian and other places through Penghu. After all, for Beijing, the commodity market is more important than one or two war victories on the battlefield.
Because without a huge consumer market, Beijing’s industrial upgrading and expansion would be impossible. And if these things cannot be accomplished, it will be impossible for Beijing to support its military spending.
There would be no current military power in Beijing.
Therefore, when Fang Chengfeng is in Taiwan, it is better to be still than to move. Therefore, they could only repulse the provocation of the Fujian Navy and did nothing else.
But things are different now.
The war has entered the next stage.
He Xi is ready to wrap things up.
Naturally, we have to use this chess piece.
As soon as Fang Chengfeng appeared at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the entire south of the Yangtze River was shocked. The civil unrest that had been spreading for several months and had been almost quelled began to surge again in an instant.
There are also countless new slogans, slandering Zhu Yunwen's legitimacy and claiming to support Beijing. These rebels all rose up one after another.
After all, what Ding Xian did to the scholar-bureaucrats had already caused a break between the two parties.
It is true that the so-called scholar-bureaucrats in the south cannot be compared with the aristocratic families of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The aristocratic families in the Southern and Northern Dynasties really had armies, and many people in the family were really good at fighting and producing generals.
But they still have power locally.
If you are cornered, why don't you resist? The power of the scholar-bureaucrats is also very impressive. Even though the scholar-officials in Jiangnan were soft in the Ming Dynasty, after the Qing Dynasty entered Jiangnan and issued an order to shave their heads, countless rebels rose up one after another, which led to the Three Massacres in Jiading.
The resistance was unsuccessful, but it was not that they did not dare to resist.
And now Jiangnan's taxi style is not too soft. After all, the troubled times have only passed for more than 20 years. Maybe an old man from a certain family who has been absent for many years was a famous figure on the battlefield back then.
After finding out the genealogy of the scholar-bureaucrats, we know that these people's ancestors were not very honest during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. What kind of organizations are militia groups, gourd soldiers, etc.? Between the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, not only the Yuan and Ming armies, but also various princes and even countless local forces were reshuffled, leaving no place without chaos.
In this case, these people will not be polite to Nanjing if they are pressed.
Not to mention, they saw hope of success.
These matters naturally involved Ji Gang and Gu Wangsun's methods. However, Ji Gang never thought about what big things these people could achieve. They were just using them as cannon fodder to attract the attention of the Southern Army.
It doesn't matter how many of them died.
Zhu Yunwen was even more shocked. It was almost unbelievable that the Northern Army Navy would appear in the Yangtze River. Immediately ordered the withdrawal of the Nanjing camp from Jiangnan. Let the Yangtze River Navy go out to meet the enemy.
In fact, someone in the Nanjing court had mentioned this possibility a long time ago.
But over time. Nothing like this happened. Everyone in the Nanjing court gave up. I thought the Northern Army would not dare. This is also the essence of the Nanjing court.
The Nanjing court, or most ancient courts, was essentially a maintenance court. Any reform is beyond the limits of their capabilities. Naturally, there will be backlash, and Confucian bureaucrats start from the ideological point of view and stick to the old ways.
It is difficult for them to adapt to the fast-paced battle.
It's just that the Yangtze River Navy is no match for Fang Chengfeng.
This was known very early on.
A battle between the Yangtze River Navy and the Yangtze River Estuary and the Northern Army Navy lasted for two days. But in the end, the Yangtze River Navy was completely empty. The Yangtze River Navy is actually not weak.
The Yangtze River Navy was the main force behind Zhu Yuanzhang's defeat of Chen Youliang's Navy. For a wooden boat, more than thirty years is not too long. If in other eras in history, the navy of thirty years ago would still be usable thirty years later.
But now, it is already a product of two eras.
No, it should be a product of three eras.
The Yangtze River Navy should be a product of the pre-Hongwu era. Water War has been updated several versions.
It's not that Zhu Yunwen didn't know this. But what can he do?
If the Northern Army's navy is allowed to run rampant on the Yangtze River, the problem will be too serious.
Don't mention the political impact this will bring. After all, Nanjing is on the Yangtze River. If the Northern Army navy runs rampant on the Yangtze River, it means that Nanjing is unsafe. This will bring a huge blow to Zhu Yunwen's prestige.
Just say a little and you will know the harm.
Most of the supplies in the north were transported to the front line by water transport. The main water transportation is the Grand Canal and the Han River. These rivers all pass through the Yangtze River.
Once the Northern Army navy appears in the Yangtze River, the transportation of these materials will be paralyzed.
The frontline is fighting, and there have been problems with frontline supplies due to various reasons. Now that supplies are no longer available, the already unfavorable situation on the front lines will cause big problems.
This is also the reason why He Xi asked Fang Chengfeng to appear here.
Don't even think about letting the navy capture Nanjing City. Northern Army
Although the navy is powerful. But the Nanjing Jingying camp is also elite, not to mention the Nanjing city defense system established by Zhu Yuanzhang, which has countless heavy artillery.
The Navy did not have many infantry to begin with, and it was impossible to capture Nanjing City.
After all, Nanjing Jingying was not the Qing army in the late Qing Dynasty. They really dared to fight hard.
