Chapter 142 Fu Youde’s Passivity
When the people on the north side of the Yellow River know about the lives of the people on the south side of the Yellow River, will they still want to let the Southern Army come? Not to mention, the Beijing court naturally increased its propaganda on this matter. People in the north do not need to know the complex economic movements involved.
Their pitch is straightforward. That's how the south calls over, and they will exchange everything for you with new banknotes like waste paper.
Naturally the people were unhappy.
In addition, the development of industry in recent years has actually been beneficial to all regions under Beijing's jurisdiction. Especially this area in northern Shandong. Because Shandong was originally an important land for cotton cultivation. With the development of Beijing's textile industry, cotton prices have skyrocketed, and even Indian cotton has come to Beijing. It has also caused a war with Shandong cotton.
Therefore, without He Xi's promotion, ordinary people planted cotton spontaneously. He even battled wits with local officials.
Otherwise, He Xi also wants to ensure Beijing’s food red line. After all, even if food can be imported from overseas, in He Xi's view, the Beijing court's food reserves are still very dangerous. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have to invest a lot of money every year to maintain food prices.
If cotton is grown everywhere, the pressure to maintain food prices will increase.
Finally, Hebei originally did not plant much in prefectures and counties. It was not because they were unwilling, but because the court had strict control. Shandong, on the other hand, has loosened its control. After all, we are on the front line, and people's hearts and minds are more important than food. We can't let the local people vote south just because of this incident.
This is not worth the gain.
In a word, Hebei belongs to the hinterland. It has no united front value. Shandong belongs to the front line and has united front value. Now it has an effect.
Their cotton is sold to factories in Beijing. Once the Southern Army came over, they didn't think that the Southern Army would buy cotton at Beijing's price. In order to ensure their own cotton, countless Shandong men spontaneously purchased firearms. Build your own wall. Follow the court's orders.
Although doing so may have consequences. However, He Xi still relaxed his control over firecrackers and other ordnance.
After all, He Xi has different requirements for the people.
He Xi wants the people of the Ming Dynasty to participate in the Age of Discovery and take root in any corner of the earth. There must be a nurturing process. The original Ming Dynasty court only needed some people who were law-abiding and willing to pay for the court. Submissive people who dare not resist even when bullied.
And these obedient people cannot afford what He Xi wants.
Of course, this is also to find markets and effects for Beijing's developed arms industry. After all, the more weapons produced, the lower the cost of weapons for the imperial court. All military factories belonged to the imperial court. The money earned is essentially military expenditure.
This situation has also caused Fu Youde's current passivity.
Fu Youde, who holds the most elite army of the Southern Army, seems to have no movement in Jinan Mansion.
From last year until now, Fu Youde has not collected even half of the supplies he requested from the rear. In fact, if it is just that there is no money, Fu Youde will not be unable to attack. As long as the supplies behind can keep up.
But he knew a piece of desperate news.
Zide, who was in charge of logistics, wrote to him personally to tell him. He didn't know when the supplies would be delivered, so he asked Fu Youde to think about the country and tide over the difficulties.
Fu Youde read this letter and wanted to kill someone at that time.
For the first time, he felt why the number one hero in the early Han Dynasty was Xiao He. It makes so much sense. How we can survive this difficult time is simply a fantasy. If he can do it, can the soldiers below do it? Even if the soldiers below can do it, can gunpowder do it?
There is no gunpowder, or there is no gunpowder in the middle of the fight. Let me go to fight with fire sticks?
At that time, people in the north did not understand the country's difficulties.
But what can Fu Youde do?
Can he conjure up logistical supplies by killing people? The military supplies needed to support the Northern Expedition of more than 100,000 people were as huge as mountains and oceans. Even if all Fu Youde's property was thrown in, he wouldn't be able to hold on.
As a result, the planned preemptive attack was shelved.
Fu Youde essentially still wants to complete the original
plan. He wanted to give the rear some things and ask them to send supplies. But delaying it for a while had no effect, although Xuzhou Iron Works had already started production. The firearms produced every day are sent directly to the military camp. But it’s a drop in the bucket.
Moreover, the war at the mouth of the Yangtze River also affected this place.
Let Fu Youde understand that it is no longer possible for him to wait for sufficient logistics to fight the Northern Army.
Although Nanjing gave Fu Youde the right to make the decision, that is to say, Fu Youde could fight however he wanted. But in fact, Fu Youde has many choices. There is simply no choice. ..
Fu Youde himself wanted to go north because he knew that sooner or later, he would not be able to hold on. Now even if we can hold on, so what? There will definitely be problems in the future. Therefore, we must attack and seize the strategic initiative.
Even if the attack may fail, Fu Youde himself is confident that he will escape unscathed.
There is loss but not much loss.
But as long as it can interrupt the Northern Army's offensive. Will suffice.
Otherwise, it will take too long. The morale of the military at the top and bottom was very bad.
The Confederate army would have no future.
But the chips in Fu Youde's hands were simply not enough.
What kind of iron wall is there in the north?
Fu Youde naturally knew.
The reason why Fu Youde needed a large amount of logistical supplies to take action was because he knew that he would have to use firepower to knock out these places one by one. Otherwise, it will be difficult to advance even an inch, just like the Northern Army fought in Shaanxi.
If there is not enough gunpowder, after breaking through the heavy defenses and encountering the main force of the Northern Army, there will be no strength to fight again.
After all, in the age of firearms, soldiers were just moving carriers, and gunpowder was the foundation for combat.
Instead of going north, Fu Youde must go west.
Go to support the Luoyang battlefield.
But Fu Youde knew very well that as soon as he left, the Shandong battlefield would inevitably lead to a counterattack by the Northern Army. Even if people are left to guard it, many places will be lost. More importantly, it is difficult to resist the trend of Hacibuhua heading south.
He even thought that the worst outcome would be for the hard-working navy to join Fang Chengfeng's navy to open up all the ports along the coast. The Northern Army was even able to enter the Yangtze River directly along the coastline.
That's a big problem.
However, the Northern Army's maritime advantage was much greater than that of the Southern Army.
He even felt that even if he did not move westward, it would be difficult to maintain the current balance of power.
After all, no matter how powerful the army is, it cannot go to sea.
What's more, once he advances westward, it means that the entire defense line will be passive, and there will be no other mobile forces. Because of the incident on the Yangtze River, it was impossible for the troops in the rear to move northward.
It was very difficult for Fu Youde to decide where to go.
After much thought, Fu Youde still had to wait.
What exactly are you waiting for?
Fu Youde didn't know either, he was waiting for changes.
Only then can further strategies be decided.
Guanzhong was caught in the flames of war. Although there were many problems and it looked dangerous, Fu Youde still believed in Geng Bingwen's ability. Not that I believe Geng Bingwen can hold the northwest. But I believe that Geng Bingwen can at least defend Tongguan.
Defense of the Western Front.
Fu Youde naturally knew the Qinling, Tongguan, and Yellow River defense lines proposed by Geng Bingwen.
He is very reluctant to let the future situation reach this point, but the situation has already developed to this point. Fu Youde had no other choice.
When leading troops in war, the most important thing is to seek truth from facts.
Acknowledge reality. There are as many soldiers as there are to fight as many battles. If something works, it works, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t work.
This battle is coming fiercely from the north and there is no way there will be no losses. The northwest region has become useless. From a purely military perspective, the input-output ratio of the Northwest is too low. Investing three thirds of supplies in the northwest can only produce one share of the effect of the Shandong battlefield.
It would be fine if the imperial court was wealthy.
Now the Nanjing court is almost dying. Since it can no longer be maintained, it is not impossible for Northwest to give up. Just take the initiative to give up the weak position, will
It’s heartbreaking. Therefore, Geng Bingwen abandoned the northwest and reduced his troops to the Guanzhong area. It is quite good to fight against the enemy with Qinling and Tongguan as our backs.
As for Shanxi, Fu Youde naturally does not want to give up, but he must also accept the reality. If he had to choose between ensuring Shanxi and ensuring Luoyang, Fu Youde chose Luoyang. Rather than Shanxi.
If Shanxi can be protected, then it will be protected. If it cannot be protected, that's fine. However, the Qinling, Tongguan, and Yellow River defense lines must not be compromised.
