After the Second Battle of Songshan, Luo Zhixue spent a full month carrying out numerous reforms and rectifications within the Baoxiang Camp.
It was not until the turn of the new year, during the first month of the eighth year of Chongzhen, that Luo Zhixue put aside a little bit of rectification of various internal affairs, and then turned his attention to the outside world.
Based on the information he had gathered through caravans and spies during this period, Luo Zhixue finally knew why the army had nothing to do after the Second Battle of Songshan.
Because a large number of rebels came out from the east of Shaanxi and fought along the Yellow River towards the hinterland of Henan, and the attack was extremely fierce. In December, they captured several cities in succession.
Immediately afterwards, a large number of rebels continued to advance eastward, forcing Zuo Liangyu to retreat steadily and had to retreat to Xin'an and Mianchi. At this time, the rebels had already threatened Luoyang, but they did not attack Xin'an, Mianchi, Luoyang and other places that were heavily garrisoned. He chose to bypass and continue to advance eastward, southward, and northward, heading towards Ruzhou, Huaiqing Mansion, Kaifeng Mansion and other places.
Hundreds of thousands of rebels left Henan eastward, putting great pressure on Henan, especially Henan Prefecture, Ruzhou, Kaifeng Prefecture, Huaiqing Prefecture and other areas.
Under such circumstances, the Ming army in Ruzhou could still care about the little thieves in Funiu Mountain, and they were all on guard against the rebels.
When Luo Zhixue gradually learned about these situations, he couldn't help but turn his attention to the outside world.
He wondered whether he should take advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains to cause trouble.
He didn't make his own decision alone, but summoned Wang Xiazi, An Yongduo and others to discuss it together. Although Wang Xiazi and the others were just illiterate, they were still low-level officers who seemed to have little ability.
But these days, they dare to engage in mutiny, and they are able to break out of the follow-up encirclement and suppression by elite officers and soldiers, and they are still alive and kicking, but they are not stupid at all.
Being ignorant of many things is purely due to their limited vision and knowledge. It does not mean that they have low IQ.
If they can understand the immediate overall situation and understand the movements of the rebel and Ming armies, they can also make smart choices.
So after they arrived, Luo Zhixue immediately introduced in person the movements of the rebels and officers and soldiers in the past month.
And the introduction was very detailed, telling all the information that Luo Zhixue had learned. At the same time, he also made a simple map, marking the movements of the rebel army and the Ming army one by one.
After the introduction, Luo Zhixue looked around and said: "The above is the situation outside the mountain. The volunteers and officers and soldiers of each battalion are fighting to the death. Logically speaking, their fighting to the death has nothing to do with us. After all, we are not officers and soldiers. Not a thief."
"Now the attention of officers and soldiers has been attracted by the rebels. This is a rare opportunity for us. We can choose to attack a certain place and seize more supplies to develop and strengthen ourselves."
"However, once we go out to attack a place in a large scale, it will inevitably attract the attention of the officers and soldiers. At that time, I am afraid that a large number of officers and soldiers will be encircled and suppressed."
"I wonder what you can teach me about this?"
After Luo Zhixue finished speaking, no one else spoke immediately.
Everyone present is not a fool, and they naturally know that today's occasion is very important. The questions raised by Luo Zhixue are directly related to the future development of Baoxiang Camp, and are even related to life and death. They cannot be said casually without thinking.
If this is wrong and leads to a wrong choice, then everyone present may not be easy when the army is defeated.
The best option at that time would be to escape with a few elite cavalrymen.
And this means that all their efforts in the past six months have been in vain.
In the past six months, they had worked hard and even fought twice with the Ming army to create the current situation, but they were not willing to let it go in vain.
Therefore, everyone acted very cautiously, and no one spoke immediately.
Wearing an eyepatch with only one eyeball left, Blind Wang stared at the simple hand-drawn map on the table. After pondering for a long time, he said: "Although a large number of officers and soldiers are fighting with the rebels in the north, the terrain of Ruzhou is flat. If we go east directly As for Lushan County, I'm afraid that as soon as the front foot hits Lushan City, the officers and soldiers from Ruzhou will be able to kill them with the rear foot. It's okay for the infantry to come, but if there are three to five hundred elite cavalry, it will be difficult for us to return to the mountain."
"Chen Zhibang has a team of elite cavalry under his command. We fought against his team of elite cavalry last time in Yiyang. It was difficult to deal with them."
"Nanzhao County in the south does not have many troops, so it is easy to take it. However, Chen Yongfu is stationed in Nanyang Mansion. Once Nanzhao County is taken by us, Chen Yongfu will probably lead his troops north in a few days."
"After all, Luyang Pass is to the north of Nanzhao City. Even if Chen Yongfu doesn't care about Nanzhao City, he will definitely ensure that Luyang Pass is not lost."
"And our attack on Nanzhao County is equivalent to cutting off the connection between Nanyang and Luyang Pass. As long as Chen Yongfu is not stupid, he will not sit back and ignore this situation."
After Blind Wang said this, An Yongduo on the side said: "Yes, no matter whether we fight east or south, with the strength we have now, especially the strength of the artillery posts, we can easily defeat them at the beginning. But it’s not easy to hold on after defeating it.”
"After all, our current total strength is only more than 800 people. Including the recruits who are still in the new barracks, there are only a thousand soldiers. Even if we want to send troops, we have to keep one or two hundred people at home. The maximum number of troops we can use is 800 people."
"In the early stage, we can attack unprepared small counties with our artillery, but once we face a counterattack and siege by a large number of officers and soldiers later, I'm afraid it will be difficult to fight."
An Yongduo said: "Now the officers and soldiers have not come towards our Funiu Mountain. On the one hand, it is because a large number of bandits have fled eastward, and on the other hand, we are more restrained. So far, our scope of activities is only limited to the Funiu Mountain area. In the past month, The expansion was limited to the outer villages in the east and south, but it still did not leave the mountains."
"The combined efforts of both sides allowed the officers and soldiers to leave us alone for the time being. Once we go out in force and attack Lushan City or Nanzhao City, I'm afraid the situation will change."
"Once a large number of officers and soldiers are attracted, it will be difficult for us to block them. It will even be difficult for us to retreat to the mountains and defend."
Both Wang Xiazi and Anyongduo expressed pessimism about coming out of the mountain.
And the opinions are highly unified, that is, there is no problem in going out to make a surprise attack on Lushan or Nanzhao. The problem lies in the reaction of the officers and soldiers after the sneak attack.
Once this leads to an encirclement and suppression by the main force of officers and soldiers, they cannot handle it with their small bodies. Once they cannot handle it, they will have to abandon the foundation of Funiu Mountain and flee east and west as they did before.
Although Funiu Mountain is not a good place, with many mountains and little land, and it is very barren, it can still be regarded as the territory under their control. They can obtain food and soldiers by using the territory of Funiu Mountain.
The reason why these people have been able to expand from a few dozen people when they first fled to Funiu Mountain to nearly a thousand people now is because of the territory of Funiu Mountain.
If this territory is lost, it will not be so easy to accumulate strength in the future. Maybe it will gradually decline by hiding in Tibet, and finally be completely defeated.
At this time, the first sentry officer Lin Dongsheng stood up, also walked to the table and looked at the map for a while and said: "What if we don't attack the city?"
"Although there is more food and supplies in the city, if we attack the city directly, it will be too easy to attract the attention of the officers and soldiers. In this case, can we focus on the countryside?"
"The villages outside also have money and food, and they have a large population from which we can recruit soldiers."
The second sentry officer Wang Dazhuang shook his head slightly: "The villages outside are different from our Funiu Mountain side. Our Funiu Mountain side was previously located in a remote location and did not suffer too many persecutions from bandits. However, those outside This place has been destroyed many times by bandits and soldiers, so it's hard to say how much food will be left."
Lin Dongsheng said: "Ordinary people naturally don't have much food at home. Even if they do have it, they only have a small amount of rations. Even if they are taken away, it won't be of any use. But those powerful gentry are different. The food in their manor is not It will be less.”
At this time, Wang Dazhuang also reacted: "Brother Lin, what you mean is that we will specifically attack these landlords just like we did in the peripheral mountainous areas before?"
Lin Dongsheng nodded slightly at this time and said: "Yes, that's what I mean. Although these powerful manors are very well-defended and fighting is even more difficult than fighting ordinary small towns, we should still be able to win with our strength. It doesn't take much, As long as we can capture three or five powerful manors, it will be enough for us to expand our troops by another thousand people."
Lin Dongsheng's words also attracted the attention of others. The old farmer Xu He said: "That's the reason. These landlords have a lot of food in their homes. In the past, the scholar in my hometown, the village was full of food. When we entered, there were hundreds of people. It’s been a long time since I had a full meal.”
"These villagers are usually self-sufficient, not only in food, but also in cloth, carriages, livestock, ironware and other goods, and there is probably no shortage of cash."
"If you attack one of these powerful manors, you may not gain as much as if you attack the county seat, but if you attack two or three, you will definitely gain more than if you attack the county seat."
The fifth sentry officer Huang Dingquan also spoke: "A few days ago, I heard from people who came back from the caravan that the largest grain store in Lushan County is the Song Family Grain Store, and every once in a while, a batch will be shipped from the Song Family Manor. The food is sold at the food store in the city."
"If we can capture the Song family manor, we may seize more grain than if we directly attack Lushan County."
Artillery sentry Zhang Malin also said: "These manors seem to be protected by high walls, but these manors are not cities after all. The protective walls are high, but they are not thick. Such thin walls cannot stop our six hundred kilograms." Long gun!”
At this time, Lin Dongsheng spoke again: "These powerful landlords have many friends and great influence. If we attack them and they use their connections, will the officers and soldiers target us?"
After hearing this, everyone suddenly fell silent again. Yes, attacking the county town will certainly attract the attention of the officers and soldiers, and attacking those powerful landlords may also attract the attention of the officers and soldiers.
While everyone was silent, Huang Guangmao, who was sitting behind An Yongduo, spoke up: "Whether we send troops or not, the officers and soldiers will arrive at Funiu Mountain in as little as one month and no more than three months!"
