Luo Zhixue knew very well that no matter how great Lu Xiangsheng's military talent was, he would not be able to train his soldiers into elite soldiers by having them all fed and trained every day.
It was also impossible for him to conjure dozens of long-barreled field artillery pieces and thousands of pairs of high-quality armor for his troops.
It is even more impossible for him to create an elite cavalry that is good at riding and shooting.
On the other hand, he protects his hometown army!
Every one of the soldiers had a full meal and went through intensive training. I can’t say that the personal technical and tactical qualities of the soldiers were too high, but they were definitely much better than those ordinary Ming soldiers who didn’t train once every three to five days. Just pick one out , at least the level of ordinary soldiers in the Ming army.
Among them, the elites wearing heavy armor will definitely not be much worse than the personal soldiers and servants of the Ming army generals.
Not to mention equipment, the Baoxiang Army can make a lot of their own equipment. The worst swords are iron-clad steel knives, and the heavy-armored and elite knives are long stainless steel knives.
All spearmen in the front row are uniformly armored.
The muskets equipped by the musketeers are also equipped with self-made lightweight large-caliber matchlocks, and are also equipped with sleeve spears. This thing is much stronger than the blunderbuss in the Ming army. It is basically the peak state of the matchlock.
The most important thing is that he also has twelve 600-pound long-barreled field cannons and hundreds of fine cavalry at his disposal!
Lu Xiangsheng has extraordinary military talent and can even lead a group of ragtag men to fight a beautiful battle.
But Luo Zhixue believes that no matter how awesome your personal military talent is, you will still be a scum in the face of absolute strength!
There were a lot of famous German generals in World War II, but in the end they were pushed aside by the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain.
Facing a wise and courageous general like Lu Xiangsheng, Luo Zhixue knew very well not to engage in any intrigues or messy tactics with him.
We must fight the simplest war, confront them head-on, and crush them directly with hard power!
And he couldn't give Lu Xiangsheng any chance to temporarily explode his small universe. He just hit him with a heavy punch and knocked out his opponent neatly!
Thinking of this, Luo Zhixue said to the soldiers around him: "Call all ministers and brigade commanders in the city to come for a military meeting!"
Because Lu Xiangsheng led his army southward, the situation was relatively urgent, so the ministers and brigade commanders arrived quickly. After a while, most of the senior generals in Xiangyang City had entered the meeting hall of the General's Mansion.
After everyone gathered, Luo Zhixue said directly: "Chief of Staff, please briefly introduce the situation first."
Huang Guangmao immediately stood up and bowed: "Yes!"
Then he turned his attention to the others and said slowly: "The spies in Yunyang sent back urgent information. Lu Xiangsheng led an army of ten thousand people south two days ago, heading straight for Xiangyang."
"If nothing else goes wrong, Lu Xiangsheng will also bring officers and soldiers from Junzhou, Gucheng and other places with him on his way south. It is expected that he will be able to gather about 15,000 troops in the end, of which there will be no less than 3,000 combat soldiers."
"The number of cavalry among them is not expected to exceed five hundred. It is not yet known whether they are cavalry."
"At the same time, the Ming army is expected to have dozens of short robes of various types, and the long-barreled heavy artillery has not been found yet!"
The officers and soldiers in the Central Plains and even the Huguang area generally do not have many Hongyi artillery. The main targets of the local officers and soldiers are Gao Yingxiang and other rebels, and they mainly engage in pursuit and encirclement and suppression operations.
It is even more difficult to catch up with the rebels with heavy artillery.
At the same time, Hongyi cannons were also high-end equipment. There were not many of them in the Ming Dynasty, and most of them were attached to the Jiliao border army and the capital to prepare for the Eastern invasion.
Therefore, in inland areas, there are usually only a small number of Hongyi cannons in a few cities.
It is impossible for Lu Xiangsheng's army going south to have long-barreled heavy artillery.
Huang Guangmao continued to point to the map and said: "According to our speculation, they will go south along the south bank of the Han River, and finally arrive at our Xiangyang City and launch an attack on our Xiangyang City."
“In response, our army has the First Infantry Brigade, the Fifth Mixed Brigade, the First Battalion of the Sixth Mixed Battalion, the Cavalry Brigade, the Artillery Brigade, the Guards Battalion, and the First Supply Battalion in the Xiangyang area, with a total strength of 7,500 troops. "
"However, the 5th Mixed Brigade and the 1st Battalion of the 6th Mixed Brigade have just completed the personnel transfer and have not yet completed training and reorganization. There are also about 500 people in the Guards Battalion and the 1st Infantry Brigade who have just been transferred south from Nanyang City to supplement. "
"The only ones who can serve as the core of the battle are the 1,800-strong First Infantry Brigade, the 800-strong Guards Battalion, the 500-strong First Troop Battalion, the Cavalry Brigade with more than 200 elite cavalry, and the Artillery Brigade with twelve 600-pound cannons. "
"In the Nanyang Prefecture area on the northern line, our army still has three brigades: the Second Mixed Brigade, the Third Infantry Brigade, and the Fourth Mixed Brigade. However, the Second Mixed Brigade has just ended the battle in Nanzhao County and is currently besieging Luyang Pass. "
"The Fourth Mixed Brigade is currently in the Yuzhou area. According to the news from the Fourth Mixed Brigade two days ago, they have arrived at Yuzhou City. It is estimated that the Yuzhou Offensive has now been launched."
"According to the plan, after conquering the above-mentioned areas, these two brigades will station themselves at Luyang Pass and Yuzhou City, block Yalu Ancient Road and Fangcheng Ancient Road, and snipe the Central Plains officers and soldiers moving south."
"There is news from Ruzhou that Hong Chengchou is already mobilizing an army to go south. It is expected that the number of troops going south will be at least 20,000. We have to guard against it!"
"The Third Infantry Brigade is currently divided into garrisoning Nanyang City and Xinyecheng. However, the brigade has been trained recently. Currently, only the Seventh Infantry Battalion is fully staffed. The other two battalions are fully staffed, but equipment, especially muskets, is temporarily lacking."
"Among them, the 7th Infantry Battalion, which has preliminary combat effectiveness, has captured Zhenping and is heading south to Dengzhou as planned. The other two battalions are stationed in Nanyang City and Xinye City respectively, training while garrisoning and suppressing, while waiting for equipment."
As Huang Guangmao explained the comparison of the enemy's and our own forces one by one and marked them on the map, everyone also had a clearer understanding of the current deployment of the Baoxiang Army.
After watching for a moment, Huang Dingquan frowned and said: "So, in a short period of time, we will have no reinforcements in Xiangyang City and can only rely on ourselves?"
At this time, Xu Zhixian said: "Reinforcements are also available. If necessary, the 7th Infantry Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Brigade can bypass Dengzhou and move south urgently."
"There are not many enemy troops in Dengzhou. If we don't fight for the time being, they will not be able to threaten our army's logistics line."
At this time Luo Zhixue spoke: "Don't worry about Dengzhou for now, let the 7th Infantry Battalion urgently move south!"
With the war approaching, Luo Zhixue naturally hoped to mobilize more troops to deal with Lu Xiangsheng.
The Second Mixed Brigade and the Fourth Mixed Brigade cannot be deployed. These two brigades need to control the Yalu Ancient Road and the Fangcheng Ancient Road to prevent Hong Chengchou's army from going south.
The army that Hong Chengchou could mobilize was much larger than that of Lu Xiangsheng. In addition to the army directly under him, he could also mobilize the armies under the governors of subordinate provinces.
Therefore, even if he still led the main force of officers and soldiers and Gao Yingxiang and others to fight in the Central Plains, he could still mobilize 20,000 troops to go south.
The troops sent by Hong Chengchou wanted to go south, either through Luyang Pass or Yuzhou.
Therefore, it is necessary for the Second Mixed Brigade to capture and defend Luyang Pass, and the Fourth Mixed Brigade to capture and defend Yuzhou City. The Baoxiang Army must block these two strategic passages connecting the Central Plains to control the security of the Nanyang Basin. , to ensure the strategic security of Li Qingdian Arsenal, Nanyang City and other places in the rear.
Among the remaining forces, there is only one Third Infantry Brigade.
But the Third Infantry Brigade was organized by Luo Zhixue before he went south to Xiangyang. At that time, many of the soldiers in the brigade had not even completed recruit training, let alone equipment.
Now more than half a month has passed, and only one 7th Infantry Battalion has initially formed combat effectiveness. The other two battalions are still training while waiting for equipment.
But for Luo Zhixue, even just one reinforcement from the 7th Infantry Battalion would be good.
Next, everyone had an active discussion on how to fight Lu Xiangsheng in the future. During the discussion, Xu Zhixian strongly supported taking the initiative to leave the city and choose a favorable battlefield to directly fight a field battle with the Ming army.
"Standing in Xiangyang City, given the strength of our army, we are safe and sound. Not to mention that Lu Xiangsheng only brought 15,000 men. Even if his strength was doubled to 30,000 or 40,000 people, he would not be able to capture our Xiangyang City by force."
"But although it is impossible for the enemy to capture Xiangyang City, they can blockade Xiangyang City. Not only the land blockade, but it will not take long for them to transfer a large number of warships from Huguang and even the Yangtze River to directly block the Han River."
"By that time, our Xiangyang City will be an isolated city, completely deprived of supplies from the outside world."
"And once the opponent besieges the city and builds fortifications, it will be very difficult for us to take the initiative to attack and even break out of the siege!"
"On the other hand, if we take the initiative, then we can exert our most important and advantageous force to date."
At this time, Xu Zhixian turned his attention to Zhang Malin and Wang Xiazi: "That is our elite cavalry and artillery."
"Our army's artillery brigade has twelve 600-pound long guns. The guns are flexible, have a very fast rate of fire, and can be deployed and fired quickly in front of the formation."
"In the past few battles, especially in the Battle of Zhaozhuang, the power of the 600-pound long cannon has been fully proved. This kind of artillery was born for field battles, and it should not be placed on top of the city. ."
"In a field battle, can Lu Xiangsheng's infantry phalanx withstand our long-distance intensive bombardment?"
Without him having to say anything, Zhang Malin stood up and said: "It will never be able to withstand it. The fierceness of our army's artillery fire is definitely not something that flesh and blood can contend with!"
"There may be an army under the sky that can withstand the intensive bombardment of artillery with their flesh and blood, but it will definitely not be the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, let alone the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty in the hinterland of the Central Plains."
Xu Zhixian nodded towards Zhang Malin and then said: "We still have more than two hundred elite cavalry. These two hundred or so elite cavalry are enough to contain or even defeat the enemy's cavalry on the battlefield, and create opportunities for our infantry and artillery." Favorable opportunity.”
Blind Wang stood up at this time and said: "I don't understand other things, but I am still confident in the cavalry aspect."
"I myself am a cavalry member of the Yulin frontier army. In my opinion, although our cavalry brigade has fewer people now, its combat power is no less than that of the elite cavalry of the frontier army."
"Even because our army has better treatment, better equipment, and higher morale, its combat power is even better than the elite cavalry of the border army!"
"Don't Lu Xiangsheng's troops have five hundred cavalry? Regardless of whether they are half-baked horse infantry or elite cavalry who are good at riding and shooting, I, a blind man, am confident that I can kill them. No matter how bad it is, I can contain them and prevent them from letting go. They interfere with the main battle."
Xu Zhixian nodded slightly towards Blind Wang, looked around again, and finally looked up at Luo Zhixue:
"As long as our cavalry can suppress the enemy's cavalry, we don't even have to annihilate them. As long as our artillery and infantry can create an opportunity to confront the enemy head-on, our army will win this battle!"
