During the four days in Nanyang City, Luo Zhixue was very busy. He held meetings, inspected, and met with officials from morning to night.
Even on the morning of the day when he was about to set off south to Xiangyang, he still took the time to meet with some surrendered officials and gentry in the city.
During the process of the Baoxiang Army capturing Nanyang Mansion, although most of the middle and high-level Ming court officials died or fled, there were also some who insisted on not surrendering even though they were captured.
But inevitably, there will still be a small number of officials who will choose to surrender to protect the rural army.
Of course, most of the surrendered officials were low-level officials, especially low-ranking officials and clerks.
The Baoxiang Army will also selectively appoint these surrendered officials. As for whether they will be reused in the future, it depends on their subsequent performance.
After meeting with some of the surrendered officials and gentry in Nanyang City, Luo Zhixue hurriedly boarded the ship heading south.
In fact, before Luo Zhixue set off, most of the main forces had already moved south one after another yesterday, including the 1st Infantry Brigade and other main forces.
The group that set out today is already the last group. It is mainly composed of officials from various government ministries, the Guards Brigade, the General's Guard Office, the Internal Affairs Office and other troops and personnel directly under the General's Office, totaling more than 3,000 people.
Among them, the Guards Brigade and the Guards Room of the General's Mansion were all members of the same family not long ago, and both belonged to the Guards Camp.
After the Battle of Yuzhou, the Guards Camp was split into the Guards Brigade and the Guards Room of the General's Mansion.
The main field force in the guard camp was separated and upgraded to the Guards Brigade, with three infantry battalions, one field artillery post, one cavalry post, and one baggage post. Currently, new soldiers and equipment have just been added to Nanyang City. .
After becoming independent, the Guards Brigade will abandon its escort and other attributes and directly transform into a main field force.
The soldiers and others who were originally part of the personal barracks to provide personal protection for Luo Zhixue were separated and established the General's Palace Guard Room. This guard room will be an organization specifically responsible for Luo Zhixue's personal safety.
There are currently more than 250 guards under his jurisdiction, divided into three shifts, taking turns on duty at 12 hours. Each shift has more than 80 guards responsible for protecting Luo Zhixue's personal safety.
The head of the guard room is Qu Shuyang, the former deputy battalion commander of the personal barracks. This person is not very good at leading troops in war, but he is loyal to Luo Zhixue and pays attention to every detail. When he was in the barracks, he was also specifically responsible for Luo Zhixue's personal security affairs. Now it is natural for him to be transferred to the head of the guard room.
It is worth mentioning that the guard room is also a military organization. Each guard will be awarded a military rank, and the military rank is relatively high. Starting as a corporal, Qu Yangshu, the head of the room, was awarded the rank of major.
At the same time, although the guard room is called a military institution, it is not under the jurisdiction of the four major military ministries, nor is it under the jurisdiction of the Guards Brigade. It is directly under the jurisdiction of the General's Office, that is, directly under the jurisdiction of Luo Zhixue.
In addition to the two armed forces of the Guards Brigade and the General's Guard's Office, those who went south were some civilian officials or personnel from the General's Palace.
However, there are also a relatively large number of civil servants, including more than a dozen ministers.
After the continuous development in the past two months, Luo Zhixue is also constantly improving and adjusting the various agencies under the General Mansion.
So far, there are three major systems of institutions under the General's Office of the Baoxiang Army.
The first category is the institutions that serve Luo Zhixue personally, mainly the staff department, guard office, and internal affairs office.
The Staff Affairs Department can be regarded as Luo Zhixue's personal secretarial agency. It was reformed from the former Internal Affairs Office and mainly assists Luo Zhixue in handling many military and political affairs.
The Guard's Office is responsible for personal security issues, while the Internal Affairs Office is responsible for personal life issues.
The second major category is military agencies, including the General Staff Department, Ordnance Department, Logistics Department, Military and Administrative Department, Cavalry Director, and Artillery Director.
The three major categories are government agencies. There are many government agencies, including the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Commerce and Trade, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Taxation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Ethical Education, the Supervision Department, and the Inspection Department. , Ministry of Justice, a total of ten agencies.
Among them, the Legal Department of the Inspection Department was a new organization established just two days ago. It is responsible for compiling a series of legal provisions under the control of the Baoxiang Army and managing trial affairs. In the words of later generations, it is roughly equivalent to the Congress and the General Assembly. A collection of courts.
This ministry will form the judicial agency within the Baoxiang Army system together with the Inspection Department responsible for public security and law enforcement, and the Supervision Department responsible for anti-corruption, public prosecutions, civil litigation, prison management and other matters.
The establishment of the Ministry of Justice also means that the judicial system of the Baoxiang Army has officially become formal.
Also, with the gradual improvement of the functions of each agency, it means that the various institutional systems of the Baoxiang Army can now cover most matters.
Even an agency like the Anti-Corruption Department of the Ministry of Supervision, which specializes in anti-corruption for all officials, has been established.
The current Baoxiang Army is a small but well-equipped army.
This time Luo Zhixue went south, and also brought many officials from various ministries who had previously stayed in Nanyang City to Xiangyang.
Because in the next few months or even longer, Xiangyang City will become the military, political, and industrial center of the Baoxiang Army.
In Xiangyang, the Baoxiang Army established various factories with the Xiangyang Arsenal as the core. The factories in Li Qingdian have been relocated here one after another, and have also expanded in scale during the relocation process.
In Xiangyang, Luo Zhixue will temporarily set up the General's Office here to coordinate the establishment of various military and political affairs.
At the same time, because Xiangyang is located in the core middle area of northern Chu, no matter whether it goes south to Hanyang, north to Nanyang, or west to Yunyang, or east to Suizhou, the distance is moderate. The Baoxiang Army can completely use Xiangyang as a base to fight everywhere.
More than 3,000 people and a large amount of supplies, weapons and equipment boarded hundreds of ships of various sizes and moved south along the Baihe River.
Although it was a large fleet, it moved slowly for safety, so it took three days of tossing before arriving at Xinye City.
After arriving in Xinye City, Luo Zhixue did not rush south. Instead, he stayed in Xinye City for a while, met with officials from the local and nearby areas, inspected the defense of Xinye City, and listened to the recent situation report of the Sixth Mixed Brigade.
After the Sixth Mixed Brigade finished its report, Luo Zhixue also received the battle report of Huang Guangmao who was heading west to Yunyang that day. After reading Huang Guangmao's battle report, Luo Zhixue was in a good mood.
Because Huang Guangmao reported that he had led the Ninth Mixed Brigade to capture Junzhou and was currently advancing towards Yunyang.
Xu Zhixian on the side was also in a good mood. After he drew a mark on Junzhou on the map, he also made a big circle in Yunyang: "Brigadier Huang has marched into Yunyang, and according to the report, there are many people in Yunyang City. The main force has been taken away by Lu Xiangsheng before and was annihilated by our army in the Battle of Sanyuanzhuang. Now it is estimated that the formal defenders in Yunyang City will not exceed a thousand people and the combat troops will not exceed 200."
"With the combined forces of the 9th Mixed Brigade and the 10th Mixed Brigade, it won't be a problem to capture Yunyang!"
Having said this, Xu Zhixian pointed to the map and said: "In this way, we can truly establish a foothold in the area north of Xiangyang!"
"In the northern part of Nanyang Prefecture, we have successively captured Nanyang City, Nanzhao County, Luyang Pass, Zhenping, and Yuzhou. The above-mentioned areas are garrisoned by various units of the Northern Route Army, making them as stable as Mount Tai."
"In the eastern region, we have also captured Tangxian and Biyang. The main forces of the Sixth Mixed Brigade will be stationed in this area to guard against enemy forces in the direction of Runing Prefecture."
"On the west route, our army has captured Xichuan and Neixiang, and has stationed part of the 10th Mixed Brigade. At the same time, it has also captured Junzhou. After capturing Yunyang, the 9th Mixed Brigade and the 10th Mixed Brigade will join forces. Guard and guard, there will be no worries on the Western Front."
"On the southern front, the 3rd Infantry Brigade and some artillery and cavalry units that moved south first have already headed to Zaoyang. According to intelligence, there are few defenders in Zaoyang City. They should have been strategically abandoned by the enemy, and the attack will not be too difficult. !”
"In this way, our army has a firm foothold in the area north of Xiangyang!"
"What our army needs to do next is to go south along the Han River, capture Yicheng, Nanzhang and other areas along the way, and strive to annihilate the main force of the Huguang Ming Army in this area, so as to prepare for the subsequent march south to Chengtianfu, Hanyangfu, and even cross the river to capture Wuchang. Mansion, lay the foundation!”
"According to the intelligence we have collected one after another, the Huguang Ming Army is mainly based in Yicheng, with Nanzhang as the auxiliary, and has accumulated at least 15,000 troops, and the Ming Army continues to mobilize troops from various parts of the south and even the southern Chu region to garrison the above-mentioned Both places have the intention of counterattacking Xiangyang."
"In the end, the number of Ming troops there may exceed 30,000."
At this time, Xu Zhixian marked a big Fight with them!"
"It is best to let them take the initiative to go north to Xiangyang. When they are about to arrive in Xiangyang, we will send troops to fight the enemy."
"Strive to annihilate the remaining main force of the Ming army in the Huguang area through this battle!"
"As long as we kill this Ming army, then when we go south to Chengtian Mansion, Hanyang Mansion, Jingzhou Mansion, De'an Mansion and other places, we will not encounter a large-scale main Ming army again!"
"A battle in Yicheng can directly determine the ownership of Chubei!"
Xu Zhixian's words were very heroic, but Luo Zhixue did not show any excited expression.
Because Xu Zhixian's strategic plan is good, but there is a premise for this, that is, the enemy army really follows the route planned by our side.
For example, will the enemy really counterattack Xiangyang?
If the enemy takes the initiative to counterattack Xiangyang, it will be great. The Baoxiang Army can give full play to its relatively strong field combat capabilities and directly defeat its opponents in large-scale field battles.
However, what if the Ming army stayed in Yicheng on the edge of the Han River but could not come?
At that time, if the Baoxiang Army still wants to continue to move south to capture the Jianghan Plain and realize its Chubei strategy, then it must fight against Yicheng, a fast and hard nut.
If Yicheng is not taken, the army going south to protect the countryside will not be able to use the Han River as a logistics transportation channel, and the enemy will also bury a big knife in the hinterland.
The knife that can kill the Baoxiang Army!
But can the current Baoxiang Army really conquer a city guarded by tens of thousands of Ming troops?
