On July 29, the second year of Chengshun in the Great Chu Empire, Emperor Luo Zhixue once again personally led the Guards and a large number of civil and military generals from Wuchang and arrived at Fuchi Town, a frontline headquarters near Jiujiang.
This time the campaign to advance eastward is no less important than last year's campaign to advance southward.
In last year's southward campaign, the Chu army, which was still the Baoxiang Army, fought all the way from Nanyang Prefecture to Xiangyang, and then to Hanyang, and then took control of the entire northern Chu region, laying the foundation for the founding of the country by the Baoxiang Army.
Last year's series of battles in Chubei were the foundation battles.
In comparison, the Wuchang Campaign launched last year and the Chunan Campaign in the first half of this year were not small in scale. They even captured Wuchang as the capital, Changsha and Hengyang and other places, and captured a large area of Chunan territory.
However, its importance is still inferior to last year's Battle of Chu North and South.
But this time's eastward campaign was no less important to the new Chu Empire than last year's foundation battle.
If it succeeds, it will completely control the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin and bring the wealthy coastal areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River under its control.
Northern Jiangxi, Jiangnan, and northern Zhejiang are all areas with dense populations, developed agriculture, and also relatively developed handicrafts and commerce.
Capturing this area will, in the short term, completely solve the huge financial problems faced by the Chu Empire. In the long term, it will completely lay the foundation for the Chu Empire to strive for hegemony and unify China.
If it fails... then there is nothing to say. The Dachu Empire must immediately reduce all kinds of expenditures on a large scale, especially military expenditures. Otherwise, the Dachu Empire itself will be dragged down by its huge financial expenditure next year.
Once military expenditures are reduced, not to mention continuing to expand the army and gain territory, we will have to find ways to reduce the number of troops and even lower the salaries of soldiers so that the finances can continue to be maintained. This will inevitably seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the troops. Going further east would be even more difficult.
After all, the governors of the Ming Dynasty opposite are not freeloaders. No matter what their historical evaluation is, and whether they are corrupt or not, none of them are stupid.
Now the Chu army has given them the beginning of a new type of army, and Yang Sichang has also given them a good example. Now most of the governors have more or less organized and trained the new standard army.
If the New Biao Army performs well in the war, for example, if it resists the Chu army's eastward advance, it is estimated that there will be a trend of training the New Biao Army in the Ming court.
It will be even harder to fight then.
Therefore, the battle to advance eastward must be won!
For the eastward campaign, the Chu Empire spent five million taels of silver on temporary war expenses alone, which did not include the fifteen million taels of silver in the regular annual military budget.
At the same time, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the eastward campaign, especially considering the continued attrition of the troops in the following months, Luo Zhixue also asked the Finance Department to reserve an emergency fund of three million.
If the original military expenditure is not enough, then the three million taels of silver will also have to be filled in.
In this battle, the Chu Empire could be said to have emptied most of its wealth.
If this cannot be overcome, then there will be many negative circumstances such as financial bankruptcy and heavy military losses, so there is no hope of being able to overcome it.
In this battle, the Chu Empire had no way out.
In view of the importance of the Eastward Campaign, Luo Zhixue could not stay in Wuchang in the rear.
He must be at the front lines.
This is not to say that Luo Zhixue cannot do without Luo Zhixue on the front line. In fact, the formulation and execution of large-scale battles of the Dachu Empire Army are now basically carried out by the staff department and various departments cooperate in the implementation. Luo Zhixue does not need to personally To conduct command, especially to launch a surprise attack with a tap of the head.
The Dachu Empire's army operations are now becoming more and more old-fashioned and even rigid, especially in the series of battles after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
In the early days when I was still staying in Funiu Mountain and Nanyang Mansion, I often played raids and the like. The victory over Xiangyang was a typical surprise attack. Later, the Battle of Sanyuanzhuang against Lu Xiangsheng was a typical long-distance raid. Yu Yu’s battle against Zuo Liangyu The battle in the eastern suburbs of Zhouzhou can also be regarded as a long-distance attack.
But since the end of the Yuzhou Battle, the Chu army has basically no tactics that can make people shine and dazzle.
This point can be fully reflected in the previous Battle of Chunan. How did the Chu army fight in the Battle of Chunan?
It relies on more guns, more armor, more soldiers, more mules and horses, more shells, more food and grass...
Then crush it directly!
First, they stormed Linxiang City with absolute superiority. Then, after moving south, they concentrated the main forces of the two divisions and marched westward to attack the left army of the Huguang New Standard Army. They also relied on their strong strength to crush the left army of the Huguang New Standard Army.
Then he sent his troops south to Changsha, and the Battle of Changsha was a storming battle that was boring to watch.
However, the Chu army relied on such a dull and boring attack to forcibly capture Changsha, establishing the victory of the Chunan Battle.
The seemingly flat-footed dispatch of the Da Chu Empire Army not only placed great demands on guns, money and food, but also placed great demands on detailed tactical plans and logistical supplies.
Playing large-scale corps operations, gathering tens of thousands of troops in a small place, and it is also a very expensive army, which actually requires very high demands on the army's command system.
This is also the reason why the Great Chu Empire established a staff department and set up staff officers in armies, divisions, brigades, regiments and even battalions.
Because it is difficult for the chief officer alone, or even the deputy chief officer, to sort out and arrange such a large-scale and detailed combat plan.
Therefore, a dedicated staff team is needed to assist the army commander in commanding the army's operations.
This kind of command system of the Chu army also caused the senior generals in the Chu Empire to deal more with paperwork in daily battles instead of riding into battle in person... In fact, Luo Zhixue strictly prohibited senior generals from Charge in person.
As a senior general, it is your responsibility to coordinate the overall situation and command the troops in combat, while rushing into battle and fighting is the job of lower-level officers and soldiers.
If you, a senior general, do the work of a large number of soldiers, this is not called bravery, this is called stupidity...
Similarly, this is also the reason why many generals from the old army cannot serve as senior generals of the main force in the Chu Empire.
It's not that Luo Zhixue has any objection to their origins, it's simply their lack of ability.
Today's Dachu Imperial Army is like a sophisticated and complex chariot. Luo Zhixue is the driver, deciding where the chariot goes and how fast it drives.
But how to fight specifically, this process requires the staff department to coordinate and coordinate various ministries.
Even if Luo Zhixue does not come to the battle line in person, it will not actually affect the specific implementation of the eastward campaign commanded by the staff.
However, Luo Zhixue still came.
Because if he doesn't come, the Guards Division won't be able to move!
The Guards Division is Luo Zhixue's Guards unit. In principle, it is not an army used to protect Luo Zhixue's personal safety. However, it is undeniable that the Guards Division is still a field force, and its combat effectiveness ranks first in the Chu Empire. The main force of No. 1 is second only to the First Division in combat effectiveness.
Such a unit would naturally not be able to stay in the rear during the Eastward Campaign and would need to go to the front.
But if Luo Zhixue stays in Wuchang, it will be difficult to mobilize the Guards Division.
Therefore, Luo Zhixue came to the front line in person, partly to allow the Guards Division to go to the front line.
At the same time, Luo Zhixue's visit to the front line can also better boost the morale of the soldiers. The emperor personally visited the front line and fought with the soldiers, which was an inspiration to many soldiers.
Finally, Luo Zhixue went to the front line in person and could better command the army.
Although he does not need to direct the details, Luo Zhixue will still watch when it comes to the mobilization of troops at the corps and division level.
In addition, if Luo Zhi cannot learn, then there will be no second person in the Chu Empire who can serve as the commander-in-chief of the Eastward Campaign.
There are as many as six main divisions in the eastward marching army. With such a large number of troops, no one except Luo Zhixue is qualified to suppress them.
Even Li Chengtong, the commander of the First Army, was not qualified to command so many troops at the same time, accounting for most of the elite troops of the Chu Empire.
After Luo Zhixue came to the front line in person, he spent the first two days in Fuchi Town conducting various inspections, inspecting various units, and inspecting the material preparation status.
It was not until the first day of August that Luo Zhixue officially led the Guards Division and other troops to march eastward.
Naturally, the army will not go directly to Jiujiang, but will first go to Ruichang City to join the local First Division, Seventh Defense Division and other troops.
On the second day of August, Luo Zhixue led his army to Ruichang and successfully reunited with the First Division and other units.
After two days of rest, Luo Zhixue personally led the army eastwards!
At the same time, Lieutenant General Dong Mingjie, commander of the Second Army, had also led the main force of the Second Army to gather on the Susong front line.
This time the eastward campaign was fought not only on the south bank of the Yangtze River, but on both sides of the Yangtze River.
Needless to say about the southern route, as for the northern route, the strategic goal in the early and mid-term is to capture Anqing.
Because Anqing is on the north bank of the Yangtze River, it is the most important city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The Ming army deployed a large number of artillery and naval forces here. If this place is not captured, it will be difficult for the Chu Empire to use the Yangtze River waterway to transport supplies. , and without the Yangtze River waterway for logistics transportation and supplies, and relying solely on land transportation to sustain the army's eastward march all the way to Jinling City or even the seaside, the Chu army's logistics would go crazy...
Therefore, I won’t talk about other places in Jiangbei, but Anqing must be captured.
The first task of the Jiangbei Second Army is to capture Anqing City.
Before that, of course, we must first capture Taihu, which was heavily defended by the Ming army.
The Second Army in Jiangbei, the First Army and the Third Army in Jiangnan, in addition to the three garrison divisions and independent divisions that are still under the direct jurisdiction of the General Staff Headquarters, but are actually temporarily under the command of the First Army, the Second Army, and the Third Army artillery, cavalry and other units.
In this eastward campaign, the Chu Empire prepared a main force of 80,000 people and a garrison of more than 20,000 people.
The number of front-line troops reached 100,000.
This number of troops is even greater than all the troops under Shi Kefa's command!
Regardless of whether they are the new standard troops or the sentries of the guard camp, or the temporarily recruited guards and young men, all the people under Shi Kefa who can be regarded as soldiers, the total number of people who can be counted as soldiers is only 70,000 or 80,000, and the main force among them is the largest. Only 20,000 people.
Taken together, there are not as many soldiers as the Chu army!
The number of important equipment such as guns and armor is incomparable.
This time heading east, what Luo Zhixue wants is a flat-out battle in which more defeats the smaller and relies on hard power to crush them!
