The Chu army under Li Dongshao, who was serious and threatening to Zuo Liangyu, seemed to have strong firepower and a lot of troops.
But it still has a lot of problems of its own, such as the lack of medium and large-caliber ammunition, and the lack of large-caliber siege artillery.
The Dachu Empire is currently fighting on six fronts, Jiliao, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan-Guizhou, Nanyang... Well, although there have not been large-scale battles breaking out on multiple fronts at the same time, the pressure is still very high.
This is even more obvious in medium and large caliber artillery and artillery shells.
Although the output of artillery pieces weighing more than five kilograms and corresponding artillery shells is very high, and the production capacity is still rising, there are many places where they need to be used.
Until now, all the first-class divisions in the Chu army have not been fully staffed. Many first-class divisions that do not have important personnel have their artillery regiments that are not fully staffed, and some even have rated Less than half the number of artillery pieces.
As for the large-caliber nine-pound and fourteen-pound cannons, the production capacity of these items is relatively small and the price is expensive. Moreover, the main production capacity is not used in the army, but in the navy's warships. In addition, many coastal defense batteries are also used. Part of the priority production capacity was divided up.
At present, the Great Chu Empire is at sea, and its relations with the barbarians of various countries are not good... The Great Chu Empire fell out with Portugal over the Haojing issue, and fell out with the Dutch over the Fusang trade issue, and then also fell out with the Dajuan Island issue. Relations with Spain are not good.
Although the Chu Empire has not yet broken out into a large-scale war with the above three countries, small-scale scattered battles at sea under the pirate flag are very frequent. At the same time, the navy has reported that the Dutch have colonized the southern part of Da Yuan Island many times. Increase troops at the stronghold.
The Portuguese, who lost Macau, seem to have the intention to unite with the Spanish, who currently lack strength in East Asia and are facing a lot of trouble.
The navy judged that it could be as short as three to five months or as late as one year. After these barbarians receive sufficient reinforcements, they may not continue to tolerate it. Such a large-scale maritime war is inevitable.
Based on the threats at sea, the Chu Empire has attached great importance to the navy in the past six months. In addition to providing military expenditures and personnel, it also allowed the navy to obtain long-barreled cannons in priority to arm more warships and deploy more coastal defense forts.
This also means that the Army has not been able to obtain too many heavy artillery. Currently, it has only formed four heavy artillery regiments, one of which is deployed in the direction of Jiliao, which is the First Heavy Artillery Regiment.
The Second Heavy Artillery Regiment is deployed in Songjiang, and the Third Heavy Artillery Regiment is deployed in Guangzhou. Although these two heavy artillery regiments are field heavy artillery units of the Army, you can tell from their deployment locations that these two heavy artillery regiments It is actually used as mobile firepower for Jiang Defense.
The Fourth Heavy Artillery Regiment is the second heavy artillery unit in the army used for field sieges. The artillery regiment was organized in Yangzhou, Jiangbei, and was recently transported to Luoyang via the canal and the Yellow River, ready for use on the Shaanxi front line.
As for Shanxi, due to transportation difficulties and the limited number of heavy artillery, they have not yet been able to obtain heavy artillery.
This heavy artillery is lacking, let alone ammunition!
The gunpowder production capacity of the arsenal of the Great Chu Empire could scare the remnants of the Ming army and Dongduo on the opposite side to death...but the Chu army also used a lot.
In medium and large-scale battles, hundreds of artillery pieces are often deployed, and many of them are extremely cost-effective, consuming several times the cost of long-barreled artillery mortars. No matter how much gunpowder is used, it is not enough.
The lack of medium and large calibers and ammunition has greatly affected the combat effectiveness of Li Dongshao's troops, especially the ability to attack difficult battles.
As for mobile warfare after talking about it...
Zuo Liangyu is not stupid. How could he play field battle with the Chu army unless he had to... Wouldn't it be nice to hide in the city and fight defensively?
Besides, if we really engage in mobile warfare, we will definitely be able to outrun Zuo Liangyu's troops. Zuo Liangyu still has thousands of cavalry, as well as many mules and horses.
However, Li Dongshao's troops were short of mules and horses, and even less cavalry.
Under such circumstances, Li Dongshao naturally gave up when he saw the opportunity, and stopped his westward march after taking Guguan.
Let's wait until a batch of mortar shells are sent later to attack Taiyuan or something!
If we rush westward now, we will easily suffer losses.
Li Dongshao just retreated, but Zuo Liangyu breathed a sigh of relief. While gathering the defeated troops from Guguan, he built a new Guguan defense line.
On the Guguan side, there is the old Guguan pass, and to the west of Guguan, there is a new Guguan station. This new Guguan is also easy to defend but difficult to attack, so it is suitable for deployment as a defense line.
However, although Li Dongshao has no intention of continuing to advance westward due to limited ammunition and poor mobility, it does not mean that he will watch Zuo Liangyu's troops retreat and build a second Yishou line under his nose. A difficult pass to attack.
Immediately send troops to Xinguguan...
The more than 10,000 Ming troops stationed and building fortifications in the area saw that tens of thousands of Chu thieves were coming to kill them again, and the various fortifications on the Xinguguan Pass had not yet been formed. It was extremely difficult to stop the Chu thieves from attacking, so they simply decided to They gave up their plan to build fortifications at Xinguguan and instead retreated to Pingding Prefecture in the rear.
After Zuo Liangyu's troops retreated to Pingding Prefecture, Li Dongshao's troops ignored them after taking Xinguguan.
The distance is too far...continuing to hit the west is prone to accidents, and more importantly, it's snowing!
And it’s snowing heavily!
In fact, after entering October, the weather in the Zhending Mansion area where the main force of Li Dongshao's unit is located has become relatively cold. The First Army and several second-class divisions have put on thick winter clothes early.
After entering November, there were several light snowfalls one after another, but this kind of light snow did not affect military operations, so Li Dongshao's troops attacked Xinguguan again.
But after the Xinguguan was conquered, heavy snowfall began to fall in this area. In just a few days, the snow on the ground had reached more than a foot deep.
The severe cold and snow have seriously affected logistics supplies, and will also affect the mobile operations of the troops. This is very troublesome for the Chu army, which consumes large amounts of logistics and has many artillery.
Unless there are extreme special circumstances, the Chu army will generally not march and fight in weather such as snow and rain.
After the snow falls, if the snow does not melt during the long winter, the Chu army will generally not launch large-scale military operations.
Therefore, not only the First Army and other units in the Shanxi direction have stopped large-scale military operations, but the Second Army and the Third Army further north have also stopped large-scale military operations. Even when they stopped large-scale military operations, Even earlier.
Not only the above-mentioned troops, but also the various units of the Fourth Army on the front line of the Central Plains, facing Tongguan and Lushi, have also stopped large-scale military operations one after another.
The above-mentioned four armies are also the main forces deployed by the Chu army in the northern region. The suspension of large-scale military operations by the above-mentioned four armies means that the Chu Empire's military operations in the northern region have also temporarily gone silent.
Not only the Chu army was like this, but in fact, the Sun Chuanting and Zuo Liangyu troops in Dongdu and Ximing opposite had no large-scale operations. They were all building defense lines and hoarding ammunition, food and grass.
Severe cold weather and widespread snowfall have seriously affected the large-scale operations of both the enemy and ourselves.
However, although large-scale military operations have stopped, some small-scale military operations have not stopped. Reconnaissance cavalry, small-scale patrols, and reconnaissance teams from both sides are still active on the battlefield.
It's just that none of these can affect the overall situation!
Taking advantage of the ceasefire on the northern front and the main forces entering a strategic defensive posture, Luo Zhixue also issued new combat orders to the garrison headquarters of Shandong, Henan, and Hebei provinces, and requested the Northeast Campaign Command and Shanxi Campaign Command to , Shaanxi Campaign Command dispatched some troops to cooperate with the garrison headquarters of the three provinces to eliminate the remaining illegal armed forces in the three provinces.
So far, there are still many chaotic illegal armed forces remaining in the three provinces mentioned above. Even though they have been cleared out in the past, the eradication is not complete.
Therefore, Luo Zhixue plans to conduct a drag-net-style clearing operation in the above-mentioned three provinces similar to the previous one in Jiangbei.
Strive to eradicate all illegal armed forces in one go!
Under Luo Zhixue's order, the Military Academy conducted close communication and cooperation with the Patrol Department and Taxation Department, and reached a preliminary combat plan.
This time, the clearing operations were mainly conducted by the B-class divisions directly under the jurisdiction of the garrison headquarters of the three provinces, supplemented by the armed tax police of the three provinces. The B-class field divisions and part of the A-class divisions under the jurisdiction of the three major campaign headquarters served as Backbone.
The above-mentioned forces will carry out concentrated attacks on the remaining medium to large-scale illegal armed forces, mainly bandits, powerful local landlords, organized rebels, etc.
Ordinary patrol police carry out a comprehensive crackdown on illegal armed forces related to gangs.
Luo Zhixue requested that this time's suppression campaign should imitate the successful experience of Jiangbei's bandit suppression campaign. The suppression work should go deep into every village and carry out door-to-door investigations. If they are found, they will be eliminated together and they will not be tolerated!
Luo Zhixue was very satisfied with the previous clearing operations in the Jiangbei area. Although it took several months and cost a lot, the results were the most outstanding among the previous bandit suppression operations in the Dachu Empire.
This reflects not only how many bandits and thieves were annihilated, but more importantly, the results and impact.
In Jiangbei today, we dare not say that we do not close our doors at night, but those caravans, even if they do not bring a large number of armed guards, do not have to worry about being robbed by bandits...
The local public security and business environment have been drastically improved!
To put it bluntly, it is safer for merchants to do business in the north of the Yangtze River than in the south of the Yangtze River...
And a safe and stable social environment is very important to the Chu Empire!
For a country that is trying to industrialize and takes industry and commerce as its main development path, good internal security conditions are a must.
In view of Jiangbei's successful experience in suppressing bandits, Luo Zhixue is gradually launching this kind of dragnet-style suppression of bandits in other provinces.
Not only Henan, Shandong, and Hebei, but also the provinces that the Chu army had previously controlled and conducted incomplete clearing operations.
For example, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Guangxi, a total of four provinces, are also expected to launch a dragnet-style cleanup operation this winter.
As for Chubei, Chunan, Jiangxi, Anlu, Jiangnan, as well as Yingtianfu and Hantianfu under the direct jurisdiction of the cabinet, they will launch comprehensive and thorough suppression operations. Of course, there will be no large-scale illegal armed forces in these places. , more concentrated on gangs related to gangs, especially messy organizations such as guilds and gangs.
This winter, while the large-scale fighting on the front line was suspended, Luo Zhixue was determined to wipe out all the messy illegal armed forces and gangs in the hinterland.
When Luo Zhixue, the emperor of the Great Chu Empire, made a decision, and the violent machine of the Great Chu Empire started to operate, no matter what kind of landlords, bandits, thieves, gangs, beggars, water transportation and other messy illegal activities The armed organizations were quickly crushed into powder.
And these powders will continue to provide nutrients for the operation of the violent machine of the Da Chu Empire!
Optimistic estimates suggest that millions of illegal armed personnel of various types and those involved in gangs and explosions will be sentenced to labor camps.
In the end, they were thrown into numerous mines to mine various ores with their blood and sweat; they were forced to build bridges and roads, build flood control embankments and other infrastructure; or they went deep into no-man's land to reclaim government-owned farms.
They will use their blood, sweat, and even their final death to make outstanding contributions to the industrial and mining development, infrastructure construction, and food security of the Chu Empire.
However, when Chen Xingkai, the Minister of Counselor and Secretary of the Ministry of Taxation, looked at Luo Zhixue expressionlessly commenting on the plan to deal with the criminals involved in the explosion: "I understand."
Suddenly he felt a little cold in the imperial study room, which made him want to shiver!
After Luo Zhixue gave instructions on the documents, he raised his head and glanced at Chen Xingkai: "Where are the documents?"
Chen Xingkai didn't react for a moment. He was stunned for two seconds before taking out a report and handing it over: "Your Majesty, this is the income report related to the Northern Expedition that we compiled!"
Luo Zhixue took it and looked through it, while Chen Xingkai also briefly explained: "This report counts the fiscal revenue after the Northern Expedition was launched, including regular tax collections such as agricultural tax and commercial tax, tax repayment, fine income, and confiscated income. ."
“The statistical objects are only limited to gold, silver, copper and other cash-type precious metals, as well as easily liquidated treasures or ordinary materials, fixed assets, etc., and do not include land and some fixed assets that are not easy or cannot be liquidated, nor do they include trophies used by the military. Various weapons and equipment, mules and horses, food, etc.”
"We only count the cash and materials that are converted into the national treasury after being converted into cash."
"The coverage covers five provinces: Anlu Province, Jiangbei Province, Shandong Province, Henan Province, and Hebei Province."
"The main income is concentrated in major cities such as Yangzhou, Huai'an, Luoyang, and Youzhou, and most of it comes from the local pseudo-Ming vassal kings, officials and other powerful people."
After saying a few words, Chen Xingkai paused for a while, and then said in a slightly higher tone: "So far, during the Northern Expedition, we have received a total of 115.23 million taels of treasury revenue! "
Luo Zhixue couldn't help but look surprised when he saw each number on the report!
He knew that the Northern Expedition made a lot of money, but he did not expect that after statistics, it turned out to be as much as 110 million.
Fighting is really fucking profitable!
But what Chen Xingkai said next made Luo Zhixue suddenly lose his good mood: "It's just that I'm afraid that 110 million taels will have to be paid out in a few years..."
“This year’s military expenditures for the Northern Expedition alone amounted to close to 30 million, including military expenditures for the Northern Expedition and expenses such as the establishment of the first-class divisions of the five northern provinces, the reorganization of the second-class divisions of the border armies in Xuanda and other places, and the elimination of local illegal armed forces.”
"Almost more than 25 million yuan was spent on various administrative expenses such as maintaining the administration of the five provinces, providing relief, restoring people's livelihood, and dredging the canal."
"In total, it cost at least more than 50 million taels!"
"Furthermore, the five northern provinces have been severely damaged by wars for many years. Repeated attacks by the bandits, Eastern captives, and Ming armies have basically destroyed most of the local agricultural production. The worst-affected areas are western Henan and northern Beizhili. In this area, it is even more serious, with ten houses and nine empty, and a large amount of land has been abandoned."
"We estimate that the tax revenue of the above-mentioned five provinces next year will not exceed 20 million taels, which is less than half of Jiangnan."
"However, the various administrative expenditures of the five provinces must not be less, but even more. Including various administrative expenditures and relief, the five provinces will have to spend at least 30 million next year. In this way, our central government may spend more money every year. Tens of millions of dollars in subsidies will be needed, and I’m afraid this situation will last for four to five years.”
"In the end, I am afraid that more than half of the surplus gained from the Northern Expedition will have to be filled in, so that we can persist until the local people's livelihood improves, and then the fiscal surplus will feed back into the national treasury."
"In addition to having insufficient funds to make ends meet, millions of hungry people in several northern provinces and numerous frontier troops will also devour large amounts of food from Jiangnan, Huguang and other regions."
"Maintaining a large army on the front lines of Xuanda and Jiliao is even more of a big problem. It probably costs no less than tens of millions every year."
Finally, Chen Xingkai looked worried and said: "I'm afraid the financial pressure will be even greater in the future!"
Luo Zhixue naturally knew that the pressure in the follow-up would be greater, but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't stop restoring local people's livelihood and stop fighting Dongdu just because of high financial pressure!
Furthermore, it is not that the five northern provinces will always be so miserable. They are now unable to make ends meet, just because of the war persecution in the past many years. Now that the local areas are controlled by the Chu army, the people do not have to worry about war persecution. At the same time, the Chu Empire is still carrying out propaganda. Net-style suppression operations.
The agriculture and handicraft industries in the five northern provinces will definitely recover relatively quickly next year. It may not take three or four years. Local finances will initially recover next year, and the state treasury will be replenished the year after next.
As for the financial pressure next year and even the year after that, a fiscal surplus worth tens of millions will not be a big problem.
But the continued food shortage in several northern provinces is a big problem!
Luo Zhixue still has to think hard about how to solve this big problem!
Food issues are always the most important issue.
Without food, the people will rebel!
