In addition to the news around Jinling, the situation in the southeast also reached Jinling.
When Wang Jing personally led the army to Jinling, the soldiers and horses originally staying in Wuxi took boats south and launched an attack on Huzhou.
The coaches of the Southern Song Dynasty, Yu Yunwen and Meng Gong, were not incompetent, and they both understood the importance of the retreat.
When attacking Changxing, Huzhou's defense was not forgotten.
Yu Yunwen personally took charge of Huzhou, and the soldiers who went to attack only occupied some small towns in the north of Huzhou.
But it could not threaten the main city of Huzhou, nor could it cut off the main food route of the Song army heading north.
After receiving this information, Wei Rui was not frustrated at all. Instead, he asked Lin Renzhao to lead the navy and two generals, Gan Ning and Tan Daoji, to turn around and launch an attack in the direction of Jiaxing.
This part of the army relied on the advantage of warships and used the mighty Taihu Lake as a retreat.
You can freely threaten the Song army's retreat in Changxing and Jiaxing.
Neither Yu Yunwen nor Han Shizhong had a good solution for this, and it was a huge headache.
There is no way, their navy is too weak.
If you want to curb the threat of the Xia army's navy being careless and coming and going at will, you can either set a trap and wait for the enemy to come ashore before ambushing it, or use the navy to fight the navy.
But Tan Daoji had the strategy, Gan Ning had the courage, and Wei Rui commanded remotely from Changxing. Whether he was attacking Huzhou or threatening Jiaxing, he never attacked the big city and went back and forth very quickly.
There was no chance for Song Jun to set up an ambush.
"With Lin Renzhao, Tan Daoji, and Gan Ning harassing the Song army in the rear, the soldiers and horses in Changxing and Jiaxing can increase their chances of winning by 10%. Zhu Yuanzhang wants to wait for the Song army to join him, but he may not be able to wait!"
The royal palace in Jinling City.
After receiving the military intelligence report, Wang Jing summoned his close officials to discuss the matter. The civil servants included Gao Xi, Zhang Juzheng, Xie Hui, He Chou, and six ministers including Li Shanchang and Pei Ju who came from Yangzhou.
The military generals include Fu Youde, Yuwen Chengdu, Wang Sengbian, Lu Kang and others.
After reading the recent military intelligence reports, Gao Xi, Fu Youde and others had different expressions. Now that the Song army was unable to go north, and the Ming army was sunset, this southern expedition could be said to be a complete victory.
The Daxia Dynasty will soon embark on a new round of great expansion.
As the dynasty becomes stronger, the Qi will become more and more vigorous. As long as they have official positions, they, civil servants and generals, can receive the blessing of the Qi of the Dynasty and speed up their practice.
The family can also continue in the dynasty, and it can also control great power...
These are all good things!
However, after reading the intelligence, especially the news that Zhu Yuanzhang was stationing troops at Moling Pass, Gao Xi looked a little worried.
"Your Majesty, Zhu Yuanzhang is stationing troops at Moling Pass. I thought it was not that simple!"
"If the Ming army really wanted to retreat directly, they would not have taken the Moling Pass road. South of Moling Pass is Lishui, and further south of Lishui is Gaochun. I think it is very possible that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to make a desperate move when he was defeated. One blow...use the remaining elite of the Ming army to attack Gaochun! Forcibly open the road!"
Gao Xi said in a deep voice.
His reason is simple. After the Ming Dynasty eliminated Jinling, only the original Eastern Jin land with Xuancheng as its core remained, and Gaochun was both the southern gate of Jinling and the northern gate of Xuancheng.
If he wants to hold Xuancheng, Gao Chun must get it.
Fu Youde's eyes showed a glimmer of light, and he immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Gao's words are very reasonable. The last general asked for orders to lead the soldiers and horses of the Zhenjiang camp to go south immediately, attack Moling Pass, and pursue the remnants of the Ming army!"
"General Fu, don't worry, I haven't finished speaking yet!"
Gao Xi said: "Although the Ming army lost most of its strength, the elite did not suffer too much loss. Even after gathering famous generals such as Yu Dayou, Qi Jiguang, Xu Da, etc., the threat from the remnants of the Ming army is even greater!"
"If we chase too fast, the opponent will easily risk his life in desperate situations. By then, our ninth-level general will probably be damaged..."
At this time, Xie Hui couldn't bear it anymore, and even interrupted Gao Xi regardless of the difference in status, and said loudly: "I don't agree with what the Privy Envoy said. Although Jinling was captured, the main force of the Ming army is still there. If If we can’t completely defeat it, how can Jinling be stable?”
"Also, the Ming army is now a lost dog, and our army's morale is at its peak. How can we not pursue and suppress the remaining enemies just because of some casualties among our soldiers?"
While they were talking, the others had various looks on their faces.
Everyone knew that General Xie Xuan, who was guarding Gaochun, would soon face Zhu Yuanzhang's desperate attack. At that time, under the attack, Xie Xuan, Xiao Moke and others might not be able to stop Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da and others.
Xie Xuan is the backbone of the Xie family in Chen County in the army, and Xie Hui and Xie Xuan are both members of the Xie family. How can they sit back and watch Xie Xuan be in danger?
Gao Xi's expression remained unchanged and he said calmly: "Xuan Ming misunderstood. I didn't mean this. I just reminded your majesty not to pursue too hastily..."
"My original intention is to let General Xie Xuan withdraw from Gaochun, and then the main force of our army will slowly encircle it from the north and east. We will try our best to take advantage of our large number of soldiers and generals to avoid unnecessary losses!"
Chasing too hastily could easily cause Zhu Yuanzhang to fight tooth and nail in a desperate situation. Gao Xi's original intention was to make Xia Jun slow down his pursuit.
There is no Jinling as the foundation.
The Ming Dynasty has lost so much territory, and the morale of the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will continue to decrease. When the opponent becomes weak, the Xia army will go up to take advantage, and the losses will be greatly reduced.
Xie Hui was a little embarrassed.
He also thought that Gao Xi intended to put Xie Xuan into a dangerous situation and weaken Xie's power in the army. Unexpectedly, it was his villain's heart that judged the gentleman's heart.
According to Gao Xi, if Xie Xuan directly gives up to Gao Chun, he will not face Zhu Yuanzhang at all, so why is there any danger?
"General Fu, what do you think?"
Wang Jing's expression remained unchanged, as if he had not seen the verbal exchanges between these ministers, and his eyes fell on Fu Youde.
After listening to what Gao Xi and Xie Hui said, Fu Youde's original eagerness to fight calmed down a little.
"The general believes that what the two gentlemen said makes sense. Now that our army has captured Jinling and even the Dasheng Pass, Gaochun's importance to us has been reduced by half!"
"General Xie Xuan leads 30,000 Beifu elite soldiers. If they fight together in the wild, they can defeat a hundred. But if they stick to the city and are attacked by Zhu Yuanzhang desperately, the losses will definitely not be small!"
"In the opinion of the general, it is better to let General Xie Xuan lead his army back to Liyang instead of fighting with the Ming army, and the general will lead the Zhenjiang camp to Moling Pass...to attack this place by force, and then swallow up part of the Ming army! "
Fu Youde is a talented general. When he knows that what Gao Xi said is reasonable, he will carefully refer to it and modify his plan.
The original intention of the Xia army's surprise attack on Gaochun was to threaten Jinling from the south and create conditions for the main force to attack Jinling.
Now that Zhu Yuanzhang has directly abandoned Jinling, Gaochun's strategic status has declined directly.
Of course, this does not mean that Gaochun is not important. This place is located between Jinling and Xuancheng. It is the gateway between the two places, so it is still important.
It's just not as important as it used to be.
Therefore, Fu Youde agreed to abandon this place first to avoid losing the 30,000 Beifu troops who had finally trained them.
And he led the soldiers and horses from the Zhenjiang camp to attack and kill him all the way. If Zhu Yuanzhang attacked Gaochun in person, the army left behind would definitely not be too strong.
The strength of the Zhenjiang camp is enough to defeat the enemy.
Wang Jing pondered slightly and did not make a decision directly. Instead, he put aside the topic for the time being and began to discuss the Dasheng Pass with everyone.
Dasheng Pass is the last line of defense in the upper reaches of Jinling.
If the Xia army navy occupied this place, they could travel all the way upstream, join the soldiers and horses camped in Lujiang, and launch a mad attack on Chang Yuchun in Dangtu.
Nowadays, Xia Jun's navy is relatively short of generals.
It is a problem to let the general lead the troops to garrison Dasheng Pass and wait for the main force of the navy.
Wang Jing and everyone discussed for a while and selected Lu Kang as the naval general, temporarily leading tens of thousands of naval forces to Dasheng Pass.
Lu Xun is a famous general in history. His son Lu Kang is also a top general who is not inferior to his father. He guards Jiangling and prevents the Western Jin Dynasty from advancing. Even if the Western Jin Dynasty had Yang Hu, they suffered repeated defeats.
As soon as Lu Kang died, Soochow was quickly destroyed by the Western Jin...
This general, who could be called the pillar of the late Soochow Dynasty, was naturally no stranger to the navy.
After the proceedings.
Li Shanchang, Pei Ju, He Chou and others left first, while Gao Xi, Zhang Juzheng, Xie Hui and Fu Youde stayed.
Wang Jing led four people to the study.
Except for Zhang Juzheng, the other three were all close ministers who had followed Wang Jing for a long time. Knowing that Wang Jing left them behind, they must have important matters to discuss, but they didn't know what they wanted to discuss.
When Gao Xi took his seat, his eyes flickered slightly, as if he was aware of something.
Wait until everyone is seated.
Wang Jing glanced at them and said: "The four beauties are all my confidants. There are no outsiders at the moment, so I will tell you what I have to say!"
"What do you think of Zhu Yuanzhang?"
this……
Everyone looked at each other, Gao Xi pondered slightly and said: "Although Zhu Yuanzhang is an enemy of our dynasty, I have to say that this person is one of the few wise masters in the world. He can rise up no matter what era he is in. He could even dominate the world! This man is a powerful enemy of our dynasty!"
Xie Hui nodded slightly. Even he had to admit the greatness of Zhu Yuanzhang, a man with an extremely humble status who could create a three-hundred-year dynasty.
As for Zhang Juzheng and Fu Youde, they were both famous ministers and generals of the Ming Dynasty in history, especially Fu Youde. Although they hated Zhu Yuanzhang, they also had admiration deep in their hearts.
Obviously everyone has a high opinion of Zhu Yuanzhang.
Wang Jing sighed and said: "That's right. Zhu Yuanzhang's status is even lower than that of Liu Bang. He defeated many opponents, expelled Meng Yuan, and unified the world. If we rank the emperors in history books, this person will definitely be ranked at the top. five!"
The only emperor who could reliably suppress Ming Taizu was Qin Shihuang.
Under him were Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu, and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty...
Although they are both top Mingjuns, the gap between them and Ming Taizu is not too big.
Li Shimin's civil and military skills were slightly better than Zhu Yuanzhang's. The other emperors were equal to Zhu Yuanzhang, so it didn't matter who he ranked at the forefront.
But no matter how he is ranked, Zhu Yuanzhang will not fall out of the top five.
Gao Xi and Xie Hui thought for a while and quickly reviewed the emperors recorded in the history books. They also felt that Wang Jing was right.
"Zhu Yuanzhang! My powerful enemy! In the southern part of the world of China, he is the only one who can compete with me! If we don't take advantage of the Ming army's weakening power to deal with it, he will surely slowly get entangled with our army and withdraw from Jinling. Take Xuancheng as the foundation!”
"He can even continue to expand towards Huizhou and Jiujiang, losing money in the north and making up for it in the south. As long as he doesn't die, he will continue to struggle with me with tenacity!"
"If you give him enough time, the Ming army will be able to recover in a few years and become a powerful enemy of our army again!"
"For such a person, do you think I can give him a chance to continue to pester him?"
Wang Jing's tone was light.
However, the four people in the study could all feel Wang Jing's fear of Zhu Yuanzhang. This fear was far greater than that of Xiang Yu, Lu Bu, and Cao Cao.
Gao Xi's eyes moved slightly but he didn't answer.
Wang Jing didn't need him to answer. Wang Jing was looking at Xie Hui.
At this time, Xie Hui also understood the meaning of Wang Jing's words.
His heart was full of bitterness, and he replied with some difficulty: "No!"
"good!"
Wang Jing immediately patted the wooden case, his eyes suddenly burst out with a cold light, and said in a deep voice: "Of course I will not give him a chance! As long as this powerful enemy can be defeated, even the 30,000 Beifu troops that I have spent a lot of resources to train , they will all be destroyed in Gaochun, no matter what!"
"The elite soldiers died in battle, but I can still continue training!"
"As for Zhu Yuanzhang, there is only one person in the world!"
The four people in the study all understood Wang Jing's decision at this time.
Wang Jing did not agree to the previous proposal of Gao Xi and Fu Youde in the palace. He was planning to let Xie Xuan and 30,000 Beifu troops defend Gaochun and block the passage southward for the remnants of the Ming army.
Then a desperate general attack was launched in the north.
As long as Wang Jing's goal can be achieved, no matter how many soldiers and horses are lost in the process, it will still be worth it!
Of course, with the remaining troops of the Ming army, the losses of the Xia army would not be too high.
The only place where there is risk is Gaochun where Xie Xuan is.
"I understand..."
Seeing Wang Jing's determined expression, Xie Hui knew that he had no room for bargaining.
Moreover, just now he kept saying that he could not let go of the Ming army and must send troops to pursue them as soon as possible... Although his meaning was different from Wang Jing's, his words were very similar.
Another point is that the 30,000 Beifu Army is not Xie's private army. The real master of the Beifu Army is Wang Jing!
"Xingming, I asked Yuwen Chengdu to lead two thousand Bai'er elite troops and one thousand trapped camp elite troops, with Zhou Panlong and his son as deputy, and take the Danyang waterway south to Jintan. You will set off with the army and meet Lu Xun in Liyang!"
"Three thousand top elite soldiers, plus the support from generals such as Yuwen Chengdu, it will not be that easy for Zhu Yuanzhang to capture Gao Chun!"
Wang Jing said slowly.
Xie Hui breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
Although Yuwen Chengdu rarely led troops into battle in person, no one doubted his strength.
As Wang Jing's personal guard general, with the support of various resources, his strength has soared. He is an absolute top general, father and son Zhou Panlong and Zhou Fengshu, who were only eighth-level generals before.
However, after experiencing great battles, the two of them also broke through the ninth-level bottleneck, but their realm only reached the human realm, which was not as rapid as Yuwen Chengdu's.
Xia Jun's ninth-level generals are scattered all over the country. Jinling seems to be short of generals, but with a little mobilization, more people can be found.
Four ninth levels plus Xie Xuan and Xiao Moke.
Enough to resist Zhu Yuanzhang!
Wang Jing has no intention of letting Xie Xuan die...
(End of chapter)
