On October 13, the 10th year of Taichu, the eastern and western armies of the Great Xia Dynasty were formed. Yue Fei and Han Xin, the commanders of the two armies, also rushed to Jiangling and Xuzhou respectively.
On the 15th, the vanguard troops and horses of the West Road camp began to clash with the Eastern Han Dynasty troops.
As the emperor, Wang Jing did not stay in Jinling City and wait, but Yang made preparations to go to the front line to supervise the battle. After all, the capture of the Central Plains this time was of great importance, and his enemies were no small matter.
In the original world, the most successful Northern Expedition in the South was Zhu Yuanzhang. He was based in Jinling and sent General Xu Da to lead his troops north to attack Dadu, successfully returning the land of Youyan, which had been separated for hundreds of years, to the Central Plains.
Wang Jing admired Zhu Yuanzhang deep down in his heart. Many of the people who started the Great Xia Dynasty were the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty. These people were all very capable.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang's opponent at that time was Meng Yuan, who was still alive.
Wang Jing's current opponent is Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who defeated hundreds of thousands of troops with three thousand soldiers and horses in history, like a son of destiny. The other party's civil and martial arts skills were matched by few in the history books. Among the hundreds of emperors, he was ranked among the top ten.
The civil servants and generals under Liu Xiu should not be underestimated. And behind Liu Xiu were Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che and Emperor Zhaolie Liu Bei. Even if he sent out two great generals, Yue Fei and Han Xin, Wang Jing could not guarantee that they would win.
With this mentality.
On the 20th, Wang Jing made arrangements in Jinling and ordered Shen Yi, Bu Zhi, and Xie An to sit in the rear, while he dispatched some of his ministers to accompany him to Jiangling.
Wang Jing is not worried about the East and West armies, because the East Route Army sets out from Xuzhou and advances by land and water and will not encounter any obstacles before entering the Central Plains. The West Route Army goes north from Jiangling and is the army of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Of the two armies, the West Route Army was definitely the first to engage the enemy. A few days later.
The imperial driver then came to Jiangling.
Since he was followed by many officials and tens of thousands of personal guards, Wang Jing could have arrived at Jiangling in less than half a day by flying in the air. It's just that...it's not necessary.
It's not a critical moment now. The commander of the West Road camp is still Yue Fei. Wang Jing is here just to boost morale and has no intention of commanding the army in Yue Fei's place, so he can march as normal.
At this time, Yue Fei had led his army to the front line. The person sitting in Jiangling and greeting Wang Jing was Zhang Juzheng. After capturing Jingchu, Wang Jing asked Zhang Juzheng to take charge of the civil affairs here.
Now, in just over a year, the entire Jingchu has undergone tremendous changes. Whether it is the number of people or farmland taxes, they have undergone earth-shaking changes compared to two years ago.
Huan Wen's governance of Jiangling at that time was careless and rough. Local powerful people built forts and trained private soldiers. The number of registered Dingkou was relatively small. After Jiangling fell into the hands of Daxia, many hidden households were searched out.
Therefore, even though Jingchu suffered military disasters one after another and many people were killed or injured, the number of registered Dingkou did not decrease, but instead increased.
Zhang Juzheng himself is a talented prime minister who has been famous throughout the ages. He is mature and experienced in governing. When Jingchu was developing, he gave practical assistance to the Xia Dynasty. After the autumn harvest, Jingchu not only did not need the assistance of the imperial court. , and can even provide a large amount of food, grass, ordnance for military use.
"Yes, it is indeed right to leave Jingchu to you. I did not misjudge the person!"
Inside the Jiangling Palace.
Wang Jing couldn't help but praise Zhang Juzheng's report.
Although Zhang Juzheng and the provincial chief envoys in Jingchu and other places often reported the situation to Jinling, and Wang Jing was no stranger to the situation in Jiangling and other places, what he heard with his ears and what he saw with his own eyes were ultimately different.
After returning to Jiangling, Wang Jing could see Zhang Juzheng's political achievements just by looking at the situation in Jiangling City.
It can only be said that he is indeed a famous prime minister in history, and his reputation and ability even surpass Li Shanchang. Presiding over the government affairs of Jingchu is not a big pressure for him.
"I don't dare. Without His Majesty's support, how can I manage my affairs calmly..." Zhang Juzheng quickly humbled himself.
Wang Jing laughed. What the other party said was correct. Without the support of grain and grass supplies shipped from other places in Daxia, Zhang Juzheng wanted to develop Jingchu to what it is today.
At this level, it would take three years to say the least.
After a few words with Zhang Juzheng, Wang Jing changed the subject and began to ask about the situation of the camp on the west road. After all, he came to Jiangling this time not to inspect local internal affairs, but to supervise the war nearby.
"General Yue is leading the main force to attack Jingmen, and General He Ruo is leading a partial force on the right to attack Mianyang. With the abilities of the two generals, it will not be a problem to capture both places! I believe there will be good news soon..."
Zhang Juzheng was also assigned to the marching camp of the West Route Army at this time, and was mainly responsible for logistics and food dispatch. As a member of the West Road Camp, he naturally understands the situation of the army.
While Wang Jing was on the ship, although he could also receive military reports from the army, the time of these military reports was somewhat delayed, and there were many messages that were not recorded in the military reports.
At this time, Zhang Juzheng gave a detailed introduction to Wang Jing, as well as Gao Ying, Liu Bowen and others who followed Wang Jing. After Yue Fei took office some time ago, he first got familiar with the troops and horses under his command, and soon began to arrange his troops. It is impossible for the more than one million troops of the West Route Army to gather together to attack a certain city.
When there are tens of thousands or more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, you can use these soldiers and horses to attack a place. But when the number of the army reaches a million level, it is a problem to arrange so many soldiers and horses, let alone take so many soldiers. The horses gathered together to attack the city.
Dajun has the usage of Dajun.
With such a large number of troops, the most suitable way is to divide the troops and advance together, so Yue Fei personally led the main force all the way north along the land route, sending He Ruobi as a partial division to attack the lower reaches of the Han River with water troops, and then swim upstream.
If everything goes well, the main partial divisions will meet at the foot of Xiangyang City.
As for whether the Han army would seize the opportunity to separate the troops and defeat them one by one... With a famous general from the Heaven Realm in charge, He Ruobi could hold on for a while even if he was attacked.
If the Han army really does this, Yue Fei will be happy, because the Han army will send out troops and horses to attack, Xiangyang's defense will be weakened, and he can take the opportunity to attack Xiangyang...
"General Yue used his troops very appropriately..."
Wang Dingding nodded.
At this time. A report from the attendant came from outside, "Your Majesty, there is a military report from the front..."
Wang Jing raised his eyebrows and immediately asked someone to bring the military report. He glanced at it and a smile suddenly appeared on his face, and said: "As you said, General Yue has captured Jingmen, and now he has sent vanguard General Yang Zaixing to garrison. Lexian Bridge!"
As he spoke, he handed the military report to everyone around him.
Gao Xi and Liu Bowen looked at each other.
"Your Majesty, the Han army is concentrating its forces to defend Xiangyang and does not intend to fight with our army on the outer defense line..." Gao Lei said.
Before coming, he read the intelligence from the spies. At this time in Xiangyang, there were many famous generals of the Han army. If the opponent wanted to fight to the death, there would definitely be a big battle between the Xia army and the Han army at Jingmen. Even with Yue Fei's ability, it was impossible to count them. Capture the city within a few days.
Nowadays, the army is attacking the city and plundering the territory, and the advance is rapid. This only shows one thing, that is, the opponent is fighting and retreating, strengthening the walls and clearing the country, and does not want to lose too many troops on the periphery.
