"Congratulations to Master Ruan for getting the first credit!" Lei Hu was happy, envious and jealous, with a smile on his face, but he said it a little bit.

Ruan Xihao said very calmly: "If there was no Lei Shishuai to block the periphery, feint to attack Shucheng, and make it difficult for the Qing Demon to take care of his position, I would not have been able to attack the city wall like this." Besides, most of the Qing demons were also killed by you by Master Lei. ”

Since Ruan Xihao's posture is so soft, Lei Hu has nothing to say more. Moreover, when Wei Ze evaluates combat merits, he is measured by the achievement of completing tasks. This time, the task of Lei Hu was completed very well. In addition to the first credit, the collective merit of the troops is the same as that of Nguyen Hee Ho's troops.

After dealing with Lei Hu, Ruan Xihao said to Ke Gongyu, the commander of the first division: "Ke Shishuai's teaching brigade has beaten the demons and can't raise their heads, which is really a great help. ”

Ke Gongyu was not as excited as Lei Hu, and he smiled: "Since the battle is arranged like this, I naturally have to complete the task." ”

Hu Chenghe, the head of the War Department, couldn't help but join in when he saw the enthusiasm that everyone said, "Thank you for coming and going, why doesn't anyone think of our General Staff!" We don't have credit for co-authoring! ”

"The plan made by the staff is really good, I don't know how to thank it!" Lei Hu smiled, "However, your plan is too good, we who fought in person don't even know where to thank you, if you talk about credit, the staff will not take all the credit!" ”

"Master Lei, are you praising me?" Hu Chenghe said with a smile.

Seeing the generals excited because of this victory, Wei Ze couldn't help but think of Zhang Yingchen. Sincerely, Wei Ze doesn't hate Zhang Yingchen, but every time he thinks of some of his inappropriate personnel arrangements, he regrets it a little. Wei Ze suspected that he might be overly careful, and without Zhang Yingchen there, the atmosphere in the entire upper echelons looked a lot more relaxed.

Zhang Yingchen won't be in a hurry, train crazy, and then take the soldiers to get angry, right? Weeser couldn't help but think. It's just that at this time, he can't say anything, so he can only let things unfold on their own.

After taking Shucheng, he opened the door to Luzhou. After interrogating the captives, Wei Ze understood how there could be rumors that the 4,000 Qing army was going to attack Anqing. Now the total strength of Shucheng and Luzhou is only 4,000, and at this time in Luzhou is Jiang Wenqing, the governor of Anhui, who is worried that after giving up the defense of Shucheng, the Taiping army can directly kill under the city of Luzhou. Therefore, Jiang Wenqing sent 1,000 reinforcements to Shucheng, plus the seven or eight hundred Qing troops who were originally guarding Shucheng and retreated from Anqing, the total number was close to 2,000.

As a result, this tactic of dividing troops led to a situation in which the Taiping army was defeated individually, and now the total number of Qing troops defending Luzhou is only 2,000. The opinion of the General Staff was very simple, the whole army immediately rushed straight to Luzhou, and did its best to defeat this city with empty troops.

If Luzhou can be captured, before the grain harvest in July, the Taiping army will be able to solve the grain tax work in the vast area between Luzhou and Anqing. At that time, the total amount of food that can be collected will be enough to feed 60,000 people in the "budget" for a year.

"Prime Minister, are you worried about Zhang Yingchen?" Looking at Wei Ze's thoughtful appearance, Hu Chenghe couldn't help but ask.

Wei Ze frowned and glanced at Hu Chenghe, he was very suspicious of how he could be seen through so lightly. Wei Ze replied: "I am indeed a little worried about whether he is angry and so in the army. ”

Hu Chenghe said with a smile: "Prime Minister, you always put your brothers in your heart. You can see it at a glance. Don't worry, Zhang Yingchen is a lot smarter. The more he gets to this time, he will train honestly. I think that the reason why he was so rough in front of him was because he wanted to make meritorious contributions and was afraid of losing the battle. Now let him do it himself from below, he should be at ease. ”

"I hope so." Weese replied. At this time, it was useless for Wei Ze to say anything, and it depended on whether Zhang Yingchen could understand the reason.

Putting Zhang Yingchen's affairs aside, Wei Ze said: "I don't want to build yì and capture Luzhou right now." Once we arrive in Luzhou, the entire Qing demon north of Luzhou will be alarmed, and I want to surround the point to help. feint to attack Luzhou, and specially came to rescue the Qing Demon of Luzhou. Luzhou can't run, once the Qing demon sent to Luzhou to send reinforcements, the Qing demon in the city is naturally scared to death, and let the local heroes in Luzhou know that it is powerful, which is conducive to our implementation of grain tax payment in Luzhou. ”

This thought was quite surprising to the generals, some frowned in contemplation, and some looked at Wei Ze with a frown, obviously hoping that Wei Ze would explain.

"Let me ask you a question, what do you think is the most important thing to fight a war? ”

"Courage?" Nguyen Hee Ho replied.

"Training?" Ke Gongyu replied.

"Find out about the enemy?" Lei Hu replied.

"The most important thing to fight a war is food and money. If you can sell the materials you need for money, then the first thing you need to fight a war is money, the second need is money, and the third need is money! Of course, this is in a situation where you can sell goods for money. Weeser quoted Napoleon.

"If you have money to get something to eat, the troops can train well. Only when there is money to buy weapons can the troops buy better weapons. Since we may not be able to buy it with money now, and we don't have much food and weapons, then we must first get a stable supply of food. If we want the local people to accept food, we have to let the local heroes know that they are not our opponents, and let them know that we have the ability to kill all the Qing demons in the area under our control. When Haoqiang is finished if he doesn't pay taxes, they will not resist desperately, but will use food to survive. War is a continuation of politics. First there was politics, and then there was war! You can't get this wrong. ”

The word 政zhì has been mentioned in the literacy section of the army, government is policy, it is a government order, and governance is governance. Governing the country with policies is government.

Hu Chenghe nodded slightly, "That is to say, our purpose in fighting Luzhou is actually to control the area from Luzhou to Anqing, complete the policy of paying taxes on grain, and accumulate the capital to fight with the Qing Demon in the future?" ”

"That's right!" Wei Ze nodded with satisfaction, "Every battle is not simply to kill people, nor is it simply to seize certain territory. It's all a means, not an end. The General Staff Headquarters will talk about strategy to everyone, and the apex of strategy is never for the victory or defeat of a certain battle, or even for the victory or defeat of a certain battle. Rather, it depends on whether the ultimate goal of the war is accomplished. And whether the price to pay is within what we can afford. Once the strategy is wrong, no matter how many battles you win, it will be in vain. ”

There is no need for Wei Ze to elaborate on the question of the future, after having food, he can recruit troops and feed them. It would also allow troops completely detached from agricultural production to conduct adequate military training. The Combat Training Department and the Teaching Brigade have been established for a long time, and the generals have long known very well what the results will be if a unit has undergone rigorous training and will be on the battlefield.

Ke Gongyu, as the former commander of the teaching brigade, was even more clear about this, and he asked: "If this is the case, will we drop another division from Anqing, just our three divisions, I am afraid that the troops will be insufficient." ”

"That's right! That's right! Hu Chenghe agreed, "If we just fight, it will be enough for our 6,000 people to attack Luzhou, which is guarded by 2,000 Qing demons." If you want to deter the place, you need at least 8,000 people. ”

"At the same time as the troops are marching, the fourth division will be transferred over." Weeser agreed to this construction.

On May 7, Wei Ze's troops had arrived in Luzhou and surrounded the entire Luzhou with brigades as units. On May 9, a piece of news reached Wei Ze, and Hu Yuanwei, the prefect of Luzhou, privately sent someone to contact the Taiping army and ask for surrender.

"Does this Hu Yuanwei really want to surrender?" Hu Chenghe was a little stunned. Before the war, the General Staff made full preparations and made preparations for a long-term siege, but they did not expect that the prefect of Luzhou would be such a soft bone and actually want to surrender. With the unhappiness that the strategy was disrupted, Hu Chenghe took the lead in questioning.

Ke Gongyu didn't care at all, "What are you afraid of?" Since he wants to surrender, we will accept it. Even if Hu Yuanwei wants to play any tricks, as long as our troops enter the city, the Qing army in the city is a fart. As long as the terrain allows, it is not difficult for us to teach the brigade a hundred to fight them a thousand. ”

"How?" Hu Chenghe asked.

Ke Gongyu smiled, "It's simple." If Hu Yuanwei plays the trick of opening the city to lure the enemy, we will first send someone to contact him and investigate the city wall of Luzhou City Gate. Dare to let us a hundred people go in, and immediately control the vital place, at that time, it was useless for Hu Yuanwei to play any tricks. There are our people at the head of the city to respond, and it is not difficult to attack hard. ”

"What about the reinforcements?" Hu Chenghe asked.

"The situation has changed, so do we have to follow suit!" Ke Gongyu replied.

"Is the order changing?" Hu Chenghe tasted a little questioning.

"It's called improvisation!" Ke Gongyu replied.

Weeser didn't answer immediately, and he swayed between the two opinions. This is really a plan that can't catch up with the changes, Wei Ze doesn't care about Hu Yuanwei's reliable surrender, and whether Hu Yuanwei surrenders or not doesn't have much impact on whether Wei Ze can capture Luzhou. Luzhou is an important town in northern Anhui, and this is not a small city. The 2,000-strong Qing army was too reluctant to defend the city on the city walls. The combat effectiveness of the two sides is too different, Ke Gongyu is right, let the brothers of the 100 teaching brigade guard a city gate, or even just a section of the city wall, the Qing army's 2,000 people will not be able to take it back in an hour. At this time, it was enough for Wei Ze's troops to go up to the city, and all that remained was to exterminate the Qing army.

However, there is a problem with this kind of fight, Weese will still lose some troops. When it comes to loss reduction and maintenance strategies, Weeser is torn between a dilemma. And Lei Hu also participated in the discussion at this time, and he said: "Prime Minister, I think we should agree to Hu Yuanwei." There will always be brothers and casualties in the siege, and in a head-on battle with the Qing Demon, I am afraid that the number of losses will be fewer. What do you think? ”

This remark made Wei Ze's eyes light up, yes. If you look at the simple loss of troops, it is more efficient to use the brothers in field battles. For an army, protecting the lives of its fighters is the most important factor.

"Then we agreed to Hu Yuanwei, but tell him, we can only wait for another three days, if he doesn't move within three days, we will attack the city. After the city is broken, we can let everyone else go, only Hu Yuanwei will never let go! Weeser said.

And Hu Yuanwei is really a thief, after getting Wei Ze's intimidating reply, Hu Yuanwei secretly sent a request. The content is that Jiang Wenqing, the governor of Anhui, asked Hu Yuanwei to ask for help, and Hu Yuanwei could open the door, but that was when he went to ask for help. Hu Yuanwei hoped that Wei Ze would agree to let Hu Yuanwei "continue to ask for help", but as for the small door that was opened, he "didn't know".

Late at night on May 12, the west gate of Luzhou Shuixi opened a small opening, and the Taiping army, which had already been ambushed there, rushed into Luzhou City from here. A small group of Taiping troops escorted a plainclothes officer to Shuiximen. There is already a small boat waiting here.

"Master Hu, this way to the north, but it's hard for you!" Lei Hupi, who saw him off, said with a smile.

In the night, I couldn't see if Hu Yuanwei's face was flushed with shame, anyway, he got on the boat without saying a word. The boatman propped the boat away from the dock, and the boat faded into the night.

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