Luo Yuhong, who was sitting in Shouwang's Mansion, got Li Cunliang's report a few days later. Along with the report came a special prisoner with a black cloth covering his head, shackles and cannons tied to his hands and feet, and a prisoner cart: Wang Guangxing. Luo Yuhong happened to have something to find Zhu Pingjin, so he escorted Wang Guangxing to Panlong Mountain.

At this time, the Boryeong Conference was nearing its end, and many major political, economic, and military issues related to the country's fortunes had basically been concluded. Pingjin didn't care about anything in the past few days, and spent his whole life training on Panlong Mountain.

These soldiers were originally scheduled to be reinforcements to the Jingchu front. Now, Zhu Pingjin intends to change the direction of use. This is not to say that the situation in Jingchu has eased. On the contrary, the situation there is more complicated than Zhu Pingjin had predicted.

Zhu Pingjin's eyes were always staring at his fateful rival Zhang Xianzhong.

According to the information transmitted back from Jingzhou, Wuchang, Qizhou and other places, Zhang Xianzhong annexed the local bandit Yidougu and clay pots, and joined the battalion with the fifth battalion of the Gezuo. Relying on the Yinghuo Mountains, the thieves absorbed a large number of refugees from Henan, Nanzhi and Huguang, and their strength was rapidly recovering.

Perhaps, Zhang Xianzhong will walk out of the Yinghuo Mountains tomorrow and compete head-on with the main forces of Nanzhi and Huguang of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the Xian Thief and the Fifth Battalion of the Revolution were only a relatively loose military alliance, and there was no unified leadership, and naturally there was no unified direction and target of attack, so it was difficult to judge the direction of their next move. Zhu Pingjin handed over the task of judging the enemy's situation to his think tank, the Political Research Office. However, Shu Guoming recently rushed to Baoning Mansion and submitted a report that was very different from Zhu Pingjian's vision.

In the past six months, the Political Research Office has supplemented the selection of people and talents from the Shu examination, and specially hired several well-known figures who dare to think and speak as counselors from the society, and its strength has greatly increased.

When there are more people, the organization must be improved.

According to the type of business, the political research office is divided into the provincial office (one room), the provincial office (two rooms) and the counselor's office.

The Provincial Office is mainly engaged in domestic and foreign affairs, while the Provincial Office is mainly engaged in advanced intelligence analysis.

The Counsellor's Office is completely different from the above two offices, and its rank is quite high, comparable to that of the Secretary for Administration, but the administrative relationship is temporarily reduced to the Political Research Office.

Liu Yuliang, the former cabinet chief assistant of Zhishi, Wang Bingqian, the former Dali Temple in Chengdu, Wang Luheng, the former Tongzhi of Xuanhua Mansion, Zhu Yanyi, Jinshi of Chengdu County, Gong Wanjing, Jinshi of Pengxian County, Zhang Renxue, the chief soldier of Jinshi of Anyue County, Dou Kejin, the former deputy envoy of Yunnan Armament, Wang Qi'e, the Jinshi of Tongbang, and Li Wan, the Jinshi of Xichong, were specially appointed as the first counselors of the Shu Wangfu.

The counselors have neither limited scope of business nor specific tasks, and can say whatever they want anyway. These old men were very interested in hearing that they had the opportunity to give full play to their surplus heat and to make money and treatment. took the one-foot-long letter of appointment with gold powder on a red background personally signed by Zhu Pingjin, the prince of the world, and felt that his worth had doubled, and he had more face, and kept sending messages to show off in the old man's circle.

The Political Research Office uses all kinds of information such as the imperial court newspaper as raw materials, and uses people's minds as factories, and Zhu Pingjin urgently needs more and more ideological products.

Regarding the future development of the war situation in the Central Plains, the Political Research Office believes that in Guannei, the focus of the imperial court's attention is not on the sacrifice of thieves and the five battalions of Gezuo, but on Henan, Kaifeng and the thieves.

After the joint venture between Chuang and Luo, the strength has increased greatly, and it is far from being comparable to Zhang Xianzhong. As long as the thief is still in Henan for a day, the focus of the imperial court will not be shifted to the thief and the fifth battalion of Gezuo.

However, the demands of the governments of Huguang and Nanzhi were at odds with those of the imperial court. Proceeding from their own interests, the governments of the two places focused more on the five battalions of the thieves and the revolution at the junction of the three provinces.

On the Huguang side, there are the battalions of the Chu army under the jurisdiction of Ding Qirui, the governor of the five provinces, and Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang; On the Nanzhi side, there are general soldiers Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo and other soldiers of the Nanzhi Guard. To the north, it is the territory of Chuang Cao; To the south, there is a Yangtze River moat to block it.

Therefore, the recent actions of the 5th Battalion of the Sacrifice Thief and the Revolution can only be limited. Their purpose is still to plunder the cities around the mountainous areas to replenish food, supplies and population.

Therefore, it is possible for the 5th Battalion of the Sacrifice Thief and the Revolution to achieve a partial victory, but they do not yet have the strength to develop this partial victory into a strategic offensive that will sweep the whole province or even several provinces. Their real large-scale attack will definitely not start until the imperial court orders the official armies of Huguang and Nanzhi to go north to rescue Kaifeng, and the two provinces of Huguang and Nanzhi are empty.

The Political Research Office also believes that after the fall of Nanyang and the death of Liu Guoneng and Li Wanqing, all prefectures and counties in western Henan were destroyed.

At present, the second attack on Kaifeng is unfavorable, and they retreat to western Henan as usual. However, the strength of the thieves was not damaged, and the westward retreat was just a trick to lure the enemy. Zuo Liangyu went north to Yuncheng and wanted to copy the back road of the thieves, but he happened to be surrounded by the thieves who retreated westward.

This has already caused a ripple effect.

Seeing that Zuo Liangyu was besieged, the imperial court hurriedly ordered Shaanxi Governor Wang Qiaonian to lead 30,000 troops including He Renlong, Zheng Jiadong, Niu Chenghu, Zhang Guoqin, and Zhang Yinggui to go out of Tongguan and attack the thieves from the north and south with the left army. With the virtues of He Renlong, Zuo Liangyu and other generals who commanded the army, Wang Qiaonian's prospects are not good, and it is estimated that there will be definite news of defeat soon.

Once the thieves defeated Wang Qiaonian, there were two options in the next step: one was to sweep through the eastern part of Henan and return to the German prefectures, completely isolate Kaifeng, and prepare for the third siege of Kaifeng; The second is to go straight south to Jingxiang and threaten Chengtianfu again.

According to the judgment of the Political Research Office, the first option is the most likely. Because of the capture of Kaifeng, not only can the strategic base of the Ming Dynasty in the Central Plains be completely destroyed, but also Kaifeng can be used as bait to besiege the city and send reinforcements. That is, the art of war: "Attack the enemy must be saved, and the one who will be saved will be annihilated." The second possibility is slim, because Zuo Liangyu has not been eliminated. If the left army goes south, it will be attacked by the left army and the Chu army in the north and south again, and fall into a passive situation.

After making the above judgment, the Political Research Office came to a rough strategic conclusion:

Chen Youfu's troops, which currently occupy Yiling and Lizhou, will not be attacked by thieves on a large scale in the short term. They may have half a year left to complete the tasks of moving the displaced people into Sichuan, consolidating their territory, and expanding their army. Therefore, the area that the Protector Army should be anxious to occupy and consolidate is not the vast area of the Jianghan Plain east of Yiling, but the area east of Kuizhou, north of Yiling, west of Xiangyang, and south of Yunyang.

The Political Research Office believes that the mountains and roads in Kuidong are dangerous, thieves of all sizes have been rampant for nearly ten years, the cities and villages are extremely dilapidated, and most of the people of the government have fled. Yunfu Wang Yongzuo fled to Xiangyang, leaving Gao Doushu, the prefect Xu Qiyuan and the incorporated Wang Guangen to defend Yunyang, with less than 4,000 soldiers and civilians, and hundreds of miles of Jingzhen between the two state capitals.

If the Protector Army takes advantage of the situation, it will be able to recruit displaced people and defend against danger. Once Kaifeng was encircled, Zuo Liangyu rushed to Kaifeng, and Huguang was empty. Then the Protector Army can calmly go out of the mountain and compete with the thieves for the land of Jingchu.

In the article "Huainanzi Astronomy", it is said that Gonggong and Zhuan Xuan competed for the emperor, and Gonggong admitted gambling and refused to admit defeat, so he came up brute force and "touched the mountain of incomparability". Since then, "the pillars of heaven are oblique, and the earth is absolute." The sky tilts to the northwest, so the sun, moon and stars shift. The land is not in the southeast, so the water and dust return. ”

This slanted pillar of heaven is the dividing line between the second and third levels of Chinese geography. This dividing line, which slopes from northeast to southwest, from Aihui in Heilongjiang to Tengchong in Yunnan, splits the map of China diagonally into two pieces.

Due to the high northwest and low southeast, since ancient China, the soldiers of China have taken the northwest and the southeast as the homeopathic trend, and the southeast and the northwest as the countertrend. From the Qin invasion of the Six Kingdoms, the Han invasion of Chu, to the last founding of the country known to Zhu Pingjin in his previous life, this is the case.

As for the successful examples of the southeast and northwest in history, there are very few successful examples. It's about only twice. The first time was Zhu Pingjian's ancestor, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty; As for the second time, it was naturally Chiang who claimed to be a revolutionary party.

From the perspective of military strategy, it is the danger of occupying the upper hand and the water, condescending and defending against the danger. First being invincible, and then aggressively fighting for the Central Plains, this is the same thing as Li Zicheng retreating to the mountains of western Henan to recuperate.

Zhu Pingjin knows that the "Kuidong region" in history is actually the mountainous area of western Hubei Province. At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Thirteen Kuidong Families who insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty have always been active in this area. Because of the high mountains and dangerous roads, the lack of food and food, the Qing army was extremely difficult to clear the mountainous areas of western Hubei. It was not until the early years of Kangxi that the resistance army, which had persisted for more than 20 years, was finally suppressed.

Occupying the Kuidong area in advance will not only eliminate a future base area of the peasant army in the future, but will also occupy a favorable flank defense position when Li Zicheng goes south to Jingzhou and returns to Guanzhong in the west, or when Zhang Xianzhong enters Shu in the west.

However, Liu Zhibo's stubborn insistence on not turning against the imperial court at the Baoning Conference made Zhu Pingjin difficult: which force should be sent to carry out the task of occupying the Kuidong region without arousing the vigilance of the imperial court and the Huguang government?

It just so happened that Liu Mingsheng of the Intelligence Bureau used the information confessed by the captives to submit Zhu Pingjin a summary of the situation of the Bashan local thugs.

Zhu Pingjin immediately decided: to use Wang Guangxing's identity as the second brother of Wang Guangen, the king of Xiaoqin, to extend his claws into Kuidong Mountain and into the second state of Junyun. This is the reason why Zhu Pingjin changed the direction of his troop deployment, and it is also the reason why Zhu Pingjin strictly ordered Li Cunliang to capture Wang Guangxing alive.

……

On Panlong Mountain, the banner of the Protector Army and the banner of the Prince of the World fluttered in the wind.

Zhu Pingjin held a telescope in his hand and watched with great interest the actual combat confrontation exercise between the Shizi Guard Battalion and Liu Sangen's battalion with Song Zhenzong, Xu Hanqing, Sun Hong, Li Changxiang, and others.

The specific subjects included marching troops, forward reconnaissance, intelligence transmission, determination to be issued, platoon deployment, firepower development, and holding on to important areas and organizing pursuits.

As soon as the exercise began, the guard battalion and the literate independent battalion spotted the enemy almost simultaneously, but the difference in experience and organization immediately became superior.

The guard battalion sent the letter on a fast horse, and first reported to the acting battalion commander Jiang Lu to know, and then conveyed the order layer by layer;

The independent battalion reported in the language of the horse flag, and the news of the enemy in front was seen by the battalion commander Liu Sangen and the soldiers at the same time. The sharp knife platoon of the 1st Guard Company of the Independent Battalion immediately launched an attack ahead of the enemy, disrupting the predetermined deployment formation of the guard battalion and winning the first place.

Liu Sangen's command was also very resolute and resolute. He knew that the enemy had a mixed mix of infantry and cavalry, and that there was a large proportion of firearms and equipment. If he pulls away from the front, he is definitely at a disadvantage. Therefore, after the sharp knife platoon was fired, Liu Sangen immediately ordered the first company of the advance guard to attack the enemy position during the march, and the second and third companies were divided into two wings to outflank the attack, and he personally led the fourth company of the rear guard as the reserve of the first company to strengthen the offensive from the front.

When the guard battalion received the enemy, it was still in a long snake formation, so it suffered a big loss from the beginning. However, the guard battalion had horses and firearms. After retreating from the front, Jiang Lu quickly took advantage of the mobility of the cavalry to occupy a small high ground on the side of the road, and took advantage of the terrain to launch long-range firepower.

At this time, the disadvantages of the separate battalion were exposed: the extremely low proportion of firearms. In the blink of an eye, more than 100 people from the independent battalion that rushed to kill in array were judged to have lost their combat effectiveness by Shu Guoping, who acted as the referee.

Liu Sangen faced a considerable number of musketeers who occupied the high ground, but he could not hold the trenches, and the casualties of the hard charge were too great, so he had no choice but to ask for a truce, which was actually a disguised admission of defeat.

"Generals, look at how great the firepower advantage of the guard battalion is!" Zhu Pingjin excitedly pointed out the country, "If you want my Han army, nine times out of ten you are crossbowmen!" With a wave of the flag, locusts flew like rain; The Huns are flying and riding, and An can get close! ”

"The prince is praising the bravery of the Han soldiers in the Han-Hungarian War! No matter how powerful the bandits are, compared to the Huns, they are just a group of local chickens and lackeys! Cheng Xiangfeng stayed in Baoning Mansion to participate in the meeting and discussion, and Li Changxiang consciously stood beside Zhu Pingjin and acted as his translator, interpreting Zhu Pingjian's words into the vernacular that the generals liked to hear.

During the exercise of the two battalions, more than 300 soldiers brought by Xu Hanqing accompanied them to watch the battle. These young soldiers are receiving regular training in basic subjects, and at the same time strengthen language training, and today they specially canceled all training to cheer on both sides of the exercise. The volley of a large number of firearms opened the eyes of the baby soldiers.

"No wonder the parents want to name the last general 'Han Qing'!" Xu Hanqing shouted slightly exaggeratedly, his rough face glowing red, "It turns out that I am so powerful as my ancestors!" ”

Xu Hanqing's thoughts, Zhu Pingjin has long understood it. Xu's family was originally a Hakka family. Staying in Tianquan, the Xu family will always be trampled under the feet of Gao Yang's second surname. Taking the opportunity to set up a self-contained portal is the best choice for Tianquan miscellaneous surnames. Zhu Pingjin called Xu Hanqing today to inquire about his mind in person.

"General Xu, the order of Shudi's army is about to be issued. General Xu fought bravely and made great achievements. This prince wants to appoint General Xu as the commander of the National Protector Corps and lead the troops out of the province to participate in the war, but I don't know what General Xu wants? ”

Xu Hanqing bought someone out of his own pocket, and followed Miss Luo to Baoning Mansion, wasn't he just waiting for this sentence? He immediately bowed his knees and shouted in command. Without waiting for Zhu Pingjin to call him up, he asked again about the formation and whereabouts of the troops.

Xu Hanqing is a veteran who follows Zhu Pingjin, and he knows that Zhu Pingjin will not weave all the children of his Xu family together, but he still hopes to keep a few more children under his command.

Sure enough, Zhu Pingjin said: "Xu Yinhuan played well in Sanhui Town!" But now he is leading the seventeenth battalion adapted from the Zagu Battalion to suppress thieves in Bashan, and this son can't give it to you. Part of the backbone of the 17th Battalion will be led by Xu Yinshou and formed into a new Tusi Battalion together with the soldiers you brought. In addition, Liu Sangen's battalion and several companies with outstanding combat achievements will be organized into three rack battalions, which will be included in the formation of your regiment. You go to Yiling first, receive the recruits prepared for you by Chen Youfu, and then take them north to Kuidong, occupy Guizhou, Badong, and Xingshan, and garrison and train the battalion. Once you have an order, you will attack Jing Chu! ”

"The last general implores the prince to appoint the prison army!" Xu Hanqing didn't raise his head and pleaded.

This Xu Hanqing is sensible! Zhu Pingjin smiled and said: "Now that the whole army is reorganized, there is an urgent shortage of cadres, and there is an even greater shortage of good cadres!" You have to be aggrieved and temporarily share a prison army with General Jia! As for the supervision of each battalion and company, the superintendent of the military department will inform you in writing. ”

With Wen Yuwu, Xu Hanqing understands the rules of the Ming Dynasty. Sharing the prison army is just a kind word to let Xu Hanqing accept the command of the prison army. It's just that this General Jia in the mouth of the prince is Jia Denglian, the general of the Chu Army who came to visit yesterday with a gift?

The prince did not give Xu Hanqing time to speculate secretly, and immediately uncovered the mystery: "After the reorganization of the Jia Deng Joint Department of the Chu Army is completed, it will be moved to the north of your regiment, that is, the four counties of Zhuxi, Zhushan, Fangxian, and Baokang in Yunyang Mansion. In this way, Wei Chen is in Kuizhou, Chen Youfu is in Yiling, you are in Guizhou, and Jia Denglian is south of Junzhou (Note 1), and the Protector Army will form a large military presence in Kuidong......"

Zhu Pingjin was telling Xu Hanqing about his strategic intentions, and a hurried baby guard Ding Ding Dong ran to the colonel's review platform and reported to Zhu Pingjin, "Play! Luo Lone Wolf has arrived! She also has a prisoner in her custody! ”

Note 1: The ancient city of Junzhou is under the Danjiangkou Reservoir.