Fang Yuan only spent one-third of the Xuanjia Army's troops, and in less than a month, he defeated Liu Liangzuo, a warlord entrenched in Jiangbei and Jiangnan. The deterrent effect of this battle was by no means inferior to Sun Chuanting's battle to destroy the Shandong warlord Liu Zeqing.

Whether it is Zuo Liangyu or Zheng Zhilong, they are all afraid when they hear it. Especially Zuo Liangyu in Jiangxi, the left army could not break the alliance formed by Ma Shiying, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Zhu Yihai and others even with great effort. However, Fang Yuan easily defeated Liu Liangzuo, if the left army met the Xuanjia army, what would be the result, it was also terrifying to think about it.

After defeating Liu Liangzuo, it was already mid-September, less than a month before the day of sending troops to the Zheng family.

Due to the new movement in the direction of the imperial court and Zuo Liangyu, Fang Yuan stayed at the Taihu base for ten days in a row, secretly summoned Jing Jie, and began to redeploy the establishment of the sergeants who went out on the expedition and stayed behind.

Jing Jie listened to what Fang Yuan said, frowned and said, "Boss, why did the imperial court suddenly change its hexagram?" Could it be that there was some misunderstanding in it? ”

Fang Yuan didn't want to believe this change, although he didn't know if the imperial court suddenly turned his face, or if he had been planning a sneak attack, but he couldn't help but be wary of the sudden attack of the imperial court, "I sent Hu Qi to test King Yong, and King Yong refused to come to Suzhou City because he was sick. His weak-heartedness proves that he did collude with the crown prince Zhu Cihong in private. ”

Jing Jie was still a little suspicious, and asked, "Why don't you send a letter from the princess's family to Queen Zhou, and then ask the reason, such a major military plan, don't be led by the nose by a secret letter!" ”

Fang Yuan said lightly, "There is no doubt that Zhou Yuji, the governor of Shanxi, is secretly mobilizing troops and horses. Regardless of whether there is any change in the imperial court, it will also deny the existence of this secret fold. It's useless to talk back and forth with the court now, but a waste of time. We have to abandon any illusions and prepare for the worst. ”

Jing Jie was silent for a while, and finally nodded and said, "Boss, if the imperial court and Zuo Liangyu really come to attack, how should we deal with it?" Do you want to postpone the attack on Fujian? ”

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice, "If these three parties are really united, it will be very difficult to defend the whole line passively. What's more, the imperial court and Zuo Liangyu don't see rabbits and don't scatter eagles, we have a vigorous battle to attack the Zheng family, the war bonds have also been sold, all the people and mules are ready, but suddenly they said that they would give up attacking Fujian, how should the silver of the war bonds be repaid? The only way to break the strategic deadlock is to attack the south and defend the north, and destroy the Zheng family at all costs! ”

Attacking in the south and defending in the north is the strategic policy that Fang Yuan has decided, and there is no need to question it. The easiest way to resist the attack of the imperial court is to deploy defenses in Yangzhou Mansion, and even defend the enemy outside the country in Huai'an Mansion.

Fang Yuan stared at the two waterways of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal passing through Yangzhou Mansion on the map, and said, "Third Brother, how sure are you if you resist the Ming army going south from Huai'an Mansion in Yangzhou Mansion?" ”

Jing Jie stood side by side with him, looked at the map and said, "How many sergeants can the boss leave for me?" If there are 30,000 soldiers, they will definitely be able to hold Yangzhou Mansion. ”

Fang Yuan groaned and said, "Third child, the Xianxialing Ancient Road is the first day of danger in Zhejiang and Fujian, no matter how you adjust the sergeants who go out to Fujian, it can't be less than 80,000." There are at most 30,000 sergeants who can be left for you to garrison Nanzhili and Zhejiang, of course, the 20,000 soldiers who surrendered are not among them. ”

If the situation of the secret fold is true, 30,000 Xuanjia sergeants, 20,000 Liu Jun who fought five scum will have to resist Zuo Liangyu, who has 300,000 soldiers, and at least 200,000 elite Ming troops in the imperial court, and the armies of both sides are ten times as much.

What's more, this kind of war is not a decisive battle between the two sides, a decisive victory.

The imperial court will not be stupid enough to concentrate its forces to fight a decisive battle with the Xuanjia Army, and it will inevitably go south, Huai'an Mansion and Fengyang Mansion are the direction of attack. It is even possible to cross Yangzhou Mansion and land directly in Zhenjiang Mansion from the Yangtze River ferry to attack the inland of Fangyuan.

The 30,000 Xuanjia Army actually had to defend from the mouth of the Yangtze River to Chizhou Mansion, a thousand-mile-long defense area. To deal with any possible point of attack, it is necessary to divide the troops.

Jing Jie pointed to the land and water arteries that had to be defended on the map and said, "Boss, the Longjiang Wharf and Quarry Rock are the gateways to Nanjing City, and they are even more deterrent to Nanjing's military strength. Jingkou Wharf guards the channel of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, and is the most important barrier to protect the Zhenjiang, Changzhou, and Suzhou prefectures of Nanzhili, where 10,000 soldiers must be stationed to ensure that they can resist the Ming army from Fengyang Prefecture; There are also 10,000 soldiers, whether to defend Zuo Liangyu or Yangzhou Mansion, you can only choose one of the two, or the boss will decide! ”

Jing Jie has analyzed the arrangement of troops very clearly, because there are too few chips left behind, let alone take care of the two sides, even if he only defends either side of the imperial court and Zuo Liangyu, it is unknown whether he can stop it.

Fang Yuan looked at the huge Yangzhou Mansion on the map, the area is at least not inferior to the sum of Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, and Songjiang, such a large vast land, the 10,000 Xuanjia Army is already insufficient, and if it is necessary to disperse to meet the enemy, it will inevitably be broken by the imperial court, "The territory of Yangzhou Mansion is too large, and there is no danger to defend, no matter where these 10,000 Xuanjia soldiers are arranged, the Ming army from Huai'an Mansion to the south can also beat the defense line of Yangzhou Mansion into a sieve." ”

He glanced at Jing Jie and said slowly, "Third brother, now the plan, if the imperial court really sends troops, we can only give up Yangzhou Mansion first!" After we have defeated the Zheng family in Fujian, we will be able to recapture Yangzhou Mansion in the north. ”

If Yangzhou Mansion is abandoned, the first to bear the brunt is Jing Jie, the commander of the Xuanjia Army who abandoned the land without a fight, and the saliva of officialdom and the people can drown Jing Jie.

Jing Jie's face was embarrassed, and he asked hesitantly, "The Huaiyang area is the production area of Huai salt, rich merchants gather, and there are millions of people, so they abandoned it so rashly, how to explain to the Hui Merchants and Shanxi Merchants?" How to explain to the people of Yangzhou? ”

His worries were not unreasonable, if Fang Yuan couldn't protect the interests of the common people and wealthy businessmen, how could he expect them to be sincere and obedient? However, Shi Kefa in history knew that he could not do anything and crossed the river to defend Yangzhou, but as a result, he lost his troops and lost all the military strength of Nanjing City in Yangzhou, resulting in the end of Nanjing City's self-collapse without a fight.

A good Yangzhou Mansion, millions of people were given to the imperial court like this, and Fang Yuan's heart was also dripping blood, and it was faintly painful. He was silent for a while, sighed, and said, "Before the imperial court sends troops, we must strictly keep secrets, and we must not disclose the slightest hint that the imperial court will send troops south, and we will abandon the rumor of Yangzhou Mansion, otherwise Yangzhou Mansion will be chaotic without a fight, and we can only hope that the imperial court can treat the people well!" ”

Jing Jie was silent when he heard this, Fang Yuan looked at the map again and said, "As for dealing with Zuo Liangyu, I am already seventy percent sure. 10,000 Xuanjia troops were stationed in Huizhou Mansion to guard Zuo Liangyu's passage to attack Zhejiang and ensure the safety of Zhejiang; Fifty warships were stationed at Quarry Rock to harass the left army that was attacking the river; Coupled with the 20,000 Liu troops who surrendered in Chizhou Mansion, Zuo Liangyu could not break through the defense line of Chizhou and Huizhou in the short term and entered the territory of Zhejiang. ”

Jing Jie looked at the map and said, "The combat power of Liu Jun in Chizhou Mansion is worrying!" This arrangement is to give the Chizhou Mansion to the left army in vain. ”

Fang Yuan caressed the Chizhou Mansion on the big map, and said helplessly, "Our troops are limited, and it is impossible to completely stop the infiltration of hundreds of thousands of locust-like left troops into the south of the Yangtze River, so we can only temporarily abandon Chizhou Mansion and use Chizhou Mansion as a buffer zone between us and the Left Army." It was only after the war that the Chizhou government was exempted from taxes as compensation. ”

Jing Jie sighed and said, "Boss, this is the abandonment of the two mansions in a row, how to explain to public opinion?" ”

Fang Yuan was also very helpless, giving up Yangzhou Mansion and Chizhou Mansion was a necessary strategy, no matter how painful it was, it was the only correct choice.

He took Jing Jie's hand, looked at Jing Jie, and said with guilt, "Third brother, I will personally issue an official document ordering the Xuanjia Army to withdraw from Yangzhou and Chizhou, and I will be responsible." ”

Jing Jie shook his head and said, "No, my thoughts are the same as the boss, Yangzhou and Chizhou can't be defended." As the commander of the Xuanjia Army, it is the duty of a soldier to protect the territory and protect the land, how can the boss bear the charges? The boss doesn't have to write any official documents, so as not to be true. The general will not accept the order of the foreign monarch and abandon the second mansion, which is the military order of my Jingjie alone, and it has nothing to do with the boss! ”

Fang Yuan was moved when he heard his honest deeds. At present, he and Jing Jie are generally the same as the headless case between Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression about who ordered the abandonment of the Northeast.

Because Japan is too fierce, the Northeast must be abandoned, this is the consensus of Jiang and Zhang. But whoever gives the order to abandon the defense will bear the responsibility for the loss of the land. Therefore, Jiang and Zhang passed the buck to each other for the sake of fame.

Right now, it is the repetition of history, the only difference is that he and Jing Jie obviously did not shirk the responsibility of abandoning each other in order to love the feathers, but competed to take the responsibility.

To be able to share the wine and meat brothers, to share the hardships, and even to fight for hardships, this is the real brother!