The old man actually came on horseback.

Qiongzhou was hot and humid, Zeng Ying was already sweating profusely when she arrived, and there was no crane bone fairy wind of the Ming Dynasty governor when she first saw her.

Orderliness can feel his urgency.

Zeng Ying talked about Huguang, Huguang is the northern gate of Guangdong, and the development of its war situation always affects the hearts of Guangdong officials.

At the beginning of the year, the general of Jianyu Pingnan, Luck Dehun, smashed the area near Huguang and the Yangtze River. The remnants of the three Shun armies, the loyal battalion, the loyal military battalion, and the loyal open battalion, which were pinned on high hopes, were vulnerable to attack, and all of them lost the style that swept the world back then.

Just look at the names of Shunjun and know that their internal contradictions are by no means small, counting Hao Shaoqi, who is directly under He Tengjiao, it is obviously divided into four factions.

Although Du Xiyin, who appeased the Shun army, can be called an operator, his selfishness of holding the remnants of the Shun army into self-respect is very obvious, and he is against He Tengjiao everywhere, making He Tengjiao extremely passive.

He Tengjiaogui is the governor of Huguang, and he has no clothes and food, but he can only command Hao Shaoqi under his hard work. Even this one often looted first and then went into battle, forcing the people of Huguang to Jianyu's side. The defeat of the Shun army in Gong'an County was because the local people were suffering from captivity and plunder, so they led the way to the Jianyu and copied the old camp of the Shun army, and such examples abound.

Zeng Ying mentioned that he was resentful when he mentioned blocking Xiyin, and Zeng Ying had many correspondence with Qu Shiyun He Tengjiao.

He said to Shou Xu: "Sooner or later, blocking Xiyin will be a major event that will harm the country." ”

Shou Xuan didn't know what was going on, he just judged from the big picture, "The military discipline of the Huguang army is too poor, and it must not be counted on." He Tengjiao is drinking to quench his thirst, and the Huguang defense line will be disrupted by them sooner or later. ”

Huguang's officers and troops are not a good thing either. He Tengjiao's serious Ming army has three divisions, Zhang Xianbi, Huang Chaoxuan, and Liu Chengyin. Huang Chaoxuan killed people in the areas controlled by the Ming army, and often used the torture of skinning people to threaten the people to pay money, and the cruelty made Hao Shaoqi breathtaking, and he also sent people to learn from the experience. Liu Chengyin is also a pit goods, in order to rob the army last year, he directly sent troops to He Tengjiao's hometown in Liping, Guizhou, and arrested He Tengjiao's son to extort silver.

With these goods, it's really hell to be able to hold Huguang.

There are only three people present, Shou Xian, Zeng Ying, and Zhang Shijie, and Shou Xiang is not afraid of them being alarmist. The Ming army was the weaker side, and in order to make defensive deployments, it was first necessary to analyze the situation on the battlefield.

Zeng Ying brought a large number of confidential military intelligence documents, combined with the information he obtained in an orderly manner, and then deduced with military common sense, the battle situation was generally clear.

The continuous rainy season forced the teacher to go home, and the moldy weather was an inexplicable, nightmarish experience for Jianyu.

After Luck Dehun withdrew his troops, He Tengjiao launched a counterattack and pushed the battle line back to Yueyang. The peasant army and the Ming army under him divided the land and defended it, and carved up the territory of Huguang. Compared to the territory, Huguang has too many troops, and they will exhaust the people. At that time, the hearts of the people of Huguang will be towards Beijing, and the Ming army will be vulnerable even if there are many troops.

Zhang Shijie took out the maps of Jiangxi and Zhejiang and put them on the table. The battle line between the Ming army and Jianguo stretched nearly 3,000 kilometers from the Qiantang River to the west to the Qinling Mountains. Sichuan is too far away to take care of, and the three provinces that have the most direct impact on Guangdong are Huguang, Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

In Zhejiang, nearly 100,000 troops of Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu, still confronted Jianlu across the Qiantang River. Everyone can see that the Ming army on the river has been in full decline. The three prefectures of Ningshaotai, controlled by Lu Jianguo, have a tax income of 600,000 yuan a year, and it is simply impossible to raise 100,000 troops. As long as Jianyu stabilizes Hangzhou, sooner or later, the army on the Qiantang River will be in chaos without a fight.

Fujian's Longwu Tianzi central government was able to control about 4 million yuan in taxes, mainly from Guangdong and Fujian provinces. Under normal circumstances, the Emperor of Longwu would probably be able to raise 200,000 troops, but the battle consumption was too great, and his taxes were not enough.

Lu Jianguo isolated Jianyu in the north, allowing Emperor Longwu to free his hands, and he had some mobile forces. Longwu is known as the Northern Expedition of the Five Routes, and the momentum was once huge, and the emperor's tone was very high.

Shou Xiang admired the emperor, not because of his high-profile propaganda campaign. There is always a discrepancy between propaganda and reality, and many people feel that it is wrong after a long time.

Zeng Ying had some complaints about the emperor.

Shou Xuan understands Longwu very well, propaganda is the lowest-cost offensive, and Longwu is also a last resort.

The emperor was actually very sober, and he was never fooled by his high-profile words. The emperor sent Huang Mingjun and Zhang Pengyi to Quzhou, Yang Wencong and Liu Kongzhao to garrison Chuzhou, Zhu Dadian and Jiang Ruolai to garrison Jinhua, and Lu Ruoteng and He Junyao to garrison Wenzhou. In fact, these roads are not for the Northern Expedition, but for guarding.

Long Wu threw all his mobile forces into Jiangxi. The emperor's strategy was very clear, to open up Jiangxi, connect with Huguang He Tengjiao, and then go out of the Xiangjiang River and the Ganjiang River into the Yangtze River, control Huining Chitai, and threaten Nanjing from the upstream.

All of Longwu's strategic deployments are being implemented in accordance with this plan, and Jiangxi is the key to it.

Standing in the perspective of Emperor Longwu, Shou Xuan put himself in his shoes, even if he was in his position, he couldn't think of a better way. The sea route is unreliable, and the Yangtze River is in the upper reaches.

Emperor Longwu was very assertive, he absorbed many important ministers and opened up his views, but it was all for show, and he didn't plan to really listen to them at all.

When Zeng Ying said this, she had a lot of criticisms of the emperor. The lord of Nanming is weak and the minister is strong, and the minister does not need to be taboo when he scolds the emperor.

Keeping the order but not thinking so, the so-called important ministers, their prestige and power come from their protégés and former officials, which also represents the interests of a certain mountain, and all their affairs will definitely be messed up.

There is no real army in Jiangxi, and they are basically green battalions. There are four main green battalion soldiers, Jiangxi General Jin Shenghuan, Deputy General Wang Deren, Shandong General Ke Yongsheng and Gao Jie's adopted son Gao Jinku, among which Jin Shenghuan is the strongest.

Azig, Prince Jianyuying, disbanded most of Zuo Menggeng's army, which was too direct and rude. Half of Zuozhen's army was invested in the Southern Ming Army, with Huguang being the largest, and Cao Zhijian and other troops were transferred to the Ming Army as a whole. Most of the remaining soldiers were absorbed by Jin Shenghuan, who was only a total soldier, but now has an army of 30,000.

Wang Deren was the remnant of Li Chuang, who surrendered, and showed strong combat effectiveness after wearing braids. Gao Jinku does not have to doubt that the combat effectiveness of Gao Jie's department is not bad.

Fujian has two passes in the north and west, Xianxia Pass in the north, and Shirt Pass in the west.

Zheng Fan's two main forces, Zheng Cai and Zheng Hongkui, although Zheng Hongkui himself stayed in Xianxia Pass, he sent most of the combat force to Jiangxi.

Zheng Cai joined forces with Zhang Jiayu's Guangdong soldiers of 6,000 people, crossed the shirt pass and fought with Jin Shenghuan in the area of Guangxin and Jianchang. Zhang Jiayu and Zheng Cai won several battles in the early days of entering Jiangxi, but unfortunately the follow-up was weak, and Zheng Cai and Zhang Jiayu encountered common problems in the Ming army. After just a few waves of head-on with Jianjiao, the ammunition and salaries they had accumulated were quickly exhausted, and there was a lack of replenishment in the rear. In the first month of this year, Zheng Cai's soldiers were not paid.

Under Jin Shenghuan's steady stream of reinforcements, the Ming army retreated step by step until Zheng Cai retreated to Fujian, leaving Zhang Jiayu behind. Zheng Cai did not run away, he retreated to Fujian to rest for a month and then entered Jiangxi to join Zhang Jiayu, this time they fought a big defeat and were completely defeated by Wang Deren.

Zeng Ying regretted that he had a good relationship with Zheng Zhilong, but it was a fact that Zheng Fan's army did not have a good record.

Shou ordered to change a cup of new tea and took a few sips, Zheng Cai's actions were very intriguing. Judging from the current signs, Zheng Cai is obviously more enthusiastic than Zheng Hongkui in fighting against Jianyu.

That's where it gets interesting.

Zheng Hongkui's inactive combat was obviously not his own intention, this could only come from Zheng Zhilong's instructions. Zheng Cai's behavior shows that to a certain extent, he is more independent.

Zheng Cai's defeat gave Zheng Zhilong a chance, and he let Zheng Chenggong garrison the pass, collect Zheng Cai's defeated troops, and then remove Zheng Cai from his post.

Zeng Ying has many information channels within Zheng Fan, and she also has contacts with Zheng Cai. Zheng Cai has now returned to his own base camp, Dongshan Island Tongshan to guard the Thousand Households, and rectify the sailors, as if he has the intention of going to sea.

Speaking of Zheng Fan's infighting, Zeng Ying regretted that he had cooperated with Zheng Fan since Zheng Zhilong was recruited, and it can be said that he watched Zheng Zhilong grow step by step from a pirate to the king of the Min Sea. The faint split between Zheng Cai and Zheng Zhilong shows that Zheng Fan is going to have problems now.

Zheng Cai's affairs were secretly recorded in order, and when he arrived in Taipei, he had time to further contact Zheng Cai.

Back to the battle situation in Jiangxi,

The four green battalions of Jin, Wang, Ke, and Gao fought fiercely with the main force of Longwu in Jiangxi for half a year, and basically defeated the Ming army's counterattack. Not only did the Ming army in Jiangxi fail to recover Nanchang and Jiujiang, but under the attack of Jin Shenghuan, they were now only left with a small area outside Gannan and Yiguan.

Ganzhou is the chess eye of the Jiangxi war. The strongest Ming army gathered here, either Zheng Fan's troops who were pulled to the ground or rookies. In addition to the local military households, the main force of the Ming army in Ganzhou also included Wang Yongzuo, Zhao Yinxuan and Hu Yiqing from the king of Qianliqin in Yunnan. The Dian army is a cutting-edge force with relatively strong combat effectiveness. Ding Kuichu, the governor of Liangguang, also sent 4,000 reinforcements to Ganzhou from Guangdong. Under the organization of Yang Tinglin, the defenders were determined to defend Ganzhou.

Zhang Shijie: "Ganzhou is the core place to shield Guangdong and connect with Huguang in Fujian. ”

After that, he glanced at Zeng Ying, and the governor Ding Kuichu also went to Qiongzhou and asked Zeng Ying to send troops to reinforce Ganzhou with him.

Zeng Ying received the text but did not move, he only had Zhang Shijie and a 400 veteran, and reinforcing Ganzhou was a drop in the bucket. Leaving these 400 people, but they can suppress the whole government of Qiongzhou, and then use the veterans as seeds, Qiongzhou can train a soldier who can fight.

"Ganzhou will definitely not be able to hold it," Shou Xuan said, "It's still that problem, grain and grass." Even if Guangdong had the money to support Ganzhou, they had to cross the Great Yuling Mountains to transport food and ammunition into Ganzhou City, and Jianyu could just take the Yangtze River and the Ganjiang River. Ganzhou is now fighting a war of attrition, and it is impossible for your friendly troops to cross the mountains and mountains to build and take the waterway. ”

Zeng Ying sighed silently, he had led the troops for decades and knew that Ganzhou was hopeless. Unless He Tengjiao can send troops from Huguang to Chaling into Jiangxi, and copy the back road of Jin Shenghuan on the front line in Ganzhou. This was obviously beyond the capabilities of Hu Guangming's army, who had just been beaten by Luck Dehun and were struggling to recover.

Shou ordered to put down the teacup, "Zeng Zhongcheng, General Zhang, I am an outsider, I am not very polite, don't blame the two of you." ”

Zhang Shijie's face changed color, he had been in Qiongzhou for a long time, and he had heard a certain legend about order in the Nanyang Sea.

Lighting his pipe, he said quietly: "Jin Shenghuan's several green battalions have crossed the several attacks carefully planned by the imperial court, and that is the best prepared and strongest wave of your preparations. Guangdong was dragged by Ganzhou, and after these battles, the strength of the imperial court was exhausted. And you know the strength of Jianyu. ”

Zhang Shijie has fought with Jianyu all his life and is familiar with their routines. Immediately snorted, "Every time the Tartar finishes the class, he leaves the place for the traitors to garrison." The armoured soldiers went back, and the remaining armoured soldiers set out in the fall, wave after wave, each time they were able to get farther south than the starting point of the previous attack. ”

Zeng Ying sighed, "If there are no green battalion soldiers, how can you steal the Central Plains with only 100,000 Dingkou of the construction headquarters." ”

The composition of the Green Battalion is a very complicated issue, in fact, the Green Battalion is not all traitors, many of them are forced. Just like the current green battalion soldiers in Huguang and Shaanxi, their original intention was only to protect Sangzi in the hands of the Liukou before they introduced Jianyu. Green battalions like this may not be strong in combat, but they are very determined to defend their hometown, and it is very difficult to fight.

Order: "The offensive of the Jianyu is very regular, and their army is not yet able to use troops south of the Yangtze River in the spring and summer, and the water and soil adaptation and epidemic will kill them." Therefore, they carried out an annual offensive, and in the autumn they ordered troops, generally half of the armor soldiers of 30,000 men went out to fight, and scattered to the four main battlefields of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang and Sichuan. In an autumn offensive, they advanced several hundred miles south until they ran out of attack momentum, and returned to Beijing in the spring. ”

There are some words that Zeng Ying and Zhang Shijie can't understand, but this does not prevent them from understanding the meaning. Attack momentum determines the attack radius, and attack kinetic energy depends on factors such as ammunition, rations, and horse strength.

Zeng Ying was silent for a while and then said, "Now on the various battlefields, the Jianyu has not yet invested in their headquarters. ”

Shou Xuan stood up, put his hands on Wuchang and Hangzhou respectively, and redrew to the south: "If Jianyu still sends troops in two ways as in the previous two years, all the way to cross the Qiantang River into southern Zhejiang, and all the way through Dongting to Huguang. Let's imagine things a little worse. ”

Zhang Shijie's face turned red.

Zeng Ying seemed to be a little numb by Shou Xian, "Fujian is lost, Huguang is lost, and there are only two corners of Guangzhou, Yunnan and Guizhou left in the Ming Dynasty." ”

Shou Xuan said: "Zhongcheng, you might as well think about things a little worse, what if Guangdong is also lost?" ”

Zeng Ying said angrily: "Guangdong is lost, and the old man wipes his neck by himself." ”

"I'm talking about Guangzhou," Shou Xu hurriedly waved his hand, "if Guangzhou is lost, how will western Guangdong deal with itself?" ”

Zhang Shijie glanced at Gaozhou Mansion on the map, "Gaozhou can't hold it." ”

Gaozhou is the gateway to western Guangdong, and if it can't be held, there seems to be no reason to think that Lianzhou and Leizhou can hold it. Zhang Shijie is very clear about the combat effectiveness of his own army.

Shou Xuan said: "Prepare for the worst, prepare for the best." Jianyu set out from Zhejiang, and it was already the limit to hit Guangdong in one go. Guangxi has Zhongcheng's old friend Qu Shiyun guarding the town, and Jianyu may not be able to gnaw down. Besides, if you occupy so much land in just one year, there must be instability in the rear. What Zhongcheng has to do is to resolutely defend the Qiongzhou Mansion and wait for change. ”

"What about the Haibei Prefectures?"

Shou Xuan bowed his head, scraped off the tea leaves floating on the water with the lid of the cup, and said softly, "The counties of Haibei don't have to be reluctant. ”

Zhang Shijie was a little unwilling.

Orderly interrupted him, "Your army is mostly recruits who have never been in battle, and it would be a crime to put them on the mainland to fight the veterans of Jianyu. ”

Zeng Ying: "What do you say?" ”

"Conscription in Leizhou Mansion and Lianzhou Prefecture, regardless of whether it hurts the people, mobilize. When the army is assembled, they and their families will be evacuated to Qiongzhou. ”

Zhang Shijie: "It's difficult, and the soldiers want to guard Sangzi." ”

Shou Order: "You can transfer troops in the name of King Qin, and you have the name of righteousness in your hands, who dares to oppose it?" ”