Historically, Jiang Yuanxun had a poor reputation on the battlefield of the Three Feudatories, but what many friends didn't know was that when Geng Jingzhong was cornered by the Qing army and the Zheng army, the vast majority of Geng Jun's civil and military forces suggested that Geng Jingzhong surrender to the Qing army, but Jiang Yuanxun and an official named Liao Yanyun resolutely opposed it, believing that even if the Qing army accepted Geng Jingzhong's surrender, it was just to reduce attrition and use Geng Jingzhong to deal with Zheng Jing -- the facts also proved that Jiang Yuanxun's vision was correct. It can be said that the anti-Qing attitude is quite resolute, and it also has a big picture and long-term vision, which is a rare bright spot under the command of Geng Jingzhong, who lacks talents, and even Lu Fatzi agrees with and secretly admires the views he says.

But it's a pity that even if Lu Fatzi, who has ambitions for the world, agrees with Jiang Yuanxun's reasoning and views, it is impossible for him to agree with Geng Jingzhong's condition of dividing Zhejiang into two.

After the flying horse rushed to Hangzhou City to see Lu Fatzi, Jiang Yuanxun did argue with Lu Fatzi, and showed Lu Fatzi a list of soldiers and money and food that Geng Jingzhong's army had sacrificed in the anti-Qing war for more than two years, and used detailed data to prove the price and sacrifice made by Geng Jingzhong's army in the anti-Qing war, and then questioned Lu Fatzi face to face, Geng Jingzhong's army paid nearly 100,000 soldiers for sacrifice, consumed tens of millions of taels of silver salaries and millions of stone military rations, and finally won three-quarters of Zhejiang. Lu Fatzi was about to take it as soon as he stretched out his hand, was he a little greedy?

Without waiting for Lu Fatzi to answer, Jiang Yuanxun warned Lu Fatzi again, that is, for the Great Zhou Dynasty and Lu Fatzi, Yanping Wangfu is actually far more dangerous and less trustworthy than Jingnan Wangfu, because Yanping Wangfu insists on opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, insisting on claiming to be because of the former Ming army, and the goal is to counterattack the mainland and annex the world. If Zheng Jing's wolf ambition succeeds, then the destruction of Jingnan Wangfu is also said to be the war between the Fat Army and Yanping Palace!

Then, Jiang Yuanxun made a surprising statement, pointing out that Geng Jingzhong's role in the Great Zhou Dynasty and Lu Fatzi was even far above the letter of Lu Fatzi's brother-in-law, Brother Shang! Because Geng Jingzhong was not only the first firm ally to form an alliance with the Great Zhou court, but also the first ally to raise troops to contain the Qing army, Shang Zhixin's brother-in-law named Lu Fatzi was not only the latest to raise troops in the Great Zhou court, but also the so-called allies who raised troops in a desperate situation! And after the army, Shang Zhixin in addition to using the Great Zhou court, Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing to protect his own territory, and taking the opportunity to desperately increase his strength, did not launch an attack on the Qing army, nor did he add a brick and tile to the great cause of opposing the Qing Dynasty, but just desperately preserved his strength, what is his ambition, can the Great Zhou Yue Mansion really not see it?

In addition, Jiang Yuanxun, who also found Lu Fatzi's ambition, also vaguely hinted that if it is inconvenient for Lu Fatzi to eradicate and weaken the Great Zhou Cancer like Shang Zhixin, then Geng Jingzhong is definitely the most ideal spokesperson for the Fat Army, and he can come forward for the Fat Army to weaken Shang Zhixin's strength, or completely eradicate Shang Zhixin! - This point really made Fat Lu a little excited.

Jiang Yuanxun took the opportunity to propose a plan to divide Zhejiang into two parts, and Geng Jun ceded Quzhou and Yanzhou to the Fat Army, and the two sides took Xianxialing as the boundary and did not invade each other, and begged the Fat Army to provide some grain, grass and weapons, so that Geng Jingzhong's army could clean up Zheng Jing and guard against Shang Zhixin -- also for the Fat Army to clean up Zheng Jing and guard against Shang Zhixin - also for the Fat Army to clean up Zheng Jing and guard against Shang Zhixin. I also implore Fat Lu to think carefully, and don't make a choice between the pain of relatives and the happiness of enemies.

Jiang Yuanxun said that Lu Fatzi understood these truths, and secretly agreed, but unfortunately, Lu Fatzi could not agree. Because Lu Fatzi understands very well that Zheng Jing's letter as a monk is indeed a stumbling block to his ambition to dominate the industry, why is Zheng Jing not a stumbling block for himself? Wouldn't it be dangerous to let Zheng Jing and Monk Zhixin sit big, and let Geng Jingzhong sit big? Moreover, Geng Jingzhong has strengthened the army in the anti-Qing war for more than two years, and has also played a lot of elite teams, and his strength has surpassed that of Zheng Jing and the letter of the monk.

What's more, what Lu Fatzi is more worried about now is that he has torn his face and Guo Zhuangtu in a public showdown, and Guo Zhuangtu will not leak the production process of new firearms to Geng Jingzhong in order to use Geng Jingzhong to contain him. Zhejiang's money and grain, plus the Fujian army, plus Yungui's new firearms, gave Geng Jingzhong time to integrate these together, so it was bound to be more difficult for him to eradicate Geng Jingzhong.

So there is no way, in order to nip these dangers in the bud, Lu Fatzi has only one choice, that is, to weaken Geng Jingzhong, drive Geng Jingzhong back to Fujian, which is economically weak and lacks potential in this era, and let Geng Jingzhong, Zheng Jing and Shang Zhixin kill each other in the narrow area of Fujian and Guangdong, weaken each other, and find no opportunity and time to develop and grow, so as to ensure the key interests of the Fat Army.

There is another point, if Zhejiang is divided into two, and the fat army occupies the north and the Geng army occupies the south, then in order to prevent Geng Jingzhong's army from defecting, the fat army is bound to invest a lot of troops in the long defense line to arrange defense, which is undoubtedly a huge hidden danger and a huge constraint for the fat army that is about to go north and west. But if Geng Jingzhong is driven back to Fujian, it will be different, as long as the fat army holds several important passes of Fenshui, Leishi, Dashi and Xianxia, it can prevent the greatest extent against emergencies, even if there is a sudden change, there is also a huge strategic return space, and it will win valuable time for the main force to adjust and reinforce.

Considering these problems, Lu Fatzi naturally could only say regret to Jiang Yuanxun, and insisted that Geng Jingzhong's previous alliance with the Qing army to attack Huzhou was ironclad evidence of betrayal of the anti-Qing army and betrayal of his compatriots, and demanded that Geng Jingzhong's army must unconditionally hand over the entire territory of Zhejiang and return to Fujian, and then he could consider an armistice with Geng Jingzhong. Otherwise, the Fat Army can only recapture Zhejiang by force and retaliate for Geng Jingzhong's betrayal by force!

Lu Fatzi's attitude was so resolute that Jiang Yuanxun was completely helpless, so he could only sigh and leave and return to Yanzhou to report Lu Fatzi's reply to Geng Jingzhong. Geng Jingzhong was furious when he heard the news, and scolded Lu Fatzi for being ungrateful, and after thinking about it again and again, he decided to let Zeng Yang and Bai Xianzhong abandon the small county of Xincheng and return to Yanzhou Tonglu, and fight to the death with the fat army in Yanzhou, where the terrain is relatively familiar, and respond to Lu Fatzi's aggressiveness by force.

Lu Fatzi did not let Geng Jingzhong's wishful thinking succeed, and as soon as Jiang Yuanxun was sent away, Lu Fatzi ordered Li Tianzhi to send troops to Xincheng, biting Zeng Yang's surname and Bai Xianzhong to prevent them from returning to the division smoothly, and forcing Geng Jingzhong's army to fight a decisive battle at the junction of Hangzhou and Yanzhou, which was beneficial to the Fat Army. On 29 October, Li Tianzhi's 65,000-strong army had arrived on the east bank of the Songxi River and confronted Geng's army across the river.

On the first day of November, Geng Jingzhong's withdrawal order was sent to Xincheng, and Zeng Yang and Bai Xianzhong were forced to have no choice but to ask Geng Jingzhong for an order to fight a decisive battle, so as not to be pursued by the fat army with a lot of cavalry on the way to withdraw and cause greater losses.

The news came back to Yanzhou, considering that the distance between the new city was too far away, the supply of grain and grass was inconvenient, and it was easy to be cut off by the fat army, Geng Jingzhong had to agree to a decisive battle, and strive to defeat the fat army and then retreat to the south, and at the same time let the more than 30,000 Geng troops in Yanzhou prepare to respond.

On the fifth day of the first month of November, Zeng Yang's surname and Bai Xianzhong's 60,000-strong army crossed the Songxi River and lined up to face off with the fat army. In order not to waste firearms on Geng Jingzhong, a second-rate opponent, Li Tianzhi changed the habit of the fat army's formation, concentrated the cavalry in the middle army, and arranged a large number of infantry on both wings. Geng Jingzhong's army, whose cavalry was less than one-third of the fat army, concentrated all the cavalry on the left flank, and the infantry was arranged in the center and right flank, preparing to use the open space in the upper reaches of the Songxi River to give the left wing cavalry room to play and create an opportunity to launch a fatal attack.

The battle began, in the sound of war drums, the infantry on the left flank of the Fat Army took the lead and launched an attack on the right flank of the Qing Army, which was also dominated by infantry, and the infantry of the 3,000 Fat Army shouted the slogan of victory in the Great Zhou and marched in line, just like a hard left hook, smashing on the right arm of Geng Jun, an equally tall giant, Geng Jun stabilized the formation and fought with all his might, and the Fat Army fought brutally hand-to-hand.

This is a typical Li Tianzhi style battle, the fat army, which has always been known for its treacherous and mid-lane assault, is unusual, just like a rookie boxer who has just entered the ring, constantly swinging a left hook to smash the enemy's right arm, constantly launching towards the narrow right flank position of the Geng army, compressing the right flank position of the Geng army, and consuming troops with Geng Jingzhong's army. The soldiers on both sides fought each other on the right flank of the Geng army, swords and guns exchanged knives, falling row after row, and row after row rushing up, stepping on the corpses of the enemy and their comrades to continue to fight, constantly colliding.

The 3,000 infantry of the Fat Army who were put into the attack were quickly more than half gone, and Li Tianzhi invested another 3,000 infantry without blinking an eyelid, and continued to attack the right flank of the Geng Army, and the 12,000 Geng Army infantry that had been placed on the right flank had also suffered more than 3,500 casualties, and then was rushed by the 3,000 fresh forces of the Fat Army, and the right flank position soon began to loosen, and the battle became more bloody and cruel, and the corpses of soldiers on both sides almost spread a carpet on the battlefield, and the blood dyed the land of Zhejiang in early winter into a dark red.

After fighting for more than half an hour, when the second team of Fat Army infantry was also consumed by more than half, Li Tianzhi quietly invested the third army, and the 3,000 Fat Army infantry still attacked the right flank of Geng's army. At the same time, the difference in the combat effectiveness of the soldiers on both sides was also exposed at this time, the fat army had annihilated more than 7,000 Geng Jingzhong infantry after losing more than 3,000 infantry, and the right flank of the Geng army was crumbling, and was forced to compress and gather and ask for help from the Chinese army.

"Dashuai, who do you think this style of play looks like?" Bai Xianzhong asked Zeng Yang's surname: "Do you think that the big marshal has seen such a crazy tactic of attrition somewhere before?" ”

"I feel that way, too." Zeng Yang nodded, and after recalling it carefully, Zeng Yang and Bai Xianzhong exclaimed at the same time, "It's still gratifying!" Shang Kexi is old and immortal! Back then, when the old prince and Shang Kexi of Jingnan Wangfu fought against the former Ming Dynasty, Shang Kexi fought like this, using the former Ming army to fight the vanguard, constantly confronting the former Ming army head-on, forcing the former Ming army to bleed, and also solving the trouble of the former Ming army! ”

"I remember." Zeng Yang's surname slapped his forehead, pointed to the fat army flag formation five miles away on the opposite side and said: "Li Tianzhi, the dog thief who is fighting against us this time, was originally born in the Pingnan Palace, and at the age of twelve, he fought with Shang Kexi Old Immortal, Shang Kexi Old Immortal That set of things, of course he learned a lot. ”

"Fuck it!" Bai Xianzhong scolded, his forehead was full of black lines, and he understood that although Li Tianzhi's hand was clumsy and shameless, it hit the weakness of Geng Jingzhong's army, because in the current situation, the fat army with rich money and sufficient manpower can afford it, even if Li Tianzhi exhausts the more than 60,000 fat army in his hand, which is mostly surrendered by the Qing army, he will not be able to hurt the vitality and muscles of the fat army, and the fat army will soon be able to form the same second-rate army! But the Geng army can't do it, after exhausting the 60,000 troops, what will they take to reach the next wave of the Fat Army's offensive, and what will they take to return to Fujian to expel Zheng Jing? Even if you can get strong men to be soldiers, if you don't have money, food, and weapons, what use can such an army do?

"You shouldn't have turned your face with Lu Yifeng." Zeng Yang's surname sighed, "We can't fight him head-on, we can't afford to fight him head-on, and we can't afford to turn our faces with him, we are killing ourselves." ”

Understanding Li Tianzhi's sinister intentions, Zeng Yang's surname and Bai Xianzhong had no way to crack it, in order not to suffer greater losses, they could only send reinforcements to the right flank to maintain the already crumbling right flank battlefield, and at the same time send a cavalry from the left flank to attack, trying to attack the right flank of the Fat Army composed of infantry, looking for enemy fighters. But Zeng Yang and Bai Xianzhong soon despaired again, their cavalry had just rushed in front of the infantry of the Fat Army, and they had already been beaten by the three muskets of the Fat Army, and fled back to their own camp in embarrassment.

Almost at the same time as the cavalry of the Qing army fled back to their own position, news suddenly came from the upper reaches of the Songxi River that the fat army Guo Yingfu attacked from Lin'an and rushed to the upper reaches of the Songxi River to build a pontoon bridge. Hearing this news, Zeng Yang and Bai Xianzhong were inevitably frightened again, but fortunately, Guo Yingfu's team was still more than thirty miles away from here, and it could not affect the morale of Geng's army for a while.

The brutal war of attrition has been continuing, Li Tianzhi, who has been full of strength to confront Geng Jingzhong's army, has invested 15,000 troops on the right flank of Geng's army, and has also forced Zeng Yang's surname to send more than 10,000 reinforcements to the right flank, the dead corpses on the right flank battlefield are piled up, and the blood flows down the ditch, dyeing the Songxi River into a red color, and Liu Bangren, the governor of Geng's army, Sun Kede, and Li Jie, who are in charge of the right flank, have also been beheaded by the fat army, and forced Zeng Yang's surname to send his deputy Bai Xianzhong to the right flank, so that Bai Xianzhong personally commanded and presided over the right flank battlefield.

The gradually darkening sky saved the lives of countless soldiers on both sides, the winter was short, and the sky began to get dark just after the unitary hour, and when it was more than halfway through the unitary hour, Li Tianzhi, who had never found the opportunity to attack the general attack, finally ordered Mingjin to let the fat army on the right-wing battlefield withdraw from the battlefield in turn, and then the fat army retreated and returned to the camp ten miles away to rest and station, and the Geng army did not dare to catch up, but Mingjin also collected his troops and withdrew to the new city to rest and rest. At the same time, through the negotiation of envoys, the two sides each sent an unarmed infantry to the battlefield to shelter the wounded soldiers, and did not invade each other during the rescue of the wounded soldiers.

On the first day of the battle, there was a tie in the situation, but in terms of troop consumption, the fat army won a complete victory, at the cost of more than 7,000 Qing troops killed, more than 15,000 troops of Geng's army were consumed, and the casualty ratio reached 1 to 2. In the face of such a favorable situation, Lu Zhangtai, the righteous brother of Lu Fatzi, was inevitably a little puzzled, and couldn't help but ask Li Tianzhi on the way to collect the troops: "Brother Li, we obviously have an advantage?" Why not keep fighting? ”

"There is no chance of a general offensive." Li Tianzhi replied frankly: "Zeng Yang's surname is quite capable, the formation has always been very stable, and our rash general attack will only cause unnecessary casualties among the soldiers." Continuing to fight at night will not only cause a huge physical drain on the soldiers, but will also easily expose flaws in the dark night, giving the enemy a chance to exploit loopholes. ”

"Really? It seems that we will have to wait until tomorrow to fight again. Lu Zhangtai was disappointed, but after being taken by Lu Fatzi and Li Tianzhi for so long, Lu Zhangtai also had some skills, and soon said happily: "Fortunately, Xincheng is a small city, and there are not so many troops stationed, so it can only be used as a granary. ”

"Do you think that Zeng Yang's surname still has the courage to continue to spend in Xincheng?" Li Tianzhi smiled and said: "Today on the battlefield, I have already told him that I am here to fight a war of attrition with him this time, if he has the courage to spend money with me, then he will continue to spend money with me, if you don't have the guts, get out of the house overnight." ”

"Zeng Yang'er will withdraw from the new city tonight?" Lu Zhangtai's eyes lit up.

"Of course, he can't afford it." Li Tianzhi smiled confidently, and then turned to Zhu Sanshui next to him and ordered: "General Sanshui, it's up to you tomorrow night, tonight your 4,000 cavalry will rest a little early, the fourth watch will send troops, bring more dry food, and be prepared for a long-term pursuit. Zhu Sanshui agreed, and then after the fat army collected the troops and returned to the camp, Zhu Sanshui first took the cavalry of the headquarters back to the tent to rest, and Li Tianzhi rewarded the brave Qing army who fought today.

Sure enough, as Li Tianzhi expected, that night, Zeng Yang, who really couldn't consume the fat army's Laipi fighting style, really gave up Xincheng and small counties, withdrew from the tributaries of the southern section of the Songxi River, and fled all the way to Yanzhou, and the cavalry of the Fat Army who had always stood still in the first day of the battle finally had a place to use, divided into two teams to take turns to pursue the retreating Zeng Yang team, Li Tianzhi personally led the main force to pursue all the way, and went south to Yanzhou to fight against the Geng army.

The news of the Battle of Xincheng came back to Hangzhou, and Lu Fatzi, who was sitting in Hangzhou, was very satisfied, and then crowned Li Zhifang, who had surrendered to the Fat Army before, as the official of the Yue Wangfu and the head of the army, and ordered Li Zhifang to catch up with Li Tianzhi's army, and surrender the county capital abandoned by Geng's army all the way to form a local government. He also appointed Tian Fengji, who was in Ningbo, as the political envoy of Zhejiang, and accompanied Yang Yingyuan and Li Guodong to send troops to the south, launched an attack on the Geng army in Taizhou, and formed a local government in eastern Zhejiang for the fat army. He also ordered Guo Yingfu to send troops to attack Jinhua, and ordered Wu Qi, the governor of Zhejiang, and Huang Ming, the general soldier of Hangzhou, to sit in Hangzhou, transfer grain and grass for the two armies, train recruits to serve as reserves, and set up a firearms battalion in the West Lake to prepare for the production of firearms for the battlefield on the southern front.

After issuing the official seal to Li Zhifang, who had lived idle for a year, Lu Fatzi explained to Li Zhifang again: "After seeing Li Tianzhi, tell him that I will hand over all the southern lines to him, and Yang Yingyuan, Li Guodong and Guo Yingfu will all listen to his command and take Zhejiang by three routes." If Geng Jingzhong sues for peace, he can agree, but the premise is that the entire territory of Zhejiang, plus Geng Jingzhong's vassal to the Great Zhou court! ”

"Lord Wang, what about you?" Li Zhifang asked curiously: "Lord Wang, you don't care about the war on the southern front?" ”

"No matter, it's enough to have Li Tianzhi in Zhejiang, his surname and combat style happen to be the nemesis of Zheng Jing, Geng Jingzhong and my unlucky brother-in-law, I will go back to Nanjing tomorrow." Fat Lu waved his hand proudly, "I should also be a shopkeeper and prepare for the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition." ”

Li Zhifang agreed, and Yao Qisheng next to him said: "Lord Li, the distance from the southern line of Zhejiang to Nanjing is long, and asking for instructions on everything may not delay the fighter, and there are some things that you can discuss with General Li Tianzhi." Keep in mind that no matter which of the three families we exterminate Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing and Monk Zhixin, it will do more harm than good to our army, and only the three of them will be confined to the small places of Fujian and Guangdong, which will be the most beneficial to our army. I believe that with Master Li's wisdom and wisdom, there must be a way for the three of them to fight upside down and lose all three. ”

"Xiaguan will do his best." Li Zhifang respectfully agreed, and said with a smile: "Fortunately, these three families are all ambitious masters, and it is not difficult for them to eat each other in one bite and provoke them to fight to the death." ”

(To be continued)