Jianli County is not large, so the main force of the army can only be stationed outside the city. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

After Pang Yue and Gao Yigong arranged the camping matters, they each led a group of soldiers and horses into the city, with the county government as the temporary headquarters location, and sent people to post notices to reassure the people, and at the same time sent a number of soldiers to patrol the main streets of the city to stabilize law and order, so as to prevent small people from taking advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble.

As for the officials and gentry who knelt down at the gate of the city just now, Pang Yue didn't pay much attention to them, and let them go back to their homes after a few words of verbal reprimand. The official seals, account books, etc., which were brought out, were all taken back. Although the soldiers entered Jianli County without blood this time, it was far from a real recovery, and it was unlikely to be recovered even for a long time in the future, and it was useless to take things like official seals. The officials appointed by the Qing court do not have much significance in liquidation at present, and they can still play a role if they are kept.

When passing through the city gate, Pang Yue saw the county magistrate, the lord and the history of Jianli County. In the open space not far away, a group of small officials and hundreds of village warriors were also guarded by the soldiers of the Yangwei battalion, but only the county order was not seen. When I asked, I found out that he was pulled by Xu Sanbao, Yi Liankui and others to lead the way. Xu's guerrilla movements were so fast that even Pang Yue couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

The county government is quite spacious, like most government offices in this era, sitting north and facing south, with the main road leading directly to the gate as the axis of symmetry, and the east and west are symmetrical. The front yard is the office space of the masters, officials and officials of various departments; The Intermediate Court is the office location of official officials such as the county magistrate, the county magistrate, the chief book, and the canon; The backyard is the residence of the prefectural family.

After arriving, Pang Yue asked the masters of various departments, the little officials, and the servants to all go home. And let Wang Xianling, the county magistrate and the others who came to beg for mercy, temporarily live in a side room on the east side of the middle courtyard, and they will be summoned at any time if there is something, and they cannot go out without permission. Such. The front yard and most of the middle yard were vacated as the headquarters, among them, the middle yard was temporarily used by Huguang Town, and the front yard was owned by the loyal battalion.

As for the backyard, Pang Yue also sent his own soldiers to guard it to prevent anyone from harassing the officials' families. Although the traitors are hateful, most of the family members are innocent.

The second hall of the middle courtyard was used by Pang Yue as the temporary headquarters of Huguang Town. After the designation, a group of staff officers from the General Staff Division of the General Staff Department moved in and carried out a series of arrangements. Piecing together conference tables, bringing in paperwork, unfolding large-format maps, and more.

When his subordinates were busy, Zhang Yunli and Pang Yue were not idle, so they talked about the battle situation in Hubei and the recent deployment arrangements in a side room next to them.

"Handsome, Wang Guangtai has been sticking to Xiangyang for more than a month. The thousands of lone soldiers under his command are afraid that they will be exhausted long ago. Should our army march faster? Don't stay too long in the counties along the river? Otherwise, Wang Guangtai's army may not be able to hold out when our army breaks the siege. As soon as Xiangyang is broken, the significance of our army's northern expedition will be half gone. ”

"Since Zibin talked about the significance of the Northern Expedition, then tell me in detail, what is the significance of our army's Northern Expedition?" Pang Yue didn't answer directly immediately, but just asked with a smile.

Zhang Yunli didn't expect Pang Yue to ask like this, but he still answered truthfully: "The last general naturally knows." This is something that our army has determined before we set out on the expedition. This northern expedition, one is to support the Xiangyang Wang Guangtai Department anyway; The second is to take this opportunity to eliminate the living forces of the Hubei Tatars. weaken its strength and reduce the pressure on our dynasty; Third, in order to expand the influence of our dynasty and our town among the gentry and common people in Hubei, and shake the foundation of the rule of the captive court in a certain way. ”

"What is the Lord? What is the secondary? ”

"Naturally, two are the main ones, the three are secondary, and one is again."

"Since one is the secondary, then our army does not need to rush at this time, now that it has entered the territory of Jingzhou Mansion, there is not much difference between a few days earlier and a few days later. Moreover, due to the limitations of grain and grass supply lines, terrain and geography, etc., it is unlikely that our army will hit Xiangyang City, and even if it supports, it can only use the method of encircling Wei to save Zhao, attacking the surrounding prefectures and counties, and containing the Qing forces. Whether or not he can get out of danger mainly depends on Wang Guangtaijun's own efforts. If it is weak in itself, no matter how fast our army is, it will not help, and if its military strength is strong enough and its style is hard enough, it is completely fine to hold on for a little longer. ”

"The marshal may have misunderstood, what the last general means is that once the city of Xiangyang is broken, the Qing captives will have no worries, and they can join forces to meet our army with all their might. As a result, our army will lose the opportunity to break through each of them. It is better to speed up the journey, arrive at the city of Jingzhou as soon as possible, or take this city, or besiege the city to send reinforcements, and block Shang Kexi and other troops who are going south from Xiangyang outside the city. In this way, the initiative on the battlefield can be fully captured by our army. ”

"I have also thought about the plan Zibin said, and it is a good idea to use it in a certain situation. However, when applied to the present, it has its obvious drawbacks. The high walls of Jingzhou City are thick, there are more than 10,000 Qing garrisons, and there are sailors to cover them, and our army of 30,000 horses and horses will attack, which may not be easy. Once you can't attack for a long time, what should you do? As Zibin said, besiege the city and send reinforcements, but is that still gratifying, is it stupid? He had fought with our army at Wanshou Bridge before, and he knew the details of our army, so how could he take the initiative to come to the city to fight with our army? At that time, it must garrison the periphery, echoing with the Qing captives in the city. If our army is still gratifying, then Shang Kexi will not take the initiative to meet the battle, and most of them will take the initiative to go north, and as soon as our army chases, Jingzhou Qingyu is very likely to go out of the city to follow and look behind. And if our army attacks the city with all its might, it will be gratifying and will be harassed from behind. As a result, our army has become a victim of the enemy on its back, unable to make a move, and even if it does not fall behind, it will be difficult to do anything. ”

"At that time, if it is really as the marshal said, then why don't our army divide into an army to surround the enemy in Jingzhou, and then use the main force to deal with Shang Kexi?"

"Jingzhou has more than 10,000 people, and there are also water divisions, Zibin thinks, how many soldiers and horses do you need to surround it? The siege of the city is small, and it is useless, and it gives the city a chance to break through the captives. If there are many soldiers and horses besieging the city, how can our army still have much advantage in the face of Shang Kexi and other troops? Even if our army's combat strength is far superior to Shang Kexi and the others, and after dividing enough troops to besiege the city, he can still win with the same force, but how can he be beaten in the same place? As soon as he retreats, will our army chase after him? If we don't chase it, there is a still gratifying army around, and our army will not be at ease when attacking the city, and we will also take care of attacking other places, and we will also do nothing. Chasing, even if the enemy in Jingzhou has been surrounded and cannot threaten the rear of our army, our army will be restrained by Shang Kexi from now on, and after a long time, the initiative on the battlefield will be lost, and the supply of grain and grass will also become a big problem. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Yunli also seemed to realize that there were indeed drawbacks, frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and asked: "This matter will indeed be ill-considered, so according to the meaning of the big handsome, but let Shang Kexi enter the city first?" ”

"That's right," Pang Yue nodded, "Shang Ke is a happy person, he is fierce and inward-looking, brave and fierce on the surface, but in fact he is not calm enough." When he heard the news of our army's northern expedition, he would be worried about Jingzhou's loss and lead a group of men and horses to the south day and night. That being the case, our army did not fight with him, but let him into the city, and fulfilled his wish. When Shang Kexi entered the city, our army surrounded Jingzhou again. As for the siege of the city, it is naturally difficult for our army to take it, and there is no need to storm it. After that, looking at the city's still happy reaction, if he couldn't hold back and went out of the city to face the battle, it would naturally be better, just to fulfill the intention of our army. If he sits firmly on Diaoyutai and can't hold out, our army doesn't have to wait, and immediately set off to attack other prefectures and counties, such as Yidu, Jingmen Prefecture, Dangyang, etc., and there is no need to even leave troops and horses outside Jingzhou City. I don't believe it, when our army has collected almost all the silver from the grain storage depots in the surrounding prefectures and counties, killed almost all the local officials in the court, and even joined forces with the army of Wang Guangtai of Xiangyang, he will still be able to sit still. In this way, the initiative on the battlefield is again under the control of our army. ”

"My lord, this plan is feasible, but if Shang Kexi takes advantage of the advantage of the naval division when our army surrounds it, sends a group of soldiers and horses to break through from the water, transports it to the flank of our army, and once again puts our army in the situation of being attacked by the enemy on the belly and back, how should our army respond? Soon after the formation of the Yangwei battalion, the fish and dragons were mixed, and they were probably not the enemy of the Jingzhou Naval Division. Or maybe the Qing captives have completely annihilated the army of Wang Guangtai of Xiangyang, and all the armies have gathered in Jingzhou in the south, what should our army do? It should be known that the Qing captives in Xiangyang and Jingzhou, including the naval division, totaled 36,700, which exceeded the troops of our army on the western route. Zhang Yunli raised his concerns again.

"Zibin said that the latter, don't worry too much. So far, no news has come from the destruction of Xiangyang City, and the news of our army must have been known to Shang Kexi many days ago. As long as Shang Kexi goes south, Wang Guangtai will be able to get a chance to breathe, so that the whole army will not be annihilated, and he can continue to contain a part of the Qing forces for our army. Taking a step back, even if Wang Guangtai's entire army is wiped out and the Qing captives gather in Jingzhou, it is not a big deal. Our army is 30,000, and the Qing captives are 36,700, if we are facing each other in a dignified array, why should we be afraid? In the past, our town was able to block the 80,000 Qing captives at Wanshou Bridge with 20,000 soldiers, so what was the advantage of the Qing captives at that time? As for the former mentioned by Zibin, it is indeed worth being vigilant, and this is what I am worried about. The Qing Shui Division has the upper hand and can use the waterway to open up the situation at any time, either to make it impossible for our army to take care of both the end of the army, or to form a local advantage over our army. When the time comes, I hope that the Yangwei camp will not behave too unsatisfactorily. But the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, who can do it as a last resort? Guarantee that you are safe? Even what I have just said, there must be some inconsiderate points in it. But on the battlefield, there are always a few dangerous moves that cannot be avoided. ”

"The handsome man is too modest!" Zhang Yunli sighed and said with admiration, "The marshal's grasp of the battle situation, but I am far inferior. ”

Pang Yue smiled: "Has Zibin also learned those flattering words now?" To be honest, I can at best make some preliminary predictions about some general directions. As for all kinds of details, such as the calculation of the marching route, the arrangement of troops, the configuration of weapons, etc., I am not as good as Zibin and all the staff officers of the General Staff. ”

Zhang Yunli smiled and shook his head: "If there is no commander to grasp the overall situation, what the General Staff Department does will become rootless duckweed." What's more, the commander's remarks are equivalent to completing most of the work to be done in the past two days for the chief of staff, and after a while, I will ask the staff officers to revise the draft combat plan according to the commander's intentions. (To be continued.) )