Everyone present, including Li Jiucheng's father and son, also nodded in agreement, Kong Youde's slightly honest round face showed a smile, and waved his hand: "Everyone is an old buddy of Dongjiang, and it is right to think about one place and work hard in one place, but it is better for everyone to discuss major events in the future." ”

Kong Youde has a high prestige among the old brothers of Dongjiang, and they reunited with the help of the Dengzhou Rebellion, so they naturally regarded Kong Youde as the backbone.

Everyone knows that this is Kong Youde's self-effacing words, so naturally they can't be taken seriously!

Mao Chenglu groaned: "Although the court officials are fiercely contested, and corruption and bribery are commonplace, but there is no shortage of people of insight, it is difficult to say whether our delaying tactics can be effective, so we have to prepare with both hands, on the one hand, we have to negotiate with the other party to appease and ask for a price, on the other hand, we must actively prepare for war, and actively defend against the imperial court to send troops to encircle and suppress." ”

Geng Zhongming praised loudly: "Brother Mao is still thoughtful, we should take precautions as soon as possible." Everyone at the wine table also nodded in agreement.

Kong Youde took a drink of the wine glass on the table, and said: "What Brother Mao said is really planning for my Dongjiang brothers, and Ben Shuai agrees very much." ”

Kong Youde played with the wine glass in his hand, and said thoughtfully: "Dengzhou City is connected to the Liaohai Sea in the north, and the land routes in the southeast and west are unobstructed, all of which are oppressed by the Ming army. Once the Ming army came to Dengzhou to attack or besiege it, our troops scattered in the surrounding county capitals could attack and harass it from the periphery, so that the Ming army would lose sight of one or the other. Only in this way can we hold Dengzhou for a long time and operate it as the exclusive power of our brothers. Otherwise, it is impossible to survive. ”

Kong Youde's remarks undoubtedly set the tone and course of action for the future of the rebellious army, and it can be seen from these remarks that Kong Youde has had profound thoughts about the future of the rebellious army. The course of action he has set is also realistic.

Li Jiucheng's blood-red eyes lit up and said, "That's right, take advantage of the fact that the county government near Dengzhou is not guarding against it now." Immediately raising troops to launch attacks on various localities will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort. ”

Mao Chenglu, Geng Zhongming and other cadres in Dongjiang Town are all people who have been in battle for a long time, and after carefully thinking about Kong Youde's remarks, they felt that they were in line with the reality faced by Dengzhou City, so they nodded in agreement.

Kong Youde threw the wine glass on the table, and loudly ordered the soldiers who were waiting: "Take the map, and our brothers will delineate the offensive route today." ”

There are all kinds of treasures in the arsenal of Dengzhou Town, and Kong Youde and others are cheap for nothing, including a map of the area near Dengzhou.

After the soldiers get the map. Kong Youde was in an empty place on the wine table and spread the map of Dengzhou on the table.

Kong Youde pointed to the map and said: "Brothers, come and see, the place where Ben Shuai pointed is Dengzhou, and its east, west, and south are densely populated state capitals in three directions. ”

He drew a straight line with his finger on the map, and kept saying: "Along the southwest of Dengzhou, there are Huangxian, Zhaoyuan, Laizhou, Pingdu, Changyi, etc., these state capitals are all grain-rich lands because of their gentle terrain and fertile land, and once they are occupied, they can provide enough grain and grass for our army." ”

Kong Youde's finger continued to swipe along the map. Said: "And in the south of Dengzhou are Qixia, Laiyang, Jimo and other county governments, these county governments are densely populated, we can capture Qingzhuang here to transport food and materials for our army, and when it is critical, we can also push to the front of the battle to resist the attack of the Ming army." ”

A little bit. Kong Youde continued: "It is imperative that we send troops to occupy these prefectures and counties as soon as possible to serve as a barrier to Dengzhou. Fight with the army of the imperial court. ”

Li Jiucheng, Geng Zhongming, Mao Chenglu, Li Yingyuan and others followed the movement of Kong Youde's fingers, and they all showed excitement.

Not long ago, these people fought all the way back to Dengzhou from Wuqiao. The burning and killing along the way has already tasted the sweetness, and these county governments are like undefended to the rebels. Let the burning, killing and looting, and now have the opportunity to kill the prefectures and counties near Dengzhou, how can it not be exciting.

Mao Chenglu was excited with everyone for a while, and suddenly thought of a question, and turned directly to Kong Youde and asked: "Brother has just arrived, and I don't know much about my Dengzhou troops, I don't know how many soldiers there are, and what is the state of military readiness?" ”

Kong Youde waved his hand and said with a smug expression: "When our department was in turmoil at Wuqiao, there were more than 3,000 infantry cavalry soldiers; After the mutiny, troops were continuously absorbed along the way, and when they arrived at the city of Dengzhou at the beginning of the year, there were more than 10,000 infantry cavalry and horses; Outside Dengzhou, Liu Chengzu and Cao Shaozhong, two generals, took advantage of the battle between the two armies to directly lead 10,000 Liao soldiers to take refuge, and at this time there were more than 20,000 infantry cavalry and horses; After entering Dengzhou City, there were more than 20,000 soldiers in the city, and now they have been incorporated into our army, plus Brother Mao's subordinates and 2,000 officers and soldiers of the Tianjin Navy Division, our side has more than 43,000 soldiers, of which more than 20,000 elite infantry cavalry of our army remain in the city, and the other 20,000 soldiers are stationed outside the city. ”

Mao Chenglu frowned slightly and said: "According to the general, once the imperial court is ready to go to war, the army it has collected will not be a few, our side now only has more than 40,000 soldiers, and now it seems that the number of troops will not increase suddenly in a short period of time, it is better for these forces to be concentrated together and not dispersed." And simply attacking and occupying nearby states and counties, and then dividing troops to garrison them, will only distract the fighting forces of our army. Assuming that the troops are stationed in each state and county, the imperial court can be defeated individually, and it may be difficult to protect even Dengzhou at that time, so when the troops are insufficient, it is best to concentrate the troops in one place. ”

Chen Guangfu, who had not spoken, said: "Vice General Mao is worthy of being a perennial fighter, I am in favor of the main army to concentrate in one place, and when encountering a recalcitrant city, directly press the troops, you can defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, in order to prevent these state cities from rebounding in the future, after transporting all the materials and food in the occupied cities back to Dengzhou, directly burn the city where it is located to avoid future troubles!" ”

This trick is really vicious, you can imagine that the rebel army really wants to do this, and how many people in Denglai will be displaced and homeless because of this!

Li Jiucheng's bloodshot eyes stared at the map, and said gloomily: "Laizhou is located in the southwest of Dengzhou, is the throat of Dengzhou by land, its surrounding roads extend in all directions, the geographical location is very important, if we can control Laizhou, so that it echoes Dengzhou in the south and north, it can greatly reduce the pressure of the imperial court on Dengzhou City, and it will play a vital role in our smooth foothold." ”

Kong Youde nodded and said loudly: "Brother Jiucheng is very accurate, even if other cities do not control, we must take Laizhou into the hands of our army, so that the water and land passages are all in our hands, then our plan to occupy Dengzhou for a long time can be achieved." ”

Mao Chenglu, Geng Zhongming and others all stared at the map and looked at it carefully, and after Li Jiucheng finished his suggestion, everyone nodded in agreement.

Geng Zhongming said loudly: "How to arrange the deployment of troops, please ask the commander to order, and we will all obey the dispatch." ”

Kong Youde showed a smile on his face and said, "Brother Geng, you have full authority to negotiate with the imperial court on behalf of our old brother in Dongjiang, and be responsible for the safety of Dengzhou City, and leave you 10,000 soldiers in Dengzhou City." ”

Geng Zhongming put away his playful expression and said: "Although Marshal Du can rest assured, arguing with the imperial court is also my forte, and Dengzhou must be solid and foolproof in my hands." ”

Kong Youde nodded, turned his head to Li Jiucheng and said: "Brother Jiucheng and nephew Ying Yuanxian led 10,000 soldiers and horses to plunder all the way south along the direction of Qixia, Laiyang, and Jimo, and after capturing the prefectures and counties, they will scavenge as much food and materials as possible for what they need, and all the county capitals will be destroyed wherever the soldiers pass, so as not to pose a threat to me." Then turn back from the direction of Jimo, and the whole army headed west, in the direction of Pingdu and Changyi. ”

After speaking, he turned his gaze to Mao Chenglu, Chen Guangfu, Wang Bingzhong, Liu Chengzu, Cao Shaozhong and other generals and said: "The rest of the brothers followed Ben Shuai and led 20,000 soldiers and horses all the way along Huangxian and Zhaoyuan to directly kill Benlai Prefecture, and strive to capture Laizhou City in a short period of time, so that Deng and Lai Prefecture really echo north and south and rely on each other. ”

On the tenth day of the fourth month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, the rebellious soldiers of Dengzhou City began to plunder the county government along the Denglai road by dividing their troops into two routes, forcing the real history of burning, killing and looting to the outside world nearly two months earlier.

Kong Youde personally led 20,000 soldiers to go straight to Huangxian in the southwest of Dengzhou City, under the command of Mao Chenglu, Chen Guangfu, Wang Bingzhong, Liu Chengzu, Cao Shaozhong and several long-experienced generals, 20,000 soldiers were divided into infantry and cavalry, including 5,000 cavalry, originally there were only 3,000 cavalry under Kong Youde.

The remaining 3,000 cavalry were temporarily expanded, and 3,000 war horses were captured when Dengzhou City was captured, and there were many people in the Liao army who were good at riding and archery, and Kong Youde directly selected 3,000 soldiers from the Liao soldiers to form a new cavalry army.

In addition to the 5,000 cavalry, Kong Youde's soldiers and horses also included an artillery battalion, a chariot battalion, 1,000 archers, 3,000 sword and shield soldiers, 3,000 lancers, 3,000 pikemen, and 4,000 heavy soldiers.

Most of the soldiers under his command are veterans of the original Dongjiang Town, and most of them have experienced battlefield battles and are quite elite.

Kong Youde and other Dongjiang generals are quite confident, and there is no powerlessness to compete with themselves in the world of Dengzhou!

On April 11 of the fifth year of Chongzhen, more than 60 mutual aid associations under the command of Huluyan have just finished spring ploughing, and this year's breeding hall of the general mutual aid association has made new progress in increasing corn production, so the main crops of spring ploughing will focus on the planting of corn, and the rest of the sweet potatoes, potatoes and other crops have also begun to improve the trial planting.

The unique natural conditions in the mountains make the Huluyan mutual aid associations not have to worry about the irrigation and fertilization of grain crops at all, as long as it is not too big a natural and man-made disaster, for the 100,000 households in Huluyan, it is not a problem to get a bumper harvest of grain.

This year's spring ploughing is completely led and run by the Huluyan Mutual Aid Association, and Feng Jian's main energy is devoted to the Kong Youde rebellion that he is about to face.

Early in the morning, Feng Jian and Chen Lilan, Su Su, and Xiao Hairpin were sitting around late breakfast, Feng Jian drank the milk in front of him, and said with a smile in his mouth: "Lilan, the three of you are breastfeeding, you should drink more milk, drink what to make up, so that my Ning'er, Kang'er and Jie'er will not be short of food!" ”

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a day of reunion, Lao Hai wishes all book friends: the whole family reunion, enjoy the joy of family; Invite the wine to the bright moon and share the beautiful time of the Mid-Autumn Festival!! (To be continued......)