"Xuzhou is the thoroughfare of the four provinces, the important place where the north and the south meet, and the lifeline of the throat." Zhu Jiajun pointed to Xuzhou and reported the surrounding neighboring prefectures and counties one by one, which was like giving everyone a geography lesson, and it can be seen that there is really a lot of effort.

"Occupying Xuzhou can shield Nanjing, and it can also be the whole of Shandong." Zhu Jiajun said, seemingly nodding a place in Huai'an and Luzhou.

Huai'an is the place where Liu Zeqing fled, and Luzhou is the residence of Huang Degong. plus Gao Jie in Xuzhou and Liu Liangzuo in Shouzhou, it is the four towns of Jiangbei in the original historical script. For the Southern Ming, these four towns are a line of defense in the north of Zuihou. And in this shijie, it is the shield behind Shandong, or the spear.

From Zhu Jiajun's point of view, it is more likely to become a spear.

The composition of the Donggong military system is too different from other military towns in the Ming Dynasty, so much so that after the soldiers are integrated into the Donggong system, they spontaneously have a sense of rejection towards other Ming military towns. Especially for an old man like Zhu Jiajun, along the way, all he saw was the bloody battle of the Donggong army, while the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were looking down on the wind, and they would not agree with those military towns that could not fight from the bones.

In line with the instructions of the East Palace: Pig-like allies are the same as enemy troops.

Zhu Jiajun's first thought was to solve these pig-like friendly forces, so as to make the Shandong base safer.

"But the most important thing is to go south to get food." Zhu Jiajun put the bamboo whip in his hand, gently twisted it into a bow, and said: "I myself have seen the earth-shaking changes in Rizhao County with my own eyes after the army was stationed in Rizhao. If there is a means for the county officials of the East Palace to rectify the place, even if it is a disaster year, the people may not be able to survive. Xuzhou has a dense water network, although there is a flood of the Yellow River, but there is still a lot of land that can be cultivated, if our army occupies Xuzhou. The ability of the officials of the East Palace should be able to save more people. ”

More people means more soldiers, which means you are stronger! The phrase "protecting the people is protecting oneself" that the instructors talk about every day has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

"Captain," Cao Ning raised his hand and asked, "although the military council believes that the main force of the Eastern Capture will not immediately go south. But if the eastern army presses the border and robs Xuzhou, how can your troops defend it? ”

"The whole army went east, went to Huai'an and Andongwei, returned to Shandong, and moved closer to the 2nd Guards Battalion." Zhu Jiajun blurted out: "The recent field training of the Second Guards Battalion has already crossed our station, and if there is a large army of Dongyu going south, it will definitely be able to support our department." ”

Zhu Cihong immediately turned to Cao Ning, the chief of staff of the Second Guards Battalion just smiled. He raised his hand for a moment, and then stopped speaking.

The 2nd Guards Battalion did not lose its active character due to the constraints of the discipline, and was especially good at mountain warfare. Southwest Lu is famous for its Yimeng Mountains – mountains, hills, and plains each account for one-third of the area. There are many bandits here, Xiao Donglou uses the name of training to suppress bandits, every time he "encounters a battle", thinking that it is enough to hide people's eyes, but today he was broken by Zhu Jiajun.

Zhu Cihong beckoned to Min Ziruo, and Min Zhanlian immediately came over with his ear.

"Show me the 2nd Battalion's recent battle damage table." Zhu Cihong said.

Min Ziruo quickly walked out of the conference room. Find the staff officer on duty and bring up the documents. Sent in.

Seeing Min Ziruo coming in and out, Cao Ning regretted it a lot, knowing that he had attracted the attention of the crown prince, and there must be a reasonable explanation. He didn't mean to make things difficult for Zhu Jiajun, but the expansion of the Guards Division had already spread throughout the army, and Xiao Donglou certainly wanted to bring the guerrilla battalion under his command. Cao Ning took the opportunity to ask. It had already been calculated that the guerrilla battalion would never retreat south, and could only throw itself close to the 2nd Guard Battalion. Who knew that Zhu Jiajun was not a fuel-efficient lamp, he answered neither humbly nor arrogantly, and sold the second camp by the way.

The independent battalion was also bent on expanding into an independent division. It's better to have a majestic title. As for the claws of Lushan stretched out by the first and second battalions, they must be cut off neatly!

Another major in the corner raised his hand and asked, "If you defend Xuzhou and let the 1st and 2nd Guards Battalions attack Dongyu from the flank, will it be wide?" ”

You Shiwei coughed lightly: "Whether or not to let the guerrilla battalion go south to Xuzhou has not yet become a decision. ”

The major said: "General Bing, the capture of Xuzhou has a hundred benefits and no harm, the key is how to make good use of Xuzhou." He paused and said, "Xuzhou has iron and coal, and water power is available, which is suitable for casting cannons." If Xuzhou can be controlled by our army, the artillery casting speed will be more than ten statues per day. ”

Zhu Cihong moved his body. Shandong is indeed a major coal and iron province, but no ready-made iron and coal mines have been found in Denglai Erfu. The coal currently used is transported from Yanzhou. Although there is iron ore, based on the quality of iron ore and smelting methods, it can only be used to make agricultural tools, and the iron molds and materials for casting cannons mainly have to be purchased from Wuhu.

If you occupy Xuzhou and build a coal-iron composite industry center there, you can get great support for both military and civilian use.

Zhu Cihong suddenly discovered: These officers under his command have a stronger desire to fight than himself!

"But if the guerrilla battalion can't hold it, we naturally can't put the artillery factory in Xuzhou." The Major said.

Zhu Jiajun had already calculated the combat capability of the guerrilla battalion in his heart, and immediately said: "As long as the Dongyu army is less than 10,000 people, there is no problem for our troops to defend alone. ”

"Captain, do you have any basis for that?" Zhu Cihong finally spoke.

Zhu Jiajun turned to Zhu Cihong, bowed, and said: "The eastern captives are mainly cavalry, if our troops are invincible in the field, but if they only use the terrain to defend the city, they are confident that they will be able to defeat one enemy and ten." ”

Zhu Cihong shook his head: "We haven't fought with Dongyu yet, don't be too blindly confident." Military decisions, in particular, must not be taken for granted! ”

Zhu Jiajun's face turned red, and he saluted respectfully: "Humble thanks to His Royal Highness for your guidance!" ”

Zhu Cihong nodded to You Shiwei and leaned back.

You Shiwei cleared his throat: "If there is no objection, the guerrilla battalion will capture Xuzhou Jihua and report it to the military discussion." ”

"Report!" Cao Ning stood up: "Report, our department believes that we should take the guerrilla battalion's occupation of Xuzhou as the center, and formulate an operation to consolidate Xuzhou and protect Shandong. For this reason, the 2nd Guards Battalion of our Guards requested that the defensive line be moved forward to Yanzhou Mansion. ”

When the major who was thinking about artillery casting heard this, he couldn't help but be eager to try. However, Cao Ning is second only to Xiao Donglou in the Second Guards Battalion, which lieutenant below doesn't look at his face? Even if this major wants to learn from Cao Ning, he also knows that he can't represent the Firearms Division, and such proposals still have to be discussed and decided by the division before they can be proposed.

Zhu Cihong was somewhat ignorant of the operation of the army, and was more concerned with general organizational behavior. The situation in front of him made him realize that it was actually the lack of the General Staff in the formulation of the major campaign, and the staff officers at the battalion headquarters level below could not focus on the overall situation.

It is impossible to have an all-knowing and all-powerful General Staff right away, but it can be cultivated slowly.

"General You," Zhu Cihong said, "you can transfer the staff officers of various departments to form a temporary staff group and discuss this matter in Xuzhou." ”

You Shiwei saw that Zhu Cihong was interested, and immediately responded: "The last general will obey the order." ”

Zhu Cihong turned to the major and asked with a smile: "I heard that your accent is a little strange, where are you from?" ”

"Your Highness!" When the major saw that the crown prince was talking to him in person, he gave a military salute with some excitement, but when the words came to his mouth, his tongue knotted and said: "Beizhi Lake, Lake ......"

"Huguang?" Zhu Cihong is a little strange, Huguang's accent doesn't seem to be like this.

"Hujian!" The major finally spoke.

"Fujian?"

"Yes, Hujian!" The major replied.

Zhu Cihong smiled and said, "What's your name?" When did you enlist? ”

"Humble Hong Zuwei, Chongzhen enlisted in Xi'an in the sixteenth year." Hong Zuwei said: "At that time, I was fortunate to hear His Royal Highness's speech on Guan Xue, and I admired it in my heart. Later, he traveled with the army and decided to abandon his pen and join the army, and now he is tired of being a colonel. ”

Hong Zuwei reported his resume, which made Zhu Cihong even more amused, it seems that this is one of the scholars who were domesticated back then. However, most of those people have been transferred to civilian officials, and now they are working as administrative assistants in various places, but I didn't expect that some people really joined the army and became majors.

"Which one are you from?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"He is now serving as a staff officer of the Firearms Division." Hong Zuwei said.

"Firearms Division?" Zhu Cihong said curiously: "The Firearms Division has never fought much, how did you accumulate merit and be promoted?" ”

"Before enlisting in the army, he was promoted, and after being assigned to the Firearms Division, he was rated as a captain and staff officer of the General Staff Bureau." Hong Zuwei said: "Because of the improvement in the casting method, I have just been promoted to major. ”

"You're the one who put the muzzle up?" Zhu Cihong remembered the only recent improvement in the cannon casting method.

Sure enough, Hong Zuwei grinned and said, "It's a humble position!" (To be continued......)

PS: Ask for recommended tickets and monthly passes~~ It's almost the end of the month~~~