Chapter 336 Shake people

Author: West Lake in the Rain

Chapter 336 Shake people

"How did Chen Xuan fight?"

In the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, Zhu Di looked at the report coming back from the front line and threw it to the ground unceremoniously.

The purpose of Zhu Di's visit today was to listen to the reports from the generals of the Governor's Office on the conquest of Annan.

There had been loud calls for the conquest of Annan before, but Zhu Di had been suppressing it, just to wait for Jiang Xinghuo to complete the water control in the south of the Yangtze River and settle the refugees, so that large-scale cotton textile production could be carried out, and handicraft workshops were opened.

The Ming Dynasty's army can naturally find sales.

With this prerequisite, the expedition to Annan will not turn into a loss-making business. Otherwise, just by grabbing a sum from Annan, you will still lose money. After all, with hundreds of thousands of troops setting off, they are throwing money into a bottomless pit every day, let alone

The cost of maintaining rule has increased.

But the generals of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion didn't care about this. Their eyes only focused on expanding their territory and gaining meritorious service. Therefore, even Zhu Di could hardly suppress their voices.

The army is Zhu Di's base and the core source of his power. Zhu Di cannot ignore the opinions of the generals.

Moreover, Chen Tianping, the grandson of the Annan Emperor who was sent from Laos a while ago, burst into tears in the main hall during the court meeting in front of all the civil and military officials and said, "The traitor invaded Siming Mansion and took its land. Let's investigate his true intentions."

, Really want to compete with the superior country", explain clearly

The current puppet dynasty in the south is against the Ming Dynasty, and then it says, "Your Majesty is worthy of the world, and has nurtured hundreds of millions of people all over the world. He has lost everything, and his heart is uneasy. He has committed crimes and insulted the people, and has continued to rise and fall. This is the hope of distant barbarians.

"This is the great wish of a humble minister", which encouraged Zhu Di to send troops.

In this way, the conquest of Annan was saved, and the generals became more and more excited.

Therefore, the specific strategy and campaign planning for the expedition to Annan were naturally put on the agenda.

This process began around the time Jiang Xinghuo prayed for rain. Over the past few days, after intense preparations by the Fifth Army Commander's Office, a complete combat plan was presented to Zhu Di today.

But Zhu Di was not satisfied, not with the specific content, but with the leader.

The three living Jingnan Dukes, Qiu Fu and Yao Guangxiao, are all old. Only the Duke of Cheng, Zhu Neng, is free to do whatever he wants. He has asked for battle several times. Originally, Zhu Neng was the best candidate, but unfortunately after Jiang Xinghuo reminded him,

, Zhu Di does have concerns in his heart now, fearing that this pillar of the Mesozoic era in the Ming Dynasty's military circles may have some shortcomings.

Zhu Di personally visited Zhu Neng and found that Zhu Neng was indeed in good health. However, during his daily observations, Zhu Di carefully discovered that Zhu Neng did appear to be weaker than before in some details, such as coughing from time to time.

But Zhu Neng said that he was fine. Although Zhu Di had the final decision-making power and could be arbitrary, Zhu Di still insisted on fair rewards and punishments for the generals. The opportunity to lead the army on the expedition was of course a kind of reward.

Zhu Di could not forcefully refuse to let Zhu Neng, the most suitable candidate, lead the army with the ridiculous reason of "the national division predicts that you will have an accident."

Otherwise, the generals would think that the emperor was afraid that Zhu Nenggong would shock the emperor? Then would he have to drink wine to release his military power?

The world has decided that this is what the generals are most worried about.

Zhu Di didn't know what to say, so he just picked a few thorns at random.

However, by coincidence, Chen Xuan's military report also happened to arrive, which hit Zhu Di's bad luck.

"Chen Xuan arrived in Jiangnan so long in advance, so he didn't know how to build bridges and roads, build military depots, and reserve food and wages?"

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

The generals in the Dudu Mansion hurriedly knelt on the ground, and some even said in fear: "I am incompetent, please forgive me..."

Even so, the teasing in his tone was obvious.

The progress of quelling the rebellion in Jiangnan was slow, and it was not they who led the troops, but Chen Xuan, the uncle of Ping Jiang, who was actually commanding them. What does it have to do with them? It was nothing more than a detailed manifestation of the factional strife within the Ming army.

More than half a year ago, Chen Xuan, as a general of the Southern Army who was not a descendant of the founder of Hongwu, led the navy to deploy river defenses to resist the Yan army. However, he voluntarily surrendered to the Yan army, allowing Zhu Di to successfully cross the river. Although Chen Xuan acted "silently"

For his contribution to the "Ji", he was still appointed as the Governor of the Right Army Governor's Mansion, and was awarded the title of Fengtian Yiwei Xuanli Military Minister, but as a hero of Jingnan, can he be the same as others? Compared with Li Jinglong, who also opened the door to surrender, his gold content is slightly insufficient.

.

Therefore, in the current contempt chain of the Ming Dynasty military circles, if you can collect the keywords at the bottom of the contempt chain such as non-Hongwu nobles, surrendered generals, navy, etc., you will also have the opportunity to lead an army to suppress the rebellion and show your face.

, it is normal for Chen Xuan to make people jealous and tease her.

Zhu Diyu was still angry, pointing to Kanyu map and said: "Jiangnan has been delayed for so long, doesn't it delay my major event of conquering Annan?"

After being awarded the title of Rongguo Gong, Yao Guangxiao actually participated in important military and military matters as a military minister. Therefore, of course he was present at the meeting to conquer Annan.

Seeing that the emperor was furious, the other generals also had average relations with Chen Xuan, so they were naturally too lazy to speak for Chen Xuan. However, Chen Xuan's command was theoretically entrusted to him by Jiang Xinghuo, so for Jiang Sheng's sake, Yao Guangxiao stepped forward.

That's fair.

"Chen Xuan and his thousands of naval troops had received orders to dredge the waterways, not to prepare for war. When the civil unrest broke out, Chen Xuan did some garrison work in Suzhou Mansion. Not a single city in Suzhou Mansion fell. Your Majesty fell.

There’s no need to be too harsh.”

"snort!"

Zhu Di knocked on the sand table and said: "After all, he was not thoughtful enough, so he fined him a year's salary as punishment. He immediately issued an order urging him to assist the national army in quickly suppressing the civil unrest."

Zheng He slightly cupped his hands behind him, but turned around to deliver the order. Several imperial edicts were outside.

In the military council hall, Cao Guogong Li Jinglong was not there. As the current leader of the Hongwu nobles, Wei Guogong Xu Huizu looked on silently and said nothing.

Of course Xu Huizu could see that the emperor didn't seem to be really angry. Instead, he found some excuse to curse openly, but he was still quite happy in his heart.

Moreover, the tacit explanation between this accusation and Yao Guangxiao was actually some kind of protection. With the emperor's characterization of the matter, others would not be able to attack Chen Xuan any more.

"Ahem. Your Majesty, let's continue the discussion."

Chengguo Gong Zhu Neng covered his mouth and coughed twice, then continued.

"Where did you talk about just now?" Zhu Di asked with his hands on his hips.

I don’t know if the emperor did it on purpose or something, but the people next to him quickly reminded him.

"The Elephant Soldiers of Annam."

"Oh." Zhu Di nodded and said: "Annam, Champa, Siam and other countries have always liked to use elephants to fight. The elephants are huge. Even if they are heavily armored and cavalry, if they collide, the elephants in formation will

They will all be destroyed in front of them, and their elephant soldiers must be guarded against. Do you have any good strategies?"

At this time, Liu Sheng, the minister of the Zuo Army Governor's Office, suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I heard that King Muying of Qianning used fire blunderbuss, crossbows, and cannons to break the Luchuan elephant formation. Now the lightweight field bronze cannons and Yongle cannons are used."

The first-year matchlock gun has been manufactured on a small scale, why not use it to conquer Annan?"

"Oh." Zhu Di's eyes flashed: "This is actually a good idea! As long as we are sure to deal with the elephant formation, I don't think Annan has any tricks that can be used to fight against our tomorrow's army."

"Your Majesty is wise." The generals behind Zhu Di agreed.

However, Duke Qiu Fu of Qi frowned and admonished displeasedly: "Your Majesty, firearms are only useful for scaring wild beasts. In ancient times, those who can win in battles rely on armored horses and dare to fight fierce soldiers. I haven't heard of it.

We can win with firearms alone. Even in times of crisis, if the firearms are placed in advance and rely on the car formation, won't they be washed to pieces? Your Majesty, please don't indulge in this crooked alley."

Tong'an Hou Huozhen, a Mongolian general with a cavalry background, also spoke Chinese with a northern accent and agreed: "Ping Jiangbo's progress in the south of the Yangtze River is slow, probably because there are too few tax soldiers and cavalry, and most of them are infantry armed with firearms and spears.

, Firearms are useless when it rains, and Annan is also hot and rainy all year round. If you really use firearms, I'm afraid you have to fight depending on the weather, which is far worse than riding a horse and rushing back and forth."

This was Qiu Fu and other cavalry generals making a clear statement to the emperor.

Firearms are just for scaring elephants. Don't really use them as an independent military unit.

In fact, Qiu Fu, as the principal of the Ming Dynasty Army Officer School, has always had a disdainful attitude towards the teaching of artillery and gun-related firearms subjects in the school.

There is also something about cutting watermelon here. The more you cut it, the less I will worry about it.

Traditional cavalry officers are very, very concerned about safeguarding their own interests.

Ping An and Sheng Yong, who also supported the use of firearms but had an extremely embarrassing position in the army, had been sent to the North at this time to train the three guards returned by the kings of Sai. Therefore, Liu Sheng looked around and found that he was somewhat isolated.

Helpless.

Fortunately, at this time, Wei Guogong Xu Huizu stood up and spoke for him.

"Whether firearms can form an army alone, it is hard to say how well the Tax Guards are doing now. After all, they are not equipped with new matchlocks and bronze cannons. Your Majesty might as well send this batch of firearms produced by the War and War Bureau to the front line to try them out.

try."

"If we can't transport food, how can we transport firearms?" Zhu Neng also read Chen Xuan's battle report and naturally knew how difficult the transportation conditions in Jiangnan are now.

Xu Huizu explained: "The grain bags cannot be carried because they are afraid of water, and the amount of grain required is too much. If they are transported less, it will be a drop in the bucket. However, the number of these firearms is not large, and they are placed in the boxes and covered with raincloths.

A transportable box can probably hold dozens of matchlock muskets. If you organize a team of people, you can transport them to the front line through the difficult roads in Suzhou Prefecture. At best, the transport will be slower."

Zhu Di said thoughtfully: "The imperial army's vigorous and resolute actions in Changzhou Prefecture have established a solid rear area for Jiangnan's actions. What is difficult to move at this time is just the middle section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in Suzhou Prefecture."

"I can understand your concerns."

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Di made a decision.

"But new firearms must be used in actual combat. Let's follow Wei Guogong's wishes and organize a batch of dozens or more than a hundred large boxes to be sent to the front line."

"Liu Qian Shi."

Liu Sheng, who was named, quickly responded: "I'm here."

Zhu Di instructed: "With my will, you have allocated all the muskets and several small cannons produced during this period from the Military War Bureau to be transported to the front line of Jiangnan to suppress the chaos. Then we will see the specific situation at Xushuguan. If

If the rain lightens or stops, then you can transport food if you can; if it still rains heavily, you can help transport food."

"I obey the decree!"
To be continued...