In such a warm environment, Wu Shigong's heart completely calmed down. He began to think about it differently: If he led the peasant rebel army, in which direction would it move?

Returning to Shaanxi to the west? It is not impossible to fight back the carbine, but in a decisive battle with the main force of the Ming army led by Hong Chengchou, even if they win, they will only occupy the ruined Shaanxi, and there will be no benefits, so this direction is the most unlikely

of.

Crossing the Yellow River to the north? It is possible. However, after the peasant rebels cross the Yellow River, one direction is to return to Shanxi, but the situation there is similar to Shaanxi. The other direction is to enter Beizhili. However, after arriving in Beizhili, they will be close to Beijing.

, there were heavy troops from the Beijing camp there, plus the Ming army that was pursuing and encircling them, then the peasant rebel army at that time was looking for death.

Of course, there is another possibility to cross the Yellow River, and that is to go around in a circle and cross the Yellow River into Henan. In that case, it could threaten the northern part of Guide Prefecture, but the place where the peasant rebels crossed the river was in the area of ​​Kaifeng Prefecture! How about mysterious

Mo will not give up the defense in this area. Isn't he afraid of losing Kaifeng's capital?

In any case, if the peasant rebel army chooses this route, then the threat to the Runing army will be very small. Even Xuan Mo, the governor of Henan, must have breathed a sigh of relief because these plague gods left.

Heading east into Henan Prefecture, Guide Prefecture, and into the hinterland of Henan? This possibility is very high. At this time, the peasant rebels also have three choices:

One is to attack big cities such as Luoyang and Kaifeng along the Yellow River. In that case, those big cities that are heavily defended can be sustained for a period of time. At that time, the Runing Army will not mind quickly sending troops to stab the peasant rebels in the back.

However, judging from the previous battles of the peasant rebel army, their siege warfare capabilities were not strong and they could only capture some county towns that had no troops to defend them. However, most of the fall of these county towns was based on internal and external cooperation. So, this

The choice is not great;

One option is to go south into Runing. But with the evil tiger village and Qianhusuo fortress guarded by double tigers, plus the natural obstacles in the mountainous area in the north of Runing Prefecture, the peasant rebels probably chose this route because they were out of their mind.

Otherwise, as long as they enter the mountainous area in the northern part of Runing Prefecture and there is no food and grass supply, they will have more than 300,000 people when they enter the mountainous area, and 30,000 or 40,000 people will be quite good when they leave the mountainous area. By that time, Wu Shigong will have an absolute

With his confidence, he single-handedly defeated all the peasant rebel armies;

The most likely option is to enter Guide Mansion in the southeast direction. But this road is not a smooth road for the peasant rebels. They still have to face the double tiger gatekeepers of Evil Tiger Village and Qianhu Fortress first. At this time, Wu Shigong

I couldn't help but be a little proud of my move to build the Qianhu Fortress when I first arrived at Guide Mansion.

If the peasant rebel army ignores the threat of Evil Tiger Village and Qianhu Fortress and directly attacks Guidefu City, then they will immediately face the dangerous situation of being attacked from both sides by the Holy Spirit Rebellion.

And there is another danger. If Guide Mansion is occupied by the peasant rebels, they can threaten the Grand Canal to the east and Fengyang, the central capital, to the south. By that time, the main force of the Ming army stationed at the Grand Canal and Fengyang will not be

Are you going to rush forward like crazy? In addition, the Runing Army and the Henan Ming Army led by Xuan Mo have blocked the retreat. The peasant rebel army should just wait for the entire army to be surrounded.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the peasant rebels will choose this path. However, Wu Shigong also has a more cautious mind. After all, the peasant rebels do not know the true strength of the Runing Army, nor do they know the situation of Evil Tiger Village and Qianhu Fortress.

Maybe they came here thinking that the defense here was weak. Therefore, the Runing Army still had to deploy heavy troops in the line of Evil Tiger Village and Qianhusuo Fortress;

Then the only thing left is to go south to Nanyang, and then to Huguang. Wu Shigong believes that the peasant rebels are most likely to choose this path.

As soon as they arrived in Huguang, it was an area where the Ming army's defense was weak, and there was a lot of room for movement in the southeast and northwest. In addition, Huguang was mature, and the world was sufficient. The abundant food and grass in Huguang was too attractive to the peasant rebels who rose up due to the famine.

But if the peasant rebels want to go to Huguang, they must pass through Nanyang Prefecture. Then the threat to Ye County and the western front of Runing Prefecture is too great. The peasant rebels will turn into the areas controlled by the Runing Army at any time.

After thinking about all this, Wu Shigong began to think about Runing's army's response.

First of all, the strength of the Runing Army must be concentrated. The current peasant rebel army has exceeded 300,000 people, and with the continuous refuge of refugees in Henan, it is possible that it will exceed 500,000 by then. If the Runing Army does not concentrate,

Relying on two or three thousand men and horses to refuel, we don't even know how we will die.

But the Guide Army must not be able to move. First, three militia groups of 500 people were used to defend the Evil Tiger Village, Qianhusuo Fortress and the county where Yu Zilian was located. They formed an iron triangle defense circle. Then the Guide Army was

Place it on this line to support attacks at any time. Then first of all, the foundation of the Runing Army in Guide Mansion will be preserved.

As for the Guide City! Zhao Ming, the commander of the Guide Guards, can always gather two or three thousand military households, plus the young and strong family members owned by the nearby gentry, there should be about 5,000. Guard the Guide City for a while.

Time is still no problem.

However, Wu Shigong finally thought about it and decided to send a militia group to Zhao Ming to support him. After all, the Hou Mansion was there, and Zhao Ming was an ally with him, so he had to show it in some way.

In the final analysis, the three laws were not implemented in Guide Prefecture, and the Jimin Reclamation Company's farming operations there were too short. The village protection teams had no training at all and could not form combat effectiveness. So this time the peasant rebel army was eliminated

From now on, the Runing Army will also strengthen its control over Guide Mansion.

As for Nanyang Ye County, Luojia Town Daying and Longyan Town bases, there are 500 soldiers of Li Lu, a thousand servants of local private mining gentry, and a thousand men of Jimin Reclamation Trading Company, mainly Ye Zhong miners.

(Wu Shigong is planning to withdraw an infantry regiment that supported the reclamation company this time), plus the transfer of two militia groups, the local village and mine protection team of more than 4,000 people who have been trained for a long time, if the local government can gather more local people

If young and strong men serve as auxiliary soldiers, there will definitely be no problem in holding this line.

If this is done, the entire Nanyang Army can be freed up as a mobile force.

As for the mountainous area in the north of Runing Prefecture, there should be two militia groups to defend it. However, at that time, Wu Shigong was the first to allocate land to his retired veterans and domestic slaves in this area, so the training level of the village and road protection teams there was

The tallest and most loyal to Wu Shigong, and the number of people can be over 3,000, so this direction can basically be assured.

In the south of Runing Mansion, there are only Runing Army and two militia groups defending, which is the weakest place in the entire defense line. Although the total concentration of the village and road protection teams here can exceed 30,000 people, their training is not enough.

Not many, and secondly, there are only 5,000 weapons at most, so field warfare is definitely not possible. This also made Wu Shigong feel how short-sighted it was to sell so many second-hand weapons!

The last one is the Runing Army headquarters. No matter what, a regiment should be left to defend Runing Fucheng and the Runing Army camp. After all, the families of Wu Shigong and Runing Army officials are all here.

Of course, there are more than 1,000 soldiers controlled by the Department of Internal Affairs and the Department of Mountains and Rivers, and the craftsmen of the Workshop Department who have received military training can also raise nearly 2,000.

In addition, there are village and road protection teams. It is even more exaggerated here. The total mobilization can bring together more than 40,000 people. However, it still has the same problem as in the southern part of Runing Prefecture. There is insufficient training and no weapons. At most, it can only bring together five or six people.

thousand.

But in this way, the Runing Army's mobile strength is only the two legions of the headquarters and the directly affiliated troops, plus the Nanyang Army. The total number of people is only a little over 10,000. How can such a strength possibly bring down 300,000 to 500,000 people?

Will it hurt if the peasant rebel army beats them?

Now Wu Shigong has a headache. It’s really hard to have fewer troops when they are used! In fact, according to Wu Shigong’s plan, as long as the Runing Army develops step by step and expands at the rate of one to two legions per year, this will allow the Runing Army to

With balanced development, the Runing Army's field troops can be expanded to more than 30,000 in three years. In addition, with the preparation of 100,000 reserve village and road protection teams that have been trained for more than a year, the Runing Army will definitely have

Confidence competed with the peasant rebel army and the post-Jin army.

But now it's too late to say all this. Where can we spread the beans to form an army? So Wu Shigong looked at each point and felt that the troops deployed at each point could not be moved.

Suddenly, Wu Shigong remembered what Taizu did in modern times. At that time, he was so bold that he gave up the capital Yan'an to fight for the initiative, and finally gained the victory of the whole country. Then why should he want everything, when he might not be able to keep everything?

Wu Shigong suddenly felt that his mind had opened up, and his vision suddenly became brighter.

Since the peasant rebel army is most likely to go to Nanyang Prefecture, then I simply transfer all the cavalry and an infantry regiment from the Guided Army. Anyway, the infantry regiment left by the Guided Army has only lost its mobility. As long as the iron triangle is defended,

In addition, Zhao Ming is guarding Guidefu City. If the peasant rebel army invades, they only need to hold on for a while and wait for their main force to rescue them.

And the Runing Army can also be mobilized. If the peasant rebels who invade Nanyang are beaten, they will not dare to approach the south of Runing Mansion. If they are defeated, the Runing Army will not be able to stop them with such a small force.

The peasant rebel army, which has a large number of people, might as well be concentrated together.
Chapter completed!