Chapter 201 Zhu Yuanzhang’s strategy to break the situation
In the lobby of Chuzhou Shuai Mansion, the air seemed to have been compressed, making everyone feel that breathing was not so smooth.
Only Zhu Yuanzhang looked as usual, his eyes sweeping over the generals.
Not only did the generals not speak, but everyone's expressions were full of uneasiness.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew what everyone was thinking.
It is certainly a good thing that Jiangdu's army defeated the Yuan army, but we took advantage of Jiangdu's army to take advantage of Chuzhou.
If Jiangdu's army raises troops to investigate, how can they resist?
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang has been recruiting troops recently, and his number has expanded to more than 10,000.
However, compared with the Jiangdu Army's hundreds of thousands of well-trained and well-equipped elite divisions, they were too weak. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang could understand everyone's mood.
There are more than 20 generals in the lobby, but only four of them have seats. They are the Qianhu households that Zhu Yuanzhang just granted, namely Miao Daheng, Tang He, Xu Da and Hua Yun.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to break the silence himself.
"Miao Qianhu, you are most familiar with Zhang Yangquan, do you think he will come to ask for Chuzhou?"
Miao Daheng seemed to have guessed that he would ask himself, and immediately replied: "Although Zhang Yangquan and Qin Lingjun are both bandits, they behave decently. When they first occupied the North Gate, they were very loved by the people!"
"The commander-in-chief is asking whether he will ask for Chuzhou. Why are you talking about this?" Tang He said with eyes wide.
Miao Daheng said: "It can be seen from this incident that Zhang Yangquan attaches great importance to reputation. If he comes to ask for Chuzhou, he will definitely give people the feeling of bullying, which is something he never wants to see!"
"Yes, you agree with me. A month ago, Zhang Yangquan sent Xu Baisheng to lead troops back to Zhenzhou, but he did not come to attack Chuzhou. This shows that he no longer intends to take Chuzhou." Zhu Yuanzhang agreed.
Tang He said: "Then why did he let Xu Baisheng lead the troops back to Zhenzhou?"
"Of course we are afraid that we will capture Hezhou again! Zhang Yangquan doesn't care about Chuzhou. What he is worried about is that we will cross the Yangtze River and move south after occupying Hezhou!"
Hua Yun had a dark face and said coldly: "If he doesn't let us, we'll just do it!"
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said: "The Jiangdu army is now strong and has repelled the Yuan army. It is impossible for us to capture Hezhou under their noses. Let's stop attacking Hezhou!"
Hua Yun stared at him and said, "Will the commander give up crossing the river?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said loudly: "I mean to give up Hezhou, not to give up crossing the river!"
Tang He said: "Yes, Hezhou is not the only one who can cross the river!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said slowly: "With our current strength, it is too early to cross the river. We should first expand our strength and establish a navy!"
Miao Daheng said: "To the east is Yangzhou and to the southwest is Hezhou. There is no way forward. We can only go north and attack Xuzhou!"
Hua Yun nodded and said: "If we can capture Xuzhou, we will have the opportunity to occupy Henan and quickly expand our army's strength!"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head: "We can't attack Xuzhou!"
Miao Daheng was stunned: "Why?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "After the defeat of the Yuan army, Xuzhou will definitely be targeted by many people and become the target of public criticism. With our strength, we cannot compete with them at the moment!"
Miao Daheng said: "Are you talking about Zhao Junyong?"
"He counts as one."
Hua Yun said dissatisfied: "Commander, you think too highly of Zhao Junyong! He was defeated at the hands of King Jing and has become a laughing stock in the world. Why should we be afraid of him?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "If there is only one person from Zhao Junyong, I will naturally not be afraid, but there is another person who is eyeing Xuzhou, and that person is the person I least want to provoke!"
Hua Yun asked: "Liu Futong?"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head.
Xu Da suddenly said: "Zhang Shicheng!"
Everyone was stunned. They looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and found that he nodded.
Tang He was surprised and said: "Although Zhang Shicheng made a name for himself in the Battle of Yangzhou, his vitality has been severely damaged. There is no need for us to be afraid of him!"
Xu Da put his hands on his knees and said slowly: "This time more than 400,000 Yuan troops were defeated in Gaoyou. More than 100,000 people died in the battle. Less than 50,000 people returned to Baoying. Where are the more than 200,000 people?
?"
Tang He said: "Didn't Xizuo send back information? Jiangdu's army captured more than 60,000 people, Zhang Shicheng captured more than 20,000 people, and the others all fled!"
Xu Dadao: "The food of the Yuan army was burned. The soldiers had no food rations and could not escape far. If most of them wanted to survive, they could only choose to surrender to Zhang Shicheng!"
Hua Yun said with emotion: "So, Zhang Shicheng can get more than 100,000 people in one go?"
Xu Dadao: "Yes."
Miao Daheng suddenly said: "He only has a few thousand people under his command, and suddenly he has hundreds of thousands. Will he be unable to control them?"
Xu Da shook his head and said: "No, Zhang Shicheng has already established his reputation in the Battle of Gaoyou, and those Yuan soldiers should all admire him. Zhang Shicheng only needs to use those few thousand as backbone officers, and he will soon have a powerful army!" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. Xu Da's words coincided with what he thought. This is why he was afraid of Zhang Shicheng!
Tang He suddenly said: "He has gained so many people at once, can he sustain them?"
Xu Dadao: "Can't afford it! Because of this, he will quickly attack the surrounding areas. The most likely place to attack is Xuzhou, because there is a lot of food there!"
Tang He touched his nose and said in a low voice: "So, doesn't he soar into the sky?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said slowly: "He experienced nine deaths before he got the great situation he is in now. This is exactly what I said before, only those who dare to fight hard can survive in today's world!"
Miao Daheng said: "Commander, if the north is not advisable, then won't we have to die in Chuzhou?"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and said: "No, there is another choice!"
All the generals asked: "What choice?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said word for word: "Attack Wuwei!"
Tang He was surprised and said: "Wuwei is behind Hezhou, how can we attack?"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "If we pretend to attack Hezhou, Jiangdu's army will definitely send troops to fight with us, and then we will take the initiative to show weakness, give Hezhou to them, and go straight to inaction!"
Miao Daheng's eyes flashed brightly and he said: "Yes, this can also show goodwill to Jiangdu's army, and we don't have to worry about Hezhou sneaking up on us from behind. You can give it a try!"
Xu Da asked: "When will we do it?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I heard that Zhang Yangquan will be king soon, let's choose that day to do it!"
Xu Da asked: "What if they take action in advance?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said with a solemn expression: "Then let's take action in advance, so from now on, everyone must prepare for war and be ready to dispatch at any time!"
All the generals agreed in unison.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw Xu Da frowning and asked: "Xu Da, is there something wrong with this plan?"
Xu Da shook his head and said: "I'm worried about another thing!"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked: "What's the matter?"
Xu Dadao: "It is impossible for the Yuan Dynasty to gather an army to attack Yangzhou Road in a short time. However, water transportation is blocked and sea transportation may also be affected. They will never sit back and watch this situation!"
Tang He snorted: "So what if you don't want to? They are at the end of the road now and can't do anything!"
Xu Da glanced at him and said: "Don't forget, in addition to using troops to suppress, the Tatars are also good at another trick!"
Tang He's face changed slightly and he blurted out: "Zhao'an?"
Xu Da nodded.
Hua Yun said in a deep voice: "Zhang Shicheng and Zhang Yangquan should not be ordered to peace by the Tatars!"
Xu Dadao: "After a bloody battle between Zhang Shicheng and the Tatars, Gaoyou's population was almost wiped out. Naturally, there will be no imperial edict. What I am worried about is Zhang Yangquan!"
Tang He exclaimed: "It's really suspenseful that you suddenly said this. Zhang Yangquan was ordered to be safe by the Tatars once before, so there may not be a second time!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's face was also a little solemn. If Jiangdu's army was ordered to be ordered to move around and annihilate him, things would be in trouble!
"Miao Qianhu, do you think Zhang Yangquan will be imprisoned?"
Miao Daheng smiled slightly and said: "You are too worried. In my opinion, even if Zhang Shicheng is imprisoned, Zhang Yangquan will not be imprisoned!"
Tang He quickly asked: "Why?"
Miao Daheng said: "Because of his wife!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was moved and said: "The female village leader who took in Zhang Yangquan?"
Miao Daheng recalled the thrill of his last meeting with Qin Lingjun, and said slowly: "That woman was originally the daughter of Yuan Chen, and her father was killed by Tuotuo, so she hated the Tatars the most in her life!"
After everyone heard this, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Since Jiangdujun became famous, Zhang Yangquan's origins have also been talked about. Everyone knows that he was taken in by Qin Lingjun and achieved what he is today.
It is said that Qin Lingjun was not only beautiful in appearance, but also highly skilled in martial arts, and was of great help to Zhang Yangquan.
Therefore, Zhang Yangquan respected his wife so much that he not only handed over the management of the army to her, but also did not even take in a concubine.
Since his wife hates the Tatars so much, it is impossible for him to accept the imperial edict!