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Chapter 447: Two Hundred Thousand Soldiers Arrive at Gaoyou

 After Fu Youde resigned, Zhang Yangquan stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked slowly in the hall.

Although Fu Youde's strategy is good, it is very radical, which will lead to the advancement of the Northern Expedition.

Originally, he planned to wait for the Yuan Dynasty to kill each other and reap the benefits.

However, if you think about it carefully, this is too passive. If the Yuan army never fights among themselves, wouldn't he have to wait indefinitely?

The Yuan army has been divided internally. The first choice is to use Fu Youde's plan to consume the power of the Yuan court, and then find opportunities to eliminate the main force of the Yuan army in the Central Plains.

The first step now is to try to eat the 300,000 horses in Kuaikuo's hands.

At present, the number of troops near Jiangdu Prefecture is about 350,000. Although there are many artillery, there are not enough muskets.

Kuaoku's cavalry is fierce, so it is best to avoid frontal field battles and try to carry out the battle around Gaoyou City, which is most beneficial to your own side.

Judging from Zhang Shicheng's killing of the envoy this time, this person is still ruthless. If he storms Gaoyou Mansion, he will encounter the same dilemma as Tuotuo.

If we don't fight, we can only wait for the expansion army to take action first, and I'm afraid the expansion army may not take action.

Thinking of this, he made a decision in his mind.

"Go and invite Duke Qin here." He ordered.

The guard promised.

Xu Baisheng arrived faster than Fu Youde, and within a quarter of an hour after the order was given, he saw him striding into the Zhengyang Palace with his head held high and his chest held high.

After the ceremony, Zhang Yangquan said: "Xu Qing, in three days, you will lead an army of 200,000 to attack Gaoyou Mansion, bombard the south gate with artillery for three days, and then station yourself outside the south gate. No attack will be allowed without my order."

City."

"I accept your order." Xu Baisheng accepted the promise with his hands raised. Unlike other generals, he never asked any questions no matter what orders Zhang Yangquan gave.

"Do you know why I arranged this?" Zhang Yangquan was afraid that he would not understand what he was thinking, so he took the initiative to ask.

Xu Baisheng said: "Zhang Shicheng killed our envoy and used this as an excuse to march into the army, but His Majesty does not want to really attack Gaoyou Mansion and cause unnecessary casualties!"

Zhang Yangquan nodded: "Yes, Zhang Shicheng is a rebel after all. If he doesn't plan to join the Tatars, there is no need for us to kill each other with him!"

Xu Baisheng agreed: "When we originally proposed to attack Gaoyou City, we were worried that Zhang Shicheng would expand his borders and launch a surprise attack on Jiangdu. Now that there is no such hidden danger, we really shouldn't fight with it."

Zhang Yangquan looked at him: "This battle will definitely revolve around Gaoyou City. Although we don't necessarily have to capture Gaoyou, we must make good use of Gaoyou City."

"I understand." Xu Baisheng understood and said: "Gaoyou City is a huge bunker for our army, blocking the enemy's cavalry charge!"

Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "Also, you have to remember that what the musketeers are best at is actually not city defense, but street fighting."

"Street fighting?" Xu Baisheng was stunned and said, "I will study it immediately after I get back."

Zhang Yangquan added: "There are 300,000 troops in the expansion area, half of which are cavalry. We must try to avoid fighting with him in the field and guide the battle within the city."

"I understand." Xu Baisheng has fully understood Zhang Yangquan's strategic intention.

Zhang Yangquan waved his hand: "That's good, you go down and get ready."

Three days later, Xu Baisheng mobilized all his 200,000 troops and marched northward, approaching the south gate of Gaoyou City.

The artillery was transported at a slower speed than the army. Xu Baisheng waited for several days before all the artillery was transported from the rear.

At the same time, Fu Youde led a hundred thousand naval troops and sailed from Tongzhou to Jeju Island.

Four generals, Bian Yuanheng, Zhao Desheng, Xu Da and Liu Futong, accompanied him.

Zhang Yangquan's order was to station Fu Youde and others on Jeju Island to guard against the Koreans and Japanese, so no one knew that he had other tasks.

In addition, Zhang Yangquan sent Zhu San to Xiangyang to garrison to guard against Ming Yuzhen and the Guanzhong Yuan Army.

He also asked Zhu Yuanzhang to lead an army of 50,000 to station in Sizhou, and Sun Hu to lead an army of 50,000 to station in Anfeng to deal with the Yuan army in Henan moving south.

Just when Zhang Yangquan was dispatching troops and generals, the expanded army of 300,000 troops had also arrived in Baoying.

Standing on the city wall of Baoying South Gate, Kuo Kuo looked up at the Grand Canal connecting the north and south, and felt something in his heart.

A few years ago, he participated in the Battle of Yangzhou with his father. The commander-in-chief at that time was Prime Minister Tuotuo. The battle lasted for several months and ended in a disastrous defeat for the Yuan army.

At that time, Kao Kuo made an assumption. If he was the commander of that army, he must have wiped out the Yangzhou bandits.

As time passed, he finally got his wish and became the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition.

However, the situation is also very different from a few years ago.

The original Gaoyou Army and Jiangdu Army were very weak, with a combined number of only a few hundred thousand troops.

Today's Jiangdu Army is sitting on the entire south of the Yangtze River, and its strength is on par with Yuan Ting. His 300,000 troops no longer have a numerical advantage.

However, Kao Kuo still has confidence in his troops. As long as they fight on the ground, he believes that the Mongolian cavalry will never be inferior to the Han army.

"Commander, what are you thinking about?" Bai Suozhao's voice suddenly came from behind.

Kuo Kuo turned to look at him and said with a smile: "General Bai, did you gain anything from your trip to Gaoyou as envoy?"

Bai Suozuo said in a deep voice: "In my opinion, Zhang Shicheng will never surrender. We have no other choice. We can only attack Jiangdu Mansion by capturing Gaoyou first!"

Expanding the profile and looking into the distance: "Have you heard of the Battle of Yangzhou?"

"Have heard a little bit."

"Then you should know how tenacious Zhang Shicheng is! With only tens of thousands of troops, he withstood the fierce attack of hundreds of thousands of our troops for two months!"

"Are you afraid that what happened back then will happen again?"

"Yes, if we attack Gaoyou by force, our vitality will probably be severely damaged! By then, the Jiangdu bandit army will be waiting for work, capture Gaoyou, or launch a surprise attack on our army, and the outcome will be difficult to predict!"

"Then just wait?"

"Just waiting for the battle situation to change is an option!"

Bai Suozuo raised his head and said: "Zhang Shicheng killed our envoy. If the enemy is allowed to be humiliated, the morale of the soldiers will definitely drop!"

"Your idea is not wrong, but right now our main enemy is the Jiangdu thieves. When considering the problem, we have to look further away!"

"Further?"

"You just missed something. Zhang Shicheng not only killed our envoys, but also killed the Jiangdu Army envoys."

Bai Suosuo showed a thoughtful expression.

"Are you saying that the Jiangdu bandit army can't help but strike first?"

Kuo Kuo said lightly: "Han people value face most. Zhang Yangquan has just proclaimed himself emperor, so naturally he can't stand Zhang Shicheng's humiliation, so let these two former friends have a fight first, and let's wait and see what happens."

"What if Zhang Yangquan doesn't send troops?"

Kuo Kuo smiled and said: "He has already sent out troops. News came from the front just now that Jiangdu's army has arrived at Gaoyou City and is transporting ordnance."

Bai Suozhu thought for a while: "If Jiangdu's army captures Gaoyou Mansion first, they are good at defending the city, and it will be difficult for us to attack again!"

Kuang Kuo said loudly: "I have said before that you underestimate Zhang Shicheng. Although he lacks enterprising spirit, when it comes to defending the city, not many people can compare with him."

"In the end, the general will only worry that this person will be consumed by wine and sex and will never be the same again."

Kuo Kuo glanced at him: "Do you think a person who is consumed by wine and sex will take the initiative to kill two envoys and cut off his own escape route?"

"It could also be a bluff, strong on the outside but hard on the inside!"

Kuo Kuo smiled and said: "We have 150,000 cavalry. Even if Zhang Shicheng is really vulnerable and Jiangdu's army breaks through the city gate, we will still have time to rush over. Don't worry too much."

Baisuo nodded and said nothing more.

Kuo Kuo said loudly: "Give me the order again, let the army prepare for war, tell the warriors to be on guard, the war may start at any time!"

Bai Suo agreed and was about to deliver the order when he was stopped by Kuai Kuo again.

"By the way, remember to send more scouts and keep an eye on every river. Jiangdu Army is best at navy raids. That's where we need to be on guard most!"

Bai Suozhu agreed and turned around to make arrangements.

Two days later, the scouts came to report that Jiangdu's army had indeed begun to attack the city. However, they placed a hundred artillery pieces outside the city gate and relied solely on artillery to attack the city.

After Kuo Kuo learned the news, he was stunned for a moment.

"We have used fire cannons to attack the city before, but they were only as support. I didn't expect Jiangdu's army to attack the city with artillery alone. I have never heard of this tactic. I wonder what the result will be?"

The scout said: "There were many gaps in the city wall, but there were not many casualties."

"Didn't the Jiangdu thieves take the opportunity to rush forward?"

"No, not a single soldier was used."

Kuo Kuo frowned and said: "At night, Zhang Shicheng can let the people repair the city wall. This method of siege will never capture the city. Could it be that Zhang Yangquan doesn't want to capture Gaoyou?"


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