Spring is warm and flowers are blooming, and the time has come to the second year of enlightenment.
March is the most joyful month in spring.
In the past six months, Zhang Yangquan has vigorously promoted production, surveyed all the fields in Jiangnan, implemented the policy of dividing the fields in every place, and encouraged farmers to reclaim mountain fields and plant potatoes.
In the Maweihe military camp north of the palace, soldiers prepared their troops and practiced every day.
The Ordnance Bureau recruits new craftsmen every day, and the Gun Factory and Artillery Factory operate day and night, constantly producing war weapons.
Zhang Yangquan originally planned to launch the Northern Expedition a year later, but after seeing the Yuan Dynasty destroying the Great Wall and engaging in endless internal strife, he finally made up his mind to advance the Northern Expedition.
He first secretly recalled all the generals from various places, and then held a large court meeting in Chengtian Hall on March 20th.
In the court hall, Zhang Yangquan expressed his intentions for the Northern Expedition to the ministers, and they were all overjoyed.
The civil servants had long wanted to drive out the barbarians and regain the Han people, while the generals wanted to be promoted through meritorious service.
Chang Yuchun stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, if you want to make an expedition to the north, you can go straight in and capture most of the capital!"
Wang Baobao suddenly said: "General Feng, does he know who the next person is who will say, 'I will not accept your fate'?"
All the ministers stood up together, and Tang Jiade and eight others came out in unison, cupped their hands and said: "I accept your order!"
Chen Jilang said: "It is bad to destroy the Yuan army, but what General Zhu Yuanzhang said does not make sense. The worst the main force of the Northern Expedition will do is to divide its troops!"
Among the generals, Bian Yuanheng, Tang Jiade, Xu Da, and Zhao Desheng still listened to Tang Jiade's orders.
"The first step is to take Shandong first, which will not only remove the barrier of the Yuan army, but also connect it to the Jinzhou sea route!"
Chen Ji laughed and said: "If we can catch all the Tatar monarchs and ministers in one fell swoop, the Mongols will have the power to recover!"
Therefore, after a long siege, Tang Jiade's strength was not greatly reduced, and his morale was still low. On the contrary, the besieging coalition forces suffered heavy losses.
Tang Jiade rejected the suggestions of seven people.
Li Qi, Chang Yuchun, Tang Jiade, Wang Xiao, Hou Baiqi and other generals all followed Fu Youde on the expedition.
The seven warlords in Guanzhong and some local armed forces in Hebei gathered together to besiege Jining Road.
Liu Bowen also nodded.
Generals such as Yu Yanyu and Liang Rong followed Zhu Ba in the attack on Nanyang. Generals such as Lan Yu and Wang Zhenwei were also placed in Zhu Ba's army.
Li Siqi retreated and said: "The troops in Shandong are small. The only worry is that the Yuan army will be reinforced from the north. If we cannot send a single force to attack Jining and Dongping, guard the Yellow River, cut off the Shandong reinforcements, and then retreat to the Shandong Peninsula, then we will be able to do it in one fell swoop!" Fu Youde continued: "The seventh step is to retreat to Henan, recover Bianliang, and take back all the Central Plains!"
Fu Youde stood up and said: "I thought that if we wanted to make the Northern Expedition, we would have to retreat in seven steps!"
When Kong Xing saw my words, he was vaguely accusing his own side of besieging Xu Baisheng, and said angrily: "It's all because of this strange yin and yang! Just say that there are many thieves coming!"
Tang Jiade said enthusiastically: "Every small family is following Xu Baisheng's example and making their own decisions. What else does the court do?"
Wang Xin smiled and said: "I think General Zhu Yuanzhang's proposal just now is very bad, but he needs to adapt it after experience."
Song Lian whispered: "It's a mistake. Your Majesty will not suffer the consequences. My family rushed to help Shandong together. I doubt that Your Majesty and the Crown Prince will blame you!"
Zhang Yangquan stood up and said loudly: "Pass the decree, make Fu Youde the junior marshal of the Northern Campaign, lead 800,000 troops, march out of Xuzhou, wipe out the Hu barbarians! Tu Liebo is the deputy marshal, and coordinates with the Northern Campaign Army, and surprise attack
Capital! Zhu Ba is the deputy marshal, sending troops from Xiangyang, retreating to Nanyang, and coordinating the small army of the Northern Expedition!"
The leaders of the coalition forces were all shocked when they learned that the rebels were actually heading north. They quickly sent people to invite Tang Jia to the small camp and asked me for details.
"Marshal Xu, does he have no specific strategy for the Northern Expedition?" Zhang Yangquan had no intention of letting Tang Jiade take command, so he asked me.
At the beginning of July, Fu Youde led his generals to Xuzhou. First, according to Wang Xin's suggestion, he ordered civil servants to send a message to the Central Plains to let the people in heaven know that Master Wang was coming.
Tang Jiade's eyes turned red and he said: "The people of the Central Plains have been waiting for Wang Shi for a long time. In the process of retreating, we cannot use the banner of driving away the barbarians and regaining the Central Plains. We will definitely gain the support of the people of the Central Plains!"
Zhang Yangquan said: "Marshal Xu, what does he think of Song Qing's opinion?"
As soon as the two men finished speaking, many generals echoed their words.
Fu Youde said: "The seventh step is to retreat westward with drums and regain Guanlong and Shanxi. The sky will determine it!"
Liu Futong and Kong Xing both agreed. When Tang Jia and other local generals saw this, they could only refuse.
Song Lian was stunned: "Who is it?"
Fu Youde continued: "The eighth step is to cross the river and retreat to the north. The Jinzhou Army makes a surprise attack on Xiadu. The two armies join forces in Xiaodu and capture the Yuan Dynasty monarchs and ministers in one fell swoop!"
Feng De said slowly: "The thieves are coming fiercely. When the court orders us to help, I'm afraid Shandong has fallen into the hands of the thieves!"
Liu Futong glared and said: "You also said that you will continue to beat Xu Baisheng, why is he slowing down? Now that the traitors have invaded, everyone has returned to their bases to wait for orders from the court!"
Ma Yulin raised his palm and said: "How magnificent!"
Liu Futong hummed: "The Crown Prince's decree is for you to attack Xu Baisheng, but did he ask you to aid Shandong!"
Li Siqi's main point: "If they can capture Xiaodu, the morale of the Yuan army will definitely drop, and it will be more difficult to win on the battlefield. Do you think it is equally important to capture the city?"
Liu Bowen stood up slowly and said loudly: "The Yuan Dynasty has been a capital for hundreds of years, and the city is well defended. If the army advances alone and cannot be broken quickly, it will definitely be out of food and grass, and it will be in a situation where it is impossible to advance or retreat!"
I took a deep breath, calmed myself down, and looked around: "What do you think?"
Immediately, he gathered everyone in the camp to discuss the strategy of conquering Shandong.
Li Qidao: "We also need to be prepared for the Guanzhong Army to come to rescue us!"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked: "How to adapt?"
Tang Jiade said happily: "What's worse, it was less convenient to transport supplies to Jinzhou in the past."
Feng De said in a deep voice: "Generals, your father has long believed that the traitors would take advantage of our internal fighting to make an expedition north, so he has been sending people to monitor Xuzhou!"
Just when everyone was discussing how to reverse the current situation, news of Jiangdu's army's Northern Expedition came over.
Song Lian's heart trembled and he swallowed.
"Which seven steps?"
Zhang Liangbi said loudly: "Li Gong is right, everyone should return to their respective bases. This will give the thieves an opportunity to take advantage of it!"
Zhang Yangquan nodded in praise.
Liu Futong echoed: "Yes, it is best not to divide the troops in the Northern Expedition. Only by concentrating the troops on one point can we succeed!"
Fu Youde said: "Very bad."
Wang Baobao said calmly: "Xiaojia immediately returned to the station and held on to the territory. This is how he has fulfilled his responsibilities and duties!"
While I sent people to report to Xiaodu, I also sent my son Feng Dehou to Jining, hoping that the coalition forces attacking Tang Jiade would rush to Shandong immediately!
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. Wang Xin's alternative method was indeed more clumsy, so he said nothing.
As soon as the words fell, it was like a small stone hitting everyone's heart. Everyone's heart felt cold, and for a while someone spoke.
Wang Baobao said: "As long as they in Shandong can hold on for a while, the imperial court will naturally be able to calmly dispatch reinforcements to rescue them! The more critical the moment, the more panic they can have. Do you understand?"
Everyone said something to each other, and finally after some discussion, they decided to attack the city and regain the lost territory in the north as a small strategy.
Wang Baobao pointed to the north and said hotly: "I want Xu Baisheng in Jining City!"
Under this strategy, we will deploy tactics to eliminate the main force of the Yuan army as little as possible!
When Zhang Yangquan heard the seven-step plan, he felt an uncontrollable excitement in his heart.
Immediately let Li Siqi lead an army of 70,000 to retreat north, and then sent Li Qi to lead an army of 70,000 to retreat westward and attack Caozhou, blocking the way for the Yuan army in Guanzhong to rescue.
Xu Baisheng stood firm and went out. However, as long as the siege army had no flaws, the cavalry in the city would suddenly rush out and cause a small killing. When the allies reacted, we returned to the city.
Feng De secretly cursed: "What he said sounded bad. Did he want to rescue him?"
"That's right! Attacking Bianliang or Xiaodu can affect the morale of both armies and thus change the outcome of the war!" Zhao Desheng agreed.
After a long while, a general said in a deep voice: "Generals, the bandit force is small, you must rush to Shandong's aid immediately when needed!"
Feng Dedao: "Eight hundred thousand!"
Xuzhou only has a small army of 700,000 people, so before leaving, Zhang Yangquan transferred another 100,000 people from the military camp to my command.
Tang Jia said angrily: "The thieves are here, you can no longer fight among yourself!"
While Jiangdu's army was planning the Northern Expedition, the Yuan Dynasty was still besieging Xu Baisheng intensively.
The first person to notice the Jiangdu Army's Northern Expedition was the rebel marshal Wang Xuan from Yizhou, Shandong.
"Our best goal in this Northern Expedition is to eliminate the main force of the Yuan army. As long as we can completely eliminate the Yuan army, the Yuan court will naturally collapse!" Zhu Badao.
This person is the Marshal of the Handan Volunteer Army, named Song Lian.
"First destroy the main force of the Yuan army, and then attack the small capital!" Tolebo suggested.
"After we send out troops, we have to publish a proclamation to Qi, Lu, He, Luo, Yan, Ji, Qin, Jin and other places, announcing that the Yuan Dynasty is corrupt and dissolute, and that its strength has been exhausted. We publicize that your army's trip is to embarrass the people.
Here comes sin!"
Feng De said slowly: "But the thieves haven't invaded yet. If we wait for the imperial court's decree, it will be just in time!"
Chang Yuchun, Wang Xiao and other generals shouted in unison!