After several months of training, Feng Tang still had some confidence in his Northwest Army.
Perhaps because he had been discriminated against for a long time and suddenly gained the attention of the court, the entire Northwest Army glowed with a different spirit.
Especially during the training period in Qingyang, Feng Tang personally supervised the army and conducted training and training for the entire transferred army from three sides and four towns one by one. The survival of the fittest was the survival of the fittest, including the Yulin army he had led before. In addition, the logistics support
Keeping up, the training effect this time was better than imagined.
The 120,000 troops mobilized cannot be said to be all elite, but they basically include all the troops that can be fought in the other three towns except Yulin Junzhong. Yulin Town is considering facing Tumut.
People must retain some of their elites, so only some of them were mobilized. Considering the current situation, the other three towns basically only left an army to guard the gates, and all other elites were mobilized as the main force of the West Route Army.
Most of the silver obtained from the imperial court was used to supplement food and salary, and a small part was also used to purchase some firearms from the Gyeonggi Military Factory. Feng Tang had realized that as the times changed, firearms would surely replace cold weapons on the stage.
Feng Ziying had reiterated this to him countless times, but only after this round of training did he realize it deeply.
When a well-disciplined firearms unit assembles and forms a formation, whether it is infantry or cavalry, they will face a fierce fight if they want to rush into the formation. The price paid is extremely high, and the formation time of a firearms unit is longer than
Cavalry and infantry are too short.
This advantage is unparalleled.
However, financial difficulties have also limited the speed of the Northwest Army's firearms replacement. At the same time, considering that firearms replacement is to be completely transformed into a well-disciplined and coordinated firearms army as Ziying said, it also requires arduous training, and for the Northwest Army
For the army, there is definitely not enough time now, so Feng Tang did not think that he would have to rely on firearms troops in this southern expedition. In a sense, he felt that this southern expedition might be the northwest
The final glory of the army with cold weapons.
"Has the news from Dong Yang come back?" Feng Tang stood up, stretched his body, and looked out the window.
Luoyang is the largest city in Henan Prefecture, and it is also the core of the Yiluo Basin. Going east from here into Kaifeng, it is the land of the Four Battles.
"The last news was three days ago. If you calculate it, the news will come today and tomorrow." The staff member is an old man who has been with Feng Tang for decades. He asked with a smile: "Your Excellency, you are considering Dong Yang's suggestion.
?”
"Well, Dong Yang has an extreme temperament but a keen sense of smell. He is a natural warrior. However, we have just entered the Central Plains and the army still needs to adapt. I am still a little worried that he is too impatient." Feng Tang rubbed his chin.
Thoughtfully: "His wandering around Yifeng and Yucheng may have made Mr. Chen Jizhen feel wary. Do you know who came yesterday?"
"Could it be Chen Jixian's envoy?" The staff was surprised and a little unbelievable.
"Yes, they are Chen Jixian's people. Although their identity has not been revealed, I can recognize that they are people close to Chen Jixian." Feng Tang smiled, "On this basis alone, Nanjing cannot succeed."
"Chen Jixian wants to communicate secretly with the imperial court?" The staff found it incredible.
From the very beginning, he discussed with the coach what the purpose of establishing Huaiyang Town was, and who was Chen Jixian, the Supreme Emperor, the Emperor, or Prince Yi Zhong?
No matter how you look at it, it is difficult to judge. The final conclusion is that Chen Jixian is a man who sits on the fence. I am afraid that he can be related to any party, so either party can reluctantly accept it, but no one dares to completely believe it.
However, after the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army entered Shandong with great fanfare, Chen Jixian was indifferent to the court's order to attack the Xuanfu Army and used various excuses. The court lost trust in this person. From this point of view, he should be a talent from Nanjing.
But what is your intention when you suddenly come into contact with your boss?
Could it be that he wanted to imitate the vassal towns in the late Tang Dynasty and separatist rule in Xuzhou? This would be looking down too high on himself.
This year is completely different from the situation at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The authority of the Zhang family's imperial power is still relatively stable. Whether it is the imperial court in the capital or the puppet dynasty in Nanjing, they can only rely on the children of the Zhang family. Scholars still recognize the Zhang family, whether they are
Neither Emperor Yuanxi nor Emperor Yonglong were mediocre kings, and their performance was still remarkable. Even though there were some shortcomings, they were within the acceptable range of scholars.
Even Prince Yi Zhong, who raised the banner of rebellion, to be honest, he still had some talents. During his time as the prince, except for having an affair with the British concubine, which was intolerable to Emperor Yuan Xi, he had no other failures.
As for the fact that he made some small moves while Emperor Yuan Xi was ill, it was understandable in the eyes of the ministers. Who could have thought that Emperor Yuan Xi was so seriously ill at that time?
Emperor Yuan Xi recovered from his illness and was able to rule for several more years before abdicating. This was something that no one had expected.
"It's hard to say. He just asked us not to attack Xuzhou. If we go to Shandong, he won't care. If we want to enter Xuzhou, he will break up." Feng Tang seemed to be smiling but not smiling.
"A broken face?" The staff found it funny, "What can he do if he breaks his face? He completely falls over to the Nanjing puppet government? No matter how much he expresses his loyalty to the imperial court, the imperial court will not believe it, right? Unless he can give the Xuan Mansion
The army stabbed him in the back, but the Xuanfu army is also guarding him now, right?"
Feng Tang was silent.
To be honest, he didn't know exactly what Chen Jixian wanted to do with his mysterious operation.
If we say that he was an "undercover" sent by the imperial court, when the Xuanfu army marched eastward into Shandong, he turned a blind eye. The Ministry of War ordered him to go north to block the Xuanfu army at the canal line, but he ignored it. If we say that he was a Nanjing
I think he was from the puppet court, but he seemed to be a bit dissatisfied with the propaganda. The Nanjing puppet court also had a vague attitude towards him, and did not ask him to send troops to assist the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army.
It would be a bit too stupid to say that he is just sitting on the fence and watching the show. In this situation, no matter who wins or loses, he will be hard to please. In the end, he will probably be liquidated. This is the stupidest choice.
Nothing more than this.
In Feng Tang's view, Chen Jixian was not so unwise.
But he couldn't see through Chen Jixian's thoughts either.
However, Chen Jixian sent someone to contact him and asked the Northwest Army not to enter Xuzhou. Feng Tang still allowed Feng Tang to figure out some of Chen Jixian's thoughts. It seemed that this guy did not want to sit on the fence and wait and see as he initially guessed, but just wait and see temporarily. He
He hopes that he will have a chance encounter with the Xuanfu Army in the next step. The outcome of the war between the two sides may become a decisive factor in his choice.
If you look at it from this perspective, it is really possible.
The war between the Northwest Army and the Xuanfu Army can almost determine the fate of the northern and southern courts. If they lose, the Huaiyang Army will take the opportunity to join the battle and attack their flanks. I am afraid that they will really be unable to withstand it. Once they retreat into Henan,
Then almost the entire prosperous eastern region was lost, and the impact of the severe drought in the Northland in the past two years may put the entire Northland, including Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Beizhi, into trouble, unable to support the subsequent
War, and places like Guangdong, Guangxi and Huguang will probably change their current attitude in favor of the imperial court.
Similarly, if I defeat the Xuanfu Army in one fell swoop, I am afraid that the Huaiyang Army will either go north to attack the Xuanfu Army, but it is more likely that they will take the opportunity to go south to Yangzhou, or even attack Jinling, becoming the vanguard of the southward march. By then, they will capture Yangzhou.
, Jinling’s great contribution is in hand, can the court still refuse to acknowledge it, or give an explanation?
Perhaps what Chen Jixian is doing now is to prepare his troops vigorously and make all preparations before launching the final blow.
"Maybe Chen Jixian hasn't made up his mind yet, or he doesn't dare to make up his mind to make a bet, but once he makes a bet, he may strike with all his strength at all costs." After a long time, Feng Tangcai slowly said: "He wants to see our Northwest Army.
Whether he can defeat the Xuanfu army or not is the benchmark for his observation and decision-making."
"Then what should we do now?" The staff ignored this issue, and it was not his turn to worry about it. What he needed to consider was the upcoming battle against Shandong, "Dong Yang has a big appetite, he wants to raid Jining
Or Xuzhou?”
"It's not necessarily these two places." Feng Tang shook his head: "In fact, many areas along the canal are choke points. As long as one of them is cut off, the logistics supply of the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army can be completely interrupted. I'm afraid this
This is also what Niu Jizong is most worried about. Dong Yang said last time that the Xuanfu army has garrisoned troops in Jiaxiang, Juye, Yutai, and Jinxiang counties, obviously to prevent our surprise attack."
"Then let's go from Feng County and Pei County to capture Xia Town!" The staff member's eyes were sharp, "Didn't Chen Jixian say that we can't attack Xuzhou? Well, we will pass through Feng County and Pei County without touching them, and then directly enter Shandong to capture Xia Town.
Town, then he will have nothing to say."
Xia Town is the original Xia Village. It is located to the south of Dushan Lake and Zhaoyang Lake. It strangles the main route of the canal to the north. Merchants gather here and Xu Yan chokes. If we capture this place, we can cut off the entire Shandong Canal and the inevitable communication between Xu Yang and Xu Yang.
.
"Capture Xia Town?" Feng Tang laughed, "Then you are forcing Niu Jizong to fight hard. If you capture Xia Town, Niu Jizong will go south with all his strength. Can we stop it? Although Xia Town is a choke point, it is not
It's a good defensive position, if Chen Jixian takes the opportunity to hit us in the back, we may be surrounded."
The staff thought hard, and obviously realized this. Taking Xia Town may not be possible, especially with Feng County and Pei County in between. Once the Xuanfu army fails to attack, Chen Jixian is afraid that he will take action.
, which will instead worsen the situation.
But if they occupy Pei County, Feng County, they will directly go to war with the Huaiyang Army.