When the Northwest Rebel Army returned to the Central Plains, Zuo Mengeng knew that his opportunity had come.
And when Zhang Xianzhong appeared in Yingzhou, he finally put his plan together.
"Now that the northwest bandits have arrived in northern Anhui and Fengyang is right in front of them, they cannot miss this opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Ming Dynasty. And once Fengyang fails, the prestige of the Ming Dynasty will definitely fall to the bottom."
No one questioned his conclusion.
There were three capitals in the Ming Dynasty.
One is the capital where the emperor is located, the other is Nanjing, and the other is Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang’s hometown.
This place was designated as the central capital, palaces and buildings were built on a large scale, and a very spectacular and huge ancestral mausoleum was built.
It can be said that Fengyang's positioning was the result of Zhu Yuanzhang's willfulness.
Because there is actually no need for development in this place.
But the Ming Dynasty invested huge costs here.
Once the northwest rebel army captures Fengyang and burns down the ancestral mausoleum of the Zhu family emperor, it will definitely be a major event that shakes the world.
Zuo Mengeng decided to use this opportunity to achieve his goal.
In front of a crowd of civil and military officials, he walked to the map and used his baton to draw a circle in the Lianghuai area north of the Yangtze River.
"We can only communicate with Songjiang Prefecture by sea. Although our navy has been developing vigorously, Songjiang Prefecture is isolated and difficult to control anyway. If we capture the Lianghuai area and drink from the Yangtze River, then
Shandong and Songjiang Prefecture will be connected as one, and our territory will be truly expanded."
It's finally time to expand externally, and everyone is very happy.
After several years of development, Shandong's political system has been very complete, and more and more officials have been trained.
However, due to the limited territory of Shandong, there are not many places to employ people. Therefore, many capable officials are temporarily lurking at the grassroots level and do not have the opportunity to display their talents.
Once the Lianghuai region is captured, these people will definitely be able to take advantage of the situation and display their talents.
Everyone is very supportive of Zuo Menggeng’s vision.
After all, Lianghuai is right next to Shandong and is on the side of the couch, so it is very easy to conquer.
However, as a mature politician, Hou Xun raised the key to the problem.
"We have reached an agreement with the court twice before to maintain the current situation. If we send troops, will the court be unable to accept it and choose to die together?"
Zuo Mengeng chuckled, his tone treacherous.
"We are all sending troops for the sake of the imperial court. Think about it, if the northwest bandits captured Fengyang and burned the Zhu family's ancestral mausoleum, how could Emperor Chongzhen have the dignity to see his ancestors? We kindly help each other and recover it for him.
Fengyang, he still has to thank us."
Everyone laughed, they really liked this shameless rhetoric.
"That's right. His court was unable to protect the territory, which led to the spread of war and the suffering of the people. Now even the graves of his ancestors cannot be saved. We took action to protect the territory and the people for him. It is unreasonable for him not to thank us properly."
Huang Zongxi couldn't help laughing, but he also understood Zuo Mengeng's thoughts.
"For this reason, we send troops openly and honestly. Even in the eyes of the world, we have nothing to blame."
Zuo Menggeng knows very well that the ultimate goal of any agreement reached is to tear it up.
Therefore, he did not take it to heart the two times he negotiated peace with the imperial court.
He has been eyeing the land of Lianghuai for a long time.
Once we capture this place, we can attack the capital from the north and Jiangnan from the south, and the strategic space will be greatly improved.
Even if the Northwest Rebel Army hadn't attacked Fengyang, it wouldn't be long before he would find a reason to use force.
But if you don’t use it when you have a ready-made excuse, wouldn’t you be a fool?
Fengyang was destroyed and the ancestral mausoleum was burned, which was enough for Chongzhen to drink a pot.
How can he care whether Shandong sends troops?
Besides, by that time, all of Chongzhen's hatred will definitely be directed at the Northwest Rebels, who will be unable to cope with Shandong's expansion.
Although Shandong's occupation of the Huaihe River is more harmful, the imperial court cannot defeat it and can only watch helplessly.
"The Huaihe River area is vast, and it is easy to capture it, but it must be managed with great caution. I propose that Meng Angong be in charge of the administration of the Huaihe River area, with Wang Yun and Qu Shi? assisting."
The area of Lianghuai River is larger than that of Shandong, and the rivers are crisscrossed and fragmented. It must be controlled by powerful people to control it.
It is most appropriate for Li Banghua to shoulder this responsibility as the second head of the administrative department.
Everyone had no objection to Zuo Mengeng's proposal.
Wang Yun and Qu Shi also began to relinquish their duties and became Li Banghua's deputies.
With these three central bosses working together, Lianghuai will be absolutely safe.
Whether we can successfully conquer the Huaihe River or not depends on military actions.
Chief of General Staff Liu Yiyuan stepped forward and announced the battle plan.
"This military operation is based on the Third Army, supplemented by the First Division of the First Army, the Fourth Division of the Second Army, the Third Regiment of the First Marine Division, and the Naval Squadron. The specific operational plan is as follows, Third Army
Starting from today, we will set off from Xuzhou and go straight to Fengyang via the official road..."
Liu Yiyuan looked at Huang Sanhu and gave special instructions.
"Your marching speed can't be fast or slow. You can neither arrive before the northwest bandits capture Fengyang, nor let the northwest bandits cause too much harm to the local people in Fengyang. You can control this speed yourself."
The first external expansion campaign fell on themselves, which made Huang Sanhu and Fu Gang extremely happy. At the same time, they were also secretly vigilant, knowing that no mistakes could be made.
"Guaranteed to complete the task."
Liu Yiyuan looked at Qiao Shuangcheng, the commander of the First Division.
"The mission of your first division is to go south at the same time. But instead of going to Fengyang, you will go directly along the canal to Huai'an. Your operational goal is to control the center of the two Huaihe Rivers and capture the river governor's office. Is there any problem?"
Qiao Shuangcheng had already read the information about the Lianghuai area and immediately stood up and saluted.
"No problem."
Liu Yiyuan then issued combat orders to Guo Wei, commander of the Fourth Division.
"Your Fourth Division has the longest march. It needs to cross the Third Army and go straight to Luzhou Prefecture. It needs to control the center of the eastern foothills of the Dabie Mountains and not allow any northwest bandits to advance eastward from here."
Guo Wei gestured at the map and had no complaints.
Although he knew that although the march was far this time, there was no battle. But orders were orders, and as a soldier, he was only responsible for executing them.
The missions of the Third Regiment of the 1st Marine Division and the Naval Squadron are integrated.
They need to start from Songjiang Prefecture and go up the Yangtze River.
But this time the goal was no longer to intimidate Nanjing.
The Third Marine Regiment needed to capture Yangzhou by surprise, control this transportation hub on the north bank of the Yangtze River and the canal, and establish an outpost facing the south of the Yangtze River.
One of the tasks of the naval squadron is to cooperate with the Third Marine Regiment to occupy Yangzhou, and the other is to block the Yangtze River waterway.
Once the northwest rogues capture Fengyang, the Ming army in the south of the Yangtze River will be dispatched no matter what.
Having a naval squadron blockade the Yangtze River is tantamount to excluding the military power of the Ming Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River.