In the past few days since the war started, Xiang Xiaoqiang has been living in the Supreme Command, which is the Purple Mountain Fortress. As a senior general, Xiang Xiaoqiang has a good single room. But it is only a single room, not a suite. But the Purple Mountain Fortress is a military
The fortification is not a hotel, it only has one suite, which belongs to Zhu Yourong.
Although there is a suite, the conditions are still very different from those in the palace. Living here is obviously more "difficult" for Zhu Yourong. But there is no way. During the war, Nanjing was on the edge of the Yangtze River, and the palace was not safe enough. But yesterday, Xiang
Xiaoqiang has already whispered to Zhu Yourong: I will let you move back to the palace within a month at most.
Zhu Yourong also understood this meaning. This means that in a month at most, the Ming army will have an occupied area of at least 300 kilometers in Jiangbei.
300 kilometers, this is the minimum distance to ensure that Nanjing will never be bombed by Beiqing aircraft. 300 kilometers, this is also the maximum combat radius of the main fighters of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Beyond this radius, the bombers will not have fighter escorts. At least on the Ming army's side
, will shoot down Qing bombers like ducks.
Of course, this means ensuring that Nanjing will "absolutely" not be bombed, and the requirements are relatively high. If we want to say that Nanjing is "basically" not bombed, it has been achieved now. However, when it comes to the life safety of the Queen, we must use "absolutely".
Require.
After leaving Xiang Xiaoqiang, Zhu Yourong immediately asked someone to bring in a map and used a ruler to draw a distance of 300 kilometers on it. Then when he saw it, he was a little stunned.
The straight-line distance is 300 kilometers, which actually includes Xuzhou.
Xuzhou has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. It was a traditional military town in the Northern Qing Dynasty and the largest garrison area of the Qing army in the Central Plains. Draw a big circle with Xuzhou as the center: Huaibei, Suzhou, Suining, Suqian, Pizhou, and Zaozhuang
, Linyi, Fengxian, and Peixian. The permanent troops in each county are more than three divisions, with a total strength of about 450,000.
In addition, these 450,000 are not like the Qing army along the Yangtze River. Although they are hundreds of thousands larger, they are spread out for hundreds of kilometers. The Qing army near Xuzhou is concentrated at 450,000.
Xuzhou is the intersection of Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and Henan provinces, and is also the most important transportation hub in the Central Plains. Road networks from all directions converge in Xuzhou and extend to all directions again. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal passes through Xuzhou. More importantly, the North
The two main railway arteries of the Qing Dynasty: Jinpu Line and Qinqi Line intersected in Xuzhou.
The Jin-Pu Railway, from Beijing to Pukou, is the only north-south railway artery in the eastern part of Beiqing. (The other one is in the central part, the Beijing-South Railway, from Beijing to Nanyang)
The Qinqi Railway starts from Xi'an in the west, passes through Hangu Pass and exits Shaanxi, passes through Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Shangqiu, intersects with the Jinpu Railway in Xuzhou, then goes north to Shandong, passes through Linyi, Rizhao, Qingdao, and ends at Weihai.
There is a saying that if you control Xuzhou, you will control half of the railway transportation in Beiqing.
This statement is a bit exaggerated, but it is true that the capture of Xuzhou opened the door to the entire Shandong and Zhili. The Central Plains area south of Zhili, that is, Henan and Shandong, was the richest and most industrialized area in the Northern Qing Dynasty.
The area with the highest grain, the largest population, and the highest taxes paid. Without this large area, the war potential of the Beiqing would be cut in half.
And this area is also a province with a large source of troops. Among the entire Qing army, people from Shandong, Henan, and Shaanxi together accounted for more than 70%, of which soldiers from Shandong and Henan accounted for more than 40%. They captured the Central Plains
, will directly lead to a drastic change in the morale of the entire Qing army. It can be expected that unless extremely severe and cruel measures are taken, the Qing soldiers will escape, mutiny, surrender and return to their hometown controlled by Nanming without any scruples.
At that time, the Beiqing had no war potential. What the Beiqing faced was how to prevent the entire empire from collapsing.
And all this will start with the capture of Xuzhou.
Zhu Yourong knew all about this kind of politics and grand strategy. That's why she was skeptical about Xiang Xiaoqiang's quiet promise. She was sure that Emperor Guangwu would defend Xuzhou and the Central Plains at all costs.
Xiang Xiaoqiang's confidence, the current victories, and the smiling faces of the officers in the central command hall made Zhu Yourong happy from the bottom of her heart. But her own judgment made her sweat for the next serious situation. Qing
There are still more than 100 divisions in the army's "Century Exercise", and they are desperately transferring from northern Zhili to the south!
Zhu Yourong left everything to the officers outside and to the cabinet. She tried her best to control her desire to go to the command hall to watch the battle situation every day, and just stayed in her room reading novels, playing guitar, and drawing.
However, she had a vague hope in her heart that one day in the near future, she could once again step into the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty in the capital of her motherland, worship at the Ming Dynasty Ancestral Temple in Beijing, and go to the Ming Tombs to visit the tombs of her ancestors again.
She also made up her mind that on that day, she must commit herself to Xiang Xiaoqiang and bring a perfect end to their relationship. At that time, no matter what anyone said, no matter how much they objected, it would be useless. Zhu Yourong had already
I am determined, and I am not ready to lose face when the time comes.
...On the day when the imperial edict comes back in peace, I will take off my shirt with my husband... This is what I said!
"Empress Changping had already become Elizabeth. Now, all I have to do is be Victoria. A lucky, happy Victoria."
Zhu Yourong stroked the map, blushed, and said sweetly to himself.
…
In the "Century Exercise" of the Qing army before the war, the Qing army still had more than 100 divisions, which were gathered in the north of Zhili when the war started. After the war started on the 4th, Guangwu did not immediately mobilize these troops to go south.
Instead, they were busy conducting reconnaissance and figuring out the situation. It was not until the evening of the 5th that it was confirmed that the Ming army broke through the Fangcheng Corridor and entered Henan in large numbers, and that Baoying Airport was occupied, that we realized how serious the problem was.
But at this time, Guangwu still believed that there were still about one million elite Han troops in the south, which were enough to block the Ming army's offensive. He still believed that it was not worthwhile to transfer the training troops from the north of Zhili to the south.
It is true that the Qing army had one million troops in the south, but on the day of the Ming army's attack on the 4th, the approximately 300,000 Qing troops guarding along the Yangtze River and in the Xiangfan Plain were surrounded and annihilated on the spot. The Qing troops deployed slightly behind
Su Zhong
, a total of 700,000 Qing troops in southern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, and southern Henan. Except for the hundreds of thousands who fled to the north, the more than 500,000 who stayed south of the Huaihe River have been surrounded and are now being occupied by the Ming army.
Annihilation is being carried out in one piece.
Guangwu didn't get the news until the evening of the 9th that all the Qing troops south of the Huaihe River were surrounded. He was stunned. The entire Northern Qing leadership was also stunned. Now, Guangwu finally understood how serious the Ming army's attack was.
Awesome.
On the night of the 10th, the training troops in northern Zhili stayed up all night. They were ordered by imperial decree to march all night. They marched on foot along the highway from the northern and central Hebei plains, and concentrated along the Beijing-Southern Railway in the west. Once there, all the troops
There is also a major reloading, which means waiting for the arms and equipment trains to arrive from various places of origin and arsenals, replacing the blank ammunition used in the exercises, re-equipping them with real ammunition, and then taking the train south.
There were more than a hundred divisions. With the efficiency of the Qing army, the deployment and management level of the Beiqing railway system, and the destruction of various underground organizations in the Southern Ming Dynasty, it would take a week at the fastest to do this.
…
October 10, d+6.
This morning, Xiuxiu, as Xiang Xiaoqiang's adjutant, officially entered the headquarters for the first time and worked with Xiang Xiaoqiang.
When Xiang Xiaoqiang moved into the fortress, he did not take Qiu Qiu and Xiu Xiu with him, but asked them to stay in the headquarters. It was better without Qiu Qiu, but without Xiu Xiu, Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Xiu Xiu could not
But his wife is the most useful person at his disposal. Xiuxiu is smart, careful, discerning, and capable.
She is very powerful and has very solid military expertise. Her majors were originally military telecommunications, code compilation and deciphering, and intelligence analysis and processing. She is a naval communications officer and was trained as an intelligence officer in the East Factory. Now she is placed as the commander of the People's Guard
He is a perfect fit for a position like adjutant.
Xiang Xiaoqiang is both Xiuxiu's husband and her superior. As a husband, he finds that this little wife is very good at getting things done and always serves him comfortably. As a superior, he finds that Xiu Xiu is a very promising person.
Xiuxiu is a very diligent person,
She is very able to endure hardship. Compared with the pampered eldest daughter Qiu Qiu, Xiuxiu, as a top student from a poor village, always has a strong sense of crisis. She is the kind of person who takes the responsibility for the happiness of the whole family on her shoulders and can't wait to "
The person who carries his mother to school on his back.
Xiang Xiaoqiang often wakes up at four or five o'clock in the morning and finds that Xiuxiu is not around, but there is a faint light in the study behind the curtain. He knows that Xiuxiu is studying professional books on the army by herself. Among them are books on army staff service, and some
Books on motorized and armored forces, and books on the air force.
Xiu Xiu's spirit often moved Xiang Xiaoqiang. He knew that Xiu Xiu wanted to be his right-hand man, and she was from the navy and had relatively little knowledge about the army, so she was charging like crazy. Ask Qiu Qiu, Qiu Qiu
Talking about Xiuxiu’s hard study, as early as
This was the case at the Naval University, and many people admired her greatly. One time, the Military Intelligence Bureau, that is, the Jin Yiwei, openly came to recruit her, but she actually turned it down. In the end, she went to the submarine as a small communications officer. Qiu Qiu was very proud of her.
I'm so sorry, I keep saying that Xiuxiu is stupid.
When Xiang Xiaoqiang heard Qiu Qiu say this, he secretly laughed in his heart. It was Qiu Qiu who was stupid. How could Xiu Xiu be stupid? She had long been picked up by Dongchang and secretly cultivated.
Xiang Xiaoqiang is almost certain that even if Xiuxiu does not marry him, she will be able to fly in the end with her own intelligence and hard work.
No, after becoming my adjutant for more than half a year, I have taken most of the matters in the commander's office into my hands. Although the commander's office has two adjutants, Qiu and Shang, everyone below knows that it is not easy to turn to adjutant Qiu for everything.
, I would ask Adjutant Shang to take care of the matter. But Qiu Qiu was stupid enough not to take it seriously.
Xiang Xiaoqiang sighed, it seemed that just as he had expected, Qiu Qiu was completely squeezed out of the headquarters, and the day was not far away when she could go home and become a full-time housewife.
If Xiang Xiaoqiang had not worried about Xiuxiu being his wife, Xiang Xiaoqiang would have brought Xiuxiu into the headquarters and have her at his disposal at any time. This was the first time Zhang Zhao saw that although Xiang Xiaoqiang had a circle of staff around him, they could not handle many things. Xiang Xiaoqiang
When I asked the staff what was going on, they were not familiar with it and kept calling the headquarters to ask Adjutant Shang, while Xiang Xiaoqiang was tapping his fingers and waiting.
Zhang Zhao couldn't stand it at first, so he let Shang Xiu enter the fortress and work directly next to Xiang Xiaoqiang. He admired Xiu Xiu very much and thought that Xiu Xiu was very down-to-earth, not the kind of frivolous little female officer who relies on her face to get along with her superiors.
Before the last Battle of Pukou, at the meeting in the fortress to discuss the bombing of the Qing Dynasty, the generals were also deeply impressed by the "Ryukyu Princess" who knew all kinds of military data by heart. Zhang Zhaoxian believed that even if Xiu Xiu was allowed to enter the headquarters,
, the generals would not have any complaints.
Xiang Xiaoqiang is a little worried, because after the last "broadcast scandal" with Qiu Qiu, he found that this kind of thing is really no joke in the military, especially during the war. He paid great attention to it and always tried his best to avoid it.
This kind of feeling of "taking my wife with me wherever I go", usually when I leave the headquarters and go elsewhere, I only take Hu Jiong with me. Although Hu Jiong is also very smart and has a good eye, in terms of professional ability, he is worse than Xiu Xiu.
Far away.
Xiang Xiaoqiang hesitated and said:
"Ming Gong... Shangxiu is not only the student's adjutant, but also the student's wife... If he is openly brought into the fortress and his colleagues see it, the impact will be..."
Zhang Zhaoxian scolded:
"Don't mess around! These are two different things! Colleague? Which colleague? Tell me and I will do ideological work for him."
"..."
"Not only you, Xiang Xiaoqiang, but also the entire headquarters, if anyone's wife is qualified to serve as his adjutant, just bring her in. I'll take a photo and approve it first."
"..."
"Also, don't think about anything. After Shang Xiu comes in, you will be colleagues during the day and you will still be colleagues at night. You will live in your general's private room, and she will live in her female officers' dormitory."
"No, Mr. Ming..."
"Okay, that's it. Young people can work with peace of mind and don't think too much."
"...Yes. The students understand."
In this way, Xiuxiu, the right-hand man, returned to Xiang Xiaoqiang, and maintained a pure superior-subordinate relationship.
"That's good," he thought, "this will save Qiu Qiu from getting jealous."
…
On the 10th, the annihilation battle in the encirclement entered into full swing, and the command hall was noisy and busy. However, the main busy people were the tactical-level staff officers below. After the encirclement, strategic-level generals such as Xiang Xiaoqiang and others felt relaxed.
Some. Xiang Xiaoqiang also has time to secretly flirt with Xiu Xiu.
After eating at noon, when the two of them returned from the officers' mess, they disappeared one after another, and then gathered together in a remote tunnel to seize the opportunity to have a tryst.
After the passionate kiss, the two hugged each other and talked about their longing for the past few days. Then, as they talked, they involuntarily turned to the situation of the Northern Expedition.
Xiuxiu nestled in Xiang Xiaoqiang's arms, frowning her thick black eyebrows, gently tracing her index finger on his chest, and murmuring softly:
"... Let's put it this way... Your Excellency, it will take three to five days to end the Jianghuai Campaign, and it will take another three days for the troops to take a short rest, during which they will build supply depots and repair the railways... In total, it will take at least a week. After a week, we can start
Battle of the Central Plains..."
"Yes, you are so smart. Don't forget that we have to launch a few battlefield airports... Can we be considered a model couple in the Northern Expedition? We are so dedicated even for trysts... I say, let the relevant departments publicize it."
"Okay..." Xiuxiu lowered her head and smiled softly, and said softly, "No need to contact the relevant departments. I will draft a draft later and have it sent to the political work team..."
"Well, okay," Xiang Xiaoqiang said with a smile, "just write: The victory of the Battle of Jianghuai was achieved through kisses from General Xiang and Madam Shang during their tryst..."
"You don't need to write about the general and his wife," Xiu Xiu lowered her voice and said in a seductive voice, "Just write about the commander and the adjutant... This seems more exciting..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was finally the first to surrender and laughed loudly:
"Ah! I can't bear it anymore! God! Give me back the pure Xiu Xiu from before!"
Xiuxiu smiled lowly and said:
"Xiuxiu hasn't changed, what has changed is the adults..."
…
After flirting for a while, the two became dedicated again and talked about military issues.
"By the way, Xiuxiu," Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly said, "I kissed you just now, and it really revealed a plan. It was probably because my wisdom and your wisdom instantly merged through the passionate kiss, and sparks were created. What,
I told you to listen."
Xiu Xiu covered her mouth with laughter and nodded: