Five hundred and twentieth chapters a rain
The sky is covered with haze dozens of miles west of Baoqing Prefecture, Huguang Province. The north wind is howling between the mountains and forests, and raindrops are flying in the wind. It seems that it is going to rain.
Zhang Fu had ordered the army to choose places to camp. The army that was advancing east stopped moving forward one after another.
Army troops can be seen everywhere, but here we cannot feel the magnificence of hundreds of thousands of troops gathered! The hillsides, woods and even houses blocked the view, and the terrain was not flat; the sight on the road was not wide open. I only heard the noise of "buzzing..." on all sides, and horses neighed and shouted one after another.
Not far from Zhang Fu, there was a village; the cavalry of the central army had already gone to requisition the houses, and there was the temporary headquarters of the central army. Zhang Fu looked up at the sky, and then rushed towards the village.
As expected, the raindrops became denser and denser. The wind became smaller and the air was gradually shrouded by the slanted rain curtain, and the scenery became hazy.
"Master!" A general shouted. When Zhang Fu looked back, he saw a group of people coming from outside the village. In addition to the soldiers wearing armor, there were also several men wearing straw raincoats and strawcoats. Their strawcoats were pressed forward, and they could not see their faces. The strawcoats were pitch black, which was very mysterious.
The personal guards rode their horses to meet them and talked for a while from a distance. Soon, a cavalry returned to Zhang Fu, clasped his fists and said, "Report to the Grand Marshal, that's a person from the capital, Jinyiwei!"
Zhang Fu nodded and said, "Call their leader and then the headquarters will meet."
The sound of horse hooves sounded, and everyone rushed to the village. Zhang Fu walked into the house arranged by his personal soldiers, took the iron hat on his head and hugged it in his arms.
The Jinyiwei's people were taken into a room inside. Although it was broad daylight at this time, the light was dim because the dark clouds blocked the sun, and the room was pitch black. For a moment, Zhang Fu didn't even see the face of the person who came clearly.
The man clasped his fists and said, "Mo Jiang is from the Beizhen Fushi, his surname is Yao and his name is Fang."
Zhang Fu said: "What is the priority for General Yao?"
Yao Fang took out her body for a while, took out a bamboo tube, carefully took out a roll of yellow silk from it, and said in a deep voice: "Secret Issue."
Zhang Fu hurriedly bowed, took it with his hands, and opened it. It said that the King of Gu in Changsha Prefecture colluded with the kings to rebel, and the British Duke defended it. After seeing it, Zhang Fu put it away. After thinking for a while, he raised his head and saw Yao Fang still standing there, and asked, "Is there anything wrong with General Yao?"
The two of them entered the house for a while. Zhang Fu's eyes adapted to the dim light in the house and gradually saw Yao Fang's face clearly. This person was not only tall and strong, but also had a clear face, but his facial contour was not obvious and was too round, but instead he lacked a bit of masculinity.
Yao Fang said in a deep voice: "Our Commander Tan met with the saint to discuss matters. When he heard the saint's intention, the north was uneasy, so he hoped that the British Duke would fight quickly and quell the rebellion of the Han King in the south as soon as possible."
Zhang Fu said coldly: "Last year, the King of Han raised an army and rebelled. For more than a year, the kings have not yet raised their troops. I think they will not raise their troops tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, nor will they do it the day after tomorrow."
Yao Fang was stunned for a moment, clasped her fists and said, "I will act on my order and bring my words to you. Say goodbye."
Zhang Fu shouted: "People come to see you off!"
Yao Fang said: "Sir Zhang, don't be polite. We don't need to show off outside."
By noon, generals such as Xue Lu, Liu Sheng, Tan Zhong, and Chen Mao all arrived at the headquarters of the Central Army. So Zhang Fu asked them to have lunch together.
Chen Mao had a fierce look on his face, Tan Zhong and Xue Lu were also very tough, only Liu Sheng's face was slightly gentle. If everyone hadn't been wearing Ming army's clothes and armor, several big men would have sat around a square table, as if fierce green forest heroes were gathering.
However, the generals present had one thing in common: they were all awarded generals who were named marquis because of their military merits in the "Jingnan Battle".
Compared with He Fu and Wu Gao, Zhang Fu trusted these people more; Xue Lu and Liu Sheng and others also trusted Zhang Fu, and Zhang Yu's son would never plot against them. Therefore, after He Fu was arrested and the defeat of the front army, no generals in the army were dissatisfied. Zhang Fu is still able to control all the armies.
After Chen Mao ate five bowls of rice, he became full and said more: "Master, the rebels are in the south, why don't we cross the south to Zishui?"
Zhang Fu was not speaking for a moment. Liu Sheng said, "General Chen, don't be anxious, the general has his own strategy. We have hundreds of large ships that transport food, fodder and supplies from both sides of the river to Changsha, Tanzhou and other places. The Han King's rebel army's military supplies are not as fast as the official army, and they are more anxious to fight than us.
The general first marched eastward and made a gesture of approaching Xiangjiang River; the rebels would want to intercept them and would come out as soon as possible. The soldiers who came from afar must be exhausted and lack food and clothing, and immediately dispatched hastily, which would be detrimental to the rebels."
After hearing this, Zhang Fu looked at Liu Sheng with praise.
At this time, Xue Lu put down his chopsticks and said quietly: "A few days ago, He Fu's interception of Qu Nengjun was unfavorable. Tens of thousands of people were lost in the first battle. The left deputy general He Fu was detained again. This matter was afraid that it had already reached the capital. What the last general was worried about was this matter."
Zhang Fu responded and understood that Xue Lu advocated a war quickly. Xue Lu was fierce and looked big and thick, but he thought a lot about the matter in the court.
Tan Zhong said: "General Xue said very well."
In the Battle of Taiping Field in Sichuan, Tan Zhong was Xue Lu's deputy general. The two escaped from the defeated battlefield together, which seemed to be a life-long friendship.
Zhang Fu's eyes swept across the faces of the four generals and thought to himself: Four generals, three advocate quick battle.
Xue Lu picked up the teapot and poured a bowl of tea into the bowl, picked it up and took it, and said, "If we really retreat to the east bank of the Xiangjiang River, how many days will it take for all the territory on the west bank to be occupied by the rebels? Changde Mansion will not be able to save it!"
Liu Sheng pondered for a moment and said, "There is Yuan River and Zishui to the south of Changde Prefecture."
Xue Lu shook his head and said, "It is unstoppable. Although the Yuan River Zishui is open to Dongting Lake, it is now shallow. The warships cannot enter the westward direction. The river surface is also narrow, and the rebels have a way to lock the river. Once we retreat, the rebels will capture Changde Prefecture, which is only a matter of time."
He paused for a while and saw that Liu Sheng did not object to this statement, he continued: "The previous traitors were not discovered. The Han Palace moved to Guizhou City. Why? Guizhou is the most barren place in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, but it is located between the two governing officials of Sichuan and Sichuan, which facilitates the gathering of wealth, goods and military supplies in the three provinces.
After the fall of Changde Prefecture, the rebels will have two roads to transfer the tax and fodder of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. They will transfer the tax and fodder of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan to Changde and transfer the tax and fodder of the Huguang front line; they will take the Lijiang Lingqu Canal to transport the tax and fodder of the entire province of Guangxi and the prefectures and counties in the west of Huguang. If we want to waste the rebels to death, it will be a year or two!"
Liu Sheng asked: "How is the progress after the Jingzhou army captured Kuizhou?"
Zhang Fu said: "I have received reports recently, but there is almost no progress. I send a letter to the north to request reinforcements. Our official army captured Kuizhou because someone in Kuizhou City turned against him and surrendered to the official army. I have to say that the generals of the rebel army are quite capable."
Xue Lu's face suddenly flushed a little red, and he seemed to think of the humiliation of Sichuan's defeat. He said in a muffled voice: "Our official army still has 400,000 troops, but now each of them is not far apart, why not fight?"
He asked again: "Master General has decided, should we attack or defend?"
Zhang Fu did not answer, but said, "We are the Ming Dynasty's official army now, so don't do the past things; the Jianwen Dynasty's official army also prohibited burning, killing and looting. You and others all returned to the military camp to take good care of their soldiers and not rob the people."
The generals stood up and clasped their fists and said, "The last general is waiting for orders!"
The generals walked out of the tiled house one after another, took a hat and a sword under the eaves, and wore the hats to their respective followers. Zhang Fu watched their backs disappear into the rain.
The soldiers came in to clean up the tables, and Zhang Fu asked someone to hang the map on the wall. He stood by the wall and thought about it for a long time while looking at the picture.
"Wow wow wow wow wow..." The air was covered with the noise of rain, and the rain outside was already heavy. Zhang Fu turned around, walked outside the threshold, and watched the scene. But the distance was a little further and could not see anything, and the rain curtain seemed to be filled with a layer of mist.
This scene seems to be like the future of a war, and it is still hazy.
If there is a decisive battle, the government army has a greater chance of winning; the government army has the advantage of military strength, and there are also many elite troops in the capital in Huguang army. The Jingnan army had been through a long battle and had been well maintained over the years. However, Zhang Fu also understood that such a large-scale battle would have various reasons that would affect the results, and no one could guarantee that he would win, and he would take risks.
Zhang Fu thought again: If the army retreated to the east bank of the Xiangjiang River at the expedient level, would the rebels cross the river from the southern section of the Xiangjiang River to attack?
If the rebels crossed the Xiangjiang River, they might erode some prefectures and counties in the Jiangxi Provincial Administration, but they would definitely go north to seek the official army to compete. The Han King's nest is in the southwest and it is impossible to ignore the existence of the Huguang army.
Even in the "Jingnan Battle" that year, the Jingnan Army won several consecutive battles and defeated more than one million troops of Jianwen Army, and the Jianwen Army was almost unable to attack Peiping. At that time, the Jingnan Army wanted to bypass Shandong and drove southward for many times.
If the rebels crossed the Xiangjiang River to fight, hundreds of thousands of infantry and cavalry military supplies, food and fodder were not easy to raise, and they would be in a hurry to fight. At that time, Zhang Fu could deploy some strategies based on this and gradually gain a greater advantage!
But Zhang Fu was not sure the rebels would do this. And he had to endure humiliation for a long time, endure the criticism and humiliation of the first battle, fearing the enemy and avoiding the war.
There will be more and more court officials who impeach him soon. The key is the attitude of the emperor! A fat face appeared in Zhang Fu's mind again, thinking about the person's thoughts and the decisions he might make.
Zhang Fu understood that this battle was of great importance. From the country to his own future, victory or defeat in this battle was an irreversible decisive factor. He had to think carefully and dare not make a decision easily.
But hesitation and weighing should not be too long, otherwise it is easy to miss the opportunity to fight. If you are sure to fight, the official army should fight quickly! This can take advantage of Qu Nengjun's insufficient repair time.
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Chapter completed!