Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 132 Hitting the Target

"Congratulations, Marshal, for another victory!"

Zhang Wen, Yang Jing and Liao Yongjian received the news and came to congratulate Lu Jin. At the same time, they were also very envious of the southern army's achievements. Not long after, Lujiang and Shucheng on the southern line were all captured.

Lu Jin closed the battle report and said calmly, "Nothing surprising, it was expected. The reason why we attacked Lujiang first was to block Shucheng's escape route to the south.

"Once we have reached Lujiang, Shucheng will be surrounded on three sides by our army on the southern front. The only gap is the Dabie Mountains in the south. They have nowhere to escape and no reinforcements. Anyone with a brain will just surrender.

"If we send troops from Lu'an and Luzhou first and drive the enemy troops in Shucheng eastward, they will flee to Lujiang, and it will only make it more difficult for us to defeat them. Therefore, when formulating military strategies, it is also very necessary to consider the order of conquering cities."

The three of them nodded when they heard this. Yang Jing even said, "This is why the Marshal ordered us to start from Chuzhou on the eastern front. As long as we take Chuzhou first, we can strategically encircle Quanjiao. Unless they cross the river and run away, they will be dead sooner or later."

"That's the truth. The strategy for the east and south routes is actually the same." Lu Jin stood up and looked at Yang Jing. "According to the date, the Ninth Regiment should be arriving soon. Your Fourth Regiment should also set off. How are your preparations going?"

Yang Jing immediately said, "We have prepared everything. We are close to Quanjiao, so we don't need to prepare so much dry food. It just took some time to collect cotton clothes."

"Then let's set off tonight and take Quanjiao and Chuzhou as soon as possible. Don't delay it any longer, otherwise we will be in trouble in the spring of next year." Lu Jin gave the order immediately.

"Yes." Yang Jing immediately clasped his fists in agreement, but hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

"Marshal, how far will our battle in the northeast end?"

Lu Jin glanced at him, asked the guard to bring a map, and then pointed at the map and said.

"The best route is Chuzhou and Lai'an. Chuzhou is the gateway to the northeast and the core city in the northeast. We must take it. But if we take Chuzhou, we must also take Lai'an.

"Laian is further northeast of Chuzhou. The two cities are only 40 miles apart, a day's journey. If Lai'an is occupied by the enemy, they can use the city as a base to confront our Chuzhou garrison for a long time, which is extremely disadvantageous to our army.

“If we take Lai’an County, the three cities of Xuyi, Tianchang, and Zhenzhou are all 300 miles away, and the nearest Liuhe County is more than 200 miles away. No matter which direction the enemy comes from, it will be a long journey.

"But our army can rely on the strong city to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out, and we can also use the large buffer zone in the middle to fight the enemy in the field and slow down the enemy's attack. If Lai'an falls into the hands of the enemy, we can only fight at our doorstep."

Yang Jing and the other two looked at the map and nodded in agreement, thinking that what Lu Jin said made sense, but Yang Jing still spoke with concern.

"But in this case, our troops may not be enough. There is one regiment each in Lai'an and Chuzhou, and one regiment in Hezhou. The navy also needs to guard the river defense. Then we will have no mobile troops on the eastern front. At that time, I am afraid that we will have to let the northern army deal with the enemy."

Lu Jin nodded in acknowledgment, because originally a division should have four or five regiments, and the one on the southern front was considered a fully staffed division. The two divisions on the eastern and northern fronts did not have enough troops, but they could add two more regiments at most, one each for the eastern and northern fronts, and they would not expand the army after replenishing the troops.

So he said immediately, "It's not that troublesome. After this battle is over, I plan to expand two more regiments. It will be more than enough to recapture three new cities and form two more regiments. By then, you can add one regiment each on the eastern and northern fronts, and form a division of four infantry regiments.

“In addition, we can form a deployment plan that is tight outside and loose inside. Once we capture Chuzhou and Lai’an, we won’t need to place so many defenders in Quanjiao, so we can free up more main forces to resist the enemy on the outside.

"The 102nd Division on the northern front must firmly hold Dingyuan, and then try to push to the Haozhou line, using Haozhou as a buffer zone. It doesn't matter even if it is lost. In this way, a large number of mobile forces can be freed up on the northern front to deal with the enemy."

Hearing Lu Jin's arrangement, Yang Jing finally breathed a sigh of relief and said confidently, "That's good. If we add one regiment each to the east and north lines, I will be able to resist the enemy with ease."

Lu Jin patted his shoulder, feeling that Yang Jing was under a lot of pressure, and immediately comforted him, "Don't think too much, take Chuzhou and Quanjiao first, this is the bottom line in the northeast direction, you don't even have a foothold now, no matter how much you think, you can't implement it."

Yang Jing nodded and said, "Yes, I will prepare it now and lead the troops to set off tonight."

"Go."

After Yang Jing left, Lu Jin wrote another letter back to Liao Yongan on the southern front, ordering the southern front to temporarily stop the attack, stabilize the defense line first, replace officials in the two counties, make internal adjustments, and then train the troops well.

At the same time, do not give up the intelligence gathering work on Anqing Road. First, find out the details of Tongcheng and Anqing, prepare for the next action, and wait for his order on when to take action.

The surrendered Lujiang County Magistrate Wang Xiaocheng and Shucheng County Magistrate Chen Yu, one of whom was meritorious in persuading the surrender and the other in surrendering the city, can both be spared and sent to Luzhou for custody first. If they are willing to serve the Marshal's Office, they can be arranged after Lu Jin returns.

After finishing writing the reply letter to the southern front, he immediately sent it over by a messenger.

Liao Yongan and his regiments should be able to take a good two months' rest.

At the same time, the good news from the southern front had also reached Luzhou, which was connected by water and even closer to Luzhou. In fact, Luzhou received the good news earlier than Lu Jin in Heyang.

"Great victory! Great victory! Commander Liao's troops have arrived at Shucheng, and the county magistrate of Shucheng has opened the city and surrendered. Our army has captured the entire Luzhou Road!"

As the victory report reached the Marshal's Mansion, Li Shanchang, Feng Guoyong, and the two Bao brothers who stayed behind were all extremely surprised. Li Shanchang immediately said, "Write this victory report into a notice immediately and post it inside and outside the city to boost the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city!"

Several people nodded happily. Feng Guoyong stroked his beard and said, "The Marshal is really amazing. He has only been out for a few days and has already conquered two cities. Now the southern line of Luzhou Road is in our hands. The defense line has been pushed to the foot of Dabie Mountain. Our army has no worries on the southern line."

Bao Yu was also happy and said, "Once we take Anqing, we will control the gateway to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Then we can cut off the Yangtze River and take Jiankang, and then we can accomplish great things!"

“Great minds think alike, hahahahaha”

When Feng Guoyong heard this, he and Bao Yu looked at each other and they both laughed. They were both die-hard cross-the-river faction and believed that only by taking over Jiangnan could they establish their foundation. Now that Anqing was in sight and the Shengwu Army had a strong navy, they were one step closer to their goal.

Li Shanchang said at this time, "There are no strong Yuan soldiers on the southern front. The only ones worth noting are Xu Song in Huguang. However, they are not a concern at present. The Marshal once said that the most important thing in the world today is the Three Lakes. This is the world's population, food, and wealth. If you get one of them, you can establish your own territory, and if you get two, you can sweep the world.

"What we need to worry about now is how to compete with Xu and Song for these three lakes. We are far away from Dongting Lake, so we can only watch Xu and Song occupy it. What we need to do next is to take Taihu Lake as soon as possible, and then fight for Poyang Lake. For now, there is no crisis on the southern line.

“As for the northeast, now that we have captured two cities on the southern front, the Marshal has no intention of returning. I guess he is supervising the war in the northeast.

"Compared to the southern line, I am always worried about the north."

Bao Yu heard this and said, "According to the information I have collected and the information provided by He Yangling before, it is certain that the commander sent by the court should be the former deputy marshal of Zhejiang East, Dong Tuanxiao. He is a graduate of the Imperial College in Dadu. He has fought with Fang Guozhen many times and was defeated repeatedly. He is not good at naval battles, so he should not be a concern."

Li Shanchang still shook his head.

“What I am worried about is not the Yuan court’s Jiangnan troops, but the Yuan court’s northern imperial guards, especially now that Xu Song has proclaimed himself emperor in Huguang, the Yuan court cannot just ignore it.

"Xuzhou Zhima Li and Zhejiang Dongfang Guozhen, these two people have blocked the grain transport to the north. If the Yuan court does not suppress the Xuzhou rebels, most people will starve to death. If Yuan Xiang Tuotuo personally leads the troops, can Xuzhou stop them? If they can't stop them, we will be the next."

Bao Heng, who had been silent the whole time, immediately said, "The Xuzhou Volunteer Army has quite a lot of troops, right? I heard they have over 100,000 troops, twice as many as ours. Even if they can't stop the Yuan army, by the time the Yuan army defeats Xuzhou, they will be at the end of their strength. If they attack us again, they may not end up well.

"Besides, the Marshal is well versed in astronomy, geography, and military strategies. How could he not see these things? Since the Marshal didn't say anything, he should be very sure." Bao Yu also nodded, agreeing with his brother's judgment. In particular, as the chief of military intelligence, he had already been arranged by Lu Jin for some things. Judging from Lu Jin's arrangement of Xuzhou, he had long expected that Xuzhou would be defeated, and even set goals in advance, allowing him to prepare to poach people. Instead, he did not seem to be worried about the imperial army at all.

However, this matter was confidential and he did not tell anyone else.

Just then, Zhu Shou also walked in.

"Gentlemen, don't worry. The imperial court doesn't have the ability to attack Luzhou."

Upon hearing this, Li Shanchang and others looked at Zhu Shou, Lu Jin's trusted general. Zhu Shou immediately told them about Lu Jin's analysis of the Yuan court's monarch and ministers when they were besieging Zhu Liangzu.

There was too much political struggle within the Yuan court, the emperor and his ministers were not in harmony, they were suspicious of each other, and there were many conflicts between the emperor and the prime minister. Even if he really led the troops, he would end up like Yue Fei.

Li Shanchang and his companions were all smart people. After hearing Lu Jin's analysis of the Yuan court, they looked at each other and thought that this was indeed possible. The smarter people were and the more they understood the inner workings of the Yuan court, the more likely they would believe this judgment.

After all, ever since Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, there has been no end to the infighting with other Mongolian countries and various factions.

Zhu Shou's words ended the topic, and everyone was no longer worried about the Yuan court's imperial guards, so he asked again.

"Does the Marshal have any news about when he will be back? Those craftsmen have made the sample muskets, but we don't know when he will be back to test them."

Li Shanchang thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid the Marshal will not come back until we hear good news from the northeast. Our most urgent task is to deal with the work in the rear and open an iron smelter as soon as possible to forge weapons and armor for the entire army."

Everyone nodded and began to arrange their respective work.

Guo Huirong no longer comes often to the rear house of the Marshal's Mansion, but Ma Xiuying still often comes to help Zhang Yunxiu organize the manuscript.

She has been studying Gongshu Secret Classic with Zhang Yunxiu recently and finds the knowledge therein very novel and it really opens her eyes.

Today I came to the backyard of the Marshal's Mansion again. Just when I was about to tell Zhang Yunxiu about the good news I heard from outside, I saw Zhang Yunxiu holding a thermometer, looking hesitant.

"What's wrong, ma'am? Are you feeling unwell?"

Zhang Yunxiu shook her head. "No, I just feel nauseous from time to time. I heard that this is a symptom of pregnancy in women, but I haven't seen a doctor yet."

Ma Xiuying was stunned, and then said in surprise, "That's a good thing, why don't you ask a doctor to take a look?"

Zhang Yunxiu shook her head and said, "No hurry. The Marshal is out of town. It's not convenient for me to call a doctor in right now. Besides, there's not much time left. Even if I call a doctor, I'm afraid he won't be able to see the result."

Ma Xiuying thought so too, so she asked, "Then how can you be sure that you are pregnant?"

Zhang Yunxiu immediately told Ma Xiuying about the physiological knowledge taught by Lu Jin.

Although Lu Jin has never been married, he has seen pigs walk even if he has not eaten pork, so he still knows about women's physiology. Every month there is an ovulation period, menstruation period and safe period. A girl's body temperature will rise during the ovulation period.

So after getting married, Lu Jin asked Zhang Yunxiu about her menstrual period, calculated her ovulation period, and took her temperature every day with a thermometer. He also specifically calculated the day for sowing the seeds. Both of them were in good health, so of course it was a perfect match.

Ma Xiuying was stunned when she heard this. She was still a virgin and no one had ever taught her this. Even women in ancient times might not know what the ovulation period was. When she listened to Zhang Yunxiu's explanation of this knowledge, she could not help but be stunned and her face flushed.

Zhang Yunxiu said while holding the thermometer again.

"It's written in the chapter on homeotherms in the Marshal's biology book that humans are homeotherms. Under normal circumstances, the body temperature is 36 to 37 degrees. Only when a woman is pregnant will the body temperature rise slightly, possibly to 37.5 degrees. Look, I just measured it, and it's already 37.1."

Ma Xiuying could now understand Arabic numerals. She looked at the scale on the thermometer and was amazed. "Is this thing accurate? If the body temperature rises, it means I'm pregnant?"

"Not necessarily. If you are sick, you will have a fever." Zhang Yunxiu shook her head. "But the book also says there is a method to test for pregnancy, but it cannot be tested now."

"any solution?"

"Use a hollow syringe to inject the urine of the female being tested into the frog's body. Within three hours, if the female frog lays eggs and the male frog emits urine, there is a 70% chance that the pregnancy is confirmed. But now there are no syringes and no frogs in the middle of winter, so this method cannot be tried," Zhang Yunxiu explained.

"There is such a method to test for pregnancy?" Ma Xiuying said she was very surprised and curious about it.

Zhang Yunxiu only read what was written in Lu Jin's manuscript, but she knew that Lu Jin had more magical things, so she believed in the knowledge that Lu Jin said.

As for how Lu Jin knew about it, he learned about it from a report on environmental protection. He heard that the frog pregnancy test method was written in the legendary barefoot doctor's manual. In the era when there were no pregnancy test sticks, many people relied on this.

However, the frog pregnancy test method is not without side effects. First of all, it has only a 70% accuracy rate. If you want to increase the accuracy rate, try more frogs.

Secondly, the frogs that have been used cannot be released back into the wild and must be killed harmlessly because they have been injected with human urine and received human hormones. If they are released back into the wild, it will lead to the extinction of frogs in the wild.
The world in later times did not know about this effect at that time, and this problem was only discovered after the large-scale extinction of frogs.

Ma Xiuying said that she still needs to learn more. She didn't expect that there is such knowledge in the biology book. Their commander is really knowledgeable and talented.
"Then should we write a letter to tell the Marshal?"

Zhang Yunxiu waved her hands quickly, "Let's not talk about it for now. The Marshal is fighting on the front line. How can we let him be distracted by such uncertain things?"

"Yeah, that's right. I hope the soldiers on the front line can win battles one after another, and the commander is safe and sound and can come back soon."

The two women prayed for the soldiers of the Shengwu Army on the front line, and Chang Yuchun and his men finally arrived at a village northwest of Chuzhou.

Looking at the dilapidated and abandoned village in front of him, Yu Tonghai asked immediately.

"Is this the village that was looted by Sun Deya?"

"It should be here." Lan Chun nodded.

Hua Yunlong asked tentatively, "Commander, we have come to Chuzhou. Are we going to attack Chuzhou? We are just a regiment with 4,000 people?"

Yu Tonghai glanced at him and asked, "Why, are you scared?"

"Whoever is afraid is a fool. If we attack Chuzhou, I am willing to be the vanguard of the entire regiment!" Hua Yunlong immediately expressed his opinion.

"That's more like it. Now I can tell you that we are here to attack Chuzhou!"

(End of this chapter)