Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 145 Xu Song Envoy Visits

"Feng Sheng did a good job this time. After Haozhou is captured, he can be made the commander of the new regiment." Lu Jin said immediately after closing the battle report in his hand.

Feng Guoyong was not surprised by Lu Jin's decision, because Lu Jin had said before that as long as Feng Sheng could make contributions, he would promote him.

Due to his understanding of history, Lu Jin knew that Feng Sheng was a jealous and competitive person. Allowing Yu Tongyuan, who was younger than him, to always suppress him was actually not conducive to unity, so he would have to take this step sooner or later.

How far he can go after becoming a regiment commander depends on his own ability.

"Thank you, Marshal, for your appreciation of my brother. However, we are short of troops now. If we continue to march towards Haozhou, I am worried that when the Yuan army arrives, we will not be able to hold on."

Lu Jin was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that Feng Guoyong was not very happy when he heard that his brother was promoted, but instead said this.

He thought for a moment before saying, "We must fight for Haozhou, but it should be the last city we fight on the northern and eastern fronts before we cross the river.

"Now there are five regiments on the eastern front, guarding the three cities of Heyang, Quanjiao and Chuzhou. One infantry regiment is left as a mobile force, and the navy is used to block the Yangtze River. There is no shortage of troops on the eastern front.

"We now have three infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment on the northern front to defend Dingyuan and Lai'an counties. We have more than enough mobile forces. After we capture Haozhou, we can expand the army by one more regiment. It will be no problem for five regiments to defend three cities.

"And you should know that Dingyuan has our salt mines. If we don't take Haozhou, the enemy will reach the city of Dingyuan. How can we mine salt then? This is a major matter concerning the finances of the entire army. Therefore, Haozhou must be taken, and not only must it be taken, but it must be taken quickly. We must take it before the end of this month. The Yuan army will not give us much time."

"What about the south?" Feng Guoyong frowned and thought about it, then asked worriedly.

"In the south? There are already five regiments. Even if they continue to fight southward, they can draw troops from the rear. As long as they take Tongcheng in the front, Shucheng and Lujiang will not need garrisons at all." Lu Jin squatted down, drew a map on the ground, and continued.

"There is the Dabie Mountains as a barrier next to us, which is different from the flat terrain in the north. Even if we push the southern line to Anqing, we don't need to continue to expand the army. The Dabie Mountains alone can withstand a hundred thousand troops."

This is the helplessness of the terrain. To the south of Luzhou is the Dabie Mountains, and to the east is the Yangtze River. Both have natural geographical defense lines and are relatively easy to defend. Only the north is flat, and if you want to stop the enemy, you can only rely on those cities as a support, and also station heavy troops. Otherwise, there is really no other way.

Of course, he was not particularly worried. In war, the key is to be able to fight. Although there are several regiments on both sides of the northeast, in fact, as long as there is an elite regiment, it would be enough to deal with the tens of thousands of Yuan troops.

It is more important to leave behind an elite regiment that can fight in a mobile manner, and the others can just defend the city.

"It's good that you know what's going on. We should accumulate strength and prepare to cross the river. The south of the Yangtze River has more people, food, and wealth. It would be a waste to occupy more cities in the north of the Yangtze River. You must not be deceived by the great victory now."

As a minister, Feng Guoyong couldn't help but give some advice. Crossing the river to conquer the south of the Yangtze River and building Jiankang as the base has always been his dream. He was willing to join Lu Jin just because Lu Jin had the same idea as him.

But this time, after Lu Jin went out for a trip, he received successive victories on the two fronts in the southeast. He was also afraid that Lu Jin would become arrogant. After all, he was still a young man, and it was normal for him to feel a little arrogant after suddenly achieving such success.

However, Lu Jin was very clear-headed, or he always knew what he was doing and what he wanted to achieve.

"Hahahaha, how could I forget what you said, sir? The most urgent task is of course to accumulate more strength while ensuring safety. Otherwise, why do you think I stayed in the iron factory for more than ten days?"

"Don't worry, sir. I won't lose my ambition until the great cause is accomplished."

After laughing, Lu Jin wiped the map off the ground with his foot and became serious again, "I want to adjust the deployment of the two lines in the northeast, sir, please take note of it."

"Yes." Feng Guoyong immediately asked someone to bring paper and pen and started taking notes.

"Order Yu Tonghai's 9th Regiment on the eastern front to temporarily station in Lai'an County, and the 7th and 10th Regiments and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment to return to Dingyuan to assemble and prepare to launch the Haozhou Campaign.

"For this battle to seize Haozhou, Zhu Liangzu of the 102nd Division will be the commander-in-chief. The deadline is one month to capture Haozhou and be prepared to defend against the enemy.

"Feng Sheng, the captain of the 14th Regiment, has made great contributions in this battle and has been promoted to the commander of the newly formed th Regiment. After the capture of Haozhou, he will expand the army in Haozhou and take up his post. After the reorganization is completed, the roster will be reported to the Marshal's Office.

"After the 14th Regiment is reorganized, the defense zone will be readjusted. Lai'an will be assigned to the 102nd Division's defense zone, and the th Regiment will be transferred back to Chuzhou as a mobile force to support the northern front at any time. Have you written everything down?"

"Yes, please have a look, Marshal." After Feng Guoyong finished writing the last stroke, he immediately presented it to Lu Jin for review. Lu Jin stamped it on the spot and then sent fast horses to pass the message to each department.

At the beginning of January in the twelfth year of Zhizheng, when Lu Jin issued the first military order, other parties were also making their own deployments.

Sun Deya was in the north of Lai'an and witnessed the battle in which Luzhou soldiers besieged Lai'an. Having a grudge against Luzhou, he was deeply frightened and did not dare to go to Liuhe, which was too close to Lai'an, for fear of becoming Luzhou's next target.

So this guy and Yu Shiliang, with more than 10,000 miscellaneous troops, turned eastward to attack Tianchang County of Gaoyou Prefecture.

Tianchang County is more than a hundred miles away from Lai'an. Sun Deya estimated that Lu Jin would not continue to fight northward. In this way, he could gain a foothold in Gaoyou Prefecture, which was not wanted by Xuzhou and Luzhou. After he trained his troops, he might be able to take over the entire Gaoyou Prefecture as his base depending on the situation.

I can only say that he has a good idea, but I don’t know whether the Yuan court will give him this opportunity.

In May of the 11th year of Zhizheng, Liu Futong and Du Zundao took the lead in launching the uprising. After more than half a year of development, the uprising army basically formed four major forces centered on Xinyang, Xuzhou, Luzhou and Huanggang.

Except for Luzhou of Lu Jin, which has emerged as a new force, the others are already famous in history.

The slow-reacting Yuan court was finally ready to take serious action against the rebels!
Last year, a flood broke the canal, causing the interruption of water transport in Dadu. Tuotuo, who had always ignored the flood, finally made up his mind to control the Yellow River even if it meant the national treasury was depleted. As a result, the Yellow River was finally cured, water transport was restored, but then the Xuzhou section of the Grand Canal was cut off by rebels.

Before the river was tamed, most people had no food to eat. After the river was tamed, most people still had no food to eat. Wasn't the taming of the river a waste? !

Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty, Xiao Tieguo, heard the news in the midst of his busy schedule and immediately called Tuotuo over and gave him a severe scolding.

"You always say that the world is peaceful and there is no trouble. Now the Red Army has half of the country. What strategy do you have for dealing with it, Prime Minister?!" - "Continued Zizhi Tongjian" Tuotuo was sweating profusely when asked by Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty. He was under great pressure, so he prepared to beat Zhima Li to death!
In January of the 12th year of Zhizheng, when Lu Jin was planning to capture Haozhou, Tuotuo also began to plan to suppress the Red Turban Army.

In front of Tuotuo, a military aristocrat who came from the Qiexue Army, the Red Turban Army was nothing but chickens and dogs. Beating the Red Turban Army was like beating a weakling. Of course, when it came to gaining such a good opportunity of military merit, one must not forget one’s own family.

So he gave all the more elite central army to his younger brother Yesen Timur to command, and claimed to have 300,000 troops. He began to attack Liu Futong and Du Zundao's troops in Fuyang, and sent a vanguard to attack the front. Yesen led the main force to follow slowly from behind, and the front and rear echelons were seriously out of touch.

Judging from this deployment, it is obvious that it is just to let his own brother gild his reputation. As the commander-in-chief of an army, he doesn't even dare to go to the front line. With this attitude, what kind of war are you going to fight?

After deploying a plan to suppress Liu Futong, the remaining Zhima Li, Tuotuo was ready to do it himself, and then he began to recruit troops.

Tuotuo first got five thousand salt merchants from Hebei, and then recruited 30,000 soldiers. All of these people wore yellow scarves on their heads and were called the Yellow Army. The generals leading the army were named Tian Feng and Wang Shicheng.

Remember this Yellow Army general Tian Feng, you will need to test him later!
At the same time, Tuotuo began to recruit a large number of Han troops, plunder war horses from the people, and asked Fang Guozhen, who had been recruited, to lead a fleet to the north to help.

However, it would take some time for his order to reach Zhejiang. Fang Guozhen has not received the news yet. Even if he did, he would not agree.

According to Tuotuo's preparation plan, the Xuzhou Group will be defeated within a few months.

However, if you want to gather so many troops, you have to prepare the food and grass needed by the army. It is not that easy. The preparation work alone will take at least several months. Lu Jin still has time.

Xu Shouhui's troops in the south were also not idle in January. Xu Shouhui rebelled in September last year. After repelling the counterattack of the Yuan court in October, he immediately ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, and then captured Huanggang and Huangzhou Road.

He also sent General Ding Puluan to capture Hanyang, near the important town of Wuchang. At this time, Chen Youliang, introduced by his uncle, came to Hanyang to seek refuge with Xu Shouhui, who gladly accepted him.

Since Chen Youliang brought his own capital and had his own troops, he was relatively independent, so Xu Shouhui sent him to attack the west.

In fact, at the beginning of this year, the entire Xu Song development strategy was to focus on attacking the west. Chen Youliang led his own army and took the lead in attacking Mianyang Prefecture. Xu Shouhui sent another army to attack Anlu in the northwest. The main force of the central government, led by Grand Tutor Zou Pusheng, was ready to clear out the forces around Wuchang at their doorstep and then besiege Wuchang.

Xu Shouhui himself did not fight much in wars, but he was not idle either. Since he had become the emperor, he must play a greater role in politics and recruit more forces to strengthen the Xu Song!

Especially since he has a cult leader named Peng Yingyu under him. This guy has left many stakes in various places. Now that his power is established and the emperor's flag has been raised, it is a good time to activate his disciples.

Peng Yingyu only remembered at this time that he had left a Chaohu navy in Jianghuai, which was struggling under the leadership of his two apprentices. He inquired about the recent situation in Chaohu, and then he was dumbfounded. Where did this Lu Jin come from? He actually conquered the entire Luzhou Road.
Then Xu Song urgently formulated a diplomatic strategy and decided to recruit this force that should not be underestimated.

How to recruit? Of course, use both carrot and stick. If you join me, you will be given high positions and generous salaries. If you don’t join, I will send my army to crush you into powder!
This is how Ming Yuzhen was annexed by Xu Song in history, but it is really difficult to evaluate him applying this method to Lu Jin.

Xu Shouhui handed this diplomatic task to Yang Puxiong, and Peng Yingyu personally gave some instructions to this apprentice, and then Yang Puxiong set off with the mission.

Since there is Jiangxi between the two sides and Jiangxi is still in the hands of the Yuan court, and Xu Song currently has no naval force, it is unrealistic to come to Luzhou via the Yangtze River. If you take a merchant ship and come here secretly, it will not show the majesty of the "Great Song Dynasty".

So Yang Puxiong took 300 soldiers and walked along the mountain path in Dabie Mountains to the border of Lu'an County.

This group of people traveled through mountains and rivers, following the river valley path in the Dabie Mountains, and finally arrived at the territory of Gubu Town, where they found many mountain people cutting wood in the mountains. The chopped wood was tied into rafts and thrown into the Qinshui River in the mountains. The rafts then floated downstream to Lu'an, where they were fished out and sent to Luzhou by land.

Yang Puxiong's three hundred armored men suddenly emerged from the mountains, scaring the local mountain residents. They didn't know where these people came from, so someone immediately called Zhang Huan who was stationed there.

Zhang Huan knew what was going on as soon as he heard it. He immediately assembled his combat battalion and led more than 800 armored soldiers to meet them.

When Zhang Huan saw Yang Puxiong's 300 men, he was not panicked. It was he who had previously proposed to build a fortress in Gubu Town to block the passage in the mountain and prevent Xu Song's army from coming out of Dabie Mountains. Therefore, he had already been on guard against Xu Song.

Who else could be here if not Xu Song? But he still asked knowingly.

"Who are you? Why did you lead troops to invade Lu'an for no reason?"

Yang Puxiong looked at the more than 800 soldiers under Zhang Huan and felt a little afraid. He did not answer directly, but asked back.

"Are you the commander of the garrison here? Are you a general of the Yuan Dynasty, or a general under Marshal Lu of Luzhou?"

"Of course it's General Lu's subordinates." Zhang Huan said without hesitation.

"Hahahaha, then he must be one of our own. To be honest, I am an envoy from the Song Dynasty. I am here under the order of our emperor to deliver a letter to Marshal Lu of Luzhou. I wonder if this general can introduce him to me?"

When Yang Puxiong heard that the other side was not the Yuan army, he thought that it would be easy to deal with. Even if they were not in the same group now, they were all righteous troops, so they would not fight as soon as they met.

"Well, I am not the chief officer here. Since I am an envoy from another country, please wait for a moment. I will report to the commander and the commander-in-chief, and I will give you a reply then."

Zhang Huan's answer was neither humble nor arrogant, but Yang Puxiong could hear something unusual in his answer.

Yang Puxiong opened his mouth and called them "Your Majesty" and "Emissary of the Great Song Dynasty", implying that they had already established a country. He also emphasized that he was here to deliver a letter to Marshal Luzhou. This was obviously an attempt to use his power to put pressure on others and to indicate the gap in status between the two sides.

However, Zhang Huan addressed Yang Puxiong as "envoy from another country", which was obviously an attempt to evade the issue. Not only did he not directly invite him to enter the country, but he also had to ask his superiors for permission first, which showed that he did not regard him as one of his own.

During this back and forth fight, Yang Puxiong knew that this mission would not be easy to accomplish. Just as his master said, this Marshal Lu would be difficult to control.

(End of this chapter)