Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 171 Xu Shouhui's Crisis
An army of 200,000 soldiers, amphibious infantry and cavalry? !

Xu Shouhui and Peng Yingyu were both shocked by this number. If Lu Jin really had so many troops, wouldn't its strength be greater than Xu Song's current strength? How could they possibly let Lu Jin surrender so easily?
Of course, they also know that this number must be false. Everyone knows this thing called "claiming". The key lies in how much water there is in the military strength.

After thinking for a while, Xu Shouhui asked, "Puxiong, based on what you saw with your own eyes, how many soldiers do you think Lu Jin has?"

"It's hard to say," Yang Puxiong frowned when he heard this.

"What are you saying? There's nothing wrong with saying it. Just say it. It doesn't matter if you are wrong. Your Majesty and I will make the decision." Peng Yingyu also urged.

"Yes." Yang Puxiong pondered for a moment before expressing his judgment.

"I think Lu Jin has at least 60,000 to 70,000 troops."

After hearing this, Xu Shouhui and Peng Yingyu were both stunned. Sixty to seventy thousand troops, although not as exaggerated as two hundred thousand, but compared with the current Xu Song, it is still not a small number.

But neither of them interrupted, so Yang Puxiong could only continue speaking.

"This time when I went to Luzhou, I first saw 5,000 troops in Liu'an. There weren't many Yuan bandits near Liu'an, but he still deployed 5,000 troops to Liu'an. Didn't he use troops in other directions? It shows that Luzhou is not short of these 5,000 troops."

Xu Shouhui and Peng Yingyu nodded upon hearing this, agreeing with Yang Puxiong's judgment. Deploying 5,000 troops in an unimportant direction was no small feat. Lu Jin had been fighting outside all the time, and if they really were short of soldiers, they would not have let these 5,000 troops sit idle.

Seeing the two nodded in agreement, Yang Puxiong continued his analysis.

"I went from Lu'an to Luzhou. Lu Jin's headquarters is stationed in Luzhou. Obviously, the imperial guards around him cannot be less than those in Lu'an. Moreover, there is also a commander named Zhu in Luzhou. If the regiment commander is the same, then he has at least 5,000 soldiers under his command. Luzhou has 5,000 and Lu'an has 5,000, which adds up to 10,000.

“In addition, I was escorted by a thousand cavalrymen each time I went from Lu’an to Luzhou and back from Luzhou. I heard that these cavalrymen were all the imperial guards around Lu Jin, and the generals who led them were also commanders, at the same level as the garrisons of Lu’an and Luzhou. Although I don’t know whether the cavalry commander is the same as the infantry commander, I saw with my own eyes in Luzhou that there was more than one cavalry battalion, at least three, which means there were three thousand cavalrymen.

"Three thousand cavalry, plus ten thousand infantry. From what I saw with my own eyes, there are a total of thirteen thousand troops."

When Xu Shouhui and Peng Yingyu heard this, they both frowned and nodded. They had realized the seriousness of the problem.

This is just Lu Jin's rear base. There are 13,000 troops in just two cities. If each commander has 5,000 men, then there may be 15,000 people. Saying 13,000 is still a conservative estimate.

This doesn't even include the front line! Lu Jin now occupies such a large territory, it wouldn't be too much to have several times more troops on the front line, right?

Sure enough, Yang Puxiong continued his analysis.

"Lu Jin is in Luzhou, which is considered the rear base. He has to deploy 3,000 cavalry even when there is no battle. Your Majesty and the military advisor should know how powerful this cavalry is in the Jianghuai battlefield. How can they keep such cavalry at home without using them?
"But Luzhou has 3,000 cavalrymen, which means that he has at least two such cavalry units on the outer line. If this is true, then there are nearly 10,000 cavalrymen alone."

Xu and Peng nodded in agreement again. Their evaluation of Lu Jin or their fear of him increased. The 10,000 cavalrymen in the Jianghuai region were a force that not even the Yuan court could underestimate!

Just at this time Peng Yingyu came to the rescue again. He bowed and stepped out of the line, saluting.

"Your Majesty, the Pseudo-Yuan Dynasty once had a horse farm in Luzhou, where there were many horses. Lu Jin used Luzhou as his headquarters, so it is reasonable for him to gather 10,000 cavalrymen."

Xu Shouhui nodded and said, "The Jianghuai region is not as vast as our Jingxianghu area. We focus on water warfare here, so cavalry is difficult to use. But if we go to Jianghuai and the Central Plains, it will be different. If we want to march north to the Central Plains in the future, cavalry will definitely be indispensable."

Peng Yingyu was speechless when he heard this. He could tell that Xu Shouhui meant to hope to successfully recruit Lu Jin. After all, if he could get such a strong military force in his hands, Xu Song's ability to dominate the world would naturally be stronger.

Of course, this was just Peng Yingyu's own thought, but it was different for Xu Shouhui.

Recruiting Lu Jin and strengthening Xu Song would certainly benefit the entire force, but what Xu Shouhui wanted more was to take Lu Jin's power into his own hands.

The Shengwu Army in Lu Jin has a lot of factions, including the Chaohu veterans faction, the surrendered generals faction, the Dingyuan faction, and even the Haozhou faction that has emerged recently. However, the Haozhou faction is too weak at present. People like Xu Da, Guo Xing, Tang He, etc. are only trial thousand households, which is too low. But when their status rises in the future, they will definitely become a rural party.
There are a lot of factions in Lu Jin's Shengwu Army, and Xu Song is actually not much behind.

When they first joined the uprising, Xu Shouhui was just a small cloth vendor. He had no base at all. However, because he had white skin, his skin would reflect the sun when he took a bath. Therefore, he was considered different from ordinary people. Then, Peng Yingyu half-jokingly recommended him to be the leader, and Zou Pusheng and Ni Wenjun agreed.

The process of Xu Shouhui's rise to power was like a joke. He had no military power, no base, and no prestige in the army.

Compared with him, Lu Jin at least has prestige in the army, his own troops and military power. It was also when the Chaohu Navy was in the most difficult time, it was Lu Jin who personally led them to turn the tide. It was Lu Jin who led them to conquer the first piece of territory. In the decisive battle with Kang Maocai, it was also Lu Jin who was in charge of the overall layout and command.

The prestige and dominance of the two men in their respective forces are simply incomparable!

Sure enough, after the Xu Song Group was officially established, Xu Shouhui found himself becoming a mascot, Zou Pusheng became a grand tutor and now had his own military power, and Ni Wenjun was even a general with a large number of troops under his command.

The middle and low-level generals of the entire force are all Peng Yingyu's disciples. Peng Yingyu now also holds the title of "military advisor" and is in charge of the "Liantai Province" (Zhongshu Province). He does not have the title of prime minister, but he has the power of a prime minister. He is truly second only to the emperor and above everyone else!

Moreover, Peng Yingyu himself controls several thousand people in the Lotus Platform Army, which is actually the "religious protection army". These religious protection soldiers are all loyal believers of Maitreya religion and are Peng Yingyu's diehard fans.

In name, the Liantai Army was Xu Shouhui's imperial guards, but in reality Xu Shouhui had no way of commanding this army of several thousand people.

Then the situation is very simple. It is obvious that the emperor is being held hostage to control the princes. The emperor is in Peng Yingyu's hands, and the grassroots generals are all Peng Yingyu's disciples. If Xu Shouhui still doesn't understand this, he will become a fool.

Therefore, when Chen Youliang took the initiative to come with thousands of troops to surrender, Xu Shouhui was very excited! If Chen Youliang could be loyal to him, it would be great. Even if Chen Youliang was not particularly loyal to him, he could introduce a new force. Xu Shouhui could provoke infighting between Chen Youliang, Peng Yingyu and Zou Pusheng, and thus secure his throne.

But now Chen Youliang's strength is still too weak. When he first surrendered, he had less than 5,000 soldiers. Now he has captured several states and counties, and his military strength should have exceeded 10,000. However, compared with people like Zou Pusheng, Ni Wenjun, and Peng Yingyu, his power is still too weak.

If Lu Jin's power could be brought in at this time, even if this person was unwilling to be loyal to him and only joined Xu Song's camp, Xu Shouhui could use Lu Jin to check and balance Zou Pusheng, Peng Yingyu and others.

Don’t think that Xu Shouhui was just worrying about nothing. He was actually very clear about his identity as a mascot, and later history also proved that this group of people really had no loyalty to him.

Not to mention Chen Youliang who later killed him, even General Ni Wenjun who started the business with him later betrayed him.

Historically, during these two years, the Xu Song Dynasty first expanded outward frantically, and then was counterattacked by the Yuan court. Ni Wenjun then considered surrendering to the Yuan court and accepting amnesty, but the negotiations with the Yuan court broke down because the Yuan court simply looked down on him.

In anger, Ni Wenjun killed several sons of Yuan Dynasty princes who had been captured before, then openly proclaimed himself king and betrayed Xu Shouhui. As a result, he was defeated by Xu Shouhui's own troops, and fled in panic to Chen Youliang.

Chen Youliang was not stupid, so he would not keep such a person as his own. So a few days later, the head of the former "general" Ni Wenjun was sent to Xu Shouhui as a token of loyalty. Xu Shouhui really praised Chen Youliang and promised him a promotion.

But what made him misjudge was that Chen Youliang was not a good person in the end.

Peng Yingyu's faction didn't cause any trouble, but that might also be because Peng Yingyu died early, otherwise who knows what he could have done.

This guy started rebelling ten years ago, and he kept fighting despite repeated failures. Now that Xu Song is finally going to succeed, what will he think? Don't forget the capital Xu Song started with. If you count the shares, Peng Yingyu owns at least 60%. Why can't he go further?
Therefore, even though the situation is very good now, Xu Shouhui still feels that he is in deep crisis. He was extremely excited that Chen Youliang took the initiative to surrender, so he let Chen Youliang lead his own army and be responsible for development in a separate direction to prevent Chen Youliang from getting too close to Zou Pusheng, Ni Wenjun and others. As soon as Chen Youliang made some military achievements, Xu Shouhui immediately promoted him and appointed him as the commander-in-chief.

Now that Lu Jin is so powerful, if he can be introduced into the group to create a balance within it, why not? Moreover, if Lu Jin can really join, his role will be much greater than Chen Youliang's. With such a huge force, even if those traitors want to take action, they have to consider Lu Jin's strength!

But Peng Yingyu felt that Lu Jin might not be willing to join.

This guy who plays with religion knows human nature very well. He is so powerful, why does he think he can be inferior to others? !

Just when Xu Shouhui and Peng Yingyu were each harboring their own ulterior motives, Yang Puxiong spoke again.

"Lu Jin's cavalry should not be underestimated, but his navy is actually not weak either."

"Oh? How do you mean?" Xu Shouhui immediately became interested.

Yang Puxiong immediately explained, "Your Majesty, don't forget that Lu Jin originally came from the Chaohu Navy. They now occupy such a large territory, but the Chaohu Navy has not been lost. According to Master, the Chaohu Navy originally had thousands of ships.

"That fellow later defeated Kang Maocai, the Huaixi envoy of the Pseudo-Yuan Dynasty. Kang Maocai was stationed in Hexian County, intending to block the Jianghuai volunteers and prevent them from crossing the river. Kang Maocai already had a river defense navy of the Yuan court. After Lu Jin defeated him, he also completely incorporated the river defense navy of the Yuan court, so there were two navies.

"The Chaohu Navy and the Jiangshui Navy together have at least two to three thousand warships. The navy alone is estimated to have more than ten thousand soldiers. This is a strength that cannot be underestimated. Your Majesty should not only look at his cavalry."

After these words were spoken, Xu Shouhui and Peng Yingyu frowned again. Peng Yingyu was more fearful, while Xu Shouhui was both happy and worried.

The good news is that the stronger Lu Jin is, the greater the role he can play after joining Xu Song. But then again, the stronger Lu Jin is, the harder it will be to recruit him for one's own use.

Others have the ability to dominate a region, so why should they bow down to you? Xu Shouhui also understands this principle.

After hearing this, Peng Yingyu had basically given up hope of recruiting Lu Jin normally, and said immediately.

"Your Majesty, it seems that Lu Jin's military strength is probably more than 60,000 or 70,000, and may be more, perhaps as many as 100,000. In Lu'an and Luzhou, there are 10,000 infantry divisions, and the internal and external cavalry combined are probably 10,000. Add to that the Chaohu Navy and the Jiangfang Navy, which is another 10,000. These forces alone add up to 30,000.

"What's more, he has Dingyuan, Haozhou, Lai'an to the north, Chuzhou, Quanjiao, Hexian, Hanshan along the river, and Wuwei, Lujiang, and Shucheng to the south. These places face the Yuan army in the north, the main force of the Yuan army in Jiangnan in the east, and the direction of Jiangxi in the south. Each of them is a military stronghold and must have a large number of troops stationed there. I think there are at least 20,000 troops in each direction.

"So, with 20,000 soldiers each on the north, east, and south fronts, a total of 60,000 soldiers, plus their Luzhou headquarters, cavalry, and navy, there are at least 100,000 soldiers.

"If Lu Jin really had so many soldiers, how could he be willing to submit to Your Majesty?"

After listening to Peng Yingyu's calculation, Xu Shouhui was also somewhat surprised by Lu Jin's military strength. Although it was not as exaggerated as 200,000, it should not be underestimated. Compared with Lu Jin, it was hard to say whether the entire Xu Song had a total of 100,000 soldiers.
However, the stronger Lu Jin became, the more Xu Shouhui wanted to bring him under his command. He just lacked a basic base, an army that would obey his orders. Whether or not he could control Lu Jin's power might not matter much to the Xu Song Group, but for Xu Shouhui himself, it would definitely be a major benefit.

So I listened to what he said.

"Military Advisor, I still want to try to gain some support. In the future, we will have to march north to the Central Plains, and we cannot be without cavalry. The 10,000 cavalry under Lu Jin are ready-made.

"Besides, since the Pseudo-Yuan Dynasty has not been destroyed yet, we must win over more friendly forces. Lu Jin is also a righteous army against the Yuan Dynasty. If we don't win him over, we may become enemies in the future. It would be best if the 100,000-man army were friendly forces, but if they were enemy forces, it would be extremely disadvantageous to us. So I still want to give it a try. Does the military advisor have any suggestions?"

After hearing what he said, Peng Yingyu thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, what Lu Jin relies on is actually the Chaohu Navy, which was originally founded by my two disciples. Why don't we start from there and divide and win over Lu Jin? I don't ask for all of Lu Jin's 100,000 troops to join me, but as long as we can attract 50,000 or 60,000 to make them fall apart, that would be great."

When Xu Shouhui heard this, his face suddenly darkened, but soon returned to normal. At the same time, he cursed Peng Yingyu in his heart.

(End of this chapter)