Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 309: Jinling Army Expansion Conference (Part )

Seeing that everyone was frowning and puzzled, Lu Jin felt depressed. He had to convince the generals first and unify their internal thoughts, otherwise there would definitely be chaos if they started fighting. So he could only explain patiently.

"I know you don't understand my intentions. You think that we are not well prepared for the Jiangbei Campaign now, that we don't have enough troops, and that there are many new recruits who have not had time to train. Tuotuo will soon lead his troops south. You think I am fighting too hastily, right?"

Although Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongzhong didn't say anything, they still nodded.

Seeing this, Lu Jin added, "There is nothing perfect in this world, especially in the military. You want to be fully prepared, but the enemy doesn't give you enough time to prepare. How to use limited resources to achieve your goals is what a general should consider on a daily basis."

Seeing that everyone was having trouble understanding, Lu Jin said, "I'll teach you two more theories. Take a pen and write them down. Go back and study them carefully."

Upon hearing this, everyone took out paper and pen to take notes.

"The first one is the cycle of planning, execution, inspection and improvement. What does it mean? It means planning, execution, inspection and improvement. This process of doing things is abbreviated as "miaoxingjiangai".

"This theory is derived from Gongshuzi's methodology. It was not originally used in military tactics, but as a theory for managing the quality of products produced by craftsmen. What is methodology? Make bold assumptions, carefully verify, summarize and analyze, and draw conclusions.

"The temple inspection and reform is to make a plan, that is, to calculate. Once you have a plan, you start to execute it, and then check the execution effect to see if there are any problems. If there are any problems, you will improve them and then start the next round of the cycle. As long as you fight the war in this way, you will become stronger and stronger.

"Some people may not understand. Let me give you an example. Take this crossing of the river. We planned ahead, formulated a crossing plan, started crossing, and checked the execution of the crossing. Take the battle of Xiaomaoshan as an example. Although we won a great victory, we also found many problems during the execution, such as the formation was not suitable, the distance of the final charge was too far, etc. So how should we modify and improve the formation and tactics next time?
“If you find the problem and improve it, you will be stronger next time you fight this kind of battle!
"Continuously identify problems and improve mistakes. This is what I said before. Learn war in war. Only then can you become stronger and make progress."

The generals who followed Lu Jin in the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River nodded one after another. They were all impressed by the post-war summary of Xiaomaoshan.

Lu Jin added, "However, this theory itself is not a true military strategy. Although it is useful to use it to fight a war, it will also encounter problems. For example, you have made a good plan and started to implement it, but the enemy situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. No matter how good your plan is, it cannot keep up with the changes. What will you do?
"This requires the second move, the observation, judgment, decision and execution cycle. What does it mean? It means observation, judgment, decision and execution.

“Although you have never heard of this theory, think about it, is this how you do things?”

This time everyone nodded.

“Why have you never heard of this, but you keep doing it? Because this is the methodology, the logic of everyone’s behavior, to find the problem, find the cause of the problem, find a solution, and start executing.

"Everyone can do the judgment. You are doing it, and the enemy is doing it too. So what are we competing for? The speed of completing the cycle. You have to complete the cycle as quickly as possible and interrupt the enemy's cycle. That means speed. Speed ​​is the essence of war. The only way to defeat martial arts in the world is to be fast!

“So sometimes, in order to seize the initiative on the battlefield, we can sacrifice some preparations in other areas. No matter how well prepared you are, once you lose the initiative and fall behind, you will be at a disadvantage to the enemy and be controlled by them everywhere.

"If you are slow at one step, you will be slow at every step. Eventually, you will be completely passive, and the only outcome is death."

In the lobby of the government office, some people were listening attentively and thinking seriously, while others were taking notes quickly.

Lu Jin slowed down and spoke again.

"This view and decision-making comes from the chapter on the real and the fake in Sun Tzu's Art of War. The ultimate goal is to seize the initiative on the battlefield and lead the enemy by the nose, rather than waiting for the enemy to react and then passively respond.

"So how should we seize the initiative? The chapter on reality and illusion explains it very clearly.

"Those who arrive at the battlefield first and wait for the enemy are at ease, while those who arrive at the battlefield later and rush into battle are tired. Therefore, those who are good at fighting will attack the enemy instead of being attacked by the enemy. Those who can make the enemy come to them on their own are beneficial to them; those who can prevent the enemy from coming to them are harmful to them. Therefore, if the enemy is at ease, you can tire him out; if he is full, you can starve him; if he is at ease, you can make him move him. Attack where he is not expected to attack, and attack where he is not expected to attack.

“So we should occupy a battlefield that is advantageous to us in advance, rather than waiting for the enemy to attack us and then go to a battlefield that is disadvantageous to us to fight.

"The same is true for this Jiangbei Campaign. We observed the ultimatum sent by the Yuan court and learned that Tuotuo was about to lead a large army south. We judged that the Yuan army might collapse Xuzhou and take advantage of the victory to move south, threatening Jiqing Road and Zhenjiang Road that I had just conquered, and even Huainan Province.

"Then we will start making decisions now. I will go north to actively meet the enemy. I will first take Yangzhou Road to create an outer barrier for Jiangnan. Then I will take Gaoyou and several counties to establish a flexible defense position and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out."

Now everyone finally nodded and understood the basis for Lu Jin's decision.

Lu Jin called out Zhu Liangzu again and said, "Liangzu, you are worried about Tuotuo's army, but actually the situation is not as serious as you think. If you hide behind Xuzhou and don't come out, then after Tuotuo takes Xuzhou, he will attack you with his entire division. You will have to face the Yuan army with its entire division, with high morale after a great victory.

"But if we occupy Gaoyou in advance, there will only be two results. Either Tuotuo will ignore you and focus on attacking Xuzhou, or he will use part of his detachment to deal with you. In this way, you will only face a small part of the Yuan army, and you will have the home advantage. You are fully capable and have the opportunity to annihilate this detachment in Gaoyou. Do you understand?"

Zhu Liangzu nodded, "I understand what the Marshal means, but if we want to occupy Gaoyou first and wait for the Yuan army to tire themselves out, we have to be fast enough to quickly occupy these places and set up defenses, but I don't have enough troops, and Tuotuo is coming so fast, I'm worried that I won't be able to complete the Marshal's plan."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin did not blame him, but nodded.

"Your worries are correct, so this time in the Jiangbei Campaign, we should focus on intelligence personnel defrauding cities, supplemented by large-scale assaults, and take more cities as quickly as possible, just like Taizhou and Taixing.

"In fact, Gaoyou can also be taken from the inside. I heard that Li Huafu is acquainted with the prefect of Gaoyou. Can the Intelligence Bureau find a way to send people into Gaoyou in advance to support the army in the city?"

Lu Jin looked at Bao Yu again, and Bao Yu nodded immediately, "It should be possible. It's not easy to sneak in with a large army, but we should be able to get in a few hundred people."

Lu Jin clapped his hands and praised, "Since Taizhou, Taixing, and Gaoyou have solutions, why not send people to Rugao, Tongzhou, and Haimen to start an uprising together, so that we can take down the five cities in the east of Yangzhou Road in one fell swoop, and then leave new soldiers to guard the city, and the main force will immediately go north.

"There is also the issue of manpower. You can continue to expand the army based on the situation, but you will have to draw people from your old troops, recruit soldiers from the local area, or supplement them from prisoners.

"Your 35th Army, not counting Hu Hai's new regiment, the other five old regiments, if each regiment sends a thousand-household battalion officer, can expand a new regiment. Five battalions can expand five regiments, nearly the strength of an army, provided that you have so many weapons. As for food, I can supply you with it."

Zhu Liangzu frowned when he heard this. Expanding the army privately has always been a taboo for generals, as it would easily arouse suspicion from their lords. After hearing what Lu Jin said, he simply asked openly.

"The Marshal asked me to expand the army privately, but what about the organization? Under what name should I expand the army?"

Now the scale of war of the Shengwu Army is getting bigger and bigger, and there are generals commanding armies at the scale of a front. Lu Jin is too far away from the front line and it is impossible for him to do everything personally. Therefore, more power must be delegated to the generals commanding the front line, such as the right to expand the army. Of course, this is only a temporary policy and must be taken back after the war.

So Lu Jin thought about it and said.

"Based on the experience of expanding the army during this crossing-the-river campaign, we can divide the sources of troops into three types: one is recruited by ourselves, or absorbed from captured soldiers, and led by our own generals, which can be called a temporary supplementary regiment;
"If there are foreign rebels who come with troops to surrender, or if they build strongholds to protect themselves and bring troops to surrender, they can be called temporary reserve corps;
“If an enemy general leads his troops to surrender, they can be called a temporary independent regiment.

"During the campaign, the above three types can be used as a last resort. The commander does not need to ask me for instructions and can make his own arrangements. The principle of expanding the army is to make sure it is sufficient. Do not expand the army too much, otherwise it will dilute the number of veterans and cause a decline in combat effectiveness. You all understand this.

"The newly expanded troops will not be given official numbers during the campaign. They will be reported to the Marshal's Office after the battle and I will personally reorganize them. Yang Jing, you should also remember this. The same regulations will be followed during the Eastern Expedition."

"Yes!" Zhu Liangzu and Yang Jing answered in unison.

Once things are out in the open, things will be easier to handle. They won't have to worry about Lu Jin being suspicious of them. However, things that should be reported in a timely manner still need to be reported in a timely manner. This is the rule.

Lu Jin added, "From now on, your troops in Jiangbei should develop into a front army with the 35th Army as the core, just like the 37th Army that crossed the river this time. It is only a matter of time before you expand your army."

Zhu Liangzu asked again, "What is the organization of the front army?"

This time, without waiting for Lu Jin to answer, Yang Jing introduced him. Below the army level, everything remained unchanged. Two or three armies formed an army group, and two or three army groups formed a front. An army group had a general, and a front had a governor.

Zhu Liangzu scratched his head after hearing this. "I now have the 102nd and 106th Divisions, plus this brother Bian's 108th Division. That's only one and a half armies. Even if we expand it by one more division, it's only two armies, which can be considered a group army, but it's still a long way from being a front army."

Lu Jin said, "It's getting late. I asked you to find out the situation in Yangzhou. That guy, the one who ran away from Haozhou, oh yes, Sun Deya, what's his situation now?"

When Zhu Liangzu heard Lu Jin mention Sun Deya, he was immediately happy.

"Sun Deya conquered Tianchang County in June this year. He now has about 16,000 soldiers. They are having a hard time. They are short of weapons and armor, and have little food and grass. They are divided into two groups. One group has 10,000 soldiers stationed in Tianchang County, and another group of 6,000 soldiers set up a military camp at Shiliang in the northwest of Tianchang. That was where Sun Deya stayed before he conquered Tianchang."

When everyone heard this, they exclaimed in surprise. It was such a small county, but they had 16,000 soldiers. The number of troops was simply too large. It would be strange if they could afford it.

Lu Jin asked again, "Who is guarding Shiliang Station?"

"It's Yu Shiliang, the one who colluded with Sun Deya back then." Zhu Liangzu introduced.

Lu Jin was a little surprised, "They are not together? Did Sun Deya have a conflict with him?"

Zhu Liangzu nodded and said, "According to the information obtained by the spies I sent out, after these two escaped from Haozhou, they were like dogs that had lost their homes. They had a hard time for a long time, with no place to stay, and they were always worried about our Shengwu Army's revenge. The stronger our troops were and the larger our territory was, the more afraid they were.

"Yu Shiliang is also afraid of us and wants to lead his troops to join Zhima Li. Sun Deya is ambitious and does not want to join Zhima Li. He wants to develop his own power. However, Zhima Li is to his west, we are to his south, and the Yuan army in Yangzhou and Gaoyou is to his east. He cannot defeat anyone and does not have the ability to do so.

"So after conquering Tianchang, Sun Deya drove Yu Shiliang away and asked him to guard Shiliang Station while he guarded Tianchang County. It is said that Yu Shiliang lived a life of luxury in the city, took in more than a dozen concubines, and spent his days drinking and having fun. His troops were all managed by a general named Liu Minhua."

Zhu Liangzu first introduced Sun Deya's recent situation, and then said.

"Based on my understanding of this man, Sun Deya is definitely not a good person. He is a typical example of forgetting righteousness when he sees small profits and cherishing his life when he does big things. He looks fierce but is timid, and has an ambitious and rebellious heart. If we really want to attack him, I think this guy will be scared to either run away, surrender to Zhima Li, or even surrender directly to the Yuan army. This is possible." Lu Jin said immediately after hearing this, "That's perfect. When you go east this time, you can send troops from Lai'an and divide them into two groups. One group will attack Tianchang. It's best to start with Yu Shiliang at Shiliang Station. He has only 6,000 people and no strong city. He is timid and should be easy to defeat.

“And even if you take action, given the conflict between him and Sun Deya, I don’t think you will save him. It would be even better if Sun Deya came out of the city to save him. We can just surround him and attack his reinforcements, and then annihilate him in the wild.

"Start with Yu Shiliang and recruit his troops. You will have an extra regiment of soldiers. Then go attack Tianchang and surround Tianchang. Don't let Sun Deya escape again this time."

Zhu Liangzu asked again, "What should we do with Yu Shiliang? Should we force him to surrender or kill him? He is quite afraid of us."

Lu Jin said immediately, "Yu Shiliang and Sun Deya were both involved in the surprise attack on Lu Ding, killing his entire family and destroying the village. It's useless to have such a villain, and I can't explain to Lu Ding if I accept him, so we only want his soldiers. It doesn't matter whether Yu Shiliang is dead or alive. If he is dead, send his head to me, and if he is alive, tie him up and send him to me. Sun Deya will be dealt with in the same way.

"In this way, after defeating these two, you will be able to capture at least 10,000 prisoners. Dingyuan still has more than a thousand prisoners left, so you should be able to form three more supplementary regiments. That will give you enough troops."

Zhu Liangzu nodded to show that he understood, and Lu Jin continued.

“You lead the 102nd Division to attack Tianchang, Liao Yongzhong leads the 106th Division to attack Liuhe, Yizheng and Yangzi. After Tianchang and Yangzi are taken, Taizhou and Taixing will raise troops at the same time to support your actions. Then you and Liao Yongzhong’s two divisions will join together to attack Yangzhou. If you take Yangzhou, the battle will be half won.

"Baoying and Xinghua, north of Gaoyou, don't have to raise troops to respond at the same time, but the intelligence station must send a large number of spies into the city in advance to provide support inside the city when the main force attacks the city later."

Bao Yu, who was in charge of intelligence, also nodded and said, "After the meeting, I will send a message to Taizhou immediately."

"Okay." Lu Jin nodded and looked at the time again.

"Today is the night of October 6th. When you return, mobilize your troops immediately. Four days is definitely not enough. Can you complete it in six days?"

Lu Zhen and the others looked at each other, and Zhu Liangzu said immediately, "I have been prepared for a long time. I will send troops to attack Tianchang as soon as I return."

Lu Zhen said, "Just pick up the troops from Dingyuan and send me back to Taixing."

Yan Duxian also said, "We are the same. After receiving the troops, we will return to Taizhou and talk to Brother Huafu. We can start the movement in the city at any time."

Bian Yuanheng thought for a moment and said, "Since I don't need to recruit soldiers, why not attack Rugao or Tongzhou directly?"

Hearing this, Lu Jin asked, "You have only one regiment to fight, and they are all new soldiers. How are you going to attack the three cities of Rugao, Tongzhou, and Haimen?"

Bian Yuanheng immediately said, "Didn't we arrange for spies to enter the city in advance? Besides, there is also Lu Zhen's regiment in Taixing. It shouldn't be difficult for our two regiments to fight and expand the army while fighting. Can we arrange for spies from the Intelligence Bureau?"

Bian Yuanheng looked at Bao Yu again. Bao Yu thought for a moment and said, "Six days is indeed a little urgent, but it should be enough. Three days to deliver the letter, three days for the intelligence station to arrange for spies to enter the city. Six days, at most seven days, should be enough."

Lu Jin nodded and said, "Well, send someone across the river tonight to deliver the message, don't waste a moment.

"Zhu Liangzu, go back and lead the troops to prepare. You will start marching eastward on the tenth day, and start attacking Tianchang and Liuhe four days later. Taizhou will launch its attack on the thirteenth or fourteenth day at the latest. The specific time depends on the progress of Zhu Liangzu.

"Bian Yuanheng, take your troops to Zhenjiang and wait. Once Taixing succeeds in capturing the city, you will lead your troops ashore from Taixing, and then lead Lu Zhen to attack Rugao, Tongzhou and Haimen. I will lend you another artillery battalion."

Bian Yuanheng was immediately happy and said, "If there is an artillery camp, it will be safer, but who should be sent to guard Taixing?"

Lu Jin immediately said, "We can transfer a regiment of new soldiers from Jiangnan to defend the city."

Bian Yuanheng nodded immediately, "That's even better."

Lu Zhen said, "In fact, as long as the commander-in-chief gives me a plan, I can recruit more troops. It is not a problem to leave some people to guard Taixing. There are many salt soldiers in Yangzhou Road, so recruiting tens of thousands of people is not a problem."

Bian Yuanheng glanced at him when he heard this and said, "You are the commander of a regiment, why are you recruiting so many soldiers? You don't know the rules." However, since Lu Jin was here, he didn't say anything.

In fact, what Lu Zhen said was indeed true. In history, Zhang Shicheng rose rapidly in this area. In a short period of time, he conquered large tracts of territory in eastern Zhejiang and Huaidong. The speed of his military expansion was terrifying. The population resources in this area are indeed abundant.

Lu Jin shook his head and said, "You have to equip them with weapons and provide them with food and grass. Where can I get so many weapons? It's enough to have enough troops.

"Besides, if you recruit all the people to serve in the army, who will farm and make salt? Won't the fields be left uncultivated? Are you going to serve in the army on an empty stomach?"

Lu Zhen said helplessly, "Okay then."

Lu Jin added, "Tomorrow I will organize four new regiments and send them all to Zhenjiang. Yuanheng, you and Lu Zhen just need to fight eastward. I will send people to occupy the cities we take down. You don't have to worry about the rear."

"Yes!" they both responded in unison.

Zhu Liangzu asked again, "What about me?"

"You and Liao Yongzhong will first capture Yangzhou, expand three or four new regiments to garrison there, then lead the main force to join Bian Yuanheng and attack Gaoyou together. I will also lend you an artillery battalion to enhance your offensive capabilities.

"After you take Gaoyou, depending on the situation, if Tuotuo hasn't arrived yet, you will continue to attack northwards. If Tuotuo arrives, you will set up a defense line in Gaoyou to stop him this time and wait for Tuotuo to withdraw his troops."

Zhu Liangzu looked at the map, thought for a moment and said, "Okay."

"That's settled then. You will all start preparing after the meeting. Tomorrow you will cross the river and return to Dingyuan in Haozhou to pick up the people. You will do what you need to do. Bao Yu, you will send someone across the river tonight to deliver a message to the Taizhou Intelligence Station."

"Yes!" Several people responded in unison.

After everyone had memorized the orders, Lu Jin flipped through his notebook and started the third agenda item.

"The third thing is to expand the Royal Guard Brigade into a Royal Guard Division."

Zhu Shou and Zhang Wen immediately sat up straight.

"During this crossing of the Yangtze River campaign, I found that the brigade-level organization of the Imperial Guard Brigade was not very useful. When the Formation of the Encirclement and Trap was working, the Musket Battalion was probably idle. When the Artillery Battalion was working, the Chariot Battalion was just watching and doing nothing. It was a bit of a waste of manpower, so we had to make some adjustments.

"Each Guards Brigade was expanded into a three-regiment division, a five-battalion musketeer regiment, with four musketeers and an auxiliary chariot battalion. The chariot battalion was no longer equipped with muskets, but only ordinary infantry, responsible for escorting food, fodder, ammunition and other supplies.

"The Xianzhen Camp was expanded into the Xiandeng Regiment, which was also a five-battalion regiment with heavy-armored infantry as its core.

"Then there is the artillery battalion. The strength of the artillery battalion remains unchanged, but its organization has been upgraded to an artillery regiment. All officers and soldiers of the artillery regiment have been promoted one rank, as a reward for the outstanding performance of the artillery since crossing the river this time."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jing asked, "If the artillery battalion is expanded into a regiment, won't the number of artillery be increased?"

Lu Jin shook his head. "That's not necessary. Based on the actual performance and battlefield experience of this crossing-the-river campaign, generally speaking, for a battle involving tens of thousands of people, a hundred or so guns are enough, and there's even a bit of excess firepower, which can already meet the demand.

"Now that the demand has been met, there is no point in expanding it. More troops would be a burden. It would be difficult to ensure the supply of horses to pull the artillery and the replenishment of ammunition."

Zhu Shou also nodded and said, "Indeed, 64 guns in a battalion are enough for attacking ordinary cities or fighting tens of thousands of people. More guns would be difficult to guarantee, and such a large and clumsy convoy would be difficult to keep up with the speed of the large army. More troops would have to be allocated to protect the artillery battalion, which would not be worth the cost."

Zhang Wen asked again, "What about the musketeers in the chariot camp? They were trained as musketeers. It would be a waste of talent to ask them to switch back to spears."

Lu Jin said immediately, "The musketeers from the four chariot camps can be put together to form a musketeer regiment. We can use this musketeer regiment as the core to form a new third imperial guard division."

"So that's how it is." Zhu Shou and Zhang Wen suddenly realized.

Yang Jing also asked, "The Eastern Expedition will definitely require artillery. These two artillery battalions have been seconded to Jiangbei. What will we use here?"

Lu Jin pointed at Yu Tongyuan who had been silent the whole time and said, "There won't be any large-scale naval battles in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Even if there are, ordinary gunboats can fight them. It's a waste to keep the cannons of the three tower ships on board. It's better to move them ashore and form an artillery regiment to support the battle in Jiangbei in the future. Then we can transfer the two artillery regiments back.

"The three ships have quite a few cannons, including 60 heavy howitzers, 36 heavy field guns, and 96 heavy guns. Their firepower is stronger than that of the two artillery battalions."

Yang Jing nodded, "Then I have no problem, as long as the Marshal has the arrangements."

Lu Jin glanced at the generals and saw that no one continued to ask questions, so he spoke.

"Since everyone has no questions, let's move on to the fourth item, which is how to form the East China Front Army."

(End of this chapter)