Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 312: Xuzhou Envoy Fu Youde
Outside Jiankang City, military expansion was proceeding in full swing.

In order to prepare the troops for the East China Front Army this time, almost all the mobile forces that Lu Jin could currently mobilize were used up, and even two imperial guard divisions were transferred to them.

After the Eastern Expedition began, there were no imperial guards guarding the central government, and all the troops were fighting outside. This was very dangerous. Once the Yuan army launched a reckless attack on Jiankang, Lu Jin would have almost no troops to defend it.

Therefore, before the two imperial guard divisions officially set out, he had to continue to expand the imperial guards to guard the center.

At the recruiting site outside the city, there were more than 80,000 captured soldiers and several thousand civilians who came to join the army on their own initiative, totaling more than 90,000 people.

The first round of recruits was Lu Jin's artillery squad, and Li Dingbang, who was Li Wenzhong in history, was in charge of recruiting soldiers. The recruitment conditions for the artillery squad were that they must be under 20 years old, have a clean family background, be able to tell their specific hometown and residence, and their neighbors for easy verification later. They must also have good eyesight, no color blindness, and be literate and arithmetic. Five to eight hundred people were selected, and when this group of people was trained, there would be several hundred artillery squad leaders.

This period of artillery class will not participate in combat for the time being, but will stay in Jiankang for study and training.

Then there are the cavalry. The Shengwu Army now has two cavalry regiments. One is led by Zheng Yong, who is currently preparing for the Jiangbei Campaign. The other is Ye Sheng's former regiment, which is now led by Zhang Long and is preparing for the Eastern Expedition.

In addition to these two cavalry units, there is also a royal cavalry battalion with more than 800 cavalrymen, currently led by Lu Jin's adopted son Lu Pojun.

This time both cavalry regiments were going to fight outside, and Lu Jin had no cavalry available, so he planned to expand a third cavalry regiment based on Lu Pojun's Royal Guard Cavalry Battalion.

In this battle of crossing the river, Yue Lu and Chen Zhaoxian gathered 3,000 cavalrymen, half of whom were killed in the Battle of Xiaomaoshan. More than 1,000 war horses were seized, and the other 1,000 surrendered directly. This meant that all 3,000 cavalrymen fell into Lu Jin's hands. Then, by purchasing a few hundred horses from the public, he was able to form the Third Cavalry Regiment.

The more than 1,000 cavalrymen who surrendered were first controlled, and then according to the military reorganization method issued by Lu Jin before crossing the river, they were first classified according to their land properties, those without land were given land, and the soldiers were given favors. Then they were allowed to report on each other, instigated internal fights among the prisoners, and broke up the prisoners who were sticking together.

The officers among the captured cavalry were directly tried and executed for committing many crimes, those whose crimes did not deserve the death penalty were sent to mine, and even those who had done nothing wrong were all transferred to other infantry units to serve as officers. In short, no officer of the old Yuan Dynasty was allowed to be retained among the captured cavalry, in order to strengthen Lu Jin's control over this newly formed cavalry regiment.

But this was still not enough. The Royal Guards Cavalry Battalion originally had only more than 800 cavalrymen, and with about a thousand prisoners, the number was still not enough.

So Lu Jin asked Lu Pojun to select people from the more than 90,000 prisoners. The criteria for selecting cavalrymen were that they had to be over 20 years old, have a clean family background, be in good health without disabilities or diseases, and be able to ride a horse and shoot arrows. Those who met one of these two skills could be selected as cavalrymen. Those who had experience in raising horses or had strong riding and martial arts skills could be made cavalry officers.

Two thousand five hundred people who met the above conditions were selected, together with the original Imperial Cavalry Battalion and about one thousand cavalry prisoners, to form the Third Cavalry Regiment, which was temporarily led and trained by Lu Pojun.

The newly formed Third Cavalry Regiment will not participate in the Jiangbei Campaign or the Eastern Expedition. They will stay in Jiankang for training and defend the center.

Then there are the two Imperial Guards Brigades of Zhu Shou and Zhang Wen, which are to be expanded into Imperial Guards Divisions. The four musket battalions in each brigade remain unchanged, and the main thing is to expand the two trap camps into vanguard regiments, which will require at least 6,000 people.

There were also personnel appointments for two vanguard regiments. The vanguard regiment of the 119st Imperial Guard Division was promoted by Zhu Yuanzhang, the battalion commander of the Xianzhen Camp. However, Zhang Liang, the battalion commander of the Xianzhen Camp of Zhang Wen's nd Brigade, was transferred by Lu Jin and arranged to serve as the commander of Xu Da's th Division. As a result, the nd Imperial Guard Division was left with one regiment commander.

Moreover, when Zhang Liang was transferred, more than 30 officers were withdrawn from the Xianzhen Camp, resulting in vacancies in the Second Division.

After the matter was reported to Lu Jin, he thought for a moment and asked, "What was the name of the deputy battalion commander of the first brigade, the one who used the long-handled saber and captured Nahachu last time?"

Feng Guoyong, who was sorting out the roster and issuing appointment letters, quickly checked the list and reminded, "Zhou Tong, he was just promoted from deputy squad leader to deputy battalion officer."

"Yes, it's him, Zhou Tong, who was transferred to the Second Division of the Imperial Guard as the commander of the vanguard regiment." Lu Jin nodded and said.

Feng Guoyong said nothing when he heard this and immediately issued the transfer order. Although Lu Jin's arrangement might seem like too fast a promotion, now was the time to recruit people. There was a shortage of capable and meritorious people, so it was good enough to find someone. Why bother about how many levels the person was promoted to?

Things were arranged quickly, so the newly promoted Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhou Tong began to select people from the prisoners.

The selection of soldiers for the Xianzhen Camp was very strict. They were originally elite soldiers drawn from several regiments and trained intensively. They were clad in heavy armor and would bravely take the lead in every battle. Although each battalion had only more than 800 soldiers, they performed exceptionally well in this crossing of the river and made huge contributions. Therefore, the standards were not lowered during this expansion.

The candidates must be over 20 years old and under 30 years old, with a clean family background, healthy, without disabilities or diseases, and must be poor tenant farmers or strong laborers engaged in hard work. Preference will be given to those who are strong, have killed animals, are tall and healthy, and know martial arts.

It doesn't matter if you are thin. After joining the army, if you eat more good meals and do proper training, you will soon become stronger.

Zhou Tong brought along his old brothers Cui Jian, Zhao Gan, Guan Chen, Qian Hui, and Zhang Ye, all of whom were recommended by him as battalion officers and deputy battalion officers this time. They would rise to prominence with him. All of them wore heavy black armor and came to recruit soldiers from the captives.

Cui Jian picked up a gong and banged it loudly, shouting that the Imperial Guards would be the first to recruit soldiers. Some people heard the name of the Imperial Guards and thought that they must be better than ordinary troops. However, when they saw several people wearing heavy black armor, their faces suddenly changed, and they slowly sat down again after standing up.

Many Yuan army prisoners were beaten badly by these black-armored ghost soldiers. Seeing those heavy black armors was like seeing a ghost in broad daylight. They were afraid instinctively. They all knew that these people in front of them were lunatics who would fight to the death. However, there were still some brave and motivated ones who signed up voluntarily.

The prisoners were temporarily divided into camps of 3,000 people each. Zhou Tong and his team picked dozens of people from each camp, and the camp would soon be full.

After a while, several people recruited about a hundred people from the group of people who voluntarily joined the army. Just as they were about to leave, two young men suddenly blocked Zhou Tong and others' way.

"General, please accept me. I want to join the vanguard group." The people who came were Qiu Chuyi and Liu Liu who had followed them all the way from Xiaomaoshan.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tong looked the two men up and down and saw that they were in good shape. It was late autumn and they were still wearing straw sandals and patched tattered clothes. He guessed they must be poor people, so he asked Guan Chen, who was in charge of picking people.

"Has this recruit camp been selected? Why weren't they selected?"

Guan Chen said quickly, "We've picked them all. As far as I remember, these two men were from tenant farmers' families. They don't know any martial arts, and they can't use guns, clubs, knives, or cards. They've never killed anyone or seen blood."

Zhou Tong ignored them immediately and turned to leave, but Qiu Chuyi stepped forward and stopped them again, "General, please accept me. Although I don't know martial arts, I am strong. I can learn and I learn quickly. I can pull the plow by myself when I work in the fields at home. I can outlast an ox."

Zhou Tong frowned and asked impatiently, "Why do you have to join our group?"

"I want to join the army so I can get some land." Qiu Chuyi told the truth.

Zhou Tong was so angry that he laughed, and then said, "If you want to share the land, just wait here. Other troops will accept you and give you land. I don't allow anyone to join me."

Qiu Chuyi was silent for two seconds after hearing that. Seeing that Zhou Tong and others were about to leave, he stepped forward again to stop them. Zhou Tong glared at him fiercely, but Qiu Chuyi looked back at him without any fear.

Zhou Tong suppressed his temper and said, "Give me a reason!"

"I heard from others that you soldiers wearing black armor are better than other soldiers. I want to be a powerful soldier." Qiu Chuyi said with his neck stiff.

"Tsk..." Zhou Tong sneered, "Awesome soldier? Do you know what the vanguard group is?"

Qiu Chuyi shook his head.

Zhou Tong grabbed his collar and yelled at him.

"You are the first to charge into battle! You are the first to face the mountains of swords and the sea of ​​fire! You are the first to attack the city! You are the last to leave when we retreat! You will be the first to die! This is what you call a powerful soldier! You want to be my soldier? Do you want to die?!"

After saying that, he pushed him away, causing Qiu Chuyi to stagger, and then walked away.

Unexpectedly, Qiu Chuyi still did not back down. Even though Liu Liu beside him kept pulling at his clothes, he shouted again, "I'm not afraid of death! I just want to stand out and not be bullied in the future!"

Perhaps it was this last sentence that finally touched Zhou Tong. Zhou Tong, who had already walked a few steps out, turned back after hearing this, looked him up and down seriously, and then spoke.

"You finally came up with a good reason. You want to stand out and not be bullied?"

"I do!" Qiu Chuyi straightened up and shouted in response.

"Very good. You want to stand out. I want to stand out too. Just a month ago, I was just a deputy squad leader with only five people under me. But today, I have been promoted to regiment commander with four to five thousand soldiers under me. Do you know how I stood out?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding recruits, as well as Liu Liu and Qiu Chuyi, all looked at Zhou Tong in surprise. They had thought that Zhou Tong was already a general, but they did not expect that he had only been promoted. Even a month ago, he was only in charge of five people. This speed of promotion was simply incredible. It would not be wrong to say that he had made a name for himself.

Qiu Chuyi shook his head honestly, "I don't know."

"Then I'll tell you." Zhou Tong took his long-handled saber from Zhao Gan behind him and stood in front of Qiu Chuyi. The blade shone with a bright cold light, shining on Qiu Chuyi's face.

"In the battle of Dangtu, my camp was the first to reach the top of the city wall. I killed more than 20 people with this big knife. One of them was a centurion of the Yuan army. I chopped him in two with this knife. His heart, liver, spleen and lungs were all spilled out. I scared two cowards to death on the spot.

"In the battle of Xiaomaoshan, I used this knife to kill more than 20 people! In the battle of Zhenjiang City, I killed more than 30 people. When attacking Jiankang, I killed another 30 or 40 people. In less than a month, I killed 120 to 130 people. Only then was I promoted to the current regiment commander!

"Want to make a name for yourself? Wait until you've chopped off enough heads to cover the ground. Now tell me, do you still want to be my soldier?"

Unexpectedly, after hearing these remarks, Qiu Chuyi was not afraid at all. Instead, he looked at Zhou Tong with admiration and eagerness, and immediately shouted loudly, "I want to!"

This time Zhou Tong did not refuse. He nodded and said to Cui Jian next to him, "Write down his name and take him away." "Okay, what's his name?" Cui Jian opened the notebook and prepared to write it down.

"Qiu Chuyi."

On the other side, Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng were looking at the Xianzhen Camp that was selecting people, and both of them were complaining.

"There are those who can shoot arrows, ride horses, perform martial arts, write and count, and they are all the young and strong elite between 20 and 30 years old. All the good soldiers have been picked up by them, leaving a bunch of old, weak and sick people. We are just scavengers." Zhang Desheng complained.

Yu Tonghai was also speechless. "We are an infantry regiment after all. We also practice the phalanx of spears. We just need to know how to line up and stab people with spears. We can't let them choose first."

At this time, Yang Jing came over from behind the two of them, and immediately said, "What are you two talking about? It's reasonable to let them choose. The artillery played a huge role in this crossing of the river campaign. What's wrong with picking some people who can write and calculate?

"And there are the Xianzhen Camp. They are always the first to attack a city. The same goes for the cavalry. They are also needed for scouts, surveillance, and pursuit of the periphery. Do you expect to conquer the world with just spearmen?"

Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng turned around immediately and saw that it was Yang Jing. They said helplessly, "Of course we know. Hehe, we just want to talk nonsense. What we picked up were the leftovers. What's the matter? You are not allowed to say it."

Yang Jing shook his head helplessly, and then brought up the business, "I want to tell you two something, the Marshal's order."

"What order?" Zhang Desheng asked immediately.

"You two's 40th Army, one 114th Division, one 115th Division, are both expanded from old units, and have a certain level of combat effectiveness and organization. So wait until the first regiment has finished selecting soldiers, then you two can select them, quickly fill up the establishment, train for a few days, and immediately go to Zhenjiang to prepare to cross the river and participate in the Jiangbei Campaign."

After Yang Jing finished speaking, he explained, "Ye Sheng's 116th Division is all newly recruited, and the proportion of veterans is very low. They need more training time and cannot be used for the time being."

Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng looked at each other in surprise, "We two are going to lead the 40th Army across the river to participate in the Jiangbei Campaign? We only have one month to prepare, and we are about to go east. Why are you asking us to go north at this time?"

Yang Jing also said helplessly, "It's because we are short of people. We are short of them, and Zhu Liangzu's 35th Army is even short of them. The Marshal wishes he could use one regiment as three.

"But you don't have to worry. We won't let you take part in the battle. We will transfer your two divisions to the north. It's just that they don't have enough troops. Once Bian Yuanheng and Lu Zhen take down the city, you just need to follow behind and occupy the city. You don't have to do anything.

"Don't forget to train your troops well when you get to Jiangbei. When the 35th Army in Jiangbei expands its own new troops, we will transfer you two back. You are only temporarily loaned to them to help garrison the city. You will be back in less than a month and can catch up with the Eastern Expedition."

"If that's the case, then okay." Yu Tonghai nodded and agreed.

Zhang Desheng also said, "If we follow them to take over the city, we will have to march with them. It takes no time to walk on the road, so I'm afraid we won't have much time to train the troops."

Yang Jing thought for a moment and said, "If you two are worried about the short training time, you can also train for a while in Jiangbei. I will go and tell the Marshal that when my Northern Army reaches Wuxi, you two can lead the 40th Army to assemble in Tongzhou, cross the river to the south to join the battle, and then we will go to Changshu together."

Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng had looked at maps of Jiangnan quite a lot in the past two days, and they immediately recalled the terrain. Yu Tonghai immediately said.

"Send troops from Danyang to Changzhou and Jiangyin. Isn't the third city Wuxi? With your speed of advance, it will take several days to capture Wuxi. It is estimated that it will take seven or eight days at most. Moreover, we also need to march to Jiangbei and gather in Tongzhou. We can't save a few days at all. It will take three or four days at most. Let's forget it. We will try to come back within a month."

"That's fine, it's settled. Go and reorganize the troops as soon as possible. Try to get them done within one day. Don't delay the Jiangbei Campaign that the Marshal has decided on."

"Yes." The two agreed immediately.

At the same time, when Jiankang was expanding its army, Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongzhong, along with Yang Huan's 1st Guards Division Artillery Regiment, crossed the river from Pukou opposite Jiankang and headed for Chuzhou. They all had to go back to mobilize their own troops, and then meet up in Lai'an to prepare for the eastern expedition and launch the Jiangbei Campaign.

At the same time, Zhu Liangzu also had to return to Haozhou to inform Xuzhou of Lu Jin's reply.

Bian Yuanheng, Lu Zhen, Yan Duxian and others from the 108th Division also crossed the river to Dingyuan, preparing to receive their own new recruits there, and then cross the river back to Zhenjiang to prepare to participate in the war.

Bian Yuanheng just needs to lead his men to wait in Zhenjiang. Lu Zhen, Yan Duxian and others have to sneak back to Taizhou and Taixing in advance. Lu Jinding's schedule is tight, so they don't have much time to waste and must race against time to travel.

Qin Zhao also led the artillery regiment of the 2nd Guards Division and set off for Zhenjiang, where they were also preparing to cross the river and participate in the Jiangbei Campaign.

It took more than two days of travel, and Zhu Liangzu did not return to Haozhou until the morning of the ninth day. He then found that Feng Sheng's 14th Regiment, which had been stationed in Dingyuan, had arrived, Zheng Yong's 102nd Cavalry Regiment had also assembled in Haozhou, and all members of the nd Division were in place, waiting for him, the commander-in-chief, to arrive before they could set off.

Yu Tongyuan had also entered Haozhou with the Seventh Regiment and took over the city defense of Haozhou. Everything was ready except sending troops.

However, before setting off, there are still envoys from Xuzhou who need to be dealt with.

Zhu Liangzu found Yu Tongyuan privately and the two of them communicated with each other first.

"Is the envoy from Xuzhou still waiting for news in Haozhou City?" Zhu Liangzu asked.

Yu Tongyuan nodded, "Yes, they are waiting. They were here when I brought the 7th Regiment here. They have been waiting here for nearly half a month."

"Then they must know that we are going to send troops, right?"

"Of course they know. Those two guys are not blind. Your 102nd Division is all assembled here, and so much food and supplies are prepared. I also led the th Regiment to take over the defense of Haozhou city. As long as they are not stupid, they can naturally see it." Yu Tongyuan explained, and then asked in return.

"So, what did the Marshal say? Will we still sell the fifth batch of armor to them?"

"The Marshal said he wants to sell it. We can't go back on our word. We should try to leave a good impression on Xuzhou so that it will be easier to deal with them in the future." Zhu Liangzu replied.

Yu Tongyuan nodded, "That's fine, then you should talk about this matter, or should I talk to them?"

"Let me tell you, I was the one dealing with them before, but you will definitely be the one to preside over the fifth transaction." Zhu Liangzu said immediately.

"can."

"Is it still the one called Li Xixi?" Zhu Liangzu asked again.

"Another Fu Youde has arrived the day before yesterday. It should be because Zhima Li heard that we had captured Jiankang, so he specially sent people here. I heard that these two men are Zhima Li's direct subordinates, and they are not in the same group as Peng Da and Zhao Junyong." Yu Tongyuan explained.

Zhu Liangzu frowned and guessed, "That person should be here to bring a message to Zhima Li. Let me go meet him first. Forget it, you can come with me. I'm leaving soon anyway."

"Row."

So the two of them went to meet Li Xixi and Fu Youde while talking.

Zhima Li was a very strange person. He did such a big thing, but he didn't even have a real name in the original history. Historical books either directly called him Zhima Li, or some unofficial histories said that his name was Li Er. Considering the numerical names of people in the Yuan Dynasty, Li Er sounds like a random name, and it might really be his real name.

According to the original history, in September 1352, Tuotuo led his troops south, crossed the Yellow River and reached the city of Xuzhou in a few days, and spent another few days to capture Xuzhou. The Red Turbans in Xuzhou were directly defeated.

Among them, Peng Da and Zhao Junyong both fled to Haozhou, where they huddled together with Guo Zixing and Sun Deya. Wherever Zhao Junyong went, he would inevitably occupy the nest of others and fight for power. At that time, he had a quarrel with Guo Zixing. If Zhu Yuanzhang had not rescued him quickly, Guo Zixing might have been killed by Zhao Junyong.

Of course, Lu Jin also took over the command of Chaohu Navy, but his methods were different from Zhao Junyong's. Lu Jin led everyone to make the cake bigger and was elected as the commander by everyone. Zhao Junyong was different. He fought directly in the nest. He was a layman in external battles but an expert in internal fighting.
In the original history, after the collapse of the Red Turbans in Xuzhou, the whereabouts of Zhima Li was unknown. There are records saying that Zhima Li was dead, but this should be false, because the History of Yuan Dynasty said that Tuotuo captured "Zhima Li" and brought him back to Dadu to report to Yuan Shundi Xiao Tieguo, but before he reached Dadu, he killed "Zhima Li" on the way, leaving no evidence. Therefore, Tuotuo should have killed an innocent person to claim credit, and randomly chopped off a head to pretend to be Zhima Li, and went to Xiao Tieguo to report the good news.

There are also historical records that after the collapse of Xuzhou, Zhima Li fled to Sichuan and eventually joined Ming Yuzhen's army. But this is really incredible. No one knows how he managed to cross most of China and run from Xuzhou to Sichuan without making any noise.

But no matter what, I remember the whereabouts of Li Xixi and Fu Youde clearly.

After the defeat in Xuzhou, the two first surrendered to Liu Futong, and then a few years later during the Longfeng Northern Expedition, both were assigned to the Western Route Army to attack Hanzhong in Shaanxi. As a result, they were unable to defeat the Yuan army and eventually the Western Route Army surrendered to it.

Fu Youde then went south to Hanzhong and then to Ming Yuzhen. However, he was not valued by Ming Yuzhen, so he ran away and joined Chen Youliang, who had already rebelled. But Chen Youliang did not take him seriously either. After being captured by Zhu Yuanzhang in the Battle of Poyang Lake, he served Zhu as a surrendered general and finally came to prominence.

What was unexpected was that Li Xixi and Fu Youde would come to Lu Jin's territory at this time to meet Zhu Liangzu as envoys. It was a pity that Lu Jin was not here. However, even if he was here, it would be impossible to force the two of them to stay.

If the original historical trajectory had been followed, Xuzhou would have been defeated by Tuotuo in October 1352. In this time and space, the reason they have been able to hold on until now is all thanks to Lu Jin's help. He tricked Tuotuo into farming in Dadu, which delayed his march south and also bought time for Lu Jin to cross the river.

But no matter how long it is delayed, Tuotuo will come sooner or later. It is precisely because of this matter that Fu Youde came to deliver the message on behalf of Zhima Li.

After Zhu Liangzu and Yu Tongyuan showed up, Fu Youde immediately clasped his fists and asked.

"General Manager Zhu, Commander Yu, I wonder what your army's commander Lu's response is? Can we trade the fifth batch of armor in advance, and also the matter of support?"

(End of this chapter)