Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 367 Xuzhou mutiny?

The Jiangxi Yuan army infantry led by Yu Que, Xing Ji, Aslan and others was defeated, and the navy also suffered a setback.

Because the infantry on land could not break through the Susong defense line, the navy led by Manzi Hague did not dare to advance too deep alone. In addition, there were three fire gun forts in the directions of Wangjiang, Anqing and Tongyang, which were difficult to conquer even with infantry. Without infantry, it would be even more difficult to conquer with only Manzi Hague's navy.

As a result, their navy stayed in the vicinity of Pengze and never dared to go to Guichi and other places to challenge the navy of the Shengwu Army for a decisive battle, for fear that they would be surrounded by the Shengwu Army from many directions without the support of the main infantry force.

Chang Yuchun took advantage of this opportunity and continued his attack to the south.

The 43rd Army that he and Liao Yongjian had newly formed received the combat order when Lu Jin held a -day banquet for his child in early winter. They immediately went back to dispatch troops after the banquet. The war actually started seven or eight days earlier than Yang Jing's Eastern Expedition. Before Yu Que officially attacked Susong, they had captured the three cities of Wuhu, Fanchang and Tongling.

After that, the two men cooperated. Liao Yongjian was responsible for leading the troops to take over, training the troops and garrisoning at the same time. Chang Yuchun led the main forces of his three regiments to continue attacking the four cities of Nanling, Jingxian, Xuancheng and Ningguo. It took a month and finally occupied the Ma'anshan Iron Mine and Jingxuan Coal Mine that Lu Jin had been thinking about.

However, by this time, Chang Yuchun was also a little exhausted. His 43rd Army had too few troops, and the main attack had always been led by his own 109th Division. Liao Yongjian's 107th Division was composed entirely of recruits who didn't even have many sets of armor. With the strength of six regiments, it was already the limit for them to be able to capture seven cities in a row.

Fortunately, Chang Yuchun used the prisoners to expand three supplementary regiments, and they are currently stationed in Jingxian for training. While training, they are also guarding against Jingde, Taiping, Shidai, Qingyang and Guichi in the south, ready to take one or two of them at any time.

In Jiankang, Lu Jin had been living and eating in the "staff office" of the Marshal's Mansion for more than a month. Zhang Yunxiu prepared meals and delivered them to him every day, and she also took the dirty clothes away to wash. Lu Jin, Feng Guoyong, Xia Yu and Bao Yu were on duty in the staff office together. They analyzed the battle situation on the map every day, deployed troops, and made new markings on the map based on the battle reports sent back from the front line from time to time.

Even Feng Guoyong, Xia Yu and the others have now fallen in love with this "game" of coloring the map. Whenever there is good news from the front line, the three of them rush to paint the newly conquered territory in red.

It was at this time that Yu Tongyuan brought news that Deng Yu and Hu Dahai were leading their troops to surrender.

Feng Guoyong, who had just received the report, immediately asked, "Marshal, how should we accommodate Deng Shunxing's more than 10,000 people?"

Lu Jin and Bao Yu next to him looked at each other, and they understood each other tacitly. Lu Jin then said, "You don't have to worry about this matter. In fact, the Intelligence Bureau has been working hard to ensure that Deng Shunxing and his men can come to us. Now that they are back, let's assign them a division-level designation."

Feng Guoyong and Xia Yu understood immediately that this was another idle move made by Lu Jin at some unknown time, and now it was just the right time to make it happen. However, he still couldn't help but remind them.

"General, there are wars on all sides now. Anqing is safe for now. Although Huai'an is on the front line against the enemy, it has a lot of troops and the Huai River is a natural barrier, so it is not a problem to defend it. Our army has an overwhelming advantage in the east of Zhejiang.

"Our only weakness now is in the Ningguo Road direction. General Chang's progress is a bit slow, which makes it impossible for us to level the southern front. If the Jiangxi Yuan army can concentrate its superior forces and move north from Huizhou Road, it will still be very dangerous for us.

"So I suggest that Deng Shunxing's division be added to the Ningguo Road direction."

Hearing this, Lu Jin looked at the map and nodded, "I do have this plan, but I won't let all of his 10,000-plus troops go. We still have to follow the old rules and mix them with our old troops.

"In this way, they have a total of 14,000 people. Deng Shunxing himself can be the commander-in-chief, and his eldest son Deng Youlong can be the commander-in-chief. The father and son can lead a regiment. His youngest son Deng Youde is still young, so he can stay in the Imperial Guard as an officer for the time being.

"There are also the three of Hu Dahai and his sons. I heard that his second son, Hu Guanzhu, is only 15 years old. He can stay in the Imperial Guard with Deng Youde, and let Hu Dahai be the commander and his eldest son, Hu Sanshe, the deputy commander.

"Finally, Tang Shengzong, Song Guoxing and the other four guys all stayed in Jiankang to form a new imperial guard division.

"Then transfer the two regiments of Deng Shunxing and Hu Dahai to Chang Yuchun, and ask him to send another supplementary regiment to make up for their establishment of three regiments. From now on, this division will also be under the command of Chang Yuchun's 43rd Army."

Upon hearing this, Feng Guoyong quickly took out a pen and paper to write it down. In fact, it was still the same old routine, taking hostages and then disbanding and reorganizing the troops that came to surrender.

Lu Jin thought a little more, mainly about the arrangements for the Deng and Hu families. Now he was sure that this Deng Youde was the Deng Yu in the original history. While his father and brother were still alive, Lu Jin wanted to transfer Deng Yu to his side to train him and let him learn more knowledge. Perhaps his upper limit could be raised to be even better than the original history. At the same time, he could also be trained as a reserve general.

Hu Dahai's two sons, the eldest son Hu Sanshe was executed by Zhu Yuanzhang for illegally brewing and selling wine in the original history, and the second son Hu Guanzhu was assassinated together with Hu Dahai in the mutiny of surrendered generals. In the end, none of Hu Dahai's biological sons survived.

Lu Jin's arrangement now is to lock up the second brother Hu and keep him by his side, and let the eldest brother Hu Sanshe follow his father to the front line to fight. In this way, since he is busy in the army, he should have no time to do business or do those stupid things, right?
Besides, if it really doesn't work out, there are still his father and the disciplinary officer watching over him. Lu Jin also hopes that they can all have a good future.

After writing down the order, Feng Guoyong reminded again, "General, Deng Shunxing has written it down. There is also a report from the Eastern Expedition Army. General Yang has already negotiated the terms with Fang Guozhen, and he has agreed to all of them. It has been agreed that the three sons will send them over after New Year's Day. The navy will select half of the warships and hand them over to Bai Guangtai's naval regiment. As for the naval commanders on his side, those who are willing to come will also be reorganized.

"Does the Marshal have anything else to add?"

Lu Jin thought for a moment, then looked at Bao Yu next to him and asked, "I remember the intelligence you reported before said that Fang Guozhen still has a shipyard in Taizhou and is still building sea vessels, right?"

Bao Yu nodded immediately, "That's true."

Lu Jin immediately said, "We asked him to hand over half of the navy ships in order to weaken his strength and prevent him from surrendering and rebelling again in the future. He has handed over half of the ships now, but he is still building new ships. What's going on?

"When he delivers the ship, send the shipbuilding craftsmen from Taizhou as well. We happen to be in need of craftsmen who can build seagoing ships here."

The three of them nodded in agreement, not thinking that there was anything wrong with Lu Jin's blatant robbery.
After dealing with these two matters, it was already noon. Zhang Yunxiu brought lunch on time, but before the four of them could take two bites, urgent military intelligence came in again from outside, and the Intelligence Bureau also had the latest intelligence.

Bao Yu opened it and took a look. He immediately reported with a serious expression, "General, there is news from Xuzhou. Zhima Li was captured alive by Tuotuo and then taken to the city of Xuzhou and killed. The three military camps between Xuzhou and Suzhou were breached by Tuotuo. Peng Da and Xue Xian are temporarily missing."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin quickly put down the bowl and asked, "Has Xuzhou City been breached? Where is Tuotuo's main force now?"

"Xuzhou City is still in the hands of the rebels for the time being. According to previous intelligence, the current commander of the Xuzhou City garrison may be Mao Gui." Bao Yu replied quickly.

Lu Jin asked again, "What about the news in Huaibei? Are there any movements from Li Xixi and Fu Youde?" Bao Yu shook his head, "My intelligence didn't say that. The Intelligence Bureau's headquarters for Xuzhou intelligence is located in Suqian. Now that the war has started, it is difficult for them to obtain accurate information from Huaibei."

Lu Jin couldn't help but frowned when he heard this. At this moment, Xia Yu next to him also opened a front-line military report sent by Zhu Liangzu and hurriedly said.

"General, it is mentioned in the war report of Zhu Zongguan from Huai'an that a few days ago, a scout reported that the military rations left by Tuotuo in Pei County, Huaibei were burned by the rebels who came from nowhere. The fire burned for two days and two nights and could be seen more than ten miles away. There was a smell of burning rice in the wind. The scout boats arranged by Zhu Zongguan on the Huai River also found that Tuotuo was repairing the floating bridge on the Huai River and seemed to be planning to retreat to Huaibei."

Lu Jin suddenly looked serious and asked, "Are you sure? Is there any other information that can prove that Tuotuo is going to retreat to Huaibei?"

The three of them hurriedly searched for information after hearing this. Bao Yu immediately found an intelligence report and said, "I have a report here that was sent to me the day before yesterday. The detachment that Tuotuo sent to attack the two military camps is now carrying the captured food towards Xuzhou. Other troops are also following suit and shrinking towards Xuzhou."

Lu Jin nodded and said, "It seems that the idea we gave to Zhima Li worked. I don't know if it was Li Xixi or Fu Youde who really attacked Tuotuo's food supply and burned his food and grass, forcing him to retreat.

"But now there is a question. How much food and grass did he lose? If the remaining food is still enough for him to support for one or two months, then Zhu Liangzu must be careful. If Tuotuo cannot capture Xuzhou, he may turn around in Huaibei and attack Huai'an instead.

"Can you help me analyze this? What is the probability that he will attack Huai'an?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Yu said, "I think Tuotuo's food supplies must have been reduced to a very small number, otherwise he would not have made an emergency retreat after seizing the food from Zhima Li's military camp. If he could hold on for more than a month, he would not have left so easily.

"This time, the Yuan court issued an imperial decree and ordered Prime Minister Tuotuo to personally lead the army to suppress the rebels. In the end, they didn't capture a single city. Doesn't Tuotuo have any shame? If he hadn't been forced into a corner, he would definitely not have withdrawn his troops so easily."

Lu Jin nodded without saying anything, thinking about something. Bao Yu also reminded him, "Marshal, before, in eastern Zhejiang, Fang Guozhen was also sent to Haining Prefecture by sea to transport food to Tuotuo. Tuotuo may not have enough food nearby, but it does not mean that he will not have enough food after retreating to Huaibei."

Lu Jin frowned and asked, "Do you have any information about Haining Prefecture? Do you know how much food and grass Fang Guozhen has transported to Haining?"

Upon hearing this, the three men rummaged through the pile of papers again. Feng Guoyong quickly found a piece of paper. It was not military intelligence, but a mention in the negotiation record between Yang Jing and Fang Guozhen, so he immediately reported it.

"General, Governor Yang of East Zhejiang mentioned this to Fang Guozhen during the negotiation. According to Fang Guozhen himself, he had transported a total of 50,000 shi of grain to Haining before. Later, he was defeated by our navy in a naval battle. Fang Guozhen was worried that we would hold him accountable later, so he immediately sent people to recover the grain that was subsequently sent to Haining. In other words, Haining only transported 50,000 shi.

"There are still 160,000 shi left, which are now in Fang Guozhen's hands. Governor Yang decided to let Fang Guozhen save this batch of grain for himself first, and then transport it to Dadu to exchange for horses."

Lu Jin nodded and analyzed to himself, "Assuming that each person eats two kilograms of rice per day, Tuotuo's civilians and soldiers add up to about 200,000 people. Ten thousand stones of rice is only enough for their entire army to eat for four days, and fifty thousand stones should only be enough for twenty days.

“Even if he seized some from Zhima Li, it shouldn’t be much, otherwise he wouldn’t have withdrawn so easily, so his total food reserves should be between half a month and two months.

"With 45 to 60 days, Tuotuo still has a chance to adjust his deployment and attack Huai'an."

After making this judgment, Lu Jin immediately ordered, "Send a message to Zhu Liangzu immediately, asking him to be careful in dealing with Tuotuo's main force. All the troops in Huaibei should withdraw their forces, especially Zheng Yong's cavalry. The Marshal's Office judged that Tuotuo's main force could still be active for at least a month.

"Let him not fight Tuotuo head-on, but must conserve his forces. At the critical moment, he can abandon the cities in the north of the Huai River and retreat to the south of the Huai River.

"After Tuotuo leaves completely this time, they will have plenty of opportunities to take back the land in Huaibei."

Feng Guo wrote the order quickly, and after he finished, he handed it to Lu Jin to take a look. Lu Jin nodded, stamped his seal, and said immediately, "Send it to Huai'an immediately, don't waste time!"

"Yes!"

After the order was handed over to the messenger and sent out, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If Tuotuo suddenly turned around and Zhu Liangzu was not prepared, it would be really dangerous, especially with Zheng Yong's cavalry regiment now fleeing to Huaibei. Tuotuo's main cavalry had at least 20,000 men in total, while Zheng Yong and his men had only 4,000. Even if their muskets were sharp and they could shoot from both sides, they would be finished if they were surrounded by Tuotuo's main cavalry.

Lu Jin only had a limited number of cavalrymen, so he was not willing to fight against Tuotuo's main force.

The four of them picked up their bowls and started eating again, each of them with a frown on their face, obviously thinking about something. Xia Yu then put down his bowl and said.

"Marshal, there is one more thing we need to pay attention to."

"what's up?"

Xia Yu immediately said, "I have read the intelligence collected by the Military Command Department before, as well as the judgments on the temperaments of Xuzhou Zhima Li and others, and there are also some analyses marked by the Marshal.

"Zhima Li was the core of their righteous army. He was kind and generous, had a broad perspective, was prestigious, and could convince the people. But now he is dead. The honest and upright Peng Da is missing and his life or death is unknown. The only one who has the prestige to reorganize the remaining troops in Xuzhou is Zhao Junyong.

"But the commander-in-chief has a very bad opinion of Zhao Junyong. The envoy who was sent to Xuzhou before also said that among the three people in Xuzhou, only Zhima Li and Peng Da have a slight favorable impression on us, while Zhao Junyong has a hostile attitude towards our army.

"Now that Tuotuo has withdrawn his troops, if Zhao Jun uses him to reorganize the troops in Xuzhou, will he come to attack us?
"Our troops in Haozhou and Lai'an are also very scarce. If Zhao Junyong suddenly stabs us in the back, will the Haozhou defense line be unable to hold?"

Lu Jin frowned when he heard this.

Bao Yuze said sinisterly, "Bian Yuanheng still has nearly 30,000 troops idle in Gaoyou. If Zhao Junyong dares to attack Haozhou, he can let Bian Yuanheng attack him from the flank!"

(End of this chapter)