Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 408: The Plan for Two Hundred Cities

Seeing that everyone was frowning, as if they thought his style of play was too aggressive, Zhan Ding continued to explain.

"These days, I have also listened to Brother Yunzhong (Xia Yu)'s recap of the Eastern Expedition. The Eastern Expedition mobilized a field army and two imperial guard divisions, and captured nearly 40 cities in total, which was almost enough troops.

"The targets of the Jiangxi Campaign were six cities in Raozhou Road, six cities in Xinzhou Road, one city in Qianshanzhou, four cities in Shaowu Road, five cities in Jiangzhou Road, three cities in Nankang Road, seven cities in Longxing Road, five cities in Fuzhou Road, four cities in Jianchang Road, and ten cities in Ganzhou Road. These were just the targets of the Jiangxi East Route Army, a total of 51 cities.

"Even if we don't count the five cities in Jiangzhou Road, and give Jiangzhou Road to the Western Army, there are still 46 cities to be conquered in the Eastern Army. It is obvious that the troops are not enough to conquer the entire Jiangxi Province with one front army."

The Jiangxi Province in the Yuan Dynasty was very large. It included not only most of Jiangxi in later generations, but also the eastern parts of Hunan, Hubei and most of Guangdong. Guangzhou also belonged to the Jiangxi Province during this era.

The offensive target planned by Zhan Ding was almost half of Jiangxi Province in later generations. However, there were already forty or fifty cities in this half, which was indeed not something that could be taken down by a single front army.

Zhan Ding pointed at the sand table with his baton and said, "Or we can use Poyang Lake as the dividing line and assign the four western cities of Jiangzhou Road, Nankang Road, and Longxing Road to the Western Army. In this way, the Eastern Army will only have 39 cities to target, and it should not be that difficult to fight.

"And the First Front Army on the Western Route needs to capture five cities on Jiangzhou Road, three cities on Nankang Road, four cities on Longxing Road, three cities on Ruizhou Road, three cities on Linjiang Road, four cities on Yuanzhou Road, and eight cities on Ji'an Road, which totals 30 cities.

“If we want to ensure the initiative in the future offensive against Huguang and seize more key points, we should also include the five cities of Qizhou Road in Jiangbei Province, the three cities of Huangzhou Road, the three cities of Xingguo Road in Huguang Province, the seven cities of Wuchang Road, as well as Hanyang, Hanchuan, Xiaogan in Hanyang Prefecture, Mianyang, Yusha, Qianjiang, Jingling (Tianmen) in Mianyang Prefecture, a total of 25 cities into the target range. In this way, the total target of the Western Route Army is 55 cities, and the Eastern Route Army is 39 cities, a total of 94 cities.

"For such a large area, we must concentrate the forces of two fronts, the navy, and three to four imperial guard divisions to be able to conquer it all at once. Otherwise, we will have to drag it out slowly. If it drags on for another year, the situation in the southwest will definitely change again."

The more everyone listened, the more shocked they were. Wow, in just a short while, Zhan Ding had listed 94 cities on his target list. Based on the experience of the Eastern Expedition, one army field would definitely not be enough, and even two army fields might not be enough. This battle plan was too grand and was a bit beyond the current capabilities of the Shengwu Army.

Of course, the main reason was that Lu Jin planned to start a war on three fronts. If he could concentrate his forces in this direction and invest in three to four fronts, it would be much simpler.

Lu Jin frowned and stared at the sand table in deep thought for a while, then he did not express his opinion, but asked Feng Guoyong and the other two, "What do you three think? Tell us too."

Xia Yu said immediately, "I don't recommend attacking so many cities at once. Based on the experience of this Eastern Expedition, a front army plus two guard divisions can capture up to 40 cities at a time, and the troops are just enough. With this scale of battle, the front army can still keep two or three divisions as reserves later. Even if there are setbacks in any direction, we can calmly send troops to support, so that the newly annexed land is firmly under our control.

“Using two fronts to capture 94 cities may be a tough task, but the forces will be too dispersed. If the enemy launches a strong counterattack in any direction, we won’t even be able to use our reserve forces. We can’t give up the newly occupied territory easily.

"It's like we have ten fingers holding down ten bugs. If one or two bigger bugs come, we won't be able to deal with the new enemies.

"Didn't the military book written by the Lord also say that in any situation, we must keep a reserve force to deal with possible crises?"

Zhan Ding asked in return, "Isn't there a Third Front Army in East Zhejiang as the general reserve of the entire army? If Huguang and Jiangxi are short of troops, the Third Front Army can be transferred there depending on the situation."

Before anyone else could speak, Bao Yu retorted.

"Yang Jing's Third Front Army is not without a mission. The Lord intends to deploy the Third Front Army to fight in Shandong and Liaodong, but the time will be a little later.

"According to the Lord's plan, this year's northern front must at least advance to the south of the abandoned Yellow River and capture the entire territory of the Shandong East-West Road Xuanwei Division. In this case, the north must also attack two cities in Ninghai Prefecture, eight cities in Denglai Prefecture, eighteen cities in Yidu Road, six cities in Jining Road, four cities in Tai'an Prefecture, three cities in Jinan Road, three cities in Caozhou and Puzhou, five cities in Daming Road, three cities in Dongping Road, two cities in Dongchang Road, two cities in Qihe and Guanzhou, two cities in Zhangde Road, and three cities in Weihui Road, a total of 61 cities.

"These 61 cities cannot be conquered by one front army alone. We will definitely need the cooperation of the third front army in eastern Zhejiang. Moreover, Shandong is closer to Dadu. If we advance to the line of the abandoned Yellow River, the Yuan court in Dadu will be extremely nervous. At that time, they will certainly send a large army to counterattack. Placing both front armies in the north will also help to better deal with the Yuan army.

"So the Third Front Army cannot be used as a reserve force for the South!"

The others nodded as well. It was indeed safer for the two armies to attack 61 cities together.

Lu Jin also thought to himself, judging from this, Shandong has a large population, no wonder Shandong became a destination for immigration in the early Ming Dynasty. However, most of the Shandong immigrants in the early Ming Dynasty moved to Henan, Hebei and Liaodong.

Lu Jin then looked at Feng Guoyong and asked, "What do you think, Mr. Feng?"

Feng Guoyong said immediately, "I also think that setting the plan of 94 cities for the southern campaign is too radical. We should reduce some of the targets. Now that we have captured Jianghuai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang, we have a foothold. In this battle for supremacy, we already have a place. We can conquer the world by taking steady steps. There is no need to rush in at this time. Just like Yunzhong said, it's not that we can't take 94 cities, but that our troops are too dispersed and there are no reserves."

Lu Jin also nodded and asked, "Then where do you think we should reduce the target from? How many cities should we reduce it to?"

Feng Guoyong immediately took out his baton, pointed at the sand table and said, "I suggest giving up southern Jiangxi and focusing our efforts on Huguang, abandoning the mountains and fighting for the plains!

"The mountainous areas of southern Jiangxi have little population, money and food. Attacking the mountainous areas of southern Jiangxi at this time will not only waste manpower, but will also have no benefit to the overall situation. Fighting for the strategic locations of Huguang is definitely more important to the overall situation, and will be of great benefit to taking over the Dongting Lake Plain in the future. Wasn't the lord's original goal to take over the three lakes and sweep the world?
"Remove the ten cities on Ganzhou Road from the plan, leaving only 84 cities, and stop the southern line at Ji'an Road. This will be much safer.

"After we have captured all of these rich and prime areas of the plains, it won't be too late to divide our forces and attack the mountains. Even by then, the lord will have already won the battle, and it won't be impossible for us to just issue an order to conquer them. The remaining opponents' resistance will also be greatly reduced."

The others nodded when they heard this, and Lu Jin made the decision immediately.

"Then let's do it this way. Excluding Ganzhou Road, there are only 84 cities left in the Jiangxi and Huguang directions. There are also 20 cities in the Nanyang and Xiangyang directions in the Central Plains. Add in the five newly built cities, and there are 61 cities in the Shandong direction in the north. Don't forget Chizhou Road, Huizhou Road, Jiande Road, Wuzhou Road, and Quzhou Road in central and western Zhejiang. These add up to 29 cities.

"A total of 199 cities. If we include Suzhou and other places currently occupied by Zhao Junyong, that's more than cities. Whether we can achieve this goal this year depends on the joint efforts of the five fronts of the entire army."

Lu Jin rubbed his face and said, "That's it. That's the target range. You can each refine your marching plan. See how the two armies divide the 84 cities on the southern line. The two armies in Shandong will decide which cities they will capture.

"Yunzhong, you should focus on the battle in Suzhou first, eliminate Zhao Junyong first, and then complete the reorganization of the Fourth Front Army as soon as possible.

"Mr. Feng is now responsible for expanding the Royal Guard Division by five to six."

"Yes!" Everyone responded in unison.

Lu Jin added, "Everyone else go and do your own thing. Bao Yu stay for a while, and let's discuss the intelligence station."

"Yes."

After receiving the task, everyone took the information they had prepared and left immediately. Now that the official scope of the battle has been determined, they have to make a specific battle route as soon as possible. However, this still needs to be formulated based on intelligence. Fortunately, there is a lot of intelligence in Jiangxi now, but the intelligence in Central Plains and Shandong is relatively less. This is what Bao Yu is going to do soon.

After Feng Guoyong and the other two left, Lu Jin and Bao Yu discussed in detail the construction of intelligence stations in various places.

At present, the three most important things for the Intelligence Bureau are the three stations in the direction of Nanyang and Xiangyang, the station in Shandong, and the stations in Liaodong and Dadu. No station will be set up in Goryeo for the time being. We will first use trade means to gain a preliminary understanding of the basic situation. The main thing is to buy horses.

Lu Jin didn't need to worry too much about the Nanyang direction, Bao Yu was already familiar with arranging the intelligence station, but in the north, it was necessary to mobilize the channels of Fang Guozhen and Shen Rong, so when Bao Yu finalized the detailed plan, Lu Jin called Shen Rong's son Shen Sen and Fang Guozhen's nephew Fang Mingshan over, and gave them special instructions, and then handed them over to Bao Yu, asking them to follow Bao Yu's instructions. After all these things were arranged, the military meeting was over, and the order he had just signed to encircle and suppress Zhao Junyong was also sent out at full speed. Lu Jin saw that there was nothing to do, so he went home with his guards.

On the way, he kept thinking about whether there were any loopholes in the battle plan. Over the past year or so, from the initial plan to capture only one or two cities at a time, to later planning to capture six or seven cities along the way, and now to being able to plan to capture two hundred cities at a time, it can be said that there is progress.

If we continue to fight at this pace, we can capture two or three provinces a year, and in two or three years at most, we will be able to liberate all of the core territories of the Han Dynasty.

When there is time, it would be best to write a memoir, write down past combat experiences, and ask the instructors of each unit to write as well. Not only memoirs but also combat logs should be written. When compiling a military history book in the future, the power to compile history should be given partly to military officers and not all to civil servants. Otherwise, I don't know how those civil servants will portray me in the future. Lu Jin doesn't want to end up like Zhu Yuanzhang and be painted with a pig kidney face.

"Dingbang, remember this and remind me tomorrow to have the instructors of each department write a battle log, so that it will be easier to compile a war history of the Shengwu Army in the future."

Upon hearing this, his personal guard captain Li Dingbang was immediately delighted and said, "Compile a history book specifically for the army? That's great, I will definitely remember it." After saying that, Li Dingbang immediately took out the notebook he carried with him and made a note on it with a pencil.

When the group reached the intersection of the street that led to the palace, Lu Jin saw a carriage parked in front of the palace from a distance. He didn't know whose house it belonged to, so he asked again, "Whose carriage is that? Are there guests coming to your house?"

"Wait a moment, Marshal. I'll go ask."

Li Dingbang quickly put away the notebook, ran a few steps to the front, asked the captain of the guard who stayed at home, and then ran back to report to Lu Jin.

"General, it was Fang Guozhen's wife, Dai, who brought a cousin and two maids to visit Madam Zhang. They handed in the visiting card the day before yesterday, and the male servants they brought with them are all staying in the outer courtyard."

"Oh." Lu Jin nodded, remembering that Zhang Yunxiu seemed to have talked to him about this yesterday, so he said no more and walked back home.

After entering the palace, before he could reach the backyard, he heard a melodious flute sound coming from the inner courtyard and the cries of a child. Following the maid's report, the flute sound soon stopped. Zhang Yunxiu immediately came out holding the child to greet Lu Jin, and Dai and Fan Qiuchan also followed out.

"My dear, you came back so early today. I just woke up and missed you. There are guests at home. Let me introduce you. This is General Fang's wife, Dai, and her cousin, Miss Fan. The music Miss Fan plays is very beautiful. I like it very much and even sing along."

"There's not much to do at the Marshal's Mansion today, so I'll come back early."

Lu Jin responded and stepped forward to take the child. His eldest son Gongshu Tan was already more than seven months old. He had a scarf around his neck, which was covered with saliva. He was holding a piece of steamed pumpkin in his hand, which was covered with saliva. He threw himself into Lu Jin's arms and cried, and even gave him the pumpkin to eat.

"Dad doesn't want to eat, you can eat it yourself."

Dai and Fan Qiuchan also stepped forward to greet him and said, "I greet you, Marshal."

"No need to be so polite. Since you are a guest, don't be so formal. Come in and take a seat."

"Thank you, Marshal."

When the group reentered the house, Lu Jin sat in the main seat holding the child, and then asked Dai, "You are Fang Guozhen's wife. I heard that you and your three children live not far from the palace. Is it difficult to live in Jiankang? If you have any difficulties, you can talk to me directly and I will try my best to solve them for you."

Dai said quickly, "Thank you for your care, Marshal. We are not inconvenienced. I don't know much, but I always feel regretful that my husband cannot serve you personally. Fortunately, I still have two nephews who can serve you.

"My three sons are now studying in Mr. Meng's school, and they have no difficulty. The children often say that Mr. Meng's math skills have taught them many wonderful methods that they have never heard of. The eldest and second sons both highly respect the Marshal's math skills.

"It's just that I've never seen those Arab numbers, so I can't teach the children. But my cousin is naturally smart, and she's learned along with the children. Now she can tutor several children."

Lu Jin nodded, "It's good that there are no difficulties. You don't need to worry about Fang Guozhen's affairs. Just tell him not to mess around. I am a trustworthy person. I will reward those who have done good deeds and punish those who have done bad deeds. As long as he is willing to cooperate with me and complete my instructions, I will definitely reward him in the future. Of course, I hope he can also keep his word."

Lu Jin didn't say the rest of the sentence. If Fang Guozhen betrayed him, it would be hard to say what would happen to you and your son.

Dai was born into an official family, so she could understand what Lu Jin meant, and said quickly, "I will definitely write a letter to tell my husband to serve the commander-in-chief with all his heart and soul."

"Yes." Lu Jin nodded and said, "Brother Fang and I were both in the same army before, and I admired him very much. However, he later defected to the Yuan army, which led to the current situation. Some things cannot be changed, and I don't expect him to do much.

"But Fang Li, Fang Guan and the other three are good. You should urge them to study hard with Meng Zhifang. Meng Zhifang is my personal disciple. If you learn the Gongshu secret texts he teaches, your three sons will surely be of great use in the future."

"Thank you for your care, Marshal. I will definitely teach the three children well. However, the Marshal's Gongshu Secret Code is very difficult to understand. If the children cannot learn it, can I, your cousin, come to ask Madam for advice? I heard that the secret code was written by Madam for the Marshal, so I think Madam's knowledge must be good."

Lu Jin looked at Zhang Yunxiu, and Zhang Yunxiu nodded quickly. She was taking care of the children at home all day and seldom went out. It would be best if someone could come and chat with her.

Zhang Yunxiu said immediately, "I have only learned the basics from my husband, but if you have any questions, I can help you ask my husband. You must keep your word and come to see us more often. Tan'er likes you very much."

"If Madam likes it, I will come to visit often. I like this child very much, too."

Little Taner seemed to understand, and also sat in Lu Jin's arms, pointing at the flute in Fan Qiuchan's hand, and shouting "ah ah" to signal Lu Jin.

"Why, you want a flute? That's not possible, it belongs to someone else. Dad will buy you one tomorrow if you want."

Fan Qiuchan had been staring at Lu Jin since she entered the room. In fact, she had met Lu Jin several times before when she was shopping on the street, but she had always seen him from a distance. This was the first time she had met him up close. Looking at him face to face, she found that Lu Jin was even more handsome and taller than she had imagined. He looked like a heroic and handsome scholar, rather than a general commanding thousands of troops.

At this time, she also asked curiously, "General, I have a question. I wonder if you can help me solve it?"

"Ask any questions you have."

Fan Qiuchan immediately said, "My Chinese arithmetic knowledge should not be inferior to that of foreign vassal states, right? Why did Gongshu abandon Chinese arithmetic and turn to the Arab mathematics?"

Lu Jin immediately explained, "Compared with foreign countries, Chinese mathematics was indeed not outdated at that time, and in some aspects it was even more advanced. However, mathematics should focus on abstract concepts, and Chinese mathematics at that time was too practical and ignored abstract concepts. Western foreign mathematics focused on abstract concepts and neglected practicality. Both went to extremes, and neither was good.

“As for why the Arab numerals were introduced, it was because the Arab numerals had the concept of zero, while the Chinese numerals only had one to ten.

"As the saying goes, where there is yang, there is yin. Only when yin and yang are in harmony can there be endless life. However, Chinese numbers only have positive numbers, there is no zero, so where do negative numbers come from? Doesn't that mean there is only yang, no yin?"
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PS: Ask for the monthly ticket at the beginning of this month

(End of this chapter)