Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 417: The Growth of Generals

After hearing his father's instructions, Deng Youlong nodded quickly and became serious. After a while, Qin Rong, who had just inspected his troops, also came to the tent with three regiment commanders.

The 46th Army is composed of the 139th and 140th Divisions, which are the last two divisions in the sequence number. The three regiments of the 139th Division are led by Deng Youlong, Hu Dahai and Han Cheng respectively. Han Cheng, like Hu Dahai, is a local of Hong County. By chance, he first joined Deng Shunxing in Hong County, and then followed Deng Shunxing to join Lu Jin.

Han Cheng is actually not a simple person. Although he is not well-known in history and his abilities do not seem to be outstanding, he has left his name in history after all.

In the original history, Han Cheng, because he was from Hong County, joined the Deng militia nearby, and later followed Deng Yu to join Zhu Yuanzhang. He was originally a general under Deng Yu.

Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang attacked Jiangxi, he sent Deng Yu to guard Nanchang. Han Cheng was also among them and had participated in the Battle of Hongdu. Nanchang had an important geographical location, and Zhu Yuanzhang was worried, so he sent his nephew Zhu Wenzhen to take charge of the military power. It was said that the Battle of Hongdu was commanded properly by Zhu Wenzhen, and all the credit was attributed to him. This was actually unfair to Deng Yu.

Before the Battle of Hongdu, Zhu Wenzhen had no combat experience. Although he was nominally the commander-in-chief, the actual commander should actually be Deng Yu.

When Zhu Yuanzhang led his troops to Jiangxi, Chen Youliang immediately lifted the siege of Nanchang, and then the decisive battle of Poyang Lake broke out. During the naval decisive battle, Zhu Yuanzhang's ship accidentally ran aground and was trapped on the sandbar in the middle of the lake. He happened to be discovered by Chen Han's general Zhang Dingbian, who rushed towards Zhu Yuanzhang alone and almost killed him.

At this moment, a young general came to rescue in a small boat. He was Han Cheng under Deng Yu's command. He took Zhu Yuanzhang to his boat. At that time, Zhang Dingbian was also scared away by an arrow shot by Chang Yuchun, which saved Zhu Yuanzhang from danger.

What kind of merit was this? Since ancient times, the greatest merit is saving the emperor, right? However, since that time, there are very few records of Han Cheng. He should have been fighting under Deng Yu all the time.

However, in this time and space, Han Cheng joined Deng Shunxing later than Hu Dahai, and was originally not qualified to be a commander. When they first arrived, Lu Jin asked Deng Shunxing to report the candidates for the regiment commander. Deng Shunxing originally intended to let his son lead one regiment, Hu Dahai lead one regiment, and Guo Ying lead the remaining regiment.

Guo Ying, Tang Shengzong, Song Guoxing and Lu Zhongheng, these four people, originally joined him together. They joined Deng's militia earlier than Hu Dahai and made the most contributions. The growth of Deng's militia to more than 10,000 people was absolutely due to these four people. Even if they have surrendered to Lu Jin now, they should be given a place.

As a result, Lu Jin's arrangement was very strange. When Deng Shunxing and his men just surrendered, four young men including Guo Ying were transferred away by Lu Jin, as well as his youngest son Deng Youde (Deng Yu). He understood that his youngest son was transferred away because Lu Jin was holding them hostages, but it was strange that the four of Guo Ying were transferred away altogether.

Moreover, as news of the major reorganization of the entire army came later, Deng Shunxing learned that Guo Ying and four others were all assigned to the Imperial Guard Division as regimental officers, and he immediately understood 70% of the situation.

The reason Lu Jin gave was that young people learn things quickly, so teaching them how to use the igniter and then incorporating them into the Royal Guards for some training would be of great use in the future.

At first, Deng Shunxing really believed this reason, because according to the information he had heard, there were indeed many young people in the Imperial Guard Division, and the commanders of several artillery regiments were even teenagers. Besides, his youngest son Deng Youde was also incorporated into the Imperial Guard Division, and it was indeed similar to what Lu Jin said, he had to learn arithmetic and artillery.

But as time went on, Deng Shunxing felt more and more that something was wrong.

At first, Guo Xing and his men claimed to be military households of the Yuan court. They were not willing to be oppressed by the centurion, so they killed the centurion and escaped, and joined his regiment. A few half-grown children knew how to train soldiers, and helped him to set up a set of organization, such as small flags, general flags, captains, and thousand households. The number of people and the organization were almost exactly the same as the battalion, company, and squad of the Shengwu Army. Except for the lack of a training officer, they simply changed the name and considered it a reorganization.
Not only are the organization structures similar, but these four half-grown children are not only good at training soldiers, but also highly skilled in martial arts. Is this something that ordinary Yuan army households can possess? !
If every soldier in the Yuan army had such ability, then they would not be able to rebel at all. Now it seems that if the four of Guo Xing were originally from Lu Jin's imperial guards, then everything makes sense. Otherwise, how could such a coincidence happen in the world?

Also, Deng brought more than 10,000 troops to Lu Jin, and Lu Jin only gave him a position of supervising division and the position of commander of three regiments. At most, with the youngest son's commander, there were only four regiments in total. What about Guo Xing and Song Guoxing? When they first arrived, each of them had a commander, and they were officers of the Imperial Guard. Was Lu Jin too partial to these four "strange" young people?

If this is still not certain, then holding the map sent by the Intelligence Bureau in his hand, he learned that the Shengwu Army also has an intelligence agency that specializes in sending spies to various places. There is also the abducted military advisor "Gong Xiuwen" beside him. He was appointed as the training officer of the 139th Division as soon as he arrived, and he is at the same level as himself. Deng Shunxing is now almost % sure that the four of them, including Gong Xiuwen and Guo Xing, were spies deliberately sent by Lu Jin, with the purpose of attracting Deng's militia to the Shengwu Army.

After figuring out the key to this, Deng Shunxing couldn't help but take a breath. Lu Jin was too insidious, but why did he do this?

The fake military advisor not only did not harm them, but also gave them a lot of practical ideas. The four young generals sent were all skilled in martial arts and were good at both fighting and training. They also brought him several sets of armor. Thinking of the arrows he was hit by during the battle, if it weren't for the armor they brought, he would probably have died long ago.

These five people also sang a double act for each other, covered for each other, and tried their best to help themselves expand their troops. Then after Tuotuo went south, they persuaded him to surrender to Lu Jin. I think this was their real purpose. They were sent by Lu Jin to borrow chickens and eggs from his militia, and then find an opportunity to bring their entire family over.

Thinking of this, Deng Shunxing was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Marshal Lu Jin would do anything to expand his army.

However, he still admired the ability of Marshal Lu Jin. He and Lu Jin both started their army with only a few thousand people, but in just two years, Lu Jin had developed an army of more than 600,000 people, and was able to produce weapons and armor on his own. He had sufficient food and wages, and he had conquered so much territory, and he had never been defeated in the battles with the Yuan army.

As for himself, if he did not have the help of Gong Xiuwen, Guo Xing and the other three, it would be hard to say whether the three of them, father and son, could support an army of 10,000.

Considering that they had come to him for refuge, Lu Jin did not treat them father and son badly. Even if Lu Jin had used a trick on them, it did not harm them in the end. Instead, it was very helpful to them father and son. Therefore, even if Deng Shunxing had guessed it, he did not intend to expose it actively.

It's just a pity that his eldest son is still as happy as a silly boy and doesn't even know that he is being plotted against. The second son, Deng Youde, who is usually the most opinionated, was transferred to the Imperial Guard Division by Lu Jin. Could this also be part of Lu Jin's calculations?
Seeing Qin Rong coming in with the three regiment commanders of the 140th Division, Deng Shunxing did not dare to neglect him. Although this commander Qin was not very old, only 21 years old, he had a great background. It was said that this man was from the Qin family of Chao County. When Lu Jin had just conquered Luzhou and Lu'an, and there were only two cities, the Qin family took the city and defected with their own troops. Now among the three brothers of the Qin family, the eldest Qin Li is a civil servant and is the right governor of the temporary Huainan Province. The third brother Qin Zhao is the commander of the artillery regiment of the Second Imperial Guard Division.

The second in command, Qin Rong, was originally a battalion officer of the Musket Battalion in the Imperial Guards Division. After crossing the Yangtze River, in order to raise troops needed for the Eastern Expedition, a round of military expansion was carried out. It was at that time that Qin Rong was promoted to the commander of the 56th Regiment. He was originally under the command of Xu Da's 119th Division. He participated in the entire Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River with Lu Jin, and later participated in the Battle of the Eastern Expedition. He can be said to be rich in practical experience.

After this major reorganization, Xu Da was transferred to the First Front Army as the commander-in-chief, and his subordinate Qin Rong was promoted again to the commander-in-chief of the 140th Division and was transferred to partner with Deng Shunxing.

It is also said that Lu Jin's brother-in-law Zhang Wen married a daughter of the Qin family. The Qin family of Chao County is also related to Lu Jin, which makes their background even stronger. Besides, among their 46th Army, the one with the most actual combat experience is of course Qin Rong's 140th Division. They are counting on him for the Southern Anhui Campaign this time. Naturally, Deng Shunxing did not dare to underestimate this man.

Seeing Qin Rong enter the tent, Deng Shunxing immediately invited them to eat together politely, and then asked, "Since our 139th Division was established, we have never fought a siege battle. I heard that Commander Qin followed the commander across the river and participated in the Eastern Expedition. The Shengwu Army has always been invincible in sieges. What do you think of this battle?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Rong immediately asked back, "Are you asking about attacking Ningguo? What's so difficult about that? We have 30,000 men attacking a small city, and it's easy. In fact, I think it's a waste of manpower to use troops like this. You know, when the Marshal led us across the river last year, there were only 30,000 or 40,000 main combat troops, but we still captured seven cities and annihilated more than 100,000 troops in Jiqing Road, right?"
"In the subsequent Jiangbei Campaign, they fought all the way to Huai'an. In fact, they only used 30,000 soldiers when they sent out the troops."

Deng Shunxing was certainly confident in conquering the Ning Kingdom. With an army of 30,000, artillery, and a heavy armored formation, plus spies in the city and maps and city defense maps sent by the Intelligence Bureau, if he still couldn't take it down, then he wouldn't have to do his job as commander-in-chief. He was just making small talk, wanting to keep in touch with Qin Rong, and also wanting to know Chang Yuchun's true intentions.

So he asked again, "What do you think, Commander Qin, is the reason why Governor Chang made such an arrangement this time? Now that we have conquered Ningguo, where will we go next?"

Qin Rong looked at the map and thought for a while before saying, "Letting us attack Ningguo with an army of 139 people, I think you want your th Division to get familiar with our fighting style. As for where to attack next, I think you may be preparing to let us attack Jiande Road."

"Why do you think so?" Deng Shunxing suddenly became interested.

Qin Rong immediately pointed to the map and explained.

"Look, General Liao led two armies and a navy to attack along the Yangtze River. His goal was to control the mouth of Poyang Lake and, by the way, to break through the periphery of Jiangzhou in order to prepare for the attack on Jiangxi this year.

"On our side, Governor Chang first attacked Ningguo Road, then Huizhou Road and Jiande Road. The 43rd Army set out from Jing County and marched along Yijiang River. Attacking Taiping, Jingde and Shidai were all on the way, but Ningguo County was east of Huayang Mountain, which was not on the way to the main force, so they could only send a detachment to attack.

“As for using one of our armies as a detachment, it’s probably because they think the strength of one division is a bit too little, and your division has no actual combat experience, so they let us come together.

“After defeating Ningguo, we will go to attack Jiande Road. It’s actually very simple, but it’s just not on the way.

"After Governor Chang conquered the three cities of Taiping, he went straight to Huizhou Road. Changhua in front of Ningguo belongs to Hangzhou Road and has long been under the control of the Third Front Army. So our next step must be to bypass Changhua and go to Jingde for supplies first, establish a grain route, and then lead the troops eastward to attack the seven cities of Jiande Road. This is more convenient."

Deng Shunxing was immediately impressed and praised him, "It is true that a strong general has no weak soldiers. Although Commander Qin is young, he has been through hundreds of battles with the Marshal. Now he leads a division and can see the big battle clearly. I hope Commander Qin will take good care of him in the future."

Qin Rong immediately clasped his fists and said, "I don't deserve your care. As for marching and fighting, you will only know the same thing after fighting many times. Didn't the Marshal give each general a quick-learning military strategy? There is also the Sun Tzu's Art of War with the Marshal's personal annotations. Manager Deng does not have enough practical experience, so I suggest you read these two military books.

"Especially in terms of knowing yourself and the enemy, the Marshal explained in the military book that generals should not only be clear about their own troops' combat effectiveness, food reserves, weapons and armor, and morale, but should also understand their superiors' combat intentions, understand their own overall situation, and know what their superiors want to achieve. Only when generals understand their roles and responsibilities in the battle can they take the initiative.

"This way, even if I encounter an emergency and lose contact with my superiors, or when they don't give me instructions, I can assign myself tasks and give myself orders based on the specific situation!"

Deng Shunxing was stunned and puzzled, "Shouldn't the soldiers strictly follow the orders of their superiors? If you assign tasks to yourself, aren't you afraid that your soldiers will go on their own?"

Qin Rong shook his head speechlessly, "That's why I say that we must first fully understand the combat intentions of our superiors and truly know ourselves and the enemy. Only then can we assign ourselves tasks in emergencies or when the superiors' orders are unclear.

"Suppose the governor asks us to attack Jiande Road, and then we are surrounded by heavy enemy forces. The governor has not ordered us to break out. Are we just going to be surrounded and killed by the enemy? At this time, even if there is no order, we must find a way to protect the troops in our hands and lead them to break out. This is a self-assigned task.

"As for the troops under my command going alone, that's a bit unnecessary to worry about. What are the instructors for? With them around, the soldiers can't betray, unless there's a problem with both the instructors and the generals, but that's almost impossible."

(End of this chapter)