Fu Shanhe

Chapter 188 The calm before the storm

“Holy Emperor, corruption is rampant throughout the Yu Dynasty.

It is not known how many of these 450,000 troops are just making up the numbers.

There are still very few soldiers who can really fight.

The Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp were completely unexpected. The other generals of Dayu don't have the support of the left and right governors behind them!"

Pingnan King Fu Haoxuan said disdainfully.

He had a deep understanding of Dayu's corruption.

When attacking Guangdong before, the Holy Kingdom was far less powerful than it is now.

With a few tens of thousands of weak troops, they attacked Guangdong, which was heavily guarded by 230,000 enemy troops, and took it in just a few months.

It was the Battle of Guangdong that made him see the weakness of Dayu and also boosted the confidence of the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus.

After occupying Guangdong and Guangxi, the strength of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom has increased by leaps and bounds.

The million-strong army that was claimed to the outside world was indeed a bit exaggerated, but there were still 600,000 or 700,000 troops.

On the front battlefield, their troops at this time were much larger than those of the government troops.

No one should look down on anyone else's army's combat effectiveness. We all have a small number of elite troops mixed with a large number of cannon fodder.

“Prince Pingnan, the pseudo-dynasty still has some strength.

The enemies we encountered before were mostly the second-line troops of the pseudo-dynasty, and the only ones that could be considered first-line were the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp.

The current situation is not certain. The enemy has gathered many recruited troops, including the Shu Army, Hunan Army, Hubei Army, and Jiangxi Army.

The fighting capacity is much stronger than before. If we are not careful, the tragedy of the Guangxi Campaign will happen again!"

King Wei Hao of Dongping reminded with a frown.

As the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition to Huguang, he has suffered a lot in recent months.

A fool like the Governor of Guangdong is just an extreme example. Not all civil servants are fools.

Knowing that he does not have the ability to command military forces, he will still delegate power where necessary.

In terms of logistical supplies, people will also try their best to ensure that the soldiers on the front line are well fed.

The Huguang soldiers, who were freed from their shackles, allowed him to see the true level of the government troops.

With equal military strength, they had no advantage over Shangguan's army.

"Ha ha……"

"Prince Dongping, the older you get, the smaller your courage becomes.

The combat effectiveness of the elite troops of the pseudo-dynasty official army was indeed very strong, but the troops commanding the operations were all civilian officials.

The governor of Guangxi has already taken office. Just wait and see. The combat effectiveness of the Guangxi government troops will definitely be greatly reduced.

As long as we take advantage of the enemy's eagerness to win, we can easily find the loopholes and inflict heavy damage on the enemy.

At that time, you will seize Huguang, I will send troops to occupy Guangxi, and then we will join forces to attack Nanzhili.

If the King of Zhenxi can penetrate Yunnan and Guizhou and march all the way into Shu, then the world will be settled!"

Fu Haoxuan said proudly.

The strategic vision is a bit exaggerated, but it is indeed feasible.

The fact that the battle plan was in their hands before the war even started was enough to prove that the civil servants of Dayu were their greatest ally.

If he did not know in advance that the government troops were attacking with a mission, he would not be able to keenly capture the key information - the enemy was eager to win.

It was not impossible for the government troops to recapture the two prefectures before September, but that was based on the assumption that the combat plan was kept strictly confidential.

Once the key information is exposed, they only need to make targeted deployments to defeat the government troops one by one.

“What should Guangxi do?
Most of Nanning Prefecture and Xunzhou Prefecture were lost, and Zhen'an Prefecture and Wuzhou Prefecture were also exposed to the enemy's attack.

Gaozhou Prefecture, Leizhou Prefecture, Guanghaiwei, and even Huizhou Prefecture and Chaozhou Prefecture on the Guangdong front line may also be attacked by the enemy from the sea.

The main forces of the Holy Nation are mostly on the front lines, and with limited manpower, they cannot defend all areas."

Shi Rongxuan asked with a frown.

The government troops in Guangxi are really an eyesore.

The enemy can attack the hinterland of Guangxi by land or attack Guangdong by sea.

The Guangdong and Guangxi regions are now the rear base of the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus. Once the government troops in Guangxi take action, it will be like a sharp blade stabbing their hearts.

“Holy Emperor, it is unlikely that the enemy will attack Guangdong.

Officials of the pseudo-dynasty have the tradition of minding their own business.

The original Yangzhou Camp and Huai'an Camp were guest troops, so they were able to act freely and choose the attack location at will.

But the situation is different now. The enemy's main generals have been appointed as the Guangxi Commander-in-Chief and the Guangxi General, and they have become Guangxi soldiers.

The Governor of Guangxi would not tolerate his officers and soldiers to recapture Guangdong before recapture Guangxi.

The next focus of defense can be placed directly in Guangxi.

We don't expect to destroy the enemy in a short period of time, as long as we can stabilize the front line and block the enemy to the east of Yu.

The tricky part now is choosing the main general. Considering the long battle line, I'm afraid it will require the cooperation of multiple generals to complete it."

After Prime Minister Wu Zekai finished speaking, the hall fell into silence.

In the past, everyone would scramble for the opportunity to lead troops into battle.

Today is undoubtedly an exception.

After two consecutive failures in the Guangxi Campaign, everyone was traumatized and no longer had the arrogance they had before.

Except for the three princes who had made outstanding military achievements, other generals did not dare to guarantee that they could defeat the enemy.

There is no doubt that these three cannot be transferred.

Any accident in any of the three major battlefields ahead could cost the Holy White Lotus Kingdom its life.

Compared with the hundreds of thousands of government troops who marched straight in and killed their way in, the threat posed by the 10,000 or 20,000 enemy troops from Guangxi was obviously not on the same level.

"Why are you all mute?

Could it be that such a huge Holy Country can't even pick out three commanders?"

Shi Rongxian couldn't help but scolded.

Now is the time to conquer the world. If you are afraid of the power of the government army, then you should disband as soon as possible.

"Holy Emperor, count me in!"

Deputy Prime Minister Fu Sanqi said ruthlessly.

Get up where you fell.

Although he was not sure of defeating the enemy, his mission this time was to defend and just delay the time.

According to the battle plan of the government army that was learned, the enemy would launch an attack on June 9 and recapture the two prefectures before September.

The period is two and a half months in total, so we definitely can't just fight to the death in one place.

Once the enemy realizes that it is difficult to defeat them, they will choose to change their target of attack.

He didn't care whether his colleagues could hold off or not. He just had to perform and redeem his previous failed reputation.

"Holy Emperor, I also want to fight the enemy!"

Huang Yuheng, Marquis of Loyalty, stepped forward and said.

It’s all because of the account ban.

As a loyal and righteous marquis, he must show his loyalty when encountering such a thing.

"Good! When a country is in trouble, it needs a good general.

Both of them are pillars of the Holy Kingdom.

When you return, I will personally host a banquet here to celebrate your success!"

Shi Rongxian said with satisfaction.

Although there is still one person missing, it is enough if two people step forward.

After all, there are only a few people who can participate in decision-making meetings, including civil servants.

As for the final vacancy, you can promote from the generals below.

As a new regime, it is relatively easy to rise as long as one has military achievements.

……

Lianzhou Prefecture.

After receiving the military order from Lord Xu, the Guangxi Front Army immediately held a military meeting.

What was different from the previous three-person meeting was that this time it became a four-person meeting.

"The elder wants us to recover the two prefectures within two and a half months. I wonder if the two generals have any plans for this?"

Zhang Sihan asked nervously.

Guangxi has the least military forces, but the tasks it needs to complete are the same as those of other provinces.

The most important thing is that if the task is not completed, the governor will be held accountable.

He strongly suspected that this military order from Lord Xu was specifically aimed at him.

The purpose is to remove him and replace him with his own confidant.

"Since the elder has issued the order, we will execute it.

It was not difficult for the government troops of various provinces to recover the two prefectures within a time limit.

I am afraid that someone will give blind orders and meddle in military affairs, causing a battle that could have been won to be lost in the end. "

Jabo spoke first.

This question is not something that the two commanders should be asked to answer.

Once the precedent is set, Zhang Sihan will be able to legitimately intervene in military affairs in the future, and his weight as a military supervisor will be greatly reduced.

The best option is to fight back from the beginning, cut off the possibility of Zhang Sihan interfering in military affairs, and maintain the previous three-person meeting mode.

If it really doesn't work, he can be responsible for keeping Zhang Sihan busy, and let Li Mu and Jing Yifeng play freely.

Anyway, as long as Zhang Sihan is not allowed to obtain military power, all other issues can be discussed.

“Master Jia, you are worrying too much. I am not a person who acts recklessly.

The Lord has issued an order, and I am the first person responsible. I can't just ignore it, right?"

Zhang Sihan couldn't help but retort.

When it comes to matters of principle, he won't give in.

If Li Mu and Jing Yifeng were to give up and engage in passive resistance on the battlefield, he, as the governor, would be in trouble.

He may not ask about the specific command, but he needs a definite answer regarding the combat mission.

"My Lords, this is all for official business, please don't hurt the harmony.

As for the battle plan, General Jing and I will be responsible for it. Anyway, the mission must be completed."

Li Mu spoke up to smooth things over.

We cannot allow internal strife to occur at a time like this.

Once the two sides get angry and try to trip each other up, there will be no need to fight further.

Fortunately, the combat order was issued by Lord Xu, and as a close confidant, Jia Bo must do his best to complete it.

Zhang Sihan, the person primarily responsible, would not dare to cause any trouble about this.

"Commander Li is right. We are all working for the court, so there is no need to hurt the harmony.

In fact, we have already worked out a specific battle plan.

Just to be on the safe side, I never took it out.

If you are interested, I can briefly explain it. "

Jing Yifeng immediately expressed his opinion.

He just received the combat order and there's nothing wrong with the combat plan, but that doesn't affect his bragging at all.

After spending a long time with Li Mu, he has realized that he needs to fool civil servants.

The less a civilian official understands military affairs, the more he needs to be fooled.

As long as you can fool people, things will be easy.

“There’s no need to talk about the specific battle plan.

The more people know about it, the easier it is for the news to leak out.

Both generals were famous generals of the time.

If you deploy your troops according to your plan, you will surely be able to defeat the enemy!"

Jabo said with a smile.

It’s not that he doesn’t care about the battle plan, it’s mainly because he doesn’t understand it.

The battle plans that Li Mu had come up with before were always able to entangle him.

At first he didn't pay attention, asked a series of idiotic questions, and made a lot of jokes.

It is enough to expose your ignorance once, there is no need to do it again.

Especially in front of political enemies, one must never show weakness.

As long as he doesn't discuss the specific battle plan, the other party won't know that he is a military novice.

When it came to military affairs, he, a military inspector with military merits, could stand up and confront the governor.

"That's it!
I won’t ask any more questions!”

Zhang Sihan said helplessly.

Among the people present, except him, all of them had military merits.

When discussing topics involving military affairs, he was already a head shorter.

His political enemies were determined not to let him touch military power.

If power is seized by force, it can easily lead to uncontrollable consequences.

The short military meeting ended without any results, and Li Mu was very helpless.

Many military matters cannot be discussed openly.

The more people involved in the discussion, the more perfect the plan that is made, and often the more outrageous it is.

In an era when communication relies on shouting, the more perfect a military plan is, the more difficult it is to implement.

It seems to be a way to fill in the gaps, but in fact the newly added filling behavior is itself the biggest loophole.

Any military plan is probabilistic. In addition to one's own efforts, it also depends on whether the enemy is willing to cooperate.

Any changes on the battlefield may cause the previous combat plan to become inoperable.

(End of this chapter)