Fu Shanhe

Chapter 350 Pressure Determines Effectiveness
Nanjing City.

"The Pseudo-Dynasty army is coming aggressively. Do you have any strategy to defeat the enemy?"

Looking at the letter for help in his hand, Fu Haoxuan asked with a tired face.

Even though they knew that the imperial court would launch a battle in the south of the Yangtze River in the autumn and made preparations in advance, the outbreak of the war still exceeded their expectations.

The government troops attacked on multiple fronts, causing the people of Wu to be exhausted.

For the State of Wu, any battlefield is of vital importance.

They are the strongest among the rebel forces, but compared with the Dayu Dynasty, their strategic space is still small.

Any defeat on the battlefield would result in the loss of cities and territory, further compressing their strategic space.

Although in the fight for the world, one can ignore the gain and loss of a city or a piece of land, the State of Wu cannot afford to lose.

Deep down, Fu Haoxuan regretted the hasty expansion of the army.

After the great expansion of the army, the total strength of the Wu State once again exceeded one million.

The combat effectiveness of new recruits is limited, the military strength has not increased much, but the logistical pressure has doubled.

With limited territory, the Wu State's finances could not support so many troops.

“Your Majesty, since ancient times, arrogant armies will always be defeated.

The puppet army is so arrogant and unrestrained that they even dare to split their forces and advance deep into the enemy's territory. This is their biggest flaw.

The enemy is so ignorant of life and death, so let them do what they want.

I propose that we use Anqing as bait to devour the two advancing enemy forces."

Wu Mu Hou Fang Yuxuan was the first to speak and make a proposal.

As an old member who had followed Fu Haoxuan since Guangxi, he knew very well what the emperor wanted now.

It is unrealistic to launch a full-scale counterattack. If the State of Wu had this ability, it would not have adopted a defensive strategy from the beginning.

However, defense does not mean that you have to hold on to the city forever.

Launching a counterattack in a local area and inflicting heavy damage on the enemy is also a good option.

The battle record is not important; the key is to break the enemy's undefeated myth.

Judging from the strength on paper alone, the Wu army is not weaker than the government army.

The performance on the battlefield was so strenuous, largely because of fear.

When the rebel army heard Li Mu's name, they felt a little disappointed.

The defenders of Nanchang have the most say on this point.

The defending general Xiang Qinghong was also one of the most important generals in the Wu State, and was especially known for his defensive skills.

When he attacked Nanzhili, he led 3,000 soldiers and blocked the attack of tens of thousands of government troops.

Now Li Mu led a town of soldiers to besiege the city, and the 50,000 troops in the city dared not move.

Letters for help were sent back one after another, but there was no thought of fighting back.

It’s not that Xiang Qinghong is timid, but all the veteran generals of the Wu State behave like this when they meet Li Mu.

Most of those who dare to go out and fight are young and ignorant people who have never suffered a loss and are ignorant of the immensity of the world.

There is no way. This is the deterrent power of the famous general, backed by a series of achievements.

From the battle in Guangxi to now, it has always been the norm for Li Mu to win with fewer troops.

Leading more than 10,000 government troops and chasing hundreds of thousands of rebels was like a piece of cake.

Even though the Wu army's combat effectiveness is much stronger than during the White Lotus Holy Kingdom period, the psychological shadow left behind by the past is still lingering.

It would be fine if Li Mu was the only one capable of fighting, but what’s worse is that the people he brought with him also had a psychological advantage over the rebels.

Even if a military town has just been reorganized, the enemy generals will not be afraid if they encounter an insurgent army with two or three times their strength.

If they met on the front battlefield, the other side would come with their troops to kill them and treat them as military merits that came to them.

This desire for war is unmatched by any other government army.

When the Chu State's heritage was divided up, they suffered a great loss in the fight for territory.

Although they seem to have an advantage in military strength, they are actually being suppressed by the government troops on every battlefield.

Knowing that we cannot win, we choose to defend the city.

"Lord Fang is right, since ancient times, arrogant soldiers will always be defeated.

After a series of victories, the enemy has become arrogant and conceited. This is the best time for us to defeat them.

In addition to launching a counterattack in Anqing, do you have any other suggestions? "

Fu Haoxuan asked expectantly.

The war had just begun, and the number of troops deployed by the government forces on the battlefield was not too large.

The State of Wu did not put all its chips on the line, and had enough strength to stir up trouble on the local battlefield.

"Your Majesty, the government troops are besieging from five directions, with the main battlefields being Jiujiang, Nanchang, Xuzhou, and Hangzhou.

In Songjiang Prefecture, the enemy has not deployed many troops for the time being.

If we respond on multiple fronts at the same time, it will play into the enemy's hands.

In my humble opinion, since we are going to set a trap in Anqing and eliminate part of the enemy forces, we might as well increase our efforts.

Select one side from the government troops in Huguang and Jiangxi, concentrate our forces to eat them up first, and then go back to deal with the government troops in other areas. "

Minister of War Fan Xiuwen replied immediately.

He didn't get the position of Minister of War for nothing.

Before the establishment of the Wu State, he always played the role of a counselor.

Many of the classic battles in the past were planned by him, and he made great contributions to the State of Wu.

But compared with the powerful enemy now, the enemies we met before have become weaklings.

Fan Xiuwen was quite cautious in planning.

Instead of thinking about defeating the enemy quickly, he prepared for a protracted war and waited for the situation in the world to change drastically.

Whether it is the rebel army in Guanzhong or the northern barbarians thousands of miles away, they all have the potential to become their "allies".

But there are some things that you can think about but cannot say out loud.

Relying on "allies" to help defeat the enemy would be too demoralizing.

Even though they relied on the invasion of the Northern Barbarians last time to establish their current foundation, they cannot attribute the credit to the Northern Barbarians.

"Master Fan, I'm afraid this is inappropriate.

The enemy forces in Huguang and Jiangxi are both very strong.

It would be difficult to eat them without an army of hundreds of thousands.

In fact, we may not be able to defeat even the enemy's troops that are sent to attack Anqing.

The White Butcher's troops are easy to defeat, but the trouble is with the First Town in Jiangxi.

The commander of this town, Qin Tianrui, is a fierce general under the command of the villain Li Mu.

He once led his troops to attack the Northern Tartar camp at night and won a great victory.

Not only does he have an outstanding military record, he is also a descendant of the Duke of Xingguo of the Pseudo-dynasty.

These children of noble families all have a powerful private army.

The emperor of the pseudo-dynasty was stingy and was reluctant to give up the little salary, so he did not let him inherit the title.

Among the many generals of the Yu army, Qin Tianrui was the most eager for military merit.

The Qin family also needed this title, and they supported Qin Tianrui a lot in private.

Although Jiangxi’s No. 1 Town seems to have been established not long ago, its core team came from Guangdong and Guangxi, and it has been supported by many resources.

Even if their combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the elite troops under the command of the villain Li Mu, it is still far superior to that of ordinary government troops.

It would be impossible to defeat his twelve thousand men without three times more military strength.

In order to be absolutely sure, it is necessary to mobilize more than five times the number of troops, and also to send out elite troops.

When ordinary troops encounter this kind of elite, no matter how many they have, they will not be able to stop the enemy. "

Hu Yuzhe objected.

Fan Xiuwen's battle plan was conservative, but in his opinion, it was still too radical.

He had spent half his life in the Dayu Dynasty and was very familiar with the composition of the government army.

The entire organization is built around servants.

Many troops that were known as elite saw their combat effectiveness drop sharply after changing their leading generals.

It's not that the soldiers are useless, it's simply that the core of the army is gone.

Essentially, the retainers of the generals all played the role of basic officers. They received the best treatment and took the lead in fighting on the battlefield.

The quality of the servants directly determines the combat effectiveness of the army.

In addition to saving money for the court, such an organizational structure also led to class solidification.

It is extremely difficult for a grassroots general to rise.

“I have to stay even if I can’t!
Just having a Li Mu makes us run around in a hurry.

If a few more of them show up, the battle will be impossible to fight.

The pseudo-dynasty is constantly expanding its army. If we fail to defeat one of its parts, the future will only be more troublesome.

If we can't even defeat a town of enemy troops, how can we win the war?
Gather the best troops in the country, eat up part of the enemy army at all costs, and thwart the enemy's myth of invincibility. This is related to the life and death of Wu State! "

Fu Haoxuan said with a serious look.

There is no such thing as death in war.

As long as he can win, he can accept any sacrifice.

The Wu State now urgently needs a victory to boost the morale of its troops.

……

Nanchang City.

Since the siege failed, the government troops switched to a long-term siege.

As soon as the war ended, new troubles arose.

The refugees who were forced to retreat by the rebels in the early stage had eaten up the rations they carried with them and came out of the mountains to look for food.

A large number of beggars poured into the area controlled by the imperial court, causing Marquis Wuyang a headache.

It is impossible to drive them away. There are many people in the court watching them. If they do so, their reputation will be ruined.

Moreover, although his moral integrity was not high, it was not low enough to attack the elderly and the weak.

We want to open the warehouses to provide relief grain, but there is not much grain on the front lines, so we have to give priority to the army.

The rebels' move hit his weak spot.

"Admiral Li, how many more people can be accommodated in the Guangdong and Guangxi garrisons?"

Marquis Wuyang asked expectantly.

Due to the impact of the war, the population of Guangdong and Guangxi dropped sharply.

The military garrisons that occupied large amounts of land suddenly became the largest landlords in the world.

As far as he could remember, due to a shortage of labor, there were still a lot of wasteland in the garrisons that had not yet resumed production.

Up to now, the garrisons in Guangdong and Guangxi have been receiving large numbers of prisoners of war.

“Governor, it doesn’t matter how many people can be accommodated.

The key point is that most of these refugees are old and weak, and there are not many young and strong people.

It would be too difficult for them to walk there on their own.

Let the local government take care of it!"

Li Mu shook his head and said.

There was no large-scale immigration, but instead prisoners of war were accepted. The biggest reason was the difficulty of population migration.

The people are generally malnourished, and the elderly and weak are not suitable for long-distance travel.

If we really carry out immigration, the losses along the way will definitely be an astonishing number.

Prisoners of war were exiled criminals, and no one would say anything no matter how many of them died.

If there are massive losses among ordinary civilians, the censor's pen can kill people.

Of course, if the refugees were to flee on their own, they would pretend not to see any number of deaths.

Once someone organizes the migration, the situation will change and impeachment letters will fly everywhere.

Even his current proposal to hand them over to the local government for resettlement is equally a tricky matter.

The officials responsible for the execution are in big trouble.

No matter how well you do your job, you will be impeached by the censor.

Any slight problem will be magnified infinitely.

In the Dayu Dynasty, as long as you were an official and did practical work, your reputation would not be very good.

On the contrary, those who talk big have a good reputation as officials and are regarded as "honest officials" by everyone.

After all, if you don't do anything, you won't make any mistakes.

No mistakes, no stains.

If you are good at packaging and say things that people like to hear in public, it is easy to become a moral saint.

“If the local government had this capability, I wouldn’t have to worry.

You have seen the new Nanchang prefect. He is a stubborn and corrupt man.

If we leave the disaster relief work to him, who knows how much trouble it will cause.”

Marquis Wuyang shook his head and said.

No matter who is asked to do it, no one can produce food.

The rebels fortified their positions and cleared the fields, cutting off the possibility of raising food from the local area.

It is also not feasible to transport food from the rear.

The time of Jiangxi's recovery was too short, and the production of several nearby prefectures was only partially restored.

Guangdong and Guangxi cannot be relied upon either. It is already very difficult to supply military rations. If the demand increases, the logistics will collapse directly.

“Governor, it is precisely because he is a corrupt scholar that we need him to do it.

If the Nanchang prefect can't solve the problem, there is still the Jiangxi Governor's Office.

In order to control the right to speak, the Ministry of Personnel has not hesitated to stuff a bunch of officials who are just sitting there doing nothing to occupy their positions, so there is no need for us to be polite.

Disaster relief is their job, so they just push it down and make the responsibility belong to each individual.
The Governor's Office allocated a sum of money for disaster relief and asked them to raise the rest on their own.

With the style of these people, they will definitely not be able to help but reach out.

Once they are caught, they will have no say in the matter.

Those who failed to complete the task would be arrested and imprisoned, and the court would confiscate their property to fill the fiscal deficit.

If we make a gesture to scare them and force them to donate some flesh and blood to help the disaster relief, we should be able to save a lot of people."

Li Mu directly gave a bad idea.

Anyone who can pass the imperial examinations and thrive in officialdom cannot be a fool.

Corrupt scholar, troll...most of these character characters are deliberate.

In essence, it is just that they don't want to take responsibility for their own actions and deliberately create an image for themselves.

When it comes to seeking promotion, none of these people use any bad tactics.

If you lack the ability to do things, it means you are not under enough pressure.

If you force them to do tasks and tie their official hats on them, these people will be able to do their jobs.

Even if you lack the ability, you can still hire a mentor to help you.

The Dayu Dynasty had a system of collective punishment. Once the governor was caught, there were many things he could do.

The evidence was submitted to the emperor. Emperor Yongning was ruthless when it came to confiscating property and killing people.

"If I do as you say, I will offend too many people.

When I return to the court in the future, my life will probably not be easy."

Marquis Wuyang said unhappily.

He said that life was hard, but the smile on his face still revealed his good mood.

As long as you can solve the difficult problem, offending people is nothing.

He became a big boss of the noble faction, and his power was much greater than that of the in-laws who just lived a life of idleness and waiting for death.

The disputes between civil and military officials in the Dayu Dynasty have lasted from the founding of the country to the present. Regardless of whether he has offended anyone or not, he will confront the civil officials.

Since we have evidence of these people's crimes in our hands, no matter how dissatisfied they are, we have no choice but to endure it.

……

Bathed in the autumn breeze, Qin Tianrui led the team forward with high spirits.

"General, Lord Bai has sent a special envoy."

(End of this chapter)