Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 176, North-South Choice

Gui'er, Lu'er and Shou'er left the southward migration team and headed towards Jinhai. They happened to meet Fang Yong's army on the way.

The three of them looked at this army and couldn't help feeling a little scared.

The Huaiyin Army has been fighting for years, so they naturally have a kind of momentum that is not comparable to that of ordinary armies.

However, looking at the flag of the Huaiyin Army on the flag, the three men still stepped forward, claiming that they had important military intelligence to report and wanted to see Fang Yong.

The Huaiyin army then brought the three men before Fang Yong.

When the three saw Fang Yong, they were stunned.

This appearance is completely different from what was rumored!

Fang Yong rode on his horse and asked the three people about their names and origins.

The three men knelt down and told their names and origins, then took out the map of Emperor Longqing's migration route to the south from their arms and wanted to present it to Fang Yong.

Coincidentally, the three people all presented maps of the migration route to the south, so disputes were inevitable over the order.

"Look at mine first!"

"Duke Yonghuai, look at mine first!"

"Uncle, look at mine first!"

Gui'er was so anxious that he called out the word "son-in-law".

Everyone on the field paused for a moment when they heard this.

Fang Yong smiled and didn't take it to heart.

"Then let's look at yours first."

Fang Yong said to Guier.

Gui'er was overjoyed when he heard this and quickly presented the route map.

The Huaiyin army around him handed the map to Fang Yong.

Fang Yong opened the picture and started looking at it, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Because the painting was so detailed, it depicted Emperor Longqing's route from the start to the end in detail, including various bridges, terrains, mountains, forests and gullies, and it took up a total of four sheets of cloth.

In addition, it also includes the personnel distribution, troop deployment, marching speed, rest time, etc. of Emperor Longqing's southward migration team.

Even the position of the emperor's carriage in the team, the position of the princes and nobles, the position of the ministers and ministers, and the position of their families were all clearly known.

"it is good!"

Fang Yong couldn't help but say.

With this map, capturing Emperor Longqing will be a piece of cake!
It seems that although Jia She has been addicted to wine and women in recent years, he has not lost the most basic drawing skills for marching and fighting.

Fang Yong looked at the drawings of the other two people.

The general information is similar to Jia She's. Although the drawing is not as detailed as Jia She's, the necessary locations and routes are also clear.

"Okay, if this is successful, you three will be credited with a great achievement!"

Fang Yong said.

Afterwards, he ordered his men to recruit Gui'er, Lu'er and Shou'er into the army, and then march at full speed along the route given on the blueprint.

If what Jia She said on the blueprint was correct, based on Emperor Longqing's current marching speed, they should not have reached Zhuozhou yet.

He led his troops to speed up the attack, and his speed was more than twice as fast as that of Emperor Longqing and others, which was enough to stop the southward migrating team before it entered Zhuozhou.

At that time, the capital city.

The defenses of the capital are now extremely weak.

All the available soldiers in the city had been taken away by Emperor Longqing, and the only ones left were some soldiers from the Five Cities Military Division, which totaled less than a thousand people.

Moreover, these people are not good at fighting. Their usual job is just to maintain public security, which is similar to the duties of urban management. At this time, they were just ordered to stand on the city wall and pretend.

On the other side, Wang Ziteng was still confronting the grassland soldiers outside the city, but soon he received the news that Emperor Longqing had fled south.

Emperor Longqing ordered him to lead his troops to temporarily block the grassland troops so that the southward migration could proceed smoothly.

When Wang Ziteng heard the news, he couldn't help but curse Emperor Longqing in his heart.

But now that things have come to this, there is no room for recovery.

It is obviously impossible to stop the grassland troops.

Anyone who wants to do this kind of losing business can do it, but he definitely won't do it!

Emperor Longqing had already moved south, so it made no sense for him to continue leading his troops here.

He must plan ahead.

At this time, Wang Ziteng faced many choices.

But after careful consideration, Wang Ziteng finally had only two choices in his mind.

One is to preserve strength, join Fang Yong, and help him wipe out the grassland army.

The second option was to retreat back to Shanhaiguan with his troops and enter Liaodong to claim the throne.

Of the two options, the latter is undoubtedly more tempting.

Although Liaodong is a cold and harsh place, it has a vast territory, rich resources, and is protected by Shanhaiguan, making it a treasure land.

If he succeeded in occupying Liaodong, he would not dare to go south to seize the Central Plains, but he was confident that he could maintain peace in a corner and protect himself.

But after repeated consideration, Wang Ziteng gave up this tempting option.

there are many reasons.

First of all, most of the soldiers under his command were soldiers from the Beijing camp, surrendered soldiers from the Shanxi Jin bandits, and surrendered soldiers from Feng Tai in Nanjing. If he chose to split off from Liaodong, these people would not necessarily follow him.

In addition, Liaodong is also ruled by the Liaodong Governor Chu Yuqi, who has no foundation in Liaodong and may not be able to compete with the other side.

Finally, it is the most important point.

Wang Ziteng has no confidence in himself.

Although he had made many achievements along the way, he had achieved them all through unfair means.

If he entered Liaodong, he would have to rely on his own strength to conquer this land, and Wang Ziteng was unsure.

In comparison, it is easier to directly join Fang Yong.

Since Fang Yong started the uprising, he has been invincible in every battle. He has many brave generals and counselors under his command, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. He has Suzhou and Huizhou as support. Even if he fails, he can retreat to the south of the Yangtze River, thus being invincible.

Moreover, the two had worked together several times before, got along very well, and were related by marriage, so they had a close relationship. It could be said that he was the best person to turn to.

Wang Ziteng had considered joining Fang Yong several times before, but there had never been a suitable opportunity to implement it. The current situation finally made him make up his mind.

However, whether you seek refuge or not depends on the situation.

It would undoubtedly be a bad idea to go directly to them now.

In contrast, if he could first assist the Huaiyin Army in defeating the grassland army and then talk about surrendering, he would have more bargaining chips, and the status and level of attention he would receive would definitely be different from the former.

However, Wang Ziteng was also a little worried, that is, the defense of Pinggu County where he was currently located was not strong. During the period of waiting for Fang Yong's army to arrive, if the grassland launched an attack on him, he might not be able to stop the grassland's attack.

With this concern, Wang Ziteng took out the map and set his sights on Jizhou in the rear.

Compared with the unremarkable Pinggu County, Jizhou is a thousand-year-old ancient city with strong defense, superior location, and can be used for both offense and defense, which is more conducive to Wang Ziteng's plan.

The only drawback is that Jizhou is far away from the capital and cannot provide quick support to the capital.

But now that Emperor Longqing has fled, he naturally has no obligation to support the capital anymore. Therefore, leading his troops back to Jizhou is his most advantageous option at the moment.

But now the grassland army is keeping a close eye on him. If he withdraws easily now, he will inevitably be attacked by the grassland.

How can we prevent the grassland people from noticing our withdrawal?

(End of this chapter)