Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 294 Pick the Softest Persimmon First

The Kwantung Army continued to reinforce its troops in Northeast China.

but,

They are indeed facing a huge problem.

Since the Sakata Army was defeated in Matsue Prefecture, the morale of the Kwantung Army has dropped significantly.

The Kwantung Army's undefeated record was broken, and the impact was enormous.

This is a long time.

The fighting power of the Daqian army is increasing, and its equipment is becoming more advanced.

Many of the muskets captured by Ximentang were sold to the Ministry of War of the Daqian Dynasty in exchange for other supplies.

Therefore,
If Ximen Tang is not completely defeated, and his fleet is sent into battle, the Kwantung Army may very well lose Northeast China.

In the following period, the Kwantung Army was unable to transport all the supplies it had acquired in Daqian back to Japan.

Chen Jie is now a believer and a totem of the Ximen Church.

Even within the army of the Daqian Ministry of War, Chen Jie became a pillar of support.

Ximentang grew increasingly powerful, exerting a significant influence on the Ministry of War of the Great Qian Dynasty.

More and more of the Daqian army began to be equipped with firearms that had been captured and modified by Ximentang.

Yoshio Koizumi and other commanders of the Kwantung Army now felt a strong sense of crisis.

If Ximentang continues to grow stronger...

Then,

The Eastern Empire's plan to take over the entire Great Qian Dynasty will fall through.

Once Simond leads his fleet on an expedition, it will pose a threat to the homeland of the Eastern Empire.

For a while,
The entire parliament hall was abuzz with discussion.

Ahem——!
Da Shan Yan coughed twice, quieting the surroundings down.

Next,
He looked up at all the generals around him and said in a deep voice:

"Since Ximentang took up a post in Shandong, its development speed has indeed been too fast. We must be cautious!"

"The only way to defeat Ximentang is to kill Chen Jie!"

"As soon as Chen Jie dies, the entire Ximen Hall will quickly collapse."

Oyama Iwao truly lived up to his reputation as the commander of the Kwantung Army.

He had a very accurate eye for problems and immediately grasped the key to Ximentang's strength.

Everyone around remained silent, listening attentively.

But getting Chen Jie dead is easier said than done.

The Black Dragon Society's assassination attempts have all failed, making another attempt even more difficult.

The artillery of Ximentang was too powerful, and the military discipline was too strict. If they attacked head-on, the Kwantung Army would have no chance of winning.

Therefore,
To fight against Ximentang's army, it is necessary to avoid artillery fire, use feints to the east and attacks to the west, and disperse the troops.

Only by employing a strategy of defeating them one by one, and by besieging them with more than five times the number of troops, can we have a chance of victory.

Daiyama Iwao looked up at all the generals of the Kwantung Army and said in a deep voice:
"Chen Jie of Ximen Hall must be eliminated."

"Currently, two plans are being considered. The Black Dragon Society will continue to look for opportunities to assassinate this person in secret."

"Another option is to take advantage of Chen Jie's troops assisting in suppressing the rebellion and head to the Hanzhong region."

"The Kwantung Army infiltrated the heart of the Great Qian Dynasty from the Minnan region, waiting for the right opportunity to cooperate with Li Ben, the 'King of Han' in the Hanzhong region of the Great Qian Dynasty!"

"We'll first have 'King of Han' Li Ben draw their main force away, while we'll send 50,000 elite troops to infiltrate Hanzhong and find the right opportunity to deliver a thunderous blow to Ximen Tang!"

"According to current information, Chen Jie of Ximen Hall is assisting in suppressing the rebellion, and he only has 10,000 elite troops from Ximen Hall by his side!"

"The Kwantung Army has mobilized 50,000 of its most elite troops. Given the right opportunity, I believe they can eliminate this man!"

At this moment, a powerful and domineering aura emanated from Da Shan Yan.

Next,
All the generals of the Kwantung Army stood up and volunteered to go into battle!

The 'Bushido spirit' of the Japanese army had taken root in the hearts of all the generals of the Kwantung Army.

They had no fear of death; they only thought about being loyal to the Emperor.

-

Just as Chen Jie was arranging for personnel to begin constructing a bunker at the Ximen Hall headquarters in the capital.

To his surprise, news of Emperor Li Zheng's assassination attempt at the Great Buddha Temple did not spread at all.

and,

In the following days, Emperor Li Zheng held court and discussed the rebellions in various regions with all the civil and military officials.

If it weren't for Chen Jie confirming two days ago that Emperor Li Zheng had indeed been assassinated and seriously injured,

He almost doubted whether he had made a mistake.

Why is Emperor Li Zheng acting like nothing's wrong?
Before he could return to Shandong, the document from the Ministry of War of the imperial court requesting assistance in sending troops was unexpectedly delivered to Ximentang's headquarters in the capital.

If it were just a document from the Ministry of War of the Imperial Court, Chen Jie wouldn't have paid it any attention.

But at the same time, there was also a secret edict from Emperor Li Zheng.

The secret edict requested Chen Jie's assistance in sending troops, on the condition that southern Jiangsu be incorporated into Ximentang's territory.

The Great Qian Dynasty has reached a point where there is no time to lose.

Emperor Li Zheng was helpless, even after being assassinated at the Great Buddha Temple and seriously injured.

He also had to pull himself together and deal with state affairs.

Otherwise, if the Great Qian Dynasty were to fall apart, it would truly be over.

It turned out that in early April, Prince Li Ben of Han launched a rebellion and directly captured Wuchang Prefecture.

The governor of Wuchang Prefecture was beheaded by Li Ben and his head was displayed on the city wall.

All officials of the Great Qian Dynasty were massacred, and the Great Qian Ministry of War troops originally stationed in Wuchang City were also all killed.

It is said that the entire Han River basin was littered with corpses and rivers of blood.

The military garrison and court officials of the Daqian Dynasty stationed in Wuchang Prefecture were completely eradicated by Prince Li Ben of Han.

So far,

Prince Li Ben of Han raised troops again and marched south from Wuchang Prefecture.

His 200,000-strong army, stationed in Jiujiang Prefecture in southern Jiangxi, was so frightened that it blocked the area south of the Yangtze River and dared not approach Hanzhong.

at the same time,

Prince Ning, Li Mu, led an army of 300,000 men in the northwest, marching straight in and fighting his way to Xiangyang.

The entire Hanzhong and Henan region was completely divided up by Prince Ning, Li Mu, and Prince Han, Li Ben.

The two princes of the Great Qian Dynasty were ambitious.

After Prince Ning, Li Mu, seized a large area in the Northwest and Hanzhong, he established a regime in Xi'an.

Although he has not yet announced to the world that he has declared himself emperor and established a new dynasty.

However, Prince Ning renamed Xi'an as Xijing and began to establish government offices.

It is clear,
Although Prince Ning has not yet declared himself emperor, it is not because he does not want to, but because he has great ambitions and his target is the capital of the Great Qian Dynasty.

It must be said that Prince Ning, Li Mu, already possessed the strength to seize the throne.

While sweeping across the Northwest and Hanzhong regions, Prince Ning, Li Mu, launched a bloody crackdown to eliminate dissidents.

He wanted to use the strength of the Northwest Army to rival the Great Qian Dynasty.

In the very beginning,
The rebellion of the Northwest Army was actually composed of three vassal kings.

Among them, Prince Ning, Li Mu, was the most powerful. He annexed the territories of the other two major vassal kings and killed them.

Among the various regional princes of the Great Qian Dynasty, Prince Ning, Li Mu, wielded the greatest power.

He was indeed a powerful and ruthless leader. After establishing the Northwest Army, he swept across the Northwest and continued to expand his army.

He holds great power and is coming on strong!

Once the time is right, Prince Ning, Li Mu, will take the capital and replace Li Zheng as the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty.

At this time, the power of Prince Li Ben of Han was still somewhat inferior to that of Prince Li Mu of Ning.

He was also worried that his forces would be swallowed up by Li Mu.

Therefore,
After Li Ben captured Wuchang Prefecture, he followed the example of Li Mu and began to expand his army and establish his own regime.

His ambition was not as great as that of Prince Ning, Li Mu. He only thought about becoming emperor as soon as possible and did not think about taking over the entire Daqian Dynasty.

Therefore,
In Wuchang, he declared his territory to be the State of Chu!
The two powerful princes set a precedent by launching a rebellion.

Next,
All the vassal kings of the entire Daqian Dynasty began to follow suit and declare themselves kings.

The situation began to spiral out of control, heading in an unknown direction.

Under these circumstances, Emperor Li Zheng of the Daqian Dynasty was naturally extremely anxious and could not remain calm.

Seeing the critical situation, Li Zhen, the Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War of the Great Qian Dynasty, volunteered to lead the troops.

He wanted to personally lead the troops to quell the rebellion and first capture Prince Li Ben of Han.

Pick the softest persimmons first!
Prince Ning, Li Mu, is too powerful, with a strong army and well-equipped troops; it is not easy to deal with him for the time being.

The best course of action is to first capture Li Ben, the Prince of Han.

Li Zheng was so anxious that bubbles were forming at the corners of his mouth. Since Grand Marshal Li Zhen had volunteered to go into battle, he naturally wouldn't say anything more.

no way,
He has very few capable people under his command.

Therefore,
Ignoring his own injuries, Emperor Li Zheng issued an imperial edict overnight, ordering Li Zhen to quell the rebellion.

However, Grand Marshal Li Zhen was already old, so the emperor naturally wouldn't let him personally take the risk.

Finally, it was decided that Li Zhen's son, Li Qiong, who was also a Grand General of the Ministry of War in the Great Qian Dynasty, would lead the troops into battle.

-

Chen Jie led 10,000 elite troops from the Ximen Hall to Ezhou in Hanzhong on the 25th day of the fourth month of the new calendar of the Daqian era.

When he arrived,
General Li Qiong of the Ministry of War had been waiting for a long time.

Although Li Qiong set off five days earlier than Chen Jie, the distance he traveled from the capital to Ezhou was farther than the distance he traveled from Shandong.

in addition,

A portion of Henan was occupied by Prince Ning, Li Mu.

The troops being dispatched from the capital had to take a detour, which caused considerable delays on the way.

Li Qiong was very cautious and did not march quickly along the way.

not to mention,
Although Ximen Tang only assisted in sending troops to quell the rebellion.

But Li Qiong understood better than anyone that as long as Ximentang participated in the battle, he would be the absolute main force.

Before coming to Ezhou, Grand Marshal Li Zhen had given his son repeated instructions.

In this campaign to quell the rebellion, all of Daqian's armies must obey the orders of Ximentang Chen Jie.

Therefore,
On the surface, Li Qiong is in charge.

But the actual person in power is Chen Jie.

Li Qiong decided to gather troops in Ezhou for this rebellion.

Ezhou was a strategically important location in the Hanzhong region, as it was a place from which one could attack Jiujiang Prefecture in southern Jiangxi to the south and directly seize Wuchang Prefecture in Hanzhong to the north.

in fact,

The biggest worry of the Daqian Dynasty royal family was that Prince Li Ben of Han would sail down the Yangtze River and take Nanjing in one fell swoop.

Once the entire Yangtze River is lost, it will be extremely difficult to retake the Hanzhong region.

Nanjing was a major town in the southern part of the Great Qian Dynasty, and also a bulwark for southern Jiangsu.

This is the most prosperous area in the Jiangnan region of the Great Qian Dynasty. Once Nanjing falls, it will be equivalent to cutting off the area south of the Yangtze River from the Great Qian Dynasty.

Therefore,
Li Qiong led his army to Ezhou with the aim of stopping Prince Li Ben of Han from attacking Jinling.

of course,

In fact, Chen Jie personally led his troops to Ezhou with the same purpose as Li Qiong.

Sunan is now his territory. As long as the rebellion is successfully quelled, Sunan will be under the jurisdiction of Ximentang.

He absolutely forbade Prince Li Ben of Han from attacking Nanjing and insisted on ensuring the safety of the entire southern Jiangsu region.

Li Qiong was, after all, a Grand General of the Ministry of War of the Imperial Court, even though he detoured from Henan to Ezhou.

but,

Along the way, he continued to gather troops, summoning soldiers from various prefectures to his command and expanding his forces.

When he first set out from the capital, he had less than 50,000 troops under his command.

but,

After arriving in Ezhou in a grand procession.

Li Qiong's forces have expanded to 100,000.

Of these, 50,000 troops were garrisoned by local government offices along the way.

in addition,

Li Qiong also knew that the Daqian Dynasty's treasury was empty and there was hardly any logistical support.

In order to quell the rebellion, in addition to manpower, weapons, equipment and various supplies are also needed.

Without money, you can't move an inch!

Therefore, he instructed the Ministry of War to procure a batch of grain from the major aristocratic families.

Although they are still poor, at least no one will go hungry.

In fact, at this most critical juncture, Emperor Li Zheng's decision to send Li Qiong south to quell the rebellion was a last resort.

Li Qiong was not only the son of Grand Marshal Li Zhen, but also held extremely high prestige in the army.

He was an upright and loyal man, and it would be much easier to gather food for the army if he led the expedition.

If it were anyone else, getting the major families to contribute money and effort would be like cutting off their flesh; it wouldn't be that easy.

Another point is that Li Qiong was a very capable general.

Given the current situation of the Great Qian Dynasty,

Regardless of whether Li Qiong is capable of fulfilling the responsibility of suppressing the rebellion, he is the most suitable candidate to lead the troops into battle.

(End of this chapter)