There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 420 Preparing for War
Nanjing.

Officials from the Cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Governor-General's Office had all been summoned to the imperial palace by the emperor to discuss important military and state affairs.

Wang Ruoyu pointed to the map and said, "At the beginning of this year, Na Yancheng, the puppet Qing governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, personally led 5 Qing troops to fight against the army of Zhang Zhengmo, the Marquis of Shu of the Great Han, in Tongchuan Prefecture (Santai). The two sides fought fiercely for nearly two months, and the Qing army suffered a great defeat. The main force retreated to Chengdu Prefecture, and the remaining Qing troops in eastern Sichuan could no longer stop Zhang Zhengmo's westward advance."

Gu Jing raised an eyebrow and asked uncertainly, "Now that the battle in Sichuan has been decided, shouldn't our Great Han take advantage of the situation and enter the fray?"

The fighting in Sichuan was almost over, and the Han army was now stepping in to reap the rewards, just like when they had previously recovered southern Jiangxi. It was simply a matter of repeating the same method.

In any case, Zhang Zhengmo was originally the Marquis of Shu, appointed by the Han Dynasty, and his official position and legal basis all came from the Han Dynasty.

Without the Han Dynasty, he wouldn't be nothing, but he would definitely not have been able to escape the influence of the White Lotus Sect and become an independent warlord.

Wang Ruoyu laughed and said, "Fighting is fine, but we shouldn't fight Sichuan. We should fight Shaanxi instead. Firstly, Shaanxi is a major province in the Northwest, and Hanzhong Prefecture in southern Shaanxi is the gateway to Sichuan. As long as our army can take Shaanxi, or at least take southern Shaanxi including Hanzhong, we can block Sichuan. No matter if it's Zhang Zhengmo or the Qing army, none of them will be able to get out."

"Secondly, since the puppet Qing's Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi has already led a large army south, Shaanxi must be completely vulnerable at this moment. If our army can take advantage of this opportunity to march north, we will surely be able to catch the Qing army in Shaanxi off guard. At the very least, our army also has the remnants of the White Lotus sect in Shaanxi who previously submitted to us, and they can also serve as guides in Shaanxi."

Not long after Wang Ruoyu finished speaking, Lin Wenchang stepped forward and offered a different opinion: "The country just fought a major war last year, and now it has to fight again this year, and it has to fight Shaanxi again. Although Shaanxi is an important town in the Northwest, the Qin region is often plagued by disasters, and it controls the Northwest. Not to mention whether it will be easy to take it, what will we do after we take it?"

Taking Shaanxi, especially since Shaanxi is likely already vulnerable, shouldn't be a big problem for the Han army.

The problem has been solved, but how should Shaanxi be governed specifically?

Shaanxi was already frequently hit by disasters, and the Qing government, in order to train its troops, imposed exorbitant taxes and plundered the people of Shaanxi.

In just the past two years, the refugees who fled Shaanxi to avoid taxes have already contributed a large number of people to the Han Dynasty.

If the Han army were to conquer Shaanxi now, the first thing they should do upon entering the province would be to provide grain to relieve the disaster victims in Shaanxi.

Dai Yi also said, "I agree with Minister Lin's point of view. If our army were to take Shaanxi now, we would certainly need to spend a lot of money and grain on disaster relief. Therefore, it would be better to attack Sichuan first. Sichuan is the land of abundance. If we can take Sichuan as quickly as possible, our Han Dynasty can obtain Sichuan's copper mines and salt, relieving the financial pressure. Secondly, we can also relocate the surplus people of Huguang to Sichuan to cultivate land and develop their lives. It is a win-win situation!"

"Sichuan is too big to be conquered quickly."

Wang Ruoyu frowned and retorted, "Although our Great Han has already taken control of Chongqing, it would still be impossible to send troops from Chongqing Prefecture and defeat Zhang Zhengmo, the Qing army in Sichuan, and the militia organized by the Sichuan gentry. Putting aside the question of how difficult it would be, the most crucial factor of speed is already impossible."

"If everything goes smoothly and our army successfully takes Sichuan, then in order to ensure the strategic stability of Sichuan, the strategic stronghold of Hanzhong Prefecture must also be taken. Wouldn't that mean we'd be back to the point of attacking Shaanxi?"

Seeing that the ministers were about to continue arguing, Nie Yu had no choice but to step in and make a decision: "I think there is no need to rush to fight in Sichuan and Shaanxi."

The Emperor isn't in a hurry to fight in Sichuan and Shaanxi. Is he going to let this opportunity pass him by?

Indeed, the new Han Dynasty has just been established, and the country has only just conquered the south last year. The country is unstable and needs to recuperate and build up its strength for a northern expedition.

However, Nie Yu had no idea what the ministers were guessing, because he hadn't even finished speaking yet!

Nie Yu casually pointed to the other side of the map: "We'll attack here this year."

At first, the officials didn't react, but when they looked in the direction the emperor was pointing, their faces instantly turned pale with shock.

The emperor casually pointed to the area north of the Huai River on the map.

The emperor wants to launch a northern expedition!
Lin Wenchang quickly said, "The Northern Expedition is of great importance. Our Great Han Dynasty has just been established, and Nanjing was only recovered last year. Everything should be considered carefully!"

“We can launch a northern expedition,” Wang Ruoyu said, “but we cannot be so hasty. The Qing army’s defeat was only in Sichuan, and its main force in the north has not yet suffered significant losses. If we launch a northern expedition rashly, we may not be able to achieve complete success!”

"I second the proposal!"

"Moreover, since we are going to launch a northern expedition, do we have enough troops? The puppet Qing probably still has hundreds of thousands of troops in the north, and the Tartars seem to be mobilizing troops outside the Great Wall." "That's true. Whether the northern expedition is rushed or not is another matter. For the sake of the northern expedition plan, our army still needs to continue to expand. Without expanding the army, we cannot fight."

"..."

The ministers of the cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Governor-General's Office initially discussed the hasty nature of the Northern Expedition, but as they discussed it, the topic of expanding the army and preparing for war came up.

The Han army's current standing army strength has increased by five divisions after a major expansion at the beginning of the year. If all eight divisions of the original land and naval forces are fully recruited and staffed, the total strength can reach 130,000.

An army of 130,000 was certainly enough to control most of the south. But it was still somewhat insufficient to launch a northern expedition to expel the puppet Qing dynasty and unify the country.

After a brief discussion, the Ministry of War decided that two more divisions should be added to the army for war preparedness.

The Governor's Office was rather radical, believing that the army should be expanded by seven divisions to form an army of 200,000.

An advisor from the Governor's Office, who was attending a meeting, said, "Your Majesty, even if there isn't enough food, we must expand the army. The Qing army in the south is not well-trained and is mostly mountainous, so we don't need to expand it. However, Henan, Shandong, and Hebei all have large plains, where the main force of the Qing army is also located, so we must expand the army. Without expanding the army, we cannot fight!"

After careful consideration, Nie Yu finally nodded and said, "Then let's expand the army! We don't need to expand by two divisions, let's expand by seven more, making it a total of twenty divisions. Also, since the Qing army in Sichuan has suffered a major defeat, the First and Fourth Divisions don't need to remain inactive. They should prepare to cooperate in taking Guizhou first. The same goes for the Third Division; it must take over the entire Guangdong province this year. If possible, Nanning and Yulin can also be taken."

The First Division was He Shun'an's troops, which entered Sichuan last year following Zhang Zhengmo. Zhang Zhengmo marched west to fight the Qing army in Sichuan, while the First Division took Kuizhou, Zhongzhou, Shizhu, Chongqing, and Youyang (later the entire Chongqing area) along the river.

The Fourth Division was under the command of Xu Sanlang's army and had been stationed in Liping and Sizhou prefectures in southeastern Guizhou. It was not that he had done nothing.

Liping and Sizhou are territories where Zhongmiao has submitted, but they are not truly obedient. For the past year or so, Xu Sanlang has been using both hands and feet to subdue the Zhongmiao chieftains who are unwilling to submit to the Han.

These Zhongmiao locals, having become accustomed to acting as local tyrants after rebelling against the Qing, naturally looked down on the official positions and conditions offered by the Han Dynasty. Moreover, the Han government even wanted to distribute their land to the slave people.

After more than a year of fighting, the local chieftains in Liping and Sizhou prefectures have been almost completely wiped out.

The Han army was incredibly powerful, and the Zhongmiao chieftains were no match for them. Moreover, the Han army represented the name of Wang Nangxian and distributed land and freed slaves among the Zhongmiao and Han people. The local chieftains were no match for the Han army in battle, nor could they win in terms of popular support and faith; they were doomed to self-destruction.

With southeastern Guizhou largely stabilized, and given the Qing army's major defeat in Sichuan, the Han army didn't intend to attack Sichuan immediately. Instead, they decided to first mobilize the First Division from Chongqing to coordinate with the Fourth Division in southeastern Guizhou, preparing to take control of the entire province.

Anyway, Le Bao, the capable Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, had already been dismissed and sent to Beijing by Emperor Jiaqing.

Guizhou at present has no governor-general at all, only a useless Manchu governor named Yisang'a, who can easily conquer Guizhou.

In Guangdong, Chen Younian's Third Division was still stationed there. For the past year, they had been working with the Yao people of Bapai to attack the entire Guangzhou area, and had recruited and subdued many Yao people from the mountains and the rebel army of the Heaven and Earth Society.

Nie Yu knew that the terrain and clan power in Guangdong and Guangxi were complex, so he did not have high expectations for the Third Division. He hoped that they could take over the entire territory of Guangdong this year and then capture Nanning and Yulin in Guangxi.

Since the British and French were enemies, they naturally didn't want the French to have an easy time. So, after agreeing on the terms with the Han Dynasty, they casually informed the Han Dynasty about Annam, which the French were supporting.

The British aim was to sow discord between the Chinese and the French, thereby weakening France's colonial influence in the Far East.

The Great Han must act quickly, and at least recover Lianzhou Prefecture (Beihai City) within this year.

The purpose was simply to wait for the Annamite civil war to end, for the Xishan army to be defeated and request reinforcements, and for the Han army to take the opportunity to advance into Annam.

After arranging these matters, Nie Yu suddenly said, "Order: the Fifth Division will garrison Gaoyou Prefecture, the Second Division will garrison Fengyang Prefecture, and the Seventh Division will garrison Guangzhou and advance into Runing Prefecture."

……

(End of this chapter)