My life skills in Daming Liver

The place Su Ze pointed to was the Huguang area on the map.

Xu Wei showed a true expression, but Shen Shixing, who was not proficient in military affairs, asked:

"Grand Governor, why Huguang?"

Su Ze pointed at the map and said:

"Huguang is now the strategic point between the north and the south and the heart of the world."

"The strategic center of the world has changed many times. In the pre-Qin period it was Guandong, in the Han and Tang Dynasties it was Guanzhong, and now it is Huguang."

Shen Shixing still didn't understand. Su Ze pointed at the map and said:

"Look carefully, during the Han and Tang Dynasties, the world was divided by great rivers."

"But as the vegetation in the upper reaches of the river was destroyed, the entire Yellow River Basin became less prosperous due to floods and the invasion of northern nomads, and the center of the Central Plains moved from north to south."

"Today, the world has been divided by the Yangtze River."

"The Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty and fought for more than sixty years in the Yangtze River Basin. When Taizu of the Ming Dynasty raised his army, he first captured the two rivers and then determined the north."

"The most prosperous places in the world today are in the middle of Shu, in Huguang, and in the south of the Yangtze River."

"After capturing Huguang, we will go west to seize Central Shu, surround Yunnan and Guizhou, and completely rule by dividing the river with the Ming Dynasty."

"To the north, we can invade Guanzhong and Henan and increase the pressure on the Ming court's defense line."

"So by seizing Huguang, we can completely defeat the Ming Dynasty!"

Shen Shixing looked at the map. After what Su Ze said, Huguang, which is traversed by the Yangtze River, is indeed the most important area in the world.

Su Ze added: "Actually, Huguang can also be divided into two parts. One is the area north of the Yangtze River. This area is crisscrossed by waterways. With the Hanjiang Plain as the core, it is now the main grain-producing area of ​​the Ming Dynasty."

"The other one is the Poyang Lake Plain south of the Yangtze River. This was originally the land of Jingchu. After subsequent development in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it is now the granary of the world."

"My plan is to go all the way from Wuchang to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, seize Xiangyang and Jingzhou, and control the Jianghan Plain."

"Go all the way north from Guangzhou, attack Shaoguan, cross the Nanling Mountains, invade southern Huguang, and capture Nanchang."

"As long as we control the Han River Plain and Poyang Lake Plain, we will control the most elite areas of Huguang."

"Once the Ming Dynasty loses Huguang, it will be equivalent to cutting off the largest source of food."

“Consider Huguang first, then Shuzhong.”

After Su Ze formulated the strategy to capture Huguang, the entire southeast war machine was launched again.

In fact, as early as last year, after Lin Deyang's third brigade entered Wuchang, Southeast began to transport a large amount of supplies to Wuchang.

This includes a large number of new weapons, a large amount of military food supplies, as well as a large number of war horses and various supplies.

After the war in Guangxi was settled, Yu Zigao's Fourth Brigade also withdrew from Guangxi to Guangdong.

The Southeast also transported a large amount of combat preparation materials to Guangzhou through maritime shipping, all of which were sent to the Fourth Brigade.

After the information that Zhang Juzheng claimed to be ill was sent to Nanjing, Su Ze immediately seized the opportunity and ordered the third and fourth brigades to launch attacks simultaneously in the south and north in accordance with the combat plan designated by the staff.

In Wuchang, the Third Brigade has been training since the end of the year.

After entering Wuchang City, the five thousand men of the Third Brigade immediately began to reorganize and expand the army.

The Third Brigade has not fought in the past six months, and now the Third Brigade has expanded to 10,000 people.

Lin Deyang's main opponent is the new Ming army that Zhang Juzheng left in Wuchang. The commander is Chengyi Bo Liu Shiyan. This army was brought to Huguang by Zhang Juzheng from Nanzhili. It was the same army that was used to quell King Jing's rebellion. The total number of the army now is about 20,000.

Liu Shiyan stationed troops in Hanyang, where he built an iron factory and a gun factory. With Zhang Juzheng's strong support, this 20,000-strong Huguang New Army was second only to Shandong's Three Towns New Army in terms of equipment.

Especially when Zhang Juzheng was in Huguang, he built a new-style musket factory in Hanyang. Although it failed to produce percussion guns like those of the Southeast New Army, it also improved the bird muskets and manufactured them with higher stability and accuracy. musket.

The muskets produced by the Hanyang Gun Factory are called "Made in Hanyang", and their quality is comparable to imported Western firearms. Liu Shiyan's entire Huguang New Army has been equipped with Hanyang-made muskets.

In addition, each prefecture in Huguang also has its own Ming court team training. For example, Zhang Juzheng’s old enemy, Jingzhou prefect Xu Xuemo also organized a team training of 10,000 people in Jingzhou. Although Xu Xuemo did not deal with Zhang Juzheng, he was also very supportive. He organized new affairs and established a musket factory and a cannon factory in Jingzhou. The weapons and equipment of his Jingzhou army were second only to Liu Shiyan's department in Hanyang.

In order to prevent the Third Brigade of the Southeast New Army from Wuchang from using the Yangtze River waterway to advance westward, Liu Shiyan collected large and small ships near Hanyang, connected them with iron ropes and sank them into the Yangtze River. He also built a fort in Hanyang and sent soldiers to monitor the river.

Although Lin Deyang has not directly played against Liu Shiyan in the past six months, he also knows that this is a difficult opponent.

In the past six months, Lin Deyang's staff have been formulating a plan to capture Hanyang.

After receiving the order from the Governor's Office, Lin Deyang immediately summoned his subordinates to hold a military meeting.

Hanyang and Wuchang face each other across the river, and both sides have arranged many spies, so this meeting was held secretly at night.

In order to seize Hanyang, Lin Deyang and his staff have been studying for a long time, and even personally observed the terrain of Hanyang on the riverside.

Lin Deyang looked at the map and said: "This time to seize Hanyang, we still need to focus on ground combat. According to the previous plan, our army built a pontoon bridge from Tianxingzhou north of Wuchang to cross the Yangtze River, and then raided Hanyang City from the north of Hanyang."

"The Navy is holding down the enemy on the Hanyang River and using artillery to pull out the forts along the coast. Now each regiment will talk about what other difficulties there are in combat."

The third brigade has three regiments. The leader of the first regiment, Lin Changjing, is also an old Changning guard who followed Su Ze in his army. His men are the main force of the entire third brigade. There are three special battalions with a total of 6,000 people. Four A battalion of musketry and a battalion of artillery are the oldest teams of the Third Brigade.

The second regiment is the navy, which incorporates the navy in Wuchang City, plus the fleet brought by Lin Deyang from Jiujiang, with a total of 2,000 navy personnel.

Lin Changjing's task was to go north, bypass the Yangtze River, and raid Hanyang City. It was also the most difficult task in the entire battle.

Lin Changjing said: "Brigadier, Hanyang city defense is not a concern, but Liu Shiyan's 20,000 Huguang New Army still has combat effectiveness, and in the decisive battle on the plains, although our firearms are advanced and our training must be better, how can we make up for the disadvantage in numbers? "

Lin Changjing's problem was also a problem for most of the officers present.

The musketeers of the Southeast New Army have advanced weapons and better training, but their rate of fire can only be twice as fast as their opponents.

The first regiment only had 6,000 men, but it had to attack the Huguang Ming Army, which was three times the number of our own.

Add in artillery and grenadiers, and that's a huge gap.

In the age of musketeers, what often determines the outcome of a battle is who can shoot more bullets in a shorter time and who can provide more soldiers in exchange.

Lin Deyang looked at Xiong Kuang, the leader of the third regiment who came from Nanjing later this year.

Xiong Kuang parachuted to Wuchang, bringing with him two thousand cavalry and a large number of fine war horses sent by Nanjing.

These days, Xiong Kuang is training cavalry in secret, and is very mysterious among the third brigade.

The other officers of the Third Brigade were quite dissatisfied with this airborne regiment commander, especially the Third Cavalry Regiment, which consumed a huge amount of supplies every day.

Xiong Kuang stood up and said:

"Captain Lin, this is Hanyang's city defense map."

"The northern city wall of Hanyang is very narrow. If I were Liu Shiyan, I would never rely on the city wall to defend it. This would not be able to take advantage of the numerical advantage of the Ming Dynasty's Huguang new army."

"As long as our navy pulls out the city defense gun towers in Hanyang, if I were Liu Shiyan, I would definitely let all the troops leave the city and fight our army outside the city."

"In the entire north of Hanyang, this is the most suitable place for a decisive battle."

Xiong Kuang pointed to a flat area in the north of Hanyang City. This place is called Liujiamiao. Liu Shiyan set up a front-line outpost here, which is an important node for controlling traffic in the north of Hanyang City.

Other regiment leaders and staff members also nodded. It is convenient for the musketeers to deploy near Liujiamiao. This is indeed the most suitable place for the decisive battle of the musketeers phalanx.

But back to the question, if there is a decisive battle at Liujiamiao, the Ming army can open a longer front. If Liu Shiyan really pulls out all the troops, it will also put a lot of pressure on the new southeastern army.

Xiong Kuang said: "There is a forest on the flank of Liujiamiao, which can be used as a cover for our cavalry. We only need Captain Lin to form an array here to hold back Liu Shiyan's musketeers. The rest is up to our cavalry."

Lin Changjing looked at Xiong Kuang, cavalry? In the Battle of Taku, didn’t the Grand Governor bury the cavalry with his own hands?

Xiong Kuang, the airborne commander, had eaten up a lot of the resources of the Third Brigade as soon as he arrived, and now he is brazenly saying that all of them will be handed over to him?

Xiong Kuang only has two thousand cavalry under his command. How can such an obsolete unit deal with the neatly arranged phalanx of musketeers?

But Lin Deyang said: "In that case, let's follow the plan and have a decisive battle with Liu Shiyan's Huguang New Army at Liujiamiao!"

"Lin Changjing, leader of the first regiment!"

"exist!"

All the generals present stood up together. The combat staff officer picked up his notebook and began to record Lin Deyang's military orders:

"Lin Changjing led the first regiment to occupy Liujiamiao before the enemy, set up a defensive line in Liujiamiao, and fight the Huguang New Army in a decisive battle!"

"The second regiment, the entire army will be dispatched early tomorrow morning to remove the Hanyang city defense forts and ensure supplies for the first regiment."

"The leader of the third regiment, Xiong Kuang!"

"My subordinate is here!"

"Your department is responsible for setting up an ambush on the flanks of Liujiamiao."

"Got the order!"

Everyone looked at Xiong Kuang. Lin Deyang actually used this cavalry as his ace ambush?

Can the cavalry really still decide the outcome of the battle?

Although the first and second regiments had doubts about the combat effectiveness of Xiong Kuang's troops, the good discipline of the Southeast New Army allowed them to complete Lin Deyang's orders to the letter.

Early the next morning, the navy of the second regiment came out of the port under the cover of darkness. The gunboat rushed into the attack range of the Mingting gun towers and took the lead in launching a bombardment on the gun towers of Hanyang City.

At this time, the powerful intelligence work of the Southeast New Army and the daily hard training of the naval artillery played a huge role.

The positions of the Huguang Ming Army's gun towers were engraved in the minds of the Second Regiment's naval artillery. Almost at the same time, a salvo of artillery fire destroyed the dotted gun towers outside Hanyang City.

Liu Shiyan, the commander of the Huguang New Army, was awakened from his sleep by artillery fire. As a veteran who had fought with the Southeast New Army for many years, he quickly understood the urgency of the situation.

Without any hesitation, Liu Shiyan immediately ordered all the soldiers to assemble.

Liu Shiyan also did a lot of work in Hanyang and deployed a lot of informants along the way. He soon found out that the main attack direction of the Southeast New Army was to the north of Hanyang City.

After mastering the number and marching progress of the Southeast New Army, Liu Shiyan led the city's 20,000 Huguang New Army out of Hanyang City without hesitation.

Having fought many times with the Southeast New Army, Liu Shiyan understood the strength of the Southeast New Army's ships and artillery.

Once the war turns into a siege, the Southeast New Army can dig trenches and build defense lines outside Hanyang City, and then use artillery to push it to the bottom of Hanyang City step by step.

At that time, the Ming army would have no chance of winning.

Therefore, after Liu Shiyan studied several battles of the Southeast New Army, he came to the conclusion that he must take the initiative to fight with the Southeast New Army in the wild while they still had not established a stable foothold.

Only in this way can the Huguang Ming Army's numerical advantage be used to defeat the Southeast New Army.

Liu Shiyan was very decisive, and the place he chose for the decisive battle was also Liujiamiao!