I want to be emperor

Chapter 100 The grand strategy of going south

Recently, Luo Zhixue has been paying close attention to the battles of Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other rebel leaders and officers and soldiers.

Combined with the battles of the rebels and officers and soldiers, Luo Zhixue found that Shaanxi and western Henan were completely smashed.

It is an understatement to say that the people in these places are in dire straits. A large number of rebels, officers and soldiers fought back and forth in these places, and year after year, they left these places empty and hungry.

It is not so difficult to control and resume production in these places, and then become their own hegemony foundation.

Not to mention, these places are full of thieves, officers and soldiers, and you have finally resumed production. The rogues, officers and soldiers are coming again, and it is difficult to resume production with peace of mind.

After seeing these things clearly, Luo Zhixue had no intention of establishing a territory in Shaanxi or the Central Plains.

And if these places are not going, where else can Luo Zhixue go?

There is nowhere to choose. If you don’t want to run into the mountains of Qinling Mountains, you can only go south.

The south of Ruzhou is Nanyang Prefecture, and although Nanyang Prefecture is under the rule of Henan, this place does not belong to the Central Plains, but a part of the Nanyang Basin.

In addition to Nanyang Prefecture, the entire Nanyang Basin also includes Xiangyang Prefecture. The terrain is flat and belongs to the traditional grain production area.

The Nanyang Basin is not only flat, but also surrounded by mountains!
Funiu Mountain is in the north, Tongbai Mountain in the east, Qinling Mountains in the west, Daba Mountain in the south, Dabie Mountain in the southeast, and Jianghan Basin in the southeast through the Suizhou Corridor.

From a military point of view, this place is a terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack when facing the enemy in the north. Even if Nanyang Mansion cannot defend it, there is still Xiangyang, a strategic location. As long as Xiangyang is not lost, the Jianghan Plain in the south and even the entire Yangtze River upstream security.

The Southern Song Dynasty relied on Xiangyang to defend it for decades. After Xiangyang was finally conquered by the Yuan army, the Southern Song Dynasty also entered the countdown to the country's subjugation.

Because for the northern army, if they want to go south to the Yangtze River Basin, they must either go along the Xuhuai line or go to the Nanyang Basin.

The northern regime with strong infantry and scumbag cavalry went south, often taking the Xuhuai line, fighting one by one, and gnawed hard all the way.

However, the northern regime with strong cavalry went south, often going to the Nanyang Basin, and after conquering Xiangyang, it went all the way eastward to the south of the Yangtze River.

Conversely, the southern regime basically followed these two paths when going north.

After Luo Zhixue comprehensively considered the current situation of the rebel army and the officers and soldiers, as well as the situation in many places, he finalized the grand strategy of going south.

First go south to Nanzhao County, and after obtaining the bridgehead to go south, conquer Nanyang Mansion, and then go back to control Luyang Pass, Fangcheng Ancient Road and other passes.

In this way, we can rely on Funiu Mountain to prevent the southward advance of enemies in Henan, Ruzhou, Kaifeng and other places, and initially ensure the strategic security of the north.

In the follow-up, the rural protection army will be able to go south to attack Xiangyang Prefecture and control Xiangyang and Dahongshan areas.

At that time, the soldiers of the Township Protection Army will be able to approach the Jianghan Plain.

If the Jianghan Plain can be successfully captured in the future, then the strategic base of the Township Protection Army will be considered complete.

Luo Zhixue had been pondering over this grand strategy for several months. Even when Sun Chengcheng was still alive, he had considered the possibility of going south and controlling the Nanyang Basin and the Jianghan Plain.

It's just that it was just pondering before. As for when it will be implemented, Luo Zhixue has no plan or confidence.

But now, Luo Zhixue felt that the time was ripe.

On the one hand, the strength of the Rural Protection Army continues to increase. It is estimated that after more than a month, in April, the Rural Protection Army will be able to completely complete the plan of the Six Battalions and Two Outposts.

The Sixth Battalion and Two Outposts seem to be a little less, and the total strength is only about 5000.

But you must know that these 5000 people are all professional soldiers, not the kind of young and strong auxiliary soldiers who wave the flag and shout.

Speaking of soldiers, Chen Yongfu, who was in Nanyang Mansion in the Ming army, had less than two thousand soldiers under his command.

A total of [-] troops from the Sixth Battalion and Two Outposts were pulled out, especially when there were still at least twelve [-]-jin cannons, Luo Zhixue was still sure of defeating Chen Yongfu and controlling Nanyang Mansion.

In addition to the growth of the Rural Protection Army's own strength, there was another important reason for Luo Zhixue's decision to go south.

That is Chu Bei's emptiness!
As a large number of the main force of the rebel army marched from Shaanxi to Henan, especially when the rebel army continued eastward and entered the hinterland of Henan, and headed towards the Fengyang Prefecture area of ​​​​South Zhili, almost all the main force of the officers and soldiers were attracted by them. look.

Even some officers and soldiers in the northern Chu area were urgently transferred to the Central Plains to encircle and suppress the bandits.

In other words, Chubei is extremely empty today, even more empty than when the rebels went south to Chubei!
As long as the Rural Protection Army moves fast enough, it is possible to control the Nanyang Basin before the officers and soldiers react and mobilize a large number of officers and soldiers to encircle and suppress the main force.

Since he had to act before the officers and soldiers reacted, it was impossible for Luo Zhixue to delay the time any longer.

On the second day of March, Luo Zhixue officially led the army back to Songshan Village from Songjiazhuang. Before he led the army back to Songshan Village, a large amount of supplies had already been transported back to Songshan Village.

When Luo Zhixue withdrew from Songjiazhuang, he also left the Second Infantry Battalion to garrison Songjiazhuang as a military guarantee to control a large area of ​​the countryside.

After all, the Township Protection Army had set up four township yamen outside the mountain. Even if the main force of officers and soldiers went south and wanted to abandon these places, a certain amount of troops had to be left behind to cover the retreat of these people.

In addition, the Second Infantry Battalion also had a strategic mission, that is, after Luo Zhixue led his army southward, he would cooperate with the southward army to flank Luyang Pass and try to take down this dangerous pass where officers and soldiers were stationed.

After returning to Songshan Village, Luo Zhixue did not stay in Songshan Village, but soon began preparations for going south.

This time going south does not mean going to the whole Nanyang Mansion, not even the county seat of Nanzhao County.

The initial goal is to control the rural areas in the northern part of Nanzhao County near the mountains, and to obtain food and soldiers.

As for when to attack Nanzhao County, Luo Zhixue hadn't made a final decision yet.

It is one thing to control the countryside, and another to attack county towns. The Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the two.

Luo Zhixue led people to control the countryside in Nanzhao County, and the local officials in Nanzhao County might turn a blind eye. It is estimated that Chen Yongfu in Nanyang would not care too much.

But if Luo Zhixue leads troops to directly attack Nanzhao County, it is estimated that Chen Yongfu will lead troops to kill them immediately.

And this is just the beginning, even if Luo Zhixue defeats Chen Yongfu, it won't be long before Lu Xiangsheng from the Yunyang area will come with an army, and the army from the Henan area will also go south...

Therefore, Luo Zhixue will not easily attack the city until his strength has increased to a certain level and he is not sure.

However, even if the Rural Protection Army went south this time, it was to sweep across the countryside in a low-key manner and develop a wave, but Luo Zhixue had made up his mind.

After going south this time, he didn't plan to come back.

After going south, develop a low-key wave first, and when the time is right, attack Nanzhao County, and even sweep the entire Nanyang Basin.

This is the established plan that Luo Zhixue made for himself.

Therefore, when he goes south, he will not only bring a large army south, but also prepare to bring a large number of civil servants south.

And also arranged some craftsmen to go south with the army. On the one hand, these craftsmen with the army can repair ordnance for the army. On the other hand, Luo Zhixue also planned to go south and enter the Nanyang Basin, and choose a place in the upper reaches of the Baihe River in the northwest of Nanzhao County to build a branch of the arsenal. .

The establishment of a branch of the arsenal nearby is not only to produce ordnance and ammunition nearby, but also to prepare for the subsequent southward relocation of the arsenal as a whole.

Luo Zhixue can't let the arsenal stay in the mountains all the time, no, just the traffic is a big problem.

Bringing a large number of craftsmen to the south, this has never happened before when they left Lushan County in the east, and many people have figured out something about it.

Yuan Gaofeng, the new head of the Industrial Division, was a smart man. After hearing that Luo Zhixue was planning to set up a branch of the arsenal in Nanzhao County after going south, he realized that the future development focus of the Rural Protection Army was in the south.

"I will arrange manpower right away to ensure that the branch factory will be built as soon as possible after going south."

Luo Zhixue looked at Yuan Gaofeng. He felt very good about this young man in his early 20s. Although the Four Books and Five Classics were not very good, he was not a book reader.

"When deploying manpower, we must be careful not to affect the production of the arsenal because of the manpower being transferred. Those battalions are still waiting for muskets, and the second artillery post is still empty, waiting for artillery."

Yuan Gaofeng said: "Don't worry, the general, your subordinates know how to measure. Now the primary task of the arsenal is to ensure production, especially the production of the second and third batches of artillery and muskets."

"The idea of ​​the subordinates is that the tasks of the machinery factory and the logistics factory are not too heavy now, and the establishment of a branch factory in the south will mostly require the contribution of the machinery factory and the logistics factory in the early stage, so I plan to transfer them to the south first, and first build the factory building and Build hydraulic equipment."

"The Baihe River over there is much stronger than the streams in our mountains. It is more convenient and useful to use hydraulic machinery!"

"After the factory buildings and hydraulic equipment are completed, I will gradually call in the artillery factory and craftsmen from the gun factory."

Luo Zhixue nodded and said, "It's good that you have a plan. You have to remember that no matter what time it is, the first task of the Industrial Department is to ensure the supply of ordnance, especially the supply of guns and ammunition. This is the foundation of our rural protection army."

You can't fight without guns and ammunition!
After Yuan Gaofeng, the director of the Industrial Department, pushed him down, Luo Zhixue summoned Guo Quanshu, the director of the Civil Affairs Department, and asked him to prepare a group of capable civil servants to go south with the army. The township yamen was established to control the villages.

Luo Zhixue then summoned people from the Grain Collection Office, the Food and Pay Office, and the Commerce and Trade Office.

Make final preparations for the official southward journey.

(End of this chapter)