I want to be emperor

Chapter 486 The Overrated Zuo Liangyu
During the Northern Expedition, the Chu army successively accepted tens of thousands of cavalry troops from the Ming army, and these cavalry troops in the early ten thousand were reorganized into ten cavalry brigades.

It is worth noting that most of the most elite cavalry of the Ming army, that is, the elite cavalry under the command of Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui, were taken by them to surrender to the Eastern Captives, and were finally incorporated by the Eastern Captives and incorporated into the Han Dynasty. Among the Eight Banners.

The cavalry descended from the Ming army taken over by the Chu army can only be regarded as second-rate or even third-rate in the Ming army system. Although these cavalry received better treatment in the Chu army, their morale became higher and their equipment was better.

But the cavalry, and the improvement of the combat effectiveness of the traditional oriental classical cavalry, did not happen overnight.

In many actual battles, especially in the battles with the cavalry of Dongyao, the cavalry of the Chu army basically did not take advantage of it, especially when they were playing riding and shooting, they were hanged and beaten...

Now the cavalry generals of the Chu army have thought of all kinds of ways to improve the combat effectiveness of the cavalry. They are basically trying various methods such as pistol cavalry, wall-riding charge, and musketeer cavalry and charge cavalry.

But still the same sentence, it is difficult to improve the combat effectiveness of cavalry in a short period of time, even if it is the simplest, the charge on the wall, which is praised by many predecessors as the cavalry killer... You have to train hard for many years, otherwise charge At times, you can't even maintain the formation, and without the formation, it's a fart charge over the wall!
So now the army is carrying out solid training for the cavalry unit, and is trying to explore more practical new tactics. The equipment is also given priority, such as armor, saber, and cavalry spears.

Even for new weapons such as flintlock guns, even if production is given priority, cavalry troops have also received priority supply.

All this is to improve the combat effectiveness of the cavalry as much as possible, and provide a solid foundation for the subsequent conquest of Liaodong, even the grasslands or the Western Regions.

The enemy's cavalry, which is limited to the northeast and the grasslands, is strong, and the overall military strength is also relatively strong. The strategic plan of the top leaders of the Great Chu Empire is to rely on the Great Wall for strategic defense, and at the same time, through a strict blockade, to prevent the east from obtaining copper and iron. , tea, food and other strategic materials.

It is worth mentioning that when the Chu army captured the Xuanda area before the Northern Expedition, a large number of so-called merchants who were active in Zhangjiakou and other passes, especially Shanxi merchants, were exterminated one by one in the subsequent suppression process.

This process not only uprooted the trade channels in the pass that Dongyao painstakingly managed, blocked the transportation channels for Dongyao to obtain materials from the inland, but also allowed the treasury of the Great Chu Empire to obtain tens of millions of various types of floating wealth.

In addition, after the Great Chu Empire captured the above-mentioned areas, it forcefully declared Xuanda, Jiliao and other border areas as military restricted areas, and implemented a comprehensive blockade policy. Except for the army and specially approved personnel, no one was allowed to enter.

Last year, there were a group of officials who said that private businessmen were allowed to go to the border to exchange goods. Basically, they were labeled as collaborators, killed and killed, and reformed through labor.

The Great Chu Empire and Dongyao are at war. In order to curb the other party’s strategic material sources, the Great Chu Empire wished that even a fly could not fly to the grassland under Dongyao’s control. You also support merchants to run to trade and properly cooperate with the enemy. undoubtedly.

The top officials of the Great Chu Empire, mainly Luo Zhixue, believed that Dongyao first relied on the Great Wall to fight time-saving and labor-saving defensive operations, then trained the cavalry hard, and continued to expand the scale of the cavalry, and then reorganized the main force in the north into a new type of force , Equipped with flintlock guns in large quantities, and hoarded hundreds of new howitzers such as 24 catties, 48 catties, and [-] catties.

At that time, it will be almost possible to launch a war of extermination against the Dongyao, and completely solve the problem of the Northeast and even the grasslands. Well, by the way, the problem of the Koryo Peninsula will also be solved.

Before that, it was mainly to hoard strength and quell internal wars.

Sun Chuanting's unit has been eliminated, and now only Zuo Liangyu's unit is left on the northwest front.

After killing Zuo Liangyu, it is almost time to launch the Sichuan campaign. After Sichuan is also settled, the army can be mobilized to climb the mountainous jungles on the Yunnan-Guizhou side and completely recover the Yunnan-Guizhou area.

This strategic plan was finalized last winter, and the Great Chu Empire has always been implementing it step by step, even if the remnants of the Western Ming Dynasty were tossing themselves again, even if the Dongyao side once launched a harassing attack on the Great Wall , but failed to change the established strategy of the Great Chu Empire.

Because they count as one, they don't have enough strength to reverse the established strategy of the Great Chu Empire!
Based on the above-mentioned strategic planning, after April, the logistics department of the Great Chu Empire increased the delivery of materials in the direction of Shanxi.

For the first time, the troops participating in the Shanxi offensive, especially Li Dongshao's unit, which launched an attack from Guguan, received sufficient supplies for the first time.

Li Dongshao looked at the carriage on the road where there was no end in sight, and couldn't help sighing: "This hard life is finally over!"

Major General Jia Heyun, the chief of staff beside him, also said: "Such ample supply of supplies, that is, we enjoyed it when we participated in the Jiangbei battle. Whether it is fighting Shandong or Daguguan later, it is all counted." Ammunition lives, and if you want to fight a city, you have to hoard ammunition for several months."

"It's all right now, the ammunition is so abundant, it will be much more convenient to fight Taiyuan!"

Li Dongshao said: "By the way, how is the situation in Taiyuan? Have you checked the strength of the defenders?"

"And how is the situation of Wang Yongxing's Eighth Division in the north?"

Jia Heyun said: "According to the news from the north, General Wang's [-]th Division has captured Daizhou, and has divided up its troops. Some of them marched westward to besiege Shanxi Town, in order to cooperate with the [-]th Division to pass through Ningwu Pass. We have already gone south to Xinzhou, and we will launch an attack on Xinzhou soon."

"I suggest that you can send a brigade of troops to the back of Xinzhou, which can not only block the reinforcements that may be sent from Taiyuan, but also prevent the Xinzhou defenders from retreating to Taiyuan City, and reduce the difficulty for the subsequent storming of Taiyuan City."

Li Dongshao put his eyes on the hand-painted simple map in his hand, looked at it repeatedly and said: "Let Luo Yang take the seventh brigade for a trip! "

Jia Heyun said: "Brigadier General Luo Yang took the [-]th Brigade, artillery and some cavalry to conquer Shouyang City, and they are now resting in Shouyang. Now it is just time for them to go north to Xinzhou."

Li Dongshao said: "Let the main force of the fourth division speed up the march, it has been two days, and we haven't reached the scheduled position yet!"

-

When Li Dongshao led his army to kill Taiyuan, in Shanxi Town in the north, a brigade sent by the Eighth Division also killed Shanxi Town.

Originally relying on Ningwu Pass to resist the [-]th Division, Zuo Liangyu's troops had thousands of people. After being attacked from behind, they were defeated that day.

The next day, the No.15 Brigade of the Eighth Division captured the town of Shanxi and successfully supported the [-]th Division going south.

In this way, the northern line of defense established by Zuo Liangyu's troops relying on Yanmen Pass, Ningwu Pass, Shanxi Town, Daizhou and other places behind them was completely broken by the Chu army.

In this battle, about 2 troops of Zuo Liangyu's troops and more than [-] local counties were young and strong. Except for more than [-] people who fled to Xinzhou, the rest were all destroyed. Nearly [-] people.

Immediately afterwards, the No.15 brigade quickly turned southward and traveled all the way to Xinzhou along the plains to catch up with the main force of the Eighth Division.

As for the [-]th Division, it guarded and reorganized the local surrendered troops, and more importantly, it assumed the task of stationing Ningwu Pass, Yanmen Pass and surrounding cities, and at the same time sent troops to the fortresses in the west to recruit or attack The remnants of the local Ming army, such as Zhenxiwei, Baode Prefecture and other places.

And it is precisely because the second-class divisions such as the [-]th Division have undertaken many trivial tasks in the rear and the combat tasks on the secondary front, that the main divisions of the first-class divisions such as the Eighth Division can use their hands and feet to fight on the front line. .

However, when the No.15 Brigade arrived in Xinzhou, the main force of the Eighth Division had taken Xinzhou with the cooperation of the Seventh Brigade belonging to the Fourth Division from the south.

As a result, after the No.15 Brigade arrived in Xinzhou, it was too late to rest and had to spend the night there, leaving a battalion to garrison, and the main force continued to go south to catch up with the main force.

And this pursuit directly led to the city of Yangqu, the prefecture of Taiyuan.

Prior to this, General Li Dongshao had commanded various troops to successively pull out the cities and strongholds around Taiyuan City. Even the Qingyuan City to the south of Taiyuan City had been sent to the First Guards Division in advance to capture it, avoiding Taiyuan City. Join Zuo Liangyu's troops in Pingyang Mansion.

On April 23, the three main divisions of the Chu Army's Fourth Division, Eighth Division, and No. 20 Third Division had surrounded Taiyuan City and launched a comprehensive attack on the city.

Although Zuo Liangyu had evacuated from Taiyuan ahead of schedule, Taiyuan City was the most important strategic base of Zuo Liangyu's headquarters in Shanxi. Zuo Liangyu never planned to give up easily. A large number of fortifications have also concentrated many surrounding troops to Taiyuan City.

In today's Taiyuan City, there are about 2 formal troops under Zuo Liangyu's command, and more than 5 county brave young and strong are temporarily recruited, totaling more than [-] people.

They also hoarded enough food for the army for half a year and a large amount of ordnance.

According to Zuo Liangyu's thinking, with these tens of thousands of troops defending to the death, how can they hold off the Chu bandits for several months? With luck, they might be able to hold off until winter.

When winter comes, it will be delayed for another few months.

And the longer the delay, the more time he, Zuo Liangyu, would have to recruit troops to build weapons and armor, and build a new line of defense in the plateau and mountains.

It's just that Zuo Liangyu overestimated his prestige and charm, and even more overestimated the loyalty of his generals and soldiers.

He thought that sending [-] elite soldiers plus [-] civilians would be able to defend for a few months, but in fact, after the Chu army surrounded Taiyuan City, several leading senior civil and military officials in the city's defenders had already started secret negotiations with the Chu army. .

The third day after the Chu army besieged the city!

The defenders of Taiyuan City officially announced their surrender anyway, and it was Qiqi, a senior civil and military official, who took the lead in surrendering anyway.

The Chu army took down the important town of Taiyuan without a single soldier.

And the price is nothing more than conferring the rank of brigadier general to the leading general, and conferring the fourth-rank rank on the leading chief envoy.

It's all fake titles...

Of course, they also saved the lives of themselves and their subordinates by surrendering!

Surrender, that's their life money!
When news of Taiyuan's defenders surrendering without a fight spread to the plateau, Zuo Liangyu was furious at first, and then remained silent for a long time...

(End of this chapter)