I want to be emperor

Chapter 76
After the second Songshan Battle, Luo Zhixue spent a full month carrying out many reforms and rectifications within the Baoxiangying.

It wasn't until the turn of the year, the first month of the eighth year of Chongzhen, that Luo Zhixue let go of various internal affairs for a while, and then turned his attention to the outside world.

According to the information obtained by caravans and spies during this period of time, Luo Zhixue finally knew why the officers and soldiers did not follow up after the second Songshan Battle.

Because a large number of rebels came out from Shaanxi to the east along the Yellow River to the hinterland of Henan, and the attack was extremely fierce. In December, they captured several cities in a row.

Immediately afterwards, a large number of rebels continued to advance eastward, forcing Zuo Liangyu to retreat steadily and had to retreat to Xin'an and Mianchi. He chose to bypass it and continue eastward, southward, and northward, heading towards Ruzhou, Huaiqing Mansion, Kaifeng Mansion and other places.

Hundreds of thousands of rebels left Henan, putting great pressure on Henan, especially Henan, Ruzhou, Kaifeng, and Huaiqing.

Under such circumstances, the Ming army in Ruzhou can still take care of those little thieves in Funiu Mountain, who are all on guard against the rebels.

When Luo Zhixue gradually understood these situations, he couldn't help turning his attention to the outside world.

He wondered if he would take advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains to make a move.

He didn't make a decision by himself, but called Wang Xiazi, An Yongduo and others to discuss together. Don't look at Wang Xiazi, they are just illiterate, and they seem to have little ability as low-level military officers.

But they dared to play mutiny these years, and they were able to break through the follow-up encirclement by the elite officers and soldiers. They are still alive and unrestrained, but they are not stupid at all.

Not knowing many things is purely limited by their vision and knowledge, which by no means means that their IQ is low.

If they can understand the overall situation at the moment and understand the movements of the Rebel Army and the Ming Army, they can also make smart choices.

So after their arrival, Luo Zhixue immediately introduced the movements of the rebel army and officers and soldiers in the past month.

And the introduction was very detailed, all the information that Luo Zhixue had learned was uttered in one go, and at the same time, a simple map was made, marking the movements of the rebel army and the Ming army one by one.

After the introduction, Luo Zhixue looked around and said, "The above is the situation outside the mountain. The rebels and officers and soldiers of each battalion are fighting to death. Logically speaking, their killing and killing has nothing to do with us. After all, we are not officers and soldiers. Not a thief."

"Now the attention of officers and soldiers is attracted by the rebel army. This is a rare opportunity for us. We can choose to attack a certain place and seize more materials to develop ourselves."

"However, once we go out to attack places on a large scale, it will inevitably attract the attention of the officers and soldiers, and I am afraid that a large number of officers and soldiers will be encircled and suppressed by the main force."

"I don't know what you can teach me about this?"

After Luo Zhixue finished speaking, everyone in the lower class did not open their mouths immediately.

Everyone present was not an idiot, so they naturally knew that today's occasion was very important, and the questions Luo Zhixue raised were directly related to the future development of the Baoxiangying, not to mention, even life and death, so they had to be said casually.

If this is wrong and leads to making a wrong choice, then everyone present at the time of the defeat may not have a good time.

The best option at that time is to flee with a few elite cavalry.

And this means that all their efforts in the past six months have been turned into nothingness.

In the past six months, they have worked hard and even fought two matches with the Ming army to create the current situation, but they are not willing to be ruined in vain.

Therefore, everyone was very cautious, and no one spoke immediately.

Wearing a blindfold and only one eyeball left, Blind Wang stared at the simple hand-painted map on the desktop, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "Although a large number of officers and soldiers are fighting against the rebels in the north, the terrain of Ruzhou is flat. If we go directly east As far as Lushan County is concerned, I am afraid that as soon as the front foot hits Lushan City, the officers and soldiers from Ruzhou will be able to kill them on the back foot. It is okay to say that the infantry came, but if there are three to five hundred elite cavalry, I am afraid that it will be difficult for us to return to the mountain."

"Chen Zhibang has a fine cavalry under his command. Last time we fought against his fine cavalry in Yiyang, it's not easy to deal with."

"And Nanzhao County in the south has not many troops, so it is easy to take it down, but there is Chen Yongfu stationed in Nanyang Mansion. Once Nanzhao County is taken by us, Chen Yongfu will probably lead his troops northward in a few days."

"After all, Luyang Pass is to the north of Nanzhao City. Even if he doesn't care about Nanzhao City, he will definitely ensure that Luyang Pass is not lost."

"And our attack on Nanzhao County is equivalent to cutting off the connection between Nanyang and Luyang Pass. As long as Chen Yongfu is not stupid, he will not sit back and ignore this situation."

After Wang Xiazi finished speaking, An Yongduo said: "Yes, no matter whether we are fighting east or south, with the strength we have now, especially the strength of the artillery post, we can easily fight down at the beginning. But it’s not easy to keep it down.”

"After all, our current total strength is only more than 800 people. Counting the recruits who are still in the new barracks, there are only a thousand people. Even if we want to send troops, we have to keep one or two hundred people at home, and we can use up to 200 troops."

"In the early stage, we can do a surprise attack on a small county with no defenses, relying on our artillery, but once faced with a large number of officers and soldiers to counterattack and encircle and suppress, I am afraid it will be difficult to fight."

Ernst and Young said: "Now officers and soldiers are not coming towards us at Funiu Mountain. On the one hand, it is because a large number of thieves are coming eastward. On the other hand, we are more restrained. So far, our scope of activities is only limited to the Funiu Mountain area. In the past month, The expansion was also limited to the outlying villages in the east and south, but it still did not leave the mountains."

"The combination of the two sides made the officers and soldiers ignore us for the time being. Once we go out of the mountains and attack Lushan City or Nanzhao City, the situation may change."

"Once a large number of officers and soldiers are attracted, it will be difficult for us to stop it, and it will even be difficult to retreat to the mountains and defend it."

Wang Xiazi and An Yongduo both expressed pessimism about going out.

And the opinions are highly unified, that is, there is nothing wrong with going out to play a surprise attack on Lushan or Nanzhao. The problem lies in the reaction of the officers and soldiers after the surprise attack.

Once this attracts the main force of officers and soldiers to encircle and suppress them, they can't bear it with their small bodies. Once they can't bear it, they have to abandon the foundation of Funiu Mountain and flee here and there as before.

Although Funiu Mountain is not a good place, with many mountains and little land, it is very barren, but it is still under their control. Using the territory of Funiu Mountain, they can obtain food and soldiers.

They were able to expand from a few dozen people when they first fled to Funiu Mountain to the current scale of nearly a thousand people, thanks to the territory of Funiu Mountain.

If this territory is lost, it will not be so easy to accumulate strength in the future, and maybe it will gradually decline in hiding in the east and Tibet, and finally suffer a crushing defeat.

At this time, Lin Dongsheng, the first sentry officer, stood up, walked to the table, looked at the map for a while, and said, "What if we don't fight the city?"

"Although there are more food and supplies in the city, it is too easy to attract the attention of the officers and soldiers if we attack the city directly. If this is the case, can we focus on the countryside?"

"The villages outside also have money and food, and the large population allows us to recruit soldiers from them."

Wang Dazhuang, the second sentry officer, shook his head slightly: "Those villages outside are different from our side of Funiu Mountain. Our side of Funiu Mountain was located at an offset before and was not persecuted by too many thieves, but the villages outside The place has been devastated several times by thieves and officers and soldiers, so it's hard to say how much food is left."

Lin Dongsheng said: "Ordinary people naturally don't have much food in their homes. Even if they have, they only have a small amount of rations. Even if they are all taken away, they are useless. But those powerful gentry are different. The food in their manors is not good. It will be less."

At this time, Wang Dazhuang also reacted: "Brother Lin, what you mean is that we are going to attack these landlords just like we did in the outer mountainous areas before?"

Lin Dongsheng nodded slightly at this time and said: "That's right, that's what I mean. Although these powerful manors are heavily guarded, and it is even more difficult to fight than ordinary small towns, but with our strength, we should still be able to take them down. It doesn't take much. As long as we can win three or five powerful manors, it will be enough for us to expand our army by another 1000 people."

Lin Dongsheng's words also attracted the attention of other people. The old farmer Xu He said: "That's the reason. These landlords have a lot of food in their homes. In the past, the scholar masters in my old house were full of food in the village. At that time, we killed hundreds of people. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a full meal.”

"These villages are self-sufficient on weekdays, not only food, but also cloth, carriages, livestock, ironware and other goods, and there is probably no shortage of cash."

"Attacking one of these powerful manors may not be as rewarding as attacking the county seat, but attacking two or three will definitely gain more than attacking the county seat."

Huang Dingquan, the fifth sentry officer, also said: "A few days ago, I heard from people who came back from the caravan that the largest grain store in Lushan County is the Song Family Grain Store, and every once in a while they will transport a batch from the Song Family Manor. The grain is sold at the grain store in the city."

"If we can take down the Song Family Manor, the grain seized may be more than the grain seized directly in Lushan County."

The artillery sentry Zhang Marin also said: "These manors seem to be protected by high walls, but these Zhuangzi are not cities after all. The walls are high, but they are not thick. This kind of thin wall can't stop our six hundred catties. Long Cannon!"

At this time, Lin Dongsheng spoke again: "These powerful landlords have a wide range of friends and great influence. If we attack them and use their connections, will the officers and soldiers follow us?"

After hearing this, everyone fell silent once again. Yes, attacking the county will certainly attract the attention of the officers and soldiers, but attacking the powerful landlords may also attract the attention of the officers and soldiers.

In the silence of the crowd, Huang Guangmao, who was sitting behind An Yongduo, spoke up: "Whether we send troops or not, at least one month, at least three months, the officers and soldiers will come to Funiu Mountain!"

(End of this chapter)