Qiming 1158

Chapter 891 This is not something that can be solved with a normal punch
Such a cold edict was unprecedented since Zhao Tan took the throne.

Everyone felt the strong anger in the emperor's heart.

Zhang Jun's death is a good thing for some people, but some ministers realize that this may not be a good thing for them as a whole.

The emperor opened the killing ban, setting a precedent, so in the future, whether the Song Dynasty can continue to maintain the political situation of not killing scholars and officials, it is really hard to say.

The opened magic box, even if it is closed again, can the things that come out of it go back?
No one can guarantee.

Therefore, many people began to silently consider whether their previous actions to kill Zhang Jun were really in their interests.

Of course, there are still many people who don't pay attention to these, and are more concerned about whether they can take this opportunity to completely drive Zhang Junyu's party out of the court, completely complete the transformation of the nature of the Southern Song Dynasty's court, and complete a gorgeous counterattack.

How did Zhang Jun drive them out of the center of power, how are they going to drive Zhang Junyu's party out of the center of power now?

Great revenge belongs to yes.

But now that it is the end of July, there is no time to worry or continue to engage in political struggles.

Under the leadership of Shi Hao, the Privy Council began to operate at full speed, and immediately sent people to investigate the situation of bandits on Jiangnan West Road, and immediately investigated and counted the troops and horses that could be sent to Jiangnan West Road to attack.

Conservative ministers are of course mostly shrinking in the face of the Ming Dynasty, but they are not much more conservative than Zhang Jun in the face of their own internal problems.

When dealing with Zhang Jun, they can say that Zhang Jun is impatient, but when it is their turn to completely quell the Jiangnan West Road rebellion within the year, they are also anxious.

They put forward the slogan of eliminating bandits on Jiangnan West Road within three months, and fully cooperated with Shi Hao to investigate this matter.

While the Privy Council sent a lot of spies to inquire about the news, it began to count the number of soldiers and horses that the Southern Song court could mobilize.

Before the first Ming-Song War, there were 40 troops in the Southern Song Dynasty, which were divided into the imperial army system and the Jianghuai, Jinghu, and Sichuan three major theater systems.

The Chuan-Shu theater has always been relatively stable. Since the rise of the Wu brothers, they and their old troops have been fighting at the forefront of Sichuan.

The imperial court had three armies in Sichuan: Jinzhou, Xingyuanfu and Mianzhou, currently led by Wang Yan, Wu Lin and Yao Zhong respectively.

These three armies have been sticking to the front line of the anti-golden army. They have fought against the Jin army several times, and they have both won and lost. They are the most elite troops in the Southern Song Dynasty.

After the demise of the Jin Kingdom, these three armies continued to face off against the Ming army Su Haisheng Qilu Corps, without changing their locations.

No matter before or after the war, this unit has always maintained a complete organization and has never fought against the Ming army, so it is still complete at present.

In the Jinghu Theater, before the war, Li Dao led the Jingnan army, Tian Shizhong led the Ezhou army, and Qi Fang led the Jiujiang army.

In the Jianghuai Theater, before the war, Li Xianzhong led the army of Chizhou, Wang Quan led the army of Jiankang Prefecture, and Liu Qi led the army of Zhenjiang Prefecture.

As for the Lin'an Forbidden Army, there were three guards, the Ma Juns, the Infantry Division and the Dianqian Division.

Before the war, they were led by the palace commander Zhao Mi, the guard Ma Junshuai Cheng Min and the guard infantry commander Li Peng respectively.
Before the first Ming-Song War, the Southern Song Dynasty had a total of 40 main forces composed of nine local garrison troops from Sichuan to Huainan and three Lin'an Forbidden Army. strength.

However, with the outbreak of the first Ming-Song War and the outbreak of banditry on Jiangnan West Road, among the twelve main troops, only the three main troops in the Chuanshu Theater were still intact.

During the Ming-Song War, the Jianghuai Theater in the Southern Song Dynasty and the six units of the Lin'an Forbidden Army were devastated by the Ming Army.

The army of Jiankang Prefecture and the army of Zhenjiang Prefecture were almost wiped out, and only the army of Chizhou remained intact.

The Dianqian Division's army, the guard Ma Jun, and the Infantry Division lost more than half of their nearly 4 troops, and only [-] remained behind, becoming the current Dianqian Division.

So much so that after the war, except for the army in front of the palace, the other five armies had to re-recruit and re-train their troops. Large bundles of copper coins were smashed down, and tens of thousands of troops were smashed. There is no possibility of complete realization.

After the outbreak of bandits on Jiangnan West Road, the Ezhou army in Tian Shizhong and the Jingnan Prefecture army led by Li Dao, who were used by the imperial court to crusade, were first hit hard.

The Qi Fang Jiujiang army behind him and the Chizhou army handed over to Shao Hongyuan were completely wiped out.

In a bandit attack, the main force of the Song army in the Jinghu Theater was almost destroyed, and the army of Chizhou, which was still capable of fighting, was caught up in the army of the Southern Song Dynasty.

After Shi Haoti led the Privy Council, he found that the army reconstruction plan led by Zhang Jun some time ago still played some role.

After the war, Zhang Jun focused on the reconstruction of the Chizhou Army, the Zhenjiang House Army and the Jiankang House Army, as well as the Guard Ma Army and the Infantry Division.

According to Zhang Jun's plan, it is to restore the 6-man army of the Guard Ma Jun and the Infantry Division, and the 10-man army of Chizhou, Zhenjiang, and Jiankang.

This is an army reorganization plan with a total of 16 people.

For this plan, Zhao Tan and Zhang Jun gritted their teeth and poured money into it, and successively built the shells of three garrison troops and two forbidden troops.

In the newly reorganized plan, Li Xianzhong assumed the command of the army of Jiankang Prefecture, Wang Fang, Liu Qi's only remaining general, assumed the command of the army of Zhenjiang Prefecture, and the army of Chizhou was handed over to Shao Hongyuan.

In terms of the forbidden army, Yang Cunzhong still leads the [-]-strong army in front of the palace to protect the safety of Zhao Gou.

The original generals of the two armies, Ma Junsi and Infantry Division, either died in battle or were executed. Zhao Tan personally promoted the general Wang Chong to lead the guard Ma Junsi, and the general Zhou Yunti to lead the guards and infantry division.

A brand-new defense line along the Yangtze River and Huaihe River was built, and in terms of the army, apart from the 1 original Chizhou Dutongsi and the 1 remnants of the Zhenjiang Prefecture, there were almost no other troops available.

Zhao Yan and Zhang Jun just gritted their teeth and poured money here. They recruited soldiers in the Jianghuai area when there were many soldiers and refugees. In the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty and the second year of Longxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, a total of more than 7 soldiers were recruited. People serve as soldiers.

On the issue of troop distribution, Zhang Jun advocated building a system of three garrison garrison troops first, and then rebuilding the forbidden army, because it is more important to guard against the Ming army.

Zhao Tan, out of his desire to personally control the army, and the deterrence of the [-] forbidden troops controlled by Zhao Gou, opposed Zhang Jun's suggestion and demanded that the forbidden army be rebuilt first.

After arguing between the ruler and the minister, they reached a consensus that [-] troops would enrich the forbidden army, and [-] troops would form a garrison army.

The specific allocation is that the guard horse army division and the guard infantry division each lead 5000 people to set up the shelf of the imperial army first, and Zhao Yan's wish to personally control an army has been fulfilled.

Then, because the Chizhou army already had people and the defense pressure was not high, it maintained its 1-man establishment.

Among the 5000 troops, since there were still [-] remnants in the Zhenjiang army, [-] of the [-] troops were assigned to the Zhenjiang government, and the remaining [-] were handed over to the Jiankang government.

As a result, the army of Jiankang Prefecture controlled by Li Xianzhong and the army of Zhenjiang Prefecture controlled by Wang Fang gained the confidence of the army respectively.

Therefore, the situation in the Jianghuai theater before Shao Hongyuan's dispatch was 7 troops in Lin'an, and 5 troops in Zhenjiang Prefecture, Jiankang Prefecture, and Chizhou.

The preliminary reconstruction of the Jianghuai Theater in the Southern Song Dynasty has been completed, and it once again has the confidence and possibility to resist the invasion of the Ming army in theory.

Only in theory.

But even in theory, the big army's frame has been put up, at least it looks good. Everything was going in a good direction, but who would know that the bandits on Jiangnan West Road broke out at this time.

Even worse, the Southern Song Dynasty was defeated.

The extermination operation initiated by the army of the Jinghu Theater as the main force failed miserably. When the main force of the Jinghu army was almost destroyed, it also affected the Jianghuai Theater.

With the destruction of Shao Hongyuan's troops, the Chizhou army was also destroyed, the Jianghuai defense line was empty, and the [-]-strong garrisoned army was reduced by [-].

If it is said that because the Ming Kingdom is also in a state of civil strife, so this is nothing, then the destruction of the Jiujiang army and the Jingnan army and the loss of the Ezhou army are really terrible.

The Jinghu Theater directly faced the pressure of the Ming Dynasty Henan region and the [-]-strong army of the Ming Dynasty Henan Corps.

Originally relying on the dense water network in the south of the Yangtze River and the excellent defense system built by Yue Fei earlier, the Privy Council assessed that the Jinghu Theater would not face the situation of the Jianghuai Theater in the Ming-Song War if it remained on the defensive.

Moreover, the people of Song did not know that the Ming army was so strong and capable of fighting, and there was no similar psychological preparation at all. Now that they know it, they will naturally not make the same mistake.

In the future, fighting against the Ming army is mainly about defense, not attack. Try to use the city and the defense system built in advance to start an offensive and defensive battle with the Ming army, and try to avoid field battles.

In this way, the superiority of the Ming army in combat and cavalry can be curbed to a considerable extent. Using the dense water network and strong cities and fortresses, even if the Ming army of the [-] Henan Corps is dispatched, it cannot cause a devastating blow to the army in the Jinghu Theater. .

Moreover, the way the Ming army broke through the Song army's defense line in the Jianghuai theater was a surprise attack, which caught Liu Qi by surprise, causing Liu Qi's department to collapse quickly, and did not play a role in delaying the Ming army.

In the Jinghu Theater, there were no such conditions for the Ming army to realize the raid tactics. There were strong fortresses everywhere, and there was no center that could be directly destroyed by them. Therefore, the Ming army was destined to be unable to replicate the victory of the Jianghuai Theater in the Jinghu Theater.

The Privy Council under the leadership of Zhang Jun assessed this and believed that the military strength of the Jinghu Theater was sufficient.

After Shi Haoti led the Privy Council, he agreed with Zhang Jun's view. He believed that the Song army could not fight against the Ming army, but needed to remain on the defensive, using the city-centered defense system to start a protracted battle with the Ming army to bring down the Ming army. Army logistics and consumption of the Ming army's living forces were the main methods of combat.

In short, if you can not fight in the field, you will not fight in the field, if you can defend, you will defend, and the main method of fighting is to keep the walls clear.

In this way, everything will be fine. Until the Song army is properly trained and its combat effectiveness is enhanced, this is the best way to defend the Song Dynasty.

However, the bandits on Jiangnan West Road completely changed this pattern.

Not only did Zhang Jun's plan to reorganize the army "collapse", but also the main force of the Jinghu Theater was almost destroyed. The Jinghu Theater's strategic defense barrier against the Ming army was almost ineffective, leaving a huge gap for the Ming army. before.

At this time, Shi Hao had realized that the situation was not good. The battle situation on Jiangnan West Road had greatly reduced the military strength of the Jinghu Theater, which had already created a strategic void in the Jinghu line of defense.

At this moment, if the Ming army launched a strategic offensive and entered directly from the Jinghu theater, it would be enough to cut off the Southern Song Dynasty.

Jingxi South Road, Jinghu Lake Road, and Jinghu South Road can't stop the Ming army's attack at all. At that time, the Jianghuai theater and the Chuanshu theater will not be connected end to end, and they will fight each other.

Soon, Shi Hao and others also learned the specific situation of Jiangnan West Road. They learned that the bandit army had grown bigger and occupied almost the entire Jiangnan West Road. The development was extremely fast, and the momentum was quite terrifying.

This is not only what they knew before but that Longxing Mansion was occupied. Most of the entire Jiangnan West Road has been controlled by bandits. They control several state capitals, several state capitals, and millions of people have left the Southern Song Dynasty. Take control.

As long as they are given a little time, and if they have a little brain, they can pull up a huge army and pose a huge threat to the national security of the Southern Song Dynasty.

This is no ordinary bandit anymore, and this can't be solved with an ordinary punch.

Shi Hao was in a cold sweat.

He realized that the tossing of the ministers in order to kill Zhang Jun had almost ruined the Southern Song Dynasty Guozuo.

During this toss and a half month, the Privy Council did not perform its duties well because of the turmoil, so that such important news was only known to the court at this time.

At this moment, the bandit army has already made unscrupulous acts on the land of Jiangnan West Road!
broken!

Shi Hao completely understood the seriousness of the matter.

Therefore, Shi Hao prayed that the Ming army would not learn the news so quickly, and that the Ming army would not have time to launch a strategic attack because of Su Yonglin's large-scale anti-corruption campaign, and immediately reported to Zhao Tan and informed the entire court.

He needs Zhao Tan and all the officials to clarify a question.

The most important thing at the moment is definitely not to liquidate the radical warring factions, definitely not to expand the political struggle and drive all the radical warring factions out of the imperial court, but to immediately fill the emptiness of the defense line caused by the large-scale military downsizing in the Jinghu Theater, and Try to curb the continued development of bandits on Jiangnan West Road.

If the main force in the Jinghu theater cannot make up for it, once the Ming Kingdom has malicious intentions, it will attack immediately, and the Southern Song Dynasty will come to an end.

If the bandits on Jiangnan West Road could not be contained, then the Southern Song Dynasty lacked a large piece of land. Since then, disputes have continued, and the exhaustion of national strength may not be able to calm down.

This is the hardest fact of the moment.

He immediately put on the table to Zhao Tan, requesting Zhao Tan to immediately mobilize the Lin'an Forbidden Army to supplement the insufficient military strength of the Jinghu Theater, rebuild the Jinghu line of defense as quickly as possible, and prevent the Ming army from reacting and launch a strategic attack on the Jinghu Theater in the Southern Song Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)