Ming Zuo

Chapter 767 It's All For You

When the Northwest Rebel Army returned to the Central Plains, Zuo Menggeng knew his chance had come.

And when Zhang Xianzhong appeared in Yingzhou, he finally pulled out his own plan together.

"Since the northwestern bandits have arrived in northern Anhui and Fengyang is close at hand, they cannot miss this opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Ming Dynasty. And if Fengyang is lost, the prestige of the Ming Dynasty will definitely fall to the bottom."

No one questioned his assertion.

There were three capitals in the Ming Dynasty.

One is the capital where the emperor lived, another is Nanjing, and the other is Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown.

It was designated as the central capital, and palace buildings were built wantonly, and a very spectacular and huge ancestral mausoleum was built.

It can be said that Fengyang's positioning is Zhu Yuanzhang's willfulness.

Because there is actually no need for any worthwhile development in this place.

But the Ming Dynasty invested a huge cost here.

Once the northwestern rebel army captures Fengyang and burns down the ancestral tomb of Emperor Zhu's family, it will definitely be a major event that shakes the world.

Zuo Menggeng decided to use this opportunity to achieve his goals.

In front of all civil and military personnel, he walked to the map and drew a circle in the Lianghuai area north of the Yangtze River with his baton.

"We can only communicate with Songjiang Mansion by sea. Although our navy has been developing vigorously, Songjiang Mansion is isolated and difficult to control anyway. If we win the Lianghuai area and drink horses from the Yangtze River, then Shandong and Songjiang Prefecture will be connected as one, and our territory will also be substantially expanded."

Finally, it is going to expand externally, and everyone is extremely happy.

After several years of development, Shandong's political system has been perfected, and more and more officials have been trained.

However, due to the limited area of ​​Shandong, there are not many places to employ people, so many capable officials are temporarily lurking at the grassroots level, without the opportunity to display their talents.

Once the Lianghuai area is won, these people will definitely be able to take advantage of the situation and display their talents.

Everyone supported Zuo Menggeng's prediction.

After all, Lianghuai is next to Shandong, which belongs to the side of the couch, and it is very easy to attack.

However, as a mature politician, Hou Xun raised the crux of the problem.

"We have reached an agreement with the imperial court twice before to maintain the current situation. If we send troops, will the imperial court not accept it and choose to burn jade and stone together?"

Zuo Menggeng chuckled, his tone treacherous.

"We sent troops for the imperial court. Think about it, the northwestern bandits captured Fengyang and burned the ancestral tomb of his Zhu family. How could Emperor Chongzhen have the face to meet his ancestors? We will help him and recover it for him." Fengyang, he still has to thank us."

Everyone laughed, they really liked this set of shameless rhetoric.

"That's right. His court was unable to protect the territory, which led to the spread of war and the suffering of the people. Now it can't even keep the graves of the ancestors. We acted to protect the territory and the people for him. It is unreasonable for him not to thank us."

Huang Zongxi couldn't help laughing, but he also understood Zuo Menggeng's thoughts.

"With this reason, it is fair and aboveboard for us to send troops. Even in the eyes of the world, we have nothing to criticize."

Zuo Menggeng knew that the ultimate goal of any agreement reached was to tear it up.

So he didn't take it seriously when he negotiated peace with the imperial court twice before.

He has been watching the land of Huaihe River for a long time.

Once you win here, you can force the capital to the north and the south of the Yangtze River to the south, and the strategic space will be greatly improved.

Even if there was no incident of Northwest rebels attacking Fengyang, it would not be long before he would find a reason to use force.

And if you have a ready-made reason and don't use it, isn't that a fool?

Fengyang was destroyed and the ancestral mausoleum was burned, enough for Chongzhen to drink a pot.

How can he care about whether Shandong will send troops?
Besides, at that time, all Chongzhen's hatred targets will definitely be placed on the northwest rebels, and they will be unable to deal with the expansion of Shandong.

Although Shandong's occupation of the two Huaihe Rivers is more harmful, the imperial court can't beat it or can't beat it, and can only watch helplessly.

"The Lianghuai area is vast, and it is easy to capture it, but it needs to be managed very carefully. I propose that Duke Meng An be in charge of the Lianghuai administration, with assistance from Wang Yun and Qu Shi."

The area of ​​Lianghuai is larger than that of Shandong, and the rivers are criss-crossed and fragmented. It must be controlled by powerful people.

Li Banghua, as the No. [-] head of the administrative department, could not be more appropriate to take on this responsibility.

Everyone agrees with Zuo Menggeng's proposal.

Wang Yun and Qu Shi also began to hand over their work and became Li Banghua's deputy.

With these three central bosses going out together, Lianghuai is sure to be safe.

Whether or not the two Huaihe Rivers can be successfully captured depends on military actions.

Chief of the General Staff Liu Yiyuan stepped forward and announced the battle plan.

"This time the military operation will be dominated by the Third Army, supplemented by the First Division of the First Army, the Fourth Division of the Second Army, the Third Regiment of the First Marine Division, and the Navy Squadron. The specific combat plan is as follows. The Third Army From now on, depart from Xuzhou and go straight to Fengyang via the official road..."

Liu Yiyuan looked at Huang Sanhu and gave special instructions.

"Your marching speed can't be fast or slow. You can't arrive before the northwest rogues capture Fengyang, and you can't let the northwest rogues do too much harm to the local people in Fengyang. This speed is up to you."

Huang Sanhu and Fu Gang were very happy that the first foreign expansion battle fell on him.At the same time, he was also secretly vigilant, knowing that there could be no mistakes.

"Guaranteed to complete the mission."

Liu Yiyuan looked at Qiao Shuangcheng, the commander of the First Division.

"The task of your first division is to go south at the same time. But instead of going to Fengyang, you go directly to Huai'an along the canal. Your combat goal is to control the center of the two Huaihe Rivers and take down the river governor's office. Is there any problem?"

Qiao Shuangcheng had read the information on the Lianghuai area, so he immediately stood up and saluted.

"There is no problem."

Liu Yiyuan then issued a combat order to Guo Wei, the commander of the Fourth Division.

"Your fourth division has the farthest march. It needs to cross the third army and go straight to Luzhou Mansion, control this center at the eastern foot of Dabie Mountain, and not allow any northwestern bandits to enter east from here."

Guo Wei drew a map without any complaints.

Although he knew that although he marched far this time, there was no battle to be fought.But an order is an order, and a soldier is only responsible for carrying it out.

The missions of the Third Regiment of the First Marine Division and the Navy Squadron are integrated.

They need to start from Songjiang Mansion and go up the Yangtze River.

But this time the goal is no longer to intimidate Nanjing.

The third marine regiment needs to capture Yangzhou by surprise, control the transportation hub on the north bank of the Yangtze River and the canal, and establish an outpost facing the south of the Yangtze River.

One of the tasks of the Navy Squadron is to cooperate with the Third Marine Regiment to occupy Yangzhou, and the other is to block the waterway of the Yangtze River.

Once the northwestern bandits capture Fengyang, the Ming army in the south of the Yangtze River will be dispatched no matter what.

With a naval squadron to block the Yangtze River, it is tantamount to excluding the military power of the Great Ming Jiangnan.

In this way, the Lianghuai strategy is foolproof.

　According to the popular science of [Fengtian Changyi], the person who captured Fengyang should be the sweeping king Zhang Yichuan, not Zhang Xianzhong.

　　But this is a draft, the plot line has been fixed, it is not easy to modify, please forgive me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)