The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 438 Western Army
Just when Chen Wang was making drastic changes to reorganize the towns in the southern country.

In Wuchang City, inside the Palace of the King of Chu.

The generals sat on both sides, and there were three chairs in the hall.

Liu Wenxiu was on the left, Ai Nengqi was in the middle, and Li Dingguo was on the right.

After Zhang Xianzhong's death, the military power of the Western Army is now controlled by three people.

The flickering candlelight in the hall illuminated the solemn faces of the officers and generals of the Western Army.

Arguments continued one after another, and the air was filled with depression and anxiety.

"Being trapped in Wuchang means a dead end."

Liu Wenxiu frowned and spoke in a cold voice.

"Chen Wang already has a strong army under his command. Now he leads his elite troops and the six battalions of Huguang to Hanyang. All the towns in the southern country are now under his control. His arm is like a tiger with wings."

Meng Ruhu was placed under house arrest, Zuo Liangyu surrendered and changed the flag.

These things are not a secret. The Western Army naturally planted some stakes in the two towns of Zuo and Meng.

These days outside the city of Hanyang Prefecture, soldiers from the Zuo and Meng towns are being reorganized by the Hanzhong Army, and their flags are also being replaced.

"Now we say that we have 300,000 troops, but in fact, we have less than 50,000 elite soldiers who can fight. We are short of weapons, so how can we resist?"

Liu Wenxiu looked around at the generals in the hall and said in a deep voice.

"The officers and soldiers and the navy are very sharp. They want to cross the river. Our army is powerless to stop them."

During this period, after several battles between the navy and the officers and soldiers, the navy suffered very little losses, while their navy suffered heavy losses.

Liu Wenxiu's words were agreed upon by many officers and generals of the Western Army.

Chen Wang was notorious and invincible along the way.

"When the Wanmin Army was at its peak, it gathered 200,000 troops in Fengyang and fought a great battle with the Hanzhong Army."

"The final result was that the Wanmin Army suffered repeated defeats. Li Yan simply gave up Fengyang and a large number of occupied areas, and led his troops to flee southward."

How could they not know how strong their own company is?

At that time, Chen Wang was in Fengyang and had only 30,000 soldiers under his command.

Now in Hanyang, in addition to the more than 30,000 Hanzhong troops directly under Chen Wang's command, there are more than 70,000 troops from various towns in the southern country.

No matter from which point of view, they have no chance of winning.

"It's not easy to give up Wuchang."

Ai Nengqi sighed, his tone helpless.

"Where can we retreat to now?"

"Even if we abandon all the infantry in Wuchang City and flee with only the elite cavalry, can we really get away?"

After Zhang Xianzhong's death, problems arose in the entire army.

At this time, the Hanzhong army was approaching, the atmosphere in the army was depressing, and the morale of the troops was low.

"The enemy is nearby and is watching us closely. The army is in a state of panic. Once the order to withdraw from Wuchang is given, the 300,000-man army will collapse in no time."

"As soon as we leave Wuchang, the Hanzhong army will cross the river and Wuchang will fall immediately. The soldiers in the city will not be able to resist at all."

Ai Nengqi looked serious and shook his head.

"The two towns of Zuo and Meng have a total of 20,000 cavalrymen, and Hanzhong also has tens of thousands of cavalrymen. They will definitely follow."

It would have been possible to withdraw in the past, but the situation is no longer the same as before.

At that time, Zhang Xianzhong led his troops eastward and joined forces with the Wanmin Army to attack Nanjing, taking away almost two-thirds of the elite cavalry.

Now in Wuchang City, there are only 15,000 people who can be called cavalry, and the rest are basically infantry. The number of officers and soldiers cavalry is twice as much as theirs.

"The biggest reason why we were able to march all the way from Shaanxi was because the troops who came to suppress the enemy did not trust each other. Most of the officers and soldiers wanted to preserve their strength, which gave us the opportunity to break through the encirclement."

However, the soldiers of Hanzhong Army and Zuo Meng Town under Chen Wang's command naturally would not have the same idea.

It is well known that the Hanzhong Army has strict military discipline.

Chen Wang had a very high prestige in the army. Once the military order was issued, all the troops moved together and obeyed. This time, he united the southern towns and marched into Hanyang. It was obvious that he wanted to use them as a touchstone. How could he let them escape?

"Even if we escape from Wuchang and flee further south, what will happen?"

"You all should have seen the Wanmin Army struggling in the quagmire of the Southern Kingdom."

The imperial court relaxed the power of militia and community soldiers, and the whole southern country was in an uproar.

In order to protect themselves, the gentry and bureaucrats in the south frantically recruited soldiers and horses. Large sums of money flowed out, carts of food and fodder were pulled out, and a large number of militias and groups were gathered in every city and place.

The Wanmin Army absorbed their troops of more than 100,000 people, and now had a total of 400,000 soldiers. The elite main forces from the previous attack on Pizhou were all there.

Under such circumstances, even after the capture of Nanjing, Southern Zhili has not been completely cleared.

How much trouble could these 15,000 people cause if they were thrown into the vast southern country?

"Could it be possible that when we get to the south of the Yangtze River, we can gather more troops?"

"Even if we reach further south and gather another 300,000 soldiers and horses, when the Hanzhong army moves south again, are we going to flee again?"

Ai Nengqi did not agree with Liu Wenxiu's idea.

There is no future in leaving the South. The world today is no longer what it was ten years ago.

Chen Wang owns Hanzhong Prefecture and controls Henan, and all the areas north of the Yangtze River in Nanzhili are under his control. The general trend is about to be established.

It would undoubtedly be extremely foolish to use the same method used to deal with the officers and soldiers ten years ago to deal with the Hanzhong army.

"The Hanzhong Army is not like the soldiers who attacked us in the past. They will definitely chase us all the way and won't let go until all of us are slaughtered."

"You should all be aware of this..."

Ai Nengqi's words suppressed a group of Western Army officers who had been persuaded by Liu Wenxiu.

"Wuchang is not like Fengyang. Although Fengyang has strong defenses, there are mountains in the city, which makes it easy to set up artillery."

"The biggest reason why Fengyang fell was because the Hanzhong army relied on the advantages of firearms."

The biggest reason for Fengyang's fall was because of the mountains within the city.

The Hanzhong army’s artillery is powerful. After occupying the mountains, the artillery is in a dominant position and can directly control an area.

The Wanmin Army fought several times with the Hanzhong Army in Fengyang, but they were eventually defeated because their morale was severely hit by the Hanzhong Army's artillery.

The inner city of Fengyang had high walls and tall buildings, which could have stopped the Hanzhong army for a long time.

However, after the Hanzhong army occupied Fenghuang Mountain, they set up artillery directly on the top of the mountain and were able to directly hit the inner city of Fengyang.

The morale of the Wanmin Army plummeted and Fengyang fell.

The generals and officers of the Western Army were all aware of the reasons for the defeat.

"The roads around Wuchang City are almost flat. There are no mountains to set up artillery. The artillery of the Hanzhong Army is difficult to play a role."

"The best option now is to take advantage of the strong city of Wuchang, rely on Wuchang, hold out against the Hanzhong army, and wait for an opportunity to act."

Ai Nengqi raised his hand, knocked heavily on the armrest of the chair, and said in a firm tone.

"The Hanzhong army is indeed elite, but our army has the strong city of Wuchang and a large number of people, so we may have a chance."

"Wuchang is now the base of our army. If we withdraw from Wuchang, it will be difficult for us to regain our strength. It would be like drinking poison to quench thirst."

Liu Wenxiu was unhappy, but he also knew that now was not the time to argue, so he continued speaking after Ai Nengqi finished speaking.

"If we evacuate to Jiangxi, the Hanzhong Army will most likely not pursue us."

"Now that the Ming court's flag has not fallen, although Chen Wang has the ambition to seize the throne, he dare not openly attack other places."

"The reason why the Wanmin Army was able to gain momentum is because Chen Wang wanted to control the Southern Kingdom, so he allowed the Wanmin Army to continue to develop."

Liu Wenxiu leaned back in his chair, glanced at Ai Nengqi who was sitting next to him, and then spoke slowly.

"Chen Wang has now deployed his troops in Hanyang. It has been ten days since the Zuo and Meng towns changed their flags, but Chen Wang has yet to attack Wuchang. I'm afraid he wants to wait for our army to abandon Wuchang and march into Jiangxi to serve as a vanguard for him to attack the Ming Dynasty..."

It was originally scheduled to be sent at noon, but some unexpected events occurred and it was delayed. I’m really sorry.

No matter how I revise the last paragraph, I’m not satisfied with it, so I plan to revise it tomorrow and post it later. I’ll just update a little more today.