Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 493 Northern Expedition Deployment (Part 2)

Upon hearing that Lu Jin forbade an attack on Shangdu, Chang Yuchun immediately walked to the map and gestured with his hand, saying, "It's 350 li from Xinghe Road (Zhangbei) to Shangdu (Kaiping), and 420 li from Songzhou to Shangdu. It seems a bit far, but not too far. We've already fought our way here, but we're leaving Shangdu unattacked. It's such a waste."

"Why don't you give me a cavalry regiment, Your Majesty? With just a few thousand cavalrymen, I'm sure I can take down Shangdu."

Lu Jin countered, "Your central army is mainly attacking Shanxi. Shanxi is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with rugged terrain and crisscrossing ravines. Cavalry is actually the least useful there. If I give you a cavalry regiment, do you expect to lead a group of cavalry to attack Yanmen Pass? And then cross mountains and valleys to attack Shangdu?"

Chang Yuchun opened his mouth as if to retort, but in the end he didn't say anything. Just then, Yu Tonghai was about to speak when Lu Jin interrupted him again, "Your Eastern Route Army is going to launch a cross-sea attack. Where am I going to find so many ships to transport horses for you? Have you calculated how many cavalrymen a ship can carry?"

But Yu Tonghai still said, "However, my Second Army Group is advancing from Jinzhou all the way to Songzhou. We also need cavalry for this distance. Otherwise, what if we don't make it in time and the Yuan Emperor escapes?"

Lu Jin countered, "So, if you don't have cavalry, how do you plan to march to complete the flanking maneuver as quickly as possible?"

Chang Yuchun and Yu Tonghai were taken aback upon hearing this, and asked at the same time, "Only infantry, no cavalry?"

“No, at least not during the first phase of the campaign, when we were besieging the Yuan court. Once the Southern Route Army has captured Dadu and controlled the Liaoxi Corridor, we can send Zheng Yong’s cavalry division from the coastal route to Jinzhou,” Lu Jin said, shaking his head.

Yu Tonghai was dumbfounded. He went back to the map, measured it with a ruler, and then muttered to himself, "From Jinzhou to Songzhou, the straight-line distance is 500 li. If we march 50 li a day, it will take ten days. If we march 60 li a day, it will take more than eight days."

Lu Jin suddenly interrupted, "In the Battle of Zhuxian Town during the Former Song Dynasty, Yang Zaixing led 5,000 elite troops, marching 180 li in two days and nights to reinforce Zhuxian Town. They marched 90 li per day and immediately joined the battle upon arrival. Yang Zaixing charged into the Jin army's formation on horseback and killed four Jin vanguard generals, buying time for Yue Fei's main force to assemble and arrive at the battlefield."

Upon hearing this, Yu Tonghai opened his mouth, but was so surprised that he couldn't utter a word.

Lu Jin continued, "I also know of an army led by a general surnamed Chen. His army consisted entirely of infantry, but when pursuing the fleeing enemy cavalry, they marched 950 li in seven days, averaging 135 li per day. They chased the enemy cavalry so hard that they had nowhere to run and nowhere to escape."

"Another friendly force carried out a nighttime infiltration and flanking maneuver, marching rapidly through the mountains at night and in the snow. In less than four hours, they traversed 145 li (approximately 72.5 kilometers) and successfully outflanked the enemy's main cavalry force, cutting off their retreat and creating favorable conditions for the main force to encircle and annihilate them."

"There was another army that was about to be surrounded by the enemy. In order to cover the main force's breakout, a vanguard was sent to seize key points and capture the bridge across the river. At that time, the mountain road was still after the rain, with a sheer cliff on one side and a narrow path on the other. In order to complete the mission, the unit marched 240 miles in one day and night, successfully captured the bridge, covered the main force to cross the river, and successfully escaped to safety."

Do you want me to continue?

Yu Tonghai was already sweating profusely at this point, and immediately said, "Your Majesty, there's no need to say anything more. I know what to do."

"What do you know?"

Lu Jin then scanned the generals present and said, “Don’t think that you are so great just because you have conquered half of the country with your muskets, cannons and high armor coverage. Can your achievements compare to those famous generals in history books?”

"If you want to become famous generals who will be remembered in history, you are still far from it. You need to practice more. You must not be complacent and arrogant just because you have won a few battles. In particular, this Northern Expedition should be treated as an unprecedented major and tough battle."

"If anyone slacks off on the battlefield and drags the entire army down, they can forget about leading troops in the future. They'd better go back to the capital and nurse their babies. You won't get a chance to fight in any more battles. Do you all understand?"

"Understood!" the generals immediately bowed in agreement.

Seeing that the generals were taking the matter seriously, Lu Jincai looked at Yu Tonghai again and said, "You need to use your brain when fighting. You say you know, so how do you plan to complete the mission?"

Yu Tonghai thought for a moment before saying, "Marching 150 li a day, how can we reach Songzhou in three days?"

Lu Jin said, "Too fast. You don't actually need to be that fast. Go and measure it on the map yourself. How far is it from Dadu to Shangdu, heading north? At Xiao Tieguo's speed, how long would it take him from the start of his escape to breaking through Yanshan?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Tonghai immediately stepped forward to measure the distance and then said, "It is 420 li from Dadu to Xinghe Road (Zhangbei) via Junduxing, and about 560 li from Dadu to the vicinity of Songzhou via Pinggang Road and Lulong Road."

Lu Jin nodded. "That's right. So all you need to do is run faster than Yuan Ting. They're taking mountain paths, while you're taking flat ground. That's your advantage."

"Secondly, you are the one launching the surprise attack, so you are well-prepared and caught off guard. You will definitely set off earlier than the Yuan court will flee. So I'll give you a figure: if you land in Jinzhou, you only need to reach Songzhou within four to five days to block the Yuan court's escape route. You only need to travel an average of 100 to 125 li per day. Under this premise, the faster the better."

Yu Tonghai asked in confusion, "Then we don't need to participate in the battle to attack Jinzhou?"

Lu Jin glared at him speechlessly, then angrily scolded, "So you need to use your brain? Your three army groups in the Eastern Route Army have a combined force of nearly 200,000. How big is Jinzhou City? Can you deploy 200,000 men outside the city? Do you need so many soldiers to attack Jinzhou?"

"If you're going to fight Jinzhou, what's the point of Yang Jing's First Army Group?"

Yu Tonghai nodded awkwardly, "I understand."

"No, you don't understand. Your mission is not to lead the entire army group to Songzhou, but to block the defensive line from Daning to Songzhou. So you only need to select the best-running division or one or two regiments from the entire army group as the vanguard of the entire army."

"Take no armor, no baggage, no cannons, just weapons and four or five days' worth of rations. Once ashore, don't worry about anything. If you encounter the enemy, don't fight them or get entangled with them. Just head west and seize Songzhou."

"The rest of the slower troops can be left behind to occupy Daning. As for the armor and provisions of the vanguard, we can wait until the supplies of the follow-up troops land before chasing after the vanguard and sending them provisions. If all else fails, we can requisition provisions from Songzhou first."

"As long as we plant our army's flag at the northern entrance of Pinggang Road and Lulong Road as quickly as possible to intimidate the Yuan army's routed troops, we will have won half the battle."

"I see, I understand Your Majesty's meaning now, the key is the allocation of troops!" Yu Tonghai suddenly realized. "That's right, that's exactly what I mean."

Yu Tonghai pondered for a moment and then said, "Then it would be best to use one division as the vanguard. If we encounter enemy troops ahead, leave one regiment to fight them, and the remaining two regiments can bypass them and continue to advance rapidly. If enemy troops are pursuing us from behind, leave one regiment to block them, and the remaining two regiments can continue to advance. In this way, at least one regiment can reach Songzhou."

"As for the troops left behind to provide cover, as long as they hold out for a while longer, the main force will be able to catch up and provide support, which will make things much safer."

"That's right, you finally know how to fight a battle during a forced march," Lu Jin praised with satisfaction.

“But this requires the forwards to have a certain degree of independent combat ability,” Yu Tonghai immediately analyzed.

"Armor, baggage, and cannons are all too heavy and would slow down our march, so we can't bring them. But without armor and baggage, we still need to be able to fight the enemy on our own."
"For the vanguard, I want two musketeer regiments and one infantry regiment. The infantry regiment should ideally be equipped with more archers, and the whole division should focus on long-range shooting. Otherwise, without armor, they will be at a great disadvantage in close combat. But the infantry should still carry long spears."

"Then each person must carry at least two grenades. With 27000 grenades in the whole division, even if we encounter the enemy, a regiment will be able to fight and hold out until the main force arrives to support us."

Lu Jin thought for a moment and said, "The most important task of the Eastern Route Army is to complete the encirclement of the Yuan court in Dadu. Other objectives are secondary. Therefore, the two musketeer regiments of the Eastern Route Army can be assigned to you, and hand grenades are not a problem either."

"Then I have no problem. I guarantee to complete the mission. From the moment we land, we will occupy Songzhou within five days and block Pinggang Road and Lulong Road."

Lu Jin nodded immediately, "It's good that you know what's going on. Then there's the landing sequence of the Eastern Route Army. We don't have that many ships, so we'll have to land in three waves. Yu Tonghai will be the first to land. After landing, we'll send a division to guard Jinzhou, and the rest of the troops will continue to advance towards Fushu and Daning, with the vanguard heading straight for Songzhou."

"Yang Jing will land in the second batch. After you land, take over Jinzhou and officially begin the siege. The rest of Yu Tonghai's troops will immediately go after the vanguard. The main force will occupy the line from Daning to Songzhou. Fuyu and Xingzhongzhou (Chaoyang City) will be handed over to Yang Jing's First Army Group."

"Liu Futong will be the third batch to land. After landing, ignore Jinzhou and head straight for Guangning, Shenyang, and Liaoyang to cover the flanks of the main force. Do you all understand?"

"Understood!" Yang Jing, Yu Tonghai, and Liu Futong immediately agreed.

Lu Jin continued, “Then there’s the central army in Shanxi. Chang Yuchun, you’re in the same boat. As the vanguard of the entire army, you don’t need to worry about whether Taiyuan has been captured or not. Leave Taiyuan to Liao Yong’an. You just need to lead your troops on a rapid march northward.”

"You need to allocate your troops properly. Who will be the vanguard? Who will hold off the enemy? Who will cover the rear if there are pursuers? If the vanguard runs out of energy, should they be rotated with the troops behind? You know your own soldiers well. You need to think carefully about who to use and who not to use."

"Yes! We understand," Liao Yong'an and Chang Yuchun replied immediately.

Then Lu Jin continued, "Finally, it's about the timing of each force's deployment. Deploying too early might alert Dadu and allow Xiao Tieguo to escape prematurely, while deploying too late could cause the various units to become disjointed, creating loopholes in the encirclement and allowing the enemy to escape. Therefore, all forces must cooperate."

"Therefore, in this Northern Expedition, the Central Route Army went first. After Liao Yong'an's troops approached Taiyuan, he immediately sent someone to reply to me. While you were attacking Taiyuan, the Eastern Route Army began to board the ships. When Chang Yuchun arrived at Yanmen Pass, the Eastern Route Army landed in Jinzhou. Then you all began to make infiltration at the same time. Chang Yuchun went from Yanmen Pass to Yefuling, and Yu Tonghai went from Jinzhou to Songzhou."

"I'm only giving you five days. On the fifth day after the Eastern Route Army lands in Jinzhou, Zhu Liangzu and I will lead the Southern Route Army to attack northward and put pressure on them from the front. Whether you can stop Xiaotieguo depends on you."

"Understood!" the generals of the three armies immediately responded in unison.

Seeing that Lu Jin had finished arranging the encirclement and blockade of Dadu, Yu Tingyu, who had been appointed as the commander-in-chief of the western route army, asked a question.

"Your Majesty, I have a question. Your Majesty previously said that the four armies would conquer the entire Shaanxi Province this time, and even include Hanzhong. Isn't this goal a bit too ambitious? I'm afraid we are not capable of doing it with just one army."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately explained, "Oh, I didn't make it clear before. The Shaanxi Province of the Yuan Dynasty is too large. It not only extends to the desert in the north and Hanzhong in the south, but also includes Lanzhou in the west. This is definitely not acceptable. The Shaanxi Province will definitely be split up after the war."

Lu Jin then pointed to the Guanlong Plain surrounding Xi'an on the sand table and said, "Your mission for the Fourth Front Army this time is to start from Tongguan and advance westward. The main objective of the campaign is to capture the Guanlong Plain. We only need to occupy the flat land and can ignore the mountains for now."

"The specific target is the area from Tongguan in the east to Baoji in the west and Lingtai in the north. As long as we capture this string of important towns from Chang'an to Baoji, the remaining small towns in the mountains can be pacified after Dadu is pacified by issuing an edict. If there are any that do not comply, we can attack them again."

Upon hearing this, Yu Tingyu and Hua Gao breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. At first, they thought Lu Jin wanted them to fight all the way from Tongguan to Lanzhou, which would be an absurd distance. Fortunately, Lu Jin wasn't that stupid.

Lu Jin certainly wouldn't make that arrangement. You have to understand that Shaanxi Province in the Yuan Dynasty included part of what would later become Gansu, most of Ningxia, and even parts of Inner Mongolia. Such a large territory couldn't be taken in a single battle. It would take at least two or three more battles to advance to Xining in Qinghai.

"Then there's Hanzhong, which we must take this time as well. This is also to coordinate with the subsequent two-pronged attack on Sichuan. Although Sichuan doesn't have any strong enemies right now, we still need to make the necessary preparations."

"There is also the road from Guanzhong to Hanzhong. The Yuan court focused on developing the Chencang Road, which had multiple post stations along the way. However, it would be quite troublesome to attack them one by one. Although the Chencang Road is the slowest and longest, it is still a plank road. In such a narrow place, it can be described as a place where one man can hold off ten thousand men."

"Therefore, I suggest that you advance into Hanzhong via the Baoxie Road. The Baoxie Road was the earliest to be opened, has the gentlest slope, is not too long, and has no Yuan troops stationed there. As long as you can get through it, you will basically reach Hanzhong, and you will most likely not encounter any enemy troops along the way."

"We can forget about Tangluo Road. Although it's a shortcut, it's also the most dangerous. Plus, it's been in disrepair for years. Even without enemy troops blocking our way, just getting across it would be a painful ordeal."

"When we march into Hanzhong, one division will suffice. Bian Yuanheng and Fu Youde are both brave warriors; either one will do. You can decide on the best option."

“Yes!” Yu Tingyu and Hua Gao immediately agreed.

(End of this chapter)