Fu Shanhe

Chapter 359 Breaking the window paper

Time flies, and another month has passed in a flash.

For the State of Wu, the past month has been like a year.

The adverse political impact of the loss of Yangzhou was more serious than expected.

On the external battlefield, bad news came frequently from the front line.

It’s not that the government troops broke through the defense line they built, but that the enemy did not play by the rules.

On the one hand, he planned to break through Yangzhou and Suzhou to capture Nanjing, and on the other hand, he divided his troops into four directions and attacked in all directions, specifically targeting the prefectures and counties below.

Knowing the enemy's plan, the Wu people were still helpless.

Just because the enemy dares to withdraw troops doesn’t mean they can also withdraw troops.

Troops were sent to rescue, and the siege turned into a field battle.

The gap between the two sides is all-round.

From daily training to weapons and equipment, to the overall quality of officers, Wu's army was at a disadvantage in all aspects.

Even with an advantage in troop strength, once the two armies meet in the field, the battle will still be one-sided.

Influenced by the monopoly of knowledge, the generals of the Wu army were able to command battles they had fought before, as if they were normal.

Once you encounter unfamiliar battlefield situations, your knowledge reserves are no longer enough, and you often make stupid decisions that you think are correct.

The government troops that are now besieging them are completely different from the ones they encountered before.

The good days when the government army could collapse without fighting just by hacking a few people to death are long gone.

On the other hand, for the Wu army, if the casualties exceed 10%, the army will be at risk of collapse.

Only a few elite troops can withstand more than 20% casualties.

The troops left behind on the third line were even more vulnerable and often collapsed at the first blow.

The bloody facts told the top leaders of the Wu State that quality is more important than quantity in the army, and strategy is more important than bravery in the generals.

In this round of confrontation, the Wu army did not lose any important cities, but failed to defend the county towns close to the front line.

If you just look at the map, on the current battlefield, Nanchang is an isolated city, Jiujiang is an isolated city, Xuzhou is an isolated city, and Hangzhou is also an isolated city.

Suzhou was about to become an isolated city, and the prefectures and counties under it, such as Luzhou, Fengyang and Huai'an, were also falling one after another.

Although Wu did not suffer a major defeat, it actually lost more than 200,000 troops.

The loss of manpower is secondary. The key is the strategic space, which has been severely compressed.

The area of ​​territory that can provide money, food and labor to the State of Wu is getting smaller and smaller, and now it has to rely entirely on its old capital for support.

If this continues, even if the two sides do not engage in a decisive battle, they will be dragged to death.

Knowing that the rigid defensive tactics were not adaptable to the current situation, the Wu leaders were powerless to do anything.

Tactical adjustments are easy to say, but the tricky part is how to implement them.

The more complex the tactics, the higher the ability required of the commander.

The government army used tactics more flexibly. In addition to the high level of knowledge of the middle and high-level generals themselves, the basic officer training system developed by Li Mu also played an important role.

"The Pseudo-Dynasty continues to gather heavy troops in Suzhou and Yangzhou. Do you have any countermeasures?"

Fu Haoxuan asked with a tired look on his face.

From the time he started his rebellion in Guangxi to the present, he has fought countless battles and defeated countless enemies.

He also encountered adversity during this period, and when the situation was most dangerous, he even took up arms and went to the battlefield himself.

However, all the troubles they had encountered in the past combined were not as confusing as the problems they encountered this time.

The enemy seemed to have done a lot, but also seemed to have done nothing, and yet they pushed the State of Wu to the brink of life and death.

“Your Majesty, the current situation is that the Ministry of War is incompetent and has not been able to see through the enemy’s conspiracy in time.

As a result, after the outbreak of the war, our army was in a passive state on all battlefields.

I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

When a situation deteriorates, someone must be held accountable.

The Minister of War Fan Xiuwen took the initiative to step forward and take the blame.

"enough!"

"What I need is to solve the problem, not to worry about the division of responsibilities.

Since we know there are problems with the deployment, the military department should learn from the shame and then be brave to wash away the shame of the previous failure! "

Fu Haoxuan scolded angrily.

It's a good thing that I'm willing to take the blame, but what we need now is to solve the problem, not to hold someone accountable.

The strategic layout was finalized by him personally, and the main generals on the battlefield were also appointed by him, the emperor himself.

The main task of the Ministry of War is to provide logistical support for the army.

This battle was mostly a defensive one, and supplies were stockpiled in advance, so there were no logistical problems.

Punishing the Ministry of War has no meaning other than discouraging the people below.

"Thank you for your teachings, Your Majesty!
The military department must learn from this lesson and wash away the shame in the next war."

Fan Xiuwen pretended to be excited and assured, as if the unfavorable situation on the front line was all the responsibility of the Ministry of War.

Seeing this scene, all the ministers looked at him with contempt.

“Your Majesty, the Pseudo-Dynasty has changed the direction of its attack and is attempting to use Suzhou and Yangzhou as a springboard to attack Nanjing.

The King of the East fought with the chieftains in Shu, and the rebel army in Guanzhong also encountered troubles. The allies could not be relied upon for the time being.

There are only two choices left before us.

Either concentrate your forces and engage the enemy in a decisive battle in Nanjing.

Either we hold on to Nanjing and make breakthroughs on other fronts."

Yang Jingren glared at Fan Xiuwen and said.

The Minister of War went to flatter the Emperor, but the strategic planning was proposed by him, the Right Prime Minister, which was simply going against the will of Heaven.

But now is not the time to worry about it.

The wealth of the Dayu Dynasty was much richer than they had expected.

Chengdu, which should have fallen, managed to survive until now because the Tusi army attacked the Dong Wang's army. The Guanzhong rebel army started strong but ended badly. The million-strong rebel army was suppressed by more than 10,000 government troops and lost a lot of territory.

If you can't turn defeat into victory, the next thing you can do is run away.

Thinking of this, Yang Jingren secretly rejoiced.

Fortunately, in the early days of their rebellion, the military equipment of the southern provinces was seriously dilapidated.

If they encountered a strong enemy at the beginning, the rebel army would probably not be able to leave Guangxi and would be suppressed.

"These two options have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is really difficult for me to make a decision. My dear ministers, please tell me what you think!"

Fu Haoxuan said slowly.

Accustomed to the luxurious life in Nanjing, he had changed unconsciously.

When the emperor encountered such a situation, he would not hesitate at all and would directly summon troops to fight the enemy.

In troubled times, there is no room for hesitation in the fight for the dragon.

The previous failures have verified the old saying that "if you defend for too long, you will lose."

If you want to fight for the world, you must bet all your chips on it.

Now that we have defeated the government troops, we can take back all the lost territories.

If we fail in the war, no matter how long we hold on, it will be meaningless.

"Your Majesty, concentrate your forces and fight the enemy!"

Ruiyu Yan said in a firm tone.

The reasons are superfluous.

At this moment, if we don’t concentrate our forces to fight the enemy, we will not have the capital to fight later.

From the beginning of the war until now, the State of Wu has been led by the enemy.

Many of their strategic deployments were rendered useless before they could even be launched.

Every attack by the enemy hit the lifeline of Wu, making it difficult for them to cope with it.

……

"Hurry up and try to get to the next post station before dark."

Marquis Wuyang urged impatiently.

As the strategic focus changed, the command center also moved.

At this time, the team had entered Zhejiang, and in three days they would reach the dock and take a boat to Nanzhili to lead the army.

The reason for the long delay on the road was mainly because the troops were transferred in order to put pressure on the rebels and to recover some lost territory.

At this point in the war, the government troops have taken the initiative.

They could either make a breakthrough from Suzhou and Yangzhou, or directly push all the way to the city of Nanjing from Huizhou, Ningguo and other areas.

During the march, any simple attack by the government troops could scare the rebels half to death.

Even so, Marquis Wuyang was still a little panicked.

It was not that he was worried about the rebels, but he was mainly afraid that he would arrive too late and other government troops would recapture Nanjing first.

As the governor-general of Jiangnan, he did not participate in the battle to retake Nanjing, and if the news got out he would become a joke.

Given the style of the civil servants, they would certainly make fun of him.

"Governor, don't worry too much.

Fujian and Zhejiang provinces do not have enough troops. Even with the First Town of Jiangxi, it will be difficult to capture Nanjing in a short period of time."

Knowing that Marquis Wuyang was in a bad mood, no one dared to speak, and Li Mu had to speak to break the silence.

"The troops in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces are not enough, but if we add the troops from Liaodong, the situation will be different.

The current city of Xuzhou is just an isolated city.

I suspect that this is a bargaining chip deliberately left behind by those guys from Liaodong.

Once they reach an agreement with Duke Cheng, they will immediately take Xuzhou and quickly march south."

After saying this, Marquis Wuyang felt a little regretful.

These words should not be said in front of Li Mu.

After the Li family gave up the goal of retaking Nanjing, he and Duke Chengguo became rivals.

It’s not that the two of them wanted to compete for credit, but they mainly relied on the younger brothers under their command to achieve the great feat of retaking Nanjing.

The most important thing is the emperor, who does not want to see a monolithic group of nobles.

Even if there is no conflict between the two parties, they will find opportunities to create some conflicts in the open to appease the emperor.

Against this background, Li Mu's situation became awkward.

On one side is his father-in-law, and on the other side is his boss in the officialdom. It would be inappropriate to support either side.

“Governor, you are upset.

It is indeed possible to send the Liaodong Army south to join the war, but this is definitely not the first choice.

The rebels are not made of paper, and Nanjing is used as the base of Fu Ni, so it is not so easy to be conquered. "

Li Mu said calmly.

The window paper has been broken, and given his status, it is not convenient for him to continue to make suggestions.

If it wasn't already late, he would have found an opportunity to say goodbye and leave, thus avoiding the ensuing disturbance.

Li Mu suddenly had an idea and found a way to escape, a smile appeared on his face.

We had tricked the Annan delegation before, but that was not enough to cause a war between the two countries. Now it’s time to increase the intensity.

As for the upcoming Battle of Nanjing, whoever wants to gain military merit can lead the troops to fight. He has no obligation to be a nanny.

"That's it!"

"if I get it I am lucky, but if not, it is fate."

"We are all working for the court. There is no need to make a big fuss over a few military achievements!"

Marquis Wuyang said with a hint of helplessness.

(End of this chapter)