Chapter 329: The Recent Situation of the Volunteer Army in the Pass and the Real Purpose of the Later Jin Tartars
On the same day that the Southern Army led by Li Dingguo captured Suide Prefecture, the city of Mizhi, 15,000 miles to the north, was also captured by the Western Army led by Cao Yongxiang.
The size of the Western Army, excluding the navy, is the largest southward-bound army under Li Dingguo.
According to the plan formulated before the army entered the pass, the Western Army advanced both by land and sea. After capturing the Yansui Town, it swept southward, wiping out all the garrisons of all large and small military forts and towns along the way, as well as local officials, gentry, and local tyrants.
Although the Western Army led by Cao Yongxiang did not seize a large number of treasure ships of various levels like the Southern Army led by Li Dingguo, dozens of treasure ships from various major trading forces fell into the hands of Huang Lan's Second Xuanwu Battalion.
As the number of treasure ships doubled, the scale of the Xuanwu Second Battalion naturally expanded accordingly.
Huang Lan used a spirit pigeon to send a message, and after seeking Li Dingguo's consent, she recruited 20,000 new female soldiers to join the Xuanwu Second Battalion.
Today's Xuanwu Second Battalion, like the Xuanwu First Battalion led by Huang Zhanglong, has also reached a scale of 50,000 combat soldiers.
It can be said that any top family today, including those wealthy southern gentry who are as wealthy as a country, can only have a fleet that is comparable to the size of one battalion of the Xuanwu Legion at most.
It is said that the most powerful force in the south, Duke Xu of Wei, only has a navy of 50,000 warriors.
The navy of the Fuxing Army entrenched in Lingshan Island in Jiaozhou Bay currently has five top-grade treasure ships and dozens of superior-grade treasure ships, which are one level higher than the three top-grade treasure ships and eight superior-grade treasure ships of the Xu Mansion of Duke Wei.
Judging from the number of treasure ships in its hands alone, the Fuxing Army has become the undisputed number one force in the Ming Dynasty.
It’s not that there are not enough treasure ships in the Ming Dynasty, but that they are too scattered, and a single force cannot be compared with the Fuxing Army.
"Hongmei, our army took Mizhi City in one battle. The government's garrison in the city is less than a thousand. Our siege this time is like killing a chicken with a butcher knife."
"The government is taking too much empty salary. It would be strange if this kind of government didn't fall."
Cao Yongxiang had just personally led an army of 10,000 and easily captured the county government and military camp in Mizhi City, and had a new perspective on the level of corruption in the imperial court.
In the official organization of Mizhi City, there are 5,000 combat soldiers on the roster, but in reality there are less than 500 combat soldiers. Among the existing 1,000 defenders, most of them are ordinary people.
"It is said that this Mizhi City is where the Military Intelligence Department said Li Zicheng started his career."
After leading the army into the city, Hongmei arranged for the soldiers to carry out the cleanup task and then came to the county government office.
She was about to discuss with Cao Yongxiang about the next large army marching south to Suide Prefecture City to join Li Dingguo. Upon hearing this, she said, "The news obtained by the Military Intelligence Department said that Li Zicheng is now under the command of Gao Yingxiang, the King of Rebellion, and has a great reputation."
"At the end of last month, Wang Ziyi, the new leader of the two provinces' righteous army, was fighting in Wu'an City in northern Henan Province. He was seriously injured by a poisonous arrow shot from the dark and soon died in Jiyuan City in northern Henan Province."
"The thirty-six-battalion alliance of the rebel army, formed by the two rebel leaders Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong, has officially come to an end."
"Not counting our Renaissance Army, Gao Yingxiang now has hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, making him the most powerful righteous force in the world."
"At present, among the rebel forces active in the area between southern Shanxi, northern Henan, and northern Zhili, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and Luo Rucai are the most powerful."
"Our military intelligence personnel suspect that Wang Ziyi was not killed by the poison arrows of the government troops, but was killed by someone with ulterior motives."
"Among them, Gao Yingxiang is the most suspicious."
"From this, we can see how chaotic the relationship between the original thirty-six battalions of the rebel army was."
There was a deep sense of relief in Hongmei's eyes. "Thanks to the commander-in-chief for his foresight, he seemed to have anticipated this."
"If our Renaissance Army had not initially chosen to develop outside the country, it would have been very likely that we would have been trapped in this bottomless vortex and unable to extricate ourselves."
It was not until today that the senior generals of the Fuxing Army truly understood how correct the original decision of Commander-in-Chief Li Dingguo was.
With the government troops' continuous encirclement and suppression outside and the swords and sabers and intrigues inside, it is no exaggeration to say that these rebel generals were all over the place.
How could he possibly develop and strengthen his rebel army in such an environment?
Even though Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai now have millions of volunteers under their command, the number of truly elite warriors and combatants is less than 30,000. The rest are just a mob to make up the numbers and serve as the logistics camp for the volunteers.
"At present, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and others are leading their rebel soldiers to fight in the border areas of Shanxi, Henan and Northern Zhili. For the time being, they will not have any direct conflict with our Fuxing Army. This is also a good thing."
Hongmei continued, "The imperial court has dispatched 30,000 Tianxiong troops led by Lu Xiangsheng to encircle and suppress Gao Yingxiang and his men."
"Our intelligence personnel scattered in the battle zone reported that Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army was no worse than Cao Wenzhao's Cao Family Army, and had 30,000 warriors. They encountered Gao Yingxiang's troops twice in a row and defeated them, forcing them to flee in all directions."
"Lu Xiangsheng was therefore given the title of 'Lu the King of Hell'. Like Hong Chengchou's 'Living King of Hell', he became a terrifying figure that the rebels feared and avoided as much as possible."
"In a battle that ended not long ago, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, and Liu Zongmin, three mid-level level five masters, tried to surround and kill Lu Xiangsheng, but were defeated by Lu Xiangsheng in three moves!"
"Fortunately, they were very good at escaping, so they were able to escape the disaster."
"In the future, we must pay great attention to the Tianxiong Army."
"Once the imperial court orders Lu Xiangsheng to lead the Tianxiong Army to deal with us, we must not underestimate the enemy. He and his Tianxiong Army are more terrifying than the Cao family army."
"According to two brave intelligence officers who went to observe closely, they confirmed that the 30,000 Tianxiong troops led by Lu Xiangsheng have trained the military killing array to perfection."
"His two younger brothers, Lu Xiangjin and Lu Xiangguan, are also monstrous geniuses. Although they are not very old, they are already level 5 junior and level 4 peak masters respectively."
In fact, Lu Xiangsheng is not very old. Although he has been famous for many years, he is only 33 years old this year.
"Well, our Restoration Army is currently far away from those rebel armies, so it's best if we have no connection with them."
Cao Yongxiang nodded and said, "As the commander-in-chief said in his letter, our Fuxing Army does not need to worry about other things for the time being. We should strive to capture the entire Qin territory within three years. The most urgent task is to occupy it firmly."
"Only when we achieve this goal will we have a real base. We won't have to worry about the source of troops and territory in the future. If we work hard for a few years, we may be able to march out of Qin and sweep across the world in the future!"
"Okay, let's arrange the soldiers as soon as possible to clean up Mizhi City and the surrounding areas, and then the army will continue to move south to join the southern army led by the commander-in-chief."
"Then we can launch the second step of the first round of the plan, sweeping all the way south and striving to completely occupy the entire northern part of Qin before Hong Chengchou's army arrives."
"During this period, the Xuanwu Corps has an especially heavy task. It must quickly capture all the forts and water strongholds along the Yellow River between Qin and Jin provinces, turning Qin into a huge isolated island and completely separating it from the Central Plains."
"Although the Ming Dynasty is declining, its power is still there. Our Fuxing Army is still unable to compete with it head-on. We can only earnestly implement the defense and counterattack strategy set by the commander-in-chief and defend Qin in the next few years."
Cao Yongxiang was very clear about Li Dingguo's next plan and had full confidence in the current good situation of the Fuxing Army.
"If the commander-in-chief's guess is correct, combined with the reports from the large number of intelligence personnel we sent to Liaodong, the Ming court will no longer care about us after the beginning of next spring."
"Huang Taiji will personally lead a million-strong army to invade in half a year, which will surely make the government anxious and worried."
"At that time, our Fuxing Army will be the main target of Huang Taiji's entry into the country."
"The commander-in-chief recently reported that Huang Taiji is likely to divide his troops into three groups and break through the pass from Xuanfu and Datongfu."
"One of the armies may not even enter the pass, but go straight west from the Mongolian steppes and head straight for the Dongtao Plains, our sphere of influence!"
"The other main force entering the pass from Xuanfu will most likely go south along the northern Zhili and Qilu lands and attack our Lingshan Island base in Jiaozhou Bay!"
"It can be said that half a year later, Huang Taiji's army entered the pass, and two of the three armies were coming for our Fuxing Army!"
At this point, Cao Yongxiang's face became very solemn, and his tone became cold, "Now the news that our Fuxing Army has marched into the pass should have reached Huang Taiji's ears."
“As long as the news that the commander-in-chief’s level 5 peak golden eagle appeared in our army reaches Liaodong, I’m sure Huang Taiji will immediately guess that the mysterious force entrenched in Lingshan Island in Jiaozhou Bay is another revival army personally formed by the commander-in-chief.”
"The existence of our Fuxing Army and its rapid growth are absolutely unacceptable to Huang Taiji."
"The ambitious Huang Taiji will never tolerate the rapid development of our Fuxing Army. It is his inevitable choice to strangle our new force in advance!"
"The rapid rise of our Fuxing Army has become a thorn in the eyes and flesh of the Houjin clan. Their target for this army's entry into the pass must have shifted from the Ming Dynasty to us!"
"The purpose of their massive incursion this time is actually to destroy our Fuxing Army!" The severe situation they will face in half a year will be much more complicated than it is now.
Whether the Fuxing Army is willing or not, a head-on confrontation with the two main armies of the Later Jin clan is inevitable.
If the Fuxing Army fails to gain a foothold in the northern part of Qin territory within half a year, it will most likely be overwhelmed and unable to withstand the two-pronged attacks of the Later Jin Tartars.
In terms of comprehensive strength, our own Fuxing Army is still far behind the Later Jin clan.
The only thing they can rely on, apart from the navy which the Later Jin clan cannot match, is the land combat firearms battalion.
Due to the logistical constraints and the fact that the Later Jin Tartars' entry into the pass was a long-distance raid, they were simply unable to carry those bulky psychic cannons and crossbow carts.
Although according to a large number of intelligence personnel who have penetrated deep into the Liaodong area, the white Hu master craftsmen brought to Liaodong by Kong Youde have been hired by Huang Taiji with a large salary and are mass-producing psychic cannons and crossbow carts for the Later Jin clan.
Although the psychic cannons and crossbow carts created by those white barbarian master craftsmen from the West are good, they are still old-fashioned large spiritual weapons and are very heavy. They are far inferior to similar equipment of the Renaissance Army and cannot be transported conveniently for long-distance marches on land.
This is also the greatest chance of victory in the head-on confrontation between the Fuxing Army and the Later Jin clan half a year later.
As for other aspects, the gap between the two armies is not too big, and neither side has the strength to crush the other.
After all, the Fuxing Army was fighting on its own soil, and had the advantage of time and location while waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out. They were not afraid of the attack from the two main armies of the Later Jin clan.
……
"damn it!"
In the Wang family's old house in Lingshi City, in a large and exquisitely luxurious study, Wang Dengku was holding the urgent intelligence sent by the family's spies. He was so angry that he trembled all over and couldn't help cursing, "This damn Fuxing Army, this extremely rampant Li Dingguo!"
"Not only did they hijack the large fleet that our Wang family used to trade with Huang Taiji, they also ordered their Xuanwu Battalion to block the Yellow River waterway and intercept all merchant ships heading to the Yellow River basin. This is simply too much!"
"The deal between our Wang family and Huang Taiji has failed. How should we face Huang Taiji's accusations in the future?"
"Once we give the Houjin clan a bad impression of being untrustworthy, once they take over the Central Plains, how can our Wang family benefit from it?"
"Wang Lu!"
He shouted to the butler Wang Lu who was standing respectfully in front of him, "Other things are not important. The most urgent task is to gather a large number of spiritual rice of various levels to complete the transaction agreement with Huang Taiji!"
"Otherwise, our Wang family will most likely face a catastrophic disaster in the future!"
"During the Tang Dynasty, our Wang family was angered by Empress Wu Zetian and was almost wiped out. I will never allow this to happen again!"
For Wang Dengku, he didn't need to take the matter of being robbed by Li Dingguo to heart for the time being.
Once the transaction with Huang Taiji can be completed as scheduled, he can request Huang Taiji to order the annihilation of the Fuxing Army and Li Dingguo when the Later Jin clan enters the pass next time.
The Wang family cannot afford to offend the Later Jin clan, which is now at its peak.
According to intelligence from various sources, after a period of time, the trend of the Jurchens once again taking control of the nine provinces of China is becoming increasingly obvious.
The demise of the Ming Dynasty was already doomed, and it was time for these major forces to choose sides.
At this critical juncture, if the Later Jin clan, who has a great chance of taking over the Central Plains in the future, is offended to death, it will definitely be a fatal potential crisis for the Wang family, which is currently mainly engaged in business.
It is impossible for the Wang family, who is so wealthy and powerful, to flee overseas with their entire family in the hope of avoiding the attack of the Later Jin clan.
It was a most helpless decision that a wealthy merchant family like theirs would never make unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Master of the house."
Wang Lu quickly replied respectfully, "We, the Wang family, have only harvested a batch of various spiritual grains from the ancient spiritual land in the Qinling Mountains. The remaining grains are not enough to complete the promised transaction with Huang Taiji."
"Why don't we go ask the Kang family and see if we can buy a batch from them at a high price to deal with this crisis first."
"The Kang family has been acting a little strange recently. Their head, Kang Baiwan, hasn't shown up for a month."
"Several other big Shanxi merchants are wondering if something bad has happened to this guy?"
Because Li Dingguo's successive actions were unknown to outsiders, the Wang family now has no idea that their ancient spiritual land in the Qinling Mountains has been snatched away by Li Dingguo, and all the core members of the Wang family have been killed.
What they didn’t know was that because of Kang Baiwan’s momentary greed, he wanted to kill Li Dingguo and seize the treasure, but was killed by the other party in the end.
Even the pair of great goshawks, the guardian spirit birds of the Kang family, fell into Li Dingguo's hands and became his contracted spirit birds.
"Something happened to Kang Baiwan? How is this possible?"
After hearing this, Wang Dengku shook his head and said, "Others may not know, but I, Wang Dengku, know very well that Kang Baiwan is a true level 5 peak expert."
"And this guy has always been a low-key person, and he will not easily leave the Kang family's old nest, Pingyang Prefecture City."
“Even when he goes out occasionally, he will bring his pair of level 5 peak spirit birds, the Great Goshawk, and Kang Siding’s three lackeys, Kang Asheng, Kang Younian, and Kang Youfu.”
"With this kind of strength, I wonder how many masters from all the powerful forces who wanted to take over Kang Siding must have been killed in secret."
"Even the second elder of our Wang family once led people to surround and kill Kang Siding, but he suffered heavy losses and returned in defeat."
"As long as they are not trapped by a powerful formation, it is basically impossible for an accident to happen to Kang Baiwan outside."
Their Wang family also has several pairs of level five spirit birds, but unfortunately the highest one is only at the middle level of level five, which is not as good as the two level five peak goshawks that Kang Siding often carries with him.
Even among all the major forces in the entire Ming Dynasty, no more than ten top-level spiritual birds of this level can be owned.
The most famous level five spiritual birds today are the three level five golden eagles under the command of Li Dingguo, the leader of the Fuxing Army.
Especially the peak level 5 golden eagle, which was the culprit that destroyed the Fan family's nest in Jiexiu.
"Master, this time may be different!"
Wang Lu's tone was filled with a hint of surprise as he reported, "We have several Qi Refining Realm spies planted in the Kang family. They just sent back intelligence last night saying that the entire Kang family is in chaos!"
"Their family's multiple guard teams have been dispatched to gather information about Kang Baiwan."
"If Kang Baiwan was still safe and sound, it would be impossible for such a big mess to happen to the Kang family."
"They even temporarily ignored the big deal with Huang Taiji, which is enough to show that Kang Baiwan is most likely in trouble."
"I came here this morning to report to the head of the family. Should our Wang family take the initiative and swallow up some of the Kang family's interests first?"
“Once Kang Baiwan, the backbone of the Kang family, encounters an accident, a large number of forces from all sides will surely take action to snatch several important spiritual places of the Kang family.”
"According to rumors, the Kang family has a very mysterious spiritual place, which only the family heads of all generations know about."
"I heard that it contains the secret of the Kang family's rapid rise, but it is a pity that it has never been known to outsiders."
None of these powerful people are merciful or lenient.
Once they discover that something big has happened to a competitor and the family's strength has been greatly damaged, the first people to jump out to reap the benefits are the big Shanxi merchants who often call each other brothers.
In the past, the friendship between everyone was just a business necessity. In fact, these big Shanxi merchants were incompatible with each other.
Once there is an opportunity to kick the other party when they are down, neither side will let it go.
(End of this chapter)
