Chapter 1867 Ren Zijuan sits and watches the situation, Yucun wanders

  A series of news spread across the north and south of the capital, causing the entire Zhou Dynasty to fall into a state of shock.

The Xuanfu army wiped out the entire Shanxi army in one fell swoop, more than 50,000 troops were defeated, and all the counties to the east of Zhendingfu fell. Jizhou, Xinhe, Nangong, Zaoqiang, and even Hengshui and Wuyi were also captured, directly threatening Arrived at the Jizhen army stationed on the front line of Jingzhou and Fucheng.

  The Datong army took the opportunity to invade the north, and Sun Shaozu took the opportunity to attack Wuqiao and Ningjin from Ling County, hoping to form a pincer offensive with the Xuanfu army in the west, so that the Jizhen army could not be seen on the front line of Jingzhou and Fucheng.

You Shilu was also caught off guard. As a last resort, he had to completely abandon Jingzhou and Fucheng, and retreat to the north. In the end, he felt unable to stop, so he simply let go of Jiaohe and Dongguang, and retreated to the earliest place. The Botou-Nanpi line is the only way to stabilize the position.

  However, You Shilu also knew that the purpose of the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army was not to take down prefectures and counties such as Hejian Prefecture, but to completely annihilate the vital force in his hands.

After the collapse of the Shanxi Army, only the 20,000-plus troops in his hands were left to fight on the northern front. If even his own troops were lost, then Sun Shaozu might really be able to drive straight in, and the soldiers will be in Shun Heaven is here.

At that time, the imperial court either had to desperately deploy the Liaodong Army or the main force of Ji Town in the hands of his brother to guard against the Chahar people, or had to completely abandon Hejian and the southern part of Shuntian Prefecture, and simply guard the capital city. , I am afraid that the imperial court is really on the verge of collapse.

  So for You Shilu, as long as he keeps the army in his hand, it is not a big problem to temporarily lose a few counties.

  The defeat of the war on the northern front had a huge impact on Gyeonggi, and there was an uproar in the court, especially some people who had high hopes for Su Shengdu were tossing and turning, hard to let go.

The 50,000 army, the elite of the Nine Frontiers, even if the Shanxi Army is not as good as the Xuanfu Army, the Datong Army and the Jizhen Army, but the difference is almost the same, and 50,000 people, how could it be so easily defeated by others, now the entire The battle situation on the northern front suddenly took a turn for the worse, Hejian might be lost, Suncheon Prefecture was immediately threatened by the enemy, and Gyeonggi was shaken.

  For Nanjing, Xiazhen was captured and the canal was cut off. The shock it brought was no less than the defeat of the Shanxi Army and brought to the imperial court in the capital.

   You must know that if the water transportation is interrupted, the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army will never be able to sustain it for a long time relying on the local supplies in Shandong.

Now the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army are limited to the number of troops, and can only control Dongchang Mansion and Yanzhou Mansion along the canal, and Jinan Mansion only controls Qihe, Yucheng, Lingxian, Linyi, and Deping to the west of Licheng. Prefectures and counties such as Wuding, Binzhou, Qidong, Zouping, etc. in the east, such as Wuding, Binzhou, Qidong, Zouping, etc., basically have a laissez-faire attitude.

And these places also maintain a unique state of silence. They are neither willing to provoke the Datong Army and the Xuanfu Army who are close at hand, and even some of the material requirements put forward by the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army will be to a certain extent. However, they did not accept the appointment arrangements of the Nanjing court, and they would resist any excessive demands, so both sides maintained a strange tacit understanding.

  Jia Yucun stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back and sighed, then returned to the desk, picked up the letter, and read it again.

  The letter was written by Feng Ziying,

The content is nothing. I didn't ask myself to express my attitude, nor did I ask myself to do anything out of the ordinary. It was just a very ordinary chat, no different from the normal correspondence in the past, except that the last book had some more meanings. suggestion.

   See the situation clearly, ponder it carefully, and leave room for it. Similar meanings are contained in the words, and Jia Yucun certainly understands the deep meaning.

   How long can Nanjing last?

  In Feng Ziying's letter, it seems that he never thought that Nanjing could persist for two years, and the longest time would be no more than two years, and everything should end.

   Is that really the case? Jia Yucun stroked his beard and meditated.

  Footsteps came from the outside, Jia Yucun knew that Yan Mingxiang was coming, and turned around.

"grown ups!"

   "Mingxiang, how is the situation?" Jia Yucun looked at the other party and asked with some expectation.

"It's hard to say, the news from all sides is messy, there are all kinds of opinions, and the people outside are panic." Yan Mingxiang paused and said: "The news from the north must be beneficial to our side. If there are more, there will be less news from Xuzhou, but the rumors below are random,..."

Jia Yucun frowned. This is a reasonable thing. Unfavorable news must be blocked in Nanjing. Even he arranged for the three classes of yamen servants to enter and leave the market to prevent those rumors from spreading. But what is the truth? The governor of the Jinling Mansion is in chaos, so he can't figure it out.

   "Random rumors?" Jia Yucun pondered and said, "I'm afraid it may not be random rumors, but some people don't want this kind of news to spread too much."

  Yan Mingxiang frowned, "Your Excellency is right, I am afraid that the news from Nanjing or Xuzhou is too shocking, and the impact on the entire Jiangnan situation is too dangerous."

"Chen Jixian's performance was too disappointing, or rather unexpected. Fengxian and Peixian, such important places, were easily captured by the Northwest Army. He didn't even have time to react in Xuzhou. Lost, even if the water transportation is cut off, Zhaoyang Lake and Dushan Lake are places with unstable law and order, and now Xiazhen is under the control of the Northwest Army, how will the grain ships going north get there?"

   "Go around?" Yan Mingxiang didn't know the geographical conditions in the north, so he asked casually.

  But Jia Yucun is different.

  After arriving in Jinling, I have been trying to understand the geographical terrain of the entire South Zhili. As the northern gateway of the South Zhili, Xuzhou's geographical location is particularly important, so Jia Yucun is also very concerned.

"Go around? How do you go around?" Jia Yucun sneered, "The Northwest Army has controlled the throat of Xia Town. Needless to say, Dangshan, Feng County, and Pei County in the west must be firmly controlled by the Northwest Army. We crossed the canal and captured Teng County and Yi County. This has already built a line of defense in this section. How to get around? If we go by land, we have to go to Tancheng, Yizhou, Fei County, and Surabaya to get to Jining. , but this section of the road is hundreds of miles, what is the transportation? Relying on horse-drawn carriages and strength? Who can bear it?"

  Yan Mingxiang said awkwardly: "Without the food, medicine and weapons we used to have in the south of the Yangtze River, can the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army rely on the local supplies in Shandong to support them?"

Jia Yucun shook his head slowly: "In a short period of time, or two or three months, it may be nothing. After all, Dezhou, Linqing, Dongchangfu, and Jining are all the canal cities where the water warehouses used to be, and there were a lot of grain in storage. However, the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army are not popular in Shandong, and it is difficult to collect additional grain from places other than along the canal, so once the water transportation is stopped, it is inevitable to sit on the mountain and eat nothing. ..."

"Then what should we do? The Huaiyang Army and the Xuanfu Army marched north and south, recaptured Xiazhen, and resumed water transportation?" Yan Mingxiang was a little anxious, "The Northwest Army's defense area is so wide, from Shunde Mansion, Guangping Mansion to Daming Mansion, There are also several prefectures in Henan to the south of the Yellow River. The north-south traversing from east to west may not be less than hundreds of miles. If the Xuanfu army and Huaiyang army go all out to get through this lifeline, it should be possible, right?"

"Huh, the question is, is Chen Jixian trustworthy? Who knows whether his **** is sitting in the north or Nanjing? He lost Pei County in Fengxian County. Who knows whether he was intentional or unintentional? I heard that Huai County fled from Pei County in Fengxian County to Xuzhou. The Yang army did not suffer much loss, it was just defeated, but not many were killed or captured, and basically they all fled back to Xuzhou." Jia Yucun's tone became very relaxed, "In this case, expect Is it possible for him to cooperate with the Xuanfu army to recapture Xia Town? I am afraid that Nanjing is still worried whether the Northwest Army will take the opportunity to go south to capture Xuzhou. In case Chen Jixian simply acts as a pioneer for the Northwest Army and goes south directly from Xuzhou What about Huai'an and Yangzhou? Who can stop them?"

  Yan Mingxiang was astonished, "Isn't it? Prince Yizhong has so much trust in Chen Jixian. Even if he doesn't fight well, he won't be able to stab Prince Yizhong in the back, right?"

"Mingxiang, what are you thinking?" Jia Yucun sneered, "Who doesn't trust Chen Jixian? Does the emperor not trust Chen Jixian? How did he come to be the general of the Fifth Army Battalion? Feng Tang failed to be a general of the Fifth Army Battalion. He has been appointed, isn't the emperor trusting him enough? Then why did he propose to go south to serve as the commander-in-chief of Huaiyang Town? Didn't he know that at that time, the capital needed a veteran like him to sit in the town? If Prince Yizhong is really If you trust him, you won't push back on his request, but then again, who would dare to confide in him with his kind of performance?"

  Yan Mingxiang finally got a taste of the words from his Dong Weng's mouth, and he calmed down before lowering his voice and said: "My lord, do you mean that Xia Zhen may not be taken back?"

"I'm not optimistic, but if they can't get it back, what will the Xuanfu army and Datong army do? If they want to continue in Shandong, they must take back Xiazhen and resume water transportation, but if they can't persist in Shandong, they will lose After leaving Shandong, the imperial army will go south and enter the territory of Nanzhili, and Nanjing will be out of the game." Jia Yucun pondered and said: "Now it depends on whether Niu Jizong can successfully capture Xia Town, but he can't count on Chen Jixian, Chen Jixian will not hold him back and cause trouble Even if it’s not bad.”

   "If Xia Town can't be taken back, the Xuanfu Army and the Datong Army won't be able to sustain it, and Shandong won't be able to hold it." Jia Yucun stood up, "Shandong can't hold it, so what's the point?"

  (end of this chapter)