The saying goes that misfortune lies where blessings depend, and blessing lies where misfortune lies. This sentence is a perfect way to describe the situation in Kansai. Just as the morale of the Taiping Army in the Kansai region was greatly boosted by the Longdong Defense War, a huge war storm had already arisen in the south.
On January 27, 696 in the Continental Calendar, Lin Guoxiong, the Imperial Military and Political Envoy of Sanjiang, published a speech on the front page of Sanjiang Daily, saying that he could not just sit back and watch the situation in the southwest of the Empire worsen, but must do his best to save the people of Kansai from the fire. He also announced that he would send troops to the northern expedition to Kansai. In the early morning of the same day, five divisions of the Sanjiang First Army, with more than 100,000 troops, launched an attack on the border more than 200 miles north with the force of a violent storm. The Taiping Army defenders collapsed at the first touch, and the Sanjiang Army was invincible. , even defeated several important towns and fortresses in the southern part of Lujiang Prefecture.
At the same time, on January 28, Lang Yongquan, the military and political envoy to the southern part of the empire and the governor-general of Burma, also issued a proclamation against thieves, announcing that in response to Lin Guoxiong’s call, he would send troops to the Northern Expedition to ensure the stability of the situation in the western part of the empire. In the early morning of the same day, the five divisions of the Tiannan First Army also divided into two groups and marched straight into Bashanfu in the north. On January 30, the two units of the Tiannan First Army successfully met in Bashanfu City. Previously, the 20,000 troops stationed in Bashan The Taiping garrison has voluntarily abandoned Bashan Fucheng and retreated north. On February 2 of the mainland calendar, the Tiannan First Army had taken control of the entire Bashan Prefecture.
On February 4th in the mainland calendar, the Sanjiang First Army Corps captured Lujiang Prefecture after three days of hard fighting. On February 7th, the Sanjiang First Army Corps had occupied the entire Lujiang Prefecture.
This series of wars swept through the entire Eastern Continent like a strong hurricane, having a huge impact on many countries including the Liberian Kingdoms, the Macchi Khanate, and the Kingdom of Milan. It was like a strong earthquake in the empire. In general, especially when the empire marched westward, a hundred thousand troops attacked a small Longdong Mansion and returned with broken feathers. Compared with the victory in the Battle of Qinghe in the north, it is even more unacceptable. The top brass of the empire are under clouds. Dense cover, faint wind and thunder were already rolling over the heads of many officials.
The changes in the situation in the northern part of the empire and Kansai caught Wu Feng and Ling Tianfang who were stationed in Lulong Mansion by surprise. The empire's great victory in the Battle of Qinghe in the north not only made Wu Feng and Ling Tianfang see the weaknesses of the Taiping Army. , also made the two aware of the weakness of the Imperial Army. Under such favorable circumstances, they were unable to take advantage of the victory and completely defeat the enemy in one go. Instead, they allowed the enemy to escape calmly and return to Qinghe Fucheng to get a chance to breathe. This made Wu Feng and Ling Tianfang and the other two sighed sadly while also secretly thinking about the empire's next move.
But before the two of them could think it over, the astonishing news of the Empire's westward advance group's blind attack in Longdong and the success of the Taiping Army's surprise attack on the rear headquarters had already come. However, they returned to Tianshui in despair without getting any results. Waiting for the senior officers among them will be the gendarmerie and the military court.
Just as Wu Feng and Ling Tianfang were hurriedly discussing countermeasures, the situation in Kansai changed dramatically again. The Lin Lang family brazenly marched in and took over the two southern prefectures of Kansai County in one fell swoop, leaving the two of them at a loss again. Without rethinking the deployment and arrangements, the extraordinary combat effectiveness of Lin Lang's two armies also surprised the two of them.
"Tian Fang, it seems that everyone wants to take a bite of this piece of meat in Kansai. Are we a little too conservative?" Wu Feng asked casually while taking a sip of strong coffee.
"Conservative? Sir, do you think too highly of yourself? Now Lulong's defense has drawn troops from the northwest. There are only a fifth division and an incomplete independent second division stationed at Partridge Pass. What else are you planning to do? Are you going to conquer Longdong Mansion in one fell swoop, or go south to seize Xikang Mansion? Or split your troops into two groups and take it all at once?" Ling Tianfang angrily mocked his whimsical boss.
After scratching his head, Wu Feng chuckled, with an embarrassed look on his face, and then said: "Tian Fang, I just asked a casual question. There is no need to hit me like this, right?"
Ling Tianfang snorted and said nothing more. He just read the information carefully and looked at the map on the desk carefully. The weather has become very cold. The winter in the north of the empire is cold and dry. Almost every household has lit a pot and burned a hot pot. Although Wu Feng is not too afraid of the cold, he does as the Romans do and still sets fire in his study. There were two big braziers.
"I didn't expect that after the Taiping Army won a glorious victory in Longdong, they would retreat across the whole south. They were even willing to give up the Lujiang and Bashan they had worked so hard to capture. This Bo Jinchen is really not simple." Ling Tian put it aside. He pondered the information carefully and muttered to himself.
"Well, that's because the situation forced him to do this. According to the intelligence, both Lin Lang's families took the initiative to use their most elite first legion, an army of 200,000. I'm afraid it wouldn't be possible to gather all the Taiping troops in Kansai. We must be able to withstand it, so it is better to withdraw generously, conserve our strength, and choose a favorable opportunity to fight again. Hanzhong Mansion is surrounded by mountains, and the roads leading to various places have dangerous passes. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. There are several places that can be said It is a desperate situation that cannot be conquered by one man. It cannot be conquered by external force. Although the Lin Lang family has occupied the two mansions in the south, it will be difficult to advance northward." Wu Feng looked out the window. , seems to recall something.
The memories of traveling around as a boy seemed to pop into my head again. The scenes of climbing alone over the mountains surrounding Hanzhong Mansion are still so clear in my mind. This may be a way for the master to deliberately train himself.
"Bo Jinchen probably has a more sinister intention in this." Ling Tianfang smiled slightly, and his dark skin looked particularly healthy under the charcoal fire in the brazier.
"Oh?" Wu Feng raised his eyebrows with interest, "Besides conserving strength and waiting for work, what else does Bo Jinchen, an old fox, have in mind?"
"Although the Empire is now unable to control the situation in Kansai, the Linlang family is still nominally subordinate to the Empire. Just like you, if the Empire now asks us to evacuate Lulong and let the Imperial Army take over Lulong, what will you do? What should we do?" Ling Tianfang grinned, his white teeth and dark skin shining even more dazzlingly.
"Hey, I didn't occupy Lulong. I was just invited to resist the attack of the Taiping rebels. The nature is completely different." Wu Feng slyly said: "If the empire wants me to withdraw its troops, of course I must comply. This It’s the duty of a minister.”
"Really?" Ling Tianfang was used to the subconscious hypocritical words of his superiors, and he remained noncommittal as usual, "Maybe the Lin Lang family won't think so, especially the Lin family. I heard that conquering Lujiang Fucheng still cost a certain amount of money. .”
"Well, that's true. Maybe Lin Lang's family is not as obedient as us." Wu Feng shrugged as if he didn't care.
"My subordinates estimate that Bo Jinchen may have also seen this, that is, the empire will definitely not be indifferent to the Lin Lang family controlling the Lujiang and Bashan mansions so easily, and may ask the imperial team to take over. But how will Lin Lang's family react?" Ling Tianfang asked Wu Feng, and You Xiang asked himself.
"Is it a surrender, an excuse to delay, or a clear refusal? Based on the judgment of my subordinates, it is obviously impossible to surrender. Otherwise, these two families would not have spent so much effort to send troops. Since they definitely did not plan to send troops, Then withdraw from here. I'm afraid I can't do it by explicitly rejecting it. After all, there is still this relationship inside. There is only the second option, or the empire will come up with some exchange conditions to let the two families withdraw from here." Ling Tian analyzed the banishment article.
"Exchange conditions? I'm afraid the Linlang family won't agree to whatever conditions the empire offers. These two families have been coveting Kansai for a long time. Now that they have finally caught the opportunity, how can they withdraw easily?" Wu Feng shook his head in disapproval. In the opinion of his close subordinate, "The Lin Lang family has only one way, which is to use the excuse that the Taiping Army may come back at any time. In order to prevent these two places from falling again, they can only shoulder this important task now. In any case, they will not Let these two places be returned to the hands of the empire. But these two families are definitely not willing to completely break with the empire because of this matter, and the empire also has scruples, so in the end these parties will reluctantly reach an agreement under some mutual compromise. At least we won’t really break up until the power of the Taiping Army disappears.”
"Sir, why do I feel like you are talking about our relationship with the empire?" Ling Tianfang looked at his boss with a half-smile, and asked thoughtfully.
"Really? Haha, maybe you are too sensitive, haha." Wu Feng made a lot of haha to cover up his casual remarks.
"According to my subordinates' opinion, some die-hards in the imperial court will not tolerate the Lin Lang family openly controlling these two places. They will definitely exert huge pressure on the court to require the imperial troops to enter these two places. Will there be any changes in the process?" Ling Tianfang did not say anything more about this issue, but expressed his views on how the imperial court would react to this matter.
Wu Feng was startled when he heard this. He had not thought about this issue yet. In his opinion, strength determines everything. The empire currently does not have the strength to compete with the Lin Lang family when it confronts the Taiping Army. It can only make concessions. Maybe I have somewhat ignored the thoughts of the hard-liners in the imperial court who are obsessed with saving face.
Standing up and walking around the room twice, Wu Feng then spoke again: "You mean, it's possible that the empire will send troops into the Lujiang River?" Bashan is to the west of the Lujiang River, and currently none of the areas controlled by the empire's central government and Bashan Prefecture borders on it, so if the empire really wants to send troops, it can only enter the Lujiang River first.
"What if the empire really marches into Lujiang without consulting the Lin family?" Ling Tianfang asked leisurely: "Does the Lin family's army really dare to confront the central army of the empire face to face?"
As soon as this question was asked, even Wufeng found it difficult to answer. Yes, if it were him, he might not be able to make up his mind for a while. At least for now, the name of attacking the central army of the empire is enough to make a subordinate local government Falling into a passive situation that is criticized by thousands of people, no one dares to act rashly on this issue.
Taking a long breath, Wu Feng shook his head and smiled bitterly: "If it were me, I wouldn't be able to make a decision. However, if this old guy like Bo Jinchen also thinks so far-reaching, then this guy's methods are really worthy of the praise. It’s so sinister.”
At 8 pm on November 13th, an interview with Regan, the author of "The Legend of Jiangshan Beauty" and "The Troubled Times of the Three Kingdoms" will be held in Sanjiang Pavilion. Everyone is welcome to come and support him. I would like to express my sincere thanks again to friends who support Regan. See the Qidian homepage for details.