***
Qin Mu held a grand memorial service for Chongzhen, and even shouted in the anti-traitor manifesto that strong winds reveal strong grass, and turbulent times reveal loyal ministers, in order to seize the moral high ground, but these were not enough if they were just words without action.
Although the Minister of War Shi Kefa did just that, not only did he issue a manifesto to fight the rebels, he also held a grand oath-taking ceremony. However, after crossing the river, he immediately stayed in Pukou to train his troops.
However, Qin Mu knew very well that we could not compare with Shi Kefa. The Donglin Party controlled the direction of public opinion. If they said this was to serve the king, then it was to serve the king. Besides, Shangshu Shi had crossed the river anyway, so we had to cross the river as well.
Qin Mu originally intended to move the General Staff to Wuchang. The threats to Huguang and Jiangxi all came from the north. If he took the General Staff to Wuchang, he could calm the people's hearts. After all, "the emperor is guarding the country's gate"!
Secondly, it is beneficial to command the war nearby. Furthermore, Wuchang is relatively close to Jiujiang, which is also conducive to coordination with Jiujiang, or in other words, it is conducive to controlling Jiujiang.
It’s not that Qin Mu doesn’t trust Meng Ke, but as always, being prepared is the key to success, and not being prepared will lead to failure. It’s always a good idea to be more careful.
Qin Mu went north to Wuchang. In addition to the General Staff and the General Supervisory Department, three administrative assistants Zhuge Min, Li Yuan, and Yang Shen must also follow him. Southern Jiangxi and Hunan are relatively stable now; Jianghan Pingyuan was occupied relatively late, and Jiangxi also needs to increase control over the north. The "Three Cabinets" accompanying him to Wuchang will also be beneficial to the handling of government affairs in the two places.
In terms of military arrangements, Liu Meng was left in Changsha to garrison with 15,000 troops.
Qin Mu led Ningyuan and Su Jin's 15,000 infantry and cavalry, claiming to have 50,000 troops, and marched north in a mighty force to "fight the bandits."
In this way, with the addition of Ling Zhan's 10,000 troops stationed in Jingzhou and Ma Yongzhen's 35,000 troops in Wuchang, the number of troops stationed on the Yangtze River front line in Huguang will reach 60,000.
As for Jiujiang, Meng Ke also had 30,000 ground troops and 5,000 naval forces.
Qin Mu has 150,000 troops under his command, with a total of 95,000 troops stationed along the Yangtze River, but his navy is not yet mature, and is mainly used to ferry people and transport logistical supplies.
Liu Boquan has sent people to recruit more than 20 shipbuilding craftsmen from the coastal areas and organized hundreds of local craftsmen to build warships in Yuezhou. This matter has been placed under the management of the General Armament Department. If things go well, a batch of decent warships should be built in half a year.
On the ship heading north, Qin Mu, Sima An, He Liang and others gathered around the table, and several combat staff officers spread out the drawn power distribution map.
From this power distribution map, we can see that Liaoxi and Liaodong are controlled by the Qing Dynasty, which claims to have 300,000 soldiers. However, according to intelligence, the Qing Dynasty currently has only 318 Niulu military units, and the actual number of people in each Niulu is around 200, and some even have less than 200.
According to this calculation, the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty actually had less than 70,000 troops, but they were all elite.
In addition, the Mongols who were affiliated with the Qing Dynasty were also organized into about 120 Niulu according to the Eight Banners military system. The actual number of people in each Niulu was about 170. The total strength of the Eight Banners Mongols was approximately between 20,000 and 25,000.
In addition, there are eight banners of the Han army, with 157 Niulu, with a total population of about 20,000 to 30,000.
By this calculation, the total military strength of the Qing Dynasty was about 120,000.
Next was Wu Sangui, who occupied the Shanhaiguan area, with a force of about 40,000, also quite elite.
Li Zicheng's Dashun Army currently controls Longyou, Hexi Corridor, Hetao, Guanzhong, Hanzhong, Shanxi, Shandong, Hebei, and most of Henan.
The southern boundary roughly starts from Nanyang in the west and extends eastward through Xinyang, Bozhou, and Suqian, forming an irregular curve. The area north of this curve has basically been controlled by the Dashun Army.
Li Zicheng claimed to have a million soldiers, but the actual number of soldiers capable of fighting was estimated to be only about 300,000, and these 300,000 soldiers were relatively scattered.
Zhang Xianzhong controlled most of Sichuan from the Wu Gorge in the east, and his army was said to be 500,000. The number of troops with some fighting power was estimated to be around 150,000.
The remaining forces in the south of the Ming Dynasty were very complicated. Zuo Liangyu controlled the Xiangyang area and claimed to have an army of 200,000.
Huang Degong controlled the Luzhou area and had more than 100,000 soldiers.
There were also the Liu Zeqing and Gao Jie groups that fled to the Huainan area. Both of them claimed to have 300,000 soldiers, but because they were roaming around, looting, and holding civilians hostage as soldiers, it is difficult to determine exactly how many soldiers they had, but a rough estimate is that there should be more than 150,000.
There is also Zheng Zhilong from Fujian, who has an army of about 100,000, most of whom are naval.
In addition to the above-mentioned forces, Shi Kefa and Lu Zhenfei each have 20,000 to 30,000 troops, and the rest can be almost ignored.
He Liang pondered and said, "After Li Zicheng captured the capital, Wu Sangui's supply of tens of thousands of troops was cut off. Logically, he is very likely to surrender to Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng will be even more powerful and will probably march south soon."
Qin Mu smiled faintly and said, "Most things in the world don't go by reason. Regarding Yanyun, I have asked Huang Lianshan to make the necessary arrangements in advance. As for the rest, we are currently out of reach, so we can just wait and see."
Sima An took the tea offered by his son Sima Kai, put it on the table and said, "The six ministries in Nanjing are probably busy supporting the new emperor at this time. Are you really going to sit on the sidelines and watch?"
Since Qin Mu had arranged intelligence personnel in advance, and the intelligence personnel passed through the Dashun Army-occupied areas under the banner of Hongniangzi without hindrance, the exact news of the capital change was known earlier than other parties. If he wanted to take the credit for supporting the emperor, he could naturally act before you, but Qin Mu did not do so, so Sima An asked this question.
Qin Mu rubbed his brows and said, "We are getting too involved in this situation. It may not be beneficial to us."
Sima An thought about it and vaguely understood that Qin Mu did not take the credit for supporting the emperor because he probably did not want to bear this burden. After all, he would have to become independent sooner or later.
Yang Shen said: "Based on the degree of closeness, Prince Fu should be the first choice, but the six ministries in Nanjing are controlled by Donglin, and Donglin and Fu Fan have a rift, so this matter will definitely cause trouble."
Sima Kai couldn't help but interject, "No matter who you support, given the current situation, you will definitely get a reward from me."
"How dare you!" Sima An immediately shouted, "Do you have the right to speak here?"
Sima Kai suddenly felt uncomfortable all over and lowered his head and retreated.
Qin Mu waved his hand and said, "I think that even if we want to stay out of this, it won't work. Someone will come knocking on our door soon..."
Before Qin Mu finished speaking, the first person to come to him was not an outsider, but Yan Gaofei. He hurried into the cabin and reported: "Sir, something happened."
"Say it."
"When the news of the fall of the capital came, Cao Chi, a general stationed at Maliang Pass by Zuo Liangyu, led his 5,000 troops to rebel and surrender to Yuan Zongdi. The left army was in an uproar. Zuo Liangyu spent all his money to appease them, and only then did he stabilize the morale of the army a little. However, Yuan Zongdi took the opportunity to gather a large force and fiercely attack Dengzhou. Chang Deng, who was stationed in Dengzhou, was defeated, and the 20,000 left army was completely routed.
After the loss of Dengzhou, Zuo Menggeng and Jin Shenghuan of Xinye were worried that Yuan Zongdi would cut off their retreat, so they hastily retreated. Yuan Zongdi pursued them relentlessly, and no less than 10,000 people of the left army fled. When they reached Guyi Town, General Li Jiu led 5,000 cavalrymen to bypass Hongnipo and raid Yuan Zongdi's left wing, and sent people to contact Zuo Menggeng and Jin Shenghuan to counterattack. The Dashun army was caught off guard, and the left wing was in chaos;
However, Zuo Menggeng and Jin Shenghuan, these two sons of a bitch, not only did not lead the army to counterattack, but instead ignored General Li Jiu's 5,000 troops and took the opportunity to escape and flee back to Xiangyang, causing my 5,000 troops to fight hard and lose nearly 400 horses.
When we retreated to the city of Xiangyang, Zuo Liangyu refused to let us in, citing the imminent arrival of his pursuers. Li Jiu had no choice but to lead his troops westward to the Niu Shou Mountain area. According to the information sent by our two people hiding in the city, there are signs that Zuo Liangyu is very likely to abandon Xiangyang."
"He deserves to be killed!" Ning Yuan slammed the table and stood up, shouting angrily, "Zuo Liangyu, this son of a bitch, is really unreliable. If he had trusted me to seize Xiangyang, he wouldn't be in such a passive position today..."
When Ning Yuan said this, he found that Qin Mu looked normal, as if nothing had happened, and he couldn't help but shut up.
Qin Mu's calmness surprised everyone. Sima An glanced at him and said, "If Zuo Liangyu really wants to abandon Xiangyang, I'm afraid it will be too late for us. It's true that man proposes, God disposes."
Ning Yuan continued, "What's the point of saying this now, sir? If Zuo Liangyu, that bastard, really abandons Xiangyang and moves south along the Han River, we will kill him."
"If he really abandons Xiangyang, it is unlikely that he will go south." Qin Mu took a sip from his teacup, sorted out his thoughts and continued, "Pass my order on to speed up the army on the shore and capture Jingzhou as soon as possible. Also, order Su Jin to lead the remaining 5,000 cavalry to the north immediately. It would be best if they can seize Xiangyang. If they fail, they will help Li Jiu to go south."
**************(To be continued...)
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