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The war was urgent. After the grand sacrificial ceremony, Qin Mu immediately took the imperial seal and a group of ministers and sailed eastward to Caishiji.
When they arrived in Jiujiang, Qin Mu let Lu Zhenfei supervise the military and political affairs of western Zhejiang as the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion.
Han Xiu and Liu Fangliang, who came to reinforce, were all under Lu Zhenfei's command. Lu Zhenfei's responsibility was to pacify western Zhejiang as soon as possible, capture Hangzhou, and occupy eastern Zhejiang. Yuan Zongdi, who was about to be sent in, would also be under his command.
In short, Qin Mu entrusted the entire military and political affairs of Zhejiang to Lu Zhenfei. Lu Zhenfei obviously did not expect Qin Mu to trust him so much and entrust him with such an important task. He refused again and again but failed. He had to take the route through Quzhou and rush to take up the post.
At this time, Taiping Prefecture gathered Meng Ke, Liu Meng, Huo Sheng, Ning Yuan, Xiang Liancheng, Hao Yaoqi, Guo Yunlong and many other generals. Qin Mu arrived at Taiping Prefecture with the imperial seal, and 100,000 soldiers cheered loudly, and the already high morale was about to burst.
Meng Ke, Liu Meng and other generals all wore black armor, stepped forward to pay homage and congratulated the King of Qin on receiving the imperial seal. The three armies shouted in unison, "We are entrusted by Heaven, may you live long and prosper." Morale was high and everyone was united.
Taiping Prefecture was a prefecture directly under the jurisdiction of Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, with its seat in Dangtu. Qin Mu then entered the government office and inquired about the current war situation.
According to Meng Ke, the Qing army is now led by Nikan, with 20,000 troops guarding Caishiji and another 30,000 troops guarding the Ma'anshan line, and reinforcements are constantly coming from behind.
As for the Qin army, Di Zhongxing's navy escorted Hui Dengxiang and Jin Shenghuan's 60,000 troops straight to Jiangyin, and Caishiji was currently being attacked entirely by the land army.
The defense line formed by Ma'anshan and Caishiji was the last line of defense of the Qing army to defend Nanjing.
According to legend, during the Chu-Han War, King Xiang Yu of Chu was trapped at Gaixia, surrounded by enemies on all sides. He retreated to the Wujiang River in Hexian County and asked a fisherman to ferry his beloved horse, Wuzhui, to the other side. Later, he felt ashamed to face the elders of Jiangdong and committed suicide. Wuzhui missed his master so much that he rolled over and killed himself. The saddle fell to the ground and turned into a mountain, which is how Ma'anshan got its name.
Ma'anshan is only a hundred miles away from Nanjing City. Once this line of defense is broken, the army can reach Nanjing City in two days at most.
Meng Ke explained the enemy and our situation in detail to Qin Mu on the sand table and said, "According to the reconnaissance of the scouts, the morale of the Qing army is extremely low. Hundreds of Green Camp soldiers escape every day. Nikan has killed and deterred them, but it is still difficult to stop the deserters. King Qin. On the other hand, our army's morale is high. As long as King Qin gives an order, I am confident that we can capture Ma'anshan within five days."
Meng Ke has always acted prudently and rarely said such complacent words in advance. The fact that he dared to say it showed that he did have the confidence.
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Brother Meng."
In terms of address, Qin Mu still follows the old practice of calling Sima An and others "Mr." Calling Meng Ke "Big Brother" has a bit of the flavor of "noble friends are not easy to make", which can be said to be one of his means of winning people's hearts.
He Liang looked at the map and said, "King Qin, it is of great significance to capture Nanjing. In order to prevent the war from destroying Nanjing City as much as possible, the battle at Ma'anshan should not be rushed. Otherwise, once Ma'anshan is broken, the Qing army will have to rely on Nanjing City to fight a decisive battle with our army. In this way, Nanjing City will be severely damaged.
What is more worrying is that we cannot rule out the possibility that the Qing army will abandon Nanjing and retreat to Jiangnan. If this is the case, the Qing army will never leave Nanjing intact for us and will most likely burn the city to the ground.”
Yu Dayou said, "Minister He is right. What is important now is to control the intensity of the war. We should make the Qing army feel heavy pressure in Ma'anshan and force them to increase their troops. However, we should not break through immediately, but try to destroy the enemy's troops. At the same time, we should reduce the pressure on Jiangyin, so that Su Jin, Hui Dengxiang and others can quickly capture Changzhou, Zhenjiang and other cities, and complete the encirclement of Nanjing from the east. Only then will it be the best time to break through Ma'anshan."
"Brother Meng, let's formulate a battle plan based on this."
"Yes, King Qin."
When mentioning Ma'anshan, Qin Mu suddenly remembered something and said casually: "I dreamed of the First Emperor last night."
Sima An, Gu Junen, Lu Daqi and others present were all stunned for a moment, not understanding why Chu Qinmu suddenly said this.
Well, even if you are not kidding, and you really dreamed about the First Emperor, so what
The imperial seal is in your hands. Do you still need a dream to prove how close you are to the First Emperor
Sima An even secretly despised someone.
Qin Mu laughed and continued, "Whether you believe it or not, the First Emperor really sent me a dream. He said that in order to unify the world, in addition to enriching the country, we need a strong army, and strong soldiers cannot be separated from sharp weapons..."
Qin Mu glanced at everyone and saw that some of them were sitting upright, some had strange looks on their faces, or some were pretending to understand. He coughed twice and gave an order with a serious face: "Pass on my order. Ask the Minister of Works Song Yingxing to organize people as soon as possible to go to Ma'anshan for exploration. The First Emperor told me in a dream that there are astonishing reserves of iron ore in the Ma'anshan area..."
Instantly, everyone was in an uproar. Sima An showed an expression of disappointment and shouted "King of Qin!"
"Hmm? Why are all the ministers so upset that they don't believe what the king says?"
Sima An stiffened his neck and said, "Even if the King of Qin really had such a dream..."
"What do you mean even if I really had such a dream? I tell you, the emperor never jokes. The First Emperor did indeed dream about me."
"Okay, I believe that the First Emperor did send you a dream, but now the war is urgent and all departments in the court are busy. Is it the right thing for a saintly monarch to start a war based on a dream?"
Qin Mu guessed that Sima An must have added the word "absurd" in his mind, but he didn't say it out loud to save his face. Even Gu Jun'en and others tried to dissuade him, but only Song Xiance and Wu Jinxi remained silent. These two guys were usually a bit mysterious.
If a country has loyal ministers, it will not perish.
Qin Mu was actually quite satisfied with the reactions of the crowd. If whatever he said was the truth and the ministers only knew how to flatter him, that would be extremely dangerous.
Qin Mu said slowly: "I understand the feelings of the ministers, but I believe everyone knows the importance of steel. From making cannons, armor, swords and other military weapons to making hoes and sickles, a lot of steel is needed.
However, at present, there is a lack of iron ore under the jurisdiction of our Great Qin, and the annual output of steel is extremely limited. This will not only affect the manufacture of our military weapons, but also affect the development of people's livelihood;
Therefore, I would rather believe the emperor's dream that there is a large iron mine in Ma'anshan. Moreover, asking the Ministry of Works to send some craftsmen to explore will not have a big impact on the Ministry of Works.
If the dream entrusted by the First Emperor is true, it is tantamount to pointing out a huge treasure for our Great Qin. Ma'anshan is located on the east bank of the Yangtze River, with convenient water transportation and only a hundred miles away from Jinling. Once the iron ore is found, our Great Qin will be even more powerful. Therefore, there is no need to discuss this matter any further, just do as I say. "
Qin Mu resolutely decided on this matter despite everyone's opposition. After everyone dispersed and took care of their own business, Sima An advised earnestly: "King of Qin, even if you insist on ordering people to explore for iron ore, you should not publicly announce that this is a dream from the First Emperor. King of Qin, you have the imperial seal, and you have no problem with your legality. Now that you have said this in public, if you don't find the iron ore, it will make people suspicious. This is not worth the loss."
Qin Mu thought about it and felt that some things should not be played too much, and it is better to stop when enough is enough, so he said: "Mr. Sima's advice is valuable, and I will remember it. But this time, what I said is true. It was really the First Emperor who appeared in my dream..."
"King Qin!"
"Okay, let's not talk about the dream." Since Sima An didn't believe it, Qin Mu didn't bother to explain it anymore. When the iron ore is explored in the future, no one will doubt the so-called dream anymore. "By the way, I have something else to discuss with Mr. Sima."
"Please give instructions, King Qin."
"Huang Lianshan has been in Jinling City. Mr. Sima knows this. According to the information sent back by Huang Lianshan, he has successfully planted many people in the Jinling City garrison. They are fully capable of serving as our army's internal support. The king has been considering whether to send a surprise force down the river to attack Jinling City using Huang Lianshan's internal support."
"Now, I'm afraid that every tree and grass in Jinling City is an enemy. If we send too few troops, it will not be enough to control the huge city of Jinling. If we send too many troops, it is inevitable that Hong Chengchou will discover it in advance.
Hong Chengchou is no ordinary man. Once he discovers our intention, he will definitely guess our army's intention. If we strengthen the defense of Jinling City, the internal support may not work when the time comes. It will only alert the enemy and be bad. I think it is safer to wait until the army advances to the city of Jinling and then use the internal support to capture the city in one fell swoop."
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ps: Everyone seems to be less enthusiastic, and I can't help feeling a little discouraged. Well, no matter what, I will definitely deliver the three updates I promised. Finally, I will give a weak shout and ask for your monthly votes.
.(To be continued..)
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