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When Qin Mu and his army advanced to Jiangning Town, he received news that Liu Meng had successfully captured Jinling and captured Hong Chengchou, Nikan, Baiyintu, and Luodesand people;
Jinling was finally taken, but a series of problems that followed required decisions to be made as soon as possible.
In Jiangning Town, Qin Mu convened a strategic meeting overnight. All the accompanying military and political ministers attended the meeting. Among them, two deputy commanders were newcomers. They were Qin Zuoming and Qin Zuoming from the Qin family in Zhongzhou. They were slightly older than Qin Mu, but they were Qin Mu's grandsons.
But now no one has the time to care about them, and even the burning of the Nanjing Imperial Palace can't be taken care of for the time being.
In the brightly lit tent, He Liang said: "After Nanjing, the remaining Bolo, Yierduqi, Durde and Fei Yanggu in Hangzhou are not enough to turn the tide. King Qin, our army should immediately shift to a new strategic stage."
Qin Mu raised his hand and said, "Minister He, please speak."
"King Qin, since ancient times, to defend the Yangtze River, one must defend the Huai River. The Yangtze River is not only the last line of defense in the south, but also the lifeline for the mobilization of troops and materials. Once the Huai River and the Yangtze River fall into the hands of the enemy, the enemy's army can go straight to the north bank of the Yangtze River, and can train the navy in Chaohu Lake, Hongze Lake and other places. By then, the Yangtze River will no longer be exclusive to the south, and the so-called natural barrier of the Yangtze River will no longer be a natural barrier.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the Jianghuai area was shared by Wu and Wei. Although Wei was far stronger than Wu, it was unable to gain a strategic advantage over Wu in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River before it acquired Shu and Jingzhou. Instead, it suffered repeated attacks from Wu.
After the Jin Dynasty moved south, Jianghuai became a strategic location repeatedly fought over by the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Northern Rong. The Jianghuai area became a blank area after years of fighting. The Northern Rong army was blocked in Jianghuai and could never pose a direct threat to the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The Battle of Feishui also shattered the dream of Fu Jian of the Former Qin Dynasty to unify the south.
In the early period of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jurchens occupied the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. The Southern Song Dynasty had a powerful navy, but it still could not stop the Jurchen army. The Jurchens often crossed the river to attack, forcing the Song emperor to flee to the sea many times. It was not until Song Xiaozong's northern expedition that he gained part of the Yangtze and Huaihe River regions, making it impossible for the Jurchen army to go directly to the north bank of the Yangtze River. From then on, the south of the Yangtze River enjoyed peace.
Let's look at Shi Kefa. He left Gao Jie's army of more than 200,000 men behind, abandoned the Huai River and retreated to Yangzhou, allowing the Qing army to march straight in. The Jiang defense collapsed overnight, and the whole of Jiangnan fell to the enemy. Therefore, our army must now take advantage of the victory to take Jianghuai in the north. At least we must first control Huainan as a barrier to Jiangnan. "
To defend the Yangtze River, one must defend the Huai River. Qin Mu knew this. As the Minister of War He Liang said, without the Yangtze River and the Huai River, almost no dynasty could defend the south.
Therefore, the Jianghuai area has always been the place where the northern and southern forces fought decisive battles. The Ming Taizu was one example, and the Huaihai Campaign in later generations was another example.
The Qin army could understand the importance of Jianghuai. The Qing army must have also understood that going north to the Huaihe River would be tantamount to a decisive battle with the Qing army.
The question is, is the Qin army now capable of a decisive battle with the Qing army
Li Yuan disagreed. He said, "King Qin, I think it is not the right time to take Huaibei and Huaibei. First of all, Qin and Fujian have already fallen out, and Zheng Zhilong's navy is still eyeing Chongming. If the navy fails, sending troops north at this time will have disastrous consequences.
Looking at Bolo, Yilduqi, Durde and Fei Yanggu in Hangzhou, they still have tens of thousands of troops in total. If we don't wipe them out with all our strength, Jiangnan will be in turmoil. If these groups of troops are allowed to join forces, I'm afraid they won't be wiped out in a short time.
Previously, the enemy defended and we attacked, and our army took the initiative. Now the situation is reversed, and we will be on the defensive. Bolo can attack everywhere, and we have taken the initiative in action, so we must not underestimate these remaining enemy forces. If we let them cooperate with Zheng Zhilong by land and sea, things will become more troublesome.
Moreover, Luoyang is in the process of a strategic retreat. It is still unknown whether the tens of thousands of troops can safely return to Xiangyang. At this time, sending troops north to Jianghuai is tantamount to opening up another front. King Qin, a string that is stretched too tight is easy to break!"
Yu Dayou immediately retorted, "Prince Qin, the Qing army in Jianghuai is relatively weak at present, and most of them are Green Camp. Once Nanjing is captured, the Green Camp in Jiangbei will be in a panic. At this time, our army will march north with the prestige of a great victory, and the Jianghuai area will hopefully be at peace. If we wait for Duoduo to go south again, it will be a hundred times more difficult to seize Jianghuai. As the saying goes, once you lose an opportunity, it will never come back. Prince Qin, you can't hesitate!"
Shao Hua, Yang Shen, Gu Junen, Lu Daqi, Song Cexian, Guo Duxian, Ning Yuan, Xiang Liancheng, She Yaoqi, Hu Shouliang and others also spoke out, with roughly half supporting and half opposing sending troops to Jianghuai.
Qin Mu did not comment, and asked Meng Ke, who had been in deep thought, "Does Commander Meng think we should send troops to Jianghuai?"
Meng Ke clasped his fists and replied, "Replying to the King of Qin, the situation on the northern front is not optimistic. The remaining enemies in the south of the Yangtze River have not yet been eliminated. Especially the soldiers have gone through a series of battles and are very tired. It is really not appropriate to send a large-scale army to the Yangtze River and Huai River at this time."
Qin Mu was secretly relieved after hearing this. No matter how much the civil officials said on strategy, Qin Mu cared more about the opinions of military generals like Meng Ke in terms of military affairs. Because no matter how good their words were, it was ultimately these military generals who would carry out the actual execution. If even a general like Meng Ke did not have his own opinions, was there any hope for the Qin army
Qin Mu spread his sleeves lightly and said calmly: "Commander Meng seems to have something else to say, please come forward."
Meng Ke immediately said: "King of Qin, although it is not appropriate to send a large army to Jianghuai at present, there are two cities that must be captured immediately and firmly defended. One is Luzhou; the other is Huai'an."
After Qin Mu heard this, he couldn't help but smile. He turned to Sima An and said, "What do you think, Mr. Sima?"
Sima An replied: "My Lord, I think what Commander Meng said is very good."
After hearing this, everyone immediately understood what Meng Ke meant. This was a strategic shift from "surface" to "point". Since they were currently unable to occupy the entire surface, they would first occupy one or two strategic points.
The two strategic points chosen by Meng Ke were also very particular. From the map, one is located on the edge of Chaohu Lake and the other is located on the edge of Hongze Lake. It can be said that controlling Luzhou and Huai'an is equivalent to controlling the Chaohu Lake and Hongze Lake water systems.
If the Qing army wants to move south, they must first capture these two cities, otherwise they will have to be careful about their retreat.
However, it was not easy to capture the city, because the two cities were next to the lake, and the Qin army could continuously reinforce by water, and even cut off the enemy's logistical supplies through Chaohu Lake, Hongze Lake and Huaihe River.
Qin Mu immediately made the decision and said, "Okay, Commander Meng will lead 20,000 troops to the north to take Luzhou. Also send a message to Jin Shenghuan and the navy Liu Zhongqin to take the Grand Canal north to seize Huai'an."
The reason why Jin Shenghuan was allowed to take Huai'an was that the Green Camp soldiers currently stationed in Huai'an were the Zuo Army that Zuo Menggeng had just brought over. Jin Shenghuan and them were from the same lineage. If he went north with the momentum of a great victory, the possibility of surrendering the Huai'an defenders would greatly increase.
As for Luzhou, it was also garrisoned by the Left Army. The last time Anqing was besieged, Yu Yuxian, under the strict order of Hong Chengchou, led his troops south to reinforce Anqing. However, the 20,000 troops were frightened and hesitated when they were not far from Tongcheng.
Now even Hong Chengchou has been destroyed, one can imagine how scared he is. If Meng Ke attacks personally, it should not be difficult to conquer the city.
After this matter is resolved, there are still many problems to come. Qin Mu listed them one by one and invited everyone to discuss them together.
The first thing is whether Xiangyang should send reinforcements just in case.
The second thing is how to treat the officials in Jiangnan who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. In order to appease the people in Jiangnan, Hong Chengchou asked Qian Qianyi to select 300 people to serve as officials in various places. Most of these 300 people were members of the Donglin Party, and most of them came from aristocratic families in Jiangnan. Should these people be forgiven or should the opportunity be taken to uproot them? What consequences will the two approaches bring? This requires careful consideration.
The third thing is how to treat Longwu, Prince Lu and other descendants of the emperor and the phoenix. Should they be eliminated by military means or gradually disintegrated politically? These issues are related to the people's support and also involve the Zheng family in Fujian, so they also need to be carefully considered.
The fourth thing was how to fight for the four provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou, including how to treat the two groups of Liu Wenxiu and Sun Kewang, and a plan was also prepared in advance.
The fifth thing is how to eliminate the remnants of the Qing army such as Bolo, Durde and Fei Yanggu as soon as possible.
Each and every one of these is a headache.
.(To be continued..)
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