?
"Congratulations, Ruan Shishuai! You've won the first prize!" Lei Hu was both happy and envious. Although he was smiling, he spoke through clenched teeth.
Ruan Xihao said calmly, "If it wasn't for Marshal Lei blocking the perimeter and feigning an attack on Shucheng to make it difficult for Qing Yao, I wouldn't have been able to attack the city walls so easily. Moreover, most of Qing Yao's men were killed by you, Marshal Lei. "
Since Ruan Xihao's attitude was so gentle, Lei Hu had nothing to say. Moreover, Vézé's evaluation was based on the completion of the mission. This time, Lei Hu's mission was completed perfectly. Other than the first merit, the collective contribution of the troops was the same as Ruan Xihao's troops.
After dealing with Lei Hu, Ruan Xihao said to Ke Gongyu, 1st Division's Marshal, "Marshal Ke's instructing brigade was a great help to Qing Yao."
Ke Gongyu was not as excited as Lei Hu. He smiled and said, "Since it's a battle arrangement, I naturally have to complete the mission."
The head of operations, Hu Chenghe, could not help but join in the conversation. "You guys are thanking each other, but why doesn't anyone think of the General Staff Division? So we don't have any merit? "
"The General Staff Division's plan is really good. I don't know how to thank you!" Lei Hu smiled. "But, your plan is too good. We, who fought the battle personally, don't even know how to thank you. If we're talking about merit, it's not too much for the General Staff Division to take all the merit!"
"Marshal Lei, are you complimenting me?" Hu Chenghe smiled.
Looking at the generals who were elated by the victory, Vézé could not help but think of Zhang Yingchen. To be honest, Vézé did not hate Zhang Yingchen. It was just that every time he thought of some inappropriate personnel arrangements, he felt a little regretful. Vézé suspected that he might be overthinking things. Without Zhang Yingchen around, the atmosphere in the upper echelons seemed to be a lot more relaxed.
Could it be that Zhang Yingchen was too impatient, training crazily, and then venting his anger on the soldiers? Vézé could not help thinking. However, he couldn't say anything at this moment. He could only let things develop on their own.
Now that they had taken down Shu City, they would be able to head straight for Lu Prefecture. After interrogating the captives, Vézé finally understood why there was a rumor that the 4,000 Qing Army was going to attack Anqing. Currently, Shu City and Lu Zhou had less than 4,000 soldiers. At this time, the Governor of Anhui, Jiang Wenqing, was in Lu Zhou. He was worried that if they gave up defending Shu City, the Taiping army would be able to kill their way to Lu Zhou. Therefore, Jiang Wenqing sent 1,000 reinforcements to Shucheng. In addition to the 700 to 800 Qing Army who were originally guarding Shucheng, the total number of reinforcements was close to 2,000.
As a result, this tactic of splitting up the troops resulted in the Taiping army being defeated one by one. Now, the total number of Qing Army defending Lu Zhou was less than 2,000. The General Staff's view was very simple. The entire army should immediately head straight for Lu Zhou and quickly take down this city that was empty of troops.
If they could take down Lu Zhou, the Taiping army would be able to settle the grain taxes in the vast area between Lu Zhou and Anqing before the grain harvest in July. At that time, the total amount of grain that could be collected would be enough to feed 60,000 people a year according to the "financial budget."
"Prime Minister, are you worried about Zhang Yingchen?" Hu Chenghe couldn't help but ask when he saw Vézé's thoughtful expression.
Vézé frowned and looked at Hu Chenghe. He wondered how he could be so easily seen through. Vézé replied, "I'm indeed a little worried that he's causing trouble in the army because he's angry."
Hu Chenghe laughed and said, "Prime Minister, you always put your brothers in your heart. You can tell at a glance. Don't worry, Zhang Yingchen has many tricks up his sleeve. The more it's like this, the more he'll obediently train his troops. I feel that he was so careless in the beginning because he wanted to make contributions but was afraid of losing the battle. Now that he's working from the bottom up, he should feel at ease. "
"I hope so," Vézé replied. At this point, nothing Vézé said would be of any use. Everything depended on whether Zhang Yingchen could understand reason.
Putting the matter of Zhang Yingchen aside, Vézé said, "I don't recommend taking Lu Zhou immediately. Once we reach Lu Zhou, the entire Qing Yao army north of Lu Zhou will be alerted. I want to surround them and attack their reinforcements. We'll feign an attack on Lu Zhou and attack Qing Yao, who will come to their aid. Lu Zhou won't be able to escape. Once we defeat the reinforcements Qing Yao sent to Lu Zhou, Qing Yao in the city will naturally be scared to death. The local tyrants in Lu Zhou will also know how powerful we are. It'll be beneficial for us to implement the grain tax in Lu Zhou. "
This idea surprised the generals. Some of them frowned in thought, while others looked at Vézé with furrowed brows, obviously hoping that Vézé would explain.
Vézé said, "Let me ask you a question. What do you think is the most important thing in a war?"
"Courage?" Ruan Xihao replied.
"Training?" Ke Gongyu replied.
"Finding out the enemy's situation?" Lei Hu replied.
"The most important thing in a war is food and money. If money can be used to buy the goods needed, then the first, second, and third thing to fight a war is money! Of course, this is a situation where money can be used to buy goods. "Vézé quoted Napoleon.
"With money to buy food, the troops will be able to train well. With money to buy weapons, the troops will be able to buy better weapons. Since we may not be able to buy them with money now, and we don't have much food and weapons, then we must first obtain a stable supply of food. If we want the local tyrants to accept grain, then we must let them know that they are no match for us. We must also let them know that we have the ability to kill all the Qing Yao in our territory. If the tyrants are doomed if they don't pay taxes, they will not fight to the death. Instead, they will use grain to survive. War is the continuation of politics. First there is politics, then there is war! You must not get this wrong. "
The word politics was taught in the literacy course in the army. Politics was policy, government was government, and governance was governance. Using policy to govern a country was politics.
Hu Chenghe nodded slightly. "In other words, the purpose of attacking Luzhou is to control the area between Luzhou and Anqing, complete the policy of paying taxes, and accumulate the capital to fight against Qing Yao in the future?"
"That's right!" Vézé nodded with satisfaction. "Every war is not just to kill people, nor is it just to seize some territory. These are all means, not the goal. The General Staff Headquarters talks about strategy, and the goal of strategy is never to win a battle, or even to win a few battles. It depends on whether the ultimate goal of the war is achieved. And whether the price we pay is within the range we can bear. If the strategy is wrong, no matter how many battles we win, it will be useless. "
There was no need for Wei Ze to explain in detail what happened next. Once they had food, they would be able to recruit troops and feed them. They could also allow troops completely separated from agricultural production to undergo adequate military training. The Combat Training Department and the Instructional Brigade had been established for a long time. The generals were well aware of the consequences of a troop on the battlefield if they had not undergone rigorous training.
As the former commander of the brigade, Ke Gongyu knew this even better. He asked, "If that's the case, should we transfer another division from Anqing? I'm afraid we won't have enough troops with just the three divisions we have."
"That's right! That's right! " Hu Chenghe agreed. "If it's just a war, we can attack Luzhou, which is guarded by two thousand Qing Yao soldiers. If we want to intimidate the place, we need at least eight thousand men. "
"When we move in, we can transfer the fourth division here." Vézé agreed to this suggestion.
On the 7th of May, Vézé's troops arrived at Luzhou. They surrounded the entire city in units of brigades. On the 9th of May, news reached Vézé. The magistrate of Luzhou, Hu Yuanwei, had privately sent someone to contact the Taiping army and ask for their surrender.
"Does Hu Yuanwei really want to surrender?" Hu Chenghe was confused. Before the war, the General Staff Headquarters had made ample preparations for a long siege. They didn't expect the magistrate of Luzhou to be such a spineless coward. He actually wanted to surrender. With the displeasure of having his strategy disrupted, Hu Chenghe was the first to voice his doubts.
Ke Gongyu didn't care. "What's there to be afraid of? Since he wants to surrender, let's accept it. Even if Hu Yuanwei wants to play any tricks, as long as our troops enter the city, the Qing Army in the city will be nothing. As long as the terrain allows, it won't be difficult for 100 of our Instructional Brigade to fight 1,000 of them. "
"What do you mean?" Hu Chenghe asked.
Ke Gongyu smiled. "It's simple. If Hu Yuanwei wants to open the city gates to lure the enemy, we will first send someone to contact him and investigate the city walls. If he dares to let 100 of us in, we will immediately take control of the vital areas. By then, Hu Yuanwei's tricks will be useless. With our men on top of the city walls, it won't be difficult to attack. "
"Then what about besieging the enemy?" Hu Chenghe asked.
"The situation has changed, so we have to change as well!" Ke Gongyu replied.
"Do we have to change our plans?" Hu Chenghe asked.
"This is called adapting to the situation!" Ke Gongyu replied.
Vézé didn't reply immediately. He was also wavering between these two opinions. This was really a case of change. Vézé didn't care about the reliability of Hu Yuanwei's surrender. Whether Hu Yuanwei surrendered or not didn't have much of an impact on whether Vézé could take Luzhou. Luzhou was an important city in northern Anhui. It wasn't a small city. It would be too difficult for the 2,000 Qing Army to defend the city walls. The difference in combat power between the two sides was too great. Ke Gongyu was right. If 100 of his brothers from the Instructional Brigade were to guard a city gate, or even a section of the city wall, the 2,000 Qing Army wouldn't be able to take it back within two hours. At this point, it was enough for Vézé's troops to successfully enter the city. All that was left was to eliminate the Qing Army.
However, there was a problem with this method. Vézé would still lose some of his troops. Vézé was in a dilemma between reducing his losses and maintaining his strategy. Lei Hu also joined in the discussion. "Prime Minister, I think we should agree to Hu Yuanwei's request. There will always be casualties when attacking a city. If we fight with Qing Yao head-on, we'll probably lose even fewer people. What do you think? "
These words made Vézé's eyes light up. That's right. In terms of pure losses, it would be more efficient to use his brothers in the field. For an army, protecting the lives of its soldiers was the most important factor.
"Then we'll agree to Hu Yuanwei's request. But tell him that we can only wait for three more days. If he doesn't make a move in three days, we'll attack the city. After we take the city, we can let the others go, but we can't let Hu Yuanwei go! "Vézé said.
Hu Yuanwei was really cunning. After receiving a threatening reply from Vézé, Hu Yuanwei secretly sent a request. The content was that the Governor of Anhui, Jiang Wenqing, wanted Hu Yuanwei to ask for reinforcements. Hu Yuanwei could open the door, but that would be when he went to ask for reinforcements. Hu Yuanwei hoped that Vézé would agree to let Hu Yuanwei 'continue to ask for reinforcements'. As for the small door that was opened, Hu Yuanwei 'didn't know'.
Late at night on the 12th of May, the Shuixi Gate of Luzhou opened a small opening. The Taiping army, which had been lying in ambush, rushed into Luzhou City. A small group of Taiping army escorted a plain-clothed official to the Shuixi Gate. There was already a small boat waiting for them there.
"Lord Hu, I'll have to trouble you on the way north!" Lei Hu, who was sending him off, said with a fake smile.
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