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East of Tong Pass was Shan County. East of Shan County was Luoyang. East of Luoyang was Hulao Pass. Any army attacking from the west to the east would be greeted by the vast Huanghuai Plain after they charged out of Hulao Pass. The plains were rich in natural resources, and transportation was convenient. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng entered Henan on this road, and then he led his army north to attack Beijing, forcing Emperor Chongzhen to hang himself.
Following Li Zicheng's route, the Nian Army and Chen Yucheng's troops killed their way out of Shaanxi and broke through Shan County. After a fierce attack, Chen Yucheng seized Luoyang, and the Taiping army immediately set up operations in Luoyang. The Nian Army quickly broke through Hulao Pass and Yingyang, killing their way into Henan.
When the news reached the Xiang Army, which used Huoyang as its core stronghold, it caused a wave of uneasiness. By the middle of March, more than a hundred thousand people in Huoyang had been completely slaughtered. The Nian Army had killed their way out of Hulao Pass at the end of April. The Nian Army was probably out for revenge.
Ceng Guofan said to his subordinates disapprovingly, "Shaanxi is thousands of miles from here. If the Yan bandits really heard the news and tried to rescue us, they would have arrived earlier than we are now. Now is the time when there is a shortage of supplies. The bandits have brought their own rations with them. After one or two months, they will run out of rations and it will be time to harvest. At that time, it was easy for them to find food. That must be what the bandits are after. "
After hearing Ceng Guofan's judgment, the generals of the Xiang Army all agreed with him. The most important thing in a war was to have rations. If the soldiers did not have enough to eat, then there was no need to fight.
When the Xiang Army received the news, so did the Liberation Army. The Liberation Army had a direct source of intelligence in the Taiping army. Before the decision to mobilize the Nian Army was made, someone had already sent this information to the Liberation Army. The commander of the Huaihe River defense line, Lei Hu, received the news from Guangzhou.
Faced with such a torment, Lei Hu couldn't help but complain, "Why don't you hurry to Nanjing? If he takes the Central Committee to Nanjing, we won't have to go back and forth. Even if there's a telegram, what's the use of Guangzhou knowing that the Nian Army is active in Henan? "
This complaint was reasonable, but it was just a complaint. Moreover, with the telegram, even if a piece of intelligence was sent from Shouzhou to Guangzhou, and then from Guangzhou to Huaiyin General Headquarters, it would take at most two days. What Lei Hu was truly unhappy about was the fact that the Huaihe River defense line headquarters had a lower priority when it came to intelligence sharing. Now, the only frontline where the Liberation Army would really face war at any time was the Huaihe River defense line.
"Commander Lei, the Governor can't come to Nanjing, so he must have his own thoughts. I heard that the rectification in Guangzhou is very fierce. Many departments have arrested many corrupt people, "Party Secretary Xu Kaiwen advised.
Lei Hu said angrily, "Those who take bribes and bend the law should be arrested and killed. Let's not talk about killing them in Guangzhou. Do you think we'll let them off here? "
The Secretary of the Party Committee was the person in charge of the current Party Committee system. The commander of the military region was not only the chief military officer but also the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee. Therefore, in an army, between the Secretary and the chief officer, it was not necessarily who had a higher position. For example, a veteran like Lei Hu, who was very capable, had a greater influence in the Party Committee meeting than the Secretary.
During the discussion at the Party Committee meeting, the focus of everyone's discussion was whether the Manchu Qing could withstand it. In theory, the Nian Army was now a branch of the Taiping Rebellion. The leaders of each branch had official positions in the Taiping Rebellion. At present, the total strength of the two Nian Army operating in Henan and Shandong was close to 100,000. The reason why the Taiping Rebellion allowed the Nian Army to move freely in Henan, Shandong, and other places was to disrupt the elite areas controlled by the Manchu Qing. If it was a 100,000 Liberation Army, they could completely seize Henan, Hebei, and Shandong in one northern expedition. Even if the Nian Army's combat strength was not good, it could still cause a heavy blow to the Manchu Qing.
"This isn't just a matter of military strength. Can the Manchu Qing afford it?" Lei Hu voiced his opinion. After so many years of accumulation in the Liberation Army, Lei Hu, who had steadily become the commander-in-chief of the frontline, could already look at problems from an economic perspective. A battle was not a battle between two armies. Only when the horn of charge sounded could it be called a war. In order to start a war, a lot of preparations had to be made. These preparations accounted for 90% of the total war. Recruiting, training, organizing troops, collecting food, producing weapons, investigating, and organizing troops to march — as the commander-in-chief, Lei Hu had to care about these. When the war really started, the only thing Lei Hu could say was, "Don't be careless, fight the enemy bravely."
These were all knowledge that Vézé had tried hard to teach the Liberation Army. As a Liberation Army who had created many precedents of failure, Lei Hu could already understand war.
When the level of the discussion was pulled to a strategic level, the discussion became even simpler. In Sun Tzu's Art of War, it was said, "A man who wins before the battle in the temple has to calculate a lot; a man who loses before the battle in the temple has to calculate a little. More calculation wins, less calculation loses, and no calculation at all! From this point of view, victory and defeat will be seen. "
The Liberation Army, on the other hand, used a quantitative system to carry out strategic judgments — food, troops, training, equipment — after these data were taken out, the overall strength of the two sides in the war was clearly displayed, and the difference between victory and defeat also became simple and easy to understand. With such a strategic foundation, there was also a set of standards to judge the commander's ability.
Therefore, every time Lei Hu held a meeting, the army felt that things were very simple. The political commissars and commanders at all levels found that what they had to do was clearly placed in front of them, and whether they did it well or not depended on their own ability.
The discussion only lasted for less than half an hour before Party Secretary Xu Kaiwen concluded, "The 100,000 Nian Army can fight for a year, and there is nothing left in the three provinces. Except for a bunch of accumulated combat experience in the Qing Army, their mobile combat ability is basically zero. "
Lei Hu added, "A few main forces should be able to be pulled out to fight, but don't expect them to have any field combat ability."
"Then should we apply to the commander-in-chief to carry out the northern expedition at this time next year?" This idea was immediately put forward.
But the military discussion stopped there. Vézé was the number one person in the Liberation Army, but Vézé was also the number one person in the entire new government. He not only had to consider military matters, but also politics. The area in which Lei Hu and the others could use their abilities was limited to the military.
Lei Hu said, "Let's summarize the information and report it to the commander-in-chief. In addition, the report also asks when the commander-in-chief will arrive in Nanjing. Nanjing is now in the center of the country, so it is more convenient to command the various places. Commander-In-Chief, please consider this factor. "
The report was sent to Guangzhou by express mail. After reading Lei Hu's report, Vézé just ordered it to be put away. Shen Xin, the director of the political department, tentatively asked, "Commander-In-Chief, the work in Guangdong is not so urgent now. We can consider going to Nanjing."
Several geographical boundaries in China divided China into several natural economic zones, and Lingnan was one of them. With the construction of the new Guangzhou city on track, the entire core of Lingnan had appeared. If Vézé went to Nanjing, it would be tantamount to handing over Lingnan to his comrades. In addition to managing the entire liberated area, Vézé would also have to spend a lot of effort on the Yangtze River basin.
Hongji's coal, Qiongzhou's iron, Guangxi's aluminum, Vietnam and Siam's rice, Lingnan's rubber, Lanfang's gold, and the overseas trade system. The Lingnan area was developing extremely fast. If he supervised here for two or three years, there would definitely be a new breakthrough in Lingnan. Vézé was hesitant about whether leaving Lingnan at this time was a good strategic choice.
Looking at Vézé's thoughtful expression, Shen Xin advised, "Commander-In-Chief, we still have to give our comrades a chance to show their capabilities."
"Oh? What do you think? "Shen Xin's words surprised Vézé.
Shen Xin said calmly, "Commander-in-chief, our comrades are all very convinced by your guidance. I feel that you're just worried about everyone. Now that the overall framework has been set up, the rest of the work will be better if you look at it. Even if you don't look at it, it won't be much worse. But Commander-In-Chief, this is the time for everyone to make contributions. If you don't give everyone a chance to make contributions, what's the point of these contributions falling on your head? "
This was indeed very correct from a human point of view. Even if Vézé didn't like this point of view, he had to admit that this statement was correct. "I am now worried that they want to make contributions. Contributions and meritorious service are two different things. Contributions are an evaluation of what has been done, while meritorious service is to do things in order to get credit. The two are worlds apart. "
Shen Xin continued to advise, "Commander-In-Chief, the book 'How Correct Thinking Comes About' written by the central government specifically talks about this problem. The book repeatedly emphasized that all of this came from practice. I think Commander-In-Chief, you should still believe in everyone and give everyone a chance to practice. Also, we have been dealing with so many people recently. Not only is everyone panicking, but their work has also been affected. As long as we stick to the main points, we won't give those who don't work a chance. Everyone should be able to breathe a sigh of relief, right? "
Vézé used to not understand why corruption was so serious back then, but now he completely understood. When the country promoted investment and construction, this was the biggest cash flow. There was basically no one who could not be tempted by such a huge amount of money. The system and the law were telling everyone that if they touched the country's money, the country would deal with them. The repeated strengthening of the legal awareness in the system was to make the punishment of people as less interference as possible.
Many old revolutionaries had fallen under the temptation of money, which was why Vézé's position could not be shaken. If Vézé had left Guangzhou early, God knew what would have happened here.
But since Shen Xin was right, Vézé also felt that it was time for him to go to Nanjing. He said, "The key now is who should stay in Guangdong."
A large number of outstanding comrades gradually emerged in the process of elimination. For example, comrade Wang Mingshan had good ability. What was more interesting was that his awkward personality, which was not easy to compromise, played a great role at this stage. Wang Mingshan's unyielding personality had gradually become a lot more mellow over the years, but that was only on the surface. On various issues, as long as Wang Mingshan felt that he was standing in the right position, he would not compromise.
Vézé really wanted to keep Wang Mingshan in Guangdong, but he was worried that Wang Mingshan would go too far. More and more people came to Vézé to complain. Wang Mingshan's excellent work had indeed accumulated a lot of contradictions. If Shen Xin stayed in Guangdong, he would be a very good candidate. But Shen Xin could not leave his position, and Vézé relied on Shen Xin very much. Therefore, there was no way to keep Shen Xin in Guangdong to take charge of the overall situation.
"Let's find a good partner for comrade Wang Mingshan. Who do you think is more suitable?" Vézé asked Shen Xin.
"I think comrade Pang Congcong is good. She has always been the secretary of the steel group, and her work is very good. She also knows economics, and I think she is very suitable for being the governor. Mingshan is the secretary of the provincial party committee. As long as he does not interfere with the work of the comrades, this team should be fine. "Shen Xin gave a suggestion.
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