I Build an Aircraft Carrier in the Ming Dynasty

Nanjing was busy preparing for the enthronement, while Jiangbei was still fighting.

In order to present Wu Changqing's enthronement gift, after Wu Changqing returned to the south, Li Shaobin prepared to let the army march around Huai'an and expand the territory.

The Qing court is now busy fighting the rebellion in Shanxi, and it is unable to take care of these places at all. It is a good time for the Wu army to recover the lost territory.

For Wu Jun, the biggest problem in attacking these places is not the enemy defending the city, but the logistical problem of their own.

In the south, Liu Hansan is still crusade against Zhu Yihai, so all kinds of military supplies tend to supply Liu Hansan first, and on their side, Wu Changqing's request is to take it slow.

It's a good thing to be able to fight, but it doesn't matter if you can't.

However, Li Shaobin and his subordinates were not reconciled. Only by defeating them would they be able to get credit, and they would be able to get more rewards when they were divided among the ministers.

Therefore, Wu Changqing did not give them hard indicators, but Li Shaobin gave them to himself and his subordinates.

That is, before Wu Changqing officially ascended the throne, all the places south of the Huai River must be recovered as a gift.

As for logistical issues, I will find ways to solve them myself.

Huaian, Li Shaobin and many generals gathered for a meeting to discuss countermeasures.

"Let's talk about it, how to solve the logistical problem." Li Shaobin started first.

"It's just food for the enemy, and every time you capture a place, you ask those merchants for some food and wages. Isn't it normal."

Fang Ce said that this is what their old army used to do often.

"This is not very good. The general warned us not to disturb the people."

Zhang Yingyuan said.

"Min, do those profiteers count as people? We don't need to persecute them, as long as we give a little hint, they should all be sensible."

Fang Ce was a little disdainful, now that Wu Jun is too strict in governing the army, there is absolutely no need for this.

As long as they don't rob all those merchants, it won't cause any major problems.

"In special times, I'm afraid that's the only way to go. Moreover, we can also write IOUs to them and pay them back later when we have money."

Li Shaobin made a decision.

"We can also not bring artillery. Those cannons are too heavy and require a lot of people to assist in transportation. Without artillery, we can save a lot of logistics personnel and a lot of food."

Xu Yuxian said.

A cannon of several kilograms requires several horses and a dozen civilians to transport it, and the daily consumption of these horses and a dozen civilians is not a small number.

"How to attack a city without artillery?"

Li Shaobin asked, without the deterrence of artillery, the difficulty of attacking a city would be much greater.

If too many soldiers were killed or wounded, it would be even more uneconomical.

"We don't need to attack by force. Now people in the south are panicking. I don't think the will of the Qing court's defenders to fight will be too firm. As long as we do a little trick, maybe we can recruit surrender, or cooperate with other generals who are willing to surrender. Or send elites to sneak in in advance."

Xu Yuxian said that he found that Wu Jun did not like to use tactics in battle, and basically attacked and pushed all the way.

This is mainly because the Wu army is strong and does not need to use tactics. Another reason is that the personal abilities of the senior generals of Wu Jun are relatively average, and they can't think of any good strategies.

Li Shaobin, Liu Hansan and others used to be just a hundred households, and they had never even studied the military book, so what kind of strategies could they come up with.

"Sounds good, you all use your talents to overcome difficulties. I don't think you need to bring too much not only artillery, but also cavalry."

Li Shaobin felt that this plan was feasible. Anyway, in the era when there were no artillery, those generals had to attack the city. Not to mention that they still have such a big killer as the flintlock gun.

The general direction was set, and then Li Shaobin arranged specific actions.

He left 40,000 troops stationed in Huai'an. This bridgehead cannot be lost, and he must leave heavy troops to guard against the army of the Qing court.

The remaining 40,000 troops were divided into two groups, of which 10,000 troops marched eastward to attack Yancheng and other places.

There were not many Qing troops stationed in these places, 10,000 people were enough.

Another army marched westward, with a total of 30,000 people, attacking Huainan, Chuzhou, Hefei and other places. In short, the places south of the Huai River are their targets.

Huainan, Chuzhou, and Hefei are all important cities. Even if the Qing army was defeated, it left a large number of troops stationed in those places.

These places are more difficult to fight, so Li Shaobin arranged for 30,000 elites.

The next day, the eastward army took the lead, led by Tang Guozhen of the 21st Division.

After walking for less than half a day, the army encountered trouble, and it rained heavily.

The entire vicinity of Yancheng is low-lying land, and the terrain is very low.

As long as it rained a little, the road was muddy and puddles.

In this kind of weather, you can be exhausted without fighting.

After three days of walking, Wu Jun had only walked forty miles, which was a tortoise speed.

Jianyang, where Wu Jun temporarily rested to take shelter from the rain.

A civilian found Tang Guozhen and said, "Reporting to the general, Yancheng defender Fan Yuchuan refused to surrender. He said he would not surrender unless he could obtain a division commander position after surrendering, and at the same time continue to lead his soldiers into a single division. "

"There is never a shortage of madmen and fools in this world."

Tang Guozhen complained that he actually hoped that Fan Yuchuan would surrender directly, which would save a lot of energy.

However, this Fan Yu happens to be

Chuan Ming was stubborn.

It's okay to ask for a teacher, but it doesn't matter if you give him the position of a master teacher.

However, it is too much for him to ask for a single division.

In the Wu army, all officers did not belong to their own troops, and Wu Changqing could mobilize them at will. The conscription and payment of soldiers have nothing to do with the generals who lead the troops.

The purpose of this is to prevent the officers under his command from embracing their own self-respect. It is the bottom line that Wu Changqing cares about most, and no officer can violate it.

Fan Yuchuan was better. He wanted to retain the independence of the army and asked Wu Changqing to only provide military wages. Then he obeyed on the surface and continued to station in Yancheng to claim the king and hegemony.

This is simply wishful thinking, not to mention that Wu Changqing would not agree, and none of the other generals would agree.

Therefore, Fan Yuchuan's request was basically a refusal to surrender.

In Tang Guozhen's view, those who continued to resist in the face of the powerful Wu Jun at this time were really sick.

Even the Qing court's army of hundreds of thousands was defeated. Why do those people think they can compete?

At this time, Fan Yuchuan of Yancheng was also worried.

Of course, he also knows the strength of Wu Jun, but he is not willing to lose the power he currently possesses.

He is now the emperor of Yancheng, and he has the final say in everything. The Qing court does not care about him, and sometimes pays him and provides him with supplies.

Its request is only to make him swear allegiance to the Qing court.

As for Wu Jun, he wanted to deprive him of his military power. Once the Wu army is surrendered, it cannot have an army loyal to itself, and will lose the greatest political capital.

To be an official in the Wu army, you need to completely obey the orders, and never think about living the life of a soil emperor again. In short, the pay is much worse than it is now.

For this reason, he refused Wu Jun's offer to surrender.

As for what to do when Wu Jun called, this Fan Yuchuan hadn't thought so much.