Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 15 Brother Lu has the style of a famous general
Lu Jin knew Zheng Yong. Strictly speaking, he was not Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinate, but rather a "contemporary soldier" of Zhu Yuanzhang. Both of them were subordinates of Guo Zixing.

This man was not only a brave general, but also a wise general who liked to use his brain, and he was of great help to Zhu Yuanzhang.

What help?

In the process of Zhu Yuanzhang founding the Ming Dynasty, there were three important strategic opportunities.

The first time was when Zheng Yong suggested that he leave Guo Zixing and go out to establish his own faction and build his own power. He also said that Chuzhou was a good place, so he took Chongba Ge and captured the first stronghold of the Ming Dynasty.

The second time was by Feng Guoyong, who suggested that Zhu Yuanzhang develop towards Nanjing, saying that there were people and food there, the terrain was strategically located, and it occupied the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, so great achievements could be made there.

The third time was when Zhu Sheng gave Zhu Yuanzhang no advice, but only a nine-character mantra: "Build high walls, store up food, and wait until you claim the throne."
From this we can see that Zheng Yong was the real beginning of the Ming Dynasty, but now this person is going to join the Chaohu Navy?

This may be the biggest change he has made to this world line since he traveled through time. Without Zheng Yong, would Zhu Yuanzhang still think of occupying Chuzhou?
"How did you find this person? Is he reliable?" Lu Jin asked hurriedly, pulling the two of them.

Hearing this, Zhang Desheng immediately said, "Brother Lu, don't worry. I am also a native of Luzhou. I have known Zheng Yong for a long time. His family lives outside the city and is not rich. He has always complained about the Tartars and has long been dissatisfied.

"It's just that he's a smart guy, and smart people think a lot. When I went to Brother Liao before, I asked him if he would go, but he said it wasn't the right time yet. As expected, nothing happened. This time, I went to him in person and asked if he could help me. He thought about it and agreed."

Lu Jin was stunned. "You won't tell him our plan directly?"

"No, I'm not stupid. I just told him that we wanted to deal with Zuo Junbi and asked him if he was willing to help. I didn't say more, but with his intelligence, he should be able to guess something."

"That's fine." Lu Jin nodded, "Have you agreed on a time with him?"

"He didn't say when, but he said any time would be fine. Anyway, there's nothing to do after the autumn harvest."

"Okay, let's decide on the ambush location tonight."

That night, Lu Jin took Liao Yongan and his men to find an ambush position.

Lu Jin's plan was to first send a message to Zuo Junbi that his side was short of food, and then pretend to raise some food from the villages outside the city. However, the food needed to be transported back to Chaohu, which required the Chaohu navy to go ashore to meet it.

The reason why Zuo Junbi has not been able to completely wipe out the Chaohu navy is because they did not go ashore. Now that the Chaohu navy has gone ashore, as long as he is not stupid, he will definitely not miss this good opportunity.

However, this plan was still missing a link, which was how to feed false information to Zuo Junbi. Lu Jin had already completed the first step of the plan to deceive Zuo Junbi about the food shortage through two false moves. The second step of the plan required an "informant" to go to Zuo Junbi and report them.

The informant chosen by Liao Yongan and his team was Zheng Yong, so the location of the ambush had to be determined according to the plan.

The village where Zheng Yong was located was in Feixi, called Xujiatai, so the ambush site should be on the road between Xujiatai and Chaohu, which was in line with the logic of transporting grain to Chaohu as soon as possible.

Lu Jin took Liao Yongan and the others to walk along this road personally, and finally found a suitable terrain at 1/3 of the way, near Chaohu Lake. There was a semi-abandoned village there, called Changjiaao. You can tell what kind of place it is just by the name.

There are actually not many mountains in the Jianghuai Plain surrounding Hefei. There are some mountains to the east of Chaohu Lake, but there are really not many mountains around Hefei. It is difficult to find an ambush position. But there are hills here!

Changjiaao is a place surrounded by hills. It is surrounded by hills on three sides. The gap faces north and is blocked by a forest. There are entrances and exits between the hills, but the road is not wide and the small earth slopes on both sides are not steep. They cannot stop cavalry and infantry, but this is enough!
Lu Jin stood on the highest hill behind the village, holding a flashlight and shining it at the village below, and spoke to the people around him.

"Look, there are hills on three sides here. There is a road leading to the outside on the southwest and east sides. There is a forest on the northwest side. There is also an entrance over there, which is exactly the direction we are transporting grain back from. If Zuo Junbi chases us, he will definitely pass through here."

Liao Yongan held up the telescope and took a rough look in the moonlight, then said.

"But the terrain here is not very big. There is only a little flat land on three sides, and almost half of it is occupied by the village. There are tens of thousands of people on both sides. Can we break through?"

Lu Jin could only explain.

"You don't understand. We lack armor and are afraid of the government troops' bows and arrows. The terrain here is narrow and there are houses blocking each other. Their bows and arrows cannot be effective. They can only use a few people to fight us in the narrow alleys.

"On the other hand, our Mandarin Duck Formation is most suitable for this kind of narrow terrain, and can bring out its full strength.

“Moreover, in terms of terrain, we can occupy the mound here in advance. There are also three entrances and exits. Standing on a high place, we can have a clear view of the situation in the entire village and can dispatch and command with ease.

"Zuo Junbi won't be able to do that. He is standing in the depression in the middle. As long as he enters the village, he will have one foot in a cemetery. The soldiers are scattered in the village, and he can't even find where his own soldiers are. The entire command will be in chaos. Then we can only defeat them one by one. Then we will block the three intersections, and none of them will be able to escape." Liao Yongan listened to Lu Jin's introduction and looked at the terrain. It seemed to be the case.

Yu Tingyu looked at several intersections and said worriedly, "The slopes beside these three intersections are not steep, so it's not difficult to climb over them. Can they be sealed?"

Lu Jin thought for a moment, "This is already the most suitable terrain on this road. If it doesn't work, we can still modify it artificially. We can prepare some carts, barricades, chevaux de frise, etc. in advance, and then roll down the slope to completely block the road. Maybe one or two people can get out, but it's impossible for them to escape as a whole."

Yu Tingyu also nodded, "Then I have no problem."

Zhao Zhongzhong asked curiously, "So what should we do next?"

"Send a battalion of soldiers here immediately." Lu Jin said, pointing at the village where the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking could be heard from time to time.

“There are still people in the village. We have to relocate them in advance to avoid harming innocent people. It’s forced relocation. But they are allowed to take their belongings and food with them, and we will help them move.

"We will resettle them in Chaohu first. We will compensate them with one stone of rice per family. If their houses are damaged, we will provide additional compensation. After everyone has moved out, we will bring the soldiers here. We will also need to make some arrangements here in advance."

"Mobilize troops now?" Zhao Zhongzhong asked in surprise.

"What else? You still want to help them move in broad daylight, but are afraid that Zuo Junbi's scouts won't see it?" Lu Jin asked back.

"Okay, I'll go right away."

"Get on your horses, hurry up, and don't forget to take the team with you."

"it is good."

Looking at Zhao Zhongzhong leaving, Liao Yongan and Yu Tingyu looked at each other and once again realized Lu Jin's decisive and efficient side. He was really efficient in doing things.

"Then what should we do?" Liao Yongan asked.

"After we relocate the people here, we will bring the soldiers over. At least call the company and platoon leaders from each unit over first, assign them their battle positions in advance, and mark them so that they can recognize the positions of their own teams." Lu Jin said, pointing around.

Yu Tingyu and Liao Yongan were a little surprised when they heard this.

"Is it so troublesome? Every centurion must first identify their place before going to war?"

Seeing the two people's reactions, Lu Jin could only explain.

"If it were an elite army that knew how to fight, then there would be no need to go through so much trouble. But we are not an elite army. If you want me to lead an army that has never won a battle and we must win, then I can only think of more ways.

"Moreover, the Art of War states that the general is the backbone of the army. As commanders, we lead thousands of troops, and each of them has a family behind them, which means tens of thousands of people.

"Tens of thousands of people have entrusted their lives to us, so how can we be careless? If you don't think about one thing, hundreds of people will die on the battlefield. A battle that could have been won was lost because you were not careful.

“You must do well what you can do yourself. Don’t be lazy, don’t be afraid of trouble, and be fully prepared.

"This way, even if some people still die, I can say with a clear conscience that I tried my best, I saved more brothers, and I defeated the enemy."

"Thank you for your advice." Liao Yongan clasped his fists and bowed to Lu Jin.

"Brother Lu has the spirit of a famous general!" Yu Tingyu also bowed to him.

The two looked at each other, and their evaluation of Lu Jin was raised to a higher level again.

As a general, this man really takes his brothers' lives seriously!
"Then when should we notify Zheng Yong to take action?"

"Maybe a day or two, to see how the preparations are going here." Lu Jin said after thinking for a while.

(End of this chapter)