Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 42: The Time Node of Crossing the River (Please Read)
Whether to defend Liang County after it is captured is the question.

Historically, Zuo Junbi occupied Luzhou for more than ten years. After Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the river and occupied Nanjing, Zhang Shicheng occupied large areas of Huaixi and Huaibei from the north of the river, and Zhu Yuanzhang occupied the Heyang and Chuzhou line.

Zuo Junbi and Zhang Shicheng cooperated to confront Zhu Yuanzhang. The two sides fought a seesaw war near Luzhou. After countless battles, only one tenth of the population in Hefei remained, and Luzhou City was completely destroyed.

From this point of view, Lu Jin's early capture of Luzhou was equivalent to saving hundreds of thousands of people in Hefei.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Luzhou City was rebuilt and the entire population of Hefei area was immigrated from Jiangsu. Liang County, which was originally a small county without city walls, was directly abolished.

Liang County certainly has a population now, probably less than 20,000, which makes it a relatively large town, and Lu Jin also has two options.

Or the population of Liang County can be directly moved to Luzhou, which can accommodate them.

The current Luzhou City was built in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty and was expanded specifically to resist the Mongol attacks. During the Mongolian advance to attack the Song Dynasty, Luzhou was never conquered until the Southern Song capital surrendered, and then the Luzhou defenders surrendered.

After the expansion, Luzhou City uses natural rivers as its moat. The urban area is extremely large, and there is even a Jindou River winding through the city. During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, the Xiaoyaojin that made Sun Quan sad was directly enclosed in the city by the city wall.

At this time, Luzhou City was much larger than the commercially prosperous Guangzhou City during the Ming Dynasty, with an area of ​​more than five square kilometers. During the peak period of the Southern Song Dynasty, there were more than 12 registered residents in the city, and there were also tens of thousands of permanent residents from outside the city, so it was no problem to accommodate 20 people.

The Luzhou City that Lu Jin took over had a population of only 60,000. There were plenty of vacant houses in the city, and even half of the city's area was vacant land, which could be used to expand houses or build factories in the city. Now it was used by him as a military camp.

It would be no big deal to move all the population of Liang County here, but with a larger population, food consumption would also increase.

If we don't move and want to defend Liang County, we have to station troops in Liang County and build a city, which will cost a lot of money, food and time.

The key point is that there are no enemies to his north for the time being, so even if Liang County is emptied, it will not have much impact, so he hesitated for a moment.

At this time, Yang Jing, who had just arrived, demonstrated his value.

All the previous Chaohu generals could only follow Lu Jin's orders. They were fine with discussing some battle tactics, but when it came to strategic issues regarding development direction, they could not give any suggestions. But Yang Jing could.

"General, we need to defend Liang County and build a city. And not only Liang County, we also need to build a new city or a fortress to the east."

Lu Jin raised his eyebrows when he heard this, "What's the reason?"

Yang Jing immediately found a few tea bowls and placed the map on the ground, then explained.

"This is Luzhou City. Lu'an in the west is more than 200 miles away from Luzhou, Anfeng and Shouxian in the northwest are more than 300 miles away from Luzhou, Dingyuan in the north is also more than 300 miles away from Luzhou, and Chuzhou and Quanjiao in the northeast are also 300 miles away from Luzhou. In this large area, there is only one Liang County in the middle.

“If we withdraw Liang County, then the enemy forces in these three directions can march straight into Luzhou City, and then we will have to fight a battle to defend the city.

“But if we build a city and station troops in Liang County, then the enemy forces in these three directions will not dare to bypass Liang County and attack Luzhou directly. If they dare to ignore Liang County and attack Luzhou directly, Liang County will appear behind them and cut off their food supply.

"On the contrary, if Liang County becomes the front line and is attacked, we can use Luzhou as the central army headquarters and send reinforcements to Liang County to support and stop the enemy outside. Liang County is 70 miles away from Luzhou, which is not far or near, and can just serve as an outpost for Luzhou."

Lu Jin nodded when he heard this. From a battle perspective, it made sense. The problem was that he knew that there would be no large enemy forces in the north, because he had a historical spoiler.
To the northwest of Luzhou is the Red Army of Liu Du, and to the northeast is the Zhima Li of Xuzhou, both of whom are his "friendly armies". The Yuan army must defeat them first before coming to Luzhou to cause trouble for Lu Jin.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was able to survive in Huaixi in history was because there were always Liu Du's Red Army in the north to help him attract firepower. Liu Du's Longfeng Northern Expedition was very vigorous. Even Yuanshangdu was conquered by them and burned to the ground.

The Central Army of the Longfeng Northern Expedition even fought all the way to the Korean Peninsula, crossed the 38th parallel, and captured the Goryeo capital of Kaesong, which frightened the Goryeo royal family so much that they almost fled by boat. Then the Central Army returned and attacked Dadu from Liaodong via the Panghai Road (Liaoxi Corridor), which was really outrageous.
The Mongols in Beijing opened their eyes and saw that the Song army was coming from outside Shanhaiguan!

As we all know, the Song army is super good at fighting as long as they are not surnamed Zhao
With such a powerful teammate, how could there be any powerful enemy to the north of Lu Jin?

Regarding Yang Jing's suggestion, from the combat aspect alone, his suggestion was still very pertinent, so in order not to dampen his enthusiasm, Lu Jin nodded and encouraged him.

"What you said makes sense. In addition to Liang County, you said you want to build another city. Where will it be located?"

Yang Jing immediately placed another tea bowl.

"We are currently in Luzhou, facing three main enemy forces. Zuo Junbi has been killed by the Marshal, and Zhu Liangzu has also been captured alive by the Marshal. He has also sent people to attack Lu'an. With Zhu Liangzu in hand, Lu'an will surely be defeated. The only remaining enemy force is Kang Maocai to the east.

“Kang Maocai occupied Heyang, which is more than 300 miles away from Luzhou. The distance between them is flat. If he sent troops to attack, he could also reach Luzhou directly. So I suggest that we build a city in a place with water source 100 to 200 miles to the east of Luzhou.

“It doesn’t need to be too big, a fortress will do, as long as it can house a few thousand troops.

"The reason is the same as Liang County. If there is a city in the east, Kang Maocai will never dare to attack Luzhou directly. If he attacks the outer fortress, we can send troops from Luzhou to support him, or even directly use the navy to attack his Heyang from Chaohu Lake, so that he can't return home and become an isolated army without a home."

When Yang Jing mentioned the garrison fortress, Lu Jin didn't react at all, but the idea of ​​stealing Kang Maocai's lair mentioned by him made his eyes light up, and then he shook his head secretly.

The idea is good, but it is difficult to implement. It is too risky. Kang Maocai only has more than 10,000 people, and I will soon have more than 20,000 people. I can kill him in a head-on battle. There is no need to take risks. Lu Jin stood up and concluded, "Your overall idea is to push the defense line outward, making Luzhou a very safe base camp and rear area, ensuring that Luzhou will not be attacked by the enemy, and then Luzhou can also provide support outside."

"Yes, that's right." Yang Jing nodded. Lu Jin's summary was exactly what he wanted to say.

"Okay, I'll listen to you about building the city. Now we have occupied Luzhou, and then we will take Lu'an. If we can take Chao County and other places and defeat Kang Maocai, then where should we develop next? Have you thought about it?" Lu Jin suddenly tested.

"This." Yang Jing hadn't really thought about it that far yet.

The key is that he has just arrived and has not yet understood Lu Jin's approach, especially how Lu Jin views other Red Turban Army members and how he will get along with other rebel forces. This will determine the specific direction of the future.

Lu Jin wanted to train him to be a talented general, so he reminded him.

"What do you think is the most important thing in the struggle for the world in troubled times?"

Yang Jing said without hesitation, "Soldiers and food!"

Lu Jin nodded, then walked back to the desk, took out a pen and paper and started drawing, while speaking.

"come here."

"Yes."

After Yang Jing followed over, he immediately saw that what Lu Jin had casually drawn on the paper was actually a map of China's nine provinces. Although it was not detailed enough, it was enough to tell what was where at a glance, which shocked him greatly.

Drawing a map freehand?!
This was just a sketch, which roughly outlined the shape of the coast, marked important water systems and important mountain ranges such as the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huai River, and Grand Canal, and wrote the names of several provincial capitals, including Jinan, Taiyuan, Dadu, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, and Hangzhou.

Lu Jin spoke as he painted.

"You are right. In times of chaos, the most important things to fight for the world are soldiers and food. Where do soldiers and food come from? Of course, it's the population!

"If the land is preserved but the people are lost, both the land and the people will be lost; if the people are preserved but the land is lost, both the land and the people will be preserved. Then where in the world is the most populous?"

Lu Jin tapped the map he had just drawn, stood up and said.

"Dayuan now has a population of about 80 million, most of whom are in the south, located in the Taihu Plain in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Poyang Lake Plain in Jiangxi, and the Dongting Lake Plain in Huguang. These are the three largest grain-producing areas in China and also the largest population concentration areas.

"If you get one of these three lakes, you will have the capital to establish your own territory and become a local lord. If you get two, you can sweep across the world and unify the world.

"Now we have the Red Army of Liu Du to protect us in the northwest, the Zhima Li of Xuzhou to protect us in the north, and Xu Shouhui's army in Huguang to attract the court's attention. Even if the court wants to deal with us, it can't bring much force, and the Yuan army we encounter will not be too strong.

"This is a great opportunity for development. We must take advantage of this period to quickly conquer nearby counties and cities, accumulate strength, and follow the example of Han Qinhu. Using Luzhou as our base, we will cross the river and capture Jiankang!
"If we take over Jiangsu and Zhejiang and take all the population and food in the Taihu Lake area, we will have a foundation for our business. If we also take over the Poyang Lake area in Jiangxi, we will have the confidence and strength to unify the world!"

Yang Jing looked at the map on the table, listened to Lu Jin's analysis, and Lu Jin's ambition to unify the world. Now he finally knew what Lu Jin was going to do.

Then he frowned and said anxiously, "General, if we want to follow the story of Han Qinhu and cross the river to seize Jiankang, then we don't have much time. I heard from Brother Liao that the Xu Peng army in Huguang has a huge influence. They will definitely seize the three lakes before us."

"Not so fast, no rush." ​​Lu Jin said suddenly.

"Huh?" Yang Jing looked at Lu Jin in confusion.

“We have at least one to two years.”

Lu Jin knew when to cross the river.

Next month, October, Xu Shouhui was about to proclaim himself emperor in Hubei, and then he began to attack from all sides. In a short period of time, he captured a large area of ​​Jiangnan, and even took over Hangzhou.

However, whoever proclaimed himself emperor first would be beaten more severely. The Yuan court would concentrate a large number of forces to suppress Xu Shouhui. In just half a year, he was forced to retreat back to the Dabie Mountains to fight guerrilla warfare.

At that time, the main forces of the Yuan army in Jiangnan were all in Huguang to pursue and annihilate Xu Shouhui. Jiangnan was short of troops, which was a perfect opportunity for Lu Jin to cross the river!

Around 1353, Lu Jin set the time to cross the river.

Two years earlier than Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the river in history, Zhang Shicheng had no chance of getting involved. Jiangnan can only be the Jiangnan of Lu Jin!
What he had to do now was to accumulate the strength, food, ships, navy, weapons, armor, troops, and generals to cross the river within one or two years, and occupy the under-manned Jiangnan with a thunderous force!

Chapter 40 has been revised. I also checked a lot of information, sorted out the subsequent plot lines, and then decided on the content of this chapter. The update is a bit late, but there is still one chapter today.

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(End of this chapter)