Longevity begins with Jinyiwei

How to fight this battle, where to fight, and to what extent, from the very beginning, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong could not decide...

Chapter 287

Weishui River.

Hundreds of horses came galloping, and finally stood on the banks of the Weishui River.

Under the setting sun, the cloak was fluttering. Li Xiu stared at the surging Weishui, his eyes flickered, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Beside him, Li Dingguo, who was ordered to rush back from Denglai, sat silently on his horseback. Afterwards, hundreds of cavalry also spread out in an orderly manner, forming a heavily guarded defensive circle.

"Having been in Denglai for almost a year, how do you feel?"

In the silence, Li Xiu spoke slowly.

Hearing this, Li Dingguo pondered for a moment, and then he cupped his hands and responded: "The general thinks that as long as the blockade of Liaodong is maintained, it will not be long before the Liao thieves and slaves will be destroyed without attack!"

"And the general thinks that the navy is of great use. After the civil strife is quelled this time, the court should vigorously develop the navy."

Hearing this, Li Xiu's indifferent expression changed slightly: "Tell me the reason."

"Smuggling is rampant in the coastal areas. Even if the navy patrols day and night, it is difficult to completely eradicate it. The benefits are huge, but the imperial court can't get the slightest benefit from it. They are all fattened by some bold people..."

"Furthermore, I heard from the sailors and soldiers that in the south of the Yangtze River, coastal smuggling is more rampant. The imperial court's ban on the sea seems to be in vain. Foreigners, pirates, and coastal merchants have formed a huge interest group... ..."

When Li Dingguo finished speaking, Li Xiu turned his head slowly, looked at Li Dingguo in front of him, and said in a serious tone, "So, do you think opening the sea is the best strategy?"

"The last general dare not talk about the court's great strategy!"

Li Dingguo got off his horse immediately and half-kneeled on the ground, his face full of panic.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Li Xiu laughed, looked at the rushing Weishui, and then said with emotion: "You are right, the sea must be opened, and the navy must also vigorously develop..."

"This is a great era, Daming, you can't lag behind others!"

Hearing this, Li Dingguo was a little puzzled, but he didn't dare to ask more questions, he just hid his doubts deep in his heart.

"When the troubles in northern Xinjiang are settled, you will go to the south of the Yangtze River with this general. I have already transferred a navy from Denglai to the south of the Yangtze River. When the time comes, you will lead that navy and let this general have a good look at it." Take a moment, what is this sea like?"

Hearing this, Li Dingguo couldn't help but tremble. He naturally knew that the Denglai Navy had been transferred to the south of the Yangtze River. At first, he thought that the transfer was to control the situation in the south of the Yangtze River. Unexpectedly, the ultimate goal was to That's right!

"The last general will never disappoint the general's expectations!"

Li Dingguo knelt down on the ground again, clasping his fists in response, sonorous and powerful.

Li Xiu waved his hand, signaling Li Dingguo to get up, looked around at the Weishui River, which has left a rich and colorful mark on the history, but suddenly smiled.

On top of this history, the name of the Wei River needs another record!

Attacking from all sides, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng could no longer choose the direction of the battle.

From Xi'an all the way, until now, it is only a few hundred miles away from Fengxiangfu City, Li Zicheng's old nest, and the two cities that Li Zicheng can rely on are Fufeng and Qishan.

As long as Li Zicheng is not stupid, he will definitely not let this scene of driving straight in again.

Now it's up to Li Zicheng to choose between Fufeng and Qishan.

Whichever one you choose, you will be in that place if you do your best in one battle. Similarly, Fufeng and Qishan are both on the banks of the Weishui River!

As for Zhang Xianzhong,

Either obediently rush to help, or wait to die in Hanzhong!

He has no other choice...

Under the setting sun, the iron cavalry galloped away again, and in about a moment, a large camp stretching for more than ten miles also stood on the bank of the Weishui River.

One night passed, and at the dawn of the next day, the quiet camp began to be noisy. The mighty army marched along the Weishui River, with battle flags unfurling, like a circling giant dragon, with its bloody mouth open. , will be devoured by this giant dragon.

And moving along the Wei River, in front of the hovering dragon, armies belonging to Li Zicheng's troops also gathered towards Fufeng.

The dark clouds of war are also slowly gathering on the Weishui River, the ancient Sanfu place.

A great war that could change the situation of the world is imminent.

From the north and the south of the river, I don't know how many hidden eyes are also gathered on the banks of the Weishui River.

Although it is not a battle that will determine the universe, this battle will undoubtedly determine the trend of the entire world, and even determine the rise and fall of Ming Dynasty!

Two days later.

Fufeng City,

At noon, the scorching sun was like fire, and the heat wave was rolling.

On the top of the city, soldiers in armor stand sharply, with Li flags fluttering in the wind.

Outside the city, with Fufeng City as the base point, there are two large camps on the left and right. The soldiers in the camps are under martial law, and the same Li character flag is flying.

Tens of thousands of troops gathered in Fufeng, ready to fight.

Between the sky, billowing heat waves surged, and a distorted black line could be vaguely seen emerging.

The earth...is shaking!

Boom!Boom!Boom!

In Fufeng City, the war drums sounded suddenly, followed by bursts of shouts.

Soon, not only Fufeng City, but also the two large camps on the left and right were also moved for it. Groups of soldiers rushed to complete the battle preparations under the leadership of their respective generals.

"coming!"

Li Zicheng stood on the tower, looking at the twisted black line under the steaming heat, his heart also shivered suddenly.

After several years of rebellion, how could he not have a little understanding of this Ming Dynasty.

The inspectors in various prefectures and counties are the least worth mentioning. They throw away their helmets and armor without fighting. It is really not easy to deal with.

Although the soldiers of the guards had a little fighting power, they were not too difficult to deal with compared to the elite old battalion under his command.

What is really difficult to deal with is the few armies that this Qin Guogong forged.

No matter if it was the [-]th Regiment Battalion of the Beijing Army, or the cavalry of the Xuan Mansion, or those unusual guard soldiers, they were all extremely difficult to deal with.

He, Li Zicheng, would be chased like a bereaved dog by these soldiers and horses every time his forces improved slightly.

And those unbearable past events were just one of the generals under the command of Duke Qin.

Now, the Duke of Qin came here personally to command the troops!

Even if he has assembled an army of tens of thousands in Fufeng, it is difficult for him to have too much confidence.

Not to mention, most of his tens of thousands of troops have come from all directions for more than a month, and most of them are fighting on their own. He has no time to sort out and twist these soldiers and horses who are fighting independently!

Today, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses seem to be powerful, but in fact, they are nothing more than a group of stragglers.

"Hold on for a few days, wait for Zhang Xianzhong to come to help, block the governor of the three sides, Zhou Yuji, even if you can't beat the 10,000+ army on your side, you should be able to defend..."

Li Zicheng felt a little nervous in his heart, but when he thought of Zhang Xianzhong's coming to help him, and the things promised by Empress Jin, he suddenly felt a lot more relaxed.

It doesn't have to win, as long as you can hold it, he doesn't believe it, 10,000+ soldiers and horses, enough food, grass and weapons, can't hold a Fufeng!

While secretly getting angry, Li Zicheng couldn't help looking in the direction of Liaodong. He knew that Houjin and Liaozhen were definitely attacking Shanhaiguan now, and now Daming couldn't spare too many troops to support Shanhaiguan.

As long as there is a change in Shanhaiguan, when the 10,000+ army of Jinliao Town leaves Shanhaiguan and drives straight into the capital, it must be chaos in the world. He doesn't believe it. At that time, Qin Guogong still has the heart to stare at him!

"You need to work harder!"

……

……

Chapter 287 Military Firearms

"Li Zicheng brought all his wealth here!"

Looking at the situation in Fufeng City, the corners of Li Xiu's lips turned up, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"The spies came to report that Zhang Xianzhong left tens of thousands of troops in Hanzhong to block the Minzhou guards. He didn't choose to come to Fufeng, but went to the governor of the three sides..."

Li Dingguo reported in a low voice.

"They cooperate tacitly!"

Li Xiu chuckled, no matter how you look at it, the two don't look like the thieves who can get together, but now they cooperate so closely, the world is impermanent, it's nothing like this.

"The general feels that Li Zicheng and that Zhang Xianzhong are just trying to delay time. Before Denglai, they arrested a lot of Houjin agents. Houjin has connections with Jiangnan and Shaanxi..."

"It's not possible, they're just going to do it!"

Li Xiu waved his hand. He has always attached great importance to intelligence work. The Jinyiwei monitors the world, and he dare not say that he can hear everything in his ears. However, the Jinyiwei today is definitely not weaker than the Jinyiwei at its peak during the Hongwu period.

With Jin Yiwei in such a state, how could he not know the filth in that dark place.

It is no exaggeration to say that the chaos in the world today cannot do without Hou Jin's help.

Of course, flies don’t bite seamless eggs. If he takes every step and boils frogs in warm water bit by bit, no matter how much Hou Jin pushes the flames and stirs up the wind and rain, it is impossible to evolve into the current situation.

But... However, this rotten Daming has no capital to make a living at every step.

In this way, he can only take risks, force the world to rebel, and then clean the world, to break and then stand.

Otherwise, no matter how hard you try, you will just be a paper-maker barely supporting yourself. It is a doomed thing to die and the country perish.

A lot of thoughts flashed through his mind, Li Xiu looked around at Li Zicheng's military layout, but couldn't help chuckling.

With Fufeng City as the keynote, large camps were set up on the left and right sides, and the attacking army was restrained with superior forces, and the military layout was completely defensive.

In this way, according to Li Zicheng's strategy of delaying time, it is naturally quite good and reasonable to be so defensive.

but……

The battle of defending the city is not something that Li Zicheng can defend if he wants to.

"Get the artillery battalion ready!"

Following Li Xiu's military order, the heavily protected artillery battalion stretched across the formation and slowly advanced to the front of the formation.

Li Xiu has always attached great importance to firearms, especially since assisting the country in governing the country. With enough power, the already huge firearms department in the army has expanded rapidly.

At the beginning, the Firearms Division, which had only a few dozens of people seconded from the Inner Court Military Bureau, had grown into a behemoth with nearly [-] craftsmen and households, integrating research and development, manufacturing, and maintenance.

Its scale seems to have far exceeded the sum of the Military Weapons Bureau under the Ministry of Industry and the Military Warfare Bureau of the inner court.

Consuming such a huge amount of manpower and material resources, coupled with the fact that it is under the direct control of the Five Armed Forces Governor's Mansion, is enough for Li Xiu to formulate various incentive policies without interference.

A reasonable policy orientation, professional management and professionalism, sufficient manpower and material resources, and some occasional guidance from Li Xiu, all these factors together, in this era, are enough to easily generate amazing returns.

Although no truly cross-generational weapons have yet appeared, on the basis of existing firearms, this Armament Division has already reached a peak.

The flintlock guns, which used to cost a lot, have been completely manufactured on a large scale. Just one type of flintlock gun has a daily output of nearly 80.00 pieces. Taking the Beijing camp as an example, the equipment rate of flintlock guns is already low. Reached as much as [-]%.

Of course, among them, the pure firearms army accounted for less than half, and most of them were firearms and cold weapons.

Just like the several cavalry battalions in the Beijing camp, apart from the necessary cold weapons, they are generally equipped with two short flintlock guns and several grenades for throwing, or thunderbolts.

Of course, these are only muskets. Since flintlock guns were popularized on a large scale, it is difficult to improve them in a short period of time. Li Xiu's attention to this weapon department has changed from muskets to artillery.

For example, the pinnacle cannon of this era, the red-clothed cannon, has been improved by the Ordnance Department. Whether it is the weight of the cannon body or the power and range, it has been enhanced. Other types of cannons have also been improved.

Of course, the most important thing is to form a large-scale manufacturing production.

Today's Beijing army, each battalion of infantry, is equipped with nearly a hundred artillery pieces. You must know that the nearly two hundred artillery pieces today are not comparable to the artillery of the former Beijing battalion.

Among them, except for some small guns that are equipped with thousands of households, a considerable part of them are large-caliber front-loading smoothbore guns!

The famous red cannon is one of them!

It is no exaggeration to say that with such a density of firearms, not to mention standing at the pinnacle of this world, at least, there is no army in or outside of Ming Dynasty that can match it.

Similarly, under the attack of such firearms, it is not so easy to be a turtle.

The military array spread out, and hundreds of various types of artillery were arranged in order according to the range, forming a huge artillery position. On both sides of the artillery position, several military formations were arranged horizontally. The largest artillery position on the land.

It is worth mentioning that, apart from a few small cannons that can be carried by manpower, most of these hundreds of cannons are similar to the towed cannons of later generations, except that they are pulled by mules and horses, and the rear is supplemented by wooden wheels.

Before technology breaks through the limits, at least, under the current conditions, Li Xiu has already raised this firearms army to its peak.

"artillery!"

"It's so far away, can you hit it?"

On the tower, Li Zicheng looked at the movement of the towering army formation in the distance, and couldn't help feeling a little puzzled.

He is no stranger to artillery. There are quite a few artillery pieces in his army, but most of them are old and unusable ones. A small number of them are not bad. They can be called a big killer .