Chapter 617 Untitled!

Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, He Jingyun said very modestly

“I don’t deserve to be credited with your opinion! I just have some ideas of my own…”

"In my opinion, it is very difficult to trick Duan Yanfeng. Even if General Guo leads the cavalry to arrive, it will be very difficult to break through Duan Yanfeng's stronghold. According to the intelligence from the General Coordination Office, although Cao Changping only gave Duan Yanfeng 30,000 troops, he equipped most of the firearms that our army had previously sold to the Qi army to the 30,000 people under Duan Yanfeng, including 1,000 Po Lu guns, 2,000 Weiyuan guns, and 30 tiger squat cannons!"

"So instead of deceiving Duan Yanfeng, I think it's better to deceive Gao Zongchang! Gao Zongchang is not as steady as Duan Yanfeng!"

After hearing this, Ye Mingsheng fell into deep thought. Seeing this, He Jingyun also stood quietly, waiting for Ye Mingsheng to make the next decision.

He is the chief of staff of the Fengwu Army. Although he has never led troops into battle alone since its establishment, he is still recognized as the second most important person in the Fengwu Army system after Ye Mingsheng. He Jingyun, who is in charge of the general staff, has a lot of work to do, but his most important responsibility is to provide combat advice to Ye Mingsheng.

However, after the battle to the south began, He Jingyun gradually realized that his position was facing some challenges. First, in the combat mission to annihilate the main force of the Henan Army, Yuan Song and Guo Zhiping joined forces to change his combat plan without prior approval. Secondly, when facing the enemy's surprise attack in Zhuo County, Ye Mingsheng also rejected his cautious approach and insisted on annihilating the visiting enemy.

What made He Jingyun feel most heavy-hearted was the recent conflict in plans between him and Luo Gang. Ye Mingsheng did not adopt his plan to encircle Yujing, but chose Luo Gang's plan to besiege a point and attack the reinforcements. This undoubtedly made He Jingyun, the chief of the general staff, feel a sense of crisis...

Therefore, He Jingyun felt it necessary to plan a victory to prove his ability as the Chief of the General Staff to Ye Mingsheng and win back Ye Mingsheng's trust!

After thinking for a moment, Ye Mingsheng looked at He Jingyun deeply. From He Jingyun's words, it can be seen that he seemed to have realized that Duan Yanfeng would not fall into the trap, but he still watched quietly as Luo Gang carefully planned the trap in Shunshan Township, waiting for the failure of this operation to strike Luo Gang.

It seems that He Jingyun is taking Luo Gang seriously!
Ye Mingsheng has always had an understanding of the art of controlling subordinates. That is, you have to make your subordinates united, but you can't let them be too united. If your subordinates are not united, they will be a group of scattered sand and can't accomplish anything big. But if your subordinates are too united, then you as a boss will be in danger! Therefore, it is very important to grasp the degree!

Based on this understanding, Ye Mingsheng turned a blind eye to some internal conflicts and disputes within the Fengwu Army as long as they did not affect the overall situation of the Fengwu Army. However, as long as Ye Mingsheng believed that the conflicts would affect the overall situation of the Fengwu Army, Ye Mingsheng would immediately take iron-fisted action to suppress them!
And now He Jingyun knew clearly that Luo Gang’s plan had a high probability of failing, yet he did not stop or oppose it, but watched his plan fail, in order to strike back at Luo Gang. In Ye Mingsheng’s opinion, this was a bit over the line, but fortunately, it did not cause any losses to the Fengwu Army. At most, the soldiers ambushed in Shunshan Township had done useless work...
Therefore, Ye Mingsheng was not planning to punish He Jingyun too much, but the subsequent beatings were inevitable to make He Jingyun realize that struggle has limits!
He Jingyun didn't know what Ye Mingsheng was thinking about when he saw his eyes. He thought that Ye Mingsheng was asking him what to do next, so he said:
"General, although Gao Zongchang has been in Yujing City for some time and has mobilized many young and strong men to help defend the city, the First Army has blocked Yujing's external connections, and the news of the successive losses of Yecheng, Fengqiu and other places has been transmitted to Yujing City. The morale of the Henan Army is now very low. The dignitaries in Yujing City have clearly realized that if things continue like this, the fall of Yujing is only a matter of time!"

"So Gao Zongchang is now in a state of great conflict. On the one hand, he is worried that our army will attack Yujing, but on the other hand, he wants to counterattack to gain a glimmer of hope. I think we can take advantage of this opportunity of Duan Yanfeng saving him to let Gao Zongchang see the hope of counterattack, and then lure him out of the city!"

Ye Mingsheng thought for a while and asked again:

"The Qi army under Duan Yanfeng's command is not far away. Will he see through your plan and use your trick against you?"

He Jingyun smiled and said;

"General, Duan Yanfeng is very cautious and steady in employing troops, which is a good habit most of the time. However, when he needs to make a quick decision, he will miss the opportunity and dare not take risks. Shangguan Hongyuan admired his talent and planned to transfer him to the Imperial Guards!"

"However, Duan Yanfeng was concerned about the many factions in the Imperial Guards. He was an outsider and would be hindered if he rashly entered. Therefore, he declined Shangguan Hongyuan's proposal. Otherwise, with his ability, how could the highest official position he held in his life be only the fourth-rank Qilu Defense Envoy!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded and ordered:
"In that case, let He Jingyun handle this matter. I look forward to hearing good news from you!"

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Dongning, Murong Mansion
In the study, Murong Hui and Murong Yuliang, uncle and nephew, were sitting opposite each other. Looking at his nephew who had become darker and thinner, Murong Yuliang said in a deep voice:
"You've gone too far this time!"

Facing his second uncle's accusations, Murong Hui shook his head and said:

"How can I have such ability! Second uncle, you think too highly of me!"

After hearing this, Murong Yuliang seemed to realize something and asked in a very serious manner:

, "Is this what your father meant?"

Murong Hui nodded with a smile and said:
"Of course!"

"We can't hold on to Rongcheng anymore, so we have to speed up some things!"

Hearing this answer, Murong Yuliang frowned even deeper, and after a long while he continued;

"Once he finds out, all the family's efforts will go to waste!"

Murong Hui also restrained his smile upon hearing this, and said in a very serious tone:
"Uncle, they were the first to attack! They were also the first to break the rules. In that case, we, the Murong family, can only fight to the end! As for the Marshal, since he can condone them breaking the rules, I think he will not interfere with our counterattack!"

Although he still wanted to persuade his nephew to be more restrained, Murong Yuliang was also very angry when he thought of the things he had done before, so he did not say much on this topic, but immediately changed the subject and asked:
"How is your father's preparation going in Rongcheng?"

Murong Hui nodded and said:
"Everything is ready. Many family members have already gone into hiding. My father has also met with representatives from Luoan..." Murong Yuliang asked after hearing this:

"They want your father to turn against us?"

"Ok!"

Murong Hui nodded and said:

"Jiang Guang is already at the end of his rope in Jianmen, and has repeatedly asked for help from Rongcheng, but there is no reinforcement for him in Rongcheng now. The royal family has been forced to agree to let Sun Liangyu enter Shu, but I think it's a little too late now!"

"In addition, Xiping Marquis Wang Sizhong has secretly surrendered to Luo An, but he is not important enough and does not have much power, so he cannot help Luo An. Therefore, Chen Jingyu still wants to win over my father and let my father take the lead in surrendering in Rongcheng!"

"My father has rejected Chen Jingyu's idea! My father's attitude is very clear. He does not object to Shangguan Hongyuan regaining control of the government, but he will not take the initiative to surrender!"

Murong Yuliang clapped his hands and laughed when he heard this:

"Your father is the one who sees things clearly! If Shangguan Hongyuan takes over the government again, Lin Shize's faction will be purged, which will leave many positions vacant in the court. Your father has always been gentle towards Shangguan Hongyuan. Even if our Murong family does nothing, in order to increase the influence of the new court, Shangguan Hongyuan will definitely leave a position for your father in the cabinet!"

"Abandoning the imperial court during the Southern Tour is the worst possible strategy. Not only will it damage the reputation of your father and our Murong family, it will also completely tie our Murong family to Shangguan Hongyuan's chariot!"

“The current situation in the world is no longer what Shangguan Hongyuan imagined. Even if he takes the little emperor back now, he can’t achieve the effect he wants of holding the emperor hostage to control the princes…”

"Yes!"

Murong Hui nodded in agreement and said:

“Even if Shangguan Hongyuan takes over Sichuan and Shu, he doesn’t have much time left. The Fengwu Army is expanding and digesting territory much faster than him. Time is not on Shangguan Hongyuan’s side. He must seek a decisive battle with the Fengwu Army as soon as possible. Otherwise, if time drags on and the Fengwu Army digests those territories, he will have no choice but to retreat to Guanzhong and passively take the beating without the ability to counterattack!”

Seeing Murong Hui talking about this, Murong Yuliang seemed to remember something, and looked at Murong Hui and asked:

"Nephew, from Yi Jing's point of view, you should know more news from the front line. I heard a few days ago that Xu Zhaojie went north to Hebei and Henan to participate in the war?"

Murong Hui shook his head and said:

"Shangguan Hongyuan hindered our offensive in Hebei and Henan by giving Xu Zhaojie a batch of money, food and firearms, and asking him to go north to Hebei and Henan to hold our army back. According to the battle reports from the front, Xu Zhaojie is indeed quite capable, and his Anqing troops are also very powerful. However, he and Shangguan Hongyuan are not of the same mind. After a feint in Hebei and Henan, he retreated and dragged Cao Changping into the water!"

"I heard from the Zhuo County Command that the Marshal is very angry about Cao Changping's double-dealing this time. It is very likely that he will send troops to Qi and Lu to teach Cao Changping a lesson after taking over Hebei and Henan!"

Murong Yuliang nodded upon hearing this:

"I hope the battle in Hebei and Henan goes smoothly and ends quickly, otherwise all the wealth we have accumulated with great difficulty will be gone!"

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Late at night in Jiyu, under the city of Yujing
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The roar of more than ten heavy artillery pieces broke the silence of the night and awakened countless people from their dreams. Although it was not the first time that they had been bombarded in the middle of the night, and they knew that the Fengwu Army would most likely not attack the city as before, the Qi Army, which was on the defending side, immediately took up their weapons and prepared to defend the city in order to avoid being taken advantage of by the Fengwu Army.

Yuan Song stood on the observation tower of the Fengwu Army camp in the distance, looking at the crowded city and nodded with satisfaction. Ever since he tasted the sweetness of artillery bombardment in the battle against Zhao Fuqu, he had become accustomed to taking risks first.

Seeing Yuan Song's satisfied expression, Gu Shouting, who was standing beside him, had a puzzled look in his eyes. He didn't quite understand Yuan Song's intention.

Since the Fengwu Army cut off Yujing’s connection with the outside world half a month ago, Yuan Song used his firearms advantage to order the First Army’s artillery to bombard Yujing. Under Yuan Song’s instruction, the Fengwu Army’s bombardment had no regular pattern. They might bombard twice or three times a day, or once every three or four days. Moreover, the bombardment position was changed every time they bombarded, so as not to let the Yu Army in the city find any pattern...

What made the Yu Army in the city feel most suffocated was that although Yujing was an important city in the central part of the Great Zhou Dynasty and a developed city second only to Luoan in terms of territory, its city defense facilities were very complete and it was equipped with dozens of artillery pieces. Unfortunately, these were all old-fashioned mortars, and their range could not reach the red cannons of the Fengwu Army. Therefore, they could only passively take the beating without any ability to fight back!
Although it was satisfying to watch the enemy troops passively fighting back in disgrace after a barrage of artillery fire, in Gu Shouting's opinion, the city of Yujing was very strong. Unless the First Army concentrated all its artillery fire to launch a comprehensive artillery attack on Yujing, it would be difficult to cause any fatal damage to Yujing's city defenses. The casualties to the Yu Army soldiers behind the city wall were even more limited. At most, they would only kill or injure dozens or hundreds of people.
However, not all of the red cannons equipped by the Fengwu Army could hit the walls of Yujing outside the range of enemy artillery.

With Ye Mingsheng's continuous investment in firearms, the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau also promoted innovation and divided the red cannon into three models according to the needs of different combat operations.

One is a light version of the Red Cannon, weighing about 800 kilograms, suitable for field battles. Although this version of the Red Cannon is slightly less powerful than the previous Red Cannon due to its reduced weight, the reduction in weight has greatly reduced the pressure of carrying and transporting it. It can be pulled by a few horses with almost no burden····································

(End of this chapter)