Chapter 646 The credit of Fengwu Army!

Yi Jing, Fengwu Army General Staff

"At present, the enemy in Yunbing area has assembled a force of more than 70,000 people, including more than 10,000 Longxiang cavalry. They are the elite of the Luoan Imperial Guard and Shangguan Hongyuan's direct troops. They are well-equipped. According to the intelligence from the Coordination Office, they have all replaced their equipment with the latest Shenwu Fire Gun..."

Standing in front of Ye Mingsheng and other senior Fengwu Army officers, Deputy Chief of Staff Zhao Han introduced in front of the sand table:

"In addition to the Longxiang Army's cavalry that have already appeared, there is also news from Luoan that the 50,000 troops of the former Liang Army are also on their way to support Yunbing. The commander of this force is the Liang Army's commander Ma Delu. He is a veteran of the Liang Army and has served in the Liang Army for more than 30 years. He has a lot of experience, but he has not made much contribution since he joined the army. He is known as a mediocre person in the Liang Army!"

"A few months ago, Shangguan Hongyuan began to attack Yongliang, and Ma Delu was one of the first people to join Shangguan Hongyuan. Therefore, after Shangguan Hongyuan took control of the Liang Army, Ma Delu was directly appointed as the commander of the Liang Army. Although he is called the commander, according to the news sent back by Luoan, the actual controller of the Liang Army should be Wang Muzhi, the former deputy commander of the Xuanwu Imperial Army and the current co-commander of the Liang Army!"

Hearing the name "Wang Muzhi", Ye Mingsheng did not react at first. He just felt that the name was very familiar. After a few seconds, he realized who the other party was. Although he won a great victory in the Battle of Liaoyang that year, Wang Muzhi crossed the river and ran to Qi and Lu, and luckily escaped with his life. At that time, Ye Mingsheng had a premonition that Wang Muzhi would stand on the opposite side of him in the future, but he never thought that it would come true on the battlefield of Yunbing...
With a faint smile on his face, Ye Mingsheng asked Zhao Han:
"Wang Muzhi is now in charge of the Liang Army?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Zhao Han nodded and said affirmatively:

"Yes, although Wang Muzhi was defeated by our army in the Battle of Liaoyang, he was Shangguan Hongyuan's trusted and beloved general. After escaping to Qi and Lu, Wang Muzhi wanted to gather the remaining troops and reopen the situation in Qi and Lu, but he failed. Later, Shangguan Hongyuan attacked Sichuan and Shu, and he was short of manpower, so he called Wang Muzhi back."

"After returning to Luoan, Wang Muzhi served as the deputy commander of the reorganized Xuanwu Imperial Army and participated in the Sichuan-Shu War, making many military achievements. The first to enter Jianmen was Wang Muzhi's army. After the Sichuan-Shu War, some people in the Luoan Imperial Army speculated that Wang Muzhi would most likely be promoted to the commander-in-chief based on his military achievements, and take over as the commander of the Xuanwu Army a few years later."

"And just a month ago, Wang Muzhi was suddenly transferred to the Liang Army by Shangguan Hongyuan to serve as the commander-in-chief and deputy to Ma Delu. So our staff believes that Ma Delu is very likely just a decoration!"

"Shangguan Hongyuan may have appointed him as the commander of the Liang Army because he wanted to reward him for having the earliest portrait. On the other hand, he may have been worried that if Wang Mu was promoted directly, it would cause a strong backlash within the Liang Army!"

“So letting Wang Muzhi be the commander-in-chief is a compromise. According to news from Luoan, Wang Muzhi did not enter the Liang Army alone. He also brought a lot of his cronies from the Xuanwu Imperial Army. Shangguan Hongyuan also gave all the Liang Army’s military pay to Wang Muzhi…”

"It is estimated that the Liang army will take at least half a month to reach Jinyang. However, due to weather reasons, we do not expect them to launch large-scale military operations. However, small-scale raids and harassment are inevitable!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and ordered:
"Tell me about Lin Huaiwu's situation!"

Zhao Han introduced without hesitation:

"The Second Army is currently under great pressure in the Jinzhong area, especially in Dagu County where the enemy has concentrated more than 20,000 troops, trying to capture this strategic location before the snow closes the city. In addition to Dagu County, the enemy is also relying on the powerful mobility of the cavalry to try to tear apart the counties outside Jinzhong from Jinzhong!"

"General Lin has already responded actively to this, recruiting local militia to resist the enemy's offensive. According to the latest battle report from the Second Army, some towns in Jinzhong have been captured by the enemy, but the five counties outside Jinzhong are still under the control of our army. However, the Second Army is also under great pressure, with heavy losses in manpower, weapons, armor, firearms, and many other aspects. So General Lin also wrote a letter to request support!"

Ye Mingsheng fell into deep thought after hearing that. He had read Lin Huaiwu’s letter. From the description in Lin Huaiwu’s letter, the situation on the Yunbing front was indeed difficult. Although the firearms of the Luoan court were not as good as those of the Fengwu Army, but in front of the huge advantage in manpower, the Luoan Imperial Army still brought great suffering to the Second Army. The Second Army suffered heavy losses and was in urgent need of support from all sides...

However, Ye Mingsheng also had his own considerations regarding the situation on the Yunbing battlefield. The Fengwu Army had just ended the war in Hebei and Henan, and all units had suffered heavy losses and were resting. Many soldiers had already gone home on vacation to prepare for the New Year. It was very difficult to gather the troops to support Yunbing now, and even doing so would take a lot of time.

It is already November and the weather has become very cold. It is risky to use troops at this time. The enemy on the Yunbing front only dares to do so because their military strength far exceeds that of the Second Army. Their current strategy is to capture several counties outside Jinzhong before the heavy snow comes, so as to prepare for next year's war. Therefore, as long as there is heavy snow, the enemy's offensive will inevitably end in vain.

Although the snow in Yunbing came more than half a month late this year and there was no heavy snow in December, the time is almost right. If I organize troops to go to Yunbing at this time and it happens to snow heavily, not only will I be unable to do anything, but it will also be a waste of money and manpower, and affect the army's rest!
After careful consideration, Ye Mingsheng looked up at He Jingyun and asked:
"How many firearms do we have in the storehouse?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, He Jingyun thought for a moment and said:
“Reporting to the Marshal, I need to go back and verify the specific number, but there are probably more than 2,000 muskets of various types and seven or eight red cannons…” “Why are these the only ones left?” Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly and asked:
What He Jingyun said was just the production capacity of the First Ordnance Manufacturing Plant in more than a month. If he remembered correctly, there were tens of thousands of various types of muskets and dozens of newer models of red cannons in the Fengwu Army warehouse.

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, He Jingyun explained calmly:

"General, this is what happened. In the Battle of Hebei and Henan, our army suffered a lot of losses in firearms. About half of the firearms in the warehouse were replenished to them. For the other large part, we received an advance payment of 350,000 taels of silver from Jiangnan a few days ago. So we started recruiting soldiers according to the plan. The remaining firearms in the warehouse were also distributed to the newly formed troops!"

"These two thousand muskets and these red cannons in the warehouse are all newly handed in by the First Ordnance Factory!"

After hearing what He Jingyun said, Ye Mingsheng's expression became solemn. Because heavy snow was imminent, the battle in Yunbing could not last too long, so he did not plan to send troops to Yunbing. However, the situation in Yunbing was tight, and he had to do something.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng planned to send some firearms and armor, as well as a batch of silver to the Yunbing area, so that Lin Huaiwu could reorganize and arm the local militia and local warriors. This would somewhat relieve Lin Huaiwu’s pressure and help him get through the rest of the year. By next year, when the main force of the Fengwu Army has finished resting and the newly expanded army has been organized, it would be time for the Fengwu Army to counterattack on the Yunbing battlefield...
Ye Mingsheng's idea was good, but the reality was that the firearms in the warehouse were simply not enough. Judging from the current consumption of the Second Army, even if all the firearms in the warehouse were transported there, it would only make up for the losses. There were no extra firearms to arm the militia.

Just as Ye Mingsheng was thinking about how to solve the problem, Zhang Dehui, the director of the First Manufacturing Bureau, who was sitting at the end of the conference room, stood up and suggested to Ye Mingsheng:
"Marshal, our Arms Manufacturing Bureau has manufactured more than 3,000 Weiyuan guns and more than 20 Tiger Duncan cannons for Jiangnan. The battlefront in Yunbing is tight right now. Do you think we should ship this batch of arms to Yunbing first and let Jiangnan wait a while? They are not in a hurry anyway!"

When Zhang Dehui said this, the eyes of all the generals in the conference room lit up, and they all praised Zhang Dehui's idea. However, Ye Mingsheng did not think much about it, and directly waved his hand to reject it:
"The arms procurement in Jiangnan is related to the credibility of our army. Since they trust our army and have sent us an advance payment of 350,000 taels of silver, we cannot break our promise!"

Although Zhang Dehui's proposal may be a good way to solve the current difficulties, from a long-term perspective, it is very likely to plant a bomb in the relationship between the Fengwu Army and Jiangnan.

It is foreseeable that next year the Fengwu Army and the Luoan Imperial Army will engage in a fierce battle in Yunbing. Although Ye Mingsheng is very confident in his Fengwu Army, he is also very clear about the opponent’s strength. Therefore, the possibility of quickly defeating the Luoan Imperial Army is not impossible, but it is very small. The direction of the war is more likely to fall into a fierce battle. The two sides will be deadlocked in Yunbing for several months, and finally one side will win...

Judging from the current finances of the Fengwu Army, although it has taken over the populous province of Hebei and Henan, the disaster situation in Hebei and Henan is very serious, and the Fengwu Army still needs to invest a lot of money and food for transfusions. It will be good if it can be self-sufficient by next year and does not need transfusions from the Fengwu Army. If it is desired to provide assistance to the Fengwu Army, it will take at least the year after next.

Therefore, next year's war will still require the support of Liaoyang and Youyan provinces. Although these two provinces have undergone Ye Mingsheng's reforms, class contradictions have been eased, people's lives have been greatly improved, and the government's fiscal revenue has also increased significantly, but after all, they are located in the border areas and their foundation is too weak.

A war like the Battle of Hebei and Henan, which lasted only two months, almost wiped out all the family assets. If they had to fight the Luoan Imperial Guards for three to five months next year, they would most likely be unable to sustain the war. Therefore, in order to support the continuation of the war, Ye Mingsheng needed the wealth of Jiangnan. Not only the military procurement contract worth 1.35 million taels of silver, but also the trade cooperation between the two sides. According to the estimates of the Dadongsheng Company and the Governor, if everything went well, the Fengwu Army would most likely earn 2 million taels of silver from Jiangnan next year through military procurement and trade.

And these two million taels of silver is almost 70% to 80% of the annual fiscal revenue of Liaoyang and Youyan provinces, and it is also the confidence for Ye Mingsheng to compete with Shangguan Hongyuan, the Prime Minister of the Great Zhou who has been in power for decades, next year. Therefore, Ye Mingsheng attaches great importance to the trade with Jiangnan and does not want anything to have an adverse effect on the cooperation between the two sides...
Now that I haven't shipped the goods yet, they have already shipped 350,000 taels of silver, which has already shown great sincerity. According to the contract agreed upon by both parties, once the 350,000 taels of silver are delivered, the first batch of arms on our side should be shipped over.

If this batch of arms is misappropriated now and the delivery time of the arms is delayed, it will undoubtedly cast a shadow on the cooperation between the two sides and make the Jiangnan side question the credit and sincerity of the Fengwu Army. This will inevitably have a great negative impact on the cooperation between the two sides and affect the future long-term cooperation between the two sides.

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's statement, the generals who had been praising Zhang Dehui's ideas all shut their mouths, and Zhang Dehui himself sat back in his seat in disappointment.

After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng finally made a decision and told He Jingyun:

"Collect the firearms distributed to the new recruits and other troops, and transport them to Jinzhong. Also transport the other armor and weapons to Jinzhong. Have the governor allocate 150,000 taels of silver to Jinzhong, and have Lin Huaiwu reorganize the militia there and add them to the Second Army!"

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's order, He Jingyun hesitated whether to remind them. If the firearms were collected again, it would affect the troops' rest and the reorganization of new recruits.

But looking at Ye Mingsheng's serious expression, He Jingyun immediately understood that Ye Mingsheng must have known all this, and now that he had made a decision, he must have considered the consequences, so there was no need for him to remind him. Realizing this, He Jingyun gave up what he wanted to say, and instead nodded at Ye Mingsheng and said:
"I understand, sir. I'll do it right away..."

(End of this chapter)