Chapter 652: Firepower makes up for manpower!

Ye Mingsheng was somewhat concerned about the loss of Dagu County, because Dagu County was only more than 300 miles away from Jinyang City, so the geographical location of Dagu County was very important. Controlling it could directly threaten Jinyang City...

However, Ye Mingsheng was also very clear that it was because of the important geographical location of Dagu County that the enemy regarded it as a thorn in their side. Therefore, at the beginning of the war, the enemy assembled an army of more than 20,000 people to attack Dagu County. Dagu County was too close to Jinyang and 500 miles away from Jinzhong, the base camp of the Fengwu Army in Yunzhong, so its logistical supplies were quickly cut off by the enemy.

Although the logistical supplies were cut off by the enemy, fortunately the Fengwu Army had previously stockpiled some supplies in Dagu County. Relying on these supplies, they were stationed in Dagu County and persevered until the end of the battle. If Wang Muzhi had not led the Liang Army to arrive at the battlefield earlier than expected and joined the battle, Dagu County might still be in the hands of the Fengwu Army today.

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but feel a little regretful. It seemed that Wang Muzhi might become a small trouble for his Fengwu Army. If he had known this earlier, he would have dealt with this scourge in Liaoyang!
Although Ye Mingsheng felt a little regretful about losing Dagu County, an outpost that could directly threaten Jinyang, he was still very confident that he could take it back when the war began next year.

This time the battle of Yunbing made the senior officials of the Fengwu Army, including Ye Mingsheng himself, feel more urgently that the war with Luoan was imminent. So under the instruction of Ye Mingsheng, He Jingyun led dozens of staff officers from the General Staff to make an analysis of the battle of Yunbing······························
In the analysis, the General Staff believed that in the Yunbing War next year, Shangguan Hongyuan, who had destroyed the Southern Tour court, defeated Sun Liangyu, captured Yongliang, and reached a peace agreement with the Golden Horde, could devote all his energy and resources to the Yunbing battlefield.

This also means that Luoan may deploy more than 200,000 troops on the Yunbing battlefield!

It is worth noting that these 200,000 troops are not comparable to the miscellaneous soldiers like the Henan Army. More than half of these 200,000 people are the most elite imperial guards of the Great Zhou. They are well-equipped, well-trained, and have experienced several years of battlefields. They are very experienced and have very strong combat effectiveness. Moreover, as the direct troops of the Prime Minister Shangguan Hongyuan, most of the Shenwu guns and Zhengdong cannons developed by Luoan were also given to them. Otherwise, Dagu County would not have been lost.

Among the remaining half, there are tens of thousands of Liang troops. Although the Liang Army is not as strong as the Imperial Guard due to equipment issues, years of fighting with the Golden Horde have made the Liang Army very powerful. In addition, the Liang Army also has an elite cavalry of about 10,000 people. It can be predicted that in next year's battle, this cavalry unit will also be deployed to the Yunbing battlefield under the command of Shangguan Hongyuan.

Even if Shangguan Hongyuan is crazy enough and wants to fight the Fengwu Army to decide the outcome, it is not impossible to gather 300,000 troops...
To be honest, if the Fengwu Army could concentrate all its forces in the Yunbing area, then even if the total number of troops would not reach the size of the enemy, the Fengwu Army, which had gained a lot of wealth through trade with Jiangnan and was actively expanding its military, could also gather more than 150,000 troops on the Yunbing battlefield.

But the problem is that because of the existence of that bastard Xu Zhaojie, the Fengwu Army cannot gather too many troops on the Yunbing battlefield. It needs to maintain an army of tens of thousands in Hebei and Henan to guard against Xu Zhaojie. This means that the Fengwu Army can only gather a maximum of 120,000 troops on the Yunbing battlefield.

The reason why it is 120,000 people is the result of joint calculations by the General Staff, the Finance Department, and the Provincial Government. They believe that with the financial situation of the Fengwu Army, while maintaining unimpeded trade with Jiangnan, deploying 120,000 people in Yunbing is basically the limit. It is not impossible to exceed this number, but it will make financial and logistical supplies very difficult.

The gap between 120,000 troops and 200,000 enemy troops is still huge, so in order to make up for the disadvantage in military strength, Ye Mingsheng decided to give full play to the advantage of Fengwu Army in firearms. In addition to replacing the latest Fengwu guns, Ye Mingsheng has ordered the First Manufacturing Bureau to build a branch in Jinzhong to expand the production capacity of firearms.

The First Manufacturing Bureau expects to complete the processes of site selection, construction start, and worker training within half a year. When the Jinzhong branch is completed, it will be around the time when they and Luoan start a war in Yunbing...

By then, with the help of the Jinzhong branch, the time for transporting firearms and ammunition and the pressure of logistics supply will be greatly reduced, and the soldiers on the front line will be able to fire at full power without worrying about whether the firearms and ammunition can keep up.

Because there is a plan to build a factory in Jinzhong, the General Staff also plans to deploy more than two hundred red cannons on the Yunbing battlefield. If this goal is achieved, then on the Yunbing battlefield, the number of artillery of the Fengwu Army will be three times that of the enemy, which will greatly benefit the Fengwu Army's offensive operations.

In Yunbing, except for the two big cities of Jinyang and Jinzhong, other county towns are also very strong and the fortifications are very complete. In the past, the army had no particularly good way to deal with these cities. They could only adopt the ant-like tactics to slowly nibble at them. This not only slowed down progress, but also caused heavy casualties among the soldiers.

Now, after several rounds of capacity expansion, the maximum capacity of the Fengwu Army's red cannon can basically reach an annual output of nearly 150 guns of various models. However, if the capacity of the red cannon is expanded to the maximum, it will affect the production and maintenance of other firearms. Therefore, the capacity of the red cannon is still within a reasonable range, with an output of about eight or nine guns a month.

However, even so, it greatly changed the Fengwu Army's situation of being short of artillery, allowing the Fengwu Army to easily mobilize dozens of artillery to carry out indiscriminate bombardment when attacking. Although the enemy's tortoise shell was very strong, it was still difficult for it to hold on under the bombardment of so many artillery pieces························
Therefore, Ye Mingsheng was very confident that under the bombardment of dozens or even hundreds of red cannons, the Fengwu Army could not only take back Dagu County with profit, but also capture several cities controlled by the enemy. If there was a chance to capture the big city of Jinyang, it would be even better!
After fully utilizing the advantages of firearms, there is still a problem that bothers Ye Mingsheng!
In the report Lin Huaiwu gave him, in addition to giving Ye Mingsheng a detailed introduction to the situation of the war between the two sides, he also threw a big problem to Ye Mingsheng!

The big problem was the personnel appointment issue during the expansion of the Second Army. Because the treatment of the Fengwu Army was very generous and the government administration in Fengwu Army was relatively clean, officials from all over the country had done some good things for the people in recent years and reduced a lot of taxes in order to keep their jobs. Therefore, the Fengwu Army had a very good reputation among the people. So when they heard that the Second Army was recruiting soldiers, the people in Jinzhong signed up very enthusiastically.

Although it was already winter, the Second Army quickly recruited more than 10,000 new soldiers, not far from the expected 20,000. Lin Huaiwu also transferred some middle and lower-level officers from the Second Division to build up the structure of the newly formed Eighth Division.

However, Lin Huaiwu could appoint and dismiss middle and lower-level officers such as captains and captains, but he did not dare to take over Ye Mingsheng’s appointments and dismissals of middle and senior officers such as sentinels, commanders, and generals. So in this report, he also requested Ye Mingsheng to appoint these senior generals. Of course, Lin Huaiwu still recommended several candidates to Ye Mingsheng...

One of them was Ye Tao, the commander of the Second Division. Lin Huaiwu praised him for his wisdom and courage, loyalty and bravery. He with a battalion of 3,000 people resisted the offensive of an enemy force nearly ten times larger than his own, and held out in Dagu County for nearly half a month. Even when he was forced to break out in the end, he set up an ambush and attacked the enemy's pursuit troops. Therefore, Lin Huaiwu recommended Ye Tao as the general of the Provisional Eighth Division. Ye Mingsheng also knew about Ye Tao, and he also admired the fact that there was a fierce general like Ye Tao among the Ye family relatives.

However, Ye Tao is not yet 30 years old this year. Being a commander now already means he has a bright future. If he directly becomes a general commanding a division of tens of thousands of people, it would be a bit of a hassle. In addition, although he has performed well, there are still some commanders in the Fengwu Army who have performed better and have more experience than him. Directly promoting Ye Tao to a general would not convince the army.

Lin Huaiwu would understand this logic, but he still insisted on nominating Ye Tao. Ye Mingsheng was also very clear about the twists and turns. It was simply because Ye Tao's surname was Ye, so Lin Huaiwu guessed his intention and felt that he would let Ye Tao take the position so that he could flatter his horse.

Regarding Lin Huaiwu's idea, Ye Mingsheng also wrote a letter to warn him, asking him to stop playing such tricks and to focus on the work of the Second Army. As for the position of General of the Eighth Division, Ye Mingsheng did not intend to give it to Ye Tao.

However, Ye Tao did perform well. He was very tenacious in the battle of Dagu County. Although he failed to defend Dagu County in the end, it was not his fault. So Ye Mingsheng also planned to give him a little reward, so let him be the deputy general of the Eighth Division...

As for the position of general, Ye Mingsheng was going to let Xun Ke take it. When he started out in Liaoyang, in order to win over He Jingyun, Ye Mingsheng alienated the relationship between him and Xun Ke, which also made the relationship between He Jingyun and Xun Ke very tense.

Later, He Jingyun became the Chief of the General Staff, responsible for the tactical deployment of the Fengwu Army of hundreds of thousands of people. In order to avoid embarrassment for the two people, Ye Mingsheng also appointed Xun Ke as the commander-in-chief of the Fengwu Army reserve, responsible for the training and coordination of the reserve forces.

Xun Ke is also a very capable person. He trained the reserve forces of the Fengwu Army very well, so that each unit does not have to worry about the problem of replenishing troops. Many people in the Fengwu Army have also praised him to Ye Mingsheng. This also made Ye Mingsheng begin to realize that putting Xun Ke in the reserve was a waste of his talents. However, considering He Jingyun's mood, Ye Mingsheng has been reluctant to promote him.

And now the Eighth Division might be a very good opportunity. The Eighth Division is affiliated to the Second Army and is under the command of Lin Huaiwu. Ye Mingsheng is not worried about Lin Huaiwu's loyalty, but Ye Mingsheng knows that Lin Huaiwu's ability is just above average. He is also very steady in fighting and rarely uses any amazing and surprising tactics.

There will be a big battle on the Yunbing battlefield next year, so letting Xun Ke, who is famous for his wisdom, assist Lin Huaiwu will also provide a layer of insurance for the Second Army. The two of them had cooperated for a long time when they were in Fengzhou, so they don’t need too much running-in to cooperate now.

After determining the positions of the main general and the deputy general, the remaining command positions were relatively easy to handle. Two candidates recommended by Lin Huaiwu were adopted, and then three experienced paratroopers were sent from other troops. In this way, the high-level framework of the Eighth Division was completed.
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In a secluded courtyard in Yijing City, a stunning woman in a wide robe and a white veil on her face was sitting on a stone chair and talking with a plump and charming young woman.

"Do you know Red Medicine?"

Picking up the fragrant tea on the stone table, Akiyama Morihui took a sip, looked at the young woman in front of him and said calmly:

Hearing the name Hongyao, Kobayakawa Takahide was slightly stunned, then seemed to realize something, looked up and down at Akiyama Morie and said with a smile:

"My dear sister, isn't your man obsessed with your body? Why do you still need this kind of thing?"

Akiyama Morie did not respond to her words, but continued to speak calmly:
"You used it on him!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Kobayakawa Takahide's face changed slightly, and he looked at Akiyama Morie with a little vigilance. He subconsciously wanted to quibble, but feeling his sister's calm eyes, Kobayakawa Takahide understood that Morie was not deceiving him, she really knew about this matter!

"Ugh!"

With a faint sigh, Kobayakawa Takahide said helplessly:
“Your man could have gone through the front door, but he insisted on going through the back. I had no choice but to give him a little bit of the drug. But don’t worry, I was very careful and the dosage was very small. It won’t have any effect on his body…”

(End of this chapter)