Liu Zeqing had lost thirty thousand elite soldiers in one battle, and the Imperial Court had lost a million taels of silver and rice.
If not for Jiangnan's prosperity, the imperial court would have been finished long ago!
After a long time, the disheartened Emperor Hongguang could only sigh helplessly.""Then let's discuss what we should do after King Heng goes north.”
"After all, the Eight Banners have always wanted to go south and make us pay tribute.”
Hearing Hongguang Emperor Zhu Yousong's words, Shi Kefa suddenly straightened his body and said,""Your Majesty, this time, Prince Heng is leading the army north. We can also send the four towns of Jiangnan to march from other routes.”
"With the cooperation of the Imperial Court and Prince Heng, it's not impossible for us to win a great victory!”
As soon as he finished speaking.
The officials in the hall immediately began to discuss.
Ma Shiying even stood directly opposite Shi Kefa, openly opposing him.
"Not appropriate, not appropriate, very inappropriate!”
"Right now, the Eight Banners are too powerful, and we shouldn't provoke them. Instead, we need to develop ourselves as quickly as possible so that we can have the strength to fight when the Eight Banners head south.”
"If we send troops to attack the Eight Banners now and lose, the Imperial Court won't even be able to resist!”
Looking at Ma Shiying, who was opposing him, Shi Kefa was instantly furious. He immediately cursed without caring,"What if we win?"
"The Eight Banners are also humans, they will be tired too!”
"I believe that as long as our Imperial Court takes the lead in sending troops, all the places will rise up to resist the Eight Banners!”
"But if we only focus on defense, can the Yangtze River really stop the Eight Banners?”
"As the saying goes, one does not rely on the dangers of mountains and streams to strengthen a country, and one does not rely on the benefits of war to intimidate the world! Now that Prince Heng is leading his army north, it is our chance!”
However, Ma Shiying still looked calm. He raised his head indifferently and said calmly,"What if I lose?"
"Once the army is defeated, where will the Imperial Court go?”
"A general doesn't think about victory, but first thinks about defeat, so he can fight a hundred battles without being defeated.”
"If we win, everyone will be happy. But will we be able to drive the Eight Banners out of the Central Plains and Liaodong if we win this battle?”
Ma Shiying sighed and continued,""But if we lose, the Imperial Court will have no more soldiers to use. When the Eight Banners come to attack, I'm afraid we'll really be killed.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the ministers immediately echoed.
"I agree. The Imperial Court only needs to stabilize for now. In three to five years, we will definitely be able to counterattack the Central Plains and drive the Eight Banners out of the Central Plains.”
"This subject agrees. Lord Ma's words have substance, and the Imperial Court cannot afford to take any risks at this moment.”
"If we win, we won't be able to drive the Eight Banners out of the Central Plains immediately. But if we lose, we'll have to worry about our nation's destruction. Don't forget that King Heng has been watching us covetously from the side.”
They knew that if they didn't resist, the imperial court would be unable to stop the Eight Banners Army from heading south in the future. However, they still wanted to fool this temporary peace.
Shi Kefa was a little disappointed with these people. He sighed dejectedly and didn't say anything else.
He knew that the Emperor would not agree with his idea.
Even if the Emperor agreed, who would be willing to send troops to the Three Towns of Jiangbei or Zuo Liangyu?
Shi Kefa only came back to his senses when he heard a sharp scream.
He walked out of the hall in loneliness and looked up into the distance.
Over there, King Heng should have already begun to gather his army and head north!
Shandong, outside Qingzhou City.
Two divisions and 20,000 soldiers were gathered outside Qingzhou City. Their black military uniforms made the soldiers exude a murderous aura.
They carried guns on their shoulders, two grenades and fifty fixed paper bullets tied to their right waists, and a bayonet or a shovel tied to their left waists.
Apart from that, each soldier carried a military backpack.
Other than personal items, everything inside was the same.
There was enough dry food for one person to eat for three days, and a fist-sized piece of dried meat. These two things would not go bad even if they were left there for ten days to half a month.
The second was the water bottles and bedding. Under the strict requirements repeatedly emphasized by Zhu Youqi, the logistics department successfully ensured that every soldier would not lack food and clothing when they were out fighting.
Zhu You Xin didn't leave a single regiment or battalion behind for the 1st and 2nd divisions.
Two divisions, ten thousand men each, six regiments each.
Two artillery regiments and 100 new steel cannons were lined up in a row. The artillery looked forward with their heads held high. On the battlefield, they were the true kings of war!
Compared to copper cannons, which were expensive and time-consuming, steel cannons were much heavier.
Light weight and accuracy were two things that copper cannons couldn't compare to.
It was something that copper cannons could never chase after.
The two cavalry regiments were all mounted on warhorses, standing majestically.
Since they had almost abandoned cold weapons in combat and switched to using firearms as much as possible, the cavalrymen did not have any extra weight other than wearing leather armor.
With the load reduced, the warhorses naturally took on the responsibility of transporting a portion of the grain.
Each of the eight assault regiments was almost full of 1,500 people. They formed small square formations outside Qingzhou City.
Other than that, there were also the logistics personnel of the division, such as engineers, cooks, and medics.
This time, apart from bringing two regiments of logistics troops, Zhu Youqi did not even send a civilian.
With his current combat strength, conscripting commoners who were not very professional in war would even lower his overall combat strength and increase his consumption.
Zhu Youqi would never do such a losing business.
He had a specialized full-time troop under his command. Even the Eight Banner Soldiers could not compare to them!
Even if it was a battle with cold weapons, Zhu Youqi was confident that he would win if both armies had the same number of weapons!
Outside the city of Qingzhou today,
Not only were there solemn soldiers, but there were even more commoners who had heard the news and rushed over to watch the troops gather.
He looked at the soldiers of the Changming Army, who had completely different mental states from the soldiers from before.
The commoners were filled with emotions.
This was probably what a true army should look like, right?
Under Zhu You Xin's command, the 20,000-strong army immediately set out, their target was the Ji 'nan Prefecture.
The sound of uniform footsteps rang out continuously. Two cavalry regiments were scattered on the two wings as the vanguard, charging at the front.
When the 20,000 people moved, it was as if an earthquake had struck the entire city.
Zhu Youqi rode on his horse and met with the division level officers, telling them to follow the orders and plan.
During this period of rest and preparation, Zhu Youqi had already led the regiment commanders and division commanders to rehearse the battle in the north dozens of times.
For any unexpected situation that he could think of, Zhu Youqi led the group of officers to make several backup plans just in case.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。