novelAbuy Chapter 140 Luzon Province
Chapter 140 Luzon Province
Geng Jingzhong's 100,000-strong army was able to hold out against the Manchus for three years. With constant replacements of soldiers, it can be said to be quite elite, and it would not lose to the Eight Banners army in open field battles.
However, this time the first failure was due to the unfavorable terrain.
In addition, Liu Mu correctly guessed that Geng Jingzhong would definitely resort to a cavalry raid rather than flee in the event of a defeat in the field battle, so he placed all the cannons on the official road in advance.
No matter how elite five thousand cavalrymen are, or how good their armor is, they are useless at a distance of seventy or eighty paces under the attack of cannons.
When Geng Jingzhong's head was hoisted up by cavalrymen on flagpoles and sent running wildly across the fields, all the generals who knew Geng Jingzhong knelt down and surrendered.
They were practically scrambling to join, because the earlier they joined, the more soldiers they had left alive. Only then would they be valued by their new employer. What use were they if they had no soldiers at all?
Seeing that the situation was settled, Liu Mu went to watch the Qiantang River. An hour later, Zhou Peigong also arrived at the riverbank.
"Your Majesty, there are 68,000 captured soldiers. The wounded who could be treated have been separated. The rest either died in battle or were too badly wounded!"
This is what firearms warfare is all about. The actual confrontation lasted less than half an hour, yet the result was tens of thousands of casualties, all of whom suffered incurable injuries.
Seeing the farmland trampled into wasteland, Liu Mu became increasingly uneasy. He thought it best for war to always happen outside the country, so he looked at Zhou Peigong.
"Now, in the land of China, only Wu Sangui in the southwest, Yue Le in the central plains, and the opportunist Shang Zhixin remain. Which one do you think we should attack first?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Peigong sighed.
"Your Majesty, the army's grain reserves are enough to feed 100,000 troops for a year, but the Southern Zhili region, including Zhejiang and Fujian, is currently experiencing widespread poverty and displacement. Local government offices are full of gold and silver, but lack grain."
Liu Mu understood Zhou Peigong's meaning: the army had plenty of food, but if the fighting continued, the people in the southeast would suffer.
Just like the battlefield we just witnessed, it affected the people of two or three surrounding counties, impacting their food supply for the year.
If the fighting continues, the imperial court will not have enough food to provide relief, resulting in hundreds of thousands of people being displaced.
This is also why, throughout history, the population has been halved after major wars, as most of them starved to death.
The purchase of titles by gentry from both Jiangbei and Jiangnan ultimately cost more money, but the amount of grain remained the same, which was a drop in the ocean for the ten million people of Southern Zhili.
However, a ceasefire is possible, but we still need to speed up the collection of supplies. Wu Sangui is entrenched in the southwest, and that's a tough nut to crack. There are all sorts of mountains and passes, and even cannons can't get through.
Hunan, in particular, is surrounded on three sides by mountains, making it a large pocket. Changde, Yueyang, and Changsha in front are all very easy to attack as long as one can cross the river.
However, the subsequent Baoqing Prefecture and Yongzhou Prefecture were places that even with a large army, it was not certain that they could be conquered.
Then he looked at Zhou Peigong.
"Is there any way to gather provisions as quickly as possible?"
Zhou Peigong shook his head upon hearing this.
"Your Majesty, the four northern provinces have only recently established military garrisons, and the large number of displaced people has only just been settled. Unless the Qing dynasty's tax revenue is restored, there is no other way."
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Liu Mu thought about it and realized that this made sense, since the grain was grown in the fields in Huaili, so the quantity was fixed.
The Manchu Qing dynasty added the three taxes levied at the end of the Ming dynasty to the regular taxes, treating the people almost like livestock. (Announcement: Upcoming update, please stay tuned!) Even if Liu Mu had unified the country a few years later, he would not have increased taxes again.
Just then, a man in black rode up on horseback, with a bright yellow command flag on his back, and passed through the ordinary soldiers without any hindrance.
He walked straight to the Imperial Guards, dismounted, and underwent inspection before approaching Liu Mu and handing him a large bundle of letters.
"Your Majesty, military report from the South!"
In the south, the Han navy should still be at sea at this time, so how could a military report have arrived?
Liu Mu waved his hand, signaling the Imperial City Guard scouts to leave, and then hurriedly opened the military report to read it. In addition to the joint letter from Xu Chuang and the other two, there was also a lot of intelligence compiled by the Spanish in Luzon over the past few years.
After reading the three men's military reports, Liu Mu was so angry that he smashed the reports on the ground. He was not angry that the three men disobeyed orders, but angry that the Spanish treated the Han people in this way.
This was also because Liu Mu was unfamiliar with this period of history; otherwise, he would have directly ordered an attack on Manila instead of letting it go unchecked. However, after his anger subsided, Liu Mu suddenly laughed and picked up the military report to hand it to Zhou Peigong.
"As long as enough slaves go there and build a large number of canals, rice can be harvested three times a year, and the grain yield will be three times that of Henan. How could our Great Han Dynasty still lack food!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Peigong also began to look around. After reading it, he felt that his mind was not enough to comprehend it all. How could there be such treasure troves outside of China?
"Your Majesty, please immediately dispatch a general and a large army to Luzon. According to the letter, there is still a large surplus of grain there, which is sufficient for the army to conquer!"
"If we were to destroy the three sultanates to the south, and send dozens of slaves to cultivate the land, then Luzon Island would become the greatest granary of our Han Dynasty!"
Liu Mu looked at Zhou Peigong in surprise, never expecting that such an upright person would so openly use the word "slave" today.
"Iron Hammer, call Pan Yulong and Yang Fengxiang here!"
Upon hearing Liu Mu's words, a man who was 1.78 meters tall immediately turned around and left the riverbank.
This iron hammer belongs to Tang Hao's eldest son, who assisted the army in attacking Beijing. Due to his talent for firearms, he is now a commander of the Imperial Guards and also serves as an instructor.
Soon, Generals Pan Yulong and Yang Fengxiang arrived, looking travel-worn. Liu Mu then handed the military report to the two generals.
"I won't waste your breath. After reading the military report, tell me how many troops and how much time it will take to take all of Luzon!"
Upon hearing this, the two couldn't wait to watch together, knowing that this was a test for them.
Pan Yulong responded immediately after reading it.
"Your Majesty, I only need one guard. First, I will capture all the Spanish towns and ports in the north, then lead a large number of native troops south to destroy the three sultans one by one. The war can be ended before the end of the year!"
Liu Mu nodded upon hearing this. Pan Yulong thought similarly to him. The entire island of Luzon only had a population of over 500,000, of which 95% were indigenous people. With over 5,000 regular troops, taking down a mere indigenous group would be a piece of cake.
At that moment, Yang Fengxiang had just finished reading the military newspaper.
"Your Majesty, I only need one guard, but the candidate should be selected from the Fujian households among the prisoners this time. At the same time, I also need to bring a large number of military doctors with me."
"According to intelligence, the native inhabitants of Luzon are skilled at ambushes, and malaria is a frequent occurrence. The fact that the Spanish haven't been able to completely conquer it after so many years suggests that it has advantages, and we must be wary!"
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