Please ask me to be the emperor

"What?" Zhang Shun couldn't help being surprised and happy when he received a letter from Hong Chengchou again.

"The hungry people in Huaxian County, Daming Prefecture, raised their troops and captured Huaxian County and Kaizhou? God is really helping me!"

Zhang Shun's history at the end of the Ming Dynasty was a mess. He had no idea that Yuan Shizhong had raised troops in Huaxian and established the famous "Little Yuan Camp". However, this did not prevent him from judging the positive significance of this incident to the rebel army's Eastern Expedition.

"Your Highness, do you want Commander Zuo to lead his troops to the east to recruit this person, and then go up the Wei Cao to seize important places such as Daming Mansion and Linqing?" Xu Ziyuan, the new staff member, couldn't help but suggest.

"No, no!" Zhang Shun laughed heartily.

"I'm afraid you don't know that Gao Yigong captured Xinxiang and unexpectedly found 230,000 dan of grain in Guangying warehouse that had not yet been unloaded. The South Route Army's grain and grass were now free of worries!"

"This is really God's destiny, God helps me!" Xu Ziyuan was stunned when he heard this, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Why?

It turned out that although the rebel army's food and grass for the South Route Army were supplied by Luoyang, they still could not make ends meet.

To this end, Zhang Shun and Hong Chengchou discussed two plans:

One is that after the rebels occupied the three prefectures in Hanoi, they combined their forces to conquer Kaifeng Prefecture, and then asked Cheng Jia, a merchant from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, to transport it to Zhuxian Town through the Huaiying River System, and then transport it to Huaiqing Prefecture.

Another one is to immediately follow the Wei Cao when the Ming army is gone, and seize Linqing, one of the four major water transport cities, as a grain and grass base for the rebel army.

Unexpectedly, there are still more than 200,000 shi of grain in Guangying's warehouse, and there are far fewer problems restricting the South Route Army's tactics and campaigns.

"An order was sent to Hong Chengchou to lead the main force to drive away Yang Sichang, Zhu Dadian and others, occupy Weihui Mansion, and join forces with the Huaxian rebels!" Now that the rebels had less to worry about, Zhang Shun's choice became bolder.

"Try to form an alliance with the Huaxian rebels, stabilize the situation near Weihui Mansion and Kaizhou, and wait for the opportunity!"

In fact, in terms of qualifications and strength, how can the Huaxian Rebels be qualified to form an alliance with the rebels?

This is just Zhang Shun temporarily winning them over for the sake of the Eastern Expedition.

"Yes, my subordinates take orders!" Xu Ziyuan quickly wrote down Zhang Shun's military orders after hearing this, and then presented them to Zhang Shun for inspection.

"Okay, that's it. No need to go on too much. Hong Chengchou can understand my intention!" Zhang Shun nodded and continued.

"Left commander Li Xin leads his troops north to Tianjingguan to seize Zelu. There must be no mistake."

"Get on horseback and advance to the west with the Zhongyi Battalion, seize Yuanqu, and be ready to enter the land east of the river at any time."

"This" Xu Ziyuan was stunned when he heard this, and suddenly couldn't help but get excited.

"His Royal Highness King Shun, you, this is your plan."

"That's right, I'm telling the whole army to prepare to cross the river in three days and attack Shanxi with all our strength!" Zhang Shun couldn't help but nodded and responded softly.

"My subordinates take orders!" Xu Ziyuan's hands began to shake with excitement.

Finally came, finally came, the day was finally set for the rebel army's massive attack.

It turns out that after the rebels occupied Shaanxi, Zhang Shun had been thinking about one thing, that is, whether to attack or defend!

Most of Shaanxi plus two prefectures and one state in western and southern Henan cannot support the rebel army of more than 200,000 people.

If the rebels are more radical, they will jump out of Shaanxi and attack fiercely when the rear foundation is not completely stable. They will take advantage of the fact that the officers and soldiers have suffered heavy losses in consecutive battles to seize more territory and people.

If the rebels were more conservative, they would have to eliminate young and old and try to reduce the number of soldiers and horses in their hands to less than 200,000, so that they can reform and farm in Shaanxi.

Both strategies have their own pros and cons. The first one has high risks and high benefits.

Now is the time when officers and soldiers are losing consecutive battles and people's hearts are floating.

Due to the backward communication technology and low organizational capabilities of this era, Zhang Shun estimated that if the Ming Dynasty took precautions in advance, it would only be able to gather a hundred thousand elite troops at most;

If the Ming Dynasty is unprepared, I am afraid that fifty or sixty thousand is the limit.

For the Rebels, who have two to three hundred thousand, there is definitely a chance of a push.

The second option seems to be safe, but it actually has shortcomings.

In times of war, cutting back on troops and returning to the field is a very risky matter.

Secondly, while the rebels are reforming farming, the Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin Dynasty will also respond.

Leaving time for yourself is also leaving time for Daming and Houjin.

If the other two forces also prepare for war and the unification war continues for a long time, the story of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty may not happen again.

So Zhang Shun thought about it and finally took the risk to expand his army by 300,000, preparing to conquer the world with one blow.

This time, Zhang Shun sent Pingdong General Hong Chengchou as the commander-in-chief of the Southern Route Army to launch a massive attack on the key areas of Huaiqing Prefecture, which was the first link of this strategy.

The original first-level mission of the rebel army was to first launch a large-scale attack on Kaifeng Mansion by right-hand commander Cao Wenzhao to attract the under-manned Ming Dynasty troops to gather here. Then, commander Hong Chengchou and left-hand commander Li Xin sneaked across the Yellow River and made a surprise attack on Huaiqing Mansion.

The Huaiqing Mansion came down and threatened Shanxi and Beizhili, and the Ming Dynasty and the public had to save it.

The rebels took the opportunity to fight decisively, annihilating the main force of the Ming Dynasty in the east, and attracting the main force of Shanxi and Beizhili to move southward.

Although the first ring plan has some minor changes, it has generally successfully achieved its goals, so the second ring plan should be launched in time.

The plan for the second ring of the rebel army is that Zhang Shun will lead the main force of 100,000 rebels to cross the river at the three ferries at Pubandu, Fenglingdu and Yumendu at the same time and advance towards the Hedongfu area of ​​Shanxi.

In order to prevent the advancement from going smoothly, Zhang Shun specially prepared two back-ups.

The first backup plan was to mobilize the Jinzhong First Battalion under the command of the South Route Army Commander Li Xin to enter Yuanqu. They could attack Xia County and Anyi to the west at any time, and join the rebel army to attack the Ming army in the Jiezhou and Puzhou areas.

The second back-up force is the more than 10,000 troops of Li Xin who have entered the Zelu area. They can march westward at any time and flank the Pingyang garrison.

With these two back-ups, the rebel army's plan to seize Shanxi will be foolproof.

"Is General Lu Xiangsheng still unwilling to serve as the vanguard of Zhengming?" Seeing that this grand plan was about to be launched, Zhang Shun, who still refused to give up, couldn't help but ask again.

Xu Ziyuan shook his head when he heard this and said: "Jiutai Ziyun said: As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, betraying the old master is an unforgivable crime. How can there be any reason to fight against each other again? Please ask His Highness King Shun to punish you."

"Forget it, it's human nature to miss old feelings. How can I force you?" Zhang Shun shook his head and sighed.

"How about... how about transferring General Chen Changzhen of Zhenxi to take on this important task?" Xu Ziyuan hesitated for a moment and couldn't help but suggest.

"No need. Changing generals before the battle is a taboo for military strategists. General Zhaowu Cao Wenzhao is enough to take on this important task!" Zhang Shun shook his head after hearing this and rejected Xu Ziyuan.

In fact, it's not that Zhang Shun has never considered leading his sworn brother Chen Changzhen to go on an expedition, but Shaanxi and western Henan are the foundation of the rebel army. Apart from Chen Changzhen and Xiao Qinhu, Zhang Shun really can't trust anyone else.