Chapter 345: The wily Hong Chengchou blatantly uses chickens to lay eggs
"Earth Spirit Technique!"
"Cloud and Rain Technique!"
On the island in the middle of the lake which had become a blessed land, not far from his own mansion, Li Dingguo stood in the air above a newly developed spiritual fruit garden.
He cast two basic five-element spells of the returning to nature level in turn towards the spiritual fruit garden where the peach pits had just been planted.
Feeling the vitality of the peach pits just buried in the soil in this spiritual fruit garden, Li Dingguo nodded with satisfaction.
There is no doubt that the environment on the island in the middle of the lake is much better than any large spiritual land outside.
In particular, there is an incredible five-colored sacred tree with innate spiritual roots here. The special life aura it exudes has a very significant effect on the growth, development and reproduction of various spiritual plants.
If nothing goes wrong, these high-quality and medium-quality spiritual peach kernels that have just been planted will germinate and take root at a much faster rate than before, which can greatly shorten their fruiting cycle.
Li Dingguo brought back quite a few spiritual herbs and roots from the Wang family's spiritual land and the Tian family's spiritual land. These were varieties that were not originally available on the island in the middle of the lake at the base camp.
These spiritual herbs and roots have already been planted in selected locations.
For the base camp on the island in the middle of the lake, Li Dingguo plans to collect all the spiritual herbs and roots in the world and plant and cultivate them.
This would prevent him from continuing to obtain the knowledge passed down from the Human Emperor Cauldron and being able to refine mid-grade elixirs, but not having enough spiritual herbs and roots to use.
Li Dingguo would certainly find ways to make full use of his own advantages in this area.
The rapid growth and development of the Fuxing Army is directly related to the inheritance of alchemy and weapon refining, as well as formation techniques, that Li Dingguo obtained.
It is precisely because of the unique supply of various primary elixirs and magical instruments that the morale of the Renaissance Army is so high and the internal situation is so stable. It is no exaggeration to say that everyone is united.
"Big brother!"
At this time, Wan'er leaped over with a letter in her hand and shouted from afar.
"Here, this is the letter I just received via spirit pigeon. It was sent back by Sister Wei Jinfan herself."
She handed the letter in her hand to Li Dingguo, apparently she had not read it herself.
"Oh."
Li Dingguo took the letter in one hand, opened the envelope, and took out a few pages of manuscript to look at them.
His expression became more and more solemn. It was obvious that what was said in the letter was not that simple.
Wei Jinfan's letter reported the latest actions of the government troops.
Cao Wenzhao, Li Bei, Ai Wannian, Tang Jiuzhou, Deng Qi, Zuo Liangyu and other Ming generals led their troops and arrived at Tongguan one after another.
Each of these Ming army generals is no simple person.
Although the combat effectiveness of the official troops under the command of generals such as Li Bei, Ai Wannian, Tang Jiuzhou, Deng Qi, and Zuo Liangyu could not match that of Cao Wenzhao's Cao Family Army, in terms of the number of warriors and soldiers under their command, each of them had at least twice as many as Cao Family Army.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty still has many strong armies that can and dare to fight.
Each of these government troops mobilized by Hong Chengchou had very good combat effectiveness, and was stronger than any other rebel army except the Fuxing Army.
If it weren't for the shortage of money, food and supplies, these generals would not be easy to deal with.
In the history of Li Dingguo's previous life, among these official army generals, except Zuo Liangyu who saw through the court's superficial strength and chose to often obey orders but not decrees, and rapidly grew stronger by looting, the rest of these loyal ministers and generals of the Ming Dynasty were blindly commanded by their superiors and suffered from the shortage of money, food and supplies. In the end, they could not even defeat any large-scale rebel army and were dragged to death.
In fact, these elite soldiers and generals selected by Hong Chengchou, once they had enough money, food and supplies, they could unleash quite strong combat effectiveness.
If the commander is not afraid of death, he can even fight against the Later Jin Tartars.
With equal military strength, it is not a problem to fight back and forth.
Now, with the common hatred of the enemy by the officials, gentry, aristocratic families, and wealthy merchants in the three northwestern provinces, they provided Hong Chengchou with huge amounts of food and military equipment, and even a large number of training resources and treasure ships.
Once these huge amounts of money and materials are fully utilized by the old scoundrel Hong Chengchou, the various government troops that have gathered in Tongguan, more than 500,000 soldiers and generals, will start to exert their strength, and even the current Fuxing Army will have a hard time.
It is no longer possible to capture cities and territories as we did in the past with unstoppable force.
Each of these elite government soldiers has been well-trained in military tactics and killing formations. They are not comparable to the guerrillas that the Fuxing Army encountered before.
Moreover, each of these government troops is led by a general who has reached the fifth level of martial arts. As long as there are sufficient money, food and supplies, they are all elite soldiers who can fight tough battles.
Hongmei mentioned in the letter that Hong Chengchou had ordered the formation of three armies in Tongguan, each of which was boarded by more than 300 large treasure ships provided by those aristocratic families and headed north along the Yellow River.
The two fastest government troops, one led by Deng Qi and the other led by Zuo Liangyu, entered Hancheng on the west bank of the Yellow River.
The other group, composed of Cao Wenzhao and Li Bei, led their troops to station in Pucheng on the east bank of the Yellow River.
Hong Chengchou's intention was very clear, which was to block the Fuxing Army's path from continuing to sweep south along the Yellow River.
Hong Chengchou himself led the main army and rode a large fleet northward along the Yellow River, then turned into the Luoshui River and stationed in Baishui City.
He was preparing to engage in a head-on battle with the main force of the Renaissance Army along the Luo River.
The main purpose is to block the Fuxing Army's intention to approach Chang'an City and block the Fuxing Army's marching route to Chang'an City.
What Hong Chengchou was most worried about was that the Fuxing Army would directly attack Chang'an City next.
If Chang'an City fell into the hands of bandits, even if Hong Chengchou had many backers, it would be of no avail. He would be doomed to be dismissed from office and punished by the court.
Therefore, blocking the main force of the Fuxing Army at the Luoshui line was a tactic he had to adopt.
In any case, Hong Chengchou did not dare to allow Li Dingguo's Fuxing Army to march straight into Chang'an City.
He also did not dare to allow the Fuxing Army to continue to march south along the Yellow River and head straight for the Central Plains.
We cannot even allow the Fuxing Army to advance into the Jin Province in the east.
All three parties must set up tight defenses to encircle the Fusion Army in its current territory.
If any line of defense fails, Hong Chengchou will be held accountable by the court.
Hong Chengchou's main goal now is not to launch a major counterattack against the Fuxing Army, but to first cut off the momentum of this powerful rebel group to capture cities and territories.
Only then will they dispatch troops and launch a counterattack against the Fuxing Army.
Hong Chengchou's actions now were so obvious that Li Dingguo could see through his intentions at a glance.
"Brother, is there any new action from the government troops?"
Wan'er saw that Li Dingguo looked serious, so she asked.
"good."
Li Dingguo nodded and said, "Hong Chengchou is indeed one of the top three military geniuses in the Ming Dynasty. With the full support of those aristocratic families, he now has many soldiers and generals, and his response is extremely fast."
"If nothing unexpected happens, the Yumendu Fortress we currently occupy will soon be attacked by Cao Wenzhao and Li Bei and their men."
"Yumen Ferry is currently guarded by the First Battalion of the Suzaku Army and the First Battalion of the Black Tortoise Army, with a total of 80,000 warriors and soldiers."
"The official army led by Cao Wenzhao, Li Bei and other generals has about the same number of warriors and soldiers as us."
"They have hundreds of treasure ships of various levels gathered from some aristocratic families, and even three top-grade treasure ships, which is about the same number of treasure ships as the Xuanwu Battalion 1."
"In terms of strength in all aspects, the government troops are not much different from our soldiers guarding Yumen Ferry."
"The only variable is Cao Bian Jiao."
"His personal combat power is too strong. Currently, there are no generals in the Suzaku First Battalion and the Xuanwu First Battalion stationed at Yumen Ferry who can compete with him."
"If we wait for Cao Wenzhao and Li Bei to attack, our army will have no choice but to conduct a defensive operation, using the Yumen Ferry's protective formation, psychic cannons, and psychic crossbow carts to conduct a defensive counterattack."
"This will inevitably encourage the arrogance of the government troops."
"By then, Hong Chengchou will most likely continue to send reinforcements, cross the Yumen Ferry Fortress, ride the Great Treasure Ship upstream, and launch continuous attacks on other riverside towns and fortresses occupied by our Fuxing Army."
"In that case, our army will be very passive, and will be led by Hong Chengchou by the nose." Li Dingguo, who has been through many battles, combined with his knowledge from past and present lives, can see through Hong Chengchou's calculations at a glance.
It is obvious that the other side intends to fight again and again with the Fuxing Army in the Yellow River Basin.
The purpose is self-evident, which is to keep the enemy out of the country.
By leading the battlefield between the enemy and us to the edge of Qin territory, we can avoid being blamed by the court, and at the same time obtain strong support from those aristocratic families in the form of money, materials, treasure ships, and weapons.
Li Dingguo even suspected that Hong Chengchou wanted to cheat those aristocratic families, make a fortune, and train a powerful elite army through a series of battles with the Fuxing Army.
Such a good opportunity would allow him to have countless money, food, supplies and training resources to expand his army. As long as Hong Chengchou is not stupid, he will use the chicken to lay eggs. At the very least, he will build a large elite army for himself.
It was impossible for Hong Chengchou not to understand that in troubled times, no one could be relied upon, and only by controlling an elite army in one's own hands could one gain visible confidence and benefits.
Once they saw Hong Chengchou's repeated actions and his aggressive stance on three fronts, which had blocked the Fuxing Army's intention to continue expanding, those aristocratic families would inevitably become like chicken blood and would continuously send all kinds of money, food and supplies to Hong Chengchou as if they were free of charge.
No matter what, the top priority for them is to eliminate Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army first.
As long as they don't want to die or their clan be wiped out, these guys will definitely do this.
"Wan'er, go and get ready. We need to return to the interior of the country immediately and go to Yumen Ferry to take charge personally."
Li Dingguo put away the letter in his hand, thought about it for a while, and made a decision, "No matter what, the Yellow River Basin between Qin and Jin provinces is a place we must fight for."
"We, the Restoration Army, must occupy this line of defense. We cannot allow the government troops to take it away again."
"Our Fuxing Army's first round of offensive has ended, and we have successfully occupied the northern part of Qin, most of the eastern part, and a small part of the central part."
"I ate too much this time, so I have to stop and digest it before I can have enough energy to launch a second round of attack."
"Otherwise, no matter how many territories we conquer, if we don't fully control them, it will be a waste of effort."
"Only when we build the occupied area into something similar to the Dongtao Plain, and all the soldiers and civilians are united, can our foundation be truly consolidated."
Li Dingguo knew very well that one cannot become fat in one bite, and that progress must be made step by step.
After the end of this first round of offensive, the number of Han people in the area under the jurisdiction of the Fuxing Army had exceeded 2 billion, and the area occupied exceeded 200,000 miles.
Such a huge harvest is enough for the Renaissance Army to digest for a while.
The government has now reacted, and aristocratic families from all over the country are fully supporting Hong Chengchou, which means that the offensive of the Fuxing Army will inevitably stagnate for the rest of the year.
Once those aristocratic families and the government work together and cooperate comprehensively, the power they unleash is extremely terrifying.
The invasion of the Later Jin Tartars was imminent, and Li Dingguo did not want to fight to the death with the Ming Dynasty this year or in the next two or three years, which would result in mutual destruction.
The wisest choice is to retain the strength of the official army to deal with the Later Jin Tartars, and also preserve one's own strength to deal with the Later Jin Tartars.
Even though the Fuxing Army entered the country with such a large army, occupied such a vast territory, gained such a large population, and obtained a huge amount of wealth and materials, in fact, they only destroyed some evil roving soldiers, local tyrants and evil gentry, and the strength of the imperial court was basically not damaged.
The only ones who suffered heavy losses were the wealthy families and merchants in the towns captured by the Restoration Army.
In the territories captured by the Renaissance Army, their power was uprooted, and all their money, materials, fields, shops, mineral resources, etc. were confiscated by the Renaissance Army.
As a Han Chinese, Li Dingguo naturally has a scale in his heart.
He didn't want his army to enter the pass and capture cities and territories, only to give the Later Jin Tartars an advantage.
Li Dingguo would rather his family grow and develop slowly, step by step, than let the Later Jin Tartars be satisfied.
This is Li Dingguo’s bottom line.
For Li Dingguo, the war between himself and the Ming Dynasty was an internal struggle. No matter who wins in the future, the whole thing will be ruined.
However, if the Later Jin Tartars took advantage of the internal strife between themselves and the Ming Dynasty, that would be absolutely unacceptable.
The Ming Dynasty can perish, but it must perish at the hands of the Han people, and the successor must also be a Han person.
"Brother, in this case, let's quickly prepare, and then take Da Jin and Dameng and go south as soon as possible to support our garrison at Yumen Ferry."
Wan'er's strength has skyrocketed, and she has been eager to try. She said, "I want to meet Cao Bianjiao this time to see if he is as powerful as the legend says!"
"Humph!"
She snorted, "I wonder how many times he can withstand the attacks of my life-defining divine weapon, Fantian Seal?"
"It would be too boring if we just knocked him down so easily!"
This girl actually dreamed of defeating Cao Bianjiao?
Li Dingguo wanted to laugh out loud when he heard this, but he managed to hold it back and warned her, "Wan'er, you can't look down on the heroes of the world just because your strength and trump cards have greatly increased."
"Don't think too much. Whether it's Cao Bianjiao or Lu Xiangsheng, they have been famous for so long and their reputations have not faded. It's not just because of their high cultivation."
"If I'm not mistaken, they both must have their own divine weapons, and they both have had some great adventures."
"Top masters like them have not only cultivated their various skills to at least the highest level, but have also been through hundreds of battles and even possess more than one top talent."
"If more and more people in this world break through to the sixth level of cultivation, or upgrade their physiques to become primary spiritual bodies, Cao Bianjiao and Lu Xiangsheng will definitely occupy two seats."
"This world is so magical. It's impossible that we are the only ones who have great luck and encounters. Other geniuses also have the opportunity to obtain them."
"There is also the Later Jin clan of Huang Taiji, which was able to suppress the Ming Dynasty and make it breathless. It is impossible to say that those genius-level generals in the Later Jin clan did not have any adventures."
"It is even possible that some of the geniuses among them also have their own divine weapons, but they have not been spread out, or they have hidden it very well and have not been exposed."
Li Dingguo was very clear that in the established history, it could be said that the Mandate of Heaven was on the Qing side.
After all, the rapid rise of the Later Jin clan was really unreasonable.
Decades ago, they were slaves of the Li family in Liaodong.
After Li Chengliang's death, the Later Jin clan rose rapidly and was even invincible.
Every military adventure was a great success.
In particular, with absolutely inferior military forces, he easily defeated the Mongolian Khan Ligdan Khan, and even all the opponent's treasures, including the legendary imperial seal, were seized by Huang Taiji.
This rapid rise can be called a miracle in history.
In the countless wars of expansion, if Huang Taiji had been unlucky once or twice, the Later Jin clan would never have been able to rise and would have been eliminated by the tide of history long ago, not to mention the Later Jin clan later establishing its rule over the country.
The process of the Later Jin clan's smooth rise in history and their establishment of their rule over the nine provinces of China can only be explained by the Qing Dynasty's Mandate of Heaven.
"Oh."
After being warned by Li Dingguo, Wan'er finally gave up her complacency. She nodded her head solemnly and said, "Brother, I'll remember this. I'll work harder in the future and strive to break through to the sixth level. I don't believe I won't be able to defeat Cao Bianjiao and Lu Xiangsheng by then."
In her heart, she truly would not submit to anyone except her elder brother Li Dingguo.
Since they had decided to go south today, Li Dingguo and Wan'er immediately jumped back home and quickly packed the things they wanted to take away.
Wan'er insisted that Li Dingguo use the Human Emperor Cauldron to store hundreds of jars of the fruit wine in the wine cellar.
After being stored in the cellar for such a long time, this premium spirit wine will definitely taste better. As a big foodie, Wan'er will of course bring some into the country to drink.
Li Dingguo naturally would not refuse Wan'er's suggestion.
Anyway, it has been a long time since I tasted these carefully brewed spiritual wines. It would be nice to carry some with me using the Sumeru space of my natal artifact, the big cauldron.
About an hour later, Li Dingguo and Wan'er, who were ready to set off, flew to the backs of Da Jin and Dameng who had been waiting for a long time, and activated the special magical instruments and saddle formations on the backs of the birds.
"Chirp..."
Two large golden eagles immediately soared into the sky, leaving the coverage of the protective formation, reaching a height of ten thousand feet, and flew towards the southern sky at a very fast speed...
(End of this chapter)
