Chapter 484: Lu Xiangsheng decided to give it a try

At the same time that Liang Liping led the Eastern Army to attack Xuzhou, in accordance with the military’s order, the Azure Dragon Legion and the Suzaku Legion gathered in Mengjin City on the north bank of the Yellow River. After a squadron of 100 large treasure ships from the Navy’s Third Fleet came to join them, the army immediately boarded the ships and headed south.

According to the plan, Cao Yongxiang will lead two large legions, cross the river and launch an attack on the Central Plains.

The goal of the first battle was to cross the river and capture the Mengjin Ferry, a riverside fortress north of Luoyang City.

There is no doubt that Mengjin Ferry is one of the largest riverside fortress towns on both sides of the Yellow River.

This is because of the existence of Luoyang, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. For tens of thousands of years, Mengjin Ferry has been the busiest inland port in the Yellow River Basin, comparable to Linqing Port in Shandong.

After continuous expansion throughout the dynasties, the Mengjin Ferry Wharf stretches for thousands of miles, and countless businesses and inns gather here.

Although this super riverside fortress town is called Mengjindu, it is located on the south bank of the Yellow River, which is completely opposite to Mengjin County on the north bank.

It has never been under the jurisdiction of Mengjin County, but has been directly under the jurisdiction of Luoyang City.

However, in the past year, the Fuxing Army captured the area north of the Yellow River and completely controlled the water transportation in the Yellow River basin, causing the aristocratic families, wealthy merchants and wealthy people of the Ming Dynasty to evacuate this huge riverside fortress.

Today, the Mengjin Ferry has become an important military port, garrisoned by a part of Lu Xiangsheng’s Tianxiong Army.

Lu Xiangsheng was naturally well aware of the huge gap between his side and the Fusion Army in terms of naval power.

He had no confidence in being able to hold on to Mengjin Ferry, which had become deserted as a large number of businesses had left.

The Tianxiong Army now has a size of 300,000 people under Lu Xiangsheng’s vigorous expansion and training.

But that’s all.

Although Lu Xiangsheng served as the governor of Xuanda for several years, he was too old-fashioned in his behavior and was not well-liked by the aristocratic families and officials of the Ming Dynasty.

It was just that due to Lu Xiangsheng’s all-round talents in civil and military affairs, he was previously pushed forward by these people to deal with Li Dingguo’s Fuxing Army, so they had to reinforce Lu Xiangsheng with a large amount of financial supplies and training resources, which enabled the original tens of thousands of Tianxiong Army to rapidly expand to the current scale of 300,000 elite soldiers.

However, after the Grand Canal was cut off by the Fuxing Navy during the Ming Dynasty, the Ming court was forced to urgently migrate south to Nanjing. The Tianxiong Army and Lu Xiangsheng, who had lost their base, also lost their greatest value. Recently, they have received less and less money, food and supplies from the court and aristocratic families.

It is already very difficult for Lu Xiangsheng to maintain the daily material consumption of his 300,000 soldiers. It is beyond his ability to expand the size of the Tianxiong Army again.

“Ah, what a troubled time!”

Standing on the north city tower of Luoyang City, Lu Xiangsheng, with his hands behind his back, looked out at the Beimang Mountain outside the city. The bleak autumn wind blew his long beard, and he sighed with a sad face.

It is now late autumn in the tenth year of Chongzhen, and seven years have passed since Li Dingguo started his rebellion.

Li Dingguo, once a petty thief, has now become a 17-year-old powerful bandit. His momentum of growth is growing stronger and stronger, and he is on the verge of replacing the Ming Dynasty and unifying China.

Lu Xiangsheng could not understand why the Ming Dynasty, which had been passed down for thousands of years, had fallen to such a state in just a few years.

On the other hand, Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army not only defeated the Ming Dynasty’s official army with ease, but also easily crushed the Later Jin clan, whom the Ming Dynasty feared like a tiger. Now they have even recovered the entire Liaodong region and brought down the once-invincible Qing Dynasty!
Although the Ming Dynasty seemed to have turned a corner a few months ago, Emperor Chongzhen was probably blessed by the fortune of his ancestors and suddenly had an amazing encounter and came to his senses.

He secretly sent Huang Degong and Lu Jiude to issue a blood edict to Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng, intending to revive the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, the day agreed upon by all parties to launch a major counterattack against the officials, gentry and aristocratic families of the Ming Dynasty is getting closer and closer.

However, Lu Xiangsheng felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on his heart, making it difficult for him to breathe.

A strong sense of crisis inexplicably surged into his heart, making him unable to sleep or eat these days.

As a sixth-level powerful genius, Lu Xiangsheng was naturally not an ignorant person. He knew very well that such a omen could not be without reason.

For practitioners with great luck, the six senses are always very effective. The appearance of this sign means either good luck or bad luck.

“Could it be that the officials and gentry in the court, or the great families in Jiangnan, have discovered your majesty’s plan?”

The whistling autumn wind cleared Lu Xiangsheng’s mind. He couldn’t help but wonder, “Or maybe Li Dingguo has made a new move?”

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but become more worried.

Having been in charge of Luoyang City for such a long time, Lu Xiangsheng was certainly not idle.

Through a large number of spy reports, he knew clearly that a main combat corps of the Fuxing Army had been stationed in Mengjin County on the north bank of the Yellow River, eyeing the city of Luoyang not far from the south bank.

This army is commanded by Cao Yongxiang, a core general of the Renaissance Army, and is one of the most powerful elite legions in the Renaissance Army.

Especially since Cao Yongxiang was said to have recently broken through to the middle stage of level six, Lu Xiangsheng, who also broke through to the middle stage of level six a few days ago, could not gain any advantage.

More than a year ago, when he was ordered to lead the Tianxiong Army to retreat southward, he fought against the Qinglong Legion. He knew that Cao Yongxiang had a powerful innate artifact that was no worse than his own innate artifact, the Lidi Flame Flag.

Once Cao Yongxiang led the Qinglong Army, which had expanded to 500,000 soldiers, to cross the river to the south, Lu Xiangsheng would not be absolutely sure of defending Luoyang City.

On the eve of the turning point of the Ming Dynasty, if the Fuxing Army launched a battle to cross the river, it would undoubtedly bring huge changes.

It might even destroy your majesty’s careful calculations in one fell swoop, kill the chance of the Ming Dynasty’s revival, and thus lead to its downfall.

“Whoosh!”

At this time, a third-level spirit pigeon flew over from the north, landed in front of Lu Xiangsheng, and chirped to him.

Seeing this, Lu Xiangsheng was startled and quickly raised his hand to take the small bamboo tube tied to the pigeon’s leg, then took out the secret letter and checked it.

“what?”

“The Restoration Army on the other side of the river is crossing the river in large numbers, and it’s not just the Azure Dragon Army, but also the Suzaku Army?”

“Mengjin Ferry has already fallen into enemy hands. The defending general saw the situation was not good and released this spirit pigeon in time to pass on the message.”

Upon hearing this devastating news, Lu Xiangsheng was stunned. “Is Li Dingguo crazy? The Fuxing Army just captured Liaodong a few months ago, and there are a lot of things to deal with. Logically speaking, he should be too busy to handle everything now.”

“He did not take the opportunity to march into Goguryeo and wipe out the remaining remnants of Huang Taiji and the Tartars in one fell swoop, but instead chose to cross the river to the south and start a war to unify China?”

No wonder Lu Xiangsheng thought this way.

According to the current situation faced by the Fuxing Army, the top priority is to stabilize the area north of the Yellow River and make every effort to restore people’s livelihood order.

Under normal circumstances, if Li Dingguo wanted to win a stable victory, his next target should be Huang Taiji, who was entrenched in the Goguryeo Dynasty. However, he did the opposite now, which naturally exceeded Lu Xiangsheng’s expectations.

“Could it be… Could it be that Li Dingguo has already learned about your Majesty’s recent actions…”

Lu Xiangsheng was not stupid. He guessed the other party’s plan after a little thought. “He has foreseen your majesty’s ambitions and wants to nip in the bud the signs of the Ming Dynasty’s revival!”

“Yes, this is the only way to explain why Li Dingguo made such an abnormal decision.”

“After all, the Ming Dynasty, which has been passed down for thousands of years, may be in decline, but a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Its hidden foundations are far beyond the reach of Huang Taiji’s Later Jin remnants.”

“Once you meet a wise leader who can rise up against the tide, it is possible to turn the tide.”

“Sisi…”

After figuring out the reason, Lu Xiangsheng couldn’t help but take a deep breath, feeling cold all over, “As expected of Li Dingguo, a peerless hero born for the times. When he found out that Your Majesty was working hard to govern the country, he immediately launched a plan to strangle the Ming Dynasty, and would not give the Ming Dynasty a chance to revive!”

As for why Li Dingguo was able to learn about Emperor Chongzhen’s series of major actions so promptly, the flawed intelligence department within the Southern Ming Dynasty naturally could not prevent the rumored and famous Fuxing Army’s military intelligence personnel from investigating.

It was normal that this exposed Emperor Chongzhen’s plan.

This also proves Li Dingguo’s decisiveness. Even when the time was not ripe, he still launched a war to unify the nine provinces by marching his army south.

“Now that the Mengjin Ferry has been lost, we can no longer stop the attack of the Fusion Army’s fleet.”

Lu Xiangsheng frowned, and a flash of light flashed through his mind, “Luoyang City is only ten thousand miles away from Mengjin Ferry. In a few days, the army led by Cao Yongxiang will arrive.”

“Although Luoyang City’s defenses are good, and I am personally garrisoning with the Tianxiong Army, it is not a problem to hold off the enemy for a while, but in the end, it will not be able to hold on.”

“My personal sacrifice for my country is a small matter, but it has caused the failure of your majesty’s plan, and the consequences are disastrous.”

Lu Xiangsheng was not afraid of life or death, and was prepared to serve his country loyally, but he had to consider the survival of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

If his death was meaningless, he would not be able to rest in peace even in the nine springs.

At the critical moment when His Majesty was planning to launch, Lu Xiangsheng did not want to die so easily in Luoyang City.

This is this moment and that moment.

I only have a few days to make a choice.

Even though Lu Xiangsheng was a man of both civil and military talents and very resourceful, he still lost his composure in such a hurry.

Defend Luoyang City to the death and finally die for the country?
Or should we give up Luoyang and launch His Majesty’s purge plan ahead of time?
Lu Xiangsheng felt torn.

The main reason is that he doesn’t have enough time.

If he had ten days or half a month of buffer time, he could have discussed and contacted Sun Chuanting and Huang Degong to jointly come up with a response plan.

Lu Xiangsheng was so anxious that his face turned blue and red, and lightning flashed through his mind.

“Elephant View!”

After a moment, he had made a decision, and said to his brother who had just finished checking the military secret letter, “I will immediately ride on the fairy crane to Kaifeng City in the south to discuss with Sun Chuanting about launching the Great Purge Plan ahead of schedule!”

“You and Xiang Tong must immediately gather the soldiers of the Tianxiong Army, pack up the money and food supplies as quickly as possible, and quietly lead the soldiers to evacuate Luoyang City tonight. Advance towards Dengfeng City in the southeast overnight, and take Dengfeng City in one fell swoop while Gao Jie’s soldiers are unprepared.”

“I will return to join you within three days, and then march into Ruzhou, kill Gao Jie with lightning speed, and recruit his new army!”

“Sun Chuanting, who is guarding Kaifeng City, will most likely be attacked by a main force of the Fuxing Army crossing the river. I will persuade him to abandon Kaifeng as soon as possible, go south to Fengyang, and then east to Yangzhou to see if there is a chance to kill Liu Zeqing and incorporate his new army.”

“Only in this way, when the sudden attack comes, Sun Chuanting and I will go separately to successfully incorporate the new armies of these two towns, so that we will have enough troops and money and food supplies to stop the momentum of the Fuxing Army’s southward advance, and buy enough time for Your Majesty to clean up the internal troubles!”

“If things go as expected, Xuzhou City should have fallen by now, and Liu Zeqing will most likely retreat to Yangzhou City.”

Lu Xiangsheng knew very well what kind of person Liu Zeqing, who now controls the Lianghuai area, is.

The city of Xuzhou, located on the south bank of the Yellow River, could not withstand the attack of the Fuxing Army.

If the situation were reversed, if Lu Xiangsheng was the decision-maker of the Fuxing Army, the army would definitely choose the important military town of Xuzhou as a breakthrough point for its southward advance.

Seeing how aggressively the Fuxing Army was coming, Lu Xiangsheng had concluded that the city of Xuzhou had already fallen.

“Big brother.”

Hearing this, Lu Xiangguan said anxiously, “If you go directly to Sun Chuanting to discuss it, what should you do if he doesn’t cooperate?”

“Once our Tianxiong Army withdraws from Luoyang City, we will completely break away from the Jiangnan family and will inevitably be restricted in every way in the future. This…”

Evacuating Luoyang City without an imperial decree and abandoning this super city to move south meant that the Tianxiong Army would never be able to turn back.

Whether it is the Lu family or the soldiers of the Tianxiong Army, they are determined to follow His Majesty to the end, and at the same time break with the alliance of Jiangnan aristocratic families with unfathomable background.

The consequences are so chilling just thinking about it.

It can be said that Lu Xiangsheng’s decision now is enough to determine the rise and fall of the world.

Once this step is taken, there will be no turning back. If you are not careful, you will die and your clan will be wiped out.

“I can’t control that much anymore!”

“Do it or die!”

Lu Xiangsheng’s face turned grim, and he waved his hand decisively, saying, “Since Your Majesty has great ambitions now, I, Lu Xiangsheng, will also risk it all!”

“The Fuxing Army is now coming with great force. If we don’t quickly control the new army soldiers of Liu Zeqing and Gao Jie, neither Your Majesty nor I, Sun Chuanting, Huang Degong, Lu Jiude, Zhou Yuji and his wife, will have any chance of winning!”

“It’s a death sentence anyway, so I, Lu Xiangsheng, have the courage to reveal my trump card and give it a try!”

After he made the decision straightforwardly, he gave his younger brother some instructions, summoned his sixth-level natal spirit bird, the red-crowned crane, rode it into the sky, flew rapidly towards the Kaifeng City in the east, and disappeared at the end of the sky in a moment.

(End of this chapter)