Outside Wuchang, a large army was gathering.
Li Qin's nephew, Li Xuanshang, sat in the main seat in the army tent, his eyes constantly sweeping over the generals below.
Liu Chenghui, as the deputy general, sat next to him.
At this moment, the army's camp was filled with warlords and their generals who had come from all over, as well as Li Xuanshang's own generals.
Among them, Liu Wusheng, Wanyan Gun, and others stood closest to Li Xuanshang below.
Liu Sixiu from Sichuan and Li Hongji from Henan stood on the left and right sides of the camp with their generals.
Standing next to Li Hongji were generals such as Zhang Bingwu.
At this moment, Zhang Bingwu looked at Li Hongji beside him with a fierce smile.
It was as if he remembered how Li Hongji had forced him to garrison Hankou, then took the opportunity to return to Henan and annex his territory.
Li Xuanshang's serious gaze swept over the generals below.
He had been ordered by his uncle Li Qin to oversee troops in various regions for a long time, and had developed a soldier's aura of sternness and severity.
Facing the numerous lords and their generals who had fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, they showed no fear whatsoever.
Instead, he simply stood up and said:
"Gentlemen, I have been ordered by the imperial court to command a large army to launch an eastern expedition to punish the false regime in Jiangnan."
I now order Generals Li Hongji and Liu Sixiu to serve as the vanguard of my army.
"I hope that you two will not disappoint the court's high expectations and will achieve the greatest merit for our army in the eastern expedition."
After Li Xuanshang finished speaking, Li Hongji and Liu Sixiu, who were already mentally prepared, stood up expressionlessly and cupped their hands to indicate their obedience.
Following the issuance of the order, the large army stationed outside Wuchang began to advance eastward towards Jiangxi and other places, with Liu Sixiu and Li Hongji as the vanguard.
Li Xuanshang, on the other hand, commanded a large army and supervised and followed behind.
As the weather gradually cools down, the hot weather gradually disappears.
The soldiers in Liaodong who couldn't adapt to the southern climate finally felt some comfort.
Meanwhile, I've been adapting to life in the south for some time now.
They no longer felt as bad as before.
Li Xuanshang, on horseback, looked at the top-secret intelligence report from Jiangxi in his hand.
Before he came to the south, his uncle Li Qin tried to ensure the success of his army's eastward expedition.
He then told him about the situation in Jinhu Prefecture, Jiangxi, as well as the intelligence network in Jiangnan.
This allowed him to receive immediate updates on changes in the Jiangnan court and simultaneously establish contact with the Jinhu Prefecture in Jiangxi.
This would facilitate their coordinated attack from within and without, allowing them to break through the Yangtze and Ganjiang River defense lines established by the Jiangnan court.
Li Xuanshang looked at the intelligence report from the Golden Tiger Prefecture in his hand.
As mentioned above, the more than 30,000 reinforcements sent by the imperial court, led by Yan Yingyuan, were originally intended to be stationed in Nanchang.
As a result, in order to ensure his safe submission to the court and to obey King Li's orders, he launched a surprise attack on the Jiangnan puppet regime's navy in Poyang Lake.
They were not allowed to be stationed in Nanchang, but instead were sent to be stationed in Jiujiang.
After reading his report, Li Xuanshang also frowned.
Because he also realized that most of what Jin Hufu said was false.
So that they could submit to the imperial court peacefully, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
He clearly considers Nanchang his own territory and doesn't want outsiders to get involved.
Fortunately, he seemed to be following orders.
With his and his uncle's hundreds of thousands of troops splitting into two routes to advance south and east, he clearly understood that he should follow the trend and choose sides.
He then wrote a letter to Jin Hufu in Jiangxi.
He had already led his army eastward, and he wanted the emperor to launch a surprise attack on the Jiangnan court's navy in Poyang Lake.
After writing and sending it out, Li Xuanshang looked at the large and small boats traveling by land and water alongside his army on the Yangtze River.
Of these ships, some were carrying supplies for the army.
The rest of the container contained gunpowder and kerosene prepared during this period.
It was designed to be used to ram and destroy the Jiangnan navy in the upcoming naval battle.
After the Jiangnan court's navy in Poyang Lake was attacked, it must have suffered losses, large or small.
But they certainly won't dare to come ashore easily; it's time for us to take action ourselves.
Use these ships, filled with gunpowder and kerosene, to ram the ships of the Jiangnan imperial court.
Nanchang.
Jin Hufu looked at the secret letter that Li Xuanshang had sent him.
He knew that Li Xuanshang's army was already on its way to the east.
Now it's time for me to take action. I need to act at this crucial moment to secure a position of royalty for my future.
Afterwards, Jin Hufu got up, burned the secret letter in his hand, and summoned his deputy general Lin Qinquan outside, asking him:
"How did your talks go with Gan Hui, the naval commander from Jiangnan?"
Upon hearing Jin Hufu's words, Lin Qinquan, the deputy general of Jin Hufu, also bowed and said:
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, I have been negotiating with Gan Hui all this time."
They agreed in consideration of the fact that we had been providing them with naval supplies throughout this period.
Before our navy sets sail to resist King Li's army, use their warships to help us transport supplies and some soldiers to the front lines, such as Jiujiang, where we are resisting King Li.
Upon hearing his deputy general Lin Qinquan's words, Jin Hufu nodded repeatedly and said:
"Good, very good. When you get back, select some trustworthy elite soldiers and once you enter the port where their ships are docked, take action. Smuggle gunpowder and kerosene into the supplies being transported."
The goal is to inflict a heavy blow on this navy, or at least annihilate it.
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