Forbidden City, Imperial Study Room.
"Hahaha……"
Emperor Jiaqing summoned the ministers. Everyone changed their previous sad looks, and the study was filled with a happy atmosphere.
Everyone looked at the new "good news" that Hong Chengman was working hard to deliver, and the smiles on their faces could no longer stop.
Combined with the "good news" received from Elzhen before and the chaotic memorials from various places, the "real situation" on the Jiangnan battlefield is extremely clear.
Everyone pictured the entire war in their minds.
The Ming army on the south bank suffered setbacks at every turn, and the Yellow Banner Cavalry of Elzhen was harassing the Ming army's logistics everywhere.
A part of the Ming army on the north bank was surrounded in the small Haohe City and could not move.
Although the Ming Navy broke through the shipwreck blockade, it stopped at Jinling Port.
The main force of the Ming army was stationed 30 kilometers outside the city due to Hong Chengwan's harassment and the strong walls to clear the country, unable to advance or retreat.
Looking at it this way, the Ming army's offensive was stopped by the Qing army.
The war started to take a turn for the better.
Emperor Jiaqing took a sip of tea and started pointing at the map, with pride bursting in his chest.
He thought of Qianlong, the "Shiquan Old Man", fighting against Jinchuan and fighting against Garga, and scolding Fang Qiu.
Now, it's his turn to think freely.
After defeating the Ming Dynasty, he obtained advanced weapons and equipment and incorporated the Dingyuan-class battleship into the navy.
Jiaqing has already thought about it. He also wants to learn from the British Empire, build the Qing Royal Navy, seize colonies, and go to Western Europe to show off his power.
He put his hands behind his back and scanned the ministers with his sharp eyes.
“In the Jinling area, it has always been impossible to count the number of battles, and it is difficult to discuss the rights and wrongs.
However, historians have all noticed that it was in this ancient capital that six dynasties experienced successively, which determined their rise and fall, one after another.
At that time, I, the Qing Dynasty, entered the Pass and went south to fight in the south of the Yangtze River. Zhao Zhilong and Zhu Guobi saw that the situation was over and Jinling surrendered.
It was here that the Eight Banners gained overwhelming power and suppressed the Southern Ming Dynasty, winning a complete victory.
I don't understand why some people think that Zhu Zaiming was Zhu Yuanzhang when he was still alive, and he attacked Jinling in order to imitate the past events of the previous dynasty.
At that time, Zheng Chenggong's Northern Expedition ended in Jinling.
During the San Francisco Rebellion, Wu thieves stole half of the country, but they were finally wiped out by me.
The Qing Dynasty unified the Central Plains. Wherever the Qing troops went, the people wholeheartedly welcomed them. It can be said that they took advantage of the right time and place.
That state of vitality and all things competing is still before our eyes.
In just over a hundred years, has this place changed and become the burial place of the Qing Dynasty? "
Emperor Jiaqing became more and more excited as he talked. He waved his hands, slapped the map hard and said.
"Hong Chengwan gathered the garrison troops from all over the south, with a strength of 150,000.
Elden retains 260,000 men and is besieging Haohe.
I don't care, the battle strength is 410,000 versus 30,000, the advantage is mine! "
Emperor Jiaqing paced back and forth in his study. He looked through Hong Chengwan's defense map of Jinling and was not satisfied with the defense of a certain section of the city wall.
Then I picked up the brush and made annotations.
"This gun moved 5 meters eastward."
Everyone bowed their hands and patted the horse:
"His Majesty wishes you the best."
…
The fire had just passed, the soil around Jinling was hot, and the air was hot.
The hot air rises and the cold air from the periphery is squeezed into the middle.
What followed was continuous strong winds, blowing ashes and turning the entire sky gray.
A new batch of supplies was brought ashore.
Including medicine, food, tents, coal, winter clothing...
There are also plenty of masks and respirators.
Some of the supplies were purchased from the system by Zhu Zaiming using money copied from the big landowners in Suzhou and Hangzhou.
The Ming army was not in a hurry to attack the city.
Instead, they are waiting for the areas that were burned to the ground to regain stability.
Everything here was burned, and some small ponds and streams were evaporated dry.
The earth's heat storage capacity decreases.
After experiencing the heat of a fire, the high winds of a cyclone, and the cooling cumulonimbus clouds.
Winter here is going to be extremely cold.
The war in the future will definitely become extremely difficult.
Hong Chengwan gathered a large number of people and soldiers in Jinling.
In addition, there are too many scenic spots and historical sites in Jinling, and it is impossible for the heavy artillery brigade to plow the ground with unbridled artillery fire.
As long as Zhu Zaiming ignores the people in the city and chooses to push forward with firepower, it will not be difficult for the Ming army with World War I standards to invade Jinling.
But Zhu Zaiming chose to besiege the city.
Be prepared to risk possible huge casualties and encroach on the city bit by bit.
This is destined to be a long process.
Of course, Zhu Zaiming did not give up trying to persuade him to surrender, and promised to kill only the evil leaders.
However, there was no response from the city.
"Breathe in and breathe out..."
Sun Zhongren wore a mask, a gas mask, and a leather chemical protective suit.
Sweat flowed from forehead to toes.
He was ordered to lead a company deep into Jinling and try to open a passage out.
One hundred people in the company were all wearing chemical protective suits, and the ash particles floating in the air fell on their clothes, gradually accumulating a thin layer.
The soldiers carried guns on their backs, led their horses with gas masks on their heads, and pulled several carts of military supplies as they trudged forward on the gray-black land.
Suddenly a black wave came from behind, like an ocean wave.
"Protect the horses and supplies!"
Sun Zhongren shouted loudly, his voice buzzing through the gas mask.
The soldiers checked the supplies bundled in the car, protected the horses on the left and right, and stretched out their hands to caress the horses' necks to comfort them.
When the wind and waves hit, the sky became darker.
The flying ashes adsorbed on the glass of the gas mask, making it difficult for Sun Zhongren to see clearly what was going on outside, and he could only see blurry figures.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, the black wind swept through the company and rushed towards Jinling.
Sun Zhongren took out the kettle, poured some water and cleaned the lenses.
The black water droplets were like tears, flowing through the gas mask and dripping on the ground.
He muttered depressedly: "How much land did Hong Chengman burn? Even the nearby climate changed in a short time."
Sun Zhongren looked back and found another black wind brewing on the skyline.
Everyone briefly counted the supplies and started on the road again.
Passing by a small slope, there is a small forest on it, which was originally lush and green, and there is a small fish pond next to it.
At this moment, only the dark carbon rods were left, lifeless.
Sun Zhongren gently pushed a tree trunk as thick as an arm with his fingers. Without much force, he pushed it to the ground and broke it into several sections.
"Company Commander, there's a situation!"
Everyone immediately took off the rifles from behind and approached the slope in groups.
Using the earth slope as a bunker, the company instantly formed a defensive formation.
A scout came around from the other side of the slope. He took off his gas mask and loudly explained the situation.
"There's a village on the other side, a burned-out village."
When the company entered the village, their eyes were red.
I saw a neat pile of skeletons on the flat ground at the entrance of the village.
They were not burned to death, because when the fire came, even if it was too late to run away, they would not be able to gather together and wait to be burned.
There must be death everywhere.
Apparently, they were killed before being burned to ashes!
"These inhuman beasts!"
Sun Zhongren's angry voice came from the gas mask.
