Chapter 253 Forced
Chen Cao finally decided to take action in person when attacking Suzhou. After all, the Suzhou and Song Dynasties would be base areas in the future. Furthermore, the army was forced to raise this time. If Jiannu hadn't suddenly wanted to recuperate and prepare to negotiate a peace with the imperial court, he would not have had the urge to start a sudden attack. .
However, according to the original plan, Tang Kainian and Man Gui still led the Longwu Army to Jiading, while he and Song Che and others acted together, starting from Qingpu and heading straight to the capital city of Suzhou.
Of course, before Chen Cao took action, he made the imperial edict public and made a famous name.
Qingjun side...
Chen Cao, as the Duke of Liang, also publicly supported the content of the edict, and Prince Fu should be crowned emperor.
Regardless of whether King Fu was willing or not, from the moment he met Chen Cao, King Fu had already boarded Chen Cao's 'thief ship', and Chen Cao needed to wait for news before he finally set off.
Seven days later, Kuai Ma returned from Nanjing, bringing the news that Chen Cao wanted.
"After the emperor learned about the edict that Wei Zhongxian had brought, he was so angry that he fainted in Qianqing Palace. Later, the General Affairs Department issued a decree depriving King Fu of his royal family status, and sent people to Luoyang to capture King Fu's family and imprison Fengyang, the central capital;
In addition, the emperor cursed the prince, not mentioning the content of his humble position. Later, he sent a decree to Nanjing, not recognizing the title of the prince, and defining us as rebels. Hearing that Nanjing has been ordered to prepare for war, it is estimated that the order to mobilize troops will be Coming. "
"Hahaha..."
Chen Cao raised his head and smiled. After asking the captain who reported the news to retreat, he looked at the participants on the round table and said: "Everyone, Qing Jun is with you, organize the army, we will set off immediately..."
The Dingwu Army has the fastest combat capabilities and execution. Starting last year, Chen Cao decided that not only the Dingwu Army, but also the New Army would no longer wear plate armor. The soldiers in relaxed clothes only need to carry a flintlock. With guns and enough ammunition, you can rush to the battlefield, and the gathering speed will naturally be significantly improved.
At the same time period, in Luoyang City
As the capital of several dynasties, Luoyang's prosperity could not be compared with that of Kaifeng in Henan. In the royal palace of the city, the bustling Prince Fu's Palace in the past was filled with a state of mourning. Zhang Gaoping, the commander of the left guard of the palace, was wearing armor and came to court. Looking at Prince Fu Zhu Changxun who was sitting on the throne of Chengyun Hall, he held his fists and said, "Prince Qi, everything is ready."
After hearing this, Liu Shuang turned around and handed over to the serious-faced Prince Fu: "Your Majesty, except for the stubborn Luoyang magistrate and others, all the armies around Luoyang are willing to obey your command. Please give me your order."
Prince Fu stood up with the support of Sun Dewen: "I am willing to obey the late emperor's edict and go north to ascend the throne of the emperor. The traitors in the court have assassinated the late emperor. As a descendant of Emperor Shenzong, I must not sit idly by and ignore it. Are you willing to follow me to Qingjun's side?" "
"I am willing to die for the prince..."
In the square outside Chengyun Hall, more than a thousand guardsmen of Prince Fu's Mansion shouted in unison.
"Liu Changshi, I will leave the matter of contacting Duke Liang to you."
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty..."
Liu Shuang bowed and turned to look at Zhang Gaoping: "Commander Zhang, let's take action..."
"yes..."
...
Official road south of Suzhou Prefecture
The inspection department along the way didn't even have the will to resist. After seeing the flag of the Dingwu Army, they honestly put down the rusty long sword in their hands and knelt down to greet the Duke of Liang, Chen Cao.
It's no wonder that these people in the Inspection Department are timid. Even if they have the equipment of the garrison troops, if they really want to resist, they will be shot into sieves by muskets from a hundred and fifty paces away.
These people in front of him are all little shrimps. Asking them about the situation is not as clear as his investigation. After giving him kindness and power, he let them return to their posts and stick to their posts.
This made the people in the Inspection Department confused. Then they saw the word "Qing Jun Side" written on a big flag and realized that Duke Liang was going north to Qing Jun Side.
Since they could survive, a group of soldiers from the Inspection Department thanked him profusely, and even received a reward of ten taels of silver per person, but what they got in their hands was a silver dollar they had never seen before.
"Uncle..."
Zhao Xin quickly caught up with Chen Cao. A pull on the reins actually caused the horse to lift up. This horsemanship was not ordinary: "Master, good news..."
"But King Fu is in trouble?"
Zhao Xin nodded suddenly: "Exactly. I heard that the eunuch who delivered the order was beheaded as soon as he entered Luoyang City. The prefect of Luoyang also had his head shown to the public for not obeying King Fu. Luoyang is already under the control of King Fu. In addition, King Fu also sent The messenger is coming."
The messenger is a military man with an official position in hundreds of households, and his important responsibility is to communicate.
"Yin Guoxian, a member of the left guard army of the Royal Palace, pays homage to Duke Liang..."
"What message did His Highness Prince Fu ask you to pass on?"
"Your Majesty asked me to send a letter to Duke Liang and ask him to read it."
"Come here, take Yin Baihu down to rest..."
After Chen Cao read the letter, he handed it to Huang Chunyao beside him: "Look, King Fu is not a fool..."
Huang Chunyao looked at it and replied: "The assistance is a trivial matter. It's just that he asked us to go to Fengyang within a time limit, but the students thought we couldn't go."
"What's the explanation?"
"As the students said before, we are just borrowing a status to recruit King Fu. As far as the students know, King Fu is just a talented young man. If we really expect him to go north to conquer the world with his current strength, I am afraid it is impossible. ;
And we only need a random word. As long as we take no further action after taking Suzhou, we will not threaten Nanjing. I believe that even the Duke of Wei will not pay too much attention to us. It is just a precaution, and the King of Fortune coming from the west will be. The key to the imperial court. "
Chen Cao understood what Huang Chunyao meant and said: "Let the hundred households named Yin go back and reply. We will strongly support King Fu. If he wants weapons, we will give him weapons. If he wants food and grass, we will provide him with food and grass."
"My lord, Prince Fu is stunned at how much he is doing. We here just want to take Suzhou."
Huang Chunyao tore up the letter as he spoke: "In addition, sir, we must also hold Nanzhili in our hands before King Fu's rebellion is completely put down."
"too fast..."
Chen Cao disagreed with Huang Chunyao's opinion of attacking Nanjing after taking Suzhou: "Firstly, if King Fu cannot take Zhongdu, we will never have a chance. Secondly, the new army is not strong enough to fight now. I can only attack Nanjing with the Wu army." With any certainty, if we attack with advanced artillery, the chance of victory is only 50%. Not to mention the casualties after capturing Nanjing, once Nanjing is lost and the capital is shaken, I am afraid they will concentrate all their strength on attacking us."
"But isn't this what we need?"
Seeing that Chen Cao's confidants were everywhere, Huang Chunyao whispered: "Master, Nanjing must be in our hands, otherwise with the strength of the capital, the north will definitely be at a loss. At that time, we only need to use some small plans." , the young master will become successful and famous..."
Chen Cao suddenly felt that Huang Chunyao's words actually hurt his heart. Although he was only twenty-five years old now, there were many years in his life that he could struggle with. If he wanted to achieve prosperity for future generations, it would take less than thirty or fifty years, and now I have just taken the first step. Even at the fastest speed, I still need to get the entire world within five years.
"Well...but we can't be the first to attack Nanjing..."
Huang Chunyao also agreed with Chen Cao's suggestion: "Master Mingjian, the first to attack Nanjing must be King Fu..."
Thinking that the fat man had become his scapegoat, Chen Cao found it very interesting: "In that case, just send a few instructors with flintlock guns and other flintlock guns, and give them the eliminated matchlock guns and cannons." They sent them all, and ten of the Red Yi Cannons were sent over."
"Master Mingjian..."
On the second day of the march, a regiment of the Dingwu Army's forward troops was ambushed in Qiandun Town, forty miles away from Suzhou Fucheng. However, the ambush battle turned into a battle of annihilation, and the guerrillas commanded by the enemy were captured. General.
When the prisoners were escorted to Chen Cao, the captured commander burst into tears and begged Chen Cao for forgiveness.
It turned out that after Chen Cao left Qingpu, Suzhou got the news and immediately instituted martial law, and General Su Song sent the guerrilla general in front of him to lead 1,000 suppressing troops and 2,000 supporting troops, for a total of 3,000 troops. Dun Town ambush Chen Cao's vanguard troops,
As a result, because he did not know the strength of the Dingwu Army, he miscalculated the situation at that time, and thought that defeating 3,000 people against a thousand people would definitely be a complete victory. However, he was defeated by the firearms of the Dingwu Army. As soon as they made contact, After the first volley of musketry, the whole army was defeated, and even he himself was captured and captured. He was really ashamed.
Chen Cao shook his head with a wry smile, then looked at Song Che and said: "Shixiu, look at it, these are still soldiers, and the whole army was defeated in a volley. If we fight against Jiannu, I think all of them will become slaves." share."
Tang Yannian waved his hand: "Come here, drag him down and shoot him..."
"General Tang, wait a minute..."
Huang Chunyao said: "Master, we cannot kill these people for the time being. We belong to the army of benevolence and righteousness on the side of the Qing Dynasty. These people are soldiers recruited locally in Suzhou. If we kill them, I am afraid that we will arouse the resentment of the local people and damage our reputation." unfavorable."
The guerrilla general thought that he was going to die, but when he heard this, he immediately kowtowed: "Please show mercy to the Duke of the State. I am willing to atone for my sins with my merits. If you have any military information, please inform the Lord of the State."
Tang Yannian stood aside and said coldly: "If you are making nonsense, the Duke will not treat you well."
"The general Mingjian, the Duke Mingjian, Xiao Xiao received the news before setting off. After the martial law in Suzhou, the governor Yang Weizhi sent people to Nanjing to ask for help."
"I thought it was some big news..."
Chen Cao sneered and shook his head: "Okay, I am a teacher of benevolence and righteousness. I will not commit any random crimes. We are all from the Ming Dynasty. We will not use the knife unless it is absolutely necessary. Don't worry."
"Thank you, Mr. Guo, for not killing...Thank you, Mr. Guo, for not killing..."
"Yunsheng, how to deal with these people?"
"My father-in-law has a good life. Although they are immortal, they are all veterans and are not useful in the war. However, they are cheap labor in terms of infrastructure construction."
"Just what I want..."
Suzhou Mansion must be rebuilt. With these captives, we only need to provide food and no money for infrastructure construction, which is also a benefit.
"Set up a temporary prisoner of war camp to take care of these people. They will come in handy when the time comes."
