At the Longjiangkou Pier in the outer city of Nanjing, countless boats are laid on the Qinhuai River. These are not merchant ships transporting grain and goods, but carrying the Northern Expedition army and countless baggage grain and grass along the Yangtze River Canal. , a warship heading north.
At the meeting between the imperial government and the imperial government that day, Qian Qianyi's "exoneration for the people of Datong" made the still hesitant Emperor Hongxing determined to launch the Northern Expedition in advance.
The blood of the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who were massacred in Datong City cannot be in vain. They held back the Qing soldiers for the Ming Dynasty for three or four years, so Emperor Zhu Da had the responsibility to seek justice for them. As for whether Dorgon can be killed, that is a matter of ability, and whether to fight this battle is a matter of attitude.
If Emperor Zhu really had no energy left, he would not fight this battle for political correctness. But now the situation in Nanming is good, and it can fully support a real Northern Expedition. If we don't fight, it would be really unjustifiable.
Therefore, on the Qixi Festival of the 20th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Cixi officially promulgated the imperial edict of the Northern Expedition. In the edict, he clearly stated that he wanted to seek justice for the soldiers and civilians who died in Datong. He wanted to ask Dorgon for his betrayal of trust and abuse. The crime of killing innocent people!
The preparations for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains had actually begun long ago... Even if there had been no massacre of Datong, Zhu Cixiang would have launched an attack in the winter of 20 years!
The model troops of the two divisions and a large amount of rice, grain, hay and other materials were transported to Dengzhou by sea boat before the southeast monsoon ended in the summer of 2020. One of the divisions (the First Division) secretly landed on Juehua Island in mid-June.
In addition, Gao Jie, the military governor of Xu Hai, also joined the cross-sea expedition because of his quarrel with Huang Degong and Shi Kefa. Before the end of June, he also led an army of 14,000 selected from Xu Haijun, also went north by sea, and now also stationed in Dengzhou.
If we add the officers and soldiers under the jurisdiction of the Beiyang Navy, the General Military Office of Dongjiang Town, the General Military Office of Shandong and the Denglai Governor's Office, the total strength of the North Road Ming Army reaches more than 70,000 people!
Once the landing in Liaodong and western Liaoning is successful, it will really be enough for the Qing Emperor Amador Gun to drink a pot.
The Southern Route Army of the Northern Expedition was mainly led by Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, Zhu Yihai from Shandong and Huang Degong from Huaibei. They also prepared with all their strength for several months for this Northern Expedition.
Among them, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi and Huang Degong all became "debt commanders" for this reason. Because the subsidies given to them by Zhu Cixi were not enough, they all borrowed money from Maritime Bank and Salt Commercial Bank to purchase A batch of muskets, artillery, and many side-chariots were also built.
The current "Six Northern Towns" (namely Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, Zhu Yihai, Gao Jie, and Huang Degong) the Ming army adopted two different military systems.
One is that Zhu Cixiang introduced the Western military system. Both Gao Jie and Huang Degong's armies learned the methods of the Model Army, mixing pikemen and firecrackers into a square formation of about 500 people as the basic combat unit.
The other was Qi Jiguang's chariot camp. Four towns including Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Zhu Yihai all adopted this military system.
However, they did not copy it completely, but made improvements according to the actual situation, canceling the configuration of the Fran cannon car and rocket car, and there is no palladium hand. Instead, weapons such as spears, bows and arrows, muskets, and sabers were used in conjunction with sidecars, and some light general cannons (one-pound cannons) were also equipped.
When engaging the enemy, the sidecars can be connected together to form a vehicle formation. Together with artillery and muskets, it is enough to fight against the Qing cavalry. However, this kind of car camp has poor maneuverability and can only travel on main roads. The traveling speed is also slow, so it can only move slowly and steadily.
Now the four towns of Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Zhu Yihai have been organized into three to five car camps. Each battalion has a full strength of 3,1200 people. The four towns in total can pull out sixteen car camps. The total strength is fifty thousand. In addition, Huang Degong's twenty battalions and some auxiliary cavalry were added. Not counting the army and the people, an army of 70,000 could be gathered along the way north along the canal!
What will leave Nanjing by water today is the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Emperor Hongxing himself, including two infantry divisions, two cavalry regiments, two artillery regiments and Zhu Cixiang's guard battalion, about 35,000 people - according to According to the plan, these two divisions will look at the progress of the Northern Expedition armies in the south and north, and then decide where to march?
If the two Northern Expedition armies progress smoothly, they will successfully attract the main force of the Qing army to the battlefields of western Liaoning and Shandong. Then Zhu Cixiang would personally lead these two divisions to land in Dagukou, march along the Weihe River and the Grand Canal in Tianjin, and raid Dorgon's lair.
If the two Northern Expedition armies, especially the Southern Route Army, are not progressing smoothly, then Zhu Cixiang will lead these two divisions to reinforce them.
In Nanyang, Xiangyang, Fengyang Prefecture and Yingtian Prefecture, a division of model troops was also deployed. This was to guard against Zhang Xianzhong or the Qing army's large-scale invasion into the hinterland of Nanming. Zhang Xianzhong might be forced by the Qing army to attack Nanming. Within the territory, Dorgon may also resort to the trick of encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao, using the mobility of the Qing army to suddenly Huainan to force the Ming army to return for reinforcements. So Zhu Cixi had to take precautions.
These three divisions also serve as reserves. In particular, the two divisions deployed in Fengyang Mansion and Yingtian Mansion can go north by water at any time to reinforce the Northern Expedition.
The officers and soldiers of the Guards Division and the rear division of the New Army who overcame the difficulties all put on brand-new red arrow jackets and slatted iron armor today, equipped with sophisticated spears and firecrackers, and under the brand-new banner, they pulled bronze castings of artillery. The whole team set off from the Grand Campus in the east of Nanjing's outer city, then climbed up the city wall of Nanjing's inner city from Zhengyangmen Horse Road, and then marched along the city wall to Yifengmen Wengcheng and Yifengmen Street near Longjiang Wharf.
Before it was time to board the ship, thirty thousand officers and soldiers were enjoying their last meal before setting off on the streets and in the barbican city. These meals were not prepared by the cooks who accompanied the army, but were pulled directly from the palace. They were nominally "gifts" made by the Queen and the palace people. In fact, it is just ordinary white flour steamed buns with salted pork and two boiled grass eggs. Everyone can also get a small half bottle of rice wine.
And this queen is Wu Sanmei!
Wu Sangui's conditions for defection and Dorgon's crime of slaughtering Datong were added together, which brought an end to the ranking battle for Zhu Cihong's harem. Dongguo Gege was eliminated directly, and she was not even qualified to be the imperial concubine. Although Zheng Chagu was pregnant again, because Wu Sangui was so important, she could only be wronged and relegated to second place in the harem.
Wu Sanmei was successfully promoted, and her mother honored the world. She was officially crowned queen on July 15, the 20th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty.
Suddenly, to the west of Yifengmen Wengcheng, the family members of the Beifu army who came to see off the soldiers suddenly started cheering. From a distance to near, the cheers became louder and louder. Then I saw hundreds of plate-armored knights guarding the army, slowly arriving surrounded by a few people. The visitors were none other than Emperor Hongxing, Empress Wu, Concubine Zheng, Concubine Ning and Concubine Fei. Emperor Hongxing and Empress Wu both rode horses and rode side by side. The pregnant Concubine Zheng was walking behind the emperor and empress in a Western-style four-wheeled carriage paid tribute by the Macau Council. Ning Xiangyu and Fei Zhen'e rode a two-wheeled carriage together and walked at the end.
Zhu Cixiang was dressed in military uniform, with his armor close to his body. He was high-spirited and explaining something to Empress Wu as he moved forward.
"...Third sister, the seal of regency is entrusted to you. After I leave, you will have full authority to handle the affairs of the capital. The head of the country, the first assistant and the emperor Zheng will stay in the capital to assist you. If there is anything that cannot be decided, Please send the matter six hundred miles to the front of the army as soon as possible. Chagu is pregnant, please take care of me. Xiangyu and Zhen'e are both going on the expedition with me. You can rest assured that they will take care of my food and daily life. In addition, from the Emperor's side, You should also pay more attention!”
When Zhu Cixiang was speaking, the group of people had already entered the Yifengmen Urn City. The soldiers who had just finished their lunch shouted "Long Live the Mountain" in unison. The sound was like a wave, hitting the faces of all the people in Nanjing city. heart.
With such a high-spirited army, this Northern Expedition should be a sure thing, right?
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