In mid-February of the twelfth year of Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty, although Wu, Li, and Qing did not engage in a decisive battle in Huguang. But the Qing Dynasty's fortune in Huguang was brought to the verge of collapse by the gambling king Eza!
Although the situation of the Qing Dynasty in Huguang was precarious, there was still a considerable reserve team in Jingzhou Fucheng.
They didn't move. Wu Yingxiong and Li Zicheng didn't dare to make any big moves.
Otherwise, once Wu Yingxiong's army encounters some setbacks in Yunyang and Xiangyang, or even if there is a slight delay, Eza will be able to lead at least 15,000 troops to rush to the rescue.
At least 10,000 of these 15,000 troops are the most elite Eight Banners new army in the Qing Dynasty!
It has been a year and a half since Yue Le defeated southern Sichuan. The 10,000 Eighth Banner New Army stationed in Jingzhou are not idle - they are training there every day!
After all, this is the Kangxi period, not the Guangxu period, so it is still useful for those Eight Banners disciples to practice.
Moreover, in accordance with Kangxi's order, Ezha also opened the slave door for the slaves accompanying the Eight Banners New Army in Jingzhou, recruited a group of slaves accompanying the army into the new army, and also gave them the status of bannermen or coatmen.
When you become a newly established slave, you will naturally be more energetic!
At the same time, Eza was ordered to send a group of Eight Banners soldiers who were too old and infirm to be used back to Beijing.
A group of Eight Banners disciples were transferred to serve in the Green Camp New Army to strengthen the control of the Green Camp New Army in the town under the jurisdiction of Changsha Daying.
After some adjustments, although the situation in Huguang is not good, it can still be maintained.
Therefore, Li Zicheng also did not dare to rush eastward to Yuezhou. Yuezhou is also a fortified city!
Even if there were only a few thousand defenders, Li Zicheng would not dare to try it easily.
Because he only has an army of more than 10,000 people, and the time it took to form the army is relatively short, and the quality is also uneven. Some people are too old, and some are too young. Once Yuezhou cannot be captured quickly and reinforcements from Ezha arrive, Li Zicheng has no chance of winning.
This is probably a delicate balance of "the enemy cannot move, I cannot move", right?
But Ezha's blind action gave Wu Yingxiong, who had betrayed the old man, and Li Zicheng, who was good at seizing the opportunity, the opportunity to make a big move!
Yunyang, Xiangyang, Yuezhou and other places immediately "exploded" one after another!
The first thunderstorm occurred in Yunxian County, Yunyang Fucheng.
February 11th, night.
The shouts of death and the sound of gunfire that lasted for a day and night finally stopped completely.
The area around Yunyang Admiral's Yamen has been riddled with wounds.
The fiercest battle once took place outside the gate of the Admiral's Yamen, and there were corpses everywhere. There are Qing soldiers with braided hair and cloth face armor, and there are also Wu soldiers with red scarves who cut off their braids and wrapped a red cloth on their helmets.
The battle was very fierce, and even if some soldiers from both sides died in battle, their bodies were still struggling together!
Some of the Ma family's white-armed soldiers from Shizhu still maintained their last sprinting posture with their spears raised. Their spears had already penetrated the enemy's body, and they themselves were killed by bullets and arrows, but they still had angry eyes.
It seems that the people of the Shizhu Ma family have also had enough of the Qing court's arrogance. They are very active in helping Wu Yingxiong fight this time!
There were also some Fujian Tengpai soldiers from Yang Laijia's tribe who were also extremely brave. When they fell, they were shot in many places on their bodies, but they still maintained their charging posture. Needless to say, these Fujian soldiers knew that they deeply hated the Qing Dynasty!
What kind of treatment did they receive when they followed the "big brother of an official"? What kind of treatment did you get when you followed the Qing Dynasty? Moreover, the eldest brother of an official is so kind (a boss who is willing to give a lot of money to his subordinates is a good boss), yet Kang Mazi is harmed. And this Kang Mazi is still trying to harm their hometown in Fujian!
The gate of the Admiral's Yamen was the main direction of the Wu soldiers' attack. Wu Shifan commanded his fusiliers, under the cover of Yang Laijia's rattan soldiers, to form a dense formation and shoot at Tong Guoyao's bidding soldiers.
The dense rain of bullets left the wall near the camp gate full of bullet holes!
Tong Guoyao's shotgun soldiers suffered almost all casualties in this battle. Finding that the Wu soldiers' firepower was too fierce, Tong Guoyao, knowing that the situation was over, was not willing to fail and personally led his two to three hundred clothed men in a desperate charge with swords and guns.
These young men were not in Tong Guoyao's bidding account, but were the young men that Tong Guogang and Tong Guowei helped him find among the Tong family's slaves.
The Tong family was originally an important official in the founding of Manchuria, and they were relatives of the emperor for several generations. Now they are the natal family of Kangxi's biological mother. Naturally, he is extremely noble, and his servants are stronger and braver than other families.
The two brothers were also worried about Kangxi's needs. Knowing that Emperor Mazi was worried that Yunyang's defense line could not be stretched, they transferred 300 people from their own house and village and gave them to Tong Guoyao.
And Kangxi was also "generous" and gave them all the status of being covered by the Three Flags!
This is the emperor’s grace!
When Wu Shifan, Ma Wanshan of the Shizhu Ma family, and Yang Laijia, the commander-in-chief of Xiangyang, rushed into Yunxian County with the support of Yunyang deputy general Hong Fu, the three hundred "minion soldiers" who were not in the account risked their lives to help Tong Guoyao. This prevented the Admiral's Yamen in Yun County from falling immediately.
Since the Admiral's Yamen was not captured immediately, Yunyang's bid-raising soldiers who were originally scattered throughout Yunxian County also had a backbone and moved closer to the Admiral's Yamen. This allowed Tong Guoyao to gather a team of seven to eight hundred people, who could rely on the strong building of the Yunyang Admiral's Yamen to carry it on for a day and a night.
But Wu Shifan, Yang Laijia, Ma Wanshan and Hong Fu had five thousand soldiers, which was a huge numerical advantage! In addition, Wu Shifan's musketeers could fire very intensive firepower, so on the night of February 11th, Tong Guoyao was still defeated.
However, the Manchurian uncle still behaved quite stubbornly and led his men to launch three consecutive breakthroughs. The last time he even rushed to Wu Shifan's formation! The young man who was on the battlefield for the first time was so frightened that his face turned pale, and the fusiliers under him almost collapsed, and some began to throw away their fusiliers and run for their lives!
Fortunately, Yang Laijia's Fujian rattan soldiers and Ma Wanshan's Shizhu white-pole soldiers performed stably and pounced on them in time to engage in hand-to-hand combat, and were able to withstand Tong Guoyao's coated men.
The two sides fought to the death outside the gate of the Admiral's Yamen. They fought for nearly half an hour, and Tong Guoyao's entire army was finally wiped out!
Tong Guoyao himself flatly refused Wu Shifan's offer of surrender and eventually committed suicide!
Although winning this battle was more difficult than expected, with the death of Tong Guoyao, Yun County, the core of the Yunyang defense line of the Qing Dynasty, was still completely controlled by Wu Bing!
Two days after Yun County was breached by Wu Shifan, another group of Wu soldiers commanded by Wu Yingxiong finally, after a fierce battle, completely captured the last stronghold of the Yunyang defense line of the Qing Dynasty, the so-called iron-clad Xiangyang City!
The Qing army guarding Xiangyang was Yunyang Fuzhi Yang Maoxun. He was the commander of the Han army with a white flag and the son of Yang Linxiang, who had served as Pingnan general. He was a proper "Han army". Like Zhu Guozhi, he had become one with Manchuria. Yes, naturally he is die-hard.
Although he only brought 500 Fu bids, and was caught off guard by Wu Yingxiong under the banner of Wu Sangui, and suffered some losses, he still led the remaining two hundred people to retreat to the most dangerous fortress "Madame City" in the northwest corner of Xiangyang City to defend it. .
This lady's city is adjacent to the Han River to the north, part of the unusually wide Xiangyang moat to the south, connected to the Xiangyang City Wall to the east, and the Han River Pier to the west. The terrain is very dangerous and the city walls are tall and thick. Wu Yingxiong, who did not carry heavy artillery, could only order people to attack Madam City along the Xiangyang City Wall. He fought for two days and two nights before finally pulling out the nail.
Like Tong Guoyao, Yang Maoxun was stubborn to the end, and finally committed suicide by jumping off a building - Eza, who had lost all his money in a stud game, had not yet committed suicide, but his two men went to Shunzhi first to cry and complain, but they didn't know. Can you find it?
Once Yunxian and Xiangyang were lost, the Yunyang defense line that Kangxi had worked so hard to manage was completely shattered!
Although there are still many troops at the front line, all the defense hubs behind have been captured by the enemy. The defenders at the front line strongholds have all become isolated troops. They will face the two-sided attack from Wu Sangui and Wu Yingxiong. The whole army will be annihilated. A matter of time.
However, a bigger thunder still exploded in Yuezhou City!
Because the Huguang battlefield was divided into several areas by the Yangtze River, Dongting Lake, and other large rivers, the real hub of the Qing army in this area was not Jingzhou in the north of the Yangtze River, but Yuezhou at the intersection of the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake.
Therefore, Eza has been stationing thousands of soldiers in Yuezhou in the past few months, and he has been running between Jingzhou and Yuezhou.
With Yuezhou in the east, Jingzhou in the north, and Yichang in the northwest, Li Zicheng was able to contain them. Although he could still develop south, Wu Guogui and Zu Zeqing were coming up from the south, and Li Zicheng was going south. Didn't they collide head-on?
However, Ezha's Stud moved most of the troops guarding Yuezhou away, leaving only one or two thousand people. This small number of people can barely defend Yuezhou City. Those strongholds near Yuezhou City that guard the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake can only be put up with a few people to pretend.
But Li Zicheng, who originally didn't have many navy troops and ships, grabbed dozens of large wooden boats to build the bridge after Li Laishun and Hu Yigun demolished the Shashikou pontoon bridge!
Now Li Zicheng finally had a Yangtze River navy consisting of dozens of ships!
So he led his army to board the ship at Shishou in the southeast of Jingzhou. More than 10,000 people marched eastward along the Yangtze River and drove to the east of Yuezhou, guarding the Chenglingji at the intersection of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River and landing.
Chenglingji didn't have many defenders at all, so it naturally fell immediately. This opened the door for Li Zicheng to enter Wuchang eastward!
The Qing troops guarding Yuezhou didn't know what was happening. They found that Li Zicheng's army was rushing towards them from the north, and they thought that the powerful Eza had been completely wiped out! Naturally, they no longer dared to defend Yuezhou, so they surrendered to Kaicheng under Huang Zhisheng's persuasion.
As a result, Li Zicheng captured the hub of the Qing army's battlefield in Huguang without a single blow, and also seized a large amount of supplies that Ezha had hoarded in Yuezhou and the artillery used by the Qing army to block the coastal waterway of Dongting Lake (they originally thought that Li Zicheng and Wu Guogui could only Coming from Dongting Lake), we also got a large number of ships blocked on the river east of Chenglingji.
Now the door for Li Zicheng to march eastward to Wuchang was not only open, but he also had enough ships, artillery, and food to carry out this mission that could change the world.
And Eza, who was proficient in the "stud method", discovered that something was wrong, and actually took back what he thought was the bargaining chip from the "gambling table" - the 20,000 troops that attacked Shimen and took a trip to Yichang. He then returned to Jingzhou City with the troops and supplies in Yiling Town.
I had 20,000 yuan when I went out to gamble, and now I have brought 20,000 yuan home with me. Does this mean I can neither lose nor lose?
With a bang, a table was overturned on the floor of Xing Zainan's study in Xi'an.
Then Emperor Kangxi roared: "Ezha. Damn it!"
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
"Your Majesty, although Eza made mistakes, the main force of the Huguang Army is still there."
Some of the bachelors and Hanlin bachelors kneeling below had a good relationship with Eza and wanted to explain to him. However, they received Kangxi's "death stare" and were so frightened that they did not dare to say anything.
"Your Majesty, Jingzhou is already a lonely city. It is useless to defend it. I suggest you abandon Jingzhou immediately and divert your troops to Wuchang and Hanyang! Wuchang and Hanyang are the gateways to guard the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. You must not lose anything!"
Finally someone understands why Eza died!
Although he didn't lose much of the money he brought out with this stud, Yunyang, Xiangyang, and Yuezhou, the three important strongholds on the Huguang battlefield, were all removed by others!
And Yuezhou is the gateway to Wuchang!
There are not many defenders in Wuchang City. Once Li Zicheng's army moves down the river and hits Wuchang, Wuchang will not be able to defend it at all.
Now Wu Yingxiong is already "bearing Zhenzhen" in Xiangyang. If Li Zicheng takes Wuchang again, he will overwhelm the southeast!
Moreover, Li Zicheng was originally blocked south of Jingjiang and west of Dongting. The only room for development was south. Sooner or later, he would conflict with Wu Guogui.
Now Li Zicheng can transfer to Wuchang. Although Wuchang is the leader of Huguang, it is located on the eastern corner of Huguang. Wu Guogui can completely ignore Li Zicheng and join forces with Wu Yingxiong to attack the Central Plains.
If Wu Yingxiong and Wu Guogui attacked the Central Plains together, what would Kangxi do?
Kangxi looked at the person who gave him advice. It turned out to be Suo'etu, a great scholar.
He sighed and asked: "Suo'etu, do you think Ezha can march into Wuchang before Li Zicheng?"
"this"
Suo'etu couldn't answer.
Kangxi shook his head: "He can't! If he could, he should lead Jingzhou's army to Wuchang now!
But he just cowered in Jingzhou and didn't move. He didn't act when he should act, but he acted randomly when he shouldn't act! Can I still count on him? "
Another great scholar made a suggestion to Kana: "Your Majesty, I suggest that Ezha be removed from the post."
"Who can go to Jingzhou to replace Eza?" Kangxi asked.
"Yue Le, the president and minister of Qishan Daying, can go to Jingzhou to stabilize the situation." Academician Jin Batai suggested.
Prince An of Yue Le had already been wiped out, but Kangxi had no one available, so he did not send Yue Le back to Beijing to eat old rice. Instead, he made him the president of Qishan Camp, responsible for the defense of Ganlong. .
"Yue Le can indeed do it." Kangxi nodded, "It's definitely too late for Jingzhou's soldiers to go to Wuchang now. If they move rashly, they might leave Maicheng. Why not let them be nailed to Jingzhou City!"
Jingzhou City has sufficient reserves, the city is strong, and there is a large area of land around it that can be managed. If Yue Le works well, he should be able to contain Wu Yingxiong and Wu Guogui and prevent them from going north with all their strength.
But once Yue Le leaves, who will Gansu hand over? Lerjin doesn’t seem to work, right? "
Several bachelors shook their heads together.
Leerjin definitely can’t do it!
He is similar to Ezha, so if he is asked to guard Qishan, we might as well give him Xia Houmao's script.
"Your Majesty, I know that one person can go out to control Gansu." Doolittle, the great scholar of Baohe Palace, recommended someone to Kangxi at this time, "Murudu, the Mongolian capital of Zhengbai Banner. Laita is a veteran general in the army. He followed Yu in his early years. The king of Tongjun conquered the east and west, and made great achievements in battle. During the Tiancong period, he was awarded the title of Baya Lajia Lazhangjing."
Baya Lajia Lazhangjing was the officer in charge of the guard army. If it were placed in the Kangxi year, he would be the gatekeeper of the imperial city.
But the military officer-in-charge during the Tiancong period, and also the army-protector officer-in-charge of the Zhengbai Banner when Duduo was the banner leader...that's awesome!
The Zhengbai flag back then was a flag carried everywhere by macho men!
To be the leader of the most elite white-armored soldiers of Zhengbai Banner, he must be a super macho man who is rolled up among all the macho men, rolls and fiercely!
This Laita later followed Duoduo in his expeditions to the east and west, defeated Li Chuang, and destroyed the Southern Ming Dynasty. In terms of military merit, he was not inferior to Obai, and he was the whole Obai with a straight white flag!
If the three brothers from the "old family" hadn't died one after another and bad things happened, Laita would have been the minister in charge of the bodyguard.
But even if the "old family" died, he was not idle. He was still at the front and contributed to the Qing Dynasty's killing of enemies. He defeated Zheng Chenggong, resisted Li Dingguo, and later defeated Yunnan and Guizhou, and even defeated Maolu Mountain. .
It can be said that he will fight no matter what, and he will be there in every battle. He was not left idle until after the Battle of Maolu Mountain... If he is not allowed to idle anymore, he will become "highly successful"!
"Your Majesty, I also think that Laita is the only one who can defend Gansu!" Suo'etu also thought that Laita was fine, and he also understood Kangxi's thoughts, so he added, "This Laita is as powerful as Obai... otherwise You can’t even get into the eyes of Dorgon and Duduo!”
It's good to be as fierce as Obai!
Now Kangxi also knew about Obai... and this "Obai" was the talent that Dorgon and Duoduo favored.
Can Dorgon and Duduo choose the same person?
"It's good to be as fierce as Aobai!" Kangxi nodded, "I want such a hero! How many such generals are there in the court? Think about it carefully and recommend them all to me! I will use them all!"
Kangxi now finally knew that all the young princes of the clan who could hang out with him were unreliable!
A veteran who can fight as fiercely as Obai!
He paused and then said: "Jingzhou Mansion will let Yue Le guard it... return Prince An to him! I have no requirements for him this time, as long as Jingzhou City is preserved."
If Jingzhou is not lost, Wu Yingxiong and Wu Guogui will not be able to concentrate on heading north.
But what to do about Li Zicheng, this scourge? If he takes Wuchang, he should go to Jiangnan next, right? Jiangnan...who can guard it for me? "
(End of chapter)
