Huaibei, Suzhou.
The Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zhongshan and Li Zhongtang, the governor of Jiangbei, wore their official robes and strode into the governor's office.
This governor's office was originally the yamen of the magistrate of Suzhou. At this time, there were already many military attachés. Among them were officers from the Huai Army and Yingtian regiments who had graduated from the martial arts department, as well as military leaders from the Liu Jinzhong and Ma Weixing systems, and many who came from this "collection" and that "collection" The leader of a "group army" (a certain group's military training).
As Li Zhongshan approached, everyone stood at attention, clasped their fists and performed the standard military salute of the martial arts department.
Since the Northern Expeditionary Army landed in Jiangbei, they have been victorious all the way. So far, they have swept through Fengyang Prefecture, Sizhou, Hezhou, the east of Yingzhou Prefecture, and the north of Lujiang Prefecture. Among them, Fengyang Prefecture is in the best situation. All the prefectures and counties in this prefecture have been captured by the Northern Expeditionary Army, and most of the "collections, towns, and villages" have been affiliated with the Ming Dynasty.
The situation in Sizhou is slightly worse. The Huainan area of Sizhou has long been infiltrated by the Jiangbei regiment training of Northern King Liu Jinzhong. Therefore, after the Northern Expedition began, except for the two counties of Tianchang and Xuyi, all other places surrendered. Liu Jinzhong sent Deng Guangming, a powerful general who originally belonged to Xushun Gongfu, to lead an army to attack Xuyi. It took less than half a month to finally capture it. Tianchang, which is close to Yangzhou, has become the target of Chen Yonghua's new in-laws, the Jiangdu Chang family. Under the operation of Chang Wei, the head of the Chang family's "Wei Ziying", a "bloodless Kaicheng" was launched. But the territory of Sizhou and Huaibei is not so easy to fight. After all, the capital of Sizhou is in Huaibei. Moreover, Sizhou is responsible for protecting the Yellow River and the Canal, so there are many defenders. Moreover, Li Zhongtang's primary target in Huaibei is still the territory of Fengyang Prefecture, so now Sizhou City and its surroundings are still under the control of the Qing Dynasty. Down. However, Wuhe County, an important area close to the Huaihe River, was defeated by the fierce general He Tianran sent by Li Zhongshan.
The situation in Hezhou is similar to that in Sizhou. Most of the Eastern Expeditionary Forces dispatched by the Jiangxi Camp of the Qing Army originally stationed there have now crossed the Yangtze River and headed to the west of Nanjing. Therefore, Liu Jinzhong took advantage of the situation and captured most of Hezhou, leaving only one state city that he had not captured yet.
As for the Ming Army's Northern Expedition, their territories in Yingzhou Prefecture and Lujiang Prefecture were not large.
The person in charge of attacking Yingzhou was Ma Weixing. His main goal was to penetrate Yingzhou and enter Henan to join forces with Wu Shifan. Therefore, he was not very interested in occupying the territory and was not willing to fight a tough battle, let alone mobilize the people of Huaixi to engage in team training. Once they have gained a foothold in Mengcheng County, they are satisfied. Now they are waiting for the envoy sent to contact Wu Shifan to return before leaving.
Lujiang Prefecture (later Hefei) is the gateway to Anqing. Once it is lost, the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Ming Army may attack Anqing from the north. Once Anqing is lost, half of the Jiujiang-Anqing defense line will be broken, and the remaining half will be destroyed. It won't last long. Therefore, the Jiangxi camp deployed heavy troops in Lujiang, and Anhui governor Jin Fu personally took Fu Biao to Lujiang to preside over the defense.
Therefore, Liu Jinzhong spent a lot of effort to only capture the two northernmost towns of Lujiang Prefecture.
Although the Ming army made little progress in Lujiang and Yingzhou, the results achieved in this Northern Expedition are still quite gratifying!
In addition to the great expansion of the territory, the scale of the Huai Army and Jiangbei regiment training has also increased by at least twice!
The enthusiasm of the Huaixi people in organizing team training from the military is really high!
Often before the troops of the Ming army arrived, the leaders of this "ji" and that "ji" had already dug out the ancestral official uniforms and seals, and organized all the strong men of the same clan and clan. As long as the representatives sent by the Ming army negotiated good terms with them, they would join the group immediately.
But just when the situation in Jiangbei was good, the situation in Yingtian Mansion in Jiangnan seemed a little bad. Yue Le's siege of Nanjing City seemed to have been completed. Yuhuatai and Xiaolingwei were fighting every day. Although the Qing army suffered heavy losses, they still persisted in attacking and biting the Ming army's defense line bit by bit.
But now it seems that there are only more than 10,000 elite soldiers of King Geng Dong, Lu Sanhao's more than 10,000 Yingtian regiment training and hundreds of thousands of militiamen with little combat effectiveness in Yingtianfu City.
Therefore, the heads and heads in Jiangbei are all guessing that today, the commander-in-chief is anxious to gather military attachés above the "group army" (which is a high enough level). Are they planning to switch their main force to Jiangnan and first repel the Yue Lejun who besieged Nanjing?
Li Zhongshan took his seat with a smile, looked at the questioning eyes of his generals, and waved his hand for everyone to sit down.
"I have received reliable information. Yue Le has sent heavy troops from Jinling to the north. They will arrive in Xuzhou in about half a month, and then they will seek a decisive battle with me! I invite you to Suzhou today because I want to listen to your suggestions and work together to decide the end. The enemy’s plan!”
His words caused a stir in the audience.
"Supervisor, isn't it an opportunity for our army to return to Yingtian to break the siege of Nandu when Yue Le divides his troops and goes north?"
"Supervisor, even if I don't return to Yingtian, I can still attack Yangzhou with a powerful force. As long as Yangzhou is mine, the Tatars will be completely cut into two parts, the north and the south. Yue Le will definitely return to rescue Yingtian. The Tatar soldiers will also withdraw from the siege, which is a plan that kills two birds with one stone."
"Supervisor, our army should first switch to the main force to defeat Jin Fu's army in Lujiang, and then approach Anqing. Jin Fu's army is just a bunch of mobs, but as long as we defeat it, we can surround Anqing. If we can capture it Anqing, we can cooperate with King Nan and King Zhong to conquer Jiujiang!"
"If we want to respond to Tian, attack Yangzhou or Lujiang, what should we do in Huaibei? So many people in Huaibei are following the governor to fight against the Qing Dynasty. If Yue Le wants to lead the Tatars to fight back, can he spare the fellow villagers in Huaibei? Master, we don’t need to be afraid of Yue Le’s elite soldiers, he has elite soldiers, but we have more people!”
"Yes! Supervisor, there are many of us!"
"We in Huaixi have always sent out elite troops. As long as the commander is willing to work with Yue Le in Huaibei, we Huai people will support the commander!"
"Yes, we Huaixi people, young and old, from north to south, are all willing to follow the governor to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty!"
"It's nothing more than sending out troops to fight. Those Tatar soldiers are nothing special. Even the people from Yingtian in Jiangnan can support them. How could we, the warriors from Huaixi, not be able to defeat them?"
The generals present were obviously divided into two groups. One group was composed of generals from outside the country. They all wanted to fight mobile warfare and leave Huaibei to Yue Le's main force, and then go to attack Yangzhou, Lujiang, and Anqing. Want to catch it!
One group is the leaders of the "group army" in Huaixi. Of course they want to defend their hometown! Regardless of whether they are from Huaibei or Huainan, they all advocate a decisive battle with Yue Le in Huaibei! It's a good idea to keep the enemy at bay!
Li Zhongshan, the Cabinet Supervisor, had to make a choice between these two opinions - the basis for the decision was not only military, but also political!
If they give up Huaibei for mobile warfare, there is a high probability that Yue Le can be forced to retreat. But can Yangzhou be captured quickly? Can Anqing be captured in one fell swoop? If Yangzhou and Anqing cannot be captured, and Huaibei is massacred again by Yue Le's people.
It would be difficult for Li Zhongtang to be the leader of the Huai Army.
The decisive battle in Huaibei was a tough battle, and it was a tough battle with a large army!
To be honest, if it was Li Fuchen's unreliable father who was in charge of the army now, he would definitely be at this level to fight Yue Le!
However, Li Zhongshan, a great military strategist, has always fought in small ways. The biggest battle he commanded was the defeat of Shang Zhixiao in Shunde and Xiangshan.
What is the level of filial piety? What is the level of Yue Le or the generals sent by Yue Le? No comparison!
"Supervisor, let's fight in Huaibei!"
While Li Zhongshan was still thinking about it, Luo Dawei, the leader of Luojiaji's "group army" and the leader of the "big" battalion, stood up and said solemnly: "The general is familiar with the terrain and folk customs of Huaibei, Suzhou, Ling The general has visited all the market towns in Bi and Meng cities. The general also knows all the camp heads in Su, Ling and Meng. Who can fight hard battles, who can fight skillfully, and which fence is impregnable? The general will definitely know which fence cannot be defended. The general can be sure that as long as the commander is willing to fight north of the Huaihe River, the entire Huaixi will support you, and there are many people in Huaixi who are willing to go to the battlefield and take their lives. Fight for wealth!"
There is someone behind this!
And he is also a ruthless person who specializes in conquering the world!
In the past Chinese history, the only people who could conquer the whole world by hard fighting, except for the people in Liaodong and Mongolia, were Guanlong and Huaisi.
Li Zhongshan thought of this and looked at Zhou Chang again.
Zhou Chang smiled and said: "Superintendent, General Luo is familiar with Huaibei, and I am familiar with the generals under Yue Le. No matter who Yue Le sends here, I know his temper, temperament, and past battles well!"
He served as a minister of the Qing cabinet for many years. In fact, he was the cabinet master. Of course he knew everything!
Li Zhongshan still did not make the final decision, but glanced at Shang Shuying, who was "the seller begging for loyalty."
Shang Shuying quickly stood up and said: "Don't worry, Supervisor, I will definitely find out the reality of the Tatar army going north as soon as possible."
Now we are all alive, and there are people behind the scenes who know ourselves and the enemy, and this battle can be fought!
Li Zhongtang's expression turned serious, and he said in a resolute tone: "The headquarters has made up its mind to use the main force from the north of the Yangtze River between Xu and Su to defeat the main force of the Tartar army heading north, and then seize Xuzhou and cut off the north-south water transportation!
This battle is related to the fate of the Ming Dynasty. If we win, one-third of the victory will be achieved, and all the rich lands in the southeast will be mine! I just hope that all the gentlemen will go all out and kill the captives to the death to live up to the country's favor! "
The whole room was filled with solemnity, and then all the officers stood up, clasped their fists, and shouted: "Follow the order!"
Li Zhongshan's prestige in the Northern Expeditionary Army is still very high. Now that he has made up his mind, his followers will not have any objections and he will just execute it. Just as he said, after this battle is fought, all the wealthy lands in the southeast will belong to the Ming Dynasty.
Even if the Ming Dynasty cannot be unified in the future, will the divided world still be stable?
With the three-thirds of the world, everyone will have wealth in this life, even the wealth of their sons and grandsons!
In this fight, is there any reason not to go all out?
At the same time, a colorful team was marching on the open official road north of the Yangtze River and on the east bank of the canal. Since crossing the Yangtze River, the progress of this main force of the Qing army has never stopped. The route chosen by Yue Le's shogunate for this army was to lead from Zhenjiang, via Yangzhou, Huai'an, and directly to Xuzhou. The whole journey was more than 800 miles, and all the troops moved quickly with light troops.
Under normal circumstances, an eight-hundred-mile march would take at least sixteen days, but Yue Le only gave Mu Zhan, the general manager of the Jiangbei camp, and Gestei, the deputy general manager of the Jiangxi camp, who led the army, only ten days!
And these ten days also include the time needed to cross the river!
There are three reasons for this urgency.
First, rescuing troops is like putting out fire!
Once Shang Kejiao and Nian Xialing saw the Ming army approaching the border and the Qing army's reinforcements did not come, would they directly surrender Wang Datou?
They are both bannermen of the Han Army!
If Yue Le had big data statistics at this time, he might not even be able to sleep. Since Wu Sangui raised his troops, the Han bannermen have almost surrendered 100% when faced with the approaching anti-Qing army!
The second is to worry about something happening in Nanjing.
After extracting 30,000 elite troops, the Qing army's strength around Nanjing was greatly reduced. If Geng Jingzhong in Nanjing gets angry and concentrates all his strength on leaving the city to break the siege, the possibility of being defeated by him is still very high.
Therefore, Yue Le could only fight quickly and slowly, and then pull these 30,000 people back after the fight was over. He was a little tired, but he really had no choice but to suffer for the bannermen below.
The third reason is that a large amount of grain can still be provided along the Jiangbei Canal - all the millions of grain piled in Huai'an have not yet been transported away!
Therefore, the armies of Muzhan and Gestei could march with light troops without carrying any food, grass or baggage. This would naturally make them faster, and it would not be a problem to travel hundreds of miles a day.
After several days of forced march, the 10,000 vanguard troops led by the veteran general Gestei had already crossed the Huaihe River and arrived in the Suqian County area under Xuzhou. The official road at their feet was sandwiched between the Yellow River and the Canal, and they had to walk two more miles. In three days, we can reach the important town of Xuzhou!
"Junmen, the prefect of Xuzhou is now young, and the Princess of Pingnan Palace, Shang Shuying, comes to see the army!"
Gestei was sitting in a resting mansion in Suqian County, hammering his old waist, when Gesheha from below suddenly came to report that the young monk Shang Shuying had arrived.
Although this old man served as Dorgon's guard and suffered enough life and death in his early years, after all, he had been pampered for many years, and he was old and his body was not as big as before. This long journey almost gave him all the old bones. Dispersed - this is really a fight with Dorgon and Ming Dynasty when I was young, and I finally won. Now that you are old, why are you fighting with Ming Dynasty again? Are you going to let others live this day?
After hearing Goshiha's announcement, he quickly sat up straight and shouted loudly: "Pass it!"
Soon I saw Nian Xialing and Shang Shuying being led in from outside by Goshiha.
The two of them were also very well-traveled, and it seemed they had been traveling all the way. After entering the door, Nian Xialing respectfully gave Mr. Ge a Qian'er salute - as a fourth-grade magistrate, if he met a Han admiral or commander-in-chief, he would not have to give him a Qian'er salute, let alone a Qian'er salute. But Gestei was a Manchu military general at the level of the commander-in-chief, and at such a young age, a slave of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty would not dare to make a mistake.
However, Shang Shuying didn't take Geste seriously. Not only did she not salute, but she also found a chair to sit on in a grand manner - her identity was Princess Bei, which was equivalent to the Zhengfu Jin of the four major Baylors in the Qing Dynasty!
What is a Manchu military general with a unified title? Nothing!
Geste glanced at Shang Shuying, raised his hand and said to Nian Xialing: "Prefect Nian, sit down and serve tea."
After ordering his servants to serve tea, Geste asked: "How is the situation in Huaibei? Is Wang Ni still there?"
What he is most worried about now is that Li Zhongshan abandons Huaibei and redirects his troops to Lujiang and Yangzhou, or even directly returns to Nanjing to aid.
"Still there!" Shang Shuying said with a smile, "Director Li and the King of the North have a division of labor. Commander Li supervises the troops in Huaibei, and the King of the North sweeps Huainan. In addition, Commander Li and King Gengdong are not on the same side. King Gengdong and Our Shang family has a good relationship, but we also have enmity with King Zheng Yi. And Governor Li and Chen Zhongtang of the King Yi faction are in the same party."
"Wait a minute," Geste interrupted quickly, "Gege, what are you talking about? The supervisor, the North King, the East King, the Wing King, and the Zhongtang are all rebels!"
"No, no," Shang Shuying waved her hand, "Since ancient times, the winner is the king, the loser is the bandit, and the loser is the thief. King Jiang Ning'an can't be defeated at all! If you and Mr. Mu can defeat Governor Li, that's the end! So King Dong, The King of the North is not a thief, but the hero who kept Prince Zhu third emperor in Nanjing."
"You, where are you from?"
"I am the princess of the Northern Palace of the Ming Dynasty, who do you think I am?" Shang Shuying said with a smile, "I can be half the leader of the Northern Palace of the Ming Dynasty. My Ama did not have such power back then. King Nan cannot discuss politics!”
"Then you..." Gerstad is a good fighter, but not good at politics. Otherwise, he will be finished with Dorgon!
"Du Tong," Nian Xialing next to him said with a smile, "What Gege means is that we will trick the king this time! If we trick him to death, the Northern King will be able to gather the entire Huai army and secure his position as the political king! "
(End of chapter)
