On the map, the postures of the Ming, Zhou, and Qing parties on the battlefields of Anhui, Hubei, and Jiangxi have been marked by small flags.
This is of course the situation that Li Fuchen and Li Laishun are currently aware of. Cai Yurong, who has just received five hundred thousand taels of "demolition compensation" and has become the Minister of Nanyang in the Ming Dynasty, also knows everything about the outstanding figures he knows. Li Fuchen and Li Laiheng were informed about the deployment of the Qing army under Shu's command.
Based on the intelligence provided by Cai Yurong and the little information revealed by the beacon fire last night, Li Fuchen's soldiers from the Nanwang Mansion quickly marked the map with small flags based on the methods they learned in the Guangdong Lecture Hall. They analyzed what they thought was the most likely direction of attack by the Wu and Zhou armies and the deployment of the Ming and Qing armies.
As soon as these small flags were placed on the map, the subordinates of King Nan and King Zhong, as well as Cai Yurong, the deputy envoy of Nanyang Trade, all gathered around.
The situation on the map is clear at a glance. The main force of the Ming army is roughly divided into two groups. One is the land division, commanded by Nan Wang Li Fuchen and Zhong Wang Li Laishun. They are concentrated in Nanchang, with their troops pointing directly at Jiujiang in the north. The other way is the waterway. Led by Liu Yihu, the navy commander of Prince Zhong's Mansion, he went down the Yangtze River. He had taken advantage of the favorable wind and the eastward flow to quickly pass through Jiujiang and the Yangtze River north of Hukou to occupy the lake. Madang Town and Madang Mountain to the east of the mouth also went down to the water village, waiting for the Yangtze River Navy directly under the imperial court to come downstream to join forces.
In addition, Prince Zhong's Mansion of the Ming Dynasty also arranged resistance formations along the Yangtze River and Han River. At the same time, it also placed 5,000 soldiers in Suizhou City, the choke point of the Zaosui Corridor between Dahong Mountain and Tongbai Mountain. It must be pretty solid!
Because the information that the beacon tower can transmit is very limited, Li Fuchen, Li Laishun and others did not know that the Wu and Zhou army had sent a grain ship to attack Jiangxia. By now, they had already entered Jiangxia City. They thought that the main force of the Wu and Zhou army was along the Yangtze River, The Han River is slowly rising!
Therefore, the flags symbolizing the Zhou army are now placed along the Yangtze River and Han River. Some small flags of the Zhou army are also placed in Zaoyang County, Xiangyang Prefecture.
As for the Qing army, they deployed a triangular defense formation based on Poyang Lake. Concentrate troops to garrison Dehua County and Hukou County in Jiujiang Prefecture on the edge of Poyang Lake and Xingzi County in Nankang Prefecture.
Among them, Dehua in Jiujiang Prefecture has always been the base camp of Jieshu. The north, east and southeast of the county are either the Yangtze River or Poyang Lake, the southwest is Lushan Mountain, and there is Bali Lake in the east. It is simply an isolated island on land!
Hukou is a peninsula. There are two mountains and a wetland on the peninsula. Hukou County is in the middle.
Xingzi County is located at the foot of the southern foot of Mount Lu, surrounded by mountains and lakes, and guarding the entrance to the Gan River.
The terrain of these three strongholds is not only dangerous, but also the occupying positions are particularly unethical!
The water surface of Hanpokou between Hukou and Dehua is only about two miles wide. It has long been sealed by Jieshu with a pontoon bridge and the Shizhong Mountain platform at Hukou!
And Xingzi County has sealed the entrance to Ganjiang River!
The entire Poyang Lake became an inner lake for the Qing army. The Yangtze River Navy of the Ming Dynasty could not enter. Even if Li Fuchen could build some ships in the Ganjiang River, they would not be able to pass through the mouth of Xingzi County.
Jieshu's Qing army had a navy, so the three defenders could support each other and block the most convenient passage in and out of Jiangxi.
Moreover, the guard of Dehua is Prince Kang Jieshu. He is the prince of the Qing Dynasty. He cannot surrender to the Ming Dynasty no matter what, right?
The garrison at Hukou was Mang Yitu, who had previously followed Echu to manage the garrison of the Eight Banners in Jiangning. His wife and children were slaughtered by the Ming Dynasty (actually Geng Jingzhong)!
The guard of Xingzi is Aixinjueluo Fu Lata of the old Manchuria Zhenghongqi, who is the grandson of "Little Boar Skin" Shuerhaqi! It was also the generation of old Manchus who saw the rise of the Qing Dynasty and the collapse of the building. It is a bit difficult for him to surrender to the Ming Dynasty.
Since the above three people are not willing to surrender, and the territory they control is extremely dangerous, and the troops under their command are also quite full, this battle will not be easy to fight.
Most of the people in the festival hall showed solemn expressions. Cai Yurong, who had just joined the Ming Dynasty, also frowned and said: "Jiujiang, Xingzi, and Hukou all have difficult terrain and are difficult to besiege. There are also many defenders. Every place is surrounded by dangerous terrain. There are more than 10,000 people, and the three places are connected by waterways and support each other. It will be very difficult to fight if Wu Sangui is marching along the Yangtze River and Han River."
Having said this, he shook his head and said: "King Nan, now we are afraid that Wu Sangui will attack Wuchang and Hanyang with all his strength. If we can't break through Jiujiang before he captures Wuchang and Hanyang, and smooth the passage up the river to Wuchang. Then Wu Sangui will be very It is possible that after breaking Wuchang, he will go down the river and join forces with the Qing army in Jiangxi! Even Geng Jingzhong from Zhejiang will march west to Jiangxi and fight with Wu Sangui and Jieshu. At that time."
Speaking of this, Cai Yurong's fat face turned a little green!
Shouldn't we accept the five hundred thousand taels of "money from selling the city"?
"Third brother, tell me about the strategy of the General's Mansion!"
Li Fuchen still looked calm and composed. Even though he always liked to quarrel with Li Zhongshan, he still had great trust in this "unlearned son". Sometimes when drinking with some old brothers, they would brag that "having a son is like Li Zhongshan, and the son of Lord Shunzhi is like a pig or a dog."
"Father, the General's Office previously judged that Wu Sangui was probably pretending to be ill to paralyze us in order to launch an unexpected and rapid offensive. Of course, if Wu Sangui was really seriously ill and died soon, it would be impossible for Wu Zhou to launch A big offensive. And once Wu Zhou launches a big offensive, it means Wu Sangui is pretending to be ill, and the Zhou army's offensive will definitely not be easy to handle! Jiangxia, Hankou, and Hanyang are likely to change hands in a short time!"
"What?"
"How can this be?"
Cai Yurong and Li Laishun exclaimed together.
Li Laishun's surprise quickly turned into anxiety, and he looked at Li Fuchen anxiously: "King Nan, Jiangxia is the foundation of my family, and we must not let anything go wrong! I have to quickly return to the army to aid Jiangxia. I'll take my leave."
"Loyal King, don't be anxious." Li Fuchen saw Li Laishun was about to leave and quickly stopped him, "Just listen to what my youngest has to say."
"Your Highness Prince Zhong, don't be anxious." Li Zhongzheng said, "Because it's useless to be anxious!"
"It's useless? How could it be useless?"
Li Zhongzheng explained: "Because Nanchang is six hundred miles away from Jiangxia, even if your army travels a hundred miles a day, it will take six days. If the General's Office is not mistaken, Wu Sangui's army must have arrived in Jiangxia by then!" Even if your 20,000-strong army returns to Jiangxia, can it resist Wu Sangui? Wu Sangui and Kangxi have already formed an alliance. The north does not need a large number of troops for the time being, and Jiangxia is the thoroughfare of the world. As long as the Yangtze River and the Han River are controlled, it can transport troops and grain. Very convenient. As long as Wu Sangui is willing, there is no problem in investing 200,000 troops in Jiangxia. And how much can we invest in Jiangxia?
Therefore, the General's Office judged that the three cities of Jiangxia, Hankou, and Hanyang were most likely undefendable, and they could not fight Wu Sangui there. "
"No decisive battle? Then" Li Laishun was shocked, "What should we do? Are Wuchang Mansion and Hanyang Mansion not wanted? Are the homes of tens of thousands of loyal people in Prince Zhong's Mansion just wanted to be rejected?"
"His Royal Highness Prince Zhong," Li Zhongzheng said, "the General's Mansion has already made arrangements. He has already sent a tip to Duke Fengtian of Prince Zhong's Mansion. As long as he follows the situation, although Jiangxia will not defend it, the family members of King Zhong's army will It can still be preserved, and the team of Prince Zhong’s Mansion can still be maintained in Wuchang Mansion. So you don’t have to return for reinforcements!”
"What? No need to call back for help?" Li Laishun was a little anxious, "Who are you? If you don't let me, you won't call back for help?"
"His Royal Highness King Zhongzheng," Li Zhongzheng said calmly, "The general has ordered His Highness Nan Wang to control the entire Jiangxi army. You must obey Nan Wang's command now!"
"Listen to King Nan" Li Laishun is wrong to hear this!
Everyone is a king, why should the loyal king listen to the southern king? Just because King Nan has a higher seniority?
Li Fuchen smiled and took out a letter and handed it to Li Laishun: "Prince Zhong, this is the general's decree. Read it for yourself!"
Li Laishun quickly took the book and opened it to take a look. Yes, the handwriting and official seal seemed to be correct. The content inside had the same meaning. General Pingxi and Nan Wang Li Fuchen controlled all Ming armies and state capitals in Jiangxi. ! He also specifically stated that the loyal king Li Lai was required to obey the command of the southern king Li Fuchen until the general himself arrived!
"Loyal King!" Li Zhongzheng said, "Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, Ming Dynasty's military and political orders must be as unified as possible. And you must believe in the ability of the general and His Royal Highness Nan Wang to fight with troops!"
Li Fuchen smiled and said: "King Zhong, do you still believe my ability to fight against the King of England? Listen to me carefully. It's true that although Jiangxia cannot be defended, your grandfather and the family members of King Zhong's army will be fine. The General’s Mansion has arrangements!”
Li Zhongzheng said with confidence: "The general's arrangement is to lure Wu Sangui into Poyang Lake! When he enters Poyang Lake, the general will personally lead the navy to fight. We will keep him and beat him to the second place of Chen Youliang!"
Li Laishun muttered: "Well, that's Wu Sangui!"
Li Fuchen laughed and said: "This time it is Wu Sangui who is beaten!"
Li Laishun thought for a while and asked, "Then what should we do next?"
"Go to Jiujiang!" Li Fuchen said.
"Going to Jiujiang?" Li Laishun was stunned.
"Yes!" Li Fuchen said with a smile, "Let's go to Jiujiang to pretend to attack, so as to give Jieshu an excuse to be Wu Sangui's dog! If he accepts the dog, he will have to save the dog's life!"
Li Zicheng and his veteran soldiers in Jiangxia City have been struggling to support themselves since last night, but they have been retreating steadily under the attack of the elite Wu Zhou army who fought a last-ditch battle.
Although the supply of flintlock guns in Guangzhou and Foshan was also open to Prince Zhong's Mansion, Prince Zhong's Mansion also purchased some. However, Li Zicheng's veteran soldiers and himself still felt that it was more reliable to have a match rope to ignite the gunpowder.
And they also prefer the powerful turtle-dove foot musket - the projectiles fired by this musket can weigh one or two times as much! It's enough to penetrate the large wooden shield mounted on the shield cart!
Therefore, Li Zicheng's old camp was not equipped with flintlock muskets, but only about one-third of the infantry was equipped with turtle-dove foot muskets. If you pull up the cannon and cooperate with the cavalry and cavalry to fight in the field outside the city, you may not necessarily lose to the fusiliers.
But now we are in the city!
Moreover, Wu Shijue and Lin Xingzhu arrived too suddenly. Li Zicheng responded in a hurry and had no time to deploy cannons. There were no cavalry in the city to use at this moment. So the two sides started fighting with guns!
With one shot, Li Zicheng's men immediately suffered a loss. Wu Shijue and Lin Xingzhu brought more than a thousand fusiliers and seized the city wall near the Hanyang Gate Tower. After Li Zicheng's people pressed up, they were condescending and rained down bullets. They quickly defeated Li Zicheng's old camp. The soldiers suffered heavy casualties.
However, Li Zicheng was also a man who had experienced battles for a long time. When he saw that he could not defeat him, he did not rush forward. Instead, he turned to defense, built barricades, and sent people out of the city to mobilize reinforcements.
Wu Shijue and Lin Xingzhu immediately went on the offensive, and when they saw Li Zicheng's old battalion soldiers guarding the houses on the street, they took advantage of the northwest wind to set fire along the street, and then used the smoke cover to kill each " A three-man team with knives, muskets, bows and arrows was sent to fight in the street.
The elite Wu Zhoujun soon gained the upper hand again.
It seems that in the field of warfare, "the older you get, the more popular you become." Li Zicheng's veterans are no match for the Wu family's elite, no matter whether they are shooting at each other or fighting in close combat!
However, the fire got out of control as soon as it was set off, and soon it burned more and more fiercely, and began to spread along Hanyangmennei Street, towards the imperial city.
The city shrouded in fire suddenly had a bit of a hellish scene. Countless civilians were crying and running. These civilians fled throughout the city and spread the news of "Wu Sangui's soldiers arrived" to other parts of the city.
Now the whole Jiangxia is in chaos!
Wu Sangui's army doesn't have a good reputation here in Wuchang!
If they wanted to break the city, even if they didn't massacre them, they would still have to plunder them.
Therefore, the panicked crowd wanted to escape from the city, but except for Hanyang Gate, the other gates of Jiangxia City were tightly locked! People who could not escape huddled together inside the city gates in the north, east and south directions of Jiangxia City. Their cries were loud and they trampled on each other. Countless innocent people were swept away by the rolling river of history. Swallowed.
Li Zicheng was sitting on the wall of Jiangxia Imperial City, glaring one eye and supervising the battle angrily.
The situation in Jiangxia City certainly doesn't look good now, but Li Zicheng still doesn't give up. Of course he knew that the group Wu Sangui sent to attack Wuchang was just a vanguard or a partial force. But now since he didn't know what Wu Sangui would do, let's deal with his partial force first!
As long as they can be driven out of Jiangxia City, then this battle can still be fought!
Just when I was thinking of this, someone suddenly shouted: "War and smoke. Northeast of Hankou! It seems that Suizhou is at fault!"
Li Zicheng's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized that something was wrong!
He raised his head and looked to the northeast. It was almost dusk in the afternoon, but the weather was very clear, the sky was clear and blue, and the thick smoke rising from the beacon towers seemed very dazzling.
"Your Majesty, it seems that Wu Sangui avoided the Yangtze River and the Han River and concentrated his troops to go south along the Zaosui Corridor!"
Li Laiheng's marching commander, Hu Yiqiang, was standing next to Li Zicheng. He still had the "Tips" from the General's Mansion in his pocket - Li Zicheng already knew about this, but was unwilling to adopt it.
The reason for the reluctance to adopt it is very simple. It is that the General's Office believes that before the Yangtze River waterway is completely opened, the Ming Dynasty does not have the conditions to launch a decisive battle with Wu Zhou in the Huguang area.
Therefore, the General's Office believes that Jiangxia, Hankou, and Hanyang cannot be defended!
Therefore, it is recommended that after sufficient resistance is carried out to cover the evacuation of Jiangxia for the people and their families, consideration can be given to abandoning Jiangxia City where Prince Zhong's Palace is located, and then moving to Jiugong Mountain in the Mubu Mountains south of Wuchang Prefecture to establish Prince Zhong's Palace.
This means that Li Zicheng is asked to go to the mountain to establish an anti-Wu base!
He doesn't want to do this. How much effort has he put into Jiangxia City? How can you just say you don’t want it and just don’t want it?
In addition, if he gives up the country now and enters Mubu Mountain, when Wu Sangui is beaten away in the future, will this Jiangxia City still have the surname Li and the surname Li Zicheng?
But now every beacon tower in the northeast of Hankou is filled with smoke.
This can only mean one thing, Wu Sangui's army is attacking Suizhou!
Once Suizhou was lost, the gateway to the north of Hankou was opened.
"Your Majesty, we don't have many people on the territory from the south of Suizhou to Hankou. If Suizhou fails to defend, the Wu and Zhou army will be in uninhabited territory and will reach Hankou in a few days. By then it will be too late to arrange a retreat!
Your Majesty, if you keep the green hills, you won’t be afraid of running out of firewood! We have a foundation in Mubu Mountain, and we can hold on and wait for help even if we retreat. And if I wait here in Jiangxia, I am afraid I will only... miss the opportunity! "
Li Zicheng's army was large in number and had more family members, and there must have been many people in Jiangxia who were willing to follow Li Zicheng up the mountain in order to escape the brutal Wu army.
So many people have to run away, and they also have to take care of their families, the old and the young. It’s impossible to retreat slowly for ten days and a half!
Because Hankou is now empty, and Wu Zhoujun made a surprise attack and captured Jiangxia Hanyang Gate and the docks outside Hanyang Gate, as well as a large number of ships!
As soon as Wu Sangui's army arrives, they can immediately cross the river and join the battle.
Then it will really be all over!
Therefore, Li Zicheng could not wait until Wu Sangui's army arrived in Hankou before beginning to withdraw.
He must make a decision as soon as possible!
"Wait a minute!" Li Zicheng gritted his teeth and said, "If the beacon towers along the Han River and the Yangtze River are not lit up by tomorrow morning. This means that the main force of Wu Sangui went south along the Zaosui Road... Then we have to Start retreating quickly."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Hu Yiqiang breathed a sigh of relief. There are still three to four hundred miles to come from Suizhou. No matter how fast the Wu family's army catches up, it will still take a few days.
Therefore, it is relatively leisurely to start the retreat from early tomorrow morning. The families of each army should be able to evacuate, and most of the defenders in the beacon towers and fortresses along the Yangtze River and Han River should also be able to evacuate.
Prince Zhong's Mansion is located in Jiugong Mountain and has always had some foundation. It is entirely possible to establish a large anti-Wu base area with Jiugong Mountain as the center and rely on Mubu Mountain to fight against the Wu people to the end.
(End of chapter)
