On the evening of the third day of March in the third year of the Republic of the Ming Dynasty, the battle between the monarchy and the republic that took place on the East Asian continent finally reached its first important turning point.
The "million-strong army" of the "Anti-Communist and Ming Dynasty Alliance" composed of the three imperial countries of the Zhou Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and Dajing, rolled from the junction of the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huizhou in the east, to Wuchang and Hanyang in the west, and to Wuchang and Hanyang in the north. On the vast battlefields as far as Xuzhou and Yuzhou, and as far south as Guangdong and Guangxi, the all-out attack launched against the Ming Dynasty, which held high the banner of the Republic, finally suffered its first major and irreversible defeat!
In the past few months, the future of the Ming Republic Movement has looked very bad!
Wu Sangui's Zhou army marched along the Yangtze River and Han River, fighting in Wuchang, Suizhou, Jiujiang, and Nanchang. They played triumphant songs along the way and won consecutive battles. Although they were severely beaten by Li Fuchen's elite cavalry under the city of Nanchang, they relied on their strength. With absolute strength advantage, Wu Sangui still besieged the 30,000-strong army under Li Fuchen and Li Laishun in Nanchang City.
The siege of Nanchang and the majesty of the millions of soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty gave the clumsy local officials in Jiangxi the illusion that the Republic was about to end. All of a sudden, they all rebelled against the Ming Dynasty and returned to the Zhou Dynasty. Not long ago, these people were the second ministers from the Qing Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, and now they were promoted to the third ministers from the Ming Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty. Their bodies are becoming more and more flexible.
With the series of great victories achieved by the Zhou Dynasty in Hubei and Jiangxi, the Qing and Dajing countries, which were initially a little hesitant and a bit slow, finally cheered up.
Just in the past February, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty's "United States" finally issued an imperial edict to recover Xuzhou and Yuzhou (specified as belonging to Henan), and appointed his fourth brother Gong at the repeated request of the meeting of kings and ministers. Prince Chang Ning was the general king of Pingnan, commanding "200,000" soldiers from Shandong and Henan to launch an attack on Xu and Yu states!
The Emperor of Dajing, Geng Jingzhong, even went on a personal expedition and led an army of 50,000 to invade Anji, which was "a part of Zhejiang in the Ming Dynasty". The troops were directed towards Guangzhou, and there was a big intention of the Northern Expedition to Jinling!
For a time, the cry that the Ming Dynasty was in danger and that the Republic was in danger resounded throughout the southeastern land and Guangdong and Fujian, including those of the Dutch East India Company, the British East India Company, and the French who had opened trading houses in Nanjing, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Quanzhou and other places. The managers of the East India Company also wrote to their headquarters reporting the news that "the republic is about to fail in the East" - this was of course good news that made the kings and regents of Britain, France and the Netherlands happy. , after all, the great China these days still has many admirers in the West!
If the republican system succeeds in China, then European republicans will be greatly encouraged!
In the past two years, many Dutch and British profiteers who tend to be republican have brought "The World is Public", "The Visit to Ming Yi", "The Land System of the Celestial Dynasty" and "The Song of Datong" to Europe.
The royal businessmen sent by the Tokugawa shogunate to spy on China's intelligence sent a report to the country that "the shogunate system is not suitable for the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty" - this is certainly not good news for the Tokugawa shogunate. "Shogun rule" sounds too much. How pleasant it sounds, and how politically correct it sounds! How could it fail?
The most desperate thing is the mission sent by the Kingdom of Korea to the Ming Dynasty to ask for help. The father of the Ming Dynasty has now established this republican system where the emperor is not the emperor and the ministers are not ministers. It is difficult for them to accept it. Now even the republic of Ming Dynasty is about to end. . What about the Li Dynasty of North Korea? Is it possible that the Yang family can only be allowed to supervise the country and become the supreme king of the country three thousand miles away? The monarchs and ministers of North Korea originally wanted to be patient for a while and wait until they invited reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and destroy Yang. What to do now? Could it be that we can only bow at the feet of the descendants of Emperor Yang Guangda? Could it be that Emperor Yang Guangda was a Korean?
However, the Ming Dynasty showed considerable resistance to pressure and cohesion, and was not intimidated by Wu Sangui's million-strong army and the defeats in Hubei and Jiangxi. On the contrary, "shareholders" increased their bets, the status of Chinese citizens and national soldiers continued to be in hot demand, warriors from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River valleys enthusiastically joined the army, and military production in Foshan, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou was booming.
Obviously, the mobilization capabilities of the Ming Dynasty in terms of military, finance, and military industry far exceeded those of the Zhou Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and the Dajing Dynasty.
But if this mobilization ability cannot be transformed into military victory as soon as possible, the "shareholders" may also lose confidence!
Therefore, the Battle of Chashan in Mingjing took place on the third day of March in the third year of the Republic of Ming Dynasty. Although the total number of troops participating in the battle was only more than 60,000, it was a very crucial battle!
At this time, looking out from the eyes of Geng Jingzhong, the "Clone of the Emperor", Wu Sangui's grandnephew, Kang Mazi's cousin, and the founding and subjugated emperor of Dajing, it was already a scene of defeat!
Geng Jingzhong, who was sitting on a mule cart, turned his head and looked back. They were all large groups of defeated soldiers, blindly following his Qinglong Daban, running wildly, just thinking of escaping as quickly as possible from the bayonets, bullets and bullets of the Ming army. Those "bright" spears of the Ming army's lancers!
Some of the Jingjun generals and soldiers who were still loyal to Geng Jingzhong, or who still had illusions about Wu Sangui's victory, fled on horseback without looking back. The soldiers below followed them with curses, cotton armor, helmets and equipment. Lost all the way, there are still many soldiers and wounded soldiers who can't run away on the roadside, all of them expressionless, resigned to their fate. The Ming army's artillery shells fell from time to time, landing in the crowd, and then suddenly bounced up and continued to fly forward under the influence of inertia. The Jingjun officers and soldiers who blocked the flight path of these artillery shells were swept down one by one and beaten to the ground. Their flesh and blood were mangled, and those who were not dead for a moment let out bursts of shrill screams. Sometimes when a shell fell, a horseman dragging a cart would explode, knocking down the cart carrying baggage, and then dash left and right, making the Jing army fleeing in panic even more panic.
Dajing's 50,000-strong army, measured by the standards of the previous era, could not be considered a weak force! So vulnerable!
On the afternoon of the third day of March, Geng Jingzhong summoned up all his strength to launch a desperate attack, but he failed to defeat a Ming army infantry battalion in front of them! On the entire front, all the Jing troops were driven back by the flintlocks and bayonets of the Ming Army Model Army. Except for corpses and broken spirits, there was no gain.
And Geng Jingzhong's Chinese army was attacked in turn by five battalions of Ming Army infantry and one battalion of Ming Army Lancers! There was no roundabout outflanking. They just launched a strong attack from the front and defeated the Jing army that was twice as many as themselves!
The cavalry commanded by Li Zhongzheng even reached Geng Jingzhong's chariot at one point. The Emperor of Dajing was so shocked that he fell directly from the battle and sprained his feet, making him unable to ride. Fortunately, Li Zhongzheng's Lancers followed the principle of assault only and not hand-to-hand combat. After exhausting the kinetic energy of the assault, they turned around and left - they probably didn't find Geng Jingzhong wearing cyan armor! Emperor Geng, who had narrowly escaped death, no longer had any illusions. With the help of his guards, he quickly got into a mule cart that Yu Renying brought him, and then he was escorted by the soldiers from King Geng's vassal (these were the soldiers from generation to generation). Down, fled all the way south.
Geng Jingzhong's defeat became the beginning of the total collapse of the 50,000 Jing army on the Chashan battlefield! When Geng Jingzhong's trusted generals Zeng Yangxing, Bai Xianzhong, Xu Wenyao, and Wang Shiyu saw that their masters had run away, they stopped resisting and retreated together. As a result, the tens of thousands of troops collapsed at once.
Looking at the scene of defeat like a landslide at dusk, listening to bursts of gunshots and cannons from all around, and the cheers of "Long Live the Republic", coupled with the cries of the defeated soldiers, Geng Jingzhong was full of energy. Head, suddenly shouted: "This Dajing is dead!"
Then his vision went dark and he lost consciousness.
However, Geng Jingzhong did not know at this time that his Dajing Dynasty was not actually finished yet!
Because he himself was not captured in this chaotic defeat - his army collapsed too quickly, which actually saved his life! Because he was defeated so quickly, Anji was already on the road to escape before the two roundabout troops sent by Li Zhongshan got around Anji's back.
Perhaps this means that as long as he is defeated quickly enough, it will be difficult for anyone to surround him, right?
Moreover, his Dajing court did not follow him to Anji, nor was he in Hangzhou, which was closer to Anji, but in Jiande County, which is located in the mountainous area. The court where Geng Jingzhong stayed in Jiande also had the families of the officers and soldiers there. Because they were afraid of being raided and massacred by the Ming army, they immediately closed the city gates and entered the highest alert state after Geng Jingzhong left for the expedition.
So when Lu Sanhao and Zhou Chang led the army to Jiande City, the county town was already heavily guarded. They did not attack by force, but divided their forces to occupy Quzhou, Jinhua, Chuzhou and other places.
Li Zhongshan, Chen Yonghua and Liu Jinzhong also suspended their pursuit of the remnants of the Jing Army who fled to Ningbo after occupying the capital cities of Hangzhou and Shaoxing. Instead, the troops were divided into three groups. Chen Yonghua stayed in Shaoxing, Liu Jinzhong marched into Taizhou and Wenzhou, and Li Zhongshan himself led his troops to Jiande. This was because he wanted to capture the officials of the Dajing court and the family members of the soldiers, and then make an forced landing in the scattered areas. Throughout Zhejiang, including the large group of Jingjun and Jingchao officials who fled to Ningbo, there seemed to be thousands of people.
In this way, Zhejiang Province can be pacified in the shortest possible time!
After pacifying Zhejiang, Li Zhongshan had to return to Nanjing immediately to prepare for the next Poyang Lake War!
As for Geng Jingzhong's life or death, Li Zhongshan actually didn't care much. What if he ran away by sea, even if he ran back to Beijing to join his "brother emperor" Kangxi?
Can Kangxi spare his rebellious "cousin"? He must be executed in Lingchi!
So on March 15th, twelve days after the Battle of Chashan, Li Zhongshan's general flag appeared outside Jiande City.
And on the second day after Li Zhongshan arrived outside Jiande City, he welcomed an old acquaintance-Ma Hu into his Chinese army tent.
This Ma Hu is also unlucky. Although he is Geng Jingzhong's Qixing Pavilion bachelor, he has been working as an "ambassador" in the Qing Dynasty. Later, he was sent as an envoy to Wu Sangui's army. After that, he followed Wu Sangui until recently, he was on the walls of various places in Jiangxi. After Caodu abandoned Ming and surrendered to Zhou, he returned to Geng Jingzhong's temporary capital of Jiande from Wu Sangui's camp under Nanchang City. Before he could take a breath, the Ming army surrounded Jiande.
The siege lasted for several days, and the siege became tighter and tighter. Yesterday, another large army arrived, carrying the flag of General Li Zhongshan. At this time, Prince Geng Juzhong of Dajingli, who was in charge of Jiande, finally couldn't bear it anymore, so he asked Ma Hu to bring gifts to Li Zhongshan to beg for mercy.
Li Zhongshan is actually quite nostalgic. He and Ma Hu worked together in Jiangsu for some time, and they knew each other earlier in Beijing. So he asked his brother Li Zhongzheng to invite him in. After meeting him, he wanted to be polite to him, but before he could say anything, Ma Hu respectfully presented him with a gift list. This made Li Zhongshan couldn't help but praise this Ma Hu in his heart for being sensible. Although this Ma Hu was quite sloppy when doing business, he was not sloppy at all when it came to flattering, and he did not forget to give gifts even when asking for surrender.
"General, I know that you and Prince Li have a grudge against Gege Shuying of your monk family. This woman used to be Wu Sangui's lobbyist and persuaded King Geng to raise troops to fight against the Celestial Empire. Earlier, King Geng was causing trouble in Nanjing, and she was also inciting the trouble. It's really hateful. Extremely. Fortunately, God has eyes. After this enchantress finished working as a lobbyist, because of the war in Jiangxi and the roads were cut off, she did not return immediately, but stayed in Jiande. Today to show his sincerity, King Li let him go. I tied up this witch and asked my subordinates to bring her to the general’s palace!”
After Ma Hu said this, he took a step back with a careful eye, clapped his hands and greeted his attaché standing outside, and then saw an attaché running towards the car outside Li Zhongshan's central army tent. He ran outside the formation, and soon he came back with a donkey. Sitting on the donkey was a woman with disheveled hair, bare feet and white clothes, and tied up with a five-flowered flower. It was Shang Shuying.
Seeing the donkey stopped outside the tent, Shang Shuying didn't need anyone to chase her away. She got off the donkey to the ground consciously, then walked to the tent, knelt down to Li Zhongshan with a plop, and said respectfully. He kowtowed respectfully and said softly: "The convict woman Shang Shuying kowtows to the general!"
Li Zhongshan and Li Zhongzheng looked at each other, both in a daze. They did not expect to catch Shang Shuying in Jiande.
Li Zhongzheng shouted with a straight face: "Witch, do you know your guilt?"
"A guilty woman knows her crime!" Shang Shuying's attitude was always good. When Li Zhongzheng asked her, she was still kneeling on the ground, her body was tightly tied with hemp rope, and her buttocks were stuck out high.
"Do you know what crime you committed?" Li Zhongshan asked with a smile.
"Death penalty." Shang Shuying said.
"Then how to die?" Li Zhongshan asked again.
Shang Shuying sighed: "Ling Chi."
"Are you convinced?" Li Zhongshan asked again.
"Submit," Shang Shuying said, "the guilty woman is willing to submit to the law."
Li Zhongshan smiled and said: "Then drag him out."
"Wait!" Upon hearing this, Shang Shuying immediately raised her body and looked at Li Zhongshan pitifully with tears in her eyes. "The guilty woman knows her crime and is willing to die. She just hopes to see King Bei again before she dies."
"King Bei has abandoned you!" Li Zhongshan said, "He won't see you. You'd better give up on this idea!"
Upon hearing this, Shang Shuying burst into tears, "Well, well, the convict has nothing to say and is willing to die to atone for her sins."
The words sounded nice, but what showed in his eyes was still pleading for mercy.
"General," Ma Hu, who brought Shang Shuying over at this time, also saw her pity and couldn't help but plead, "Although this witch deserves death, Wu Sangui accepted her as his goddaughter and gave her a title Princess. Why don't you save her life first, and then punish her after you defeat Wu Sangui!"
Shang Shuying glanced at Ma Hu gratefully, and then said to Li Zhongshan: "The convict woman knows something about the Wu army's falsehoods, and she is willing to tell the general everything. She only asks the general to spare the convict woman for a while."
Ma Hu also said: "General, everyone in Jiande City knows that this witch is extremely evil. If you can spare her for a while, the people in Jiande City will surrender with peace of mind."
"That's right." Li Zhongshan smiled and nodded, thinking to himself: Are you, Ma Hu, having an affair with a witch? That makes sense.
"Shuying," thinking of this, Li Zhongshan smiled and said, "Well, you come with me back to Nanjing to see with your own eyes the reality of the Ming Republic, and then help me bring a letter to Wu Sangui. As for your incision, Just remember it for now, and I’ll execute you when I’m caught next time! Do you think so?”
"What?" Shang Shuying looked in disbelief, "General, do you want to spare the convict woman?"
"If you don't forgive me, how can you forgive me?" Li Zhongshan shook his head and said with a smile, "Let me tell you clearly. I want to tell Wu Sangui through your eyes and mouth that his false claim of millions of soldiers is really not worth it. What! Because our Ming Dynasty really has millions of soldiers! He is falsely claiming that our Ming Dynasty really has millions of soldiers. Everyone is brave and willing to fight to the death to defend the Republic. He is already outdated! If He doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of Chen Youliang, so he should withdraw his troops and return to Chang’an as soon as possible! As long as he withdraws his troops, this general will not raise troops to destroy his country during his lifetime!”
(End of chapter)
