The royal power received the news that Zhenjiang Mansion was breached very early.
Not long after the war started, he sent people to observe the situation in the Zhenjiang Prefecture area. The purpose was to obtain first-hand information in time so that he could compete for credit or escape.
In this regard, what he did was similar to that of Guo Ze. They were both very good at using information differences to gain advantages and avoid disadvantages. They might have mastered all kinds of information better than Zhao Gou in the palace. You must be well-informed, so your official career will be prosperous.
Well-informed people in any era are not simple things. For them, it has become an instinct to wait and see the situation before doing anything.
Liu Qi asked him for help, but he just treated it as fart, saying "Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good", but he just dealt with it in a perfunctory way so that Liu Qi can go back to fight with peace of mind.
It's not purely unwilling. If he really has 70,000 troops and sends 12,000 to Liu Qi to help and earn a good reputation, it's not that he is unwilling. He just treats it as a good person.
But the problem is that no one knows better than him that the nominal 70,000 garrison troops in Jiankang Prefecture have been eaten up by him and his officers to less than 40,000 people...
Nearly half of the 70,000 troops were depleted of free pay, and most of the remaining less than 40,000 men were reduced to personal servants of the officers.
This is also a beautiful scenery in the Song Army. The daily tasks of these soldiers are not to train military skills, exercise physical strength, learn knowledge, culture and other skills. Their daily job is to help their superiors handle private affairs, just like domestic slaves. state.
Officers can assign their troops to do anything they want, such as what the women at home need, what work needs to be done at home, a child at home who is sick needs someone to call a doctor, and the mother at home wants to eat delicious sea fish and needs someone to cross several states. You have to go to the government to buy it, and then transport it back quickly to avoid it becoming stale.
As for the army in this situation, if you ask him to help Liu Qi fight the war, he would be willing, but can the army win?
The army is not a type where weapons and armor are casually issued and then go to the battlefield. Even the most basic soldiers have to learn how to use weapons and armor and how to follow the officer's orders to advance and retreat.
Can those soldiers who are treated as personal slaves by officers to do chores for them, such as planting private fields and selling private salt, can win the war?
These officers are the ones who really make a lot of money. They eat free pay and can enslave the soldiers who are paid by the court to do things for themselves. This is equivalent to the court paying them to support their domestic slaves. They get the same military salary twice, a win-win situation!
In such an atmosphere, only a few of the entire Jiankang Mansion garrison who could actually fight face-to-face with the Ming army, probably only a little over 10,000 people, among whom the most elite numbered about 3,000 people. A whole army was the royal power. Special funds are allocated to train troops who need to be kept around to save their lives.
So can Wang Quan send reinforcements to Liu Qi?
Whether it is the imperial court or Liu Qi, they are all the same. They have completely failed to realize how difficult it is for Wang Quan to be the leader of an army!
This is a big deal that involves him making a lot of money on empty wages!
Kingship is just too difficult.
Therefore, in wartime, the most important thing is not to fight, but to obtain intelligence. By obtaining intelligence in advance and gaining time, you can successfully avert danger, escape in time, and solve difficulties.
The Ming army was brave and good at fighting. He had heard such things many times. He was stationed near the Yangtze River and had business dealings with Huainan. He knew that when the Ming army expelled the Jin army from Nanjing Road, they were so angry that they could swallow thousands of miles like a tiger!
The Jin army, which was equally difficult to deal with, was defeated by the Ming army just like Sun Tzu. It was completely defeated. It never defeated the Ming army even once. It fled completely and directly handed over the entire land of Henan to the Ming army.
Facing such a fierce enemy, you want me to fight for my life?
What a joke!
So when Wang Quan heard the news about the fall of Zhenjiang Mansion, he knew that something bad was going on. He immediately arranged for his trusted troops to help pack up all the property that his family could move, packed hundreds of large boxes, and transported them all to the navy ship. .
The navy must be taken away. In addition to the navy, they can also take away the truly elite and capable troops that can be used to save lives, that is, the life-saving army of 3,000 people. But he endured the heartache and did not eat the empty pay but paid it in full. Elite soldiers raised with military pay.
He ordered the more than 3,000 people to be ready and ready to escort him out of Jiangning at any time.
As for where to go...
It seems that the target of the Ming army's attack this time should be to go south, to find trouble for the emperor, so he went west. It was absolutely safe and the Ming army would not pursue him.
Of course, it would be better if the Ming army did not come and went directly to Lin'an. He could fish in troubled waters and symbolically stick to Jiangning, or even [send troops to attack but fail to win in a bitter battle]. In the end, he might not only not have to bear the blame, but also make a fortune. credit.
His calculations were very satisfying.
When he heard that a Ming army was coming towards Jiankang Mansion, he was regretful because he might not be able to get any credit.
But this did not prevent him from immediately ordering the army to prepare and escape with him.
His intention to escape was known by his general Yao Xingli. Yao Xingli was a courageous and bloody general. Seeing that Wang Quan was about to escape, he immediately stopped Wang Quan and tried to persuade him.
"Jiankang is an important town in the south of the Yangtze River. There is really no room for error. The general is responsible for guarding the land, but now he has to leave. What if the court finds out and the court investigates him afterwards? How should the general respond?"
Wang Quan felt that it was important to escape, so Yao Xingli pulled him to prevent him from running away. He wanted him to die, so he was very unhappy.
"What am I going to do to get you to make irresponsible remarks? Without me, how could you be today? Don't forget that I promoted you! Without me, you are still suffering down there!"
"It is precisely because of this that I am deeply grateful to the general for his kindness, so I cannot just watch the general being punished by the court! General! You can't leave! Jiangning can't be lost, and Jiankang Mansion can't be lost!"
Yao Xingli continued to persuade.
But this does not change the determination of the king.
"Okay, you said I would be held accountable if I ran away, so you can stay! The rest of the army will be given to you to command. You will lead them to defend the city. If you win, I don't want the credit, it's all yours! How about I won’t rob you? Are you satisfied?"
Yao Xingli was stunned.
"General, my subordinates are just generals. They cannot command the entire army, and the entire army will not obey their subordinates' orders. How can we defend the city? You, the general, are in charge of the capital of Jiankang Prefecture!"
"Then I will appoint you as the acting capital commander and command the entire army on my behalf. Are you satisfied?!"
Wang Quan glared at Yao Xingli fiercely, then packed his bags, left Jiangning City under the escort of elite guards, and fled for his life.
He kept his promise and really handed over the power of commanding the army to Yao Xingli.
But what's the use?
Yao Xingli looked at the depleted Jiangning City and the garrison that looked like crooked melons and cracked jujubes, and felt like crying without tears.
What's more terrible is that at this moment, some troops have heard about the escape of King Quan, and they have followed the general's footsteps and begun to flee. It is too late to reorganize the army.
But the Ming army was close at hand, and it was about to arrive. Yao Xingli had no choice but to summon the rest of the panicked generals, assign them tasks, and try to do something to remedy the situation, and maybe save the situation in time.
Yao Xingli planned to deploy the more than 20,000 troops who had not had time to escape in Jiangshan outside Jiangning City, use the mountains of Jiangshan to build a line of defense, and then build a second line of defense in Jiangning City itself, so as to defend Jiangning City and win the battle. Jiangning City can be defended.
This was his only recourse.
The generals panicked and accepted the order, then led their troops out of the city to set up defenses in Jiangshan.
On April 13, the Ming army arrived at the outskirts of Jiangshan, and then occupied Jiangshan effortlessly. They crossed Jiangshan and reached Jiangning City.
Why could the Ming army occupy Jiangshan without any effort?
The reason is very simple, because all the troops deployed by Yao Xingli in Jiangshan escaped overnight, leaving no one behind.
They all ran away!
Even the war supervising troops arranged by Yao Xingli and the war supervising teams to prevent other troops from escaping ran away.
They abandoned the flags and baggage all over the mountains and plains, just to escape, so that the Ming army spent some time collecting trophies all over the mountains and plains.
When the Ming army came to the city, Yao Xingli was dumbfounded.
At this moment, only Yao Xingli himself and the four thousand Song soldiers stationed in Jiangning City were left in the entire Jiangning City. There were no other troops. Even the defense of Jiangning City in response to the Ming army's attack had not yet been completed.
He originally hoped to defend Jiangshan and prevent the Ming army from directly attacking Jiangning City in order to buy some time, so he deliberately placed the main force on Jiangshan's defense line.
Who would have thought that all Jiangshan's defenders had fled overnight, with no one left. Only Jiangning City and four thousand defenders were left standing there stupidly, becoming clowns.
The Jiangning garrison was greatly shaken by such stimulation, their morale was unstable, and they also tended to try to escape. Yao Xingli quickly threw money and promised more money, and through the stimulation of a large amount of money, he barely stabilized his morale.
As the saying goes, there must be brave men under heavy rewards. Yao Xing tried to use money to stabilize people's hearts, but also fabricated a non-existent reinforcement force to dampen the courage of the defenders at the top of the city, trying to resist the cruel fate.
