Although he had received the reward, Yao Xingli promised to open the warehouse after repelling the Ming army and let the army take the property in the warehouse. He also fabricated a non-existent reinforcement force rushing to aid Jiangning. However, when the Ming army's thunder cannon and large rockets When the explosion occurred at the top of the city, Jiangning's defenders gradually began to collapse.
After all, the courage that money can inspire is relatively limited. Whether reinforcements exist and whether they can come to rescue Jiangning City, Song Bing also has some considerations in his mind.
Based on their understanding of their comrades, it is estimated that the majority of people do not believe it. It is purely because Yao Xingli promised too many benefits and has a relatively good reputation that he can attract the soldiers to continue fighting for him.
But some things cannot be changed by personal will.
Under the extremely swift and fierce blows of the Ming army, the Song army gradually lost ground and showed its decline. The courage inspired by money was quickly exhausted, and the defense at the top of the city began to collapse.
The Ming army attacked the city on three sides, using the method of surrounding three and missing one to attack Jiangning City. The remaining south side became a life-saving straw for a large number of Song troops who were afraid of the enemy.
When the Ming army ended its long-range attack and began to attack the city with ants, the Song army at the head of the city did not dare to resist and fled in large numbers.
Yao Xingli himself and his soldiers were very brave, holding on to the city and fighting the Ming army, trying to use their bravery to boost morale and let the Song army burst out with courage and persist in fighting the enemy.
However, an iron pestle can be ground into a needle, and a wooden stick can only be ground into a toothpick. The Jiangning garrison is the type where mud cannot stick to the wall, and there is no cure.
Under the overwhelming bombardment of the Ming army's large rockets and thunder cannons, and under the threat of the large-scale advancement of siege equipment, the defending Song army lost all courage and did not dare to fight to the death with the Ming army.
In just one day, Jiangning City was captured by the Ming army.
When the city was broken, Yao Xingli was still fighting to the death. He led his own soldiers to fight the Ming army at the top of the city. In the end, he died fighting hard, and all his soldiers also died in the battle.
The general died in battle, the flag fell, and there was no longer any suspense about the battle. So the Ming army quickly occupied Jiangning City and took control of the entire city.
After Jiangning City was occupied, Ma Hongxing obtained all the warehouse supplies and military supplies in Jiangning City, and obtained a large amount of grain, grass and baggage, making a huge profit for the Ming army.
Then, through interrogation of the captured Song soldiers, Ma Hongxing learned that the original capital of Jiankang Prefecture, Dutong Si Dutong, Wang Quan, had escaped a day ago.
Not only did he run away, he also took away a large amount of personal belongings, navy troops, and the most elite three thousand infantry troops.
Ma Hongxing was also puzzled as to why the 70,000 defenders of Jiankang Prefecture seemed to be so few. After interrogating the officers, he learned that Jiankang Prefecture did not have 70,000 defenders at all, and it could even be said that it was not even 40,000.
Most of the less than 40,000 troops are still used as handymen by the officers. The actual fighting troops are only more than 10,000, and the elite are only 3,000. They are the life-saving troops of the royal power.
Ma Hongxing was greatly surprised by this answer. He could never imagine that an army could be eaten up to half by the officers of the Southern Song Dynasty.
How much impact will this have on the country's military strategy, resulting in serious strategic misjudgments?
Anyway, the royal power will definitely not have any scruples.
Yao Xingli was a subordinate of Wang Quan and was left to take the blame. He originally commanded the troops to form a Jiangshan defense line and tried to fight the Ming army to the death. However, the defenders were unwilling to fight. Overnight, more than 10,000 Song soldiers fled completely. net.
Therefore, the Ming army could easily cross Jiangshan and launch an attack on Jiangning.
Despite this, Yao Xingli insisted on defending the city and fought until the last moment.
When Ma Hongxing heard about this incident, he was speechless. He lamented the shamelessness of the royal power and the rarity of Yao Xingli. He found Yao Xingli's body and buried him generously.
After giving Yao Xingli a grand burial, Ma Hongxing felt that even if he could let go of the Ma Bujun who was taken away by Wang Quan, he could not let go of the navy who was taken away by him.
So he found Zhou Mancheng, hoping that Zhou Mancheng could lead the navy to move westward and strive to eliminate the navy that was taken away by the royal power.
"I understand. Now I have some experience in dealing with the navy of the Southern Song Dynasty. Leave this matter to me."
Zhou Mancheng agreed immediately, then prepared materials and supplies, replenished gunpowder, and then led the main force of the inland river navy to set sail and go upstream to find the escaped Southern Song Dynasty Jiankang Navy.
After Zhenjiang Prefecture, Jiankang Prefecture was also captured by the Ming army. The two garrison armies set up on the riverside in the Southern Song Dynasty were completely annihilated and defeated by the Ming army. The two important towns fell in an instant, and the Yangtze River defense line was defeated by the Ming army. A gash was torn cleanly.
The Jianghuai War Zone in the Southern Song Dynasty was in a state of defeat. There was no army capable of directly challenging the Ming army and defeating it.
So far, the Army of the Southern Song Dynasty was in a state of complete defeat. Except for Yangzhou, which became an isolated city under the siege of the Ming army, there were no other successfully defended cities or brave generals who bravely stood up to block the Ming army's front.
In terms of the Navy, following the destruction of the Huaihe Patrol Navy and the Guazhou Navy, the Jiankang Navy was also in danger.
It seems that the only existence in the Southern Song Dynasty Navy that can turn the tide of the war - the Mingzhou Navy is the last hope.
However, it is not.
On March 23, Zhou Zhi ordered the Ming Army to launch a battle against the Song Army. At that time, the main force of the Ming Army Navy led by Kong Zhende gave all its main resources to the Inland River Navy led by Zhou Mancheng. The main force of the Navy still stayed in Haizhou waiting for the follow-up. Arrival of supplies.
On the one hand, the supplies did not arrive quickly enough to keep up with all the needs of the army. On the other hand, the actions of the maritime navy were much less restricted than that of the army. As long as they wanted to start a war, the outcome could be decided within a few days. Kong Zhende knew that the Southern Song Dynasty The navy is very powerful, so I am a little afraid and want to make more preparations.
After preparing enough thunder cannons, large rockets, and bed crossbows, Kong Zhende led more than 600 warships, the main force of the Ming Navy, southward on March 27, preparing to find the Mingzhou Navy of the Southern Song Dynasty for a decisive battle.
The docking point of the Mingzhou Navy is Dinghai County, Qingyuan Prefecture. It is located in the south of the Yangtze River and south of Suzhou Ocean. There are many natural ports with excellent conditions in the surrounding area. The Mingzhou Navy uses this as a base for parking and training, and also stationed some soldiers. .
Kong Zhende’s idea was not just to defeat the Mingzhou Navy. He wanted to take advantage of the scale advantage of his main force, which was more than half of the Mingzhou Navy, to eat up the Mingzhou Navy in one go, destroy the main force of the Southern Song Dynasty Navy, and make them more energetic. hurt.
Therefore, he believes that a simple water battle may not have such an effect. If we want to completely wipe out the Mingzhou Navy, we need to advance both by water and land.
But he had no command of the infantry - which, of course, was not a problem.
The 8,000 navy troops under his command not only have water warfare capabilities, but also have strong infantry warfare capabilities. He just has no cavalry.
So he made a plan based on his knowledge of the sea area.
He planned not to directly attack the main force of the Mingzhou Navy in Dinghai, but to attack Ligang first, and then use Ligang as a temporary base for the Ming Navy to confront the Mingzhou Navy in Dinghai in Ligang.
Then secretly sent a landing ship to land somewhere west of Dinghai, sent troops from land to attack Dinghai County, and used the Ming army's advantage in field capabilities to destroy the Dinghai port. The Mingzhou Navy did not even have a base, and the waterway attacked and destroyed Mingzhou. Navy.
He announced the plan to the officers and instructors in the Navy, discussed it with everyone, and finalized some details.
In fact, some officers suggested that they should just attack them. After all, the Ming Navy was twice the size of the Song Navy, and the number of them could kill them. However, Kong Zhende countered with the example of the Liberation Army Navy sneak attack on the Jin Army Navy. I think a lion will try his best to fight a rabbit, not to mention that the opponent is not a rabbit, but also has fangs.
Therefore, no matter what, we must give full play to the advantages of the Ming army and fight naval battles, but not completely fight naval battles.
Kong Zhende's plan quickly won the support of most of the officer instructors, so it was passed, promulgated and implemented. In the early morning of April 1st, the attack on Ligang was launched.
This attack did not go well because the Song Navy was very vigilant and deployed many rounds of patrol fleets outside the port.
When the main force of the Ming Navy attacked, they were discovered by a patrol fleet. They immediately sent a signal, and then bravely sailed their boats to fight with the Ming ships.
Kong Zhende had no choice but to order a battle with the Song Navy in accordance with the established strategy. Although the patrol fleet was quickly repelled, the Song Navy fleet stationed in Ligang was also prepared and rushed out to fight the Ming Navy.
