Su Yonglin's opinion was supported by the General Staff Headquarters.
Since the Southern Song Dynasty rejected the peace talks, there was nothing to say but fight until they agreed.
So the General Staff Headquarters immediately issued an order to mobilize the Weihai Navy stationed in Shandong. At the same time, dozens of artillery batteries from the Shenji Battalion that had just completed training were ordered to go south to strengthen the Ming army's siege. Firepower.
At the same time that Zhongdu made the decision, the news of Zhou Zhi's troops was also sent to Xiangyang. After Zhang Yuejing learned that the Southern Song Dynasty refused to negotiate and was preparing to fight stubbornly, he was very unhappy and immediately ordered the army to prepare for dispatch.
At that time, the military strategies in various places had been basically completed, so Zhang Yuejing directly ordered the deployment of Chen Qiaoshan's enemy-defeating army, Xu Tong's Second Peasant Division and Shenji Battalion to follow him down the river to Lin'an. .
This is the fastest way.
So at the end of August in the fifth year of Hongwu's reign, the Ming army divided into three groups and advanced toward Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. Along the way, there was no organized Song army that could pose a threat to the Ming army.
The only three garrison armies in Zhenjiang, Jiankang, and Chizhou that could pose some hindrance to the Ming army also quickly collapsed, leaving only the last army of the Chizhou Dutong Division.
After the deployment of troops, Chizhou Dutongsi's army had no time to replenish, and there were only 20,000 people.
After learning that Zhenjiang Prefecture and Jiankang Prefecture had collapsed, and the Ming army in the Jinghu area began to march along the river to Lin'an, Chizhou Prefect Qiao Jing and Dutongsi Dudu Commander Yan Minde were frightened. They felt that they were in a situation where they were being attacked from two sides and surrounded by men. in the state.
Some officials and wealthy landowners in Chizhou Prefecture have begun to move further south, and they no longer dare to stay in Chizhou Prefecture.
Under such influence, Qiao Jing's psychological defense failed and she decided to escape.
As soon as Qiao Jing left, Yan Minde couldn't bear it any longer, so he left deputy general Xu Qing to take over his position and ran away.
When Xu Qing saw that Yan Minde wanted to be his scapegoat, he cursed angrily. After Yan Minde escaped, he quit, leaving his deputy Lu Biao to replace him.
Lu Biao also yelled angrily, and after Xu Qing escaped, he also ran away.
Several successive military chiefs had fled, and following the same example, the junior officers and soldiers below did not want to stay here to wait for death, so on a dark and windy night, 20,000 Song troops fled in large numbers. .
By the time the Ming army marched along the Yangtze River to Chizhou Prefecture in early September, all 20,000 Song troops had fled and not a single one was left.
The Ming army easily occupied Chizhou Prefecture and opened the road to Lin'an. This road was unobstructed. The professional sentries sent out to search for the enemy did not find any trace of the organized Song army.
Good guy, can this still happen?
After finding out the specific news, Zhang Yuejing sighed with his hands on his forehead.
The Song Army's will to fight has been completely destroyed. To this extent, they can be regarded as the only ones in the group.
Then Zhang Yuejing announced that the army would go ashore, march from Chizhou Mansion to Ningguo, then arrive at Dusong Pass, and then march to Lin'an.
Although the Ming army marched on its own land without any threatening obstacles, it does not mean that there was no resistance at all. For example, Ningguo County magistrate Zhai Gong led more than a hundred handymen, patrolling archers and the like in the county They boarded the city to resist the Ming army's attack, but were completely defeated by a volley of Ming army artillery fire.
This small amount of defending troops was not enough to cause even a little damage to the Ming army. The Ming army occupied Ningguo County without any losses.
The Ming army successfully entered the city, but Zhai Gong himself was the only one holding a knife to resist, and wanted to engage in a street fight with the Ming army.
Zhang Yuejing was very emotional when he heard this and talked to Zhai Gong personally.
"All the troops and officials have fled, and the prefect of Ningguo has also fled. Why are you the only one who doesn't run away?"
Zhai Gong sneered.
"I am a civil servant who guards the land, and I have the responsibility of guarding the land. I eat the emperor's salary and share the emperor's worries. This is the duty of a minister! As for those who are as timid as mice, they will be ridiculed by future generations! I would rather die than run away. Ming Gou, kill me."
"Eat the king's salary, share the king's worries... share the king's worries! By the way, this is your most fundamental responsibility as an official. You are an official to share the king's worries, but it has nothing to do with the people..."
Zhang Yuejing reached out and took a matchlock gun from his bodyguard, pointed it at Zhai Gong, pulled the trigger under his surprised gaze, shattered Zhai Gong's chest with one shot, and shot him on the spot.
Zhai Gong fell to the ground, twitched for a while, and died.
Zhang Yuejing returned the matchlock gun to the guards around him.
"What's the point of sharing the worries of the king but not the people? It's just a matter of whether the oppression is lighter or heavier. It all depends on one's own conscience, conscience, and how many people there are. Can you still keep your conscience towards power?"
Zhai Gong's defense of Ningguo County was nothing more than an episode on the march route. Subsequently, the Ming army encountered no resistance and successfully arrived at Dusong Pass on September 13th.
When they arrived at Dusong Pass, they found that Dusong Pass had been occupied by the Ming army, so they successfully crossed Dusong Pass and advanced towards Lin'an.
All the way to the southeast from Dusong Pass, you can reach Lin'an City in just one day's work.
Zhang Yuejing learned from the Dusong Pass garrison that his general Zhou Zhi had led the main force of You Yi's army to cross Dusong Pass and go south a few days ago. It was said that he had captured Yuhang and was confronting the Lin'an garrison near Lin'an City.
Without powerful siege weapons, Zhou Zhi could only wait silently for Zhang Yuejing's arrival, but he still did what he could.
For example, he defeated a Song army on the road northeast of Lin'an City, defeated the Song army, destroyed their military stronghold, and advanced to a place very close to Lin'an City. The defenders of Lin'an City were in chaos.
Yu Yunwen also tried to send troops to attack You Yijun to regain control of this important road. However, he was unable to defeat the Ming army and was pushed to the edge of the moat by the Ming army. If the Song army on the wall had not fired arrows, the Ming army would not have retreated easily. .
At this point, the defenders of Lin'an City were completely desperate, and they finally determined one thing.
They really couldn't defeat the Ming army in field battles. The huge gap in combat effectiveness between the two sides could really make people feel desperate. Under such circumstances, they had no other choice but to insist on defending the city and resisting the Ming army's siege.
This confirmation can be regarded as a consensus reached by everyone in the Southern Song Dynasty. They really can't beat them. The Ming army is too strong. No matter how they fight, they are no match. They can only retreat or rely on the city walls to resist.
For a time, the atmosphere of pessimism in the whole court was so strong that the peace faction forces, which had been suppressed to death, successfully turned around.
The main peace faction headed by Shen Gai occupied an important advantage in the court.
The main war faction headed by Yu Yunwen and Yang Wanli is in danger.
It was not like this at the beginning. At the beginning, the power of the main war faction was still very strong.
As soon as Yu Yunwen took office, he promoted a group of young officials who were in charge of the war to serve in some more important positions to work for him. With the support of Zhao Xun, he quickly took control of the government affairs, mobilized a lot of power to manage the city defense, and made the city defense effective. Yes.
If the city defense is in good shape, the main fighting faction will be stronger. I feel that there will definitely be no way to deal with the Ming army in the future.
It didn't take long for the bad news to come.
Dusong Pass was captured by the Ming army.
Good guy, it had been more than ten days since Yu Yunwen ordered the three towns in Jiangnan to shrink their troops and return to defend Lin'an. Yu Yunwen was still planning how to defend the 50,000 to 60,000 troops that had withdrawn, and how to withstand the Ming army's attack at Dusong Pass. , and suddenly learned that Dusong Pass had been lost.
Yu Yunwen was shocked and had no idea where the Ming army came from, but he made a decisive decision and immediately sent a general to lead 3,000 troops to recapture Dusong Pass.
How could Dusongguan be thrown away?
After three thousand Song troops arrived at Dusong Pass, they found that more than a thousand Ming troops were guarding Dusong Pass. When they tried to attack Dusong Pass, they fully realized the strength of this pass.
In order to guard here, Yu Yunwen prepared a lot of food and tools for guarding the city. However, he did not use them and all of them were used by the Ming army.
Three thousand Song troops suffered heavy blows at the foot of Dusong Pass. They continued to attack for three days but failed to break through. Just when they were in a dilemma, Dusong Pass's Ming army took the initiative to attack and defeated them in one fell swoop.
The numerically superior Song army was defeated by the small Ming army on the mountainous terrain. The Song army fled and was chased for several miles by the Ming army.
They failed to recapture Dusong Pass at the most critical time.
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