Surrounding the Three Rebellions on one side and setting up troops to ambush them on the other. This is an old routine used by the Chu army in siege battles.
The routine is old, but it works.
Before the Ming army broke through, they also knew that there would be an ambush ahead, but they had no choice but to rush out of the gap, otherwise the entire army would be completely annihilated.
The Chu army ambushing outside the east city gate is the first cavalry brigade and the first brigade of the first guard division, the main cavalry force in the Chu army.
Shi Kefa's troops, who had just escaped from the city, were intercepted by the Chu army soon...
Naturally, the Ming army couldn't stop it and didn't have the courage to resist.
The two sides had almost just come into contact. Before the official fight began, each Ming army dispersed and broke through.
Not to mention, in the face of the defeated troops all over the mountains and plains, no matter how strong the Chu army's fighting power was, they couldn't catch them all in a short while, and some Ming troops were able to successfully break through the interception and escape.
However, the Ming army that finally followed Shi Kefa and successfully arrived at Hukou was less than 3,000 people.
Of the more than 35,000 Jiujiang garrison troops, only one out of ten remained at this time!
Shi Kefa, who arrived at the mouth of the lake, just got off the boat, looked at the pontoon bridge behind him, and said with all his heart: "Demolish the bridge!"
This is a pontoon bridge built by the Ming army before, so that the Ming army in the direction of Jiujiang and Hukou can quickly support each other in a short time.
But what is very tragic is that when the Chu army attacked Jiujiang City, although the Ming army in the direction of Hukou initially sent troops for reinforcements, they did not have the courage to send troops after being attacked by the 1st Cavalry Brigade and the Guards Division. Reinforcements arrived.
Now this pontoon bridge has become an escape channel for Shi Kefa and others.
The reason why the Chu army did not destroy it in advance or send heavy troops to directly guard one end of the pontoon bridge, but deliberately opened up the passage of the pontoon bridge, was purely to give the Ming army in Jiujiang City a hope, a hope of escape, so that they would not be completely destroyed due to their retreat. After cutting it off, I completely stuck to it.
During a siege, properly leaving an escape route for the enemy can effectively reduce the defenders' fighting will to defend, thereby reducing the difficulty of a strong attack.
But this kind of passage is obviously a trap!
When Shi Kefa led his army to break through, there were probably more than 10,000 troops who broke out with him. However, they were intercepted by the Chu army not long after leaving Jiujiang City.
After finally breaking out of the encirclement, only less than 3,000 people arrived at Hukou.
After ordering the demolition of the pontoon bridge to avoid being used by the Chu thieves, Shi Kefa successfully crossed the river and landed at the mouth of the lake. Shi Kefa ordered the garrison at the mouth of the lake to urgently strengthen the defense line.
On the other hand, they sent people to Jinling City quickly.
What to do?
We need reinforcements and money and food!
The people he sent did not need to persuade the powerful gentry in Jinling City. They only needed to explain one fact: Jiujiang Dehua has fallen. If Hukou cannot be defended in the future, Jiangnan will be completely destroyed!
Those powerful gentry would be more anxious than Shi Kefa himself!
If you don't want the Chu army to come to them to collect taxes and confiscate their homes, then you have to support him, Shi Kefa, to build a new line of defense at Hukou to keep the Chu thieves out.
Although Jiujiang City fell, the entire Jiujiang defense line not only had Dehua, Jiujiang Fucheng, but also Hukou City.
As for the fact that after the fall of Jiujiang, a large area of northern Jiangxi and even central Jiangxi to the west of Poyang Lake will completely fall into the hands of Chu thieves, this is beyond Shi Kefa's control.
——
In Jiujiang City.
When Shi Kefa was about to break the city, he took the initiative to lead his army to break through, which made it much easier for the Chu army to attack the city later.
The Ming troops on various city walls and many large fortresses outside the city either fled or surrendered, but only a handful persisted in resisting.
This also greatly reduced the Chu army's casualties in the second half of the siege.
At the same time, because Shi Kefa and others broke through in a hurry, they did not have time to take away the large amount of materials stored in the city, and even the destruction could not be carried out on a large scale.
Although several warehouses were set on fire by the Ming army before retreating, most of them were still well preserved.
This also allowed the Chu army to seize a large amount of grain, grass, weapons and ammunition.
"In this battle, we seized a total of 28 long-barreled artillery pieces of various types, 14 of which were heavy-duty artillery pieces weighing more than five kilograms and with longer barrels, and fourteen more that were imitations of our army's two-and-a-half kilogram guns. Field artillery, it’s just that this batch of artillery is made of iron, and its performance is quite different.”
"I have ordered the mounts of these artillery pieces to be repaired, and they are expected to be put into combat use soon."
"A large number of various types of muskets and small-caliber artillery were seized. Preliminary statistics include more than 2,000 imitations of our army's matchlock guns and 2,000 bird cannons."
"There are about three hundred small cannons of various types, but most of them are not suitable for the combat needs of our main force."
"There are also many other types of swords, spears and armor."
When Xu Zhixian reported after the war, he was full of joy when he said these seizures.
"In terms of personnel, according to preliminary statistics, we killed more than 3,000 enemy soldiers, and it is difficult to count the wounded. As for prisoners, we captured a total of 25,000 people, including more than 3,000 new standard troops."
"The quality of this group of prisoners is relatively high!"
"Three thousand new standard troops are estimated to be able to select two thousand people to supplement the main force of our army, especially their gunners."
"The remaining New Standard Army soldiers who cannot enter the main force can also be incorporated into the garrison with the outstanding ones among the battalion sentinel prisoners of war. I estimate that at least three brigades of garrison can be organized this time."
Luo Zhixue said: "In that case, don't delay. Select the prisoners of war according to the previously prepared backup plan. Those who should be incorporated into the main force will be incorporated into the main force, and those who should be incorporated into the garrison will be incorporated into the garrison."
"On the garrison side, the 14th Brigade of the 7th Garrison Division has been expanded into a division and organized into the 11th Garrison Division. The vacancies in the 7th Garrison Division will be filled on the spot."
"While reorganizing the two garrison divisions, they will take over the defense of Jiujiang and be responsible for the follow-up clearing operations in the city and the support of the logistics line."
"All main forces, please act according to the original plan!"
"The Seventh Division and the First Cavalry Brigade will go south first, with the primary goals of conquering Xingzi City in Nankang Prefecture and De'an in Jiujiang Prefecture, and then continue south to Nanchang."
"Two divisions and one regiment of the First Army will go to the ferry first to make preparations."
Luo Zhixue quickly arranged the follow-up strategic deployment, and this strategic deployment was not decided by Luo Zhixue. It was actually a battle plan that had been finalized in the imperial military meeting.
After taking Jiujiang, what is the next main goal of the Chu army?
It is the mouth of the east bank of Poyang Lake.
Take this place, cross Poyang Lake and the mouth of the Yangtze River, and then fight all the way to the south of the Yangtze River.
Of course, it would be too difficult to forcefully cross the river to attack Hukou without any preparation. The Chu army's intelligence personnel had previously detected that the Ming army had built dense fortifications here, as well as riverside forts.
If the Chu army wants to cross the river and kill them, necessary preparations are indispensable.
For example, concentrate a large number of artillery, prepare a large number of boats and rafts for crossing the river, and prepare pontoon troops to build pontoon bridges.
At the same time, what is more important is the cooperation of the Yangtze River Fleet of the Navy.
If the Chu army wants to cross the river smoothly and control casualties, it must have strong cooperation from the Yangtze River fleet.
Only when the Yangtze River Fleet can suppress the Ming Navy, can the pontoon bridge troops safely build a pontoon bridge, and the river-crossing troops can safely cross the river by boat.
In this regard, Minister of the Navy Lu Xingye stated this at the imperial military meeting: "Our navy has been preparing for this battle for more than half a year, and we will never let go!"
"In order to cooperate with the army in attacking Hukou, our navy has concentrated most of its warships and deployed them in the Yangtze River Fleet."
"Currently, the Yangtze River Fleet has prepared a total of one hundred and three large and small warships equipped with artillery. Compared with the more than thirty warships of our navy during the battle across the Yangtze River last year, this has tripled the number."
"Among them are six large warships, twenty-seven medium-sized warships, and seventy small warships!"
“The entire fleet has twelve nine-pound naval guns, twenty-seven five-pound naval guns, thirty-eight two-and-a-half-pound naval guns, and 246 traditional artillery pieces such as Franco machine guns and general cannons! "
"In this battle, our navy is confident enough to contain the enemy navy in the port, and if necessary, shell the land forts to cover the army's crossing of the river."
Vice Admiral Lu Xingye was full of confidence when he said this, and his tone of voice was much better than when he crossed the Yangtze River to attack Wuchang.
And Lu Xingye’s confidence!
Comes from the rapid growth of the navy!
After moving south to capture Hanyang City last year, Luo Zhixue had already begun to support the navy's expansion, providing great support in terms of personnel and funds.
The army also strongly supports the development of the navy in order to cross the river to attack Wuchang, then to attack Dongting Lake in the Chunan Campaign, and now to attack Hukou and even enter the south of the Yangtze River in order to attack eastward.
It even took the initiative to make certain concessions on military expenditures and artillery, just to support the rapid development of the navy.
Because the army itself knows very well that whether it is attacking Chunan or the Eastern Expedition, it cannot do without the naval fleet.
Without the support of the navy, is it possible that the army would really transport food and ammunition all the way over land...
That is a supply line that can easily be hundreds of kilometers or even thousands of kilometers long... Moreover, the material consumption of the Chu army in combat is also very large, and its material consumption is far beyond what traditional cold weapon troops can compare with.
The massive amount of ammunition alone is a nuisance.
If so many supplies were transported by land all the way, the logistics department would go crazy.
Therefore, the army will vigorously support the development of the navy even for its own logistics supply.
His Majesty Luo Zhixue supports it, and the Army, which is a military competitor, also supports it. Naturally, the development of the navy of the Chu Empire has been rapid.
In just over half a year, the size of its fleet has tripled, and a large number of artillery pieces have been equipped.
Even the Marines are elite infantry transferred from the Army!
At this time, the navy of the Dachu Empire was different from the past, and Lu Xingye was qualified to raise his voice when he spoke.
