The Great Chu Empire was established in the second year of Chengshun and the ninth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty.
On October 15th, Jinling City, Jiangning County, Yingtian Prefecture, was the Yuhuatai of Nanjing City in the Ming Dynasty.
Yuhuatai is located between the outer city wall and the inner city wall of Jinling City, in the southern area of Jinling City. It is a rare highland in Jinling City.
And it is more than a thousand meters away from the moat of Jinling City, which is the Qinhuai River, and directly opposite is the Changgan Bridge across the Qinhuai River. After the Changgan Bridge is the most important gate in the south of Jinling City: Jubaomen.
If the Ming army could rely on the Yuhuatai Highlands for defensive operations and deploy heavy artillery on it, it would be enough to cover the surrounding areas, and the Chu army would naturally not be able to launch siege operations here.
But it is a pity that although the Ming army built a camp and stationed troops here at the beginning, and even deployed two Hongyi artillery pieces, when the Ming army on the outer city wall retreated without a fight, more than a thousand Ming troops stationed at Yuhuatai They also ran away completely, and even handed over the two precious Hongyi cannons deployed on the mountain to the Chu army intact, including their ammunition.
When the Chu Army's First Division arrived here yesterday, they saw intact camp fortifications and a batch of artillery pieces, but not a single person could be seen.
Naturally, the First Division rudely occupied the camp that the Ming Army had built here, and turned the muzzles of the two Hongyi cannons left by the Ming Army to the direction of Changgan Bridge.
The next day, today, Luo Zhixue led the First Guards Division and other troops to Yuhuatai and established a frontline headquarters here.
Luo Zhixue did not set up the headquarters in the original building in the mountain. Instead, he built a temporary tent directly on the top of the mountain with a good view of Jinling City, and used it as a front-line headquarters.
At this time, Luo Zhixue was standing on the top of the mountain where the headquarters was located, looking at Jinling City in the distance.
Within sight, there are still many residential buildings. After all, this area is the area between the outer city wall and the inner city wall. It is considered an urban area with many buildings.
However, quite a few of the buildings have been forcibly requisitioned by the Chu army. This is not to use them as military camps, but to demolish these houses to make enough space for the army to launch an siege.
Ahead of a large area of residential buildings, there is the Qinhuai River, which is so famous that the kings and ministers of the Great Chu Empire never forget it and even dream of visiting it.
In the early days, the Qinhuai River was actually used by the Ming Dynasty as the moat of Jinling City. However, as the peace in the Jinling City area lasted for a long time and more and more residents of Jinling City lived in the periphery, the Qinhuai River also It has evolved from a pure river and moat into a prosperous place of commerce.
On both sides of the Qinhuai River, there are many shops and restaurants, and there are many paintings and boats in Hanoi. The numerous shops and boats, as well as the large number of young ladies, together constitute one of the most famous young ladies gathering places in China for thousands of years.
Over the past few hundred years, only the eight alleys of Youzhou City, where the princesses were haunted after the Eastern Expedition, and the west bank of the Huangpu River in Songjiang Prefecture, where a large number of courtesans were haunted during the warlord wars, can be compared with it.
Oh, no, there is a city in the south of the 21st century that has once again carried forward this idea and is famous for its high-quality services.
It's a pity that those young ladies later abandoned the traditions of their ancestors and went to live broadcast.
It is simply that the world is declining and people's hearts are not as old as before, which makes people regret it.
It's just that the area along the Qinhuai River that used to be prosperous is now desolate. Except for those that are fixed and cannot be moved, all the movable boats are basically gone.
As for the scarcity of clothes, there are not even any young ladies who are good at playing, playing and singing...
Now these boats and a large number of young ladies have basically fled the Qinhuai River to avoid the upcoming siege war.
After all, the Qinhuai River is not just an ordinary river, it is also the moat of Jinling City in the south city.
Since yesterday, soldiers of the Chu army wearing gray military uniforms have arrived here and set up numerous artillery pieces.
The young ladies were so frightened that their faces turned pale, and basically all those who could escape ran away.
If they don't escape, they will be directly in the middle of the battle between the two armies, and they will be attacked from both sides...
Although they usually didn't mind being attacked from both front and back, it was different today. The Chu army's artillery was too many and too powerful. Even the Ming army on top of the city was tit for tat, deploying a large number of light and heavy artillery in the Jubaomen area.
If they really fought, the fierce fire would definitely not be something they could withstand.
What's more, neither the Chu army nor the Ming army intends to pay...
Once a fight breaks out, if they are hit by artillery fire, it will be in vain.
deficit!
The young ladies gathered in the boat and ran away, either to escape upstream, or to go down and enter several other tributaries, and some simply entered the Yangtze River directly.
As a result, what Luo Zhixue saw today was a smooth stretch of the Qinhuai River, without even a single painting boat.
To be honest, this is different from the Qinhuai River in Luo Zhixue's imagination.
He is a little disappointed!
On the north bank of the Qinhuai River is the inner city wall of Jinling City, which has a very conspicuous gate tower.
Xu Zhixian pointed to a tall city gate in the distance and said: "That's the Jubao Gate. According to the intelligence we've detected, the enemy troops are heavily stationed here. There are about 2,000 soldiers and more than 200 kilograms of artillery in the city gate area. About ten, including two Hongyi artillery pieces."
As he spoke, Xu Zhixian pointed to the right side of Jubao Gate and said, "A few miles to the right of Jubao Gate is Tongji Gate. Continuing east from Tongji Gate is Zhengyang Gate."
"These three gates are the three largest gates in the south direction of Jinling City. Theoretically speaking, they are also the most suitable gates for us to launch a strong attack because they are close and the outer space is large enough."
"But the enemy has also deployed heavy troops on this line. There are about 2,000 enemy troops on the front line of Jubao Gate. The garrison strength of the other two city gates is also about 1,000 to 2,000. Between these three city gates, There are at least several thousand Ming troops deployed on the city walls to prevent us from attacking these walls, and at the same time, they can also be used as mobile troops to reinforce the three city gates mentioned above."
"According to our judgment, the Ming army deployed a total of 6,000 to 8,000 troops along the lines of these three city gates, including some of the enemy's new standard troops."
When Xu Zhixian said that, although he pointed out the direction, in fact because of the distance, Luo Zhixue could only see a rough shadow.
Therefore, when Xu Zhixian said this, he also asked his staff to spread out a hand-drawn military map on the big table.
This is a map of Jinling City that was carefully collected and drawn by the intelligence personnel of the Great Chu Empire. The map was made very finely, down to every street and every small stream.
Since last year, the Great Chu Empire has begun to dispatch a large number of intelligence personnel to the areas controlled by the Ming Dynasty. Whether they are spies from the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Trade or the Military Intelligence Department, they will collect local geographical information.
There are important transportation routes and dangerous checkpoints, and the city’s defense map is a top priority.
As the largest and most populous city in the south of China, Jinling City is of great political significance and is also a cultural and economic center. Naturally, it has received great attention from intelligence agencies such as the Military Intelligence Department.
The Military Intelligence Department had already set up an intelligence station in Jinling City last summer, and was gradually increasing its manpower and developing personnel locally.
So far, the Military Intelligence Department has more than 100 direct intelligence personnel in Jinling City.
There are even more peripheral members, that is, those who work for money and are bribed by the Military Intelligence Division. There are more than 500 people, including some civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty who were bribed by the Military Intelligence Division.
These hundreds of intelligence officers may seem like a lot, but when compared to the urban population of more than 300,000 in Jinling City, they still appear to be very few.
Jinling City was the second most populous city in China in the 17th century, second only to Youzhou City, the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
In such a huge city population, with only a hundred intelligence officers plus hundreds of peripheral members who are bribed, it is actually difficult to take care of all aspects.
But the Military Intelligence Department does not need to spy on all intelligence. After all, the main business of the Military Intelligence Department is military intelligence, and the rest is incidental.
In military intelligence, the top priority is the number of troops stationed in the city, the situation of the main civil and military officials commanding the troops, and the main defense plans in the city.
The work efficiency of the Military Intelligence Department is also good. Before the Chu army arrived at Jinling City, the entire military map of Jinling City had been drawn up, and even some of the newly built fortifications and hidden forts of the Ming Army were marked. come out.
When the First Division officially arrived outside Jinling City, the Military Intelligence Department reported the latest situation of the Ming Army in the city, including the garrison situation of various ministries.
In this way, Xu Zhixian could accurately tell how many Ming troops were stationed at Jubaomen and how many Hongyi artillery pieces there were.
Because among the defenders of Jubaomen, several of them are peripheral members of the Military Intelligence Department, and one of them is from Baihu...
They didn't have to work hard to collect intelligence. They could basically mark the deployment locations of most artillery by just walking around twice.
In other words, when the Ming army in the city, especially the senior generals and military officials, did not even know which Chu army outside the city was and how many people there were.
Luo Zhixue and Xu Zhixian of the Chu army even knew the detailed troop deployment and artillery deployment of the defenders in the city.
Not to mention the general information, even the specific locations of the eight outer chambers installed outside by Yingtian Governor Zhang Guowei were even found out.
Zhang Guowei, the governor of Yingtian, especially likes riding horses. The eight outer rooms are all filled with Yangzhou thin horses.
The intelligence department of the Great Chu Empire attached great importance to Jinling City, which allowed the Chu army to learn the most important military intelligence in the city immediately after arriving in Jinling City today.
Xu Zhixian pointed at the large military map on the table and said: "Because the three main gates in the south have more defenders and have the Qinhuai River as a moat, it will be more difficult to cross the river and fight."
"At the same time, there is feedback from the intelligence department that our Military Intelligence Department and other intelligence departments have contacted some civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty who are interested in our King's Division in the city. Under the leadership of Li Yuankui, they will launch a mutiny and cooperate with our army to seize the city. ."
"And part of the troops under Li Yuankui's control are currently deployed here!"
"Chaoyang Gate in the West City!"
"Currently, there are more than 800 Ming troops deployed at this city gate. They are all under the control of Li Yuankui and the others. When the time comes, relying on their close personal soldiers, they will be enough to open the city gate as soon as possible and then welcome the army. Enter the city."
"After our army enters from Chaoyang Gate, it is the Ming Nanjing Palace City. There are not many Ming troops stationed here. We can even ignore them and directly launch an attack southward along the city wall, and cooperate with the frontal offensive troops to seize Zhengyang Gate, Tongji The three main southern gates are the Gate and the Jubao Gate."
"If the operation is done well this time, then we can completely reenact the Battle of Nanchang without a forced attack and directly enter the city with a large number of troops."
"As long as my army successfully enters the city, there will be no suspense in the subsequent siege."
While Luo Zhixue listened, he also took a simple battle plan from Xu Zhixian.
The battle plan is written very simply.
It is to let the first division that arrived in the early stage act as a frontal offensive force, but not for offense, but to attract the enemy's attention. It is mainly deployed on the front lines of Jubaomen and Tongjimen, making a strong attack posture.
The Sixth Division, which arrived later, planned to detour to the Chaoyang Gate, and at dawn, with the cooperation of the rebel army, surprise the Chaoyang Gate and capture it.
Then the main force was separated to launch a roundabout attack on the Zhengyangmen line in the south, and cooperated with the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 1st Guards Division deployed in this direction to capture Zhengyangmen.
Then they went to kill Tongji Gate and Jubao Gate.
The entire battle plan is very simple, not even a sophisticated battle plan.
Because the most difficult thing here is to seize one of the city gates and enter, and this problem will be the responsibility of the Ming army uprising troops led by Li Yuankui.
Therefore, after seeing this, Luo Zhixue knew that this time the Battle of Jinling was not a big battle.
Because there are only more than 20,000 defenders in the city, they are a group of young and old, weak, with no morale, and low equipment levels.
Even if it is a real forceful attack, it actually doesn't cost anything. It is just that you have to pay a certain amount of casualties during the forceful attack.
However, among the more than 20,000 defenders, according to feedback from the intelligence department, at least 2,000 of them have clearly surrendered to the uprising...
This is almost one-tenth of the defenders.
Not to mention the defenders, even the senior Ming court civil and military officials in the city had actually secretly contacted the Chu army through various channels.
Why did I get contacted? Naturally, I wanted to turn around and surrender anyway.
The officials Li Yuankui contacted to surrender to the Ming Dynasty were actually only part of them, mainly the group of officials responsible for the surrender of the Ming Dynasty from the Military Intelligence Department and the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Trade.
However, the surrendered officials in charge of the Military Affairs Section and the Naval Intelligence Office did not get involved, and they had their own plans.
Surrendering to your thighs, people don’t have to follow you, Li Yuankui, they can do it themselves!
Therefore, neither Fan Jingwen, the governor of Nanjing, nor Zhang Guowei, the governor of Yingtian, knew that in fact a large number of civil and military officials and ordinary soldiers under them had secretly defected to the Chu Empire.
Just wait for the Chu army to officially attack the city and cooperate with the Chu army!
And this day did not wait too long. In order to avoid the heavy snowfall after the siege time was delayed, a large number of gentry and dignitaries in the city fled across the river, resulting in a large loss of money and food. After Luo Zhixue led the main force to arrive, he signed the relevant combat orders as soon as possible. , and prepare to formally attack the city.
After all, it is getting colder and colder today. According to experienced farmers, the snow is probably only for these three to five days, so there is no time for the Chu army to delay it.
At the same time, ships can be seen leaving Jinling City on the Yangtze River almost every day, but the navy is unable to stop them.
Since the navy is unreliable, the army can only speed up the capture of Jinling City on its own to avoid further loss of money and food.
Under such circumstances, the Chu army, intelligence agencies, and Ming court surrender officials such as Li Yuankui finally determined the time to attack the city.
At dawn on October 17, Li Yuankui and others will open the Chaoyang Gate to welcome the Chu army's royal division into the city.
I went back to my hometown today and ran around all day. It was past nine o'clock in the evening when I took the time to type. However, I still wrote more than 4,000 words, kept my attendance, and lived up to your expectations.
I am really good on rainy days!
