Just like a group of scholars in Jinling City, each one is immersed in various science books published by the Ministry of Ethical Affairs of the Tang Empire, in order to show off their talents in the examination that will be held in March.
In Hezhou on the north bank of the Yangtze River, a series of battles along the north bank of the Yangtze River including Hezhou and Jiangpu that lasted for more than three months finally came to an end.
The reason why the battles along the river in Hezhou and other areas in the north of the Yangtze River dragged on for so long was partly because of supply problems, and partly because of the cold winter.
As for the supply issue, after the Battle of Anqing, although the Fourth Division was right on the Yangtze River and could easily obtain supplies of various materials from the Yangtze River, the actual situation was.
After the Battle of Anqing and before November last year, that is, before the Chu army captured Jinling City, the material supplies obtained by the Fourth Division were very limited.
Because before the attack on Jinling City, the Chu Empire's various materials and logistics forces for transporting materials were basically used to centrally supply several troops attacking Jiangnan, including the First Division, the Sixth Division, the First Guards Division, The 7th Garrison Division, the 1st Mortar Regiment, the 6th Mortar Regiment, etc.
The various units of the Second Army that also participated in the Eastward Campaign, but were fighting in the Jiangbei area, that is, the Fourth Division, the Eighth Division, the Fifth Garrison Division and other units, had their logistics supply priority ranked lower than the units fighting in the Jiangnan area.
Even though the supply priority of the Second Army units in the Jiangbei region was within the Chu Army, the Fourth Division's material supply priority was ranked behind the Eighth Division after the Battle of Anqing.
At that time, the logistics and transportation force of the Second Army was basically fully committed to ensuring the penetration into the northern part of Luzhou Prefecture, and some of its troops even reached the Eighth Division in the southern area of Fengyang Prefecture.
The Eighth Division fought very hard at that time. In addition, it snowed early in the Jiangbei area and the supply of supplies was not smooth. It was quite troublesome for a time.
Under such circumstances, the Fourth Division's material supply priority can only be moved back.
After the Chu army captured Jinling City and the material supply pressure of the Chu Empire was initially relieved, supplies were gradually added to the north of the Yangtze River, but the increase was not much.
After all, in November and December, the Chu army still launched offensives in the south of the Yangtze River. Although there were no large-scale and difficult battles throughout the process, there were many medium-sized battles.
In the Battle of Zhenjiang, the Battle of Suzhou and Songjiang, and the larger Battle of Huzhou, the Chu army at that time also used two main divisions to attack front and back.
Although these battles did not bring any casualties to the Chu army, the consumption of materials was still considerable.
In other words, the low casualty rate of the Chu army is directly based on the strong firepower of the Chu army, and strong firepower requires the consumption of a large amount of shells, bullets and gunpowder.
Under this situation, the Jiangnan region is still devouring a large amount of ammunition supply. Although the Chu Empire has also increased some of the ammunition supply to various ministries in the Jiangbei region, the increase is not too much, at least it cannot allow the Fourth Division to open its hands and feet. Attack Hezhou by force.
The supply of ammunition and other types of materials was insufficient. In addition, snow began to snow in Hezhou in late October, and the subsequent weather was severely cold. This also greatly affected the Fourth Division's operations in Hezhou.
In addition, another very important factor is that among the Ming army stationed in Hezhou, there are thousands of Jiangbei New Army troops. In addition, there are also some Ming army troops from the Governor of Water Transport and even the Shandong region.
At that time, the number of Ming troops stationed on the front line of Hezhou was the largest, reaching more than 20,000 at one time, of which more than 7,000 were from the Jiangbei New Army. They had more than 20 long-barreled artillery of various types, more than ten of which were two and a half kilograms in field combat. Cannons, and a few old heavy Hongyi cannons.
There are probably two to three thousand new muskets.
Although they still couldn't defeat the Fourth Division in this fight, they were huddled in the city and relied on the severe cold weather to defend themselves. The Fourth Division really couldn't do anything to them for a while.
So it was postponed until this year. After the Chu army in the Jiangnan region won the Battle of Huzhou and then captured Hangzhou, the battle in the Jiangnan region achieved a complete victory. Although there were still many battles in central and southern Zhejiang. There will be war, but the overall scale will not be too large, and it will not be too urgent.
Therefore, starting from that time, probably after the Lantern Festival in January this year, the senior leaders of the Da Chu Empire decided to adjust the direction of strategic material supply and transfer the direction of Jiangnan to the direction of Jiangbei after discussing the military benefits before the imperial army.
From this time on, the 4th Division, 8th Division, 5th Garrison Division, 13th Garrison Division, 1st Cavalry Brigade, 4th Mortar Regiment and other combat units operating in Jiangbei began to receive the highest priority strategic materials. supply.
A large number of various weapons and ammunition produced by the Hantian Arsenal in the rear, various military uniforms, military shoes, tents, and quilts produced by the Hankou Clothing Factory, and a large amount of grain and grass assembled and transported from Huguang, Jiangxi and other places, were gradually passed through the logistics department. The inland water transport fleet gradually transported them to various ports on the north bank of the Gaoguan River in Anlu, and then transported them to the front lines through various land transportation methods such as horse-drawn carriages and wheelbarrows.
At this time, because the Fourth Division was fighting in Hezhou on the edge of the Yangtze River, and this time it had priority to supply supplies, it would not be like before, watching a large number of fleets full of supplies pass by...
After receiving a large amount of supplies, especially the reinforcements from the newly established 7th Mortar Artillery Regiment, the Fourth Division finally appeared to be the main force of the Chu army in Hezhou.
The artillery began to bombard Hezhou City and several surrounding fortresses garrisoned by the Ming army.
This sudden increase in firepower made the Ming army on the opposite side almost not recognize whether the Chu thieves on the opposite side were still the original Chu thieves.
You must know that there are more than 20,000 Ming troops on the Hezhou front line. In the past few months, when they were stationed on the Hezhou front line and fought with the 4th Division, they have had many battles with the 4th Division, but they have never seen it before. Such fierce artillery fire.
The gunfire power of the Fourth Division at that time was quite powerful in the eyes of the Ming army, but it was just that.
With that kind of firepower density, they can actually do it even if they bite the bullet with the Ming Army on the front line of Hezhou. After all, there are thousands of Jiangbei New Army on the Hezhou front line, and they also have a batch of two and a half kilogram or five kilogram field artillery.
As long as they spared the money for ammunition, they could launch a powerful bombardment in a short period of time.
Therefore, they once believed that the outside world said that the Chu thieves had sharp guns and the artillery fire was extremely fierce during the war, which was an exaggeration.
They were just a group of guys who had lost the battle. In order to shirk responsibility, they deliberately exaggerated the strength of the Chu thieves.
However, when the Chu army began to intensify its bombardment on the Hezhou front line in the second half of the next period, they realized why so many people said that the Chu thieves had sharp guns.
Damn it, the fierce artillery fire was very dense, and it was going on all day and night, never stopping.
More importantly, they also saw a large number of forty-eight-pound mortars in the Chu army covering the shelling scene.
They have also seen 48-pound mortars, and have been bombarded by such artillery. However, the support of the 48-pound mortars received by the Fourth Division before was very small, only eight.
Mortars have a poor hit rate and a slow rate of fire. If there are not many mortars, they actually seem to be powerful when fired, but the actual lethality is still relatively limited.
However, this time, in addition to the eight forty-eight-pound mortars originally strengthened for them, the Fourth Division also received support from the Seventh Mortar Regiment.
The Seventh Mortar Regiment has four mortar battalions under its jurisdiction. Each mortar battalion has twelve 48-pound mortars, for a total of forty-eight.
When so many mortars are concentrated for shelling, the hit rate can be ignored directly, because they are all covered shelling.
As for the insufficient rate of fire, it doesn't matter. Anyway, the excess gunners are waiting for one artillery and they keep firing. Anyway, there are enough shells.
A large number of mortars, coupled with the bombardment of nine-pound field guns and five-pound field guns, often caused a fierce bombardment, and the fortress garrisoned by the Ming army on the opposite side was completely changed beyond recognition.
The defense line built by the Ming army in Hezhou gradually began to have loopholes.
After a large number of fortresses outside the city in the outer areas of Hezhou City were captured, although the Ming army in Hezhou also put up a stubborn resistance, they ultimately failed.
Seeing that Hezhou could no longer be defended, the Ming army on the front line of Hezhou began under the leadership of Song Zushun, the new governor-general of water transport, in charge of military affairs in Jiangbei, Fengyang, Anlu and other places, as well as the governor of Jiangbei, the right minister of the Ministry of War and the censor of Youqiandu. Withdrawing from the Hezhou defense line, although the losses during the retreat were not small, at any rate, with the cooperation of their cavalry, they successfully evacuated part of the main force, including the crucial Jiangbei New Standard Army of more than 5,000 people.
Under the cover of the cavalry, they first withdrew to Yingtianfu Jiangbei, and then to Liuhe. Later, their main force withdrew to Yangzhou, and part of their troops withdrew to Chuzhou.
As for the Fourth Division, due to the lack of cavalry troops, its own cavalry regiment of the Fourth Division is relatively stretched, and the First Cavalry Brigade, which cooperates with the Second Army, is on the front line in Hefei, so it is not very good for the Ming army to withdraw. Method.
Speaking of which, Song Zushun was the first to be able to withdraw the main force under the Chu army's offensive. Let's not talk about other things, but his ability to lead troops to fight was better than other Chu army's previous encounters. The governors and governors of the country are much stronger.
How should I put it? It was rare for Ming Ting to use the right person. Although Ming Ting was able to use the right person this time, it was because Wang Jiazhen had ensured...
Song Zushun, this should be one of the few military strategists in the Ming court in recent years. He has been stationed at the border for a long time and has rich experience in leading troops, especially good at defensive operations.
Wang Jiazhen was re-appointed by Chongzhen. After he became the governor of Nanjing, he recommended Song Zushun to the court as the supervisor of the Jiangbei army. However, this supervisor was just a layer of skin. In fact, Song Zushun was responsible for organizing and training the new Jiangbei army.
The history of this new Jiangbei army can be traced back to when Chen Biqian was the governor of the Eastern Front.
In the early days, Zhu Dadian, the former governor of water transportation and governor of Fengyang, organized a new standard army of thousands of people. This should be an early new standard army in the Ming Dynasty, and it took longer than Shi Kefa's Anlu new standard army to form an army. Be earlier.
However, it didn't take long for Wang Jiazhen to pick some of the peaches of this new batch of new champions, and Wang Jiazhen forcibly took away half of them.
Although Zhu Dadian was considered the governor at that time, this governor had little standing in front of Wang Jiazhen.
Because when Zhu Dadian was in Chongzhen for eight years, he was belittled because of his inability to fight against the Chu bandits. Later, he was demoted many times because of his inability to fight against the Chu bandits...
Although Zhu Dadian continues to serve as governor of water transportation and governor of Fengyang, his actual power is no longer as good as before.
What's more, Wang Jiazhen's governor of Nanjing is different from ordinary governors. He is the governor of the military affairs of Henan, Nanzhili, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang.
Whether it is the governor of Fengyang, the governor of water transport, or the governor of river transport, they are all within the jurisdiction of Wang Jiazhen, the governor of Nanjing.
Wang Jiazhen, the original governor of Nanjing, was a governor who could take charge of the governor...a level higher than ordinary governors.
You can tell by directly adding the title of Minister of the Ministry of War from Wang Jiazhen, and adding the title of Right Deputy Capital Censor.
Therefore, Zhu Dadian, who was also called the governor, had to lie down obediently in front of Wang Jiazhen. Wang Jiazhen wanted to mobilize half of Fengyang's new standard army as the basis of Jiangbei's new standard army. Naturally, Zhu Dadian did not say a word. Dare to say it.
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Subsequently, Wang Jiazhen transferred hundreds of troops from the Yingtian New Biao Army and reorganized them into the Jiangbei New Biao Army. He also invited Song Zushun, one of the few people in the contemporary Ming Dynasty who was proficient in military affairs and especially good at defending the city, to condescend to supervise the army in Jiangbei. .
He is said to be a supervisor of the Jiangbei Army, but he mainly serves as a supervisor of the Jiangbei New Standard Army. According to the rules of the Ming court officialdom, he is actually the actual commander of the Jiangbei New Standard Army.
After finalizing all matters, the new Jiangbei army began to recruit and train young men in the Xuhuai area. Wang Jiazhen also gave Song Zushun great support, basically asking for money, food, and guns. Cannons are also collected and given to guns as much as possible.
In order to get guns and cannons for the Jiangbei New Standard Army, Wang Jiazhen even wronged himself and contacted Zheng Zhilong and purchased a batch of foreign guns and cannons through Zheng Zhilong.
After the new standard army in Jiangbei was formed, Wang Jiazhen also petitioned to establish a governor of Jiangbei, with jurisdiction over Hezhou, Xuzhou, Chuzhou, Yangzhou Prefecture, and Huai'an Prefecture.
Because Zhu Dadian's performance had always been poor, and the Chu thieves were fierce, and the governor of Anlu had been established before, the Ming court decided to go with Chongzhen for local considerations.
Song Zushun therefore became the first governor of Jiangbei, and with the support of Wang Jiazhen, he began to vigorously organize and train Jiangbei's new standard army.
However, until Wang Jiazhen was deposed and arrested and imprisoned, the Jiangbei New Standard Army under Song Zushun, who Wang Jiazhen had high hopes for, failed to truly form an army.
Before Wang Jiazhen was arrested, the Jiangbei New Standard Army, led by Song Zusui, once tried to rescue Anqing.
But before they arrived, Anqing was captured by the Chu army. Then Song Zushun led his army to retreat to Hezhou and began to build a defense line in Hezhou.
At that time, the Jiangbei New Standard Army only had about six to seven thousand troops, no more than ten cannons, and more than two thousand muskets.
After Fan Jingwen took over as the governor of Nanjing, he did not make any special arrangements for the Jiangbei New Standard Army. He only allocated some money, food and guns as usual.
Soon, Jinling City was breached and Fan Jingwen died. The Jiangbei New Standard Army also lost its direct boss. Song Zushun, who was the governor of Jiangbei at the time, could only lead the garrison in Hezhou and solve the problem of money, food, guns and artillery on his own.
It was not until December that news about the Ming Dynasty's capital was delivered to Hezhou.
When Chongzhen was furious, he did not continue to appoint the governor of Nanjing this time. Chongzhen felt that this position was too damn evil. The three governors of the Eastern Front/Nanjing before and after all lost their damn city and territory.
In addition, Zhu Dadian, the governor of water transport and governor of Fengyang, suffered disastrous defeats in many battles. He sat back and watched the situation in Jiangbei deteriorate and Jiangnan fell. Chongzhen directly removed Zhu Dadian's title of governor of water transport, and then asked him to guard Hezhou at the time and defend the city. Song Zushun, the governor of Jiangbei, who was quite capable and had thousands of new soldiers under his command, became the new governor of water transportation.
He was also asked to take charge of military affairs in Jiangbei, Fengyang, Anlu and other places.
As a result, Song Zushun became the governor-general of water transportation and in charge of military affairs in Jiangbei, Fengyang, Anlu and other places.
Finally, Song Zushun continued to serve as governor of Jiangbei.
Of course, various governors and governors must have corresponding official positions to match. Whether it is a governor or a governor, they are just dispatches, not official positions.
Therefore, Song Zushun was promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War and the right deputy censor of the capital, which was considered an ordinary governor-general match.
In this way, Song Zushun became the governor-general of water transportation, in charge of military affairs in Jiangbei, Fengyang, Anlu and other places, and also in charge of Jiangbei.
To put it simply, the huge Xuhuai area in the north of the Yangtze River, that is, the area on the north bank of the Yangtze River in South Zhili, is under his control. It can be regarded as a smaller version of the previous Eastern Front Governor.
Song Zushun led tens of thousands of Ming troops with the Jiangbei New Biao Army as the core, but the battle was not very successful, and they did not even win a single battle.
However, in an environment where many generals of the Ming Dynasty not only lost cities and territory, but also lost troops and generals, it is very rare for Song Zushun to withdraw with 5,000 Jiangbei New Standard Army and maintain basic combat effectiveness.
However, I don’t know if the senior officials of the Ming court, especially Chongzhen and the cabinet bosses, can understand this rare thing!
