1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3874

Shi Chengwu's next target was Nankang Prefecture, which bordered Jiujiang Prefecture.

In fact, Shi Chengwu had already made relevant action plans before this operation, but the suggestion from Ganzhou brought the time to take this step forward much earlier.

Nankang Prefecture was located south of Jiujiang Prefecture, with its jurisdiction sandwiched between Jiujiang Prefecture and Nanchang Prefecture. It administered three counties: Xingzi, Duchang, and Jianchang, spanning the east and west banks of Poyang Lake. Its administrative center was located in Xingzi County, on the southern slope of the Five Old Peaks of Mount Lu.

To the east of its capital city lies the only passage from Poyang Lake to the Yangtze River. If Hukou, the point within Jiujiang Prefecture that connects to the Yangtze River, is the first gate of Poyang Lake, then the capital city of Nankang Prefecture is the second gate.

Once this place is captured, Haihan will have even greater control over the Poyang Lake shipping system, effectively tightening the noose around the necks of the Jiangxi defenders.

After occupying Jiujiang, Ha Jianyi led his troops to conduct a preliminary survey of the hydrological conditions in the area from Hukou of Poyang Lake to Nankang Prefecture.

It can be roughly confirmed that the Ming army under the jurisdiction of Nankang Prefecture does not have a well-organized navy available, but it cannot be ruled out that the Ming Dynasty will try to concentrate all the waterborne armed forces of Poyang Lake in Xingzi County in the near future to have a decisive battle on the water with the southward-bound Haihan Army.

Of course, from the perspective of the two young generals, they might prefer the latter scenario, as it would not only allow them to gain a respectable military achievement but also enable them to eliminate the Ming navy in Jiangxi in one fell swoop, saving them the trouble of spending a lot of time searching the Poyang Lake area later.

In accordance with the action plan discussed with friendly forces in Ganzhou, Shi Chengwu launched a new offensive on April 28.

The Haihan Army stationed in Jiujiang split into two routes, one by land and one by water. The land route went south along the western foothills of Lushan Mountain, passing through De'an County and attacking Nankang Prefecture. The goal was to cut off the connection between the eastern and western areas of Nankang Prefecture on the shore of Poyang Lake, while also guarding against the Ming army from Nanchang Prefecture coming north to reinforce.

The other route was to launch an attack by water, taking the Yangtze River into Poyang Lake, and heading straight for Xingzi County, where Nankang Prefecture was located.

The two offensive routes have a clear division of labor: the land route is for supporting and dividing the battlefield, while the water route is the main attack, aiming directly at the core. Once the prefectural city is captured, even if there is some sporadic resistance in other parts of Nankang Prefecture, it will not pose a significant problem.

The troops stationed in Ganzhou and Jiujiang acted simultaneously, also in two separate groups. However, Ganzhou could mobilize far more troops than Jiujiang, so the two groups were not headed to the same destination.

You Zhiyuan's Second Division launched a surprise attack westward from Ganzhou, targeting Nan'an Prefecture, which borders Nanxiong Prefecture in Guangdong. Meanwhile, Xu Kaiyuan's Third Division attacked northward to Jianchang Prefecture, which borders Shaowu Prefecture in Fujian.

This way, they can more easily obtain logistical support from Guangdong and Fujian during their operations in the region, without worrying about supply problems caused by the battle lines being stretched too thin.

In terms of the scale of the operation, the Southern Route Army, which was attacking two targets at the same time, clearly had greater ambitions and was actively stretching out the battle lines, which also indicated that the Jiangxi defenders did not have enough strength to organize resistance.

At this time, the Three Departments of Administration in Nanchang were in complete chaos. Official letters requesting reinforcements from various regions were pouring in like snowflakes, making it impossible to distinguish which regions had genuinely discovered the Haihan Army's movements and which were merely feigning distress to avoid having their local armed forces, funds, and supplies diverted by the Three Departments. The Three Departments were also caught in a dilemma. Their garrison forces within their jurisdiction were already limited, struggling to resist the simultaneous offensives launched by Haihan from the north and south. Meanwhile, the promised reinforcements from other provinces were nowhere to be seen, and several imperial edicts had recently been issued ordering Jiangxi to hold out for reinforcements.

As for the ceasefire negotiations that everyone has been eagerly anticipating, there is currently not even the slightest news. It is said that the embassy in Hangzhou has ceased operations due to the illness of its chief official, and the official in charge is still on his way from the capital to Hangzhou. Whether negotiations with the Haihan Executive Committee can begin remains unknown.

The public sphere is filled with all sorts of unfavorable news, and from officials to ordinary people, everyone is very pessimistic about the prospects of this round of fighting.

No matter how unfavorable the situation, as officials appointed by the imperial court, local officials could not abandon their posts and could only pray that their jurisdictions would not be drawn into the war.

However, ordinary people were not subject to this restriction, and choosing to flee was the wise choice. As a result, refugee waves of varying degrees began to appear in various regions near the front lines, including many influential local gentry and gentry.

However, unlike the large-scale war a few years ago, the direction chosen by the refugees has changed significantly. Not all of them fled to the rear of the Ming Dynasty to escape the war. Instead, a considerable number of people chose to flee to the areas controlled by Haihan.

The reason is simple: most normal people can clearly tell which is stronger between the Ming Dynasty and the Han Dynasty. The trend of the Ming Dynasty being gradually eroded is difficult to reverse. Even if it escapes to the rear and enjoys temporary peace, it may still be affected by the next round of war in the future.

Those who originally fled from Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places around Jiangxi in the early years have a personal understanding of this trend.

Many of them have realized that fleeing again and again will not solve the problem at its root. The truly safe place now is not the heartland of the Ming Dynasty, but the territory controlled by the enemy.

Of course, once they escaped, the enemy country would no longer be an enemy country. It's no secret that many of those who fled to Haihan in the early stages were already living a good life.

Because upper-class people have access to more information, they have a clearer understanding of the situation and are more willing to flee to Haihan to escape the war.

In particular, the northern part of Jiangxi Province has close ties with Haihan through the Yangtze River shipping route and is quite familiar with Haihan's situation. Moreover, before the war, a large number of wealthy merchants and nobles from Jiujiang Prefecture had secretly fled to Nanjing and other places under Haihan's jurisdiction. Now, some of them have even obtained citizenship in Haihan through property investment.

No matter how fierce the fighting was in Jiangxi, it was no longer of any concern to those who had already fled to Haihan. Although they might suffer some losses on real estate they couldn't take with them from Jiangxi, at least they no longer had to worry about their personal safety.

The southern part of Jiangxi, bordering Guangdong and Fujian, is mostly located in the continuous Lingnan mountainous area. Transportation is inconvenient, and the environment is relatively isolated. There is relatively little interaction with Haihan, and the hostility is relatively strong. Fewer people fled to Haihan than to the north.

This explains why, despite the presence of Prefect Xiang Chunfu as an inside agent in Ganzhou, numerous resistance incidents still occurred, significantly delaying Haihan's occupation of Ganzhou.

On May 1st, Shi Chengwu's armed fleet sailed south along the Poyang Lake waterway and arrived at the location of Nankang Prefecture. The defending troops offered almost no resistance on the water, then vacated the lake shore and retreated into the city to hold out.