1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3884

It must be said that the Ming officials in Nanchang made a somewhat unfortunate but correct assessment of the situation. The large number of Ming soldiers who had fled from the surrounding area did indeed slow down the advance of the Haihan Army, but not in the way they had expected.

As the number of refugees along the way increased, Shi Chengwu had to first mobilize some troops to maintain local security and supplies in order to prevent large-scale famine and chaos.

If these areas were left devastated due to looting by the Ming army's defeated soldiers, the post-war recovery and reconstruction would require a huge investment of resources and could take several years.

This was clearly not an ideal situation for Haihan, who wanted to quickly restore social production and normal order after the war. Shi Chengwu, wanting to prevent problems before they arose, had no choice but to focus his efforts on this phase, and was forced to postpone his offensive against Nanchang.

At the same time, the Haihan Army also dispatched troops to clear out the Ming army's fleeing soldiers in the surrounding areas, which can be said to be the most important dangerous factor affecting regional stability at present.

Shi Chengwu's orders were also very clear: each unit must pacify the local area as quickly as possible, and wipe out the defeated soldiers and bandits. Any stubborn resistance and refusal to surrender, or those who plunder money and kill innocent people, each unit may take all necessary measures to deal with them as appropriate, without having to report or ask for instructions.

Shi Chengwu was well aware that what the older generation of the Executive Committee valued was not only how much territory they had occupied through military operations, but more importantly, whether they could take over these areas almost intact and allow local social life to quickly return to normal after the war.

Therefore, in the final stage of the conquest of Jiangxi, with a large number of refugees and defeated soldiers pouring into Nanchang Prefecture, the Haihan Army also needed to deal with the current situation in a more cautious manner.

After receiving clear instructions, the various units of the Haihan Army that invaded Jiangxi no longer prioritized capturing Ming soldiers alive. In particular, small groups of defeated soldiers operating outside major cities were left to fend for themselves if they were found to be looting and killing indiscriminately.

Although Shi Chengwu's troops spent more time carrying out the mopping-up operation in the outskirts of Nanchang Prefecture, the overall progress was faster than Shi Chengwu had expected, as two other troops from Guangdong and Fujian also entered the area in mid-June and could cooperate with Shi Chengwu's troops to mop up the fleeing soldiers.

However, this was nothing short of torture for the defenders in Nanchang.

News of the Haihan Army entering the territory of Nanchang Prefecture had already spread more than ten days ago. However, in all these days, the scouts only learned that the Haihan Army was moving around in several counties around the city, seemingly clearing out defeated soldiers and bandits, but there was no sign of them encircling Nanchang City.

Whether the actions of the Haihan Army were a deliberate attempt to lure the defending troops into an attack or a plan to cut off all routes for the defending troops to leave Nanchang City, the civil and military officials in the city were filled with doubt and uncertainty, and could not come up with a unified strategy.

But one thing is certain: the Haihan army had no chance of withdrawing on its own before attacking Nanchang.

The pro-war faction in the city believed that the Haihan Army should attack other prefectures first and leave Nanchang for last. The reason was that Nanchang was strong enough to be easily defended and difficult to attack. The Haihan Army was not entirely confident of taking it, so they bypassed this tough nut and took other areas first.

Therefore, concentrating forces to defend Nanchang might allow them to put up a fight against the Haihan army. If everyone is united in their hatred of the enemy, they might actually be able to inflict a defeat on the Haihan army in Nanchang and force them to retreat. Then, they could report to the court and turn the tragedy into a celebration, perhaps offsetting the loss of territory with their merits and demerits, thus avoiding punishment from the court.

However, the peace-seeking faction, led by Zhao Mingyu, the Left Provincial Governor, did not see it that way. They believed that the real reason why the Haihan Army attacked the surrounding areas first and left Nanchang for last was that it had a deeper strategic purpose.

If Nanchang sends troops to rescue other prefectures, it will have to contend with the Haihan Army's offensive from three directions. Dividing its forces to attack will inevitably lead to defeat, and its military strength will be greatly depleted outside of Nanchang Prefecture, making Nanchang City indefensible.

In reality, Nanchang Prefecture chose to remain neutral and preserve its strength, sending almost no troops to reinforce other areas as the Haihan Army gradually encroached upon Jiangxi. While this avoided troop losses in the early stages of the war, it also resulted in the loss of almost all of its jurisdiction, leading to the current predicament of Nanchang's supply lines.

The peace advocates believed that they should seize the last opportunity before the Haihan army attacked Nanchang to negotiate a relatively decent and safe solution with the Haihan people, rather than defending Nanjing to the death with no chance of victory.

Moreover, even if the defending troops were prepared to fight to the death, they might not be able to inflict significant losses on the Haihan army. The disparity in strength between the two sides was too great; a direct confrontation would only result in the needless deaths of tens of thousands of Ming soldiers in the city, without changing the outcome of the war.

Moreover, Zhao Mingyu pointed out that in the past two months, the Jiangxi garrison has suffered dozens of defeats, with cities falling almost every two or three days. Now, they are forced to be trapped in Nanchang, and the morale of the garrison is completely gone. They are still thinking of fighting like cornered beasts, which is nothing short of courting death.

The most urgent task is to ensure the safety of important figures in Nanchang and tens of thousands of Ming soldiers defending the city.

If the city is lost, there will be opportunities to regroup and take it back later. But if all the people are lost, that would be a truly irreparable and devastating loss for the Ming Dynasty.

It must be said that, under the current circumstances, the peace-seeking faction's theory still enjoys considerable support. If there were still a chance of survival, how many people would resolutely choose to embark on a path of certain death?

As for the ceasefire negotiations conducted by the imperial court in Hangzhou through diplomatic channels, no one in Nanchang City expects them to have any effect now. Their significance is the same as the imperial decree sent to Nanchang City stating "hold firm and await reinforcements," serving only as a little psychological comfort.

Some even believe that the officials in charge of diplomatic negotiations in Hangzhou should also bear some responsibility for the deterioration of the situation in Jiangxi, because if the hope of a ceasefire and peace talks had not been given, Jiangxi might have adopted a more proactive defensive strategy.

However, after two months, the peace talks made no progress, and Jiangxi had already lost most of its territory.

In this situation, would it still make sense for Nanchang to organize peace talks with Haihan on its own?
Despite the insistence of Zhao Mingyu and others, the pro-war faction eventually conceded and agreed to organize a negotiation team to contact the Haihan Army and see if there was any way to stop them from attacking Nanchang.

Although the hope was extremely slim, this was, after all, the first negotiation organized by the Jiangxi government itself since the start of the war, and the military and civilians of Nanchang, upon hearing the news, still placed great expectations on it.