1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 542 Stalemate ([-])

On June 1645, 6, Laizhou Prefecture, Ye County.

Prince Zhu Cihong stood at the top of the city of Ye County, looking at the dense crowd outside the city and the transport convoys that kept coming from west, he sighed slightly in his heart.

A month ago, the officers and soldiers of Denglai Town, with the cooperation of the Qi State Marine Corps, even conquered Zibo, Zichuan, Zouping, Guangrao, Binzhou, Gaoqing, Licheng, and finally captured Jinan and almost captured most of Shandong. , the momentum is overwhelming.

But this move also attracted the attention of Jiannu. More than [-] Jiannu cavalry came from Beijing and Henan to Jinan. , And finally feinted a shot, landed in Le'an again, attacked Binzhou, went down to Jinan, killed thousands of Jiannu troops, and captured dozens of Shandong puppet officials appointed by Jiannu.

But Jiannu was powerful after all, and in the end they had to abandon all the prefectures, counties, and states they had captured before, and then retreat all the way to Qingzhou.However, according to the opinions of the people of Qi, Denglai Town needs to continue to withdraw eastward, and finally when Jiannu gathers a large army to attack, all personnel and materials will be evacuated to the east of Laizhou and Jiaozhou.

"All the main forces of Jianshou were transferred to Jianghuai to attack the Hongguang Puppet Dynasty in Nanjing. Is it necessary for us to retreat so far?" Zhu Cihong asked softly.

"Nanjing Hongguang Court may not be able to stop Jiannu's offensive." He Yunfeng said: "In February, Gao Jie's army was unstable because of the death of the coach Gao Jie. Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo were transferred to Jiangnan to fight the rebellion. Liangyu also used the banner of the Qing emperor to attack Nanjing in the east. Now the strength of the Jianghuai defense line has been weakened to the extreme. The main force of the establishment of slaves, relying on the prestige of the Great Victory Shun Army, went straight to the Jianghuai. It was a thunderous blow. Although, we contained Beijing The Mongolian cavalry from the Outer Domain who went south and the Jiannu cavalry from the Abatai part of Shandong. However, we believe that the land of the Jianghuai River may not last long."

"We migrated hundreds of thousands of people from Jinan and Qingzhou, and the land in Denglai may not be able to support it. In addition, since the beginning of spring this year, there has been little rain and severe drought, and the grain harvest is bound to fail. So, how should I deal with it in Denglai?" Zhu Cihuang is immature His face was full of worry.

"We first transported tens of thousands of people to Jeju Island to beg for food, and then sent the self-rescue army and a part of our Changshan Island township soldiers to North Korea to get some food. When our Qi State immigration fleet arrives in July, we must be able to transport them." Some grains come here. If we organize the relocated refugees to replant some high-yielding coarse grains such as corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, it will last until this winter."

He Yunfeng was also a little speechless about this, this Daming really couldn't be saved.In military affairs, the Jiannu army is invincible, and it is like a broken bamboo. Whether it is Dashun, Nanming, or the warlords of all walks of life, Nima, there is not even a single one who can fight. Wanton fierce.

Politically, officials from all walks of life in the Ming Dynasty had Liao Liao with integrity, and the rest were all hopeless and devoted themselves to serving as officials for Jiannu.

Today, even the gods don't come to help, plagues are rampant everywhere, and natural disasters continue.In the Denglai area, there has been almost no rain since the beginning of spring, making the land in the area extremely dry. After the spring sowing, the crops in the field are now dry and sparse, and there are not many harvests in autumn.

In terms of locality, Qingzhou Prefecture and Jinan Prefecture needless to say, the defeated soldiers of the Ming Dynasty came here, the Dashun Army came here, Jiannu also came here, the Qi State and Denglai Township officials and troops also attacked here, the place has long been beaten Rotten.What's more, after more than a month, Denglai Town has almost emptied the accumulated treasuries of the two places after occupying the two places.

In order to make it difficult for Jiannu to attack Denglai, the army of Qi State is cooperating with the prince's forces in Denglai Town to artificially create a large area of ​​no man's land, from Binzhou to Jinan, and then to Qingzhou and Laizhou, all the prefectures, counties and cities are evacuated The local residents also tried their best to relocate to the coastal area of ​​Denglei.In this way, when Jiannu wanted to attack Denglai, it was almost impossible to obtain any supplies in these areas, which made Jiannu's logistics supply more difficult.

"After this winter, what about spring and summer next year?" Zhu Cihong sighed, "Now Denglai and Lai, plus hundreds of thousands of people who migrated, the population under their jurisdiction may not be less than 200 million."

"Let's talk about it next year." He Yunfeng felt that his head was as big as a bucket, and raising 200 million people was not something that he, a staff officer, could come up with a good solution to.Although Hanzhou has accumulated food, let alone it cannot be transported, even if it can be transported, it cannot feed so many people!

"Where are all your ships?" Zhu Cihong asked again.

"I guess this will enter the Yangtze River." He Yunfeng said with some uncertainty.

"Enter the Yangtze River?" Zhu Cihong was taken aback for a moment, then his face changed, "You guys are going to...Nanjing."

"It's not going to Nanjing. . . . It's going to Yangzhou."

"Oh..." Zhu Cihong breathed a sigh of relief, and asked inadvertently, "What are you going to do in Yangzhou?"

"Taking advantage of Jiannu's stalemate with the Hongguang imperial army in Jianghuai, see if we can rescue some people." He Yunfeng couldn't help but recall that when he left the mainland of Hanzhou last year, the king specifically named Yangzhou, saying that he would stay in Qizhou near Daming. If there is a chance, the National Fleet may enter the Yangtze River when Jiannu gathers a large army to attack the Hongguang court in Nanjing, and join forces with the Zheng family navy to block Jiannu from crossing the river in Zhenjiang and Yangzhou.

Although I don't know why the king chose Yangzhou on purpose, Niu Jinming, the commander of the remaining fleet, still faithfully carried out this order.Although he was granted the power to make impromptu decisions in the Daming area, he could also use the tense battle in Shandong as an excuse not to enter the Yangtze River, a waterway unfamiliar to the Hanzhou navy.

Although Qi Tian didn't explain the reason, Niu Jinming believed that since the king named Yangzhou, he would naturally not aim at it indiscriminately, and there must be a deep meaning.Therefore, half a month ago, with four professional warships, an armed merchant ship, and more than ten small and medium-sized galleys, they headed southward for the Yangtze River waterway.

Today, the situation in the entire Jianghuai River is ten thousand times worse than what the Ming prince Zhu Cihong and He Yunfeng predicted.The so-called danger of relying on the Jianghuai Mountains and Rivers of the Hongguang court in Nanjing, deploying heavy troops here, and fighting with Jiannu did not exist at all.

On May 5, the main force of the Qing army led by Duoduo set off from Guide (now Suiyang District, Shangqiu City, Henan Province), via Sizhou, and went straight to Yangzhou to kill.

On May 5, before the Qing army attacked, the Ming army burned the Huaihe Bridge and fled south. The Qing army then crossed the Huaihe River safely on the third day without encountering any resistance.

On June 6, the Qing army approached the city of Yangzhou.

On June 6, General Yang Chengzu of Gao Jie's Ministry led his troops to surrender to the Qing Dynasty.On the same day, Gao Jie's general Li Benshen also led his troops to surrender.

On June 6, the two brothers Zhang Tianlu and Zhang Tianfu, who were not part of the four towns, also led 10 men to surrender to the Qing Dynasty.

On June 6, Gao Jie's general Li Chengdong led his troops to surrender to the Qing army.

The Qing army hardly encountered any resistance in the outskirts of Yangzhou. Instead, it greatly increased its own strength by recruiting and surrendering a large number of Ming army troops.The Hongguang court in Nanjing worked hard for more than a year and spent all the money in the south of the Yangtze River to build the four towns in the north of the Yangtze River. When the war came, they all fled and rushed to join the enemy. The Jianghuai defense line collapsed immediately.

The Qing army encircled Yangzhou, but did not immediately attack the city. Because Yangzhou is a big city, the commander of the Qing army, Duoduo, worried that it would be difficult to capture it with infantry ladders.

At this time, on the Yangtze River, nearly a hundred warships gathered along the Yangtze River from Zhenjiang to Guazhoudu. Countless gentry and civilians who had fled flocked to the boats docked on the bank, and those who were impatient jumped directly into the river. , struggling to swim towards the big ship, but the refugees who approached the ship were all brandished with spears and scabbards by the soldiers on the ship, and fell into the river one by one, crying, roaring, and cursing.

Frightened, some fleeing people hugged a wooden basin and jumped into the river, trying to swim across the Yangtze River and escape to the south bank.But in the middle of the river, often a river wave rushes in, and people are submerged in the water, disappearing for a while.From the bottom of Guazhou Ferry, there are constantly floating corpses on the surface of the river.

"Why don't you let the fleeing people cross the Yangtze River by boat?" Niu Jinming stood on Zheng Hongkui's flagship, looking at the tragic situation on the north bank of the river, feeling a little bit unbearable.

"The Ministry of War in Nanjing ordered my Zhenjiang Navy not to allow the troops to escape the Yangtze River without authorization." Zheng Hongkui said indifferently: "Don't look at those refugees with pitiful faces and feel that you can't bear it! Most of them are the defeated soldiers. I took off my Ming military uniform and pretended to be a commoner in order to avoid the war by crossing the river. If people can easily cross the river, who will guard Yangzhou?"

"Then those women and the elderly should be allowed to board the boat and cross the river first."

"Hehe..." Zheng Hongkui laughed, "You Hanzhou people are soft-hearted! Believe it or not, if I sail the boat into Guazhou Ferry Wharf, within half an hour, the boat will be taken by those rout soldiers."

"So, let's just watch the refugees gather on the shore and not do anything?" Niu Jinming sighed slightly after hearing this.

In fact, two days ago, after the Qi fleet arrived in Zhenjiang, he didn't know what to do. He could only visit Zheng Hongkui, the commander in chief of Zhenjiang, and ask him how to arrange the defense line of the Yangtze River, and what their Qi navy could do to help.

Zheng Hongkui was greatly surprised by the arrival of the Qi fleet.Last year, I heard that they helped protect the Daming Crown Prince in Shandong, and defeated Jiannu's attack twice in a row. They did a great job.

I thought that the Hanzhou people wanted to facilitate immigration, so they wanted to speculate and support the Ming prince, and then opened up a stronghold in Denglai.At this time, they shouldn't be consolidating their defenses in Denglai to resist Jiannu's attack again.Unexpectedly, they even mobilized more than [-] large and small ships to enter the Yangtze River waterway, and tried to help the Zhenjiang Navy to stop Jiannu from crossing the river.

This Hanzhou really regards itself as my loyal vassal state!
(End of this chapter)