1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 693 Tide ([-])

On November 1653, 11, Jiangning (the Qing captives renamed Nanjing Jiangning in 5).

Prince Shaobao of the Qing Dynasty, Minister of the Ministry of War, Ma Guozhu, Governor of Liangjiang, Zhou Guozuo, Governor of Jiangning, Guan Xiaozhong, Admiral of Jiangnan, Wang Jing, General of Jiangning, and Deputy General Zhang Enda, etc., gathered on the tower of Guanyin Gate, looking at countless The Ming army is slowly coming from the riverside, looking at the number of people, I am afraid there are no less than ten thousand.This is already the third batch of troops that the Ming army has arrived in more than ten days.If the troops that had arrived before were included, more than [-] Ming troops had already gathered in Jiangning City.

Ma Guozhu's mouth was tightly clenched, his hands clenched into fists, and his expression was solemn, but his teeth kept trembling, and his heart kept sinking.Sun Kewang's troops of the Ming army lingered on the Yangtze River for nearly two months, and finally arrived at the city of Jiangning, preparing to launch a fierce offensive against the important town behind them, and then sweep the entire Jiangnan.

Although, in the past few months, Ma Guozhu ordered all the Qing troops in Zuojin prefectures and counties in Jiangning to abandon their defenses and retreat into Jiangning City, trying to keep the city intact.But for some reason, the more than [-] Eight Banners troops, which are the backbone of Jiangning, and even the entire Jiangnan region, have not long gathered in Jiangning City, and suddenly received several orders from Beijing, whether it is the Manchu Eight Banners or the Han Eight Banners, all should be transferred to Jiangbei , and they were withdrawn to Jiangbei Pukou in batches at night.

Ma Guozhu was shocked, and hurriedly asked the edict messenger why.Is my Qing court going to abandon Jiangning and Jiangnan?Or lure the enemy to go deep and wait for an opportunity to counterattack?
But the messenger said that he didn't know anything, and was just ordered to come to Jiangning to read the order of troop deployment.As for how the empty Jiang Ning will deal with the siege of several armies of the Ming army, as a local defender, he can only fight desperately and be loyal to the country.

In this regard, Ma Guozhu was both disappointed and somewhat desperate.Although Jiangning City has complete defense facilities, high walls and abundant supplies, everyone feels that it is impossible to defend this big city.

Since the Jiashen year, when this mighty city faced any attacking enemy, it seemed that it did not defend it, allowing the enemy army to attack the city time and time again, and then wantonly ravaged it.

The population of the entire Jiangning City has been reduced by half compared to more than ten years ago. The various commerce, entertainment, handicrafts, and shipbuilding industries in the city have also shrunk and withered.

Despite this, Jiangning is still the most important and most critical city in the entire Jiangnan region, and it is the political, economic and cultural center of the south.The gains and losses of Jiangning City have extremely important political significance.However, my Qing court suddenly withdrew all the main force of more than ten thousand Eight Banners to Jiangbei when the thieves gathered to attack.This move made all the civil and military officials in the city feel abandoned by the imperial court.

Now, after gathering Qing soldiers from more than ten nearby prefectures and counties, there are more than [-] defensive troops in Jiangning City.However, this does not give the officials and generals in the city a sense of security.These soldiers and horses are not to say that their combat power is not high, and their morale is extremely low. What's more, the troops they belong to have different scores.Although they have been training in the city for more than a month, no one can guarantee that when the Ming army sieges the city, these temporarily assembled soldiers and horses will suddenly disintegrate after being violently attacked by the Ming army.

"Guan Junmen, the safety of the entire Jiangning City depends entirely on you." Ma Guozhu turned his head to look at Jiangnan Admiral Guan Zhongzhong, with a smile on his face, "During the defense of the city, the headquarters will be ordered to take care of your every opportunity." Arbitrary power, all soldiers and horses in the city follow your orders. If there are those who refuse to obey orders, they can all be killed."

After finishing speaking, Ma Guozhu glanced at the more than ten generals in the row, and then continued to speak in a threatening tone: "We have all received the Holy Grace of the Qing Dynasty, and we have the responsibility to guard the land. Now the strong bandits are coming, everyone It is necessary to cooperate sincerely and work together to ensure that Jiangning is not lost. If the Ming army outside the city can be defeated and our Qing army's prestige can be shown, the generals of this department will not hesitate to recommend you to add officials to the ranks and seal their wives and sons. On the other hand, outside the city Although the Ming army has a false Ming banner, it is actually a bandit army, and the situation is not balanced. After the city is broken, we will not be spared. So, why don't we fight Jiangning to the death, even if it is unfortunate, but it will benefit our family and future generations."

"Follow the orders of the Lord of the Ministry!" All the generals of the Qing army at the top of the city bowed and said.

"That's it, let's go get ready!" Ma Guozhu waved his hand and dismissed the generals, but left Jiangning governor Zhou Guozuo and Jiangnan admiral Guan Zhongzhong behind.

"Guanjunmen, when the bandits attack the city, will the Wu of the Eight Banners Department of Jiangbei Pukou come to help?" Ma Guozhu asked softly.

"My lord, I think that... the main force of the Eight Banners who have retreated to Pukou has already gone north." Guan Zhongzhong showed bitterness, "Whether it is the Eight Banners of Manchuria or the Eight Banners of the Han Army in the city, they have all withdrawn to Jiangbei together with their families. In this situation , implicitly...abandoned Jiang Ning."

"How could this be so?" Ma Guozhu murmured, "You need to know the taxation, food and fodder in the entire Jiangnan, but it accounts for more than half of my Qing Dynasty. Once I lose Jiangnan, my Qing Dynasty...wouldn't my Qing Dynasty and the thieves become the old example of the Song and Jin Dynasties?"

"The imperial court may want to preserve its strength and consolidate Jiangbei for the future." Guan Xiaozhong said: "The crisis in the south of the Yangtze River may be temporarily abandoned....Of course, if I am fighting to the death in Jiangning City, I will try my best to keep the city intact, and then The Ming army was exhausted, and the imperial court may send troops across the river to help."

"...Maybe so." Ma Guozhu and Zhou Guozuo smiled wryly at each other, shook their heads and sighed.

Everyone knows that not long after the main force of the Eight Banners withdrew to Jiangbei, the navy of the Ming army and many ships from the small state of Qi Fan sailed into the Yangtze River one after another, and began to cut off the connection between the two sides.Even if the imperial court can assemble a large army to assist Jiangning, how can we cross the Yangtze River under such circumstances?
-
Just when the Qing army in Nanjing City was actively preparing to defend the city and show its loyalty to the Qing Dynasty, King Sun Kewang of Qin led a group of generals on a bunker outside the Guanyin Gate, looking at the majestic Nanjing City.

"His Royal Highness King Qin, the city of Nanjing is well-defended, and most of the city wall is attached to the mountains and water conservancy. If the Qing in the city were to fight to the death, it would be difficult to break through." Feng Shuangli, Marquis of Xing'an, said with a frown.

"Send people into the city and let the Qing captives offer the city to surrender. In this way, the lives of the defenders in the city can be saved. Otherwise, after the city is broken, all of them will be slaughtered!" Sun Kewang ordered expressionlessly.

"His Royal Highness Qin Wang, our army marched all the way from Yuezhou to the east, and there has never been a single Qing prisoner who offered to surrender the city. The general thought..."

"Go and try." Sun Kewang said impatiently: "The Yangtze River is cut off, and Nanjing has become an isolated city. It is unknown whether the Qing captives here are willing to surrender."

However, the two envoys who entered the city to persuade them to surrender turned into two corpses less than half an hour later, and the severed heads were thrown off the city wall by the defenders. Originally a bandit army, but wearing a fake official military uniform, wearing a monkey crown, only adds to the laughing stock.

"His Royal Highness, the Qing captives are too deceitful, and the last general asks for orders to attack the city immediately!" Seeing this, Zhang Hu, the head of the personal guard battalion, was furious, and immediately asked Sun Kewang for orders to attack the city.

"Hmph, the city is a dead end. After the city is broken, the king vows to slaughter them all!" Sun Kewang took a deep breath, glanced at the city of Nanjing, turned and walked towards the camp.

"Wang Shangli!"

"The end is here!"

"Hurry up and unload the artillery on the ship to the shore. Before noon tomorrow, an artillery position must be established at the Guanyin Gate."

"Respect!"

"Ma Jinzhong!"

"The end is here!"

"Lead the front battalion to detour to the south side of Nanjing City to distinguish the situation of the captives."

"As ordered!"

"Wang Ziqi! Lead the Zuoying Division to the east of Nanjing and seize Zijin Mountain."

"As ordered!"

"Ma Bao! Lead the headquarters of the rear camp, go to Jubao Gate, and seize Yuhua Terrace."

"..."

"..."

After returning to the big tent in the camp, Sun Kewang immediately summoned all the generals in the army, issued military orders, and made specific military deployments for the upcoming offensive and defensive battle in Nanjing.

"His Royal Highness King Qin..." Feng Shuangli saw that Sun Kewang's military deployment was not the usual siege of the city, but a siege from all sides, with the intention of annihilating the Qing army in the city.Regardless of whether we have the ability to wipe out the enemy army, we must always leave a "way of life" for the enemy army. In the art of war, this is called encirclement.However, encircling Nanjing City on all sides in this way may make it impossible for the defenders in the city to retreat. Only the trapped beasts will fight and fight against the city to survive.

"Don't say too much, this king knows it well!" Sun Kewang understood Feng Shuangli's worries, but still insisted on his own opinion.

At the end of August, troops were dispatched from Yuezhou to attack Wuchang first, but they were still unsuccessful, so they left Bai Wenxuan to lead [-] troops and stationed in Jiangxia and Jiayu to monitor and suppress the Qing army in Wuchang.He led an army of [-], marched by land and water, went down the Yangtze River, and came straight to Nanjing.

Along the way, they attacked cities and conquered lands, including Huangzhou and Xingguozhou (now Huangshi City, Hubei).When passing through Jiujiang, I received a letter from Li Dingguo, suggesting that the army he led should not be fully prepared for the Qing captives, and quickly attack Nanjing, bypassing all the important towns and ports along the way.As long as the south of the Yangtze River is down, major events will be decided, and the whole south can also be decided.

But Sun Kewang tore up the letter, rested for a few days in Jiujiang, and then continued to attack all the way.Winning Anqing and Ngee'an, fighting Taiping (now Ma'anshan and Wuhu area), overcoming Wuhu and Fanchang, there were more than ten battles, big and small, and it took until the end of October before the vanguard troops attacked near Nanjing.

During this period, Li Dingguo's troops had already invaded Zhejiang from Jiangxi, and stayed in Quzhou for more than a month, attracting a large number of Qing troops to help, making the Qing soldiers in the entire Zhejiang area have no time to take care of the surrounding areas of Nanjing.If Sun Kewang can take the opportunity to attack quickly, he may be able to face a relatively empty Nanjing city (of course, it is also possible to block the main force of the Eight Banners in the city from retreating to Jiangbei), break it in one fell swoop, and destroy the entire Qing court center in Jiangnan. Disrupt the deployment of the Qing army in various places in the south of the Yangtze River, divide and annihilate.

After inspecting the city defenses of Nanjing, Sun Ke saw that the Qing army at the top of the city was well-organized and well-defended. He also knew that his own stubbornness caused the army to lose the best chance to conquer Nanjing.Therefore, in addition to being annoyed in my heart, I couldn't help but feel angry and blood, and wanted to wipe out the Nanjing defenders to vent my anger.

After asking the generals of the vanguard troops who arrived in Nanjing ahead of schedule, Sun Kewang knew that there were only more than 5 defenders in the city. He thought that relying on the superior force of more than [-] troops, the siege would inevitably make the defenders lose sight of others, and maybe they could be defeated with one blow. gram.Moreover, he felt that it should not be difficult to capture Nanjing, but he still had to win beautifully, win neatly, and capture and kill all the high-ranking civil and military officials of the Qing army in the city. Only then could it be called a big victory.
-
November 11, Pukou.

Luo Rucheng, the commander of the Ryukyu Fleet of the Qi State and General Guangwei (Major General), was very depressed, and even slandered the ongoing offensive and defensive battle in Nanjing.

Qin Wangsun was expected to lead an army of more than [-], and had been besieging Nanjing for half a month. However, due to the desperate resistance of the Qing army, they have not been able to break into the city so far.During this period, Luo Rucheng sent a team of more than ten staff members to guide and help the Ming army to attack the city.

The staff suggested that the Ming army, taking advantage of the number of siege troops, concentrated on one side of the city wall, approached the city gate by digging soil and digging trenches, planted explosives, and destroyed the city gate or city wall.Then use this as a breakthrough point to attack point by point.

But this suggestion was rejected by Sun Kewang, saying that it was time-consuming and labor-intensive, which would hinder the image of the Ming army as "heroic and mighty".

Nimei, on the battlefield, she will use everything to the extreme. In a battle, how can she care about her "image"?
The staff group also suggested that the troops on the east side be strengthened to capture Zijin Mountain with all their strength, and then set up artillery on the mountain to directly bombard the Qing army in the city and cover the troops to attack the city.

Sun Kewang refused again, saying that Xiaoling (the mausoleum where Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and his empress were buried together) was located on Zijin Mountain, and it was disrespectful to set up artillery to bombard Nanjing, fearing to disturb the underground Taizu's spiritual seat.

A dozen staff officers looked at each other in blank dismay upon hearing the words, is this Sun Kewang really a loyal minister of Ming Dynasty?You were a traitor in the past, followed Zhang Xianzhong to destroy Fengyang, cut down hundreds of thousands of pines and cypresses in the imperial mausoleum, and demolished the surrounding buildings and Longxing Temple (also known as Huangjue Temple) where Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk. Then they dug up the emperor's ancestral grave, and at the same time killed all the wealthy households in Fengyang.

Today, Sun Kewang actually said that he would not dare to set up artillery on the side of Xiaoling Mausoleum (which is only located at the southern foot of Zijin Mountain), in order to alarm Taizu's spiritual throne.This made the staff of Qi State who came to the army to guide the siege suddenly speechless and rolled their eyes frequently.

In the end, the Qi State Staff Group proposed to unload several 32-pound heavy guns from the Qi State Navy warships and push them under the city of Nanjing. Professional naval gunners would help the Ming army bombard the city wall, or a hole could be opened for the Ming army to attack. in the city.

Sun Kewang... refused again, claiming that the soldiers under his command were worthy of bravery and could "fight alone and defeat them".

The leading military officer of the Qi State fully understood that Sun Kewang was deeply wary of our Qi State, no matter what suggestions he put forward, he would not accept them at all.Whatever our side advocates, the other party will do the opposite and insist on going its own way.

That being the case, I will stop serving you!

In a fit of anger, the Qi State Staff Group immediately left Sun Kewang's camp, returned to the ships stationed in the river, and reported the incident to Luo Rucheng.

Luo Rucheng also felt helpless when he heard this.Although they have cooperated with Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo and other Southwest Ming armies for several years, almost monopolizing their foreign trade channels, but in the military, especially on the battlefield, they have no binding force on them at all.Furthermore, this time the Qi State cooperated with the Ming Army to launch the Jiangnan Campaign, all of which were dispatched by naval warships and armed merchant ships.As for the more than [-] Marine Corps officers and soldiers deployed near Daming, they were divided into several units to help immigration ships collect immigrants and various materials and books in coastal areas such as Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong.

Although feeling extremely helpless, Luo Rucheng still commanded more than dozens of ships under his command to swim back and forth on the river near Nanjing, helping the Ming army to isolate the two sides of the Yangtze River and prevent the Qing army from Jiangbei from raiding the back of the Ming army.

Pukou on the north bank of the Yangtze River has been abandoned by the Qing army. Both Qing court officials and city guards fled to Chuzhou dozens of miles away.The Qi State Navy sent more than a hundred armed sailors to occupy this place, and began to collect useful immigrants, materials, and books.

"Commander, we found a woman in the city." An officer hurriedly came to Luo Rucheng, "This woman was once captured by a senior general of the Eight Banners Han Army, but she was seriously ill and abandoned in the wild on the way. , luckily survived. She told us a piece of intelligence about the movement of the main force of the Eight Banners of the Qing Army. I believe that this information is very strange."

"speak!"

"Before Sun Kewang's Ming army attacked Nanjing, the main forces of the Eight Banners of the Qing army from all over the south of the Yangtze River were ordered to retreat to Jiangbei." The officer said solemnly: "After these Qing troops retreated to Jiangbei, they all gathered in Xuzhou. Military arrangements."

"Tell me the results of your conjectures!" Luo Rucheng faintly felt something bad in his heart.

"The Qing army gathered a large number of soldiers and horses in Xuzhou, and its target is estimated to be in the direction of Shandong."

"Shandong?" Luo Rucheng was stunned for a moment, "According to the Yongchu court in Denglai, when the Qing army took advantage of the time to go to Huguang and Jiangnan to help Huguang and Jiangnan, it is said that it has captured more than ten counties in Shandong. Then, the goals of these Qing troops that is……"

"Eternal Court!"

"The dog-like Tartars abandoned the south of the Yangtze River and gathered troops in the east of the Yangtze River in order to conspire against Denglai, so as to destroy... Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)