Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 449
Xuzhou.

Boluo got up early in the morning before dawn as usual. This royal family of the Qing Dynasty is very diligent and self-disciplined. Although he leads the army, he is not addicted to enjoyment. Because of the current situation, he is not even close to women. , It is also strictly forbidden for Eight Banners soldiers to rob women and insult women.

"My lord, report urgently."

"Kong Youde is dead."

Boluo is practicing with his bow. The first thing he does every morning is to shoot a hundred arrows.This is a very labor-intensive thing, but Manchu pays attention to martial arts, especially archery.Bannermen started to learn archery from an early age, and archery is an important part of armor assessment.

Even for all cavalry archery, bow strength is stipulated.

Manchurian bow, big bow and long arrow, suitable for close combat, one arrow per arrow, can compete with firearms.

The Eight Banners armored war bow must at least have more than eight strengths, one strength is twelve catties, and eight strengths is 94 catties.

More than twelve strength is tiger strength, and the highest can reach fifteen strength.

In contrast, the archers of the guards in the late Ming Dynasty were often only able to open six-strength bows, and even some ordinary soldiers could only open three-strength bows.

Boluo is a general who is good at riding and shooting, and can draw a fifteen-strength bow.

The fifteen-strength bow he was pulling had a bow strength of 180 jin. Although he was no better than some top warriors in Manzhou who could even pull an eighteen-strength 210-jin bow, it was still sturdy.

"what?"

"My lord, Kong Youde is dead, and Dengzhou has fallen."

Bo Luo was stunned, the arrow in his hand fell to the ground without hooking it, the fully drawn string was released, and with a snap, this excellent emperor bestowed full bow actually broke.

Kong Xian ruined a good bow, and even popped a blood mark on Bo Luo's face.

Boluo was in a daze.

"What are you talking about, speak up."

The soldier who came to report the letter said cautiously, "Ding Wensheng, the governor of Shandong, sent someone to report urgently. Zhu Yihai, the emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, led the navy to Dengzhou. They intercepted the grain ship transporting grain from North Korea to Dengzhou. The Tibetan soldiers and cannons, pretending to be Korean grain ships, approached Dengzhou port, suddenly fired cannons, and rushed into the city of Dengzhou with a drum, Kong Youde was caught off guard, unable to guard, and finally trapped in the yamen, set fire to himself."

Boluo dropped the broken bow on the ground, panting heavily.

His hands trembled uncontrollably.

"Kong Youde is guarding Dengzhou. What about his 5000 troops, who were attacked just like that? Didn't they have the slightest defense?"

The military guard said cautiously, "Previously there were rioters in Gaotang and other places in Dongchang Prefecture, and the momentum was very loud. The governor Ding Wensheng couldn't control it, so he had to send a letter to Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming in Denglai to send troops to help suppress it.

Kong Youde sent 500 cavalry to go there, and when Ming rebels came to attack, he sent another [-] to collect grain in the countryside.
After being tricked into the city by the Ming thief, he couldn't hold it anymore, and it was too late to break through. "

Boluo didn't know what to say for a while, and after holding back for a long time, he finally cursed a word.

"Where's Geng Zhongming from Laizhou, how is it now?"

"It is said that after the thieves swindled Dengzhou, they made repeated plans to defraud Laizhou. Fortunately, Geng Zhongming had a patrol team at the mouth of Laizhou Bay. After seeing the beacon fire, he stepped up his defenses. When the North Korean grain fleet disguised by Ming thieves arrived, they Insisted on boarding the ship for inspection, and then Ming thief's trick was seen through,

Although the Ming thieves attacked and wiped out the patrol team, Geng Zhongming also discovered the Ming army's invasion. Fortunately, Kong Youde's [-] reinforcements were nearby, so he urgently called into the city to assist in the defense. Ming thief's onslaught.

Now that the thieves have failed in raids and fraudulent attempts, they have begun to besiege the city, and are still building siege equipment and digging secret passages. "

"Go and invite the future to discuss matters."

Bo Luo calmed down a bit, took a cold shower, and then changed into a military uniform. When he arrived at the military council hall, all the generals from Xuzhou had already arrived.

Boluo sat down and found that all the generals looked solemn.

"Have you heard? Kong Youde died because he underestimated the enemy and died because he was unprepared. As soon as the Ming army left Zhenjiang, Jiangbei beacon fires were lit and spread all the way to Beijing. Didn't Kong Youde know about it?

But he still thought that Denglai was in the rear, so he could sit back and relax. At this time, he actually sent 3000 people to Dongchang Mansion to suppress the bandits, and sent another 500 people to the countryside to collect food, and he brought [-] people to guard Dengzhou City. Take precautions.

The North Korean grain ship swaggered into the port and docked at the pier.

Kong Youde deserves to die! "

Bolo gritted his teeth.

All the generals were silent.

Kong Youde deserved to die, and they didn't sympathize, but now that Kong Youde died, Dengzhou fell, Laizhou was besieged, and the door of Shandong was wide open.

On the contrary, the Eight Banners Army here in Xu Huai was suddenly in danger of being attacked from both sides.

Bo Luo slapped his palm on the table, and the teacup fell to the ground.

"Last year, Shang Kexi underestimated the enemy, and as a result, thousands of troops were wiped out, and he himself was surrounded in the end, and ended up burning himself to death.

He, Kong Youde, was also caught off guard by the Ming army last year. In Xia Town, a group of villagers even set fire to a gunpowder cart, blowing up the cart camp and startling the cavalry, causing heavy losses.

I don't have a long memory at all! "

After Boluo finished his anger, Tulai who came over asked him what to do next?
"Geng Zhongming is more cautious than Kong Shang. Although there are seven or eight thousand guards in Laizhou, he is short of food, and the food in the city cannot last for a month at most.

Moreover, the Ming thieves must have brought a large number of heavy artillery when they came from the sea. Whether they used the method of attacking and blasting holes or bombarding the city with artillery, it is estimated that Geng Zhongming would not be able to defend Laizhou for less than a month with tens of thousands of elite imperial battalions. "

Bolo was furious.

He also thought of this earlier, but the problem is that they are not only facing the Ming army all the way.

In front of them is Zhang Guowei's Central Route Army, which also has tens of thousands of horses. It is now stationed in Yangzhou, Nantong, Jingjiang, Chongming, and even the Ming Army on the Central Route has once again controlled the canal from Huai'an to Yangzhou. As well as Gaoyou Lake and Hongze Lake outside Huai'an City, the shadow of the Ming army also appeared.

Tan Tai stationed in Huai'an and He Luohui stationed in Fengyang are also constantly asking the Qing army from Xuzhou to go south for reinforcements.

Now Denglai has another accident, and he is also at a loss.

To save Laizhou, Huai'an and Fengyang are in danger.

Divide the troops, and the troops will be insufficient.

Of course, these are not the most serious problems.

The most deadly problem now is still the food problem. At this time, Xuhuai and other places have not recovered from the difficulties of last year. Now they have to turn around to help Denglai. Where will the food and grass come from?

If there is food, North Korea will not be allowed to provide food before.

Only after the offensive and defensive changes, did we realize how difficult it is to defend, it is impossible to defend, and there are gaps everywhere.

The war eventually returned to the old ways, money and food.

"Meet the salt merchants and ask them to lend money, borrow!"

But Tulai looked helpless, "The salt merchants have lost their roots since Yangzhou was occupied by the Ming army. The salt business is not as good as before. The court has asked them for money several times before, but now they have no money."

Boluo didn't care about this, "Don't think that I don't know these salt merchants. They still communicate with the Ming army in secret, and still transport salt from Yangzhou. They pay salt tax to the Ming army in Yangzhou. I don't know? I just don't pursue it. That's all, after all, Yangzhou's salt is needed everywhere,
But now that the situation is like this, I don't care about those for a while, even if it's killing the chicken to get the eggs, I have to focus on the present first.

Ask them to borrow money, and then find a way to buy food, if they refuse to borrow money, then ransack the house and ask for execution.

Anyway, salt merchants are just a group of merchants. As long as the imperial court can regain Huaiyang, are they afraid that they will not be able to recruit new salt merchants? "

"But how can there be any grain to buy in Jiangbei now? Last year, the Ming army went northward in Huainan and went deep into Changping, Shandong. The spring sowing has not recovered much this spring. Not to mention the time for summer grain, even if it is harvest time, there will not be much grain. .

The situation in the upper reaches of Huguang is similar, and even if there is food, the Yangtze River is now completely in the hands of the Ming thief navy, and there is no food to be transported.

Henan has to support Huguang, Xuhuai and Shandong, and it has to supply Beijing, so there is no food left.

Shaanxi has to provide for the army of the Western Expedition, and it is too busy to take care of itself. Even Shanxi has to do its best to transfer the Western Conscript.

The food in Liaodong outside the pass must not only supply the soldiers and horses left behind, but also supply Beijing.

As Tulai talked, he had to spread his hands, because it's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice.

Originally, if we could survive until the summer harvest, we could give some money and ease the hunger.

But now that the Ming army dispatched troops at this juncture, it smashed Dengzhou with a stick, isn't it fatal?
"Denglai must be rescued. If we don't care about it, not only will our back be in danger, but it will also directly threaten Beijing and Tianjin. This is absolutely impossible."

"Then Xuhuai Lufeng?"

Bolo was in a dilemma.

Very embarrassed.

The battle has been fought like this, and it is completely unable to perform.

Now he also realized Tan Tai's predicament before.

Kneading his head for a long time.

Boluo gritted his teeth and made a decision, "Give up the land south of the Huaihe River, withdraw all the troops to Huaibei, Tan Tai retreats to Yingzhou, He Luohui retreats to Runing,
I want to rely on you to stay in Xuzhou.

The king personally led the troops to Denglai to rescue! "

Looking at the sand table in front of them, the generals were all shocked by Boluo's bold decision.

Yingzhou is north of the Huaihe River and also north of Shouzhou.

If Hefei is abandoned now, it should also retreat to Shouzhou, an important town in Huaixi, but Boluo retreated directly to Yingzhou, a tributary of Yingshui.

Yingzhou is located in the southwestern part of the Central Plains. It belonged to Nanzhili in the Ming Dynasty. To the north are Kaifeng and Runing Prefectures in Henan, and to the south is the Huaihe River. The terrain is very flat.

When the whole country was unified, Yingzhou's strategic position was average, but now when the North and the South confront each other, Yingzhou's status is highlighted.

Kaifeng and Luoyang are the two major town centers in the Central Plains, Shouzhou is an important town in Huaixi, and Hefei and Fengyang in the south were very important in the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Yingzhou and Shouzhou are actually the hubs of Kaifeng in Henan, Luoyang in Henan, and Fengyang in Hefei in the north of Nanzhijiang River.

In terms of geography alone, Shouzhou is more important than Yingzhou.

However, Shouzhou is on the edge of the Huaihe River, which is beneficial to the Ming army who has the upper hand on the water. Therefore, Boluo, who is now short of troops and short of money and food, does not intend to divide his troops to defend, but simply retreats to defend.

Instead of retreating to Shouzhou, they retreated directly to Yingzhou. They could also rely on Kaifeng and Luoyang, and could obtain supplies from nearby Henan, which was relatively stable, and even support from the Qing army in the rear.

To put it bluntly, Yingzhou is the southern gateway of Henan, and there is no room for loss.

If you don't defend at all, then the Ming army may drive straight in after capturing Hefei, Shouzhou, Fengyang and other places, and go all the way to Luoyang and Kaifeng.

This is very dangerous and should never be allowed.

Runing is in the southwest of Henan, with the majestic Songshan Mountain in the north, the vast Funiu in the south, the ancient capital Luoyang in the west, and the Huanghuai Plain in the east.
Compared with Yingzhou, Runing is more westward. It is located in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, and its geography is more complicated. It is surrounded by Funiu Mountain and Dabie Mountain. District, to the north is Xuchang and Zhengzhou.

To the southeast is Yingzhou.

An important role of Runing at the moment is to connect Huaihe to Nanyang, Huguang and Huaixi.

Moreover, this side is easy to defend. If you retreat to this side, you will maintain the connection channel between Nanyang and Huguang.

Whether it is to obtain the food over there or the reinforcements over there, it is very important.

This is a complete and complete abandonment of the south of the Huaihe River, including Hefei, Fengyang, Huai'an, and Shouzhou, which are important Jianghuai towns.

But as far as Boluo is concerned now, the backyard is on fire, and it will not work if he does not give up and retreat and shrink the defense line. Hefei, Fengyang, and Huaian are all important cities in the Jianghuai River. The army fully grasped the water superiority of the Jianghuai River.

Coupled with the fact that the land of Huainan has been repeatedly destroyed, it is difficult to supply troops, let alone face the massive counterattack of the Ming army, so they can only retreat and shrink the defense line.

Otherwise, if you continue to guard Hefei, Fengyang, Huai'an and other cities, you may be divided and surrounded and wiped out one by one.

Going back, whether it is the supply distance in the rear or the location of reinforcements, is more secure.

This can also lengthen the supply distance of the Ming army.

But such a direct abandonment is still shocking.

Even this may come with enormous responsibilities.

Boluo looked around at the generals, "I understand now. We have been unable to use our skills before, and we have been suffering everywhere because of these burdens on our backs, so we are struggling every step of the way. If we can take the initiative to let go of these burdens, the situation will immediately change." Open."

"Stop worrying about important towns and famous cities. What are there now? Apart from hungry people and barren fields, what else is there?"

"Yingzhou and Xuzhou each garrison [-] troops for defense, and Runing garrison [-] for assistance."

"I led 1 people back to Laizhou."

"Your task is to hold this line and prevent the Ming army from going further north."

"My task is to repel the Ming army and drive them back to the sea."

"We need to make long-term and lasting preparations for this battle, but I believe that it will be more beneficial for us to procrastinate. We will no longer fight with the Ming army in the Jianghuai area, but let them fight in the Central Plains, where the Huaihe area has already been destroyed." Give it to the Ming army.

At that time, we will become the offensive side, even if the Ming army divides troops to defend everywhere, we will be more conducive to raiding and sweeping. "

Bolo snapped hard.

However, Tulai still raised several difficulties. First of all, can the imperial court agree to abandon the entire Huainan area so directly?
Secondly, whether it is retreating to Yingzhou and Runing, or retreating to Xuzhou, and returning to Laizhou, this involves the mobilization of tens of thousands of horses, which is equivalent to a new adjustment and deployment. What about the mobilization of troops and horses?

Boluo looked at Tulai, "At this point, what else can't you let go?"

"When Zu Dashou was besieged in Daling River and Jinzhou successively, food and grass were also in short supply, but they persisted for a long time, how many people did they eat?"

"Ming people can eat people to satisfy their hunger, and common people can eat people by changing their sons. Why can't we eat people for the sake of the court and the Qing Dynasty?"

Bolo slapped the table thumping.

"No money? Let's rob them. Those salt merchants will steal and cut them down. Of course, there will be money. If the salt merchants are not enough, then other merchants will be cut off."

"If there is no food, then search and scrape all the homes of the landlords, gentry, and even common people that you can find and find, and grab every grain back, cattle, horses, donkeys, dogs, chickens and dogs, don't let go of anything that can be eaten , In the end, people can also be arrested, and they can not only transport military supplies, food and grass, etc., but also build bridges and pave roads to set up camp, and even kill and eat meat to satisfy hunger when necessary!"

"As long as we are determined enough, these are not problems!"

"Anyway, it's broken, so don't worry about it at all, let it go and do it as much as you want,"

"Before the withdrawal, we will make another strong wall to clear the fields, burn everything that can be burned, destroy everything that can be destroyed, fill in all the wells, burn all the villages, tear down the city walls, and destroy hundreds of miles of Huaihe land. To turn it into white ground, it would be best to remove the entire embankment of the Huaihe River!"

"Look at how the Ming army is still advancing northward!"

This kind of thing that kills one thousand enemies and hurts oneself eight hundred is a truly desperate plan.

In this way, the whole of Huainan was dead for nothing. It didn't mean that the army couldn't occupy it when it came, couldn't get supplies on the spot, and it was difficult to hold on for a long time.

But in the same way, if this is done, the Qing army may not be able to gain a foothold in Huainan within a few years. Even if the Ming army is defeated, they will not be able to come back.

This also means that the Jiangnan area behind the Huai land has also obtained a huge buffer zone, which is relatively stable.

The Qing army will not be able to cross this deadly area to attack Jiangnan in a short time.

How could Boluo care about this?
He only looked in front of him now, the Ming army forced them to have no way out, and it was difficult to display the Eight Banners.

Even the Ming army went to Shandong, threatening the Beizhi area.

Then it can only be more ruthless.

Anyway, the former regent Dorgon also intended to temporarily abandon Huainan and Hubei as a buffer and buy time to accumulate strength.

"Everyone, don't be distressed. What is there to be distressed about? If we can't be cruel and let the Ming army take over, it will be the same as Jiangnan today. Last year we captured Jiangning, captured Hangzhou, and drank horses on the Qiantang River. .My Qing Dynasty also helped the army and the people, but what happened?

Now Jiangning is called Nanjing again, and Hangzhou has also become an important place for the Ming army to counterattack our Qing Dynasty.

If we had known this before, when we captured Jiangnan last year, we directly slaughtered eight of his ten cities, transported all the money and food back to the Northland, and captured the population as slaves, just like when we invaded and looted the interior of the Ming Dynasty in the early years, wouldn't it be better? ? "

What Boluo said was thorough.

When the Ming Dynasty was still guarding the front line of the Ningjinshan customs and blocked Houjin outside the customs, Houjin often bypassed the Ningjin defense line and entered the village to plunder.

They even went deep into Shandong to loot.

For example, in the seventh year of Chongzhen, Boluo's father, Abatai, was specially appointed as the general who was ordered to lead the army to attack the Ming Dynasty. Hejian and Jingzhou entered Yanzhou, captured and beheaded Zhu Yipai, the king of Lu in the Ming Dynasty, and the kings of Leling, Yangxin, Dongyuan, Anqiu, and Ziyang, and divided their troops to attack Laizhou, Dengzhou, Qingzhou and other places, and went south. As far as Haizhou in the northeast of South Zhili.

When he returned to the army, he attacked Cangzhou, Tianjin, Sanhe, Miyun and other places.

This time the troops were dispatched to conquer 88 cities of the Ming army, forced to surrender six cities, captured 92 people and livestock, and plundered 1 taels of gold and 220 million taels of silver.

This time the troops were dispatched, from entering the customs in October to leaving the customs in May of the following year, sweeping half of the Ming Dynasty, and they were all killed in the territory of Haizhou in Southern Zhili.

This raid into the stronghold can also be regarded as the most successful one among the Qing army's previous raids into the fortress.

From Abatay to the bannermen of the various banners, and even their coated minions, they all grabbed a lot of money.

Boluo believes that the previous tactics can be restored now. Don’t treat the Han people south of the Huaihe River as the people of the Qing Dynasty and rob them as enemies. If they have no money or food, they will rob them. Feed people.

As long as you change your thinking, the fighting power of the Eight Banners can be released at once.

At that time, not only can the problem of food, grass and military supplies be solved, but even the tens of thousands of people under his command can make a fortune, and the morale will be full.

As long as the hypocritical mask they put on after entering the customs is torn off and their original fierce face is restored, they will still be the invincible Eight Banners Crazy Fighter!
At that time, what will Zhu Yihai do to deal with it?

Back then, his father went all the way to Yanzhou and captured Lu King Zhu Yipai. Now, maybe he can capture and behead Shaotian Emperor Zhu Yihai again.

"Let's go and do it. We Manchurian Eight Banners warriors are wolves who roam thousands of miles and eat meat. Why should we restrain ourselves and tie our hands and feet?"

"All the seized income of the ministries will be rewarded according to the old rules!"

"The more you grab, the more points, the more kills, the more rewards!"

　Two chapters co-published

　　
　
(End of this chapter)