The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 449: All the efforts are accomplished in one battle

"mighty!"

The deafening shouts echoed under the city of Yangzhou.

Outside Yangzhou City, swords and spears were like wheat ears, halberds and halberds were like hemp forests, and flags covered the sky and connected to the earth.

One hundred and fourteen thousand soldiers of the Jingnan Army stood in battle array. At a glance, the entire mountains and plains were covered with red tassels, like a red ocean, covering the entire suburbs of Yangzhou.

As the flags on the central army's lookout tower waved, soldiers from all camps responded one after another.

The huge red tide boiled up in an instant, and the thunderous cheers were one wave higher than the other.

The entire suburbs of Yangzhou were a dazzling red.

The Jingnan Army's battle formation was neat and tidy, with flags flying. The sunlight reflecting off the armor and spears kept flashing, making it a feast for the eyes.

Chen Wang stood on the observation tower of the central army and looked around the surrounding camps.

The lion and the elephant fight the rabbit with all their strength.

What's more, the Wanmin Army is not a weakling.

After absorbing the elite troops of the Western Army, the People's Army now has more than 400,000 combat-ready soldiers, all of whom have experienced the baptism of war and blood. Their only flaw is the lack of weapons.

Even Li Yan opened a military factory in Nanjing and vigorously produced military equipment.

However, the armaments that these military factories can produce are still a drop in the bucket for an army of 400,000.

"The 2nd Division of Shandong Town, the 4th Division of Hanzhong Town, the 4th, 5th, 6th and 3rd Divisions of Henan, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 3rd Divisions of Huguang, and Liu Zeqing's troops have all arrived at their designated locations."

On the observation deck, Hu Zhili bowed slightly and reported the situation of Yingqi to Chen Wang.

The eight divisions led by Hui Dengxiang, Zuo Guangxian, Li Dingguo, Ai Nengqi, Liu Wenxiu, Zuo Liangyu, Cao Bianjiao, and Liu Guangzuo, plus the one division directly under Chen Wang, totaled nine divisions.

They surrounded Yangzhou City on three sides.

The Ninth Division, 140,000 people.

This time, the Jingnan Army had sent out all its elite troops. Chen Wang mobilized all available field troops and generals at this stage.

The Second and Third Divisions of Hanzhong Town are now under the control of Hu Zhiyi and stationed in Hanzhong Prefecture.

After all, at this stage, the Chuang army still poses a considerable threat. As the most important logistics base under Chen Wang's rule, the role of Hanzhong Prefecture is unquestionable.

The two divisions have a total of 40,000 people, enough to deal with all threats.

In Huguang, He Tengjiao had already chosen to surrender, and the civil uprising supported by Jiangxi had already started, so there was no need for too many troops to garrison.

The First Division of Huguang Town led by Zhou Yumao is a reinforced division with six battalions and 18,000 people, enough to deal with any situation. It has now entered Jiangxi.

With the help of the army to suppress bandits and invade Jiangxi, they gradually took Jiangxi into their possession.

Huguang is not far from Hanzhong Prefecture. Even if the situation becomes serious, Hanzhong Prefecture can send troops to provide assistance at any time.

On the Henan side, the one guarding Tongguan was the Henan Town First Division led by Chen Ming. There were 15,000 people, which was more than enough to guard Tongguan.

Sun Qiyun, commander of the Fourth Division of Henan Town, has led his troops to take over the defense line of Kaifeng, Henan. The four battalions with 12,000 people under his command are enough to prevent the epidemic from spreading southward.

In Xuzhou, Chen Yongfu had already evacuated from Hefei and headed north to join Gao Qian.

Xuzhou now has the second and third divisions of Henan Town, as well as the seventh division of Henan Town formed by the militia from Kaifeng and Yunyang, totaling 36,000 people to deal with possible wars.

Haizhou in Shandong is now garrisoned by the First Division of Shandong Town led by Gao Jie. Its main tasks are to shield Haizhou's shipyard, respond to surrounding threats, and coordinate possible military operations.

"What's the trend of the Wanmin Army?"

Chen Wang's gaze rested on the city wall of Yangzhou City, but his mind did not stay on Yangzhou City.

There were about 50,000 soldiers guarding Yangzhou City. The ones guarding Yangzhou were the former commander of the 72nd Battalion, Ge Liyan He Yilong, and the King of Gai Shi, Liu Xiyao.

He Yilong and Liu Xiyao are both top-notch in military strategy among the 72nd Battalion, and the soldiers under their command have been through many battlefields and are very experienced.

But even so, it is still not enough compared to the Jingnan Army led by Chen Wang.

What Chen Wang was concerned about was further south - the main force of the Wanmin Army.

"There are two groups of soldiers coming to support the people, one is the south group and the other is the west group."

"The southern route is the Nanjing direction. The generals of the Wanmin Army, Zhao Shouping, and Yidougu Changjianxi, led 60,000 troops from Nanjing to Zhenjiang, and crossed the river from Jingjingkou and Guazhou."

"The western route is the main force of the Wanmin Army, led by Li Yan himself. Li Yan heard about our army's movements earlier and interrupted the southern expedition. He led the main force of 250,000 troops from Hangzhou to the north, crossing the river via Jiangyin. The main force of the army is now stationed near Taizhou, more than 100 miles west of Yangzhou."

"The vanguard consists of the Advocate Battalion led by General Yuan Shizhong of the People's Army, and the Sharp Battalion led by General Zhang Chengyi of the People's Army."

"The Advocate Camp has 20,000 soldiers and the Sharp Camp has 10,000 soldiers. The two camps have a total of 30,000 soldiers and are stationed in Wanshou Town, west of Yangzhou and on the west side of the canal."

Chen Wang looked westward.

On the outskirts of Yangzhou City to the west, there were bright red flags of the Jingnan Army everywhere.

Only at the end of the horizon can you see a few scattered black spots.

Those black spots are imitation bastions built by the People's Army.

The Yangtze River has never been a natural barrier.

Since ancient times, to guard the Yangtze River, one must guard the Huai River, but it is obviously impossible for the Wanmin Army to have control over the Huai River.

Therefore, Yangzhou, a strategically located city overlooking the Yangtze River, is extremely important to the Wanmin Army.

When Li Yan went south to advance into the south of the Yangtze River, he recruited many craftsmen to build defense lines in many places from Nanjing to Yangzhou, set up checkpoints and sentries at key locations, and built many bastions.

The reason why Li Yan knew about the bastion was because during the Battle of Fengyang, Hanzhong Town built a bastion to protect its transportation lines.

Later, after Li Yan crossed the Yangtze River and marched into the south of the Yangtze River, he ordered craftsmen to imitate it and recruited many craftsmen from Zheng Zhilong, including many Red Barbarians.

However, Li Yan only learned the form of the bastion but not its spirit.

There were not many firearms and artillery in the Wanmin Army, and their power and firing rate were just satisfactory. They were slightly stronger than the ordinary Ming Army, but not enough to maximize the role of the bastion.

Moreover, the role of the bastion is actually not as magical as later generations exaggerated. The bastion only greatly increases the strength of defense.

With the progress of the times, the tactics against bastions have gradually matured.

The Vauban siege method is the most effective means among them. The core is to gradually advance parallel trenches and zigzag communication trenches, combined with artillery fire suppression and infantry assault, which can greatly reduce siege casualties and effectively destroy the bastions built by the enemy.

And most importantly, in this era, both Chinese and foreign tactics for bastions still remained on the defensive.

As the size of the European army expanded until the Napoleonic era, the main force still had the power to overthrow a country, even if troops were divided to monitor bastions and control supply lines.

This military advantage enabled the army to quickly break through the border fortifications and advance directly into the enemy's heartland, thus re-establishing the decisive position of field battles.

Therefore, during the Napoleonic era, Europe began to reform the bastion defense system, and fortresses began to serve as barracks, with their design emphasizing the garrison's ability to attack quickly.

But this is Asia, and wars here often involve more than 100,000 people.

This is also why, even though the Ming Dynasty built some defensive fortifications with bastion features in Liaodong, it still did not achieve the same effect as on the European battlefield.

If bastions were really useful, why didn't Chen Wang build them in large numbers?

The bastions built by the Wanmin Army on the front line of Yangzhou only slowed down their defeat. To truly win the war, they still had to rely on field battles!
"The navy of the Wanmin Army has already assembled in Nanjing and Zhenjiang. According to the intelligence department, the Wanmin Army navy has more than 500 warships, of which about 100 are large-scale Fuzhou ships, and the rest are small and medium-sized ships."

"Where is Sun Shenwu's navy?"

Chen Wang withdrew his gaze and asked.

"Sun Shenwu has led his navy to Jiangpu, west of Nanjing, and has fought several battles with the navy of the Wanmin Army in Nanjing, winning every battle."

Hu Zhili looked relaxed and smiled.

"Although the Wanmin Army's navy has a large number of people, there are too many new recruits, and many of the boats are converted from original canal boats, so their combat effectiveness is weak."

Although Sun Shenwu had only more than a hundred warships under his command, the navy under his command was basically composed of experienced veterans, and the ships were all carefully made by major shipyards.

The configuration of firearms on the warships reached an astonishing 70%, coupled with large-caliber shipborne artillery, which was almost a dimensionality reduction attack against the boats of the Wanmin Army in inland naval battles.

In the past month, the navy under Sun Shenwu had lost less than a hundred soldiers and only one ship, and that was because they were too reckless and encountered siege by the Wanmin Army.

However, the navy of the Wanmin Army lost nearly sixty warships, with casualties of at least two thousand.

"Tell Sun Shenwu that everything should be stable. What he has now is all the wealth of our navy. If it is all lost in Jiangpu, it will be useless even if he sacrifices his life."

Chen Wang has already read all the navy's battle reports.

In a head-on confrontation, the Wanmin Army was no match for Sun Shenwu's navy.

The only thing you need to be wary of is the fire attack tactic that takes advantage of the wind.

In this era, the fire attack tactics of light boats and fast ships can often become the key to reversing the situation in naval battles.

As long as Sun Shenwu advances steadily, it will only be a matter of time before he defeats the navy of the Wanmin Army stationed in Nanjing.

Chen Wang's voice was so cold that Hu Zhili couldn't help but shiver.

"Yes."

Hu Zhili lowered his head and answered subconsciously.

Hu Zhili was a little dazed. He realized that since when, Chen Wang gradually became taciturn, and the aura he exuded became more and more powerful.

It seemed as if a thick barrier had begun to form between them and me.

"Zheng Zhilong, what are you doing now?"

Chen Wang didn't know what Hu Zhili was thinking. He glanced at the troops that were responding to the flag and spoke calmly.

"Zheng Zhilong and his navy have arrived at Chongming Island."

"The Zheng navy has about 300 ships, and the leader is Zheng Zhilong's younger brother Zheng Zhibao."

"In accordance with the previous agreement, we dispatched troops to launch certain harassment attacks on Suzhou and Yangzhou."

Hu Zhili suppressed his uneasiness, regained his usual efficiency, and answered.

"But in reality, everything was just on the surface. Zheng Zhilong's troops were mainly engaged in plundering and did not attack any prefectures or counties."

Chen Wang was not at all surprised by Zheng Zhilong's behavior and sneered.

"This is indeed Zheng Zhilong's style."

Although the Wanmin Army was basically at a disadvantage when fighting against Hanzhong Town.

But until the last moment, Zheng Zhilong still didn't dare to make up his mind, so now he still didn't dare to bet all his efforts on either side.

Merchants are profit-oriented, and the Wanmin Army is powerful, with a force of over 400,000. Although their advance southwards was blocked, they still had the upper hand overall.

Li Yan launched several offensives to the south and had already captured the three prefectures of Huzhou, Jiaxing and Yanzhou in Zhejiang, and was besieging Hangzhou with heavy troops.

Hangzhou was the only city left in Hangzhou Prefecture that had not been conquered by the Wanmin Army, and the rest of the cities had already fallen.

If the Wanmin Army had not treated the gentry cruelly and mercilessly, the gentry in Jiangnan would have surrendered long ago.

When the Wanmin Army was founded, Li Yan had already decided on a policy targeting the gentry and officials.

The development of the Wanmin Army to this day is like a giant ship sailing on the ocean. It is not easy to turn around.

Even though Li Yan encountered resistance from the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River when he went south, and was willing to relax some policies towards the gentry and officials, it ultimately had little effect.

On the one hand, the past actions of the Wanmin Army made many gentry and officials extremely distrustful of it.

On the other hand, there were the grassroots and middle-level officers of the Wanmin Army, because Li Yan's previous speeches had shown his extreme hatred towards the gentry and officials.

The conflict between the two sides has reached an irreconcilable stage.

Therefore, under the rule of the powerful military force of the Wanmin Army, the gentry and officials in the south of the Yangtze River still chose to resist.

More importantly, due to information errors, the gentry and officials in Jiangnan still placed their hopes on the Ming army in Jiangbei at this time.

After all, Chen Wang has always shown himself to be a loyal minister of the court.

On the surface, Chen Wang did not openly break off relations with the imperial court.

The ones who truly knew that Chen Wang had rebellious intentions were either the ministers of the cabinet or the heads of the six ministries.

Many officials and gentry in Jiangnan still believe that Wu Shen is in control of the Ming army in northern Jiangnan.

"Zheng Zhilong has no intention of entering the inland river. I'm afraid we won't be able to rely on Zheng's navy in future battles."

Hu Zhili frowned slightly. Although the Wanmin Army suffered repeated defeats in the Nanjing naval battle, Sun Shenwu still had no way to lead the navy to the Yangzhou battlefield in a short period of time.

"I never placed my hopes on Zheng Zhilong."

Although he sent someone to tell Zheng Zhilong to join the war, Chen Wang also knew Zheng Zhilong's character.

"The initiative of the war is always in our hands."

Chen Wang's gaze was directed westwards. The strong wind was blowing up thousands of flags, but there was no fluctuation in his eyes.

"There is only one reason why I asked Zheng Zhilong to lead his troops to Chongming..."

"When the Wanmin Army is defeated and annihilated at the gates of Yangzhou, Zheng Zhilong will no longer stay out of the matter. He will not miss this opportunity to show his loyalty to me by giving it a good beating."

Chen Wang's eyes were calm, as if he was narrating something extremely ordinary.

"By then, no ship of the Wanmin Army will arrive in Jiangnan..."

Chen Wang slowly raised his right hand. Behind him, the fiery red banner fluttered in the strong wind.

"They will all sleep forever on this land in Jiangbei."

As Chen Wang pressed down with his right hand, a loud swan sound also rose into the sky.

The rumbling sound of war drums rolled over the earth like thunder.

Countless flags were fluttering all around Yangzhou.

A blood-red wave swept in, swallowing up the earth inch by inch.