The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"The central army of Jingnan Army has moved?"

The north wind blows, carrying thousands of flags.

As the strong wind blew, a large dark black banner with the word "Li" embroidered on it was fluttering in the middle of the Wanmin Army's formation.

The cavalryman carrying a flag was kneeling in front of Li Yan, reporting to him the news from the north of Yangzhou City.

"It seems that Chen Wang has received the news from Beizhili."

Li Yan looked serious and slowly stood up.

Chen Wang was ambitious. Although he was in the Ming court, he had his own agenda and had planned many things.

Li Yan was very familiar with the fact that there was an organization called the Intelligence Department in Jingnan Town.

It is precisely because of this that Chen Wang is often able to anticipate the enemy's moves in many cases, relying on his advantage in intelligence.

Li Yan also wanted to follow suit and set up an institution similar to the Intelligence Department.

However, such an institution requires a large amount of financial investment, reliable manpower, and more importantly, a certain amount of power and leadership from experienced veterans.

But these are exactly what Li Yan lacks.

The Wanmin Army was short of money and manpower, so most of the money recovered from the homes of officials, gentry and nobles in various cities was used to subsidize the army.

The Wanmin Army has never had a territory in which to develop for a long time.

Fengyang and Xuzhou were lost again not long after they were captured.

They occupied the Jiangnan region south of the Yangtze River for less than a year.

There is really nothing that can be done in such a short time.

The movements of the Qing army could not be hidden from Chen Wang, and this was something Li Yan had known for a long time.

However, Li Yan did not expect that as soon as the Qing army's messenger arrived, Chen Wang had already ordered the troops directly under his command to begin mobilizing.

This undoubtedly meant that Zheng Ming and Chen Wang had already received the news from the north earlier.

The terrifying capabilities of the Jingnan Town Intelligence Department made Li Yan feel a chill in his heart. His confidence was almost completely worn out by the continuous blows.

"Order the three armies to defend the camp firmly and not to fight recklessly."

Li Yan took a deep breath, looked at Yangzhou City not far away, and said in a deep voice.

He had a relatively good understanding of the situation in the Ming court's capital.

After suffering from successive attacks of natural disasters and plagues, the Ming court's already weak military strength was further greatly reduced.

The Qing army almost mobilized all its troops in this southward raid.

The Ming court had no strong support from outside and no garrison troops inside. It was short of food and fodder, and insufficient military pay, and had long been a dying candle in the wind.

collapse.

It's just a matter of time.

Ming court.

Can't hold on for long.

There was no need for them to win the Battle of Yangzhou.

As long as you are not defeated, you are victorious.

In other words, there was no need to continue the battle of Yangzhou.

As long as he could delay until the Qing army captured the Ming capital, Chen Wang would have no way to maintain his offensive on Yangzhou.

"Where is Yuan Shizhong's Advocate Camp now?"

Li Yan walked to the center of the observation deck where the map was placed.

"Yesterday, Jingnan Town attacked Yangzhou with two divisions of troops. General Yuan led his troops to station at the northernmost bastion east of Yangzhou to rush to the city for support."

The officers of the Wanmin Army who were originally busy beside the map bowed and saluted respectfully.

"The northernmost edge..."

Li Yan's gaze gradually moved upwards.

"Jingnan Town besieged Yangzhou with nine divisions, with two divisions from Hanzhong and two divisions from Shandong stationed to the north of Yangzhou as the central army, with a total force of more than 60,000 troops."

"These days, Liu Zeqing's troops in Shandong Town have been the main force attacking Yangzhou."

Yuan Shizhong moved closer, pointed at the map, and reported to Li Yan the intelligence he had gathered in recent days.

"Five days ago, He Yilong led his troops into battle. He took advantage of the Jingnan Army's retreat to attack the Jingnan Army's formation, killed Liu Zeqing in battle, defeated the Jingnan Army slightly, and recaptured the northern section of Yangzhou's city wall."

"But then the Jingnan Army sent Zuo Guangxian to lead the 4th Division of Hanzhong Town. Hanzhong Town's musketeers were sharp and had many artillery pieces. The northern city of Yangzhou, which our army had just recaptured, fell again."

Yuan Shizhong frowned and sighed.

"Chen Wang has made a good calculation."

Li Yan snorted coldly.

"Chen Wang's plan has always been this, using our Wanmin Army as his whetstone."

"He looked down on soldiers like Liu Zeqing, and also looked down on the ruffians under Liu Zeqing's command. He had made up his mind from the beginning to let Liu Zeqing die on the battlefield."

"But this time, he will have to bear the consequences of his actions!"

Li Yan stared at the map in front of him, his voice cold.

All this was within his expectations.

Chen Wang unified the various towns in the southern kingdom and gathered together the remnants of the Western Army.

According to Chen Wang's usual style, he must want to use Yangzhou as a training ground to hone his newly joined troops, just like he did in Xiangyang, Xuzhou, and Fengyang.

It was precisely because of this that he had a little breathing space and was able to unite with the Qing army.

If Chen Wang had ignored the consequences from the beginning and attacked Yangzhou with all his might, he would have engaged them in hand-to-hand combat.

The current stalemate would never have occurred.

"East of Yangzhou is the Henan Town of Jingnan, numbered as the 4th, 5th, and 6th divisions, with 12 battalions of soldiers. All three divisions are soldiers surrendered from the Western Army. According to the organization of the Jingnan Town, the three divisions have a total of 36,000 soldiers, and the commander is the Western Army's Li Dingguo."

The organization of Jingnan Town is not too difficult to find out. After all, the flag is there. The flags, banners and organization of Jingnan Town are now very different from those of the Ming army.

"To the west of Yangzhou is the Huguang Town of Jingnan, numbered as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th divisions. All three divisions were reorganized from the troops supporting the suppression of the enemy inland areas. According to the organization of Jingnan Town, there are also more than 36,000 soldiers and horses, and the commander is Zuo Liangyu."

"However, after investigation, we found that the Huguang Third Division in Jingnan Town, west of Yangzhou, has a total of 14 battalions, with an actual strength of more than 40,000 troops."

These days, Chen Wang treated Yangzhou City as a huge training ground, continuously investing troops for training.

The actual casualties of the Jingnan Army were not high, only about four to five thousand.

Of course, this does not include the casualties of more than 10,000 soldiers under Liu Zeqing.

The combat effectiveness of the soldiers under Liu Zeqing was almost nothing. They were just cannon fodder, and most of them died on the way to fill the trenches.

"How many casualties did He Yilong and Liu Xiyao suffer?"

Li Yan asked with a slightly gloomy expression.

"The casualties of the soldiers under their command reached nearly 10,000. The morale of the defenders in Yangzhou City was low. The Fourth Division of Hanzhong Town occupied the north of the city and set up artillery on the city wall, which can directly bombard the east and west cities."

Yuan Shizhong's eyes wandered over the map, his expression solemn, and he replied in a deep voice.

"He Yilong and Liu Xiyao organized their elite troops to charge four or five times, but they were all repelled by the soldiers of Hanzhong Town."

"According to the intelligence gathered in recent days, the number of soldiers and musketeers in Hanzhong Town should be around 70%. When facing the enemy, the sound of muskets is continuous and almost non-stop. The soldiers who charge into the battle line are often killed or wounded before they can get close to the enemy and are unable to fight again." "And most importantly, the musketeers in Hanzhong Town are equipped with several-foot-long bayonets on their muskets, and muskets equipped with bayonets do not affect firing."

"Even if I rushed to the front despite the casualties, it would be useless. My army's formation has already been in disarray. We are no match for those gunners."

Whether it was the Jingnan Army on the west or the Jingnan Army on the east, they were able to fight back and forth.

But only in the north city, in the Hanzhong Town of the central army led by Chen Wangzhi, they could not find any flaws at all.

An infantry attack is useless unless the force is several times greater than the enemy's.

In the case of a cavalry attack, even the Mongols did not have enough cavalry to charge head-on.

In long-range shooting, Hanzhong Town was well equipped with guns and artillery, and the fire guns were fired continuously. The artillery was extremely powerful and numerous, with one battalion having dozens of artillery pieces.

And what do they have?
Except for the navy, the total number of artillery pieces in the entire Wanmin Army that can meet the standards of Hanzhong Town is no more than a hundred. According to the standards of Hanzhong Town, the rest can only be regarded as guns at best.

As for the heavy artillery like the ones stationed in Hanzhong Town, there was not a single one.

"Although the artillery fire did not cause much damage, the blow to the morale of the troops was insurmountable."

Talking about the artillery under Hanzhong Town, Yuan Shizhong couldn't help but feel a little despair in his heart, and his tone was heavy.

"It's OK to have the protection of city walls and fortresses, but in a field battle, without protection, our army often collapses under artillery bombardment before the battle even begins."

"There are very few soldiers and horses that can withstand the artillery bombardment and reach the front."

"All of Hanzhong Town's tactics now revolve around artillery."

Yuan Shizhong has been on the front line these days. When in Fengyang, he led the troops to fight against Hanzhong Town, so he is very clear about these things.

"The Hanzhong garrison had a strict formation. When going into battle, they used artillery first, using muskets as shields and cavalry as spears."

"The tighter the army formation, the greater the casualties caused by artillery fire, and the greater the blow to morale. However, if our army formation is dispersed, the impact of artillery fire on morale can be reduced, and casualties can also be reduced."

"but……"

Li Yan was a veteran of many battles and knew what Yuan Shizhong wanted to say.

"But once our army's formation is separated, the Hanzhong cavalry roaming on both wings will immediately attack."

"Without a strict military formation, the infantry had no way to resist the cavalry's attack and would only become lambs to be slaughtered."

Yuan Shizhong nodded solemnly.

"Some time ago, we thought about how to target Hanzhong Town for a long time."

Li Yan raised his head and looked at Yuan Shizhong.

"What is the final conclusion?"

"No solution."

Yuan Shizhong looked gloomy and sighed.

"At least for us, it's an unsolvable situation."

"The only solution is that we have weapons and artillery that are similar to those in Hanzhong Town."

"Fight and win with a dignified formation."

"Personal bravery is useless when facing the Hanzhong garrison troops. The outcome of the battle depends only on the training, courage, and armament of the soldiers."

Up to now, Yuan Shizhong has become Li Yan's right-hand man, with a status similar to that of Li Jiyu.

Although what started Li Yan's business were just a clay pot and a bushel of grain.

However, the growth of Waguanzi and Yidugu is far less than that of Yuan Shizhong.

Waguanzi and Yidugu raised an army and fought for several years in Henan, but they never captured any city, and the number of soldiers under their command was around 20,000 to 30,000.

However, Yuan Shizhong conquered counties and prefectures in the early stage of his uprising, and had hundreds of thousands of followers under his command. Later, he won victory after victory in battles with government soldiers. His military talent far exceeded that of Waguanzi and Yidougu.

The only defeat was at the hands of Sun Chuanting.

It was also because Sun Chuanting had first used Lu Xiangsheng's reputation to undermine the morale of most of his troops.

He traveled all over Daming Prefecture, defeated government troops in succession, gathered a crowd of hundreds of thousands, and was at the peak of his power.

After joining the Wanmin Army, Yuan Shizhong was like a fish in water. He was promoted to general and took charge of the Chanyi Camp of the Wanmin Army.

In the Battle of Baiyang River, the army was not defeated after being bombarded by artillery fire, but was pressed forward and fought a bloody battle. In one battle, the army was defeated and the tiger's mighty army was subdued.

Yuan Shizhong was clearly aware of his own shortcomings and the strength of Hanzhong Town.

"There is no solution..."

Li Yan raised his head and looked into the distance at the plains to the north.

At the end of the sky, a red wave is constantly surging.

The faint sound of drums is slowly coming from the distant horizon.

"If we want to defeat the Jingnan Army..."

"It's really an unsolvable situation..."

What Yuan Shizhong knew clearly, Li Yan also knew clearly.

"but……"

"Our goal is to remain undefeated, and this is not just a pipe dream."

Li Yan clenched his fists, looked into the distance, and spoke word by word.

"Chen Wang's current situation seems to be at the peak of his career. He is at the forefront, commanding a large army and looking out over the world. It is just around the corner for him to control the divine weapon."

"However, we and Chen Wang are not the only ones fighting in this world."

Li Yan's eyes were wandering and his tone was firm.

"Chen Wang is located in a place where he is surrounded by enemies and it is difficult for him to concentrate his forces. As long as our army can hold out for a month, when the Qing army moves south, the middle of Sichuan is in chaos, and Tongguan is shaken, that will be the day for Chen Wang to withdraw his troops to Yangzhou."

Li Yan slowly placed his hand on the map in front of him, his voice low and firm.

"The successive victories not only boosted the morale of the Jingnan Army, but also boosted their pride."

"If Chen Wang attacked Yangzhou fiercely from the beginning and didn't think of using Yangzhou as a training ground, we would have no way to gain a foothold in Jiangbei if we lost Yangzhou."

"But Chen Wang is too proud. He thinks we will be vulnerable to his attack..."

Li Yan's eyes were deep, with a sharp murderous intent twisting in them. His other hand tightly grasped the goose-feather knife at his waist, as if he wanted to crush everything.

"This time, I'm going to let him know!"

"Let him know that our Wanmin Army is no longer a puppet in Chen Wang's hands, and we are no longer fish to be slaughtered at will!"

Li Yan's eyes were filled with hatred. He had been waiting for this day for too long, so long that he had been tossing and turning, and so long that he had been unable to sleep all night.

Chen Wang's failure to capture Yangzhou due to his lack of strength will eventually become a lifelong regret for him.

Although they have been attacking the Southern Kingdom during these days.

But Li Yan never forgot Yangzhou.

There are 72 large and small bastions built around Yangzhou, which was a defense line constructed by mobilizing hundreds of thousands of civilians.

During these days, all the artillery and firearms produced have been sent to these bastions to strengthen the defense.

Li Yan didn't believe that in just one month, the Jingnan Army could break through the iron wall he had painstakingly built for so long! (End of this chapter)