Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 809 Looting Hannan
After the Ming army captured Nanjing, internal political struggles delayed the Ming Dynasty's war preparations against the Qing court.

Wang Yan wanted to turn passive into active, and was unwilling to defend passively, but the situation did not allow it. Although the Ministry of War and the local government tried their best to prepare, the time was too short. In addition, the armor and equipment used to consume too much. It is difficult to raise funds, and it will take time to mobilize people and horses.

The city of Nanjing was full of horses, allocating manpower, material resources, and military resources from all over the country to deal with the war, and Wang Yan's judgment was indeed correct.

Just a few days after Wang Yan made his decision, Hao Yaoqi's military report was rushed to Nanjing by [-] miles, and the Xiangyang Mansion, Yunyang Mansion, De'an Mansion and Chengtian Mansion in northern Hubei were blizzarded every day. Three feet, there was a heavy snowstorm, people froze to death, and the snowflakes fell into the Han River, the water could not be washed away for a while, and it accumulated more and more, showing signs of freezing. Although he sent boats to break the ice on the river, if the weather If it continues to deteriorate, I am afraid that the cavalry of the Qing army can directly cross the Han River, so the imperial court is requested to send troops to support Huguang.

The governor of Huguang was appointed by Wu Jinxi, a cadre of the Chu Party. When the imperial court ordered him to sit in Wuchang, he began to deploy.

It has been a year and a half since the Fubing system has been implemented in Huguang, which is not as good as in Guangnan. It has been four years, and now it can provide the town army with more than [-] Fubing who have been practicing for three years every year, so that the army can quickly recover its combat power.

Huguang's government soldiers obviously didn't have enough heat, but at this time they could only bite the bullet.After all, I have practiced for a year and a half, and I am stronger than Min Zhuang who has never held a sword or used a gun.

For a time, there were two flows of people in completely opposite directions on the official road on the vast land of the lake. A large group of people went south along the official road, while government soldiers from all over the country, as well as the town army in Hunan and the Miao soldiers of the chieftains in Xiangxi, were on the way. Under the leadership of the Qing Dynasty, he rushed northward and quickly assembled on the front line of the Yangtze River to prevent the Qing army from breaking through the Yangtze River.

When the Huguang troops were mobilized, the nearly [-] Qing soldiers in Henan, who had rested for more than a year, finally took action.

After Hauge defeated Heshuote Mongolia in Qinghai, he conquered Turpan in the west, and then fought against the Yeerqiang Khanate entrenched in the Western Regions. The three consecutive wars boosted Hauge's ambition. Hit the wall everywhere in the battle, forming a sharp contrast.

After Desheng returned, Hauge took advantage of his power and power, and when the Ming army attacked Jiangnan, and Dorgon and the Ming Dynasty had no energy to pay attention to him, he officially established the title of emperor.

Hauge's move was a complete break with the Qing court. Dorgon naturally couldn't tolerate it, but he couldn't bear it, and it didn't affect Hauge, because Dorgon was covered in lice at this time, and he had no ability to do anything to him. Instead, worry about whether he will attack the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, the situation in Henan was still very tense. After Azig arrived in Luoyang, he waited for the Qing army in Jiangbei to attract the attention of the Ming army, and at the same time began to select troops in Henan and mobilize elite soldiers, preparing to kill Huguang.

The Qing army also had many spies in various places in the Ming Dynasty, but the news came back that the Ming army in Huguang was preparing for war and transferred the soldiers and civilians to the north of the Yangtze River.

When Azig got the news, he knew that the plan to attack the west failed. At this time, the temperature in Henan and northern Huguang continued to drop, and the snowstorm continued for several days. The spies sent out reported that the Han River was showing signs of freezing. Azig decided to go south immediately instead of waiting. , lest the Ming army transfer all the food and finances, and let him return empty-handed.

In order to guard against Haug, Azig asked Kong Youde to lead 4 people to continue guarding Luoyang, while he led all the cavalry, plus [-] infantry, with a total force of more than [-] people, and quickly passed through Nanyang. In Xinye, the army drove directly to the city of Xiangyang along the frozen Baihe River.

In order to attack Jiangnan at the beginning of the year, Wang Yan recruited a large number of elite soldiers from the local town army to supplement the Five Zhong Army. Hao Yaoqi's troops were also transferred to thousands of people, and then thousands of new troops were recruited.

The combat power of Shence's Chinese army has dropped significantly compared to the last Huguang battle, when they alone resisted the Liang Shun king's attack for several months.

Hao Yaoqi didn't dare to fight, so he shrank directly in the two strong cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng.

Azig's actions were exactly as expected by the Ming Dynasty, leaving Shang Kexi to lead [-] infantry troops to garrison in Xinye and Xiangfan to ensure the safety of the back road, and to continuously transport the looted food and materials to Henan through Xinye , he personally led the cavalry, rolling south.

As the Han River was frozen, Xiangfan's position as guarding the main road was greatly reduced. Azig ignored Hao Yaoqi, who was shrinking in Xiangfan, and directly divided into three groups, going south to rob.

At the beginning of December, the Qing army on the right that entered Yunyang broke through Fangxian and Baokang, and the Qing army on the left broke through Yicheng. .

Although the soldiers of the county government fought desperately, they lacked training after all. They were only reserve soldiers and could not fight against the fierce Eight Banners. There were about a hundred casualties, which shocked the generals of the Qing army to the extreme. Moreover, in some counties, there were almost no town troops, and they were all government soldiers and civilians. Instead, go and rob the town outside the city.

On December [-]th, Azig led a large army to approach the city of Jiangling. Wang Guangtai, the deputy general of Houyong Town, led more than [-] soldiers out of the city to form an array. The realm of man made Jianghan shake.

At this time, on the south bank of the Yangtze River, the Ming army in Hunan had reached the line of Lizhou and Shimen, preparing to cross the river.

Zhongyong Town in Anqing, after receiving a batch of cotton armor and weapons transferred from Nanjing and Jiangxi, and added a lot of new guns, began to move towards Huguang, but the army did not rush to the south of the Han River where the Qing cavalry plundered. Instead, after walking for three years, the grass was as tall as the north of the Han River. The soldiers cut off the branches with their swords and cleared the weeds, while heading towards Xiangfan.

At the same time, Wang Yan, as the regent, mobilized soldiers from Zhejiang and Jiangxi in the name of the imperial court, to gather in Zhenjiang opposite Yangzhou. Liu Shun's Zhongwu Town was already ready, just far behind Zheng Chenggong in Fujian. , I can't catch up for a while.

Unlike the attack on Nanjing this year, when hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers gathered, the ranks of the troops assembled this time were significantly lower. Nearly half of the troops were newly surrendered soldiers this year. The loss is too great, like Li Guo's loyalty, Jin Shenghuan is basically miserable.

Wang Yan has gathered 8 troops. Although he is not very elite, he is still bound to win Yangzhou.

Yangzhou has a very special meaning to Wang Yan and the Yangzhou branch of the Five Zhong Army. They will return home only after taking down Yangzhou.

The [-] Ming troops that hastily gathered were not all elites, but the dejected Qing army in Yangzhou was not very capable of fighting. What's more, when Boluo and Hong Chengchou were defending Nanjing, Duoduo was worried that there would be insufficient Eight Banners in the city, so Most of the Eight Banners soldiers in Jiangbei were sent to Nanjing. Although the Qing army in Jiangbei had a large number, but there were not enough Eight Banners to suppress them, Wang Yan had sufficient confidence.

On December 5000th, the Ming army began to carry the first batch of more than [-] people across the Yangtze River. Duoduo stood in the south of Yangzhou City and looked out with a telescope. Yangzhou is really the place where his fate is entangled.

(End of this chapter)