nanming man

Chapter 552 Bloody Battle at Guazhou Ferry
When the Qing army wanted to cross the river to attack Nanjing, the most likely places to cross the river were Baiqiaodu in Hezhou and Guazhoudu in Yangzhou.

Both of these places are large ferries that allow the army to cross the river quickly.

Crossing the river to fight is not an easy task. If too few people cross the river at one time, they will not be able to gain a foothold on the south bank, and they will easily be wiped out by the troops on the south bank.

Therefore, if the Qing army wanted to cross the river, it had to occupy a large ferry and send a large number of troops across the river at one time.

After Azige came to Yangzhou, he coveted Yangzhou's prosperity, so he decided to attack Yangzhou first.

Yangzhou is an important town in the north of the Yangtze River. In addition to its important military status, its commercial status is also important because of its superior geographical location.

The richest people in the south of the Yangtze River are basically gathered in Yangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. Among them, the Lianghuai salt merchants who live in Yangzhou are the richest people in the world. Jia, the money in the city is more than tens of millions.

Facing such a city with huge wealth, the Qing army naturally coveted Yangzhou City.

Therefore, Azige assembled large soldiers and urged the rebels to attach themselves to the city, and wanted to take down Yangzhou City. However, the Yangzhou defenders were stubborn, and the Qing army died and injured thousands of people, but they failed to capture the city.

The huge casualties in the siege forced Azig to change his strategy.

Seeing that there was a steady stream of reinforcements from the south of the Yangtze River coming to the north of the Yangtze River, he immediately decided to capture the ferry along the river first and cut off the connection between the north and the south.

The Qing army was divided into multiple groups, and Nikan led the army to attack Hezhou and take Baiqiao to cross, but Nikan encountered fierce resistance from Huang Degong in Hezhou.

Nikan reported to Azige that Huang Degong possessed a large number of firearms and it was difficult to seize Baiqiaodu. Azige was about to attack Yangzhou again and sent rebels to attack Guazhoudu.

Guazhou is located at the estuary of the Grand Canal, and it is a key place to control the canal and the Yangtze River. The fall of Guazhou means that Yangzhou City is in a desperate situation of isolation and helplessness.

At this time, there were many gaps in the Jiangbei defense line, and even Liuhe opposite Nanjing fell into the hands of the Qing army. The Qing army controlled several small ferries and some ships, but their delivery capabilities were limited and the situation was still controllable.

The fall of Guazhou Ferry has a completely different meaning. It not only indicates that Yangzhou is isolated and helpless, but also indicates that the Qing army has obtained a large ferry. As long as there are enough ships, it can send thousands of soldiers and horses. The south bank poses a huge threat, and it also poses a considerable threat to Nanjing.

When Zhu Cihong got the news, he immediately ordered the Ming army to retake Guazhoudu at all costs.

Outside Zhenjiang City, the Ming army camp, thousands of soldiers ready to go.

The Imperial Army newly recruited by the imperial court was really useless, and they praised the Japanese army for fighting bravely, but after all, they fought fiercely with the Qing army for ten days for the first time, losing troops and generals, but failed to take back Guazhou.

The supervisor, He Tengjiao, could only call in a few other troops to come for reinforcements.

The north wind was cold, and the wilderness outside Zhenjiang City was also covered with graves. When the strong wind blew, paper money was flying all over the sky.

After a one-month battle, many wounded soldiers were transported back to the south bank, but because they could not receive good medical treatment, they died one by one. Thousands of people were buried outside the city, and tens of thousands of corpses were thrown in Jiangbei.

In Zhenjiang City, many families had their relatives killed in battle, and the whole city was filled with sobs and heart-piercing cries.

In the era of cold weapons, areas with a more economical economy have lower desire for war, and lower tolerance for the trauma caused by war.

The huge casualties brought about by the war shocked the people in the south of the Yangtze River, shook their confidence, and had doubts about whether they could hold Jiangfang.

More than ten days ago, people from all over the world were still actively helping Jiangbei. However, after a large number of officers and soldiers died in battle, the people did not wait for the news of victory, but they waited for news of the death of their relatives. After failing to defeat the Qing army, the common people and gentry were a little scared and a little desperate.

This time, the soldiers on the school grounds were not inspected by their supervisors, presented no flags, and had no rhetoric. All the troops fought silently on the school grounds, without the enthusiasm of the first batch of people crossing the river.

When the soldiers lined up on the school field, in He Tengjiao's big tent, several officers were discussing how to take back Guazhou.

He Tengjiao was sitting on the grand teacher's chair, feeling a little depressed. He said after a while, "Jiangbei has been fighting for nearly four months. The government and army have been defeated in a row and lost a large area of ​​territory. The army has not won for a while. Reduced, the imperial court really needs a victory to inspire the morale of the army and the people. This time, you must take back Guazhoudu and revive the morale of the people."

There are several generals standing in the hall, including Qianhu Zheng Sen of the Jiangshui Division, Wang Yan of the Japanese Army, Gao Yiyu of the Hunan Army guerrilla, and Gao Chengxun of the Wei Wu Army.

After the Battle of Yuezhou, Gao Yifu fled to Changsha, and was immediately imprisoned as a spy. He was supposed to be charged with collaborating with the enemy, but when Du Yinxi was handling official business, he discovered his files, and things started to happen turnaround.

Du Yinxi was acquainted with Yang Wenyue, he kept Gao Yizhen, and was going to let Gao Yizhen go to Guangdong and Guangxi to join Yang Wenyue, but he didn't want the war to break out, so Du Yinxi kept him, promoted him, and asked him to take the lead. He came to serve the king with troops and horses.

When He Tengjiao transferred his troops, he saw a reinforcement from Changsha on the documents of the Ministry of War, so he transferred Gao Yijiao.

As for Gao Chengxun, it was also He Tengjiao who found out in the official document, and also transferred him without hesitation.

After He Tengjiao finished speaking, Wang Yan said: "There are three thousand rebels on Guazhoudu, and there is also a Niulu Eight Banners stationed. They are very cunning. They will retreat to the rear when the naval bombardment is over. Charge out again. The other [-] Eight Banners soldiers are very powerful. I hold three Japanese soldiers, and I am not an opponent of the Eight Banners! This time you attack the city, you must not take it lightly."

Everyone in the tent looked solemn, but Gao Chengxun said with a sneer: "There are only three hundred Tartars. If they meet my Wei Wujun, they will definitely kill every single one of them."

Gao Chengxun has more than 300 brothers under his command, and he transferred from the infantry to the navy. He has this confidence.

Wang Yan didn't like Wei Wujun at all, but when he heard Gao Chengxun's words, he immediately became angry. Is Wei Wujun amazing? Is Gao Yihuan's people so uneducated? Blood is exchanged for experience, if you don't take it seriously, you will suffer!"

Gao Chengxun said, "I don't take it seriously, it's because of this strength."

Wang Yan was furious, but He Tengjiao waved his hand and said: "Okay. It's a mule or a horse, and we will see the difference on the battlefield. Guazhou Ferry is right in front of us. I will wait and see. Don't let me down. Remember, the court needs it too much." A victory."

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(End of this chapter)