Cui Xiuzhu, commander of the Third Division of the Seventh Army, led his troops into Tianjin City.
Except for a few of the Ming troops he encountered, they resisted tenaciously.
He mobilized heavy weapons and sent troops to quickly eliminate these resisting Ming troops.
Most of the Ming troops Cui Xiuzhu encountered surrendered to him.
The Third Division has taken control of the northern area of Tianjin City.
Cui Xiuzhu thought: "The first success in attacking Tianjin City was Zhuang Renyi, and the second division attacked the west city.
Only one city wall was forced, which caused a chain reaction. The Ming army in other places had no fighting spirit.
Only then could they easily break through, allowing the Seventh Army to easily attack Tianjin City.
Now I can only compare my achievements with those of First Division Tan Fangyuan.
My performance in this siege was very good, and there were no points deducted.
The first division's hot air balloon troops were shot down by the Ming army in Tianjin.
This kind of mistake should not be made, but Tan Fangyuan made it. This is a very big deduction.
Taken together, Tan Fangyuan has a high probability of guarding Jizhou."
Most of the Ming army chose to surrender, and the war in Tianjin quickly subsided.
Cui Xiuzhu received news from Li Dazhuang's guard.
The Seventh Army headquarters held a military meeting in the center of Tianjin.
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Li Dazhuang has received reports from each division, visited each unit, and learned about the situation of each division's attack on Tianjin.
He called all the officers of the three divisions over for a meeting.
Li Dazhuang directly laid the map on the table in front of him.
"We have conquered Tianjin City, and all the Ming army that resisted have been wiped out by our army. Tianjin City has been handed over to the garrison.
We have rested here in Tianjin for half a month. This time we attack Tianjin, the fighting is not too fierce.
The morale of each army is very high and there is no need for further repairs.
We directly sent troops to capture Jizhou and Tongzhou.
Jizhou's geographical location is very important. It guards the enemy forces in the direction of Shanhaiguan and Zunhua.
The Ming army in Liaodong has been basically drained by the Ming court.
The Ming court has also negotiated peace with Jiannu, and it is very likely that the Eight Banners cavalry will rush out from Shanhaiguan.
Jizhou must be heavily defended to buy enough time for the main force to make military adjustments."
After Li Dazhuang finished talking about the importance of occupying Jizhou, he looked at Tan Fangyuan, Zhuang Renyi, and finally stopped at Cui Xiuzhu.
"The task of capturing Jizhou will be assigned to the third division.
I made it clear before the war started that in this attack on Tianjin City, the Third Division's performance was quite satisfactory and it did not make any great achievements.
The second division made the greatest contribution, directly attacking Tianjin City.
The First Division sent elite troops, and with the cooperation of the people inside Tianjin City, they took control of Zhu Dadian and made the Ming army in the city surrender to us."
Cui Xiuzhu heard the army commander's introduction and learned about the achievements of the 1st and 2nd Divisions.
In the face of these two achievements, the performance of the third division was indeed not outstanding.
The second division directly attacked Tianjin City. This was definitely the first success and no one could question it.
The First Division sent elite troops to control Zhu Dadian and made the Ming army in the city surrender, which reduced the casualties of the Qin army.
Cui Xiuzhu was convinced that he stood up and made his request while saluting the military salute.
"Commander, most of the ammunition and food in the battalion must be given to our third division.
Most of the Ming troops in Jizhou were eliminated by Tongzhou.
It is not difficult to capture Jizhou at all, but Jizhou is likely to be surrounded by heavy enemy troops.
Defending Jizhou requires a large amount of food, weapons and ammunition."
When Li Dazhuang heard this request, he smiled and said: "Your request is not too harsh, so I will agree to it.
The navy has a lot of supplies, which will be delivered in a while. You should try to bring as much supplies as possible to the camp.
Tianjin City will next become a material transfer station.
If we want to make full use of these captured Ming troops, there is no problem in serving them as coolies.
Ammunition was left to the logistics troops for transportation, and these Ming army prisoners were allowed to transport grain, grass and guns.
When you leave this time, select some Ming army prisoners to transport supplies."
Cui Xiuzhu obtained Li Dazhuang's permission, and he immediately arranged logistics troops to select Ming army prisoners and transport most of the military supplies in the camp.
The soldiers of the Third Division were still immersed in the victory of capturing Tianjin.
Cui Xiuzhu handed over the defense area controlled by the Third Division to the garrison.
He led the third division to escort the logistics troops out of the city and went straight to Jizhou in the north of Tianjin.
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When Li Dazhuang saw Cui Xiuzhu leaving with his troops, he immediately asked the first and second divisions to prepare.
The Seventh Army will wait until the navy delivers the ammunition, and then they will set off immediately and follow the waterway to Tongzhou.
The navy also moved very quickly, occupying Tianjin two days later.
Pan Hongcai Zhu, with a smile on his face, approached the Seventh Army headquarters with a young man.
"Welcome Admiral Zhang to visit our Seventh Army. This is Li Dazhuang, Commander of the Seventh Army."
When Li Dazhuang heard Pan Hongcai's words, he knew who this person was.
He immediately walked over, shook hands with Zhang Wanfeng and said: "Admiral Zhang, the arrival of your navy is really timely.
Without the ammunition brought by the navy, I don’t know how long we will be held back by Tianjin City.”
Zhang Wanfeng said politely: "We are both Qin soldiers, so we should help each other.
I have a small request. In order to facilitate the transportation of supplies, please ask the Seventh Army to help our navy build a simple dock at Dagukou.
I heard from Li Ran Zhu Shi that you are going to attack Tongzhou.
From Tianjin, you can take a boat directly to Tongzhou by borrowing the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
Do the ships of the Seventh Army have enough? Our navy has some small boats that can travel in the inland rivers."
Among the small boats of the Seventh Army, a small number are the warships of the Zheng family, and most of them are ships captured by attacking the Ming Dynasty Navy along the way.
These ships could be driven by just a few people, so Zhang Wanfeng did not abandon them.
When Li Dazhuang heard this, he was extremely grateful and said: "We are short of ships and thank the navy for its help.
With the assistance of the Navy, this battle of our Seventh Army will become much easier.
Please don't worry about the dock. We have captured so many Ming troops and we can't let them eat for free.
Just send some prisoners to build a dock at Dagukou."
Li Dazhuang and Zhang Wanfeng decided on these things, and they talked about many things.
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Shi Daxuan piloted the ship and walked on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
Many soldiers of the Seventh Army were on both sides of the canal, using huge ropes to drag the transport ship forward.
Zhang Wanfeng lamented: “Inland water transport is far inferior to sea transport.
I have been sailing on the sea for a long time. The scale of shipping is large and it will not be affected by the dry season.
The transportation quality of southern water systems such as the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers is not as good as that of maritime transport, let alone water systems in the north.
I had learned about the role of trackers in books before, and it was the first time I saw trackers in reality.
It’s really troublesome to transport supplies this way.”
Li Dazhuang was very happy and said: "Admiral Zhang, having a canal to transport supplies is the best transportation condition.
If you take the land route to transport these supplies, it will take even longer.
Thanks to the ships provided by your navy, our Seventh Army can transport the supplies in one trip.
Otherwise, with our small boats, we would need to make several round trips, which would consume more time."
Li Dazhuang didn't know much about shipping, and unlike Zhang Wanfeng, he looked down on canal transportation.
This has always been the case with the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
It also feeds and helps hundreds of thousands of people.
Especially now that it is March, it is the dry season.
The water flow in the canal is insufficient, and the draft of the transport ship is deep, so the ship moves upstream.
If you encounter an obvious uphill slope, you can only rely on trackers to drag it.
Now that the North Zhili War has begun, the Seventh Army directly cuts off the canal.
There are no boats on the canal, and the trackers are hiding in their homes and dare not come out.
Li Dazhuang asked Tan Fangyuan to lead the first division to attack along the canal and wipe out the Ming army on both sides of the canal.
The second division acted as trackers, responsible for towing transport ships.
Pan Hongcai stayed in Tianjin to select prisoners, and when the next batch of transport ships arrived, the Ming prisoners would serve as trackers.
Li Dazhuang and Zhang Wanfeng were walking on the bank of the canal. He asked, "Can Admiral Zhang know how to ride a horse? Let's ride to Tongzhou City."
Zhang Wanfeng immediately replied: "It's okay to ride a horse on a normal journey, but I can't fight on a horse."
Li Dazhuang asked the guards to bring over two horses. These were strong war horses bred by the Mongols.
The two of them got on their horses and rushed towards Tongzhou City.
The two chatted while walking, and Li Dazhuang introduced some things about the northern battlefield to Zhang Wanfeng.
Zhang Wanfeng introduced to Li Dazhuang what he knew about the situation on the southern battlefield.
Li Dazhuang expressed his gratitude: "Admiral Zhang led the navy and risked his life to transport supplies to us.
I don’t even know what to use to thank you?”
Zhang Wanfeng asked with a confused look: "Why did Commander Li say this?
The Third Fleet can easily open up the north-south route, but the Ming Navy's combat effectiveness is very weak.
In addition to catching colds, our Third Fleet lost three soldiers.
Not a single soldier died during the journey from Fujian to Beizhili."
Zhang Wanfeng explained immediately.
Li Dazhuang was very familiar with Qin Wang Suhe.
If this matter is not explained clearly, one day Li Dazhuang discussed these matters with King Su He of Qin.
What Li Dazhuang said conflicted with what he reported.
If something like this happens, you are asking for trouble. How will King Qin Su He view himself as a person?
When Li Dazhuang heard Zhang Wanfeng's explanation, he said in surprise: "After Tianjin was captured, I saw a merchant selling shoes.
It is already spring, and there are still many soldiers in our Seventh Army wearing cotton boots.
I bought a large number of cloth shoes and took the opportunity to chat with the merchant.
They rushed from Guangdong to Tianjin and sailed on the ocean for a long time.
Many sailors suddenly experienced physical deterioration.
I know some businessmen who have this situation on their ships."
When Zhang Wanfeng heard what Li Dazhuang said, he remembered that he interrogated the Xiyi people himself.
They also said that when sailing at sea for a long time, the crew will randomly break out of a disease known as the evil god of the sea.
At first, the face looks pale, the gums bleed, then the teeth fall out, the skin becomes bruised, and the person dies soon.
The navy is very afraid that they are being targeted by this disease.
It has been deduced from experience that this disease is not an infectious disease, but its cause has never been known.
Now that there is a definite situation, Zhang Wanfeng must investigate clearly.
Once this problem is solved, the navy will not have to worry about long-distance voyages.
Zhang Wanfeng immediately held up his hands and said: "Thank you, Commander Li, for reminding me. This issue is very important to our navy.
I will arrange for someone to investigate this issue in detail."
Li Dazhuang smiled and cupped his hands, watching Zhang Wanfeng leave.
He led the guard regiment to speed up the march and catch up with Tan Fangyuan's troops in front.
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4333 (the ninth year of Chongzhen), April 25th.
Li Dazhuang led the Seventh Army to the outside of Tongzhou City.
He immediately asked Tan Fangyuan to surround Tongzhou City.
Li Dazhuang saw that the four gates of Tongzhou City were closed tightly, and he looked like he was preparing for the attack.
"The cavalry regiments have been asked to clear our marching route along the way.
No detective horses sent by Tongzhou City were found.
The general guarding Tongzhou City is a capable person and can detect the movements of our army in advance."
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In Tongzhou City, the imperial eunuch Cao Huachun was in charge of military affairs.
During this period, Cao Huachun was in a bad mood and Tongzhou was in trouble.
Xuanfu was captured by thieves in yellow, and a large army of thieves in yellow garrisoned Changping Prefecture.
They sent cavalry to constantly harass the capital, and one cavalry unit harassed Tongzhou for several days.
Before the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was cut off, a large amount of grain and grass was stored in Tongzhou.
During this period, the capital was short of food, and Tongzhou had to transport grain to the capital.
The cavalry of thieves in yellow attacked the troops transporting grain several times, and Tongzhou could no longer transport grain to the capital.
They also sent troops to attack the cavalry of the yellow-robed thieves at any time, but suffered heavy losses every time, and they were almost charged into Tongzhou City by the yellow-robed thieves' cavalry.
Knowing the strength of the thieves in yellow, Cao Huachun no longer dared to send troops out of the city.
Cao Huachun saw the defender of Tongzhou City, the British prince Zhang Shize, walking in with a panic look on his face.
"What happened? Could it be that the cavalry of the thieves in yellow are attacking again.
Don’t worry, the cavalry can’t attack the city.”
Zhang Shize said with a bitter face: "The large army of thieves in yellow have surrounded Tongzhou City.
They are thieves in yellow clothes who came from the direction of Tianjin.
Tianjin City has been captured by thieves in yellow clothes, and even Tongzhou cannot defend it.
The capital has become an isolated city, how could the situation develop to this point?"
Zhang Shize was already a little desperate. With his rudimentary military knowledge, he could sense that the Ming Dynasty was about to end.
When Cao Huachun heard the news, he immediately stood up from his chair.
"Zhajia wants to take a look at the city wall."
Cao Huachun stood on the city wall and saw that Tongzhou City had been surrounded by yellow-robed thieves. This was the main force of the yellow-robed thieves.
The cannons that the thieves in yellow are best at, hundreds of thick muzzles, have been aimed at Tongzhou City.
Cao Huachun felt a sense of powerlessness, and he just muttered silently: "Your Majesty, this old slave must be loyal to the Ming Dynasty."
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When Li Dazhuang heard the news, he immediately rushed out of the camp.
"What did you say? There is a cavalry attacking us.
The Ming Dynasty's cavalry dared to attack us.
Immediately prepare the machine guns and gather the 75 artillery pieces in the army. This kind of rapid-fire artillery is very effective against the cavalry."
The officers and soldiers of the Seventh Army were in full swing, building their positions and waiting for the cavalry to hit them.
The Seventh Army was stationed on the grassland and saw the performance of cavalry under machine guns and artillery.
They were not afraid of the cavalry at all and were calmly prepared to deal with the cavalry attack.
Tan Fangyuan stared at the cavalry through binoculars.
"The state of combat readiness has been cancelled. The cavalry division is coming. I know the officer leading the troops. This is a friendly force."
Tan Fangyuan approached the Seventh Army headquarters with a Mongolian man.
When he saw Li Dazhuang, he immediately performed a military salute and said: "Battle pays homage to Commander Li."
"Battle, if you are not in Tongliao, how come you are here in Tongzhou."
Li Dazhuang was very familiar with the Mongolian Battelle.
When he was stationed in Baotou, Battelle's cavalry division often assisted him in attacking Mongolian tribes.
Battle told Li Dazhuang about the experiences of their cavalry division and the Fourth Army.
