At the same time, Li Dingguo also led his troops back to Mengla and deployed troops on the Sino-Burmese border to threaten Yunnan.
If a conflict breaks out between Ming Dynasty and Wu Sangui, Li Dingguo can send troops into Yunnan at any time to contain Wu Sangui from the flanks.
Of course, the current situation in the world, whether Wu Sangui or Li Dingguo, is just a corner.
What can really determine the direction of the world's situation is actually this large-scale decisive battle in Jiangnan.
…
It snowed heavily for two days!
The entire Taihu Lake turned into a vast expanse of white.
The sun shines on the snow, and the crystal ice and snow reflect the dazzling light.
After the snow stopped, the war broke out again!
After two days of repairs, the Ming army regained its physical strength and morale.
However, just as the Ming army was preparing to attack again, the Qing army took the initiative to kill them.
Amid the earth-shattering shouts of killing, the Qing troops surged up like a tide.
"Kill!"
"Fire!"
"Kill the enemy!"
"..."
The fighting broke out instantly.
Facing the Qing army's active attack, the Ming army was still prepared to adopt its original tactics.
First, passive defense. After the Qing army's energy is exhausted and the offensive slows down, they will then use superior strength to concentrate on a breakthrough.
However, the war had just begun when Zhu Hongyu noticed something unusual.
The Qing army's offensive is abnormal!
In this attack, the Qing army used a lot of troops, and it was completely dark at first glance.
But the offensive intensity is very insufficient!
Zhu Hongyu raised his telescope and looked in the direction of the battlefield. He clearly found that many of the attacking Qing troops did not even have military uniforms.
Surprisingly, most of the people were wearing regular uniforms, with only a small number of soldiers wearing green camp uniforms mixed in here and there.
Judging from their performance, they look like they are supervising the battle!
Not a single Eight Banners soldier showed up!
Zhu Hongyu judged it very clearly.
"Qinglu is asking the Green Camp to supervise the battle and the civilian men to charge on the battlefield."
"Isn't the main force of the Qing army trying to escape?!"
It can only be said that Zhu Hongyu's judgment was very accurate. As soon as he finished speaking, he saw something strange happening in the Qing army camp.
Groups of Qing cavalry roared out, but they did not fight towards the battlefield, but went straight north.
Behind these cavalry, groups of infantry came out of the camp and headed straight north.
A raging fire broke out in the Qing army's camp, as the Qing army was burning the food, grass and baggage that could not be taken away.
Now, the intention of the Qing army is very clear, they want to run away!
The calmness on Zhu Hongyu's face disappeared.
But he did not panic because he knew that the Qing army could not escape!
Before the war, Zhu Hongyu's positioning for the decisive battle in Jiangnan was to annihilate the main force of the Qing army going south in Jiangnan.
In other words, if he could not completely wipe out the Qing army, but let the main force of the Qing army escape across the river.
To a certain extent, the Ming army lost half of this decisive battle.
The reason why it is said that half is lost, not all!
That's because no matter what, in this battle, the Ming army successfully repelled the main force of the Qing army that invaded the south, and even captured the entire Jiangnan.
It's just that the strategic goal has not been fully achieved, so naturally it cannot be considered a total loss.
But even so, in Zhu Hongyu's view, as long as the Ming army failed to completely wipe out the main force of the Qing army, it would not be considered a success.
And the reason why he was so sure that the Qing army couldn't escape!
That's because he has sent out the navy in advance!
If the Qing army wants to withdraw from the south of the Yangtze River, they must cross the Yangtze River.
However, Zhu Hongyu had already dispatched the Ming army's navy in advance and entered the Yangtze River, preparing to block the Qing army's return journey.
In other words, the Qing army is now trapped in Jiangnan by Zhu Hongyu!
Even if Zhu Hongyu lets the Qing army run for a few days, the Qing army will not be able to cross the Yangtze River even if it reaches it!
When the Ming army's follow-up troops arrived, those Qing troops would still be annihilated.
It’s just that the battlefield has changed from the shores of Taihu Lake to the banks of the Yangtze River!
That's all!
Therefore, Zhu Hongyu was really not in a hurry when he saw the Qing army escaping.
He ordered in a calm tone.
"Ignore the fleeing Qing army for now, fighting the current war well is the top priority!"
Two to three hundred thousand civilians is not a small number!
To eat and digest these 200,000 to 300,000 people in one bite was a very important matter for the Ming Dynasty, which was experiencing a labor shortage.
…
Tuhai rode away, and the soldier beside him, Geshiha, swung his whip and urged the horse to speed up.
Groups of Qing cavalry headed north toward Suzhou.
The Qing army passed through Suzhou and Wuxi without rest, and then headed for Jiangyin.
I want to cross the river from Jiangyin and return to Jiangbei from Jiangnan.
In the process, the Ming army quickly captured the civilian husband who was abandoned by the Qing army on the battlefield, and then launched a pursuit of the Qing army.
The pursuers of the Ming army did not attack the main force of the Qing army, but continued to harass them.
Cutting off the Qing army's strength bit by bit, letting parts of the Qing army break away from the Qing army's main formation, constantly dividing the Qing army's strength, and eating it up bit by bit.
Continuously bleed the Qing troops fleeing north!
More and more Qing troops were annihilated, or simply threw away their weapons and surrendered to the Ming army.
More Qing troops collapsed and fled, becoming stragglers and no longer posing a threat to the Ming army.
In the process of fleeing north, the Qing army lost at least half its weight.
When they originally withdrew from Jiaxing and headed north, the Qing army still had approximately 160,000 to 70,000 troops.
But after the Qing army retreated all the way north to Jiangyin, only 60,000 to 70,000 people were left.
Of course, among those 100,000 people, not many were actually annihilated and captured by the Ming army!
Most of them broke up during the retreat northward and became scattered troops, unable to concentrate.
After the decisive battle, the Ming army was very busy in order to clear out these guerrillas!
Tuhai stood by the Majiang River and looked back at the miserable Qing troops behind him, with most of their numbers reduced. His face was full of exhaustion.
An army of more than 200,000 people, known to the outside world as 500,000, marched south in a mighty manner.
How long does it take!
Of the 200,000-strong army, only 60,000 to 70,000 were left, and they fled in disgrace.
The only thing that made Tuhai feel somewhat relieved was that most of the Eight Banners soldiers in the Southern Expedition were preserved, except for those who died on the battlefield.
During the retreat to the north, those who were annihilated or dispersed by the Ming army were basically the Green Camp soldiers.
For Tuhai, this can be considered a blessing among misfortunes.
Looking at the endless river in front of him, Tu Hai said with melancholy.
"Now the army has retreated to the north of the Yangtze River in embarrassment. I don't know when I want to counterattack the south of the Yangtze River again in the future!"
More than half of the more than 200,000 troops were defeated, which was definitely a heartbreaking thing for the Qing Dynasty today.
At the very least, within a short period of two or three years, the Qing government will not be able to counterattack Jiangnan!
For today's Qing court, this decisive battle in the south of the Yangtze River is similar to the Battle of Saarhu in the late Ming Dynasty.
After the Saarhu, the elite Ming army suffered heavy losses and lost the strategic initiative in Liaodong!
After the Battle of Jiangnan, the Qing army suffered heavy losses among its elite and lost its strategic initiative in Jiangnan.