Wherever Zhu Hongyu passed, almost all the prisoners of war knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Zhu Hongyu to show their submission.
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty shouted in unison.
"Wan Sheng!"
"Wan Sheng!"
"Wan Sheng!"
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious! Long live His Royal Highness the Jianguo!"
Thousands of troops arrived, cheering loudly.
Looking around with sharp eyes, Zhu Hongyu raised his right hand high. After everyone quieted down at his signal, Zhu Hongyu spoke loudly.
"When you surrender before the battle, you have merit and no fault. Let the past be forgotten!"
Obviously, Zhu Hongyu said this to those Qing troops who had surrendered.
Zhu Hongyu made a promise like this in public, which undoubtedly could appease those worried Qing troops to surrender their troops.
In this way, it will be more convenient for the Ming army to manage prisoners of war!
These prisoners of war received Zhu Hongyu's promise and knew that they would most likely not be killed, so they would naturally be more obedient when being managed.
After all, it is better to die than live. Didn't they surrender just to survive?
If you want these Qing troops to surrender and be obedient, you have to give them some hope!
A Qing soldier who surrendered kowtowed in the direction of Zhu Hongyu and shouted thanks.
"We would like to thank His Majesty the Supervisor for not killing me!"
"We would like to thank His Majesty the Supervisor for not killing me!"
"..."
Zhu Hongyu just nodded slightly, got on his horse again, waved his riding whip lightly, and left gracefully.
The main purpose of his appearance on the battlefield is to appease these surrendering soldiers!
…
"How is it? Where are the Qing troops fleeing to now?"
Zhu Hongyu wiped his face with a hot towel. He enjoyed the feeling of steam steaming from the towel and opening the pores on his face.
Zhang Meng on the side said.
"Reporting to Your Highness, I saw the direction in which the prisoners fled. They should be heading towards Zhenjiang."
Zhu Hongyu nodded slightly and continued to wipe his hands with a hot towel.
After wiping his hands clean, Zhu Hongyu took a piece of compressed dry food from the eunuch on the side, broke off a small piece, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it carefully.
His eyes narrowed, as if he was tasting the taste of compressed dry food.
After all, they are still marching, and Zhu Hongyu's food will not be any different from that of ordinary soldiers.
He's too lazy to bother, just eat some compressed dry food to cushion it!
Zhu Hongyu said.
"Command the army to continue advancing towards Zhenjiang after receiving the prisoners of war!"
"No matter what, we must annihilate all the Qing captives on the south bank of the Yangtze River!"
Zheng Chenggong on the side heard this and spoke.
"Don't worry, Your Highness, our Ming Dynasty Navy has blocked the Yangtze River, and the Qing captives will definitely not be able to cross the river."
Zhu Hongyu nodded slightly, as if to express his agreement.
The Ming army spent half a day collecting prisoners of war near Jiangyin and recovering their physical strength.
During this process, the Ming army obtained a lot of supplies from the transport fleet floating on the Yangtze River.
In addition to various guns and ammunition, there are also a large number of winter clothes for keeping warm, as well as food, meat, etc. needed by the army.
The quantity is quite huge!
Even though the Ming Dynasty mobilized people from nearby Jiangyin to help carry it, it took half a day to unload everything.
Because these winter clothes and food were not only needed by the Ming army, but also by the prisoners of war of the Qing army.
When Tuhai evacuated Jiaxing, in order not to leave supplies to the Ming Dynasty, he took away everything he could and burned everything he could not take.
So much so that the Ming army had to worry about food and winter clothes for prisoners of war!
But there is nothing he can do about it. Zhu Hongyu can't say that he doesn't care about those prisoners of war, can he?
After all, that’s a labor force of over 100,000 people!
Not to mention that many of them are veterans with rich battlefield experience. With a little training, they can be dragged to the battlefield to fight.
Therefore, Zhu Hongyu was still very concerned about those prisoners of war.
The surrendered civilians must be resettled, and the green camp soldiers must be dispersed and reorganized in preparation for training them into the rebel army.
…
In the twentieth year of Yongli, on the twenty-second day of the first lunar month, Zhenjiang!
The Qing army had just arrived at Zhenjiang City and started repairing it. Within half a day at most, the Ming army's pursuers had already reached the outside of Zhenjiang City.
In the wilderness outside Zhenjiang City, a large black mass of cavalry was galloping.
They blocked all four gates of Zhenjiang City, and the Qing army's cavalry came out of the city to fight. There was a slight contact between the two sides, and the Qing army was defeated and returned.
Of course, it was not that the Qing cavalry could not fight, but because the morale of the Qing army was too low.
Basically it breaks down at the first touch!
There is no resilience at all!
Immediately afterwards, under the desperate gaze of the Qing troops defending the city, the main infantry force of the Ming army slowly appeared.
The well-organized infantrymen were crushing over from the end of sight anyway!
The red armor was pieced together, as bright as burning flames.
Flags representing different organizations appeared at the end of the line of sight, bringing a strong sense of oppression.
However, the most conspicuous thing in the entire wilderness is not these big flags.
It’s the bright yellow banner that stands in the Ming army’s formation!
Under the banner of the great banner, a figure stands.
His clothes were no different from those of the people around him. They were all wearing military uniforms and armor. Looking at him from a distance, he could hardly tell the difference.
What can really reveal Zhu Hongyu's identity are the details on the military uniforms, which cannot be seen from a distance.
Moreover, compared with other people around him, Zhu Hongyu's figure is not particularly tall or tall.
But even so, he stood out among the crowd!
You can tell at a glance that he is the center, the C position.
This is the aura that Zhu Hongyu has at this time. Even if he just stands there and does nothing, no one can cover up his brilliance!
Zhu Hongyu looked at Zhenjiang City in the distance and just waved his hand and ordered.
"Send the order to the army to blockade Zhenjiang City!"
"And start preparing for the siege. We must wipe out all the Qing prisoners in Zhenjiang!"
Following Zhu Hongyu's order, the Ming army began to prepare for an siege.
The main camp was set up on the edge of the Yangtze River, with zigzag trenches heading towards Zhenjiang City.
Large-caliber siege artillery pieces were dismounted from the warships towing on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Transported to the predetermined gun position!
…
After the Ming army arrived in Zhenjiang, they repaired for half a day and then launched an attack on Zhenjiang City without stopping.
The rumbling sound of shelling kicked off the Ming army's attack on Zhenjiang!
Heavy artillery shells fell on the top of Zhenjiang City!
Under the cover of heavy artillery, the Ming army launched an attack.
Amidst the shouts of killing that shook the earth, the Ming army invaded Zhenjiang City.
The flames of war spread rapidly, and the rumbling explosions almost drowned out the cries of killing from soldiers on both sides.
The cavalry of the Ming army galloped outside Zhenjiang City, deterring the Qing army who wanted to escape from the city.
The Qing cavalry tried to break through several times, but they were blocked by the Ming army every time!
It was not the cavalry of the Ming Army that played the greatest role, but the trenches dug in advance for the siege.
The cavalry of the Qing army could not cross the trench, so naturally they could not break through the Ming army's blockade.
The Qing cavalry led by Tu Hai was completely blocked in Zhenjiang City.
The only outcome waiting for them is destruction!
However, what Zhu Hongyu had to admit was that those Eight Banners soldiers who were in a desperate situation were really tenacious in resisting.
It is not an exaggeration to say that one would sacrifice life and forget death!
Although their stubborn resistance will only delay their demise at most.
Of course, although the Eight Banners soldiers performed very bravely, the Mongolians performed more poorly!
Many Mongolian cavalry were fighting for their lives the whole time. When the Ming army came to kill them, they threw away their weapons, knelt on the ground and began to beg for mercy.