"That minister plans to go to the War Bureau immediately." Zhong Jinwei demanded.
Emperor Chongzhen nodded first, then shook his head and said: "Master Zhong has been coming back from the long journey day and night, so he had better go and rest first!"
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he gratefully replied: "This time the chaos in Jiangnan is being quelled, the new army must try its best to make full use of the military equipment of the Ming Dynasty. I can only rest at ease after I go to see the war bureau."
Since Zhong Jinwei made such a request, Emperor Chongzhen would naturally not stop it.
When the new army arrived at the capital, Zhong Jinwei had already recovered. Time waits for no one. After the new army replenished their weapons and ammunition, they passed the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and rushed to the south of the Yangtze River day and night.
We did not go to all the car camps this time, because the car camps are relatively bulky and not suitable for the terrain of Jiangnan Water Town with crisscrossed rivers. Moreover, the rainy season in the Jiangnan area is also coming, and most places do not have cement roads, so we went to the car camp.
It will just be useless.
Nearly 3,000 fusiliers and more than 500 field artillery, as well as 1,000 elites of the Fifth Army Battalion and 500 soldiers of the Death Battalion, formed this quelling force.
In the past, some courtiers had proposed that the Beijing camp go south. However, no one guaranteed that the Hongyi rebellion would be quelled if the Beijing camp went. The capital was empty, the war in Liaodong was unknown, and the movements of the rebels were unknown. Therefore, in the end,
The Beijing camp did not risk going south.
But now that Zhong Jinwei is back, all these worries are gone. Zhong Jinwei has transferred part of the Beijing camp on the basis of the new army, so there is no problem.
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal had been cleared in advance, so the ships transporting the new army had a smooth journey and headed south of the Yangtze River in a mighty manner.
When the fleet passed Yangzhou, Zhong Jinwei stood on the bow and couldn't help but sigh slightly. This prosperous city, a paradise for the rich, and a place where the famous Yangzhou thin horse spends a lot of money to show off its ostentation and ostentation, now looks particularly depressed.
The two sides of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal should have been a particularly prosperous area due to the convenient transportation. But now there are not many pedestrians. Except for some passers-by in a hurry, there are more soldiers and government officials on patrol.
When they saw such a huge fleet, loaded with soldiers in strange military uniforms, coming down from north to south, they couldn't help but stop and watch.
The new sergeants on duty on the deck did not look around, point, talk and laugh just because they had arrived in Yangzhou, which they had never been to before. They were all on duty strictly and performed their duties meticulously.
Even ordinary people who don't understand military affairs can tell that this army is unusual when they see such sergeants on every bow ship. They must be elites transferred from the north by the imperial court.
Some passers-by who traveled north and south, or those who had read newspapers, were overjoyed and surprised to show their extensive knowledge to their companions and strangers.
"It's the new army of the imperial court. Our most elite army of the Ming Dynasty has finally arrived."
"Couldn't it be the army that brought down all the Jianlu and puppet capitals?"
"Isn't there a second new army? I'll teach you how to be a good boy. Look at the uniforms. They are so strange. They are the only new army of Marquis Zhongxing."
"Zhongxinghou? Is he the legendary Zhongxinghou who descended from the gods?"
"That's right, we specialize in recruiting barbarians. We not only recruit Jian barbarians, but also Western barbarians. Now the red barbarians are in trouble!"
"..."
Words like this immediately spread on both sides of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the somewhat sleepy ancient towns suddenly regained their vitality and began to talk about the new army passing by.
Of course, there are also those who are skeptical about the new army's combat effectiveness.
"Why are you here now? Isn't it because you are afraid of Hongyi?"
"What do you know? There are rebels in the north who can leave at will!"
"Don't forget, most people from the north are landlubbers. How can they fight when they come to the south of the Yangtze River? Do you still remember Cao Wei's southern campaign against Sun Wu..."
"That makes sense. You haven't seen it before. Hongyi's ship is powerful and powerful, but the Jianlu from the north can't compare with it. I said..."
"..."
Slowly, these remarks even gained the upper hand, because the people in Jiangnan had not personally experienced the power of Jianlu, but they had seen the power of Hongyi. Therefore, they were not very sure whether the new army could defeat Hongyi.
.
But no matter what, the arrival of the new army somewhat boosted their confidence. Watching the fleet slowly disappearing, the people of Yangzhou all hoped that the new army could win the battle and drive away the Hongyi as soon as possible.
Their expectations for the new army were just that. To annihilate the Hongyi, it was impossible no matter how you thought about it.
The fleet passed Yangzhou and after walking for a while, someone from the local government stopped them because it was no longer safe to go further.
Although the large ships of the Western Yi could not enter the canal, many small pirate ships had no problem. Relying on the power of their red-haired masters and seeing the incompetence of the guard army, the pirates were very bold.
, has entered the canal and robbed many times.
The new troops began to disembark as a group, without any noise or panic, in order and in an elite manner.
The Factory Guard Marquis had been here for a long time. As soon as he saw the fleet arriving, he immediately asked to see Zhongxing Marquis.
Zhong Jinwei frowned as he listened to the factory guard's report on the military situation.
Zhenjiang is at the junction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, and is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River.
After the Dutch occupied Zhenjiang, they sent pirate ships to block the waters in this area. If the new army wanted to attack the Dutch stationed in Zhenjiang, they had to take a detour and cross the Yangtze River.
But firstly, the Ming Dynasty's ships in the Yangtze River were basically sunk or captured by the joint fleet of the Dutch and pirates. Secondly, the waters patrolled by pirate ships were very wide.
Even if Zhong Jinwei wanted to take a detour to cross the Yangtze River, it would be difficult. As for using a canal boat to cross the Yangtze River, Zhong Jinwei had never thought about it. If he really wanted to do that, he would be mentally ill.
At this time, it was getting late, so Zhong Jinwei ordered to choose a place to station, and at the same time sent the "Perak" brigade to investigate the situation.
But here comes the problem again. The people in the "Perak" brigade are all selected from the soldiers in the north. Not many of them can swim. Now they are on a mission in the south of the Yangtze River, which is a bit confusing.
At this time, the benefits brought by Zheng Zhilong became apparent. He immediately reported to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Marquis, the general has some brothers in this area. You can let them do these things."
Zhong Jinwei glanced at Zheng Zhilong and thought that he was in the same boat as Ming Dynasty now and would have to rely on Ming Dynasty in the future. It would be no good for him to lose the battle on his own.
So he smiled and agreed, but at the same time he also sent out the "Perak" brigade to act together. The reason was that the people in the "Perak" brigade were very powerful, and as long as they were not swimming, it would be no problem for one of them to take on three of them.
Unexpectedly, late that night, the results were achieved. When Zhong Jinwei heard the report, he quickly got up and went to the front tent.