The Zhejiang and Fujian armies marched northward and divided into three routes, heading all the way to the west of Huzhou to block the Huaidong Army's northward advance, led by Zheng Mingjing; all the way to besiege Liyang, led by Tian Chang; all the way to the right, led by Su Tingzhan.
Yue Lengqiu led the Jiangzhou troops at a very slow pace, and even had to worry about food and grass. For the She family, the biggest threat was on the left wing. Therefore, the Zheng Ming Jing Department on the left wing were almost all the elites of the Fujian Province who were resentful. On the contrary, they besieged the middle road.
A considerable number of Liyang's soldiers and horses were recruited from Zhejiang County, represented by generals such as Tian Chang and Fang Heshan, who were also representative generals from Zhejiang County.
In order to make up for the shortage of troops, the Huaidong Army continuously organized troops and supplies into the infantry and camp troops under the jurisdiction of the Infantry Department. From the beginning of the year to this time, the number of troops and horses on the southern front increased by 50,000 to 60,000.
The ten years of war in East Fujian have trained a large number of veterans and grassroots officers for East Fujian. However, in recent years, they have also been recruited into the army one after another. Not only is there a problem of lack of reserve soldiers, but also the Ding household directly controlled by the She family has already existed.
The plight of a serious shortage of men.
According to the information obtained by sentries and scouts, the Huaidong Army's final strength in Xiaoshan is likely to reach 60,000. To make up for the lack of strength, Su Tingzhan's right wing only had 12,000 troops.
Ma, Shewenzhuang also incorporated all the 20,000 imperial camp troops captured in Daqingxi, Yuling Pass, and Huizhou into it. The imperial camp troops that surrendered in Feihuang'an were commanded by Luo Wenhu as deputy general, and the right-wing troops were almost immediately
The number expanded to 30,000, making it the largest force of the She family heading north.
The She family's troops and horses marching north to the right wing actually have the worst combat effectiveness, but the right wing is also the least threatened. The She family also needs to further weaken the morale of Jiangning's defenders in terms of the number of soldiers and horses.
Su Tingzhan led his right-wing troops and left Ningguo on the 17th. He divided his troops and marched directly to Xuanzhou, Yangjiang, Lishui and other cities. On the 21st, he was blocked by heavy snow at the upper reaches of the Rouge River.
Xuanzhou, Yangjiang, and Lishui are all under the jurisdiction of Jiangning. They have not been attacked in the past two hundred years and have no experience in facing the enemy. After the fall of Huizhou, the entrance to Jiangning from western Zhejiang was opened. Although the Imperial Army still had 40,000 troops
The soldiers and horses were all concentrated in Jiangning City, and even the naval forces withdrew into the city to strengthen its defense.
Meng Yishan led the Hanghu Army to station in Liyang, blocking the entrance between Maoshan Mountain and the West Ridge of Taihu Lake to prevent the rebels from going north. However, from the west of Maoshan Mountain to the Yangtze Bank in the northwest, in the counties and cities, except for three squads of government officials, sword archers and a few county soldiers
Outside Yong, there were only some rebel troops who retreated from the south and were defeated.
It would have been better if there were no such rogue soldiers. The border crossings were all random burning, killing and looting. Uncontrolled rogue soldiers could produce destructive power comparable to the most ferocious bandits and thieves.
People like Dong Yuan are rare, and not every place can be lucky enough to encounter them; in Xuanzhou, Yangjiang, Lishui and other cities, there are as few as three to five hundred assorted soldiers, as many as thousands of eight hundred assorted soldiers, facing Luxury
How can we resist the surging tiger and wolf troops?
Although there is a city to defend, the city wall is dead. There are hundreds of ways for the enemy to attack the city. If the defenders don’t know how to deal with it, it is useless to have a strong city. In just a few days, Xuanzhou and Yangjiang
, the three cities of Lishui were lost one after another.
In order to prevent the prisoners and the former imperial camp generals from repeating each other, to unleash the brutal killings of the soldiers, and to raise food and grass in the snowy weather to reduce the pressure on logistics, Su Tingzhan stopped in Lishui due to the heavy snowy weather, so he
After receiving the secret order from Shewenzhuang, they carried out a three-day massacre and plundering of Xuanzhou, Yangjiang and Lishui cities.
Lishui is only the last hundred miles away from Jiangning. Within Lishui, the Rouge River, which originates from Donglu Mountain, is the main source of Longzangpu. The news that the rebels took control of the Rouge River on the 21st reached Jiangning, and Jiangning City naturally regained control.
Caused a panic.
After Su Tingzhan left Ningguo, he marched at an extremely fast speed. There was little reaction from the people in Yangjiang, Lishui and other counties, including the fact that many ships in the Rouge River were unable to evacuate. After Su Tingzhan took control of Lishui, he marched in the city
While conducting large-scale plunder, they quickly dispatched troops and horses to seize ships everywhere.
Jiang Ning withdrew all the naval forces into the city to increase the city's defense. When he learned that the rebels were recruiting ships in the upper reaches of Yongjangpo, he worried about gains and losses and actually sent more than 2,000 naval forces out of the water gate to go south along Yongjangpo to test the enemy's situation.
In order to attack Jiangning, Shewenzhuang detached half of the remaining naval forces from Nantai Island and eastern Zhejiang, and assigned them to Su Tingzhan's right wing.
Su Tingzhan had a naval force in his hands, but there were no streams and rivers connecting him from western Zhejiang to the south of Jiangning. After arriving at Lishui, there were naturally no warships available, so he hurriedly sent troops and horses to recruit civilian ships everywhere, hoping to restore the naval force outside Jiangning as soon as possible.
prepared by.
If Jiang Ning was determined and sent out the main force of the navy, Su Tingzhan would have no choice but to retreat on Longzangpu. No more, no less, Jiang Ning sent two thousand navy soldiers out of the city to spy on the military situation, and Su Tingzhan was naturally rude.
Have to eat it.
At the shallow beach of Bailu Lake, Su Tingzhan lured Jiangning's 2,000 navy troops in, commandeered more than 200 fishing boats, and carried 4,000 soldiers to join the battle. In a fierce battle in one day, Jiangning's 2,000 navy troops were killed, and hundreds of them were killed.
A few acres of Bailu Lake were dyed red.
In winter, the water is shallow and slow. When you come out of Bailu Lake, you will find Yongzangpo Jungshui. The corpses of soldiers who died in fierce battles and the people who were massacred during the plunder of the city are floating down the water. The river is reflected by the bright white snow on both sides.
Below, the color is so green that it makes one's heart go cold.
Longzangpu is divided into two branches in the south of the city. One flows around the west of the city and merges into the Yangtze River, and enters Chaotiandang from the west entrance. The other flows into the city from Nanshuimen, across the entire Jiangning City, and exits from Dongshuimen.
The Jinchuan River then flows into Chaotian.
There is an iron gate blocking the water gate, so floating corpses cannot enter the city. However, even if the river is hundreds of miles away, the color of the river is very different from usual.
Sun Wenbing took a boat into the city from Dongshuimen to meet Lin Xuwen and Huang Jinnian.
Huang Jinnian sighed: "The She family is massacred and looted in the south. It seems that the She family intends to destroy the city and has no intention of occupying Jiangning for a long time..."
"Even if the city of Jiangning is taken away by the She family without damage, it will be difficult to defend it. The She family can see clearly," Lin Xuwen said, and felt deeply regretful that the two thousand soldiers and horses of the Jiangning navy were destroyed at Bailu Lake. "Although Cheng Yuqian said that he had a unified
His military and defense experience is limited to this, so it’s hard to place high hopes on him! We are trying every possible means to withdraw ships from the outskirts of Jiangning, but it would be better for him, as we are afraid that the Zhejiang and Fujian troops will not be able to get warships.
of……"
Sun Wenbing then smiled bitterly. If he didn't have the determination to fight, he might as well defend the city. No more, no less. He sent one or two thousand soldiers and horses out of the city to test it. As if he was afraid that the She family would choke, he asked Sun Wenbing and other bystanders to watch.
It was also quite speechless - whether Cheng Yuqian knew how to fight was exposed in the ninth year of Chongguan when he led the reinforcements from Jiangdong to the north to King Qin.
Sun Wenbing also followed Lin Fu north to King Qin that time, and he was more aware of Cheng Yuqian's performance than others. At that time, Cheng Yuqian led the Jiangdong reinforcements and always stayed on the safe inside line. It is not an exaggeration to say that he was greedy for life and fearful of death. In the end, he still divided some Jiangdong left
Because of his military achievements, Cheng Yuqian had some ability to boast.
However, in Jiangning City, after Yue Lengqiu, who really knew military affairs, left, Cheng Yuqian seemed to be the only one taking the lead in the temple. This may be the most important flaw in the defense of Jiangning City.
"This is a letter from Xiaoshan," Sun Wenbing took out the secret letter from his arms, handed it to Lin Xuwen, and Huang Jinnian said, "It seems that the She family's right-wing troops are blocked by heavy snow at Li River and cannot move north. In fact, they are waiting for the battle in Liyang.
The results are out. Once Liyang is broken, the troops of the She family will move very quickly. From the current point of view, Yue Lengqiu has no intention of leading Jiangzhou soldiers into the outskirts of Jiangning to fight with the She family prematurely. Although Jiangning has waterways connected to Chaotiandang
, but with the soldiers and horses of the She family surrounding them, the waterway will be safe. Now the emperor has the last glimmer of hope for the Hanghu Army to resist the rebels in Liyang. Prime Minister Lin and Mr. Huang can leave the city, so they should leave the city as soon as possible..."
The right-wing troops of the She family are only more than a hundred miles away from Jiangning. Although Jiangning has not yet completely sealed off the city, it is also true that a large number of refugees flee into the city every day to seek refuge. The She family's extravagant plundering on the periphery also drives the people into Jiangning.
It means that more and more refugees are pouring into Jiangning. Once the city is besieged and communication with the outside world is cut off, the food reserves in the city will soon be consumed by more than one million people.
From Sun Wenbing's point of view, Jiangning City was already in danger, and the delay in the arrival of reinforcements probably made Emperor Yongxing's heart waver.
Neither Lin Xuwen nor Huang Jinnian had any intention of living or dying with Jiang Ning. After reading the secret letter sent by Lin Fu from Xiaoshan, Lin Xuwen said to Huang Jinnian: "I see this. Mr. Huang and I immediately went to the palace to request an order. Brother Jinnian followed Wen Bing out.
When we go to Zhao Hu's army in Dongcheng, Old Seventeen said that someone needs to go see Yue Lengqiu, so it's better for me to go!"
****************
Lin Xuwen and Huang Jinnian entered the palace and went to the Wenhua Hall to meet the saint. After Zhang Yan, Chen Xiyan was also there.
Lin Xuwen and Huang Jinnian had already thought of an excuse and said together: "The reinforcements have not arrived and were hindered by the wind and snow. The imperial court should also send important ministers to comfort and encourage the morale of the generals. In addition, Jiangzhou, Huaidong, and the First Army
One army came from the southwest, and one army came from the southeast. There are mountains and rivers in the middle, and there are rebels blocking the channel, so communication is not smooth. Naturally, we cannot cooperate with each other to attack the rebels. I would like to go to comfort you, and the supervisor will go quickly..."
Yuan Jianwu's face was gloomy and uncertain. Reinforcements from all walks of life were coming so slowly. He was indeed gradually losing patience. Lin Xuwen and Huang Jinnian came to ask for orders to leave the city at the same time. Of course he would not believe that he had any good intentions.
Chen Xiyan said: "For the sake of the imperial court, Prime Minister Lin and Mr. Huang are willing to take up this position. It is very good. The old minister also begged the emperor to grant Prime Minister Lin a favor, and Mr. Huang went to the two divisions to work for the army."
Zhang Yanyuan thought that Chen Xiyan would stop Lin Xuwen and Huang Jinnian went out of the city. Lin Xuwen and Huang Jinnian's children stayed in Chongzhou and only took their wives and concubines to Jiangning to take up their posts. A few days ago, both of his wives and concubines left the city and took refuge on the prison island at the mouth of the river. Lin Xuwen
, Huang Jinnian left the city at this time, didn’t he obviously want to grease his feet and slip away first?
Zhang Yanzheng secretly wondered why Chen Xiyan was so unwise that he would be deceived by Lin Xuwen with such a simple lie?
Chen Xiyan added: "In addition to the heavy snow blocking the roads, the Jiangzhou Army sent troops to Jiangning to report the shortage of food, so they had to raise enough food in Chizhou before leaving. Now that Jiangning's food cannot be removed, they can only temporarily transfer it from Dongyang Mansion.
We need Prime Minister Lin to coordinate!”
Only then did Zhang Yan understand Chen Xiyan's subtext. Yue Lengqiu was moving slowly, but he would never want to see Jiangning City captured by the rebels. First, the Jiangzhou Army set off in a hurry because it was indeed short of food; secondly, and most importantly,
Yue Lengqiu was worried about being trapped by Huaidong, and was afraid of entering the outskirts of Jiangzhou first and facing the rebels alone.
At this time, Yue Lengqiu no longer particularly cares about the court's promise, but cares more about Huaidong's promise.
Now Lin Xuwen went to Jiangzhou Military Labor Division to urge Yue Lengqiu to leave quickly, and became a hostage in Yue Lengqiu's hands in disguise. Lin Xuwen could not trick himself, so that Yue Lengqiu could feel more at ease with the Huaidong Army.
The heavy snow now can prevent the rebels from approaching Jiangning quickly, but they cannot delay it. Even if Huaidong delays, Zhang Yan, Chen Xiyan and Emperor Yongxing also hope that the Jiangzhou Army can move faster. The Hanghu Army is now a bit in danger, but
If Yue Lengqiu can lead 40,000 Jiangzhou troops to the outskirts of Jiangning, the situation will be much better. He can only let Lin Xuwen and Huang Jinnian leave the city.