It has been sunny for four consecutive days. Although there is still snow in the distant mountains that has not yet melted, the post road is not as muddy as when the snow first melted. We traveled all night, rested before noon, and continued our journey in the afternoon.
As soon as the army left Changxing County, flying cavalry came from the west to deliver a message: The enemy's left wing troops in Yaojiachong and Qiantang broke out of camp at dawn and rushed to meet at Fangjiawa before the sunrise. Tang Fuguan led his troops at that time
They had just arrived at Fangjiawa, but their footing was not yet firm and they did not dare to approach. At this time, the enemy divided into three groups and broke out to the west. The cavalry camp was unable to cover them, so they were forced to give up the passage for their westward retreat...
At this time, Lin Fu was galloping up Erqiao Ridge, surrounded by his generals, and looked at the army passing by on the post road in front of the ridge, including Zhang Jiheng's troops in the Changshan Camp. There were more than 24,000 elite soldiers and horses in the second echelon, but
There are still eighty miles away from Fangjiawa in the west of Longya Ridge.
"Zheng Mingjing is able to gain the trust of Shewenzhuang to command the left-wing troops. He is quite capable and knows how to choose the right moment to break out..." Lin Fu heard about the battle situation in Fangjiawa. He put his hands on his hips and looked at Qingyun in the distance.
, said with emotion
"When Shewenzhuang said he would abandon Jiangning and leave, he really didn't hesitate at all. It shows that he has really excelled in causing trouble in the southeast these years," Chen Huazhang took the opportunity to flatter him and praised, "If it weren't for your Excellency, I would really be useless.
People can turn the tide!"
"Can Shewenzhuang really just leave?" Lin Fu smiled and turned to ask Song Fu next to him. He didn't seem to be worried at all about the Zhejiang and Fujian Army's left wing breakout.
"After the fall of Huizhou, the Zhejiang and Fujian troops briefly stayed in Ningguo for a few days, and transferred a large number of imperial soldiers captured in the battle of Yuling Pass and Huizhou into the right wing," Song Fu said, "Shewenzhuang wanted to go west
, but cannot quickly bypass Chizhou, and must leave behind troops and horses to delay the Huaidong Army's pursuit, so it is not appropriate to leave troops on the right wing to massacre Jiangning City! I think at the latest, before nightfall, there will be a clear answer
News came from Jiangning..."
No matter what the She family’s intentions were, Emperor Yongxing abandoned Jiangning and fled. Huaidong’s ability to protect Jiangning from massacre and plunder was more important than annihilating the left wing of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies.
She Wenzhuang will keep the right wing of the lowered soldiers in Jiangning to massacre and plunder, attracting the main force of the Huaidong Army. This is the only life-saving strategy currently available to the She family. Without the determination and ruthlessness of the broken arm, the golden cicada will not be able to escape from its shell so well.
Take off
"Damn thief, he can run faster than a rabbit!" Zhou Tong cursed bitterly. He knew that preserving Jiangning was more important, but how could he be willing to let the elite soldiers and horses of the She family escape from under his nose? Chen Tong said.
Zhang Jiheng and other generals were all aggrieved and eager to come forward to ask for a fight.
"Prime Minister Yue may be able to stop him in Chizhou," Chen Huawen said. "When the Huaidong Army is in charge, it is most important to save Jiang Ning first..."
Chen Huawen was quite conservative. The Huaidong Army expelled the Zhejiang and Fujian rebels from Jiangning to the whole city, and then welcomed the Queen Mother. When King Lu entered Jiangning, he took the absolute initiative and allowed the She family soldiers and horses to escape, but became a twig.
Taking a step back, if Yue Lengqiu sends troops to intercept in Chizhou, Yue Lengqiu and the She family can fight in the outskirts of Chizhou. Both sides will suffer losses; if Yue Lengqiu shrinks his troops in Chizhou city and does not dispatch, the She family's troops and horses can be released.
After the main force has passed, Yue Lengqiu will no longer have the confidence to intervene in the arrangements of the Jiangning regime. He can only let Huaidong lead the way...
"Unless the She family lures us to rush to the western foot of Maoshan Mountain for a decisive battle," Song Fu said, "otherwise, the enemy's left wing's retreat route is to withdraw from Gucheng to the west, then cross the Qingshan River from Gucheng and go directly west to Nanling. If the cavalry camp can
After harassing all the way, the main force of Chongcheng Army should be able to catch up with Zheng Mingjing's left-wing troops before Nanling..."
"Let Tang Fuguan lead his troops to Jiangning?" Lin Fu asked
Song Fu nodded and said: "If Shewenzhuang only leaves the right-wing troops in Jiangning, there will be no large groups of enemy soldiers from Liyang north to the outskirts of Jiangning. Tang Fuguan and his troops can arrive as quickly as possible."
On the outskirts of Jiangning, if we join forces with Shuiying and Dongyang Prefecture, we will be able to form a strength advantage and attack the outer city of Jiangning..."
There are some things that Song Fu didn't say clearly, but Lin Fu and others could figure it out:
As long as the imperial city is not lost, it is impossible for the Zhejiang and Fujian armies to completely free themselves to slaughter and plunder Jiangning. However, if the people in Jiangning are not harmed by the war at all, it is also impossible for Tang Fuguan to lead his troops there and fight with the Shuiying and Dongyang Mansion armies.
After reuniting, attacking the outer city is to delay the right wing of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops from attacking the imperial city with all their strength. It doesn't matter if the outer city of Jiangning is recovered one day earlier or one day later.
Will the people of Jiangning be resentful because the Huaidong Army recovered the outer city of Jiangning two days late?
Lin Fu pondered for a while, looked at the surrounding generals, and made a decision: "Send an order to Tang Fuguan to go north to recover Liyang first. After regaining Liyang, he will lead his troops northward and rush to the aid of Jiangning without delay; Zhou Pu will lead his cavalry camp to go westward, and do everything possible."
Do everything possible to delay the enemy's left wing troops and horses to the east of Nanling. When the Chongcheng army rushes to the battle, the three of you, Zhou Tong, Chen Zhi, and Zhang Jiheng, immediately go to the army and organize troops and horses to pursue the enemy's left wing in light armor, but beware of the enemy's left wing.
Escape to Ningguo..."
Zheng Mingjing led the Zhejiang and Fujian Army's left wing to flee west to Gucheng, intending to bypass Chizhou and enter Jiangzhou to join up with She Feihu's troops who were besieging Jiangzhou. It can be predicted that most of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army's middle and right wing forces would go towards
Go west - but also ensure that if there is no time to escape westward, Zheng Mingjing resolutely goes south. Going south from Ningguo, the terrain becomes dangerous, and the cities of Ningguo, Jixi, Huizhou and other cities are in the hands of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops. They can escape easily and are disadvantageous in pursuit.
Zhou Tong, Chen Zhi, Zhang Jiheng and other generals immediately became excited when they heard that Lin Fu decided to pursue the west with the Chongcheng Army as the main force. Zhou Tong rubbed his hands, not hiding the excitement in his eyes, and said: "I want to escape into Ningguo
, the Zhejiang and Fujian troops also have to have long enough legs!"
Lin Fu continued to order: "Send an order to Ao Cang Hai that all the baggage of the Changshan Army will be handed over to the Haiyu Army for transportation. We must arrive at Liyang before noon the day after tomorrow. I will wait for him in Liyang..."
Zhou Pu led the cavalry battalion to delay the retreat of the Zhejiang and Fujian army's left wing. Zhou Tong led the main force of the Chongcheng army and Zhang Jiheng's troops of the Changshan army to pursue it. The entire battlefield would be divided into two: one at Jiangning, and the other at the western foot of Maoshan Mountain, and Lushe.
The whereabouts of the main force of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops led by Wenzhuang in the middle is still unclear. Ao Canghai led his troops to Liyang. Lin Fu would have enough troops in Liyang to respond to the war on both sides at any time.
Zhou Tong, Chen Zhi, Zhang Jiheng and other generals immediately rushed back to the marching team with their cavalry, summoned the generals to convey the order to abandon the baggage and speed up the march to pursue. The entire army gathered nearly 3,000 mules and horses and handed them to the front.
Chen Zhi's headquarters
During the pursuit, the enemy may counterattack at any time. While the front troops are marching, they must also ensure sufficient physical strength. There is nothing more suitable than riding mules and horses.
When there are insufficient war horses, the horse-based infantry troops march on horseback and encounter enemy infantry battles. They are also an army with an advantage in mobility in low-lying areas.
The main force of the Chongcheng Army was only a hundred miles behind the left wing of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army. With Zhou Pu leading the cavalry to harass the front, it was not impossible to intercept them before Nanling...
Lin Fu only led a small number of cavalry and stood on Erqiao Ridge to watch the army march away. Chen Huawen, Chen Huazhang, Su Pinxiao, and officials from Changxing and Anji County watched as the Huaidong Army's light troops passed by, and a large number of baggage vehicles were disordered.
Abandoned by the roadside, leaving only a very small number of soldiers to guard them, watching the scene of the army passing by, I was deeply moved for a moment, and I was still struggling with contradictions deep in my heart.
Lin Fu jumped on his horse and said to the magistrates of Changxing and Anji counties, "The Huaidong Army still needs to raise some supplies from the two counties. At this time, Mr. Chen is in charge. I hope I can meet you again in Liyang and Jiangning in the future."
See..." He then ordered Su Pinxiao, "You return to Changxing immediately, and I'll wait for you to lead your troops to meet up in Jiangning!" Lin Fu gave the order casually, and there were records and seals beside it as warrants. Su Pinxiao got the handwritten letter and immediately led the troops.
Leave Erqiaoling and head east to return to Changxing
The remnants of the Bai Nao Army led by Su Pinxiao were all naval forces. They took the waterway north out of Taihu Lake and into the Yangtze River to Jiangning for reorganization. This meant that the last naval forces within Taihu Lake were completely integrated into the Huaidong Army system. At this time, they still remained in the Huaidong Army.
The few water camps in Taihu Lake are all direct soldiers and horses of the third water camp in Huaidong.
Lin Fu said to Chen Huawen again: "I have to ask Mr. Chen to stay behind and take charge of the luggage..."
"Hua Wen obeys your order." Chen Hua Wen was entrusted with the important task of transporting baggage and food and responded to the order. After seeing the marching speed of the elite main force of the Huaidong Army, the three thousand Haiyu Army was only qualified to serve as an escort for the baggage and to raise food and grass.
task
Lin Fu said to Chen Huazhang: "Mr. Chen, can you come with me to Liyang to watch the battle?"
"My lord, please go ahead," Chen Huazhang said, and then they all got on their horses, and together with Song Fu and others, together with more than two hundred horsemen and Lin Fu, they galloped down the Erqiao Ridge and walked west to Liyang, where the main force of the Hanghu Army was destroyed.
city
Leaving the army and traveling alone, only two hundred horsemen traveled very quickly between the plains and hills, and arrived at the crippled Liyang City before nightfall.
After the Zhejiang and Fujian armies captured Liyang, they did not enter the city on a large scale. All the Shefeihu tribes, including the Shefeihu tribes, were eager to march north to Jiangning. The Hanghu army still had a large number of corpses abandoned in the city, and no one was able to clean them up in the cold winter.
Season, cold weather, and corpses exposed to the wild will not cause a large-scale plague
Lin Fu rushed to Liyang City, and Tang Fuguan's troops had just arrived in Liyang. The army did not enter the city, but bypassed Liyang City and continued northward. Tang Fuguan rushed to the foot of Liyang City, and further received Lin Fu's face-to-face instruction.
At this time, further news also came from Jiangning. After the left wing of the Zhejiang and Fujian troops withdrew from Liyang, the channel from Jiangning to the south was opened.
Just as everyone expected, the Zhejiang and Fujian troops only left 30,000 troops in Jiangning. This troop was headed by She Feihu and was mainly stationed at Donghua Gate. While guarding the outer city, they were stepping up their efforts to attack the imperial city and Dongyang.
The government army uses Prison Island as its base, and the leading infantry has entered Hekou Town, but the siege is progressing slowly, and they are waiting for the main force here to join up.
There were another 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers and horses of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies. They left Jiangning and marched westward at noon on the 27th. The hidden stakes revealed that it was rumored among the Zhejiang and Fujian armies that Emperor Yongxing had fled to Chizhou. The purpose of the division of the Zhejiang and Fujian armies was to pursue Yongxing.
Emperor Xing...
"It's a clumsy lie, but it works very well!" Lin Fu smiled disdainfully and said, "The strategy we all agreed on requires not only hiding it from the enemy, but also from one's own family..."
On the one hand, Lin Fu sent an order to Jiangning, and ordered Ge Cunxin to organize the navy soldiers to land ashore, cooperate with the Dongyang Prefecture Army, use Hekou Town as a base, and pin down the right-wing troops of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army at Donghua Gate; and use hidden stakes in the city
The leaflet was announced, pointing out that Emperor Yongxing and other officials fled to Luzhou, and that the She family regarded the surrender as an abandoned son; in addition, the escape channel for the enemy troops in the west of Jiangning was opened and not blocked, so as to weaken the enemy's will to defend the war.
On the one hand, Tang Fuguan was asked to lead his troops to step up their march and join forces with Shuiying and Dongyang Prefecture troops to seize the outer city of Jiangning.
Song Fu secretly sighed:
This battle cannot be regarded as the defeat of Shewenzhuang. The outcome was basically decided before the war in Eastern Fujian.
On the eastern front, the Zhejiang and Fujian armies must defend the two ends of central Zhejiang and eastern Fujian in the face of the Huaidong offensive. The Huaidong army can use the mobility advantage of the sea route to concentrate its forces on the front of Dongyang County and use all its strength.
To seize the middle of Zhejiang, and then go deep into Xinrao and cut off the connection between Eastern Fujian and Jiangxi, the owner of Shewenzhuang to guard the middle of Zhejiang must be determined to abandon the foundation of Eastern Fujian and give it a go...
In the face of Huaidong's strategic advantage, even if the Zhejiang and Fujian troops can win one or two victories, it will be difficult to change the overall situation.
For Shewenzhuang, the only chance is to retreat to Jiangxi to rest and recuperate.
The entire war is developing very rapidly. It has only been a month and a half since the war in eastern Fujian started. It has not yet entered December, and the Donghu in the north and the Changle bandits in Xiangfan have no time to react.
After all, Huaidong borrowed the sea route, and the adjustment of troops and horses was extremely rapid. After the end of the war in East Fujian, the main force of the Huaidong Army retreated north, including the time for rest and recuperation. It only took half a month to cross the river from Xiaoshan and go north to join the war.
How can any army be so fast?
If the main force of the Huaidong Army could enter the battlefield in southern Jiangning ten days and a half later, allowing the Zhejiang and Fujian Army to completely occupy Jiangning City, the development of the entire battle situation would be completely different. It is the rapidity of the Huaidong Army that makes the She family dare not put all their money into it.
Guard the outer city of Jiangning
By this time, Huaidong's overall situation of controlling Jianghuai could no longer be changed.
For the Zhejiang and Fujian armies, the key is to seize Jiangzhou, occupy the Poyang Lake Plain, and save more elites to escape to Jiangxi to rest and recuperate. There may be a chance to turn around in the future...
The Governor's secret order was to preserve the elites of the left wing first, and secondly to delay the Huaidong Army's advance towards Jiangning. The movement of Huaidong's troops was surprising, and the unexpected encounter forced the main force of the left wing to advance.
Moving to Fangjiawa, where there was no danger to defend, in order to avoid the situation slipping into an irreversible impasse, Zheng Mingjing could only present the secret letter from the Governor to the generals, and resolutely gathered his troops to withdraw westward, avoiding the Huaidong Army in Fangjiawa.
Possibility of battle with superior force
However, retreating to the west is not an easy task. There are Huaidong cavalry on both sides of the rear and rear.
The soldiers and horses traveled less than thirty miles westward and arrived at Fengqiaozhu.
Fengqiao is a large port between Gucheng and Liyang, and one of the 24 towns in Jiangning.
To the west of Fengqiao Zhu is the Xu River, which leads to Gucheng Lake in the south of Gucheng. From Gucheng Lake to the northwest is the Qingshan River. The Qingshan River is the upper reaches of the Yiyang River. It twists and turns westward and flows from the Yijiang River (now Wuhu) into the Yangtze River.
It is one of the most important tributaries of the Yangtze River in the west of Jiangning. There is an artificial ditch at the west foot of Maoshan Mountain that is connected to the Rouge River, a tributary of Longzangpu in the north.
Materials from Liyang, Guangde, Xuanzhou and even as far away as Ningguo, Jixi and other Huizhou areas are usually gathered at Fengqiao Zhu and transferred to the waterway. It is one of the important land and water terminals in the south of Jiangning Prefecture.
Affected by the war, the people in Fengqiao Zhu Town have fled. On the dock, not even a ferry can be seen in the dry river after the winter. For the left-wing soldiers and horses of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army, if they don’t go to Ningguo, they will
We can only go to Gucheng along the north bank of the Xu River. The Gucheng defenders have collected some ferries as backup.
Gucheng Lake is not big, only about ten miles long from north to south. Even if the left-wing troops and horses are stationed in Gucheng County first, they can successfully cross the Qingshan River from the north bank of Gucheng Lake; Huaidong soldiers and horses can go around from the south of Gucheng Lake.
After walking for more than 20 miles, the Qingshan River and the Yiyang River downstream do not pose any terrain obstacles.
Only by going west to Nanling and entering Jiuzi Mountain (Jiuhua Mountain in today's Chizhou) can we use the steep terrain of Jiuzi Mountain to escape from the pursuers.
It's just that Fengqiao Zhu is still more than forty miles away from Gucheng County. From the west side of Gucheng County, we cross the Qingshan River and go west, and we still have to walk more than a hundred miles to Nanling. At such a slow speed, we can't wait to avoid Jiuzi.
Mountain, I am afraid that in five or six days, it will be enough for the main force of the Huaidong Army to run back and forth...
The current dangerous situation made Zheng Mingjing feel like walking on thin ice. Every step was thrilling, but it also aroused his fighting spirit. After arriving at Fengqiao Zhu, he summoned the generals and asked: "In this desperate situation, do you want to survive?"
Do you want to survive?"
Address of this book: If you like it, please copy this address to your friends.