Hao Bainian spent a long time preparing to conquer Yangzhou. It didn't just start after arriving in Yangzhou. In fact, Hao Bainian had already started preparing to conquer Yangzhou after he took over as the commander of the Third Army a few months ago.
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He not only collected the Ming army's defense situation in Yangzhou City and nearby areas, but also the situation of the city's defense facilities, nearby topographic maps, and even the urban layout map of Yangzhou City, all collected in detail through spies from the Military Intelligence Department.
Then he led the staff of the Third Army to plan for several months before finally formulating a specific combat plan to conquer Yangzhou!
Every detail inside has been carefully calculated and planned!
For example, the selection of blasting points was also carefully planned, fully considering the geological conditions, the defense of the nearby Ming army, etc.
Every order he issued at this time was the result of careful consideration over the past few months, and this was the biggest difference between him and Li Chunjing.
If Li Chunjing were to attack Yangzhou, it wouldn't be so complicated and troublesome at all. According to Li Chunjing's character, he would definitely not attack Yangzhou City head-on. Instead, he might just feint a shot and then attack Gaoyouzhou directly, or even
It is to directly attack Huai'an Prefecture.
Mobilize the Ming army through large-scale mobile warfare, causing the Ming army to come out of Yangzhou City on its own!
Of course, the risk for Li Chunjing to do this is naturally greater. If he is not careful, the Ming army will cut off the logistics supply line.
After all, tens of thousands of troops marched north to attack, and Yangzhou was still under the control of the Ming army. The 100,000 Ming troops in Yangzhou city were a huge threat. It was even possible that after the main force of the third army marched north to Huai'an, they would cross the river in turn.
Attack Jinling City.
By then, Li Chunjing might be able to annihilate the Yangzhou defenders at a very small cost, but it might also lead to the annihilation of the entire Third Army or the retaking of Jinling City by the Ming army.
No matter which one it is, Li Xuan cannot bear it!
Even the Ming army crossing the river to counterattack was unacceptable to Li Xuan.
The current Datang Dynasty is no longer the same as the previous Datang Dynasty. Today's Datang Dynasty already has an advantage in the overall strategy, and it is still a huge advantage. There is no need to take such huge risks.
, as long as it fights steadily, the Tang Dynasty can conquer Yangzhou, occupy Jiangbei, and overthrow the puppet Ming Dynasty.
So at this time, what the Tang Dynasty needs is not to take risks, but to be steady and steady!
Therefore, the commander Li Xuan chose to lead his army into Jiangbei was not Li Chunjing, but Hao Bainian!
Today, Hao Bainian will prove that His Majesty's choice is correct!
Today, he will use a brilliant victory to present a great gift to His Majesty!
At the same time, he is also defending his honor as the number one general of the Tang Dynasty!
In the past two years, Li Chunjing's popularity in the Tang Army has surpassed that of Hao Bainian. Many people believe that the most capable fighter in the Tang Dynasty is no longer Hao Bainian, but Li Chunjing.
This was not only the case within the Tang Dynasty, but also in the Ming Dynasty. The biggest evidence of this was when the Ming Dynasty learned that Li Chunjing had been transferred from Jiangnan to Huguang.
Many senior generals and officials of the Jiangbei Ming Army were very happy. After the scheming Li Chunjing was transferred, their confidence in guarding Jiangbei increased by several percent.
Zhang Yue on the other side of Huguang felt that the pressure was greatly increased. After Li Chunjing went to Wuchang, the alertness of the Ming army in the Hanyang area was also raised several levels.
This is the shadow of the famous tree of people. Li Chunjing's series of dazzling large-scale maneuver tactics in Jiangxi, Huguang, and Jiangnan made the Ming army generals on the opposite side very uncomfortable, leading to a series of tragic defeats.
On the contrary, Hao Bainian did not perform too well when he fought in Huguang.
And today, he, Hao Bainian, wants to tell the world that fighting a war does not rely on conspiracy and tricks, but relies on careful consideration and upright duel!
In the observation post on the hilltop, Hao Bainian continued to observe the battle with binoculars from time to time, and occasionally discussed and analyzed with the staff behind him. Although the assault force had already opened a gap, the Fifth Infantry Division also successfully controlled part of the city wall.
But the battle is still not over!
The resistance of the Ming army is still tenacious, because they have too many troops, more than 100,000 troops. The failure of a small section of the city wall guarded by just a few thousand people will have a negative impact, but it will not defeat the Ming army of more than 100,000 people.
It just completely collapsed.
In fact, at this time, the Ming army fighting elsewhere did not even know that the gap in the ruins had been breached. They were still focused on fighting the enemy in front of them!
The attacking troops of the Third Army numbered tens of thousands, and only a part of them attacked the gap in the ruins!
However, although the battle was still going on, many people in the staff team behind Hao Bainian could not conceal their joy, because they could already see that victory in this battle was in sight.
The only thing that needs to be considered now is how long it will take to completely control Yangzhou City, how many enemies can be annihilated, and how to reduce its own casualties in subsequent operations.
In today's battle, the Third Army's casualties are not small. Even though there are no accurate figures, so far, it is conservatively estimated that the casualties have exceeded 3,000 people.
But now, the general attack only lasted about half an hour!
Hao Bainian and his staff team can already see that victory is in sight. The Ming army generals in the city are certainly not stupid. Many people can see that this battle is probably unwinnable!
But although there are many people who know about it, few dare to give up easily!
This time, the man who led the Ming army in Jiangbei was nominally the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Linmao. However, this man was not a traditional military leader. Unlike Zhang Yue and others, he could only be regarded as sitting in command in Jiangbei.
The actual military affairs are handled by several generals below, including the general soldiers of Jiangbei, the general soldiers of Datong Town, the general soldiers of Xuanfu, etc. Don’t wonder why the general soldiers of the northern border towns came to Jiangbei, thinking that the border soldiers
The main force of the army has gone south. The main force in Yangzhou City is the 50,000 frontier troops!
These generals are also veteran generals who have been fighting for many years. No matter how capable they are, they still have good eyesight. They all know that from the moment the waste gap is breached, the city of Yangzhou is doomed!
The best way now is to retreat. If you can escape one by one, if you can escape tens of thousands of people, then you can continue to hold on in places such as Huai'an.
But do they dare to say it?
Don't dare!
Because Emperor Zhengde had already given a death order to Chen Linmao, the Minister of War in Jiangbei, that Yangzhou must be defended!
In fact, not only Chen Linmao, Minister of War, but also several other senior generals, each received a personal interview from Emperor Zhengde, and then received an oral instruction from Emperor Zhengde: No matter what, Yangzhou must be defended!
Can't defend Yangzhou? Emperor Zhengde didn't say it clearly, but everyone knew that the end would definitely not be good.
In order to prevent the frontline generals from running away with their troops or simply surrendering and joining the bandits, Emperor Zhengde not only gave them promotions and various rewards, but also directly brought all their family members to the capital.
No one said it, but everyone knew that once Yangzhou fell, it would be easy for them to lose their official positions. If they dared to escape or surrender, their families would definitely be dead!
Moreover, many people here have already run away several times in Jiangxi and Jiangnan. If they still run away in Jiangbei this time and Emperor Zhengde can still bear it, then he will no longer be Emperor Zhengde.
So although many people know that they have just retreated at this time, no one says anything!
Of course, not saying it doesn't mean they don't have other ideas. Many people have quietly begun to gather the direct troops under their command, especially the generals of the border army. They have gathered their personal soldiers, servants and the like early.
, they were not sent to the city to fight at all.
The people fighting on the top of the city now are ordinary soldiers and some miscellaneous troops who are not favored by their superiors.
It is also ridiculous to say that when the Tang Dynasty Army launched its most elite assault troops and grenadiers to conquer Yangzhou, even the core main force such as the Fifth Infantry Division entered the battle from the beginning.
As for the Ming Army, most of its most elite troops, namely the servants, personal soldiers and other direct line troops of the generals at all levels, had never fought on the city walls from beginning to end.
Even some of the elite Ming troops who fought in the gaps in the ruins were just servants and personal soldiers of the Ming generals who were marginalized and disliked.
Among the hundreds of thousands of troops, the real elites were actually only five or six thousand, and among these five or six thousand, only a thousand went to the battlefield, and they were all unfortunately lost immediately!
Seeing this scene, among the generals of the Ming Army, who would dare to line up the elite members of their direct lineage to die? No matter whether they are fleeing for their lives or surrendering to thieves, these direct lineage troops in their hands will be their greatest support.
If you run for your life, you can rely on them to escape with your life.
When surrendering to thieves, these elites are also the best bargaining chips, and can be used to obtain a good surrender condition for oneself.
The performance of many generals was also noticed by Chen Linmao, but he did not say anything. Even though he was only a nominal commander and did not know much about military affairs, he also knew that this battle was already unwinnable.
Went down.
And he himself absolutely cannot escape. He cannot escape, but he does not want all Jiangbei's army to be destroyed in Yangzhou!
Although Yangzhou could no longer be defended, and although he would certainly not survive, he still hoped to save more of these soldiers, and then withdraw to Huai'an to continue to hold on.
But he couldn't give this order. All he could do was turn a blind eye to some of the actions of his generals, or even acquiesce!
And he himself began to prepare for his own funeral!
As the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty, the Crown Prince's Taibao, and the commander-in-chief of hundreds of thousands of troops, even in name only, at the moment when the city of Yangzhou was destroyed, he could not escape, nor be captured, nor surrender!
Otherwise, none of the dozens of members of his family in the capital would survive!
He has lived for more than sixty years, but his sons and grandchildren are still young!
There is only one option left for him: commit suicide!
When Chen Linmao took the poison that had been prepared in advance, he was thinking about how he would be evaluated in the history books. Was he a loyal minister who died for his country? Or was he a traitor who committed suicide after being defeated and committed suicide?