The mighty fleet sailed unimpeded into Taihu Lake with bright flags. Under the order of General Huang Fei, an advance camp was established on Xishan Island in the lake.
Wu Zhikui, the commander-in-chief of Wusong, led the land route and landed on the lake bank.
"Report to the Commander-in-Chief, someone claims to be the envoy of King Lu and wants to see the Commander-in-Chief."
As soon as we anchored at Xishan Island, soldiers came to report.
Huang Fei felt a headache when he heard the word "King Lu", "No, we'll talk about it after I take over Suzhou."
The soldiers retreated and came again after a while.
"Captain, the man said that Suzhou is empty on the surface and there are actually ambushes. Please slow down the offensive. King Lu is coming with 50,000 Northern Expeditionary troops. After joining forces, they will attack Suzhou together. Also, he also said that Wu Shengzhao and Li Chengdong are leading the attack.
The main force has gone to attack Chongming."
After hearing this, Huang Fei just sneered.
"Where did King Lu get the 50,000 troops? I have intercepted a lot of Qing military reports recently. They all say that Zhu Wu, the Jiangnan admiral appointed by King Lu, has been defeated repeatedly in battles. Now he is fleeing and hiding in Jiaxing.
Ten thousand horses, do you know how many fifty thousand horses are?”
Huang Fei held up the countless ships and horses on the lake in front of him, "These are fifty thousand horses and horses, covering the mountains and fields."
Huang Fei did have more than 50,000 soldiers here, but in fact it was not 50,000 soldiers, but a large number of family members. Huang Fei, who had served in Dongjiang Town for a long time, later commanded the Ming Dynasty Navy in the Bohai Sea area. After Chongzhen hanged himself,
He led the fleet south from the Bohai Sea, and also brought a large number of military personnel, craftsmen, and civilians with him, and stationed all the way to Miaowan in northern Jiangsu.
Later, because Hongguang Jun and his ministers felt that the Yangtze River lacked naval defense, they specially transferred this fleet, which still retained its complete organization and indeed had a lot of experience in water warfare, to go south, first stationed in Zhenjiang, and then transferred to Wuhu to defend Zuo Liangyu.
After Emperor Hongguang abandoned Nanjing and fled and was captured in Wuhu, Huang Fei and his fleet sailed along the river without much loss.
From a certain perspective, Huang Fei's navy is the only one in the world that is still fully organized and has experience in fighting the Qing army.
However, this fleet from Dongjiang to Denglai, then to Miaowan, then to Zhenjiang, then to Caishiji, then to Chongming, and then to Taihu Lake, is simply a wandering fleet. They bring their families with them, and they are simply wandering.
.
After wandering until now, I no longer have any fighting spirit.
What everyone is more concerned about is the wives, children, and children who are also in the army. They are mostly from the north. They are mostly from the north, and they don’t know where they will go.
You can only go with the flow.
Huang Fei did not dare to leave his family behind. His army immediately collapsed and he had to carry it with him wherever he went. Even if he attacked Suzhou this time, he had to take it with him.
Before the battle, he had to arrange for his family members and choose Xishan Island in the lake for them to land ashore first, and then drag the soldiers on board to fight.
It was originally difficult for the fleet to wander around without soldiers and pay. Now it has to support so many family members, which is really difficult.
Huang Fei had saved people and thought that his 50,000 people were so large that they would be impressive wherever they went. How could Zhu Yihai's Northern Expeditionary Army have 50,000 people?
Moreover, he had indeed intercepted many reports from the Qing army before, including reports of the Qing army's victory over Zhu Wu in Hangjiahu, as well as news of recruiting troops everywhere.
"Then what does King Lu mean?" Deputy General Tian Shengjia asked.
"He must have seen that we are going to take Suzhou, so he wants to stop it now." A general said disdainfully, "We are fighting on the front line. This King of Lu only knows how to shoot cold arrows from behind. Previously, he appointed Shen Youlong as the governor of Su Song.
He also appointed Wang Yongzuo as the governor of Suzhou. He did not take us seriously at all. While we were raising a large army to attack Suzhou, Shen Youlong and others immediately seized Songjiang. They are simply bastards."
Another person said, "That's not all. How did Chen Wu die? Those who were killed by King Lu in Ningbo, as well as Wang Dynasty, were also killed in Zhejiang?"
"Then it's not true that Li Chengdong and the others went to attack Chongming?"
"It doesn't matter whether it's true or not. Li Chengdong is a cavalry commander, and Wu Shengzhao doesn't have sailors under his command. How can they attack Chongming at the mouth of the Yangtze River? Besides, Chongming also has Jing Benche, Shen Tingyang and the others, so it's always okay to defend them. Wait. We will capture Suzhou and then take advantage of the victory to attack the Wu and Li thieves and drive them down the river to feed the fish!" Huang Fei said.
"Everything is going according to the original plan. Order General Wu to lead his troops to surround Suzhou first and blockade the four gates. Don't let the Tatars escape. This time we will take revenge. After Suzhou is conquered, none of the puppet governor Tu Guobao and others will be left behind. .”
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Inside Suzhou City.
The governor's yamen, the imperial envoy, the governor-general of grain storage, the admiral of military affairs, the governor-general of military affairs Jiangning and other places, the right deputy of the local procuratorate, the censor Tu Guobao, were convening the generals to discuss matters.
"The two thieves Huang and Wu are attacking with such ferocity that it's not surprising." When Tu Guobao said this, he was not nervous at all and even had a disdainful smile on his face.
All the demoted officials with arrogant heads and rat tails laughed out loud.
"A group of beggars want to come and attack Suzhou. They really overestimate their capabilities."
After laughing, Tu Guobao asked about the preparations in the city.
"How much grain and grass are there in the city now?"
"Returning to Master Futai, I humbly hold the position of counting the grain in Gusu City according to Futai's order. It is divided into owned rice and unowned rice. Unowned rice refers to merchants who returned to their hometowns to escape the chaos, or who died in the rebellion. In order to help To defend the city, it is decided by rank and file that if you have a master, you will take half of the rice to support the army, and if you don’t have a master, you will take all the rice."
"The current statistics are 12,989 shi of unowned rice, 23,666 shi of semi-official rice with owner, and 2,972 shi of large wheat with 2 dou and 5 liters of rice. , three thousand and thirty-five kilograms of soybeans. Due to the raids by thieves and bandits, the people were in hardship, rice shops were closed, and the people were hungry. The low-ranking officials followed the order of Futai. They first accommodated thousands of loads and sold them at reduced prices to help the poor and hungry, but they still changed the situation. The money was used for military purposes.
Admiral Wu and General Li sent troops to suppress the campaign, provided them with food and grass, and gradually paid them 5,214 shi of rice..."
Tu Guobao was a little impatient, "Just tell me how much rice is available in the city now."
"There are still more than 31,400 shi of rice, more than 2,500 shi of wheat, and more than 3,000 shi of soybeans."
"Very good. There is plenty of food in Gusu City and we are not afraid of siege."
The deputy general of the Chinese army, Cao Hu, said, "The general believes that we cannot allow the thieves to besiege the city arrogantly. In my opinion, although Huang Fei has a fleet, he has never had a decent record in escaping from the Dongjiang River. Wu Zhikui has never heard of it before. As I said, I dare to call myself the commander-in-chief. Even though there are many of them, they are just a mob. In the end, they will have a plan to defeat the thieves."
"What's the clever idea?" Tu Guobao asked. Although he is now the governor of Jiangning, this man has a very humble background. He was originally from Shanxi and was arrested for selling smuggled salt in the Jianghuai River. Later he became a water thief in Taihu Lake and was later captured by Hong Chengchou. After being recruited and surrendered, he followed Hong Chengchou and became an officer and soldier of the Ming Dynasty. He was protected by his superiors and was promoted to the rank of general and chief soldier.
Later, the Qing army entered the pass, and Hong Chengchou personally wrote a letter to surrender Tu Guobao.
Tu Guobao followed Duo Duo in his southern expedition and worked very hard.
After seizing the four palaces of Su and Song Dynasty, Duduo first gave him the title of chief minister in charge of the Jiangnan governor. After Hong Chengchou became the governor of Jiangnan, Tu Guobao was also promoted to the governor of Jiangning.
So even though Tu Guobao is now wearing the official uniform of a civil servant, he is actually a very ruthless person. When he led his troops into Susong, he searched everywhere for anti-Qing Ming ministers. He captured and killed hundreds of people in one day, and it took half a month to stop. After the arrest, he could
Anyone who chews them will be killed.
"We can find the big families in Gusu City, let them sneak out of the city and feign surrender to the Wu thieves, and make an internal response to lure them into the city. Then we will ambush elite soldiers in the city, catch turtles in the jar, and annihilate the thieves."
When Tu Guobao heard this, he thought, well, this is a good plan.
"The yellow thief is still in the lake, and the Wu thief is outside the city. I think we can lure the Wu thief into the city first, and then defeat them one by one!"
Although Tu Guobao is the governor of Jiangning, he has a bad relationship with Wu Shengzhao, the admiral of Su Songchang Town. Wu Shengzhao is from Liaodong. He was originally a guard commander in the Ming Dynasty. He later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and went south with Duduo. He was very fierce. But Wu Shengzhao has always been
He was domineering and had poor military discipline. The two were stationed in Suzhou together, but Wu Shengzhao, the admiral, did not give Tu Guobao, the governor, much face.
Tu Guobao complained to Duduo, Hong Chengchou and others several times, but Hong Chengchou defended Wu Shengzhao very much. Each time, he only gave Wu Shengzhao a small salary, reprimand and other insignificant punishments. This time, Tu Guobao was very unhappy.
Later, after being reminded by his nephew Yang Guohai, he realized that Hong Chengchou's defense of Wu Shengzhao was just to balance the two and prevent one family from becoming dominant.
After understanding this truth, Tu Guobao did not give up, but even wanted to take away Wu Shengzhao.
Now is an opportunity. If he can not only defend Suzhou with such a small number of troops, but also defeat the rebel army, it will be a great achievement and he will definitely surpass Wu Shengzhao.
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Outside Suzhou City.
Wu Zhikui's personal soldiers led a man to his tent.
"Song Zhiwen, a student from Gusu, met Mr. Wu."
Wu Zhikui looked at Song Zhiwen's shaved head and mocked, "Are you here to beg for the surrender of Tu Guo Bao?"
Song Zhiwen was tall and thin, in his early forties, with a sparse beard. He had just shaved his hair, which made his head look even more uncoordinated. He smiled awkwardly, "Since the Tartars occupied Gusu, they have awarded it twice.
The order to shave hair was not strict the first time, and everyone protested, so that's it. But not long ago, a strict order was issued to shave hair, saying that the hair should be left intact, and many soldiers and civilians who refused to shave their heads in protest were killed. The common people had no choice but to shave their heads.
Save your head."
"Why are you telling me this?" Wu Zhikui stared at him.
"Actually, the students had no choice but to shave their heads. They did not intend to surrender. Now that they heard that the imperial army was coming to recover, they were very happy. So they found an opportunity and sneaked out of the city quietly. They wanted to tell General Wu that there were still people in Gusu City.
There are many gentry and common people who are loyal to the Ming Dynasty and have been waiting for the generals for a long time."
"The students took the risk to tell the general that the city of Gusu is very empty now. The pseudo-admiral Wu Shengzhao and the puppet commander-in-chief Li Chengdong left early with the main force. There are more than a thousand horsemen and horses in the city. The pseudo-governor Guo Bao was frightened when he heard that the army was coming.
The young and strong people of the people are urgently recruited to help with the defense. Because the student is a juren, he has been given the job of assisting in guarding the gate, which is the Xucheng Gate in the West City. The student is willing to bring his children and servants to open the door for the general."
