"Should we take advantage of the enemy's new arrival and not yet have a firm foothold to make a surprise attack out of the city, perhaps be defeated in an instant, capture the Lu Jianguo alive, and destroy the Ming Dynasty's pseudo-imperial court in one battle?" Xiao Qi looked at the endless line of people and horses from afar,
Seeing that they had begun to separate camps and set up strongholds, I couldn't help but suggest it.
Admiral Tian Xiong did not say a word. He was not a fool after many years of fighting. After all, he had served in Huang Degong's Yongwei camp and was a fierce general of the Black Tiger Head Army. If it were against ordinary thieves and rebels, he could indeed ignore the large number of people and the small number of soldiers.
, and sometimes even the more ragtag soldiers there are, the more likely they are to be defeated.
But the people and horses in front of them are very particular in their marching, setting up camp, and formation. They are by no means a ragtag group.
And the number of people on the other side is very large.
A rough estimate shows that there are at least 30,000 to 50,000 people outside the city. There are only a few soldiers in Hangzhou now, but there are only a few thousand green battalions and a thousand and eight banners. If they really rush out, Roubaozi may beat the dog.
The situation is unclear and there is no time to waste the fight.
Zhang Cunren was silent for a while and then said, "No hurry, let's take a look first." He added at the end, "Send someone out of the city to tell the people outside the city to be careful and move closer to Hangzhou. Also, ask Governor Jiang Ninghong
Ask for help, ask the Beijing court for help."
"Taiwan, is it too early to ask for help now? Should we fight first and then talk about it?"
But Zhang Cunren still said, "Let's send someone to report the message first. I see that the Puppet King of Lu is coming with great force. Before the encirclement is complete, I will send someone to deliver the message quickly, otherwise I'm afraid that the message will not be delivered."
"No way?"
"Be careful of the thousands-year-old ship." Zhang Cunren also knew that asking for help now would be a demerit and would make the court think they were incompetent. However, he felt that this Ming army was extraordinary, with high morale and a large number of troops. It might not be easy.
Capsize.
······
Jiangning.
Hong Chengchou looked at the latest Di newspaper and fell into deep thought.
He was a bachelor of the Internal Academy of Military Affairs to recruit the Southern Governor. The mission given to him by the regent was to give him full authority to rule the entire south, from Chuanhu to Jiangnan, Jiangxi. But now the court suddenly appointed Yan Wogong as the governor of Jiangxi and Henan.
If he was just appointed as governor, Hong Chengchou didn't have to worry about it. The problem was that there was no governor of Jiangnan in Jiangxi. Jiangxi and Henan were not adjacent to each other. One was north of the Huaihe River and the other was south of the Yangtze River, with the Huaihe River in between.
Where is the west?
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the imperial court forcibly cut off Henan and Jiangxi from the territory directly under its jurisdiction, and established such a deformed new governor-general.
He picked up another letter, but it was sent to him by his family in Beijing. He said that Fan Wencheng, a bachelor, had summoned the young master to meet with him. He mentioned something in the middle, that is, someone in the court was talking about Hong Chengchou's father. Hong Chengchou's hometown was in Fujian.
Fujian was still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and Hong Chengchou's parents, brothers, nephews, etc. were all in Fujian.
Hong Chengchou's father was in his seventies at this time. He was old and frail, and had been ill for many years. There were many rumors that he had died of illness at the beginning of the year. Although Hong Chengchou secretly contacted Zheng Zhilong of Fujian Province and knew that although his father was seriously ill at the beginning of the year, he still recovered.
However, a censor in the Beijing imperial court impeached Hong Chengchou, saying that he was unfilial and still clung to the official position after his father died and refused to let Ding You leave.
Bachelor Fan Wencheng was the one who insisted on recruiting Hong Chengchou back then. When he mentioned this matter to his son at this time, it was definitely not as simple as it seemed.
Everything happens for a reason.
Considering the fact that Yan Wogong was appointed as the governor of Henan and Jiangxi, coupled with Dorgon's previous edict rebuking him for his ineffective recruitment and tax collection in Jiangnan, and the current impeachment, Hong Chengchou felt that maybe the court did not need him.
He wanted to recruit a bachelor from the South, or perhaps he felt that his power to recruit a bachelor from the South was too great.
A sigh.
He also knew the regent Dorgon relatively well. This man was very manipulative. After Huang Taiji's death, the princes of the Eight Banners originally wanted to support Huang Taiji's eldest son Hauge to succeed him. Unfortunately, although Hauge was brave, he was not very bright. The key is
He was actually humble at the time.
Dorgon wanted to be the emperor, but his brother Azig cheated him at the critical moment, saying that if Hauge didn't accept him, it turned out that the three brothers of Dorgon's mother were holding two white flags in their hands.
, the strength is very strong, but it is not stronger than the two yellow flags.
Obai and others even led troops to surround the palace, saying that if they did not support Huang Taiji's son, blood would be spilled on the palace. At the critical moment, Jierhalang, the leader of the blue banner, made a deal with Dorgon and reached an agreement to abandon Hauge.
He supported Huang Taiji's youngest son Fulin to ascend the throne.
Dorgon and Jierhalang co-administered the throne.
After entering the customs, Jierhalang wrote a letter to assist the emperor's uncle, and Dorgon became the emperor's uncle and regent.
But Dorgon learned from his previous experience and quickly used means to create a two-white-flag-changing flag, which greatly increased his own strength, weakened his brothers who did not support him at the critical moment, and further suppressed Jierha
Lang, the uncle, eventually took over all the power.
Hong Chengchou knew very well how powerful this young emperor's uncle, the regent, was. Although he was still just the regent, he was only one step away from the throne of the Qing Dynasty. This man was good at power and seeking good means. Like Fan Wencheng, he was not Dole.
Fan Wencheng, one of Gun's confidants, has now fallen by the wayside in Beijing, and has even lost his qualifications to discuss politics.
On the contrary, Mr. Yan was highly appreciated and now served as the governor of Henan and Jiangxi. It was obvious that he had some intention of replacing him in Jiangnan or reducing his power.
Another long sigh.
I picked up another report: Jingzhou was besieged by an army of remnants of thieves, and Zheng Siwei urgently called for help.
Put it down and pick up another one.
It was sent from Wuchang City. Tong Yanghe, the governor of Qianchuan Lake, asked for help. He said that Wuchang was besieged by the puppet governor of the seventh province of Ming Dynasty, led by two governors and the thirteenth general army, and the situation was critical.
Shake your head and throw it away.
Pick up another one.
Anqing Admiral Zhang Tianlu asked for help, saying that the Huizhou rebels were like a spark igniting a prairie fire and were already in great difficulty. The green camp was defeated repeatedly. Now the pseudo-Anhui Admiral Zheng Zunqian had even led a group of troops to cross the Yangtze River and enter Anqing Prefecture from Chizhou. And in the Dabie Mountains of Huaixi
The Forty-eight Villages of Qihuang also echoed the situation, and the situation in Huaixi is now corrupt.
Jin Shenghuan, the governor of Jiangxi, reported that the puppet Ming Dynasty had increased its troops in Ganzhou and gathered large armies. Rebels were rising from all over Jiangxi. The puppet governor of Liangjiang, Zhang Guowei, and the puppet governor of Liangjiang, Zhang Mingzhen, had captured Ji'an and were currently stationing troops in Xiajiang. Jiangxi Green Camp was short of soldiers and pay.
Governor Hong sent troops and paid them.
There is no good news.
It seemed like suddenly a flash flood erupted.
The rebels from various places in Canming launched a full-scale counterattack as if they had made an agreement.
It is said that the fighting in Sichuan is also fierce now. The Mingchuan Army is fighting with Zhang Xianzhong, and the troops are surrounding Chongqing. Zhang Xianzhong's main force is fighting He Zhen's tribes in northern Sichuan, and Chongqing, an important city in the rear, is besieged.
"Report!"
"The pavilion reported that the Chongming Puppet Ming rebels were dispatched to harass Huaiyang, Susong, and other places along the coast. They have captured Jingjiang, Tongzhou, and Haimen. Taihu water thieves are also harassing the coast..."
Hong Chengchou waved his hands expressionlessly, indicating that he understood.
He walked to the map, looked carefully along the Yangtze River, then picked up a few chess pieces and placed them in Chongqing, Jingzhou, Wuchang, Ji'an, Anqing, Chongming and other places.
Seeing the chess pieces connected into a big dragon, Hong Chengchou looked incredulously.
These places launched major counterattacks at almost the same time. It is almost impossible to be a coincidence that each place acted independently. This is obviously the linkage of a whole game of chess.
But now the Ming Dynasty still has such ability to coordinate the overall situation?
Launching sieges on so many important towns and places along the Yangtze River for thousands of miles at the same time?
This is comparable to the Battle of Sarhu when 200,000 Ming troops were divided into four groups to attack the Jurchens. This massive force was divided into multiple groups and attacked at the same time, which is very similar to the strategic deployment style of the Ming Dynasty cabinet.
At that time, the Ming army was so confused that it attacked from four directions, but was defeated by each one.
Does Nanming still have such ability now?
Is this asking for death, or is it really a wise act?
While I was deep in thought, another person came to report.
"Supervisor, there is an urgent report from Hangzhou. The pseudo-Ming Lu Supervisor personally led a hundred thousand troops across the Qiantang River to surround the city of Hangzhou. The Governor of Hangzhou requested Jiangning to send troops to rescue! One hundred thousand troops are urgent!"
After hearing this, Hong Chengchou placed another chess piece on the map in Hangzhou.
After thinking about it, I went to Huizhou and Ganzhou and placed one each.
Stared at the map for a long time.
Hong Chengchou placed a sunspot at Nanchang in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
He tapped on the map and said, "Nanchang, the next step of the Ming army must be to attack Nanchang."
But he wondered, where did the Ming army come from with so many soldiers and horses to siege Chongqing, siege Jingzhou, siege Wuchang, siege Hangzhou? Could the next step be to siege Nanchang, siege Anqing or even siege Nanjing?
Impossible. If the Ming army really had this strength, it would be impossible for the two capitals to fall.
Hong Chengchou thought carefully, "No, there must be something false and true here. The Ming army cannot have the strength to fight thousands of miles away. They must have only one real goal. Where is it? Jingzhou, Wuchang, or Nanjing, which is not besieged now, or what?"
Or Hangzhou, which has been besieged?"
These goals were all of strategic value, and Hong Chengchou was unable to judge them at the moment.
For a long time, he delineated two targets, one was Hangzhou and the other was Nanjing. He still felt that the Ming army would launch a counterattack along the entire Yangtze River, but the real goal might be to divert the tiger away from the mountain.
The basis for this thinking is that Lu Jianguo is now in eastern Zhejiang and is based in Shaoxing, so Hangzhou is the nearest target. Of course, Nanjing is also very possible. After all, Nanjing is the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
"If the middle and upper reaches are just bluffing and trying to divert the tiger away from the mountain, then the soldiers and horses in the lower reaches cannot move lightly. But which one, Hangzhou or Nanjing, is their real goal?"
If they want to attack Hangzhou, they will send reinforcements from Jiangning. But if Hangzhou is just a false target and the real target is Nanjing, wouldn't they fall into the trap of diverting the tiger from the mountain? What if the Ming army enters Chongming from the sea and then rushes along the river?
Nanjing, Nanjing is empty, why don’t we throw it away?
But if the real target is Hangzhou, can Hangzhou be able to defend it without reinforcements from Nanjing?
Hong Chengchou looked at the map and fell into deep thought.
He began to deeply admire the master behind the scenes who played this all-out counterattack. Who has such ability, Zhang Guowei or Zhu Dadian or Lu Jianguo?
Or is it the Jiangnan Admiral Zhu Wu who once went north to Sanwu to stir up troubles?
In the face of letters asking for help from various places, Hong Chengchou fell into silence. Jiangning's troops were limited and he did not dare to take action lightly.
The only option is to transfer to other towns.
Who was he calling? He scanned the map of Suzhou and Songjiang, and finally landed on Suzhou and Songjiang. The governor of Suzhou, Tu Guobao, was his confidant. The general of Songjiang, Li Yuchun, had brilliantly put down the chaos before. Both of them had performed well before.
Very good, a hundred times better than Wu Shengzhao and Li Chengdong.
Why not first send the two of them south to Hangzhou for reinforcements, and then send Wu Shengzhao and Li Chengdong back to defend Nanjing?
But in this way, the door to Susong's coast is wide open.
After thinking about it, he planned to first let Wu Shengzhao return to defend Suzhou, let Li Chengdong take over the defense of Songjiang, and let Tu Guobao and Li Yuchun, who were capable of fighting, lead troops to Hangzhou for reinforcements.
Hangzhou is the gateway to defend the Ming army in eastern Zhejiang, and there is no room for failure.
Once Hangzhou is lost, the door will be opened wide, and Jiangnan will be ruined.
After getting paper and pen, Hong Chengchou began to write a memorial to Beijing. He first wrote a resignation letter. The reason was that his father was seriously ill in bed, and he wanted to send someone to take his father back to Beijing to serve him at his bedside and fulfill his filial piety.
Immediately afterwards, he wrote another memorial, but it was a huge crisis that suddenly appeared in the entire south. Can Ming counterattacked across the board, and the situation was critical. He hoped that the imperial court could send the elite Manchu and Han Eight Banners south to suppress the rebellion.
And it needs to be fast, preferably within a month, to reach the southern battlefield.
