Chapter 366 Jiang Ning can be lost, Yan Gong must be saved
Hangzhou.
Minister of the Ministry of War, Hangzhou garrison Mele Zhang Jingzhu Mara discussed the military situation with Zhejiang Governor Li Yuchun, Zhejiang Governor Pan Yinglou, Zhejiang Admiral, Chaoyong Gong Zheng Jiwu, Haiyan Marquis Zhu Gang, Chief Envoy Zhu Guofan and others.
Letters asking for help from Jiang Ning arrived one after another.
Kangkara also sent several groups of people, but after the last messenger arrived, no messenger came for several days.
"The Ming army is now divided. Emperor Zhu Yihai of the Ming Dynasty personally led troops from six towns to besiege Jiangning City. He sent general Wang Xiang to lead the imperial army from four towns and local soldiers, including tens of thousands of soldiers, to go to Changzhou to surround Suzhou. Suzhou is in danger."
Zheng Jiwu, the third-class Chaoyong Duke, pointed out directly and clearly the evil intention of Emperor Ming, which was to prevent the reinforcements from Suzhou and Hangzhou from moving north in an attempt to break through Jiangning City.
"Now Duke Yan only has half of Jiangning City left, and it is in great danger."
Pan Yinglou, the governor of Zhejiang, also immediately said, "Rescuing troops is like putting out a fire. We can no longer hesitate and must send troops immediately."
Zhumala was still a little hesitant.
What he was worried about was Wang Zhiren on the other side of the Qiantang River. This man was the governor of the capital camp appointed by Zhu Yihai. After Zhu Yihai quietly led the main force northward, he had an elite soldier in his hand.
And I heard that Wang Zhiren has been recruiting more troops recently, and his Beijing camp has been expanded to three thousand battalions, the Fifth Army Camp and the Fire Attack Camp. Each battalion is said to have eight thousand soldiers.
The Three Thousand Battalion was stationed in Shaoxing, the Fifth Military Battalion was stationed in Yanzhou, and the Huogong Battalion was stationed in Ningbo, guarding the south bank of Qiantang.
"I received a message that Zhu Yihai had established a new camp in Fujian. Zhu Chenggong, the son of the governor of Fujian Zheng Zhilong, was appointed as the camp admiral. He divided his troops into eight thousand and went south. They have now arrived in Zhoushan.
It is rumored that Zhu Yihai appointed Zheng Zhilong as the governor of the imperial camp, a bachelor of Dongge University, a Shaobao, and a prince and Taibao, and summoned him to go north. Zheng Zhilong has already obeyed the order. He is leaving for the north. He also brought a Zheng fleet to go north. It is said that there are hundreds of large and small ships.
We have 2,000 sailors and 3,000 infantrymen, all of whom are elite, and even carry more than 100 red-coated cannons."
If these news are true, then not only Jiangning is in crisis, but Hangzhou is also facing a severe situation.
Wang Zhiren already had three major battalions in Beijing, Zhu Chenggong's eight thousand battalions, and Zheng Zhilong's five thousand Fujian elites. If these were added to the battalions in eastern Zhejiang, their strength was no weaker than the Qing army in western Zhejiang.
It is difficult for them to defend Hangzhou. If the main force moves north, Hangzhou may be attacked at any time.
Although Zhumala was also concerned about the safety of Jiangning, he believed that Hangzhou should not be compromised.
Nowadays, Jiangnan is corrupted, and Western Zhejiang is already considered rare. If Western Zhejiang is corrupted again, the entire Jiangnan will be completely undefendable.
Hangzhou, in particular, is at the forefront and cannot afford to lose anything.
Zhumala, the Minister of War, was actually serving in the Ministry of War, rather than having a title. He had his own understanding of the overall situation.
Moreover, he believed that when the imperial court decided to send 18,000 banners southward and station them in the four cities of Jiangning, Hangzhou, Songjiang, and Suzhou, the purpose was to hold on to several key towns and establish support points.
If the Eight Banners now return to aid Jiangning, it will run counter to the original plan.
"Jiangning needs to be saved, but Hangzhou needs to be defended even more."
Zhumala made his attitude clear, "Hangzhou is the support for western Zhejiang and a stronghold against the Southern Ming Dynasty."
Zheng Jiwu was a little surprised.
"But Jiangning is in danger now, and even Suzhou may fall at any time? Ignore it? Have you ever thought about the consequences if Jiangning falls? It is true that Hangzhou is the support point of western Zhejiang, but Jiangning is the support point of the entire Jiangnan."
"If Jiangning is lost, how can Hangzhou survive alone?"
Li Yuchun even slapped the table directly.
To be honest, he doesn't particularly care whether Jiangning City is lost or not. What he cares about is the safety of Mr. Yan Jinglue. Yan Jinglue is his nobleman and his most stable backer. He doesn't want Mr. Yan to make any mistakes.
So Jiang Ning can be lost, but Yan Jinglue must be saved.
"Zhumala, what are your intentions? Do you still have Shangguan in your eyes? Mr. Yan is a bachelor of the imperial court, a minister of the Ministry of War, and the right deputy censor of the five provinces of Jiangnan. Currently, Jiangning is stationed in the Eight Banners.
The army was wiped out, Zhenjiang was lost, and only half of the city of Jiangning was left. Mr. Yan is still waiting bitterly for our rescue, but you are going to die without rescuing him?"
"Tell me, what are your intentions?"
Because of Li Yuchun's outstanding performance in Zhejiang, especially his great achievements in regaining Yuhang, Fuyang and other places, and invading Shaoxing, the imperial court specially gave him as the governor of Zhejiang the title of Minister of the Ministry of War and the Censor of the Right Capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which was from the first grade.
The governor-general was specially granted the title of third-class marquis.
Compared with Zhumala, the Minister of War, and Hangzhou Maile Zhang Jinglai, Li Yuchun's official rank and title far exceeded Zhumala. Li Yuchun even specially joined the Zhengbai Banner of the Han Army, and he was able to call himself a slave when writing a memorial to the emperor.
of people.
In fact, Zhumala went south not long ago. He was delayed in going south in Jiangning because he had no money and food. Later, he encountered Kanglula and was ambushed and surrounded. He finally got out of the siege, but the canal was still blocked and the money and food could not be supplied, so he had to stop and go.
, finally entered western Zhejiang, and then got supplies and arrived in Hangzhou.
After arriving in Hangzhou, he began to be busy repairing the city, mobilizing money and grain to store supplies, resting troops and horses, etc. He did not have time to interfere too much in local affairs in Zhejiang. During this time, the Ming army from eastern Zhejiang did not come either.
They were harassed, so they got along well. He didn't have much interaction with Li Yuchun and other governors, admirals, and governors.
"I am just discussing the matter, and Jiang Ning can be saved, but I cannot ignore one thing and lose the other!" Zhumala retorted.
Li Yuchun waved his hand, "I don't care what you have or don't have. I only know that Duke Yan is still the manager of the five provinces in Jiangnan. Since Yan Jinglue ordered the Zhejiang soldiers to go north to rescue Jiangning, they must obey the order."
"Admiral Zheng, Commander Zhu, our headquarters plans to personally mobilize Zhejiang troops to go north for reinforcements."
Zheng Jiwu responded loudly, "I will issue an order to mobilize troops immediately. Zhejiang Green Camp will immediately gather in Hangzhou and follow the Governor to the north to rescue Jiangning."
Governor Pan Yinglou also expressed his willingness to take Fubiao northward.
Zhumala looked at these people and frowned.
"If you take away all the soldiers, what will Zhejiang do?"
"Don't you still have your Zhumala Minister in Zhejiang? If you don't want to leave, just stay."
Zhumala was also annoyed, "I only have 2,500 soldiers. How can I defend the three prefectures in western Zhejiang? Even the city of Hangzhou may not be able to defend it."
"This won't work, and that won't work either. What do you want?" Li Yuchun said angrily, "Are we all staying here to satisfy you?"
Seeing the attitude of these people, Zhumala could only keep it in mind.
"It's okay to send troops to rescue Jiangning, but we can't ignore Hangzhou. Besides, if we send troops in a hurry, it will be difficult to supply too many soldiers and horses with food and grass." He suggested, "We should choose an elite force to go north for reinforcements. The elite troops should not be too many."
, This can also reduce the difficulty of food and grass supply."
"From Hangzhou to Jiangning, it's 800 miles to travel along the canal. Now the canal is frozen and shipping is impossible. If we use cavalry to rescue, we can travel 200 miles a day, and we can arrive there in four days at the fastest. But if we bring infantry, then
The infantry marches a hundred miles a day and takes eight days."
Zheng Jiwu narrowed his eyes and said, "In that case, I suggest that Zhu Shilang take 2,500 men to garrison the Eight Banners in Hangzhou and ride to Jiangning first. Governor Li and I will lead the infantry and come later. Governor Pan and Zhu Bu will stay in Hangzhou."
.”
Zhumala spread out a map.
"How about this? I will lead two thousand Hangzhou Eight Banners, and Admiral Zheng will also mobilize the cavalry from the Zhejiang Green Camp. We will ride ahead on horseback. Instead of passing through Jiaxing and Suzhou, we will go to the west side of Taihu Lake, from Hangzhou through Deqing, Huzhou, Changxing, Yixing, and to Liyang
, Lishui, and then to Jiangning.
This route is about 600 miles. If we only need three days to travel 200 miles day and night, we can bring dry food and fodder without any need for logistical supplies.
How many cavalry can Admiral Zheng mobilize?"
"Not many, Jiangnan is short of horses." Zheng Jiwu said.
"Ordinary horses and mules will do. What we want is to be able to travel, and we don't need real cavalry." Zhumala said, "I will leave 580 banners in Hangzhou, and Admiral Zheng can dispatch 3,000 horses and mules to ride on them. We can
Is it feasible for five thousand people to rush to Jiangning’s aid in three days?”
Zheng Jiwu said expressionlessly, "If it doesn't work in three days, I have to bring back horse and mule soldiers from Huzhou, Jiaxing, and Hangzhou. The preparation time will take more than three days."
"And it's raining and snowy now, and everything is covered with ice and snow. It's impossible to travel 200 miles a day."
Zhumara frowned.
"Then I will lead the 2,008 banners first, and you can mobilize the 3,000 cavalry to come later. Is that feasible?"
Zheng Jiwu nodded, "I can order all the ministries to mobilize cavalry to assemble in Huzhou. In this case, it will take me about three days."
Zhumala thought for a while and said, "Two days, I'll wait for you in Huzhou for a day. Then we will go one behind the other, keeping a distance of one day, so that we can meet each other. The road is difficult to travel in snowy weather, so we will use the road from Hangzhou to Jiangning."
Six days, one hundred miles a day to the main office.”
"That's okay." Zheng Jiwu nodded, "But the situation in Suzhou is not optimistic now. Minister Kang is still waiting for us to come to the rescue."
"Let Hetuo from Songjiang go to Suzhou to relieve the siege. Kangkara is Hetuo's cousin. Governor Li can choose 5,000 Zhejiang infantry to rush to Songjiang and join Hetuo's soldiers and horses to go to Suzhou to relieve the siege. We can divide our troops into two groups.
It can be a mixture of fiction and reality.”
Zheng Jiwu and Zhu Dagui secretly looked at each other.
"Why don't General Mo take the five thousand infantry to Songjiang to join the minister's troops and go to Suzhou? Hangzhou is important and cannot be lost. Then Governor Zhu, Governor Pan, Zhu Fantai and others will lead the troops to stay here?" Zhu Gang, the chief military officer of Hangzhou, said.
road.
With five thousand infantry and cavalry each, the troops were divided into three groups and went north to rescue.
After this, Hangzhou was guarded by Li Yuchun, and there were also Du Biao, Fu Biao, Daobiao and 580 banner soldiers. In addition to the soldiers and horses from Huzhou, Jiaxing and other places, there were still tens of thousands of people.
Zhumala felt that this plan was better, at least it was much better than rushing all swarms to Jiangning. If tens of thousands of cavalry went north together, the logistics and food supplies would not be able to supply them.
Now if we travel north lightly and each person carries dry food for fifteen days, then there is no need for additional logistical supply transportation.
Zhumala originally did not want to lead the Eight Banners northward, but Li Yuchun and Zheng Jiwu forced him to send troops, and he had no choice but to do so.
"Then it's settled?"
"good!"
"I'll set off early tomorrow morning!" Zhumala said.
Zheng Jiwu nodded, "I will mobilize three thousand horse and mule soldiers to assemble in Huzhou and follow up later."
Zhu Gang also said, "Then I will lead 5,000 infantry to Songjiang to rendezvous and ask the minister to go to Suzhou."
