Bolo got up early in the morning before dawn as usual. This royal family member of the Qing Dynasty was very diligent and self-disciplined. Although he was leading troops outside, he did not indulge in enjoyment. Because of the corruption of the current situation, he did not even approach women.
, and also strictly prohibited the Eight Banners soldiers from robbing women and insulting women, etc.
"Your Majesty, urgent report."
"Kong Youde is dead."
Bolo is practicing archery with his bow. The first thing he does when he gets up every morning is to shoot a hundred arrows. This is a very labor-intensive thing, but the Manchu people pay attention to martial arts, especially archery. Bannermen start from an early age.
When learning archery, one of the most important aspects of assessing armor is archery.
There are even regulations on bow strength for all cavalry archery.
The Manchu bow is a large bow with long arrows, suitable for close combat. One arrow per arrow can compete with firearms.
The Eight Banners armor-clad war bow requires at least eight jins or more. One force is twelve jins, and eight jins is ninety-four jins.
Strength above twelve is tiger strength, and the highest strength can reach fifteen.
In contrast, in the late Ming Dynasty, guard archers could only fire six-power bows, and even many ordinary soldiers could only fire three-power bows.
Bolo is a general who is good at riding and shooting, and can fire a fifteen-power bow.
The fifteen-force bow he is pulling has a bow strength of one hundred and eighty kilograms. Although he is not as powerful as some of the top warriors in Manchuria who can even pull an eighteen-force two hundred and ten kilogram bow, he is still strong.
"What?"
"Your Majesty, Kong Youde is dead and Dengzhou has been lost."
Bolo was stunned. The arrow in his hand fell to the ground without clasping it. The string was fully drawn and unstretched. There was a snap, and this fine full-string bow gifted by the emperor actually broke.
The empty string ruined a good bow and even left a bloody mark on Bolo's face.
Bolo was stunned.
"What did you say, speak louder."
The guard soldier who came to report the news said carefully, "Ding Wensheng, the governor of Shandong, just sent someone to report urgently. The Emperor Zhu Yihai of the Southern Ming Dynasty led the navy to Dengzhou. They intercepted the North Korean grain ship transporting grain to Dengzhou at sea. The grain ship
Hidden soldiers and artillery, pretending to be a North Korean grain ship, approached Dengzhou Port, suddenly fired their guns, and rushed into the city of Dengzhou. Kong Youde was caught off guard and unable to defend it. Finally, he was trapped in the Yamen and set fire to himself. "
Bolo abandoned the broken bow on the ground, breathing heavily.
His hands were shaking uncontrollably.
"Kong Youde was guarding Dengzhou. Where were his five thousand troops and they were just attacked? Were they not at all prepared?"
The military academy guard said cautiously, "Previously, there were rioters in Gaotang and other places in Dongchang Prefecture. The momentum was so great that the governor Ding Wensheng could not control it, so he had to send a letter to ask Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming of Denglai to send troops to help suppress it.
Kong Youde sent 3,000 cavalry to go there, and when the Ming thieves came to attack, he sent another 1,500 to collect grain from the countryside. At that time, he was the only servant in the city with a camp of 500 people.
After being tricked by Ming thieves and entering the city, they could no longer defend it and even had no time to break out."
Bolo didn't know what to say for a moment. He held it in for a long time before he cursed the word "Cao".
"Where's Geng Zhongming from Laizhou? How is he doing now?"
"It is said that after the Ming thieves defrauded Dengzhou, they repeated their old plan to defraud Laizhou. Fortunately, Geng Zhongming had a patrol team at the mouth of Laizhou Bay. After seeing the flames of war, they stepped up their defenses. After the Ming thieves disguised themselves as a Korean grain fleet, they
He insisted on boarding the ship for inspection, and then the thief's ruse was discovered.
Although the Ming thieves attacked and annihilated the patrol, Geng Zhongming also discovered the invading Ming army. Fortunately, Kong Youde's 3,000 reinforcements were nearby. He urgently called in the city to assist the defenders, plus Xiang Yong and others, to guard and block the attack.
The fierce attack of Ming thieves.
Now that the thieves have failed in their raids and defrauded the city, they have begun to besiege the city, and are still building siege equipment, digging secret passages, etc."
"Go and invite the future ministers to discuss matters."
Bolo calmed down a little, went to take a cold shower, and then changed into a military uniform. When he arrived at the military council hall, all the generals from Xuzhou had already arrived.
Bolo sat down and found that all the generals looked solemn.
"Have you heard about it? Kong Youde died because he underestimated the enemy and was unprepared. As soon as the Ming army left Zhenjiang, the smoke of war in the north of the Yangtze River was already lit and spread all the way to Beijing. Didn't Kong Youde know about it?
But he still thought that Denglai was in the rear, so he could sit back and relax. At this time, he actually sent 3,000 people to Dongchang Mansion to suppress the bandits, and another 1,500 people to go to the countryside to collect grain. He led 500 people to guard Dengzhou City, and returned
There just wasn't the slightest bit of defense.
The North Korean grain ship entered the harbor and docked at the pier.
Kong was virtuous and deserved his death!"
Bolo gritted his teeth.
All the generals were silent.
Kong Youde died unjustly, and they had no sympathy. But now that Kong Youde died, Dengzhou was lost, Laizhou was besieged, and the door to Shandong was opened wide.
The Eight Banners Army here in Xuhuai was suddenly in danger of being attacked from both sides.
Bolo slapped his palm on the table, causing the tea cup to fall to the ground.
"Last year, Shang Kexi underestimated the enemy. As a result, thousands of troops were wiped out. He was eventually surrounded and ended up burning himself to death.
Kong Youde was also caught off guard by the Ming army last year. In Xia Town, a group of villagers even set fire to a gunpowder truck, blew up the truck camp and shocked the cavalry, causing heavy losses.
I don’t have a long memory at all!”
After Bolo finished getting angry, Tu Lai came over and asked him what to do next.
"Geng Zhongming is more cautious than Kong and Shang. Although there are seven or eight thousand garrison troops in Laizhou, he is short of food. The food in the city cannot last for a month at most.
Moreover, when the Ming thieves came from the sea, they must have carried a large number of heavy artillery. Whether they used hole blasting or artillery bombardment, they surrounded Laizhou with tens of thousands of elite imperial troops. It is estimated that Geng Zhongming could not hold it for more than a month."
Bolo was very angry.
He had already thought of this, but the problem was that now they were facing more than just the Ming army.
In front of them is Zhang Guowei's Central Route Army, which has tens of thousands of troops. It is now stationed in Yangzhou, Nantong, Jingjiang, and Chongming. Even the Ming Army on the Central Route has once again controlled the canal from Huai'an to Yangzhou and the Yan River.
As well as Gaoyou Lake and Hongze Lake outside Huai'an City, shadows of the Ming army also appeared.
Tan Tai, who was stationed in Huai'an, and He Luohui, who was stationed in Fengyang, also kept asking the Qing army in Xuzhou to go south for reinforcements.
Now something happened to Denglai again, and he was at a loss for what to do.
If Laizhou is saved, Huai'an and Fengyang will be in danger.
If the troops are divided, the troops will be insufficient.
Of course, these are not the most critical issues.
The most fatal problem now is still the food problem. At this time of the lean period, Xuhuai and other places have not yet recovered from the difficulties last year. Now that we have to turn around and return to Denglai to aid, where will the food and grass come from?
If there was food, North Korea would not have been asked to provide food aid before.
After the offensive and defensive changes, I realized how difficult it is to defend. It is impossible to defend and there are gaps everywhere.
The war finally returned to its old ways, money and food.
"Make an appointment with the salt merchants and ask them to lend you money. Borrow it!"
Tu Lai looked helpless, "Those salt merchants have also lost their roots since the Ming army occupied Yangzhou. The salt business is not as good as before. The imperial court has asked them for money several times before to borrow money, but now they have no money."
Bolo didn't care about this, "Don't think that I don't know that these salt merchants are still dealing with the Ming army secretly, and they still transport salt from Yangzhou. They pay salt taxes to the Ming army in Yangzhou. Don't I know? I just won't pursue it.
That’s all, after all, Yangzhou’s salt is needed everywhere.
But now that the situation is like this, I can't care about that for the moment. Even if I have to kill the goose to lay the eggs, I should focus on the present first.
Ask them to borrow money, and then find a way to buy grain. If they refuse to borrow money, then their homes will be ransacked and executed.
Anyway, the salt merchants are just a group of merchants. As long as the imperial court can regain Huaiyang, are you afraid that it will not be able to recruit new salt merchants?"
"But where can we buy grain in Jiangbei now? In Huainan last year, the Ming army went north and went deep into Changping, Shandong. Spring sowing has not recovered much this spring. Not to mention that the summer grain has not yet arrived, even if it is harvest time, there will not be much grain.
.
The situation in Huguang upstream is similar, and even if there is food, the Yangtze River is now completely in the hands of the Ming navy, and even if there is food, it cannot be transported.
Henan has to support Huguang, support Xuhuai, Shandong, and supply Beijing, but there is no surplus food.
Shaanxi also wanted to supply the troops for the Western Expedition, and it had too much time to take care of itself. Even Shanxi had to do its best to transport the troops and horses for the Western Expedition.
The food in Liaodong outside the customs is needed not only to supply the soldiers and horses left behind, but also to supply Beijing.
As Tulai talked, he had no choice but to spread his hands. It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.
Originally, if we could survive until the summer harvest, we could provide some relief and alleviate the hunger.
But now the Ming army sent troops at this juncture and smashed Dengzhou to pieces with one stick. Isn't this fatal?
"Tenglai must be rescued. If we don't care, not only will our back be in danger, but it will also directly threaten Beijing and Tianjin. This is absolutely unacceptable."
"What about Xu Huailufeng?"
Bolo was in a difficult position.
Very difficult.
The battle was in such a horrible state that I couldn't perform at all.
He now also understands Tan Tai's predicament.
He rubbed his head for a long time.
Bolo gritted his teeth and made a decision, "Abandon the land south of the Huaihe River and withdraw all troops to Huaibei. Tan Tai retreated to Yingzhou, and He Luohui retreated to Runing.
Gu Hu
I want you to stay in Xuzhou.
The king personally leads the troops to Denglai for rescue!"
The generals looked at the sand table in front of them and were shocked by Bolo's bold decision.
Yingzhou is located to the north of the Huaihe River and also to the north of Shouzhou.
If we abandon Hefei now, we should retreat to Shouzhou, an important town in Huaixi, but Boluo ordered us to retreat directly to Yingzhou on the edge of the Yingshui River, a tributary.
Yingzhou is located in the southwest of the Central Plains Plain. It was subordinate to Nanzhili in the Ming Dynasty. It is bounded by Kaifeng Prefecture and Runing Prefecture in Henan Province to the north, and the Huaihe River is to the south. The terrain is very flat.
When the country was unified, Yingzhou's strategic position was average, but now that the north and the south are confronting each other, Yingzhou's position has become highlighted.
Kaifeng and Luoyang are the two major towns in the Central Plains, while Shouzhou is an important town in Huaixi. Hefei and Fengyang in the south were both very important in the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, Yingzhou and Shouzhou are actually the hubs of two important geographical units, namely Kaifeng in Henan and Luoyang in Henan, and Fengyang in Hefei in the south and north of the Yangtze River. They are battlegrounds for military strategists.
From a purely geographical perspective, Shouzhou is more important than Yingzhou.
However, Shouzhou is on the edge of the Huaihe River, which is conducive to the Ming army that has the advantage of water. Therefore, Bolo, who is now short of troops, short of money and food, and has a fire in his backyard, does not intend to divide his troops to defend, and simply retreats to defend.
Instead of retreating to Shouzhou, we could retreat directly to Yingzhou. We could also rely on Kaifeng and Luoyang to get supplies nearby from Henan, which was relatively stable, and even support from the Qing army in the rear.
To put it bluntly, Yingzhou is the southern gateway to Henan, and there is no room for error.
If they fail to defend at all, the Ming army may march straight in after capturing Hefei, Shouzhou, Fengyang and other places, all the way to Luoyang and Kaifeng.
This is very dangerous and must not be allowed.
Runing is located in southwest Henan, with the towering Song Mountain to the north, the vast Funiu to the south, the ancient capital Luoyang to the west, and the Huanghuai Plain to the east.
Compared with Yingzhou, Runing is further to the west. It is located in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River and is geographically complex. Surrounded by Funiu Mountain and Dabie Mountain, it is an important passage. To the west, you can enter the Nanyang Basin through Fangcheng Pass, and to the south is the Dabie Mountains.
District, to the north is Xuchang and Zhengzhou.
To the southeast is Yingzhou.
An important role of Runing at the moment is to connect Huainan to Nanyang, Huguang and Huaixi.
Moreover, this side is easy to defend. If you retreat to this side, you will maintain the connection channel between Nanyang and Huguang.
Whether it's getting food from over there or reinforcements from over there, it's very important.
This is a complete and complete abandonment of the south of the Huaihe River, including Hefei, Fengyang, Huai'an, and Shouzhou, all important Jianghuai towns.
But for Boluo now, he is facing enemies from both sides, and there is a fire in his backyard. He has no choice but to retreat and shrink his defense line. Hefei, Fengyang, Huai'an, etc. are all important towns in the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. He knows that the problem is that these places are now between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, and tomorrow
The army fully grasps the water superiority of the Jianghuai River.
In addition, the land of Huainan has been repeatedly destroyed and it is difficult to supply troops, and it cannot face the Ming army's massive counterattack, so they can only retreat and shrink the defense line.
Otherwise, if we continue to defend Hefei, Fengyang, Huai'an and other cities, we may be divided, surrounded and annihilated one by one.
By retreating, both the supply distance from the rear and the location of reinforcements are more secure.
This can also extend the supply distance of the Ming army.
But giving up so directly is still shocking.
This may even come with a huge responsibility.
Bolo looked around at the generals and said, "I understand now. We have been unable to do anything before and have been punished everywhere. It is because we have carried these burdens, so we are struggling every step of the way. If we can take the initiative to put down these burdens, the situation will be improved immediately."
Open."
"Stop worrying about important towns and famous cities. What is there now in those places? Besides hungry people and barren fields, what else is there?"
"Yingzhou and Xuzhou each stationed 15,000 troops for defense, and Runing stationed 5,000 troops to assist in defense."
"I will lead 10,000 people back to Laizhou to aid."
"Your task is to hold this line and prevent the Ming army from going further north."
"My mission is to repel the Ming army and drive them back to the sea."
"We have to make long-term preparations for this battle, but I believe that it will be more beneficial to us to delay it. We will no longer fight the Ming army in the Jianghuai area. We will send them to the Central Plains to fight in the Huaihe area, which has already been destroyed.
Give it to the Ming army.
When we become the attacking party, even if the Ming army divides its troops to defend, we will be more advantageous in attacking and mopping up."
Bolo was furious.
However, Tu Lai still raised several difficulties. First, could the imperial court agree to such a direct abandonment of the entire Huainan region?
Secondly, whether it is retreating to Yingzhou, Runing, retreating to Xuzhou, or returning to Laizhou to aid, this involves the mobilization of tens of thousands of troops, which is equivalent to a completely new adjustment and deployment. What about the mobilization of troops, food and pay?
Bolo looked at Turai, "At this point, what else can't you let go of?"
"When Zu Dashou was besieged in Daling River and Jinzhou, they were also short of food and grass, but they held on for a long time and how many people did they eat?"
"People in the Ming Dynasty can eat people to satisfy their hunger, and people can also change their sons to eat. Why can't we eat people for the sake of the court and the Qing Dynasty?"
Bolo banged the table.
"Don't have money? Then rob and cut off the salt merchants. Then you will have money. If the salt merchants are not enough, then cut down the other merchants."
"If you don't have food, then search and scrape all the houses of the landlords, gentry, and even common people that you can find, and take back every grain of food, including cattle, horses, donkeys, dogs, chickens, and dogs. Don't let go of anything that can be eaten."
, in the end, you can also capture people, and you can not only help transport military supplies, food and grass, etc., but also build bridges and pave roads and camp, and even kill them and eat meat to satisfy your hunger when necessary!"
"As long as we are determined enough, these are not problems!"
"It's broken anyway, so just don't worry about it and just go ahead and do it to your heart's content."
"Before we withdraw, we need to clear out the country again, burn everything that can be burned, destroy everything that can be destroyed, fill up all the wells, burn down all the villages, tear down all the city walls, and destroy hundreds of miles of Huaihe land.
If it turns into a white land, it would be best to tear down the entire Huaihe River embankment!"
"Let's see how the Ming army continues to advance northward!"
This kind of thing, killing a thousand enemies and damaging yourself eight hundred, is a real plan to wipe out the whole family.
As a result, the entire Huainan has become a dead ground, which does not mean that the army cannot occupy it, cannot obtain supplies on the spot, and cannot hold it for a long time.
But similarly, if they do this, the Qing army will probably not be able to gain a foothold in Huainan within a few years. Even if they defeat the Ming army, they will not be able to come back.
This also means that the Jiangnan area behind Huai Di has gained a huge buffer zone and has become relatively stable.
The Qing army will not be able to cross this dead ground and attack Jiangnan in a short time.
But why would Bolo care about this?
He was only looking at the front of his eyes. The Ming army was forcing them to retreat and the Eight Banners were unable to move.
Even the Ming army reached Shandong and threatened the Beizhi area.
Then you can only be more ruthless.
Anyway, the previous regent Dorgon also intended to temporarily abandon Huainan and Hubei as a buffer to buy time to accumulate strength.
"Don't feel bad, everyone. There is nothing to feel bad about. If we can't be so cruel and let the Ming army take it, it will be the same as today's Jiangnan. Last year, we captured Jiangning, captured Hangzhou, and drank from the Qiantang River.
.The Qing Dynasty also helped the army and the people, but what was the result?
Now Jiangning is called Nanjing again, and Hangzhou has become an important place for money and food for the Ming army to counterattack the Qing Dynasty.
If we had known this, when we captured Jiangnan last year, we slaughtered eight of his ten cities, transported all the money and food back to the north, and captured the population as slaves, just like we went into the fortress to plunder the Ming Dynasty in the early years. Wouldn't it be better?
?”
What Bolo said was thorough.
When the Ming Dynasty was still guarding the front line of Ningjin Shanhaiguan and blocking Houjin outside the customs, Houjin often bypassed the Ningjin defense line and entered the stronghold to plunder.
They even went deep into Shandong to plunder.
For example, in the seventh year of Chongzhen, Bolo's father Abatai was specially awarded the title of general and led the army to attack the Ming Dynasty. The army entered the Ming Dynasty border from Huangyakou and defeated the Ming generals Bai Tengjiao, Bai Guangen and others in Jizhou.
Hejian and Jingzhou moved towards Yanzhou, captured and killed Zhu Yipai, king of Minglu, and the kings of Leling, Yangxin, Dongyuan, Anqiu and Ziyang, and divided their forces to attack Laizhou, Dengzhou, Qingzhou and other places, heading south
Until Haizhou in the northeast of South Zhili.
When he returned to the army, he attacked Cangzhou, Tianjin, Sanhe, Miyun and other places.
This time the troops were sent to capture a total of 88 cities of the Ming army, forcing six to surrender, capturing 920,000 people and livestock, and plundering 12,000 taels of gold and 2.2 million taels of silver.
This dispatch of troops, from entering the customs in October to leaving the customs in May of the following year, swept through half of the Ming Dynasty and reached Haizhou in southern Zhili.
This raid into the fortress can be said to be the most successful of all the Qing army's raids into the fortress.
From Abatai to the bannermen of various banners, and even their servants, they all robbed a lot of money.
Bo Luo believes that now it is completely possible to restore the previous tactics. Don't regard the Han people south of the Huaihe River as subjects of the Qing Dynasty, just treat them as enemies and rob them. If you have no money or food, then rob them. If there is not enough food, then rob them.
Use people to satisfy hunger.
As long as the thinking is changed, the fighting power of the Eight Banners can be released at once.
At that time, not only will the problem of food, grass and military supplies be solved, but the tens of thousands of troops under his command will also be able to make a huge fortune, which will boost morale.
As long as they tear off the mask of hypocrisy they put on after entering the customs and restore their original ferocious appearance, they will still be an invincible Eight Banners Mad Fighter!
When the time comes, what will Zhu Yihai do to deal with it?
Back then, his father fought all the way to Yanzhou and captured Lu King Zhu Yipai. Now, maybe he can capture and kill Shaotian Emperor Zhu Yihai again.
"Let's go ahead and do it. We Manchurian Eight Banners warriors are originally wolves that roam thousands of miles to eat meat. Why should we restrain ourselves and tie our hands and feet?"
"The proceeds captured by each department will be rewarded according to the old rules!"
"The more you grab, the more points you get, the more you kill, the more rewards you get!"