"Report, Sir, there is a rebellion in the east, about a thousand people, under the banner of Sizhou Yiying, about two miles away from us, they are arrogantly provocative!"
In Zhujiazhuang, a Tangma came to report.
Li Yuchun stared at the map with a stern expression. After hearing the report, he picked up a piece of silver and placed it on the map to the east of Zhujiazhuang.
At this time, the gold ingot representing Zhujiazhuang on the map was surrounded by more than a dozen pieces of silver. A large piece of silver represented a thousand rebels, and a small piece of silver represented about five hundred.
From all directions, there are more than a dozen pieces of silver of different sizes surrounding the gold ingot. A rough calculation shows that there are at least tens of thousands of people gathered outside now, and the number is still increasing.
The flags of Yangzhou Camp, Sizhou Camp, Nanjing Camp, Hangzhou Camp, Jiaxing Camp and even the damn Yongwei Camp, Flag Bearer Camp, and Yulin Camp all came out.
"Which rebel army is it?"
Li Yuchun did not dare to go into battle easily. Because of his previous carelessness, more than 4,000 of his eight thousand troops were eaten in one day. The opponent showed a strong ability to annihilate enemies, which made Li Yuchun dare not go into battle easily.
He had lost half of his men, and he didn't even know who the opponent was, but he only attacked Zhujiazhuang. He lost dozens of people and forced his way into Zhuangzhuang. The whole army came to slaughter the village, killing all the old and young in the village.
Kill them all.
Then he hunkered down in the village and didn't dare to come out.
Along the way, Tang Ma Qingqing rode out to explore the road and sent many messengers to Hangzhou to ask for help. Li Yuchun showed great fear of death and caution, which made the accompanying Manchu adults laugh. However, he still tried hard to persuade the Manchu adults not to attack easily.
Li Yuchun was afraid that the capital in his hand would be lost here. He didn't know the enemy's situation, so he took the risk to attack. There would be no benefit if he won. If he lost, Li Yuchun would be finished. Even if he escaped back to Hangzhou, he would have no troops.
Will the Tatars still pay attention to his subordinate general?
If you are lucky, you may end up with an empty title and become a cold official, but if you are not lucky, the Tatars may directly attack him and use his head to vent their anger.
So fuck the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, the most important thing is to preserve your strength.
"Report!"
"Report to the military, the puppet Ming thieves are provoking me again!"
Li Yuchun stared at the map without raising his head, "Ignore it."
"But they sent a set of women's clothes and a letter of challenge."
"Hmph, have they watched too much Romance of the Three Kingdoms and thought that if they wear women's clothes, this town will be tricked and angered?"
Li Yuchun sneered, "The more they act like this, the less likely this town will fight."
A group of officers in the hall looked at each other, and they couldn't hold themselves back any longer.
"Everyone, the enemy is in darkness and we are in the clear, so be careful."
"Junmen, these pseudo-Ming thieves are too arrogant. They don't take us seriously at all. We must teach them a lesson."
Li Yuchun glared at the guard coldly, "Lessons? Who taught whom? In one day, more than 4,000 troops were killed, and more than a dozen camp heads were eaten up and wiped clean. Not even a scrap was left. How can you be so sensible?
Teach others? We have been taught by others and our parents don’t even recognize it anymore.”
"That was a treacherous and sneak attack by the puppet Ming army. We are now in the same camp with strong troops and horses, especially five hundred horsemen. No matter how many puppet Ming troops there are, they will definitely not be able to stop us."
"Fuck your mother's bitch!" Li Yuchun angrily grabbed a piece of silver and threw it at his face, "I beat him from Sizhou to Yangzhou, from Yangzhou to Nanjing, and from Nanjing to Hangzhou. It was not easy.
I just gathered these few thousand troops and became the deputy commander of the town. Recently, I finally managed to recruit thousands more recruits. I think that when Haining is recaptured, I might be promoted to the commander of the first town. What the hell are you?
You are reckless and arrogant. You bought half of my capital in one go. Now you dare to underestimate the enemy like this? Do you think it's not your turn yet?"
"What about the challenge?"
Tang Qi quickly delivered it.
Li Yuchun opened it and took a look at it, but found that he couldn't read all the words, so he angrily threw it to the scholar who was seeking refuge with his subordinates.
"Read it to me."
The scholar quickly read the letter.
"The Ming Dynasty ordered the admiral to supervise the local military affairs in the provinces south of the Yangtze River, the minister of the Ministry of War and the censor of Zuoqiandu, Shaobao, the general of the country, and the commander-in-chief of the flag-bearing battalion, Zhu Wu!"
Li Yuchun was stunned for a moment when he heard this long list of titles.
"Where did this Zhu Wu come from? Have you ever heard of this person?"
"No." Everyone shook their heads.
The scholar said cleverly, "This man's title has a title of General of the State, and his surname is Zhu. He should be from the clan of the Ming Dynasty, and he should be the son of a certain county prince."
The son of the prince of the Ming Dynasty was granted the title of king of the county, and the son of the prince of the county was granted the title of general of Zhenguo, followed by the general of Fuguo, and further down were the lieutenant of Zhenguo, the lieutenant of Fuguo, and the lieutenant of Fengguo. The number below the lieutenant of Fengguo will no longer decrease, and the descendants will be
Lieutenant Fengguo will always be different from the common people.
The princes and princes of the county were awarded the title of general of the country, with an annual salary of one thousand kilograms.
After all, Li Yuchun was once a general of the Ming Dynasty, and he reached the rank of general. How could he not know this? He glared at this sour scholar and almost threw a piece of silver at him.
"Don't I know that the son of the county prince is the general of the country? I am asking who has heard of this Zhu Wu?"
"I've never heard of him, but judging from his title of Jiangnan Admiral, he must have a good background. Could it be that he is the son of the fake King Yiyang of Chongming who oversees the country?"
"How old is King Yiyang, and how old can his son be? Besides, if the false King Yiyang arrogates the title of supervising the country, his son will definitely be named a prince or a county king. How can he be a general of the country?" Li Yuchun scolded.
"I heard that there was also a prison state in eastern Zhejiang. It was King Lu. Could it be that he was the son of King Lu?"
"The prince's son is a county king, how can he be a prisoner of the country? And I heard about the King of Lu when I was in Sizhou. He was only in his twenties, and his eldest son and three sons were all killed in the war in Yanzhou.
, there is only a second son who is only a few years old. Do you think a boy of that age can come here and become the admiral of Jiangnan?"
"Maybe he's Lu Jianguo's brother?"
"Brother, what the hell, King Lu and his family were all killed when Yanzhou City was destroyed. Otherwise, who would be Zhu Yihai's turn to be King of Lu?"
"Perhaps he is the brother of the false King Yiyang?" Another person said, "The false King Yiyang was originally the king of the Zhou vassal. It is normal for him to have brothers or nephews who are generals in the country."
The sudden appearance of Jiangnan Admiral Zhu Wu really confused them.
Especially since this man annihilated more than 4,000 of their troops as soon as he arrived, it was extraordinary.
Li Yuchun held his chin and began to think deeply. He was as fierce as a tiger in burning, killing, and looting, but when it came to actual fighting, this guy was very timid. I think he was also born in the Yongwei camp, and was a general of Huang Degong's Hutou camp. He was also very brave.
Passed.
But since he surrendered, he has completely changed as a person. He has become afraid of death and afraid of fighting. He will never fight head-on. Preserving his strength is the first priority.
"What a piece of shit, Admiral Jiangnan, bah, you are a rat with a hidden head and a face, don't pay attention to it."
"Then let's just do nothing?"
"It's not a good idea to have something to eat and drink, but you have to go out and die?"
After being scolded by Li Yuchun, those generals also gave up their thoughts of exterminating those arrogant pseudo-Ming rebels. Yes, in the midsummer of June, the sun is so bright outside, why go out and hide in Zhujiazhuang?
Isn’t it good to enjoy the cool weather?
The newly snatched women are not tired of playing with them yet.
······
"I didn't expect this thief Li to be so afraid of death. He's such a fucking coward!"
"Don't you say that the Tatars have always been arrogant? How come they can't imitate Li Thief and act like a coward?"
"Your Highness, what should we do now?"
On the water of Mahu Lake not far from Zhujiazhuang, a boat was parked under the shade of the lakeside trees, and Zhu Yihai and the officers of each battalion were holding a combat meeting.
Zhujiazhuang is located to the east of Haiyan and north of Kanpu.
The terrain here is a typical Jiangnan water town, with lakes, ponds, ponds, rivers, ditches, and canals everywhere. The names of the surrounding villages can also reflect this, such as Hujiayan, Xindang Village, Zhaojiaqiao, Xujiawan, and Wangjiagou.
, Yuehe Village, Chenjiabang, Liujiawei, Xujiahui, Zhaojiazui, Hulutan, etc.
The water network is crisscrossed and the ditches are densely covered.
There is a river for three miles, a lake for five miles, a pond for eight miles, and there are ponds everywhere.
At this time in June, the water level is full.
It was precisely for this reason that Zhu Yihai dared to summon all the battalions to encircle Zhujiazhuang. Although the Tatars had five hundred cavalry, the cavalry did not have much use here. There were rivers, ditches and ponds everywhere.
Boat and bamboo rafts are very convenient here.
"Since the Tatars dare not come out, then let's attack Zhujiazhuang?" asked a battalion officer.
If Li Yuchun was provoked and pursued, the Ming army could take advantage of the waterfront location to cut and surround the Tatars, and then destroy them one by one.
But now Li Yu is very cautious when it comes to thieves. He huddles together in Zhujiazhuang and does not come out. This makes it difficult to fight.
About one mile east of Zhujiazhuang is the lake called Nandang. Nandang is very common in Jiangnan water towns. It refers to a lake with a large area but extremely shallow water, which is equivalent to a large pond.
More than two miles west of Zhujiazhuang is the long river.
This is a drainage canal, but now it has been in disrepair and is seriously silted up. During the rainy season, the long river turns into a long lake.
Nanhudang and Changhudang are vast oceans during the wet season, and turn into rivers during the dry season. The two rivers still meet not far north of Zhujiazhuang.
Therefore, the geographical location of Zhujiazhuang is actually quite special. It is located on a delta flat land surrounded by rivers and lakes on three sides. This kind of terrain is undoubtedly easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The Tatar cavalry pursuit is not effective, but if they wear heavy armor and fight on foot on the plain outside the village, they will still be very fierce.
Plans never keep up with changes.
Zhu Yihai's initial plan was to use Haining as bait and quietly ambush Li Yuchun who was coming to attack, but in the end, this guy had to go to Tongxiang to rob.
Zhu Yihai responded accordingly and quietly dispersed his troops into the countryside, attacked a wave of local tyrants, created some noise, and deliberately lured the snake out of its hole to lure him south.
The frivolous Li Yuchun was ambushed by Zhu Yihai in sections, and most of them were wiped out.
But after this defeat, this guy couldn't retreat. He neither went to Haining nor paid attention to the Ming army's provocation. He put on a posture like a dead pig that is not afraid of boiling water. He was obviously trying to scare people away and waited for reinforcements from Hangzhou to arrive.
Now that the situation has been discovered, Zhu Yihai is faced with a choice, whether to call it quits and withdraw his troops after victory, or to take advantage of Li Yuchun's loss of troops and beat him up and completely annihilate his thousands of troops.
I'm a little reluctant to leave, but it's not easy to fight.
Zhu Yihai wanted to engage in mobile warfare, but he did not want to confront them head-on too quickly. The essence of mobile warfare was to get moving, look for opportunities, and try to fight with more and less, or even ambush or surprise.
Now in a head-on battle of ten thousand versus five thousand, Zhu Yihai is still reluctant to fight.
"Your Highness, there is a ditch from Nanhudang to the southeast entrance of Zhujiazhuang. Although the water is not deep, it is very wide and small boats and rafts can travel. I think this is a breakthrough." Zhang Mingzhen's navy general
Ruan Jin said, "We have many ships in the Northern Expedition this time, both sea-going ships and river ships that can travel on inland rivers. We can remove the artillery from the sea-going ships and install them on the river ships, and reach Zhujia directly from the river.
To the south of the village, bombard them with artillery."
"We will then use boats to carry archers and musketeers to shoot from a distance and cover our spearmen, sword and shield men and other infantry attacks. In this way, Li Thief's most powerful five hundred cavalry will not be able to threaten our flanks and rear.
"
"We can even take advantage of the fact that Zhujiazhuang is surrounded by water on all sides, use ships to send troops ashore from all sides, and surround them on all sides."
Zhu Yihai understood that the key point in Ruan Jin's words was that Zhujiazhuang was surrounded by water. Not only was it surrounded by water, it was also a prison wall that trapped Thief Li.
It is also a mobile offensive route. Zhu Yihai has the advantage of boats, so he can mobilize troops and horses through the rivers and lakes on all sides. Although Li thief can block it with troops on the shore, Zhu Yihai is alive and can be used.
Water and boats, quickly changing the direction of attack, etc.
This kind of opportunity to change military formations is rare. Many times, after a big battle begins, it is difficult to change military formations, let alone change the main direction of attack at any time.
But now this favorable geographical location allows Zhu Yihai and others to have this condition.
Through the water conservancy of the rivers and lakes on all sides, Zhu Yihai's men and horses can change their formations and adjust the direction of attack at any time. Moreover, the maneuvers of the boats in the rivers and lakes are fast, not even weaker than the Tatar cavalry, especially when they change directions on the water.
Even the Tatars can't stop us from adjusting the use of troops.
The only question left.
This battle was no better than any previous one. The enemy was four thousand puppet troops and five hundred Tatars. They were fully equipped and even occupied a village. Zhu Yihai had ten thousand against four thousand five, but he had no advantage.
Although there are still tens of thousands of troops on the periphery, they are only used to clean up the battlefield after the war, and they can't be counted on during the war.
Can Zhu Yihai's 10,000 men defeat these 4,500 men head-on?
If so, how much casualties will it cost, and is it worth it?
This is a very vexing problem.
In his heart, Zhu Yihai didn't want to fight this tough battle, because he felt that although Li Yuchun's puppet army was average in strength, the five hundred Tatars alone should not be underestimated.
They annihilated more than 4,000 puppet troops before, but that was an ambush in stages and defeated one by one. Now it is completely different to fight hard.
Reason told him that maybe he should give up this plan and think of a more secure method, or simply give up and swallow these enemies.
But Zhu Yihai was unwilling to give in. He needed victory, a victory that was shocking enough, not a small victory like defeating a few local tyrants, killing a few bandits, or wiping out a small group of Tatar reconnaissance cavalry.
The opportunity in front of you is rare, and it is difficult to miss it again.
"Hou Fu, what do you think?" Zhu Yihai asked Zhang Mingzhen.
"I thought that our army was riding on the power of new victories and its morale was at its peak, while the Tatars' newly defeated army was cowering in fear. In terms of morale, we would crush them. But in terms of strength, our troops were more than twice theirs, and there were still tens of thousands of people outside us.
Help us. Moreover, the geographical location here is favorable for us, but not for the captives and cavalry. Moreover, the strategy proposed by General Ruan just now will increase our chances of victory. Our army will definitely win this battle, but the Tartars will definitely be defeated. I invite you to fight!
"
"What about the casualties? How many casualties will our army pay?" Zhu Yihai asked again.
"Your Highness, there is no one who cannot die in a war, and our generation of soldiers and warriors are not afraid of dying on the battlefield and returning with their bodies wrapped in horse leather. As long as we can win, it is worth fighting and we can fight!" Zhang Mingzhen said boldly.
Surrounded by water, the boat division has the advantage of being able to mobilize easily. The boat carries archers and guns, which makes it more advantageous for long-range attacks, and it is not afraid of cavalry attacks on the flanks and rear.
The infantry has artillery, guns and muskets for cover, but they are not afraid of attacks by the captives and cavalry, nor are they afraid of a head-on fight with the pseudo-Tatars.
Moreover, the number of enemies is still more than twice that of the enemy, and there are tens of thousands of people on the outside who can assist and supplement at any time. No matter how you look at it, the chance of victory is mine.
As for the casualties and sacrifices, neither Zhang Mingzhen nor Shen Chenquan cared too much about it. After all, there is no way to fight without death. As long as you can win in the end, you can fight.
"Your Highness, let's fight!"
"Let's fight. It's a rare opportunity. It's hard to surround them here. How can we be willing not to destroy them."
"If you miss this opportunity, it will be difficult to get it again next time."
All the generals asked for battle together.
Zhu Yihai stared at the map. The situation was constantly changing and developing. It is unrealistic for you to train troops safely in the rear and wait until you have an elite army to fight.
Guerrilla is a guerrilla. If you just wander without attacking, you will become a rogue bandit.
"Okay, fight!" Zhu Yihai waved his fist and shouted.
The spring breeze blows, the war drums beat, and there is a battle between heaven and earth, who is afraid of who?