"Congratulations to Mr. Guo Xing! That thief Duduo has been crowned! Mr. Guo Xing, you are truly a blessing to the heavens and a gift of valor to the heavens. You have protected me to rebuild the Ming Dynasty and revive the Ming Dynasty!"
"We wanted to capture him alive, but he and the guards around him resisted fiercely and refused to surrender, so we had no choice but to shoot him randomly. We originally wanted to knock him down, but we didn't stop."
At nightfall, as Cao Bianjiao personally led his team back to perform his duties, the news of Duduo's beheading was completely spread throughout the Ming army's central formation, and there was thunderous cheers for a while.
Some reckless people even booed and shouted "Long Live the Ming Dynasty" in front of Zhu Shuren, which really frightened Zhu Shuren. Fortunately, the other party did not add a title, but it could be interpreted as a celebration of "Long Live the Ming Dynasty", which was enough to cover up the past.
"Guo Xingye is such a talented and wise man, he has never been defeated since he led the army! It's not that I, the Ming Dynasty, can't do it, it's because the late emperor didn't let Guo Xingye take charge of the overall situation, and Guo Xingye can't control the place.
This is how bad you are!" The uneducated generals around Zhu Shuren all praised him like this, and poured out their good words as if they were free of charge.
Gu Yanwu and other civil servants were not to be outdone, and dropped their bags of books to praise virtues:
"The sage is still the same as today. He is as humble as a grain, and a gentleman has no weapons. He delegates the military power of the world to the president of the country, and he has no doubts about the people he employs. Sun Tzu said, the general is capable but the king does not control him, he wins, this is what he said!
As long as we Han people can share the same hatred of the enemy, unite as one, and not doubt the civil strife, hundreds of thousands of Tatars can't be wiped out with just one hand!"
Although Zhu Shuren has a humble personality, it feels good to be praised like this occasionally.
This is the death of Duduo, can't you feel good about it?
But after all, he is a man with extraordinary self-control. He only enjoyed it for a while, and then he hit the generals:
"Although Duduo is dead, there are still some remnants of the enemy that have not been hunted down. All the soldiers must not slack off. It is better to use the remaining brave men to pursue the poor bandits, Wanyan Yechen, Zhang Cunren and others. I don't want any of them to go back alive! After a few days, we will return to the court after winning the victory.
It’s never too late to congratulate you!”
Cao Bianjiao and other generals were also stunned. In their opinion, in this land south of the Yangtze River, the enemy was already a turtle in a jar. Duduo was dead, so how could the others escape? Is it possible to fly across the Yangtze River with wings?
But after being reminded by Mr. Guo Xing, they put aside their temporary ecstasy and decided to finish the battle well.
Zhu Shuren's prediction was indeed correct. Although it was impossible for the remnants of the Qing army to cross the river and escape in an organized manner, it was still possible to break them into pieces, pretend to be deserters, and get through in a small number.
Because Duduo's target was too large and was the focus of the main pursuit of the Ming army, with the pull of the battle line just now, the Qing army's northern and southern wings were diverted, and the troops were still somewhat broken into pieces.
The Ming army should leave the remaining brave men to pursue the poor bandits and continue the pursuit until late at night, but they had to take a break and fight again the next day.
Of the 50,000 Qing troops brought by Duduo, in the day's decisive battle and the subsequent tug-of-war pursuit, at least 40,000 were killed, wounded, annihilated, and surrounded and forced to land. However, several thousand people still managed to retreat and escape.
One or two Qingqi of the Mongolian army on the north wing fled directly to the Yangtze River and were broken into pieces. The Ming army would waste a lot of time in the subsequent search and suppression.
Some of them were able to steal small boats to cross the river, or build rafts and try to cross the river, drowned in the river, or were intercepted and killed by the Ming navy.
Li Chengdong's new traitor troops on the southern wing collapsed the earliest. Although they suffered heavy casualties and were captured, those who stubbornly fled for their lives also escaped from the battlefield as a blessing in disguise and returned to the Qing army camp outside Jiangyin City——
Because after Li Chengdong collapsed, Jiang Shoude and Lin Chengyang were eager to determine the overall situation and immediately turned their guns to attack the southern weakness of the Duduo Central Army, without even bothering to pursue small fish like Li Chengdong.
He was the first to collapse, but was finally noticed by others and tried to pursue him, but naturally escaped the farthest.
In the Jiangyin camp, there were originally three to four thousand second-line troops of the Qing army, plus the wounded and sick soldiers accumulated in the previous battles, combined with the few cavalry troops who escaped and Li Chengdong's personal troops, all added together, in Jiangyin camp.
Thirteen to four thousand people were regrouped in the camp.
However, if the main force of 50,000 was completely defeated, what kind of trouble could these 13,000 to 4,000 people make? Not to mention that more than half of them were injured or sick.
Late that night, this group of Qing soldiers discussed whether they should abandon the camp and flee, but the princes were all dead, and they were leaderless and refused to obey anyone. The generals did not know the lives of Ye Chen, Zhang Cunren, etc., and they did not know whether they should wait for help. In the end,
There was no result from the dispute.
Li Chengdong was anxious and angry, but there was nothing he could do about it. His troops had been fighting and fleeing for a day, and their physical strength was extremely exhausted. He ignored the noise of the generals guarding the camp and let the troops sleep and rest for half the night.
It was impossible for the Ming army to pursue day and night, and they had to rest, so they waited until the next day, the morning of the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, before continuing to advance and attack the Qing army's camp in the west of Jiangyin City.
…
After a night of rest and waiting, the Qing troops guarding the camp finally identified Wanyan Yechen, but Zhang Cunren also failed to escape.
At the same time, the defeated generals who escaped from the Duduo Central Army also brought back a new piece of bad news, which almost caused a new civil strife within the Qing army.
"The reason why the prince suffered a disastrous defeat was because Li Chengdong colluded with the Ming army in advance and secretly agreed to surrender. During the decisive battle, he withdrew the southern front and allowed the Ming army to cross the Hengtang River, severely attacking the prince's southern weakness. This led to the collapse of the Chinese army!"
This statement was almost unanimously shared by the Duduo Lieutenant Generals who had fled back. It was obvious that they were all deceived by the Ming army's disintegration talk when they finally collapsed.
After hearing about this, the remaining Manchu and Mongolian generals in the camp were naturally in an uproar.
Because the commander-in-chief of another banner was also taken away by Duduo, the only one who can be found in the camp and the highest-ranking Manchu general who successfully escaped back is Beizi Shangshan, who is at the level of deputy banner commander.
The rest of the generals naturally followed Shang Shan's lead and asked Shang Shan to summon Li Chengdong immediately and throw a cup as a signal to kill him to prevent civil strife.
Shang Shan was so dizzy from the noise that he felt something was wrong, but he was also afraid of getting elbow and armpit injuries, so Huli Hutu agreed.
Li Chengdong on the opposite side fled early because he was not aware of the rumors spread by the Ming army when Duduo's army was later defeated, so he came directly without doubting his presence.
He was also worried, thinking that Shang Shan wanted to accuse him of being the first to be defeated in the decisive battle, causing chaos in the friendly forces' positions, and he silently recited lines of exculpation in his mind along the way.
However, these lines were of no use at all. As soon as he entered the Chinese army's tent, Shang Shan just tried to stabilize him with a few soft words and asked someone to lead him to a side table to sit down.
Seeing Li Chengdong just sitting on the horse, the sword on his waist had to be untied and put aside because he squatted low and hit the ground. Shang Shan immediately waved his hand, and a swordsman came out and held Li Chengdong down.
Li Chengdong was startled and quickly jumped up to take the sword, but was already restrained by various hands and feet.
"Master Beizi, what do you mean by this! Our army has just been defeated and you still want to fight with your colleagues? The general is indeed guilty of defeat first, but it's more than that!" Li Chengdong was shocked and angry, and shouted loudly.
"Li Chengdong, you colluded with the Nanbarbarians, betrayed the imperial court, and betrayed the prince. Do you think we don't know about it? Everyone said that you colluded with the barbarians and deliberately let Jiang Shoudelin grow up to cross the Hengtang River.
Sneak attack on the prince’s flank!”
Li Chengdong yelled: "I am wronged! It was the Ming army who suddenly deployed heavy artillery in the muddy field field on the south wing. The bombardment made our army lose its footing by the river, and then it retreated. Unexpectedly, the troops could not hold back as soon as they retreated.
My feet are broken. This is because I am not strict with my subordinates and cannot manage the army well. I cannot give orders and prohibitions, but how can I surrender to the enemy? If I surrendered to the enemy, would I come back now?"
"In the field, Nanmanzi can flexibly deploy heavy artillery to the front as the battlefield moves? How is this possible?" Shang Shan looked incredulous.
Li Chengdong: "If Beizi doesn't believe it, you can isolate the Lieutenant General of our army and ask them one by one about the story of the shelling. If what they say is different, I am willing to submit to the law!"
Shang Shan was hesitant for a moment, so he sent someone to quickly make a brief inquiry. It turned out that it was the Qing army's sudden and unexpected bombardment on the battlefield on the southern flank that caused them to retreat and give up the defense line at Hengtang River.
But the two sides have already broken up with each other, and Shang Shan is also a little bit stuck - now that Li Chengdong has such a bad relationship with him, even if he can say nice things to appease him, the other party may not be determined to help him die.
He just said sarcastically: "General Li, don't blame me. In any case, you are guilty of being defeated first. The beating and capture just now cannot absolve you of your guilt!"
Besides, even if the Ming army cooperates internally, it may not come back to my camp, maybe it’s just to make another profit and cooperate internally and externally!”
At this point, Li Chengdong had no intention of arguing with Shang Shan. He knew that the two sides had already left a rift and just wanted to plan how to survive.
After being accused like this by Shang Shan, he also had an idea and followed the trend: "Since Beizi still refuses to trust me to stay in the camp, I will lead the army to break out first! It can be regarded as fighting a bloody path for Beizi and his colleagues. Ming Ming
My thoughts!
I am willing to lead my troops around Jiangyin City and break out at Luyuan and other places, and kill as many as I can! If we stay here now, we will be completely surrounded and annihilated by the Ming army in a few days!"
As Li Chengdong spoke, he pointed to the west. The Ming army's pursuers were already very close. Due to exhaustion last night, the Ming army had to sleep, so they started chasing again this morning.
However, the Qing army had been stationed in the west of Jiangyin City for more than half a month, and the camp was very strong. Therefore, while they defended the camp, the Ming army did not attack immediately.
As they were chatting at this moment, sporadic artillery fire could be vaguely heard. It was obviously the new light cavalry artillery of the Ming Army. It was gradually transported to the front line with the main force and was about to complete its full deployment.
After listening to Li Chengdong's words, Shang Shan also realized that the quarrel last night was completely meaningless. Now any strategy to defend the camp is in vain. A complete defeat is absolute. The only meaningful thing is to find a way to break it up and escape with a few more lives.
go out.
He then nodded: "Okay, as you said, I order you to go around to the north of the city and divide your troops into two places to block the Ming army at the Dazhai on the top of Huanggong Mountain and the north gate of Jiangyin City. I will organize Yan Yingyuan to go out of the city to intercept him.
Will lead the light cavalry around the north of Jiangyin City to Luyuan Port.
As long as you can protect me from bypassing Jiangyin City and returning to Jiangbei alive, I will collude with you and blame the defeat on other generals who died without evidence. Otherwise, even if you escape alone and return to Jiangbei, for the great crime of the prince's death in battle, you
There is no way to escape!"
Li Chengdong almost broke his teeth after hearing this, but he knew that he had no choice but to gamble, because if none of the other senior generals survived and he returned alive, he would also be beheaded by Dorgon.
Han generals like him are not in short supply now and are not valuable. If he rescues a high-ranking Manchu man, he might still have a way to survive.
But if Shang Shan turns against him after escaping and refuses to help him explain away his mistakes with nice words, he will be very passive. It's a pity that he has no choice now.
…
After Li Chengdong agreed, the Qing army in the Jiangyin camp soon became commotion. Some sick, sick and disabled soldiers were left in the camp without being notified. They were ordered to defend the camp.
Shang Shan and Li Chengdong had already begun to plan their escape. About half an hour later, as the Ming army brought in several more cavalry cannons, and the firepower preparations became more intense, Shang Shan and Li Chengdong finally took five thousand
The people abandoned the army and broke out of the encirclement, heading east.
As mentioned before, when Duduo was still alive, he opposed this move around the city because the roads around Jiangyin were narrow and muddy, and the road bypassing the north of the city would be intercepted and flanked by the Ming army, which would most likely lead to the rear army being attacked.
Cut off, the head and tail cannot be seen together.
But now, Shang Shan is ready to completely give up the rear troops as human shields. If they are divided, they will be divided. Whoever can escape alive counts.
Therefore, to be honest, if they are willing to fight till the last soldier at this moment, then with the fortress and the last ten thousand people, it is possible to consume thousands more lives of the Ming army in the battle to defend the camp.
After all, the Qing army's combat effectiveness was still elite, and the defensive side still had the advantage of geographical advantages. Even if there were many wounded soldiers, two or three lives could definitely be exchanged for one life of the Ming army.
But everyone has a desire to survive, and Shang Shan doesn't care whether he can save thousands more lives of the Ming army before his entire army is wiped out. He just wants to have a chance to survive.
Therefore, all the sick and wounded soldiers he left in the camp, as well as the second-line miscellaneous fish belly, directly became the food of the Ming army's pursuers.
The pursuit of the Ming army did not immediately detect the remnant generals of the Qing army fleeing for their lives. They still attacked step by step. By the time the Ming army rushed up, the Qing army had already collapsed at the first touch.
In the end, the battle lasted only one day and then ended again. The Ming army only killed a few hundred people and wiped out six to seven thousand people in the camp.
The number taken away by Shang Shan and Li Chengdong was six to seven thousand.
But Yan Yingyuan, who had been trapped in Jiangyin City, had always been very sharp.
Although he was still surrounded by the Qing army in the past few days, he had already sensed from the chaos of the Qing army that Duduo's main force had probably been frustrated.
In the north of Jiangyin City, he also had people keeping a close eye on the important roads that circled the city. Now that he discovered that the Qing army was making a detour, he boldly ordered Kaicheng to attack and intercept them.
The other guards in the city were shocked when they heard this: "Master Futai, please don't be reckless! Before we were besieged, the task assigned to us by Mr. Guoxing was to defend the city, which is a great achievement. If we rush out of the city to fight in the field, will we be fooled?
Did you know the Qing army’s scheme? Isn’t this a deception?”
Yan Yingyuan sternly encouraged his subordinates: "The cannons in the west of the city are ringing like this, and so many rebels have left and returned to the camp since yesterday. The Qing army must have been completely defeated! They just want to escape now!"
We have been holding it in for so long, so we should give them a hard blow! Otherwise, if they are allowed to enter Suzhou, how many people will be harmed!"
The generals stopped talking. They also knew that if the enemy was allowed to pass the Jiangyin defense line, other economically prosperous places would also be infiltrated, killed, and plundered, and the damage to the economy would definitely be considerable.
The battle had reached this stage, and although the Ming army had not been able to send messengers directly through the siege to deliver messages to the Jiangyin defenders, with the help of telescopes, everyone could more or less see some clues about the progress of the battle.
In the end, everyone quickly discussed a set of arrangements: Yan Yingyuan continued to defend the city to ensure that no accidents occurred, and deputy general Chen Mingyu led his troops out of the city to intercept the Qing troops passing by from the north of the city.
Once a fraud was discovered, for example, the Qing army turned back and killed Chen Mingyu and wanted to take the opportunity to seize the city, Yan Yingyuan would not open the door to respond, so as not to ruin the overall situation and implicate the capture of Jiangyin City Gate.
Chen Mingyu must rely on his own troops to fight the Qing army to the end! He must survive in death!
Chen Mingyu also knew that he had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders. He selected thousands of dead soldiers, each drank three bowls of strong liquor, threw the bowl, then led his troops out of the city, and promised Yan Yingyuan:
"Don't worry, Yanfutai! If the Tatars are deceitful, I won't ask you to open the door and allow the enemy to join us even if we fight to the death. In the future, please remember to kill a few more Tatars to avenge the brothers. To the brothers,
Just tell us the news of the final annihilation of the enemy forces in Fentou!"
After throwing the wine bowl, Chen Mingyu led the Jiangyin martyrs to open the door and attack. Like a mad tiger, they rushed directly to the trail at the foot of Huanggong Mountain, directly stuck between Shang Shan and Li Chengdong, and fought with the Qing army who wanted to escape around the city.
in one place.
The Ming army on the Huanggong Mountain stronghold saw the Jiangyin defenders decisively attacking. Naturally, they were not to be outdone and immediately killed and intercepted.
The Huanggongshan Ming Army was backed by the Jiangyin Wharf on the Yangtze River. It had been receiving material support these days and was occasionally supplemented by naval reinforcements, so it was naturally not afraid of attacking.
The two armies attacked from the north and the south, and immediately cut the Qing army's breakout force into several sections. They could not look at each other from the beginning to the end, and they were severely defeated.
If the Qing army was determined to fight, its original combat strength would not be inferior to the second-line troops of the Ming army. But the problem was that they had long known that their side would be defeated in the end, and the prince was dead, so they did not want to fight at all, they just wanted to escape.
In such chaos, Chen Mingyu and others naturally missed many opportunities to capture, and thousands of people were directly defeated and destroyed.
It can be regarded as God rewards the brave. Although Chen Mingyu had a near miss, he deserved it because he dared to die and fought to be the first. Although Shang Shan was not killed directly in the end, Li Chengdong and other major generals of the Qing army's breakout force also killed him.
One or two Jia La E Zhen were obtained, and more than two thousand people were killed.
This kind of military merit is definitely enough to directly promote the general to the rank of general.
There were only a few small troops of several hundred men left in the Qing army. They broke into pieces and fled all the way to Luyuan and other places. They looked for small boats along the river and tried to sneak across in the dark. No organized troops could gain a firm foothold.
…
The Battle of Jiangyin was finally concluded on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month. The Qing army in the Jiangyin camp was completely wiped out by the Ming army in just two days.
The more than 10,000 Qing troops were completely destroyed, and only a few small units of hundreds and dozens of people escaped. The total number of people who fled never exceeded three or four thousand.
After the battle in Jiangyin ended, Zhu Shuren still found time to remove the last little nail on the southern front - during the previous decisive battle, the Ming army had not yet attacked Wujin County and Jintan County.
Although in these counties, after it was confirmed that Duduo was killed in battle and the main force of the Qing army was destroyed, the morale of the troops would soon collapse, and some would try to break out and escape, or try to break up into pieces, and the defenders would lose and surrender, but it will take time after all.
.
Starting from the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the Ming army dealt with the Jiangyin battlefield with one hand, and divided its forces with the other to deal with the remaining enemies in the two counties. In the end, it took three days, and it was not until New Year's Eve that the two counties were hastily recovered, and the territory once occupied by Duduo was completely conquered.
All Jiangnan territory.
There are still some stragglers in the area who are fleeing the enemy. It is estimated that it will take ten days and a half to completely eliminate and arrest them all.
But Zhu Shuren no longer had the time to worry about these details personally. He just wanted to get the bodies of Duduo and others, as well as the news that all counties in Jiangnan had been liberated and the Jiangyin camp was completely eradicated, so he immediately had people transport them back to Nanjing.
City, he also wanted to make a contribution to the imperial court and offer prisoners on New Year's Day of the first year of Longwu.
He had said in private before that the Duduo matter should be resolved during the Chongzhen period. Such bold words could finally be fulfilled in real terms. It was also a good talk and would be of great help to the morale of the entire army and the cohesion of the people of the court. Why not
Why.
Early in the morning on New Year's Eve, after confirming the preliminary results of the battle, Zhu Shuren returned west from Wujin County, rode his horse for nearly 200 miles in person, and returned to Nanjing before midnight.
Thousands of cavalry guarded him, and the city of Nanjing made an exception by opening the city gates in the middle of the night to welcome Zhu Shuren back to the palace to offer his services. Early the next morning, the official city entry ceremony was held.
And all the officials in Nanjing, especially the high-level cabinet ministers, received the good news immediately even in the middle of the night.
——
PS: I won’t break the chapters today, that’s all. I have to change the map again, so I have to sort it out.