Although Zhu Shuren is extremely resourceful, to be honest, he is not an omniscient and omnipotent person with open eyes.
Therefore, before sending an envoy to the platoon to investigate and investigate, he really didn't expect that there could be someone in the enemy camp who was so shameless, "hiding his crime as merit", and actually saying that he had escaped from the battle and gave up the commander, saying that he was ordered to break out and ask for help.
.
If this could have been done, then Liu Feng Mengda should not have been guilty of "not saving Guan Yu" -
It is absolutely possible to pretend to be a rescuer, and then report directly back to Chengdu, telling Liu Bei, "It's not that we don't save Guan Yu, it's that after we went there, Guan Yu knew that our soldiers were weak and our rescue would be in vain, so Guan Yu personally ordered us to take responsibility."
"Go to Chengdu to pull more reinforcements", then Liu Feng doesn't have to die?
It can only be said that those Tatars have too strong a desire to survive and gain power, and their instinct for political infighting is too strong, so their brains are all focused on this. After watching "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to learn how to fight, they have become better than their masters. Even the people in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
They can learn from other people's unexpected moves and make further progress.
But now it is not too late for Zhu Shuren to figure out this contradiction within the enemy, and he still has time to seize the opportunity and make full use of it.
Zhu Shuren quickly judged that the number of enemy troops who wanted to retreat was certainly not small. There must also be those who wanted to persist and fight one more time, fighting a relatively good battle to gain some face before retreating. There was something in this.
Differences can be put to good use.
First of all, the Ming army had to inflict pain on the opponent on the frontal battlefield, which made the main combatant even more frustrated! Its voice and authority within the Qing army further declined!
Secondly, as the second-in-command, you can find ways to give the Qing army's leader and faction some steps down, so that they won't appear so cowardly when they want to insist on retreating - I really have to thank Shang Shan for how to do this, Li Chengdong just inspired me
Zhu Shuren:
The enemy is the best teacher. They have already said, "A retreat can be said to be an order to break out and ask for help." Then why can't we go one step further and say it is "strategic transition, reinforcement of the rear, rescue to prevent the enemy from bypassing the rear..."
"
Zhu Shuren's brain was running rapidly, and all kinds of historical allusions under the steps were used as excuses for the retreating enemy, and he went through them like a movie flashback.
He quickly sorted out a few that seemed to be the most reliable: "Well... in novice reading materials such as "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it was mentioned that before the Battle of Chibi, Xu Shu saw through Pang Tong's serial timing and wanted to find a way to escape.
Pang Tong taught him to spread rumors in Cao Cao's camp that Ma Teng from Xiliang was harassing Cao Cao's rear, and then he could use the excuse to help Cao Cao defend against Ma Teng and run away...
Later, Zhuge Liang was so angry that Zhou Yu went to pay filial piety, Lu Su asked about the time, and Luo Guanzhong used this tool man again. It seems that the Ma Teng type tool man is almost the standard for dealing with this kind of situation..."
Thinking of this, Zhu Shuren further brainstormed strategies. At this time point in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, it seemed that there was no ready-made Ma Teng-type human shield that could draw hatred and find steps——
He can't say that Wu Sangui of Shaanxi is going to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and return to the Ming Dynasty, right? With the little strength Wu Sangui has left now, there is no threat at all. Even if he said it, it would be far away and would not quench the immediate thirst, and would not allow the Qing government to mobilize troops from Huainan
Return to defense. Distillate
However, if there is no Marten-type human shield sheep to harass the enemy's rear, or if there is one but it is too weak and too far away, Zhu Shuren can still help Shengsheng make one!
Thinking of this, Zhu Shuren ordered Gu Yanwu and several other military staff to get a map. After a few casual glances, he came up with a target:
"In the past few days, I have asked Zhang Mingzhen to prepare. It is enough to let Zheng Xian's navy to be responsible for the defense of the Yangtze River at Guazhou Ferry. The Shen family's canal protection navy has work to do again.
Gu is planning a landing raid upstream from the mouth of the Huaihe River, to harass the enemy's rear supply town Huai'an, and to cut off the Qing army's supplies from the south! And spring will start soon. Once the spring rains continue, the Jianghuai land road will be muddy, and the canal will be blocked.
If you pinch them, they will suffer for a long time."
As soon as Zhu Shuren said these words, the staff and generals nearby were shocked. Gu Yanwu, who was not usually involved in military matters, couldn't help but say:
"Your Majesty intends to ignore the frontal enemy and instead take a detour along the coast to attack Huai'an behind the enemy lines? How is it possible to capture this? There were originally thirty to forty thousand Qing troops between the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. This time, Mandahai brought the main force of two red flag cavalry from Henan to come to the rescue.
, the Shandong Qing army in the north also moved south, and at least more than 70,000 to 80,000 Qing troops gathered in this area.
Let's circle back and attack mainly. The enemy has a fortified city to support them, and they can still attack our army for a decisive battle in the field at any time. This is a very dangerous thing!"
After Gu Yanwu finished speaking, Huang Fei, who came to the Guazhoudu camp that day to listen to him, also felt that this was too unreliable. He was also a long-time general. Regardless of his record, he had very rich battlefield experience.
He originally didn't know much about King E's temperament and was afraid of offending others, so he always spoke little. But today, he rarely spoke outright: "Your Majesty, please don't do it just because our army defeated the Tatars in a field battle in the Jiangnan area."
From now on, we should underestimate the Tatars’ field combat prowess!
The battle of Jiangyin took more than half a month of planning and exhaustion of the enemy before we finally came up with the right time, place and people. This kind of opportunity is rare! If it was a field encounter for which both sides were unprepared, the general would think that now
The Tatar army is obviously stronger than our army.
Moreover, Zhang Junmen had to go around the sea route to the mouth of the Huaihe River, and then go upstream to land in Huai'an. It was destined to be impossible to carry too many troops. How could there be 30 to 50,000 people? The Qing army could retreat from the land at any time. With the speed of the Qing army,
It’s not difficult to gather 70,000 to 80,000 people in one place, but our army is afraid that the wolf will fall into the tiger’s mouth!”
Zhu Shuren listened patiently and did not interrupt directly. He knew that this was also a process of establishing mutual trust with Huang Fei and Liu Zhaoji, the new generals of the Northern Return Sect who were under his command.
The less familiar the general is with the leader, the less he dares to raise his opinion. Now that it is rare for him to dare to raise his opinion, he should be encouraged and cultivated to be enthusiastic. He should not let the other party just be an executor. In this way, over time, the unit's cohesion and command will be as strong as an arm's length.
Use your fingers and be of one heart and one mind.
Therefore, Zhu Shuren let Huang Fei finish his explanation before patting him on the shoulder in a friendly manner: "Even Huang Junmen knows that Huai'an cannot be attacked lightly, so the Tatars will naturally not be wary, which shows that this matter is an opportunity.
Distillate
Moreover, the key to whether we can attack Huai'an is not the chance, but whether the king's order is strict - I did not say that Zhang Mingzhen should make a desperate move and issue a military order to capture the city of Huai'an.
If it is just a sheep attack, just a sneak attack, and if you find that there is no chance, just retreat. With the advantage of our naval warships, can the Tatars retain him? They can't! Instead, they can take the opportunity to mobilize outside Yangzhou City.
The Qing army's attempt to encircle them exposed the enemy's greater weakness!"
When the generals heard that this harassment was not a military order to force an attack, but a sneak attack to disperse the enemy's forces, they said nothing more.
And one thing must be mentioned here, lest later generations of readers do not understand it: on the maps of later generations, Huai'an City is still quite far from the entrance of the Huaihe River. Ships going deep against the current may be blocked in the river (in fact, the Huaihe River does not enter the sea in later generations)
It has become a main stream. Only the artificially dug main canal of the Northern Jiangsu Irrigation River flows into the sea. The natural main channel of the Huaihe River has been silted up by the sediment of the Yellow River.)
But in the late Ming Dynasty, this risk did not exist at all. The main reason was that until the 1860s, before the Yellow River returned to the north and the Yellow-Huaihe River merged for hundreds of years, the sediment of the Yellow River caused the land in Yancheng and other places in northern Jiangsu to flow into the Yellow Sea.
It is one or two hundred miles long and wide!
If you look at the maps of the late Ming Dynasty and the modern maps respectively, you will find that the land east of modern Yancheng and the main urban area of Funing was still under the sea during the Ming Dynasty, and there was no land.
At that time, the distance between Huai'an City and the coast was at least half closer than it is today. The Huaihe River was also many times wider and deeper than the modern Northern Jiangsu Irrigation Canal. It was impossible to intercept the river with boats and artificial reefs.
After Huang Fei thought about it, he was sincerely convinced and praised Prince E for his far-sightedness. He used his troops like mercury on the ground, penetrating everywhere and leaving no trace:
"...This will put the general at ease. If this plan can be successful, Jiannu's Huainan offensive should be retreated soon. However, in the past few days, the Yangzhou city defense still needs to be careful.
Even if General Zhang starts preparing to take a detour by sea today, calculating the distance, he will first go to Suzhou to go to sea in at least three days, then detour north for a few days, and then go upstream to the mouth of the Huaihe River for a day's sneak attack. It will take seven or eight days in total to be effective."
Zhu Shuren smiled calmly: "Is it too slow?"
Huang Fei: "How dare you be too slow, general? It's not easy to hold on for another seven or eight days. I just say don't be careless."
Zhu Shuren patted him on the shoulder again: "Seven or eight days is actually just right - do you think that even if Huai'an is stolen, the Qing army would dare to completely abandon the attack on Yangzhou and withdraw the whole army to the north? No, at most they will only divide their troops.
save.
Without Dorgon's permission, who among them dares to say that they will completely terminate the southern expedition? None of the slave-building generals on the opposite side, including Baylor, can bear such a heavy decision-making responsibility!
And just yesterday, Jiannu was completely convinced of the news of Duduo's death. Calculating the time, he should have written an urgent report and sent it six hundred miles to Beijing. It was more than two thousand miles, and it took four days to get to Beijing.
It will take four days to turn back, and we need to give both sides time to make decisions.
I estimate that within ten days, the slave-building generals on the opposite side can unite their determination and get rid of the guilt of retreating. And if the effect on Huai'an takes eight days, the time difference will be perfect. It will happen to be stuck when the enemy is about to retreat.
On the eve of the excuse of guilt, this will be the time when the enemy’s military morale is at its most chaotic!”
Military excuses, steps, will be in place in eight days!
Political exemption and steps will be in place in ten days!
The time difference between these two excuses for wavering is the perfect opportunity for the military to become most confused and relaxed!
After hearing this, all the generals and staff also shuddered.
Since ancient times, there have been many resourceful people, but among them Zhuge, Xie An, and Yu Yunwen, who can say that they can conduct such accurate and quantitative analysis and deduction? The ancients used schemes, many of which were based on large-scale calculations, and did not know how to do precise mathematical calculations.
"Your Majesty's divine calculations are unparalleled in ancient times and modern times. I am truly blessed to be able to be under the command of your Majesty and lead me to great achievements!"
"If all the governors and governors before the Ming Dynasty were as strategizing as you, the prince, how could the world be like this!"
"General, let's get ready right now! Then we can take advantage of the enemy's retreat before it retreats, to cover up and kill the enemy's rear!"
…
After the strategy is finalized, there will naturally be nothing to elaborate on in the next seven or eight days of garbage time.
It was nothing more than an attempt to siege the city between Huaiyang and the counties, with occasional tug-of-war and shifting of targets.
The Qing army attacked Yangzhou for several days, but they continued to be disgraced. All attempts failed. Several Hongyi cannons were damaged every day, hundreds of elite soldiers were killed, and thousands more were injured.
Unable to capture Yangzhou, the Qing army also tried to shift its targets to Taixing, Haimen and other counties to gain some benefits. Unfortunately, the Ming army's defense of the Yangtze River was very solid, and the navy could mobilize large amounts of support troops at any time to fight against the Qing army.
Therefore, even if the cities of Taixing and Haimen counties are very dilapidated, the Qing army still cannot get any benefits - the problem now is that the Qing army has a high probability of defeating the Ming army in field battles, but in the battle of fortified positions, as long as the Ming army has reinforcements
, turned into a war of attrition, the Qing army had no chance at all.
In other words, what if the gates or walls of Taixing and Haimen were breached? After the great victory in Jiangnan, coupled with the absolute prestige of Zhu Shuren, all the soldiers knew that the reinforcements would not abandon them. Now the morale of the Ming army is too high.
, engage in blockade battles after breaches, and fight in the streets for lives, the Ming army can hold on.
And how many lives can the Qing army take? Can they fight with the Ming army in this model of street fighting in exchange for lives? Can they afford it?
They simply can’t afford to replace them! The original Qing army’s hope was to “make a breach, and then the Ming army would scatter like birds and beasts, or even surrender upon hearing the wind.” As long as the Ming army’s will to fight does not collapse, even if the Manchu population increases tenfold, they cannot afford to replace them.
!
Nikan actually knew that with the death of Duduo, the Qing army would most likely retire and rest, but since Dorgon's new order had not yet come, he could not slow down his work and could only finish this last period of time.
His goal has changed from rescuing Duduo to "win a victorious battle and gain some face and career capital".
Although the ancients did not know the "peak-end law of user experience", they still had simple psychological common sense. They all knew that when a big event comes to an end, the outcome of the final round can greatly affect the tone of the entire layout.
Just like when a gambler goes to the poker table, if he wins a small victory in the last hand, he will be in a happy mood for several days, and there is a high probability that he will come back next time.
As a result, many people who played casino games in Southeast Asia in later generations know that if they observe that a guest is about to leave, they will probably let him go without leaving a trace. This is definitely better than having a beautiful dealer whine and say, "Uncle, I'll do it next time."
Come and play" are more effective.
At this moment, Nikan just had this kind of mentality that made him red-eyed at losing, and Zhu Shuren was taking advantage of him.
Eight days passed by in a flash, and time soon came to the twenty-seventh day of the first lunar month.
This day is already the second day after Dorgon's decree allowing the Qing army to withdraw was sent from Beijing. It's just that because of the distance of more than two thousand miles, this decree will have to go on the road for another two days before it can be completed.
Send it to Nikan.
Dorgon was of course extremely sad when he learned that his brother, a compatriot of his own mother, had died in battle. During this period, he also swore all kinds of vicious curses on Zhu Shuren and made many long-term plans. But these details will not be mentioned for the time being.
, it will be explained later.
Just when Dorgon's decree was halfway through, Zhu Shuren asked Zhang Mingzhen's navy to launch the "Huai'an Sneak Attack War", which finally officially broke out.
After many days of detours, Zhang Mingzhen's troops first evaded Kong Youde's Qing navy patrol scouts, and then took advantage of the little time after nightfall on the 26th to quietly sail into the mouth of the Huaihe River.
We made full use of the whole night time difference to rush on the road, and even flew the flag of the Qing Navy along the way. Because it was not too far from the entrance to the sea, we did not encounter any interrogations. Recently, the Qing Army has had too many baggage ships from the rear. In Huai'an, the supplies needed by the troops were unloaded and transported by small boats to the forefront of the battlefield via the Hangou Canal, so that the Qing troops guarding the river mouth were not surprised.
This task can only be done by Zhang Minzhen. Zheng Chenggong really can't do it.
In the final analysis, it is still a matter of sailing experience and ship type. It is difficult for Fuzhou to even sail offshore in the Yellow Sea. It is even more impossible to sneak into the Huaihe River and perfectly realize the switch between river and sea navigation. The sailors of the Zheng family have no experience in this area of waterways. , even if you give them a sand boat, there is a high probability that it will hit the rocks.
The amount of sediment brought by the Yellow River from the Huaihe River was so astonishing that the mouth of the Huaihe River in the late Ming Dynasty had a huge delta alluvial fan, and there were shoals and sandbanks everywhere. Anyone who was not familiar with the waterway would be stranded directly.
Zhang Mingzhen has been with the Shen family for many years. He can be said to have the most experience in navigating the Yellow Sea and the major rivers along the Yellow Sea. The Shen family has been a maritime merchant in the Yellow Sea for three generations. In this area, the hydrology and navigation technology experience reserves are the first in the world. Unrivaled in this field.
Therefore, the Qing army never expected that anyone could sail against the current in the dark and sneak into the Huaihe River mouth - at least Kong Youde himself did not have this ability! If Kong Youde were to sail this route in the dark in the middle of the night, Kong Youde himself would have hit the rocks!
There was something that the Qing army could not do on their own, so their vigilance was naturally relaxed. Zhang Mingzhen's infiltration was even more successful than Guidu's.
Of course, it is impossible to directly infiltrate and deceive the city gate of Huai'an. What Zhang Mingzhen finally did was to surprise the North Water Gate and East Water Gate of Huai'an City at the same time, and also occupied the wharf town outside the two water gates, killing The Qing garrison dispersed the two small towns and temporarily occupied the dock and warehouse.
Huai'an City is also a water transport hub. The water gate and wharf in the north of the city are close to the Huaihe River, and the east side of the city is close to the Hangou Canal. It was originally used for transshipment trade between the Huaihe River and the Grand Canal, so there are many piles of materials in both places. , usually there is no trouble in transporting it back to the city. It is unloaded from the big ship at one side of the pier, and then changed to a small boat and taken through the canal on the other side.
When Zhang Mingzhen's fleet arrived, it basically didn't carry much, and it didn't bring much supplies or military rations. He knew that he was sure to defeat the enemy because of the food. He occupied two dock towns outside Huai'an City, and immediately took the found All the valuable weapons, equipment, ammunition and supplies were loaded onto their own fleet. It was true that the Tatars’ weapons, ammunition and military supplies were used to fight the Tatars.
After the most valuable inventory was moved, the less valuable military rations began to be moved. If the Tatars counterattack and cannot defend themselves, then use a torch to burn the items that were not transported in time. Anyway, they cannot benefit the enemy.
Of course, the Qing army in Huai'an City really had nothing to do against Zhang Mingzhen for a while.
The fires at the two Watergate piers alarmed the Qing soldiers. At first, they thought it was a small group of bandits making trouble, so they sent some troops from the West Gate to try to quell the chaos. As a result, they detoured back to the North Watergate, only to find out that the people they hit were Ming Dynasty soldiers. The elite army is a formidable enemy that is difficult to deal with.
In addition, the Qing army in Huai'an City was originally a second-line force in the rear. They were ambushed by the well-prepared Ming army and were quickly defeated.
Overnight, Zhang Mingzhen killed two original defenders in the dock town, ambushed the enemy who had retreated from the city, and easily annihilated thousands of second-line troops, truly winning a great victory.
More importantly, he also robbed and burned a lot of the military supplies that the Qing army planned to transport to the Yangzhou front line. As a result, Nikan Mandahai Shangshan and others on the front line became increasingly unable to continue.
Huai'an is only more than 200 miles away from Yangzhou, so naturally the bad news was reported to the Yangzhou army by Pegasus overnight.
The logistics base was stolen, and although the city did not fall, the dock facilities and warehouses in the dock town were all burned, which greatly damaged the morale of the Qing army.
Shang Shan, the retreating faction, jumped out almost immediately: "I said long ago that since I was convinced of the death of the prince, I should retreat immediately! Now that the Nanmanzi are attacking the rear again, we can't wait any longer!"
Nikan had not benefited in the past few days, but he had another problem on his back. He was very depressed. At this moment, his prestige among the Qing army in Huainan was reduced to the extreme.
Next to him, Manda Hai, who also wanted to withdraw his troops, but whose motives were different from Shang Shan's, couldn't help but side with Shang Shan: "Third brother, if you think it's shameful to withdraw your troops like this, you should at least divide your troops and go back to rescue Huai'an.
If we can encircle and annihilate the Ming army that attacked Huai'an and prevent them from escaping to the sea again, it will be considered a credit. We can explain to the regent when we go back. If we hesitate again, we will be too incompetent - I don't think so.
, I just speculated that the prince might think so."
Nikan's face turned blue and green, but he finally gritted his teeth and said, "If you think you can catch up with the Ming army that attacked Huai'an, I won't stop you! Just don't come back empty-handed!"
But the siege outside Yangzhou City cannot be withdrawn! I believe that the prince’s will will be achieved in the next two days! If the prince allows us to withdraw, I will withdraw the entire army!"
What Nikan thought was that in the next two days, as soon as Dorgon's order arrived, he would be ready to step in. The final responsibility would definitely be much smaller than "retreating without permission". It was already impossible to achieve anything.
In the case of partial victory, it is better to lose in a good-looking way than to lose in disgrace.
But his decision was obviously unable to control the armies. Mandahai, who was almost on the same level as him, sneered and accepted the order, leading his troops and saying that he would immediately return to rescue Huai'an.
Shang Shan and Li Chengdong also quickly stated that they were not avoiding the enemy and giving in, but actively seeking a fight. After making hasty preparations, they followed Man Dahai——
No one could blame them for doing this. Some people even created public opinion in the Qing military camp that day, saying that "During the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao's army who returned to rescue Wuchao was truly brave and responsible. He stayed in Guandu to attack Cao Cao's army.
It’s just a decision made by a fool like Guo Tu.”
As he dressed more and more, the rumor became more and more exaggerated, and soon turned into "I heard that Zhu Shuren will also follow the example of Cao Cao this time. Cao Cao went to Wuchao to burn grain in person back then, and today Zhu Shuren also went to Huai'an to attack in person.
If the Ming army in Huai'an could be intercepted, they might be able to kill Zhu Shuren directly, just like when Yuan Shao was willing to do his best to save Wuchao, he might have killed the Cao thieves in Wuchao."
Anyone with a little bit of intelligence can tell this rumor is nonsense, but the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was so popular among the generals of the Qing army that everyone accepted it for a while in the dark.
On the twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month, at least 70% of the Qing troops outside Yangzhou City retreated. In order to rush for time, they also took away a large number of cavalry and warships.
Only Nikan's direct troops were left, mainly composed of infantry and heavy artillery. They remained outside Yangzhou City waiting for Dorgon's official order, planning to pack up and leave after it was clear that they would retreat.
No one in the entire Qing army thought about the question "What if the Ming army in Yangzhou City, which had been cowardly for so many days, suddenly opened the city gates to pursue and counterattack?"
There is no way, the Ming army has been cowardly in Jiangbei for too long, and has not launched even a field pursuit and counterattack so far. The stereotype that the Ming army has no courage to actively pursue field battles has been engraved in the hearts of the Qing generals.
Nikan clearly had to pay the price for this oversight.
Because just after Mandahai Shangshan and Li Chengdong and Kong Youde's troops were withdrawn, and only Nikan's direct troops were sparsely left in the entire camp, that night, the Yangzhou city gate, which had been closed for so long, suddenly opened.
The Ming army in the direction of Zhoudu was also dispatched.
Huang Fei's troops in the city, Liu Zhaoji's troops temporarily transferred from Taixing, and part of Cao Bianjiao's cavalry supported by Jiangnan, with several times superior strength, suddenly attacked the Qing army in Jiangbei, where almost only the infantry and artillery were left.
Camp, launched a sneak attack.
——
PS: Although it’s still the first update today, it’s a 6,000-word chapter. That’s it.