Chapter 91 Ningbo Undercurrent (please subscribe to support)

Author: Scholar Wu

Chapter 91 Ningbo Undercurrent (please subscribe to support)

The annihilation of Zhang Tianlu's army actually disrupted Qian Mo's deployment. Now Songjiang's military strength was too empty, which aroused the interest of King Lu.

If King Lu directly controlled Songjiang, it would hinder Qian Mo's northward development route. Qian Mo was unwilling to seize the two palaces of Suzhou and Songjiang because he was afraid of becoming the main target of the Qing army.

But if King Lu captures the two mansions of Su and Song, it will also lead the Qing army here, which Qian Mo will not allow.

So Qian Mo announced that the Ming army would directly occupy Jiaxing. Ma Guozhu must be forced to transfer troops to Su Song from Nanjing to prevent King Lu from occupying this place.

In order to force Nanjing to mobilize troops, Qian Mo ordered the Jiaxing Battalion to directly occupy Jinshan Guard and give the illusion of attacking Songjiang Prefecture.

On the other hand, Qian Mo had already received the order from King Lu to cooperate in capturing Songjiang, and attacking Jinshan Guard was also a positive response.

Sure enough, after receiving the news that the Ming army captured Jinshanwei, Ma Guozhu had no choice but to transfer the 3,000 Jiangbei Green Battalion that was originally going south to support Huizhou to Songjiang, and ordered Bashan to lead 3,000 Manchurian Eight Banners to station in Zhenjiang so that they could connect with Nanjing and Songjiang.

According to information from the Intelligence Department, on March 19, the second year of Yongli (1648), Dorgon, the regent of the Qing Dynasty, worshiped Tan Tai, the Manchurian Gushan Ezhen Tan Tai of the Zhenghuang Banner, as the general in the southern expedition, and used Manchuria as the White Gushan Ezhen River.

Luo Hui assisted him and ordered him to lead Manchu, Han and Mongolian banner soldiers and horses from Beijing to Jiangxi to suppress Jin Shenghuan and Wang Deren's uprising.

Because the Intelligence Department timely intercepted the message sent to Nanjing outside Nanchang City, this appointment was 4 days later than in history. However, compared with the same period in history, the Qing army lost all the four prefectures of Huzhou, Jiaxing, Taizhou, and Ningbo.

The territory includes Hangzhou Prefecture outside Hangzhou City, half of Huizhou Prefecture and Chongming Island.

It can be said that the situation of the Qing court is worse than in history. Qian Mo also doesn't know whether it will cause other chain changes. But what is certain is that there is such a big commotion in Zhejiang, and the Qing army's strength in besieging Jiangxi will definitely be

Much less than the same period in history.

Xiao Qiyuan, who was trapped in Hangzhou, received the news that Zhang Tianlu's 5,000 troops who went south to aid Hangzhou were wiped out and Jiaxing was occupied by the Ming army. He knew that the reinforcements on the northern front were completely gone. He had to send a messenger to ask for help from Tian Xiong, who was besieging Ningbo.

, this is also the last effective force he can mobilize.

After letting Huang Binqing escape outside Ningbo City that night, Tian Xiong waited for the follow-up 3,000 infantrymen at noon the next day. So Tian Xiong launched a probing attack on Ningbo City that day, but at this time Zhang Mingzhen and Zhang Huangyan had already

Having already established a firm foothold in Ningbo, Tian Xiong naturally did not get any advantage.

Taking into account that Huang Binqing was watching behind him, and Tian Xiong did not have enough troops to surround Ningbo Prefecture, Tian Xiong decided to find someone soft first and capture Cixi County occupied by Huang Binqing.

So Tian Xiong led more than 5,000 soldiers and horses northward and directly surrounded Cixi County.

Previously, the gentry in Cixi County helped the Qing army resist the Ming army's siege. Although they were forced to surrender and pay "protection fees" under the threat of artillery, now the Ming army was surrounded in Cixi County, but these gentry were unwilling to send young men.

Go to the city to help fight.

Due to the long-term demonizing propaganda of the Qing army, Huang Binqing had a very bad reputation in the eyes of the people of Cixi. Without the help of these gentry, the Ming army would not be able to recruit young men to help fight.

So Ming Army General Li Xianzhi hurriedly "invited" several gentry representatives from Cixi to the county government office, hoping to force them to submit.

Li Xianzhi said to his subordinates: "You just ambush outside and wait for my order. If these guys are still so ignorant, they will be hacked to death by me."

At this time, several Cixi gentry headed by Lu Daqi were "invited" to the county government by Li Xianzhi.

Seeing the murderous look on Li Xianzhi's face, Lu Daqi knew that he might not be able to fool him this time.

Before Li Xianzhi could speak, Lu Daqi said: "Now that the Qing army is besieging Cixi, we are also very worried. It was not that we intentionally shied away and refused to help General Li Shen defend the city. It's just that our family's money and food had already been donated to Sulu. Uncle, without money and food in hand, we can’t call on the young men and women in the city to help defend the city."

Li Xianzhi cursed secretly: Old fox.

He smiled and said: "You are all representatives of the gentry in Cixi. Didn't you expect that in order to help me, the King of Zhoushan, your family has become so difficult?"

"In this way, I will send people to bring all your family members to this county government office to support you. In this way, you can save some rations and recruit young people to help my army defend the city."

Hearing that Li Xianzhi directly used his family members as a threat, everyone turned their attention to Lu Daqi.

Li Xianzhi was well prepared for Lu Daqi, and said: "It is the duty of the gentry to support the Ming Dynasty king's division. There is not much food in the army, not to mention that General Li has the heavy responsibility of defending the city. What will happen to our family members?" If you don't bother me anymore, Li Shen will take care of it."

"Although our family's money and food reserves have been exhausted, we still have some other assets. We have been favored by the Ming Emperor, and now is the time to serve Su Lupp. I am willing to send all my servants to the city to help in the battle. In addition, all the cloth from the cloth shops in the city will be used to recruit young men and women to assist the army in defending the city!"

After Lu Daqi expressed his stance, other gentry also expressed their intention to support the army in defending the city. For a time, the crowd became excited and vowed to block the Qing army from Cixi City.

Li Xianzhi thought to himself that they were really a bunch of old foxes who "did not eat the toast but insisted on drinking the fine wine", but since the goal was achieved, he did not continue to embarrass them.

After Tian Xiong's army arrived at Cixi, they adopted the strategy of "encircling three towers and one tower". Troops were deployed on the east, west, and south sides to attack the city, but no soldiers or horses were deployed on the north side.

In addition to the mountain cities built on the mountains, most cities in the south of the Yangtze River have moats, and Cixi, a county town, is no exception.

Following Tian Xiong's order, the Qing army began to attack the city. Although the Qing army attacked from three directions, east, west and south, the east and west directions were all bluff assists. Only the south of the city was Tian Xiong's real target.

I saw a large number of Qing troops running quickly towards the moat under the cover of shields, and skillfully carried out the work of filling the river with soil.

At this time, the archers and gunmen of both sides were also shooting at each other. Although the Ming army's cannons and bows could not penetrate the Qing army's large shield, the Ming army still formed a certain influence on the Qing army by virtue of its condescending advantage. of suppression.

Unfortunately, a Ming soldier was shot in the throat by a Qing army's bow and arrow. Lu Chan, who went to the city to help in the battle, quickly picked up the fallen bow and arrow and secretly shot a letter to the city while the Ming army was unprepared.

The Zhoushan Ming Army's cannons had limited lethality. After paying the price of dozens of deaths, the Qing Army finally filled in a large section of the moat in the south of the city.

Li Xianzhi originally thought that the Qing army would attack the city immediately, so he quickly ordered the Ming troops on other city walls to come to Nancheng for support. However, after waiting for a long time, the Qing army did not attack, so he had to return to the county government to rest for the time being.

Although under his own coercion and inducement, the Cixi gentry reluctantly helped recruit young men to defend the city. However, these guys at both ends were not reliable, and Li Xianzhi naturally did not dare to take it lightly, so he still left 300 soldiers and horses to maintain law and order in the city. Monitor Lu Daqi and others.

At this time, the messenger who had gone out to ask for help also returned to Cixi from the north gate.

I learned from the messenger that Huang Binqing had retreated to Dinghai at this time, and handed over the decision-making power to Li Xianzhi. If Cixi could not hold on, he would find a way to break out of the encirclement. Huang Binqing had already sent warships and would support Li Xianzhi's retreat on the shore.

Li Xianzhi didn't want to retreat. Although Tian Xiong did not send troops to surround the north gate, this little trick of "surrounding three buildings and one" could not be hidden from anyone. If he retreated from the north gate, he would definitely be chased by Tian Xiong's cavalry. Even if Even if the whole army is not wiped out, there will still be heavy casualties. It is better to rely on the city to kill more Qing troops.

While Li Xianzhi was thinking about strategies to defeat the enemy, Lu Daqi was discussing with several other gentry in Taibai Tower in Cixi County how to welcome the Qing army into the city.

Lu Daqi said proudly: "I have made an agreement with Admiral Tian. At three o'clock tonight, we will cooperate internally and externally to open the west gate to welcome Admiral Tian's army to enter the city."

Another gentleman asked: "Are you sure that Admiral Tian will send troops? What if the army outside the city does not come to respond when the time comes? What will happen to us?"

Lu Daqi said: "Don't worry, I have sent people to shoot the message to the city during the day. Admiral Hotan agreed that if he agrees to our plan, he will withdraw his troops and stop attacking the city."

At night, news came of the Qing army's sneak attack on Nancheng. Li Xianzhi quickly led people to Nancheng to prevent the Qing army from stealing the city. The sound of killings below the city was loud, and Qing army torches were everywhere as far as the eye could see. However, the Qing army was short of troops and did not attack the city. .

Just when Li Xianzhi was wondering about the "loud thunder but light rain" of the Qing army, the sergeant reported urgently: General Xiao in the West City, together with the gentry in the city, had opened the west gate, and now the Qing army had entered the city.

At this time, Li Xianzhi realized that Mr. Xiao had just married one of Lu Daqi's nieces. It seemed that they must have colluded with the Qing army outside the city.

So Li Xianzhi gathered the remaining troops and hurriedly retreated from the east gate. Li Xianzhi shouted: "Tian Xiong must have ambushed soldiers and horses at the north gate waiting for us to attack. Everyone will follow me to fight out from the east gate. The cavalry will rush with me, and the infantry will disperse." Break through and we will retreat to Dinghai."

Finally, in a panic, Li Xianzhi led more than 500 people to successfully break through the siege and reach Dinghai.

Huang Binqing suffered heavy losses this time. Although he got some money and food in Cixi County, he lost nearly 10,000 horses in several battles.

There were only 200,000 people in Zhoushan, but he forcibly recruited 30,000 horses, and now one-third of them have been lost, which can be said to be a serious injury.

However, he had no intention of retreating, and finally captured Dingguan and Dinghai County. He would never give up this territory, otherwise he would be trapped and die in Zhoushan sooner or later.

Tian Xiong, who successfully captured Zhoushan, originally wanted to take advantage of the victory and pursue Dinghai in one fell swoop to expand his results. Unexpectedly, Huang Binqing, who was defeated by him, did not give up on Dinghai and personally boarded the city to take command. The Zhoushan Ming army in Dinghai City instantly became high-spirited and attacked. The Qing army retreated and attacked the city several times.

At this time, Zhoushan's navy also arrived in Dinghai County in time and used the Qianjin Folang machine artillery on the ship to attack the Qing army under the city. Seeing that there was no hope of seizing the city, Tian Xiong had no choice but to order the army after leaving hundreds of corpses behind.

Evacuate Dinghai County and stay away from the artillery range of the Ming Navy.

If Huang Binqing cannot be driven back to Zhoushan, Tian Xiong cannot let go and attack Ningbo. Huang Binqing behind him may "stab a knife" in the back at any time.

At this time, Xiao Bianzong, who had surrendered before, saw that he had an opportunity to perform, and quickly offered advice to Tian Xiong.

He said: "Admiral, there is no need to worry. I have a way to prevent the Zhoushan Ming army from causing trouble from behind when we attack Ningbo."

"In fact, Huang Binqing and Zhang Mingzhen had a deep grudge. When Zhang Mingzhen defected to Zhoushan, Huang Binqing refused to accept him, and even planned to eat up Zhang Mingzhen's deployment many times. Later, it was only because the two were distantly related that Zhang Mingzhen was allowed to stay in Nantian.

Station troops."

"When Huang Binqing was in Zhoushan, he tried to seize the troops of King Lu several times, and even killed two members of the Zhu Ming clan and seized their property. Zhang Mingzhen was quite dissatisfied with Huang Binqing's actions."

"The previous time, Huang Binqing's troops failed to attack Ningbo, but Zhang Mingzhen took advantage of the confrontation between our army and Huang's troops to capture Ningbo. Knowing Huang Binqing's humble position, he must hate Zhang Mingzhen in his heart."

"We can exchange 500 Zhoushan Ming troops for the 300 Qing troops who were previously captured by Huang Binqing in Cixi County, and promise that Huang Binqing will occupy Dinghai County by default, so that when we attack Ningbo again, Huang Binqing will definitely stand still."

Tian Xiong smiled and said, "Are you sure that Huang Binqing won't do anything behind our backs?"

Mr. Xiao said: "This humble position can be guaranteed by the heads of the whole family. As long as our army is not defeated at the gate of Ningbo, Huang Binqing will definitely stand still and watch us deal with Zhang Mingzhen."

Tian Xiong asked: "Is it possible for Huang Binqing to join us in dealing with Zhang Mingzhen?"

Mr. Xiao shook his head and said: "Although Huang Binqing has conflicts with Zhang Mingzhen, he is very shrewd and would not think that we would deal with him after we deal with Zhang Mingzhen."

"So he will only sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, so that he can reap the benefits when the time comes, and will never join forces with us to deal with Zhang Mingzhen."

Although the answer was expected, Tian Xiong was still slightly disappointed and said: "If we can reach a tacit understanding with Huang Binqing this time and prevent him from causing trouble behind our backs, it will be a great achievement. I will mark your contribution first."

After exchanging prisoners with Huang Binqing, Tian Xiong, who had no worries anymore, assembled 5,000 troops and attacked Ningbo City.

At the Yongfeng Gate in Ningbo North City, Zhang Huangyan and Zhang Mingzhen were inspecting defense.

Zhang Huangyan said: "Huang Binqing's fleet has withdrawn from the Yongjiang River. I heard that Tian Xiong captured Cixi and is currently marching towards Ningbo. It seems that a war is inevitable."

Zhang Mingzhen said: "At this time, Fenghua's reinforcements have arrived, and there are already 8,000 of our main Ming army in the city. Together with the 2,000 new recruits recruited by Cangshui, Ningbo City already has tens of thousands of troops. Why fear Tian Xiong?

"

"I don't know what to do if I don't know where to go?"

Zhang Huangyan said: "I don't know how to survive. I heard that he wiped out 4,000 Hangzhou Eight Banners in Huzhou. Now he has surrounded the city of Hangzhou. He not only occupied other counties in Hangzhou Prefecture, but also surrendered the Hangzhou Bay Navy of the Qing Army.

, now his vanguard has crossed the Qiantang River and occupied Xiao County."

Zhang Mingzhen said with a smile: "So as long as we drag Tian Xiong under Ningbo City, he will be able to join forces with us soon!"

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