The general committed suicide, which accelerated the collapse of the Ming army. Without the general to supervise the battle, the more than 20,000 Ming troops on the battlefield were in chaos. They were either busy escaping for their lives or putting down their weapons and surrendering. An offensive and defensive battle was very long. It's almost over.
As news of Sheng Yong's suicide and the defeat of the Ming army spread, there was no longer a general faction in Xuzhou City. The surrender faction opened the city gates. The Peking Army captured Xuzhou without spending a single soldier, and all prefectures and counties in the north of the Yangtze River were exposed. Under the front of the Peiping Army, many places were defeated.
Tens of miles outside Yangzhou City, Geng Xuan was rushing towards the central capital of Fengyang with 50,000 cavalry. The Ming army soldiers suddenly heard the news that Xuzhou had been captured, and their morale dropped sharply. Many people began to flee. In just one day, Geng Xuan There were nearly 10,000 men under his command, and the rest had the intention to leave, but they stayed because of the harsh military laws.
Faced with the problem of low morale and increasing numbers of deserters, Geng Xuan also knew that the situation was over, and when he was preparing to lead his army back to defend Yangzhou City, a sentry came in a hurry and brought him unfortunate news: The defender of Yangzhou City Wang Zuo then opened the city gate and surrendered to the Peking Army's First Fleet.
As soon as the city of Yangzhou fell, there were no Ming army strongholds in the Huaihe River area in the north of the Yangtze River. As soon as Geng Xuan's troops heard the news, more and more soldiers fled, and they could not stop them. Geng Xuan knew that the situation was over, so he led thousands of soldiers to the west, as The bereaved dogs generally fled to Anqing Prefecture and bypassed the defense line of the First Fleet before they could cross the Yangtze River and return south.
Geng Xuan's troops fled, and there was no resistance in the north of the Yangtze River. Wan Lei led more than 20,000 cavalrymen directly to Yangzhou Prefecture, and the Navy's First Fleet also assembled nearly a hundred warships on the Yangtze River, with the intention of approaching Jinling.
Facing the menacing Peiping army and navy, Emperor Jianwen was completely panicked. At this time, he did not dare to hope to recapture Zhongdu. Whether he could save the capital was unknown, and he did not dare to think about protecting the ancestral mausoleum. , it is unknown whether his grandfather's Xiaoling Mausoleum can be saved.
The South Route Army led by Wan Lei was victorious, and the West Route Army led by Zhao Quanjie was also victorious. After occupying Henan Prefecture, Zhao Quanjie led 20,000 cavalry south in two routes and occupied Nanyang within half a month. De'an and other prefectures directed their troops towards Wuchang City, seizing all of Huguang in the north of the Yangtze River.
The Northern Route Army led by Zhou Tianshou was not far behind. With the assistance of artillery, the Northern Route Army captured the city of Xi'an in two days and eliminated the last resistance force in the north. After that, they divided their forces and attacked twice along the way. The two prefectures of Hanzhong and Baoning marched westward, recaptured Gongchang, Lintao and other prefectures, and stationed troops in Lanzhou to guard the main route from the Western Regions to the Central Plains.
It can be said that the three armies of the Peking Army swept through most of the areas north of the Yangtze River in just one month, completely eliminating the Ming Dynasty's military power in the north of the Yangtze River. The Ming Dynasty was no longer able to control most of the areas north of the Yangtze River. area, there was not even a chance to counterattack, because the main force of the Ming army was almost wiped out.
On April 21st, Wan Lei finally arrived in Yangzhou City. Although he was an "invader", he was still welcomed by the people when he entered the city. Because the Peking Army had strict military discipline and did not do anything to the people, the people naturally did not. Resist again.
Yangzhou City is the intersection of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River. This ancient city has a history of nearly two thousand years. Especially after the opening of the Grand Canal, it has always been the hub of north-south transportation and has always been a battleground for military strategists. The Peking Army's capture of Yangzhou means that The door to Jinling has been opened. If Wan Lei is willing, he can attack Jinling at any time.
However, after Wan Lei entered Yangzhou, he ordered the Peiping army to rest and recuperate on the spot, and had no intention of marching south. It was not that he did not want to cross the river and overthrow the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. It was because he did not have enough troops. He only had more than 20,000 troops. Including the first fleet, there are only about 30,000 people. Even if they can capture Jinling, they may not be able to defend it and will only increase the number of casualties.
The so-called "biting off more than one can chew" suddenly occupied a vast area in Jiangbei. Such a large amount of territory and residents was enough for the Peking Army to "digest" for a long time. Wan Lei temporarily had no intention of making progress. However, when the Ming court saw the Peking Army stationing troops in Yangzhou, they He had trouble sleeping and eating, for fear that the Peking Army would cross the river and attack by surprise.
No, on the morning of April 21st, several ministers jointly submitted a petition to Emperor Jianwen, requesting that the capital be moved to avoid the attack of the Peking Army. However, Emperor Jianwen directly denied this on the grounds that his ancestral foundation and imperial mausoleum were both in Jinling. accepted this request.
But then again, the tomb of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang is on the Purple Mountain outside Jinling City. If you abandon Jinling, wouldn't it be abandoning the inheritance of your ancestors to others? Emperor Jianwen really couldn't afford to lose face. Jinling is located on the Yangtze River, and the Yangtze River The world is now dominated by the Peking Army, and the Peking Army's fleet is like a sharp blade hanging over the imperial court, which will be cut down sooner or later.
Since the proposal to move the capital could not be passed, but the problem was still unresolved, the courtiers discussed each other for a long time. Finally, they had to follow Fang Xiaoru's suggestion and send people to negotiate with the Peking Army to gain time to reorganize the country and restore national strength. I’ll make other pictures later.
On April 23, Wan Lei met with Navy Commander Liu Wenxiu in Yangzhou City and listened to Liu Wenxiu's war report. Compared with the army, which was busy expanding its territory, the navy was very relaxed and was only responsible for some patrols and transportation. tasks. However, these tasks may seem insignificant, but they are also indispensable.
"Mr. Wan, in the past few months, the navy has received a total of 470,000 refugees, most of which have been transported to Liaodong and North Korea." Liu Wenxiu introduced, because the Peking Army retained 10,000 refugees led by Third Army Commander Li Guobao Troops were suppressing Japanese invaders in North Korea. At this time, North Korea was basically peaceful. Naturally, it was time for immigration to fill in. Hundreds of thousands of people would come to North Korea. From now on, North Korea would be the paradise of China.
"Is there sufficient food in Liaodong and North Korea?" Wan Lei asked again. You must know that Liaodong has just been developed and is not rich in food. North Korea has just suffered from war and has no food production this year. It can only rely on sea transportation for relief.
"We smuggled nearly 500,000 shi of grain in the south of the Yangtze River, plus some collected from the coasts of Shandong and Huai'an, which is enough to make 700,000 shi, enough to meet the needs of the refugees for half a year. However, this batch of food cost a small amount of money. There are few, and it is mainly funded by Huayuan Company, so it cannot be paid to the refugees in vain. Huayuan Company has set up grain stations in various places to sell rice at low prices, and various places have also established recruitment bureaus to encourage refugees to actively repair cities and farmland. In exchange for rations.”
"Well, you can handle this well. Our Peking Army is not a relief station, and we do not support freeloaders. I will ask people to set up more mining areas and wood processing bases in North Korea later, and encourage immigrants to restore and develop production. Produce the product as soon as possible so as not to hold us back," Wan Lei said.
"Sir, North Korea implements military control. Everything is decided by our Peking Army, which is easy to manage. The newly occupied areas such as Shandong and Henan are in trouble. I'm afraid they won't be able to be brought under normal management in a short time." Liu Wenxiu said worriedly that although he was from the military, the principles of governing the army and governing the people were the same.
"Governing a big country is like cooking a small dish. There is no need to rush. Let's stabilize the situation now, then implement military control in various places, and then implement constitutional government, step by step." Wan Lei said calmly.
"Well, we can't rush the administration. However, our Peking Army occupies a large area of Jiangbei, hundreds of thousands of square kilometers at least. It has a vast territory and a large number of people. Especially in Huguang, Sichuan, and Shaanxi, there are many mountains, refugees, and thieves. Our military strength I'm afraid it won't be enough and we will have to expand our army."
"You're right. When the war situation is decided, I will convene a meeting of the Military Commission to discuss the military reform plan." In fact, Wan Lei had already planned to increase the number of troops, and the military reform he mentioned was mainly to reorganize the surrendered troops. The Ming army with no bad record was reorganized into a militia, responsible for local defense, and outstanding soldiers were selected from the militia to join the Peiping Army.
Of course, the military reform will not only reorganize and reduce the army, but also recruit outstanding soldiers from all over the country. The most important reform plan is to divide the military regions. Wan Lei has already thought about dividing the territory into four major military regions. Each major military region demarcates defense zones and establishes military region commanders.
Among them, Liaodong and North Korea are divided into one region, collectively known as the Liaodong Military Region; the northern regions such as Shaanxi, Shanxi, and the Mongolian Plateau are divided into one region, which is the Northwest Military Region; plain areas such as Peking, Shandong, and Henan are combined into the North China Military Region; and northern Huguang and central mountains such as Sichuan are divided into one region. The hilly area is divided into a military region, which is the Central China Military Region.
Among the four military regions, three are based on cavalry and have candidates for commanders. Only the Central China Military Region is in a mountainous area and needs to set up a fourth group army based on infantry. The Peking Army has always focused on developing cavalry. Lord, there are few generals who are good at infantry warfare, so the candidate for the commander of the Fourth Army has not yet been decided, and Wan Lei has to convene a meeting of the Military Commission to decide.
As soon as Wan Lei said that he wanted to reform the military, Liu Wenxiu stopped talking. Because he was in charge of the navy, he could not change the army no matter how he reformed it. So as soon as the topic changed, he started talking about overseas trade. After all, his territory had expanded. There will only be more products produced in various places, overseas trade continues to expand, and how to expand overseas markets is also very important.
While Wan Lei and Liu Wenxiu were discussing overseas trade matters, a Jingzhong guard quickly walked in and reported: "The battleship Xia-02 was sent to report that the Ming Dynasty sent an envoy to ask for peace talks across the river. Captain Sun Ligong requested Instructions, whether to release."
"Talking to peace?" Wan Lei raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said with a smile: "Ming Dynasty finally couldn't stand it any longer. It was only now that he thought of making peace. It's too late! Haha, since they are in a hurry, let's not be in a hurry. Let's go first. Hang them, then scare them and make them jump in a hurry, and it will be easier for us to gain benefits at the negotiation table."
"Sir, do you mean we won't see you for a while?" the Jingzhong guard asked.
"You give Captain Sun a message and ask him to say this to the Ming Dynasty envoy: Mr. Wan was assassinated by an assassin sent by the Ming Dynasty. He was seriously injured and unable to see guests. By the way, your attitude must be harsher and you must act very angry. , said he was too ruthless and immediately went to dig up the Ming Emperor's mausoleum in revenge." Wan Lei said with a smile.
"Haha, when the envoy hears this, he will definitely be furious. Especially when he hears that our army is going to dig up the emperor's tomb, the emperor will definitely jump in his feet and send people to negotiate a peace in a hurry." Liu Wenxiu couldn't help laughing. , the elite guard immediately understood and went down to deliver the order.