The sun at noon hung motionless high in the sky, there was not a single cloud in the sky, the temperature of the air was rising, and the fighting on the battlefield was becoming more and more intense.
The Zhongyong Battalion was quickly defeated under several attacks. The Ming army followed the footsteps of the defeated troops and appeared in the west of Yuanjiang City. They once again started a fierce battle with the Qing army in the west of the city. Before the Qing army from other directions could arrive for reinforcements, the Ming army in Yuanjiang City
The defenders had already been killed. Xu Mingchen and Gao Yingfeng each led a fierce pincer attack with 3,000 troops. With the help of Tianwei artillery, they defeated the enemies in the west city in one fell swoop and captured the Qing army's barracks blocking the west of the city.
Then, following the instructions of the signal flags on the city, Xu Mingchen and Gao Yingfeng led their troops to defend the camp and block the Qing army coming from the north of the city. Zhu Yongxing led his army to circle the city south. The battle in the south of the city seemed to be a replica of the west of the city.
There were pincer attacks inside and outside the city. This time it was the troops led by Zhao Desheng inside the city.
They defeated them one by one with superior force. Although they did not achieve annihilation, the Qing army suffered considerable losses. The siege of Yuanjiang City was completely broken from then on.
The situation took a turn for the worse, and Xia Guoxiang, who was blocked by the camp in the west of the city, realized that something was wrong. The besieged Yuanjiang City had become a hedgehog, and he might stab him again at any time. He hurriedly gave up the attack, led his army to retreat from the north of the city, and gathered troops in the city.
East and north of the city to avoid being attacked again.
When the army led by Wu Sangui arrived in Yuanjiang, it had less than 40,000 soldiers and 78,000 auxiliary troops. After fighting and fighting under the city, more than 6,000 soldiers were killed or injured. There were 5,000 garrisoned in the Jiangbei camp, and Wang Fuchen led 10,000 to meet the horsemen.
Bao, there are only 17,800 soldiers under the command of Xia Guoxiang in the south of the Yangtze River, and 30,000 auxiliary soldiers. Excluding the 5,000 soldiers who are facing Ma Weixing more than ten miles east of the city, there are only 12,000 to 3,000 soldiers left under Yuanjiang City.
troops.
The Zhongyong camp was defeated, the Qing army in the west of the city was defeated, and the Qing army in the south of the city was defeated. Although they were not completely wiped out, they were destroyed by nearly half. Now Xia Guoxiang has less than 8,000 soldiers in his hands, and only auxiliary troops are left.
Twenty thousand were lowered. Moreover, Yuanjiang City lay across the middle. However, the Ming army was able to coordinate the attack on the camps to the north and east of the city again. The entire war situation south of Yuanjiang became extremely unfavorable to Prime Minister Xia Guo.
The unexpected reinforcements and attacks caught the entire Qing army around Yuanjiang City off guard. From the defeat of Zhongyong Camp to the internal and external attacks in the west and south of the city, the Qing army was in panic and psychological shock and did not exert its normal combat power.
But in the fierce battle in the north of the city in the afternoon, the Qing army had stabilized a lot in the face of the Ming army's fierce attack. This was also due to the overall command of Xia Guoxiang. Moreover, Xia Guoxiang knew the importance of the position in the north of the city. He must shield and protect the east side of Yuanjiang City.
The river bank can be built to build a pontoon bridge and reconnect with Jiangbei. In this case, the war situation may still be reversed. Otherwise, the army in Jiangnan will be in danger of being completely wiped out.
The artillery shells screamed and hit the Qing army's camp heavily. A moment later, there was a loud noise and plumes of black smoke rose up. The Ming army attacking from the west to the east was bombarded by the sky-blasting cannon.
Under cover, they continued to fight forward, gradually approaching the Qing army's camp in the north of the city; the troops fighting out of the city attacked from the south, and had already approached the camp. They used artillery shells, arrows, and muskets to engage in fierce battles with the defending Qing army.
of shooting.
Although he is very tenacious, he cannot hold on for long unless all the Qing troops south of the Yangtze River rush to defend. Zhu Yongxing does not think that the Qing commander will do this because Yuanjiang City lies in the middle of the battlefield and troops can be sent to attack and contain the city at any time.
Enemy troops in the east.
When besieging the city, the city is like a cage; and once the siege is broken, it is like holding a poisonous snake awakening from hibernation. You must always be careful of the ferocious backlash. In layman's terms, the current war situation under Yuanjiang City is very much like a central flower.
examples of battles.
The telescope moved, and the scene changed again. Cannons rumbled on the river, and white smoke rose. A ship was hit. There was a big hole in the side of the ship, and it was leaning downstream. Several small boats followed closely with their sails spread.
Next, prepare to provide personnel protection.
A slower-moving bombardment platform sailed down the river, fired a round of artillery shells at the Qing army on the south bank, and then sailed downstream to escape the bombardment of the Qing army's Hongyi artillery.
Another boat went upstream and approached the north bank. It fired a round of cannonballs and also withstood the blows from the shore. A sailor was hit by a crossbow machine and his body was carried away. He fell from the boat into the river.
.
The corners of Zhu Yongxing's eyes twitched, and then he shifted his gaze. The pontoons on the south and north shores were not even in rudimentary form. Under the indomitable back and forth attack of the boats on the water, there were only a few isolated wooden piles in the shallow water on the shore, and a large number of casualties.
After the Qing army arrived at Yuanjiang, they also collected ships to build pontoon bridges. After the three pontoon bridges were erected, there were very few ships left. After that, Wu Sangui and others apparently thought that everything was in place, or they did not pay attention to boats and river control at all.
The problem of rights. Therefore, if you want to build a pontoon bridge now, you can only use simple wooden rafts, which is extremely difficult.
Although there was damage, control of the river surface was still firmly in hand. Zhu Yongxing turned his telescope to the northwest. A large number of auxiliary soldiers and soldiers were driving piles and pillars on the river bank and building temporary trestles to facilitate the docking of ships.
"The benefits of boats are so great!" Na Song sighed sincerely next to Zhu Yongxing, "If the navy had been here, wouldn't it have been easy for the Qing army to cross the river?"
Zhu Yongxing put down the telescope, smiled faintly, and said: "Then the governor wants to build a navy? He is just afraid that there will be no more use for it on the Yuanjiang River!"
Na Song pondered for a while and smiled nonchalantly: "There is no need for large-scale construction, as long as there are more than a hundred ships on the river. In this way, Yuanjiang will have no worries."
Now that Nasong has made up his mind, Zhu Yongxing has no need to object. After all, this is a very solid guarantee for Nasong and Yuanjiang. In the event that the Qing army comes to attack again, there will be naval patrols along the river, and the Qing army will
It was impossible for the Qing army to cross the river easily. Moreover, even if the Qing army crossed the river, they would be worried about being cut off by the navy and repeating the same mistakes as today.
Zhu Yongxing paid attention to the battle situation again, frowned slightly, called the messenger and said: "To send orders to the ships on the river, there is no need to shuttle so frequently, just monitor from a distance. How can building a pontoon bridge be a matter of time? In addition, bombarding the enemy
At this time, you can first use the faster ship as bait, wait for the enemy's artillery to fire, and then get close to the enemy and bombard you. The enemy's artillery fires slowly, and you must seize this weakness."
The soldiers followed the order and left, while Zhu Yongxing observed the battle situation below the city. Although the Qing army was very tenacious, under the heavy firepower of the Ming army, the camp was seriously damaged and the Ming army would soon break through and enter a close-quarters fight.
中. Relying on the superiority of troops, if it enters a melee, the Ming army will have a sure chance of victory.
Although the blockade and isolation on the river was successful, the general offensive still had to be launched after the arrival of the East Route Army, led by Ma Bao. Zhu Yongxing focused his attention on the east. He could already hear the faint sound of artillery. He must have been unable to leave the East Route Army.
Far.
……………
"The benefits of boats are so great!" The one who expressed the same emotion as Na Song was Wu Sangui's think tank Liu Xuanchu. Who would have thought that in such a seemingly normal battle of conquest, the final decision was made by an obvious force.
The put together navy.
Not to mention the navy, the Qing army from top to bottom did not expect to fight a water war at all. It can be said that they were not mentally prepared at all.
But the battle situation changed rapidly in a way that the Qing army never expected. The isolation on both sides of the strait, the sudden appearance of enemy reinforcements, and the fierce internal and external attacks. Within three hours, the initiative on the battlefield had fallen into the hands of the Ming army, and the south bank
The Qing army was in danger and could only parry, but had no power to fight back.
However, the operation of erecting pontoons and communicating with the two sides of the strait became extremely difficult due to the bombardment and harassment of gunboats on the river. In Liu Xuanchu's view, it was almost an impossible task.
"The Emperor Ming Dynasty. Is it true that there are Wuhou's ingenious plans and Taizu's prowess?" Liu Xuanchu's mind was racing, and he had unknowingly removed the word "fake". He looked at Yuanjiang City in the south of the Yangtze River with a complicated expression on his face.
There is no dispute that Wu Sangui is a die-hard traitor. However, not all of his subordinates are willing to surrender to the Manchu and Qing court, and some even deeply hate it. Why would they work for Wu Sangui, only because they are Han Chinese? This is a
The main reason is that Liu Xuanchu had the biggest depression and contradiction in his heart, which was "I just hope that heaven will give birth to a saint early to appease China."
In other words, Liu Xuanchu hoped that the Han people could produce a "sage" in his mind to restore the Han family, and Wu Sangui might be able to do so. The so-called emergency treatment was such a situation at that time, even if Wu Sangui killed Yongli
, but when he raised troops to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and used the call of "anti-Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty", he still won the forgiveness and support of many people. Unfortunately, he was so ignorant that he changed the Yuan Dynasty and proclaimed himself emperor, which was disappointing. Only his confidants and confidants were left.
Still fighting for his great cause.
At this moment, Liu Xuanchu's mind wavered, and Wu Sangui's furious rage did not attract his attention for a moment.
"The false king Ma Bao was cunning and set up a false camp, but suddenly led his army across the river." The bad news did not let Wu Sangui go. Wang Fuchen sent someone to report and dealt a heavy blow to the old traitor. "General Wang led his army to pursue him, but he had no choice but to float across the river."
Burnt, unable to catch up."
"Stupid and incompetent." Wu Sangui was furious and cursed without hesitation: "My Jiangnan army is in danger, and this is all the fault of Wang Fuchen."
Of course, Wang Fuchen's mistakes did accelerate the defeat of the Qing army in the south of the Yangtze River, but it is obviously unfair to put all the blame on Wang Fuchen. Failure is inevitable, and Wu Sangui and Liu Xuanchu are not responsible.
"Your Majesty, please calm down." Liu Xuanchu became somewhat sober at this time and hurriedly tried to persuade him, "The situation is irreversible. The current plan is how to get General Jiangnan Xia and others out of trouble."
Wu Sangui took a few deep breaths, suppressed his anger and asked, "What's the plan?"
Liu Xuanchu stretched out his hand and pointed. There were actually two small boats on the river bank closest to the Jiangbei Camp. Wu Sangui understood what Liu Xuanchu meant without needing to say more. The difficulty was not small and the danger was great. There were Ming army ships coming and going on the river from time to time. With this,
Two small boats snatched back Xia Guoxiang and other important generals - but otherwise, is there any other way?
"Wait until night!" Wu Sangui sighed helplessly, looking back at the south bank, praying in his heart that Xia Guoxiang could persist until nightfall and ensure that a section of the river bank was in hand.
……………
The battlefield was littered with corpses, both from the Qing and Ming armies. Flags, swords, guns, and military uniforms were strewn all over the ground, and wisps of green smoke were still rising from the blackened bomb craters.
The Syrian stallion Weixing was sitting on the wooden pole, and the medical soldiers were applying medicine to his wounds. Although he grimaced in pain from time to time, he looked to the west from time to time, with a smile on his face.
This was a fierce battle. The situation of the Ming army was critical for a time. However, with the rapid reinforcements of Ma Bao's army, it finally turned the corner and defeated the 5,000 soldiers and horses led by Qing army generals Fu Wenyuan and Zhang Zufa.
Now, the road leading to Yuanjiang City has been opened, and all that is left is to attack in several ways to annihilate the enemy forces south of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop.
"Brother Ma, how are your injuries?" Ruyang King Ma Bao hurried over and asked with concern on his face. At the same time, he stretched out his hand and held down Ma Weixing who was about to stand up to greet him.
"It's okay, just a little injury." Ma Weixing smiled nonchalantly and said, "The team is about to set off, right? It's too late and we won't be able to catch up with the final battle."
Ma Bao raised his head and glanced at the six streaks of wolf smoke that were already visible to the west. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, the siege of Yuanjiang City has been lifted, but the general attack still has to wait for us. It is estimated that the Qing army has been attacked by land and water by His Highness Min."
It beat the shit out of you, so we can get a good deal when we arrive."
"Just don't get beaten up." Seeing that the bandage was finished, Ma Weixing stood up. He also waved his injured arm, showed it to Ma Bao, and said with a smile: "How? You can still wield a knife and a gun, and you can chop it.
Enemy general."
Ma Bao laughed and waved his hand, and the bodyguard immediately led the horse over. The two mounted their horses and led the army towards the west.
…………
Fighting with more and less is always the tactic with the greatest chance of winning, or it can also be said to be a sign of lack of self-confidence. No matter what the reason is, this is the principle that Zhu Yongxing has been working hard to implement. This is true for the counterattack in western Yunnan, and the same is true for the Yuanjiang battle
.Breaking it down to every battle, it’s basically this kind of routine.
Isolate the Yuanjiang River and divide the Qing army into two sections, thus taking advantage of the strength in the south of the Yangtze River. Using local soldiers as bait, they suddenly rush out from the passage and defeat the Zhongyong Camp with three times the opponent's strength. Then they attack the west, south and north of the city.
They attacked from both sides with the army in the city, and their strength greatly exceeded the enemy's.
Such battles were won one after another, always with the greater number fighting the smaller number, with the masses overpowering the few, but the advantage was getting bigger and bigger. At the moment of the decisive battle, with the arrival of Ma Bao's army, the Ming army's strength advantage had reached four times.
Many Qing troops gathered together, besieging seven or eight thousand Qing troops in an area near the river to the east of Yuanjiang City.
Ba Yong died in the battle, Zhang Zufa died in the battle, Li Rubi died in the battle, Liu Zhifu died in the battle, and Deng Wanggong died in the battle. The other guerrillas who died in the battle, Qian Zong, were countless. The ownership of the seven or eight thousand Qing troops was complicated, and many of them were badly beaten.
The demoralized and defeated general.
The sun turned into a big red wheel and was setting on the mountainside in the distance. The ripples of the river and the clouds in the sky turned into blood.
Xia Guoxiang watched the soldiers dragging the Hongyi cannon away from the shore. Looking at the river, he felt a sense of sadness in his heart. Soon, corpses would be everywhere here and blood would flow into the river. At this stage of the field, it would be okay for him to be full of strategies.
There was nothing we could do. There was no point in bombarding the enemy ships in the river anymore. Moving the Hongyi artillery to the enemy side would allow us to support them for a little longer.
Although they have been reorganized, despair and sorrow can be seen in the expressions on the faces of the soldiers and generals of the Xia Kingdom. Fighting to the death is to survive in death; fighting and dying, who can regard death as returning home and fight bloody battles?
Moreover, seeing that the victory was certain, the Ming army began another political campaign to persuade them to surrender.
"Abandon weapons to avoid death!" "Those who surrender will not be killed!" "Those who kill the chief officer and perform meritorious service will be rewarded!"...
When these slogans reached the ears of the Qing soldiers, Xia Guoxiang knew that the morale of the soldiers would be even lower. The only way to survive through the ages is to die. In order to survive, some people will do anything. Suspicion, fear, conspiracy... these dirty psychology
, when facing a desperate situation, it is most likely to breed crazy growth.
"Boom!" There was an explosion in the distance. The already somewhat numb and indifferent Prime Minister Xia just raised his eyelids, then walked away expressionlessly with a few guards, and continued to patrol.
……………
Should we attack overnight or after dawn? Zhu Yongxing fell into a brief thought.
After a day of fighting, the Qing army in the south of the Yangtze River had become a turtle in the urn, but the Ming army was also very tired and suffered a lot of casualties. Especially the two armies led by him and Ma Bao were both rushing and fighting, with almost no
Get some rest.
But there is another sentence that always lingers in Zhu Yongxing's mind, that is, "the night is long and the dreams are many." As long as the enemy army has not been completely wiped out, there will be variables. Although this possibility is very small, it is not completely impossible. Navy, well
, let’s call it that, because there are not many ships, and the river area that can blockade and provide early warning is limited. And there are fewer ships carrying sky-blasting artillery. Can it really completely prevent the Qing army in Jiangbei from crossing the river elsewhere?
After all, there are still opportunities and loopholes to exploit, so now is not the time to relax, let alone toast and sit back and relax.
"Attack, attack all night." Zhu Yongxing suddenly raised his head, glanced at the generals with piercing eyes, and said loudly: "Victory is in sight, we must not relax our vigilance. In history, there are many examples of failed success. We cannot make this mistake."
Prince Ma Bao of Ruyang gently lowered his head and said: "Your Highness is wise. The Qing army is in a desperate situation and its morale has been lost. Just when they are plowing the courtyard and sweeping holes, they will not be given a chance to breathe."
"The nights are long and there are many dreams. Although there is naval obstruction, Wu Ni is old and cunning, and the Qing army in the north of the Yangtze River must not ignore it." Na Song also agreed with this.
"Your Highness." Chen Guogong Wu Zisheng cupped his hands and said: "It is really hard for the two armies to travel and fight at the same time. The general attack can be handed over to the defenders in the city. A melee at night is not suitable for a complicated army."
Hearing this, Xiangma Weiguang hurriedly said: "Our East Route Army has won consecutive battles and its morale is high. A little hard work is nothing. The Qing army is frightened and their morale is low. The general offensive can be completed by our East Route Army family."
.”
Zhu Yongxing smiled and raised his hand and pressed down. Everyone knew that the enemy was already meat on the chopping block, and they all wanted to cut off a piece of him. The spirit is commendable, and the credit can be divided. It is indeed unfair to let one family get all.