While fighting was taking place on the Tianjin front line, a duel between fleets was also going on at the mouth of the Yangtze River.
Even though Zhu Hao's fleet in the south was mainly composed of wooden sailing warships, after an artillery battle, the entire Ming Navy was basically wiped out. Then Zhu Hao's naval forces came out in full force and followed the Yangtze River waterway inward. Lu Jin advanced and prepared to attack Nanjing.
When the news of the attack on Nanjing reached the capital, Zhu Si was still in the inner garden of the palace, while Zhang Zuo was guarding in front of the Qianqing Palace. He sent people in to inform him for a long time, but the emperor did not show up. Zhang Zuo was so anxious Like an ant on a hot pot, unable to sit still.
"Eunuch Zhang, your Majesty... is very busy. I'm afraid I won't be able to come out for a while. How about... you come later?"
Zhu Si basically met Zhang Zuo at a fixed time every day. Now Zhang Zuo suddenly came to visit. Zhu Si was so "busy" all day that he didn't pay attention to it. The eunuch who was ordered to deliver the message was trembling with fear and didn't know what to do for a while. good.
Zhang Zuo was impatient: "It's an urgent military matter. We can't delay it before we go in to report it! Forget it, let's go in person!"
…
…
Zhang Zuo found that there was no essential difference between himself and a minister now. Although he was said to be a close confidant of the emperor, it was obvious that the emperor only regarded him as an ignorant errand boy, and even did not regard him as a human being.
Often Zhang Zuo would not see the emperor for several days, and he could only delay any major events. This was also because Zhu Si did not go to court and wanted to control the entire court.
Zhang Zuo found that he did not have Zhu Hao's ability nor Zhu Hao's courage to do things, and as a result, he was played by the emperor.
"His Majesty!"
Qianqing Palace Bedroom.
Zhu Si looked aggressive. Originally, he was going to ask someone to drag Zhang Zuo out and beat him up to vent his anger because Zhang Zuo didn't understand the rules.
But when he saw Zhang Zuo's report on the emergency battle in Jiangnan, he realized that Zhang Zuo was indeed here for the throne beneath him and the safety of the Ming Dynasty.
"completely annihilated?"
Zhu Si frowned and asked.
Zhang Zuodao said: "The invading enemy ships are armed with powerful guns and are so powerful that we don't even know what they are doing. The enemy's land and sea troops came out in unison, heading for Nanjing with overwhelming force, while the land troops led by Lu Wan The horse has already driven north from Fujian, but I'm afraid..."
"It can't be stopped, right?"
Zhu Si's face was ashen.
The big trouble at the foot of the capital has not yet been resolved, and now something happened in Nanjing. As an emperor, he couldn't figure it out for a while. Could it be that someone didn't want him to be the emperor?
Seeing Zhang Zuo's silence, Zhu Si probably knew what the answer to the question was, so he immediately said: "Immediately impose martial law in the Gyeonggi area, recruit troops and horses from nine sides, and then mobilize another 100,000... No, 200,000 troops will come back. Defending the capital is the top priority."
Although Zhu Si usually looks very naughty, his sense of crisis is extremely strong.
This can be regarded as Zhu Hao playing a certain role in his education. He once told him "The wolf is coming" countless times to cultivate his ability to respond to danger. Now that the wolf has finally come, Zhu Hao's thoughts are no longer about maintaining the northwest. To ensure the stability of the Ming Dynasty, he first had to ensure that the capital of the Ming Dynasty would not be captured by this invading enemy.
Zhang Zuodao: "Your Majesty, if we mobilize troops and horses from the northwest, I am afraid that within ten days... we will not be able to reach the capital at all. We need to be on guard around the capital..."
Zhu Si said coldly: "Do you mean to let me leave the capital? As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, don't I have any responsibility at all? Aren't I just a group of enemies who come from nowhere? There are only ten thousand troops in total. I don’t think they will have any impact on the Ming Dynasty.”
Zhang Zuo reminded: "The bandits currently marching towards Nanjing have landed in the Suzhou area and are advancing by land and water. According to reports from spies, the number of bandits is at least 40,000."
"hiss……"
Zhu Si read the battle report carefully again and sneered, "The purpose of falsely reporting the number of bandits is to cover up local incompetence. Only local generals can do this kind of thing! Let all places in the south of the Yangtze River rely on the defense of Nanjing.
, gathered 200,000 soldiers and horses to eat these bandits!"
Zhang Zuo thought to himself.
If the emperor opens his mouth and the people below him lose their legs, how can the south mobilize 200,000 troops?
Food and grass don’t cost money, or do you mean that preparing troops and horses doesn’t require time?
Why do you think you can take precautions in time?
Zhu Sidao said: "Whether it is the capital or Nanjing, they are important defensive areas of the Ming Dynasty. I don't believe it. What kind of trouble can a mere bandit and bandit cause! Go and deliver the order!"
…
…
Zhang Zuo was nervous for a long time. He originally expected the emperor to summon the ministers, hold an emergency meeting, and make proper arrangements.
In the end, Zhu Si just opened his mouth, just like shouting slogans, and directly mobilized troops from all over the northwest and Nanjing to prevent the invasion of unknown enemy invaders, and then... nothing happened.
Zhang Zuo acted responsibly and hurried to the Ministry of War. He originally planned to go to the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army, but unexpectedly he ran into a wall at the Ministry of War.
Wang Shizhong, Minister of War, brought very bad news to Zhang Zuo: "...the number of troops and horses that can be mobilized near the capital is currently seriously insufficient. I am afraid...that it is impossible to mobilize an army of 60,000, and the number of enemy troops who have landed has already been
Almost 20,000! There will be a steady stream of ships bringing people ashore in the future."
Zhang Zuoyi became anxious when he heard this: "Can't we send ships to harass us?"
"no way."
Wang Shizhong shook his head, "Except for the city where the shipyard is located, the three guards in Tianjin were successively occupied by bandits. The walls of each acropolis were blown down overnight, but the bandits did not embarrass the soldiers and civilians in the city and allowed them to evacuate on their own."
"They...what are they going to do?"
When Zhang Zuo heard that three of the acropolis had been blown up, he felt an inexplicable feeling of fear in his heart.
The illusion that everything in the court was controlled by Zhu Hao seemed to have returned, but now this power that could control everything was on the opposite side, making Zhang Zuo feel a crisis falling from the sky.
"Do you know where they came from? What is their purpose? Have you sent any envoys to negotiate?" Zhang Zuo was also anxious.
The emperor was still blindly confident and wanted to fight to the death with this group of enemies who had landed. However, he found that the enemy was unreasonable and killed as many people as they could. Even when they advanced, gods were killed when gods blocked them, and gods were killed when Buddhas blocked them. How could this be fun?
Wang Shizhong said: "The Ministry of Rites has sent people to contact them, but they can't get close at all. The opponent doesn't look like a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. His skin is darker, and the weapon he uses is like a firecracker, but not a firecracker. He can kill people within a mile or two."
Intangible. If you use a cannon...it can be fired from four to five miles or even six to seven miles away..."
Zhang Zuo couldn't help but sigh subconsciously when he heard this: "It would be great if Mr. Zhu was here."
Wang Shizhong was stunned when he heard this, and it took him a while to understand who the "Mr. Zhu" Zhang Zuo was talking about. Was he missing Zhu Hao?
But the problem is... to the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty, especially people like Wang Shizhong, all Zhu Hao knew was that in the early days of the new emperor's accession to the throne, he was a seemingly insignificant little person, who was regarded as a close fawn in front of the emperor.
Maybe he had some secret efforts.
Even if Zhu Hao had built trains and ships, what could he do in the face of such an unprecedentedly powerful enemy?
Zhang Zuodao said: "No one of the troops and horses that can be mobilized by each guard will be left behind. The stability of the place cannot be taken care of for the time being. We just want to ensure the stability of the capital. The situation will not deteriorate to the point where His Majesty must leave the capital to escape, right?"
"It should... not be..."
Wang Shizhong was not sure now, so he hesitated to answer.
…
…
People from all walks of life are still being mobilized.
The situation around Tianjin Guard seemed very stable. Zhu Hao was not in a hurry to send troops to attack the capital. Since he wanted to frighten the Ming army and people, he had to attack slowly and steadily.
Disdainful of using any fancy tricks, it can be said that Zhu Hao's move was somewhat provocative.
As for the situation of the Ming Dynasty in front of him, Zhu Hao could not care about it. If Zhu Si escaped before capturing the capital, Zhu Hao would probably run to Anlu.
Zhu Si seems to have a strong attitude and is willing to give up, but in fact he is very guilty. Once he finds that he is really unbeatable on the battlefield, he will probably flee to Anlu... because Zhu Si has always regarded Anlu as a
Its true home.
But once Zhu Si fled the capital, it meant that his orthodox status would be greatly questioned.
The capital of the Ming Dynasty was of great significance, and Zhu Hao wanted to capture the northern and southern capitals in one fell swoop.
The soldiers and horses of King Qin from all walks of Ming Dynasty are gathering.
Zhu Hao was bored with waiting. He always felt that the speed of the Ming Dynasty's troops gathering together was too slow, which was a bit unethical. After all these years, didn't he have any emergency strategies at all?
How can you still remain calm despite strong enemy pressure?
It’s also that I never thought about a quick victory. If you really wanted to, you might have defeated the capital by now, but you haven’t even assembled your troops yet!
Bad review!
But fortunately, the Ming Dynasty still managed to gather an army of 30,000 to 40,000 people and slowly pushed towards Tianjin. Even when they were in front of him, Zhu Hao was still not in a hurry to fight, and even let the Ming Dynasty army rest for a while before engaging in a fight.
The Ming army brought firearms over this time. It seems that they thought that if the invading enemy used firearms, we would also use firearms. Even if the range is closer, we have more troops and horses, so both sides still have the strength to fight...
But when the war actually started, they realized what real firearms were.
"Boom boom boom..."
Zhu Hao now ordered the artillery fire. It was no longer dozens or hundreds of cannons fired at the same time, but thousands of artillery fires.
It was completely covered from far, medium and near, because they were all artillery pieces. After the shells landed, they exploded, shrapnel flew everywhere, and the smoke filled the air. It was simply a hell on earth.
Just one salvo can make a five or six mile area centered on the target barren of grass. And the artillery here does not just fire one salvo, but fires continuously.
As the artillery fire extended forward, the infantry began to charge, and overwhelming shouts of killing began.
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were stunned at the beginning of the war. Faced with the shells falling all over the sky and the shrapnel that was killing people like the god of death, the only way they could think of to deal with it was to quickly escape from this Shura field.
Then within an hour, Zhu Hao's troops advanced forty miles, while the Ming army was killed, injured, and fled. There was really no one left on the battlefield ahead.
…
…
This battle can be regarded as a vivid lesson Zhu Hao taught the Ming army.
Zhu Hao led his troops and horses to advance fifty miles toward the capital, then stopped.
He also mobilized five thousand troops and horses from the sea to go ashore.
The task of these five thousand soldiers and horses is to defend the two wings to ensure that the Ming cavalry will not suddenly attack. The army is stationed and ready to wait for the next Ming attack.
It's a completely "turn-based" battle.
On the land of China, we just occupy a place, and the Ming army decides when to launch an attack. After a fight, we push forward a little, until you feel that you are unable to fight anymore, then we will directly capture the capital.
When the news of the defeat on the front line came back to the capital, Zhu Si was still living and drinking in the inner gardens of the palace.
The civil and military ministers of the DPRK and China were all shocked. Only then did they realize that the Ming Dynasty's crisis seemed to have really come.