When he learned that Shandong actually sent troops to the Huaihe River and rushed to Fengyang Mansion, Hong Chengchou felt that the sky was falling.
It was already a huge disaster for the Northwest Rebel Army to rush towards Fengyang, and now Shandong actually got involved.
Compared with the Northwest Rebels, Shandong is undoubtedly more terrifying.
"You... have you made it clear to the Shandong rebels that the imperial court has signed an agreement with them? Where is their integrity in doing this?"
Wu Xinyu was extremely helpless.
"How can students not say that? But the Shandong traitor said with absolute certainty that he went south to the Huaihe River to relieve the imperial court. What's the use of sophistry?"
Hong Chengchou touched his forehead and felt dizzy.
Why doesn't he understand?
This is no sophistry at all.
Just because Shandong is too powerful, it can do whatever it wants.
At this point, he had no choice but to find a way out of his predicament.
"General Zuo, quickly reorganize the troops and horses and follow Ben Xian out of Bozhou. We must be quick and we must get ahead of the Shandong thieves."
On the way here, Hong Chengchou had already mastered the geography of the Huaihe River.
And the rhetoric brought back by Wu Xin and Shandong allowed Hong Chengchou to find room for operation.
Since the Shandong side kept saying that the purpose of marching into the Huaihe River was to relieve the imperial court, they had no reason to take action against the government troops.
As long as the officers and soldiers rush ahead to recapture Fengyang, Shandong will have no reason to rely on Lianghuai.
There are two roads from Guide Mansion to Fengyang.
One route passes through Yongcheng.
However, Yongcheng has been occupied by the Shandong New Army, and this road is blocked.
Another way is to pass through Bozhou in the west of Yongcheng, and go south along the Wishui River, which can lead directly to Fengyang.
What we have to do now is to compete with Shandong for time.
Seeing Hong Chengchou in distress, Zuo Liangyu did not dare to cheat, for fear that the military commander would sacrifice his head to the flag.
But just when he got up and wanted to go back to gather the army, the scout once again brought bad news.
"There is an urgent military situation in Bozhou. Mengcheng has been captured by Shandong rebels, and their leading troops have appeared in Guoyang. Bozhou is in urgent need. Please send troops to rescue."
Hong Chengchou fell on his back, completely despairing.
Zuo Menggeng took advantage of the prophet and made complete arrangements in the north.
When Yongcheng and Mengcheng were occupied by the Shandong New Army respectively, the roads leading to Fengyang from the Henan Ming Army were completely blocked.
At this point, no matter what happens in the Huaihe River, they can only stare outside.
Fengyang encountered danger, and officials in Nanjing also climbed into the crater.
Because the Lianghuai area belongs to Nanzhili, Nanjing officials cannot escape responsibility for everything that happens here.
These people on the fringes of the officialdom, who used to live in peace and contentment, are now suffering from bad luck.
The loss of Songjiang Prefecture in front made Chongzhen furious. It is not yet known whether an imperial edict will be issued to deprive them of their official positions.
As a result, even Fengyang has been lost now.
The officials in Nanjing had a hasty discussion and quickly mobilized the army to prepare to go north for reinforcements.
But before all the Ming troops were in place, the Yangtze River was once again blocked by the Shandong Navy.
Looking at the endless fleet on the river, which was like an iron wall, the officials in Nanjing were horrified.
It is a pity that this time there is neither Qian Qianyi nor Yao Shishen. In the huge city of Nanjing, there is no one who has personal relations with Shandong.
Forced by helplessness, Lu Weiqi, the Minister of War in Nanjing, had no choice but to personally negotiate with Zuo Hua.
"Minister Zuo, the agreement between you and us has been made, and we should abide by it. Why are you violating our territory again now? Breaking a promise and breaking an agreement is unacceptable in heaven and earth."
Facing Lu Weiqi's angry questioning, Zuo Hua laughed loudly.
"Master Sima misunderstood. This time we are here, we are enemies, not friends. I heard that the northwest bandits have already reached Fengyang, can Nanjing be far away? If the northwest bandits are allowed to cross the Yangtze River and capture Nanjing, the Ming Dynasty will be
There is no hope. When my Lord Commander learned about it, he ordered me to come as soon as possible, just to protect the safety of Nanjing. Although we are exhausted from the expedition, Lord Sima does not need to thank us."
Lu Weiqi was so anxious that he vomited out a mouthful of old blood.
You've obviously been cheated, but you still want to say thank you.
If he could, he really wanted to slap Zuo Hua on that hateful face.
Unfortunately, looking at the strong Shandong Navy and the countless black holes in the gun muzzles, he felt helpless.
"Minister Zuo, Fengyang is the central capital of our Ming Dynasty and is of vital importance. Now my troops from Nanjing are marching north to rescue Fengyang. I also ask your army to give way and not to block it."
Zuo Hua put on a posture of "I am doing this for your own good".
"Lü Sima, the northwest rogues are extremely ferocious and have many troops. Your juniors in the army in Nanjing have also seen that they cannot fight at all. If you send them to Fengyang, isn't that going to death? Don't worry, we are the best friends in Shandong. Since we have sent troops to protect you,
Now that we are in Nanjing, I will help you rescue Fengyang."
"You...you...you..."
Lu Weiqi has never seen such a shameless person in his life.
As the saying goes, when a scholar encounters a soldier, there is no reason to explain.
Zuo Hua placed his fleet across the water of the Yangtze River and refused to let the Ming army in Nanjing cross the river.
In the city of Nanjing, Lu Jiude, the eunuch who was in charge of the army, and Ni Chong, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp, had thousands of troops and horses, but they could only look at the river and sigh, and they had no use.
Just when Zuo Hua blocked the Ming army in Nanjing from getting out, the city of Yangzhou could no longer be saved.
The Third Regiment of the 1st Marine Division, with the help of the naval squadron, went straight to Yangzhou City.
Tang Wenhuan sent a message to Guo Qi, the prefect of Yangzhou, asking him to open the door and surrender.
However, Guo Qi turned a deaf ear and killed the envoys of the new army. At the same time, he summoned the young men to prepare to defend the city to the death.
This made Tang Wenhuan furious, and he immediately launched a violent attack.
Yangzhou City is adjacent to the Yangtze River and the canal, so the heavy artillery on the warships came into use.
Under the roar of heavy artillery, the seemingly solid city walls of Yangzhou collapsed one after another.
The corrupted Yangzhou defenders and young men without any training suffered heavy casualties under the fierce attack of the new army.
That night, the frightened merchants in the city negotiated secretly and bribed the guard of the south gate.
They quietly opened the city gate and welcomed the new army into the city.
Yangzhou City was not defended for even a day.
Guo Qi was writing urgent military information in his yamen, preparing to send it to Nanjing and Huai'an. Suddenly he heard shouts in the city to kill Zhentian, and he knew that the situation was over.
He understood that with what he had done, he would not be able to escape the death penalty if he fell into the hands of the New Army.
He tied a rope to the beam, kicked off his legs, and ended his life.
After a small fight, Yangzhou, an important town in the north of the Yangtze River, fell into the hands of the new army.
Li Banghua had already descended from the south of Shandong and rushed to Songjiang. This time he came with the army.
After entering Yangzhou City, we started working on the spot.
He brought more than 700 administrative personnel and directed the New Army soldiers to quickly take over the assets of the local government.
According to the original plan, the administrative center of Lianghuai was placed in Yangzhou.
From then on, the area north of the Yangtze River had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty.
