After capturing Zhenjiang Prefecture, Shang Yi finally received the news that the cross-sea raid fleet had captured Shengjing. At the same time, he also knew that the second phase of the cross-sea raid in the Shandong Theater had begun.
Although it is still unknown what the outcome of the landing in the Beijing-Tianjin area will be, this news has already excited the personnel of the United Front Work Department in Hangzhou, because the capture of Shengjing means that the cross-sea raid has finally succeeded. Sooner or later, the Qing court will
The capital will withdraw its troops and return to the north, so the situation in the south is about to undergo major changes, and the merchant army's plan to regain Nanjing has a high chance of success.
Of course, the cross-sea raids can also be announced to the merchant armies in various places to improve the morale of each army. At the same time, this is also a great opportunity to promote the glorious achievements of the merchant armies to the entire south. After all, this victory is different from the previous ones.
is the old capital of the Qing Dynasty. Although the reaction from various places in the south is not yet known, in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, after learning the news, all the troops of the Merchant Army were all happy and their morale increased greatly.
Shang Yi also immediately ordered the implementation of the second phase of military operations to regain Nanjing: first, he ordered the Yangtze River Fleet to attack the Qing Army's navy and completely block the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River.
At the same time, the Third Army was ordered to garrison Zhenjiang. The First Army and the Seventh Army jointly sent troops to attack Ningguo Mansion. The Second Army also mobilized troops and stationed in Hezhou, preparing to cross the river to attack Taiping Mansion, forming a complete encirclement of Nanjing.
After the merchant army captured Zhenjiang Prefecture, the Yangtze River fleet was stationed in the area from Yizhen to Gaozizhen, eyeing Nanjing. After a defeat, the Qing navy also retreated to Longshan Shipyard. At this time, the Qing army was in Longshan
There are more than 150 ships in the yard
Warships, and there are about 200 warships in the Poyang Lake area of Jiujiang. However, now the Qing navy’s naval forces no longer dare to attack the Merchant Army, and all are on the defensive. But the Merchant Army is waiting for news from the north.
, and did not take advantage of the situation to launch another attack.
At the same time, Shang Yi, Huang Zhen and others held a meeting and discussed, and ordered the fifth squadron of the Navy to enter the Yangtze River Estuary to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Yangtze River Fleet. This is because the Yangtze River Fleet is currently affiliated with the Navy, and Huang Zhen is currently still under the Navy.
The deputy commander-in-chief, so there is no problem with such troop mobilization and command.
After receiving Shang Yi's order, Huang Zhen also immediately ordered the Yangtze River Fleet to attack Nanjing. This time, the first squadron of the Yangtze River Fleet was still the vanguard. Commander He Bin divided the fleet into two.
The first team had one third-level cruiser, seven fourth-level destroyers, and four fifth-level frigates, a total of twelve warships, and first launched an attack on Longshan.
After Hong Chengchou and Duduo jointly sent an official document to Beijing, Hong Chengchou left Nanjing and went to Huangzhou to supervise the war, while Duduo remained in Nanjing for the time being, watching the changes in the situation. After Zhenjiang was recaptured by the merchant army, although Duduo and Duduo were at this time
Hong Chengchou also returned
I don’t know that the Qing government has planned to abandon Nanjing, but it can also realize that the situation in Nanjing is indeed very dangerous now, so it has begun to make preparations for the Qing army to retreat to Wuchang Prefecture after the fall of Nanjing. This is exactly the same as Dole
Gon's ideas coincided with each other.
And because the Yangtze River waterway had always remained open until this time, and the merchant army's encirclement of Nanjing had not yet been completed, the Qing army's evacuation work was also done in a leisurely manner. Nanjing was originally the base camp for the Qing government to pacify the south, so it was also
A lot of supplies, money and food were gathered
, now that the Qing army is about to abandon Nanjing, these materials, money and food will naturally have to be transferred away. Moreover, in the previous stage, the Qing army successively captured Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong and other places, and also captured a large number of Ming soldiers and surrendered.
Of course, the imperial clan and officials must also be taken away.
So Duduo first ordered that Nanjing's property, materials, and demoted officials from the Ming Dynasty, including the Zheng Zhilong clan who were under house arrest in Nanjing, be the first batch of evacuees. Of course, there were also private properties and items that Duduo had looted in Nanjing.
Several beauties were divided into flood and drought routes. The water route transported materials and properties, while the land route mainly transported people. They first moved to Wuchang Prefecture, and then crossed the river north from Wuchang Prefecture and returned to Beijing.
Since the land troops were not large in number, they were prepared quickly. Gushan'e Zhenyin Baitu led 5,000 troops to escort them. They first set off from Nanjing and marched westward along the Yangtze River.
The waterway was used to transport materials, money and food. The Qing army dispatched more than 100 ships, including more than 80 transport ships and more than 30 escort warships. Most of the Qing army's warships were converted from merchant ships and cargo ships, and
After two water battles, all the small boats were basically burned out. Most of the remaining large ships are worth 300 tons or more, and there are more than ten large ships worth 400 to 500 tons. Therefore, the transportation volume is also quite considerable.
But just when the Qing army's fleet was preparing to set sail from Nanjing, and when the merchant army's Yangtze River fleet launched an attack on the Qing army from the Yangtze River, He Bin was leading the thirteen warships in the front to sail towards the Longshan Shipyard.
When I came over, I learned that all the ships of the Qing army were moored at this time.
At the dock on the river near Jinchuan Gate in Nanjing, ships were being loaded and set off, so He Bin immediately ordered the ships to line up in a single column and attack the Qing ships. At the same time, he sent small boats to order the second fleet behind them.
, let them come quickly to join the battle.
The sudden arrival of the merchant fleet really caught the Qing army off guard. Fortunately, the navy commander Liu Mengjiao had some experience after two water battles, so he immediately ordered the thirty soldiers who had been prepared.
The remaining escort warships immediately set out to attack
The warships of the Merchant Army bought time for the transport fleet, and then urged the ships loading at the dock to set sail immediately. The ships with loaded goods sailed directly to Wuchang and went to Wuchang to wait for orders, while the ships that did not load the goods
Then sail back to Longshan Shipyard to berth.
Although Liu Mengjiao's order was correct, there were a lot of problems in its execution, because not all ships could receive the order at the first time. As a result, some ships immediately set sail after receiving the order, and
Some ships were still sailing in from the dock, but they collided with each other and could not move forward. At the same time, many ships were being loaded, and the sailors and crews were not in place yet. Although the gangplank was removed,
However, they were unable to sail. In addition, there were many ships that only carried part of the cargo. They didn't know whether they should return to Longshan Shipyard or sail to Wuchang. They could only send someone to ask Liu Mengjiao, and also sent Liu Mengjiao to Liu Mengjiao.
I was extremely busy and in a hurry, I also issued many wrong orders, which made the already chaotic situation even more chaotic. In fact, there were not many ships that actually left the dock smoothly.
And just when the dock was in chaos, someone suddenly shouted: "The merchant army's fleet is coming."
Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of "swish, swish" piercing the air, followed by the "boom - boom -" explosion, and the dock was suddenly plunged into a fog of gunpowder smoke.
Although the Merchant Army only sent thirteen warships this time, they were all well-equipped warships, while the Qing Army only had more than thirty escort warships. The Merchant Army was there to rival the Merchant Army, and it could not stop the Merchant Army's fleet from attacking.
, so it was quickly attacked by the warships of the merchant army.
In their own ship formation, the artillery on the left and right sides took turns to fire fierce attacks, and the Thunderbolt rockets flew wildly, causing water columns to rise from the river, and broken masts and planks flying around. In a short time, more than ten Qing warships were sunk.
The other warships were also beaten and fled to both sides.
The fleet of the Merchant Army also took advantage of the situation to break through the obstruction of the Qing escort warships and arrived at the pier. They lined up horizontally on the river and aimed their sides at the pier. First, they fired a burst of thunderbolt rockets, and then they opened fire with artillery.
At this time, at the dock, the entire fleet of the Qing army immediately became a mess. Some ships were hit by thunderbolt rockets and caught fire, while others were cracked by cannonballs, took in water and sank. Other ships were also panicking, and all four ships were in a panic.
Although a few ships were lucky enough to escape from the battlefield, most of the ships were in chaos and crowded and collided with each other. Instead, they blocked themselves and could not move. The fires also spread to each other, and as a result, more and more ships were on fire.
The more.
Then the remaining twelve warships of the First Squadron were immediately dispatched to join the battlefield. Taking advantage of the chaos of the Qing army's ships, they launched a more violent attack on the Qing army. At this time, the Qing army had no one left.
Due to the resistance, the ships were sunk one by one.
At the same time, after receiving He Bin's report, Huang Zhen immediately ordered the Second and Third Fleets and the Fifth Fleet of the Navy to immediately attack and enter the battlefield. However, he did not wait for the large fleet of the merchant army to arrive at the battlefield.
By that time, the war was coming to an end, and more than half of the Qing's ships had been damaged and sunk. Except for a few that fled toward Wuchang, the rest of the ships retreated to the Longshan Shipyard for shelter.
After the battle, the Merchant Army sank a total of forty-three Qing warships and captured 16 ships. All the ship's supplies became trophies for the Merchant Army, while the Merchant Army itself was only sunk.
Two frigates were destroyed, and three other ships suffered some damage. However, in the chaos, twelve Qing ships managed to escape from the battlefield and sailed towards Wuchang. The Qing ships that escaped into the Longshan Shipyard were
Less than fifty ships.
After winning the naval battle, Huang Zhendao was not in a hurry to launch an attack on the Longshan Shipyard, because at this time the Qing navy's navy in the Nanjing area was already very weak and could not pose any threat to the merchant army. Moreover,
Immediately made arrangements and ordered the first and second squadrons of the Yangtze River Fleet to go up the river and rush to the Hezhou area to anchor.
On the one hand, it was to expose Nanjing's uprising and prevent the Qing army from coming from the direction of Jiujiang to rescue Nanjing. On the other hand, it was to help the Second Army cross the river and capture Taiping Prefecture. The Fifth Squadron of the Navy and the Third Squadron of the Yangtze Fleet were still stationed.
The area around Yizhen and Gaozi Town has completely blocked the Yangtze River waterway from Hezhou to Yizhen.
I have something to do at home today, so I can only update one chapter. I will resume two updates tomorrow. Please forgive me.