Chapter 127: The Follow-up Battle to Recover Nanjing (1)
Shang Kexi was in a dilemma after receiving the letter from Jueluo Bahana, because he also received the news from Shang Yi and the transfer order from Duduo. He was wondering whether these things were true or false, because not long ago, the Qing army The situation is still very good. The trend of unifying the world in the south has been wiped out in one fell swoop. Why do we suddenly want to give up the three provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Fujian and return to support Nanjing? It has become too fast. Which way will the current situation develop? ?Shang Kexi is indeed a little unclear.
Now Shang Kexi has just occupied Guangdong and finally found a place for himself, and it is also a good Feng Shui treasure land because Guangdong's foreign trade is also very developed. Especially in Guangzhou, it can be said that the customs tax revenue is increasing every day. Shang Kexi was of course reluctant to give up before he could hold off the heat, but if he did not send troops to rescue Nanjing, he would have once again offended the Qing court. If the Qing court really unified the world, then it would definitely have to deal with itself. If the Qing court sent troops to defend Nanjing, it would definitely If you don’t live in Nanjing, won’t you lose everything?[]
Shang Kexi was also anxious and worried, but at this time Wu Sangui and Geng Zhongming were not nearby and they couldn't find anyone to discuss it. Jueluo Bahana wrote another letter urging him to send troops, but he couldn't delay it even if he tried. However, Shang Kexi was so happy that he was so anxious that he thought of it. As a way to do it, he asked his son Shang Zhixiao to lead 10,000 troops to join the troops of Jialuo Bahana and Jin Shenghuan. He said that his troops were scattered all over Guangdong and it was difficult to assemble them all at the moment, so he asked his son to take 10,000 troops to go ahead with them and wait for him to gather. The men and horses caught up immediately
In this way, if the Qing government defended Nanjing, it would be considered as sending troops. It would make sense for his son to personally lead the troops, and he would lead the troops immediately; if Nanjing fell, he would only send 10,000 troops and the loss would not be much. Ke Xi also repeatedly warned his son to be more flexible and retreat as soon as he saw something was not going well. He would save his own life first and leave the important people alone.
In this way, Shang Zhixiao led 10,000 troops to Jiangxi and joined forces with Jieluo Bahana and Jin Shenghuan.
Although only 10,000 troops came, which was far from what Jolupahana had expected, the reason Shang Kexi said did make some sense. After all, Shang Kexi had a large number of soldiers and a large area. It would take time to gather the troops, so it was considered reasonable to send his son to lead the army. It's interesting enough, but now we can't wait any longer. Anyway, Shang Kexi also said that he will come later, so Joluo Bahana also decided to set off immediately to rescue Nanjing.
The three of them joined forces and nearly 60,000 horses set off from Fuzhou, Jiangxi and headed straight for Nanjing.
At this time, Shang Yi also planned to start dispatching troops and generals for the follow-up battle to regain Nanjing.
Although the recapture of Nanjing was a crucial constructive victory in Shang Yi's development process, it does not mean that recapturing Nanjing means that everything is over. For Nanjing itself, the political significance is greater than its geographical and strategic value. Shang Yi's recapture of Nanjing does not mean that the overall situation has been decided. But just by moving a big stone blocking Zhejiang, it won enough space for expansion. However, the territory and population actually controlled by Shang Yi have not increased much.
The area currently owned by Shang Yi includes the entire province of Zhejiang, part of South Zhili, which later became the southeastern part of Jiangsu Province, about half of Shandong Province, most of Taiwan, and Jianning Prefecture in Fujian, with a total area of about 250,000 square meters. The population per kilometer is close to 10 million, but it is now blocked by Nanjing and cannot expand outward.
Therefore, after recapturing Nanjing, we must develop in three directions: south, west, and north with Nanjing as the core to obtain enough area and population so that Shang Yi can gain space for development.
Now Shang Yi's goal is the entire territory of the three provinces of Huguang, Nanzhili, and Jiangxi. It is also the five provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi in later generations, plus the existing Zhejiang Province, all distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
coastal areas
This area has always been one of the most economically developed areas in China. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui are all famous commercially developed areas in ancient China. They have the advantages of both river transportation and sea transportation. Both internal commercial circulation and overseas trade are very developed.
In terms of resources, Hubei is known as a land of plenty and is known as the granary of the world. Since the Song Dynasty, it has been said that Huguang has cooked well enough in the world. Mineral resources are also very rich. Hubei's coal mines and iron mines, Jiangxi copper mines, and tin mines are very rich in exports in ancient China.
The three major products of silk, tea and porcelain are almost all produced here, which can fully meet the needs of economic development.
In terms of strategic value, this area is located in central China between the Huaihe River and the Wuyi Mountains. The Yangtze River connects to Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake. Taihu Lake forms a golden waterway. It borders the Central Plains in the north, Guangdong and Guangxi in the south, and the sea in the east. It plays a horizontal role in controlling Sichuan in the west.
It plays an important role in connecting the east and west to the north and the south, and places like Xiangyang, Hubei, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, etc. are strategically important places that military strategists from the north and the south must compete for.
Of course, everything has advantages and disadvantages. The weakness of this area is that except for the sea in the east, the other three sides are almost surrounded by enemies. There are as many as eight border lines and adjacent provinces. It can be said that it is a four-war place that is easy to attack and difficult to defend.
Fortunately, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and other provinces in the south are now divided into three or four small regimes. There is nothing to worry about. In Sichuan to the west, Wu Sangui and Zhang Xianzhong are also fighting for a while. Although the Qing court in the north is in full swing, there is no need to worry about it.
It was powerful, but after two disastrous defeats in the southern invasion, the Qing court had also been severely weakened, and now that Liaodong was a vast territory, it would not be able to conduct large-scale military operations for at least a few years. Therefore, Shang Yi could freely expand his hands and feet.
when
So Shang Yi summoned the commanders of all the armies for several days to hold a military meeting to discuss the next march plan. Finally, he formulated a sequential plan from south to north, seizing the west and occupying the east.
Judging from the current situation in these five provinces, Hunan Province in the west of Jiangnan is basically a vacuum zone. The merchant army can occupy it as soon as it arrives. Only Jiangxi has the Qing army of Jin Shenghuan and Jieluo Bahana, but this Qing army does not
If you don’t put it in Shang Yi’s eyes,
They may be able to waste some strength from the merchant army if they stay in Jiangxi, but if they actually take the initiative to attack Nanjing, you are welcome. It will give them a head-on blow. After defeating this Qing army, they can take advantage of the victory and march into Jiangxi.
Save it
In Hubei, Anzheng, and Jiangsu provinces in the north of the Yangtze River, although the Qing army also retained a certain amount of troops, the number was not large and the area to be defended was too wide, so the front was stretched too long, which gave Shang Yi the opportunity to defeat them one by one. At the same time, the merchants were now
The foundation of the army in Hubei is still there. The Sixth Army still has a certain degree of combat effectiveness and can still provide certain help in conquering the entire Hubei area.
Therefore, at the military meeting, Shang Yi also decided to first march westward along the Yangtze River with Yang Wucheng's Third Army and immediately seize the Hunan area, then station it on the spot to prevent Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangxi; and then mobilize all of Luo Yuanbin's Second Army
After crossing the river, he immediately marched south to meet the Qing army's Jueluo Bahana and Jin Shenghuan tribes. Then he took advantage of the victory and marched into Jiangxi Province and stationed in southern Zhejiang and Jiangxi.
Shang Yi's requirement for these two groups of troops is that they must occupy Hunan and not miss a single piece of land in Jiangxi. If anyone dares to come and compete with the merchant army for space, no matter whose troops they are, they must be given a head-on blow without hesitation.
The harder and more painful the blow, the better. However, the range of the blow should not exceed Hunan. Outside Jiangxi, just beat the opponent away.
Because now there are four major forces in the south, including the Yongli regime of King Gui, the Shaowu regime of Tang Dynasty, the Qing army of Jieluo Bahana and Jin Shenghuan, and the Qing army of Shang Kexi. They all hope to expand their territory and look at these large territories.
o Who doesn’t want to take a bite now? But Shang Yi worked hard to defeat the Qing army and regained Nanjing, so he would never allow others to pick the ready-made fruit. Although Shang Yi has always maintained superficial respect for the Nanming regime, he must not be able to do so at this time.
Therefore, the military forces should not bear the burden of being soft-hearted. They should take action when they should fall out. They should not be soft-hearted. Political matters should be taken care of by themselves.
With Shang Yi's words, Luo Yuanbin and Yang Wucheng were relieved and happily accepted the order to lead their troops to attack.
In the Jiangbei battlefield, Duan Peng led the Seventh Army across the river to the Huangzhoufu area and joined with the rest of Li Dingguo's Sixth Army. He first captured the entire territory of Huangzhoufu, then attacked Wuchang and then recovered the entire territory of Hubei.
The Seventh Army served as a reserve force in the battle to recapture Nanjing, but because the battle went very smoothly, there was no chance for the Seventh Army to appear. Although they understood that this was a need for the battle, the Seventh Army was somewhat emotional. The commander of the Seventh Army was responsible for it.
Duan Peng was actually an older boy who was less than twenty years old. He felt even more uncomfortable when he saw that other troops had made various military exploits. Therefore, Shang Yi also gave them the task of attacking Hubei, but Li Dingguo was the main one.
Although the influence of the attack on Hubei is smaller than that of Nanjing, the Sixth Army is now seriously damaged. It mainly depends on the Seventh Army. Therefore, Duan Peng is also very happy to take over this task. Duan Peng has no objection to Li Dingguo as the main one. One is Li Dingguo.
Duan Peng's qualifications are indeed higher than his, and the two of them worked together during the Jianghuai Campaign. Duan Peng still admires Li Dingguo's ability very much.
The other armies were all assigned tasks. The first army was divided into two parts. One stayed in the south of the Yangtze River to defend Nanjing and Hangzhou. The other part took over from the second army and stationed in Yangzhou in the north of the Yangtze River and contained the Qing army in the Jianghuai River. After other forces had won,
Then march towards the Jianghuai River to seize the northern areas of Anhui Province and Jiangsu Province.