Four hundred and thirteenth chapter a shame before the snow
After Nanjing was taken over by the army, order was in good order, and liquidation and investigation were underway. So far, more than 500 people have been beheaded, but these matters have little to do with ordinary people and lower-level soldiers.
The most prestigious person in the military should be the British Duke Zhang Fu. At dusk that day, he had just entered the city from the south city. A new stone tablet was erected outside the city. It was the tablet that recorded the whole story of Emperor Xuande's suppression of the Han Dynasty's rebellion. Zhang Fu was in
He stayed in front of the stone monument for a while before leaving.
After recapturing South Zhili, the elite troops of Xuanda and the Jingying camp in the south of the Yangtze River can attack Jiangxi as long as they station troops to the southwest border of South Zhili. Except for some towns, there are few dangerous mountains and rivers to block them. If the Jiangnan garrison can successfully enter and control
The Jiangxi area can echo the Beijing Camp on the north bank of the Yangtze River and attack Huguang from above and below. The situation looks very optimistic.
The time was approaching, but the place Zhang Fu went to was still the Nanjing Fifth Army Governor's Mansion. Some of the distinguished military officials also came to meet one after another. Everyone regarded Zhang Fu as a leader in the army and always respected him very much.
The people included Zhu Yong and several other hereditary warrior nobles, as well as several fellow magistrates and officials of the Fifth Army Prefecture... Wuyang Marquis Xue Lu was not present at this kind of occasion. It had been a long time and everyone was still not used to it; Xue Lu
Because of the defeat in the Battle of Yuanshui, Yau Guan was stripped of his title and demoted to a commoner. It is a blessing from the emperor that he is alive now. Of course, he can no longer enter or leave the Fifth Army Mansion.
The Duke of Cheng, Zhu Yong, who is here, is also in trouble. He has been impeached by civilian officials many times. His reputation has been ruined. He has been dismissed and recalled several times, and his official position is in jeopardy. Anyway, no one in the army is having a hard time. Fortunately, Nanjing won.
After a battle, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.
As usual, Zhang Fu first walked back and forth in front of the topographic map. Maybe he was already familiar with these maps, and looking at them became a habit.
"To the north of Jiujiang City, there is the Dabie Mountain on the north bank of the river. Most of the Beijing camp can only threaten Huguang by reaching the west of the mountain; the South Zhili troops can only form a force when entering Jiangxi from the southwest and the west bank of Poyang Lake to respond to the force on the north bank of the river.
For some reason, taking advantage of the victory to regain Jiangxi should be a top priority." Zhang Fu said this to everyone.
Someone immediately echoed: "Jiangxi was invaded by bandits just a month ago, and the territory has not been trampled yet. If we attack the territory early, we should have an 8|9 chance of winning."
Others are more imaginative, "I heard that the rebels made Yu Qian the governor of Jiangxi, wielding great power. Yu Qian was accidentally captured by the rebels last year, but he had no major mistakes during his tenure. Why not ask the emperor to forgive his mistakes and see if he can
Persuade him to change his mind and serve the emperor again? If we can win over Yu Qian, Jiangxi will be in our pocket."
Zhang Fu said nothing seriously and did not comment on the suggestions of the military nobles. Seeing this, Zhu Yong said: "What strategies and tricks are the business of civil servants, we just focus on fighting the war well."
This sentence may have been appreciated by Zhang Fu. He turned to look at Zhu Yong and said: "I just returned to Nanjing today and happened to bring a few people over. I planned to pay attention to it tomorrow, but now that I have mentioned it...
Come on, bring people up."
The soldiers standing straight outside the door responded loudly: "Yes!"
Zhang Fu added: "Knowing yourself and the enemy is a must on the battlefield. If you want to fight with the rebel army, you must know how to use the army. Normally, I believe that there are only two things that determine victory or defeat. One is running the army, and the other is the actual situation of the battle formation."
Whether the army is run fairly and strictly, whether the orders and prohibitions are followed, whether the soldiers are brave and good at fighting, and whether their strength is better than before the battle; after that, it is the right time, place and people on the battlefield, deceitful strategies, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, and other on-the-spot matters.
From this point of view, it is very strange that the three sentry horses of the Shenji Camp were almost wiped out in the battle of Jiujiang City. I have been in the army for a long time and know all the departments of the Beijing Camp clearly. The veterans on the battlefield of the Shenji Camp are good at fighting and obeying the law.
.In the battle of Jiujiang, there was neither the reality of an outnumbered enemy nor the deception of an ambush. Why was it a disastrous defeat in a head-on confrontation? The bandit army was new, and it only took two or three years to form an army. In terms of being good at fighting and experienced, how could it be the opponent of the Beijing camp?
?”
Zhu Yong had fought against the rebels and was defeated. He immediately said: "The rebels have imported sharp firearms, and our army cannot get close."
Unexpectedly, Zhang Fu shook his head and said: "The match rope gun has been equipped with the Shenji Camp. The soldiers of the Shenji Camp have been accustomed to firearms for a long time and have learned how to use them. Could this alone be the reason for our army's tragic defeat?"
At this moment, a sound of "clattering" iron ropes was heard outside the lobby, and then two dirty men in prison uniforms were escorted in by sergeants. The two saw Zhang Fu. Although they were already
As a prisoner, his attitude was very respectful for a while, and he kowtowed to the ground: "The guilty will wait to see the British Lord."
The veteran generals in the army present had already recognized the two prisoners, who were the military attachés who fought in Jiujiang. They had been sentenced to prison for losing the battle and losing their troops. In addition to the two prisoners from the third post of the Shenji Camp,
The eunuchs who oversaw the army did not end well either. I heard that one of them was directly executed by the court and the other went to Fengyang to guard the mausoleum.
The most recent head-to-head confrontation between the army and the rebels was the Battle of Jiujiang led by these two criminal generals. It happened not long ago in the spring of this year. After their defeat, they were first interrogated by the Ministry of War, and then captured by the Jin Yiwei. They were also forced to
Confessions of guilt for the defeat were written, but the focus was on confessing their faults, and no one carefully interrogated the underlying reasons for their defeat. Only people in the military paid special attention to this kind of thing, such as the British Duke Zhang Fu.
The guilty general was originally detained in Yangzhou, but Zhang Fu sent someone to take him to Nanjing after requesting an order.
At this time, Zhang Fu asked them to recount the process of the battle again in front of the nobles and senior officials of the Five Military Governments, as well as some of the general's sensory perceptions before the battle. The criminal general focused on describing the gunfire and the rain of bullets.
, and the tragic situation of being flanked by cavalry after the camp was shaken.
Zhu Yong commented: "The thieves' advantage lies in fire and blunderbuss. When they advance, they are not afraid of death. When they get close, they kill like crazy. They are like a wall of fire. They advance like a wall and are unstoppable."
In addition, some people say that the Jiujiang First Battle Shenji Battalion suffered the disadvantage of not having cavalry, but the official army did not lack cavalry, and was even more elite than the rebel army, so this weakness can be avoided.
Everyone was talking a lot, and when they turned around to look, they saw Zhang Fu, who was sitting on a chair with his eyes closed and silent as if he was concentrating with his eyes closed, so everyone gradually stopped talking.
At this moment, the bell rang upstairs in the distance. Zhang Fu opened his eyes, raised his sleeves and waved: "The unitary hour has passed, let's call it a day." Then he ordered: "Come, come,
Unlock the shackles of the second general and arrange for him to stay at the Fifth Army Mansion."
The general hurriedly added: "The second crime will be a crime jointly convicted by the three judicial departments. Our Fifth Military Government has no power to pardon their crimes, let alone release them. If they take the opportunity to escape, how can the British public report to the yamen in the court?"
Can anyone tell me clearly?"
Zhang Fu said: "I believe they will not run away. Even if they are sentenced to death, they are still soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. Will the warriors of the Ming Dynasty escape privately?"
The second general was moved and fell on the ground and said: "The British Lord has shown kindness to us, how can we repay the kindness with enmity?"
The shackles of the two criminals were opened and they were placed directly near the courtyard where Zhang Fu lived. Only the British prince had such prestige and heart to dare to live with the criminals across the wall.
The next day, Zhang Fu met with the guilty general again in the corridor of the Fifth Army Mansion, and said privately: "I thought about it again last night. The officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp have been on the battlefield for a long time. Even if they open up and shoot with firearms against the traitor army,
, is there any reason to collapse first? You mentioned that the camp was shaken after the bombardment. I thought that the rebel artillery might be more powerful than the imperial court's new Hu Zun cannon."
After hearing this, a criminal general suddenly said: "As the British general said, when I think about it, our cannons hit a hole, but the rebels' cannons are very accurate. They fly sideways and hit a bloody road! How can it be done?
, but the general knows nothing about it..."
Zhang Fu said: "I will report this matter to the emperor and let the Jin Yiwei verify it. In addition, according to what you said, there is also a problem with the tactics of the firearms soldiers after engaging the enemy. The Shenji Battalion was eager for success and could not hold back. It missed the approach and was defeated in one fell swoop.
Enemy timing."
After he finished speaking, he sighed again: "If we only arrest people to take the blame after a defeat, but don't learn from the experience and learn lessons, how can our Ming army defeat the enemy when they encounter a strong enemy?"
One of the thick-bearded criminal generals worshiped: "So many people died in the Shenji camp. We know that we cannot escape the blame. We only hope that the king will march to win in the future and avenge our previous humiliation."