As soon as the words "Capture the Qinglu Emperor alive" were spoken, the conference room immediately became excited. Everyone was discussing it heatedly. Regardless of whether they thought it was realistic or unrealistic, their emotions were all aroused.
Many people think it is unrealistic, because although the Ming army troops moved in the Pukou Qing army, they only blocked both ends of the narrow strip, not surrounded it on all sides. The left side of this area is the Laoshan Mountains, and the right side is the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River
Fortunately, it is indeed an insurmountable barrier. But the mountains on the left are not cliffs, but just a hilly mountain range several kilometers wide and three to four hundred meters high.
This is the same situation as the Battle of the Southern Suburbs of the People's Guard, which also used mountains to block and surround the Qing army. However, the mountains near Nanjing can only block the movement of large troops into an organization, and small groups of stragglers can still easily climb over. This
In this kind of siege, the goal can only be to annihilate the large army. There is no certainty at all about which person to arrest. What's more, the opponent's emperor is a key protection target.
Many generals raised this question. Xiang Xiaoqiang was a little embarrassed on the spot and laughed. To be honest, he didn't originally make this plan to capture the Qing Emperor. Now that he said that he wanted to capture the Qing Emperor alive, he just wanted to escape a more...
The tempting fruit is just to get the plan approved. Of course, there is also the addiction to talking. He sweated in his heart and secretly warned himself that when talking to these old men in the future, he must not just talk about it.
No one is a fuel saver.
When Xiang Xiaoqiang was trying to present a humble and young image to win the sympathy of a few old men, an inconspicuous lieutenant general looked at the crowd and said:
"Actually, I think it is not unrealistic to capture the Qing Emperor alive..."
There was a large group of generals around, and none of the marshals paid attention to him. His voice was drowned in the discussion. He didn't care at all, and seized the opportunity to say directly to Xiaoqiang:
"My lord, I think your plan makes sense!"
"Oh?" Xiang Xiaoqiang was a little surprised and said with a smile, "My lord is..."
The lieutenant general said with a smile:
"Sir Xiang, the final commander of the 16th Group Army is Feng Lingcai."
He struck up a conversation with Xiang Xiaoqiang, and soon attracted the attention of others. The conference room fell silent, and everyone looked at the two of them.
Xiang Xiaoqiang understood what he should do now. He immediately whispered to Xiuxiu and asked Xiuxiu to help him observe who supported him, who opposed him, and who were potential candidates at the meeting.
He knew that Xiuxiu was the best person to do this kind of "detailed work" of insight into people's hearts.
…
Feng Lingcai looked at these people who just ignored him, but now they were all silent, listening to his own words. He felt very proud and smiled at Xiang Xiaoqiang:
"Your Majesty Xiang's determination to capture the Qinglu Emperor alive must have been carefully considered... You can think about it, what is the character of the new Qinglu Emperor? He is headstrong and arrogant. He originally promised to capture the Qinglu Emperor on New Year's Eve.
After going to Nanjing, not only did we not capture it, but we bombed hundreds of planes and killed tens of thousands of people. How could he escape immediately as soon as he found out that he was surrounded? He must be holding on to the local area and supervising the desperate resistance of the army.
... Therefore, we still have a high chance of capturing the Qing Emperor... The 16th Army of the last general is willing to cooperate with the People's Guard and participate in this operation!"
Feng Lingcai, commander of the 16th Group Army, part of the strategic reserve. This time he led his troops to Beijing to join the other group armies to participate in the defense of Nanjing. Because he was among the last batch of troops transferred, he was not able to fight. Jiang Xinzhou
The credit on the battlefield has been divided between the capital garrison and three other armies.
What he said made sense. But the old men at the top looked at him and felt a little strange.
Suddenly another person said:
"The general also thinks that Mr. Xiang's plan is very good, and the 20th Army of the general is also willing to participate in this operation with Mr. Xiang!"
Then there was a buzzing sound in the conference room. Except for a few old men from the headquarters, the group army commanders below were all weighing up quickly. Soon, three more group army commanders expressed their wish to participate in this operation. This time, credit
It's so tempting. Although Xiang Xiaoqiang's number is small, they are all armored and mechanized troops. They must be the soul of this operation. Everyone wants to follow and make meritorious deeds.
There are already five armies standing with Xiang Xiaoqiang, with a strength of more than 400,000.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was overjoyed, but he knew that the most important thing now was to keep his head clear. Emperor Guangwu was definitely not that easy to catch. If he were really surrounded, and the two hundred thousand Qing troops were forced to fight to the death, the war would drag on for a whole day.
After half a day, our side suffered heavy casualties in the end, and might even be surrounded by reinforcements.
When these middle- and lower-level generals saw that the war situation was improving, they all wanted to make meritorious deeds. Naturally, they said whatever they wanted. In fact, it was not them who were responsible, but Xiang Xiaoqiang.
Xiang Xiaoqiang still pretended to be a humble junior, raised his head, and said to Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng respectfully:
"Master Zhang, Master Tang, I am not careful enough with my words... Although everyone says so, I know that the emperor of the Qing Dynasty is not so easy to catch... I will ask the two adults for permission to change the determination of this operation to
One is to annihilate the Pukou Army of the Qinglu... If we can really capture the Qinglu Emperor, then God will bless our Ming Dynasty."
…
Soon, the meeting decided to approve this combat plan. The plan code name: Happy New Year.
Immediately afterwards, detailed plans began to be arranged in full swing...
This operation gave Xiang Xiaoqiang the first time to have such a large amount of troops at his disposal. Because he was the main planner of this operation, and the People's Guard's armored, mechanized, and motorized units were also the backbone, so he was the one to select the friendly forces.
In accordance with the consistent thinking of "mobile warfare", and also trying to attract as many supporters as possible, Xiang Xiaoqiang adopted the principle of "equal benefit sharing" and selected some elites from each of the five group armies. A total of 6 motorcycles were obtained.
division, and the 10 most elite infantry divisions, were temporarily organized into five armies, which were still personally commanded by the commanders of these five group armies.
The current artillery fire comparison on both sides of the Yangtze River in the Nanjing section is completely reversed. The Qing army's heavy artillery suffered heavy losses and there are not many left, while the Ming army's artillery is mainly on the Yangtze River defense line, protected by solid fortifications, and is almost intact. And
There were also artillery pieces from several subsequent group armies. Therefore, there was no need to carry large-caliber artillery for this river-crossing operation. Fire support was mainly provided by the east bank of the Yangtze River.
It was not until ten o'clock in the evening that a more specific plan was finalized. The generals who attended the meeting left one after another and returned to their respective troops to make arrangements as planned.
Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that these generals were approaching him one after another. Although the degree of proximity was different and the purpose of approaching was also different (some were to improve the status of their own units, and some were simply for medals), they all had a common reason. That is, Xiang Xiaoqiang is the Queen.
The only general whom His Majesty completely trusts.
Zhu Yourong is the biggest political resource in his hands. To a certain extent, he has monopolized it.
This is your biggest trump card, and you can play it from time to time.
After coming out of the meeting, Xiang Xiaoqiang deliberately hesitated and walked behind. As expected, the group army commanders and Li Guoliang also stayed behind consciously or unconsciously. Seeing that there was no one else in the corridor, the commanders smiled at each other.
, everyone understands it tacitly.
Xiang Xiaoqiang led Xiu Xiu out of the conference room slowly. Several commanders immediately gathered around him and called him "Sir Xiang" with a smile.
Li Guoliang was naturally standing closest to Xiang Xiaoqiang, and he felt that he was naturally the core.
Xiang Xiaoqiang also smiled and got closer to them. These five group army commanders are not like Li Guoliang yet. They don't know Xiang Xiaoqiang well enough and don't want to get too close yet. At the moment, they just want to participate in this lucrative operation.
Just trying to curry favor with Xiang Xiaoqiang.
Xiang Xiaoqiang briefly chatted with them for a while, encouraging everyone to cooperate sincerely tomorrow to jointly annihilate Qingluo Yunyun. In his tone of conversation, he deliberately distinguished Li Guoliang from them. He was very polite to several group army commanders, but seemed more casual to Li Guoliang.
He was already very close to himself. Li Guoliang also clearly felt the difference. Li Guoliang was very touched that Xiang Xiaoqiang stopped treating him as an outsider so quickly.
Then Xiang Xiaoqiang prepared to give Li Guoliang the first carrot, and at the same time, he also wanted the five people to see it in their eyes and make them hungry because they couldn't eat it.
"Haha, it's getting late," Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at his pocket watch, then turned to Xiu Xiu and said, "Go over there and ask the palace maid if His Majesty is asleep."
Xiuxiu bowed respectfully and agreed, then held her head high, held the document between her legs, and walked away in a dignified manner, showing everyone's style.
Xiu Xiu was very smart and knew that this was what Xiang Xiaoqiang wanted. Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled secretly and was very satisfied with Xiu Xiu.
Several commanders had been stealing glances at the "Princess Ryukyu" for a long time. Now they looked at Xiaoqiang casually asking Princess Ryukyu to ask if the Empress of Ming Dynasty was sleeping. This tone was just like ordering his own girl to watch his wife sleep.
Nothing was the same, and they were all filled with envy.
After a while, Xiuxiu came back, bowed respectfully and replied, "Your Majesty is not sleeping, and is eating New Year's Eve dinner alone. I heard that I asked you about it, and I was very happy."
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Okay, those adults, that's it. Let's all go back early to rest and fight the enemy together tomorrow... Well, Mr. Li, come with me to see His Majesty and wish His Majesty a happy new year."
After saying this sentence, Li Guoliang was startled, and then his face turned pale with excitement and tears filled his eyes.
The commanders were stunned and speechless with envy. The two of them wanted to say on the spot that they also wanted to send New Year greetings to His Majesty, but their throats rolled up and they could not speak. Reason told them: they are not qualified yet. They
The weight is not enough, and the relationship with Mr. Xiang is not enough...
They had only heard that Xiang Xiaoqiang was a close minister of the Emperor, but they did not expect that they were so close.
Several people were greatly stimulated and said goodbye. Along the way, they were thinking about how to perform their best tomorrow and join Xiang Xiaoqiang's camp as soon as possible.
Li Guoliang, with infinite joy and gratitude, enjoyed the rewards he received for surrendering to Sir Xiang. He was promoted to Army Aviation Commander and Lieutenant General. Although he was also a senior officer in the Army, he had never met Her Majesty the Queen. Don't talk about him.
, even many people in the General Staff who were more noble than him had never seen the Emperor before. In other words, Zhu Yourong had only had the opportunity to see him once or twice in the past few days since he had been living in the fortress.
On his first day of surrendering to Xiang Xiaoqiang, he was able to be taken to see the Queen. Li Guoliang was even more grateful that he had made the right choice.
…
Zhu Yourong was in her room, having a miserable New Year's Eve dinner. In fact, it was a New Year's Eve dinner, but it could only be regarded as a late-night snack. She originally wanted to invite the main generals in the fortress to have a New Year's Eve dinner with her family.
, because the people closest to him had done something that made him sad, Zhu Yourong didn't want to face them alone. He wanted to bring in more generals so that everyone could talk about the war during the meal and lighten the atmosphere. This would make it appear more natural and warm.
But when it was time to have New Year's Eve dinner, there was a war going on, and the generals were all busy. She had no choice but to deal with Zheng Gongyin, Mrs. Li, Zheng Yutang, Zheng Yucong, and the Ryukyu royal family for a while. These people sat down
We were relatively speechless, and the atmosphere was very awkward and deserted. Zhu Yourong ended early on the excuse of being sleepy.
But so many things happened today, and she had so many thoughts that she couldn't sleep. She didn't eat anything at all that night, and now she was hungry again. She asked the kitchen to bring dinner, and she ate in a deserted way, thinking about herself while eating.
Among these people, the best friend among her peers is her cousin Zheng Yucong, but now that her uncle has done something that makes her so sad, she doesn't know how to face this cousin.
...Now only when I see Xiang Xiaoqiang can I feel happy from the bottom of my heart. This is a feeling of letting go of all pressure and burden, a complete trust and sense of security. Although this guy always talks about "Chen Chen", but
Zhu Yourong had a feeling that he probably didn't mind using the words "you and me"... On this desolate New Year's Eve, Zhu Yourong suddenly wanted to talk to Xiaoqiang and give him a military lesson!
...But she knew that Xiang Xiaoqiang was fighting for her at the moment.
Because she wanted to defend Nanjing, Xiang Xiaoqiang defended Nanjing.
But just now Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly sent Xiuxiu to ask him, how could Zhu Yourong not be overjoyed?... Sometimes in a special state of mind, a very small thing can bring great joy to people, and even make people sincerely happy.
Thank God.
Xiang Xiaoqiang entered Zhu Yourong's room first, and was surprised to find that His Majesty's eyes were red and swollen, but his face was full of joy. Xiang Xiaoqiang's heart warmed, and he felt guilty for a moment: he actually used her as a political resource and "rewarded" her at will.
To my henchmen!
He sat down with a complicated mood, chatted with Zhu Yourong for a while, and wished her New Year's greetings. Zhu Yourong actually also wished him New Year's greetings with a smile.
Zhu Yourong was so happy to see him this time, which Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't expect. For a moment, he couldn't even bear to introduce the topic. But his plan could not be changed. Xiang Xiaoqiang reported the military meeting just now to Zhu Yourong, and then told her
Plans for tomorrow.
Xiang Xiaoqiang found that Zhu Yourong was extremely lonely and empty now. She listened happily to whatever he talked to her about.
Under the soft light, Zhu Yourong's cheeks had a faint blush, her white neck was as elegant as a swan, and the collar of the black velvet nightgown underneath was tightly gathered... I remembered that she was dressed like this when I first saw her.
.
What a beautiful girl!
…
"Ahem," Xiang Xiaoqiang realized that he had lost his composure and coughed twice, "Your Majesty, I just said that air power is very important. Uh, by the way, our Army Aviation Commander is very talented in this regard.
He knows a lot more than I do. He happens to be here with me... Your Majesty, right?"
Zhu Yourong looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang, and suddenly smiled slyly, his eyebrows arched in a smile, as if he had guessed his mind, and said with a smile:
"Then let me meet him!"
Li Guoliang came in with his face flushed with excitement. When he saw Her Majesty the Queen, who usually only appeared in newspaper photos, now really sitting in front of her, it seemed that she couldn't believe her eyes.
He snapped to attention, then bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, Li Guoliang, commander of the Ming Army Air Force, is here to see your Majesty! ... Your Majesty, happy New Year!"
…
From 11 o'clock in the evening, one hour before New Year's Eve, the Qing army in Pukou, under the strict order of Emperor Guangwu, hastily reorganized and gathered 20,000 to 30,000 combat-effective infantry without heavy artillery cover.
Divided into two groups, riding assault boats and barges all the way, they launched a frenzied attack on Nanjing.
But there was no boat, no one reached the east bank, and they were all sunk in the river.
The other route achieved great results. They successfully broke through from the pontoon bridge on Zimuzhou. Just after twelve o'clock at midnight, they boarded the east bank again and successfully established a bridgehead.
Emperor Guangwu did not expect that the South Road would go so smoothly and that he could cross the Yangtze River again on New Year's Eve. This gave him a shot in the arm, turning his final madness into real hope. He felt that although he could not cross the Yangtze River on New Year's Eve,
They occupied Nanjing at night, but after all, they turned defeat into victory on New Year's Eve and once again occupied Nanjing. If we can go all out and occupy Nanjing on the first day of the new year, then the external publicity can also say that "Nanjing was occupied on New Year's Day", which will save face.
Much rounder.
However, the Qing army was limited to a bridgehead position and was tightly surrounded by the Ming army. However, the Ming army seemed to be tired and would not drive the Qing army down the river no matter what. The two sides remained in a stalemate, controlled by the Qing army.
There are three floating bridges.
Although Emperor Guangwu couldn't seem to get in, he always held out the hope of occupying Nanjing in the New Year. Unfortunately, the Qing army had no morale at all. They regarded attacking the east bank as automatically facing death, and began to flee in large numbers on the west bank.
, and then was shot back by machine guns.
Under the threat of machine guns, every soldier boarded the pontoon bridge in tears. Many soldiers jumped into the water to survive when they reached the pontoon bridge. A large number of people froze to death in the river.
The Qing soldiers all hoped that the Ming army could fire artillery to blow up the pontoon bridge, so that they could be sent to the north dock to take the assault boat, and there would be many opportunities to escape along the way. But the Ming army's cannons seemed to be blind.
, raising water columns a hundred and dozens of meters away, as if deliberately protecting these three pontoon bridges.
This went on until five o'clock in the morning.
At five o'clock in January, it was just dawning. A few small black dots appeared in the sky in the southeast direction. In a blink of an eye, they turned into thirty airplanes, roaring towards the west ends of the three pontoon bridges.
Thirty Osprey dive bombers took turns dropping bombs. In the blink of an eye, the west end of the three pontoon bridges exploded into a sea of flames. Qing soldiers' broken arms and limbs continued to fly into the sky. The Qing soldiers behind who were waiting to board the pontoon bridge fled. The pontoon bridge itself was no longer under the control of the Qing army.
Among them, the Qing soldiers who had already arrived on the east bank were also completely cut off and fell into a tight siege.
The armored vehicles of the People's Guard rumbled up, fired several machine guns, and shouted through loudspeakers, ordering them to surrender. There was almost no need to shout a second time. Thousands of Qing soldiers on the east bank all put down their weapons and surrendered happily. They knew that they
I am much luckier than my friends who are still on the West Bank, and I am finally sure that I can survive.
Thirty dive bombers hovered over the west end of the pontoon bridge, constantly flying low and strafing to drive the Qing troops further away from the pontoon bridge to prevent the Qing troops from coming to understand and bomb the bridge.
150 Kingfisher fighter jets and another 120 dive bombers also flew over Pukou and began to attack the ground. At the same time, the artillery group of the Ming Army on the east coast began to bombard.
The leading infantry of the People's Guard quickly rushed onto the three pontoon bridges. Carrying submachine guns, Woodpecker machine guns and mortars, they rushed to the other side of the Yangtze River and established bridgehead positions.
Then, tanks, armored personnel carriers, trucks, and self-propelled artillery began to drive across the Yangtze River one by one.