I want to be emperor

Chapter 340 Jiangnan Shakes
As the Chu army took Hukou, almost the entire eastward war was completely opened up.

Not only can you take advantage of the situation to completely control the northern and central Jiangxi regions, but more importantly, you can directly enter the southern Zhili region.

And the Chu army did the same thing. As soon as the front foot conquered the lake mouth, the army continued to advance eastward on the back foot. The first division of the first army and the sixth division joined forces together, and it didn't even matter that the other side had not been captured by the Chu army. The large area of ​​Raozhou Prefecture under his control directly killed Chizhou Prefecture.

In the middle, Pengze County, where there were not many Ming troops stationed, was taken by the way.

After entering the Chizhou Mansion, the First Army did not encounter much practical resistance. Most of the local Ming troops stationed there were transferred to the Jiujiang defense line.

Especially after the fall of Jiujiang, after Shi Kefa retreated to Hukou, the remaining local troops of Chizhou Mansion, Huizhou Mansion, Ningguo Mansion, and Taiping Mansion were also brainstormed to Hukou for the final resistance.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Shi Kefa to gather more than 3 troops in Jiujiang City before, let alone be captured in Jiujiang City. After retreating to Hukou, he would gather another [-] troops in Hukou in a short period of time.

Of the 1 troops, the original strength was no more than a few thousand, and the remaining [-] people were basically recruited from various counties in the rear in a short period of time.

With the capture of Hukou, a small number of the [-] defenders in the city were killed or injured, and most of them became prisoners. Many cities behind Hukou also lost their only barriers.

At the same time, they themselves lacked garrison forces for defensive operations.

When the First Division of the Chu Army attacked Pengze, there were only about 1000 Ming troops in Pengze City. Facing the menacing 1 Ming troops, these 1000 Ming troops didn't even have the courage to resist. After resisting for several hours, he simply surrendered after the Chu army formally attacked the city.

Not only the defenders surrendered, but even the county magistrate and other officials in the city surrendered.

Later, in Jiande and Dongliu in Chizhou Prefecture, the local Ming troops either fled or surrendered, without any actual resistance at all.

In this way, the first army went all the way to the Huangshiji area smoothly.

Not far to the north of Huangshiji is Anqing City.

At the same time, the second army operating on the north bank of the Yangtze River, after capturing Taihu City, went eastward along the Wanhe River and headed straight for Anqing.

When the army was in action, the navy, which had just won the Battle of Hukou, actually moved faster.

Before the Army reached Anqing, the Yangtze River Fleet of the Navy had been divided into two, except for a small number of small and medium-sized ships that were left to accept the reorganization of the Hukou Ming Army Navy Surrender Fleet, and based on this, the Gan River Squadron was formed. It will be used for subsequent operations in Poyang Lake and the Ganjiang River Basin.

The main force of the Yangtze River Fleet has already moved eastward ahead of schedule. Two days ago, it reached the surface of the Yangtze River outside Anqing City, and blocked the water traffic between Anqing and the outside world.

And how many Ming troops are there in Anqing at this time?

In fact, there are not many, there are less than [-] soldiers, and there are no new standard troops. The new standard troops under Shi Kefa's command were all in the Jiujiang defense line before, and even the reinforcements from Yingtian's new standard troops were also deployed in Hukou.

Nothing happened to Anqing.

Shi Kefa served as the governor of Anlu, and his main energy was still on the Jiujiang defense line. As for Jiangbei, neither Shi Kefa nor Wang Jiazhen paid too much attention.

On the one hand, Jiangnan is more important. You must know that whether it is Shi Kefa or Wang Jiazhen, the reason why they can produce a large number of new standard troops, and even maintain the food and payment of a large number of battalions of sentries, is inseparable from the help of the powerful, gentry and big families in Jiangnan. support.

To put it simply, the battle needs of the Ming army along the Yangtze River were actually maintained by the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, and had nothing to do with the Ming court.

From the beginning to the end, Chongzhen did not give Wang Jiazhen, Shi Kefa and the others a few taels of silver.

This is to take people's money and eliminate disasters for others. Naturally, the Ming army along the Yangtze River is fighting to defend Jiangnan.

In addition to this economic factor, there are two important reasons.

For example, both Wang Jiazhen and Shi Kefa believed that Jiangnan was more important. To fight against the Chu thieves, other places could be ignored, but Jiangnan must be kept, otherwise if the Chu thieves got the money and food from Jiangnan, Ming would be completely doomed.

In addition, it is also related to the open terrain of Jiangbei.

There are mostly plains in the Jiangbei area, and this kind of place actually has a greater advantage for the Ming army.

Because the Ming army had more cavalry, but the Chu army had fewer cavalry.

Due to the lack of cavalry, the Chu army could not even defeat Zuo Liangyu's troops in the Central Plains. This is actually the same in the Jiangbei area. When the Jiliao frontier army led by Wu Sangui was still active in the Jiangbei area, the Chu army was basically in this direction. It's just playing strategic defense, and it doesn't take the initiative to attack at all.

The reason why the second army is so boldly moving eastward now has something to do with the fact that the Ming court transferred the Jiliao frontier army headed by Wu Sangui to the north.

If the Jiliao frontier army was in the Jiangbei area, facing thousands of frontier cavalry, the second army would not dare to fight out so carelessly.

But this is where things went wrong. Because of the captivity from the east, a large number of Ming troops were transferred to the north, including the Jiliao frontier army headed by Wu Sangui.

Ever since, the second army had no scruples, and its main force, the fourth division, directly attacked Taihu Lake, and then diverted to Anqing.

The Eighth Division, which was dissatisfied with the formation, turned north to the buried hill, not to say that it was to attack the buried hill, but mainly to prevent the Ming army in this area from going south and threatening the flanks of the fourth division, the main force.

On the other side of Qianshan, there is still a Ming army. Although the number is not large, only a few thousand people, there are thousands of cavalry inside.

Even if it is just ordinary cavalry formed by Shi Kefa's previous gathering of routs, many of them are half-baked, and their combat effectiveness is far inferior to those of the elite cavalry of the frontier army, but they are still cavalry anyway.

If left alone, it would also be a huge threat to the Chu army advancing eastward to Anqing.

In order to deal with this Ming army cavalry, the two cavalry regiments of the [-]th and [-]th divisions, together with the cavalry battalion of the [-]th garrison division, formed a temporary cavalry detachment. main flank.

The entire cavalry detachment is now facing an enemy, and they are very cautious.

Looking at the second army, it seems that the operation is going smoothly now, but it is far from as smooth as the first army fighting on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

The reason is that the terrain platform in this place is more suitable for cavalry combat, but the cavalry of the Chu army is not good, the number is not large, and the quality is not good.

In an army of 10,000+, the elite cavalry that can be obtained is only a pitiful 1000 cavalry, while the half-baked cavalry infantry is only more than 6000 cavalry, and they are scattered on various fronts.

The insufficient strength of the cavalry of the Chu army was also an important reason why the Ming court Shi Kefa and others relaxed the defense line in Jiangbei.

If Jiujiang can be defended, what if the Chu thief breaks through Taihu Lake, or even enters the hinterland of Fengyang governor all the way?

After the Ming army reacted and mobilized a large number of troops, especially the cavalry, to counterattack, I am afraid that the Chu army that went directly from Jiangbei to the east would be finished.

However, neither Wang Jiazhen nor Shi Kefa thought of the heavily fortified Jiujiang defense line. Under the onslaught of the Chu army, the cities together seemed to hold on for a month, but they were defeated and could not be defeated again.

It doesn't count that the defense line was breached, and even the main force of [-] to [-] was completely wiped out by the Chu army.

As a result, Jiangnan is in danger.

After the Chu army conquered Hukou, Wang Jiazhen, who was far away in Jinling City, got the news. Although he wanted to send troops to reinforce Anqing as soon as possible, he tried to build Anqing into a new bridgehead to prevent the Chu army from advancing eastward. Thieves use the Yangtze River for transportation.

But time is very tight, and it is impossible to directly reinforce through the Yangtze River. It can only go around to the north and cross the mountains for reinforcements.

Because on September [-]th, only four or five days before the fall of Hukou, the vanguard of the Chu army had already reached Anqing, and it was from both the north and the south at the same time.

Prior to this, the navy's fleet arrived one step ahead of schedule and blocked it.

At this time, it was impossible for the Ming army to send reinforcements to Anqing through the Yangtze River shipping. If they wanted reinforcements, they could only enter from the Jiangbei area, and they had to cross the mountains north of Anqing for reinforcements.

Why do you have to go through the mountains in the north instead of going directly to the east for reinforcements?

Because there are large lakes to the east of Anqing City, there is Pogang Lake, and there are many waterways, which are not suitable for the passage of large troops.

When the Chu army quickly reached Anqing and had an absolute advantage in both the navy and the army, the end of Anqing was inevitable.

Sooner or later, the Chu army will be able to take down this city.

The only question is how long it will take!
After all, Anqing City was originally similar to Wuchang City, and its military role was far greater than its economic role. This city was originally used as a fortress city.

In addition, although the Chu army blocked the Yangtze River, it was difficult to completely block the reinforcements of the Ming army from the mountains in the north. Therefore, the Ming army in Anqing City could continue to receive reinforcements, and it was still difficult to fight.

But even if it is more difficult, it will not be more difficult than the previous attack on Jiujiang and Hukou.

On September 22, with the cooperation of the navy, the army troops landed forcefully on the suburban open space outside Anqing City, and braved the artillery fire of the Ming army above the city to build artillery positions and bunker fortifications on the spot, and used a large number of artillery to fight back.

The battle in Anqing was intense from the very beginning.

After five days of fierce fighting between the two sides, the commando under the command of the Fourth Division successfully climbed to the top of Anqing City and opened the most critical part of Anqing City's fortifications.

Then the Ming army in the city was defeated like a mountain, and the Chu army completely wiped out the remaining enemies in the city in just one day, and completely controlled the city.

On the day when Anqing was captured, Luo Zhixue also led the First Guards Division to the barracks on the south bank of the Yangtze River. Although the Yangtze River was across the river, he also watched the final siege battle.

After taking the city, Luo Zhixue let the ministries rest a little for two days, two days later.

On September 29, Luo Zhixue personally led the various ministries to continue eastward and went straight to Jinling City.

And Anqing followed the news of Hukou's fall to the south of the Yangtze River!
Immediately Jinling shook, and Jiangnan shook!
Coincidentally, at almost the same time, the news of Shi Kefa's surrender to the thieves also reached the capital through five hundred miles after Hukou fell.

Chongzhen was furious when he heard this, and held Shi Kefa, Xie Xuelong and other important civil and military officials who were defeated in the front line and even turned to thieves for their crimes. Wang Jiazhen, who was in the military affairs of Henan, Jiangxi, and Nanzhili, was dismissed and arrested and imprisoned.

Hukou fell, Shi Kefa surrendered to the thieves, Wang Jiazhen was arrested and imprisoned, the capital was in an uproar!
(End of this chapter)