I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 314 Yongzheng wants a decisive battle

Once Caozhou is defeated, there is a vast plain to the north.

Moreover, it is now the second year of Yongzheng's reign, and the Yellow River is still running parallel to the Grand Canal, and then seizes the Huai River and flows into the sea.

Therefore, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the problem of flooding in the Huanghuai River was always difficult to solve.

It was not until the fifth year of Xianfeng that the Yellow River changed its course and entered the sea through Lijin.

Isolating Jinan resulted in countless deaths.

The Huanghuai problem was solved.

When Yang Gong's army reached Caozhou, he stopped marching northward, not only because Li Wei, the governor of Zhili, and the Manchu and Bao army had already moved south to garrison Daming and Jinan.

The reason is that the Ming army in Guide Mansion is somewhat unable to move.

Zhu Yijiong's imperial chariot has moved from Huai'an to Guide Fucheng.

Because the surrender here was too fast, the Ming army did not use city-breaking cannons, and the city walls did not suffer any damage.

Yanzhou and Jining have been captured by Yu Kecheng. The original plan for the navy to move north along the canal to Nanyang Town is meaningless.

Now Wang Sanmazi's rebels and Lin Maoyuan continue to stay in Pizhou to clean up the canal blockage.

The main force of the Sixth Army moved to Guidefu. Not only the Sixth Army, but also the remaining First Army, Seventh Army, and Fifth Army received corresponding military orders.

……

Guidefu City.

The government office lobby is Zhu Yijiong's temporary command post.

Zhu Yijiong was currently discussing matters with the generals of the Sixth Army, the Privy Council and accompanying officials.

Zhu Chengxun, who personally accompanied the army, said: "Your Majesty, according to the demoted officials of the Puppet Qing Dynasty in Guide Mansion and the local gentry and people, since a month ago, the Puppet Qing Dynasty has begun to expropriate and plunder people's wealth. Let alone the rich and poor peasants. All were apportioned, and those who could not pay the grain were sent to the army. The rest were all incorporated as civilian servants. Even if many wealthy households paid the apportionment, their manpower would be forcibly requisitioned, and even their cattle were plundered and used as war materials."

"You're also robbing farm cattle?" Zhu Yijiong looked serious.

It is understandable to impose excessive levies and expropriate young people.

After all, Yongzheng was already desperate. If he didn't go to Dahang, how would he get the food to fight the war?
But even the cattle must be robbed, which is really too much. It is almost equivalent to digging up the roots of the people!

Zhu Chengxun said: "The Puppet Qing Dynasty acted like this, as if they were planning to sink the boat. I'm afraid this battle will be difficult to fight!"

Zhu Yijiong was convinced that he was really disgusted by Manqing's operation.

Throughout Guide Mansion, there were almost all refugees who had been robbed of all their food.

When Zhu Yijiong arrived, he saw people dying of hunger everywhere. Skeletons could even be seen everywhere along the road, many of which were "fresh".

Not only was the Ming army unable to fight at all, but they had to transport food from the rear to help the hungry people.

This eliminates the problem of civilians transporting food. Most people only need to give food to those who stutter, and then let them become civilians to transport baggage for the army, and these people can be grateful.

Just as he was talking, someone reported: "Your Majesty, several more rebel armies have come outside the city. They add up to thousands of people, and they all say they want to join me, the Ming Dynasty."

When Zhu Yijiong heard this, he had a headache and felt helpless.

These rebels are said to be rebels, but in fact they are mostly civilians with almost no fighting capacity.

Moreover, they were generally forced to do nothing by the Manchu tyranny and extortion, so they gathered in crowds to revolt.But because they are all refugees, their combat power is extremely poor, and they cannot conquer the big city at all.

Now I heard that Guide Mansion was occupied by the Ming army, and Zhu Yijiong announced the "Northern Expedition to the Qing Dynasty" to the world, so he came over to join the Ming army.

The message has been issued, and Zhu Yijiong cannot refuse these rebels, both publicly and privately.

After all, we can't let them all starve to death!

Because of this, Yang Gong clearly captured Guide Mansion, but did not rush to Kaifeng. Instead, he crossed the river and entered Caozhou.

One of the reasons is that Henan is so bad that the First Army almost fell in completely just by stepping on it.

Zhu Yijiong thought carefully for a moment and said to Zhu Chengxun: "These rebels who have surrendered, there are still strong young civilians among them, so they will be incorporated into the civilian labor force. Then tell them that after this battle is over, we will take them to live together with the people." , live a good life. Those who don’t have much strength left... will give out porridge first, and wait until the war is over."

"I obey the order." Zhu Chengxun bowed his hands and obeyed the order.

Zhu Yijiong thought for a while and then said: "Also, urge the rear and ask them to deliver food and grass quickly."

...Yongzheng just passed through Shijiazhuang a few days ago, and now he is undecided in Shunde (Xingtai).

The [-] Manbao Zhili Eight Banners had already arrived in Jinan, preparing to rely on the favorable terrain to block the Ming army in southern Shandong.

The Grand Canal waterway in Dongchang Prefecture (Liaocheng) was also blocked by the Manchu and Bao soldiers, even better than Zhang Wenhuan. Not only were iron cables hung across the river, but a large number of hidden hooks were also buried at the bottom of the river.

These hidden hooks are not visible from the river surface, but as long as the warships walk on them, they will be caught by the hidden hooks, and then the ship will be sunk and scrapped.

This was how Sun Wu's Yangtze River defense line was done.

Shunde camp.

A messenger came to report: "Your Majesty, the military situation is urgent, Caozhou has been lost, and the puppet Ming army has advanced towards Daming Mansion."

However, Yongzheng asked without twitching his eyelids: "How many puppet Ming troops are there in Caozhou?"

The messenger replied: "There are at least tens of thousands of people. Please ask the emperor to send troops to rescue them as soon as possible."

Tens of thousands, this number is too general, so general that Yongzheng didn't know how to judge it at all.

He also received the memorial from the famous magistrate delivered by courier. Apart from asking for help, the rest was almost nonsense.

Yongzheng yelled angrily: "You bastard!"

This cannot be entirely blamed on the famous magistrate. The Ming army has already reached Caozhou, but now there is no natural danger from the Yellow River.

Coupled with the various exaggerated rumors spread by those traders and lackeys, it is often said that Caozhou has tens of thousands, 10,000+, or even hundreds of thousands of troops.

The daimyo prefect said it was already the minimum amount.

Moreover, if the Ming army really attacks Daming from Caozhou north, even if Daming Mansion has reinforcements from Li Wei and temporary recruitment of troops to defend the city, the number will only be [-].

Whether it can be defended or not, even Yongzheng has no idea.

Daming Mansion has been captured, but everything behind is flat and there is no danger to defend.

Will the Ming army directly attack the capital?

But if Yongzheng just led his troops back to support Daming Mansion, what if the Ming army turned around and went to Kaifeng?
Once Kaifeng is lost, there is basically no need to play the Henan battlefield.

It's all the fault of Shandong, which has suffered from years of wars and injuries, but the rate at which southwestern Shandong was lost was really too fast.

Yongzheng pondered for a long time, but was still undecided, so he simply called his army staff and deputy commander Zhang Wenhuan to come over to discuss the matter.

Zhang Tingyu was also a little undecided after reading Daming Mansion's request for reinforcements.

After all, he was just a civil servant, and he only fought through a salt dealer uprising a few years ago.

But that's nothing at all. The army sent by the imperial court can handle it directly. He followed it and it was just gilding.

Zhang Tingyu thought for a moment and said: "Caozhou has been lost. If the pseudo-Ming Dynasty marches in, for fear of losing the capital, should we immediately lead the troops back to the capital?"

Yong Zheng frowned: "What about Kaifeng?"

Zhang Tingyu said: "Maybe we can divide our troops."

Dividing the troops is a taboo on the battlefield. If the troops are divided further, not only will the food supply problem be difficult to deal with, but the Qing army's advantages will become smaller and smaller.

Yongzheng was preparing for a decisive battle in Henan, just to bully the Ming army for not having many cavalry.

Yongzheng knew Zhang Tingyu was unreliable after just a few questions, so he immediately asked Zhang Wenhuan: "How does General Zhang think we should fight?"

Hearing this, Zhang Wenhuan stopped pretending to be dumb and said: "Your Majesty, I think that I should lead my army across the river immediately and go south. Kaifeng Mansion is not a place to be defended for a long time. If the puppet Ming army goes north, Kaifeng will not be able to defend it."

Yongzheng asked: "What do you mean, the old general, that the rebels will not go north from Daming Mansion?"

Zhang Wenhuan smiled and said: "Daming Mansion has reinforcements personally sent by Governor Li, and Jinan also has [-] elite soldiers from the Manchu Army stationed there. Even if the rebels come to attack Daming Mansion, they will not be able to defeat it for a while."

"Moreover, if the rebels mainly attack Daming Mansion, then our army can catch the turtle in the urn. As long as the food route is cut off, the rebel army will be defeated without attacking. At that time, our army can directly march south and completely conquer the south of the Yangtze River."

"And if the rebels don't attack the Daimyo, but instead attack Kaifeng, then our army can directly fight the pseudo-Ming in Kaifeng and decide the outcome in one battle."

"It would be best if the rebels divide their forces and attack. Daming Mansion only needs to hold on, and it doesn't matter if it is lost. Our army directly launches a decisive battle in Kaifeng, and the rebels who divide their forces have no chance of resisting."

After saying these words, Yong Zheng suddenly had an enlightenment and made up his mind completely: "What General Zhang said makes sense, then we will cross the river to Kaifeng and fight the Puppet Ming Dynasty decisively!"

　My head hurts and I have to go to work
　　
　
(End of this chapter)