Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 937 The Battle of the Yangtze River ([-])

Liu Haiyang finally agreed to the plan of Wang Chaoxian and Ruan Jin, that is, to plunder the wealthy Suzhou Prefecture first, and then map other lands.The reason why he made such a decision was mainly because he had gathered troops, trained and hoarded military supplies in Ningbo in the past four months. The surrounding areas of Nanjing might be full of dragons and tigers, with heavy soldiers gathered.

After much deliberation, the plan of Wang Chaoxian and others is not unreasonable: the Qing army originally had no more than 30 soldiers and horses in the Jiangnan area, but now there are more than 10 soldiers in the Zhejiang area, and the Fujian admiral Zhao Guozuo will be deducted. Tens of thousands of people, 5 people under the command of Jiangxi Geng Zhongming and Shen Zhixiang (part of Jin Shenghuan's troops were incorporated, originally only 6 to [-]), the remaining soldiers and horses were only [-] to [-].

The [-] to [-] Green Battalions are the largest mobile force of the Qing army in the south of the Yangtze River. As a city with great symbolic significance, it is unreasonable not to leave heavy troops stationed there; ; These two add up to at least [-] to [-] green camps.As for the remaining [-] green battalions, it is estimated that they have been led by important generals of the Qing army at this moment. It is hard to say where they will be stationed, but is this really important?Now Liu Haiyang has more than [-] soldiers, [-] warships (including Ruan Jin and Hong Xishan, a large number of offshore small boats), thousands of elite troops on the east coast, dozens of cannons, sufficient food and grass, and high morale. Even if they meet the [-] green battalion, there is still a chance of winning.

At this time, there are at least [-] Green Battalions in Nanjing, and it is estimated that there are still [-] to [-] elite Manchurian Eight Banners. Including the temporary conscripted landlord regiments for training and armed forces, the force is still very strong, so it is really not wise to touch it now, so just Temporarily revise the plan first to build Suzhou Prefecture?

Lieutenant Junior was not very interested in Liu Haiyang, the army commander who was served by a navy general. Hearing that he was led by the nose by a group of Ming Guoqiu Ba to revise the battle plan that had been made long ago, he suddenly felt a little powerless. .However, someone Liu is his direct superior. Although Junior came to the south to supervise the battle with Shao Shude's Shangfang sword, the sword could not be cut on Liu Haiyang's head, so he was concerned about Liu Haiyang's "random life" I can only pinch my nose and recognize it.

Or when Marshal Mo was around, he was decisive in killing and attacking. Was there any place that dared to overestimate his capabilities in front of Marshal Mo? Qu Shuai, king or warlord general?Maybe there were in the early days, but since Marshal Mo buried more than 100 people alive under Yantai city at one time, no one dared to talk nonsense. Since then, military discipline has been extremely solemn, and there is no one who does not obey orders.

This is the gap!Lieutenant Junior slandered secretly while summoning various staff officers under his command to send orders to the armies.

Tens of thousands of troops landed on the river bank in Taicang Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture in the early morning of April 4.Due to the large number of troops, and the different flags, golden drums, and orders of the various ministries—although there was a concentrated training and exercise during Dinghai, the time was still too short in the end, and the ministries were still quite unfamiliar with each other—and it was even more frustrating. What's more, even the language of each ministry is different, which made the staff officers of the Southern Theater Command who contacted the various ministries very troubled.

Especially some staff officers of Livonian origin, their accents are rather weird, and wherever they go, they are the targets of the local turtles—especially the more than [-] strong men who were forcibly pulled by Zhang Huangyan’s department before the expedition—and it doesn’t take half a day. Time can't be done at all, Liu Haiyang was so angry that he dropped several cups, scolding these mobs for being so disgraceful, they have practiced several times and they are still so chaotic, and their memory has not improved at all.

However, after six or seven days of quarreling, nearly [-] officers and soldiers finally completed the landing at the scheduled landing site with a large amount of supplies.After the landing was completed, according to the temporary plan made in the past few days, all the armies kept going hand in hand, and it was strictly forbidden to divide and loot, so as not to be taken advantage of by the Qing army.

But when it comes to the Qing army, this is another problem that bothers Liu Haiyang.After going through a series of events since the expedition, he now has no hope that this mob of as many as 4 can defeat the main force of the Qing army and sweep Jiangnan.Wasn't it true that Marshal Mo was so strong back then that he couldn't guarantee that he would win in a head-to-head confrontation with a large number of Manchurian Eight Banners. The [-] people Liu Haiyang had in hand were more complicated, more disorganized, and weaker in combat effectiveness. Fighting genius?Do you have a strong personality?Do you have outstanding oratory skills that can unite people's hearts?How could Liu Haiyang be against the heavens if he hadn't practiced the skills above the full level?It's impossible!

The biggest advantage of their so-called "Allied Army" is probably the advantage at the strategic level of the Qing army's emptiness and scattered troops. Enough!Among other things, for the "parallel imports" in the odd-numbered troops, the three thousand mud legs brought by Zhang Huangyan only took four to five months to train. It is not surprising that the combat power is rated as negative for things that affect the morale of the army); Zhang Mingzhen and Wang Chaoxian brought more than [-] decent-looking troops, but the proportion of veterans is also very low, and the time they have been in the army is too short. However, it has only been one or two years, and the combat effectiveness is just like that, slightly inferior to the general Qing army's Jiangnan Green Camp, but higher than the landlord regiment's armed forces.

As for the more than [-] naval officers and soldiers under Ruan Jin and Hong Xishan's combined command, it's okay to let them wave their flags and cheer, but if they are required to go into battle to kill the enemy, it will be a bit difficult for them.What?Can't you see that those Fujianese who are tanned are actually fishermen by the sea?Counting on them to fight, you're out of your mind, right?Their combat effectiveness is not as strong as the spear-wielding soldiers on the east bank. At least the morale of the soldiers is not bad, and they will practice from time to time. The fishermen in Xi Shan's hands are much stronger.Among their [-] subordinates, [-] of them were able to go into battle in a serious manner, and there could be no more!

Of course, having said that, the number of the "Allied Army" is there after all. As long as there is a relatively elite army on the east coast to hold the line, as long as there are no large numbers of troops The insane Qing army brigade, they can still win the battle, at least they will not collapse without warning-just like the performance of Zhang Mingzhen and other eastern Zhejiang armed forces in Jiangnan in history.

Fortunately, during the initial landing period, the Qing army brigade did not come to harass. Of course, the more likely reason is that they were not sure where the people from the east bank would land, so the main force was still far away from here and did not arrive in time.However, when tens of thousands of allied troops began to search and advance from Taicang Prefecture to Changshu like locusts, if the Qing army did not respond, they would be dead. The local officials who surrendered to "My Qing" early looked at the direct descendants of King Lu with anxiety. People and horses are contacting the gentry and encouraging people. They feel that if the master of the Qing Dynasty does not come to "relieve the people from hanging upside down", the Suzhou government may change color.

In fact, their worries are not unreasonable. As far as Taicang Prefecture and Changshu County, which were captured by the East Coast Army in the past few days, countless local gentry came to visit Zhang Mingzhen, Zhang Huangyan and others in private, and the two Zhang was also kind and comforting to them, which made Liu Haiyang nod his head straight, thinking that although these people are not good at fighting, they are good at local united front work, and this brand of Nanming did not expect It still has such a great appeal, no wonder hundreds of years later in the late Qing Dynasty there were still people shouting against the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty still had a huge market among the gentry—of course it was limited to the gentry.

These gentlemen came to Zhang Mingzhen's place and naturally brought a lot of news, such as the "tens of thousands" of Manchu and Han troops led by Qing army commander Meile Zhangjing, Zhao Butai, Tong Tulai, Liu Zhiyuan and others half a month ago They have already left Nanjing, and ten days ago Zhao Butai led the Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry vanguards with more than [-] men and arrived in Wujin County, Changzhou Prefecture. It is not known where they are now.

This information is relatively timely for the people on the east coast, because it will be of great benefit to them in making various preparations in advance.No, on May 5, the various ministries that had marched to Changshu County began to gradually move closer together, and some "rebels" who were scattered in Caogu also reluctantly withdrew back with a large amount of money and food under repeated orders.Among them, the money and food were their own trophies, and Dingkou shared the account with the people on the East Bank 6/[-]—the East Bank’s land in Ningbo and Shandong was not very populated, and people were urgently needed to reclaim wasteland.

During the ten days from the 6th to the 15th, the [-] troops who were not far apart gradually approached the river bank at the junction of Changshu County, Suzhou Prefecture, and Jiangyin County, Changzhou Prefecture. At this time, the cavalry of the Qing army also marched to the periphery , this should be the main force of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia directly led by Zhao Butai. As for the legendary "tens of thousands of green battalion", there is no trace of it for the time being.

Liu Haiyang never thought of going head-to-head with the Qing army here. All he wanted to do was to attract the attention of the Qing army, mobilize its troops, and then use his excellent mobility to throw off its main force and rush to another empty place.It's just that whether this plan will work, whether the Qing army will respond passively like when Luke Dehun was led by the nose by Marshal Mo in Shandong, it is not completely hard to say-according to common sense, this has been fought for so long , After understanding the fighting style of the yellow-clothed thieves, the Qing army should have made some progress.

Within ten days, the people on the east coast built a series of camps hastily on the bank of the river using the Sakhalin logs, standard boards, barbed wire, reinforced concrete and other components brought by the ship, and dug fire-proof ditches tirelessly. Artillery positions are also arranged at high places, which can be described as well-deployed.During this period, a large amount of money, food and materials plundered in Taicang Prefecture and Changshu County—Suzhou is so rich—and more than [-] Dingkou were collected by thousands of naval officers and soldiers in Hongxishan and Ruanjin. Under his escort, he began to go down the river towards Chongmingsha.

As for the next move, it is probably to spy on the intelligence of the Qing army while withdrawing the troops in batches.Their next target is likely to be Zhenjiang Mansion - and there is a prerequisite for this, that is to confirm that a large number of Qing troops have indeed been transferred to Suzhou Mansion, otherwise they would rather not withdraw and continue to toss and beat the autumn wind nearby.

(End of this chapter)