The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 380
The marching route mentioned by Zhu Linmei is basically the same as Zheng Chenggong's Northern Expedition to Nanjing in the 13th year of the Yongli calendar in history.

However, at that time Zheng Chenggong ordered his soldiers to board warships and march, occasionally going ashore to seize cities along the way, while Zhu Linmi mainly focused on the army, and the navy was only responsible for supplies.

It should be said that the route chosen by Zheng Chenggong was very scientific, basically avoiding all the fortified towns, and there was no hindrance all the way north.

Shanghai in the twentieth century was indeed an international metropolis, but at the end of the Ming Dynasty it was just a small town, not to mention the garrison, not even a decent city defense.And after Jiading was massacred repeatedly, the city was empty and defenseless.

Only Jiangyin City, which is the gateway to the east of Nanjing, is strong enough.But Zheng Chenggong chose to bypass Jiangyin and not attack. He jumped to the north bank and captured the empty Guazhou, and then used Guazhou as a springboard to attack Zhenjiang on the opposite bank.

At this time, the Qing troops in Songjiang, Suzhou, Changzhou and other places south of Nanjing had to return to defend Nanjing honestly.If Zheng Chenggong had captured Nanjing in one fell swoop at that time, it would be easy to take these places into his pocket later.

But Zheng Chenggong also made a fatal mistake, that is, relying too much on boats.After entering the Yangtze River, he still insisted on marching his troops by boat, but the Yangtze River flows from west to east.

His navy wanted to sail from the estuary of the Yangtze River to Nanjing, but all the way was against the current, so they could only rely on the trackers to drag the warship forward, and the speed was extremely slow.So much so that the Qing army near Nanzhi had already walked back to Nanjing with both feet, and he was able to rush to Guazhou. At this time, Jianlu had completed the defensive deployment of Nanjing.

However, Zhu Linming is naturally very clear about this series of problems, so he wants to use what Zheng Chenggong did right, and at the same time avoid the problems that make the army go against the current.

He continued: "There should not be too many bandits stationed in these towns along the way of the Eastern Route Army. A battalion of hussars is enough to capture them. The main force of our army is closely behind. We only need to march all the way quickly. Hong Chengchou has not responded yet. Before you come here, come to the city of Nanjing!"

Zhang Jiayu, who was sitting in front of all the officers, glanced at the map and said worriedly: "My lord, if you go north to Nanjing along the coast, you must pass through Jiangyin. The fortification here is very strong. Last year, Yan Yingyuan, the official historian, led only a few thousand soldiers and the people in the city, and sent Tens of thousands of captives were blocked outside the city for 81 days.

"If our army is blocked by Jiangyin, it may be difficult to surprise Nanjing."

Zhu Linmei shook her head with a smile and said: "We will not attack Jiangyin, but go to the north bank of the Yangtze River and bypass Jiangyin to the west." He pointed to the intersection of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangtze River on the map, "After that, we will quickly capture Guazhou and cross the south of the Yangtze River. Take Zhenjiang. At this moment, the captives in Jiangyin City are in a hurry, and we will sit at Zhenjiang and wait for him to attack the city."

The three cities of Nanjing, Zhenjiang, and Jiangyin line up from west to east on the south bank of the Yangtze River. It can be said that Jiangyin and Zhenjiang are the two gateways to the east of Nanjing.However, the first "gate" is usually relatively strong, while Zhenjiang City behind it is much simpler, coupled with the unpreparedness of attacking the enemy, Zhu Linmi believed that Zheng Chenggong's old-style army could take this city, with the strength of the Dragon Guards. Combat power shouldn't be a problem.

"When our army encircles Nanjing, Hong Chengchou will hastily mobilize all kinds of bandits back to defend Nanjing, while we can set up ambushes everywhere, surround points to fight for reinforcements, and eat up the 10,000+ Qing army in one bite!"

In history, Zheng Chenggong also successfully surrounded Nanjing, but he underestimated the mobilization ability of Jianlu too much. When more than [-] Qing troops rushed to Nanjing, he was still unconscious.As a result, his army was caught off guard by the enemy's sneak attack, and finally defeated with hatred.

But if it is known that there will be enemy troops coming to Nanjing, the situation will be completely different.Surrounding the spot to fight for aid is the most respected tactic of the people's army in later generations, and facts have proved many times that it is indeed very effective.

Zhu Linmei finally concluded: "This is the strategy of the Eastern Route Army. They don't attack the city, but advance lightly, surprise Nanjing, and besiege the city to ambush and help the enemy." Then he pointed to Huizhou Prefecture on the map, "In addition, since Hong Chengchou How can we not accept his great affection for recruiting all the Qing troops in Huizhou and Anqing?
"On the West Road, transfer [-] Jiangxi garrison troops from Guangxin to Quzhou and enter Huizhou through Kaihua. Then go north all the way, Funing State, Chizhou, and Taiping Prefectures, and arrive at Wuhu. Guard the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and form an east-west pincer attack on Nanjing with the East Route Army. trend."

This is the route Zhang Huangyan took to recover Anhui when he followed Zheng Chenggong's Northern Expedition.Of course, there is no concept of Anhui at present, only Anqing, Huizhou and other state capitals belonging to Nanzhili.

In the past, Zhang Huangyan led only 6000 troops to recapture 24 counties in the four prefectures and three prefectures of Anhui.So Zhu Linmi unceremoniously ordered her West Route Army to copy it.

He looked at the generals sitting again and said: "It's just that there is no one to be the commander of the West Route Army. Is there any one of you who is willing to go to Huizhou?"

Everyone wanted to follow His Royal Highness to lead the army northward and invade Nanjing, but there was no answer for a moment.

Seeing this, Zhang Jiayu cupped his hands and said, "My lord, I recommend someone to lead the West Route Army."

"Oh? Who?"

"It's Chen Bangyan, the former head of the Fang Department of the Ministry of War, and the current commander-in-chief of the Ganzhou Garrison. This person is related to military affairs..."

"Chen Bangyan?" Zhu Lin was amused, he was still very familiar with Chen Bangyan.This person is one of the three loyalists in Lingnan. After the fall of Guangdong, he organized a rebel army to fight against the Qing Dynasty. He once regained Shunde and besieged Guangzhou City.Tong Yangjia, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was forced to transfer Li Chengdong, who was storming Guilin, back to Guangdong for emergency treatment.At that time Yongli was still in the city of Guilin, if Chen Bangyan hadn't played brilliantly in Guangdong, the Yongli Dynasty might have come to an end.

There are now two of the three Lingnan loyalists, Zhu Linming thought of this, and casually said, "I don't know where Chen Zizhuang is now?" This Chen Zizhuang is the last of the Lingnan three loyalists. He once besieged Guangzhou with Chen Bangyan and was good at commanding. navy.

Zhang Jiayu was a little surprised and said: "Chen Jisheng? He is now the commander of the Guangdong Customs Patrol Bureau, and his subordinates are old acquaintances with him."

Zhu Linmei was even more surprised, "Yuanzi still knows Chen Zizhuang? It's so good, it will make Chen Bangyan and Chen Zizhuang lead the West Route Army into Huizhou together."

After he finished speaking, he couldn't help feeling a little sad. Historically, the three loyalists in Lingnan were defeated successively in the second year of Longwu. After they were captured, they all denounced the Jian captives and died generously.Now that history has begun to reverse, the three Zhongliang don't have to die with hatred.Thinking of this, he suddenly felt that all his previous efforts were worthwhile.

Zhang Jiayu hurriedly said: "Then, my subordinates will write in Ganzhou and Guangzhou, and transfer them to Wandutang to lead the troops."

After Zhu Linming finished talking about the overall strategic plan, the staff began to discuss the details of the operation.

First, Yu Xin raised the issue of the weapons and equipment of the Polu camp. Now there are a total of [-] type II hunting rifles that can be allocated to the Polu camp, and there are [-] new-made flintlock guns in stock and nearly [-] soldiers for the time being. Still have to use the original bird gun.

(End of this chapter)