Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 255 Crossing the Sea and Landing

"The whole army attacks!!"

"The last general takes command!"

Two thousand materials from the Pingwa Navy were sitting on the deck of the ship, and Yang Qiu spoke with a solemn expression.

After he spoke, the flag soldiers behind him waved their flags, and the ships responded with flags one after another.

Suddenly, more than 150 warships with a tonnage of more than 1,000 tons began to sail down the east side of Long Island.

Tens of thousands of sailors began to prepare, nearly a thousand bowl-mouth blunderbuss and more than 500 Hongwu iron cannons were ready.

Unlike the Yangtze River, Denglai and other naval divisions, which only have artillery on the bow and stern of the ship, the Ping-Japanese Navy is a navy specifically designed to clean up Japanese pirates along the coast and was established at the suggestion of Zhu Gaoxu. Their warships have as many cannons as normal Ming army warships. several times.

Precisely because of such a large number of artillery, the Ping-Japanese Navy was able to wipe out the Japanese rebellion that was supposed to last from the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the mid-Yongle period in less than four years.

It has to be said that if the Taira-Japan Navy really participates in the war, the direction of this naval battle is really difficult to determine.

However, as the head coach, the reason why Yang Qiu and Yang Zhan arranged today's match was just to make the defeat of Pingwa Navy more reasonable.

For this rationality, the father and son even communicated the route through letters in advance. For example, right now...

"Fixed shot loading, ready...fire!!"

"Boom boom boom!!"

As the Taira-Japanese Navy marched southward, violent artillery fire suddenly erupted on the beach at the southeastern corner of Long Island.

In an instant, hundreds of artillery shells rained down into the Taira-Japanese Navy. The Taira-Japanese Navy warships near Nagashima were hit, and many ships were penetrated through the sides of the ships.

"There is a rebel fort on Long Island!!"

"Beep-beep-beep-"

Shouts, whistles... came out incessantly.

At this moment, except for Yang Zhan and his son and the Bohai Navy, the sailors of the Pingwo, Denglai, and Yangtze Navy were all in a panic.

The former was bombarded, and the latter two panicked Changdao and occupied it, and the Bohai Navy also built a fort.

They originally thought that the Japanese navy was coming to help, so they launched a full-army assault.

At present, the Pingbo Navy is hindered by the Changdao Fort and cannot launch an assault in time. Then they become the only force in the assault. What they need to face is the more than 700 black muzzles of the Bohai Navy.

"put!!"

"Boom boom boom——"

Less than a mile and a half away, the charging Denglai and Yangtze Navy divisions were bombarded from the Bohai Sea.

The moment the Southern Navy Navy, which was composed of the Yangtze River and Denglai Navy advancing in two columns, encountered artillery fire, the formation of the entire fleet fell into chaos.

"The whole army rushes forward, fires artillery across the board, uses explosive shells on the deck, and uses solid shells for the artillery in the cabin!"

When the Southern Navy's navy was in chaos due to the change of direction, Yang Zhan seized the opportunity to order an attack. The Bohai Fleet was divided into three detachments, led by Yang Zhan, Cui Jun, and Zheng Jun respectively.

Zheng Jun led 22 temporary warships converted from horse ships to stay behind to intercept the Ping-Japan navy trying to attack and provide fire cover for the other two detachments.

Forty warships with more than 2,000 pieces of material led by Yang Zhan and Cui Jun launched an attack on the Southern Navy.

The flags continued to be waved in the hands of the sailors on the mast. Shortly after the flags of "All Army Assault" were waved, Yang Zhan's military order to "further engage the enemy" appeared on the masts of each warship.

"The whole army charges!"

“Capture Dengzhou and liberate Shandong!!”

"Roar--"

On the deck, as one of the liberated soldiers, the former soldiers of Jinzhou and now the soldiers of Bohai Sea roared excitedly, and the drums and trumpets sounded on the decks of each warship.

The Bohai Navy rushed towards the Confederate Navy amid cheers, and Chen Xuan also shouted command at the top of his lungs:

"All warships stick close as planned and bombard them with the artillery on the bow!"

Chen Xuan had already tasted the power of shelling on the left and right sides of the Bohai Navy after the Bohai Navy had interspersed with it, so he specifically explained that when the Bohai Navy launched a charge, all the warships were closely connected and launched a bombardment with the artillery at the bow and stern.

However, all this was in vain. His suggestion was very good, but most of the warships of the Yangtze River and Denglai Navy were of one thousand or even five hundred materials. Facing the Bohai warships of three thousand or two thousand materials, Completely powerless to resist.

At 7:42 (:), the Bohai warships successfully squeezed into the formation of the Southern Navy. At this moment, all the Bohai warships received a signal from Yang Zhan... The whole army fired!

"Boom boom boom——"

On February 16, the second year of Jianwen, two quarters of an hour after the Battle of Dengzhou started, two detachments led by Yang Zhan and Cui Jun broke through the front army of the Southern Navy, and the artillery on both sides began to fire together.

As the two detachments passed through the Confederate naval formations, salvoes of artillery fire from both sides caused hundreds of Confederate sailor casualties.

The Southern Navy warships, which had no "armor-breaking" capabilities on their sides, were unable to cause damage to the Bohai warships. Even if the sailors turned their guns in time, they had no time to fire the artillery.

The Bohai Navy's blooming bullets work seamlessly with solid bullets and matchlock guns.

Although the Confederate navy tried its best to resist, their defeat was certain.

The Pingwa Navy in the north was in trouble when it was bombarded by Changdao on the flanks and bombarded by the Zheng Jun detachment of the Bohai Navy from the front.

The Bohai Navy's artillery fire was aimed at their hard sails. The damaged hard sails leaked wind from all sides. The northwest wind kept blowing them to the east of Denglai, hindering the charge of the warships behind them.

Yang Qiu, who had won many battles in the war with Japan, actually seemed a little "incompetent" at this moment.

After the Pingwa Navy lost the unified command of Yang Qiu, it was difficult to join the naval battle off the coast of Dengzhou. Even if some warships occasionally broke through, they were attacked by Zheng Jun's detachment in an instant. The warships were either stranded or had their masts broken. .

At four quarters of an hour, four-quarters of an hour after the start of the war, the Southern Navy had suffered heavy casualties. Even though Chen Xuan was unwilling to admit defeat again, he still issued his military order.

"Withdraw the entire army to Weihai in the east!"

At this moment, Chen Xuan felt frustrated.

He has never suffered such a disastrous defeat since his debut. Although he was defeated in an aspect that he was unfamiliar with, he was still unwilling to accept it.

"The Confederates have withdrawn!"

"Pursuit!!"

On the deck of the Bohai Navy, all sailors of the navy cheered, and some clamored for pursuit.

Facing their cheers, Yang Zhan, the coach, looked at the battlefield behind him with worried eyes.

Fortunately, after the flag signal for the Confederate Army's retreat was sounded, the Ping-Japanese Navy in the north did not continue to fight, but followed Chen Xuan's Confederate Navy and began to retreat eastward.

Yang Zhan breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time his expression became calm again: "Stop the pursuit, rescue the southern soldiers who fell into the water, and bombard the Dengzhou Fort at the same time. After clearing the fort, bombard the city wall. We must capture Dengzhou City within two days!"

"The last general takes orders!!"

Yang Zhan's prestige reached its highest at this moment, and the first difficulty in the Bohai Navy's southward march was destroyed under his command for two consecutive days.

What they have to do now is to continue to obey orders, then capture Dengzhou City and support the army to cross the sea.

For a time, more than fifty warships that were still able to move after the war began to bombard the forts in Denzhou Bay two miles away. The warships and temporary warships that had lost their combat capabilities were transferred to Teragou on Nagashima. Bay.

"Boom boom boom——"

A steady stream of artillery fire began to sound in Dengzhou Bay. Facing the bombardment of the Bohai Navy, the twelve forts were unable to fight back and could only passively take the beating.

Seeing this, Qi Jian had no choice but to lead the gunners to withdraw into Dengzhou City. However, after they left, the Bohai Navy further began to bombard Dengzhou City.

The distance from Dengzhou Bay to Dengzhou City is three miles, twice the range of the two-thousand-jin Hongwu Iron Cannon.

But even so, the Bohai Navy's naval guns still hit here.

Dengzhou City, built with rammed earth and bricks, is very strong, but it appears so fragile in front of the Bohai Navy's naval guns.

From the seventh quarter of the hour to the sixth quarter of the hour, under nearly three hours of bombardment by more than a thousand naval guns, the North City of Dengzhou was defeated. At the same time, two thousand naval soldiers who were still able to fight landed at Dengzhou Port.

Qi Jian saw that Dengzhou was about to fall and tens of thousands of people could not evacuate, so he could only surrender with flags.

At 2:00 p.m. on the afternoon of February 16, the second year of Jianwen, the sound of artillery fire at Dengzhou Bay finally stopped, but the diffuse smoke and the thick smell of gunpowder still hung over the battlefield.

Debris from the penetrated warships floated on the sea, and some warships were even burning.

In the Battle of Dengzhou, the Bohai Navy killed a total of 246 people and injured 783 people.

The number of Confederate soldiers killed in the battle was countless. Yang Zhan estimated that the number was 3,000. The number of prisoners rescued from the sea, as well as the number of Confederate sailors who were captured after failing to break out and surrender, was 5,427.

Adding together the numbers killed and captured, the Confederate Navy directly reduced its numbers to no less than 9,000 men.

Of the 527 warships of the Confederate Navy, 67 were captured, 112 were sunk, and the other warships fled to Weihaiwei in the east.

During the entire battle, the Bohai Navy only lost sixteen warships, twelve of which were temporary warships converted from horse ships. They were not fatal and could be put into use after a short repair. On the other hand, the losses of the Southern Navy were More than one-third of the sailors and warships were seriously injured.

In addition to the above warships seized, 124 horse ships and black boats in Dengzhou Bay were also seized and requisitioned.

However, due to Zhu Gaoxu's instructions, Yang Zhan wrote an IOU to the owners of these ships, stating that he would return the ships after the war, and if there was any damage, he would compensate them at the original price.

Although Yang Zhan did what Zhu Gaoxu told him, many businessmen did not believe that the Bohai Navy would return their ships, let alone compensate them.

The merchants could only admit that they were unlucky, but Yang Zhan devoted all these ships to the task of transporting troops.

At dusk on the 17th, when a large number of warships and merchant ships appeared in the waters south of the newly built Port Arthur, Zhu Gaoxu in the city learned the news.

He led people out of Lushun City without the slightest suspicion, because no one knew better than him how much more transcendent things the Bohai Warships had to warships of this era.

Sure enough, when he appeared in Port Arthur, hundreds of ships from the south began to line up at sea and enter the bay under the flag of Bohai Sea.

"Order all the citizens and soldiers in the city to start loading ships and cross the river south as quickly as possible!"

Zhu Gaoxu ordered Meng Zhang, Xu Sheng, Ta Shi, Doer and Qi beside him. After hearing the words, the four of them began to order the men in the city to be summoned.

All of a sudden, carts of rations, horses, and baskets of gunpowder were loaded onto the warships.

The Bohai Navy is very particular about the loading of ships. Ships worth about 500 tons are used to transport grain and people, and ships with more than 500 tons are used to transport horses.

It has to be said that the number of ships returning this time greatly exceeded Zhu Gaoxu's expectations, and they even brought shiploads of food to Zhu Gaoxu. “Your Highness, things are going well!”

"I know you won't lose!"

Yang Zhan hurriedly got off the boat and explained clearly the capture and process of the battle to Zhu Gaoxu.

When talking about Dengzhou City, Yang Zhan couldn't hide the smile on his face: "Dengzhou City has 86,000 shi of grain from the Confederate Navy, as well as 220,000 shi of grain shipped by grain merchants from various places. .”

"I left the military rations in Dengzhou City, and I transported the food back to Lushun. They are all here."

Yang Zhan signaled to Zhu Gaoxu the ordinary grain that had been transported by the boat. Upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also spoke to Meng Zhang and others: "Meng Zhang, stop transporting military rations and leave the military rations to the brothers who are left behind."

From afar, Zhu Gaoxu shouted to Meng Zhang, and Meng Zhang also bowed from a distance.

After the two responded, Yang Zhan continued: "I have ordered Cui Jun and Zheng Jun to attack the coastal prefectures, counties, guards and stations east of Dengzhou by sea."

"There are many reserve warehouses and Changping warehouses in these places. Now that the Confederate Navy is fleeing, the entire Shandong Province cannot pull out 20,000 combatable troops. As long as our people are fast enough, we can completely conquer a state west of Dengzhou. Two counties, three hospitals and six hospitals were captured."

"Based on the records of the generals who followed Yang Wen, the governor of Pingwa, before and after, these places have at least no less than 200,000 shi of grain reserves and Changping grain, and there are also many private merchants who have grain."

After Yang Zhang started speaking, Zhu Gaoxu also followed up:

"After you lead the first group of people across the sea, immediately move the people and food from these places to Liaodong."

"What did you say?" Yang Zhan was stunned. He didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu actually wanted to move people to Liaodong.

Although he didn't know what the situation was like in Liaodong, judging from Jinzhou, Liaodong as a whole was obviously in a food shortage situation.

Under this situation, moving more than 100,000 people from two counties, three hospitals, and six villages in this prefecture to Liaodong will probably make the food shortage in Liaodong even more critical, and will also greatly delay the shipping time to Lushun.

"I have my own arrangements. I want to settle these hundreds of thousands of people into counties in Changhai and Zhuanghe."

Zhu Gaoxu wanted to use the population of Shandong to enrich the population of Liaodong, even in mountainous areas.

Although the children of the Confucius family did not grow to the tens of thousands in the late Ming Dynasty, there were still thousands of them in the early Ming Dynasty. Together with their relatives and other Shandong gentry and wealthy households, at least hundreds of thousands of people could be relocated.

Zhu Gaoxu, this group of people, does not have the energy to move now, but he can use their help to the Southern Army as an excuse to move them to Liaodong after the capital is captured.

As long as they are moved to Bohai, Liaodong, Daning and other places, and are restricted from returning to the customs, and then open the imperial examination as a way to rise for them, Zhu Gaoxu believes that they will integrate outside the customs in a few years and become part of the customs.

No matter how reluctant they are, when they enter the officialdom in the future, if they want to promote officials, they will definitely select them from their own children and children outside the customs, thereby increasing the proportion of northern officials.

Zhu Gaoxu wanted to use the Battle of Jingnan to make a move that even Zhu Di did not dare to make.

The reason why he dared to go down was because of the students from the four cities of Bohai who had studied for three or four years.

For those who can already solve equations and geometry, they may not be as good as the Confucian officials in Guan Nei in writing articles and governing the country.

But in mathematics, just a simple geometry problem can defeat half of the Confucian officials in Guan.

Zhu Gaoxu doesn't need too many people to give him advice and formulate national policies now, because he knows better than anyone else how Ming Dynasty should go next, so that it can go further and become more powerful than it has in history.

What he needs is to get rid of the subordinate staff at the grassroots level and replace them with his more than 30,000 students in Bohai.

In this way, the Jurchens outside the customs can be moved quietly into the customs, and they can also be used to control grassroots taxation.

Even if these Jurchens outside the customs become corrupt in the future, as long as they can implement the policies they have formulated and collect the taxes they should collect, I will not make it too difficult for them.

For those who are actually corrupt, Zhu Gaoxu will replace them one by one with northern students who will grow up in the future.

How to develop the north, how to develop outside the customs... Zhu Gaoxu has his own scale in his mind.

From improving the official status of northerners to favoring policies and increasing the share of northern handicrafts, he has a complete set of ideas.

To put it bluntly, the resources he could utilize were beyond the reach of the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty combined.

Just like the gold, silver and copper mines in the southwest, if Zhu Gaoxu hadn't told Zhu Yuanzhang, they would have been buried underground for hundreds of years, and were not fully discovered until the middle and late Qing Dynasty.

This is true in the southwest, and also in the northeast, not to mention overseas.

The scholar-bureaucrats in feudal society were not fools. As long as they had enough interests, they could encourage the emperor to conquer the entire world.

For example, the scholar-bureaucrats in the middle and late Ming Dynasty were said to be weak by later generations, but they did not know that after they discovered the gold and silver mines in the southwest, they immediately began to fight off and on with Taungyu Burma, Yang Yinglong, She Chongming, Sha Dingzhou and others. for a century.

As long as it is profitable, they will become active and shrewd.

You have to choose the right interests. Some things are valuable at certain times and not at certain times.

However, this does not include gold, silver, copper and iron, at least not within five hundred years.

Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu's discipline came in handy.

"Shandong people can move as much as they can. This war will not last long."

Zhu Gaoxu's thoughts were complete, but reality made a promise to Yang Zhan.

Although Yang Zhan was worried about the food problem in Liaodong, he still chose to trust Zhu Gaoxu's arrangements.

Not long after, the Bohai Navy began to board the ships in large numbers.

Since the number of ships going north far exceeded Zhu Gaoxu's expectations, the first batch of people alone transported 6,400 people and more than 4,000 military horses.

It takes them three days to get back and forth. At this rate, they can complete the landing of the entire army in about twenty days.

However, in the middle of completing the landing, Zhu Gaoxu could not do anything stupidly, as that would only give Li Jinglong time to prepare to deal with him.

Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu also embarked on the first batch of teams to cross the sea.

At noon on the 18th, as the first batch of sea-crossing ships arrived in Dengzhou City, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't wait to order Xu Sheng to go south with him.

"Let the brothers eat and drink enough, and then pick three thousand brothers and all the troops and horses. We will set off for Qingzhou Mansion early tomorrow morning."

"Your Highness, are we going to attack Qingzhou?" Xu Sheng asked, but Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and said:

"You'll know when you go there. Anyway, our trip this time is not to attack the city, but to better cover the landing of the brothers."

After Zhu Gaoxu gave a brief explanation, he went to Dengzhou Yamen to rest.

Here, he also met Qi Jian, who was imprisoned after surrendering.

"The last general came to the state to command the envoy Qi Jian to see His Highness. Your Highness is a thousand years old..."

In the not-so-spacious back-seat room of Dengzhou Yamen, Zhu Gaoxu saw Qi Jian dressed in a mandarin duck jacket.

"Get up."

Zhu Gaoxu sat on the only chair in the back-seat room, and then looked at Qi Jian who was getting up slowly, feeling a little want to laugh in his heart.

Qi Jian, when it comes to this person, many people are not familiar with him, but if you mention his great-great-grandson, many people will give him a thumbs up.

Qi Jian's great-grandfather was an ordinary soldier named Qi Xiang who followed Lao Zhu from Huaixi.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Qi Xiang was awarded the fourth-rank official position of Dengzhou Guard Commander Qian Shi by Lao Zhu.

Although later generations said that Lao Zhu was harsh on the heroes, in fact, Lao Zhu and Zhu Di basically treated the heroes as if they were the same as the country.

Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, Sun Chuanting...

This group of relatively famous people, if their families are broken down, are basically families inherited from the Hongwu and even Yongle years, and the reason why they can be passed down is the hereditary system of military attachés in the guard station that is very valuable in the old Zhu family.

As long as descendants work hard, they can inherit the official positions left by their ancestors. For example, Qi Jiguang took command of the military affairs before he achieved any merit, Yu Dayou was an official of hundreds of households, and although Sun Chuanting did not directly inherit the family military attaché, he also relied on the resources accumulated by the family to gain fame.

Qi Jian is Qi Xiang's great-grandson and Qi Jiguang's great-great-grandfather. For such a person, Zhu Gaoxu, regardless of whether his descendants can give birth to Qi Jiguang, at least for Qi Jiguang's sake and his own abilities, he cannot be too harsh on him. .

"This place is too small. You can take over the command office starting tomorrow."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said before Qi Jian could react, "Just go ahead with that code."

"Thank you... thank you for your kindness, Your Highness."

Qi Jian reacted belatedly and seemed to feel that it was a bit unreal.

After he came to his senses, Zhu Gaoxu also spoke: "Brothers who surrendered, unless there is a special need, I will not let them follow them south. I don't want them to wave their weapons in front of their former comrades."

"I heard from Zhu Chenggong that your defensive ability is pretty good, and you can also command the Denglai Navy."

"Although the Denglai Navy is not very powerful, its ability to command hundreds of large and small ships at sea is quite impressive."

"If you are willing, you can continue to serve as the commander in Dengzhou. After the Qingjun side is over, I will let you join the navy and command a fleet."

Zhu Gaoxu was still talking about many new terms as always. Qi Jian was also stunned after hearing this: "Navy?"

"Yes." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled: "My kingdom has the Bohai Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea, the Whale Sea (Sea of ​​Japan), the Daming Sea (Pacific Ocean), and vassal lands overseas, as well as the Xiaoxi Ocean (Indian Ocean) and the Strange Sea ( Arabian Sea), Atlantic Ocean and other sea areas..."

"These sea areas should each have a fleet to ensure the security of our kingdom and vassal states."

"If you are willing, I would like you to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Whale Sea Fleet in the future."

"The name "Navy" is not bad if used in rivers, but if you want to go to the magnificent sea, you must use a name like "Navy" to show the majesty of our great country."

Having said this, Zhu Gaoxu also stood up and said: "Go home and report that your family is safe. Come to the Yamen tomorrow to do your work."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up and left, leaving Qi Jian looking at his back, unable to recover for a long time.

It wasn't until Zhu Gaoxu was completely gone that Qi Jian raised his head to look out the window of the reverse room and murmured in a low voice: "The sea of ​​whales..."

　"Records of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty": "In February of the second year of the reign of Emperor Yichou, the superior sent troops to successfully defeat the Southern Army's navy and reach Badeng Prefecture. Tens of thousands of Southern Army's prisoners were captured, and the dead were not counted."

　　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "In the spring of February, I went up to confuse Jinglong and Datong. Jinglong knew that Dengzhou City had been destroyed, so the army withdrew and besieged Beiping."

　　"Bohai Chronicles": "In February of the second year of the year, Yi Chou successfully defeated the Confederate Navy and established one county, two prefectures and three guards in Deng Prefecture. The people who immigrated to Deng Prefecture moved to Liaodong and established Changhai and Zhuanghe counties."

　　

　

(End of this chapter)