Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 272 Everyone has their own agenda

"Bastard!"

Outside Qilin Gate, Meng Zhang shouted softly, which immediately stopped all the Bohai brothers who were about to draw their swords.

Before Xu Zengshou could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw Meng Zhang chuckle and look sideways at Guo Ying: "Old Marquis, why are you doing this?"

"The princess has a stable position in our Bohai Sea and is respected by all the soldiers and civilians."

"If His Highness enters the capital, he will only benefit the Guo family, and there will be no harm in doing so."

"This is the marriage contract granted by Emperor Taizu Gao, and it is also proof that I hope you will help my Highness."

"Hmph!" Guo Ying has been in the wind and rain, and has fought hundreds of battles in the north and south. He has never seen anything like this.

Back then, he dared to lead a dozen cavalry into Wang Baobao's hundreds of thousands of troops to attack at night. Naturally, he was not afraid of Meng Zhang's mere few hundred men.

"Emperor Gao never taught your highness to rebel."

Guo Ying said one sentence, but Meng Zhang chuckled: "Emperor Gao also said that His Majesty should cut down the vassal in accordance with His Highness's "On Cutting Down the Domain", so don't do it too hastily."

Meng Zhang cleverly responded to Guo Ying, if Zhu Yunwen didn't force the vassal king, how could his highness rebel?

This answer made Guo Yingying speechless. He couldn't understand why Zhu Yunwen was stupid enough to trust those literati.

Of course, what made him most uncomfortable was Zhu Yunwen's distrust of him.

As one of the earliest guards of the late emperor, I can be said to be the one closest to Lao Zhu among the Huaisi brothers. Whether it is Lao Zhu, Queen Ma, or even Zhu Biao... they all treat me with great courtesy, and I He also abided by his duties and never did anything out of the ordinary.

But when it came to Zhu Yunwen, the attitude of this young emperor whom he had seen growing up towards him could be said to have deteriorated since the death of the late emperor. If it hadn't been for Meng Zhang's army siege of the capital this time, he might not have even been able to meet the young emperor.

When the army approaches the city, you need to take action on your own...

Thinking about it this way, Guo Ying was indeed a little frustrated.

He was very courageous when facing the barbarians' thousands of troops, but he could not raise any morale towards the new king whom his 'Majesty' had entrusted to assist him.

"There is no place to sit here. If the old Marquis wants to come to negotiate peace on behalf of Your Majesty, please speak up."

Seeing that he had suppressed Guo Ying's morale, Meng Zhang immediately chuckled and spoke, and this also reminded Guo Ying of the purpose of his trip.

Just when he thought about it for a moment, bitterness appeared on his face, and he squeezed out a dry sentence from his throat: "Your Highness taught you these things?"

"That's right." Meng Zhang always maintained a smile, as if he had complete control over the entire situation.

This is indeed the case. There are Yang Zhan's two thousand sailors on the river, ten warships loaded with artillery, and ten warships without artillery that have dismantled their artillery to save space.

To the south, Xu Sheng led two thousand cavalry to block the post road leading south from the capital to Moling Pass and Dasheng Pass.

In the east and north, there are more than 3,000 cavalry of their own and hundreds of cavalry whose horses have been injured and can only serve as infantry.

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like the capital can organize enough troops to counterattack them.

Of course, the more important thing is that there are not enough horses in the capital. Zhu Yuanzhang spent thirty-one years raising more than 50,000 cavalry. Before the war, Zhu Yunwen could still command more than 40,000, but now there are less than 20,000 left, of which 10,000 are still scattered. In the western frontier and frontier fortress, only Yu Tongyuan from Jiangbei had less than 10,000 available.

Yu Tongyuan in the north of the Yangtze River was unable to cross the river, and it was useless to have cavalry.

What he has to do is to surround the city for another two or three days and wait for His Royal Highness to arrive with the field artillery and the siege artillery carried by Cui Jun's warship. That will be the day to capture the outer city of the capital.

Without the vast cultivated land in the outer city, the capital will inevitably have unrest, and then it will be time to attack from both inside and outside.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhang glanced at Xu Zengshou and Xu Yingxu.

"This war lasted for more than a year, and the people in Liaodong, Peiping, Shandong, and Huainan were tortured by the war..."

Seeing that he could not argue with Meng Zhang, Guo Ying also began to describe the suffering suffered by the people in the past two years like an endorsement. Then he changed the topic and tactfully expressed the emperor's willingness to cede territory and seek peace.

"Haha... It should have been like this a long time ago."

Meng Zhang chuckled and catered, as if he was very happy that the court was willing to do this.

Xu Yingxu relaxed his brows upon seeing this, but Guo Ying and Xu Zengshou's brows remained furrowed.

Guo Ying felt that something was fishy and that Zhu Gaoxu could not accept the emperor's peace proposal at this time, while Xu Zengshou felt that Meng Zhang could not stand the temptation.

"I need a fast horse and ship to convey this matter to Yangzhou, and ask the old Marquis and his two uncles to return to Beijing temporarily. When the news comes back tomorrow, I will definitely ask someone to come to Qilin Gate to respond in person."

"Okay..." Guo Ying still felt unrealistic in her heart. Although she agreed verbally, she still wanted to see something wrong on Meng Zhang's face.

But he looked for a long time and didn't see anything wrong. In the end, he had no choice but to turn around and mount his horse and leave.

After they walked away, the two Bohai commanders stepped forward and said cautiously: "Brother Meng, do you really want to negotiate a peace?"

"Negotiating a peace?" The smile on Meng Zhang's face slowly faded, and he turned sinister: "The world is almost ready, who would want to negotiate a peace?"

"They just want to delay time. We also need to delay time, so why not perform a show with them?"

After Meng Zhang finished speaking, he immediately ordered a dozen cavalrymen to go to the surrounding villages to collect thick oilcloths that could be used to make military tents, while he continued to sit back on the muddy grass.

Not to mention him, just say that after Guo Ying and the others returned to the capital, they went straight to the Forbidden City.

The Fengtian Palace, which is only open on the New Year's Day, Winter Solstice and Wanshou Festival, is rarely opened. Hundreds of officials in Beijing are standing in the palace. Although no one speaks or dares to move, the atmosphere makes people feel depressed. It seems that everyone They are all like ants on a hot pot.

In their eager anticipation, Guo Ying and three others came to Fengtian Hall with "good news".

Seeing Guo Ying and others arriving, Zhu Yunwen quickly stood up and asked: "What do people outside the city say?"

He didn't call him a traitor anymore, he directly used that person to prevaricate. In fact, he was talking about Zhu Gaoxu.

However, he guessed wrong. It was not Zhu Gaoxu who led the raid on the capital, but Meng Zhang and Xu Sheng.

"The general outside the city is Meng Zhang, the commander of the Shandong capital of the Bohai Pirate Army and Puppet Committee. Judging from his expression, he is very satisfied with the conditions offered by the court."

"Sure enough, they are people from the mountains." As soon as Guo Ying finished speaking, this sentence came to Zhu Yunwen's mind.

He didn't expect Bohai to be satisfied so easily. Originally, he had already made plans to hand over Xuzhou and Shanxi, but now it seems that it shouldn't be to that point.

"Then Meng Zhang said that it will take a day for the news to come back and forth. Tomorrow he will send someone to deliver the news to Qilin Gate. I am willing to be on duty at Qilin Gate to investigate the authenticity of the news for Your Majesty."

Guo Ying then spoke, but as soon as Zhu Yunwen heard that he was going to be on duty at Qilin Gate, he immediately refused:

"Marquis Wu Ding has worked hard and achieved great results, and he has passed sixty years. I would be uneasy if I asked you, Marquis Wu Ding, to guard Qilin Gate."

Zhu Yunwen didn't really care about Guo Ying, he was completely afraid that Guo Ying would open the Qilin Gate at night.

Guo Ying seemed to have guessed Zhu Yunwen's reaction, so after he spoke, Guo Ying did not react much, but bowed and returned to the position of military attaché.

Seeing Guo Ying calm down, Zhu Yunwen breathed a sigh of relief and said at the same time:

"Although peace has been reached, we must not take it lightly. We must continue to recruit rural warriors in the city until we have gathered 100,000 rural warriors, enough to garrison the inner city!"

"Your Majesty the Holy Ming..."

The echo of pushing the golden mountain and toppling the jade pillar came, and Zhu Yunwen breathed a sigh of relief. With a flick of his sleeves, he retreated from the court and returned to the inner court to rest.

In the palace, although the ministers also questioned why the Bohai Navy agreed so readily, they thought that what they needed most right now was time. No matter what the Bohai Navy planned to do, they had to seize all the time they could and work hard to strengthen the city defense.

For a time, the hearts of the entire capital city were in a state of excitement. Regardless of whether there were men in the family who joined the army, the soldiers and civilians in the capital were all caught to serve as local heroes.

Prices have skyrocketed throughout the capital, and prices for a pound of rice and a hundred cents can be seen everywhere.

Faced with this kind of malicious price drive-up, in the Hongwu period, it was definitely an example of being caught and killed. However, under the rule of Zhu Yunwen, these low-status merchants in the Hongwu period were like relying on Mount Tai, even if they were soldiers from the five cities. Ma Si came to reprimand him many times, but he could still see the sign stuck firmly on the pile of rice.

At the same time, after a day and night of traveling, the fleet led by Cui Jun finally arrived at the ferry south of Wanshou Town.

The journey of more than 100 miles from Baogang to the south ferry of Wanshou Town took them ten hours while going upstream, from nightfall yesterday to dusk today before arriving at the ferry.

Due to Zhu Gaoxu's instructions, there were soldiers and horses staying in the direction of the ferry to observe.

When Cui Jun and the others arrived here, Zhu Gaoxu got the news immediately and galloped here on a yellow gelding horse.

"Cui Jun!"

Zhu Gaojiu couldn't hide his happiness, and it showed directly on his face. However, no matter who it was, it would be difficult for him to show his qi-nurturing skills in the face of such an achievement.

"Your Highness, the matter is settled. The last general has met with the soldiers of Governor Yang's sand ships upstream, and the capital has been completely surrounded!"

Now that things have happened, Cui Jun no longer has to hide Yang Zhan's name. After all, Yang Qiu's whole family is in Chongming, and the court has no control over their family.

What's more, even if they want to attack Yang Qiu's family, they have to think about how to get out of the capital.

"I saw the mobilization of troops and horses in Yangzhou last time, and I knew that the matter was probably done."

Zhu Gaoxu turned over and dismounted, and hugged Cui Jun excitedly. The strength was so strong that Cui Jun almost died in his arms. It was suffocating...

"Ahem!" Cui Jun coughed violently several times, and Zhu Gaoxu let go of his hand, then pointed at Yangzhou and said:

"These places have fixed places to raise homing pigeons. When we come to Jiangnan, we suffer from this kind of thing. The news transmission is slower than them."

"But even so, it doesn't matter. How many people can your fleet take to the south?"

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were burning, and Cui Jun also spoke after hearing this: "If we just go to Zhenjiang on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and use the large Shazhou in the south, we can transport a group of people in about two hours, and a group of people can transport two thousand people."

"Originally, we could transport more, but in order to allow Governor Yang and others to arrive at Jiangning early, many of their naval guns and siege guns were put on our ship." Cui Jun said helplessly, and Zhu Gaoxu immediately said after hearing this: "Keep ten The ship will serve as a warship, and the other ships will unload the siege guns first, and take the lead in ensuring that the horse and infantry are transported to the south first."

"I want to transport the army to Jiangnan as quickly as possible!"

"General, take your orders!" Chen Chang, who followed, and Cui Jun, who stood in front of Zhu Gaoxu, bowed and spoke one after another.

Not long after, large groups of horse and infantry began to appear in the camp and led their horses to the southern ferry. They would take warships to the west side of Zhenjiang and land in the south of the Yangtze River to intensify the siege of the capital.

At the speed of the warship, it would only take about three days to transport all the more than 30,000 men and horses to the south of the Yangtze River.

However, this also has major disadvantages.

The fewer soldiers and horses in Bohai, the easier it is to be attacked by Yu Tongyuan's more than 10,000 cavalry.

It's just that Zhu Gaoxu didn't take it seriously. For him, if he hadn't been sure of victory and felt there was no need to compromise this group of his future "soldiers," he would have killed Yangzhou and Yu Tongyuan in one go.

When the war reaches this point, if you continue to pursue annihilation, you are annihilating "one's own" vitality.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu began to sit at the ferry and watched groups of people coming here to wait to board the boat and cross the river to the south.

Zhu Gaoxu gave them only one military order: to run the more than eighty miles from Zhenjiangxi to Qilinmen in the capital at all costs.

Compared with Meng Zhang's high-intensity march yesterday, such a march was a normal march speed for Bohai's horse and infantry cavalry, and no one raised any objections.

For a time, more than 30,000 Bohai soldiers and horses from Wanshou Town in the north of the Yangtze River began to cross the river based on Zhu Gaoxu's personal will and plan, constantly increasing their leverage against the capital.

Such a scene was naturally not missed by Yu Tongyuan and Sheng Yong, who were always paying attention to the Bohai camp.

While Zhu Gaoxu's army was crossing the river, Yu Tongyuan also moved his camp to the east bank of the canal in Yangzhou City, and went to Yangzhou City with Ping An.

It's just that at this moment, they no longer have the high spirits they had when they attacked the Bohai Navy camp a few days ago, and everyone's face is bloodless.

"The capital is under siege and the navy surrenders to the enemy. How can we fight this battle?"

Surrounded by the sand table, Sheng Yong, Yu Tongyuan, Pingan and a dozen commanders did not make any sound for a long time.

"This chess piece... was played to death by him..."

A hoarse voice sounded. Even a veteran like Yu Tongyuan could not help but be shocked by Zhu Gaoxu's playing style.

It is not that no one has ever practiced the method of amphibious warfare through coordinated sea and land operations. Not to mention the distant Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, during the Red Scarf Army’s Northern Expedition decades ago, Mao Gui, the head coach of the Eastern Northern Expedition Army, set out from Lianyungang by boat. Then he crossed the sea and captured the Shandong area, and later used Shandong as a base to attack near Peiping.

But how far is it from Mao Guina to cross the sea? Moreover, when Mao Gui crossed the sea, both men and horses crossed the sea, while Zhu Gaoxu directly regarded the navy as livestock for transporting firearms, and led the men and pigs to advance rapidly. In less than half a month, he ran from Zhucheng in Shandong to Yangzhou to drink in the Yangtze River.

The same fighting method is also commonly used when the north attacks the south, but the problem is that most people send troops from the mouth of the Huaihe River, while Zhu Gaoxu sends his troops directly from Shandong, which lengthens the distance by more than half, not to mention that the north is often defeated by the hydrology of the Yangtze River mouth.

The runoff of the Yangtze River is not comparable to that of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River. A normal warship with a full load traveling upstream can only travel at a speed of five or six miles per hour. Even the fastest eight-sided sailing ship can only reach a speed of twelve or three miles.

On the other hand, if you use an eight-sided sand boat to travel down the river, you can travel more than thirty miles in one hour, which is almost three times the speed.

With such natural dangers, the threats to the Jiangnan regime often came from the navies of the upstream regimes such as Bashu and Jingxiang, rather than from the sea.

But Zhu Gaoxu did not know what method he used this time to actually make Chen Xuan and Yang Qiu surrender. The Bohai navy appeared in the Yangtze River majestically, and walked for several days without anyone noticing. No one came back until they surrounded the capital. Hindsight.

"Chen Xuan and Yang Qiu, these two thieves are ruining the emperor's affairs!"

Sheng Yong punched the sand table, causing sand to fly up in shock, but no one complained because they had the same idea as Sheng Yong.

It was obviously a good situation. As long as they waited three to five days, Wu Gao and Li Jian's 100,000 troops would go south and surround Zhu Gaoxu on three sides. As a result, Chen Xuan and Yang Qiu surrendered, making them a joke.

"Now the bandit army is trying to cross the river, and the capital is in danger. Shouldn't we do nothing?"

Ping An questioned everyone. Faced with his questioning, Yu Tongyuan and Sheng Yong looked ugly.

In fact, at this time, nothing they could do could stop the Bohai Navy from crossing the river.

They have already experienced the power of the Bohai Navy's firearms. The infantry in Sheng Yong's hands in Beijing was knocked down by hundreds of people in one encounter, and the cavalry in Jingcao was also defeated by hundreds of people in one encounter.

Now Zhu Gaoxu is covered by warships. Isn't this a proper terrain for the Queyue Formation?

Unless they have the ability to withstand the naval guns, shotguns, shotgun shells, and solid bullets fired by warships, the army does not know how many casualties it will take to rush to the front line, and how many casualties it will take to inflict some negligible casualties on the Bohai Navy.

For a moment, morale was low, Ping An was in his eyes, and he was anxious in his heart.

"No matter whether it succeeds or not, we still have to give it a try. We can take advantage of the fact that others are few and send troops!"

Ping An spoke excitedly, but Yu Tongyuan's words stopped him abruptly.

"If there are few soldiers on the north bank, there will be more soldiers on the south bank. If there are more soldiers on the south bank, the capital will not be protected."

"Forehead……"

Ping An was at a loss for words, but he had forgotten that their mission was to prevent the main force of the Bohai Navy from crossing the river, but the main force of the Bohai Navy was simply not something they, more than 60,000 people, could collide with.

If they were 60,000 pure troops, then this battle would still have to be fought. But the problem is that more than half of their 60,000 troops are new soldiers who have been stationed in the army and transferred to the war, and are less than two months old.

Earlier when they charged into the formation, the new soldiers in the front row began to disorderly fight without any casualties. On the other hand, Shang Zhi was able to charge into the Bohai formation with a hail of bullets and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

The difference between the two is simply a world of difference.

"I am really ashamed of Emperor Gao!!"

Ping An clenched his fists and expressed the sentiments of everyone in one sentence.

But they also knew that the emperor's method of cutting down the feudal vassal was not authentic. Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di were famous good kings. Deposing them as common people could be said to be the worst move Zhu Yunwen had ever made in cutting down the feudal vassal.

"Tomorrow, wait for the opportunity. If there is a chance, we must hold back the main force of the Bohai Sea..."

Sheng Yong took a deep breath, but this breath made many conductors turn pale.

The scene of the previous battle with the Bohai Navy is still vivid in my mind. Now I have just rested for a few days and have to continue the attack. I don’t know how many people will die this time and whether I can survive...

The expressions of more than ten conductors were gloomy and uncertain, which was keenly noticed by Yu Tongyuan.

He sighed in his heart, but quickly gathered his mood and prepared for tomorrow's battle.

At the same time, carrier pigeons sent from the capital to the north also arrived one after another.

Zhu Yunwen naturally did not dare to tell the world that the capital was surrounded, so he only sent news to Baoding Prefecture where Li Jinglong was stationed, and Pizhou County where Wu Gao and Li Jian met.

When Wu Gao and Li Jian saw the letter from the capital, the news was a blow to the two and their generals.

"How could this happen?"

Wu Gao couldn't believe it. After all, in his impression, Zhu Gaoxu was just a young boy who would cause chaos when he commanded 30 to 50 thousand people. Although he occasionally found ways to surprise troops, generally speaking, it was within the scope of his understanding. .

But now, the navy and land cooperated to attack the capital, and persuaded Chen Xuan and Yang Qiu, the Confederate naval forces, to surrender. Wu Gao suddenly felt that he might not understand his former opponent at all.

"Marquis Jiangyin, what should we do?"

Li Jian anxiously asked Wu Gao in the tent. He was the first person to receive the news, and immediately burned all other similar messages sent to him.

He knew very well that once the news came out, not to mention that the 100,000 of them would become a defeated army. Li Jinglong's army of more than 200,000 in the north would probably be swallowed up by Zhu Di in one breath.

By then, it will be useless even if the court drives away Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Di can lead an army of more than 300,000 people all the way south and devour the world.

Facts have proved that Li Jian's ideas are still too conservative. He also thinks that the capital can drive away Zhu Gaoxu.

But the fact is that in Wu Gao's view, the capital is probably in danger.

He knew the situation in the capital very well. There were at most 10,000 elite elites, 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers with almost no combat effectiveness, and 100,000 local braves...

In Wu Gao's view, pulling Xiang Yong was the most disgusting move.

What is guarding the city is the human heart!

They forced strong men to defend the city, not to mention whether this group of people could defend the city. Just because the military attachés who were fighting abroad heard that their nephews and brothers in the capital were captured as strong men, it was strange that they still had the morale to fight. It would be fine if they did not mutiny. .

"This news needs to be stopped. We will not change our plans for the time being. We will arrive in Yangzhou in four days as scheduled."

Wu Gao had lost confidence in the capital, but he still had to comfort Li Jian. After all, if the news leaked, how many tens of thousands of the 100,000-strong army would be left?

Of their 100,000-strong army, 80% of them were elites from the capital, and the young men captured in the capital were their nephews and brothers.

If they fled, the last glimmer of hope for the capital would be gone.

"Can you make it in time?"

Li Jian was about to cry, but Wu Gao looked at him after hearing this. After a long silence, he nodded: "I have to try..."

Although he said this, Wu Gao knew very well that with Zhu Gaoxu's character, since he could cross the river and encircle the capital, he must have the back-up to capture the capital.

Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid there will be a new emperor...

　The influenza A epidemic is not over yet, so updates are very unstable.

　　But what is certain is that the amount of updates is very stable, but the update time is unstable.

　　The second update should be between five and six o'clock...

　　

　

(End of this chapter)