Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Since the second year of Jianyan in the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River went down to the Huaihe River to go out to the sea. For hundreds of years, the Yellow River has been discharging into the sea along thirteen rivers including the Si River and the Huai River, thus completely losing its main channel. www

Since the more branches, the weaker the water power, the faster the accumulation of mixed sediment. In order to prevent the Yellow River from returning to its original course and affecting the north-south water transport, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty after the founding of the Qing Dynasty spent huge financial, material and human resources on the construction of the Yellow River. The embankment of the North Yellow River is being blocked, so the possibility of the Yellow River flooding northwards has been gradually reduced with continuous repairs for hundreds of years.However, the policy of blindly defending the north while diverting the river to the south has caused severe flood disasters for many years in the vast area of ​​Sihuai River, among which Anhui, Shandong, and Jiangsu provinces were the most severely damaged.

In order to alleviate the suffering of the people in the three provinces due to the Yellow River's torrential displacement, Pan Jixun proposed the idea of ​​"constraining water to attack sand" during the Wanli period, and thus built the Gaojiayan embankment, forming a situation where Hongze Lake is used to adjust the water level of the Huaihe River, and the Yellow River and Huaihe River are confluenced to remove silt. Sand scheme.However, Pan Jixun's plan had serious flaws. For this reason, Yang Yikui, who succeeded Prime Minister Hedao, reopened the new river above the Qinghe River, and implemented the strategy of guiding the Huaihe River into the river and into the sea, which achieved very good results for a while.

However, the Yellow River carries too much silt, and diverting it into the Huaihe River cannot completely solve the problem of river bottom uplift. As a last resort, the embankment of Hongze Lake is getting longer and longer, and the gate of Gaojiayan is getting higher and higher. In the process of daily renovation, the area of ​​Hongze Lake has been expanding day by day, but the flood has not been alleviated much, but Qingjiangpu, where the river governor and Caodu yamen are located, has prospered.

However, in today's war-torn sky, the prosperity of the past where ships from the south and horses from the north meet has disappeared, and all you can see are heavily armed soldiers, and the atmosphere of chilling is completely shrouded in the sky over this "thoroughfare of nine provinces".

"Your Majesty, an urgent report from Dongtai. Last night, the gentry in the city opened the city gate and put in more than 80 regiments to practice and attack our army's garrison. Fortunately, the guards were already prepared. With a weak enemy and a strong one, [-] people defeated the offensive of the chaos army in one fell swoop. Search the entire city and hunt down the remaining rebels."

"80 people?" Zheng Kezang looked suspiciously at the staff officer who reported. "Why are there so few guards?"

Of course Zheng Kezang knew that due to the limited strength of the Zheng army and the strategy of concentrated operations, the garrison forces in the occupied area in northern Jiangsu were limited, and the location of Dongtai was not as important as Taixing, Taizhou, Gaoyou, and Baoying on the side of the supply line. There may be fewer troops, but it is also surprisingly small.

"Back to the king, Dongtai is guarded by the third regiment of the first division of the Shesheng Army. This regiment is responsible for guarding Tongzhou, Rugao, Dongtai, Xinghua, Yancheng and other counties on the east road," Sun Youlao explained. "Considering that Dongtai is still in the hinterland, only one outpost was stationed to collect summer grain for the army to lose."

"The regiment has eight outposts, three outposts in Tongzhou, two outposts in Yancheng, and one outpost each in Xinghua, Dongtai, and Rugao." The first-class staff officer who initially reported added. "The outpost guarding Dongtai was personally commanded by the deputy commander of the regiment, Ma Miao and Ma Zhaoxin. Before the war, the deputy commander of Ma sent two teams of soldiers and horses to punish the tax-resistant tycoons in the county. Obviously, the rioting gentry caught this Opportunities, and Ma Zhaoxin may have some insight, so he took the plan."

"With 80 people defending the city, I don't know whether it is bravery or recklessness." How could Zheng Kezang fail to understand the meaning of the first-class staff officer, but he gave a not very reassuring evaluation. Fortunately, Zheng Kezang did not discuss the topic Go ahead and ask instead. "Ma Miao, did you come from the Jiayin period? How come you are still the deputy commander of the regiment?"

"Your Majesty may have misremembered." Sun Youlao was the first chief teacher of the Boy Camp, so I can't remember anything else, but Jia Yinsheng's name is still clear. "That's called Sun Miao, who is currently serving as the fourth-rank commander in the second division of the Longxiang Army, and this Ma Miao is in the Bingchen period. It is already good to be able to be the deputy commander of the regiment."

"Ma Miao and Sun Miao are confused." Zheng Kezang laughed. "However, being able to defend the county seat under the night attack of ten times the enemy is considered capable of fighting. In this way, meritorious service and honors will be recorded as usual." Zheng Kezang paused. "The local gentry's stance is uncertain. I'm afraid Dongtai County is not the only one like this. We need to spread the word to all ministries, so be careful." Sun Youlao nodded, but before he could respond, Zheng Kezang said again. "Let the Chongzhou Governor's Mansion send troops to take over the defense of Tongzhou, so that the three counties of Dongtai, Xinghua, and Rugao can each have an extra sentry horse, and it will be more powerful to deter the local area."

"Your Majesty, I'll do it, Mr. Wenlin." Ming Zheng's capitals belonged to the Naval Division, and naturally they were under the jurisdiction of Youqian of the General Staff Office. Although it was Zheng Kezang's order, Sun Youlao had to say hello to Lin Xian . "Let him arrange it properly."

"Writing belongs to writing, but speed is the most important thing." Zheng Kezang is not a person who comes by his own temperament, but there are still [-] Yangzhou defenders from Ma Qi in the hinterland of northern Jiangsu. If there is a response, things may not be possible. Clean up, so he had to act decisively. "Come on, immediately take the lonely command arrow and go to dispatch troops."

Zheng Kezang turned his attention to Huai'an City in the distance after a sword fish guard received the silver arrow and turned away: "Sun Qing, plus the enemy who came to help from Xuzhou, there are [-] to [-] defenders in the city." Everyone, you can go out of the city and go south to fight the feudal clan to the death, but now you are hiding in the city, what do you think is the reason?"

"Your Majesty, after discussing with all the staff in the General Staff Office, I feel that the Qing army in Huai'an is moving in a secret way. They just want to hold back the main force of the vassal, so that the Qing army from the West Road can gather under the city of Chuzhou and defeat the four divisions under Xi Daping. .”

"This kind of judgment is not unreasonable. Once Xi Qing's side loses, the Qing army can go straight to Yangzhou and cooperate with the outside." Zheng Kezang's expression is serious. It is possible to be in the dilemma of being attacked by the Qing army from the north to the south. At that time, the Northern Expedition will inevitably fail, and what is even more frightening is that all my capital will be lost. "Then, after discussing with the staff office, what do you think should be done?"

"The ministers think that the troops may be withdrawn from the city of Huai'an," Sun Youlao motioned the staff to hang up a map, and then walked over to map the road with his fingers. "You can retreat to Baoying first. If the Qing army does not move, then retreat to Gaoyou Prefecture." Another advantage of retreating to Gaoyou Prefecture is that it is adjacent to Gaoyou Lake, which is just right for Zheng Jun's red single boat to guard the left wing of the army. "Presumably in this way, the Qing army must know that its plot to hold back our army has been seen through by this vassal."

"Actually, the reason why I want to retreat to Gaoyou, I have another worry." Wang Ying, the first staff officer, added. "The ministers and others are worried that the Qing captives will jump over the wall in a hurry, and dig the Sihuai River to let the water invade south."

"Thief Angan!" Zheng Kezang's brain buzzed, and he blurted out to drink. "Such a frenzied thing, clear the prisoner"

"Replacing soldiers with water is an old skill of military strategists." Sun Youlao interrupted Zheng Kezang regardless of his dignity. "You can't have any chances in everything. That's why I feel more at ease by retreating for a while."

"Why didn't the General Staff Office take this into account when it made the strategy for the Northern Expedition?" Zheng Kezang was really angry. If he had judged the possibility of the Qing army's release of water in advance, he would definitely not focus on northern Jiangsu. "It's no use now that the knife is on Gu's neck." Sun Youlao and the staff officers in the room immediately knelt on the ground, and Zheng Kezang finally calmed down after losing his temper. "Come on, Qing and others are all from the south. It's normal not to know that the Huanghuai flood is terrifying. It's the same for Gu. I only know that there is a peach blossom flood, but I didn't expect that Qinglu might jump over the wall in a hurry."

"Your Majesty, you don't have to blame yourself, the ministers are just speculating." Sun Youlao got up and comforted Zheng Kezang. "It doesn't have to be that way."

"Needless to say, arrange for the withdrawal of troops immediately." Zheng Kezang waved his hand. "Didn't you say it just now, don't be just in case." After finishing speaking, Zheng Kezang turned his head and went out of the room, leaving all the people inside. Sun Youlao and several staff officers looked at each other, smiled wryly, and dispersed. Go, and then the order to pull out the camp came out, and the army started to move. At this time, Zheng Kezang was patrolling the camp with confidence, and the words "replacing soldiers with water" were repeated in his mind. Finally, he stood firm, Looking back, he ordered to a guard. "There is only one very secret thing for you to do"

On the ninth day of June, Qing armies from northern Anhui and western Anhui arrived at the city of Chuzhou one after another. Since the total strength of the Qing army after joining forces had reached [-], Xi Daping's troops, who had not yet received reinforcements, had to retreat to Liuhe.However, the Qing army did not take advantage of the trend to advance eastward. Instead, they turned around and attacked Lai'an after Yizhi.At this time, in Lai'an City, there were only more than a thousand unreorganized green camps and more than five hundred township regiments provided by the gentry who had changed flags. They were no match for the Qing army in the brigade.

The brutality of the Qing army who entered Lai'an was rampant, and they carried out a brutal massacre in the name of Yin's rebellion. None of the people in the whole city was spared, and all died under the butcher's knife of the Qing army.After the news came out, the surrounding prefectures and counties were shaken. The pro-Qing gentry in Xuyi city immediately instigated some restless green battalion soldiers to seize the county seat, and killed the county magistrate and hostile gentry who surrendered to Mingzheng. A lot of money went to Chuzhou to ask for surrender.

Regarding the Xuyi gentry's "abandoning the dark and turning to the bright", Song Luo, the imperial envoy in charge of commanding the military in eastern Anhui, the former governor of Jiangsu, and the son of the traitor Song Quan, received the commendation in person on the grounds that "the prestige has been given, and the favor should be given", and ordered The soft bones at both ends of these first rats cooperated with the Qing army to attack Tianchang, threatening Liuhe from the flanks.

However, Song Luo, who was enforcing both grace and power and suppressing appeasement, did not realize that it was he who wasted enough time in Lai'an and Xuyi that Zheng Jun could calmly transfer troops from the east to the west. Under the threat of the butcher's knife, great energy for survival broke out, which finally made his strategy of containing Liuhe and contacting Yangzhou completely shattered. Since the Qing army was unable to break through the three cities of Jiangpu, Liuhe, and Tianchang, which were mutually horns, they naturally could not reach Yangzhou directly. The city meets Ma Qi, who is looking forward to the autumn water