Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 62 South Zhili, actively aiding Yang
Zuo Maodi recruited soldiers in Zhejiang Province, and with the help of Wu Yi, he got [-] soldiers. After a few days of training, the imperial court recruited letters.

Ruan Dacheng, Minister of the Ministry of War, was entrusted with the matter of the prime minister's various soldiers and horses aiding the promotion of officials. The land in the south of the Yangtze River was shaken.

Zuo Maodi led [-] soldiers and horses to the north from Jiaxing. Along the way, he encountered rebel troops going north to aid Yang. At first, he felt excited, but as he observed along the way, he couldn't help feeling a little cold.

Among the reinforcements, there are well-armored officers and soldiers, but more are ordinary people in disheveled clothes. What's more, seventy-year-old men and ten-year-old children are also dragged into the army to fill up their numbers with nonsense, making the level of reinforcements uneven .

When Zuo Maodi saw that although there were many reinforcements, there were no elite soldiers, he couldn't help feeling very depressed.

In mid-June, the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Ruan Dacheng commanded reinforcements from all directions in Zhenjiang, and tens of thousands of troops were gathered in a few days, and he was very happy.

In a few days, Zuo Maodi and Chen Zilong led the troops to Zhenjiang successively.

The two met, had a conversation, and told what they had seen along the way that some of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River coveted official positions, but they couldn't recruit young and strong, so they used the old and the weak to make up for them. job.

The young and strong among the reinforcements have not experienced much training, and their combat power is not strong. Chen Zilong has 3000 men and has been training for more than a month, but they are still far from the official army. Horses are worse.

On the surface, the reinforcements were mighty and mighty, giving people the feeling of being in the south of the Yangtze River, but Zuo Maodi, Chen Zilong and others knew that the reinforcements were not as beautiful as they appeared on the surface. Most of them were ordinary people who had just put down their hoes, not real soldiers. army.

Zuo Maodi and Chen Zilong were deeply worried about the situation of the reinforcements. They went to the city to meet with Ruan Dacheng, and explained the situation in the army. They had to screen the troops and select the real young and strong villagers to train them and then aid them.

Ruan Dacheng was not in Daying, but lived in Zhenjiang City. In order to curry favor with this high court official, the local gentry gave him a noble courtyard as a place to rest and work.

Zuo Maodi and Chen Zilong entered Zhenjiang, got a notification, and were introduced to Ruan Dacheng's study. Along the way, there were small bridges and flowing water, rockery and strange rocks, carved galleries and painted buildings.

In the study room, the three of them sat down, the maid served tea, Zuo Maodi and Chen Zilong greeted Ruan Dacheng, and explained their intentions. "My lord Ruan, there is an endless supply of soldiers and horses from the various prefectures of Southern Zhili and Zhejiang Province. There are nearly 10 soldiers and horses gathered in Zhenjiang. However, according to Mr. Da Zun, less than half of them are young and strong, and the old and weak are among them. There are many, and some officials colluded with unscrupulous gentry and falsely registered for the register. This situation may affect the event of aiding Yang, so I ask Mr. Ruan to punish those who fake and break the law, so as to restore order!"

Ruan Dacheng naturally knew what Zuo Maodi said, but he had his own ideas. "I know Zhongji's words. However, the soldiers of the northern captives are very good. Our soldiers have not been trained. If we want to fight against them, our morale will be high! Today, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River are all enthusiastic about aiding and raising their spirits. But don’t let it out, how can you deal with it!”

After Ruan Dacheng finished speaking, he picked up his teacup, took a sip, and continued, "As for the training, I have made arrangements, and Mr. Yu Dazun, so don't worry!"

Zuo Maodi and Chen Zilong heard the words and wanted to persuade them again, but seeing Ruan Dacheng holding up the teacup, already intending to see off the guests, they had to get up to say goodbye, and retreated angrily.

On the other side, the sentry ships of the Qing army in the north of the river had already found out that there was a large army gathering in Zhenjiang. Knowing that the Nanming court had finally sent troops to aid Yang, Duoduo couldn't help feeling a little worried.

In fact, Duo Duo's troubles in June were far more than that. He repeatedly attacked Yangzhou and was reprimanded by Duo ErGun.

Although the plan of throwing corpses worked, he still underestimated the power of the plague. Although the Qing army camp took precautions, it was still affected. Fortunately, he had prepared medicinal materials and doctors to control the epidemic, but still more than 5000 people died of illness people.

At this time, Duoduo no longer dared to throw the corpse away. Wang Yan in Yangzhou City also made the plague completely extinct in the city after paying the price of 20 soldiers and civilians.

At the end of June, Duoduo saw that the Ming army on the south bank was gathering more and more, with a total of 40 people. He was terrified, worried that the Ming army would cross the river and cooperate with the Yangzhou defenders, which would cause him to fail to go south, and sent troops to attack Yangzhou violently.

After Wang Yan and the army and civilians experienced a major epidemic, their vitality was severely injured, but the army always controlled Yangzhou in their hands with their will.

In the town of Zhenjiang on the south bank, Ruan Dacheng had commanded more than [-] soldiers and horses. The army set up camp along the Yangtze River, stretching endlessly. There were nearly [-] warships of various types on the Yangtze River, and their morale was at its peak.

With the resurgence of artillery fire inside and outside Yangzhou on the north bank, the rumbling sound never stopped from morning to night. Ruan Dacheng, who originally wanted to train his soldiers for more than a month before crossing the river to fight, had to order Zheng Hongkui to lead the warship across the river to aid Yang in advance.

Ruan Dacheng made this decision not entirely because of the violent artillery fire from Jiangbei, which made him worry about the loss of Yangzhou, but because Hongguang ordered him to go to war as soon as possible, and the siege of Yangzhou had been solved.

Although Ruan Dacheng left Nanjing and came to Zhenjiang to supervise the division, the rivalry between the two parties in the court did not ease because of his departure, but intensified on the contrary.

Because a large number of Ma Ruan's party and Ruan Dacheng went to Zhenjiang to rectify the reinforcements in various prefectures, their power in the court was greatly reduced, and Donglin's party gained the upper hand.

There are more than 40 horses in Zhenjiang, and the daily consumption is astonishing. The Donglin party has seen Ruan Dacheng as the supervisor for nearly a month, but they have not fought against the Qing army, nor have they tried to cross the river to support Yangzhou. As timid as a mouse, I want to sit and watch Yangzhou fall.

Hongguang is not a hero, and he doesn't know about military affairs. He only felt that there were 40 troops in Zhenjiang, far more than the Qing army in Jiangbei. In addition, people from Donglin repeatedly made suggestions, and gradually believed Donglin's words, and then issued an edict Ruan Dacheng was urged to go to war.

On the first day of the seventh month in the year of Yichou, more than [-] warships cruised along the south bank of the river near Zhenjiang. Boxes of gunpowder on the pier were carried onto the big ship by soldiers. Teams of Ming soldiers carried bows and arrows on their backs, holding The bird gun boarded the warship.

For the battle of crossing the river, Ruan Dacheng did his best, he didn't dare to underestimate the enemy, so he dispatched Zheng Hongkui, Fang Guoan, Wang Wei and other the most elite troops in Zhenjiang City.

Ruan Dacheng did not intend to fight the Qing army. With the combat power of the newly recruited army, it is still difficult to compete with the Qing army. His purpose is to send tens of thousands of reinforcements to Yangzhou, and then open up the waterway between the south bank and Yangzhou, so that the Ming army Warships can enter the Grand Canal directly from the Yangtze River, and finally sail outside the east gate of Yangzhou.

In order to defeat the navy of the Qing army, Ruan Dacheng dispatched all the most elite troops of Zheng, Fang, and Wang, plus Chen Zilong, Zuo Maodi and other relatively capable newly recruited troops, totaling [-] troops.

The movements of the Ming army on the south bank had already been known to the Qing army on the north bank. Doduo also ordered the Qing army to stop attacking Yangzhou, and ordered the navy to prepare to fight against the Ming army warships that were about to cross the river.

On the dilapidated city tower at the south gate of Yangzhou, Wang Yan held a pair of binoculars and looked far away. He looked south at Master Wang, and the warship was raising its sails and approaching the north bank.

Countless soldiers and civilians from Yangzhou climbed to Nancheng and looked at the river from a distance. Thousands of boats came across in a daze, which made people burst into tears.

(End of this chapter)