The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 368 Southern Attack and Northern Expedition

In short, Hong Chengchou's strategy is to rely on his own soldiers and food, step by step, and fight steadily.Capture a stronghold, then defend it with a large army, and then attack and lay down an important town.

The whole strategy of marching troops is very clear, Qiantang front line, Xiaoshan and Shaoxing front line, Quzhou and Suichang front line, and then troops enter Jiangxi.

As for Fujian, which has the natural danger of Xianxiaguan, he only sent people to guard against it, but did not attack by force.Just wait to capture Jiangxi, form a siege to Fujian, and then attack from all sides.

Since Dorgon entrusted Hong Chengchou with the heavy responsibility of conquering Jiangxi and Fujian, he has been planning day and night, and finally chose this seemingly ordinary but extremely practical tactic.

This method greatly exploited the advantages of the Qing army's strength that was several times that of the Southerners', advancing layer by layer, even if there were one or two unfavorable battles, they could still support each other, keep the front line stable, and force the southern army to retreat steadily.

When all the generals of the Qing army returned to their camps, Hong Chengchou stroked the rattail on the back of his head, looked south, and said in a low voice, "The Great Ming Dynasty has been in power for more than two hundred years, but I never thought it would fall into my hands..."

It was night, on a carriage bound for Yongbeili.

Zhu Linmei frowned and looked at the various materials and data on the wooden table in front of her, still carefully considering the details of the Northern Expedition plan in her heart.

He couldn't be careless and cautious. This Northern Expedition was the first time since Chongzhen that the Ming Dynasty mainly attacked Jianlu, and it was of extraordinary significance.

If you win, the offense and defense will change from then on.After taking back Nanjing, it will definitely have a huge appeal to the Chinese people across the country, and it will make the Han people in the Manchu-occupied areas look back.In addition, taking control of Nanzhili, the most affluent place in Ming Dynasty, can provide tax and manpower support for the further recovery of Beijing.At the same time, the economic foundation of Jianlu will be greatly weakened.

Failure, but also a great risk.The idea that the Qing army is invincible will become more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, causing the people in the enemy-occupied areas to accept Jianlu rule in disappointment.

The biggest advantage right now is that there are still many people in Jiangbei who love Daming.And the failure of any decisive battle will reduce the number of people reporting such thoughts, which will increase the difficulty of the next Northern Expedition, forming a vicious circle.

Although Zhu Linmei is very confident in the combat effectiveness of the new Ming army she created, she dare not say that she will be victorious in every battle.

This Northern Expedition was far more difficult than Zheng Chenggong's in history.At that time, the main attention of the Qing court was on the Yongli regime, and the main force of the Qing army was also concentrated in the southwest to fight against the "God of War" Li Dingguo. There were only 17 defenders in Nanjing.Therefore, Zheng Chenggong's [-] troops were able to destroy all the way, and they reached the city of Nanjing in two or three months.

But even so, the Qing government still defended Nanjing to the death, and quickly mobilized more than [-] troops from surrounding provinces, and the troops were divided into four groups to attack Zheng Chenggong's main force suddenly.

Zheng Jun was caught off guard and was defeated in successive battles. In the end, he lost his troops and returned to Fujian. Since then, he was no longer able to organize a decent army, and the Northern Expedition became a swan song.

Let's look at the situation Zhu Linming is facing.Although Dorgon fought in Sichuan, Huguang, Mobei and other places at the same time, these places were not the absolute main force of the Qing army.The Qing court still paid the most attention to the Nanzhili area, and spared no effort to gather an army of 14 again, and the number is still increasing, just to fight the Taizheng Dynasty to the death.

Judging from the current comprehensive strength comparison, Jianlu still has a great advantage.

In terms of areas controlled, the Qing court occupied the entire Northeast, the seven provinces of Jiangbei and South Zhili, and most of Monan Mongolia.

The Ming Dynasty only had six provinces: Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou. Even including Sichuan, which was still in contention, the area was only less than one-third of the Jianlu-controlled area.

And these are poor places.

Zhu Linmi looked at the Jiangbei information sent by Gu Yanwu a few days ago, the Qing government's various tax revenues had reached more than 300 million taels last year!This is the result of the continuous harassment of rebels in Shanxi, Shandong and Anqing. When the rebels in these places are suppressed, at least two or three million taels will be collected.

On the other hand, Daming, even if Zhu Linmi promised Yang Tinglin's monthly income increase of 13 taels, the total income of all kinds in a year would be more than 350 million taels.Even if Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan and Guizhou regain their vitality, it is estimated that it will be difficult to exceed 500 million taels.

Although there are many difficulties, leading the army to the Northern Expedition is the only way to drive out the Tartars and restore the Ming Dynasty. No matter how great the resistance is, there must be no hesitation in the slightest!
It can be foreseen that this Northern Expedition will be destined to be a tough battle!
Therefore, Zhu Linming must carefully plan every detail, and must not make any mistakes, and strive to complete her work in one battle.

Of course, Daming also has his own advantages, otherwise he wouldn't be determined to fight this battle.

First of all, the combat effectiveness of the more well-equipped and trained Dragon Guards and Polu Battalion far surpassed that of the Qing Army.Unless Hong Chengchou can concentrate his 10,000+ troops to encircle or raid the Ming army at one time, it is possible to risk his life to fight off the Dragon Guards and Polu Camp.

As long as the Ming army's combat command does not make mistakes, it will have a very high chance of winning when it has crushing advantages in weapons and tactics to annihilate the captives in pieces, or drag Hong Chengchou into mobile warfare.

Secondly, the Ming army has always been adhering to a small number of elite ideas, coupled with a more advanced and efficient logistics strategy, so the pressure on food and grass supplies is far less than that of Jianlu.In the most difficult situation, [-] to [-] Ming troops can last for more than a month with only one ship of supplies.

And the 14 Qing army needed no less than 20 civilians to maintain the grain and grass transportation line, and these civilians also had to consume a lot of food and grass.At the same time, this logistical lifeline is extremely vulnerable to attack, which is also one of Jianlu's weaknesses that Zhu Linmi has been keeping a close eye on.

Secondly, the Ming army also has an absolute advantage in terms of popular support.Although there were quite a few gentry in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces who were willing to serve captives as slaves, more than [-]% of them still considered themselves citizens of the Ming Dynasty.

In particular, Dorgon's atrocities of shaving his hair and changing clothes aroused great anger among the people, and all the people in Nanzhi were eagerly looking forward to Master Wang.At that time, there must be many people who will lead the way, open the city, and inform the Ming army.

Finally, it is also one of Zhu Linmi's biggest trump cards in this Northern Expedition. The Daming Navy that he planned in advance is about to take shape, but Jianlu still doesn't know anything about it.

As someone in the court said the day before yesterday, the role of the navy is absolutely irreplaceable in fighting in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

It can be used to block waterways and quickly transport troops to the front line.Retreat can lead the army out of danger in a short time and get rid of the enemy's interception.

It can be said that the party with the advantage of the navy will at least double its combat effectiveness.

Although Zhu Linmei's fleet has been established for a short time, there are not even many warships.

But his navy is equipped with Galen sailing ships that are recognized as the most suitable for naval warfare in history. Each of them can be equipped with a large number of artillery, and at the same time, it is fast and powerful.Supplemented with advanced battle line tactics, it should not be a problem to deal with the Jianlu Navy on the Qiantang River.

　Because the narrative order has been modified below, there are major changes in the previous chapter. Please read the content of the previous chapter again.I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you, and I ask for your understanding.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)