The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 403 Ma Degong's Big Gamble
Tian Xiong asked suspiciously: "Sir, since we have food and grass, and our army is determined, we are going west to take down Tonglu, and then try to find a boat to cross Qiantang to get out of trouble. But why do you want the front team to withdraw?"

"Get out of trouble? Haha," Ma Degong laughed when he heard the words, "You are too small.

"At the beginning we were going to Tonglu, but we had to return north to Hangzhou because of the lack of food and rice. Now that we have Fang Guoan's food, we have the capital to gamble again. Why did we withdraw to the north bank?"

Tian Xiong was taken aback, "What does your lord mean?"

"Xiaoshan is an important point in Zhejiang. If we seize this place, we can look south to Shaoxing and north to get reinforcements from Hangzhou. Let's take advantage of Xiaoshan's emptiness and kill him again!"

"Your Excellency, absolutely not." Tian Xiong hurriedly dissuaded, "The grain and grass captured are only enough for two months, and there will not be too much grain in the Xiaoshan Fortress. When our army's grain and grass are exhausted and we want to go to Tonglu to cross the river again, The Zhejiang army is already prepared, and I am afraid it will be difficult to escape..."

Ma Degong said disdainfully: "A few days ago, the reporter from Hangzhou once said that the Fujian navy only had fifty or sixty warships. And do you know how many warships that Zheng Zhilong brought back around May?"

"The subordinates have never heard of it."

"There are more than six hundred of them, and most of them are large ships, with a lot of guns on them." Ma Degong said, "The news of Qiantang's loss should have been reported to Beijing. If it doesn't work out as I expected, the imperial court will definitely send Zheng Shi led the army to the south. The warships of the Ming army in Fujian were not enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.

"We only need to stick to Xiaoshan for a few months, and then we can regain supplies from Hangzhou. At that time, we will have Xiaoshan in our hands, so why not worry about Shaoxing?"

"Adults are far-sighted!"

Tian Xiong was waiting for a few more words of flattery, but a few soldiers with yellow flags came forward, and the officer leading the team saluted Ma Degong, and said excitedly: "My lord, my subordinates found the enemy general Fang Guoan among the prisoners. And several false officials under his command."

"Oh? Fang Guoan?" Ma Degong looked at the man dressed as a soldier of the Ming army behind him, and frowned, "Can you verify your identity?"

"My lord, according to the identification of the southerner Lu Puppet King's Forbidden Army Duwei and others, it must be Fang Guoan."

Ma Degong narrowed his eyes when he heard the words, "Captain of the Forbidden Army? Which one is it?" But it seemed that Fang Guoan was not interested.

The officer froze for a moment, quickly pointed to a person behind him, and said to his opponent, "Bring it up."

The Qing soldiers immediately brought a tall, thin, horse-faced man over.The man immediately plopped and knelt in front of Ma Degong, kowtowing like garlic, "My lord, spare me, spare me..."

Ma Degong looked down at him and said, "Why did the captain of the Lu Puppet King's Forbidden Army go to battle with Fang Guoan?"

"Returning to my lord, Fang Guoan was worried that he would not be able to defeat the Heavenly Army, so he transferred the Shaoxing Imperial Battalion to help in the battle..."

Ma Degong grabbed him, "You mean the Shaoxing imperial camp is on this green mountain?"

"Yes Yes……"

"Then how many defenders are there in Shaoxing?"

"Returning to my lord, there are still four or five hundred people in the imperial battalion, and more than eight hundred soldiers and horses in the five cities."

The Wucheng Bingma Division is in charge of public security in the capital, similar to the police of later generations, and its combat effectiveness is more than one level worse than that of the regular army.In other words, Shaoxing is almost an empty city now.

Ma Degong confronted the Shaoxing Forbidden Army who had taken the prisoners, and what he said was roughly the same.He couldn't help being overjoyed, and said to Tian Xiong, "I won't go to Xiaoshan anymore."

"That……"

"Gamble, bet big." Ma Degong's eyes flashed brightly, "Let the front team quickly return to Qingshanling to meet up, and then the army will go straight to Shaoxing!"

Tian Xiong hesitated and said: "My lord, I will go deep into Zhejiang with a lone army, just in case..."

"It's nothing in case," Ma Degong said confidently. "Once the main force of the Zhejiang Army is completely defeated, if I take Shaoxing and capture Zhu Yihai, the land of Zhejiang will be in chaos. At that time, all the state capitals in Zhejiang will compete to surrender, maybe we It is unknown if they can attack Fujian in one go.

"Secondly, Shaoxing, as the capital of the Zhe Dynasty, has a large population and abundant grain and rice reserves. Even if the situation is unfavorable, it is more than enough for us to hold on to the city for a year or so."

Tian Xiong's eyes also brightened, and he hurriedly said: "My lord is really like Kong Ming reincarnated..."

The northern pass of Xianxia Pass.

Zhu Linmi propped her hands on the wall bricks, and the large maple forest in front of her eyes dyed the mountains red and green, and there was a long road leading to the sky for thousands of miles.

He took a deep breath, only to feel the pride in his heart, this is the great river and mountain of my China, no wonder it has attracted countless heroes.

But from here to the north, there are still large areas of land that have fallen into the hands of captives. Historically, these lands have never returned to Daming.

But right now, he has a chance to change the tragedy of history.This time he led tens of thousands of powerful troops out of the pass for the Northern Expedition. If he can win, the offensive and defensive positions of the world will change, and the fortune of the Ming Dynasty will be revived!From then on, it is no longer a dream to drive the Tartars to the north and restore China's splendid country!

"My lord," at some point, Zhang Jiayu had already stood by his side, presented a secret report, and saluted, "General Zhen... oh, it's the report of the Polu camp."

Zhu Lin hurriedly reached out to take it, glanced at the delicate handwriting on the envelope, and immediately turned sideways slightly without showing any traces, and then removed the wax seal.Zhen Zhen's military newspaper has always been "eclectic", if Zhang Jiayu and the others see it, they don't know how they will laugh.

The letter is indeed "Zhen's style". First, it said that the Polu camp had arrived in Tonglu, and placed a large amount of military supplies on the outskirts of the city to lure the enemy, and set up many ambushes nearby, so it must be safe.

But behind the "Military News" there are many trivial matters, from Poluying's praise of the new blunderbuss, to the amazing quality of the recruits, and the soldiers are not used to Zhejiang's diet, and even a certain general in the army is planning to get married. To mention.For these, he could only smile helplessly.

A few days ago, the report of the great victory in Qiantang had been sent to Xianxiaguan. Zhu Linmi was very satisfied with Zheng Chenggong's battle - not only wiped out the Qiantang navy of Jianlu, but also captured many warships and burned Qingyuan. There are tens of thousands of stones in grain.In addition to Zheng Chenggong's great achievements in Xianxiaguan, he has decided to wait for his triumphant return, so please call him Uncle Weiyuan.

Therefore, Ma Degong has no food and grass supplies at the moment, and the only thing left for him is to go west to the upper reaches of the Qiantang River and wait for an opportunity to escape north.

According to Zhen Zhen's report, the Polu camp also set up a net on the way the enemy marched westward, just waiting for the soldiers to jump.

He put away the secret letter, smiled at Zhang Jiayu and said: "The Polu camp has 'opened its pockets'. Ma Degong is forced by food and grass, so he must go to Tonglu."

"Luo Mingshou has led his troops to blockade Qiantang, and it will be difficult for Jianlu to set foot on the south bank since then." He glanced at the north, and continued, "The Dragon Guards are ordered to enter a state of combat readiness, and we only need to wait for King Lu to announce his return to the feudal domain." , we immediately crossed the sea and went north to Jiaxing.

"From now on, it's our turn to fight back!"

While he was talking, he suddenly saw Yu Xin running up to the top of the wall, and there were two people behind him, they were Du Yuan and his guards, Qian Sule's confidant and guard.

Yu Xin approached to salute, but before he could say anything, Du Yuan turned over and knelt down, and said anxiously: "His Royal Highness, something is wrong! General Fang, oh, Fang Guoan's army was ambushed at Qingshanling. Only Zhang Huang said Lead the troops to break through, and the rest are gone..."

(End of this chapter)