The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 660 40 Army

Dantu County, which is close to the south bank of the Yangtze River, was captured by the Qing army at noon. Although it was almost an empty city, from the perspective of Aoke Duoli, who easily captured the city, it was normal for the southern barbarians to flee in anticipation of the army.

On the top of Dantu City, he cupped his hands to deal with the congratulatory officers, and said with a smile to Erde, the food supervisor next to him, "God bless me! It coincided with the civil strife among the barbarians, and when the Yangtze River was dry, more than [-] people The army does not need boats, and it takes two days to reach the south bank."

"Haha, that's right." Erde nodded and looked northward at the Yangtze River, only to see several thick ropes running across the surface of the river that was only 23 feet wide. The pontoon bridge, which can accommodate six or seven people in parallel, leads directly to the opposite bank.

This method of crossing the river can only be used in severe dry seasons. First, the water flow is slow so that the pontoon bridge will not be washed away. Second, the water is shallow so that even if it falls into the water, others can quickly rescue it.

Ao Keduoli continued: "His Royal Highness Prince Fanyu was hesitating where to cross the river from Zhenjiang or Jiangyin, and Ai Songgu just came back with news."

He pointed to the tens of miles of company battalions looming to the west, "I just don't know why His Highness ordered the army to set up a formation on the bank, set up camps for defense, and had to transport 30 stones of grain and grass to the south bank before he would enter the army.

"If you want me to say, first capture Zhenjiang, which is right in front of you, and then send the army to Nanjing, you will definitely be able to capture the barbarian emperor in one battle!"

Erde clasped his hands and said: "It is said that His Royal Highness the Regent has repeatedly instructed not to underestimate the enemy, not to divide the army, and not to advance rashly. Therefore, the general is extremely cautious about this battle." It is said that the general may have to go south from Jiangyin in order to be on the safe side."

A few days ago, Ai Songgu suddenly appeared in the Doduo camp, indicating that the army has [-] to [-] weak brigades hoarding in Jiangning, and they are still preparing food and grass. He also saw that the Emperor Manzi was busy preparing for his wedding. I didn't realize that the army was about to cross the river.Then he strongly recommended Duoduo to go south from the Zhenjiang area and go straight to Nanjing.

Aoke Duoli waved his hands and laughed loudly: "It's only [-] to [-] barbarians. Back then, I only brought [-] soldiers and horses, and I killed [-] Nan soldiers.

"Ah, you don't know yet, the general ordered people to prepare chariots a few months ago, and now there are at least 2000 of them! The barbarians all use firearms, and they are most afraid of chariots. When the time comes, they will be piled up to death. "

Speaking of this, he suddenly nodded and said: "I know, the general must be waiting for all the cannons to be sent across the river. After all, there are more than 170 cannons, and it is quite troublesome to transport them."

Although the pontoon bridges of the Qing army were wide, they definitely could not bear the weight of several thousand catties. Therefore, these heavy artillery can only be ferried across the river in flat-bottomed sand boats collected temporarily, and they have only been transported a little more than half of them.

A lieutenant beside him came over and said, "General, the general feels that His Royal Highness Prince Yu transported all the grain and grass to the south bank, and he should be preparing to conquer the whole of Jiangnan in one go, and then go straight to Zhejiang. In this way, it is not possible to store grain nearby. Affect the rapid advance of the army."

"That's right," Aoke clapped his palms, "It must be so!" He patted Erde on the shoulder again, "Brother, let your people work harder. When I capture the head of the barbarian, I will set points." I'll exchange some for your combat exploits!"

The latter was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately recruited his confidantes, pointing to the ants densely packed on the river, he said: "Send the order, let those lazy ones be quicker! Those who move less than forty bags a day will be whipped fifty times, and those who exceed six bags will be whipped." It takes ten bags to eat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, an officer quickly stepped up to the top of the wall, and greeted him from a distance, "General, I found you."

Erde hurriedly said: "But Lord Baylor has an order?" He and the people here belong to Xianghuangqi, so the Baylor mentioned refers to Baiyintu.

The officer took out the Baiyintu military order and handed it over, "Because most of the minzhuang are used by the general, Lord Belle ordered you to gather the minzhuang to build a fort on each side of the Yangtze River after the food and grass are delivered."

Erde looked at the earth barrier by the river and asked doubtfully, "Didn't we just build two forts a few days ago?"

"Lord Belle said that this pontoon bridge is the main way for the army to advance and retreat. The southerners have many warships, so they must prepare more forts to prevent the southerners from destroying the bridge."

Before Baiyintu left Beijing, Xiao Zhuang repeatedly told him that the two yellow flags were the Qing Dynasty and the emperor's last reliance, and that he must be cautious, and that the two yellow flags must not be lost in the south of the Yangtze River.

In fact, the river water near Zhenjiang was already very shallow, and large warships could not sail at all. The existing four forts on both sides of the bank were enough to block the river surface more than 20 feet wide.After all, no matter how powerful a warship is, it is also made of wood, and it is attacking upwards. It is difficult to defeat a fort made of earth and stone.

But Baiyintu strictly carried out the Queen Mother's edict, and was extremely careful. Not only did Erde build two more forts, but he also planned to build walls, ditches, and strengthen pontoon bridges along the coast.

Erde hurriedly bowed to accept the order, but remembered that there were still thousands of carts of horse fodder to be transported, and he thought to himself that many people would be exhausted to death.But he immediately felt relieved, even if all these barbarians were dead, they would still save food, but it would be troublesome to catch so many more...

After Zhu Lin drove out of Nanjing, she kept walking along the wooden track.

However, the number of wooden rail cars is still too small at present, and the imperial camp can only use wooden rails to transport heavy weapons and luggage.However, even so, removing these two things that most affect speed, the marching speed of the imperial battalion with the whole army and horses was more than [-]% faster.

The wooden track from Nanjing to Guangde was built with the money raised from the stock raising, but it is somewhat different from Zhu Linming’s preconceived idea. So far, Daming’s wooden track can barely keep its capital, and the shareholders have not paid any dividends so far.

Everything is limited by the technology of this era. The wooden tracks carry heavy loads every day and are easily damaged. Almost all the profits are used for repairs and maintenance.

Zhu Linmi also has a deep understanding of this journey. Every two or three miles, she can see craftsmen repairing the track.Fortunately, most of them are just reinforcement and maintenance, and it doesn't affect traffic very much.

And Zhu Linming was not in a hurry. After all, it was not easy to mobilize 15 horses. In addition, there were hundreds of thousands of porters and coolies accompanying the Qing army. This is also the origin of Duoduo's 40 army. —Soldiers plus support staff.

With the mobilization speed of Jianlu's old-style army, it would take at least three or four days for so many people to cross the Yangtze River.

And if Doduo sent a small team to the south to harass first, it would be something Zhu Lin could not have wished for.According to the plan established at the meeting of the Jiangning General Staff Department a few days ago, once they learned where the Jianlu crossed the river, the Ming army would immediately open its pockets at the corresponding location and stand ready.

You must know that the military situation of Duoduo crossing the river was first sent to Jiangning, and then transferred to Nanjing by the Ministry of War.At this moment, all the troops of the Ming army should have been heading to the ambush site for more than half a day, and the slowest will be able to reach the destination before dawn tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)