The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 707 Surrounding Yangzhou

After Shi Lang resigned from the Wenhua Palace, Zhu Linming ordered Ma Wensheng to call Huang Zongxi for an audience, and then opened the Jiangdong Town Mansion Newsletter submitted by Xia Yangrong and read it.

"Liu Guoxuan really lived up to my expectations." He couldn't help smiling happily when he saw that almost all the Jian prisoners of Jinzhou Wei and Fuzhou Wei had fled north.

But he also knew that Dorgon was not on guard right now, that's why the naval infantry fought so easily.And as the battle line gets closer to Shenyang, that is, Shengjing, Jianlu's city, the resistance they will encounter will be greater.

After all, the Shunzhi people are now in Shenyang.

We must avoid positional warfare and fight more guerrillas. The greater the damage that can be caused in the rear of the Jiankui, the weaker the fighting power of the Qing army on the front line will be.

He then wrote these thoughts into a handbook, and added a sentence later, asking Liu Guoxuan to carry out a large-scale raid within half a month to cope with the offensive of the main force of the Northern Expedition on the front line of the Huaihe River.

When he continued to read Xia Yangrong’s mansion newspaper and finally mentioned that the North Koreans were often short of food and grass to supply Phi Island, he couldn’t help shaking his head secretly. The confrontation between Li Ying and Li Yu was beneficial to Daming, but if they really made a big move, it would not be a good thing right now. .

He thought for a while, and issued a decree to Gao Yigong of Zhongzhenying, ordering him to lead 3000 troops from Incheon to North Korea, and sent a civil servant as a "mediation ambassador" to go with him.

On the surface, they are required to "mediate" for Li Ying and Li Jing to avoid weapons, but in fact the main task is to supervise the supply of North Koreans to Phi Island.After all, it is always too expensive to transport grain and grass from Chongming to Phi Island.

Not long after, Huang Zongxi passed into the hall and went forward to salute Zhu Linmi, "Long live my respectful minister."

"Ah, Huangge Department, please." Zhu Linmi raised her hand to signal, and then asked, "Can the income of the ocean caravan be properly distributed? How long will it take for the goods shipped back to be sold?"

Huang Zongxi hurriedly said: "Back to the emperor, the caravan made a profit of 73 taels in cash. Among them, 300 taels were needed to distribute dividends to large and small shareholders. The remaining 22 taels went into the internal funds of the emperor, and 41 taels went to the treasury.

"As for the goods brought back from Japan, the officials have not yet sorted them out, but most of them are copper ore, sulfur, etc. required by the Military Weapons Bureau, and there are only a small amount of lacquerware, medicinal materials, goldware, etc., which can be sold out in a few days. .”

Zhu Linmei nodded and said, "How soon can the ocean caravan go to sea again?"

Huang Zongxi thought for a while, and said: "Going back to the emperor, repairing the sailors, ships, and purchasing goods will take nearly a month at the earliest."

"It's a bit slow..."

When Huang Zongxi heard the words, he suddenly remembered something, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the navy has captured several pirate ships this time, among them, the big one and the small two were not under fire, they just need to replace the sailors, and they can set off immediately. "

"How big are the two boats?"

"The big one is nearly [-] tons, and the small one is just over [-] tons."

"It's enough." Zhu Lin frowned and ordered, "You immediately pretend these two ships to be merchant ships. I will ask the Ministry of War to send you [-] blunderbusses, as well as gunpowder, lead bullets, armor, etc. It is hidden in the boat. Go quickly to the country of Wa."

Although Huang Zongxi didn't know why, but he knew that the military and state affairs must be important, he hurriedly bowed and said: "Your servant, take the order."

Zhu Linmei continued: "Recently, the Helan people should stay on the island to accumulate strength, so it is enough to send two light frigates to escort them."

He looked in the direction of Japan, and said softly: "Dai Xiuyuan's side can start to attack. Japan, the cancer on China's side, I will completely gouging it out this time!"

……

Outside Yangzhou city.

"Ten mile long street, the market is connected, and you can see the gods on the Yueming Bridge."

Zhang Jiayu chanted poems softly, looked at the scene in front of him, but couldn't help but sighed.

At this time, the outside of Yangzhou city was completely white, leaving only a large area of ​​burned villages, not even a single piece of dry grass and dead branches.

On the gray top of the city, the blue bordered dragon flag hangs listlessly, while the captive soldiers next to them are holding firecrackers tightly and staring at the city.

Due to the destruction of the road, the heavy artillery moved very slowly, so although Zhang Jiayu led his troops to surround Yangzhou City, it was difficult to break through it for a while without heavy artillery.

He was thinking about whether to launch a surprise attack, when he suddenly heard hussars galloping towards him, and shouted loudly: "Report! General, Shengjia has crossed the river and is coming towards Yangzhou."

The Holy Majesty still can't sit still.Zhang Jiayu didn't find it strange, based on his understanding of today's world, it would be strange to be able to sit quietly in the Forbidden City and wait for the good news.

He hastily ordered his officers and guards to form a team, ready to go with him to meet him, but another eunuch rushed to deliver an order, ordering them to strictly guard the battle formation and not leave without authorization.

Zhang Jiayu sighed again in his heart, although the Holy Majesty is already in power, he is still in command of the Dragon Guards who ruled the battlefield before.

So he shouted to the generals, "Okay, haven't you heard? Go back to your own camp and don't slack off!" Then he went to personally inspect the construction of the siege wall.

The north bank of the Yangtze River is only [-] miles away from Yangzhou City, but due to lack of roads, it was not until noon the next day that Zhu Linmi finally reached the city of Yangzhou.

He frowned and looked around at the scene around Yangzhou, he couldn't help being furious in his heart, among the ruins, there were countless people of Ming Dynasty displaced and precarious.

Jianlu, the crime is unforgivable!
A group of officers approached quickly, and when they got close, Zhang Jiayu, the leader, respectfully saluted: "The last general is on duty, and he was unable to go far to meet him. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"Where are so many vain rituals on the battlefield." Zhu Linmi jumped off the horse, patted Zhang Jiayu on the shoulder, and pointed to Yangzhou City, "I heard that the army was blocked here, tell me about the specific situation."

"Yes." Zhang Jiayu hurriedly clasped his hands, "The defenders of the city should be the Jianlu Xianglan Banner Obai Department.

"According to those who have fled the city desperately recently, there are about [-] Jianzhou soldiers, and there are more than [-] captive soldiers from Shandong, Beizhi and other places. At this time, there are only about [-] people left in the city. Driven by captives."

Zhu Linmei nodded, knowing that this was Dorgon's rearguard, she asked Zhang Jiayu, "How long does Yuanzi think it will take to capture Yangzhou?"

"Returning to the emperor, the last general just sent someone to ask the artillery camp yesterday. At this time, the heavy artillery is still in Jiujiangkou, and it may take four or five days to arrive. At present, only some six-pounders can hardly break through the city wall.

"The last general has made arrangements, and is preparing to attack the north of the city tonight. If it goes well..."

"It's inappropriate to damage soldiers here." Zhu Linmi interrupted him.Without the cover of cannons, attacking the city with flesh and blood, the casualties must be not small.

"But, if this drags on..."

Zhang Jiayu wanted to say more, but saw Zhu Linming waving to Shi Lin, "Bring it up."

"Yes!"

Immediately, the imperial camp sent more than 30 prison cars forward.Zhang Jiayu immediately recognized a few faces - Shuo Sai, Su Ke Saha, A Shan, Zhang Hongmo, all of them were the important generals of Jianlu who were captured in the previous round.

(End of this chapter)