The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 715
Huiwen and Bian Yujing headed south all the way, changing into the horses they had prepared many times along the way, and occasionally driving along the waterway, the speed was extremely fast.

But the pursuers behind them each only brought two horses, and they had to go around when they encountered the river, so they were thrown off by the two before they crossed the river.

Until it was light, they fled to the agreed meeting place with other Jin Yiwei, but only saw Liu Hui and a young man soaked in blood.

Huiwen helped Bian Yujing off the horse, stepped forward and asked Liu Hui, "Old Liu, where are the others?"

Liu Hui's eyes were full of grief, and his voice was hoarse: "It's just the two of us who have to take off..."

All four of them bowed their heads and fell silent. After a while, Hui Wen raised her head and said, "Let's report this matter to the imperial court first, and let's talk about it in Nanjing."

Several people treated their injuries briefly, changed their clothes, and rushed towards Nanzhili without stopping.

On the way, Bian Yujing heard what Liu Hui said, and realized that last night, if Yu Xuezhi hadn't driven a carriage full of gunpowder into the brigade and ignited it, causing the enemy to panic and chaos, they might not have escaped.

After making such a big commotion, they dared not walk on the main road. After walking along the Tanghe River for half a day, Huiwen suddenly raised her hand to signal everyone to stop, and said in a deep voice, "Twenty or thirty riders are coming towards us from the south."

Not daring to be careless, they hurriedly got into a nearby dense forest to hide.

Not long after, more than 20 well-dressed cavalry roared past half a mile to the east of them.

"Could it be to stop us?"

Liu Hui frowned and said, "No, these people are dressed like scouts for bandits."

"A team of more than 20 scouts?" Huiwen asked in surprise, "Is there a large group of Tartars nearby?"

Usually only Jianzhou soldiers with a number of more than five or six thousand will send out this kind of cavalry to investigate in groups. This is evolved from their "tradition" of looting while scouting.For the Green Battalion, scouts are usually in groups of three to five.

Liu Hui made a decisive decision, brought the horses to the river to slaughter, and pushed the corpses into the Tanghe River——if the main force of the Jiankui passed by, there would inevitably be a lot of scouting cavalry around, covering an area of ​​more than ten miles along the way. Easy to collide with the enemy.

After dealing with the horses, they carefully searched for a bush-covered mound and carefully concealed it.

Sure enough, after only one meal, several groups of Jianlu scouts passed by.Huiwen and the others lay dead in the bushes, not daring to breathe.

Another hour or so later, the sound of rustling footsteps mixed with the sound of rumbling horseshoes, like the surging waves, extended several miles away.

Except for Bian Yujing, who had no military experience, the other three were shocked. This movement was at least an army of tens of thousands.

It wasn't until it got dark that the tail of Jianlu's team barely passed them.

Liu Hui looked up through the night, and saw a "Fire Dragon" meandering northwards, unexpectedly many people were walking at night holding torches.

He retreated hastily, and said in a low voice, "At least there are [-] bandit soldiers."

Bian Yujing wondered: "I heard that the captives are confronting the army in the Huaihe River area. Why are there so many soldiers and horses in Shandong, and they are rushing north?"

"There must be some weirdness in this." Huiwen thought deeply, "We will separate after dawn, and we must report what we saw here to the imperial court!"

……

Outside Shanyang City.

Ming army camp.

Zhu Linmei looked at Bian Yujing, who was covered in dust, and said, "Miss Bian, are you sure there are more than [-] captives going north?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, according to Mr. Liu Qi, the torches of the bandit army stretched ten miles away, and maybe thirty or forty thousand is also possible."

Zhang Jiayu immediately cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, there are only [-] captives on the north bank, and more than half of them are in the Shandong border. They must be retreating north!"

Bian Yujing nodded and said: "That day was Wushi, and the Jian prisoner was still walking with a torch, obviously walking in a hurry."

Zhu Linming asked her many more details, and told Shi Lin to take her to rest, and then said to the generals in the account solemnly: "It's fortunate that I encountered a large army of captives on the way to Beizhen, Dorgon probably escaped.

"We can't wait for the heavy artillery. Send an order, and the army will cross the river immediately and start a strong attack!"

"Yes!" All the generals saluted in unison, and then went out of their tents.

The battle plan had already been prepared, and there was no need for Zhu Linmin to give more orders at this time, the main force of the entire Ming army moved quickly and orderly.

Zhu Linmi drove her horse past the Ming army team that was gathering on the shore to board the ship, loudly boosting morale, and everywhere she went, the soldiers shouted in response, "Long live my emperor!"

"Swear to destroy the captives!"

"kill!"

In fact, Zhu Linming's position at this time was almost at the edge of the range of the enemy's heavy artillery, but he still had no fear, and walked back and forth in front of the Ming army's formation.

He didn't stop until he was sure that all the soldiers had seen his figure and heard his voice. Standing under the banner of the commander Zhang Jiayu, he stared at the frontal battlefield nearly ten miles wide.

Previously, the Ming army had been in a state of preparation for war, so only half an hour after receiving the general attack order, the first batch of river crossing boats had already sailed towards the north bank.

In the middle of the seventeenth century, the Yellow River entered the sea via Sishui and Huaihe Rivers.Due to the huge flow of the Yellow River, the relatively narrow lower reaches of the Huaihe River were silted up, forming an aboveground river.

Therefore, the current of the Huaihe River is very fast and it is easy to run aground. Large naval ships cannot enter at all. They can only be crossed by flat-bottomed sand boats and small boats that can only transport five or six people.

In addition, the embankment of the Huaihe River is higher than the surface of the two banks. Soldiers have to pass through the tens of feet high embankment to board and disembark, which is extremely troublesome.

This is also the reason why the Huaihe River has always been easy to defend but difficult to attack.In Chinese history, the Huaihe River was an unavoidable hurdle no matter whether it was the Southern Expedition or the Northern Expedition.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was because of the dedicated management of Xiangyang and the Huaihe defense line that it was able to invade from the north and protect the country for more than a hundred years.

Only during the Hongguang Dynasty, the warlords of the four towns had their own ulterior motives, and Shi Kefa, who did not know how to use troops in the court, coordinated the army.Otherwise, the Huaihe River alone would be enough to hold back the Qing army for decades.

Therefore, Zhu Linmi was also extremely worried about this battle of crossing the river. If Jianlu resisted frantically, although with the combat power of the Dragon Guards, it would be almost impossible to lose in the face of a close number of enemies, but there would inevitably be huge casualties.

However, the Huaihe River is an extremely critical strategic location, and no matter how high the price is, it must be won by gritted teeth.

After seizing the Huaihe River, the attack is the North China Plain, which is as flat as a map, and can be fought all the way to Beijing.If you can defend the Huaihe River, as long as you manage it properly, it will be difficult for a million troops to break through.Of course, in its current form, the meaning of Shou does not exist for the time being.

Contrary to what Zhu Linmi and all the generals of the General Staff Department had expected, there was no violent artillery fire on the north bank, but the soldiers of the Ming army on the ferry kept firing guns at the earthen wall built by the Jianlu, overwhelming the enemy. Can't get up.

(End of this chapter)