Chapter 156: Luring the wolf into the house (Part 1)
South Zhili, Wuhu, Bank of the Yangtze River, Dingjiazhou
The surging river water lapped at the bank stained red with blood, and the hunting autumn wind blew away the gunpowder smoke that had lingered for many days. Looking around, countless corpses of the two armies and the wreckage of hundreds of dilapidated warships were rising and falling on the river, with lingering smoke rising here and there.
A great battle in which both sides mobilized more than 100,000 troops and more than a thousand warships had just ended here.
However, the war between the Eastern and Western armies lasted less than forty-eight hours from the beginning to the end, and it ended with the Eastern Army abandoning its armor.
In fact, due to the fact that troops were divided and stayed in various places along the way to raid the place, when they arrived in Wuhu, the Western Army commander Lu Xiangsheng had only more than 50,000 troops. Lu Weiqi, the Minister of War in Nanjing who was stationed in Wuhu, had 70,000 Eastern troops under his command.
At first glance, this battle looks like the Western Army is attacking more with less, and the risks are quite high, but the actual situation is completely different.
Although Lu Xiangsheng of the Western Army only had 50,000 troops, there were more than 20,000 combat soldiers, and 3,000 cavalry as his trump card, but he was weak in the navy. However, this battle was to attack the upper reaches and lower reaches, not to cross the south of the Yangtze River. Moreover, along the march route were the rich areas of the south of the Yangtze River. All the grain and fodder needed by the army could be collected on the spot without relying on ships to transport it from the rear. Therefore, the navy The importance is not that significant.
Although Lu Weiqi of the Eastern Army had 70,000 troops, there were only more than 10,000 decent soldiers among them, and only a few hundred cavalry. The rest were all temporarily recruited rabble. Except for the Yangtze River Navy, which is slightly stronger than the Western Army, the rest is almost useless.
There was no way. After all, the Western Army's actions were carefully planned and planned for a long time, while the Eastern Army responded hastily and was overwhelmed.
More importantly, for the Western Army, this battle was about "fighting evil with good," and it had an absolute advantage in the name of justice.
——No matter how incompetent Emperor Chongzhen was in governing the country, he was still the undoubted orthodoxy of the Emperor and Ming Dynasty. After all, the traditional Chinese idea of loyalty to the emperor is not so easy to wear away. Although it is said that "everyone who is a righteous person slaughters dogs, but a person who has a negative heart is usually a scholar." For example, most of the scholars of the Donglin Party in Jiangnan claimed to be loyal and loyal, but had no loyalty at all in their hearts. But if you talk too much about being loyal to the emperor and being patriotic, many people will even lose their faith in them.
After all, last year the Donglin Party was still touting Emperor Chongzhen as the "reincarnation of a saint" and a "sage descended from heaven", but now they not only turned their backs and supported an inexplicable second son of Prince Lu as the "Emperor Yonghe", which angered the Zhu Ming clan in the world. There was a lot of scolding. So far, no vassal king is willing to recognize the throne of Emperor Yonghe. Now he even has to fight with Emperor Chongzhen, the "holy king". No matter how you look at it, he is crazy and doing treasonous things.
No matter how much the Donglin Party bosses in the Nanjing court tried to describe the "Holy King" of Chongzhen, whom they were praising not long ago, as the reincarnation of the heinous devil, with the speed of information circulation in ancient times, in There are still many people down there who can’t turn their heads around. Of course, it doesn't matter even if your brain can't turn around. Anyway, the idea of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism these days is just that. The soldiers who serve in the army will only care more about their own rations and pay. As long as the soldiers are paid enough, even if they openly say that they want to rebel and kill the emperor, there is no problem at all.
But the problem is that the Donglin Party, which is in power in Nanjing, has always looked down on the vulgar warriors the most. On weekdays, even a penny reward would be extremely painful. They wish that these despicable soldiers could live by drinking the northwest wind all day long. How can I be willing to let them eat hot and spicy food? Therefore, among the 70,000 Eastern Army in Wuhu, only the more than 10,000 direct troops led by Lu Weiqi, the Minister of War, were able to receive 50% to 70% of the military pay, and then relied on looting the villagers to make up the remaining gap. As for the rest of the miscellaneous troops, most of them are young men who have just been recruited. Their training and combat effectiveness are disappointing, and their weapons and equipment are like a beggar's dog-beating stick. There are also some rural warriors trained by landlords and gentry. In terms of training and combat effectiveness, they are pretty good, but unfortunately they just don't obey military orders. Not to mention the traditional soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Guards. They basically degenerated into serfs early on, their weapons were generally in a state of decay, and the logistics were in a mess. Many military households even had to prepare their own rations, but the results were not yet Outside the boundaries of Jinling, people have already died of starvation.
Therefore, after arriving on the battlefield, Lu Weiqi did not dare to pull his ragtag group out to fight in the field, but just let them defend the camp. However, since the Western Army advanced by land and water along both sides of the Yangtze River, the Eastern Army had to set up fortifications on both sides of the Yangtze River at the same time, further spreading its forces.
After a little trial, Lu Xiangsheng, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, was keenly aware of his opponent's external strength and internal inadequacy, and calmly laid out a strategy to defeat the enemy - first, he pretended to use the navy to attack the Eastern Army's Dingjiazhou Water Village and Jiangbei Camp, attracting Lu Weiqi's attention. Then all the soldiers and cavalry were gathered together to launch a devastating general attack on the Eastern Army's Jiangnan camp. In just two hours, the Eastern Army's camp was successfully burned into a sea of flames.
After hearing the news of the defeat on the south bank, Lu Weiqi hurriedly sent troops across the river to come to the rescue. He personally wore armor, shield, and sword and stood on the deck of the ship to supervise the battle. Unfortunately, it was too late. The Eastern Army that hurriedly landed was first thrown into disarray by its own defeated troops, and then was pierced by the elite cavalry led by Lu Xiangsheng himself. Although the Western Army was mainly composed of recruits recruited in Huguang, at least it had some Many veterans brought over from the northern battlefield were now led by the famous brave general Lu Xiangsheng. They were naturally able to deal with the weak forces in Jiangnan who could only bully the troubled peasants, and they were absolutely invincible and unfavorable!
Therefore, under Lu Xiangsheng's sharp attack, the Southern Zhili troops led by Lu Weiqi were completely passive and unable to resist. In desperation, Lu Weiqi had no choice but to order the troops to retreat. Unexpectedly, the retreat quickly turned into a rout, until the army was completely defeated. The tens of thousands of Eastern Army troops were just a temporary gathering, and their ability to survive until now was all due to their momentum. Once they retreat after hearing the news, the morale of the army will naturally be shaken, and then it will fall apart.
In the chaos, Lu Weiqi saw that nothing could be done, so he abandoned the army and took a few trusted servants to escape downstream by boat. Immediately afterwards, the abandoned Eastern Army Jiangbei Camp and Dingjiazhou Water Village also fled or surrendered one after another.
The next day, local officials from Wuhu County and the entire Taiping Prefecture came to ask for surrender one after another, and the gate to Jinling, the capital of Liuzhou, suddenly opened.
The total casualties of the Western Army in this battle were less than a thousand, but they captured a full 20,000 prisoners of war and seized more than 6,000 stones of grain.
At this point, all the field troops and horses of the Nanjing imperial court were wiped out in one fell swoop, and they no longer had the ability to confront the Western Army head-on. Although there is still the solid city wall of Nanjing City behind, the military morale and the morale of the people in Jiangnan have almost collapsed. Even if there is still the city wall left by Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, it is of no avail.
In short, in the face of the unanimous congratulations of his generals, although Lu Xiangsheng, whose blood-stained robes were full of ambition and regarded himself as "the number one contributor to the liberation of Nanjing", still pretended to be calm, he coughed a few times and encouraged the generals. : "...Everyone, please don't Be lazy! Although our army has won the battle of Wuhu, there are still dangerous passes at Dasheng Pass! We must wait until we enter Nanjing City before meeting you on the Yuhuatai. Drink and celebrate!”
In this regard, the generals of the Western Army naturally agreed with a bang, and their voices shook the sky for a while, full of heroism.
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South Zhili, Jiangbei, Wuwei Prefecture, Xiang'an, Yujia Courtyard
This is a house built with cement and red bricks. Although it does not have the luxury of carved beams and painted buildings, gold and silver inlays, nor the exquisiteness of rockeries, flowing water, and bamboo pavilions, the lime powder walls and red roof tiles still It makes the place look quite refreshing and atmospheric.
"Inaction Young Tiger" Yu Guozhen sat on a stone pier in the courtyard, looking at everything in this courtyard with nostalgia, stroking the mottled walls, and watching the golden leaves falling from the big trees in the courtyard. As he whirled to the ground, he couldn't help but feel melancholy - every plant, tree, brick and tile here was full of traces of his daily life in the years since he traveled through time. It was here that he gradually got to know this strange world of the late Ming Dynasty, figured out how to make money by cultivating freshwater pearls, trained a team of capable servants, and personally led the team to kill bandits and water bandits, and won the He gained the reputation of a young hero as the "Inaction Young Tiger" and even had a place in the circles of Donglin and Fushe.
But today, he has to say goodbye to this land and water. And it is very likely that I will never return to this compound in my life.
Just as Yu Guozhen was quietly experiencing the sadness of parting, a confidant hurried in, "... Young Master! Young Master! There is news from the south! The troops of the Liudu Imperial Court fought in Wuhu Big defeat! Emperor Chongzhen’s rebel army invaded Taiping Mansion! ”
"...Huh, what is expected is that with the Jiangnan literati who only talk big words, sow discord, and are both incompetent and shameless in doing things, they can defeat heroic and famous generals like Lu Xiangsheng on the battlefield. God is blind!”
Yu Guozhen snorted from his nostrils, "...how are we preparing for the relocation of the Yu family in Xiang'an?"
"... Young Master, our family's guards, servants and maids, as well as the clan members who are willing to follow the Young Master, have packed their luggage and are ready to hit the road. But there are still many elders in the clan who are reluctant to part with their ancestral graves and ancestral halls, and refuse to move. Even if No matter how much the patriarch persuades, it is useless.”
The young man replied with a grimace, "...Everyone in their rooms said... They all said that Master, you are unfounded. They also said that the Yu family has been rooted in Xiang'an for hundreds of years and has never seen any big storms. Why? You can leave your hometown, and you won’t be able to enter your ancestral graves after death... In short, it’s extremely ugly.”
"... Groundless worries? Hehe! How long do they think Xiang'an can continue to be peaceful?" Yu Guozhen was immediately angry, "... Zhang Xianzhong's bandits are still entrenched in Luzhou Fucheng, and Dorgon's officers are stationed in Fengyang. The incense altars of the White Flag Tatars and Wenxiang Sect have opened on the south bank of Chaohu Lake! The hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses of the two Ming emperors have just fought in Taiping Mansion in the south! In the next few days, the defeated troops will definitely come to burn, kill and loot! The chaos of the people has arrived, and no one can stop it. Yes! If you don’t leave, will you have to wait for death?”
"...If that's the case, how about...Master, please try to persuade me again?" The young man asked tentatively.
"...No need, it's going to rain. Mother wants to get married. Since everyone has their own ambitions, let them go!"
Yu Guozhen patted the dust on his clothes, stood up, and walked out the door without looking back, "...Let's go! Let's leave for Qiongzhou now!" - However, people like Yu Guozhen who can predict the future trend Travelers can endure the pain of breaking their wrists, give up their property and houses in their hometown, and choose to move their entire family. But more Jiangnan aristocratic families are still struggling desperately in the face of the impending disaster...