Chapter 159, Nanjing! Nanjing! (Part 1)
Southwest of Yingtianfu, Nanjing, Dasheng Pass
Emperor Chongzhen, wearing a dragon robe, stepped into this empty pass with the support of his personal guards.
Wherever the emperor passed by, all the soldiers raised their swords and guns and cheered loudly. The sound waves spread layer by layer, like the roar of the sea.
Dasheng Pass was the place where Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Chen Youliang in the past, so it got its name. However, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, this pass has never played any role. Most of the city walls that stretch for several miles have been in disrepair. Even if one hundred thousand civilians are recruited, the repairs cannot be completed in less than a month.
Therefore, when Lu Weiqi, the commander of the Eastern Army and the Minister of War in Nanjing, fled the Wuhu battlefield in a hurry and retreated to Dasheng Pass with thousands of defeated soldiers, he was faced with a city full of landslides and gaps, and there was neither a defender to respond nor a store of supplies. The ruins of the fortress, which contained only a little bit of weapons and supplies, suddenly gave way to complete despair. The remnants of the Eastern Army under his command were equally devastated when they saw that Dasheng Pass was in such a dilapidated state, with no military rations available, and they all deserted one after another. Even if Lu Weiqi showered him with money to reward him, it was of no use. ——You don’t even have food to eat, so what if you have money?
By the time a large formation of tens of thousands of Western troops and Emperor Chongzhen's chariots arrived at the Dasheng Pass, only a few hundred of the Eastern troops guarding the pass had escaped. When they saw Emperor Chongzhen's dragon flag, the remaining The people below also lost the will to fight, but took the time to disperse in a rush. Even the trusted servants of Eastern Army coach Lu Weiqi stole his luggage behind his master's back, divided up the valuables inside, and then fled each other.
In desperation, Lu Weiqi had no choice but to find a place to hang himself from a beam, and at the same time left a letter of repentance, begging Emperor Chongzhen to forgive his family.
Unfortunately, this time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen, who has changed his soul, will only treat traitors more harshly than his predecessor!
"...Lu Weiqi, Lu Weiqi, since you know that you are deeply favored by the country and have been appointed Minister of War in Nanjing, yet you betrayed the king and supported a false emperor. This is a heinous act of treason. Why did you follow those Donglin guys in the first place? You are working against the party and you haven’t repented until last month?”
Looking at the suicide note begging for mercy in his hand, Emperor Chongzhen's face was full of sarcasm, "... knowing clearly that his sin is unforgivable, yet he vainly expects to save his whole family with his life and a piece of paper. Asking for forgiveness, you think you are What kind of person am I? Do you think that I am weak and can be bullied? If you, an old dog, are really good-natured and still have loyalty in your heart, why didn’t you turn against the enemy in the battle of Wuhu?
If I forgive you, the chief culprit, with just such empty words asking for mercy, how should I reward those ministers who loyally follow me? Make a plan quickly! The head of the guilty minister Lu Weiqi was passed to the three armies, and the body was shattered and ashes scattered! The entire Lu family was executed, and all nine clans were punished! ”
After hearing the emperor's severe punishment, Lu Xiangsheng's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something to persuade, but in the end he couldn't say it: after all, such a serious crime of treason by supporting a false emperor would be punished after failure. Killing the nine tribes has been a common practice since ancient times. No one can say that Emperor Chongzhen was too cruel.
When leaving Dasheng Pass, Emperor Chongzhen received another good news. It turned out that since Wang Dou was ordered to lead three thousand troops south to attack Huizhou, he had made great progress and encountered very little resistance. Now we have successfully captured the city of Huizhou, captured alive the Huizhou magistrate appointed by the Nanjing Puppet Dynasty, and collected about 2,000 soldiers who surrendered from the Puppet Dynasty. The surrounding counties have also announced a change of flag, so we report the victory to the rear to ask for rewards, and also to ask for instructions on the next move of our troops. plan.
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was immediately overjoyed and felt that this seemed to be a good sign, so he discussed the matter with the generals in the army. The generals all said that Nanjing had enough troops and there was no need for Wang Dou's thousands of partial troops to come over. Adding to the chaos. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen appointed Wang Dou as the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Zhejiang Province, and ordered him to lead his troops across the provincial border and continue to advance eastward, waiting for opportunities to regain Anji, Chun'an and other counties in northwest Zhejiang that still theoretically respected the Nanjing imperial court.
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Then, after the entire army passed the Dasheng Pass peacefully, the majestic and magnificent capital of Nanjing appeared in front of the Chongzhen court.
With some indescribable complex emotions, Emperor Chongzhen held a Western telescope, stood on a high place, and looked at this other majestic Ming Dynasty imperial capital. He saw Zhongshan in the east winding around like a coiled dragon, and Zhongshan in the west. The stone mountain above stands like a tiger on the bank of the river. The mighty Yangtze River flows northeast from Jinchuan Gate. The dazzling golden towers and pavilions in the southeast corner of the city are the Ming Dynasty Imperial City in Nanjing.
As he saw, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but feel agitated for a while - the rush to escape from Beijing, the helplessness of losing the North, the desolation of traveling through the Central Plains, the hardships of recruiting troops in Wuchang, the heroic spirit of swearing to fight for the Eastern Campaign... scenes of the past. , all appeared before his eyes.
It has been a whole year, from the confusion at the beginning of the time travel, to the despair under the advancing Qing troops, to the hasty escape due to the betrayal and separation of relatives, and then bit by bit, enduring the humiliation, cleaning up the mess, accumulating strength, and turning things around... to this day. , he finally ushered in his first decisive victory.
As the orthodox king of the Ming Empire, he was finally able to take back a capital city of his own!
Although there is still the tall city wall of the imperial capital Jinling in front of him, this cannot stop his progress.
It is true that Nanjing's city wall is stronger and more majestic than Beijing's, but even the strongest city wall still needs someone to guard it. In Jinling City today, except for a handful of "rebellious party leaders" who are still trying to resist, the vast majority of princes, ministers, civil servants and generals have sent envoys to have fruitful secret communications with Emperor Chongzhen, expressing their wishes. Abandon darkness and turn to light, bring order to chaos. Even several nobles from the imperial dynasty who controlled most of the troops in the city sent their nephews to Emperor Chongzhen's military camp to "accompany him", or to act as hostages, to gain the emperor's trust. It was said that they were just waiting for the rebellious army to arrive at the city, and they would kill the rebel leaders, then open the door and change the flag to welcome the emperor into the palace.
However, just as Emperor Chongzhen and the generals of the Western Army were stationed outside the city, they were looking forward to the scene of "the bloodless opening of the city of Nanjing". The first thing they waited for was not the honor guard of the city's officials and gentry welcoming the "Emperor Right", but a cavalry group that circled around from the south of the city to attack!
What's even more incredible is that behind the heads of these cavalrymen, they all have a money rat-tail braid!
"...Are these...Liaodong Tatars? It's really strange! How did they come to Nanjing?"
Emperor Chongzhen was stunned at first, but soon he came to his senses and became furious, "...How unreasonable! These Donglin gentlemen had already established a false emperor before and had no loyalty. Now they even dare to collude with the Tartars. ! Did they read all the sages’ books into the dog’s belly? ”
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Although this group of Jurchen Tatars suddenly appeared in Nanjing, the Western Army, which was originally waiting to harvest the fruits of victory, was caught off guard for a while. But I was surprised. We still had to enter the city of Nanjing. After all, everyone had gone through a lot of hardships to get the battle to this point. Emperor Chongzhen and the generals of the Western Army had no room for retreat. We can only fight to the death with these braided soldiers who are here to disrupt the situation.
Fortunately, in this time and space, due to Huangshi's unbeatable record in Liaodong and the outstanding performance of several other Ming Dynasty camp travelers, the battlefield myth that "the Jurchens are less than ten thousand and the Manchu cavalry are invincible" has long been bankrupt. Instead, they are generally considered to be a group of guys who pick things up based on luck. Although most of the Ming army still lost more than the Qing army, at least they didn't feel guilty when they saw the braids on the back of their heads.
What's more, after repeatedly suffering devastating losses, the Qing Empire now trapped in the Huaihe River can only be described as "living on" no matter how you look at it - it has lost the Liaodong base area that it has worked hard for many years. There is no foundation in the newly occupied area. From a normal perspective, it is absolutely impossible for such a group of desolate blind people who are only strong in force to establish a stable rule in a foreign country.
Therefore, under the command of Lu Xiangsheng, the two sides soon launched an outpost battle near the suburbs of Nanjing. Due to the densely populated area, complex terrain, and many houses and trees, the Ming army, which had a numerical advantage, was unable to attack, but the Qing army's cavalry was even more unable to attack.
Therefore, after a melee, the more than a thousand Qing cavalry who came to harass them soon suffered heavy losses and were expelled from several main streets and could only wander in the distance. The 50,000-strong army led by Emperor Chongzhen was able to continue to advance rapidly toward the west wall of Nanjing.
At the same time, the city of Nanjing was also in raging fire, and the shouts of killing were loud. Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, who had already raised the banner of "anyway", was leading more than 2,000 close servants in his house, and several other people with military power. Together with the nobles of Nanjing, they started a street battle with the vanguard of the Qing army who broke into the city.
——Leading 8,000 soldiers from Yangzhou to cross the Yangtze River and land in Zhenjiang, although Huang Taiji already understood that time was pressing, he hurriedly ordered 5,000 soldiers and horses and headed south as quickly as possible before all the follow-up troops arrived. The capital flew away. But before the Qing army arrived, the city of Nanjing had already changed: Nanjing nobles led by Wei Guogong Xu Hongji, a descendant of Xu Da, the first general in the founding of the Ming Dynasty, led the armed forces they controlled to launch a mutiny, preparing to meet Emperor Chongzhen entered the city. Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant with only a few soldiers at hand, was quickly defeated by them.
When Huang Taiji led five thousand braided soldiers and rushed all the way to the outside of Nanjing City, Zhou Yanru, who was an internal agent, had also been expelled from the imperial city by the traitorous nobles and was leading a few cronies to escape to Taipingmen. . And Emperor Chongzhen’s chariots have already passed the Great Victory Pass!
Faced with such a critical situation, Huang Taiji, who refused to admit defeat, had no choice but to personally lead four thousand braided soldiers and enter the urban area of Nanjing through the Taiping Gate, which Zhou Yanru could still control, preparing to defeat the Nanjing nobles who launched a mutiny and seize the imperial city and Nanjing city defense. Keep Emperor Chongzhen's army at bay. At the same time, Abatai was ordered to lead a thousand Qing cavalry as a special detachment from the suburbs to the west of Nanjing, doing everything possible to prevent Emperor Chongzhen's troops from entering the city.
In the end, only 25% of Huang Taiji's above-mentioned tactical goals were achieved: although after a fierce fight, he successfully repelled the nobles' servants, broke into the Imperial City of Nanjing, and controlled It was a large urban area, but due to time constraints, they only controlled less than half of the city gates. On the other side, the Qing Army's Rangers, already exhausted from their long journey, failed to stop Emperor Chongzhen's 60,000-strong army. Instead, they suffered heavy losses due to the unfavorable terrain. Even their leader Abatai was involved in the melee. Seriously injured.
Next, Emperor Chongzhen's troops crossed the Qinhuai River in large numbers, passed through Qingliang Gate and Jubao Gate in the west of Nanjing, and continuously entered the urban area to join the remaining troops controlled by Nanjing's nobles. At this moment, the Nanjing Communist Party, which was originally controlled by the Donglin Party, had actually collapsed and ceased to exist. From then on, there were only two protagonists left in the Nanjing battlefield: Emperor Chongzhen's Ming army and Huang Taiji's Qing army. ——Ever since the fierce battle surrounding the city of Beijing last year, these two old rivals who seemed destined to compete for the city of Nanjing, which is thousands of miles away from the previous battlefield, once again invested all their trump cards in each other's hands. , launched the craziest contest!