Chapter 161, Nanjing! Nanjing! (Part 2)
Upon learning of the shocking changes taking place behind Huguang, the Ming army on the Nanjing front line immediately fell into a huge commotion.
——Because this raging Eastern Expedition turned Nanjing into an unprecedentedly cruel meat grinder. All troops that could fight a little were transferred to the Nanjing front line, and the entire Huguang rear was almost completely undefended. Therefore, when hundreds of thousands of rogue bandits marched into Huguang in large numbers, they were really unstoppable - Li Zicheng captured Xiangyang, Zhang Xianzhong easily captured Hankou and Hanyang, and there were also a bunch of miscellaneous bandits such as Luo Rucai, Man Tianxing, and Lao Huihui. They rushed into Huguang Province, attacked prefectures and counties, burned, killed and looted wantonly.
Almost in the blink of an eye, half of Huguang was basically lost, and the remaining half of Huguang seemed to be crumbling (at that time, there was no division of Hunan and Hubei, there was only one complete province of Huguang). Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet who originally stayed in Wuchang, faced the hundreds of thousands of bandits coming like a tidal wave. Although he was scared out of his wits, he had no choice but to organize a defense. Obviously, Xiangyang had already It was beyond the reach of the whip, and even Hanyang and Hankou in the north of the Yangtze River could not be defended. However, he still tried to rely on the natural danger of the Yangtze River to at least protect Wuchang City on the south bank of the Yangtze River.
However, the military strength in Wuchang City was extremely empty at this time. The young men Wen Tiren sent out to capture temporarily had dispersed before they could be reorganized into battle. The local officials in Huguang did not obey Wen Tiren very much. The dispatches were either done in a perfunctory manner, or they abandoned their posts and fled. There were even small officials who collaborated with bandits and assassinated officials, which made the whole city of Wuchang panic, and the exiled court stationed here was almost paralyzed.
On the other side, Zhang Xianzhong was not stupid enough to forcefully cross the Wuchang River. Instead, he found a remote ferry to cross the river in the upper reaches of the river a little further away. Then, with great fanfare, he headed all the way towards Wuchang along the south bank! After learning of this incident, Wuchang City suddenly fell into chaos. The citizens, officials and gentry were all busy packing their luggage and running away, and no one listened to the cabinet's orders. Wen Tiren only had more than a thousand soldiers and horses on hand, and he thought that he could not defend a large city of the size of Wuchang, because even standing around the city wall was far from enough. Therefore, he had no choice but to abandon Wuchang City and escort the queen, the prince and some of the palace family members to the boat to escape. The families of the soldiers and soldiers who stayed behind also found boats to follow, and they fled in a chaotic manner until they reached Jiujiang Prefecture.
At this point, the entire province of Huguang has basically fallen. This bad news reached the Ming army camp on the Nanjing front line, and immediately triggered a riot. It was not that Emperor Chongzhen and Lu Xiangsheng had not thought of blocking the news, but in view of the extremely sad ability of the Ming Dynasty's military and political departments to keep secrets, when they received this When it happened, at least a quarter of the entire army had heard the news from various channels! Naturally, it spread quickly and became known to everyone!
As a result, the 90,000 Ming troops on the Nanjing front line were immediately in a state of chaos. Some people even felt that the situation was not right, so they secretly left the team and fled.
In desperation, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to order a military meeting to discuss the next step. Naturally, everyone at the meeting had different opinions. Some suggested giving up Nanjing immediately and returning to Huguang to attack the bandits. But some people also insist on trying harder and first taking over Nanjing, a city of great political significance. Some people even said that even if the entire Huguang was lost, it would still be worth it as long as they got Jiangnan in exchange.
Emperor Chongzhen himself was also undecided. After all, he had already bet too much in order to capture Nanjing. In the past six months, all the silver treasures he had brought out from the Imperial Palace in Beijing, as well as all the gains from the raid on Prince Fu's Mansion in Luoyang, had been squandered in order to launch this Eastern Crusade. And now he has captured most of Nanjing City. If he falls short like this, God knows if he will have the chance to do it again.
——As a time traveler, he knows very well how difficult these Shaanxi bandits are, and they are by no means a problem that can be solved quickly.
What's more, the area south of the Yangtze River is indeed very rich, and all military provisions and salaries can be looted on the spot. Since the army invaded Southern Zhili, it has relied entirely on captured supplies to fight. Even gunpowder can be raised near Nanjing. It doesn't matter even if there is no logistical supplies.
But the question is, when the rear is unstable and the morale of the army has been shaken, can he still defeat Huang Taiji, the "wise king and hero"?
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At the same time, another gambler, Comrade Huang Taiji, who is also red-eyed, is also planning his final battle.
In the battle for Nanjing in the past few days, due to the disadvantages of terrain, climate, and people's hearts, the Qing army suffered heavy losses in the street fighting and tug-of-war in the suburbs of Nanjing. Huang Taiji initially brought eight thousand cavalry across the river south, but now they have been beaten down to less than a thousand.
In addition to the consumption in the meat grinder of the Nanjing battlefield, even transporting troops across the river south itself is also a very dangerous thing. Although Emperor Chongzhen's naval force was limited in strength, it still sailed tenaciously toward the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and from time to time attacked the fleets carrying Qing troops across the river.
Since the collapse of the Yonghe Emperor's court in Nanjing, people in the Yangtze River Navy of the original Nanjing Imperial Court controlled by the Donglin Party have continued to mutiny and defect. As a result, more than 3,000 Manchu soldiers who did not know how to swim fell into the river along with the sunken ship. Feed the fish and turtles.
At this time, in the Yanziji camp, Huang Taiji also had 11,000 Manchu Eight Banners soldiers, 18,000 miscellaneous Han troops, plus a few hundred Mongolians and more than a hundred Korean musketeers. Almost all the remaining wealth of the entire Qing Empire is here.
As for the original troops of the Nanjing imperial court, they had completely collapsed at this time and were of no use to Huang Taiji at all.
The battle for Nanjing has reached this stage, and Huang Taiji has no way out. If he fails, there will be only death.
Although there are still two white flags of the three brothers Dorgon, Duduo and Azige and more than 60 Niulu Manchu warriors in the Xuzhou and Jining areas of Huaibei, Huang Taiji knows very well that even if he is heroic It would be much better to die in Nanjing than to go back and see the faces of these three brothers!
——In fact, although Huang Taiji was hailed as a generation of Mingjun in the Qing Dynasty, his status as a monarch was very embarrassing from beginning to end.
You know, when Nurhachi was dying, he originally wanted Dorgon to succeed him as Khan, and even gave him all his direct troops. Therefore, the three Dorgon brothers controlled the two yellow flags, the most powerful within the entire Houjin Group, while the two white flags under Huang Taiji were the weakest. However, Huang Taiji successfully united the powerful nobles of the other four banners, and jointly suppressed the three Dorgon brothers who were still children at the time, and finally forced the three Dorgon brothers' mother concubine Abahai to death, and seized the post-Jin Dynasty. The throne of Khan.
Therefore, after successfully succeeding to the throne, Dorgon became Huang Taiji's first target. With Huang Taiji's order, the two yellow flags that were once the Imperial Guards directly under Nurhaci could not even keep their designations and were directly changed to two white flags. Huang Taiji's own two white flags became the supreme "two yellow flags." After exchanging flags, needless to say, under the further joint suppression of the six flags, various Niu Lu under the Dorgon brothers were continuously transferred and weakened, becoming the first political leader to be cleaned up by Huang Taiji. group.
However, why did Huang Taiji not continue to kill Dorgon, but gradually promoted him, Duoduo and Azig?
Because, whether in military or political struggles, the roles of enemies and allies are constantly changing. After defeating the young and weak Dorgon brothers and securing the throne of the Great Khan of Houjin, Huang Taiji's main political opponent was no longer the three younger brothers who had lost their threat, but to help him Amin, Mang Gurtai, and Daishan were the three big beile who seized the throne of Khan. You must know that among the major forces within Houjin at that time, Huang Taiji's direct lineage was the weakest. In addition to having the title of a great Khan, Amin, Mang Gurtai, and Daishan's subordinates were all stronger than him. Stronger, or at least not much different. In order to deal with Amin, Mang Gurtai and Daishan, Huang Taiji, who lacked the strength of his direct lineage, had to promote the three Dorgon brothers who were getting older, and let the three brothers of the two white flags take the lead, through various means Against three big Baylors.
As a result, like a seesaw, after Huang Taiji defeated the three big Belles one after another, the power of the two white flags expanded rapidly. For example, Azige has now become the number one brave general in the Qing Empire and has outstanding prestige in the Eight Banners Army. Dorgon was both wise and brave. When he was seventeen years old, he was named the Smart King for his outstanding military exploits. Even Duduo repeatedly performed extraordinary feats in the war after entering the pass. The two white flags have accumulated a lot of wealth and wealth. To make matters worse, although Huang Taiji had tried every means to sow discord, he had never been able to destroy the unity of the three brothers.
Originally, with Huang Taiji's talent and strategy, there would definitely be a series of means to suppress the two white flags. And he has indeed prepared the foreshadowing - in the process of the three Dorgon brothers acting as lackeys for Huang Taiji and tearing apart the three great Belles, Amin, Mang Gurtai and Daishan, the two white flags will inevitably come into contact with the two red flags and the two red flags. The two blue flags have developed a deep hatred, and they can once again use their strength to unite with the Six Flags to suppress the two white flags in the future.
Unexpectedly, at this juncture, the Qing Empire suffered a devastating blow inexplicably. The homeland of Liaodong, which had been managed for many years, suddenly changed hands. The Guan Ning Army entrenched in Hebei raised a rebel flag and parted ways. The way for the Eight Banners of Manchuria to return home was cut off. , the Han army and the Mongolian allies under the Qing Dynasty also rebelled one after another... Under such a bad situation of collapse, the anxious Huang Taiji simply couldn't care about dealing with his own people anymore. Next, before the Qing Empire could breathe a sigh of relief from its repeated setbacks, Huang Taiji suddenly learned that the situation in Jiangnan had changed. Zhang Pu, on behalf of the Donglin Party and Fushe, secretly crossed the river to attack the Qing Dynasty. The army asked for help. Therefore, Huang Taiji was afraid of missing this rare strategic opportunity, so he rushed to Yangzhou almost non-stop. At the same time, he ordered the entire army to go south, and he must seize the richest Jiangnan in the world at all costs!
——Attention, at this time, Huang Taiji’s plan is to send all his troops southward and devote all the Eight Banners of Manchuria to the battlefield in Jiangnan!