The greater the advantage the Haihan Army gains in the northern battlefield, the less pressure the Cangzhou defenders will face. Although Cangzhou guarded the key position of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, due to the situation, the Ming court would definitely still take the defense of the capital as its highest goal.
Sure enough, on the afternoon when Shen Zhixiang received the telegram, there was finally movement in the Ming army camp outside the city. However, this time they did not continue to send troops to attack the city, but began to pull out the camp and evacuate with the baggage.
"Withdrawn? Really withdrawn?"
When Shen Zhixiang heard the report from his subordinates, he still couldn't believe the news. He quickly went to the top of the city and picked up a telescope to observe the movements of the Ming army.
After the Ming army withdrew a few miles south, they began to cross the river westward toward Hejian Fucheng.
Shen Zhixiang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this scene. The Ming army crossed the river obviously to prevent Haihan from sending troops to pursue, and they should have really given up their plan to continue to attack the city.
Of course, the most likely actual situation is that the Ming army has received an emergency transfer order from the capital and had to abandon Cangzhou and rush to the capital to put out the fire first.
But no matter what, the critical situation in Cangzhou was finally alleviated, and Shen Zhixiang no longer had to worry about dying for his country in Cangzhou.
Ma Hao said: "Master Shen, since the Ming army has retreated, now you can report your merits to the commander!"
Shen Zhixiang cupped his hands and said: "Thanks to Mr. Ma's timely rescue, Shen was able to live up to his fate."
Although Ma Hao's troops could not keep up with the city defense battle of the previous few days, they helped Shen Zhixiang block the last wave of Ming army's offensive. After the war, Shen Zhixiang had to take Ma Hao with him to claim credit.
This Cangzhou City has experienced several consecutive battles, and there are corpses of both armies everywhere inside and outside. It must be dealt with as soon as possible. Just cleaning the battlefield will take several days.
Time soon came to the end of April, half a month after the war started, the Haihan Army's front line on the northern battlefield was getting closer and closer to the capital.
The Sixth Lu Division, which entered from the direction of Shanhaiguan, and the Fifth Lu Division, which advanced from the direction of Hebei, as well as the landing force led by Chen Yixin, finally completed their rendezvous in Tongzhou, east of the capital, only forty or fifty miles away from the capital.
On the southern battlefield, Yan Chujie and Shi Diwen led some troops to advance towards Nanjing City of Yingtian Prefecture by land and water.
After many battles, Zhenjiang and Changzhou to the east of Yingtian Mansion, as well as Guangzhou to the south, have fallen under Haihan's control.
Most of the defeated Ming troops retreated to Nanjing and regrouped there. Including the Ming army troops transferred to Nanjing from nearby state capitals, the total number was 50,000 to 60,000. They were fortified at various levels near Nanjing and were still capable of fighting Haihan.
The battle on the table was in full swing, and the exchanges off the table were also going on in full swing.
Ming Dynasty, which was losing ground on the frontal battlefield, had realized that the war situation was difficult to reverse, so it quietly sent a mission to Hangzhou to try to negotiate a truce with the Haihan Executive Committee.
But for the Haihan side, which is making great progress on the battlefield, it is obviously not the best time to cease the war.
"What do you think it means when the other side sends people over to negotiate at this time?"
Hearing the question raised by Tao Donglai, Schneider responded with a smile: "After all these years, don't we still know the Ming Dynasty's regulations? We just want to test the truth through negotiations and see if we are determined to continue the war. By the way, we can buy some buffer time to mobilize our troops." Qiao Zhiya, who had just returned to Hangzhou from a project inspection, also agreed: "If they just want to discuss a truce, it means they have no intention of giving up resistance."
Ning Qi was not eager to express his position, but asked: "Old Tao, what is your opinion?"
Tao Donglai said solemnly: "We can talk, but we can't just talk about an armistice. We must make Ming's complete surrender a prerequisite."
Ning Qi shook his head and said: "If you mean to completely surrender, you want Ming to cancel its establishment and hand over power to us, then I don't think they can agree even if they lose. Ming still has a lot of depth. For them, Although we are at a disadvantage on the battlefield, we are far from desperate.”
Schneider said: "But it is undeniable that there have been surrender factions within the Ming Dynasty for a long time, but the power they hold is not large enough."
Ning Qi said: "But the people who led the team to Hangzhou to negotiate with us this time are not the capitulationists you call them."
Tao Donglai said: "It doesn't matter, anyway, we are not the ones who are eager to negotiate now. You can listen to the other party's conditions first. If they are too different from our ideas, then let them wait for new developments on the battlefield. Talk.”
The special envoy who secretly came to Hangzhou on behalf of the Ming Dynasty this time was neither a cabinet bachelor nor a senior official of the Six Ministries, but Wang Chengen, the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch who was deeply trusted by Emperor Chongzhen.
In the original time and space, when Li Zicheng invaded Beijing during the Jiashen Incident, he followed Chongzhen and hanged himself in Meishan. He could be regarded as a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty.
However, in this time and space, due to the appearance of Haihan, the Qing army was unable to go south, and the Ming Dynasty was able to gather its forces to deal with the domestic peasant army. Li Zicheng was unable to invade the capital, Chongzhen no longer had to hang himself on Meishan, and Wang Chengen was alive and well. Come down.
With the two countries at war, it was naturally not easy for Wang Chengen to enter Hangzhou and contact the executive committee. There were many people who helped him open up connections and provided various conveniences. Among them, the one that contributes the most is the Special Liaison Office under the Donghai Region.
Li Qingyang and Zhu Zian, who are now in charge of this yamen, have deep connections with Ming Dynasty. Especially as Zhu Zian, the younger brother of the vassal prince and a member of the royal family, his identity was an important condition for Wang Chengen to come to Hangzhou.
However, it is said that Wang Chengen has always had a negative view of Haihan. During the last armistice negotiations between the two countries a few years ago, he fiercely opposed the armistice conditions drawn up by senior cabinet officials in the palace.
Of course, it is not known for the time being whether the attitude shown by Wang Chengen was his own idea or whether he was beating the capitulationists in the court on behalf of Emperor Chongzhen.
In short, in the eyes of the outside world, as a close confidant of Chongzhen, Wang Chengen's words and deeds most likely represent Chongzhen's intentions.
This time, Chongzhen did not send high-ranking officials, but sent Wang Chengen to Hangzhou. This at least shows one thing, that is, his trust in Wang Chengen probably far exceeded that of the officials in the court.
Although Haihan allowed Wang Chengen to enter Hangzhou, the executive committee has not yet given a clear answer as to whether or when he will be received.
Moreover, Haihan did not excessively restrict Wang Chengen's freedom of movement in Hangzhou. Except for some military restricted areas that are inaccessible, he is free to go to other places.
In Tao Donglai's words, he wanted Wang Chengen to take a good look at the fact that the impact of this war on Haihan's country was extremely limited, and Haihan could continue to fight the war with its strong national power.