The Chinese Empire not only had 200,000 troops in the north going south, but also had 200,000 troops in the south going north. Since Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hunan and other places are all mountainous areas, it is not conducive to rapid marching, and the army is extremely vulnerable to sneak attacks when attacking.
Therefore, Xiao Mingqian, who was in charge of the southern strategy, temporarily let go of these three provinces, and instead concentrated all his efforts on heading north to Zhejiang. He wanted to defeat the main force of Sun Chuanting's hundreds of thousands of troops in Zhejiang, or at least repel them.
If the north is a pure land display, the south is a joint sea and land operation. While the north was rapidly moving south, the 120,000 troops gathered in northern Fujian simultaneously attacked north.
Another 80,000 troops boarded naval troop carriers, escorted by special small gunboats, landed directly in Haining through Hangzhou Bay, and quickly headed south to Hangzhou. Within two days, they completely occupied Hangzhou, Lin'an and other places, and quickly moved toward the southwest.
At this time, Sun Chuanting himself was in Jinhua, and he was troubled by the overwhelming conquest of Wenzhou, Lishui and the western civilization of Jinhua by the Chinese Imperial Army.
He had tried his best, whether it was frontal resistance in the city, or small troops relying on the terrain to carry out sneak attacks, he had used all available means, but he was still unable to stop the 120,000 Chinese army, even when he was evacuating Lishui , leading the Longquan River to Lishui City, could not stop the footsteps of the 120,000 troops.
In this process, the 280,000 troops under his command lost 60,000, but the losses caused to the Chinese Empire were only more than 3,000. With a battle loss ratio of 20 to 1, the Ming Dynasty simply could not afford to consume it.
Sun Chuanting was even more shocked by the news that the Chinese Empire's 80,000-strong army had raided Hangzhou. If this was true, then the Chinese Empire would attack from the north and south and quickly eat its more than 200,000-strong army!
"My lord, I suggest that you immediately lead the army to withdraw from Zhejiang and enter Anhui. It will inevitably be outflanked by Xiao's army from the north and south. Then the army of more than 200,000 will be completely destroyed here!"
After receiving the news, Sun Chuanting immediately summoned many generals to come for discussion. One of the young men stood up first and said.
"Jiandou, you have to know that once you do this, the entire southern Zhili will directly face the attack of the Xiao thieves. Without the prosperous Jiangnan area, our Ming Dynasty will definitely have an even more difficult time!"
This is the main reason for Sun Chuanting's hesitation. Once Zhejiang is lost, it means that Ming Dynasty will completely lose a major source of food tax revenue, then Beijing will lose its food source, and South Zhili will also be completely plunged into war.
Another point is that the loss of Zhejiang means that in the area south of the Yangtze River, the Ming Dynasty's strong ruling area is only the Huguang area. The Ming Dynasty's ruling power in Guizhou, Jiangxi and other places was originally extremely weak. Once the army moves north, these places will basically be removed from the Ming Dynasty's territory.
"Sir, now that Xiao Thief's army has captured Hangzhou and other places, once it blocks the key roads in the Tianmu Mountains and other mountains, our army of more than 200,000 will be completely defeated by the enemy forces from the north and south. died in Zhejiang.
Without these large armies, how can Southern Zhili and other places withstand the enemy's military front? Please make an early decision. "
Lu Xiangsheng, a man who showed brilliant light in the late Ming Dynasty, still entered the army at this time and space. When Sun Chuanting formed the southern army, he led a team of more than 20,000 people to join Sun Chuanting's army.
By this time, he had been promoted to deputy commander-in-chief because of his military exploits in fighting the peasant army. And his unit also calls itself Tianxiong Army.
However, the Tianxiong Army at this time was different from the original Tianxiong Army. Under the influence of the Chinese Empire, Lu Xiangsheng simply equipped it with half of the muskets, and its combat effectiveness also increased a lot.
This army is all from Lu Xiangsheng's hometown, and they have established relatively strong ties with each other through the love of fellow villagers. On the battlefield, one casualty will inevitably lead to several soldiers fighting to the death, so their combat effectiveness is still acceptable in the cold weapon era.
But such a team was completely unable to demonstrate its combat effectiveness when it encountered the Chinese Empire's army, all of which were equipped with extremely advanced rifles.
On the second day of April, Sun Chuanting finally decided to lead an army of 240,000 to quickly retreat to Anhui through the direction of Jiande, escaping from the pincer attack from the north and south of the Chinese Empire.
At this time, the Tianxiong Army encountered the Southward Third Field Division two hundred miles northwest of Tonglu.
Unlike the 1st and 2nd Field Divisions, the 3rd Field Division only conducts mountain combat training in the south. Although they may not be adapted to the harsh weather in the north, they have very rich experience in fighting in the mountainous areas of the south.test.
Therefore, compared to other divisions, the Third Field Division led by Hong Baozhou advanced very quickly. Therefore, Xiao Mingqian arranged for the third division to quickly move south after capturing Hangzhou. The purpose is to block Sun Chuanting's army in Zhejiang and destroy it in a concentrated manner.
However, I didn¡¯t expect Sun Chuanting to move so quickly. With all his strength pushing forward from the north and the south, he actually arrived in Jiande before the two armies were encircled.
As long as he passes Jiande, Sun Chuanting will be able to break out of the encirclement before the 200,000 troops of the Chinese Empire encircle him.
In order to block Sun Chuanting's army, the Third Division gave up all its equipment and rushed towards Jiande quickly. To the southwest of Tonglu, they collided with the Tianxiong Army responsible for road opening and security.
When he saw the Third Division in the field, Lu Xiangsheng said nothing and directly relied on the dense forest to launch an attack on the soldiers of the Third Division.
This is the experience gained by Sun Chuanting's troops in dozens of battles with the Chinese Empire's armies. They spread out and relied on dense forests to carry out sneak attacks. Only in this way can the army be prevented from being massacred by the musketeers of the Chinese Empire.
But what they encountered this time was the Third Field Division, and their mountain combat methods already possessed the characteristics of later generations of skirmishers.
The troops were spread out quite widely, and they all advanced in a small team of four or five people. Such a team can take care of all directions in the mountains and forests. No matter which direction the enemy comes from, it can be quickly discovered.
Therefore, although the Tianxiong Army fought bravely, after more than an hour of hunting, the Tianxiong Army still suffered more than 3,000 casualties, and the result they obtained was less than 200 casualties of the Third Division soldiers.
There is no other way, Lu Xiangsheng can only retreat temporarily and block the third division at a desired terrain with mountains on three sides. The Tianxiong Army has a geographical advantage, but the Third Division has advantages in equipment and numbers.
This battle was very difficult. The Tianxiong Army, initially equipped with muskets, blocked the Third Division for a whole day.
In the end, with almost the entire army wiped out, Sun Chuanting's main army was successfully covered and withdrew from the encirclement and entered Anhui.