Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> My Emperor s Career: A New Biography of the Southern Ming Dynasty

Text Chapter 218: Pingtian Yixi on the march

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    "Your Majesty, if we go further we will reach Shucheng County. Are you planning to go north to cross the river? Or go west to help Huang Degong?" Yin Shixun took advantage of the rest of the army to ask Emperor Hongguang about his next plan. In Yin Shixun's opinion,  , both paths are feasible.

    I looked at the map in front of me and said, "Invite the four generals, and I will discuss it with them." This time I left Beijing with 20,000 troops, and my main task was to transport food, grass and baggage. No matter which direction I went, my hand  All the war preparation supplies here have to be sent to the three armies.

    The four leading generals who followed Emperor Hongguang to the north were all former generals of the Dashun Army, namely Zhang Nai, Li You, Dang Shouxu and Lin Chengcheng. All four of them are doing well under Emperor Hongguang now, and their quality is even better.  Much stronger than when he was in the Dashun Army.  Not long after, four people came to Emperor Hongguang's temporary camp.

    Zhang Nai was the leader of the four. After they met Li and listened to Emperor Hongguang's words, Zhang Nai spoke first, "Your Majesty, the general believes that going north is not as good as going west. Capturing Jingxiang is a top priority. If Jingxiang is not taken back, it will be a great blow to Nanjing."  Threat." The other three people also felt the same way.

    I nodded and put the map away, "Actually, no matter where we attack, we have enough cannons and we can capture any fortified city. Let's do it! General Li is responsible for escorting a group of baggage north to King Gui. General Dang and Lin  The general is responsible for escorting a group of baggage eastward to help Li Dingguo. I, General Zhang and Yin Aiqing will go west to Jingxiang to join Huang Degong, okay?"

    After the discussion, the armies separated here. Yin Shixun, Zhang Nai and I led 10,000 horses, escorted the grain, grass and firearms and rushed westward to win the battle.

    According to Huang Degong¡¯s battle report, he has now captured Ezhou and is approaching Wuchang. Wuchang is an important town in Huguang. The Manchu Qing Dynasty will definitely defend Wuchang. It seems that to test the effect of artillery siege, Wuchang City must be operated on.

    On this day, the troops arrived at Xishui, which was not far from Ezhou. I asked people to send a message to Huang Degong first, and then the army set up camp in Xishui.  I was just about to lie down for a while when Yin Shixun came in with a smile on his face, "Aiqing is looking happy, is there any good news?"

    Yin Shixun nodded in agreement, "Wei Chen congratulates the Emperor and congratulates the Emperor. Wei Chen has just received the news that the main altar of the White Lotus Sect has been destroyed. A total of more than 30 core personnel of the White Lotus Sect have been captured, except for the leader of the White Lotus Sect, the Red Lady.  Except for escaping with a protector, no one in the leadership core of the White Lotus Sect was spared." Yin Shixun had just read the letter brought by the carrier pigeon and couldn't wait to tell Emperor Hongguang the good news.

    After listening to this, all the fatigue on my body disappeared and I sat up, "Okay, okay! It seems that Su Xing's two brothers have contributed a lot. I will reward them well." When leaving Nanjing, Yin Shixun followed him.  I have said that the headquarters of the White Lotus Sect has been found out. It is located in Yueyang, Huguang. When the opportunity is seized, the core members of the White Lotus Sect will definitely be captured. I did not expect this opportunity to come so quickly. I am really happy.  !

    Yin Shixun submitted the letter, "What the emperor said is that this time it was Su Xing's two brothers who spread the news in time. The person in charge of the Tiandihui in Huguang promptly mobilized elite soldiers and generals to give the White Lotus Sect a good start."  , these people should be rewarded." Yin Shixun was also very happy to be able to severely damage the White Lotus Sect. Now it seems that the White Lotus Sect's vitality has been seriously damaged and it will no longer be able to cause trouble in the future.

    "Yes! A wanted order has been issued. Anyone who can provide information on the whereabouts of the White Lotus leader Red Lady and her protector will be rewarded with a thousand silver dollars. Anyone who can catch the two will be rewarded with a reward of ten thousand silver dollars, regardless of life or death, and will be granted a seventh-rank official title. They will inform the yamen everywhere.  Everyone, work harder, I will reward you for whoever catches the Red Lady." I know that taking advantage of his illness to kill him, the Red Lady can be said to be the soul of the White Lotus Sect. If we don't kill the Red Lady, she will always be a hidden danger.  The leader of a cult like her is quite evil, so it is better to keep silent. "The captured White Lotus members will be tortured and everything in their heads must be taken out. This will be an opportunity to kill the White Lotus members."  eradicate."

    After hearing this good news, I was so excited that I couldn't calm down. "I am very happy and ordered the army to rest here for two hours before heading to Ezhou. Aiqing will accompany me to Huang Degong's place first to understand the situation of the battle."

    Yin Shixun immediately ordered a thousand troops, leaving Zhang Nai behind. He and Emperor Hongguang arrived outside Ezhou City in light clothes. Huang Degong, who had already received the news, and his generals all came out of the city to greet them.

    "Your Majesty, Huang Degong, bows to your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty." Huang Degong knelt down before Emperor Hongguang could come near. He was wearing armor and kowtowed three times respectfully.

    I got off my horse and helped Huang Degong up. After ordering all the generals behind him to get up, I looked at Huang Degong. Although Huang Degong had to return to Nanjing every year to report on his work, I could see him once a year. But at this time, I saw that Huang Degong  Obviously he is not as young as before, maybe it is because of the war, which made him work hard. "I am wearing armor, so I can't bear to give you such a gift." I held Huang Degong's hand and said to her.Walking in the city of Nanjing, the person closest to me was General Huang Shiren, "General Huang is busy, General Huang and I haven't seen each other for several years!" Huang Degong always asked Huang Shiren to stay behind when he returned to Nanjing, so I have been here for more than six years.  Meet Huang Shiren again.

    Huang Shiren clasped his fists in salute, "The emperor will remember you. I am very excited. After six years, I can serve under the emperor again. I will obey the emperor's personal command. I will soon come to Wuchang!" Huang Shiren is not a flatterer.  , but these words were pleasant to Emperor Hongguang's ears. It can be seen that Huang Shiren unintentionally experienced the highest state of flattery.

    Huang Degong's right-hand generals Tian Xiong and Ma Degong have already moved to open their own offices. Now I don't know any of the generals under Huang Degong except Huang Shiren. When I entered Ezhou City and came to Huang Degong's temporary command post, Huang Degong first  He introduced me to the seven or eight generals under his command, and then began to study the battle plan against Wuchang.

    I listened to Huang Degong's talk. It was probably because the main purpose of fighting was to be steady and to ensure victory, but fighting in a disciplined manner always made me feel that I had no place to use my strength. "Huang Aiqing, I brought 300 artillery pieces from Nanjing.  It is a large cannon cast in Shanghai Port, plus the 200 cannons in Aiqing's army, it is too easy to capture Wuchang Mansion with these 500 cannons."

    Huang Degong was stunned when he heard this, "What the emperor said is that General Shiren also mentioned that artillery siege is the main method, but Wuchang is an important town in Huguang. Although it was burned by Zuo Liangyu, it has become densely populated in recent years.  The city, and most of them are Han Chinese, once such an siege strategy is adopted, it will inevitably cause casualties among the people. There is already a precedent for this. When the weak ministers captured Ezhou, the Tatars drove the common people in the city as vanguards. The weak ministers had no choice but to  An attack was ordered, and more than 3,000 civilians were killed or injured in the war. If the Tatars had driven the civilians in Wuchang City as vanguards, the casualties would have been incalculable."

    Huang Degong himself was a tiger general. Killing was as casual to him as eating. However, the journey from Jiujiang to Ezhou made him very suffocated. The Tatars used the Han people as cannon fodder every time and drove the Han people away as vanguards. This made Huang Degong  Killing was very boring, even if he was hard-hearted, he couldn't bear it, even though he knew that those people had to be killed.  At this time, Huang Degong was a little disapproving of Emperor Hongguang's talk of a devastating siege.

    Huang Shiren was just the opposite of Huang Degong. When he heard that Emperor Hongguang was going to take his usual method, he couldn't suppress the smile in his heart. Huang Shiren felt that Huang Degong might have eaten too much during the Taiping years and became indecisive. How could he think so hard about war?  There are so many!  If you blurt it out, your life will be gone. It doesn¡¯t matter whether it¡¯s ordinary people or not. As long as it blocks the road, it must be killed. If you are soft-hearted, let alone Ezhou, you may not even be able to get out of Jiujiang. "What the Marquis said  That's bad. As the saying goes, kindness does not lead to soldiers. The Marquis pities the people, which shows that the Marquis is kind, but fighting is not about being kinder than others. Since ancient times, the winner has been the king and the loser, and the battle has been defeated. At that time, there was only kindness but no life.  What's the use!" Huang Shiren said this not because of the following. Now Huang Shiren and Huang Degong are close relatives. Not only do they have the same son, but they are also uncles and father-in-law. Huang Shiren is not shy about speaking.

    "I also know that this has been fought all the way! I just feel unhappy. If the Tatar soldiers are captured alive, I will definitely let them clear the way." Huang Degong patted the table as he spoke, which showed in his heart  How irritating.

    I have seen the phenomenon of driving ordinary people to be used as shields in later films, especially the old anti-Japanese war movies. The Japanese often drove ordinary people to be used as cannon fodder. I have encountered it twice in this life. As Huang Shiren said, once the war starts,  Human nature is no longer a person's moral bottom line. As long as he can win the war, let alone driving the common people to be cannon fodder, he can even take out his own father!

    "Huang Aiqing's idea is certainly a good one, and he should be commended for loving the people like a son. However, there are changes in things. After taking Wuchang, it is not too late to implement benevolent government. I have decided that after the cannons arrive, Zhang Nai will  Command the artillery force and use all the artillery to bombard Wuchang. No matter what, let's bombard it for a day first." I estimate that after bombarding 500 cannons for a day, there won't be much left in Wuchang City. The artillery shipped this time is better than the ones imported before.  The Hongyi cannon is more powerful and has quite a lot of damage.  This plan does not mean that I am evil-minded and do not care about the people, but that I urgently need an actual battle to test the prepared battle plan. The Northern Expedition is nothing more than attacking the city and regaining the lost territory, and the best weapon for attacking the city is artillery. Besides, the gunners are all there.  They have been trained in the military academy, but they have rarely been on the real battlefield. Without experiencing actual combat, you will never know what their level is.

    Even as ruthless as Yin Shixun, when he heard that Emperor Hongguang wanted to bombard Wuchang for a day, his heart was tightened. Yin Shixun had seen the power of artillery. If hundreds of artillery were fired at once, Wuchang could remain unbroken for three days, and the Tatars would be considered powerful.  Of course, the people in the city also suffered. Cannonballs don¡¯t have eyes!

    Recommended new books:

    Starting point Welcome all book friends to come and read.?The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original at Qidian!

    Click to view the picture link:

    {Piaotia Literature www.piaotia.net thanks all book friends for their support, your support is our greatest motivation}
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report