Zhoushan Islands is located in the coastal area of Ningbo Province in eastern Zhejiang, north of the Qiantang River Estuary, Jiaxing Province, Songjiang Province, south of Taizhou, Wenzhou, the geographical location here is extremely important, just like the Yangtze River estuary Chongming, Fujian and Guangdong junction of Nanao, and was once used by Chen Kai to block the Pearl River Estuary Hong Kong.

The strength of the Ming army's naval division is strong, not only the Zheng group, whether it is the Zhejiang Ming army of the Lu Jian Dynasty, or Chen Qice, Li Changrong, Zhou Jintang, Deng Yao and others in western Guangdong, compared to the opponents they faced, they are indeed inferior on land, but they still have a lot of advantages at sea, and this is also the key to their survival in the harsh environment.

Because the Ming army was defeated too quickly in the first few years of the Qing army's entry into the customs, the Qing army quickly occupied the land prefectures in several coastal provinces, such as Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, and the Ming army was naturally driven out of the sea. The re-emergence of the Zheng Group began on a small Nanao Island, and the curtain call of the Lu Jian Dynasty was also the most tragic scene staged in Zhoushan.

Zhang Mingzhen and Zhang Huangyan led the sailors south, and above the flagship, Dingxi Hou's big hands pressed the boat, and the green tendons were exposed, but the tiger eyes were staring at the south.

After many years of friendship, Zhang Huangyan knows Zhang Mingzhen's mind best. There was no need to see the face, he could still distinguish what he was thinking about in his heart or seize Zhoushan as soon as possible.

Back then, when the army went out, Lu Jianguo originally planned to take the prince Rong Ge on board the ship together, and also to let the prince be able to see the war with his own eyes and help him grow. However, at that time, the war situation faced by the Lu Jian Dynasty was very urgent, and Zhang Mingzhen admonished him, "The minister's mother is old, and she does not dare to go lightly, for fear of chilling the hearts of the soldiers." The Lord Governor led the six divisions and bowed the ring armor, just to have a resignation, how could the son of the world be gone? Will it be for the people? ”

As a result, the northward and southbound interceptors of the partial divisions all won, and the most deserving of victory in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, the first naval division of the famous general Danghu Hou Ruan Jin, died unexpectedly, Zhoushan was declared to have fallen after ten days of stubborn defense, including Lu Jianguo, Zhang Mingzhen, including the monarchs and their families, either did not disgrace themselves, or were captured by the Qing army, and this directly led to the disintegration of the army on the way south.

Zhang Mingzhen's mother died in Zhoushan, and Zhang Mingzhen has been longing for the day when he can climb Zhoushan to find his mother's body and bury her, fulfilling his last filial piety. It's a pity that the enemy and our forces have never been able to make the trip. Now, there is an opportunity, but Zhang Huangyan, who is standing on the side, is full of worries, worried about whether Zhang Mingzhen will be able to fight side by side with the Fujian Ming army in the north.

In July last year, after entering the Yangtze River twice, there was a shortage of grain and grass, and because of the need for greater strength, Zhang Mingzhen rushed to Fujian to ask Zheng Chenggong for reinforcements. The support army was led by Zhongjing Bo Chen Hui, with a total of 10,000 land divisions and 5,000 water divisions, and the army rushed to Chongming to join Zhang Mingzhen and Zhang Huangyan.

During this period, Zhang Huangyan did not fail to reconcile between the two. In fact, Zhang Huangyan is also very clear that the reason why Zheng Chenggong used him, the soldier of the Lu Prison Dynasty, as the supervisor of Zhang Mingzhen's department, is because Zhang Mingzhen is stubborn, but he can listen to his words, and second, he is more able to take care of the overall situation, for example, Chen Hui has a plan to go north for assistance, Zhang Huangyan has a poem and Chen Hui, the poem is full of confidence in the victory of this battle, and the relationship between them can be reasonable.

The existence of Zhang Huangyan has played a licorice reconciliation role between Zhang Mingzhen and other generals of the Zheng Group. As a result, Zhang Mingzhen and Chen Hui parted ways, and after a while, Zheng Chenggong sent Cheng Yingfan, a military general from Zhejiang and a very good relationship with Zhang Huangyan, to assist Zhang Huangyan in reconciling the contradictions between Zhang Mingzhen and Chen Hui, and in the end Cheng Yingfan also ran away in vain.

In the game, he knows best that the problem here is not only the struggle for the position of the commander of the army in the north, but more importantly, the sequelae of the old Tang and Lu struggles - Zhang Mingzhen tried to maintain the independence of the army, thinking that he was the last Zhang Ben of the Lu Dynasty, and Chen Hui, as Zheng Chenggong's cronies, would naturally be intolerable to this.

Standing at the bow of the ship, Zhang Huangyan really didn't know how Zhang Mingzhen would react after he arrived in Zhoushan, or how he would react after meeting with the Fujian Ming army going north. Because this time, Zheng Chenggong took Zhongzhen Bo Hongxu as the governor to control the northern expeditionary armies; With Chen Liuyu as the general system of the five armies and the government, the general system of the six divisions; With Gan Hui, the central governor, as the governor of the land division, he led a total of 12 towns of the land and water army to the north. Not only has it been clear that Hong Xu's commander and Chen Liuyu's supervisor are the two most critical dispatches, but also that Chen Hui's army has converged in Wenzhou. Once something unpleasant comes out again, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as the last parting of ways.

"Hou Fu, you should focus on the overall situation."

Turning his head, Zhang Mingzhen felt Zhang Huangyan's seriousness, looked at each other for a long time, and finally sighed: "I understand, don't worry, Cangshui." ”

The fleet slowly moved southward, and finally arrived at Zhoushan after a four-year absence at 23 October. The mountains and rivers remain unchanged for thousands of years, the tide rises and falls, day and night, everything is still familiar with the mountains and rivers, but once entrenched in the Zhejiang Sea, set off the upsurge of Zhejiang, Fujian Province to resist the Qing Dynasty has ceased to exist. Aside from the fact that they are now in Fujian, and the only remaining achievements, most of the others were martyred in the organized attack of the Qing army against the Lu Jian Dynasty in the fourth and fifth years of Yongli.

The port of Zhoushan has been obscured by a forest of masts that can barely be seen, and the scale is much larger than theirs. The northbound fleet had arrived first, Zhang Huangyan personally took a small boat to the shore to ask to see Hong Xu, the commander of the Zhejiang battlefield, and listened to the officers guarding the port, saying that the Ming army arrived in Ligang on October 20, and the army landed on the 22nd, and then fought fiercely with the Qing army in Xijiaoling, defeated the defenders, and beheaded the Qing army in the Zhoushan camp, and then forced to the city. At this time, the army had already besieged Zhoushan City, and Hong Xu, Chen Hui, Chen Liuyu, Gan Hui and other generals were already under the city.

"That's great!"

The Ming army won the first battle, and Zhang Huangyan was also deeply pleased, and hurriedly rushed to the city to pay a visit. The side was the first to receive the news and sent someone to lead Zhang Mingzhen's fleet to other ports, and then Zhang Mingzhen led the troops, and rushed to the city with great fanfare in front of the defenders during the day, and joined Hong Xu. For a time, outside the city of Zhoushan, it was already full of the fiery red of the Ming army, like the fire of the prairie fire. Maybe in the next moment, the entire Zhoushan City will be completely submerged.

"There are three thousand green battalions in Zhoushan City, divided into three battalions, and the deputy general is called Ba Chenggong, who is a sassy Tartar. However, this guy did not follow the Tartars into the customs, he used to be the general of the governor of Zhejiang, Tian Xiong, after the battle of Zhoushan in the fifth year of Yongli, he was appointed as the deputy general of Zhoushan by Chen Jin, the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian at that time, and guarded this place for four years. ”

Hong Xu is the commander, Chen Liuyu is the supervising army, Zhang Mingzhen and Zhang Huangyan, and even Chen Hui are all coalition forces who came to converge. In the big tent, Gan Hui told the details of the Zhoushan defenders they had collected, and he was generally very optimistic, because this time the strength of the troops was ten times that of the defenders, plus the huge fleet across the strait, Yu Ba Chenggong could not wait for reinforcements.

Since ancient times, it has been a city that has no soldiers to save outside, and there is no city to defend inside, and the next thing is nothing more than how to perfect this battle to end, that's all.

Ben Shuai thought that Ba Chenggong was a cavalryman who could fight well. If you can surrender, it's better to surrender. ”

Hong Xu set the tone, and the generals were also very clear that the current Zheng group was no longer limited to the coastal islands, the army controlled a vast area of one and a half provinces, the proportion of land divisions was getting higher and higher, and the confrontations with the Qing army on land were becoming more and more frequent. Cavalry is the most indispensable in land battles compared to sea, especially in the plains, where the cavalry's mobility and battlefield impact become more prominent.

Now, it is nothing more than relying on last year's devastation and decay, occupying almost the entire Fujian in one go, especially the start of the Xianxia Pass, which is even more important for the Ming army. The trend of the lock and key is there, so that Fujian can recuperate this year, but if you want to expand again, the plains of Jiangxi, the Jinqu Basin outside the Xianxia Pass, the cavalry of the Qing army has an overwhelming advantage in both quantity and quality. The more this happens, the more eager it is to have cavalry generals who are good at training and using cavalry.

Historically, in the struggle between the Qing court and the Zheng group, the least one thing that could not be done with each other was to surrender and rebel. Due to the serious disadvantage of the Qing court's maritime power, there was a thirst for Ming generals who were good at naval warfare, such as Shi Lang is the best example. On the contrary, the Zheng Group's maritime power is the best in the China Sea, but it is not easy to use on land, so Zheng Chenggong has always looked at the Qing generals who are good at using cavalry, such as Wang Qifeng and Yao Guotai before.

Today's Zheng Group is so strong that it has greatly surpassed the highest level in history. However, due to the excessively smooth development of the Fujian and Guangdong battlefields, there was actually little benefit in the absorption of personnel.

At the moment, the best riders of the Zheng Group are none other than Li Jianjie and Ma Bao, who has just come to invest. Both of them are Li Chengdong's legacy, and they are also serving in Guangdong, and Zheng Chenggong did not dare to transfer them to Fujian because they also faced many pressures on the battlefield in Guangdong. On the Fujian side, such as Wang Jin, Lian Biao, and even Chen Liuyu, a cavalry trained by the Zheng Group, the level of the previous one is much worse than the previous one, so the thirst for the Mongolian cavalry in front of him can be imagined.

"The army continues to besiege the city, siege the city, don't be in a hurry, send someone to persuade you to surrender first."

The coach set the strategy, and the generals also took the order. On October 23, after defeating the defenders in the field battle the day before, the Ming army did not take advantage of the victory to launch a full-scale siege, and the two sides were separated by the walls of Zhoushan City. It's just that behind this quietness, the Ming army feels the joy of victory in sight, while the defenders are in precarious panic and cannot live all day.

The arrival of reinforcements from the Ming army was seen by the Qing army defending the city, and the Ming army that originally attacked Zhoushan was many times that of them, and now there were a lot of them, under the banner of Zhang Mingzhen, many Qing troops in the city remembered the massacre of Zhoushan City when the Qing army broke the city four years ago, and tens of thousands of people were killed. Yu Zhang Mingzhen even has a national hatred and family hatred, and it is estimated that with their little people, the Ming army may not be able to calculate the account clearly even if they kill all their families.

The defenders were very helpless, when they slaughtered the city, they were obviously stationed in the Eight Banners and the Governor, and many of them were transferred after the war, and they didn't even participate in the battle of Zhoushan, let alone slaughter the city. It's good now, the belated revenge of the Ming army is about to fall on them, and no one even listens to the innocent shouts.

There were too many Ming troops outside the city, and the morale of the defenders inside the city was so low that it could not be reversed. Ba Chenggong walked back and forth with his hands behind his back in the deputy commander-in-chief's mansion, so anxious that he was already sweating profusely, but he had no intention of stopping at all, as if he didn't walk any more, there would be no chance in this life.

"Marshal, we are cavalry ......"

"What's the matter, can the war horse still run on the sea?!"

As if he had eaten gunpowder, before the general's words were finished, Ba Chenggong directly interrupted him, angry, as if the next sentence of the general was not in line with his mind, it was possible to do it directly.

Horses, of course, can't ride the waves at sea, that doesn't conform to the basic common sense of physics. The general doesn't understand physics, but he can't say such stupid things, and he was interrupted by Ba Chenggong here, and he was not in a hurry, seeing that Ba Chenggong no longer vented, he continued to talk about it.

"Marshal, the last general means, we are cavalry, the country surname of the Ming Dynasty has always been the hero of the sea, and the most lacking is also the cavalry and cavalry. If we vote in the past, we have the ability, are we afraid that we won't be reused? Even if we can't be reused, at least the country surnamed Ye will not kill us, which will block the way for other generals to serve. ”

The ministry general said that it is reasonable and reasonable. Ba Chenggong heard it here and nodded. But before he made a decision, another general mentioned that the Qing court still has a strong strength, and the momentum of the Ming army in the past two years is indeed quite strong, but when it comes to comprehensive strength, it is still far behind. If the Qing court eases up in the future, or if the Ming army causes infighting again and loses the good situation, will they still be able to surrender to the Ming army?

"That's for later, let's save my life first!"

"Then you can't ignore your head, right?"

The two generals, like two villains, argued in his mind, and the brain of Ba Chenggong hurt when he heard it. It's just that in such back-and-forth disputes, no one has ever mentioned anything about loyalty to the Qing court, loyalty to the monarch and patriotism, and some are just disputes over the ideas of life, wealth, and what the future will be.

In this way, three days later, on October 26 of the ninth year of Yongli, the gate of Zhoushan City was opened, and Ba Chenggong led all the defenders of the green camp of the Zhoushan Association out of the city and surrendered to the Ming army. Coach Hong Xu personally untied Ba Chenggong's self-restraint, appeased him, and sent the green battalion to the sea ship to Fujian, where they were going to Fuzhou to wait for Zheng Chenggong's appointment.

The Ming army recaptured Zhoushan and had a foothold in the Zhejiang Sea. In these years, there was no talk of an unsinkable aircraft carrier, but Zhoushan was in hand, and the eastern part of Zhejiang and the southeast of Nanzhili were within the range of the Ming army's attack, which was tantamount to opening up another battlefield for the Ming army, making the Qing army even more exhausted.

Zhoushan City changed hands, and even if Zhang Mingzhen entered the city, he first went to the Forbidden City of Lu Jianguo to pay tribute to the concubine Chen and the martyred ministers. For a time, the voices and smiles of the martyred ministers such as Zhang Kentang, a scholar of the university, Wu Zhongluan, a secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Li Xiangzhong, a secretary of the Ministry of War, Zhu Yongyou, a secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Zheng Zunjian, a general of the General of the General Administration, Dong Zhining, a member of the Military Department, Zhu Yangshi, a general of the Ministry of War, Liu Shixun, a general of An Yang, Ma Tai, the chief soldier of Zhongzhen, and his younger brother Zhang Mingyang, the governor of the country, suddenly reappeared in front of them, and a huge sense of self-reproach came to their hearts, and they couldn't help crying bitterly.

In the Battle of Zhoushan that year, the failure was due to the difference in strength between the two sides, and from the perspective of actual combat, it was the unexpected martyrdom of Ruan Jin, which led to the defeat of the Ming army in the Battle of Hengshuiyang. Without a sea barrier, if the Qing army is allowed to land on the island, it will already be a lack of skills.

However, as the chief military general of the Lu Jian Dynasty and the strategic planner of the Battle of Zhoushan, Zhang Mingzhen's self-blame has lasted for four years. Now that I have re-entered Zhoushan City, the memorial service is the most likely to touch the heartstrings, and all kinds of emotions are pouring into my heart, and this self-blame is even more heavy.

After the memorial, Zhang Mingzhen rushed to his former mansion to find the remains of his relatives. Four years have passed, and this Zhoushan City is not completely abandoned, the city has long been full of things and people, and it is easy to find it. But Zhang Mingzhen not only insisted on searching, but also entrusted all military affairs to Zhang Huangyan, completely with a posture of not giving up until the corpse was found. Hong Xu saw it clearly from the sidelines, and he couldn't help but ask Zhang Huangyan to persuade Zhang Mingzhen to do one or two.

"What Uncle Hong said is that Hou Fu is stubborn, and if he says it now, he won't listen to it. In two days, I will persuade again. ”

"It's fine."

Tens of thousands of Ming troops were entrenched in Zhoushan, and the auxiliary soldiers wantonly built camps as a long-term plan. For the Cheng Group, this is another Nan'ao Island, Zhongzuo and Hong Kong Island, which naturally needs to be taken seriously.

In military affairs, they did not take a break because the war was over, but became more busy. Zhang Huangyan is still trying his best to maintain it, and plans to share Zhang Mingzhen's thoughts in a few days through military affairs. However, without waiting for him to wait for the expected time, Hong Xu took the lead in recruiting him to the former Zhoushan Deputy General's Mansion, and a man with braids bowed respectfully to the ground.

"My family has long admired the country's surname and asked Uncle Hong to accept it on his behalf. My handsome family is willing to dedicate Ningbo Fucheng and Wang Shi to show sincerity! ”