And how did the general do it?

After this rhetorical question, Zhu Mingzhong's brows frowned, and he could even hear his own heartbeat, which was an unwilling heartbeat.

Could it be that it is really "God bless"?

"Originally, after occupying Guazhou and Zhenjiang, Nanjing was close at hand, and the general should have sent the main force to land, go straight to Nanjing, and immediately attack the city with lightning speed; Even if it can't be taken for a while, the Qing reinforcements should be cut off from entering the city. But what about the generals? ”

drank the already cold tea in the cup in one gulp, but the herbal tea could not extinguish the scorching flame in Zhu Mingzhong's heart.

"After the 24th occupied Zhenjiang, the Northern Expeditionary Army moved unusually slowly. The next day, the general first personally inspected the city of Zhenjiang, and it was a military parade and a pacification, although Jurong, Yizhen, Chuzhou, Liuhe and other cities came back one after another. However, the first priority of the attack on Nanjing was delayed, and it was not until three days later, when the general believed that the Zhenjiang area was ready to be pacified, that he summoned all the commanders and Tongzhen on the 28th to discuss the attack on Nanjing. In this way, it has been delayed for three days, and what is the result of the discussion? It's the waterway! ”

Originally, there was nothing to advance by waterway, but when Zheng Chenggong made the decision to march to Nanjing by waterway, he did not take into account the hydrological conditions from Zhenjiang to Nanjing. The hydrological conditions here are completely different from those downstream, the river here is narrow, the water is turbulent, and in ancient times it was transported from Zhenjiang to Nanjing, where ships often capsized. Zheng Jun's sea vessels, on the other hand, were large and bulky, and they traveled against the current on the river, and many times they could only rely on manpower to pull them from the shore, and the speed was extremely slow. In history, it took a full ten days to reach Nanjing.

When Zhu Mingzhong mentioned this, Zhu Zhiyu nodded approvingly.

"If we can combine land and water, I want to be able to reach Nanjing faster."

In fact, Zhenjiang is only a hundred miles away from Nanjing, if you go straight to Nanjing by land, according to the suggestion of the Central Admiral Gan Hui, "double the road day and night, and advance at the same time", it can be reached in two days at the latest; Moreover, although the infantry were all iron-armoured, it was difficult to move quickly, but they could travel thirty miles in a day, and they should reach the foot of the stone city in five days. As a matter of fact, there were only a few thousand "iron men" in the Zheng army wearing heavy armor, and the vast majority of the other troops carried light equipment, and they would never walk only 30 miles a day. Although there is some truth in the so-called "not accustomed to water and soil" and "scorching heat and heat," it is difficult to justify it compared with the Qing Manchu and Han armies, which were mainly composed of people from Liaodong and northerners. As for the heavy rain, which is not conducive to land marching, it is an excuse, in fact, in the final analysis, the general and his generals are just used to water warfare, and they are ...... for land warfare."

Shaking his head, Zhu Mingzhong did not say the evaluation given to them by later generations - "Lack of strategic vision." It was precisely because of their lack of strategic vision that Qing reinforcements rushed to Nanjing from Songjiang, Hangzhou and other places, and the distance was much farther, and they even entered Nanjing before the decisive battle.

It was precisely because of the lack of strategic vision that after they arrived in Nanjing, hundreds of thousands of troops did not surround Nanjing, but continued to stay on the ship, which led to the Qing army reinforcements entering the city smoothly, and finally joined forces with the defenders in the city and easily defeated the Northern Expedition army.

It can be said that it was these mistakes one after another that ultimately led to the final failure of this seemingly vigorous Northern Expedition, and also led to the complete destruction of Zhongxing Daming.

"They don't know land warfare at all, if the students expect it to be true, after staying in Nanjing, the general will even still make the main force stay on the ship, instead of besieging Nanjing, when the time comes, if the Nanjing Qing captives will delay the army again, then the Northern Expedition will be defeated!"

After a "Northern Expedition will be defeated", Zhu Mingzhong's expression looked very sad and indignant, and Zhu Zhiyu looked at him in horror, he almost couldn't believe all this, this, how could this be.

"Chengren, this ...... There's no ...... this."

He originally wanted to say "it is impossible", but looking at his disciple's face full of grief and indignation, he didn't even know why, he actually chose to believe,

"Then, if in Chengren's opinion, if you are allowed to lead the Northern Expedition, what should you do?"

Zhu Zhiyu's rhetorical question made the whole person immersed in the grief and indignation caused by the fall of the rivers and mountains, Zhu Mingzhong looked at the master in surprise, and then shook his head and said,

"Northern Expedition...... There's not the best time to do it! ”

In Zhu Mingzhong's view, the best time for the Northern Expedition was more than ten years later when the "three feudatories opposed the Qing Dynasty", not now. Taking a deep breath, in Zhu Zhiyu's puzzlement, he continued.

"The current situation is that the enemy is strong and I am weak, and if I venture into the Northern Expedition, it will only hurt my vitality in vain, which is not taken by the generals. At the moment, the most important thing is to accumulate strength, if the students lead the Northern Expedition, the students will take advantage of the fact that the main force of the Qing army is not in the south of the Yangtze River, and plunder the Jiangnan people, and move them to Zhoushan first, and then to Taiwan......"

"Taiwan? What is Taiwan? ”

Zhu Zhiyu asked puzzled.

"Master, Taiwan is a desolate island three hundred miles away from Fujian, the area is not less than a province, there are only a few wild people living in Tibet at present, although there is an epidemic of malaria, but if the measures are appropriate, it can still be prevented, if you can move in a million people, on the one hand colonize in northern Taiwan, on the other hand, on the other hand, there is a strait as a screen, the Manchu Qing is not good at water warfare, and water warfare is the strength of our army, since there is no need to worry about the Manchu attack!"

This is one of the most popular ways to save the sky in the late Ming Dynasty, that is, to use Taiwan as a "counteroffensive base", which is the simplest and easiest way to achieve, of course, during which you can also attack the Philippines, obtain the copper and iron of the Philippines, and take the Philippines as the rear, in more than ten years, you can also continue to send troops to attack the coast, and you can attack the Yangtze River at any time, and the Manchu Qing can move to the sea, but can not move the river, then the Manchu Qing will fall into a state of exhaustion, and in the process of harassing the mainland, It is also possible to forcibly move the population continuously.

Ten or fifteen years later, when Wu Sangui raised his troops, the forces accumulated overseas would be enough to carry out the final counteroffensive in two simultaneous directions.

"There is ten years of life and gathering, and another five years of training troops, with Taiwan as a stable rear, our army can be in a favorable position of advancing and retreating, if it is a northern expedition, you can attack the Yangtze River all the way, and force Nanjing, and when the Qing army transfers troops, then use another way to deviate from the division, enter the Bohai Sea, Lindagu, force the Beijing division, and punish the chieftain, so that the Northern Expedition can be successful!"

When Zhu Mingzhong told him about his idea, Zhu Zhiyu just looked at him with a shocked gaze, and even didn't know how to refute him because he was too surprised, until he finished speaking, Zhu Zhiyu looked at his disciple and said.

"Chengren, this, this is what you think?"

"It's just a little arrogant remark that makes the teacher laugh!"

Zhu Mingzhong's humility fell into Zhu Zhiyu's ears, making him shake his head and say.

"The son said: 'If you don't go with it, you will be crazy!' The mad are enterprising, and the ruthless are not doing anything. "It's not a bad thing to be crazy, it's just that, Chengren, you know, if your words come out, it will definitely not be tolerated by others!"

Staring at the disciple in front of him, Zhu Zhiyu said the simplest truth.

"The disciple understands that everyone in the world is eager to expel the Qing prisoners immediately, and the views of the students, after all, are reprimanded by others, and they must be accepted only after a major setback, but if they suffer a major setback, will they still have the ability to regroup when the time comes?"

Zhu Mingzhong asked rhetorically, making Zhu Zhiyu fall into silence, and after being silent for a long time, he looked at the student and asked,

"Ming Zhong, is there really no hope for this Northern Expedition?"