Gao Yihuan has 130,000 soldiers, of which 70,000 are left in Nanyang, Ruzhou and other places.

Helpless, even if the Qing army went north to deal with the Mongols, it was still a big stone on Wei Wujun's body, and he had to leave heavy troops to defend, otherwise he would not dare to go south at all.

The Wei Wu army stationed 30,000 troops in Huguang, and Gao Yihuan brought another 30,000 from southern Henan, which increased the Wei Wu army in Huguang to 60,000.

Of these 60,000 soldiers and horses, there are 20,000 to defend Yunyang and Jingzhou, and to monitor the Western Army in Sichuan respectively, as well as Liu Zongmin in Hanzhong. This time, Gao Yihuan attacked the Ming Dynasty, and only 40,000 people were used.

Of the 40,000 horses, Gao Yihuan left another 10,000 men to build a fort on the other side of Wuchang to contain Zuo Liangyu, and he led 30,000 horses to attack Hunan.

The 130,000 army seems to be a lot, but because of the passive situation in geography, the number of troops that can be used is really limited.

However, fortunately, the Wei Wu army is strong, there are many horse troops, and many people have just fought with the Tartars, and the momentum is like a rainbow, so the battle is quite violent, and it is still quite easy to deal with the Ming army in Hunan, which can be said to be devastating.

In 1646, on February 8, after simple preparations, Gao Yihuan left Zhao Zhuzi to lead 10,000 horses and garrison Changde, Yiyang and other places, and confronted Changsha's Plug Yinxi to prevent Changsha's Ming army from going north to reinforce Yuezhou.

Gao Yihuan led Zhao Daxian, Xu Heihu, Wang Deren and other generals, a total of 20,000 horses, known as 100,000 soldiers, to attack Yuezhou by land and water.

Huguang is the granary of the world, and Nanfu is a relatively capable person, so the life of the people in Hunan is okay and they can eat a full meal.

Therefore, the people's reaction to Wei Wujun's sudden invasion of Hunan was very positive, while the gentry were disgusted.

It can be said that Wei Wujun's entry into Hunan this time has no public opinion base, and all the people like peace, as long as they can live, no one wants to fight.

But at the moment, there are soldiers who are the king of grass, whoever has a big fist makes sense, the people are not active, the gentry are not welcome, but the Ming army is too scoopy to resist the beating, and it can't stop Wei Wujun, even if the public opinion does not support it, Gao Yihuan is also here.

Similarly, as long as Wei Wujun did not kill the people, did not expropriate and extort, and maintained local stability, the people would not rise up to resist.

Wei Wu's army advanced by water, advancing along Dongting, encountering almost no decent resistance along the way, and the army reached Yuezhou.

Yueyang is located at the junction of the Dongting Lake estuary and the Yangtze River, and is an important passage connecting Hunan and Hubei.

After Zhang Xianzhong captured Wuchang, he tried to occupy Hunan, but the army was blocked in Yuezhou, so that Hunan did not suffer from military disasters.

Yuezhou was originally run by Yang Wenyue in Beifu, and after Yang Wenyue was taken away, most of them looked for another way out with Yang Wenyue's people who guarded Yuezhou.

Now there are only more than 5,000 people in the city, which are garrisoned by the Ming generals Lu Ding, Ma Jiaolin, Gao Yitong and others, and are supervised by Wu Jinxi, the military commander.

Unlike the soldiers and horses of several other towns in Hunan, the defenders of Yuezhou fought a tough battle, and when they learned that Gao Yihuan was coming, they immediately prepared to defend.

On February 15, after Wei Wu's army was ready, the 3,000 naval army first arrived at the west city of Yuezhou, and sent people to shoot letters, asking the defenders of Yuezhou to give way to the city, and let Wei Wujun go to fight Zuo Liangyu, otherwise they would start a battle and set foot on Yuezhou City.

In Yuezhou City, the four gates have been closed, and a thin civil official at the head of the city is standing at the head of the city, looking at the hundreds of boats of all sizes on the lake, densely covering the entire Dongting Lake mouth.

Wu Jinxi, the supervising army, and several Yuezhou guards, observed Wei Wujun, and their expressions were a little serious.

Yuezhou is very important to Hunan, a node between Wuchang and Changsha, and an important passage in and out of Sanxiang.

If Yuezhou is lost, then the passage between Changsha and Nanjing will only have to cross the mountains and go to Jiangxi by land, and the cost of the connection will increase exponentially.

In addition, if Yuezhou, Hunan's rice, and other resources are lost, the road out of Hunan will be basically controlled.

Therefore, the Wei Wu army approached the city and demanded to give up Yuezhou, and the defenders of Yuezhou were obviously unacceptable.

"Gao Jingzhong and Zuo Liangyu had a gap, but they invaded Hunan, and now they want to force us to give up Yuezhou, which is really too deceitful." Wu Jin Xiyuan looked at the lake, put one hand on the wall battlement, and said in a deep voice, "Yuezhou can't be lost in the hands of this official, and several generals have the confidence to block Gao Jingzhong!" ”

Wu Jinxi stood behind the three generals, Lu Ding and Ma Jiaolin looked solemn, but Gao Yitong hugged his fists and said: "Back then, more than 100,000 thieves besieged Yuezhou, and we all defended it. ”

Lu Ding glanced at Gao Yiyan, and said in his heart that tens of thousands of horses gathered in the city, and there were Yangfu troops to arrange defense, and they went to the city to defend Yuezhou, but now there are only thousands of soldiers and horses in the city, and the Yangfu army has also been relegated to Lingnan, how can it be compared with the beginning?

Wu Jinxi bowed slightly, "Gao Qianhu is right, Yuezhou City has thick walls, a wide moat, and sufficient grain and grass materials, so it will definitely be able to hold it." ”

Gao Yitong said again: "The ships of the Wei Wu army have entered the range of artillery, and the last general suggested opening artillery bombardment in response to Gao Jingzhong. ”

Wu Jinxi was very satisfied with Gao Yiyan, and he was worthy of being the person recommended to him by Yang Wenyue, "Okay, let Gao Qianhu do it!" ”

Lu Ding and Ma Jiaolin glanced at each other, and said in their hearts, this Gao Yiyi is said to be a little related to Gao Jingzhong, how can he fight Gao Jingzhong and be more active than us? The two originally had reservations about guarding Yuezhou, but seeing that Wu Jinxi was obviously unwilling to give up Yuezhou, and Gao Yiqi was very active, it was difficult for them to speak.

Yuezhou City decided to reject Wei Wujun's request and prepared to hold the city and wait for reinforcements from the imperial court.

Several red-coated cannons at the head of the city suddenly opened fire to bombard the boats on the lake, splashing the water column, startling the ships to leave the west city of Yuezhou in a hurry and capture the Chenglingji to the north, where the Wei Wujun went ashore.

On 20 February, after five days of transportation, most of Wei Wu's army arrived in Yuezhou from Huarong County.

As soon as Gao Yihuan landed ashore, Zhao Daxian reported to him angrily: "Commander, the defenders in the city are unwilling to let Yuezhou out, but instead bombard us with cannons, it seems that they want to resist to the end!" ”

Since entering Hunan, the Ming army has collapsed at the first touch, and no one has dared to argue with Wei Wujun, and now he suddenly met someone who dared to resist, and he felt a little unhappy.

Gao Yihuan listened, thought about it a little, the Ming army was not all cowardice, he picked up his helmet and walked out of the tent, "Look!" ”

At that moment, the generals followed him, left the camp, and went to peep into the city defenses.

When they rode and galloped three miles from the city wall, they stopped and looked at the city with a clairvoyant mirror.

Gao Yihuan looked at it, couldn't help frowning slightly, and suddenly ordered: "This has to transport a batch of red-coated cannons, and we have to pull some prisoners of the left army to attack the city!" ”

(Thanks to the 2000 of the dancing three armies, the 500 of the blue river, and the reward of Gao Yihuan, the king of Wei, asking for a monthly pass, recommendation, subscription, and book list)

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