Jinhua Mansion Office

Jinhua County

Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhibao, and Zheng Sen were inspecting the defeated troops of Zheng's army that had retreated from the five prefectures in northern Zhejiang to Jinhua Mansion.

There were 15,000 defeated troops withdrawn from Hangzhou, and together with the 20,000 Zheng troops left behind in Jinhua Prefecture, the total number of Zheng troops still remaining in Zhejiang was 35,000.

The entire barracks has long been disheartened and panicked.

Zheng Zhilong thought that more than half a year ago, 100,000 Zheng family army, 30,000 naval divisions, 350 warships, plus 50,000 Japanese soldiers, were overwhelmingly heading north, and the momentum was huge.

The generals who went out were fierce generals Ruyun, Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhifeng were all veteran birds on the battlefield who had experienced a hundred battles, Zheng Sen, who was not afraid of tigers when newborn calves, Shi Fu and Lin Xishan, generals of the navy, and Gan Hui, Zhou Quanbin and Feng Xin, the three tiger generals of the army. On the Japanese soldiers, there were also the first elder of the Tokugawa shogunate, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, the feudal lords of the Kuroda and Shimazu domains, and there were also many Japanese generals under his command.

Zheng Zhilong thought that the five prefectures in northern Zhejiang could be included in the bag, not to mention, even Nanzhili should be able to take advantage of the situation and drive Fang Yuan to the north of the Yangtze River.

But the ideal is plump, and the reality is skinny. and the Xuanjia Army fought repeatedly, and the results made Zheng Zhilong dumbfounded.

In terms of Japanese soldiers, the lords of the two feudal domains, Kuroda Tadayuki and Shimazu Mitsuhisa, all surrendered, and only less than 10,000 of the 50,000 Japanese soldiers were killed.

In terms of Zheng soldiers, the 30,000 Zheng family sailors were wiped out, and only Shi Lang put back less than 10,000 surrendered troops, and the huge fleet of 350 warships was also beaten south by Shi Lang, and the guards at the sea gate survived; Of the 100,000 Zheng family's army, at least 60,000 or 70,000 were lost, and even the most elite 5,000 Tiger Ben guards were left with less than 1,000 people, and the entire army was almost wiped out.

The losses on the part of the generals were also heavy.

In terms of the water division, the general Shi Fu surrendered to Fang Yuan, and after the defeat, Lin Xishan was punished to Kinmen Island, and the middle and lower level officers of the water division battalion, such as thousands of households and hundreds of households, were completely lost.

In the army, Gan Hui, the first fierce general of the Zheng family, was forced to surrender by Fang Yuan, and the other tiger generals Zhou Quanbin and Feng Xin were also beaten to the ground. The number of middle- and lower-level officers who have been damaged is even more numerous.

The Zheng family went north this time, but the defeat was unspeakable.

Now, only 30,000 or 40,000 defeated soldiers are left to survive in Jinhua Mansion, and it is a fool's dream to recover the five prefectures in northern Zhejiang, and even whether they can hold the six prefectures in southern Zhejiang is also overstretched.

Zheng Zhilong regretted not being at the beginning, and was even more annoyed by Zheng Sen's behavior of provoking the war without authorization, and said in a deep voice, "Sen'er, my father has long said that you can't go north to South Zhili, you should go south to Guangdong, and now that you have suffered this defeat, what else do you have to say?" ”

Zheng Sen was ambitious before he set out on the expedition, but now he has been poured cold water, he, the commander of the main battle faction, should be fully responsible, if it weren't for Zheng Zhilong to protect this beloved son, he should have been punished by military law a long time ago.

Zheng Sen was silent, Zheng Zhilong didn't want to pay attention to him, and his eyes fell on Zheng Zhibao's body again, "Old Five, the battlefield has been defeated, what should I do now?" Is it to stay in Jinhua Mansion, control the six provinces in southern Zhejiang, and return to Fujian to defend Xianxia Pass? ”

Zheng Zhibao said dejectedly, "Big brother, this battle can't be fought anymore, and the six prefectures in southern Zhejiang can't hold it." It is better to take advantage of the fact that there are still 30,000 or 40,000 horses in Jinhua Mansion, and the Japanese soldiers have not completely collapsed, so they will send envoys to negotiate peace with Fang Yuan. Among the six prefectures in southern Zhejiang, the Zheng family only needs the Quzhou Mansion by land as a buffer for Xianxia Pass, and the military ports of Taizhou and Wenzhou as trade routes. The rest of the three prefectures of Chuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jinhua are all given to Fang Yuan, and the troops will be suspended! ”

Zheng Zhilong's base camp is in Fujian, Zhejiang has a total of eleven prefectures, and the rich five prefectures in northern Zhejiang are simply beyond the reach of the whip, and it is futile to fight again. The six prefectures in southern Zhejiang that can be obtained are poor and remote areas, and they have nothing to gain, and they have to divide troops to garrison, and the gains outweigh the losses.

With the eyes of Zheng Zhilong, competing with Fang Yuan in Zhejiang was a loss-making transaction. Zheng Zhibao's proposal to keep the military port on the southern coast of Zhejiang, plus a Quzhou mansion as a strategic buffer with Fang Yuan, was exactly what he wanted.

Zheng Zhilong hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, Old Five, you send someone to ...... immediately."

Zheng Sen was still unconvinced, and interrupted Zheng Zhilong's words, "Father, we still have 30,000 or 40,000 Zheng troops, the generals Zhou Quanbin and Feng Xin are still there, and there is even a tiger general Liu Guoxuan who has emerged, and he can fight Fang Yuan again, so why bother to grow the morale of others and destroy his own prestige?" ”

Zheng Zhilong said in a deep voice, "Sen'er, there are less than 50,000 people left in the 180,000-strong army, and you are still talking about it?!" ”

Zheng Sen said coldly, "Father, the battlefield is to injure 1,000 enemies and 800 yourself. You only count the Zheng family's losses, that's scaring yourself. The Zheng family is indeed tight, isn't Fang Yuan tight? Where is there a talk of ceding territory without a fight? ”

"The Zheng family has no worries, they can go all out to deal with Fang Yuan, but Fang Yuan is still worried about the pressure from the north, which is more uncomfortable than our army. In this war, whoever can survive to the end on both sides will be the winner! ”

Cessing territory is definitely a big hat that can crush people, and the emperors and generals of all dynasties and generations dare not touch this big minefield. Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhibao naturally didn't dare, if it was spread, the saliva of the generals of the three armies alone, as well as the Fujian soldiers and civilians, could spray the two to death.

Zheng Zhibao sighed and didn't dare to continue.

Zheng Zhilong was silent for a while, and then asked, "Sen'er! Once the war has been lost so far, what other plan do you have to turn defeat into victory? ”

Zheng Sen said coldly, "Resisting Fang Yuan's invasion is not the business of my Zheng family, and it is not possible for the six mansions in southern Zhejiang to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight." I suggested that soldiers be forcibly recruited into the army in the six prefectures of southern Zhejiang, and that the six prefectures be ordered to supply all the military rations and labor of the Zheng army. ”

Zheng Zhilong sighed deeply and said, "If the forcible expropriation and extortion cause the six provinces in southern Zhejiang to rebel, what should we do?" ”

Zheng Sen smiled coldly and said, "If you can't hold the six prefectures in southern Zhejiang, you will return to Fang Yuan anyway, and the expropriation is also in Fang Yuan's territory, which is better than the expropriation in Fujian!" ”

Zheng Sen looked at the two of them, took out a letter and said, "Father, fifth uncle, this is a letter sent by Gan Hui, Gan Hui's surrender is a fraudulent surrender, waiting for an opportunity to assassinate." Moreover, he is now arranged by Fang Yuan in the pro-military camp, and he can have access to the most confidential military information in Fang Yuan's army, and he can secretly communicate with our army. As long as he finds an opportunity, he can cause Fang Yuan to die, and once Fang Yuan dies, the Xuanjia Army will inevitably collapse without a fight! ”

Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhibao glanced at each other, according to Zheng Sen's statement, this war can continue and wait, if Gan Hui can really assassinate Fang Yuan, then maybe he can really turn defeat into victory.

While everyone was talking, Zhou Quanbin hurriedly took a piece of military newspaper and handed it to Zheng Sen, "Zheng Zongbing, this is the urgent information that Gan Hui just sent from Fang Yuan's army. ”

Zheng Sen spread it out, laughed and said, "Father, fifth uncle, I just said that the opportunity is really here!" ”

The three of them spread out the letter, and Gan Hui informed Fang Yuan of the latest military plan in the letter, that is, the troops were divided into two routes, one route from Hangzhou Mansion to Jinhua Mansion, and one route to Shaoxing Mansion to Jinhua Mansion. But among the two roads, the Hangzhou Mansion Road was led by Chigutai, the deputy commander of the Xuanjia Army, and was the main force of the attack, with at least 20,000 Xuanjia soldiers; The first road of Shaoxing Mansion was led by Fang Yuan, but it was a feint, but in fact, there were less than 3,000 soldiers.

Gan Hui's suggestion in the letter was that once the Xuanjia army of Hangzhou Mansion entered Jinhua Mansion, the Zheng family should not care whether Jinhua Mansion fell or not, but immediately led all the main forces north to attack the vanity of Shaoxing Mansion. As long as he could defeat the three thousand Xuanjia soldiers under Fang Yuan's command, Gan Hui would have the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos of the war to assassinate Fang Yuan and succeed in one fell swoop.

Zheng Sen laughed and said, "Father, fifth uncle, whether this battle is a success or a failure, I will bet on 30,000 or 40,000 Zheng Jun and the fierce general Gan Hui, and bet on Fang Yuan again!" If it succeeds, then our Zheng family will take advantage of the situation to capture Nanzhili and unify Jiangnan; If we lose, we will withdraw to Fujian again, and it will not be too late to defend Xianxia Pass! ”

Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhibao looked at each other, what Zheng Sen said was not false at all, this is a big bet on the third or fourth Zheng Jun in Zhejiang! The prospect depicted in Gan Hui's plan is too wonderful, and the lure of profit is enough to make the two of them happy.

Zheng Zhilong asked, "Old Five, what do you think?" ”

Zheng Zhibao sighed and said, "Big brother, everything is up to you." ”

Zheng Sen surrendered his hand and asked for his life, "Father, the opportunity is fleeting, you must not hesitate any longer!" If my father was worried about failure, he could go back to Fujian first to avoid being caught in the war. ”

Zhou Quanbin also immediately knelt down and asked him to fight, "Governor Zheng, let's fight!" I am willing to lead the army north to Shaoxing Mansion and defeat Fang Yuan, and if I don't succeed, I will become a benevolent! ”

Zheng Zhilong saw that everyone was like gamblers who had lost red-eyed, and they were all inclined to bet on 30,000 or 40,000 Zheng Jun and play this life-and-death gamble with Fang Yuan. Whether he opposes it or not has nothing to do with the overall situation, not only can he not stop this gamble, but he is nothing more than damaging his prestige in the army.

Zheng Zhilong didn't shirk anymore, and said loudly, "Okay, okay, Sen'er, I'll leave it all to you here." I led 5,000 soldiers back to Fujian to strengthen the guards of Xianxia Pass, so as not to be driven straight into by Fang Yuan after the defeat. ”