Nanxiong Mansion, Guangdong, 30 miles north of the city, the boundary between Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces, Meiguan.

The Guan Lou was built in the Song Jiayou period, it is a brick and stone structure, the north door is engraved with "Nanyue Xiongguan", the south door is engraved with "the first pass in Lingnan", and it is inscribed by Jiang Jie, the prefect of Nanxiong during the Wanli period.

On the upstairs of the quaint Meiguan City, Zhang Xiaoqi, the governor of Guangdong, tightened the red big air behind him and raised his eyes to look into the distance.

Looking south and north from the head of Meiguan Castle, there is an endless expanse of snow.

The snow had stopped, the clouds had slowly dissipated, and the sun appeared in the east, as big as a wheel, as bright and dazzling as molten iron juice, slowly rising from the treetops, illuminating the forest around the Meiguan Ancient Road with a silvery light.

Meiling is full of sparse shadows and slanting, the plum trees that are proud of the wind and frost, and the post road pavilions are all hidden in the lush plum forest.

Plum blossoms like snow, plum blossoms all over the mountains and fields bloom in the cold at this time, stretching in the north and south of the city, on both sides of the ancient road, red dots.

The ancient stone foundations have long been worn away by time, and these stone steps have witnessed the change of kings and the rise and fall of dynasties.

Zhang Xiaoqi was silent for a long time, and the leisurely artistic conception of Dengmei Pass and looking into the distance, this plum appreciation seems to have passed through the Han and Tang Dynasties.

On the ancient road, the war horses neighed, and the detachment composed of two regiments of the Guard Flag Division and the 11th Dragoon Regiment escorted a pack baggage team composed of 4,000 horses, mules and donkeys, and pulled up in a long column on the mountain road.

Truckloads loaded with ammunition and supplies passed through the gate one after another and marched north.

The Meiguan ancient road is about six feet wide, the city gate can only accommodate a single horse, the stone steps arranged along the mountain make it impossible to transport supplies by horse-drawn carriages, and the supply of the Ming army in Jiangxi through Meiling can only be carried by pack.

There are two supply routes for the Ming army in Jiangxi, one through Beijiang, Shaozhou and Nanxiong to cross Meiguan, and the other through Dongjiang and Longchuan to Dingnan and Longnan.

In the six months when Yilde cut off the Beijiang River, Jiangxi relied on the Dongjiang River for supply, and with the victory of Guangdong and the recovery of the whole province, the most convenient road of the Beijiang River was reopened, and the Dongjiang River became an auxiliary supply road.

Guancheng was guarded by 200 Ming troops, all of whom were from the governor of Jiangxi. These Ming troops were armed with cotton armor, bird guns, tiger squat cannons, and 2 old Hongyi iron cannons, almost all of which were captured weapons, and the leader was a guerrilla attack by a cronie of Lianchengbi.

In front of Meiguan, the Tatar Jingyuan Dingkou general, the red flag lord Luo Keduo, the king of Duoluoping County, nearly 30,000 eight banners, and the mixed troops of the green battalion were stationed in southern Gansu.

Zhang Xiaoqi walked down the city tower, his own soldiers brought the war horses, and the baggage team continued to walk in the snow.

The governor of Lianchengbi is stationed in Dayu County, Anfu City, southwest of Jiangxi Province at the northern foot of Meiling (Dayu), the distance is only 20 miles, and it will arrive in 1 day.

The north wind blew at the head of the city of Nan'anfu, and more than 100 Ming army battle flags on the city wall slapped on the flagpole, making a hula sound.

Seeing the reinforcements arrive, the defenders at the head of the city cheered.

The soldiers and the men of the baggage brigade stayed in the castle town and handed over supplies to the defenders. Zhang Xiaoqi waved his horsewhip, rushed over the city tower, and dismounted in front of the former Nan'an Mansion and the current governor of Jiangxi.

Lian Chengbi, who was dressed in a first-class official uniform and wore a seven-beam Jinxian crown, waited in front of the gate early.

"Make a table!"

"Zhongcheng!"

"Please."

"Please."

Lianchengbi invited Zhang Xiaoqi into the study and served hot tea.

There was a brazier burning in the study, and the damp and cold room was warm, Zhang Xiaoqi nodded, winter warfare, firewood for heating is a very important material, and along the way, Zhang Xiaoqi passed through the Ming army was not short of fuel.

Zhang Xiao untied the big hate, and the two sat down separately.

Zhang Xiaoqi: "The students are here to send 120,000 catties of gunpowder, a batch of medicinal materials and 3,000 shotguns to the company's production table. ”

Lian Chengbi hugged his fist in the direction of Guangzhou, and said happily: "That's great, many of the soldiers' shotguns have been broken, and they can be replaced, thank you Prime Minister, and thank you to the escort Zhongcheng." ”

"You don't have to thank me for making the table," Zhang Xiaoqi smiled and waved his hand, "The student must bring the gratitude of the maker to the prime minister." ”

The two drank hot tea and exchanged a few words of greeting each other, and they worked hard all the way, and the war was hard.

Lian Chengbi asked Zhang Xiaoqi about the situation of other battlefields, and Zhang Xiaoqi gave a brief introduction.

On the Fujian side, Doni, the king of Tatarsin County, besieged Quanzhou from the land and besieged Zhangzhou.

After Zheng Chenggong received reinforcements from Guangdong, he led nearly 20,000 troops into Haicheng.

The defenders of Zheng Fan in Haicheng and Quanzhou were all close to the sea and shipping supplies, and the line from Haicheng to Chaozhou was empty, and only Chaozhou was left in the fortified city behind.

After the victory in Sanshui, Zheng Chenggong felt that Doni would not dare to leave Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Haicheng even if he ate the leopard's gall, and marched into Chaozhou alone, so he confronted Doni in Haicheng with confidence.

In Guangxi, Li Mingzhong, Ye Biao and other nearly 10,000 Ming troops descended from western Guangdong, and most of Ye Biao and others were supplemented into the Guangxi Military Region and stationed on the front line of Liuzhou and Qingyuan.

More than 3,000 people from Li Mingzhong's department marched into Hunan as the second echelon and were stationed in Yongzhou, and the first echelon Northern Expeditionary Army commanded by Li Laiheng had arrived in Hengzhou.

Under the jurisdiction of 5 infantry battalions, 1 artillery battalion, 1 cavalry regiment of the Dianbai Brigade stationed in Guilin and Quanzhou, as a mobile force.

The main force of the Ming army was deployed along the first line of the Xiangjiang River, and did not occupy the far-reaching prefectures and counties on the left bank of the Xiangjiang River, but only plundered materials and other booty, and sent troops to occupy Chenzhou, Daozhou and other prefectures and counties on the right bank of the Xiangjiang River.

Li Laiheng had been fighting in Hunan for several years, and he was very clear about the local geographical points, and he sent rangers to loot and collect supplies, but the main force did not rush to Changsha.

Wu Sangui sent Zhang Guozhu and Ma Bao to reinforce Guiyang, and Li Benshen, the governor of Guizhou, moved his main force to Jingzhou and Yuanzhou, basically occupying the Xiangxi defense line built by Sun Kewang that year.

Speaking of which, the situation on the battlefield in Hunan is interesting.

The Ming army occupied a considerable section of the main line of the Xiangjiang River and continued to advance northward.

The Tatars occupied the territory of Xiying in Yunnan and Guizhou in those years, and there was a tendency to go down the mountain to cut off the Xiangjiang River. Basically, the whole situation is completely reversed.

Zhang Xiaoqi took a sip of tea and said slowly: "Make Taiwan, students escort materials to Jiangxi, just to come and see, Jiangxi is still dominated by you." Let's introduce the situation in Jiangxi, and the students will report to the prime minister when they return to Guangzhou. ”

Lian Chengbi took out the report that he had prepared a long time ago.

The 2,500 new troops of the Southern Jiangxi army and the 2,500 town pacesetters of the Ganzhou general army Xianqiyu were in Ganzhou City and were surrounded for half a year.

The troops of Lianchengbi spread out along the northern foot of the Great Yuling Ridge.

Two months ago, the Tatars marched south along the Gongshui River, conquered Xinfeng County, and cut off the Ming army's front.

Lianchengbi headquarters, Ban Jisheng, Xiao Guolong, Guo Hu and other departments guarded the first line of Nan'an and Meiling, relying on the Beijiang River.

The Moyang Ming army led by Zhang Yue was scattered in Dingnan, Longnan, Changning, and Anyuan counties, backed by mountains and relying on the Dongjiang River.

The Tatar commander Luo Keduo was a raw melon egg, and the only military experience worth mentioning before was the expedition to Yungui Li Dingguo, and he suffered a big loss in Mopan Mountain.

Senior generals such as Wang Doni and Luo Keduo of Xinjun who participated in the battle of Mopanshan were later punished by the four auxiliary ministers, and Luo Keduo was fined 4,000 taels of silver, and his exploits were not allowed to be discussed.

The Ming army guarded the mountains and the south bank of the Zhangshui River, and the main force of the Tatars did not dare to advance too much before conquering Ganzhou.

At that time, the situation of the Ming army was very critical, and even the city wall was struggling to survive, after which the battle line stopped, and with the arrival of Wang Xing's reinforcements, the Ming army tentatively advanced north to the front line of Xincheng.

After Lian Chengbi finished speaking, Zhang Xiaoqi sighed slightly.

The performance of the Jiangxi Ming army was not good, but Lian Chengbi did his best.

The Ming army was not a small number of troops, after many reinforcements, the number exceeded 30,000, but the composition was very mixed, and the governor could ensure that only more than 1,000 governors were in command.

Ban Jisheng, who was newly attached to Canton, had a generally better attitude towards the governor.

However, with nearly 10,000 troops, the attitude of the Ming army of the original Li Chengdong-Moyangjiang system is more ambiguous.

The arrival of nearly 3,000 people from Xiao Guolong, who came from the Wencun system, and more than 5,000 people from Wang Xing's department, slightly improved the situation of the governor.

The equipment of the Ming army is at the same level as the enemy, the horse team is inferior to the enemy, the combat ability of the soldiers is not as good as the enemy, the command system is not as smooth as the Tatars commanded by the prince, and even Chengbi does not have the ability of a field commander, what he can do is nothing more than to maintain the unity of all departments of the Ming army and ensure the distribution of materials, and the rest is that the battalions and towns of the Ming army are fighting separately in the defense area.

The Ming army relied on rivers and mountains to defend the camp, and did not have the ability to fight with the Tatars and relieve the siege of Ganzhou, and the Ming army in southern Ganzhou was able to hold on, and most of the credit belonged to the defenders of Ganzhou.

"How's the situation in Ganzhou?"

Lian Chengbi shook his head, "The Tartars besieged Ganzhou City, the news was cut off, we only know that Lan Qin is still holding on." ”

"This won't work," Zhang Xiaoqi said, "I'll bring 1 Nanyang New Army on this trip, hand it over to the control platform, and let them attack north." ”

The newly formed dragoon regiment used Tatar war horses captured in Sanshui, formed by officers and soldiers who could ride horses from the Ming army, infantry divisions and Guangdong recruits, and was equipped with sabers and short-barreled carbines.

In this newly arrived dragoon regiment, the squadron was a unit, supporting four infantry battalions and Wang Xing's division from Xincheng to test the attack on the enemy front in a relatively wide front.

A few days later, the Ming army advanced 10 miles, and Liancheng was pleasantly surprised to find that the resistance of the Tatars had weakened, and the Ming army immediately intensified its temptation.

————

Ganzhou, like Hengyang, is a key town from the Pearl River to the Yangtze River.

The shape of the city wall of Ganzhou is irregular, the wall base is directly adjacent to the river, and it is built with strip stones, and the wall is rammed earth and bricks.

The Ganjiang River is divided into two strands in Ganzhou, the Zhangshui in the west leads to the Da Yuling of Nan'an Prefecture, the Gongshui in the east leads to Xinfeng County, and the two rivers merge into the Ganjiang River under the Bajing Platform in the northeast corner of the city.

The sandbar between the pier and the Eight Mirror Terrace is called Kaketail, which has a sharp triangular shape. Behind the tail of the turtle horn is the towering eight-mirror platform.

The platform is three floors high, nearly 10 zhang, overlooking the mouth of the three rivers. A total of 19 Hongyi cannons and dozens of short-range artillery such as Tiger Squat Cannon and Franc Machine were erected on the Eight Mirror Platform and its attached forts, and the turret built with red striped stone looked like it was soaked in blood at this time.

Ganzhou City is surrounded by water in the east and west, only the southern city is exposed, and there are 12 Hongyi cannons in the east and west city walls.

The Tatars came from the north, it was unrealistic to attack the city from the north, east and west, the enemy's main attack direction was in the south city, the Ming army rammed earth to build 4 small star forts, erected 40 cannons, and the artillery battle was repeated every day.

Ganzhou is really strong, as long as there is no shortage of materials, Lan Qin can defend the city. Before the Tatars besieged the city, Lanchin released most of the inhabitants, leaving only more than 5,000 defenders and 3,000 strong people in the city, with sufficient food and winter fuel by demolishing houses.

The north wind was dashing, and Lan Qin and the general soldier Xian Qiyu stood on the tower of the north city, watching the Tatar army that was going away one by one.

Lanchin asked, "Pursuit?" ”

Xian Qiyu shook his head, "After Luo Keduo broke off with the horse team, look at the banner, it was the deputy marshal Ming Andali who pressed the formation, the enemy army retreated without chaos, our soldiers were very tired and couldn't chase it." ”

Jiangxi Ming Army, whether it is Guo Hu Xianqiyu and other departments anyway, or Moyang system, most of them have experience in fighting in Jiangxi, when the Moyang Department was Li Chengdong's Northern Expeditionary Army, Xianqiyu and others were the deputy general of Ganzhou in the green camp, more than ten years have passed, and they have actually become friendly troops.

Lan Qin was a little regretful, but he knew that Xian Qiyu was right, the Tatars withdrew their troops, and Ganzhou was relieved, the main purpose had been achieved, and there was no need to take any more risks.

"Then go south and establish contact with Nan'an as soon as possible."

————

In Guangzhou, on the same day, Shou Xiang received a battle report on the relief of the siege of Ganzhou and the victory of Fujian.

The First Battle of Sanshui wiped out one-third of the field forces of the Tatar headquarters, and the remaining one-third were scattered in the remnants of Hunan, Fujian, and Jiangxi, and the last third was used to defend Zhili and Guanwai.

The First Battle of Sanshui made the Tatar court frightened, and compared to those states and counties, the Eight Banners field force was more important. The Tatar court received definite news from the front, and after several times the envoys went back and forth, the four auxiliary ministers ordered Rocodo not to fight in vain and moved to the guard, and Doni received a similar order.

The Jiangxi Ming army attacked north on both sides of the Gan River, and the Tatars retreated to Nanchang with their backs to Poyang Lake. The Ming army occupied large areas of prefectures and counties, crossed the Luoxiao Mountains to the west, and established communication links with Li Laiheng in Hunan; Cross the Shanguan Pass to the east and establish contact with the Zheng Fan in the Shaowu region.

In Zhangzhou, Doni withdrew from the siege, and Zheng Chenggong personally commanded the pursuit, cutting off the enemy's rear guard and annihilating it. Subsequently, Zheng Fan's first department boarded the ship, joined the defenders of Quanzhou to break the siege, and Doni's headquarters retreated safely, but the nearly 10,000 green battalions he used for the break all collapsed, and the soldiers rushed to run away, forming a system, and basically the whole territory of Fujian was recovered.

Shou Xiang took a sip of tea, and it was time for the Northern Expedition next.

At present, the core units of the coalition army, the Guards Brigade are stationed in the city of Guangzhou, the first division of the Guard Flag Corps is in Jiangxi to help and stabilize the Ming army, and the main force is deployed east of Guangzhou.

In addition to the two field divisions, the army headquarters also directly administered one heavy artillery battalion, one heavy cavalry regiment, and one newly formed dragoon regiment.

After the establishment of the Guangzhou Military Region, 12,000 unmarried youngsters over the age of 16 and under the age of 18 were requisitioned from various parts of the two regions and organized into the Youth League.

Affected by the atmosphere of the Ming army and the green battalion, the mainland's military resources were not very good. Teenagers are also malleable, and soldiers under the age of 20, although they lack resilience, are the most fearless, they will become cavalry, infantry and artillery, and older, less malleable recruits will be organized into auxiliary troops.

The Guangzhou Military Region dispatched a large number of veterans and non-commissioned officers from the Guard Flag Division to train the recruits, and Walter was stationed in Dongguan and was personally responsible for the training of the recruits.

Since the wounded soldiers were all transferred to the Guards Brigade after recovery, and there were large vacancies in both the Imperial Division and the Calvary Division, the corps commander Filhoff transferred two brigade-level detachments along the line from Guilin to Wuzhou, while the rest of the troops remained in Zhaoqing to wait for the completion of the reorganization.

The mules and horses captured at Sanshui were distributed to the divisions and supplemented into the logistics and artillery columns.

Orderly, draped in his coat, studied the map.

There were several options for the route of the main Northern Expedition.

The land route to Jiangxi and Fujian is not suitable, and the transportation pressure is too great.

The sea route is relatively risky, and a single typhoon can bury all efforts, and maintaining 1 division with less than one division in Zhejiang is the upper limit.

The most suitable route is to enter the Xiangjiang River and the Yangtze River through the Xijiang River and Lingqu, occupy Yueyang and Wuchang, and then go down the river to control all the Yangtze River.

There were two reasons why the main forces of the coalition forces were slow to cross the South Ridge.

Spring is coming, spring and summer expeditions, the army will have more non-combat disease attrition, and the lack of food on the front line in the spring and summer will require higher energy for strategic transportation in the rear.

Another problem is Wu Sangui of Yungui.

Although he controlled a considerable part of the main stream of the Xiangjiang River, it was difficult for him to break away from the main transportation road and go deep into the mountains, and he did not want to spend too much time and materials in the Yunnan-Guizhou Mountains.

If Wu Sangui really went down the mountain and cut off the Xiangjiang River, he would be able to breathe a sigh of relief and settle him in a battle.

Of course, the strength of the coalition forces cannot open a confrontation thousands of miles long like Hong Chengchou's fight against the western camp, and it is unnecessary to do so.

As long as a few key points such as Yongzhou and Hengzhou are secured, and other regions are released, Wu Sangui can of course easily cut off the Xiangjiang River, but it is useless.

As long as the breakthrough is stabilized, and then along the water channel, the communication line can be easily reopened, and a considerable part of the Wu Domain's army can be stuck once or twice.

Wu Sangui also knew this, and some of the main forces of the Wu Domain were assembled in Guiyang one after another, and they also occupied several eastward passages, but he just couldn't come down.

Wu Fan's maintenance of this posture means that the order must be at least 3-4 brigades in Hunan and Guangxi to defend the long lines of communication, and the strength of the Northern Expedition cannot be less than 1 army, so the order can only wait for the completion of the troops.