Jiujiang Province.

Tan Tai has been under a lot of pressure lately.

After the defeat of the Battle of Nanchang, he led his troops back to Jiujiang, and soon sent a battle report to the Qing court, explaining the reasons for the withdrawal and asking for merit for the officers and men of the three armies.

In this carefully concocted war report, Tan Tai pointed out bitterly that his troops had besieged Nanchang for more than half a year, and the city had run out of ammunition and food, and the elimination of Jin Shenghuan was a foregone conclusion, but because of the sudden defeat in the Battle of Huguang, the troops of Wang Kefan of the Pseudo-Ming Dynasty poured their nests to aid Nanchang, and the Qing army was in an unfavorable situation of being attacked by the enemy on the back of the abdomen.

This battle report was written by Tan Tai, but it condensed the collective wisdom of Huang Shu and a group of staff, and from the perspective of the course of the campaign, it was basically in line with the facts, but the Spring and Autumn brushwork was adopted in several key places, turning the forced escape into an active retreat.

From a strategic perspective, the reason for the defeat in the Battle of Nanchang is obvious, it is precisely because of the sudden defeat of the Qing army in Huguang that Wang Kefan can free up his hands to rescue Nanchang, if Luck Dehun and Geng Zhongming are not eliminated, and always maintain pressure on the Hunan side, Wang Kefan will not dare to leave Huguang lightly, and the Battle of Nanchang can also be won smoothly...... So this is an uncontrollable external factor, Tan Tai has no responsibility on his side, and it is not a crime of war!

In the battle report, several local defeats such as the Battle of Jilong Mountain, the Battle of Xinjian Town, the Battle of Nanchang Siege, and the Battle of Huangshagang were hidden, and it was emphasized that Jin Shenghuan was stubbornly blocked under the city of Nanchang, Huangshagang attacked the Chu army, Ma Guozhu set up an ambush and won a great victory, and annihilated the Yuezhou camp of the Chu army. Li Chengdong skillfully broke through and many other highlights, in short, the killing was not calculated, although he was defeated, he still won. Although Nanchang broke the siege, Chu Jun and Jin Shenghuan were both greatly injured......

In the Battle of Nanchang, Liu Liangzuo, Lin Guangyuan, Wang Lifu and other loyal generals died in the king's affairs, and the Eight Banners athletes also lost nearly 1,000 people, but Tan Tai was not chaotic in the face of danger, calmly responded, and set up a clever plan to defeat the enemy army. The Eight Banners and the Green Battalion fought bravely, half of the 150,000 rebels under Jin Shenghuan were wiped out, and the most arrogant elite Yuezhou battalion of the Chu army was completely annihilated. The Chongyang battalion and the Dongguan battalion were defeated, and the Tongshan battalion, the Gongyi battalion and the Ganzhou battalion of Wanyuan Ji were also disabled, and the total casualties of the Ming army exceeded 100,000...... In the Battle of Nanchang, the casualties of the Ming army far exceeded those of the Qing army. Strategically, the Qing army was defeated. Tactically, it was an out-and-out victory!

Soon after this war report was sent out, Tan Tai sent a series of letters to the Qing court, pointing out that Jiangxi's location was too important, like a bridgehead cutting into the Qing army's occupied area, and that Wuchang could be attacked in the west, Anhui in the north, Nanzhili in the northeast, and Zhejiang in the east. To the southeast is Fujian, and the Qing army's defense line is too long. It is inevitable that there will be no way to defend one or the other, so please send reinforcements to the imperial court, mobilize food and materials, and launch another offensive against Jiangxi.

This is Huang Shu's idea, the Qing court in Beijing can be fooled, but the Ming army can't be fooled, in case the Ming army takes advantage of the victory to attack, hit any place in Fujian, Zhejiang and Nanzhili, Tan Tai's cowhide will be blown immediately, so prepare a case in the Qing court first, so as not to be held accountable afterwards.

Tan Tai is very positive about this, and the record shirks the responsibility is still secondary, the key is that Nanchang will lose the unwilling, he is eager to get the support of Beijing, and the Chu army against the soldiers, the generals against the generals, and fight another battle in a dignified manner, to avenge Nanchang's revenge.

Beijing quickly responded that before the end of the war in Shanxi, it would not send an additional soldier to Jiangxi, Tan Tai was disappointed, and heard that there were many people in the court who doubted the truth of the Battle of Nanchang, and even the little emperor of Shunzhi had asked.

Tan Tai was shocked and angry, and found Huang Shu to scold him.

Huang Shu was very calm and carefully analyzed the reasons for him. This yin wind suddenly appeared in the court, it was nothing more than that some people were dissatisfied with Dolgon and wanted to take the opportunity to make trouble...... But they are destined to be overturned, as long as Dolgon is there, those people are clowns who jump off the beam and shake the trees, and they are ridiculous.

Huang Shu finally proposed that in order to counter this yin wind, the Qing army in Jiangxi should launch an active attack in the local area and make a more positive posture, so Tan Tai, in the name of the general of the expedition to the south, ordered Tong Yangjia, the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian, Liu Wuyuan, the governor of Jiangxi, and Ma Guozhu, the governor of Jiangnan, to send troops together to attack Raozhou Mansion in the northeast corner of Jiangxi.

The central and southern parts of Raozhou Mansion were under the control of the Ming army, and belonged to the territory of Fu Dingquan and Pan Yongxi...... This battle was originally nine out of ten, but the hateful thing is that the reinforcements of the Chu army came so quickly, and the Fujian Green Battalion was so unfought, it was defeated in a daze, but it lost several pieces of territory in Guixi County and Fuliang County.

Raozhou Mansion is located in the northeast corner of Jiangxi, and Fuliang County is located in the northeast corner of Raozhou Mansion, which is Jingdezhen in later generations. Starting from Fuliang County, the Ming army could enter the Nanzhili area at any time, not far from Zhejiang and Fujian, and the threat to the Qing army was too great.

Tan Tai really wanted to pull out this nail, but the army was newly defeated, and he had to guard against the Ming army attacking Jiujiang, so he did not have the strength to go around to the northeast corner of Jiangxi to attack Fuliang County for the time being. He had no choice but to seize the time to rest and recuperate, replenish the troops, raise grain and straw, and restore the combat effectiveness of the troops to the fullest, and at the same time notify Ma Guozhu and Tong Yangjia to strengthen the defense of Jiangxi.

What are you afraid of, what is coming!

Recently, there have been detailed reports, and there have been obvious changes in the southern Ming side, and the various units of the Ming army have been frequently transferred, sending grain and grass to the northern part of Jiangxi from all over the country, and it seems that they are preparing to launch a large-scale campaign.

What is hateful is that in the past two years, the Chu army has paid more and more attention to intelligence warfare, and has set up a special intelligence bureau to investigate the Qing army's detailed work very closely, and the information obtained by Tan Tai is scattered, lacking valuable key information, and unable to judge the direction of the Ming army's attack.

With such a long line of defense, where should it be defended?

Tan Tai immediately sent people to Beijing to report the emergency, and gathered his generals' staff to study countermeasures. After a series of deliberate discussions. Coupled with empathy, everyone unanimously agreed that the first target of the Ming army's attack was either Anqing, where salt merchants gathered. Either it's Fujian, which has a forward position.

Tan Tai decided to focus the defense on Anqing, firstly, Anqing is very important, and there must be no mistakes, and secondly, Anqing is also the greatest threat to the Ming army, if the main force of the Ming army enters Fujian or Zhejiang in the east, and the Qing army goes south from Anqing, it can immediately cut off the supply line of the Ming army.

"It's a shut-in-the-door! No matter where the Nanban attacks. I only need to send 50,000 troops south to Raozhou Mansion, and I can seal their retreat......"

……

At the same time, the Chu army was also actively preparing for war. Wang Kefan held a three-day meeting with the senior generals of the Chu army, and the General Staff repeatedly studied and discussed the battle plan for the Eastern Expedition.

In addition to busy military affairs, Wang Kefan also talked with Tan Xiao and others one by one. The stalls of the Chu army are getting bigger and bigger. It's not like we're always together. You may not see each other for a few months after separation, but this time, except for a few such as Wang Sheng, the senior generals of the Chu army are basically all together, and they just have a detailed communication.

The content of the conversation ranged from business to private. In view of the different situations of each unit, Wang Kefan has specific requirements, and after communication, many things have basically been decided. For example, the Yuezhou battalion was disabled this time. It is difficult to restore combat effectiveness in the short term, so it is necessary to downsize. Downsizing from three small battalions to two small battalions.

"For the Yuezhou camp, this is actually a bit unfair." Wang Kefan tapped the table with his fingers gently, as if he was talking to himself: "When Huangshagang was just lost, the Yuezhou battalion could still withdraw if it wanted to, but this can not be mentioned again. Without the Yuezhou battalion nailed to the Ganjiang camp, the resistance on Wang Sheng's side would increase, so knowing that the Yuezhou camp was cut by Tunbul, I still didn't order a retreat, you should know it in your heart. ”

"It's none of your business, I'm the one who underestimates the enemy." Tan Tai shook his head and said with self-reproach: "At that time, I was only thinking about attacking, and the formation was too scattered, Lin Yonggang was thrown in Huangshagang, Dong Qiaoxuan was in Xinzhuang, but I was dragged in the Ganjiang camp, and then I was exploited by Tun Buer." ”

"This is not the key issue, there is a scattered style of fighting, how can you fight if you don't dare to divide your troops? Could it be that your Yuezhou battalion will always have to be hugged together, and you can only go straight? I think the details are still not done well, the first few sharp soldiers were eaten by the Tartars, and they didn't even have time to call the police, Tun Bu'er had already driven straight into Huangshagang, Lin Yong had just rushed to the battle, so he had to retreat to Hualin Mountain...... As soon as the battle began, you lost a battalion, and of course it was difficult to get behind. ”

"Lin Yonggang, this guy is really blind! Lin Zhong surrendered to the Tartars, but he didn't notice it at all, and promoted him to be promoted to guerrilla sentry! When it comes to Lin Zhong who surrendered, Tan Xiao is angry and doesn't fight anywhere.

"How should Lin Zhong deal with it, what do you Yuezhou Camp think?"

"Surrender to the enemy and behead, no one has a word."

"Well, let's do it." Wang Kefan pondered for a moment and said: "Go back and arrange to send some silver to his family, I heard that his parents are old, and there is only one son, Lin Zhong......"

The cold weapon war is very cruel, theoretically it is not allowed to surrender, and it is not allowed to escape, and it is necessary to fight to the last man. In the strong armies of this era, such as the Qi family army and the Eight Banners, they all practiced the method of sitting together, and as long as there was a rout, they would definitely have their heads cut off.

Of course, this kind of regulation may not be fully implemented, for example, the military law of the Qi family army is very strict, "I urgently urinate and urinate during the march, and cut my ears; Noisy speakers, tied up forty ......" but Qi Jiguang himself said: "I have traveled thousands of miles in the summer, and I have never beaten a soldier with five sticks." ”

At another time, Lin Zhong, who had made a meritorious contribution to killing the enemy, might still have a glimmer of life, but his luck was not good, and he was on the cusp of strict investigation of military discipline, and he would definitely be executed.

……

It's already 3,000 words, talk about it a few more words, and there is no charge.

In the early days, the Eight Banners practiced the method of defeat and sitting, and they had the responsibility to correct it. If a battle is lost, the team is defeated, and according to Nurhachi's regulations, the soldiers who retreat first cannot be found, then the lottery punishment system is adopted in this team, and the winner will be beheaded to warn the descendants. But once the lottery was the bravest soldier, and the other Eight Banners wept bitterly, all proving that the person was the last to retreat, and asked for a new lot. Nurhachi disagreed, and the military regulations could not be changed, and this person was the one who wanted to be beheaded.

On the contrary, the Ming army was extremely tolerant of prisoners of war, everyone lacked young people who could fight, and they were directly incorporated after capturing prisoners.

In such a war between two completely different armies, the outcome was already doomed. (To be continued......)