Wang Zheng nodded, holding the steel knife in his hand, pacing back and forth on the platform, looking at the soldiers below like clouds, the iron armor was generous, and his heart was indescribably agitated.

Yesterday, we received news that the sailors led by Jiang Da occupied the Xijiang estuary the day before yesterday and built several hundred boats of various sizes to cross the river at the boat shop on the Xijiang estuary.

Although the speed of going south is very fast, in the eyes of outsiders, Wang Zheng is very strong this time.

But there are some things in it, Wang Zheng knows it in his heart, this comes and goes, just one more than the number of UnionPay consumed, more than any previous battle, the so-called belligerent will die, that's the case.

It's not that you don't want to fight, but it's too expensive to fight, so since you fight this time, you have to use the fastest speed to complete the goal.

Historically, after Zhu Yuanzhang occupied Chuzhou, he went south to besiege Nanjing three times, and only captured it for the third time, but there was still a situation where he could advance and retreat in the south of the Yangtze River.

In today's situation in the world, the Qing army occupies outside the pass, the soldiers are full of food, Li Zicheng is forcing Xi'an, and the troops are millions, all of which can be regarded as having the capital to compete for the world, but the Shandong army is far from enough to rely on Shandong alone.

In the original history, on the star-like chessboard of the world, the gamers were none other than Li Zicheng and Dolgon, who had developed silently for so many years, and what Wang Zheng did was to grab a ticket.

Shandong Licheng is the capital of the Shandong Army, but it was originally just the size of a county seat, although after several years of operation and perfection of the Shandong Army, it has been several times prosperous, but as the capital of the game world, it is far from enough, and it is necessary to find a place to establish a foundation.

Although the road to the north is easier, Wang Zheng has something to hide.

He is still the marquis of the imperial court, and going north to attack the Jingshi is like rebelling and killing the king, and he will become the object of the world's crusade, and then the Nanming in history will not be so easy to fight.

What's the use of occupying the Beijing Division, it's nothing more than an extra North Zhili that has been ravaged by the Tartars for many years, how can there be the prosperity of the South Zhili.

If the Southern Ming Dynasty were to join forces and come up with a strategy of connecting with the Emperor, the army would enter the customs under the slogan of exterminating itself and avenging the Ming Court, and Li Zicheng would also use this excuse to go north.

Wang Zheng will be attacked by Dashun, the Qing army and the Southern Ming Dynasty from three sides, and become a victim of others competing for the world, even if he is strong, he will surely fall.

Now that it is July of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, if he wants to grab a ticket to the world's chess game, Wang Zheng has no other way but to give it a go.

Thinking of this, Wang Zheng said loudly:

"The thieves swept the Central Plains, the South Zhili was rumored, and the air defense of Nanjing City was empty, if the thieves took advantage of the loopholes, the general trend of the world has been overcome!"

Speaking of this, Wang Zheng handed over the head to the soldiers on the side and continued:

"The 200,000 troops of our Shandong Army will cross the river to the south today, and strive to protect Nanjing, which cannot be delayed, even if the world hates it and is bewitched by the villain, Wang will not change his original intention and is determined to protect the country!"

Suddenly, Wang Zheng pulled out the steel knife with a "poof", pointed in the direction of Nanjing, and shouted:

"The three armies obeyed the order and went to Nanjing!"

The number of 200,000 troops has been watered, but it is just a whole to make people sound more imposing, and it is normal at this time, like Li Zicheng, hundreds of thousands of people are already known as millions.

The most of Zuo Liangyu's subordinates is 300,000, but it is known as 500,000 troops, compared to the 150,000 Shandong army, which is claimed to be 200,000, which is much more honest.

After the Shandong Army joined forces in Chuzhou, the total number of troops reached an unprecedented 150,000, and in addition to tens of thousands of officers and soldiers, almost all of them were wearing armor, and they were all elites who had undergone re-training and countless battles.

This number is not the largest number of troops that the Shandong army can use, but it is the maximum number of troops that Wang Zheng can draw without affecting the security and garrison of various places, and it should be enough to deal with the less than 50,000 officers and troops in Nanjing City.

Under the order of Anton Hou Wang Zheng, in addition to leaving thousands of foreign soldiers and horses in Chuzhou to defend the army, the 150,000 troops divided into three routes into the territory of Yingtianfu and went straight to the mouth of the Xijiang River.

In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, anyone with a little insight could see what Li Zicheng, Wang Zheng, and the Qing army outside the country were busy with.

At this time, it is obviously not a wise move to continue to stumble, and it is the best choice to take advantage of the chaos to build a foundation.

Li Zicheng wanted to take Xi'an, and Wang Zheng went straight to Nanjing, both in order to establish his own foundation in the chaos and fight against each other.

The chieftain of the Qing army outside the pass had just died, and there was endless controversy about the establishment of the king, but once it was integrated, it would immediately look at the pass, and the time was limited.

Zhang Xianzhong returned to Sichuan, but his strength was still too small at this time, even if he united the fourth battalion of the left to make trouble in the Huguang border, Luzhou Mansion and Anqing Mansion, but it would not be a climate in the short term.

On this day, the officers and soldiers on Jiangpu City saw the dust and smoke flying in the distance, and the flags were dense, and they were still a little puzzled at the moment, could it be that the thieves were coming?

But when he saw it clearly, he was almost frightened, and the endless Shandong army was rushing towards him.

At the moment, there was no thought of resisting, and he ran down to the city to inform Mr. Qian, who was also taken aback when he heard it, and ordered the city to open to welcome the surrender without thinking about it.

Speaking of which, many court generals and thieves who surrendered to the Shandong Army felt that there was nothing in their hearts, because Wang Zheng was the Anton Hou of the imperial court, and the Shandong Army was an official army.

It is a great thing that the thieves come to the house, and they can mix up the reputation of the official family, no longer be spurned by others, and find a towering tree to lean on.

It's simpler for the officers and soldiers to dedicate the city, just say that they are welcomed, anyway, everyone is an official army in the final analysis, and there is no psychological burden like the surrender of the Qing army in history.

Jiangpu is just a county seat, and the garrison strength is only a few hundred people, and the best title is only a thousand generals, and the garrison strength is even inferior to the subordinates of Li Jingguang, who garrisoned Chuzhou, and there is no way to resist.

Historically, the Qing army would move south at the old Jiangkou of Yangzhou Mansion, but this time, the Shandong Army did not control Yangzhou Mansion, so it was ready to cross the river at the mouth of the Xijiang River, seize the victory pass, and use the fastest speed to attack the city of Nanjing.

Wang Zheng had already consulted with the staff officers of the Military Discussion Department in advance and considered several possible outcomes.

The imperial court soldiers and horses in Nanjing City will not be too small, and according to the scale and structure of the capital, if it is not easy to storm it, you can try the method of the Qing army in history, so that the city should be opened.

Of course, this method has great limitations and may delay the fighter.

Wang Zheng is still more inclined to hit the force to break the city in one fell swoop, and the worst result is to use heavy artillery to open a hole and rush in, and then spend money to rebuild this consequence is acceptable.

The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and although there are some rumors about the Shandong army's southward movement, because Wang Zheng handled it quickly, it sounded like a rumor at first glance when it reached Jiangnan.

Shi Shangshu, who is noble and proud, doesn't believe it at all, saying that now the world is peaceful and prosperous everywhere, and you told me that there is a large army to attack Nanjing?

Pure.

The Shandong army was stained with the light of Shi Shangshu and those honorable relatives this time, saying that no one believed you when you came, which was a surprise and a good start.

However, if the city of Nanjing cannot be attacked for a long time, it will take the old road of the Jin army entering the Kou to attack Beijing nine years after Chongzhen, and finally the officials and troops in Jiangnan will react and jointly come to the rescue, then the gains will outweigh the losses.

Therefore, before going south, the Military Council Division had even selected several routes that failed in the battle and retreated, and the best one of them was nothing more than returning to Xijiangkou from Dasheng Pass and returning to Xijiangkou by the same route as the naval division warships.

Wang Zheng can't afford the consequences of defeat, if he succeeds, even if he occupies the angel and the geographical advantage, Zhu Yuanzhang has besieged Nanjing three times in history, and the last time he barely beat it.

The same is true of the current Wang Zheng, once defeated, the Shandong army may even lose the large areas of land just occupied in Fengyang and Chuzhou one after another, just like Li Zicheng in history.

The officers and troops of Nanzhili still have some strength, and if they take Nanjing in one fell swoop and give it a deterrent, even if they open up the situation and fail to defeat it, it is inevitable that the officers and troops of Nanzhili will unite and go north.

At that time, if the officers and troops in other places were bold, the Shandong army would have fallen into a situation where the enemy was on its back, and Li Zicheng would have picked up a big advantage in vain.

Therefore, the situation faced by Wang Zheng this time is much more dangerous than Li Zicheng.

The only obstacle to Li Zicheng's advance into Xi'an was the elite of the five provinces led by Sun Chuanting, but once Wang Zheng failed to make a quick attack, what he would have to face would be the counterattack of the entire Jiangnan official army.

At this moment, Wang Zheng stood on the fortune boat with his hands in his hands, his eyes were sometimes deep, sometimes empty, he didn't know what he was thinking, his fingers were twisted together, and he kept rubbing them.

This chessboard for the world has been played to the present, and Wang Zheng's top priority is to open up the situation in Jiangnan.