According to the "Amendment to the Military Operations of the Second Northern Expedition", the scale of this Northern Expedition was not much larger than that of the First Northern Expedition. It is nothing more than advancing by land and water, quickly crushing the main force of the Qing army, taking the city of Beijing, and disintegrating the rule of Zhengfu of the Qing Dynasty.

As had been planned earlier by the General Staff Headquarters, the entire offensive was carried out in waves. The Jingchu Military Region was the first to attack and quickly attack the Central Plains, while the 10 divisions of the Lingnan Military Region, with a total of 130,000 people, took the train and went north along the Hanguang Line to join the battlefield as quickly as possible.

The narrow carriage of the train was filled with dense Royal Army soldiers, and although the autumn weather in the southern region was cool, the situation inside the car was really unbearable, but no one dared to take off their uniforms.

Situ Jia flashed the fan in his hand and said to Wei Ende on the opposite side: "I finally caught up, if I didn't participate in this battle, it would be a real regret for life." ”

The bearded Wei Ender unbuttoned his neckline, revealing a piece of black chest hair, and said: "Why is this bullshit Guangdong Hunan still so hot, Lao Tzu thought that staying in Borneo was enough to suffer, but I didn't expect to continue to suffer after I came back." ”

Situ Jia said: "Maybe it's good to go to the north, the north will be a little cooler." ”

Wei Ende patted the adjutant beside him and said, "You kid is from the north, tell Chief of Staff Situ, is it cool in the north in summer?" ”

The adjutant next to him was drinking water with a green military kettle, but he was slapped by the division commander and almost vomited, but he still replied honestly: "Report to the division commander and brigade commander, the temperature is basically the same in the whole country in summer, and some northern areas are even hotter than the south." ”

Situ Jia smiled and said, "So that's the case, that's not good." ”

Wei Ender touched the wooden train table in front of him, and seemed to be amazed at how to make the table so smooth, and he said: "We are hot, and the clear dog is also hot." Don't forget, hundreds of us are crammed into such a big place, can it not be hot? When I got to the place, it wouldn't be hot when the event started. ”

Situ Jia's adjutant, Zhang Fu suddenly asked: "The emperor seems to be going north by train, I don't know if I can stand it." ”

Wei Ende laughed and said: "You don't care what the emperor does, the emperor sits on the royal train, and there is no comparison with us stinky soldiers." Besides, the emperor himself is a big-headed soldier who fights the sky step by step, you can stand it, how can the emperor not stand it. ”

Situ Jia flipped through the newspaper in front of him and said casually: "The newspaper said that in order to transport troops, the transportation capacity of the entire Hanguang Line is insufficient, and every train cannot be stopped. The newspaper said that in order to speed up the transportation of soldiers, the emperor also arranged for soldiers to ride on the royal special train. ”

Wei Ende arched his hand towards the sky and said, "Our emperor loves soldiers like sons, and he is a famous general who has never been born in the world!" ”

Since the extermination of the rebellious people and horse bandits entrenched in Henan, Lin Zexu has been sitting in Nanyang City, resting the new green camp team on the one hand, and appeasing the local people who have been left with nothing on the other. Although the financial difficulties of the Qing Dynasty intensified, it still gave the original Henan a three-year tax exemption, and in addition, following the example of the big locust tree in the early Ming Dynasty, residents migrated from densely populated areas of Shandong to the Henan area, which had abandoned large tracts of land.

Lin Zexu walked in the farmland outside Nanyang City, it was the summer season, Lin Zexu, who paid attention to appearance, was dressed in an official uniform, covered himself tightly, and kept sweating outside. Looking at the millet in the farmland, Lin Zexu felt that everything was worth it.

Suddenly, a Goshha ran over in a panic and shouted: "Oh no, my lord, the Nanban army has sent Wuchang and has already invaded Henan, and it will be hit to Nanyang in a few days." ”

Lin Zexu hurriedly asked that Goshha: "Before the autumn harvest is over, the southern thieves will come to the border, don't they need the autumn harvest?" Let's talk about how many men and horses, how many people are equipped with muskets and artillery? ”

Goshha said: "There are 30,000 people on the left and right flanks, a total of more than 60,000 people, and the spies say that this may be the vanguard of the Nanban, because it is said that the trains in the south continue to send troops from Guangdong to Wuchang a few days ago." My lord, there is no news about this artillery gun, but according to folk rumors, everyone in this southern barbarian army has guns, and there are hundreds of artillery. ”

Lin Zexu nodded, dissipating his illusions, when he was guarding Wuchang, the Southern Barbarian general Wu Qing put on a thousand artillery array to besiege the city, at that time, if the Southern Barbarian general was ruthless, maybe the entire Wuchang would have turned him into scorched earth.

Lin Zexu closed his eyes and pondered how to resist the southern thieves, and then sighed miserably and said, "What other strategies can stop the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Southern Barbarians, only death." ”

The entire army and horses of Henan are now commanded by Lin Zexu, the governor of Zhili, and the strongest Manchu main force of less than 40,000 in Nanyang is at the forefront. In the land of northern Henan and eastern Henan, the Manchu Qing Dynasty also deployed two towns sporadically, with a total of less than 30,000 people. The Qing soldiers in northern Shandong are still relatively strong, and they can make up about 80,000 horses, but it is debatable what the combat effectiveness of these 80,000 horses is. Moreover, these armies were all armies that were pacifying the bandits and rebels earlier, and their strength was to bully and bully the common people.

In Shanxi, Gansu and other northwest regions, the Manchu Qing defense was relatively weak, and there were only more than 20,000 Northwest Army. General Yili, who commanded the Xinjiang people, didn't have much strength in his hands, less than 10,000~ people.

The strongest defense force of the Manchu Qing was concentrated in the Zhili region, that is, the Hebei region. There is a new army of the so-called Manchu clan led by Yishan, as well as 100,000 Eight Banner soldiers and green battalion men. Further northeast, General Sheng Jing and General Heilongjiang had less than 30,000 men.

In this way, it can be roughly concluded that the total strength of the Manchu Qing Dynasty today is about 330,000, which is greatly reduced compared with the period of several previous emperors. The loss of territory, especially in Jiangnan, made it even more difficult for the Manchus to raise enough military pay to maintain more troops. The Qing army, which had been defeated repeatedly, was defeated once it was fought, and there were more and more deserters deserting, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty was unable to recruit 800,000 standing men and horses again. At the same time, these men, who are not many people, are not only regular military personnel, but also responsible for various tasks such as river flooding, urban defense, and public security, and it is difficult for them to be truly useful.

Lin Zexu hurried back to the New Green Camp camp outside Nanyang City, and not long after they entered the camp gate, the dutiful Goshha ran out again.

"My lord, it's not good, the Nanban vanguard cavalry has arrived 50 miles outside the camp, and it is expected that it will not be long before the camp will be charged!"

Lin Zexu said: "Chongying? How dare they? Countless horses were set up outside the camp of my new green~ battalion, and the barracks were solid, and they rushed in, that is, they were killing themselves. ”

Lin Zexu held the rough map and looked left and right. "Pass the order, the soldiers of each battalion will reorganize their armaments and prepare for the enemy!" Lin Zexu ordered sharply, and he also took the imperial treasure knife that symbolized the commander from the table of the handsome tent.

The handle of the sword is made of copper wire and inlaid with precious rubies, and the whole looks very majestic and elegant. The blade of the knife is also annoyed by the prismatic light of the blue se, and the mirror-like knife body reflects Lin Zexu's increasingly old face.

Lin Zexu had a heart cramp, seemed to have a sense of grievance, and seemed to have become relieved and open-minded.

He walked up to his case, picked up his pen, and wrote a dozen words on the paper: "If the country lives and dies for profit, will it not be avoided because of misfortune and fortune." ”

These dozen words, sonorous strokes, force through the back of the paper, seem to write the life of a loyal minister, this is a brilliant and splendid life, he enjoyed a lot, glory, fame, dependence, love. At the same time, it is also a sad life, and it is the sinking of the country ~ family that makes him keep busy, like a pasteer, constantly repairing this big house that has corroded and is about to collapse. It's just that everyone knows that the house is going to fall, and a few thin pieces of paper can only temporarily block the wind, but it can't be made into a weight that weighs on this decaying building.

Lin Zexu is a traditional bureaucrat, although he has the Jing God of asking for the people~ life and defending the country, but he can't open his eyes, but he can't see where the chaos of the world is. Even though the powerful country ~ family in the south shows the belonging of the world day by day, he guards a foolish loyalty, and is willing to dedicate his last bit of strength for a country that is not his own race.

After Lin Zexu finished writing, he picked up the treasure knife again. He smiled at the sword, grew firmer, and strode out of the tent, ready to meet his enemies.