(Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and I wish you all a happy new year at dusk!)

Xuzhou, Grand Canal Wharf.

The docks are busy, and so are the canals.

Cao Yue's army of King Qin, the vanguard has arrived here.

The time is already the end of September, this season is the dry season in the north, the canal water is shallow, it is very difficult to sail, the large troop carriers because the draft is too deep, there is no way to pass, the canal is basically carrying military supplies, and they are all small and medium-sized ships. Tens of thousands of generals, most of them marched on horseback or on foot, and many military supplies could only travel with the army because of the limited carrying capacity of the canal.

This caused the army to move slowly, at least much slower than it was now hoped for, and could only travel a maximum of fifty-six miles a day. In the feeling of the other generals, such a speed was already very fast, but Cao Yue knew that if they traveled north at this speed, by the time they arrived in Beijing, the war in Beijing would have already ended.

Cao Yue also knew that the further north he went, the slower he would travel, especially after the Shandong Boundary was made.

Shandong is Liu Zeqing's territory, this is a warlord who violates whoever names Du Yang and Yin, not to mention that Cao Yue has no jurisdiction over it, and the Six Ministries of Nanjing are not binding on him. The army of King Qin, who went north, was blocked by Liu Zeqing in Shandong, or encountered other troubles.

But Cao Yue knew that he had to rush to Beijing as soon as possible to rescue the royals.

Emperor Chongzhen, of course, he didn't want to save it, this incompetent king is gone, maybe it is the blessing of the current Ming Dynasty, after everything is overturned and restarted, he can occupy a very important position in the new small court with the army in his hands, and even affect the general trend of the world. But Emperor Chongzhen is now the king of a country after all, and he has to make a move to save this king with affection and reason, so as to win the recognition and support of the people of the world.

Again. Emperor Chongzhen's sons, he must be rescued, at least one is to be rescued, if Emperor Chongzhen really encounters an accident, or as originally found a tree on Jingshan, take a strip of cloth around his neck and hang it on the swing, in order to express the tragedy of "the king dies", then a certain son of Emperor Chongzhen is the person who inherits the unification, how to rescue at least one.

But if at the current pace of travel, after he arrives in Beijing. can only collect the corpses for them, and even the corpses can't catch up, and directly greet the remnants of the rogues who fled back after the defeat of a stone, if Wu Sangui still colluded with Jiannu to enter the customs as recorded in the original history.

Cao Yue knew that because of himself, a traveler, many historical events had changed, just like Chen Yuanyuan, who was originally robbed by Wu Sangui, is still in Nanjing, and even has affection for himself. And Songshan and Jinzhou were not lost. It is impossible for Jiannu to come and go freely outside the customs as he used to. Whether the subsequent history will develop as it was, he doesn't know.

But Cao Yue also knew that if he led the army north at such a speed. There are many things that he can not predict and grasp, at least the members of the royal family in Beijing may suffer. He promised Zhu Yujiao that he would definitely rescue her relatives. promised his wife. Then do your best, even if some people can't be rescued because of God's will. But at least there must be some achievements, so that Zhu Yujiao is a little comforted. If no one can be saved, then Zhu Yujiao will definitely be extremely sad and disappointed, and the general trend of the world will become more and more turbulent and chaotic.

The ships of the naval division commanded by Sun Chuanting were faster than the armies marching by land.

During this time, there happened to be a tropical cyclone or something like that blowing across the southeast coast and then going north, with the wind blowing north, Sun Chuanting's army marched very fast, and two days ago, when Cao Yue received Sun Chuanting's report on the battle situation sent by flying pigeons, they had already arrived at the sea off Shandong and were marching in the direction of Tianjin Wei. In the past few days, the wind direction has not changed, and the speed of the sailors' warships is still not slow.

According to Cao Yue's estimates, the fleet of sailors must have arrived at Tianjin Wei at least six or seven days faster than the army marching by land.

In Xuzhou, Cao Yue also convened an emergency meeting of the generals who were closest to him, and he made a new decision, that is, he, the commander, would personally lead the accompanying special guard battalion to break away from the army and rush to Beijing at the speed of a few horse transfers. The army was led by Cao Jie, who was appointed by him as his deputy, and then caught up.

Cao Yue ordered Cao Jie to slow down the march of the army, especially after entering Shandong, to be more careful, and if it was intercepted or otherwise blocked, it should be solved by force.

Cao Yue no longer wanted his army to go further north, and he knew that this time he was traveling north to King Qin, and it was basically impossible for the army to reach Beijing before the Liukou. Since the time was almost half a month or even longer, it was inevitable for the Liukou to break through Beijing, and there was no need for him to fight with them when the Liukou army was at its peak, you must know that Jiannu was eyeing them from behind.

Instead of letting Jiannu grab a cheap and get the benefit of the fisherman, it is better to let Jiannu and the rogues fight hard, and he will get the benefit of the fisherman.

Cao Yue knew that Jiannu would not let go of such a good opportunity to take advantage of the fire to rob, and he would definitely make some moves. Although many histories have changed because of the butterfly effect he brought, some major events may still happen, such as the day when Wu Sangui was thrown, and the entry of Jiannu and so on. As long as Dorgon didn't become stupid, he wouldn't let go of this perfect opportunity to get in.

If this is really the case, then there is no need for the Nanjing New Army to wade in this muddy water now, and let Jiannu and Liukou fight to lose both.

When Jiannu and Liukou are fighting to the death, he can take the opportunity to support the new king, stabilize the opportunity in the new dynasty, gather more strength, and reorganize the mountains and rivers.

The news received by Cao Yue also proved that Jiannu had already begun to move, but was only blocked by the defenders of Songshan and Jinzhou. But now we know that this situation will soon change, and the men and horses of Songshan and Jinzhou may give up outside the border and lead the army to aid Beijing.

The situation is extremely critical, and Cao Yue cannot be allowed to hesitate too much. After making up his mind, Cao Yue also took his own family troops, as well as a special guard battalion with a total of 2,000 people and 5,000 war horses, and quickly went north after breaking away from the army.

Cao Yue's elite detachment's rapid northward march was carried out in secret, except for the most trusted generals, no one else knew about it, and they also strictly guarded this secret. The orders issued by Cao Jie are still issued in Cao Yue's name.

After passing Xuzhou, the march of the army also slowed down, and Cao Yue's secret order to Cao Jie told him that the army could only reach Liaocheng at the farthest, and it was best to stop at Jining, so as not to have time to retreat. Although Cao Jie's order to Cao Yue is not very true, the leader of the original family Ding army, who respects Cao Yue like a god, still carries out Cao Yue's order to the letter, without a trace of ambiguity.

At the time of the Lord, the situation in the north deteriorated more and more, and when Cao Yue led the elite detachment to break away from the army and rush north, the Liukou army was already approaching the Ming Dynasty's Beijing Division.

At this time, Beijing was full of dangers, and a large number of people flocked out of the city and fled to the south before the war began. (To be continued.) )