The midday sun hung motionlessly above the top, there was not a single cloud in the sky, the temperature of the air was rising, and the fighting on the battlefield was becoming more and more intense.

The loyal battalion was quickly defeated under several flanking attacks, and the Ming army followed the footsteps of the defeated soldiers, appeared in the west of Yuanjiang City, and fought a fierce battle with the Qing army in the west of the city. Without waiting for the Qing army from other directions to come to reinforcements, the defenders in Yuanjiang City had already been killed, Xu Mingchen and Gao Yingfeng each led 3,000 men and horses to fiercely attack, and with the help of Tianwei artillery, they defeated the enemy in Xicheng in one fell swoop, and captured the camp of the Qing army blocking the west of the city.

Then, according to the instructions of the signal flag in the city, Xu Mingchen and Gao Yingfeng led the army to hold the camp and block the Qing army from the north of the city, while Zhu Yongxing led the army to the south to rotate around the city. The battle in the south of the city seems to be a copy of the west of the city, and it is also a front and back attack inside and outside the city, this time it is the men and horses led by Zhao Desheng in the city.

Broken one by one with superior forces, although it did not become a battle of annihilation, the losses of the Qing army were not small, and the siege of Yuanjiang City was completely broken since then.

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and Xia Guoxiang, who was blocked by the camp in the west of the city, realized that something was wrong. The besieged Yuanjiang City has become a hedgehog, and it may stab another knife at any time. He hurriedly abandoned the attack, led the army to retreat from the north of the city, and gathered his troops in the east and north of the city to avoid being flanked again.

When the army led by Wu Sangui arrived at Yuanjiang, there were less than 40,000 soldiers and 780,000 auxiliary soldiers. After fighting under the city, the soldiers suffered more than 6,000 casualties, the Jiangbei battalion had 5,000 garrisons, Wang Fuchen led 10,000 to meet Ma Bao, and Jiangnan was commanded by Xia Guoxiang only 17,800 soldiers and 30,000 auxiliaries. Excluding the 5,000 soldiers who attacked Ma Weixing more than ten miles east of the city, there were only 12,000 or 3,000 troops left under the city of Yuanjiang.

The Zhongyong battalion was defeated, the Qing army in the west of the city was defeated, and the Qing army in the south of the city was defeated, although it was not completely annihilated. But it also lost nearly half. Now there are less than 8,000 soldiers in the hands of Xia Guoxiang, and there are only 20,000 auxiliary soldiers left. Moreover, Yuanjiang City was in the middle, but the Ming army launched another attack on the camps in the north and east of the city, and the war situation in the south of the entire Yuanjiang became extremely unfavorable to Xia Guoxiang.

The unexpected reinforcements and blows caught the Qing troops around the entire Yuanjiang City by surprise. From the defeat of the Zhongyong battalion to the internal and external attacks in the west and south of the city, the Qing army did not exert its normal combat power under panic and psychological shock.

But in the fierce battle in the north of the city in the afternoon, in the face of the onslaught of the Ming army, the Qing army has stabilized a lot, which also benefited from the overall command of Xia Guoxiang. Moreover, Xia Guoxiang knew the importance of the position in the north of the city, and he had to shield and protect the river bank east of Yuanjiang City in order to build a pontoon bridge. Reconnect with Jiangbei. In this case, there is still a possibility that the tide of the war will be reversed. Otherwise, Jiangnan's army would be in danger of being wiped out completely.

One by one, the shells slammed into the camp of the Qing army with a scream, and a moment later, there was a loud bang, raising puffs of black smoke. The Ming army, which attacked from west to east, continued to fight and advance under the cover of the bombardment of the sky-bombarding artillery. gradually approached the Qing army's camp in the north of the city; The troops from inside the city stormed from the south and were already approaching the camp. With cannonballs, arrows, and muskets, they engaged in fierce fire with the defending Qing army.

Although it was very tenacious, it could not hold out for long, unless all the Qing troops south of the Yangtze River rushed to defend. Zhu Yongxing did not think that the Qing commander would do this, because Yuanjiang City was located in the middle of the battlefield and could send troops to attack and contain the enemy forces east of the city at any time.

When besieging a city. The city is like a cage; And once the siege is broken, it is like holding a poisonous snake that has awakened from hibernation, and you must always be careful of the ferocious counterattack. Generally speaking, the current war situation under Yuanjiang City is very similar to the battle example of the center flowering.

The telescope moves. The scene has changed again. Cannon roared on the river, and white smoke rose. A ship had been hit, with a large hole in its side, and was heading down the river at an angle. Several small boats, with their sails outstretched, followed closely, ready to provide protection for the personnel.

A slightly slower bombardment platform sailed down the river and fired a round of shells at the Qing army on the south bank, and then sailed downstream from the Qing army's Hongyi cannon.

Another ship went up the river, approaching the north shore, firing a round of cannonballs, which also took the blow from the shore. A sailor was hit by a bolt of ballista, his body was carried away, and he fell from the boat into the river.

The corners of Zhu Yongxing's eyes jumped and shifted his gaze again. The pontoon bridges on the south and north banks did not even have a rudimentary shape, and under the relentless back and forth blows of the boats on the water, there were only a few lonely wooden stakes in the shallow water on the shore, and a large number of dead and wounded.

After the Qing army arrived at the Yuanjiang River, they also collected ships for erecting pontoon bridges, and when the three pontoon bridges were erected, there were few ships left. After that, Wu Sangui and others apparently thought that they were foolproof, or did not pay attention to the issue of boats and control of the river at all. Therefore, if you want to erect a pontoon bridge now, you can only use simple wooden rafts, which is extremely difficult.

Although there was damage, the control of the river was still firmly in hand. Zhu Yongxing turned his telescope to the northwest, and a large number of auxiliaries and native soldiers were smashing piles and pillars on the river bank and building temporary trestle bridges so that ships could dock at the shore.

"The benefits of the boat are so good!" Na Song expressed his heartfelt emotion beside Zhu Yongxing, "If there is a sailor earlier, wouldn't it be easy for the Qing army to want to cross the river?" ”

Zhu Yongxing put down the binoculars, smiled faintly, and said, "Then the governor wants to build a water division?" I'm just afraid that there will be no more use on this Yuan River! ”

Na Song groaned slightly, and smiled indifferently: "There is no need to build a large building, as long as there are more than 100 ships on the river." In this way, Yuanjiang is no longer worry-free. ”

Since Na Song has made up his mind, Zhu Yongxing has no need to object. After all, this is a very solid guarantee for Na Song and Yuan Jiang. In case of another situation where the Qing army came to attack, there were sailors patrolling along the river, and it was impossible for the Qing army to cross the river easily. Moreover, even if the Qing army crossed the river, they would be worried about being cut off by the sailors and repeating today's mistakes.

Zhu Yongxing looked at the battle situation again, frowned slightly, summoned the herald and said: "Give orders to the ships on the river, you don't have to shuttle so frequently, you just need to monitor from afar, isn't it a matter of a moment and a half to build a pontoon bridge?" In addition, when bombarding the enemy, you can first let the faster ship as a decoy, and then bombard the enemy close after the enemy artillery has fired. The enemy's artillery fires slowly, and this weakness must be grasped. ”

The herald took the order and left, and Zhu Yongxing observed the battle situation under the city. Although the Qing army was very tenacious, under the blow of the Ming army at no expense in firepower, the camp was seriously damaged. Soon it will be broken through by the Ming army and enter into a hand-to-hand battle. Relying on the superiority of troops, if it enters the melee, the Ming army will have a good chance of winning.

Although the blockade of the river was successful, the general offensive still had to be launched after the arrival of the Eastern Route Army, which was dominated by Ma Bao. Zhu Yongxing focused his eyes on the east, and could faintly hear the sound of cannons. Presumably, the Eastern Route Army is not far away.

……………

"The benefits of the boat are so good!" Who would have thought that in such a seemingly normal battle of conquest and suppression, the one who decided the victory or defeat was an obviously patchwork sailor.

Not to mention the sailors, the Qing army, from top to bottom, did not expect to fight a water war at all, and it can be said that they were not mentally prepared at all.

But the situation of the war was changing rapidly in a way that the Qing army never expected, and the two sides of the strait were cut off. Enemy reinforcements suddenly appeared, and the internal and external attacks were as fast as fire. Within three hours, the initiative on the battlefield had fallen into the hands of the Ming army, and the Qing army on the south bank was in danger, only having the ability to parry, and had no power to fight back.

However, the action of erecting pontoon bridges and communicating between the two sides of the strait became extremely difficult under the bombardment of gunboats on the river. In Liu Xuanchu's view, it is almost an impossible task.

"The Emperor Ming Clan. If there is a conspiracy of the Marquis of Wuhou, the heroism of Taizu? Liu Xuanchu's thoughts were churning. Having unconsciously removed the word "pseudo", he looked at Yuanjiang City in the south of the Yangtze River, with a complicated look on his face.

Wu Sangui is a hardcore traitor, there is no dispute about this. But not all of his subordinates were willing to submit to the Manchu court, and some even hated them deeply. Why would he work for Wu Sangui, only he was Han. This is quite a major reason. Liu Xuanchu had the biggest depression and contradiction in his heart, that is, "I hope that the heavens will give birth to saints early to appease China".

In other words, Liu Xuanchu hoped that the Han people could produce a "saint" in his mind to restore the Han family, and Wu Sangui might be possible. The so-called rush to the doctor was like that at that time. Even if Wu Sangui killed Yongli, when he raised an army against the Qing Dynasty and called for "opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty", he still won the forgiveness and support of many people. It's a pity that he was so dizzy that he changed his name to the emperor, and suddenly lost popularity, leaving only his cronies and henchmen who were still fighting for his great cause.

At this moment, Liu Xuanchu's mind was shaken, and Wu Sangui's violent jump was like thunder, and he didn't even attract his attention for a while.

"The puppet king Ma Bao was cunning and set up a false camp, but he suddenly led his army across the river." The bad news did not let Wu Sangui go, Wang Fuchen sent someone to report back, and dealt a heavy blow to this old traitor, "General Wang led the army to pursue, but the pontoon bridge was burned down, and he couldn't catch up." ”

"Stupid, incompetent." Wu Sangui was so angry that he didn't choose what to say, and scolded: "My Jiangnan division is in danger, and this is all the fault of Wang Fuchen. ”

Of course, Wang Fuchen's mistake did speed up the defeat of the Qing army in Jiangnan, but it was obviously unfair to put all the blame on Wang Fuchen. Failure is inevitable, and if you want to talk about responsibility, Wu Sangui and Liu Xuanchu have nothing.

"The prince is angry." Liu Xuanchu was only a little sober at this time, and hurriedly persuaded, "The defeat is irreversible, and the plan for today is how to get General Jiangnan Xia and others out of trouble." ”

Wu Sangui gasped a few times, suppressed his anger and asked, "Ji will be out?" ”

Liu Xuanchu stretched out his hand and pointed that there were two small boats on the riverbank closest to the camp in Jiangbei. Without much to say, Wu Sangui already understood what Liu Xuanchu meant. The difficulty is not small, the danger is very great, there are Ming ships coming and going on the river from time to time, and these two small boats can snatch back the important generals such as Xia Guo - if you don't do this, is there any other way?

"Wait until the evening!" Wu Sangui sighed helplessly, looked back at the south bank, and prayed in his heart that Xia Guoxiang would hold out until nightfall, and that he could ensure that a section of the river bank was in hand.

……………

The corpses on the battlefield were scattered all over the place, including those of the Qing army and the Ming army, with flags, knives and guns, and military uniforms all over the ground, and the blackened craters were still emitting wisps of smoke.

The Syrian Gong Ma Weixing was sitting on a wooden pestle, and the medical soldiers were medicating him and wrapping his wounds. Although he grinned from time to time in pain, he looked to the west from time to time with a smile on his face.

This was a fierce battle, and the situation of the Ming army was critical for a while, but with the rapid reinforcement of Ma Bao's army, it finally turned the corner and defeated the 5,000 soldiers and horses led by the Qing army generals Fu Wenyuan and Zhang Zufa.

Now, the road to Yuanjiang City has been opened, and all that remains is to attack in several ways and annihilate the enemy army south of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop.

"Brother Ma, how are the injuries?" Ma Bao, the king of Ruyang, hurriedly came and asked with concern. At the same time, he stretched out his hand and pressed Ma Weixing, who was about to get up to salute.

"It's okay, a little bit of a little injury." Ma Weixing smiled nonchalantly and said, "The team is about to leave, right?" It's too late to catch up with this most difficult battle. ”

Ma Bao looked up at the six wolf smoke that were already visible in the west, smiled hesitantly, and said, "Don't worry." The siege of Yuanjiang City has been lifted, but this general attack still has to wait for us. It is estimated that the Qing army has been beaten by His Royal Highness Min's land and water pinch, and we can pick up a cheap one when we arrive. ”

"Just don't get wiped out." Ma Weixing saw that the bandaging was finished, so he stood up, waved his injured arm, showed it to Ma Bao, and said with a smile: "How?" He still wielded swords and guns, and slashed the enemy general. ”

Ma Bao Ha smiled and waved his hand. The guards immediately led the horse. The two mounted their horses and led the army to the west.

…………

Playing more and playing less is always the tactic with the biggest chance of winning, or it can also be said to be a sign of lack of self-confidence. Whatever the reason, this is the principle that Zhu Yongxing has been trying to implement. This was true of the counteroffensive in western Yunnan, and the same was true of the Battle of Yuanjiang. If you refine it to every battle, it's basically such a routine.

Cut off the Yuanjiang River and divide the Qing army into two sections. thus gaining the advantage of disturbing forces in the south of the Yangtze River; With the earth soldiers as bait, he suddenly killed from the middle road. Defeat the Loyal Battalion with three times the strength of the opponent; Then attack the west, south, and north of the city, and attack the army in the city on both sides, and the strength of the army greatly exceeds the enemy's army.

After such a battle is fought, it is always more than few, and the advantage is getting bigger and bigger. It's time for the decisive battle. With the arrival of Ma Bao's army, the strength advantage of the Ming army had reached more than four times, and the Qing army gathered by seven or eight thousand was besieged in an area east of Yuanjiang City.

Buck died in battle, Zhang Zufa died in battle, and Li Rubi died in battle. Liu Zhifu died in battle, Deng Wanggong died in battle, and there are countless other guerrillas and thousands of people who died in battle. The seven or eight thousand Qing troops belonged to a complicated group, and many of them were defeated remnants of the defeated army who were defeated.

The sun turned into a big red wheel and was setting into the mountain side in the distance. The waves of the river, and the clouds in the sky, turned bloody.

Xia Guoxiang watched the soldiers drag and carry away the Hongyi cannons on the shore, looked at the river, and felt sad in his heart. Soon, corpses will be strewn all over the place, and rivers of blood will flow. At this point, there is nothing he can do to make a fortune. There is no point in bombarding the enemy ships in the river again, and it will be possible to support the Hongyi artillery for more time by transferring it to the enemy's side.

Although it has been reorganized, Xia Guoxiang can see despair and sadness from the look on the face of the general. If you die, you will fight, and you will survive in death; Fighting and dying, who can regard death as home and fight bloodily?

Moreover, seeing that the victory was decided, the Ming army began a political persuasion offensive again.

"Abandon your weapons and avoid death!" "Those who descend will not be killed!" "Those who kill the master and make meritorious contributions will be rewarded!" ……

When these shouts reached the ears of the Qing soldiers, Xia Guo knew each other, and the morale of the army would be even lower. The only death through the ages is difficult, and in order to survive, some people can do anything. Suspicion, fear, conspiracy...... These filthy psychology, when faced with a desperate situation, is the easiest to breed madness.

"Boom!" There was an explosion in the distance, and Xia Guoxiang, who was already a little numb and indifferent, just raised his eyelids, and walked away with a few guards with expressionless faces, and continued to inspect.

……………

Will it attack overnight, or will it fight again after dawn? Zhu Yongxing fell into a short thought.

After a day of fighting, the Qing army in Jiangnan had become a turtle in an urn, but the Ming army was also very tired, and the casualties were not small. In particular, the two armies led by him and Ma Bao were in a hurry and fighting, and they hardly got any rest.

But there is another sentence that always hovers in Zhu Yongxing's mind, that is, "the night is long and dreams are many". As long as the enemy has not been completely annihilated, there are variables, and although this possibility is small, it is not completely impossible. Sailors, well, let's call it that, because there are not many ships, and there are only a limited number of rivers that can block and provide early warning. And with fewer ships loaded with bombardment cannons, can it really completely stop the attempt of the Qing army in Jiangbei to cross the river from elsewhere?

In the end, there are still opportunities to take advantage of and loopholes to catch, so now is not the time to relax, let alone raise a glass to celebrate and sit back and relax.

"Attack, attack overnight." Zhu Yongxing suddenly raised his head, his eyes swept over the generals, and said loudly: "Victory is just around the corner, we must not relax our vigilance." There are many examples of success and failure in history, and we cannot afford to make this mistake. ”

Ma Bao, the king of Ruyang, bowed his head lightly and said, "Your Highness is wise. The Qing army was in a desperate situation, and its morale had been lost, so it was just ploughing the court and sweeping the holes, not giving it a chance to breathe. ”

"There are many dreams at night, although there are sailors to block it, but Wu is a traitor, and the Qing army in Jiangbei must not be worried." Na Song agrees.

"Your Highness." Chen Guogong Wu Zisheng arched his hand and said: "The two armies are both rushing and fighting, which is really hard. The general attack can be handed over to the defenders in the city, and the night melee is not suitable for the troops. ”

Hearing this, the prince of Syria, Ma Weiguang hurriedly said: "My Eastern Route Army has won consecutive battles, morale is booming, and a little hard work is nothing. The Qing army was already frightened and demoralized, and the general attack could be completed by our Eastern Route Army. ”

Zhu Yongxing smiled and raised his hand to press it down, everyone knew that the enemy was already the meat on the anvil, and they all wanted to cut a piece. The spirit is commendable, the credit can be shared, and it is indeed unfair to let the family get it. (To be continued......)