is secretive, and it can't change the pain of the country, and beautifying one's own history is just a laughing stock before its demise.

Yang Qilong had already been absorbed by the Ministry of State Security, but his identity was kept secret, and the Manchus thought it was just a rebellion of the people, and at this time they had no time to carefully investigate and investigate the truth behind the scenes. This internal turmoil finally made the Manchus, including Kang Xiaosan, realize how far the hearts of the people had fallen, and also realize that the Han people, those who had been submissive in their impressions, had many hatreds for them buried in their hearts.

Manchu relatives and officials were repeatedly attacked, many of whom were domestic slaves in the banner, and most of the participants were Han people at the bottom of the society, and there were a small number of Han soldiers and generals who were raised after the Qing Dynasty.

There was a chaos in Ouchi, Suke Saha was stabbed and seriously wounded, and the ministers such as Kupilon also wore lottery, although the loss of personnel was not large, but the rebellion in such an important place undoubtedly sounded the alarm for the Qing court and accelerated the speed of its retreat north.

It was more than 400 miles from Hejian (now Cangzhou area) to Beijing, and the Ming army was mostly infantry, even if it was 40 miles a day, it would take about 10 days to arrive, which was the estimate of the Qing court. If you remove the time when the defeated army arrived in Beijing, it would be seven or eight days before the shadow of the Ming army could be seen. And this is still the speed that the Ming army can achieve without fighting along the way, just on the march.

Indeed, if the distance had been shortened by more than half, the Qing court might have taken into account the rapid march of the Ming army. But a rapid march can last for one day, two days, but it is difficult to last. Otherwise, people will run to the place, and they will be so tired that they will have no combat effectiveness.

Therefore, based on this judgment, the Qing court hoped to bring as many surrounding troops back as possible to Guanwai. For example, in Tianjin, Baoding, etc., if these armies retreat without receiving an order from the imperial court, they must consider the punishment of national law.

Therefore, the Qing court sent messengers to urgently inform various places. Ordered them to turn towards Shanhaiguan. At the same time, a large-scale, organized retreat of the Juclans, under the protection of the army, began. In order to avoid greater chaos, Kang Xiaosan and the Empress Dowager secretly left the palace and quietly rushed to Shanhaiguan without Zhang Luan.

There was no major problem with the judgment of the Qing court. However, it ignored a problem, which was also an illusion created by the Ming army after adopting a frontal attack and a slow advance strategy.

Of course, the use of naval divisions to transport troops to land to cut off the road from the Manchu Qing to Shanhaiguan was not pre-formulated in the plan, although there were also plans for water and land cooperation, but it was not mainly based on the sea.

From Zhu Yongxing to the General Staff Headquarters, they have become accustomed to making plans sloppily. As long as the strategic goal can be achieved, the rest will be left to the front-line generals to play and improve. The changes in the shape of the battlefield are not all predictable by the rear, and even the plans drawn up by the front-line command will face such problems. Therefore, it is the generals who command on the front line who can most intuitively and truly understand the enemy's situation, and their correct judgment and subjective initiative are the key to whether or not they can achieve greater results.

If it goes according to the plan, there will be no problem with victory. But the intention of cutting off the Manchu retreat should only reach a small half, cutting off the tail that runs slowly.

When the vanguard of the assault corps rushed to Tianjin while fighting. More than three days had passed since the breakthrough of the Hejian defensive line, and the vanguard was not too fast in more than three days, and the infantry group of the main force was more than 60 miles behind the vanguard troops, and it would take at least a day to arrive.

At this time, the Qing army in Tianjin had resisted the attack of the Ming army from the sea for several days. As soon as they received the urgent order to retreat, they could not wait to turn north, but the retreating team was caught off guard by the pursuit of the cavalry tail of the vanguard of the Ming army. The Eight Banners with horses had no intention of responding to the battle and left in a panic, and the thousands of Han troops and Green Battalion infantry who were left behind were killed and scattered by the Ming cavalry. Most raised their hands in surrender.

After receiving the news that the forward troops had taken Tianjin lightly, Wei Junzhong immediately realized that the general retreat of the Manchu Qing had begun, and it was difficult to achieve the desired results by continuing to advance north by land according to the original plan. In other words, the will to resist of the Qing army in the north has collapsed and collapsed faster than expected.

Throwing away all baggage and comparing the strength of the enemy with the enemy's feet is what Wei Junzhong does not want. After urgent discussion with Mazde, he immediately decided to change the deployment and urgently reported to the front command.

After the change, the deployment is to concentrate all livestock and vehicles, and the main force of the Shuo army and the forward troops will continue to accelerate the pursuit; Ma Zide's Breaking Army boarded ships in Tianjin, pursued them by sea, and waited for an opportunity to forcibly land at the mouth of the Yanghe River or Daihe, cutting off the Manchu retreat to Shanhaiguan.

In the eyes of Wei Junzhong and Ma Zide, the Qing army, which only had the heart to retreat and turn forward, could no longer pose a major threat, and the strength of the assault corps seemed to be too heavy, and the action was slow. After the division of troops, there is a greater chance of victory, even if the landing operation is not successful, when the land corps arrives, it will still be able to be received and join forces. This worst-case outcome is almost the same as the current operation.

Obviously, the Qing army had no fighting spirit, and the resistance encountered along the way was very small, which increased the confidence of Wei Junzhong and Ma Zide, as well as the vast number of Ming officers and soldiers. When the sailors got the news, they happily agreed to fight together, because they were not satisfied with their current work. It's just transportation, feints, and containment, how much credit can be given.

The sea surface of the entire Bohai Bay has been completely controlled, and the Tianjin Navy Division of the Qing Army, which has retreated in the inland river, has also surrendered or fled, and they are responsible for guarding the east to Laolongtou and the west to the mouth of the Daihe, and there are hardly any sails in sight. Fighting with infantry is not a difficult task at all. Not to mention that in addition to the cannons on the battleship, the marines of the naval division also have considerable combat power.

"Hurry, hurry." In the port of Tianjin, Yang Yandi, Marquis of Zhenhai, stood on the shore, impatiently watching the infantry board the ship, and muttered, "This is a good opportunity, if the Tartar Emperor is blocked, it will be a great credit!" ”

Jianping Marquis Zheng Zhangxu smiled, "From the old dragon head in the east to the mouth of the Daihe River in the west, the Tartars set up forts and piers all over the coast. Well, I'm afraid it's going to take a bit of effort, right? ”

"Just those broken cannons, how can they be our opponents." Yang Yandi pursed his lips disapplausively, "It's over after two rounds." Well, this Tianjin cannon is still a bit of a look, we have to move it to the ship quickly. The artillery seconded to the army, I don't know when it will be returned? ”

"Those gunners who surrendered—" Zheng Zhangxu muttered for a moment, and said, "Just bring a few honest and honest ones, and I'm afraid I'll make trouble on the ship if you have more." ”

"Makes sense." Yang Yandi nodded, arched his hand towards Zheng Zhangxu again, and said, "Marquis Zheng gave me this great achievement, and I thank you here." ”

"You're welcome, no." Zheng Zhangxu returned the salute with a smile and said: "I led the fleet to trace the river to Beijing, and the credit for the recovery of Beijing is not small!" Besides, maybe the Tartar Emperor didn't run away, waiting in the palace to be beheaded! ”

"Hahahaha, then I wish Zheng Hou this great achievement." Yang Yandi laughed heartily.

"Thank you for your kindness." Zheng Jinxu smiled and nodded.

……………

The ground was shaking, and countless people and horses were hurrying forward along the official roads and field paths. White mist rose from the heads of men, mules and horses were grunting and panting, their footsteps were chaotic, their wheels were rolling, and the bleak scene could not suppress the torrent of heat.

After breaking through the Qing army's Hejian defense line, the Shuo army cleaned up the battlefield, and the Shuo army went west to Gaoyang and Baodingfu, and then went north to take the route of Xushui, Dingxing, and Zhuozhou to Benjing Division; The Dangshuo army took the route of Renqiu, Bazhou, and Gu'an to Beijing.

The journey of more than 400 miles, and the continuous march, could not but be said to be a test for the Ming army, which was dominated by infantry. There were not enough mules and horses, so they used man-powered carts to load the baggage, and all the heavy artillery was left, and only the highly mobile Franco, Tianwei cannons, sky-bombing cannons, and rocket units could advance with the army.

But the feelings of victory inspired the officers and men, and the excitement made them burst out with more will and body than usual. And the Qing army's defense line was broken through so quickly and was defeated in such a panic, which also brought some convenience to the Ming army. Coupled with the hesitation of the Qing court's relocation, many people along the way were plundered and poisoned by the defeated army, but the damage was not too severe, and it was far from being as complete as the planned fortified wall and clear the wilderness.

The Ming army already had a lot of experience in this kind of long-distance continuous march, and special lectures and expositions were given in the lecture hall, and the marching regulations were also printed and distributed to all armies, and were used as the content of the "correspondence assessment". In fact, there were regulations everywhere in the Ming army, and before that, new regulations were almost endless, such as marching regulations, engineering regulations, logistics regulations, training regulations, military law regulations, artillery regulations, cavalry regulations, musketeer regulations, and so on. The current officers and men of the Ming Dynasty are living in these various regulations, which makes the nature of the army's specialization more obvious and can operate like a machine.

On long marches, the forward troops and gendarmerie units were the hardest. Every time they passed through a village or town, or every other distance, they would leave a small number of men to organize the people, or they would do it themselves, set up a tent, set up a cauldron, and boil hot water for the use of the troops behind.

In this cold winter, the hot water turns into hot soup, and the gruel with chili, rice, dried fish, and salt is added to the bowl, and the body is warm and coaxing. And every army that passes by will leave a lot of supplies behind, so that this supply place will not be difficult to cook.

People along the way came to help, either taking out their own iron pots, chopping wood and carrying water, or helping carts to move forward. Of course, the Ming army also implemented the previous practice, and those who supported and supported it had benefits, as small as porridge that could wrap their stomachs, and as large as the "righteous people's certificate" that could get fields, and they were like a king's teacher.

In this way, the marching speed of the Ming army could finally be maintained at the level of fifty miles per day, in addition to the weak resistance of the Qing army, the meticulous regulations, rich experience, and the support of the people along the way are undoubtedly quite important reasons.

………… (To be continued......)