While besieging Nanchang, the Ming army sent Wei Junzhong's troops from Nanchang to the north, captured Jiujiang, and cut off the reinforcement road from Wuchang to Nanchang. Wei Junzhong was nominally a division of the exterminating army led by Wei Junzhong, but in fact, his division had expanded to nearly 30,000 people after repeated battles. Zhu Yongxing's meaning is obvious, Wei Junzhong's troops will become an independent army sooner or later. He also informed Ma Bao, the king of Wei, of this idea earlier, and asked Ma Bao to recruit another division from the people of Fujian Province and Jiangxi Province to make up the difference between the Shuo army.

If we talk about the geography of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Ming Dynasty is still at a disadvantage; However, in terms of mobilization ability and enthusiasm for popular participation, the Qing Dynasty was far behind. The grain donated by the gentry of Huguang and the enthusiastic support of the people in the Guangfu area greatly reduced the logistical pressure of the Ming army, and the morale was high.

In the sixteenth year of Yongli, the first year of Kangxi, on December 21, 1662, with the help of the people along the way, more than 30 heavy artillery pieces arrived at the city of Nanchang; On December 22, the construction of the tunnel was completed and the filling of gunpowder began.

In the early morning of December 23, the western city wall of Nanchang collapsed in two loud bangs, and the Ming army, which was waiting for the battle, immediately shouted and charged, and swarmed into the city from two gaps. The fierce battle lasted until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the Qing troops in Nanchang City were all wiped out, and the Dutong Mu Zhan was killed, and all the Mongolian soldiers he brought with him would be killed.

On December 24, Zhu Yongxing received an urgent report from Wei Junzhong in Nanchang City that Jiujiang had descended. At this point, the upstream and downstream of Wuchang were controlled by the Ming army, and basically lost the significance of the important land.

The Ming army's strategic operation to bypass Wuchang was a great success, and the eastward march along the river was the upstream throat of Nanzhili - Anqing. As long as you take Anqing, you can control the Yangtze River and the Zhun River, so you must first get Anqing to take Nanjing.

In that year, Zheng Chenggong entered Nanjing from the Yangtze River, and the main force captured Zhenjiang Houtun under the city of Nanjing, and led Zhang Huangyan to attack Anqing. Zhang Huangyan had less than 100 ships and only 2,000 soldiers, in addition to recovering Anqing, more than 10 counties in the surrounding four prefectures also fell into his hands, and the situation was good for a while, but it was a pity that the main force of the Zheng army was defeated. Anqing and other places cannot be defended. They had to retreat in a hurry and return these prefectures and counties to the Qing soldiers.

One after another, edicts flew out of Nanchang and were sent everywhere as soon as possible. The Ming armies of all departments moved one after another, and the decisive battle finally began.

December 26. After two days of rest, the two armies of Dangshuo and Shushuo set off from Nanchang. Walk the Jiujiang River. Anqing, an important town downstream of the east.

On December 27, Wei Junzhong led his troops west from Jiujiang and forced Wuchang; Meantime. Yuezhou's Zhengshuo army, Jingzhou's Xincheng's Zhengshuo army, and the Yangtze River Naval Division pressed towards Wuchang and attacked the isolated Qing army group.

On December 29, the army of Fujian Province exterminated Shuo out of the water pass, and took Wenzhou directly from Cangnan, Pingyang and Ruian; Deng Yao, Marquis of Jinghai, led a detachment to the sea off Wenzhou, and landed in Yueqing, north of Wenzhou, to cooperate.

In the seventeenth year of Yongli, the second year of Kangxi, on January 2, 1663, Zhenhai Bo Yang Yandi and Jianping Bo Zheng Zhangxu led more than 2,000 warships from Chongming to enter the Yangtze River. On the Nantong River, the Poshuo army borrowed a boat to cross the Yangtze River south, and the land and water army pointed directly at Jiangyin, the first river defense of the Qing army.

On January 5, the Ming army entered Jiangyin, and the Qing Dynasty civil and military officials held the city. The Ming army first broke the fortifications on the river, and then approached the city to bombard, and the Poshuo army took advantage of the situation to attack, Jiangyin small county, one day down; On the 8th, the Ming army entered Guazhou, beheaded a Qing guerrilla, defeated thousands of Manchu and Han soldiers and horses, blew up the iron cable blocking the river, destroyed the Suojiang defense line "Rolling River Dragon", and burned the Qing army's three floating camps on the river (also known as Mucheng), so that all the river defense fortifications that the Qing side had painstakingly managed collapsed. On the same day, the Ming army conquered Guazhou, and the governor of Qingcao River surrendered.

On January 6, the Ming army on the West Road changed the speed of advance that had not been hurried or slowed for several days, doubled the road day and night, and advanced at the same time, approaching Anqing. And as a strange soldier outstanding Ming army cavalry, disguised in advance as a Qing soldier, led by Gao Dejie, before the army to open the city gate, Anqing Qing army panicked, in the case of unknown enemy situation, thousands of people actually out of the east gate panicked, Anqing is down.

On January 10, the Ming army on the west road was continuing to advance eastward, and the gentry in Wuhu and other places had sent secret letters to inform them of the news of surrender and annexation; The Ming army marched with less than 1,000 cavalry and recaptured Wuhu on January 9; On January 10, the Yangtze River Naval Division broke through the Wuchang River, came to rendezvous, and reported that Wuchang was being besieged by the Ming army of the Third Road, and the Qing army in the city showed signs of abandoning the city and fleeing north.

On January 11, the Ming army of the Ming River and the land army broke the reinforcements sent by the Qing Jiangning in Zhenjiang Yinshan, and the Qing Zhenjiang guards and the prefect surrendered the city. On the 13th, the pioneer ships had arrived at the city of Nanjing.

On 15 January, the Ming Army's Western Front Corps joined up with the Eastern Front Sentinel Ship at Dangtu, thus basically forming a strategic intention of meeting the East and West Divisions, cutting off the Yangtze River, and jointly attacking Nanjing.

From the conquest of Nanchang to the meeting of the East and West, in less than a month, the Ming army marched straight ahead, and there was almost no major battle.

According to later historical records: "The emperor drove his own expedition, the king arrived, and the north and south of the river returned." counties are Taiping, Ningguo, Chizhou, Huizhou; The counties are Dangtu, Wuhu, Fanchang, Xuancheng, Ningguo, Nanling, Nanning, Taiping, Jingde, Guichi, Tongling, Dongliu, Jiande, Qingyang, Shidai, Jingxian, Chaoxian, Hanshan, Shucheng, Lujiang, Gaochun, Lishui, Liyang, Jianping; The state is Guangde, Wuwei and Heyang, or surrender, or Kefu, where the province is four, the state is three, and the county is twenty-four. ”。

There are three main reasons for such tremendous results: first, the Qing army's strength in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River is weak, and the three heavy army groups were annihilated in Nanchang, besieged in Wuchang, and pinned down by the exterminating Shuo army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang; Second, the social foundation of the anti-Qing and Ming restoration forces was still quite large at that time, and the gentry and people everywhere did not forget the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming army rose in the southwest and won many battles, which made them rekindle their hope and look forward to it for a long time; The third is that the Ming army was strictly disciplined, and there was no crime everywhere they went, so that the gentry and the people ate pot pulp and helped each other.

The combat effectiveness of the Ming army, as well as the large army used, far exceeded the battle of the Yangtze River launched by Zheng Chenggong that year. Not counting the Ming army that cooperated with other battlefields, after the east and west met divisions, the army had three armies, Dangshuo, and Poshuo, as well as the first division of the Jingshuo Army, which had been serving as Zhu Yongxing's guard division, plus the Marine Corps, which had exceeded 130,000 people; The naval division has more than 2,000 large and small ships and more than 20,000 officers and men. On equipment. The number and power of muskets and artillery owned by the Ming army were not comparable to those of the Zheng army back then.

At this time, the Ming army arrived in Nanjing, and the shape was very different from that of Zheng Chenggong's battle of the Yangtze River. Most of the upstream prefectures and counties and waterways were controlled by the Ming army, so there was no need to worry about the Qing army coming from this direction to reinforce like the Zheng army back then; The Ming army's naval division was more powerful, and the artillery fire was more fierce, and the Qing court wanted reinforcements from the north, and how to cross the river was an insurmountable obstacle; Although the Qing army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was able to return to help, it had to face the danger of being pursued by the ranks of the exterminating army, and they had to abandon the important places in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

At this time, I can see the benefits of steady progress before. There are no strong enemies around. The Ming army that arrived under the city of Nanjing can be said to have no worries. Of course, the Qing court continued to invest troops in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the number of Qing troops in Nanjing at this time was more than that at the time of the Battle of the Yangtze River, more than 10,000. And when the Ming army was pressing towards Nanjing like a bamboo. To defend Nanjing. Lang Tingzuo, the governor of Jiangnan in Nanjing, did not hesitate to give up some prefectures and counties. Mobilize a serviceable army from the nearby area, and at the same time send a hundred thousand urgent requests for help to the Qing court.

"Since the sea has been against Jingkou, the thieves have flourished. On the 13th, the river has been traced to approach Jiangning. At that time, due to the division of troops in the city, the strength was weak and difficult to support, so I implored that the soldiers from the Beijing Division should be dispatched to come quickly, so that the city on both sides of the river would not be lost. ”

"There are more than 200,000 thieves on land and water, and more than 2,000 warships, and the rampant trend is even more than Zheng Wei. Now it has captured Zhenjiang, Taiping, Ningguo and other prefectures, Pukou, Liuhe, Dantu (as Dantu) and other prefectures, and wants to besiege the southern capital, which is as dangerous as an egg, and begs to send troops to the south to rescue and extinguish it, so as not to burn the prairie flames."

Lang Tingzuo's recital may be exaggerated, but the strength and momentum of the Ming army's attack on Nanjing this time were indeed strong, which made it panic and uneasy, so that he made embarrassing words in the recital.

But it was too late to ask for help, and Zhu Yongxing would not make the same mistake as Zheng Chenggong, and he knew how the Taiping army had broken through Wuchang and Nanjing. Although the walls are tall and strong, they are still difficult to resist the art of blasting.

On 19 January, Zhu Yongxing arrived at the city of Nanjing. At this time, the Yanshuo army camped in Lion Mountain, the Dangshuo army was stationed in Yuhuatai, and the Poshuo army was stationed in the southwest corner, and Nanjing was not surrounded on all sides. This is a lesson learned from Zheng Chenggong's failure, although the army of more than 100,000 occupies an overwhelming advantage, but the Ming Dynasty's Nanjing city wall is very vast, and it is difficult to surround Nanjing. And the division of troops is weak, and the Zheng army was divided into camps to besiege the city, which was broken by the Qing army separately.

At most, seven days to break the city, how many Qing troops can enter the city for reinforcements? Zhu Yongxing rushed to Lion Rock, immediately summoned the generals of all armies to carry out the campaign deployment, ordered all army engineers to gather, and excavated tunnels from Jinghai Temple and Tianhou Temple with all their might, and the breakthrough was Yifengmen in the north of the city. At the same time, an artillery position was erected near Yuhuatai in the south of the city as a cover for a feint. He also ordered the Marine Division, the Marine Corps, and the First Army Division to attack Jiangpu and Pukou in Jiangbei to stop the reinforcements of the Qing army in Jiangbei.

Why rush to storm Nanjing? In the deduction of Zhu Yongxing and his staff officers, there was also a plan, which was to deliberately delay and wait for all the enemies in the south of the Yangtze River to gather in Nanjing. But Zhu Yongxing remembers a sentence called long nights and dreams.

If you can capture Nanjing, it will not only be a military victory, but also have a huge impact in the political sense. Nanjing, and then divide the troops in all directions, the officers and soldiers of the Qing Green Battalion and more Han gentry who are still waiting and watching will inevitably return anyway, and the stubborn ones will gather and annihilate them, and the Ming army will be able to quickly occupy Jiangnan, thus forming a new round of confrontation with the Qing court.

It's time to be slow, it's time to be urgent. Zhu Yongxing wanted to settle the war in the south of the Yangtze River before the beginning of spring, and not delay spring planting, so as to prepare for the large-scale northern expedition next year. Therefore, after the favorable situation was achieved, the troops immediately marched like fire, launched a thunderous army, and it was a long-planned advance and offensive.

It can be said that so far, the cooperation of all departments of the Ming army after receiving the order is tacit and is playing a role. If he loses the final victory because he wants to pursue excessive perfection, then Zhu Yongxing will never forgive himself.

After the military discussion was over, Zhu Yongxing took several senior generals and personal guards to climb the Lion Rock to look, and couldn't help sighing: "The tiger is in the dragon plate? Isn't it Zhuge Liang lying to deceive Sun Quan? Look at this mountain, it is not high, and the mountain is gentle and gentle, easy to attack and difficult to defend. The Yangtze River, which is regarded as a natural danger in the north, is open and the current is not urgent. If you set up a heavy cannon on this hill, it will be no problem to bombard the city, right? ”

From a military point of view, the mountains and rivers outside the city did little to defend Nanjing. During the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin's army could not be stopped; In the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to stop the Qing army's attack, which was also the reason for "a piece of flags out of stones" in a certain way!

Ma Weixing, the prince of Syria, also observed it carefully, and nodded in agreement with Zhu Yongxing's evaluation. "This Nanjing City, but the city walls are high and thick, but there is nothing else to defend. However, the scenery is very good, and I heard that there are many things to do. ”

Nanjing can be said to be a place where ancient and modern cultures meet, dotted with natural landscapes and cultural monuments, and the word "city in the park" is the most appropriate description. There is Xuanwu Lake in the ancient city of Nanjing; In the east of the city, there are Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, Linggu Temple, etc.; In the south of the city, there are Confucius Temple, Wuyi Lane, Zhan Garden, etc.; In the west of the city, there are Qingliang Mountain, Stone Town, and Mochou Lake.

"When the war in Jiangnan is over, you can swim freely." Zhu Yongxing nodded with a smile and said, "First of all, the honor of breaking the city will be handed over to the Yanshuo army." ”

"Your Highness, rest assured. Ke belongs to Shenjing. It has to be our army. Ma Weixing waved his arm vigorously and said with a smile: "I've been idle for too long, but the juniors have been out of the limelight, and even the name of this Shushuo army is not loud." Hehe. The last general is so old. It's not a big deal. It's not small, but you have to hurry! ”

"That's not right." Zhu Yongxing looked around at the senior generals around him and smiled faintly. Said: "Do you think the same thing? ”

"Back to Your Highness." Hu Guozhu arched his hand and said: "The victory in Jiangnan has been decided, and the Tartars in the north have lost their wealth, how long can they jump?" If the last general wants to make a contribution, he must take advantage of it as soon as possible. ”

"The destruction of the Tartars will only take two or three years, which is not bad." Zhu Yongxing nodded, and said with a straight face: "But the country will be stable?" There are Mongol tribes in the northwest, and there are quite some ambitious guys; There is Tsarist Russia in the northeast coveting and encroaching on the territory of our Ming Dynasty; Overseas Luzon, the Spaniards slaughtered my compatriots. If the national war is won, it is not the time when the swords and guns are put into the warehouse, and the horses are put in Nanshan. O of you, you must take a long-term view, and there are many opportunities to fight for your country! ”

The Mongol tribes can be understood by everyone, but as for Tsarist Russia and Spain, few people know about it. But Zhu Yongxing's meaning is obvious, defeating the Tartars is not the end, opening up the territory and fighting everywhere is a definite strategy. That is to say, when a martial artist makes a meritorious career, he has a long-term position, and there is no need to rush for a moment.

"O you, read more books, grow knowledge, and open your eyes." Zhu Yongxing looked at everyone's expressions and couldn't help but shake his head helplessly, "Lone will ask Jiangwutang to edit a book on geography and national knowledge, and when the time comes, you all have to take a good look at it." ”

"Your Highness is far-sighted, and the general will never wait. In the future, I will study hard and read more. The Wing Country Gong Ma Zide complimented, he had studied in the lecture hall and knew a little about Tsarist Russia and Spain, but he didn't want to show off in front of everyone.

Zhu Yongxing smiled and waved his hand, and said, "What is far-sighted, what is wise and martial, don't say these words in the future." People have strengths and weaknesses. said that in this battle, you are more experienced and more able to command. Therefore, in the future, it will be hard for you to resist foreign aggression and expand the territory. ”

"Your Highness is serious. Fighting for the country, the duty of a warrior, how to talk about the word hard work? It is the end of the world, as long as His Highness points out, the last general will go and occupy it and make it my Ming territory. Pingbei Hou Xia Guoxiang said.

"That's what you said." Zhu Yongxing joked with a smile: "In the far north, there are bears with white fur, called polar bears, you go and catch a few for Lone; In the sea, thousands of miles to the south, there is a big island with animals with pockets on their stomachs, and you go and hunt for the lonely. ”

"White bear, no problem." Xia Guoxiang first nodded affirmatively, and then asked suspiciously: "There is a pocket on the stomach, what kind of animal is that, and it can do needlework?" ”

"Hahahaha." Zhu Yongxing made a joke, but he was amused to laugh, pointing at Xia Guoxiang and coughing.

The generals didn't know why, and when Zhu Yongxing took a breath, he probably explained the physiological structure of the kangaroo, and everyone suddenly realized. They all talked about the size of the world, there are no surprises, and turned their heads and made fun of Xia Guoxiang for being clever and treating animals as tailors.

"That big island has a vast area and abundant products, and it is smaller and limited than my China." Zhu Yongxing pointed to the south, full of longing, "Now it is barbaric, and only a small number of indigenous people live. If Lone can include this island in my Ming Dynasty in his lifetime, even if it is occupied by the Han people and proclaimed himself king, Lone will be gratified. ”

"The last general is willing to fulfill this wish for His Highness, although the waves are thousands of miles, he will not give up." Zheng Zhangxu's career at sea, when he heard that it was a conversation, he hurriedly surrendered his hand.

"Well, with this ambition, you don't have to worry about big things." Zhu Yongxing nodded appreciatively, stroked his hand in a circle, pointed to the generals and said, "Take good care of your body and live well." There are still many places to use you in the lonely future, but don't get old and decay, you can only lie on the bed and sigh empty! ”

"Your Royal Highness's health is the blessing of my Ming Dynasty." The prince of the Syrian State Ma Weixing arched his hand and said: "The last general will also follow His Royal Highness's auspicious words, and keep this body to serve His Highness forever." ”

"I am willing to serve Your Highness forever." Everyone said in unison.

"Then let's write a good story! Ha ha. Zhu Yongxing stopped his mouth in time, but everyone understood in their hearts.

A small officer ran up from the bottom of the mountain, and Shi Li reported: "There is a messenger sent from the city of Nanjing, and the letter is here, please read it to Your Highness." ”

A personal guard had already taken the letter, and after inspecting it, it was presented to Zhu Yongxing.

“…… When the king arrives, he shall open the door and enter. There is an example in the Nai Dynasty that those who defend the city spend 30 days, and if the city is lost, they will not be guilty of their wives and children. Now all the officials and their relatives are in Beijing, and the beggar king has a limit of 30 days, that is, he should open the door to welcome the surrender......"

Zhu Yongxing casually handed over the letter to the generals to circulate, and sneered: "The old trick is repeated? Hehe, should you really be as arrogant as King Yanping? (To be continued......)