Episode 68 The Son of Heaven is a close minister

As soon as the words of "capturing the Qing Emperor alive" were spoken, everyone had a heated discussion, and whether they thought it was realistic or unrealistic, in short, their emotions were aroused.

There are quite a few people who think it is unrealistic. Because although the Ming army said that the Pukou Qing army was incorporated, it was only blocking the two ends of the narrow strip, not encircling it on all sides. This area is bordered by the Laoshan Mountains on the left and the Yangtze River on the right. The Yangtze River is better, it is indeed an insurmountable barrier. However, the mountain range on the left is not a lofty mountain cliff, just a hilly mountain range a few kilometers wide and three or four hundred meters high.

This is the same as the situation of the battle in the southern suburbs of the People's Guard, which also used the mountains to block and encircle the Qing army. However, this kind of mountain range near Nanjing can only block the movement of large groups of stragglers, and it is still easy for small groups of stragglers to climb over. The goal of this kind of encirclement can only be to annihilate a large army, and it is not at all certain to say which person to capture. Not to mention the other emperor, a key object of protection.

Many generals have raised this question. Xiang Xiaoqiang was a little embarrassed on the spot, and he smiled. To tell the truth, he didn't set this plan to capture the Qing Dynasty emperor in the first place, and now he said that he wanted to capture the Qing Dynasty emperor alive, just to run out of a more tempting fruit and strive for the plan to be approved. And, of course, there's the addiction. He sweated in his heart, and secretly warned himself that when he talked to these old men in the future, he must not just talk about it. …… No one is a fuel-efficient lamp.

When Xiang Xiaoqiang was about to put on a humble young image and win the sympathy of several old men, an inconspicuous lieutenant general looked at everyone and said:

"Actually, the last general thinks that it is not unrealistic to capture the Qing Emperor alive......"

A large group of generals and marshals around him did not pay attention to him. His voice drowned out the discussion. He didn't care at all, and seized the opportunity to say directly to Xiaoqiang:

"Lord Xiang, the last general thinks that your lord's plan is very reasonable!"

"Oh?" Xiang Xiaoqiang was a little surprised, and said with a smile, "Adults are ......"

This lieutenant general grinned and said:

"Lord Xiang, the commander of the 16th Group Army, Feng Lingcai."

He and Xiang Xiaoqiang got into a conversation, and soon attracted the attention of the others, and the conference room was quiet, and everyone looked at the two of them.

Xiang Xiaoqiang understood what he should do now, and he immediately whispered to Xiuxiu, asking Xiuxiu to help him observe next, who supported him, who opposed him, and who was a potential target at the meeting.

He knows that to do this kind of "meticulous work" that penetrates people's hearts, Xiuxiu is the most suitable.

……

Feng Lingcai looked at these people who didn't pay attention to him just now, and now they were all silent, listening to their own words, they were very proud, and smiled at Xiang Xiaoqiang:

"Your Excellency's determination to capture the Qing Emperor alive must have been carefully considered...... You can think about it, what is the character of this new emperor of Qingyu? He was stubborn and self-serving, he was a megalomaniac, he originally said that he would take Nanjing on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, but now not only did not take it, but we bombed hundreds of planes and killed tens of thousands of people, how could he just find out that he was surrounded and immediately escaped himself? It must be to stubbornly defend the local area and supervise the desperate resistance of the army...... Therefore, there is still a high chance that we will catch the Qing Emperor. …… The 16th Army of the last general is willing to cooperate with the People's Guard and participate in this operation! ”

Feng Lingcai, commander of the 16th Army, part of the Strategic Reserve. This time, he led his troops and other group armies to enter Beijing and participate in the defense of Nanjing. Because they belonged to the last group of troops to be transferred, they did not get to fight, and the credit for the Jiangxinzhou battlefield had been divided between the capital garrison and the other three group armies.

There is some truth to what he said. But several old men at the top stared at him, and they all felt a little weird.

Suddenly, another man said:

"The last general also thinks that Lord Xiang's plan is very good, and the twentieth group army of the last general is also willing to participate in this operation with Lord Xiang!"

Immediately after that, there was a buzzing voice in the conference room, and in addition to a few old men in the high command, the commanders of the group armies below were all quickly weighing. Soon, three more army commanders expressed their desire to participate in the operation. This credit is too tempting, although the number of Xiang Xiaoqiang is small, they are all armored mechanized troops, and they must be the soul of this operation. Everyone wants to follow suit.

Standing with Xiang Xiaoqiang in this way, there are already five group armies, with a strength of more than 400,000 troops.

Xiang Xiaoqiang was ecstatic in his heart, but he knew that the most important thing now was to keep his head clear. Emperor Guangwu was definitely not so easy to catch. If he really surrounded him and forced the 200,000 Qing troops to resist desperately, the battle dragged on for a day and a half, and in the end his own side suffered heavy casualties, and he might be surrounded by reinforcements.

When these middle- and lower-level generals saw that the battle situation had improved, they all wanted to make meritorious contributions. It is not them who are actually responsible, but Xiang Xiaoqiang.

Xiang Xiaoqiang still pretended to be a humble junior, raised his head, and said to Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng very respectfully:

"Lord Zhang, Lord Tang, the last general is not cautious enough to speak...... Although everyone said so, the last general knew that the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was not so easy to catch...... The last general asked the two lords for permission to change the determination of this operation to one, that is, to annihilate the Pukou army of the Qing captives...... If I can really catch the Qing Emperor, then God bless me. ”

……

Soon, the meeting decided to approve this battle plan. Program Codename: New Year's Greetings.

Immediately after that, the detailed plan began in full swing......

This operation is the first time that Xiang Xiaoqiang has such a large number of disposable troops. Because he was the main planner of the operation, and the armored, mechanized, and motorized units of the People's Guard were also the backbone, he was the one to select the friendly forces.

In accordance with the consistent idea of "mobile warfare," and in addition, he also wanted to try his best to bring in as many supporters as possible, so Xiang Xiaoqiang adopted the principle of "equalizing interests" and drew out some elite troops from each of the five group armies, and fished out a total of 6 motorized infantry divisions and 10 of the most elite infantry divisions, which were temporarily organized into five armies, which were still under the personal command of the commanders of these five group armies.

The artillery fire on both sides of the Yangtze River in the current Nanjing section has been reversed, and the heavy artillery on the Qing army's side suffered heavy losses and there was little left, while the artillery on the Ming army's side was mainly on the Yangtze River defense line, protected by strong fortifications, and was almost intact. And there was also the artillery of several later army groups. Therefore, there was no need to carry large-caliber artillery for this cross-river operation, and the east bank of the Yangtze River mainly provided fire support.

Until ten o'clock in the evening, a more specific plan was decided. The generals who attended the meeting left one after another and returned to their respective units to make arrangements.

Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that these generals were close to him, although the degree of proximity was different, and the purpose of getting close was also different (some were to improve the status of their own troops, and some were simply for medals), but they all had a common reason. That is, Xiang Xiaoqiang is the only general that Her Majesty the Empress thoroughly trusts.

Zhu Yourong is the biggest political resource in his hands, and to a certain extent, he is monopolized by himself.

This is his biggest trump card, which can be played from time to time.

After the meeting came out, Xiang Xiaoqiang deliberately rubbed and walked behind. Sure enough, the commanders of the group armies, as well as Li Guoliang, also consciously or unconsciously stayed behind. Seeing that there was no one else in the corridor, several commanders smiled at each other, and everyone tacitly agreed.

Xiang Xiaoqiang took Xiuxiu and came out of the conference room slowly. Several commanders immediately surrounded him and said "Lord Xiang" with a smile.

Li Guoliang is naturally the closest to Xiang Xiaoqiang, and he feels that he is the core of course.

Xiang Xiaoqiang also smiled and pulled closer to them. The commanders of these five group armies are not like Li Guoliang now, they don't know enough about Xiang Xiaoqiang, and they don't want to get too close yet, they just want to participate in this oily and watery operation and talk to Xiang Xiaoqiang.

Xiang Xiaoqiang briefly chatted with them for a while, encouraging everyone to cooperate sincerely tomorrow and jointly annihilate Qingyu Yunyun, deliberately distinguishing Li Guoliang from several of them in his tone of speech, and being very polite to several group army commanders, but more casual to Li Guoliang, as if he was already a very iron person. Li Guoliang also clearly felt the difference. Xiang Xiaoqiang stopped treating him as an outsider so quickly, and Li Guoliang was very moved.

Then Xiang Xiaoqiang prepared to give Li Guoliang the first carrot, and at the same time, he had to let the five people see it, they couldn't eat it, and they were panicked.

"Hehe, it's not early," Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at his pocket watch, turned his face to Xiuxiu and said, "Go over there and ask the palace maid, has Your Majesty slept." ”

Xiuxiu bowed slightly and agreed very respectfully, and then held her head high, held the documents in her hands, and walked away, showing everyone's demeanor.

Xiuxiu is very smart and knows that this is the effect that Xiang Xiaoqiang wants. Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled secretly and was very satisfied with Xiuxiu.

Several commanders have long been stealing glances at the "Ryukyu princess". Now looking at Xiaoqiang casually asking the Ryukyu princess to ask the Empress Daming if she has slept, this tone is like calling her own girl to see if her wife is asleep, and she is full of envy.

After a while, Xiuxiu came back, and bowed down very respectfully and replied, Your Majesty did not sleep, and was eating Chinese New Year's Eve dinner alone, and I was very happy to hear that I asked the adults.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled:

"Okay, those adults, that's it, everyone go back early to rest, and kill the enemy together tomorrow. …… Well, Master Li, come with me to meet Your Majesty and pay New Year's greetings to Your Majesty. ”

When he said a word, Li Guoliang was stunned, and then his face turned pale with excitement and tears welled up in his eyes.

The commanders were dumbfounded, and they were already speechless with envy. The two of them wanted to say on the spot, they also wanted to pay New Year's greetings to His Majesty, but their throats rolled and they didn't speak. Reason tells them: not yet. They don't have enough weight, and they don't have enough relationship with Xiang......

Originally, they only heard that Xiang Xiaoqiang was a close minister of the Son of Heaven, but they didn't expect it to be so close.

Several people were greatly stimulated and took their leave. All the way, they are thinking about how to perform their best tomorrow and join the camp of Xiang Xiaoqiang as soon as possible.

Li Guoliang, with infinite joy and gratitude, enjoyed the reward he received by taking refuge in the adult. He was the commander of the army and the rank of lieutenant general, and although he also belonged to the top of the army, he had never met Her Majesty the Empress. Don't talk about him, it's that there are many people in the General Staff who are more prominent than him, and they have never seen the Son of Heaven before, that is, Zhu Yourong has only had the opportunity to meet him once or twice in the past few days when he lives in the fortress.

This is just the first day of taking refuge in Xiaoqiang, and he can be taken to meet the empress, Li Guoliang is more and more glad that he made the right choice.

……

Zhu Yourong was in his room, eating Chinese New Year's Eve very pitifully. In fact, it is said that it is a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and it can only be regarded as a night snack. She originally wanted to invite the main generals in the fortress to have a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner with her family, because her closest people did something sad for her, Zhu Yourong didn't want to face them alone, wanted to pull more generals in, and everyone chatted about the war during dinner, diluting the atmosphere, so that it seemed natural and warm.

But when it was time to have a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, there was a war, and the generals were busy, and she had no choice but to deal with Zheng Gongyin, Mrs. Li, Zheng Yuyu, Zheng Yuxuan, and the Ryukyu royal family. These people sat together relatively silently, and the atmosphere was very awkward and cold. Zhu Yourong excused himself to be sleepy and ended early.

But with so much going on today, she had so many thoughts that she couldn't sleep. I didn't eat anything at night, and now I was hungry again, so I ordered the kitchen to bring dinner, and I ate very coldly, thinking about these people around me while eating. The best among her peers is her cousin Zheng Yuxuan, but now that her uncle has done something that makes her so sad, she doesn't know how to face this cousin.

…… Now that I see Xiang Xiaoqiang, I can be happy from the heart. It is a feeling of letting go of all stress and burdens, a complete sense of trust and security. Although this guy is always full of "ministers", Zhu Yourong has a feeling that he probably doesn't mind using "you, me" to be commensurate...... On this bleak Chinese New Year's Eve, Zhu Yourong suddenly wanted to chat with Xiaoqiang and give himself a military lesson! …… But she knew that Xiang Xiaoqiang was fighting for her at the moment.

Because she wanted to defend Nanjing, Xiang Xiaoqiang defended Nanjing.

But just now Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly sent Xiuxiu to ask himself, how could Zhu Yourong not be overjoyed? …… Sometimes in a special state of mind, a small thing can bring great joy to people, and even make people sincerely grateful to God.

Xiang Xiaoqiang entered Zhu Yourong's room first, and was surprised to find that His Majesty's eyes were red and swollen, but his face was full of joy. Xiang Xiaoqiang's heart warmed, and for a moment there was a sense of guilt: he actually used her as a political resource and "rewarded" her henchmen at will!

He sat down in a complicated mood, chatted with Zhu Yourong for a while, and greeted her for the New Year. Zhu Yourong actually smiled and greeted him for the New Year.

Zhu Yourong was so happy to see himself this time, which Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't expect. For a moment, he couldn't even bear to get down to business. But your plans can't be changed. Xiang Xiaoqiang reported the military meeting just now to Zhu Yourong, and then told her her plans for tomorrow.

Xiang Xiaoqiang found that Zhu Yourong was extremely lonely and empty now, and she was happy to listen to whatever she talked to her.

Under the soft lamp, Zhu Yourong's cheeks were flushed with a faint flush, his white neck was as elegant as a swan, and the neckline of his black velvet nightgown was tightly pressed underneath...... I remembered that when I first saw her, she was dressed like this.

What a beautiful girl!

……

"Ahem," Xiang Xiaoqiang found himself a little out of shape, and said with a dry cough, "Your Majesty, the minister just said that air power is very important. Well, by the way, our army commander is very talented, and he knows a lot more about this than his minister. He happened to come with his ministers...... Your Majesty, isn't it? ”

Zhu Yourong looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang, and suddenly smiled slyly, his eyebrows crooked, as if he had guessed his thoughts, and said with a smile:

"Then I'll meet him!"

Li Guoliang came in with a red face excitedly. When I saw Her Majesty the Empress, who usually only appeared in newspaper photos, was now sitting in front of me, I couldn't believe my eyes.

He "snapped" and stood upright, then bowed and said:

"Minister, Commander of the Ming Army Aviation, Li Guoliang, see Your Majesty! …… Your Majesty, Happy New Year! ”

……

From 11 o'clock in the evening, an hour before Chinese New Year's Eve, the Qing army in Pukou, under the strict orders of Emperor Guangwu, hastily reorganized and without heavy artillery cover, gathered 20,000 or 30,000 infantry still fighting and frantically attacked Nanjing in two ways, all the way by assault boats and barges.

But not a single boat or man reached the east bank, and all of them were sunk in the river.

The other road achieved great success, successfully broke through the pontoon bridge on Zimu Island, and at just after 12 o'clock in the night, landed on the east bank again, and successfully established a bridgehead.

Emperor Guangwu did not expect that the southern road would be so smooth, and he could actually cross the Yangtze River again on Chinese New Year's Eve, which gave him a shot in the arm, from the last madness to real hope. He felt that although he could not occupy Nanjing on Chinese New Year's Eve, after all, he turned defeat into victory on Chinese New Year's Eve and landed on Nanjing land again. If we can occupy Nanjing on the first day of the new year, then the external propaganda can also say that "Nanjing has been occupied in the new year", and the face will be much rounder.

However, the Qing army was limited to a bridgehead, and was surrounded by the Ming army, but the Ming army seemed to be tired, and did not drive the Qing army down the river no matter what. The two sides were at a stalemate, with the Qing army controlling three pontoon bridges.

Although Emperor Guangwu couldn't see how to get in, he always held out the hope of occupying Nanjing in the New Year. However, now the Qing army had completely lost the morale to start, and they regarded the attack on the east bank as an automatic death, and began to flee in large numbers on the west bank, and then were strafed back by machine gun fire.

Every soldier was forced by machine guns to climb the pontoon bridge with tears in his eyes. When many soldiers arrived on the pontoon bridge, they jumped into the water to survive, and a large number of people froze to death in the river.

The Qing soldiers hoped that the Ming army would open artillery to blow up the pontoon bridge, so that they could be sent to the pier to the north to take an assault boat, and there would be many more opportunities to escape on the way. However, the artillery of the Ming army seemed to be blind, and set off a column of water from a distance of 100 or so meters, as if it was deliberately protecting the three pontoon bridges.

And so it went on until five o'clock in the morning.

At five o'clock in January, it was just dawning. To the southeast, several small black dots appeared in the sky. In the blink of an eye, it turned into thirty planes, roaring straight to the west end of the three pontoons.

Thirty Osprey dive bombers took turns dropping bombs, and in the blink of an eye, the west end of the three pontoon bridges exploded in a sea of fire, and the severed arms and stumps of the Qing soldiers continued to fly into the sky, and the Qing soldiers who were waiting to get on the pontoon bridges fled in a hurry. The pontoon bridge itself was no longer under the control of the Qing army, and the Qing troops who had gone up to the east bank were also completely cut off and besieged.

The armored vehicles of the People's Guard Corps rumbled up, fired a few times from machine guns, and shouted with loudspeakers, ordering them to surrender. Almost without shouting a second time, the thousands of Qing soldiers on the east bank all laid down their arms and surrendered happily. They knew they were much luckier than their friends in the West Bank, and they were sure they could survive.

Thirty dive bombers hovered over the western end of the pontoon bridge, constantly flying low and strafing, dispersing the Qing troops, keeping them farther away from the pontoon bridge, and preventing the Qing troops from coming to blow up the bridge.

150 Kingfisher fighters and another 120 dive bombers also flew over Pukou and began ground attacks. At the same time, the artillery group of the Ming army on the east bank began to bombard.

The vanguard infantry of the People's Guard quickly rushed to the three pontoon bridges, carrying submachine guns, woodpecker machine guns, and mortars, and rushed to the other side of the Yangtze River to establish bridgehead positions.

Then, tanks, armored personnel carriers, trucks, self-propelled guns, began to drive across the Yangtze River one by one.

Xiang Xiaoqiang's "New Year's greetings" action began.