The counterinsurgency army marched southward, and the soldiers and horses of the 5th battalion of the Shenshu Battalion and the soldiers and horses of the 2nd Outer Army Battalion, together with the 3 guards and horses drawn from Gyeonggi, formed a main army of more than 60,000 and marched southward. At the same time, the two prefectures of Datong and Taiyuan in Shanxi Province each dispatched a guard and horse, the two prefectures of Jinan and Gunzhou in Shandong Province each dispatched a guard and horse, and Kaifeng in Henan Province dispatched a guard and horse to rush to the northern part of Jiangxi from the local area to converge. After Song Nan's army arrived, a combined army of nearly 100,000 people from the six Beijing camps, the outer second army and the Eighth Guard Station would be formed to form a rebel army that smashed Zhu Chenhao with an iron fist.

Song Nan knew that although Zhu Chenhao's rebels claimed to have reached 200,000, they were actually just exaggerated, and the question was not how many soldiers and horses he had, but the main question was whether Zhu Chenhao would attack Nanjing regardless of a single qiē.

If Nanjing is captured, the whole situation will become confusing, once the Yangtze River crossing is occupied by the rebels, although they have an elite 100,000 troops waving in, but across the river to attack the city of Nanjing, there is no certainty of victory.

Moreover, if Nanjing falls, it will inevitably become a turning point for Zhu Chenhao's rebels, and under the pressure of the shape or the fluctuation of people's hearts, whether the state capitals in the south of the Yangtze River will become Zhu Chenhao's supporters, and whether the vast areas in the south will become Zhu Chenhao's granary and source of troops, are all extremely variables.

Three days later, however, as soon as the army left the boundary of Yingtianfu and arrived in Shandong, there was a battle report that the main force of the rebels who had taken Anqing Mansion turned around and retreated towards the territory of Jiangxi, and did not storm Nanjing downstream. According to sources, Wang Shouren, the deputy governor of the soldiers and horses, gathered troops and horses to storm the rear of the rebels, captured Fuzhou Mansion yesterday, and was approaching Nanchang Mansion.

After hearing the news, Song Nan laughed loudly and praised: "Mr. Yang Ming is not a corrupt Confucian, I was worried that he might not be able to understand my intentions and resolutely implement them, but now it seems that Mr. Yang Ming not only executed, but also did a very good job." actually claimed to have gathered 300,000 troops to attack Jiangxi in all directions, where did he get the 300,000 troops? Thirty thousand is about the same, and his ability to spread rumors is not weaker than his ability to spread psychology. ”

Happy to be happy, Song Nan also realized that since the rebels had turned back to rescue, Wang Shouren would definitely be under great pressure, and with the speed of the army, it would take at least seven or eight days to reach the north of the Yangtze River, and by then I was afraid that the daylily would be cold.

"Jiang Bin obeys the order." Song Nan sat on his horse and immediately gave an order: "Immediately gather 5,000 cavalry to reinforce Lord Wang day and night, if you can meet with Lord Wang's soldiers and horses, tell him that you must use the procrastination trick, even if Nanchang cannot be captured, do not wrestle with the main force of the rebels, but you need to maintain pressure, and you must not let the rebels turn around and attack Nanjing." ”

Jiang Bin made quick preparations, and quickly dispatched cavalry from various battalions to form 5,000 cavalry soldiers and horses to prepare for the south.

Looking at the back of Jiang Bin leading the cavalry away, Song Nan breathed a sigh of relief, although these five thousand people may not be able to play a big role, if they arrive at the battlefield, the meaning will naturally be different. For Wang Shouren, this was a morale boost, and it also sent a signal to the rebels that the imperial army was coming, which would be a fatal morale blow to them.

"My lord, there are some doubts about the lowly position." Xu Tai sat on the horse and frowned.

Song Nan smiled and asked, "Say, what is taboo between you and me?" ”

Xu Tai said: "I think it is inappropriate to send cavalry reinforcements, and if the rebels are told of the arrival of our army too early, they will definitely make unusual moves." ”

Song Nan smiled and said, "Oh? Tell me, how will the rebels react? ”

Xu Taidao: "If the humble position is Zhu Chenhao, once he learns that the 100,000 troops of the imperial court are coming, he will not protect Nanchang Mansion to the death, because even if he keeps Nanchang Mansion, as soon as my army arrives, it will be a turtle in the urn." It is better to fight to the death and go down the river to Nanjing, before our army arrives, if Nanjing is taken, the shape will be very different. ”

Song Nan laughed and said: "Xu Tai, I am more and more impressed with you, your worries are not superfluous, this is exactly what I am looking forward to, why did I send these five thousand soldiers and horses to reinforce?" The battle of the large army was in Shanxi, where the lakes and hills were dense, and the five thousand cavalry had no advantage except to hurry up, and I wanted the rebels to know that we were coming; The generals and strategists under Zhu Chenhao will definitely understand that there is no way out for them to defend Nanchang, and they will definitely build a plan to turn back and capture Nanjing, which is exactly what I expected. ”

Xu Tai was stunned and said, "So this is a plan of Grandpa Guo?" ”

Song Nan said: "If it is general, where should my army rescue go to?" ”

Xu Taidao: "If you talk about the convention, it is natural where the fire starts and where to rescue, and after our army crosses the Yellow River, it should go straight to Jiangxi." ”

Song Nan said: "That's it, generally speaking, it is naturally a headache and a pain in the feet, but if my army arrives in the north of Jiangxi, it will take at least seven or eight days, and it will take at least seven or eight days to cross Henan Huguang through Shandong, but if we know that the rebels will attack Nanjing, why don't we directly reinforce Ying Tianfu and open our pockets and wait for them to arrive?" We will save at least three days of time from here to Ying Tianfu, and if Zhu Chenhao makes up his mind to attack Nanjing, even if they move quickly along the way, we will be one or two days faster than them. ”

Xu Tai frowned and said: "The plan is a good plan, but ......"

Song Nan smiled: "You were full of confidence just now that the rebels would definitely be fooled, but now you have no confidence?" ”

Xu Tai shook his head and said: "After all, it is to speculate on the other party's intentions, no one is sure that they will definitely do this, if the judgment is wrong, wouldn't it ruin the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of Lord Wang?" The strength of the rebels is much greater than that of Lord Wang, and the lies of his 300,000-strong army can be broken as soon as they are poked. At the beginning of the battle, our army took advantage of the road to reinforce Nanjing in the east, and if we went upstream to reinforce it, it would be a waste of time for many days. ”

Song Nan said: "So I want to add fire, I plan to order you to lead the three guards and horses to the south, from the west road through Henan Huguang to Jiujiang, to make a big fanfare, creating the illusion that my main force is going straight to Jiangxi; And I divided my troops to reinforce Nanking, so that the possibility of success of this strategy was greatly increased. ”

Xu Tai nodded and said: "I agree, if it is so powerful, the rebels will not be fooled, then it is also the will of heaven." ”

Song Nan looked into the distance and said lightly: "If under such circumstances, Zhu Chenhao does not turn back to attack Nanjing, his subordinates will be a group of wrecks." If he sticks to Nanchang, he will be a turtle in an urn, and after I arrive in Nanjing, I will go up the river to recover Anqing and then recover Jiujiang Nankang, and tie my pockets tightly. It's just that Wang Shouren has suffered, and he has to bear more positive pressure; This battle may become a battle for him Wang Shouren's world-shattering reputation, or it may be the place where he died, but in any case, Zhu Chenhao can't escape the fate of defeat, someone sacrifices for this, it is helpless, as the commander-in-chief, I can only think about the overall situation, and I can't take care of anything else. ”

Xu Tai secretly smacked his tongue, the courage of Zhenguo Gong is also getting bigger, and he is willing to win the victory of this counterinsurgency at the cost of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of Wang Shouren, although there is a suspicion of sacrificing Wang Shouren, but no matter who is in this position, I am afraid that he will make the same choice, because quelling the rebellion is the purpose of this trip, and paying the corresponding price is also in the process of cleaning up, it depends on Wang Shouren's own ability.

"In fact, these worries are also superfluous, Wang Shouren is very strategic, I think he will understand my intentions, should not choose to fight head-on, if I were him, I would give up attacking Nanchang, guard the way back from the rebels to give them a yin, and run away after the fight. If Wang Shouren chooses to attack Nanchang to the death, I will be disappointed in him. After Song Nan finished speaking lightly, he waved his hand and ordered the army to march.

……

Hundreds of warships carrying nearly 20,000 rebels through the Yangtze River upstream through Jiujiang Nankang arrived at the mouth of Poyang Lake, a few days ago Zhu Chenhao ordered the army to return to the rescue of Jiangxi, nearly 70,000 troops left only 3,000 people stationed in Anqing Mansion, the rest of the army all rushed back along the land and water.

The fall of Fuzhou Mansion was expected, and the 20,000 soldiers and horses left behind were stationed in Nanchang Mansion, where was Zhu Chenhao's base camp, but the loss of Fuzhou meant that Nanchang Mansion was cold, and Wang Shouren's next target was to point directly at this place.

The huge dragon-headed flagship rode the wind and waves into the surface of Poyang Lake, and the speed was already extremely fast, but Zhu Chenhao, who was on the flagship, felt that it was too slow, and kept urging the soldiers in the warehouse to row quickly, eager to grow wings and rush back to Nanchang.

On the left side of Nanji Island, southwest of Poyang Lake, dense reeds cover the densely intertwined waterways, withered yellow reeds rustle in the wind, and the occasional waterfowl fly by, making it seem silent. But in the dense reeds and waterways, nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers in small boats covered in reed stalks were waiting for the rebel vanguard fleet to cross Poyang Lake.

From Poyang Lake to Nanchang must pass through here along the river to the west, can go directly to the wharf of Nanchang Mansion, Wang Shouren captured Fuzhou and sent Wang Mian to lead 20,000 soldiers and horses to Nanchang Mansion, he took 10,000 soldiers and horses to set up an ambush here, this is the standard siege of the city to help, after learning that the rebels turned back to rescue, Wang Shouren knew that only by using the terrain to ambush the rebels, in order to have the strength of a battle, if all the people attacked Nanchang Mansion, it would give the rebels a chance to meet the frontal attack, so he chose to besiege the city to help.

When it was dark, after a long wait, the shadows of hundreds of warships appeared in view, the lights on the ships were sparkling, and the figures of the rebels walking on them were also clearly visible. Under the blowing of the north wind, they marched majestically along the waterway on the north side of Nanji Island towards the mouth of the river, and as the waterway became more complex and narrow, the rebel ships began to change their formation and line up in columns, and they had to cross the waterway between the reeds until they sailed to the mouth of the river on the shore and then to Nanchang Province.

Wang Shouren's face was grim, lying on a reed-covered tidal flat, his eyes were firmly fixed on the hundreds of boats, when forty or fifty boats only entered the reeds in turn, Wang Shouren got up suddenly, lifted the reed pole covered on his body, pulled out a bow and arrow in his hand, and the soldiers around him moved neatly to light the fire oil cotton cloth wrapped in the arrow, Wang Shouren roared: "Shoot." ”

Thousands of rockets converged into dozens of rainbows like fireflies in the night sky, one end on the ship, the other on the bowstrings of the officers and men, and in an instant, the reed waterway was full of fire, and hundreds of rockets fell on forty or fifty warships, and the sails raised were the biggest target, and only a moment later, the huge sails became a burning holy fire, and the oiled sails caught fire and burned, falling fireballs, and the entire ship was set on fire.

In the blink of an eye, the surface of the lake became a fiery red, as if the morning glow rose on the surface of Poyang Lake, reflecting the crimson color of the world and was extremely beautiful.