The Nanjing Imperial Palace has long been dilapidated and uninhabitable, and Zhu Youzhen temporarily lived in the Nanjing Eunuch's Mansion after entering Nanjing.

"Your Majesty, Inspector Hong is here." Wang Chengen said.

"Announce him in." Zhu Youzhen said.

"Your Majesty, great joy, Liu Wenxiu has captured the stone bridge of the Qinhuai River outside Chaoyang Gate, and thousands of thieves have killed the guards and surrendered on the spot." Hong Chengchou said happily.

"Very good." Zhu Youzhen said happily.

"In two days, our army has broken through 15 camps of anti-thieves, defeated 50,000 enemies, and surrendered more than 20,000 anti-thieves. Your Majesty, the offensive warfare carried out by our people has already achieved results, and the anti-thieves have already been in great confusion, and it is time for an all-out attack. Hong Chengchou asked.

After the two armies met, all the commands were handed over to Hong Chengchou, but Hong Chengchou would take the initiative to ask the emperor for instructions before he would do important things.

"What are you going to do?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

"Your Majesty, please see." Hong Chengchou pointed to the map of Nanjing and explained in detail the battle plan he had formulated.

"At present, the outer city south of the Qinhuai River is basically controlled by our army, and the minister decided that Li Yanzhi will lead his troops across the Qinhuai River and attack the outer city gates such as Gaoqiao and Shangmen, while Zhang Shize, the Marquis of Pingbei, will lead his troops out of the Shence Gate to attack the area between the Shogunate Mountain and Zhongshan Mountain in the outer city. Attack from two sides, trying to squeeze the anti-thieves to the east of the outer city. ”

Zhu Youzhen: "The eastern part of the outer city? ”

"Yes. The thieves came from Jiangxi, squeezed them to the east of the outer city, and our army could then control the city gates on the southwest side of the outer city, and then cut off their retreat. If the thief army retreats from Nanjing, our army can choose to attack from the south and west gates of the city, and strive to leave all the anti-thieves behind! Hong Chengchou explained.

"Are there enough troops to attack?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

After all, there are still 150,000 or 60,000 anti-thieves, and the total number of peasant soldiers and township warriors recruited in the inner city of Nanjing is only 1230,000, and the peasant soldiers and township warriors are okay to defend the city, and it is not possible to fight head-on at all.

"The minister decided to transfer the standard camp to Li Yanzhi and Zhang Shize, so that if it is calculated, Li Yanzhi and Zhang Shize each have elite 10,000 people, and the strength of the attack is enough. After all, there are many buildings in the outer city, and the terrain is limited, and no matter how many troops there are, they can't get out. Although the thief army has 150,000 or 60,000 people, they are divided into various neighborhood camps, and our army can completely do more and fight less locally, and in addition, the morale of the thief army is shaken and demoralized, and it is not difficult to achieve victory. Hong Chengchou said.

"If that's the case, then do it." Zhu Youzhen agreed.

On the same day, Hong Chengchou ordered in the name of the Jiangnan Governor to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the thieves. Zhang Shize and Li Yanzhi each led elite troops and launched a fierce attack on the anti-thieves from the north and west, and for a time the entire outer city was killed.

In the hall of the large army camp of the Jingnan Army, Yuan Chonghuan looked at the map with a solemn expression, his face full of despair.

"Report, Cabinet Department, Shangyuan Gate has been lost, the Praetorian Guard has entered Yongning Fang, and is currently attacking Gaoqiao Gate."

"Report, Cabinet Department, the Praetorian Guards are fighting from the Shence Gate in the inner city and the Guanyin Gate in the outer city, and are attacking the barricades in the north of our city, and at present, six camps have been broken, and the soldiers have suffered more than 3,000 casualties."

One news after another came, all of which were bad news of defeat and defeat.

"It's lost too quickly, isn't it?" Huang Li said with a desperate expression.

The camp tactics with high hopes can be defended for several months no matter how estimated in advance, but I didn't expect that in just ten days, it was beaten by the Praetorian Guards, which is really unacceptable.

"They are too insidious, they actually chose to start with ordinary soldiers, bewitch Juntian among the captured soldiers of our army, and then deliberately put the captives back, so that the matter of Emperor Juntian spread throughout the garrison in a short period of time, and the morale has been low Since then, I am afraid that I have no power to return to the sky, the cabinet, it is time to make a plan to retreat." Qian Qianyi sighed.

"Retreat......" Yuan Chonghuan muttered. He never imagined that he would be forced to retreat.

If they do not retreat and continue to fight, the more than 100,000 troops under him are likely to be wiped out, and most of the soldiers will choose to surrender to the emperor. If you don't retreat, your morale will be so low that you won't have any hope of winning at all.

But even if you retreat, can you retreat with your whole body? Now the armies of the two sides are staggered, and they are fighting fiercely throughout the outer city, and now they are retreating, and the Praetorian Guards will inevitably pursue them in a big way, and by then there will be more than 100,000 troops, how many people will be able to successfully escape?

The 200,000 army was defeated, and most of Jiangxi's troops were lost, so how could they resist the attack of the Praetorian Guards? When the news of the defeat of Nanjing's army came out, the gentry and landlords in the provinces who were originally going to rise up must be afraid and inevitably have the idea of retreating, and without the response of the gentry in the provinces, how could Jiangxi alone resist the attack of the Praetorian Guards?

Yuan Chonghuan's mind spun rapidly, thinking about the pros and cons. In the end, I found out in despair that no matter whether I retreated or not, I was afraid that I was already finished.

"Cabinet Department, when it is decided, it will be decided, and if you don't retreat, I'm afraid it's too late. And if we can successfully retreat, we still have the whole province of Jiangxi, plus Huguang, which has just returned to the Shun Prison State, our strength is still very strong. At that time, as long as the mouth of Poyang Mansion is blocked with heavy troops, it will not be a problem to hold Jiangxi. At present, the provinces are in chaos, and the emperor will inevitably be anxious at that time, coupled with its serious shortage of food, he will not be able to attack Jiangxi at all. Qian Qianyi patiently persuaded.

The bystander is clear, although he doesn't know the art of war or how to fight, Qian Qianyi also knows that the current situation may be irreparable. If you stay in Nanjing, I'm afraid there is only one way to die. And once he is captured by the Praetorian Guard, what awaits him may be an extremely miserable end. At this moment, Qian Qianyi regretted it very much, regretted that he should not have followed Zhang Pu to collude with Jiangxi thieves, and even regretted that he did not choose to leave Nanjing like Zhang Pu. Zhang Pu went to incite the Zhejiang gentry to revolt, this kind of thing can be done by himself, the leader of the Donglin League, and he can do it better than Zhang Pu!

"Withdraw!" After thinking about it for a long time, Yuan Chonghuan finally made a decision. If you stick to it, there is only one way to die, and if you retreat, you may survive. As long as they survive, there may be hope to turn the situation upside down. If you die, you're nothing.

In a word, Yuan Chonghuan himself doesn't want to die now......

"The order, Du Weitou, He Zhenyue and other generals fought bravely, all of them were added to the general rank, rewarded with a thousand taels of silver, ordered them to defend the defense line of their headquarters, and told them that 100,000 Huguang reinforcements have arrived in Wuhu City and will soon reach Nanjing." Yuan Chonghuan said.

“？” Qian Qianyi, Huang Li and the others were stunned for a moment, and soon understood Yuan Chonghuan's intentions. Even if you retreat, you can't retreat completely, you must leave someone behind to resist the Praetorian Guard, and others can have a chance to retreat safely.

Du Weitou and He Zhenyue are both from southern Jiangnan anti-thieves, and Yuan Chonghuan, Qian Qianyi and others are not all the way, and the task of resisting the Praetorian Guards is naturally entrusted to them.

Because of the initial strategy, most of the remaining more than 100,000 thief troops are now distributed in various areas of the outer city, defending the barricades and camps, which are really scattered, and there is no way to withdraw at all. However, if a large-scale withdrawal of troops is withdrawn, it will inevitably cause turmoil in the hearts of the army, and when the time comes, everyone will think of retreating, and the defense line may collapse completely, and I am afraid that no one will be able to withdraw at that time.

After thinking about it carefully, Yuan Chonghuan decided to retreat with only 5,000 standard battalion soldiers, and the other armies were not notified. Not only did they not notify the retreat, but they also rewarded the generals, promoted those who were promoted, and rewarded silver for silver, so as to motivate and improve morale as much as possible and stimulate the morale of the three armies to resist. For this reason, Yuan Chonghuan rewarded the last money and food in his hand to motivate the generals to improve their morale as much as possible, so as to gain time for their retreat.

A large amount of silver taels were scattered, and at the same time, a large number of thieves promoted the leading officers to the ranks, and for a time, the morale of hundreds of thousands of anti-thieves was boosted, and there were many fewer who took the initiative to surrender. The fighting in various areas of the outer city suddenly became tense, and there were shouts of fighting everywhere.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yuan Chonghuan took the soldiers of the standard battalion, together with Huang Liqian Qianyi and others, to leave the altar and go to the outer city of Cangbo Gate in the southeast. Now that Shangyuan Gate has been lost, Li Yanzhi is leading the army to storm Gaoqiao Gate, only Cangbo Gate is still in the hands of the thief army, and Cangbo Gate is already the nearest city gate to return to Jiangxi. If you choose to go out of the city from other gates in the east of the city, you will have to take many detours.

The number of 5,000 soldiers was not much, and it was in the name of supporting the Cangbo Gate. At present, there is a fierce battle at Gaoqiao Gate, once the Praetorian Guard captures Gaoqiao Gate, the next step will inevitably be to attack Cangbo Gate, and going to Cangbo Gate at this time will not arouse suspicion.

When they arrived at Cangbo Gate, Yuan Chonghuan and others did not come forward, hidden in the army, and let Xu Fuzuo, the deputy general of the standard battalion, negotiate with the guard general of Cangbo Gate, Xu Fuzuo took out Yuan Chonghuan's military order, and told the Cangbo Gate guard that Moling Pass had been attacked, and the cabinet sent him to Moling Pass to support and guard the grain road for the army.

Xu Fuzuo is the general of Yuan Chonghuan's standard battalion, Yuan Chonghuan's confidant, and Yuan Chonghuan's military order in his hand, the Cangbo Gate guard will naturally not doubt his words, and soon ordered his subordinates to open the city gate and let the 5,000 standard battalion go out of the city. And he didn't know that Yuan Chonghuan, the commander of the army, and many high-ranking officials of the Jingnan Army were hidden in the army. Seeing the army leaving the city, the Cangbo Gate guards were very envious, envious that Xu Fuzuo and others could leave Nanjing City, because the current situation in Nanjing was too dangerous.

Looking at the city wall that was left behind him, Yuan Chonghuan let out a sigh of relief, he knew that he had escaped. The army in the city could hold on for at least a few days, and these days were enough time for them to stay away from the city of Nanjing. And the provinces in the southwest of Nanzhili are now under the rule of Jiangxi, and they are all their own territory, so they naturally don't have to worry about marching all the way.

However, out of prudence, Yuan Chonghuan did not choose to return from the road he came. Because when I came, I went all the way down the Yangtze River. And now, the Jingnan Army Naval Division has been defeated, the remnants of the Naval Division have withdrawn to Jiangxi, and the entire Yangtze River is controlled by the Janissary Naval Division. If you retreat along the south bank of the river, you may be attacked by the Janissary Navy's sailors from the river.

After careful consideration, Yuan Chonghuan decided to lead his troops all the way to the south, passing through Moling Pass to the south, from Lishui and Gaochun to Ningguofu, entering Huizhou from Ningguofu, and returning to Jiangxi via Raozhou. Although the march is a little farther, they are all marching in their own controlled territory, so there is no need to worry about safety.

All the way to Xiaoxing overnight, because he did not bring a baggage, the daily march was as much as 80 miles, and it took less than a day to arrive at the Moling Pass in the south.

Moling Pass, named Pass, is actually a big town, built a city pass in the south of the town, and controls the main road leading from Nanjing to the southern prefectures and counties. During the Qin and Han dynasties, Moling had always been the political, economic and cultural center of Jiangnan, and during the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan sat in Jiangdong and moved the center north to Jinling, which is now Nanjing.

After attacking Nanjing, in order to control the southwestern provinces of Yingtian, Yuan Chonghuan sent 3,000 soldiers to Moling Pass. Moling Pass was built in the mountain pass, the city is not large, 3,000 people are enough to defend the city.

Traveling all the way to this point, I saw Moling Chengguan from afar, and from Yuan Chonghuan down to ordinary soldiers, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Out of Moling Pass, from then on, the sea and the sky are wide, which can be regarded as a complete turn from danger to safety.

"You go and contact the defenders, don't expose my existence, and say that I was ordered to go to the provinces to collect reinforcements." Yuan Chonghuan shouted to Xu Fuxuan and commanded.

"Subordinates obey." Xu Fuzuo agreed.

Moling Pass is north of Moling Town, a large town with a population of tens of thousands, and at this time the whole town is extremely quiet, not even a trace of movement. In this regard, Yuan Chonghuan and others did not care, it was normal for the people to hide for fear of being looted when the army passed by.

All the way through the streets of Moling Town, out of the town one mile forward, is Moling Guancheng.

"Cabinet, the situation doesn't seem right." At this moment, Xu Fuxuan suddenly came to Yuan Chonghuan and said with a solemn expression.

"Is there anything wrong?" Yuan Chonghuan frowned.

"Guancheng is too quiet, we are all in front of us, and no one has gone down to ask yet." Xu Fu said.

"Signal to stop advancing, and quickly set up a formation!" Looking at the Moling Pass City, which was less than a mile away, Yuan Chonghuan gasped and hurriedly ordered.

It is so close to Guancheng, it stands to reason that it has already been discovered by the defenders, and the defenders will inevitably send people to investigate their own movements and detect the enemy and us. And now the army guarding Moling has not made any movement, which is really abnormal.

With his order, the five thousand soldiers quickly stopped, and began to change from marching to combat mode.

At this moment, suddenly there was a continuous sound of cannonballs, and one after another cannonballs were shot from Moling Pass City and shot into the whole team of thieves, and the whole team suddenly became in a commotion.

Moling Pass was actually taken away! Yuan Chonghuan's heart suddenly cooled, and endless despair was born. If you can't pass the Moling Pass, you can't go back to Jiangxi according to the established route, so you can only return to Nanjing by the same way, and then go west from Nanjing to Dashengguan and take the Wuhu line. Not to mention the time wasted, and it has been a day since I left Nanjing, and now no one knows what the situation is in Nanjing, can I still leave safely if I return to Nanjing?

"What about the Cabinet?" Xu Fuzuo asked anxiously.

"Let's find out how many enemy troops there are in the city first, and see if we can recapture the city." Yuan Chonghuan forced himself to calm down and commanded.

"The Last General ......"

When Xu Fuzuo was about to agree, suddenly a shout of killing sounded, but the sound came from behind, Yuan Chonghuan Huo Ran turned his head to look, and saw hundreds of soldiers pouring out of Moling Town behind him, rushing towards his back.

ps: Yesterday I went to my relatives and drank too much, I was unconscious, and I couldn't even ask for leave, and I haven't fully recovered today. Alas, I'm old, my body is really not good, just a pound of wine, and I didn't have a problem ten years ago.