Before Zhu Shuren set out on this expedition, he once swore to his wife and promised:

The field basically did not personally supervise the battle, so it was instigated in the city of Hefei. If the field battle is won, and you can fight back, at most, after the Zhongdu Fengyang recovers, you will go into the city for a walk, which can be regarded as an inspection, but it will never be the Huai River, and you will not go to Huaibei.

This assurance, the first half has already been broken through by Zhu Shuren, and he personally supervised the whole battle of the previous battle of Weishui.

Fortunately, in the second half of the guarantee, he still has a chance to comply.

No, on the third day after the recovery of Fengyang City,

The Ming army just hastily gathered the corpses all over the city, lit a few huge fires, and pulled the broken houses and broken beams and pillars destroyed by the war in the city as ignition fuel, and roughly incinerated most of the corpses, and then dug several large pits outside the city and buried them.

When they made the sanitation work a little bit more visible and entered the city so that they would not be infected with the plague with a high probability, Zhu Shuren entered Fengyang lightly and organized a simple military parade, which could be regarded as inspecting the newly restored capital of the Ming Dynasty.

"This city has been destroyed like this, it is better to clean it up and start a new city, it is really miserable." Seeing the ruins and bloody ruins everywhere, Zhu Shuren couldn't help but cover his nose and frown.

In the final melee, the Qing army was extremely bloodthirsty and violent, after all, there were still 30,000 or 40,000 people under Bolo and Yue Le at that time.

In this kind of battle, it is difficult to distinguish between friend and foe, the two sides are staggered, and after killing the red eye, the nerves are tense to the point of confusion, and it is completely a matter of killing people when they see them.

Especially when he finally knew that he had to retreat, he slaughtered an extra lot in order to vent his anger. Fengyang was originally the central capital of the Ming Dynasty, and those Qing generals all knew the significance of this place for the Ming Dynasty, and they were definitely unwilling to leave an intact city to the Ming Dynasty.

In Tatar's view, any important city with political significance to the Ming Dynasty should be scorched if it has to be abandoned, and it can be broken through and abandoned.

Cao Bianjiao and Huang Degong next to him knew that the prince was compassionate, so they could only try to try their best to speak out:

"The prince is benevolent, but the Tartars are cruel, and some things cannot be avoided. Fortunately, Huainan has all returned to the banner of the imperial court, and the robes and innocent people who died in the battle are enough to comfort. ”

Zhu Shuren covered his nose: "How many enemies will be destroyed in the end?" Is there an estimate? ”

Huang Degong: "Fengyang City finally broke through to Huaibei, it is estimated that there were 20,000 people, and the Qing army was killed and captured and surrendered, about 26,700 -

In fact, at least more than 10,000 of them were caused by the forced rebellion of the Han army and the Manchus, and only a small half of them were caused by the imperial army chasing down the remnants of the enemy after entering the city.

This time, the last general didn't dare to take credit, Geng Zhongming's old traitor, in the end, the matter was revealed, in order to protect himself, he was indeed very tenacious, and the dog jumped over the wall in a hurry. Before Geng Zhongming's death, most of his troops were killed and wounded, and thousands of Manchu elite soldiers were also killed.

In particular, the Manchurian Zhenglan Banner under the pro-command of the Boluo Yuele brothers was the most fierce among the troops sent by the Tartars, and they were originally ordered to trap Geng Zhongming, but in the end, they were exposed in advance and directly turned into a full-scale fight.

If these Tartar cavalry fought in the field outside the city, they would be able to exert strong combat power, but God bless me Daming, these troops were finally dragged by Geng Zhongming and consumed in the street battles in the city, which is really happy. ”

Zhu Shuren nodded with satisfaction, and he figured out the hidden situation before and after the Battle of Fengyang.

Then, Cao Bianjiao added some information on the side. It is nothing more than that in the past two days, after learning that Fengyang had been captured, the Qing armies of Huaiyuan and Linhuai also abandoned the two county towns that no longer had strategic value, and directly crossed the Huai River north in a hurry with the remnants, fled to Gui and Bo, and joined Boluo and Yuele.

After a full battle, the last fresh force of the Qing army to escape in the Fengyang War Zone was nothing more than between 30,000 and 40,000.

At the beginning, Abatai brought more than 150,000 or 60,000 main soldiers, plus a number of second- and third-line city defenders and strong men, and finally only a few people returned to Huaibei in a series of bloody battles, which can really be said to be miserable.

Only more than 20 percent of the troops who went back were destroyed.

In later generations, the Huainan part of the Anhui region was completely recovered by the Ming Dynasty! Not a single county has been left behind!

And the Qing army's losses were so heavy, especially in the Manchurian cavalry units of its descendants, which suffered heavy losses.

Nine thousand people were killed in the previous battle of Weishui, and later the successive pursuit battles and camp breaking battles added up to two or three thousand losses.

In this Fengyang melee, the only remaining combat power of the positive blue flag, which was okay, was also lost by several thousand at once. Counting before and after, the total casualties of the Zhenglan Flag have also exceeded half.

It's just that the positive blue flag is not as good as the two white flags, after all, the active personnel of the two white flags were completely destroyed and rebuilt once three years ago, and even the reserve population is almost unable to make up. And the Zhenglan Flag was not completely extinguished back then, and this time I can squeeze a retired veteran in his forties to make up for it.

The three banners of the Manchurian people were all added up, and the cavalry troops who returned alive barely had more than 10,000 people left, which was not miserable. The remaining more than 20,000 Han and Mongolian troops were also separated from Germany.

Bolo fled back to Shangqiu County, the seat of Defu, and refused to defend Shangqiu. He sent his brother Yue Le to Bozhou in an attempt to reorganize a new defensive line.

Between Bozhou and Fengyang County, it is said that there is a distance of 2780 miles, and there is also a Mengcheng County that has no danger to defend on the way. Of course, the Qing army would not stop in Mengcheng, but directly chose the scorched earth strategy when retreating,

Kill when you see the village, slaughter when you see the city, directly kill all the people in the city of Mengcheng who are unwilling to be soldiers and unwilling to withdraw with the Qing Dynasty, take away all the materials that can be bringed, and burn them all if they can't take them away, so as not to fund the enemy Ming -

It's not that the Qing army suddenly became more brutal, but Mengcheng and Bozhou, which nominally also belong to Fengyang Mansion, and the Qing army was originally able to hold the central capital of the Ming Dynasty, but of course hoped to use this as a springboard. But now they have been so miserable by the despicable and shameless instigation of the Ming Dynasty, of course they have to vent their anger on the people of the Ming Dynasty, and if they can't get it, they will destroy it.

For other state capitals that have no political significance, the Qing army is not so ruthless.

So in later generations, from Huaiyuan to Mengcheng to Wuyang, along the 200-mile road on both sides of the vortex, it was almost killed into a semi-no-man's land by the fleeing Qing army. This was obviously also done to create logistical obstacles for the follow-up pursuit of the Ming army, so that the Ming army could not get anything along the way because of food to the enemy.

If it weren't for the follow-up pursuit and drive of the Ming cavalry, they would not be able to kill slowly in their time, and when they saw the Ming cavalry approaching, they would have to immediately hurry and continue to flee to the northwest, I am afraid that this kind of killing will continue for many more days.

The pursuing Ming soldiers saw the tragic situation of the people along the way, and naturally they also hated the same enemy, and became more and more hostile to the Tartars, and they were reluctant to chase after them, as long as they could catch up with the enemy, they would all be killed, and no prisoners would be left alive.

The high-ranking generals of the Ming army in the rear, after finding out the situation in the front, were also in high morale, and they asked for battle one after another, hoping that Zhu Shuren would further command the troops to cross the Huai River in an all-round way, take advantage of the victory to pursue, take the Guide Mansion as well, and officially advance the battlefield to the territory of Henan Province.

However, this overly optimistic plan was slightly poured cold water by Zhu Shuren:

"Don't be reckless! It is true that our army is now winning successive battles, but in continuous battles, the loss of materials has reached the limit. Since the Qing army has retreated 2780 miles in one go, and has created a 200-mile-wide scorched earth no-man's land halfway, how can we guarantee logistics if we attack with all our might?

Since the Qing army's slaughtered scorched earth troops have been driven away, and the Qing army has temporarily stopped killing, there is no question of quickly moving forward to save the people, so it is better to breathe a sigh of relief first.

Our army has a large number of firearms, and the requirements for supply are very high, once the company advances, the guns, shells, gunpowder, and firearms are not replenished and maintained, and the combat power will plummet by several percent!

Especially before, in order to take advantage of the enemy's internal hidden dangers, he pretended to attack Huaiyuan and other places, but in fact, he attacked Fengyang in a roundabout way. Our army's preparation for the sheep attack on the Huaiyuan front line is all really consumed, how long will it take to supply the shells back?

The logistical conditions and canal water conservancy of the Huainan battlefield were built by our army after two or three years of rest, so the logistical supply of the Huainan operation was like an arm's finger.

Once they arrived in Huaibei, they were all rotten land that had been mutilated by the Qing army for many years, and the rear of the Qing army was poor, and they did not expect to transport supplies from the north to the south.

Our army's method of fighting, which is extremely dependent on supplies, cannot rashly form a salient from here, otherwise it will frustrate the spirit of the imperial court, which is not trivial. ”

Zhu Shuren's truth, people in later generations will definitely understand it as soon as they hear it, the more advanced the troops, the more they eat logistics.

And generals who are good at fighting also know that laymen look at the battlefield, and insiders look at logistics.

In particular, the playing style similar to "Van Vliet's ammunition" has been tested, but it is not necessary to wait for it to return to the blue.

Of course, the ancients were not so impressed by these truths, so Zhu Shuren had to change the angle and strengthen the left evidence on the side:

"Even if you don't read much, you always know the allusions of the former Song Yue Wumu, right? When Yue Wumu wanted to go north to Heluo and recover Bianliang, how did Zhao Gou and Qin Hui frame him?

Didn't he let the other Southern Song Dynasty armies retreat, and then said that Yue Wumu had become a lone army in Huaixi and would be surrounded by Jin soldiers, and only twelve gold medals in one day forced him to withdraw his troops? ”

】

Zhu Shuren mentioned Yue Fei, Cao Bianjiao, Huang Degong and other tiger generals naturally came to the spirit, but they were also angry:

"The former Song monarchs were just a group of shameless people who framed Zhongliang. I am now in the Ming Dynasty, and I have no doubt about the prince's employment, according to the words in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", that is, 'the heart is the same, the monarch and the minister are the most public', so why bother? ”

Cao Bianjiao and they really don't read much, but the popular "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" will still drop a few sentences in the bookbag, so they invariably compare Emperor Longwu's trust in Zhu Shuren to Liu Bei's trust in Zhuge Liang.

Seeing that these generals hadn't figured out the deep meaning of the prince for a while, Gu Yanwu, the staff next to him, helped him speak:

"The generals were calm and impatient, and carefully pondered what the prince meant: Zhao Gou and Qin Hui were shameless, but they couldn't recall Yue Fei for no reason, which first caused the established fact that 'Yue Fei has become a lone army', which shows that the formation of a lone army itself is indeed very dangerous.

Therefore, for the sake of today's plan, if we want to avoid the formation of a lone army in the middle road, we have to hope that the east and west roads will also take the opportunity to advance at the same time, thicken the strategic depth of the two Huai theaters as a whole, and push the entire front to the north in parallel.

What's more, Shangqiu, Bianliang and other places have no special significance to my Ming Dynasty, and they are not more anxious to restore the old capital than the former Song Dynasty, so it is better to work steadily and steadily.

Besides, the former Song Dynasty wanted to rush into recovery twice, but what happened in the end, did the generals forget? Before Jingkang, Tong Guan was known as Fuyan, but it only lasted for a year, but it made the Jin people see through the decay and weakness of the Northern Song Dynasty.

More than 100 years later, when the Song and Meng Dynasty destroyed the Jin, Song Lizong was anxious to 'enter Luo', but it was only less than a year after the recovery of Bianliang, but the Mongols saw through the weakness of the Southern Song Dynasty. This kind of thing should not be gambled on for a certain strategic goal. ”

Gu Yanwu helped explain in this way, which can be regarded as completely persuading everyone's eagerness to continue to make meritorious contributions, so that everyone can have the patience to wait for comrades on other fronts to catch up.

Huang Degong was unwilling to buzz and asked: "Please advise the prince, the next step of the imperial court, which way should the offensive of the people and horses be the first?" The last general will stay in this Fengyang, can there be other opportunities to fight?

If not, can you transfer the troops and horses of the headquarters to other battlefields to help in the war? The last general is not disobedient, he just wants to have more fighters and make more meritorious contributions to the country! ”

Zhu Shuren raised his hand and signaled everyone to be a little calm: "Don't worry, if you have a chance, this king will naturally have a bowl of water, and you are afraid that there will be no fight?"

As for the specific arrangements, our Hefei Theater was originally centered on three roads, but now it has made a breakthrough first. According to the original plan, the next step should be to attack the East Route Army and suddenly cross the Huai River from Huai'an to the north.

The part of the territory north of the Huai'an River was completely pocketed, and then from Pizhou to the north along Surabaya, and directly smashed Xuzhou, which was the key province of Henan, Shandong, and Nanzhi on the east road!

After taking Xuzhou, all the way to the east to the sea, the battle line can be pushed to the Shandong border, and the north can also echo with Liu Zeqing who is wandering in the Denglai Mountains, completely connecting the East China Sea front.

Moreover, compared with the Tartars, my Ming Dynasty has the absolute advantage of the sailor, and if the main attack is from the west, the advantage of the sailor cannot be played. The main attack from the east road, but it can cooperate with the waterway, and finally it is slightly radical and deep, and it is not afraid of being cut off and surrounded by the Tartars, and it can retreat to the coast of Haizhou (Lianyungang) at the worst, so it is invincible. ”

Zhu Shuren said as he asked someone to bring a map and directly compared it to it.

Now, with the recovery of Fengyang, there is a section of the middle section of the Huai River near Fengyang that turns northward, forming a protrusion. If the Ming army in the east can also be equally powerful, and quickly advance north, it will be able to flatten this bulge and pull it all the way east to the sea.

And Xuzhou is also regarded as the north and south to rush, until Xuzhou, it is a little dangerous to defend, and then to the northeast, you can rely on the mountainous areas of southwest Lu, including Mount Tai, Mengshan and the swampy area of Juyeze.

If you can't fight all the way to Xuzhou, Suzhou and Pizhou will be in no danger to defend halfway, and even if you cross the Huai River from Huai'an, there will be loopholes everywhere.

Therefore, the lower reaches of the Huai River, if you don't cross to the north, you have to advance to Xuzhou at least in one breath.

All the generals are knowledgeable soldiers, and after looking at the map and pondering for a while, they have to admit that the prince's opinion is very correct.

Gu Yanwu next to him saw that everyone had a unified opinion, so he continued to help explain: "And our army was originally on the west road, so we put down heavy troops, and in the past two months, Governor Zhang and Azig have been fighting each other, and the Tartars must be fully prepared on the west road." Even if Governor Zhang was forcibly ordered to organize a counteroffensive, it would not be sudden.

On the eastern road, the Tartars did not attack, and our army was very quiet and did not show threat, so if it was a sudden move, it would be possible to catch the enemy by surprise.

At present, the enemy's vigilance on the eastern road has been reduced to the extreme. According to the confessions of prisoners of war compiled and summarized by our army, before the war, the Tartars were garrisoned in the direction of Huai'an, including Mandahai, Shangshan, Geng Zhongming, and Kong Youde.

Before the Battle of Weishui, Shang Shan and Geng Zhongming were transferred, leaving only Man Dahai and Kong Youde. This time, Geng Zhongming directly fought with the Tartars until both sides were defeated, and the other Tartar departments also suffered heavy losses. The Tatars will definitely worry about our northward march to Germany, and maybe they will continue to send troops from the rear and Huai'an to reinforce Germany.

If the forces of Huai'an and Xuzhou become weaker, it will be easier to succeed in the sneak attack on the eastern road. ”

After listening to this explanation, the generals couldn't help but light up, Huang Degong reacted the fastest, and immediately asked for battle:

"So...... Fengyang is no longer attacking this way, but it is no longer really the main attack? But there is still a task for sheep to attack and lure the enemy? Otherwise, how can you put more pressure on the Gui and Bo Qing troops and force them to draw more Xuzhou defenders over? The last general is willing to take on the task of attacking Bozhou! Please be gracious! ”

This time, Zhu Shuren really did not refuse: "It's okay to attack sheep, but you must not be impulsive, you can't be greedy for merit, and you must always think clearly in your heart about what you are going to do."

At present, Fengyang and Huaiyuan are captured by our army, which is just enough to block the channel of the whirlpool of the main Huai River and one of the main tributaries of Huaibei. If General Huang wants to go, he will start from Huaiyuan County, enter the vortex from Huai, and advance all the way to Bozhou and Luyi along the whirlpool, but there must be no more branches.

The soldiers and horses sent to you by this king are mainly warships and sailors, cavalry, and light cavalry guns, and will not give you heavy attacking troops. This will allow you to maneuver with the enemy and bluff, but you don't have to really attack the fortification. Make the momentum bigger, and you will be counted as a merit. ”

"The last general obeys!" Huang Degong hurriedly accepted it all.

……

The Ming army on the middle battlefield, under the dispatch of Zhu Shuren, quickly turned into a state of "continuing to attack and build up the momentum, but not really attacking the fortification".

Huang Degong's acting skills are good, and on the battlefield hundreds of miles on both sides of the whirlpool, he also came and went like the wind, harassing everywhere, and once surrounded Bozhou and Luyi. At the same time, he used this method of completely encircling on all sides and cutting off communication between the Qing army inside and outside the city to create panic and suspicion among the Qing army.

For example, when Huang Degong's light division arrived in Bozhou, he actually had no spare strength to launch an attack on Bozhou, which had more than 10,000 elite troops, as well as a number of second-line green battalions and strong men defending the city, and his supplies could not keep up.

However, because Yue Le, the brother of the Qing army's commander Bo Luo in the theater, was surrounded in Bozhou City, the relationship between Bo Luo and Yue Le was still relatively iron, and after he cut off his brother's message, he was inevitably afraid, so he exaggerated the threat of the enemy army and further asked for help from the rear.

Whether it was Dolgon in Beijing, the Qing army governor in Shandong, or Mandahai in Xuzhou, they all received Bolo's request for help, and for a time there was a panic in the Qing court.