Lu Xiangsheng was in the camp and saw the partial division that also lost its troops and generals.

When the main force attacked Nanjing, he actually sent a partial division, totaling more than 4,000 people, to take a warship from the Yangtze River, wanting to follow Yan Ling's attack on Jiqing and break into the city by surprise.

Once the enemy finds that the city has fallen, and his back is met by the enemy, he will definitely be in chaos, and when the time comes, he will lead his army to cover the killing, and a great victory will be at his fingertips, and this fortified city will be easily captured.

However, until the end of the battle, the expected chaos did not appear, and Lu Xiangsheng knew that most of them failed to cross the river.

His plan was indeed very tight, but after the capture of Nanjing, Yan Yinghui had already sent troops to attack the garrison of the Ming Army in Xinjiangkou overnight. Although the Ming navy had some precautions, they still suffered heavy losses, most of the ships were burned, and because the big ships set sail very slowly, most of those that were burned were large ships.

The armament of the naval division was already very problematic, and the main battleships were almost completely annihilated, and the firepower was almost visibly reduced.

The remaining dozens of boats used by Lu Xiangsheng were enough to fight a surprise attack, but although Qu Yuanju took most of his troops out for a decisive battle, he left part of the cannon in his hand on the city wall.

Qu Yuanju's Seventh Army was equipped with 20 Type 8 guns as standard, but due to the special combat mission, as the first landing support of the Luzon Army, his artillery was strengthened, and there were 42 Type 8 guns alone.

Although he was in a hurry to hurry and didn't bring it, who would have thought that Lu Xiangsheng was in Chizhou for more than a month in order to build a car, and during this time, the heavy artillery had already been transported, and at the same time as the battle, he also left fifteen Type Eight cannons, and then mixed with fifteen Type Five cannons at the head of the city.

The eight-type cannon is a little less powerful than the red-coated cannon, and this is the time to wait.

Combined with the heavy Furlong machine and the general's cannon that originally existed at the head of Nanjing, the warships crossing the river were directly bombed to pieces, and there were only more than 1,000 people who came back, most of them drowned in the river, and there were few warships left, and they were all in tatters.

Both armies were defeated, which made Lu Xiangsheng decadent.

On the other hand, the morale of the Seventh Army was high, and the victory in the first battle was naturally exciting.

However, Qu Yuanju's subordinates actually suffered a lot of losses in this battle, although the accuracy of the three-eyed gun is not high, and it is already a little outdated as a musket, but it is also a firearm after all.

In the end, more than 400 soldiers were wounded and killed by the three-eyed guns, and the casualties caused by the fire of the musketeers who were protected by the chariots put the casualties of the Luzon army at more than 700.

In the end, Cao Wenzhao's death battle also caused them to lose more than 300 cavalry.

Overall, however, the battle was still a victory, with the Ming army's casualties far greater than theirs, and the strategic objectives were not achieved at all.

After all, the difference in strength between the two sides is too big, no matter how veteran of a hundred battles is, they can only be crushed under such firepower.

The morale of the Ming army also fell directly to the bottom because of this.

Just in the first battle, so many soldiers and horses were lost, and among them, there were even the most elite Liao cavalry.

That's Liaoqi! It can be called the most powerful army of the Ming Dynasty, even if it is a giant like Gao Yingxiang Wang Er, it was also chased by them, and the thousands of people who went out to fight this time only came back more than 400, how can it not be terrifying?

Even the general soldiers and generals were originally full of confidence and wanted to go to the southeast to make military achievements, but they were a little trembling at this time, for fear that Lu Xiangsheng would continue to start the war and make them take the lead.

Fortunately, Lu Xiangsheng didn't have this idea. After discovering that the gap between his own strength and the other party was too large, he no longer had the intention of fighting in a short time, but only sent a small force into Ningguofu to harass the baggage troops of the Seventh Army, while the main force retreated and defended it, intending to consume the sharp energy of the Luzon army, and at the same time build firearms to restore strength, even if Qu Yuanju launched an attack on the rest of the cities around Nanjing, and wanted to force him to come to the rescue, it was to no avail.

Due to the vertical and horizontal water network in the south, it was difficult for the cavalry to run long distances, so Lu Xiangsheng sent mainly infantry. But these troops are also veterans of a hundred battles, and there are even the elites of his descendant Tianxiong Army, who have calculated unintentionally, and indeed caused the Seventh Army to suffer a few losses, losing hundreds of soldiers and horses, and some of the grain and grass were burned.

So Qu Yuanju also sent troops to counterattack it, and at the same time increased the protection of the baggage troops.

The two sides went back and forth, constantly strangling each other, which lasted for two months.

And Lu Xiangsheng's side also waited for the emperor's edict urging the dispatch of troops.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang are important places of finance and taxation, and when the Yan family raised troops, it was also the time when taxes were collected, which led to the loss of all taxes in Zhejiang, Ningguo Mansion and Nanjing this year.

This is not a small number, the tax revenue of the imperial court has directly dropped by millions of taels, and the already poor financial situation has worsened, the emperor can no longer afford to wait, and the imperial court's dissatisfaction with Lu Xiangsheng is also rising.

After all, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are also places where literati are born, and many court officials' hometowns are shrouded in the edge of the Luzon army, how can they feel at ease?

Some people have already impeached Lu Xiangsheng, saying that he "lightly advanced the enemy and even suffered damage" and after the defeat of the war, he "cowardly the enemy did not fight and preserved his strength", and even suspected that he "supported the army, what is his intention?" ”

They don't know anything about war, they only know that Lu Xiangsheng beats other rebels one by one, and now they are dealing with the Yan family, if they can't beat Yan Yinghui, it doesn't matter, and now the generals on the other side have never heard of it, and they can actually pout Lu Xiangsheng with a big heel, which makes them a little unbelievable.

Although the emperor did not believe these words, he was inevitably affected and issued an order to urge.

Under the tremendous pressure of the imperial court, Lu Xiangsheng was finally forced to lead 50,000 elites eastward in May of the twentieth year of Wuxing, leaving part of the army to defend the city.

……

"In May, the imperial court arrived. When the firearms were not ready, the lieutenant said: 'Isn't the inspector afraid of the enemy?' Xiangsheng was furious and said, "If you receive the grace of the country, you can't wait to die." However, this giant has sharp firearms, and he rushed into battle, and he was worried that we would all die in vain! The lieutenant was annoyed and ashamed, and he was forced to heal his illness, and he was helpless to lead the troops away. ”

"The division went to Fangshan and met the Zhejiang soldiers. Xiangsheng will be in the middle army, Liangyu will be handsome on the left, and Dawei will be on the right. The Zhejiang soldiers are forced to fight, like the promotion of the soldiers, the voice of the sky is moving, not afraid of life and death. Since Chen, the artillery has been exhausted. Liangyu was afraid, fled in a hurry, the left flank collapsed, and all the Orr generals fled. Xiangsheng fought hard, the Chinese army advanced, killed several people with his hands, and two guns and one blade in his body, unable to move, so he was held by the Zhejiang soldiers. Dawei broke the siege and finally got out. ”

"Of the 50,000 troops, only three or four out of ten survive."

- "The End of the Chronicle of the History of the Ming Dynasty"

(End of chapter)