Early in the morning, while Zhu Yunwen was discussing with the ministers, after a night's rest, Zhu Gaoxu was refreshed.

As he walked out of the house, the streets were filled with soldiers.

Of the 42,000 soldiers and horses in the Bohai Sea, 30,000 have crossed the Huanghuai waterway.

The soldiers who crossed the river first were already wearing armor to defend, and the soldiers who crossed the river later were resting along the streets covered with felt.

The houses at the ferry are limited, and not all soldiers can enter the houses to rest, but the soldiers who get up from the houses will wake up the soldiers who are sleeping along the street to rest.

In each house, at least a dozen or twenty people were crowded.

Zhu Gaoxu rested well, so after simply eating some gruel boiled by military rations, he sat under an ownerless tea shed and waited for the army to cross the river.

He had planned a two-day delay at Yunti Pass, and judging from the current situation, it should not be a problem to get the whole army to cross the river before dusk.

"Your Highness, are you awake?"

Meng Zhang took Zhao Mu, Ta Shi and others from the far side of the street, and after seeing Zhu Gaoxu sitting under the tea shed, they hurriedly trotted over.

"Will the rest be able to cross the river before noon?"

Zhu Gaoxu went straight to the point, but Meng Zhang shook his head: "At least until dusk, we don't have enough ferries in our hands." ”

"Well......" Zhu Gaoxu bowed his head, and then asked: "Where are Zhu Chenggong and Cui Jun?" ”

"According to your instructions before resting last night, they rested at sea, leaving a ship to wait for you at the ferry port at Yunti Pass."

"Okay, I'll think about ...... first"

After getting the answer, Zhu Gaoxu began to think about how to cross the Yangtze River.

From Sichuan to the East China Sea, thousands of miles of waterways of the Yangtze River have become a natural danger separating the north and the south, and even during World War II, the forces controlling the upper reaches of the Yangtze River can still cause a lot of trouble downstream.

After World War II, the battle of crossing the river was obviously unable to organize a strategic and effective defense in the south, but it still brought a lot of casualties to the army crossing the river.

During the Opium War, if it weren't for the Qing court's inattention and the British fleet not stopping it from exploring the waters of the Yangtze River, the British army would not have been able to take Zhenjiang so easily and anchor in Nanjing.

In comparison, Zhu Yuanzhang's vision is more long-term.

Lao Zhu's triple defense system from north to south, Zhu Gaoxu himself knows very well, and he is extremely clear about the Yangtze River defense line arranged by Lao Zhu.

It may be that Li Chahan brought too much pressure to Lao Zhu back then, so when building the Yangtze River defense line, Lao Zhu always kept a hand on Jiangbei.

First of all, in the north of the Yangtze River, there are very few shipyards that can build more than 1,000 large ships on their own, and Lao Zhu almost all the craftsmen who are good at making more than 1,000 ships have migrated to the south of the Yangtze River.

Therefore, as far as the shipbuilding industry is concerned, Jiangbei is completely unable to build warships that can be compared with Jiangnan.

In addition, Lao Zhu also built forts on the south bank of the Yangtze River and Shazhou in the middle of the Yangtze River, totaling 36 islands and 79 places.

Finally, in the construction of the city, although the outer city of the capital is a rammed earth city wall, only a rammed earth brick city wall was built at the city gate, but the inner city is a real rammed earth brick, and even some important sections of the city are built with bluestone bars.

If Zhu Gaoxu can still rely on naval artillery to destroy the rammed earth and brick city wall, then he is completely powerless for the inner section of the Yangtze River built with bluestone bars.

These sections of the city, even during World War II, had to be blown up by sapper blasting, and the smoothbore cannon in his hand wanted to destroy these places, even if the shells were finished, it was useless.

Therefore, Lao Zhu's defense of the Yangtze River or the capital can be said to have achieved the ultimate in this era.

Even if the northern army went south, it was impossible to build a warship larger than the south of the Yangtze River, and the water warfare of this era was mainly based on short-handed combat, and the artillery was only placed in the bow and stern.

If it weren't for Zhu Gaoxu's design concept, the Pingwu sailors would not have opened their guns on the left and right sides of the ship.

In the Battle of Chenghuang Island, a large part of what the Bohai Navy could win was that the artillery design of many warships of the Yangtze River Naval Division was still old-fashioned, so although they had many ships, the number of artillery was less than half of that of the Bohai Navy.

Therefore, in Lao Zhu's design, as long as the warships built in Jiangnan are larger than those in Jiangbei, it will be difficult for Jiangbei to cross the Yangtze River.

Even if they could cross the Yangtze River, the batteries on the south bank of Shazhou and the Yangtze River would still be able to stop them.

Such a design made it impossible for the Northern Army to cross the river from Yangzhou even if it took Yangzhou, so as to land on Zhenjiang in the south of the Yangtze River.

This system, whether it is against Jiangbei or Jiangkou, is very easy to use, the only drawback is the upstream Huguang, and this is also the reason why Zhu Yunwen wants to cut the king of Xiang.

It's just that he didn't expect that the cutting of the feudal domain was self-defeating, and he directly forced Zhu Bai to death.

But in any case, with Zhu Yuanzhang's system, as long as there are no problems with the sailors, then Jiangnan only needs to be optimistic about Huguang and Sichuan, and there is no need to worry about Jiangbei, which is close at hand.

Because of this, even though Sheng Yong had lost in Liuhe and Puzikou in history, Zhu Yunwen was still trying to negotiate peace with Zhu Di, and at the same time asked Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng to go home to recruit troops, because he knew that Zhu Di could not cross the river.

However, the dramatic event of Chen Xuan's defection made Zhu Yunwen's wishful thinking come to naught.

Since ancient times, even if the Northern Army drank the Yangtze River, but the Yangtze River had a water division, and they could often establish miraculous feats, so the collective defection of the Southern Army's water division can be said to be extremely dramatic in history.

Chen Xuan did not participate in any wars, but by leading the sailors to defect, he directly obtained the title of Earl of Pingjiang.

In the eyes of outsiders, he is seeking his own death, and even in the eyes of his own people, it is very dangerous.

But if Yang Yu had the slightest problem, their more than 40,000 people would have to be defeated in Huainan, and even without the southern army to fight them, their fragile supplies could destroy them.

Therefore, this time he went south, Zhu Gaoxu was not worried about Sheng Yong's 60,000 soldiers and horses coming back to help, nor was he worried about Li Jinglong in the north giving up Beiping and going south, what he was really worried about was the naval division of the southern army at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

If the news leaks, then even if he can take the capital this time, he will definitely not be able to stop Zhu Yunwen.

The current situation is different from history, in history, Zhu Di destroyed all the other corps of the Southern Army except Song Sheng and Mu Sheng, so that when Zhu Yunwen was defending Nanjing, he could only recruit villagers to defend the city, and he made a mess of wanting to burn down the houses in the outer city, but accidentally burned the city wall.

At that time, even if Zhu Yunwen wanted to escape, he had nowhere to go, let alone a chance.

After all, of the only two remaining armies of the Ming Dynasty, half of the 30,000 people in Song Sheng's hands were completely annihilated by the Yan army by his son in the Battle of Lingbi.

Mu Sheng's ability is not as good as Mu Chun's, there are only 30,000 soldiers in his hands, and Yunnan is poor in materials in the early Ming Dynasty, so he is unable to resist Zhu Di at all.

The Battle of Zhending, the Battle of Zhengcunba, the Battle of Baigou River, the Battle of Dezhou, the Battle of Dongchang, the Battle of Jiahe......

This battle wiped out all the 600,000 elites left by Zhu Yuanzhang to Zhu Yunwen, and in the end, he had no soldiers to protect him, so he could only set himself on fire in the Forbidden City.

In history, he was very embarrassed, but now if he really fled, not to mention that Mu Chun in the southwest is still alive, and there are still 60,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, and Li Jinglong in the north alone has 300,000 troops in his hands.

Zhu Yunwen wants to escape, and the hole cards are much bigger than in history.

If he is not blocked, Zhu Gaoxu is uneasy.

His eldest brother doesn't die, he can't sleep......

At this thought, Zhu Gaoxu understood everything, so he looked up at Meng Zhang, and at the same time motioned for Ta Shu and them to avoid it first.

After the tower lost their understanding and turned to avoid, Zhu Gaoxu got up and whispered to Meng Zhang.

"You personally go and send a message to Yang Zhan, just say that I will take the horse infantry and the Shenji battalion to Yangzhou to fight Sheng Yong in the future, and let him personally persuade his father."

"At the same time, I will let Zhao Mu and Xu Sheng lead six thousand cavalry to take Shizhuang with you, and wait for Yang Zhan's good news in Shizhuang."

"Once his father took over all the forts in Shazhou on the Yangtze River, he immediately sailed into the Yangtze River that night with a warship of 1,500 materials to pick you up south."

"At that point, I'll need to split the army in two."

"You and Zhao Mu led 4,000 cavalry to land in Jiangnan at Baogang at night, and the other was led by Xu Sheng, and Yang Zhan personally escorted it to Jiangning Town."

"You and Zhao Mu took advantage of the night to attack the capital and control the nineteen gates of the outer city for me."

"Xu Sheng landed in Jiangnan in Jiangning Town, and his troops were divided into three routes, respectively controlling the roads from the capital to Moling Pass, Zunhua Town, and Dasheng Pass."

Zhu Gaoxu explained what he wanted to encircle, chase and intercept, but Meng Zhang said nervously after hearing this:

"If this is the case, even if you land in Baogang after curfew, you must run to the capital within five hours, which is at least one hundred and forty miles......

If one hundred and forty miles is placed in one day, it is not a problem for the Bohai Sea Spirit Rider, but if it is placed at night, and it is still a night, then the problem is big.

Although the Bohai Navy was raised by Zhu Gaoxu to be strong and had no night blindness, it was certainly not as fast as the daytime to travel at night, and the time of five hours was too short, running an average of twenty-eight miles per hour and lasting five hours, which was very difficult for horses.

I don't know how many horses will be exhausted in this process.

"No matter how many horses are exhausted, in short, I will see before dawn that the nineteen gates of the outer city are surrounded, and there are cavalry patrolling all sections of the city wall on the periphery!"

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were fierce, and that appearance made Meng Zhang gasp.

He knew very well how much His Royal Highness cherished the military horses, but now that he actually said such a thing, it can be seen how deep his obsession with besieging the capital is, and how heavy this task is.

"Your Highness, rest assured, the last general will definitely explain it clearly to Yang Zhan, Xu Sheng, and Zhao Mu!"

Meng Zhang didn't dare to slack off, knelt down on one knee, and solemnly bowed.

As an old brother who walked out of the Yulin Zuowei Zi Baihu, Meng Zhang knew very well that the reason why Zhu Gaoxu chose to go on this trip by himself, and chose Xu Sheng and Zhao Mu was to ensure that nothing went wrong.

I know Yang Zhan, and the two have met when they were in the capital, so Yang Zhan will definitely trust him.

Similarly, sending the three of them is not to say that Zhu Gaoxu is wary of Ta Lost, Dol and Qi, Nimatsa and others, but that these three people don't know what the situation in Jiangnan is, but the three of them know very well, after all, they are all people who followed Zhu Gaochu from Jiangnan to Guanwai.

After Meng Zhang got up, he said worriedly:

"Your Highness, after the three of us left, there are only eight of them left by your side, Chen Chang and Ta Loss, and there are only 36,000 troops left in your hands, and now the artillery of the Shenji Battalion has been transported by Yang Zhan, we ......"

Meng Zhang was worried that without 6,000 cavalry and artillery, it would be too dangerous for Zhu Gaoxu to go to Yangzhou to attract the attention of the whole Jiangnan.

"So one of the reasons for letting you go this time is to transfer the 3,000 Shenji Battalion I left for Xu Sheng before, and bring back 300 field guns and 10 base ammunition."

Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Meng Zhang, but Meng Zhang was even more worried after hearing this: "If you take the artillery off the ship and carry it, the speed of our army will decrease, you ......"

He didn't continue, but Zhu Gaoxu knew what he wanted to say.

"You want to say that I don't need to go to Yangzhou to attract attention, I can wait for Yang Li to respond?"

"The Last General ...... Ashamed"

Zhu Gaoxu spoke, and Meng Zhang lowered his head.

It's just that for his question, Zhu Gaoxu sighed:

"Whether it's Li Jinglong or Sheng Yong, and the eldest brother in my capital......"

"They all know me well, so they won't be at ease if I don't show up."

"Besides, if I go to Shizhuang with a large army, who will attract Sheng Yong's attention at that time?"

Zhu Gaoxu was playing with the east and attacking the west, in order to ensure that the naval division of the southern army would not be suspected and would not cause chaos, and the 6,000 cavalry could successfully cross the river.

He actually wanted Meng Zhang and Cui Jun to replace him to attract Sheng Yong's attention, and he personally led the cavalry to take the capital.

But he also knew that this was impossible, because at the moment in Bohai, he was the only one who could lead more than 30,000 troops alone, plus Yang Zhan and Wang Yi.

The other three Chen Chang, Meng Zhang, and Cui Jun had at most 10,000 soldiers, and Zhao Mu, Xu Sheng, and Ta Shi had a maximum of 35,000 soldiers.

Yang Zhan wanted to control the Bohai Navy and couldn't get out, and Wang Yi was in the north, so he could only personally attract Sheng Yong's attention.

At the same time, he also wants to see what Sheng Yong looks like now after not seeing him for a few years, and what is the elite under his command in Beijing......

"Guogong! Guogong! ”

The cry was anxious, and when Zhu Gaoxu was still waiting for the Bohai Navy to cross the Huai River, the shouts sounded outside the city of Dezhou, and the Ming army, which had just crossed the canal, was still preparing to continue north and relieve the siege of the Baigou River.

However, a thousand-household official came in a panic and found Li Jinglong with a panicked expression.

"What's the matter?"

Li Jinglong looked at the Qianhu official, and Liu Zhen, Song Xuan and others behind him were also very curious.

"Please read the news from the south."

Qianhu Guan didn't dare to say the content of the news, but directly handed over the note, which made Li Jinglong's heart nervous.

He quickly took the note, and before he could finish it, he felt as if he had been hit in the head.

[The Bohai Pirate Army went south, pulled out the cloud ladder pass, and crossed the Huai River......]

A simple sentence made Li Jinglong's eyes darken.

It's not that he didn't expect Zhu Gaochu to go south, but according to Zhu Gaoxu's situation, even if he goes south, he must first clean up the counties of Qingzhou Prefecture, and then uproot Pizhou, and use Pizhou's water sub-warehouse to wave his army south along the canal.

Throughout the ages, all soldiers and horses marched south, and this was the case.

But now, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly appeared at Yunti Pass, and pulled out Yunti Pass and crossed the Huai River.

"What's going on?"

Li Jinglong's mind was chaotic, and the news sent by Sheng Yong was too brief, and it was not enough for Li Jinglong to recover the whole thing.

He didn't receive any news that Juzhou, Rizhao, Yanzhou and other places were under siege, and he couldn't guess how Zhu Gaoxu went south.

Besides, what was the use of him leading a group of horse infantry south?

Although he has now taken the Huai River, there is still the Yangtze River to the south.

The Yangtze River Naval Division at the mouth of the Yangtze River, as well as the hydrological situation of the Yangtze River, Li Jinglong is very clear about this.

The Yangtze River is not a small river, and for warships, rocking and paddling will not work at all, and every three steps will be washed back by the river, and the speed is slow.

Moreover, the Yangtze River is so deep that there is no place to support it, so it cannot swim upstream.

The only thing you can do is to use a hard sail when the wind is downwind, and you can go diagonally left and right in the middle of the river when the weather is right, but this is very slow.

Therefore, normally speaking, if Jiangkou wants to enter Jiangnei, under normal circumstances, it will take at least three days to reach Zhenjiang from the mouth of Songjiang Prefecture.

After arriving at Zhenjiang, as the river narrows, you can send a slender man on the shore to help the warship enter the river.

Therefore, no matter how you look at it, it is difficult for the Bohai sailors to break through from Haikou into the river, let alone after entering the Yangtze River, they need to face the artillery fire of Shazhou and the south bank of the Yangtze River.

Moreover, if the Northern Army wanted to cross the river, it had to use pure boats to transport large corps, but this method also had several drawbacks.

First, the northern army needs to have a certain shipbuilding ability, and it must be stronger than the enemy, otherwise the rivers cannot be mastered, so there is no need to talk about crossing the river by boat.

Second, it is necessary to control the upstream, and only by going down the river can it have a surprising effect, just like the Jin Dynasty destroying Wu and the Sui Dynasty destroying Chen, from the upstream down the river, fast and fast, even if the iron lock is useless.

Third, some soldiers who are accustomed to riding boats are needed, and these soldiers need to have the ability to fight immediately after getting off the boat, which can lay a bridgehead for the army, so that the follow-up army can recover first even if it is not good at boating.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't occupy any of these three points, how could he have the confidence to raid the Huai River and try to attack the capital?

"The Bohai Shu people uprooted the Yunti Pass and crossed the Huai River......"

Li Jinglong had a headache, he had never encountered this kind of thing, and there was too little information in his hands, and he didn't know why Zhu Gaoxu dared to go straight to the Yangtze River.

Jiangbei shipbuilding is not as good as Jiangnan, Zhu Gaoxu should know very well, even if he took the shipwrights to the south, but in the Jiangbei storage silo, there is no wood that can make big ships, and Jiangbei cannot suppress Jiangnan.

"What did you say?"

As soon as Li Jinglong spoke, Song Xuan, Liu Zhen and others gasped, but they also couldn't believe it.

It was only when they saw Li Jinglong's expression that they knew completely that Li Jinglong was not wrong.

Zhu Gaoxu really hit the Huai River.

"It's... Is this impossible? "Liu Zhen and Zhu Gaoxu fought each other, and they knew the power of the Bohai artillery, but no matter how powerful the Bohai artillery was, it was impossible to take many important cities between Zhucheng and the Huai River in five days.

You must know that Juzhou, Rizhao, Andongwei, Ganyu, Yizhou, Muyang and other important towns have strengthened their defenses at the beginning of the rebellion, even if the artillery of the Bohai Navy is sharp, it will take at least two or three days to gnaw on the next one.

But at the moment, Zhu Gaoxu's speed is obviously not attacking the city, that is......

"He's supposed to get around."

Li Jinglong rubbed the bridge of his nose, only to feel that his eyes were red and swollen.

"Since ancient times, the main places for the Northern Army to cross the river are two, Quarry Rock and Guazhou Crossing, the main route is Xuzhou - Hefei - Quarry Rock, in addition to Muyang - Huai'an - Yangzhou - Zhenjiang."

"When I went north, I had already sent a message to Sheng Yong and asked him to stay in Muyang."

"Muyang relies on the canal, Luoma Lake and Sangxu Lake, and Mushui is in the north, even if the rebels go south, it will be difficult to conquer this place without ten days and half a month."

"It's just that I didn't expect that he bypassed Muyang and suddenly appeared at Yunti Pass, which shows that he was traveling lightly this time, otherwise he wouldn't have been so fast."

"Traveling light?" Liu Zhen and Song Xuan glanced at each other and were surprised.

If Zhu Gaoxu really dared to attack lightly, it would mean that he had grasped the south, otherwise it would be impossible to abandon the people's baggage and artillery.

What Zhu Gaoxu grasped, they couldn't be clearer, that is, the Bohai Sea Master with strong ships and sharp guns.

"Since ancient times, no northern army has crossed the Yangtze River estuary in the south, and the country is ......"

Liu Zhen looked at Li Jinglong, but Li Jinglong's brows became more and more tight.

He originally thought that although Zhu Gaochu was difficult to deal with, but the Jianghuai defense line was ironclad, and with Li Jian from Jinan, Zhu Gaochu would hit his head and bleed no matter whether he went south or north.

He can take advantage of this time to go north to aid the Baigou River defense line, so as not to take the opportunity to engulf Xu Kai, Wu Gao, and Wu Jie.

It's just that now it seems that although Zhu Di put on a posture, he didn't make a move on the Baigou River defense line for a long time, but Zhu Gaoxu played a surprise attack, threw away his baggage and artillery, and went straight to Huainan.

"The will of the imperial court should arrive soon, the Huainan water network is developed, although the Bohai rebels are all on horseback, but if they want to go south, they can only take Yangzhou, and take the shipyards in Yangzhou to have enough ferries."

"Sheng Yong, I understand, he should have returned to Yangzhou now, as for our army's ......"

Li Jinglong has a headache now, he is like a firefighter, the north is in danger, and the south is also in danger, but he has no skills, so he can only choose one place.

"Summoning the Marquis of Yue and the Governor of Pingdu!"

He opened his mouth to Song Xuan, and Song Xuan heard the words, and then sent someone to spread the word that Yu Tongyuan and Ping'an were coming.

Not long after, the two appeared not far from Li Jinglong, their faces revealing solemnity, obviously having learned from the general who sent the message that Zhu Gaoxu raided Yunti Pass and crossed the Huai River.

"The will of the imperial court has not yet come, but I think the war can't wait."

Li Jinglong spoke after the two arrived, and continued: "I am going to order the two of you to lead the cavalry south, although it is a thousand miles from Dezhou to Yangzhou, but if the two of you go south lightly, they will be able to reach Yangzhou in about six days. ”

"With the help of the two commanders and cavalry, Sheng Yishi can better protect Yangzhou."

"As for the army here, it will wait for the imperial court to decide whether to go north or south."

"The army here is under the command of Liu Dudu and Song Baishi, and I will lead my personal guards north to Baoding one step ahead to maintain the 200,000 army of Baigou River, so as not to be broken by the Yanshu people one by one."

Li Jinglong ordered in an orderly manner, and the 100,000 troops he brought this time were basically the elite of the upper ranks.

If the imperial court wants to transfer troops, it will definitely transfer them and Li Jian.

The Baigou River couldn't wait, so he had to go north first, and then wait for the will to come after the Baigou River was coordinated.

"The last general commands!"

Since Li Jinglong opened his mouth, Yu Tongyuan, Ping'an, Song Xuan and others naturally responded.

They also knew that the Baigou River matter was urgent, and Zhu Di immediately withdrew to Beiping after defeating Chen Hui and Teng Ju and hearing the news that they were going north.

But instead of fearing, he was preparing for a big war.

Judging from the news sent by Wu Gao and Xu Kai, Zhu Di has commanded more than 100,000 soldiers and horses to go south to Zhuozhou, and is obviously preparing to fight Wu Gao in the upper reaches of the Baigou River, which is also the reason why Li Jinglong is in a hurry to go back.

Zhu Gaoxu marched south from Denglai step by step, at least there are multiple defense lines to protect, the progress will not be fast, as long as Zhu Di is repulsed, Li Jinglong still has time to rush south to help.

But if he insists on encircling and suppressing Zhu Gaoxu, then once Zhu Gaochu retreats to Dengzhou and relies on the naval artillery to defend him, Li Jinglong will have to spend time with him in Dengzhou.

For Li Jinglong, time is his most scarce thing, once he and Zhu Gaoxu confront each other in the three mansions of Ludong, Zhu Di in the north will have a chance to break through the defense line of the Baigou River.

Once the defense line of the Baigou River collapsed, Zhu Di's 160,000 troops could move south along the canal and reach Xuzhou in one fell swoop.

This result is more impactful than that caused by Zhu Gaoxu's southward movement.

It's just that Li Jinglong didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu would wave his army to the south, run lightly, and run from Zhucheng to the Huai River in only five days.

If he dares to do this, he must have his support, so Li Jinglong lowered his voice.

"If the people of Bohai dare to travel south, they must have their support."

"He didn't carry his baggage, and it is very likely that he lost it to the sailors, so you need to pay attention to cutting off the rebels' connection with the coast after you go south, and pull them inland as much as possible to cut off the retreat."

"In addition, the Liangjiang ferry needs to be strictly guarded, and the Yangtze River sailors must also guard the Haikou well, and they must not relax for half a minute."

"My words, you bring it to Sheng Yong, let Sheng Yong go up and soothe Your Majesty, so that you can be on guard."

After Li Jinglong explained everything, the generals also said "yes" one after another

Not long after, Yu Tongyuan and Ping'an led the iron cavalry south in Beijing, and Li Jinglong also entrusted the 60,000 army to Liu Zhen and Song Xuan, and rode north to Baoding.

After abandoning the army, he only needed two days to reach Baoding, and when Zhu Di was repulsed, he would have the opportunity to rearrange the defensive line and adjust his troops and horses to encircle and suppress Zhu Gaoxu in Jianghuai.

But even at this moment, he still couldn't figure out why Zhu Gaoxu dared to run lightly.

(End of chapter)