Li Jing, Jia Xu, E Lai, Admiral Zhou Yu of the Royal Navy, Commander Guo Ziyi of the Blazing Flame Army and Commander Zhou Bo of the Fourth Legion of the Blazing Flame Army.
The lineup was grand.
Some of them had worked together before and some were working together for the first time. Li Jing, in particular, had only worked with E Lai in the battle of Goryeo and was considered familiar with him. He did not know much about the other generals.
The Royal Navy led by Zhou Yu was currently docked by the Yangtze River and could set off at any time.
The one speaking was Ouyang Shuo. "According to the information from the Ministry of War, the vanguard of the Qing Duoduo Division has set up camp 20 li away from Yangzhou under the command of Nikan. This is the most crucial battle and there can be no mistakes. After the military conference, the army will immediately reinforce Yangzhou. "
"If there are no accidents, the 100,000 soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty will also follow. In addition to the 100,000 soldiers of the Duoduo Division and the 50,000 soldiers of the Gushan Erzhen Zhunta Division, as well as the expected surrendered troops, this battle will not be easy. "
Speaking of this, Ouyang Shuo was full of resentment towards the four towns of Jiangbei.
When the Gushan Erzhen Zhunta Division arrived at Huai 'an City, the Count of Dongping and Commander Liu Zeqing had already fled. The Count of Jingnan and Commander Huang Degong were still in Tongling. The Count of Guangchang and Commander Liu Liang Zuo had fled to Jianye.
As for the Count of Xingping and Commander Gao Jie, other than Deputy Commander Zhuang Zigu who was still stationed south of Xuzhou, the other generals such as Deputy Commander Li Chengdong and Deputy Commander Yang Shengwu had already abandoned the city and fled south.
The vanguard of the Qing Duoduo Division, under the command of Nikan, advanced 50 li every day towards Yangzhou. When Shi Kefa 'invited the generals to reinforce' Yangzhou, only Commander Liu Zhaoji led 4,000 men and Deputy Commander Zhuang Zigu led 700 men. The entire garrison of Yangzhou was less than 10,000 men.
This meant that the Mutant Army had to fight against the 250,000 Qing soldiers alone. If the 200,000 soldiers all went to battle, they might be able to fight. The key was that there was still a unit left to guard Jianye.
Although Ouyang Shuo has been conferred the title of Regent, he does not have an army by his side, so he will not be able to stand firm. Once the mutant army completely retreats, Liu Liang who has escaped to Jianye will be in trouble.
Furthermore, Ouyang Shuo was also responsible for collecting provisions for the army in Jianye. The newly established Southern Ming Empire was a mess. Its treasury was empty and could not support such a huge war.
The only way was to "fight the local tyrants", which would require the assistance of the army.
Based on a rough estimate, the reinforcements sent to Yangzhou this time, including the Royal Navy, could not exceed one hundred and fifty thousand. They had to leave fifty thousand elites to hold down the fort in Jianye.
After some discussion, Ouyang Shuo decided that Guo Ziyi would lead the 100,000 soldiers of the Blazing Flame Army to the north together with the royal fleet led by Zhou Yu and the 30,000 imperial guards led by E Lai.
The remaining 40,000 Imperial Guards were temporarily led by Li Jing. They guarded Jianye together with the 3,000 Divine Martial Guards.
Before leaving, Ouyang Shuo exhorted, "Although the battle of Yangzhou is a crucial battle, it's only the first battle. After protecting Yangzhou, it's time to launch an all-out counterattack against the Great Qing."
"Yes, sir!"
Guo Ziyi, Zhou Yu, E Lai, and the other generals bowed and took their leave.
…
Beside the Yangtze River, Ouyang Shuo gazed at the army that was gradually getting further and further away.
"I wonder if it's too late."
In the historical battle of Yangzhou, the vanguard of the Duoduo Division was not in a hurry to attack the city. Even when the main force of the Duoduo Division arrived outside Yangzhou and surrounded the city, they did not immediately start the battle.
The reason was very simple. The Eight Banners Army was mainly composed of cavalry and was not suitable for attacking a city. They had to wait for the Red Barbarian Cannons transported by the Divine Arms Battalion to arrive at the battlefield before they could attack the city.
The facts proved that Yangzhou, which was not considered a strong city, only managed to defend for a day and a night under the bombardment of the Red Barbarian Cannons. It was not strong at all.
Shi Kefa was a person of good moral integrity, but in terms of ability, he was questionable and could not be counted on.
Now that Di Chen had joined the battle, there were many variables in the battle of Yangzhou. No matter what, Ouyang Shuo could only choose to trust Guo Ziyi and the other generals and adapt to the situation on the battlefield.
"Let's go back. We still have a lot of things to do."
Ouyang Shuo retracted his gaze and rode Little Qing back into the city.
If Ouyang Shuo wanted to lead the Southern Ming Empire in a successful counterattack, the first thing he had to do was to eliminate the capitulators within the Southern Ming Empire and carry out a small-scale purge.
Other than the army, there was also a special operation team accompanying Ouyang Shuo on the battlefield map. They were elite spies that Ouyang Shuo had specially transferred from the Mountain Sea Guards.
During the An-Shi Rebellion, Ouyang Shuo had suffered because he did not have spies by his side.
Since yesterday, the spies of the Mountain Sea Guards had started to move. With the cooperation of the Glorious Light Emperor and according to historical records, they focused their investigation on the spineless landowning households.
Naturally, the Minister of Rites, Qian Qianyi, was the first to bear the brunt.
In order to not cause a huge commotion and also to stop the outside world from saying that Ouyang Shuo had eliminated dissidents and attacked those who did not agree with him as soon as he became the Regent, the Mountain Sea Guards had to gather sufficient evidence before they took action.
They could either find secret letters with the Great Qing Dynasty or evidence of their daily acts of corruption.
As long as they did not do anything wrong, they could be used as proof that Ouyang Shuo had exterminated their families and confiscated their possessions. They could quickly gather rations for the frontline army and intimidate the people with bad intentions.
Speaking of which, how many of these landowning households and ministers were clean? It would be easy to find out. All the investigation and evidence collection were carried out in secret. Ouyang Shuo did not want to alert the enemy.
Other than that, Ouyang Shuo also did two things.
The first thing he did was to send a letter to Zhang Xianzhong, the emperor of Sichuan's Da Xi Kingdom, in the name of the Southern Ming Dynasty's Regent. He stated clearly, "The Southern Ming Dynasty can be destroyed, but China cannot be destroyed. This is the basis of our cooperation.
Zhang Xianzhong was also a legendary figure.
He was the leader of the peasant army at the end of the Ming Dynasty, who was as famous as the Roaming King Li Zicheng. He came from a poor family and had been smart and stubborn since he was young. He had followed his father to start a small business, selling dates.
Zhang Xianzhong had been a constable before he came to Yansui Town and became a border soldier.
This person was unyielding and loved to fight for justice. He had almost lost his life because of this.
During the Chongzhen Era, Zhang Xianzhong organized a peasant army to revolt. In 1640, he led his troops to Sichuan. In 1644, he established the Great Western Regime in Chengdu.
In 1646, the Qing army marched south. Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to resist the battle and was killed by a stray arrow on Phoenix Mountain in Xicong.
Speaking of which, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, this pair of ambitious and ruthless characters, died unjustly. There was no need to talk about Zhang Xianzhong. He had experienced countless battles, big and small, but he was killed by a stray arrow while fighting against the Qing army.
How bizarre!
Li Zicheng was the same.
At the beginning of the fifth month of 1645, when the Great Shun army arrived at the foot of Jiugong Mountain in Tongcheng, Hubei, Li Zicheng led more than twenty light cavalry to climb the mountain to explore the way. He was killed by the local militia, Jiang Dayan, and his body was secretly buried.
Wasn't this injustice?
The Roaming King of a generation was actually killed by a group of militia while exploring the way.
There seemed to be heaven's will in the dark.
Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, this pair of rebel leaders, when they were fighting against the Ming Dynasty, they were like the wind and clouds. They fought for several thousand li and fought countless battles, yet they were still alive and well.
But once they fought against the Qing army, each and every one of them was possessed by a god of misfortune and died inexplicably.
It could be said that the Great Qing's title of 'King Who Picks Up Loopholes' and 'King of the Last Stab' was not just in name. Sometimes history is such a coincidence. If Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong did not die like that, perhaps it would be a different situation.
Zhang Xianzhong rebelled against the Ming, but he also resisted the Qing. He was not like Qian Qianyi and Liu Zeqing who surrendered.
It was after Zhang Xianzhong's death that his subordinate Sun Kewang and the others led the Great Western Army south to join forces with the Southern Ming to fight against the Qing army. They fought in the southwest provinces for nearly twenty years, all the way until the early years of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty.
Because of this, Ouyang Shuo had the confidence to persuade Zhang Xianzhong.
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