The second thing Ouyang Shuo did was to send people to contact the remnants of the Great Shun army.
Just like the Great Western Army, after Li Zicheng's death, the remainder of the Great Shun Army, under the leadership of Li Guo, Hao Yao Qi, and Madame Gao, joined forces with the Southern Ming Empire to continue resisting the Qing.
The famous Kuidong Thirteen Clans were made up of the remnants of the Great Shun army.
Ouyang Shuo gave the cold shoulder to the four towns of Jiangbei and did not force them. As long as Gao Jie and the others were smart, they would not bet on surrendering to the Qing before the battle of Yangzhou ended.
Ouyang Shuo's goal was to use the 200,000 mutant soldiers as the core to unite the four towns of Jiangbei, the Great Xi army, and the remnants of the Great Shun army to form a united front to counterattack the Qing.
To avoid alerting Zhang Xianzhong and the others, Ouyang Shuo did not even ask for a joint command. He only arranged the time to use the troops and split up to head north.
The prerequisite was that the mutant soldiers had to prove themselves in the battle of Yangzhou.
…
On the third day of the battle, in Yangzhou City:
Guo Ziyi's troops were still on their way to Yangzhou City, but Duoduo's troops and Di Chen's 100,000 mutant soldiers had already arrived outside Yangzhou City and surrounded the city.
In the end, they did not make it in time.
Not only that, but Di Chen seemed to have foresight and brought over a hundred cannons. The Qing army did not even need to wait for the Divine Strategy Battalion. The moment they surrounded the city, they attacked Yangzhou City amidst the cannons.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! "
Because Di Chen, who was familiar with history, knew that Shi Kefa would not surrender, Duoduo did not even need to summon him and directly ordered the attack.
Yangzhou City's earthen walls could not withstand the bombardment and quickly collapsed.
The city was in an uproar.
In just one morning, Yangzhou City was declared to have fallen.
Liu Zhaoji died in battle. Yangzhou's magistrate, Ren Minyu, He Gang, and the others sacrificed themselves. Shi Kefa committed suicide.
History seemed to be repeating itself.
The only difference was that because the siege was unusually smooth and Di Chen's persuasion, the Qing army did not massacre the city. Instead, they started to prepare the city's defenses to deal with Guo Ziyi's troops.
On this matter, Di Chen was still very rational.
Firstly, Guo Ziyi's troops were already on their way to Yangzhou. Massacring the city now would be akin to digging their own graves. Secondly, although Di Chen was from an aristocratic family, he was still a child of Huaxia. He was not really cold-hearted.
Di Chen was still young, unlike his grandfather, who had "copper skin and iron bones".
…
"This is troublesome!"
After knowing that Yangzhou City had been breached, Guo Ziyi ordered his troops to stop and rest.
That night, in the central army tent.
"What do you think we should do next?" Guo Ziyi asked Jia Xu.
Jia Xu said, "The city of Yangzhou has been breached, the four towns of Jiangbei may surrender to the Qing army at any time. The situation is very unfavorable for us, we must think of a way to reverse it. However, with our 130,000 soldiers defending Yangzhou City, we can still fight. Now that the Qing army has occupied Yangzhou, we suddenly changed from defending the city to attacking the city, it is difficult. "
"…"
Guo Ziyi was speechless.
"Does the military advisor have a good plan?" Guo Ziyi asked eagerly.
Jia Xu, on the other hand, was unhurried and said, "Since we can't take it down, then we might as well give up."
"Give up?" Guo Ziyi frowned. "Counselor, do you mean to retreat in order to advance?"
Jia Xu nodded. "The accompanying royal fleet is a trump card, with the fleet accompanying us, our army can go around Yangzhou City, go against the Huai River, and take over the Huai River valley."
The Huai River valley was the barrier of the Yangtze River, bypassing the main force of the Qing army, Guo Ziyi indeed had the confidence to recover the Jianghuai region in a short period of time. The problem was, "What about the provisions?"
"The main force of the Qing army reached Yangzhou City so quickly, the follow-up troops will not be so fast. As long as we move quickly, there is a high chance that we can intercept the enemy's provisions and use them for us." Jia Xu's eyes were really sharp, "As long as we intercept the first batch of provisions, the subsequent provisions can be gathered on the spot."
Hearing this, Guo Ziyi sighed and nodded, but still could not dispel her doubts, she continued to ask, "Even if we solve the problem of provisions, leaving 250,000 Qing soldiers in Yangzhou City is still very inappropriate. The enemy can go south and directly take Jianye, or they can go north to chase after us, putting us in a passive position. "
Jia Xu smiled and said, "It is fine if the enemy is holed up in Yangzhou City, once they leave the city, whether they go north or south, it will be an opportunity for us."
"What do you mean?"
"If the Qing army goes south and directly takes Jianye. There are 40,000 Imperial Guards in Jianye City, and there is also Liu Liang's Left Division. With the advantage of Jianye City, the enemy will not be able to easily take Jianye like they attacked Yangzhou. "
Unlike Yangzhou, Jianye City was also equipped with a large number of cannons. If the Qing army wanted to attack Yangzhou and take down Jianye in a morning, it was simply wishful thinking.
In history, Jianye surrendered without a fight, and Ouyang Shuo was personally guarding Jianye in the battle map. What could Qian Qianyi and the rest do? There was absolutely no reason for them to surrender.
Guo Ziyi also agreed with Jia Xu's judgment.
"As long as Jianye can hold out for a few days, our army can take advantage of the situation and go south. Not only can we take back Yangzhou, but we can also cooperate with Jianye's garrison to attack the Qing army from the north and south. The battle situation will naturally be in our favor," Jia Xu explained.
Guo Ziyi nodded, "What if the Qing army goes north?"
Jia Xu smiled, "It will be easier to go north. The northern territory is vast, especially the Jianghuai region. However, the Qing army has just occupied it and its foundation is not stable. There are many anti-Qing forces there. We can play hide and seek with the Qing army and attack them separately. When Your Majesty subdues the rest of the Great Shun army, the enemy will be destroyed. "
Hearing this, Guo Ziyi finally felt relieved.
Jia Xu continued, "There is another advantage to our army going around Yangzhou City. Before Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and the other three towns of Jiangbei surrender to the Qing army, we can first use force to suppress them and remove this hidden danger."
"Military Advisor is wise!"
Guo Ziyi stood up and bowed from afar. She was completely convinced.
Jia Xu moved to the side. As a strategist, when they set off from Jianye, Jia Xu had already calculated all kinds of possibilities in his mind. The fall of Yangzhou City was naturally one of them.
That was why Jia Xu could come up with a countermeasure in a short period of time.
This was the difference between a top strategist and an ordinary strategist. They always planned ahead and were prepared for the worst. They never made last-minute efforts.
Since the plan had been decided, Guo Ziyi also acted swiftly and decisively.
That night, the army broke camp and continued north. They had to quietly go around Yangzhou City and continue north before the Qing army reacted.
Of course, Guo Ziyi did not forget to write a letter that night, reporting the frontline battle report in detail to Ouyang Shuo.
… …
Just as Guo Ziyi and his troops went north that night, the news of the fall of Yangzhou also began to spread.
Seeing that the Qing army was powerful, the hearts of the people in the Southern Ming Empire were wavering. The commanders of the four towns of Jiangbei started to have small plans. Qian Qianyi and the other civil officials also stopped going to the Prince Regent's residence to hand over the visiting cards.
The mountain rain was coming, and the wind was blowing.
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