books44 Chapter 124 Planning
Chapter 124 Planning
Qing army camp.
Bolo looked at the dusty and slightly exhausted Tulai, frowned and asked: "Did they lose again?"
Tulai shook his head, then nodded, with a complicated expression, and said to Bolo: "General, the Meng bandits' army is very brave and tenacious. I used cavalry to break through the front formation. It looks like it was built by surrendered soldiers and is vulnerable. Once the army used force, it collapsed. The rear formation is the main force of the Meng bandits. Even with the fierce charge, it still cannot shake the line. It seems that if we want to break the main force of the Meng bandits, we need to use a large number of infantry and artillery to first wear down their morale, and then use cavalry to attack fiercely, so that it will be effective."
Bolo nodded and said, "How much did our army lose?"
Tulai hesitated for a moment and said slowly: "Almost 40%."
Bolo sighed, then stood up. His originally upright figure now looked a little hunched. He walked to the tent, looked at the tired Eight Banners soldiers who returned, and sighed, "Withdraw the soldiers to Jiangxi, which is also the day I return to Beijing. I am afraid that I will never have the opportunity to lead troops in the future. I will report your opinion directly to the Regent. I am afraid that Meng Jun is an obstacle to my Manchuria's unification of the world."
Tulai also echoed solemnly: "Yes, since entering the Pass, the Eight Banners have never been defeated. Only Meng's troops have repeatedly frustrated our offensive. We should not underestimate this man."
"Lishui is ahead, and after passing Lishui we will reach Hengzhou Prefecture. I'm actually a little worried. If Dingyang County is occupied by Meng Jun, our army will be in danger," Bolo turned around and looked at Tulai and said.
Tulai heard this and said, "After we pass Lishui, we will send light cavalry to Dingyang County to conduct a reconnaissance. But the Meng thief is so courageous, can we not split our forces?"
"If there is no obstacle ahead, why would Meng Jun chase me with his infantry?" Bolo said leisurely.
Tulai also frowned and did not respond to Bolo's words.
While the Eight Banners soldiers were resting, Meng Jun also led his troops to temporarily stay outside a town for rest. At this time, the situation in Zhejiang was turbulent. Shaoxing, Ningbo, Taizhou and Wenzhou all surrendered to Meng's army, and the Ming flag was raised again on the city wall. Yanzhou, Hengzhou and Chuzhou still belonged to the Qing court in name, but Bolo's massacre in Taizhou made people in all the prefectures uneasy. This massacre did not treat you equally, whether you were a gentry or a county magistrate.
Therefore, Bolo's army was in a very embarrassing situation at this time. Since they retreated to Ningbo, they had a large number of wounded and sick soldiers. After the long journey, many Eight Banners soldiers died of illness on the road. After passing Taizhou, the situation became even more serious. The prefectures and counties along the way all closed their doors and refused to receive any troops. Occasionally, some counties were afraid that Bolo would get angry and attack the city, so they gave the Qing army some food and supplies. More counties simply treated them as dumb and deaf people, refusing to contact them or give them food. The flag of the Qing Dynasty was also raised on the city wall. Tulai and others were so angry that they wanted to break through the city to vent their anger.
At this time, the number of Eight Banners soldiers was less than 10,000, Li Chengdong had more than 1,000 cavalrymen, and there were more than 20,000 civilian laborers transporting food and supplies for the Qing army. Although some civilian laborers escaped in the middle of the night from time to time, Bolo did not care too much about it. If there were fewer civilian laborers, he would catch more. Anyway, the population of Jiangnan was dense, so there was no need to worry about the lack of civilian laborers.
Just as Bolo was withdrawing his troops in a panic, in the governor's office in Jiangning city, Hong Chengchou already looked haggard. The land south of the Yangtze River was full of flames. Although Meng Jun's region was the largest and had the worst impact, there were still riots in other counties and towns from time to time. The surrendered gentry in Jiangning city still gathered from time to time or organized themselves into groups. All these things exhausted Hong Chengchou.
What's more important is that Bolo's army is now blocked in Zhejiang. If they are really wiped out by Meng Jun, the Qing court's deterrent power in Jiangnan will be gone. Not only Jiangnan, but the whole world will be unstable. People like Wu Sangui, Jiang Xiang, and a large number of Han generals who hold military power may have different thoughts.
After thinking for a long time, Hong Chengchou slowly said to Qiu Ya beside him: "What does Zheng Zhilong mean? Are you willing to surrender to him?"
Qiu Ya bowed and replied: "Replying to the Governor, I think Zheng Zhilong wants to surrender, but the position of Governor of Fujian and Guangdong is too small and still insufficient."
Hong Chengchou nodded and sighed, "Zheng Zhilong is just a guard dog. If it weren't for the defeat of Prince Boluo in Qiantang, he would not have dared to be greedy. Well, you should go to Fujian quickly and tell him that you can confer the title of Duke of Min on him. He can rule Fujian for generations and inherit the title. As long as he shaves his hair and captures Zhu Youjian, the court will never regret it."
Qiu Ya was stunned and asked hurriedly: "Governor, should we report this important matter to the court?"
Hong Chengchou shook his head and said, "It takes nearly two months for a fast horse to travel from Jiangning to the imperial court. How can you make it in time? I will give you this order. Leave quickly and don't delay."
Qiu Ya hurriedly bowed and accepted the order, but his heart was in turmoil. Such an important matter of rewarding was actually decided privately. Could it be that he was trying to fool Zheng Zhilong?
Hong Chengchou seemed to have guessed Qiu Ya's thoughts and said, "Don't show any emotion. This is a big thing. If it succeeds, your family will be rich and prosperous for generations."
Qiu Ya nodded firmly and then walked out quickly.
……
In the Meng army camp, Meng Jun sat alone in the big tent, writing something on the table. All along, Meng Jun always had some prejudices. He believed that the reason why the Qing Dynasty won the world was due to the paranoia of Emperor Chongzhen, the corruption of the Ming court, and Li Zicheng's defeat and collapse. The Qing Dynasty won the world because of good luck.
But since Meng Jun started his rebellion, not to mention Bai Yongfu, Li Chengdong and other Green Camp surrendered generals, just talk about the Bolo army that has experienced several battles. In terms of close combat, these Eight Banners generals and soldiers are considered to be the most outstanding professional soldiers at that time. However, although the Eight Banners are elite, they still have not formed a generation gap with Meng's army. As long as the army has sufficient pay, high morale, and never give up, they can still fight.
On the table, Meng Jun sent separate letters of command to Meng Bian of Huzhou, Zhao Yongping of Songjiang, Yang En of Hangzhou, and Lin Shiqi of Suzhou.
Meng Jun wrote to Meng Bian: "Military affairs are complicated recently. I rely on your talents and strategies. I am writing this letter to ask you to quickly find out where Leke Dehun is, set up a network in Jiangning, and report the military situation to me as soon as possible."
"General Zhao's navy is the key to defeating the enemy. I hope you will quickly build a fleet, train the navy soldiers diligently, recruit more volunteers, and establish the Wu'an Town to strengthen the military's prestige."
"Mude, food and military pay are the foundation of war. You must do your best to raise them to ensure the needs of the front line and ensure that the soldiers do not lack food and clothing. There are many places where silver is needed. I hope you can do your best to raise it."
"Shiqi, Zhoushan craftsmen are of great importance. You must work closely with Shen Tingyang to ensure the safe migration of craftsmen. If there is an opportunity, you can look into Wuxi. You will be responsible for it."
As these orders were sent out one by one, Meng Jun stood up. There were so many complicated things to do, and they were all necessary. Everything took time, and the most important thing at the moment was Bolo. The army had been chasing for so long, and they had only traveled half of the way. Bai Yongfu had already sent news that Dingyang County had been captured, and everything was ready except for one strike.