Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 361: A brilliant plan (Part )

The current battle situation in eastern Zhejiang is like a reactor. Various chemical reagents and catalysts are thrown into it all at once, rolling and catalyzing inside. No one knows why, but a little bit of reason causes a drastic change.

Fang Guozhen still surrendered, and his surrender led to his own surrender even faster.

He thought that Lu Jin would be vindictive and kill him, but he also thought that Lu Jin would be generous and confer a title on him. However, he never expected that the final result would be such a strange situation.
This may sound a bit awkward, but it is actually caused by a series of chain reactions.

Yang Jing's main force in the north learned the result of the naval battle. Fang Guozhen was driven away. After they had no worries in the rear, they began to march towards Chongde on the second day of the first lunar month. It was ninety miles from Jiaxing to Chongde. The army marched at an accelerated speed of 45 miles a day and it took them two days to reach the city of Chongde. Before the battle started, Chongde immediately surrendered.

Are you kidding? They can’t even stop Jiaxing. How can they defend Chongde when they don’t have a strong city or soldiers?
Yang Jing's army included the main force, supplementary regiments and independent regiments that were incorporated along the way, plus the cavalry regiment, a total of 16 regiments, with a strength of over . This was not just a claim, but a real force. The battle formation was so fierce that it could surround the small Chongde County in three layers. Just seeing this battle formation, the Chongde defenders were scared to death.
After taking Chongde, the next step is Hangzhou. At this time, there is no obstacle on the way to Hangzhou. Yang Jing immediately sent Zhang Long's cavalry regiment to Hangzhou to investigate the situation. At the same time, he contacted Zhu Shou's Second Army and asked them when they would come to join him.

Because there was no fighting in Chongde, Yang Jing only left garrison troops and did not even enter the city. The next day, the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, he continued to march towards Hangzhou. The distance from Chongde to Hangzhou was about eighty or ninety miles, and it was estimated that it would take another two days to walk.

As for the northern detachment, the 40th Army led by Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng arrived in Songjiang on the second day of the Chinese New Year and officially launched the attack on the third day. They captured the city that afternoon. The defending general Fang Jianu was stabbed into a hornet's nest by spears in the street fighting, and the troops he brought from Jiaxing were also wiped out. Yu Tonghai captured more than prisoners. After eliminating some old and weak soldiers, the remaining surrendered soldiers were organized into three full regiments.

At this point, the mission of the northern detachment was completed. The 40th Army had a total of two divisions and six regiments. One battalion was left in each of the four cities along the river in the north, namely Changshu, Kunshan, Jiading and Shanghai. They were all guarded by Lan Chun of the 114th Regiment of the 44th Division of Yu Tonghai. Lan Chun was Lan Yu's elder brother and Chang Yuchun's brother-in-law.

Songjiang, which had just been captured, was a provincial capital, and it had to control a large area, so a main regiment was left there to garrison it, and it was handed over to Zhang Hongchao of the 115th Regiment of the 46th Division of Zhang Desheng to guard it. This man surrendered after the Battle of Anqing, and followed Lu Jin to fight in the Battle of Crossing the River. He was promoted to commander for his merits, and now he can also guard an area.

As a result, Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng each left behind a main regiment, and took the remaining four main regiments, plus five supplementary regiments, a total of nine regiments, and began to march towards Hangzhou, preparing to meet up with Yang Jing.

On the Second Army's side in the south, Hua Yunlong and Xu Da's 42nd Army crossed mountains and rivers and finally arrived in Wukang on the first day of the twelfth lunar month. The main force of the Second Army led by Zhu Shou, Xu Yong and Guo Zixing also arrived in Deqing on the same day as them.

Wukang and Deqing were originally very close to each other. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the two counties were simply merged together, leaving only Deqing. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the two cities were only about 20 miles apart, so the main force and the detachment from the south arrived at the same time, which could be considered a meeting of forces.

There were not many soldiers in the two small mountain counties, and the Second Army had an overwhelming advantage in terms of strength, so the two small towns were captured on the same day without any surprise.

At this point, the Second Army’s first phase of mission along the entire Taihu South Road was completed.

Hua Yunlong's 42nd Army captured Jianping (Langxi), Guangde, Anji and Wukang, a total of four cities, and collected prisoners to form three new supplementary regiments. Before the division, Zhu Shou also gave them half a regiment of new soldiers, but they also left two main regiments to garrison in Jianping and Guangde. So now there are only four main regiments and three supplementary regiments, a total of seven regiments, which is several thousand more than when they set out.

Zhu Shou's main force in the south was expanded quite a lot, and they attacked all the big cities. They started from Liyang and went along the south bank of Taihu Lake, adding six regiments of new soldiers along the way. Moreover, the area they attacked was considered the "hinterland", and there were no other hostile forces around. It would be considered the rear area in the future, so there was no need to keep too many troops and waste elite main forces.

Therefore, only one main regiment was left to garrison in the three cities of Liyang, Yixing and Changxing. Huzhou, as a prefecture-level city, also left a main regiment to garrison. Until the first phase of the mission was completed, they still had seven main regiments and six supplementary regiments, a total of 13 regiments.

Together with the seven regiments of Hua Yunlong's detachment, the Second Army had expanded to 20 regiments by the time it reached the city of Hangzhou, a huge scale of nearly people.

The main force on the northern route consists of 16 regiments and the detachment has 9 regiments, totaling 25 regiments, with a total force of about .

The East China Front Army was very successful. Before the expedition, the total force was only about 13. The manifesto boasted that it had an army of . Now, the number of troops has almost increased to by the time they reach Hangzhou. Moreover, this East China Expedition has only just completed the first phase of its goal after taking Hangzhou. There are still many cities to be taken. I don't know how much it will expand by then.
Different from the hasty expedition by Xu Song in July that took Hangzhou by surprise, the Shengwu Army concentrated all its efforts on this eastward expedition. It would rather leave the rear empty and let Anqing and Huai'an in the north and south suffer damage from the Yuan army than not swallow up the entire eastern Zhejiang in a crushing manner!

On the morning of the third day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Long's cavalry regiment arrived in Hangzhou as the vanguard of the entire army. The Yuan army in Hangzhou had long since fled away, leaving only an empty city. So Zhang Long took the lead in planting a flag in Hangzhou, becoming the first Shengwu Army unit to arrive in Hangzhou in this eastern expedition.

On the afternoon of the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Shou's Second Army of 90,000 troops arrived at the city of Hangzhou.

On the afternoon of the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, the main force of Yang Jing's First Army, 70,000 troops arrived in Hangzhou, and the armies from the north and the south successfully joined forces in Hangzhou!

At this time, there were 36 regiments of troops gathered in Hangzhou! Only the 40th Army of Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng had not arrived yet. They still had nine regiments and 45 troops. Otherwise, when they arrived, they would have been able to gather regiments.

However, they only started marching towards Hangzhou on the fourth day of the New Year. Songjiang is 300 miles away from Hangzhou in a straight line. Even if they travel 50 miles a day, it will take them six days. If they go slower, it may take eight or nine days. They are expected to arrive on the eleventh or twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month. So Yang Jing decided not to wait any longer and immediately launched the second phase of the war, striking while the iron was hot and completing the entire Zhejiang East Campaign before the New Year.

The original plan for the entire Eastern Expedition was for the four armies to meet in Hangzhou and then split up into multiple routes to attack the cities in the mountainous areas of central Zhejiang. There were not many enemy troops in such narrow mountainous areas, and if too many troops were sent here, they would not be able to exert their influence. At the same time, it was also necessary to give the generals below some opportunities to grow.

Although Yu Tonghai's 40th Army has not arrived yet, it does not affect their attack on other targets first.

So after the main forces of the two armies rested in Hangzhou for two days, on the eighth day of the first lunar month, Yang Jing began to assign tasks, asking Hua Yunlong's 118th Division, with two main regiments and three supplementary regiments, a total of five regiments, to attack the five targets of Yuhang, Lin'an, Yuqian, Changhua, and Yulingguan in the west.

This line was also the mountain route that Peng Yingyu led his men to launch a surprise attack on Hangzhou a few months ago. It is the western gate of Hangzhou. Only by capturing Yuling Pass and occupying this mountain valley can the western gate of Hangzhou be defended.

Then Xu Da's 119th Division was sent, with two main regiments and three supplementary regiments, a total of five regiments, to go upstream along the Qiantang River to attack the four cities of Fuyang, Xincheng, Tonglu and Fenshui. The above two routes were both in the area west of the Qiantang River. It was easy for the East China Front Army to fight. There was no main force of the Yuan army here, so they only needed to attack the cities along the way.

Shaoxing Road and Qingyuan Road east of the Qiantang River are a bit more troublesome. Speaking of this, it is finally related to Fang Guozhen.

A few days ago, in Qingyuan Road (Ningbo), Dingding, the governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province, was also keeping a close eye on the war in eastern Zhejiang and the situation on Fang Guozhen's side.

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, after learning that Fang Guozhen's navy had returned, Ding Ding was a little surprised and quickly sent someone to ask what was going on. Didn't he send Fang Guozhen to attack the rear of the Shengwu Army? Why did he come back so soon?

Then he received the news that Fang Guozhen's navy was defeated. Not only did they lose the battle, but they also suffered heavy losses. More than 360 ships were lost, and more than 170 were lost, nearly half of the total. Two of their brothers also died in the battle.

Fang Guozhen said that he was taking care of the funeral arrangements for his two brothers, and the naval officers and soldiers had also suffered heavy losses, so he would not go to report to Dingding, and did not even go to meet him.

Upon hearing the news of the navy's defeat, Ding Ding was struck by lightning. Now even his last trick was ineffective. How could he continue to hold on to the war in eastern Zhejiang?

Under the current circumstances, let alone a counterattack, it would be good enough for them to hold the territory east of the Qiantang River.

Ding Ding sent someone to ask about the messenger he had sent, but was told by Fang Guozhen that the messenger was hit by the enemy's musket and fell into the river and died. In fact, he was chopped off by Fang Guozhen himself.
Dingding was hesitant. Naturally, he didn't quite believe it, but he had no way to expose it. If the envoy sent this time had not seen the bodies of Fang Guoying and Fang Guomin with his own eyes, he would even have doubted whether Fang Guozhen was really defeated.

However, given the current situation, even if the envoy was really killed by Fang Guozhen, he would not dare to break off relations with Fang Guozhen, because he still needed Fang Guozhen's help in the future.

The Yuan court is now in an awkward situation in eastern Zhejiang. They currently only have 30,000 soldiers in Qingyuan Road and Luomuying in Hangzhou, which can barely be considered the main force, while several armies of the Shengwu Army are still pressing forward step by step.

Hangzhou is currently in a state of being undefended. The city has been burned to ashes, and the people have fled to the countryside or other counties for refuge. There is not a single person left in the city, and there is no way to provide logistics and laborers. Even if they have 30,000 soldiers, it is impossible to stop the offensive of the Shengwu Army.

Yang Jing and Zhu Shoujia have an army of 16 together, and he only has men. Are they going to fight with their heads?

Now even Fang Guozhen's navy has been defeated. The only solution Dingding can think of is to abandon the entire area west and north of the Qiantang River, which cannot be defended anyway, and then station 30,000 troops in Xiaoshan to confront the Shengwu Army in Hangzhou across the Qiantang River.

The Qiantang River is very wide and the water flows fast. The 30,000-strong Yuan army defended the river. At that time, there was no Qiantang River Bridge built by Mao Yisheng, but the Yuan army was able to hold on by relying on the natural barrier of the Qiantang River.

As for the Shengwu Army, it is not that Yang Jing cannot break through the Qiantang River defense line. Even if it is difficult to cross the river from Xiaoshan, he can still send troops to break through Fuyang, Xincheng, and Tonglu upstream. Anyway, he has the advantage in military strength and can send troops to cross the river in multiple directions for assault.

Dingding now has only 30,000 soldiers left. If he divides his troops into several defense locations, and if he only places 10,000 or even a few thousand soldiers in each location, he will not be able to defend any location and will certainly not be able to stop the Shengwu Army from crossing the river.

So what else does Yang Jing find troublesome now? Actually, it is Fang Guozhen's navy.

Even though Fang Guozhen was defeated in the previous naval battle, he still had ships in his hands. If the Yuan army had a navy blocking the Qiantang River, then even if the Shengwu Army had more soldiers, it would be difficult for them to cross the river and attack Shaoxing Road.

However, at this very moment, Fang Guozhen sent an envoy to surrender.
The envoy was named Qiu Nan, and he was also a counselor under Fang Guozhen. In the original history, Fang Guozhen was able to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang in the end, and Qiu Nan also had a share of the credit, because he was also a capitulationist. Of course, you can also say that he knew the times. After all, if he couldn't win, he really couldn't win, so what was he waiting for if he didn't surrender?
Qiu Nan was afraid of being seen by Ding Ding of Shaoxing, so he took a small boat to land in Haiyan County in the north. After explaining his purpose to the Haiyan garrison commander, he was immediately sent to Hangzhou to meet Yang Jing.

On Yang Jing's side, when he learned that Fang Guozhen had sent an envoy to surrender, he was somewhat happy, somewhat surprised, and somewhat distressed. This was mainly because the plan for this Eastern Expedition did not include the capture of Taizhou and Wenzhou. The original plan was to fight to the Tiantai Mountain line and push the Shengwu Army's territory to the junction of the northern Zhejiang plain and the central Zhejiang mountains, thus facilitating future defense.

However, if Fang Guozhen surrenders and voluntarily offers Taizhou and Wenzhou, then the next step in how to deploy garrisons will have to be reconsidered.

However, as far as the current war was concerned, he was still relatively happy. As long as Fang Guozhen did not come to cause trouble for him and there was no Yuan army's navy in the Qiantang River, he would have plenty of ways to break through the Qiantang River defense line and capture the entire Shaoxing Road and Qingyuan Road.

It was under such circumstances that Qiu Nan came to Hangzhou.

Previously, when he was in Haiyan, he said he wanted to find the General of the East China Front of the Shengwu Army, but he was told that there was no such position. That was only the statement to the outside world. There was only the Governor of the East China Front Army within the Shengwu Army.

He felt it was quite novel at the time. The East China Front Army had hundreds of thousands of troops. So were there other directions, North China, Central China, South China, or West China?
After he arrived in Hangzhou, he was deeply shocked. Although Hangzhou was burned to the ground and there were no civilians left, the new military camp set up by the Shengwu Army stretched for more than 20 miles and was full of soldiers. It seemed that there were at least hundreds of thousands of people. He couldn't help but gasp. Could it be that the 300,000 troops mentioned in the manifesto were a real number?

What was Yang Jing doing at this time? He was opening the brocade bag that Lu Jin had given him before he set out, saying that if Fang Guozhen was willing to surrender, he could open it and read it. Now was finally the time.

Yang Jingzheng didn't know how to deal with Fang Guozhen. Even if Fang Guozhen came to him to surrender, he had no power to agree to any promises from Fang Guozhen. Fortunately, Lu Jin gave him several response plans for different situations in advance, which made it easier for him to deal with the situation.

(End of this chapter)