Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 299 It gradually becomes clear
"What happened to Ganzhou?!"

Faced with the panting knight, Hu Maozhen didn't even give him time to catch his breath before he started shouting at him.

Isn't it inhumane?
Probably a little.

But leaving aside the impact of Ganzhou on the situation in Central and South China, Hu Maozhen and Zhang An were trapped in a narrow strip of land formed by two mountains and two cities. Once something went wrong in Ganzhou, the only way left for them was to crash into Fuzhou City.

"Marshal Hu! Ganzhou is under siege and the Tartars are attacking fiercely. I hope you can make plans early."

Snapped.

As the knight finished speaking, before Hu Maozhen could do anything, the whip in Zhang An's hand fell to the ground.

If it had been an earlier time, he would not have been so surprised to hear such news, but now both the east and west of Ganzhou are stable, and both the north and south have countermeasures.

Under such circumstances, if Ganzhou was still besieged, it was either that the Tartars in Guangdong had defeated the reinforcements from all sides, or that something went wrong with the troops that feigned an attack on Ji'an.

Although Zhang An is reckless at times, his brain is not slow at all.

He thought clearly that there would be no problem in the south. Even if the people called red-haired by the Han people were very powerful, it would take more than a few days to travel such a long distance.

If what the knight reported was correct, then the only possibility was the north.

just
is it possible?
In the north, there are not only Prince Yongning and the Yunnan Army, but also thousands of elite troops transferred from Hao Yaoqi. Does Wang Deren really have such a big appetite that he can devour this army in just a few days?

"Speak clearly! Where did these people come from?"

"General Hu, they are Tartars coming from the north."

While Zhang An was constantly speculating in his mind, Hu Maozhen began to question the knight somewhat unwillingly.

It was just that the knight was either dazed by the ferocious look or he just had poor speech skills. Even though Generals Hu and Zhang were extremely anxious, he just kept spinning like a top and didn't know how to explain the whole situation clearly at once.

"Wang Deren? Impossible!"

Hearing such an answer, Hu Maozhen was stunned at first. After thinking about it for a moment, he realized that the knight had not finished speaking. Then he directly pulled out most of the sword at his waist.

"Speak clearly once and for all! If you hesitate again, watch out for your head!"

Perhaps stimulated by this sentence, the knight spoke fluently afterwards, but Generals Hu and Zhang fell silent after hearing it.

According to the knight, everything was normal for the first one or two days after the feint attack troops arrived outside the city of Ji'an, but on the third day a large number of Qing troops surrounded them from the rear.

Originally, according to the plan of several generals, they should hold the camp and wait for reinforcements. When the fighting broke out in Fuzhou area, the siege here would naturally be lifted without any effort.

This is probably something that all veteran generals on the battlefield can think of. After all, once Fuzhou is captured, it means that there will be no more barriers between Jiangnan and Central South, and the two Ming armies in the east and west will be able to merge.

It would be fine if the Tartars retreated quickly at that time, but if they retreated too slowly, they might be surrounded in the Poyang Lake Plain.

However, although their plan was good, how could the Tartars be unprepared when they dared to attack this detachment first?

That night, just when the feint attack troops were concentrating all their attention on preventing the Qing army from sneaking into the camp at night, bursts of artillery fire suddenly rang out, and then the camp wall built of bricks and wood was blown to pieces by artillery fire from nowhere.

It is not difficult to imagine what happened next. How could a group of ragtag troops possibly hold out against such a fierce and sudden attack?
After that, it was basically a race. By the time the generals fled back to Ganzhou, not only were there only a few thousand of the feint attack force of 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers left, but even several generals in the army were killed.

It has to be admitted that this news was like a bolt from the blue for Generals Hu and Zhang.

The importance of Ganzhou to the situation in Central and South China is self-evident. Once it is lost, the Tartars will not only be able to send troops to Hunan without scruples, but even Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, which have not been devastated by war, will be directly exposed to their military force.

But to put it bluntly, this is just a strategic matter. Even if Hu Maozhen sees it a little more deeply and understands what it means, it is not that important to Zhang An, a barbarian.

The reason why he was the same as Hu Maozhen was that the most crucial point was that once Ganzhou was lost, their troops would be completely locked in the narrow strip of land of Zhaochang Prefecture.

Even if Chang Guanlin's troops can successfully capture Fuzhou in the end, how long will they have to wait?
Moreover, judging from the current situation, the Tartars must have planned this move for a long time, so how could Fuzhou be taken down so easily?

"How many Qing troops are there in Ganzhou?"

"Reporting to Marshal Hu, the Qing army has too many flags to count, but judging from the size of the camp, it should be over 80,000 or 90,000, and..."

"And what?"

"When I left, I saw a white flag with a border in the Qing army camp. It must be Ajige himself."

"Okay, you go down and rest first."

"No need for that. I still need to pass on the military intelligence to Yingtian, but I can't delay."

As soon as he finished speaking, the knight rode his horse to the northeast.

Hu Maozhen knew that the military situation was urgent and he would not force them to stay, but facing such a situation he was a little bit at a loss.

At this time, there were only two paths before him. One was to turn back to rescue Ganzhou, and the other was to rush straight to Fuzhou regardless of the consequences.

If what the knight said was true, then even if he and Zhang An's 30,000 or 20,000 troops were all killed in front of the Tartar camp, they would still be unable to lift the siege of Ganzhou.

However, heading straight to Fuzhou and trying to meet up with Chang Guanlin is probably not feasible.

The logic behind it is simple.

Ganzhou is located between several mountain ranges. Once Ji'an and Fuzhou are lost, the Qing army besieging Ganzhou would be trapped here.

But now Ajige actually led his troops here in person, which must mean that the Qing army has made solid arrangements for the retreat.

Under such circumstances, it is still unclear whether Chang Guanlin's troops can reach Fuzhou smoothly, let alone capture Fuzhou and join forces with him.
not to mention.
Will Ganzhou just ignore it?
Thinking of this, Hu Maozhen became more and more confused about what to do. When Zhang An looked over, he could only smile bitterly.

"I'm afraid it all fell into the Tartars' plan."

"Ah."

"Then let's go back to Ganzhou."

"Return to Ganzhou?"

"Ok!"

Hu Maozhen had never expected Zhang An to say the words "return to Ganzhou". Not to mention that their mission was to advance to Fuzhou, the disparity in military strength between the two sides was enough to rule out this route.

But I don't know if this bandit saw the doubts in Hu Maozhen's heart, and before he could ask, he continued: "I'm not talking about lifting the siege of Ganzhou, I'm talking about..."

As Zhang An's voice became lower and lower, Hu Maozhen couldn't help but urge his horse to move closer to him.

After Zhang An finished speaking all that was in his mind, Hu Maozhen still seemed to be immersed in great astonishment. Then he did not urge him any further, but just waited for him to sort out his thoughts.

"This method should work, but..."

"What are you afraid of? Why not try it out? What's the point of going over to take a look?"

Hu Maozhen didn't know whether this could be considered a blessing in disguise, but since both returning to Ganzhou for support and advancing to Fuzhou were unlikely to be effective, he could only do as Zhang An suggested.

But the Tartars have caused such a big fuss, and I don’t know how Your Majesty should respond.

With this in mind, Hu Maozhen couldn't help but look in the direction of Yingtian. Afterwards, no one knew what he was thinking, but he gritted his teeth and issued a series of military orders.

It can be imagined that Hu Maozhen must be the general in southern Jiangxi who most hoped that Zhu Cilang could come up with a countermeasure. After all, he still had Nikan's life in his hands, and there was probably no hope for him to surrender to the Tartars again.

But at the same time, he basically knew best how difficult this situation was to resolve.

In terms of military strength, there should still be a lot of available men and horses in the south of the Yangtze River, but when it comes to the roots, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. Even a journey of 800 miles in an express manner would take five or six days. How can those who are in southern Jiangxi expect any help from Yingtian?

This is certainly not Hu Maozhen's pessimism.

After all, although Zhu Cilang had successfully driven Duoduo back to Jiangbei and gained recognition from Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi and the Southwest, it was only half a year.

You have to know that even opening a slightly larger shop would take months of preparation. Even though he reversed the situation of self-determination south of the Yangtze River through his various efforts, when he had to interrupt his journey and return to Yingtian to ascend the throne, there was still a huge disparity in strength between the east and west areas south of the Yangtze River.

Don't think that because the rebels in Central and South China have surrendered, their military strength is similar to that in Jiangnan.

No matter what, the source of an army's combat effectiveness also lies in discipline and regulations. How can a newly-attached army fully recover its previous combat effectiveness in less than half a year?
Zhu Cilang was naturally well aware of this, which was why he had to make a personal trip to Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi.

However, people like Duoduo and Hong Chengchou were not stupid. They finally forced Zhu Cilang, who was likely to integrate those provinces within a few months, back to Yingtian without bloodshed. Then they took advantage of the fact that the east of the Ming Dynasty was more important than the west to carry out their own plan.

"Prime Minister! Prime Minister!"

"General, my master is resting."

With a loud shout, Lekedehun rushed directly into Hong Chengchou's study courtyard despite the servants' dissuasion.

For a person like Hong Chengchou, such behavior could be considered an insult, but when he appeared in front of Lekedehun, not only did he not show any sign of surprise, but one could even see a hint of joy on his face.

"Has the general received the letter?"

"Got it!" After hearing what Hong Chengchou said, Lekedehun answered directly in a hoarse voice, and then he walked a few steps towards the study and continued: "After all, he is a person valued by the late emperor. But with a little trick, the villain was trapped in a situation where he could neither advance nor retreat."

"You are overpraising me, General."

While politely declining, Hong Chengchou let Lekedehun into his study.

It's just that according to common sense, when guests like this come, at least tea and cakes should be served. But to the old servant's surprise, the door of the study was closed after the two of them went in. It was obvious that they were discussing important military and national affairs, but they didn't want servants to interfere.

"Just now, a messenger came to report that Prince Ying had annihilated a large number of Ming troops under the city of Ji'an three days ago. Now there are only more than 10,000 people in Ganzhou City. He is preparing to march south to capture it in one fell swoop."

As soon as he sat down on the chair, Lekedehun hurriedly told Hong Chengchou the news he had obtained. Although he stopped talking afterwards, his eyes revealed his inner excitement.

Indeed, he was extremely reluctant to give Guangzhou to the Dutch at the beginning, and even had some conflicts with Hong Chengchou over this. However, his reluctance also depended on what he could gain.

If it was just a simple matter of handing over the city that he had conquered, he would naturally disagree. But if it also involved an impact on the war situation in Jiangxi, that would be a different story.

Of course, this does not mean that Hong Chengchou did not reveal his plan to the General Pingnan. It’s just that Lekedehun is not much more powerful than Zhu Cilang, so he naturally cannot understand such a complicated plan.

Hong Chengchou's plan was quite simple to explain. He just took advantage of the incident in Guangdong to mobilize the Ming army in Ganzhou, and then took advantage of the opportunity when the Ming army was about to launch a large-scale offensive against Jiangxi to give Zhu Cilang a backup plan.

It’s just such a simple plan, but there are so many things to consider.

For example, through large-scale military mobilization in the south of the Yangtze River, it was judged that the Ming army was about to launch an offensive against Jiangxi, and based on this, it was judged that the Ming army in southern Jiangxi would definitely cooperate.

For example, through understanding of human nature, it can be judged that Wan Yuanji, who has received rescue efforts from various provinces, will definitely dispatch troops to rescue Guangzhou if there are sufficient troops.

How could one understand all these things at the beginning without years of ups and downs in officialdom and experience in facing enemies?
Therefore, when Lekede barged into his own courtyard recklessly, Hong Chengchou, who had already received news from Jiangxi through other channels, understood his intentions and naturally would not have much negative emotions due to such rude behavior.

"Does the prince have any further instructions?"

"Nothing else, just tell us to stop the Ming navy from entering Poyang Lake."

While listening, Hong Chengchou nodded secretly.

Ajige was a reckless man, but when it came to fighting, he was not reckless at all. Instead, he was able to pay attention to all kinds of details.

When discussing this plan with him, Hong Chengchou originally wanted to set the location for blocking the Ming army in the south of the Yangtze River in Shangrao, but Ajige took into account the narrow corridor of Zhaochang and believed that they should directly abandon the east of Fuzhou and concentrate on guarding this city which was sandwiched between two routes.

Now he once again specifically mentioned the idea of ​​resisting the Ming navy, obviously having fully learned the experience of Duoduo's defeat in Jiangnan.

just
"That's what your Highness is worried about. The enemy's navy is very powerful, but we have to be on guard against it."

"Prime Minister, we have already set up iron chains and artillery batteries at various waterway passes. Even if we don't send people to guard them, it will take the southern barbarians' navy a month or so to enter Poyang Lake. I can guarantee this with my head."

(End of this chapter)