Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 468 The criminal general has important military intelligence!
Zhumala's many years of experience in fighting enemies finally came in handy.

Just as he escaped from the dock, the battle on the mudflats also underwent a decisive change.

As the saying goes, a thousand-mile dike is destroyed by an ant hole.

Although the Ming and Qing armies could maintain a general balance of power as a whole, if we focus on certain points, we will find that the differences between individuals are gradually affecting the overall situation.

Take Xu Renjue for example.

At first, the Qing army did not pay much attention to him, so that snake-like attack had the effect of taking the lead.

Later, attention was paid to the surrounding Ming troops, who took advantage of the distraction of the enemy's attention and launched attacks one after another. Although they did not gain anything like Mr. Xu San, the energy consumption of the Qing troops here was far beyond usual.

In the end, Xu Renjue found a fatal gap in this area of ​​the Qing army in just a moment. After killing several Qing soldiers in succession, a gap appeared in the formation here, and the balance that determined the outcome of the battle naturally tilted.

Things had come to this point, not to mention Chang Guanlin who was commanding the battle in the river, even Zhang Shiyi who did not have much experience in land warfare should have known the final outcome.

It’s just that this group of people looked so good that no one expected that they would only last for such a short time.

When the Qing army's formation was cut in half by a fiery red arrow, the generals of the two armies, who were several miles apart, fell silent at the same time.

Zhang Shiyi's silence was understandable. After all, this army was trained by Hong Chengchou himself, and he had placed high hopes on this army since the beginning of the war. However, Chang Guanlin's reaction was somewhat unexpected.

This is the disadvantage of the front guard army not participating in the subsequent battles.

The army under Chang Guanlin were originally selected from the Yingtian garrison. In terms of combat capability, they were just as good as Xiang Rensheng's imperial guards.

If the situation develops in this way, the front guard army will definitely be the force with the strongest comprehensive combat capability under Zhu Cilang's command, and it is no exaggeration to call it the trump card.

But after the expansion, the other armies fought some tough battles, but the front army only attacked a few cities with artillery.

The most direct consequence of this difference is that the front-line army is too conservative and always estimates its own combat effectiveness slightly lower than the actual situation.

Although Qian Jun had not been idle during the past six months, and had pushed his training intensity and maintenance frequency to the maximum, while his strength was improving, he did not have a correct understanding of himself due to insufficient actual combat.

In comparison, not only had the Central Guards, who had fought in several major battles, already developed the mentality that no one else in the world could match them, but even the Rear Guards, relying on their powerful firearms, no longer took most enemies seriously.

In any case, the first victory of the Northern Expedition eventually fell into the hands of the Ming army due to various factors. After the subsequent landing troops arrived, the Qing army, which was cut into two parts, completely collapsed in an instant, and the fortress, whose wall had been broken, was completely destroyed without much effort.

According to common sense, at least an hour passed from the collapse of the Qing army's formation to the capture of the fort. As a rebel general of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Shiyi should have had a chance to escape.

But to the surprise of several Ming army generals, this guy not only did not escape in disgrace, but waited on the watchtower openly after the Ming army entered the fort.

"Reporting to the commander, the enemy general Zhang Shiyi is stationed at the lookout tower, and he wants to see Marshal Huang."

"Marshal Huang?"

As soon as the landing troops defeated the Qing army on the beach, Chang Guanlin urged the boat to move to the shore. When he set foot on the land north of the Yangtze River, several thousand soldiers had already rushed in through the breach of the fort, and the report from the front also came in a moment later.

Chang Guanlin was a little surprised by such a request, but after thinking about it, he could understand it a little.

After all, the group of people on Chongming Island originally intended to serve the vassal king as their leader, so they did have some feelings of loyalty.

However, it was Zhang Shiyi who rebelled against the Ming Dynasty under Your Majesty's hands. In detail, he is fundamentally different from the surrendered generals of the four towns in northern Jiangnan.

Under such circumstances, he actually wanted to meet Huang Fei. Did he really think that the other party could save his life?

With this in mind, Chang Guanlin did not intercept Zhang Shiyi's request. After passing the message back, he simply waited on the mudflat.

To be honest, he was still a little dizzy at this moment.

It’s not that he was seasick, but the performance of the Qing army before and after was too different.

In his opinion, any troops that could charge under artillery fire must be considered elite. However, such elite troops were defeated by his own men in just a short time. He was not sure whether it was because his own troops were too strong or for some other reason.

Perhaps it was because there were too few shells falling into the Qing army's formation and they did not play any real role.

After some thought, he finally concluded that the main reason for the Qing army's defeat was not how strong their own troops were.

Afterwards, he paid attention to the scattered battles on the fort while quietly waiting for Huang Fei's arrival.

After about three or two incense sticks of time, a slightly larger speedboat approached the river bank. When Huang Fei waded over, he spoke to the other party in a brief manner.

In just a few words, the situation inside the fort was heard by Huang Fei through Chang Guanlin. But when he was hesitating, the other party had already walked towards the fort.

"Uncle, let's go."

"Ah, oh!"

After walking a few steps, Chang Guanlin greeted Huang Fei, who was still in a daze, and then the two of them walked forward together. Huang Fei couldn't help but sigh.

He is not a novice, so he can naturally feel how close or distant His Majesty is to him.

There is no need to say much about Generals Xiang and Chang, they were the ones who protected Qianlong and helped him get through the difficult times. Then there are Generals Fang, Hou and Mei, and Generals Hu and Li, they either showed their loyalty at critical moments, or were completely controlled by Your Majesty.

On the other hand, he was highly valued during the Hongguang Dynasty and had a large navy under his command.

Neither of these two things alone is a big deal, but when put together they become a sin that cannot be justified.

At first, he felt unbalanced and even a little bit like watching the joke, but later, His Majesty won battles one after another, and he gradually fell to the edge.

When it came to arranging the defenses of the Yangtze River, His Majesty even sent the Duke of Wei and that little Dianshi over. Huang Fei had also figured out the key points and was quietly waiting like Zheng Zhilong.

Honestly speaking, he had thought about defecting with his troops, but firstly, the Huang family was full of loyal warriors, and he, Huang Fei, did not want to ruin his uncle's reputation for his own personal gain; secondly, His Majesty not only had a very high prestige in the army, but also treated the soldiers better than before.

With these two factors combined, he felt unwilling and unable to lead his troops in defection, and his life has been uneventful until now.

But what he didn't expect was that His Majesty would let him, a marginal figure, be the chief commander in this Northern Expedition.

You have to know that in the face of the huge gap in strength, this military achievement has been firmly in his hands since the troops were dispatched. If His Majesty really regards him as a miscellaneous card that needs to be eliminated, he can send a certain Duke to be the commander-in-chief to prevent the military achievement from falling on him. Faced with such a situation, Huang Fei really couldn't understand His Majesty's thoughts, but when he saw Chang Guanlin's actions just now, he suddenly figured it out.

Zhang Shiyi was an old traitor to him, and meeting him or not would cause inexplicable trouble.

Of course, if Chang Guanlin is willing to go together, this trouble will naturally be eliminated due to the presence of His Majesty's confidant.

It’s just that the two of you had no relationship before. If there weren’t enough benefits, why would others give you this convenience?
The reason why Huang Fei was stunned before was that he was thinking about what to use to exchange for Chang Guanlin's help, but while he was still weighing the pros and cons, the other party actually took a step forward.

After Marshal Mao was killed, the Dongjiang Town was in chaos. Although he was young at that time, he understood through what he saw and heard that friendly forces are more terrifying than enemies.

There is no need to say much about what happened later. In short, he was always on guard in his heart, but now he met such a character, and the experience he learned from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood became a joke.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

Since your Majesty's confidant can be so frank, then he himself...
As his thoughts turned, things that had happened over the past year kept replaying in Huang Fei's mind. And under the influence of this opportunity, his perception of various things underwent some subtle changes.

Maybe I was overthinking it. Otherwise, even if this head coach is just a figurehead, it probably wouldn't be my turn to do it.

After the thought came to mind, Huang Fei's vision suddenly became clear. At this time, the lookout tower that was surrounded by the Ming army also appeared in his sight. Then he climbed up with confidence.

"Uncle! Save my life! Save my life!"

The arrival of the two generals easily caused a commotion among the soldiers. Seeing this, Zhang Shiyi knew that the real boss had arrived, and he shouted loudly without waiting for the other party to get out of the crowd.

He thought about abandoning the fort and running away, but the Qing court's practice of abandoning the donkey after it has served its purpose was too disheartening for him.

After going to great lengths to build defenses for the canal waterway, in the end not only was most of his power stripped away, he was also sent to the enemy's front line to serve as cannon fodder.

Originally, he was thinking whether he could demonstrate his value again by virtue of his merit in stopping the Ming army, but after all the trouble, everything turned out to be in vain. If he really retreated like this, he would probably not end up well.

To be honest, Zhang Shiyi couldn't really understand why Prime Minister Hong and Lekedehun treated him like that, but the situation had come to this point and he couldn't afford to speculate any further.

Fortunately, I still have value, extremely high value!
As his mind turned, Zhang Shiyi's eyes were fixed on the slight commotion among the Ming army. When Huang Fei's sight appeared in front of the Ming army formation, he immediately knelt on the ground.

"My Lord! I made a mistake and ended up making a huge mistake. If the Heavenly Soldiers hadn't arrived, I would have been unable to trick the Tartar military supervisor away, and I wouldn't have been able to pass on the important military intelligence!"

Zhang Shiyi's words were so moving that it seemed as if he was Guan Yu, who was in Cao's camp but his heart was with Han. Coupled with the "huge military intelligence", Chang Guanlin immediately perked up.

just
"Since there is important military information, just tell us directly. As for your life or death, it is up to His Majesty to decide, and it is not up to us to decide."

Huang Fei's tone was cold and his expression was indifferent, and it was obvious that he was not moved by Zhang Shiyi's words.

After Mao Wenlong's death, the internal strife in Dongjiang Town became extremely fierce, and a nail that had been nailed in Liaodong disappeared after a few years.

He was tempered in such an environment, so he would not be moved by just a few words.

We should be wary of the words of such rebellious people.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Shiyi knew that his life was temporarily saved, but he also knew that if he did not give something real, it would be difficult to get the Emperor's pardon, so he responded without thinking.

"My Lord is right. I have sinned deeply and cannot be redeemed even by death. However, all the defenses of Huaidong are in my mind. If I cannot hand them over to Your Majesty, I will not be able to rest in peace even in the underworld!"

"Humph! Do you think this little piece of broken wall and rotten tiles can stop Master Wang?"

Zhang Shiyi's mind was misplaced. If he had followed Huang Fei's words and given up resistance, the other party might have reported something to him out of their past friendship. But now he was using the arrangements along the river as a threat, so Huang Fei's words were naturally merciless.

After all, although the Ming army did not mobilize troops for this northern expedition, its firepower was far superior to any previous battle.

Under such circumstances, even without the intelligence brought by Zhang Shiyi, the Ming army would be able to successfully reach Huai'an with some time.

In comparison, it was not in anyone's interest to let the traitor Zhang Shiyi come and share the credit.

The turn of the situation made Zhang Shiyi stunned for a moment. By the time he realized his mistake, Huang Fei had already turned and walked towards the Ming army formation.

Seeing that things had come to this point, he naturally felt a little regretful, but in such a situation, how could he turn back?

It was because he had gained some experience from rebelling so many times that he found another way in a short time.

"My Lord! The criminal general knows the spy that the Tartars have planted in the imperial court!"

After hearing these words, Chang Guanlin looked at Zhang Shiyi who was kneeling on the ground in shock, while Huang Fei, who was lying on his back, couldn't help but regret it.

Insider.

As soon as these two words came out, he had to report the matter to His Majesty no matter what. But at the same time, he was also very clear that considering the treatment Zhang Shiyi received as he led thousands of people to guard the river mouth fort, how could the Tartars leak such important information to him?
"My Lord, I'm afraid this will have to be reported to His Majesty."

"Ah."

In response to Chang Guanlin's question, Huang Fei simply replied indifferently.

Previously he had been quite impressed by the simple-mindedness of the man, but immediately he began to criticize him in his heart.

What would happen if this matter was reported to His Majesty? Could he still arrest people one by one based on the accusations made by this traitorous general?

After all, Zhang Shiyi's words are not credible.

If he really tried to save his life by making random accusations, it would certainly cause panic among all the civil and military officials in the court.

By then, not to mention whether Your Majesty's reputation will be ruined, even the political situation that has finally stabilized will be in turmoil.

most.
As his mind turned, a bold idea came into Huang Fei's mind. He then took a few steps towards Chang Guanlin, and when he was almost there, he whispered, "General Chang, what this guy said is of great importance. One careless mistake will result in disaster."

"Your Excellency is right. I will send someone to bring this fellow back to Yingtian right away."

idiot!

(End of this chapter)