The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 179: The Unusual Northern Expedition Strategy

The Northern Expedition Army of the Wu Kingdom of the Ming Dynasty occupied the main fortress of Jeju Island and destroyed the main infantry and cavalry of the Qing army on Jeju Island.

Through the surrendered Qing army officers, the officers in command of the operations found out the detailed situation of the Qing army on the island.

On normal days, there were a total of 30,000 Qing troops. In the three battles that had already broken out, the Northern Expedition Army directly wiped out more than 10,000 people, and subsequently captured more than 10,000 people.

The remaining infantry in the two small forts, as well as the garrisons in other areas of Jeju Island, should still have a garrison of 10,000 troops.

After receiving the brief report, Zhu Jianxuan quickly issued a series of orders.

Ten thousand main forces of the Wu State were sent, together with 30,000 infantrymen of the Duke of Min's Mansion, to stay on the island to guard the prisoners and annihilate the remaining Qing troops on the island.

At the same time, 40,000 Type A rifles were left behind to replace and reorganize the infantry of the Duke of Min's Mansion.

Let 10,000 main forces of the Wu State be responsible for training as officers, let the 30,000 infantry of the Duke of Min adapt to new weapons and new tactics, and the remaining Qing army strongholds on the island will be used as training targets.

After adapting to the new weapons, they will be transferred to other areas to fight.

He ordered Zheng Ruian, the prince of the Duke of Min, to lead eight Beihe-type steel warships and other ships of the Duke of Min's mansion to use the island as a base to blockade the Korean Strait.

He ordered Wang Tao to deliver part of the coal carried by the transport ship to the Jeju Island port.

Then they arranged for empty ships to return to the mainland and transport 100,000 Ming disaster victims to Jeju Island, distributed the flintlock rifles originally used by the Min Mansion to them, and trained at least 30,000 militiamen.

Responsible for suppressing and transforming the original Qing and Korean immigrants on the island.

There were originally indigenous people on Jeju Island, which became a vassal state of Korea during the Song Dynasty. It was later occupied by the Mongols and used for grazing. After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, it was occupied by Koreans again.

Koreans and Qing people are both outsiders, and the Ming Dynasty is now also a new outsider. The history of the island has long been a mess.

Zhu Jianxuan led the main fleet to continue northward, and at the same time divided the main fleet into two routes, left and right.

The warships in both routes were identical, both were two 6,000-ton ironclad ships, leading sixteen steel warships, but the transport fleets following the operation were different.

The left-wing army escorted the fleet carrying the main force of the Wu State, and its target was Haizhou in southern Shandong, which is Lianyungang in later generations, and Jiaozhou Bay where Qingdao is located in later generations.

The right-wing army was a fleet carrying Japanese vassal divisions, with its target being the Incheon Port in Korea and the Nampo Port in the north.

Zhu Jianxuan still didn't know where the main fleet of the Qing army was. It was most likely in several seaports such as Jiaozhou Bay, Lushun Bay, and Incheon in Korea.

But no matter where his main fleet is, all these places must be occupied.

Zhu Jianxuan's strategy for the Northern Expedition was completely different from any other time in Shenzhou's history. It relied on superior naval fleets and transportation capabilities to control the land by sea.

In other words, it is carried out according to the combat thinking of maritime powers.

First, occupy the important port nodes in the entire sea area, transport the main forces and supplies to these nodes by sea vessels, and recover the northern land with these nodes as the center.

Therefore, Zhu Jianxuan had to attack Jeju Island first, and then seize Incheon, Nampo, Haeju, Jiaozhou, Dengzhou, Jinzhou and other places.

The first phase of operations was mainly naval battles and landing battles.

Zhu Jianxuan's recovery area included Korea.

Although Korea is still nominally a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, it is actually under the direct control of the Qing army and has basically lost its historical independence.

After the Wu Kingdom regained Korea, it would no longer establish a vassal state in Korea, but would directly establish a province to manage it.

During the Chongzhen era and before, before the mid-Qing Dynasty in history, before the application of steam sailing ships, traveling to Korea required going around Liaodong, making the management of Korea very difficult.

After the invention of steam sailing ships, the late Qing Dynasty considered turning Korea into a province, and this would have been accomplished if there had been no external interference.

Now that Zhu Jianxuan wants to turn North Korea into a province, no force can stop him.

On the morning of February 21, the 42nd year of Xianning, the fleet of the Right Route Army approached the waters off Incheon and encountered a patrolling Qing fleet.

After careful observation, the admiral of the right army found that the enemy had less than ten battleships and less than twenty frigates. He knew that this was definitely not the main fleet of the Qing army.

The commander felt very sorry for this, and immediately ordered an all-out attack with the goal of completely annihilating the Qing fleet.
Although the Qing army had more combat ships, they were still traditional wooden sailing ships.

When faced with the ironclad ship that Zhu Jianxuan had accumulated over fourteen years of effort to build, all he could say was that failure was certain, the only uncertainty was the time and method.

Two days ago, the Qing army fleet on Jeju Island was completely wiped out, and no news of it had reached the locations of other fleets.

When the Qing army's Incheon fleet discovered that the Ming army had less than twenty ships and was outnumbered by their own side, they had no intention of avoiding battle and rushed forward very bravely.

Then they were done.

The course of the Incheon Battle was also very similar to the Jeju naval battle.

When the Qing fleet discovered that the Ming fleet's combat effectiveness was not normal at all, it was too late to escape.

How could a sailing warship possibly outrun a steam-powered ironclad warship?
The Wu fleet could destroy a ship with just a few shots, and the whole process was like a target ship made of firewood.

The battle, or rather the hunt, lasted for most of the morning. The right-wing fleet of the Northern Expedition Corps of the Ming Dynasty Wu Kingdom successfully wiped out the Incheon Fleet of the Qing Army.

The fleet then sailed towards Incheon Port and launched a landing operation directly at the port, just like it did in Jeju Island.

There were no accidents during the landing operation. With the support of warship firepower, the Japanese puppet soldiers easily repelled the defending Qing army and captured the Incheon port.

Then the transport ships began to unload soldiers in large quantities through the docks.

The 30,000 vassal soldiers of the right army landed here. They will first capture the royal city of Korea and then be responsible for occupying the southern region of Korea.

The main combat fleet continued northward with the remaining transport ships and captured Nampo Port in an easier manner.

Another 20,000 people were sent ashore to capture Pyongyang and northern North Korea.

The main fleet then patrolled the Yellow Sea, blocking the route to the Shandong Peninsula of Korea Island, waiting for the Left Route Army to join them. The Left Route Army arrived off the coast of Haizhou at noon on February 21.

Haizhou is Lianyungang in Zhu Jianxuan's previous life. The status of Haizhou at this time far exceeded that of the same period in history, and it was directly upgraded to Haizhou Prefecture.

Because this is the southernmost usable seaport in the Qing Dynasty's mainland.

Another hundred kilometers to the south is the Yellow River-Huai River channel where the Ming and Qing dynasties met.

Further south from Haizhou, until the mouth of the Yangtze River, there are no more good ports available along the entire Yellow Sea coastline.

If the Qing Dynasty wanted to transport supplies and troops to the south by sea, it had to rely on Haizhou, which had a special status. Haizhou was the rear base of the front line.

Therefore, the Qing Dynasty also stationed 30,000 troops here and stockpiled a large amount of weapons and ammunition.

Zhu Jianxuan followed the main fleet and originally thought that he would encounter the main fleet of the Qing Dynasty here, but in the end he found that there was none.

There was only a fleet similar to the Jeju Island fleet, a dozen battleships and more than two dozen frigates.

There was still no suspense in the process of the naval battle. The left-wing army fleet directly destroyed the Qing army's Haizhou fleet, and then began to land at the Haizhou wharf.

Zhu Jianxuan's tactics for this Northern Expedition were beyond everyone's expectations.

Including the Ming emperor, officials, and vassal states, as well as the Qing emperor and generals, no one expected that Zhu Jianxuan would first seize the seaport and then launch an attack from sea to land.

So much so that the situation now is a bit shocking.

The landing troops of the Left Route Army of the Northern Expedition encountered basically no obstacles and captured the Haizhou Wharf too smoothly.

Then Zhu Jianxuan began to arrange for the main division to go ashore.

Haizhou City was still on the coast in the early Ming Dynasty. There was originally an island opposite Haizhou City, which was gradually silted up and turned into land.

The current Haizhou City is more than 20 kilometers away from the sea.

The main force of the Seventh Division, led by Liu Biao, rode bicycles for more than an hour and arrived outside Haizhou City at the fastest speed.

Liu Biao originally thought that he would have a decisive battle with the Qing troops outside the city.

But when they arrived at the place, they found that the Qing army camp, which was supposed to have 20,000 to 30,000 troops, was now completely empty.

Liu Biao was suddenly confused and immediately sent out more scouts to search a larger area around Haizhou City, but still found nothing.

"Did they hide in the city? All 30,000 people live in the city? No one is left outside?"

Liu Biao, somewhat puzzled, tried to attack Haizhou City.

They used the rocket launchers they carried to blow up the gate of Haizhou City, and the infantry charged into the city under the cover of rocket launchers and rifles.

Liu Biao's Seventh Division quickly occupied the city wall. The defenders on the wall were unable to withstand the rifles and grenades of the Ming army, and soon they dropped their weapons and surrendered in large numbers.

After Liu Biao completely took over Haizhou City, he found that there were not many defenders in the city, and at most there were estimated to be only more than 3,000 people.

It was not until his men captured the Qing Dynasty's Haizhou prefect that Liu Biao found out what had happened.

Upon receiving the news of the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition, the 30,000 Qing troops stationed in Haizhou immediately left 3,000 people to guard the city, and the majority went directly south to guard the Yellow River.

Liu Biao immediately arranged for someone to return to the dock to report the news and ask King Wu to immediately arrange more troops to take over Haizhou Prefecture.

Then he left a regiment to guard Haizhou City, and took 9,000 soldiers south to pursue.

No one knew how many Qing troops were there on the Yellow River, but there were at least 30,000 to 50,000 of them. However, Liu Biao, who had fought for several years, did not take it seriously at all.

In the eyes of Liu Biao and his soldiers, foreign troops were garbage that would break at the slightest touch.

When Liu Biao rode his bicycle all the way to the bank of the Yellow River opposite Qingjiangpu, he discovered something even more outrageous.

There were only a few thousand people in the Qing army's Hebei camp here.

Liu Biao's troops captured the camp with one charge, and then captured Qing prisoners for questioning, and received news that made Liu Biao unbelievable.

The main force of the Qing army here was at least 50,000 people. They had crossed the Yellow River a few days ago and attacked Huai'an Prefecture on the south bank.

Huai'an Prefecture was the fief of the Gao family, the Earl of Huai'an. The Gao family was the descendants of Gao Jie, a general during the Chongzhen period.

Gao Jie's fief was originally in Xuzhou, but he later retreated all the way to Huai'an. Chongzhen felt that Gao Jie had no ability, so he did not give him more land.

Liu Biao had already become the commander of a main division and a high-ranking official in the Wu army. He already had basic political acumen.

Faced with this rather bizarre situation, Liu Biao felt that there was a big problem:

"It has been less than a month since the king sent his imperial edict for the Northern Expedition to the north, and the Ming Dynasty's Yellow River defense line is not made of paper.

"The Qing army has no advantages over the ordinary army of the Ming Dynasty.

“The key is that there is the Yellow River in the middle.

"As long as the Huai'an Earl Gao family is not an idiot, it is impossible for them to allow the Qing army to cross the river to the south so quickly.

“There can only be one reason for this to happen.

"The Huaian Earl Gao family directly rebelled and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and took the initiative to lead the main force of the Qing invaders to Henan?

"If they surrender to the Qing at this time, is there something seriously wrong with the family of Huai'an Bo?

"Your Majesty, will you not be punished along with the Qing invaders?"

(End of this chapter)