Dominate the Country

[Many book friends have been criticizing this point these days, so this chapter will give a systematic explanation. In fact, the content of this chapter was originally intended to be revealed bit by bit in the following dozens of chapters, and the design was to fill in the gaps in the Western Expedition bit by bit. Now the chapter ends]

Qianlong did not take any action on the Western Expedition of the Fu Han Army. He ordered the Qing army in Haizhou to go south and join the navy and army in Jiangnan to capture Nanjing. The leader of the army was still Feng Sheng'e, who was guilty. Hailancha was brought back to Beijing. Yin Jishan was not a good fighter, so Feng Sheng'e made meritorious contributions.

Moreover, the Manchus’ sticking office also began to spread rumors that the Fu Han army left Jiangnan because they were driven out by the government army; the Fu Han army looted Jiangnan’s finances and grain, and confused Jiangnan, which was a bandit act; when the news that Chen Yongsheng’s front army was blocked by Sichuan soldiers in Huangpi came out, the sticking office even clamored that Hubei was the place where Chen Ming was buried, and the Fu Han army’s front was exhausted and had no intention of fighting...

As for, you said that the government army lost the decisive battle in northern Jiangsu? The Fu Han army took the initiative to withdraw from Jiangnan?

Haha, why don’t I know about the decisive battle in northern Jiangsu? Oh, you are talking about the battle of Taizhou, which was not a decisive battle, but an ordinary battle, and the government army only suffered a small setback. Otherwise, where would General Feng Sheng’e’s army come from to sweep across northern Jiangsu and head straight for Yangzhou?

Even the Hubei government also made a big talk at the right time, saying that Chen Ming would become the second Li Zicheng. Didn’t the latter die in Hubei that year?

…

The power of military dispatch in Huguang was handed over to Agui by Qianlong. Agui, who already held a large number of troops in the Henan battlefield, now reached the peak of his life. From being the commander of the Henan Military Region alone, he became the commander of both Henan and Huguang. He was in charge of an army of 200,000!

For the offensive of the Fu Han Army in Hubei, Agui's response was to gather the troops previously deployed in Kaifeng and Guide and march south. This news was quickly delivered to Chen Ming by the dark camp, and Chen Ming had previously asked Chen Yongsheng to seize the three passes of Yiyang in order to guard against this. But now Agui has come.

Ma Mingxun's Sichuan soldiers have joined forces with the troops of Jingmenzhou, and their strength should not be underestimated. However, the Sichuan soldiers were fighting in a foreign province, and many of them had been out of Sichuan for more than a year. They missed home and their fighting spirit was low. Just like the Fu Han Army before the Battle of Northern Jiangsu, continuous fighting and being in a foreign land had a great impact on the Sichuan Army, which was still a traditional army in terms of ideology.

Of course, there was also the impact of the setback in the Battle of Huangpi. Unlike the Battle of Hanyang, where the Fu Han Army defeated the Hanyang defenders with their own people, the Sichuan soldiers in the Battle of Huangpi were blown to a trance by the Fu Han Army's various artillery. This dealt a greater blow to the morale of the Sichuan soldiers.

Shi Liang and Zhu Gui were still gathering the militia in western Hubei. They only had three or four thousand Manchu and Han soldiers in their hands. The main fighting force along the way was the trained warriors in western Hubei.

The 15,000 or 6,000 Hunan Green Camp led by Fang Shijun had already arrived in Changde. Across the Dongting Lake was Yueyang, and was it still far from Wuchang when they arrived in Yueyang? He was loyal to Aligun.

The dark camp under the Fu Han Army was also trying its best to spread the "facts" to suppress the "rumors" spread by the sticking pole, but it was blocked in the Battle of Huangpi and the Fu Han Army was blocked again in the Battle of Hanyang. Before Chen Ming arrived in Hanyang, the Fu Han Army was at a disadvantage in terms of public opinion. That is, after Chen Ming arrived in Hanyang, the Fu Han Army immediately attacked and captured Hanyang Prefecture City, and then crossed the river to the south and surrounded Wuchang, which reversed the situation.

In general, the Fu Han Army is still at a disadvantage in public opinion. It is not for anything else, but because Jiangnan is too important and Nanjing has too much political significance. Even if many ordinary people listen to the Three Kingdoms storytelling and watch the Three Kingdoms drama, and know Luoyang and Chang'an, they don't compare Luoyang and Xi'an with Nanjing in their hearts. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the world's dragon court only promoted the two capitals of the north and the south. Nanjing was the capital of Zhu Baba, and the Ming Dynasty was the dynasty that overthrew the first foreign dynasty to unify China, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, and it was the most legitimate. For the Qing Dynasty, which was also ruled by foreigners, Nanjing City has an extraordinary special significance. What the Fu Han Army is doing now is to give up Nanjing little by little.

Chen Ming himself firmly believed that the army should return to the west to consolidate and expand the old base. The base is now out of money, but there is enough food. However, it is difficult to recruit migrant workers by spending a lot of money and food like last year. Moreover, it is necessary to guarantee that there will be a shortage of cloth, salt and other materials this year. Moreover, the army can change its equipment when it returns to the base. The steel production of the Fu Han Army's old nest can already match the total national steel production during the heyday of the Qing Dynasty. This is still under the condition that the Fu Han Army has restrained itself, because the production technology of the Fu Han Army must be strictly kept secret, which limits the development and expansion of production to a considerable extent. So much iron, after being produced, is used for storage and making guns, cannons, swords and guns, and daily utensils. In addition to agricultural tools, it is used to be hammered on hydraulic forging hammers. One by one, breastplates and iron armors filled the arsenal of the general's mansion. Chen Ming's army returned to Huguang and communicated with Henan. All the soldiers in the army had a breastplate and iron armor, and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers and horses could soar by two levels.

In Chen Ming's opinion, this is more practical and important than "political influence". But in terms of momentum, the Western Expedition of the Fu Han Army did greatly destroy their own prestige.

When this strategy was first formulated, someone mentioned Nanjing's political influence. At that time, Chen Ming was determined to enter Huguang. Because after his troops occupied northern Zhejiang and most of Jiangsu, they simply could not spare enough military power to launch a large-scale offensive to the north or south. In the north, Haizhou, north of the Yellow River, still has 30,000 people with a high quota. In the south, there are remnants of the Qing army in Ningbo, Wenzhou and other places in the south of the Yangtze River. There are also local regiments training for armed forces. The number is also quite large. Zhejiang's navy can still deal with them. The offensive was launched on the front line of Hangzhou Bay - why did Chen Ming keep Songjiang and not push it? It is because Songjiang Prefecture is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and that section of the river is vast, which is more suitable for the Qing army's overseas naval warships. The overseas navy accumulated by the Manchus over the past hundred years was not comparable to the Fuhan Navy Naval Battalion that had just started. Even if the Fuhan Army captured Songjiang from land, they would have to fortify everywhere and tie up a large number of troops. At that time, the Fuhan Army controlled such a huge territory and was constrained by enemy forces from all sides. Chen Ming saw no hope of sending troops to establish a direct connection with his hometown in Henan. They went south to sweep southern Zhejiang and pushed north to Shandong, but they still didn't have enough troops. Unless a large number of violent troops are available, even cold weapon troops can only be used to defend the city. But will people from Jiangnan and northern Zhejiang join the Fuhan Army in droves? In addition to northern Jiangsu, the land south of the Yangtze River can also produce some soldiers who dare to fight. Most of the newly added troops of the Fuhan Army are from northern Jiangsu. Soldiers from southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang, haha..., let alone the number, let alone the quality. Whatever.

After the Henan base area persisted for more than a year amid the Qing army's blockade, there were various shortages of money, grain, cloth, salt and even medicinal materials. Especially salt. Neither Nanyang nor Ruzhou produces salt. How can it be possible to meet the needs of millions of people in the base area only through smuggling? The earliest salt was obtained by Chen Ming and the Fu Han army looting various places. But at that time, Chen Ming paid more attention to food. Later, Chen Erbao also went to Nanyang once. At that time, he had salt in his eyes, and the army did rob it. After the salt batch came back, it happened a second time before, so Chen Erbao valued salt even more. However, Chen Erbao made two attacks. In addition to the area north of the Han River in Xiangyang Prefecture, the scope of activities was Yunyang Prefecture. These areas have been affected by war in the past year, and people have fled their hometowns in large numbers. How much salt can be scraped out? Salt has always been a shortcoming of the base area. There are also medicinal materials. The medicinal materials in the base area can only rely on smuggling in Yuzhou and their own production. However, the Qing army's blockade is getting tighter and tighter, smuggling is becoming more and more difficult, and the quantity is becoming less and less. Now the base area is in short supply not only among the military. , and there is also a shortage of medicinal materials among the people. Therefore, Chen Ming is determined to fight back to Hubei. He must return to Hubei to communicate with his hometown in southwest Henan and consolidate and expand his old base. Having won the decisive battle in Northern Jiangsu, his momentum surged for a while, and the idea that "it's not a bad idea to base himself in the south of the Yangtze River" rising in his heart was thrown out of his mind. However, his men still objected to this, and even put forward the absurd proposal of asking the army in Henan to abandon their bases and move to Jiangnan. This is simply not realistic. In addition to soldiers, there are more military dependents in the Henan base area. How can hundreds of thousands of people be moved thousands of miles away? [There are only a few examples to describe, and the article is not convincing enough. I feel it is not in place, and it is too raw]

At that time, Chen Ming used his authority as governor to suppress all dissenting voices, so now more people want to "protect Nanjing." They think it will be no problem to capture Wuchang with their current military strength.

Chen Ming was about to be persuaded by them.

He left more than 20,000 troops in Jiangnan, with a large number of cannons, ammunition, and gunpowder. He even left some people from the Gun Bureau in Nanjing. Not to mention Yangzhou, the cities of Nanjing and Zhenjiang alone were Outside, a large number of trenches, earthen walls and bunkers were built. The latter did not use earth and cement, but glutinous rice and lime. When building bunker fortifications, Chen Ming spared no expense. At that time, he also had plenty of food on hand. In addition, I never thought that development in Jiangnan would be so smooth. After occupying Nanjing and Zhenjiang, the initial strategy formulation was also prepared to fight a defensive war in Nanjing, so no cost was spared when building fortresses outside the city. Boat after boat of white-flowered glutinous rice was boiled into pulp. This brings great convenience to Huang Jie's current defense. If he is determined to defend the city of Nanjing, with 10,000 to 20,000 people in Jiangnan, 1,200 cannons, and a solid position, he can withstand a year and a half. Bar? By next year, the Fuhan Army may return to Jiangnan...

Simply for political influence, not the people's support, or more accurately, the soldiers' support!

The Fuhan Army marched all the way from Hubei to the south of the Yangtze River. Many families were forced to leave their homes and their families were separated on the way to escape. They originally had a peaceful life that could provide food and clothing for the whole family. China in the middle of the Qianlong period, the land of wealth in the south of the Yangtze River, the people The quality of life is still guaranteed. As a result, when the Fuhan army came and killed everything, everything was destroyed. It was the Fuhan Army that ruined all of this. Of course, these people would not have a good impression of the Fuhan Army. Chen Ming knew this, and he didn't think the resentment of these people could cause him much trouble. Those who can cause trouble to the Fuhan Army are the gentry and country gentry. The world is dominated by those who win the hearts and minds of the people. The people's hearts refer to the hearts of the scholars and the landlord class. But apart from making verbal expressions and promoting public opinion in the countryside, how many of these people dare to actually rise up and fight against the Fuhan Army?

Chen Ming had said long ago that the Fu Han Army's set of tactics was inherently in conflict with the gentry and landlord class. He did not want to create a traditional Chinese dynasty. The impact on Confucianism and gentry power made the Fu Han Army inherently alienated from the gentry and landlords. All landlords, gentry, and gentry were against the Fu Han Army - in their hearts, based on their original intentions and interests. The conflict between the two was never a question of whether the landlords wanted to do it, but whether they dared to put it into action after thinking about it. There were many landlords who dared to think about it in their hearts, but few who dared to take actual action. Even if the Fu Han Army left Jiangnan and many "scholars' hearts" who thought that the Fu Han Army was a latent dragon returned to Daqingguo again, Chen Ming didn't think it mattered much. When fighting for the world, you still rely on fists and strength. The hearts of the people and the hearts of the scholars cannot be said to be useless, but 90% of them are false.

Chen Ming never thought about things that could be decided by issuing an edict. The gentry can only submit voluntarily. He welcomes them to speculate, but Chen Ming will never give up a lot of benefits to win them over. Even if this makes it more difficult for him to conquer the world!

Chen Ming really wants to win the hearts of the people, and he wants to win the hearts of the people more than the hearts of the gentry. It cannot be denied that this is the influence of the three views of the previous life. But the Fu Han Army is just a small seedling. If you want to topple the Qing Dynasty, you should not first compete with the big tree for the "space" above, but first cut off the roots of the big tree.

Now with the gathering of the Qing army, the Fu Han Army is at an absolute disadvantage in the "public opinion" of the people, including many places in Hubei. The gentry, gentry and landlords who manipulate public opinion are of course more willing to see the Qing army win. Chen Ming knows that as long as the army takes Wuchang, many problems can be solved, so he is under great pressure now.

When he was determined to return to the west, Chen Ming did not expect the situation to develop to this point. The current battle of Wuchang has become another life-and-death decision point for his army: if they win, nothing will matter; if they lose, Chen Ming will flee back to Jiujiang, Anqing, or even Jiangnan, and the momentum of the Qing army will really become a stormy wave sweeping down from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River...

The team was brought from a peak full of favorable conditions to another battlefield of life-and-death decisive battle without any awareness. They can only win and not surrender, otherwise the good situation will be ruined. Chen Ming's military strategy is really insufficient. He considered all situations too simply and underestimated the Qing army too much.