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The Qin army dug several trenches at each of the five city gates of Anqing to prevent the Qing army from breaking through, and then used feint attacks every day to cover up the tunneling operations.
Therefore, the siege battles during these days were not very fierce, but the more so, the more uneasy Kong Youde and Shang Shan in the city became.
Since the Qin army was not in a hurry to attack, it showed that Qin Mu was confident of victory.
Liu Kongzhao's navy was defeated in one battle, Tulai's army in Jiangdong was completely wiped out, and Anqing City lost its outer camp in Daling Mountain. It completely became an isolated city and had completely cut off contact with the outside world.
When Hong Chengchou formulated the battle plan of strict defense, he provided Kong Youde and Tulai with a large number of weapons and food. There is no shortage of food in the city now, but what is lacking is morale.
The delay in the arrival of reinforcements was enough to make all the Qing soldiers guess how dangerous the situation was.
Everyone is smart and knows that an isolated city without external support will fall sooner or later.
Therefore, no matter how Kong Youde and Shang Shan encouraged the people in the city, their morale remained low.
Kong Youde even took out all his wealth and distributed it to his generals, and only then did he finally stabilize the morale of the army.
At the Qin army camp outside the city, Li Shi rushed into the king's tent excitedly and said to Qin Mu, "King Qin, the tunnel has been dug. Commander Liu invites you to watch the fireworks."
"Oh? Are all the explosives buried?"
"Don't worry, King Qin. If this dish hadn't been served, would I dare to invite you to attend?"
"Hahaha... Okay, let's go and take a look together." Qin Mu called his superior Ma An and Gu Junen, Lu Zhenfei, Yu Dadian, Li Yuan, He Liang, Guo Duxian, Wu Jinxi, Song Xiance, Shao Hua and a large number of other important people.
Everyone put down their work and followed Qin Mu out of the tent to watch.
This tunnel has been secretly dug for half a month, and everyone is looking forward to it. Once it is completed, it will be soon before they can march into Nanjing.
Under the city of Anqing, tens of thousands of Qin troops were already lined up, dense as a forest, and murderous as a mountain. The black flags fluttered in the autumn wind, extremely solemn.
Seeing Qin Mu, wearing a black robe with large sleeves and a huge sword hanging from his waist, walk out of the tent, the soldiers of the three armies shouted in unison:
"King Qin!"
"King Qin!"
"King Qin!"
The shouts of tens of thousands of troops were so loud and clear that they shook the mountains and rivers. Yu Dayou and others who followed Qin Mu had also witnessed the spectacular scene of Li Zicheng commanding hundreds of thousands of troops. However, compared with the Qin Army, they always felt that the original Dashun Army lacked something.
At this moment, they finally figured it out. The Dashun Army lacked the spirit of the Qin Army, and therefore did not have the solemnity and majestic feeling of the Qin Army.
From the eyes of the soldiers, one can see more enthusiasm and admiration for Qin Mu, even generals like Liu Meng and Huo Sheng are no exception.
This kind of admiration comes from the bottom of one's heart and has nothing to do with fame, wealth or fortune. It is entirely due to Qin Mu's own foresight and the prestige he has accumulated through his brilliant civil and military achievements.
Qin Mu spread out his sleeves and saluted the three armies, and the shouts of the soldiers became even louder, straight up to the sky.
"King Qin, can we start?" Liu Meng stepped forward to ask.
Qin Mu nodded and said, "After the city is broken, if the enemy loses the ability to resist, there is no need to kill them unnecessarily. Living people are more valuable than dead people. Now that the mountains and rivers are broken, there are many places that need labor to rebuild."
"I respect your order."
"let's start."
“Yes!”
The shouts of the Qin army below the city were like the roar of the sea, and the Qing army on the city turned pale. Everyone understood that the final decisive battle was coming, and Kong Youde and Shang Shan personally went to the city to supervise the battle and encourage morale.
However, what they didn't expect was that the Qin army's general offensive began with a violent explosion that shook the earth.
boom!
With a deafening bang, nearly ten thousand kilograms of explosives in the tunnel were detonated instantly. The entire Anqing city was shaking violently. A section of the city wall on the east side was arched and deformed by the huge force until it broke into countless pieces and was thrown into the air.
Almost all the Qing troops near that section of the city wall were shocked to the point of having their hearts broken and bleeding from all their orifices. The bright red blood washed away the dust on their faces, making them look like evil spirits. Then they collapsed to the ground one by one and died in silence.
A huge mushroom cloud covered the top of the city, rolling and expanding. Even where Qin Mu was standing, he could feel the turbulent air flow.
What a bunch of losers, is it necessary to have so much explosives? Qin Mu muttered to himself, gunpowder is actually very expensive.
When the smoke gradually faded, one could vaguely see that a section of the city wall on the east side, about 20 to 30 feet long, had disappeared. Under the command of Liu Meng, the eighteen central drums of the Qin army sounded at the right time, like thunder, thrilling and thrilling.
Urged by the sound of war drums, tens of thousands of Qin troops who had been prepared in advance rushed towards the gap in the city wall like a black torrent.
***
"What? Say it again!"
"Reporting to Academician Hong, Anqing City has fallen, and King Gongshun's entire army has been annihilated."
Hong Chengchou stared at the messenger with his eyes wide open, and finally sat back in the rocking chair dejectedly, as if all the strength in his body had suddenly been drained away.
The annihilation of Tulai's army had already shocked him greatly, but he did not despair after all. The walls of Anqing City were high and thick, and Kong Youde had 20,000 to 30,000 troops with sufficient food and equipment. It should not be a problem for him to defend the city for a few months with the help of the strong city. As long as Anqing was still there, a large number of Qin troops could be held back, and it would always be a major threat to Meng Ke, so he did not dare to advance too quickly alone.
In this way, Jinling will have time to make arrangements calmly, and at least wait until Bolo puts down the rebellion in Jiangyin and avoid being attacked from two sides.
But now, in less than twenty days, Anqing City fell. Coupled with Tulai's previous losses, the 80,000-strong army was wiped out, and the Yangtze River waterway completely became a bathtub for the Qin army.
"Report, Grand Secretary Hong, the Qin navy is escorting a black flag ship. It is said that there are 150,000 troops going down the river and heading towards Nanjing."
Hong Chengchou had seen a lot of storms, so he regained his composure and said quickly, "Go and invite Lord Baiyintu to discuss matters."
"twitter!"
Many officials surrendered in Nanjing City, but Hong Chengchou knew very well what kind of people the Donglin Party were. It might be possible to ask them to appease the people, but asking them to participate in military affairs would only cause chaos. Currently, in Nanjing City, the only person who could discuss important matters was Bai Yintu.
After Duoduo occupied Nanjing, he divided the six ministries in Nanjing into the General's Office and the Governor's Office. Bai Yintu was a director of the Governor's Office, so he hurried to the General's Office without being invited.
"Master Hong, quickly send a message to Beile and ask him to send troops back to Nanjing. The 150,000 Qin troops are coming down the river, and they must be heading towards Nanjing."
Hong Chengchou shook his head and said, "It is true that you are asking the prince to dispatch troops to reinforce Taiping Prefecture. As for Nanjing, I guess Qin Mu will not rush to attack it."
"When shooting a person, shoot the horse first. Why does Academician Hong think that Qin Mu will not attack Nanjing?" Bai Yintu asked in disbelief.
"Qin Mu must want an intact Jinling City, so he will not attack immediately." Hong Chengchou was confident about this point and said it with great certainty.
"I know that, but why didn't Qin Mu attack Jinling City first? Master Hong, please explain it clearly. This is related to our next battle arrangement."
Obtaining an intact Jinling City has great political significance for Qin Mu.
If what they got was a deserted city like Yangzhou, the significance would be greatly reduced. This is why the Qin army preferred to bypass the poorly defended Yangzhou and head to Jiangyin.
"To the east, there is Bolo's army in Jiangyin, and to the west, there is Nikan's army in Taiping Prefecture. If Qin Mu attacks Jinling at this time, he will first have to bear the danger of being attacked from both inside and outside. To reduce this danger, he can only attack fiercely, and Jinling City will inevitably be destroyed by the flames of war.
Therefore, I expect that Qin Mu will first attack Taiping Prefecture and Jiangyin, and then encircle Jinling from both sides. Only in this way can we force our army to surrender and avoid the destruction of Jinling City in the flames of war."
"Master Hong is saying that his 150,000-man army on the black flag ships is not heading for Nanjing, but is heading for Jiangyin?"
"Absolutely. I have sent a message to Bolo to send more cavalry to patrol the river. The Qin army claims to have 150,000 troops coming by boat. Even if the number is exaggerated, it must be quite large. It is not easy to find a suitable place to land with so many troops. As long as Lord Beile strengthens the patrol, it is still possible to stop the Qin army from landing."
"What Grand Secretary Hong said is true, but there is always room for error. Grand Secretary Hong, has Zheng Zhilong in Fujian replied? If Zheng Zhilong's fleet can help, things will be much easier."
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ps: Congratulations to Huaxia~Huangdi for becoming the first leader, thank you old friends for your support!
.(To be continued..)
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