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Compared with the winning trend in the southeastern war, the situation in Luoyang on the northern front has been very difficult. Firstly, the morale of the unreorganized Li Guo and Gao Yigong's troops was not very high, and Li Guo himself had other thoughts and wanted to maintain his strength.
What was even more difficult was that the supply of food and weapons could not keep up. The Luoyang area had suffered from famine and war for many years. Not only was the Qin army unable to obtain supplies from the local area, but in order to stabilize the people's hearts, they had to set aside part of the military rations to relieve those who were about to starve to death.
As for weapons, the 70,000-man army was lightly armed and marched quickly. They did not bring many weapons, and there were only ten thousand-jin Portuguese cannons. After more than a month of fighting, most of the ten cannons were scrapped. Even swords, spears, and arrows were in short supply.
More than 200,000 troops in Jiangnan were fighting fiercely, and the consumption of military supplies and weapons was staggering. Fortunately, with continuous victories, a large part of the supplies could be obtained from the spoils.
However, Luoyang had always been on the defensive and it was impossible for it to obtain spoils from the enemy. In addition, there was no convenient waterway to transport the supplies from Huguang, and the supplies had to be pulled by carts and carried on shoulders by civilians. The supplies that could be obtained in a timely manner were very limited.
At Mengjin Pass in the north, Aobai and former Ming Datong general Jiang Ge were attacking fiercely. The troops recruited from Shanxi were also increasing, from the original 15,000 to nearly 30,000.
At Hulao Pass in the east, there were originally 40,000 troops led by Lekedehun. After Duoduo retreated north to the Central Plains, the number of Qing troops attacking Hulao Pass quickly increased to 60,000.
War is fatal. The Qin army had 70,000 soldiers, but in more than a month of bloody battles, 23,000 of them were killed or wounded. The troops in Huguang were almost exhausted, and there was no possibility of reinforcements from the rear. The Qing army's reinforcements kept increasing, and the pressure was getting greater and greater.
Ma Yongzhen recruited 10,000 troops in Luoyang. These new recruits were barely able to defend the dangerous pass, but the lack of weapons prevented Ma Yongzhen from recruiting more soldiers.
In the Luoyang government office, the deputy chief Jiang Yu advised earnestly: "General Ma, we can't wait any longer. If Hulao Pass or Mengjin Pass is breached and the enemy cavalry attacks, our army won't even have a chance to retreat. Xiangyang is now empty of troops. If the army can't retreat to Xiangyang, the gates of Huguang will be wide open, and the consequences will be disastrous, General Ma!"
Ma Yongzhen sighed, "The war in the southeast is at a critical moment now. Once we withdraw, Duoduo can withdraw troops to the south. It will definitely have an immeasurable impact on the war situation in the southeast."
"Commander-in-chief, the Yangtze River waterway has been controlled by the navy. Even if Duoduo's army goes south, as long as the navy strictly guards the river defense and prevents them from crossing the river, it will not have a fundamental impact on the war situation in the southeast. On the other hand, if Xiangyang is lost on the northern front, everything will be over." Jiang Yu was anxious. However, as a deputy commander, he was mainly responsible for military rewards and punishments, political propaganda in the army, and mobilization of the people in the war zone. He could only make suggestions on combat operations. He could not interfere with specific combat commands.
"I know what Jiang Jianshi said, but I can't predict everything. It's hard to say whether the navy can prevent Duoduo from crossing the river. So if we can delay here for one more day, we can buy the King of Qin one more day."
Before that, Ma Yongzhen had sent someone to tell Qin Mu that Luoyang could no longer hold out, mainly hoping that Qin Mu would make preparations first. In fact, he was still trying his best to support the situation in Luoyang with the idea of delaying it for one more day.
As for whether to withdraw or not, and when to withdraw, Qin Mu gave him the decision before the war, but the more this happened, the more Ma Yongzhen felt that he should hold on for a little longer.
Ma Yongzhen was making a difficult decision when a personal soldier hurried in and reported: "Governor, it's bad. I don't know where the rumor came from. After hearing that our army is going to withdraw, the people in the city have gathered in front of the government office. Governor, please go out and take a look."
"Wait a minute." Jiang Yu knew without thinking that the people gathered here to ask Ma Yongzhen not to withdraw the troops. He was afraid that Ma Yongzhen would be soft-hearted, so he quickly said, "General Ma, as a commander, you must have a hard heart and must not let others easily sway your will. Otherwise, not only will you fail to save the people, but you will also lose the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers."
Ma Yongzhen looked indifferent. Jiang Yu was wasting his time saying this. He said to his personal soldiers, "Go out and tell the people outside that the Tartars are attacking fiercely. Our army cannot keep up with the supply of food, fodder and weapons. We must retreat temporarily. If the people are willing to retreat to Xiangyang with us, they can go home and pack up their things immediately and follow us south. When we arrive in Xiangyang, the government will properly accommodate them."
"Yes." The guard responded and quickly retreated.
Jiang Yugang's heart was lifted up again, and he said, "General Ma, it may not be appropriate to take so many civilians with you. The Tartar cavalry is fast, and it is difficult for our army to retreat. How can it be easy to safely retreat to Xiangyang with so many civilians?"
"Once bitten by a snake, you will be afraid of ropes for ten years. Jiang Chenshi should have heard this saying. Our army will fight back sooner or later. If we retreat this time and abandon the people of Luoyang, we will definitely lose the support of the people. It will not be so easy to fight back in the future."
After the capture of Yique Pass, the surrounding states and counties were conquered by a single order, which saved a lot of trouble. The 70,000-strong army could quickly seize various dangerous passes and key locations, and after the losses in troops, a large number of soldiers could be easily recruited from the local area. These were all benefits brought about by the will of the people.
Jiang Yu sighed and said, "Since Commander Ma has made the decision, I will try my best to cooperate."
At this time, the guard came in again and said, "General, I can't persuade them. The people are surrounding them and refusing to leave. They want to see you, General."
Ma Yongzhen had no choice but to walk out of the government office, but he saw that the open space in front of the government office was crowded with thousands of ragged people. When they saw him coming out, they immediately knelt down and shouted:
"Sir, please don't retreat. Please save you. Please stay."
"Yes, yes, Lord Commander, please stay. Luoyang needs you. If you leave, what will we do?"
"Sir, please don't leave. The Tartars are coming. Let's fight them together with you, Sir."
"Please don't leave! The Qin army can't leave!"
Ma Yongzhen saw kneeling old men with crutches, crying children, men with red eyes, and women with tears. Thousands of people begging, which made people feel sad.
Ma Yongzhen shouted loudly: "Fellow villagers in Luoyang, please get up. We are running out of weapons and food. Our soldiers are fighting the Tartars with empty stomachs. We don't even have arrows..."
A commoner interrupted Ma Yongzhen and shouted, "Sir, I still have some brown rice at home. I would like to donate it to the soldiers at the front. Please, Sir, let the army stay. Please stay!"
"My Lord, I know how to forge iron. I'll smash my iron pot and use it to make arrows for the soldiers in front. My Lord, please stay."
"Stay."
Countless pairs of eyes looked at Ma Yongzhen eagerly, hoping that he would say a word to stay.
Ma Yongzhen had to harden his heart and said, "Fellow villagers, it's not that I, Ma Yongzhen, don't want to stay. It's just that the situation is unfavorable and I have to make a tactical retreat. Otherwise, the whole army may be wiped out, and then it will implicate the villagers.
Folks, please go home and pack up. If you are willing to follow the army to Xiangyang, I, Ma Yongzhen, will never abandon you and will definitely escort you safely to Xiangyang.
In Xiangyang, the officials of Qin will provide you with food and will properly accommodate you. When the King of Qin conquers Jiangnan, he will definitely dispatch a large army to fight back to Luoyang. Folks, hurry back to pack up. The military situation is urgent and we can’t delay any longer.”
After Ma Yongzhen finished speaking, he bowed to the people at the scene from afar, then returned to the government office. Outside, there was a sound of weeping, and the people cried and begged outside for a long time before they continued to leave.
As soon as Ma Yongzhen made the decision, he immediately began to make arrangements. He asked Gao Yigong to leave a small number of troops to guard the Hangu Pass, and then took the people who were willing to leave to retreat to Xiangyang first. He himself led 5,000 Qin troops to Hulao Pass to prevent the unreorganized Zhongzheng Camp from collapsing without a fight after hearing the retreat order.
At this time, Du Qianshi Jiang Yu had to shoulder the greatest responsibility. On the one hand, he had to appease the people to prevent unrest, and on the other hand, he had to organize the people to retreat.
This was a massive retreat, with as many as 90,000 people willing to go, and the majority of them were the elderly, the weak, women and children. The poor people were reluctant to throw away even their broken pots and pans, and took everything they could.
Under such circumstances, the speed of the retreat can be imagined, and the situation at Hulao Pass in the east became increasingly pressing and could be lost at any time.
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ps: I have some personal matters today, so I updated late, sorry sorry. Today is the 10th. If the monthly subscription tickets of my brothers have been issued, please don’t forget to support me. If the monthly subscription tickets have not been issued, please support me with recommendation tickets. I have always received very few recommendation tickets. Thank you. (To be continued..)
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