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The surging Yellow River water flows through Yifeng in the east of Kaifeng to Kaocheng, Dangshan, Xuzhou, Suqian in the southeast, enters Hongze Lake, and then flows into the sea through the lower reaches of the Huai River.
Duoduo's 80,000 troops set out from Kaifeng and basically marched south along this route. Tens of thousands of troops raised a thick cloud of yellow dust and rushed straight into the sky.
What we saw along the way was a desolate scene, with ragged and hungry people struggling to make ends meet, looking pale and emaciated.
Winter wheat was planted here and there in the fields. In the past, Duoduo would have allowed his soldiers to trample on the fields without hesitation, but now he issued an order for the first time: Anyone who tramples on the wheat seedlings will be beheaded!
Today, Henan, northern Zhili, Shanxi, and Shaanxi, north of the Huai River, have been devastated by natural disasters and wars. The Qing army also experienced a food shortage a while ago, forcing them to slow down their offensives in many places.
No matter how arrogant Duoduo was, he knew the importance of food and grass. If he continued to trample on them, it would be tantamount to his own destruction.
A horseman galloped to Duoduo's carriage and shouted, "Your Majesty, the front army has captured thousands of refugees fleeing south. General Zu Zesheng requests instructions..."
"What instructions do you need? Just send him to Guide Prefecture and let the prefect take care of him." Duoduo coughed a few times while speaking. He had been seriously ill some time ago and has not fully recovered yet. He traveled by car all the way south.
"Yes." The messenger hurried away again.
Ning Wanwo, who was sent to accompany Duoduo on the southern expedition, had the honor of riding in the same carriage with Duoduo. He said worriedly, "Your Highness, we have captured seven groups of refugees fleeing south along the way, which shows that there must be a large number of people fleeing south. However, the local officials turned a blind eye to this, which is really unreasonable."
Duoduo took a sip of water from the water bag and said in a self-deprecating tone: "I guess those local officials want to escape themselves."
I looked at Duoduo in surprise. Duoduo looked pale. Could it be that he had not recovered from his illness and lost his former vigor that he said such a thing? Suddenly, a shadow fell over my heart.
He quickly put aside the bad feeling in his heart and continued, "The Central Plains has suffered from wars in recent years, and the population is already very sparse. If we continue to allow the people to flee south, it will be even more difficult to restore people's livelihood. Your Majesty, we must order all prefectures and counties to strengthen control, and the front-line troops to strengthen patrols to prevent the people from fleeing south."
Duoduo said indifferently: "Run away. Wait until I kill Qin Mu. I wonder where they can escape to."
"Your Majesty!"
"What are you yelling about? Don't you think I don't know the seriousness of this matter? These people fled south because they couldn't survive. If you stop them now, do you have food to feed them? What's the point of stopping them if you can't feed them? Let them escape now and let Qin Mu have a headache. I want to see how much energy Qin Mu has to settle these refugees when my troops are approaching..."
When Duoduo said this, something happened to him. Without discussing it with Ning Wanwo, he asked his personal soldiers to call Xia Chengde.
Xia Chengde was originally the deputy general of the Ming army in Songshan. When Hong Chengchou was trapped in Songshan, it was he who secretly colluded with the Qing army and surrendered with his son Xia Shu as a hostage. On the night of February 18, the 15th year of Chongzhen, Haoge, with his help, led the Qing army to climb the ladder from the south city and conquer Songshan City. The next morning, Xia Chengde led his troops to capture Hong Chengchou, the governor Qiu Minyang, the general Wang Tingxiang, Zu Dale and others alive. Qiu Minyang committed suicide, and Cao Bianjiao and others died in the battle.
"Your Highness, I wonder why you want me to be your servant?" Xia Chengde bowed to the side of the carriage and asked. In front of Duoduo and others, he always regarded himself as a servant.
Duoduo lifted the curtain of the carriage and whispered to him, "Xia Chengde, you take a few thousand people with you. After nightfall, disguise yourself as ordinary people, disperse and blend into the refugees fleeing south, sneak behind enemy lines, attack the Qin army's food supply route, and cooperate with our army in the frontal battle. Do you understand?"
Xia Chengde did not dare to object and quickly responded, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will definitely live up to Your Majesty's expectations and will go through fire and water for the Qing Dynasty until my death."
"Go ahead. After the success, I will not forget your contribution."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
At noon, when the 80,000-strong army stopped to rest, Fengyang Prefecture sent a message saying that the military strength of Chuzhou in the south was relatively scarce, and the garrison commander was still Hong Niangzi, a female general in Li Zicheng's army.
After receiving the news, Duoduo summoned generals including Gushan Ezhen Malaxi, Aobai, Gong Adai, Xihan, Tong Tulai, Zuo Menggeng, Li Yongfang, Sun Degong, Zu Dale, Zu Dabi, Zu Zeyuan, Zu Zepei, and Ye Chenlue to discuss the matter together.
Everyone sat around an elm tree, and Ning Wanwo spoke first: "Our army will reach Guide Prefecture (Shangqiu) in half a day. Going eastwards through Dangshan, Xuzhou, and Suqian, we can reach Huai'an. Going south through Yongcheng and Suzhou, we will reach Fengyang Prefecture.
At present, Huai'an is defended by Jin Shenghuan's 30,000 troops and Zheng Sihai's nearly 10,000 naval forces. If our army wants to attack Huai'an, we must first cross the Yellow River. Although it is now the twelfth lunar month, the river in Huai'an is never frozen all year round. If our army wants to cross the river, we must first defeat Zheng Sihai's naval forces.
According to intelligence, when Qin Mu was in Huguang, he had been building up a large navy in Dongting Lake and never relaxed. Hong Chengchou's defeat was actually due to the navy. Now the Qin army's gunboats have increased to more than 60, and they have also recruited the pirate Gu Sanmaizi, greatly increasing their strength. Therefore, we cannot take the Qin army's navy lightly.
On the other hand, Chuzhou, south of Fengyang Prefecture, has only a few thousand troops stationed there, and the garrison commander is Hong Niangzi, an old subordinate of Li Zicheng. If our army goes through Yongcheng and Suzhou, crosses the Huai River to the south and enters Fengyang Prefecture, then the road to the south is flat, and our army can quickly advance to Qingliu Pass... ... ... "
Ning Wan said, "I paused for a moment before continuing, "But I think Chuzhou is a trap."
Chuzhou is hundreds of miles deep and very close to Nanjing. If the Qing army goes straight to Chuzhou, the Qin army will attack Fengyang Prefecture by land and water from Hongze Lake, and the retreat route of the 80,000-strong army will most likely be cut off.
With Ning Wanwo's intelligence, it's not surprising that he saw that Chuzhou was a trap. When Qin Mu dug this trap, he was playing an open conspiracy and didn't expect to hide it from others. It's just that he believed that if the bait was enough, maybe some fish would not be able to resist the temptation and take the risk to try it.
Duoduo said calmly: "Attacking Huai'an, the Qin army has the danger of the Yellow River and the advantage of the navy. Our army may even have trouble crossing the river. Attacking Chuzhou is a trap. The retreat may be cut off by the Qin army. What do you think about this?"
Zu Dale thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, if we cannot win the war quickly, our army's food and grass can only be maintained by fighting to support the war. The area north of Huai'an alone is not enough to meet the needs of our army. If we attack Huai'an and cannot break through quickly, our army will also be very passive.
If we were to attack Chuzhou, we would have to worry about the Qin army taking advantage of the navy and advancing westward from the Huai River, attacking Fengyang Prefecture with heavy land and sea forces, and cutting off our army's way back. I think we can leave another 10,000 troops to defend Fengyang Prefecture and block the Huai River waterway. In this way, there would be no worries about the retreat, and the army could go straight to Qingliu Pass.
If Qingliu Pass cannot be captured for the time being, our army can also divide its troops to cross the canal to the east and attack Gaoyou and other places. It will not be difficult to obtain sufficient food and grass supplies from the Huaiyang area. In short, I think that as long as there is no worry about the retreat, Chuzhou will not become a trap. "
The southern ships and northern horses, including the Liaodong Han people like Zu Dale, were all skeptical about fighting the Qin navy in Hongze Lake. If they were not careful, they would not be able to cross the Yellow River to attack Huai'an City and would suffer heavy losses at the hands of the Qin navy.
Gushan Ezhen Ye Chenlue also preferred to attack Chuzhou. He said, "Your Highness, the Qin army has the advantage of waterways in Huai'an. Let's not talk about whether our army can successfully cross the river. Even if we can successfully cross the Yellow River and approach Huai'an, Yangzhou still has 20,000 troops from Ningyuan who can come north through the Grand Canal to reinforce at any time. It is not difficult for the Qin army in the south of the Yangtze River to come to reinforce. In my opinion, it is more dangerous for our army to cross the river to attack Huai'an. If we fail to capture it, it will be difficult to cross the river back to the north."
Huai'an is bordered by the Grand Canal and Hongze Lake to the west, and the river that flows into the sea after the confluence of the Yellow River and the Huai River to the north. The amount of water after the two rivers meet is no less than that of the Yangtze River. The Qin army had tens of thousands of naval forces stationed in Hongze Lake. How could you just cross the river whenever you want
The Qing army also built a lot of warships during this period, but these warships could not even be equipped with cannons. Almost no Qing army generals present believed that they could defeat the Qin army navy with these warships.
In comparison, everyone thinks that going to Chuzhou has a greater chance of success.
Duoduo coughed twice and asked Zuo Liangyu: "Most of Jin Shenghuan and the Huai'an garrison were your former subordinates. Do you have any way to persuade them to surrender?"
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.(To be continued..)
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