Great time travel

Chapter 161: Nanjing!Nanjing!
Knowing the shocking upheaval behind Huguang, the Ming army on the Nanjing front line immediately fell into a huge commotion.

——Because of this raging Eastern Expedition, Nanjing has been turned into an unprecedentedly cruel meat grinder. All troops that can fight a little bit have been transferred to the front line of Nanjing, and the entire rear of Huguang is almost completely undefended.Therefore, when hundreds of thousands of rogues marched into Huguang, it really was like breaking a bamboo all the way—Li Zicheng took Xiangyang, Zhang Xianzhong took Hankou and Hanyang lightly, and a bunch of miscellaneous thieves such as Luo Rucai, Mantianxing, and Lao Huihui. Competing to flood into Huguang Province, attacking prefectures and counties, burning, killing and looting wantonly.

Almost in the blink of an eye, half of Huguang basically fell, and the remaining half of Huguang seemed to be crumbling (there was no division of Hunan and Hubei at that time, only a complete Huguang province).Wen Tiren, the chief assistant of the cabinet who was originally staying in Wuchang, faced the hundreds of thousands of rogues coming like a tide. Although he was scared out of his wits, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and organize defenses. Obviously, Xiangyang has already It's beyond the reach of the whip, and even Hanyang and Hankou in the north of the Yangtze River can't be defended, but he still tries to rely on the natural danger of the Yangtze River, at least to keep Wuchang City on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

However, at this time, the military strength in Wuchang City was extremely empty, and the strong men caught by Wen Tiren's yamen guards temporarily dispersed before they had time to reorganize into battle, and the local officials in Huguang did not obey Wen Tiren's dispatch very much. , That is to say, they abandoned their posts and fled one after another, and even some petty officials had illicit relations with rogues and assassinated officials, which made the whole city of Wuchang panic, and the exiled court stationed here was almost paralyzed.

On the other hand, Zhang Xianzhong was not stupid enough to forcefully cross the Wuchang River directly, but found a remote ferry to cross the river a little further upstream, and then headed towards Wuchang along the south bank with great fanfare!After learning of this incident, there was a sudden chaos in Wuchang City. The citizens, officials and gentry were busy packing their luggage and leaving, and no one listened to the orders of the cabinet.Wen Tiren only captured more than 1000 soldiers and horses. He thought that he could not defend a large city of Wuchang's size, because even standing around the city wall was far from enough.Therefore, he had no choice but to abandon Wuchang City, and escorted the queen, the prince and a group of palace family members to flee on a boat, and the families of the soldiers who stayed behind also looked for boats to follow, and fled all the way to Jiujiang Mansion in a mess.

So far, the whole province of Huguang has basically fallen.When this bad news spread to the Ming army camp on the front line in Nanjing, it immediately caused a commotion—it’s not that Emperor Chongzhen and Lu Xiangsheng didn’t think about blocking the news, but in view of the extremely sad secrecy ability of the military and political departments of the Ming Dynasty, when they received this When the incident happened, at least a quarter of the entire army had already heard the news from various sources!The next step is naturally to spread rapidly and become known to everyone!

As a result, the [-] Ming troops on the Nanjing front line were immediately in a state of chaos, and some even secretly left the team and fled because they felt that their appearance was not right.

In desperation, Emperor Chongzhen had to order a military meeting to discuss the next step.Naturally, everyone at the meeting had different opinions. Some people suggested to abandon Nanjing immediately and return to the Guangping bandits in Huhu as soon as possible.But there are also some people who insist on going one step further, taking Nanjing, a city of great political significance, first.Some people even said that even if the whole of Huguang is lost, as long as they get Jiangnan in exchange, it is still worth it.

And Emperor Chongzhen himself was indecisive.After all, in order to capture Nanjing, he has bet too much money.In the past six months, all the silver and treasures he had brought out from the Beijing Imperial Palace, as well as all the harvest from the search of Luoyang Prince Fu's Mansion, had been squandered in order to launch this Eastern Expedition.And right now, he has captured most of Nanjing City. If he falls short like this, God knows if he will have a chance to do it again.

——As a traveler, he knew very well how difficult these Shaanxi rogues were, and it was by no means a problem that could be solved quickly.

What's more, the area in the south of the Yangtze River is indeed very rich, and all military supplies and salaries can be searched on the spot.Since the army invaded Nanzhili, it has relied entirely on the captured materials to fight. Even gunpowder can be raised near Nanjing, even if there is no logistical supply, it doesn't matter.

But the question is, when the rear is unstable and the morale of the army has been shaken, can he still beat Huang Taiji, the "Ming Monarch"?

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At the same time, another gambler, Comrade Huang Taiji, who is also red-eyed, is also planning his final battle.

In the battle for Nanjing in the past these days, due to the disadvantages of terrain, climate, and people's hearts, the Qing army suffered heavy losses in Nanjing street fighting and suburban tug-of-war.Huang Taiji initially brought the [-] iron cavalry across the south of the Yangtze River, but now they have been beaten down to less than a thousand.

In addition to the consumption in the meat grinder of the Nanjing battlefield, even carrying troops across the south of the Yangtze River itself is a very dangerous thing.Although the strength of Emperor Chongzhen's navy was limited, they still sailed tenaciously to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, sneaking up on the fleet carrying the Qing army across the river from time to time.

Since the Yonghe Emperor's court in Nanjing disintegrated, the Yangtze River Navy of the former Nanjing court controlled by the Donglin Party has also been mutinied and defected. As a result, more than 3000 Manchurian soldiers who did not know how to swim fell into the river with the sinking ship. I caught fish and turtles.

In the Yanziji camp at this time, Huang Taiji still had [-] Manchu Eight Banners soldiers, [-] miscellaneous Han troops of various colors, plus a few hundred Mongols and more than a hundred North Korean musketeers.Almost all the remaining property of the entire Qing Empire is here.

As for the soldiers and horses of the original Nanjing court, they had completely disintegrated at this time, and they were completely useless to Huang Taiji.

At this point in the battle for Nanjing, Huang Taiji has no way out, and if he fails, he will only die.

Although there are still two white flags of Dorgon, Duoduo and Azig in Xuzhou and Jining in Huaibei, and more than [-] Manchurian warriors, Huang Taiji knows very well that he is a hero It was better to die in Nanjing than to go back and see the faces of the three brothers!
——In fact, although Huang Taiji was hailed as the Ming emperor of the Qing Dynasty, his status as a monarch was very embarrassing from the beginning to the end.

You know, when Nurhachi was dying, he originally wanted Dorgon to inherit the throne of Khan, and even gave him all his direct troops.Therefore, the three Dorgon brothers held the most powerful two yellow flags in the entire Houjin Group at that time, while the two white flags under Huang Taiji were the weakest.However, Huang Taiji successfully united the ruling nobles of the other four banners, suppressed the three Dorgon brothers who were still children at that time, and finally forced to death the mother and concubine Abahai of the three Dorgon brothers, and seized the Queen's Golden Palace. Throne of Khan.

Therefore, after successfully succeeding to the throne, Dorgon became the first target of Huang Taiji.Following Huang Taiji's order, the two yellow flags that used to be directly under Nurhachi's imperial guards could not even keep their titles, so they were directly changed to two white flags, and Huang Taiji's own two white flags became the supreme "two yellow flags".After the exchange of flags, needless to say, under the further joint suppression of the Six Banners, the Niu Lu under the command of the three Dorgon brothers were continuously transferred and weakened, becoming the first political party to be cleaned up by Huang Taiji. group.

However, why didn't Huang Taiji continue to put Dorgon to death, but gradually promoted him, Duduo, and Azige?
Because, no matter in military struggle or political struggle, the roles of enemies and allies are constantly changing.After defeating the young and weak Dorgon brothers and securing the throne of Hou Jin Da Khan, Huang Taiji's main political opponents are no longer these three younger brothers who have lost their threat, but help him. Amin, Manggurtai, and Daishan, the three big belors who have seized the Khan throne.You must know that among the major forces in Houjin at that time, Huang Taiji's direct lineage was the weakest. In addition to having the title of a big sweat, the strength of Amin, Mang Gurtai, and Daishan were all stronger than his. Stronger, or at least comparable.In order to deal with Amin, Mang Gurtai, and Daishan, Huang Taiji, who lacked the strength of his direct lineage, had to lift up the three brothers Dorgon who were getting older, and let the three brothers of the two white flags take the lead. Deal with three big Baylor.

As a result, like a seesaw, after Huang Taiji knocked down the three big Baylors one after another, the power of the two white flags swelled rapidly.For example, Azig has become the number one brave general of the Qing Empire right now, and has outstanding prestige in the Eight Banners Army.Dorgon has both wisdom and courage. At the age of 17, he was named the King of Wisdom for his outstanding military exploits.Even Duoduo has repeatedly made extraordinary achievements in the war after entering the customs.The two white flags have accumulated a lot of income and wealth.To make matters worse, although Huang Taiji tried every means to sow discord before, he still failed to destroy the unity of the three brothers.

Originally, with Huang Taiji's great talent and strategy, there must be a series of methods to suppress the two white flags.And he has indeed already prepared the foreshadowing - in the process of the three Dorgon brothers acting as lackeys for Huang Taiji, biting Amin, Mang Gurtai and Daishan's three Baylors, the two white flags inevitably clashed with the two red flags, The two blue flags have formed a deep hatred. In the future, they can use their strength again to reunite with the six flags to suppress the two white flags.

Unexpectedly, at this juncture, the Qing Empire inexplicably suffered a devastating blow. The old land of Liaodong, which had been painstakingly managed for many years, changed hands in an instant. , the Han army and the Mongolian allied army under the Qing Dynasty also rebelled one after another... Under such a harsh situation of collapse, the battered Huang Taiji couldn't care less about dealing with his own people.

Then, before the Qing Empire could breathe a sigh of relief from the series of setbacks, Huang Taiji suddenly learned that the situation in the south of the Yangtze River had changed, and Zhang Pu secretly crossed the river to the Qing Dynasty on behalf of the Donglin Party and Fushe. The army asked for help.Therefore, afraid of missing this rare strategic opportunity, Huang Taiji rushed to Yangzhou almost non-stop, and at the same time ordered the entire army to go south, and at all costs to grab the most fertile Jiangnan in the world!
——Attention, at this time, Huang Taiji's plan is to send all his troops to the south, and throw the entire Eight Banners of Manchuria into the Jiangnan battlefield!