The reputation of Zhao Dashuai in the East China Sea spread far and wide, and after the 50,000 troops landed in Jiangbei, all parts of the country looked at the wind and surrendered.The Qing troops in Jiangbei were obviously more than the Ming army, but the Qing army did not take the initiative to meet the attack, but shrank in the direction of Yangzhou.Before sending troops, Zhao Ming had already discussed with Zhu Yihai, and sent people to contact the Yinxi and Longwu courts, and agreed to attack from three sides and gather the main force of the Qing army in Huainan.Now that the situation in the Manchu and Qing dynasties is turbulent, Zhao Ming thinks that it is an excellent opportunity, as the so-called taking advantage of your illness to kill you, Zhao Ming believes that with the strategic vision of blocking Yinxi, he should be able to seize this opportunity.Azig did not take the initiative to meet the attack, most likely because of the pressure on the western front, perhaps the army of blocking Yinxi had entered Anqing and Luzhou from Chujiang, pounced on Sizhou County, Fengyang Prefecture, and threatened the west of Yangzhou, so that Azig had to shrink his forces to ensure that the passage of the Grand Canal was not cut off by the Ming army.In this way, Donghai Town and the Chu, Gan and Ming armies were like pockets that were quickly tied, advancing rapidly from the east and west, and piercing the pockets to death before the Qing army withdrew from Nanjing.Therefore, Zhao Ming left more than 10,000 people after receiving Taixing, Nantong and Rugao in the southeast of Yangzhou, and then led an army of 40,000 to quickly intersperse with the flank of Yangzhou, preparing to take Taizhou in the east of Yangzhou, and then detoured back to the north of Yangzhou, that is, Gaoyou behind Yangzhou, cut off the canal, and waited for the army of the imperial court to come from the west to complete the siege of Azig.Nowadays, the Manchu Qing Dynasty lacks mobile troops, as long as the Azig is surrounded, the Manchu Qing Dynasty will not have reinforcements to relieve the siege for a short time, Zhao Ming has great confidence to eliminate the Azig Corps, and the battle situation in the world will be determined in one fell swoop.The plan has been decided, Zhao Ming led an army of 40,000 to the north, leaving his henchmen Li Zhongming and Ruan Mei to lead 10,000 soldiers, guarding Taixing to monitor Yangzhou, and ready to reinforce the main force at any time.After all, there are 200,000 people in Azig, and Zhao Ming does not dare to be sloppy.Everything was prepared, and the 40,000 elites of Donghai Town did not go straight to the Qing army camp in Yangzhou, but bypassed the Qing army's assembly place, along the Yunyan River, and went straight to Taizhou.Taizhou is the water and land key to the north and south, the gateway to the Soviet Union and China, since ancient times, there is "water and land to Jin, the throat according to the county" said.If Zhao Ming wants to make a detour to the rear of Yangzhou and seize Gaoyou, he must take Taizhou and open up the road to the north of Yangzhou."
Dashuai, thirty miles ahead, it is Taizhou City!"
Wang Deshun rode a horse and followed Zhao Ming to introduce.Previously, Wang Deshun guarded Chongming Island all the year round, and he was a native of Jiangyin, so he was very familiar with the terrain and city distribution on both sides of the Yangtze River.Zhao Ming looked around, surrounded by farmland, and in the distance were rolling hills and woods."
How big is Taizhou City, but it is heavily guarded?"
Zhao Ming asked."
Taizhou is in the east of Yangzhou, the original Dongtai, Rugao and other places of sea salt, are through the salt canal, through Taizhou to Yangzhou, so Taizhou was quite rich before, the city is stronger than the general county.This place belongs to the periphery of Yangzhou, and it has not been threatened by us before, so there are not many people stationed there.However, when we landed in Jiangbei, the Qing troops originally fortified in Taixing, Nantong, and Rugao fled without a fight, and perhaps many people fled to Taizhou, but the marshal still can't be careless!
”Wang Deshun replied.Zhao Ming nodded, "Ben Shuai landed in Jiangbei, if Azig had a little brain, he should have guessed Ben Shuai's intentions, so he gathered troops in Yangzhou, wanting to hold the channel for the retreat of the Qing army in Jiangnan and buy time for the retreat of the Qing army in Nanjing."
Taizhou is the gateway between the Soviet Union and China, and this marshal is an important passage interspersed with the rear of Yangzhou, and he should send troops to garrison it, but I don't know who is leading the troops!
”Wang Deshun said: "Previously, there was only one Qing army in Taizhou, and now I really don't know who is leading the army." ”Zhao Ming frowned slightly, so he immediately sent cavalry to investigate, and ordered the army to speed up, rush to Taizhou before noon, break through Taizhou as soon as possible, kill Gaoyou, and cut off Azig's retreat, so as not to run away from the main force of the Qing army.The army continued to advance, and after a short time, Luo Wenyao, who went to investigate, led the cavalry to gallop back, and Zhao Ming saw this pulling the reins of the horse and standing on the side of the road."
The marshal has made it clear!"
Luo Wenyao immediately clenched his fists.Zhao Ming looked behind him, and there were several people, some old and some young, all wearing gray full clothes, some with tattered hats, and some with bare blue scalps.In the first month, the weather in Jiangbei was very cold, and these people were full of holes in their jackets, shivering from the cold, with miserable expressions and dull eyes.Zhao Ming asked, "What's the situation?"
”Luo Wenyao waved his hand and said, "You tell me what you told the marshal."
We are the Ming Dynasty official army, and now we have recovered the lost territory and relieved the people from hanging, what the marshal asks you, you answer truthfully. ”A group of people listened to Luo Wenyao's words, and immediately knelt on the ground, trembling, and none of them dared to look up.Zhao Ming smiled: "The fellows all stand up and speak!"
”But the people did not dare to move, and they wanted to bury their heads in the crotch of their trousers.Seeing this, Luo Wenyao on the side shouted a little annoyingly: "The handsome man spoke, but he didn't get up to reply!"
”After speaking, he said to Zhao Ming: "They shaved their hair and became Tartar Shunmin, thinking that we would kill those who saw braids!"
”Zhao Ming sneered when he heard this: "It seems that Fan Wencheng's propaganda is in place!"
”After speaking, he looked at the people and said softly: "Fellow villagers, get up!"
The officers and soldiers do not kill the people, only the Tartars!
”The Manchu Qing Dynasty strictly controlled the people under its rule, one is to restrict the movement, the people in the village, may not have been out of the village for several years, have not entered the county seat, the other is to carry out scandalous propaganda against the Ming army, intimidation of the people, those close to the Ming army are fine, the people in the hinterland, the news, they mistakenly believe many Manchu lies.It is Fan Wencheng's lie that the purpose of explaining that the army will kill those who have shaved their heads when they see them, and the purpose is to make the people fear the Ming army, so as to support the Manchus and kidnap the people on their broken ships.Hearing Zhao Ming say this, a group of people slowly stood up, but they still lowered their heads.This made Zhao Ming's heart sad, and the Manchu Qing ruled for a few years, and all the spirit and spirit of the Han people were defeated."
Do you know the situation in Taizhou City?"
Zhao Ming tried his best to ask in a gentle tone, so as not to scare the group of people.After a while, after a period of silence, one of the men was bold and replied: "If you go back to the big handsome, fifteen miles ahead, it is Taizhou City!"
”Zhao Ming asked, "Have you been there recently?"
”"I just went there recently, the villain picked up a load of firewood, and went to the city to exchange some rice to eat, but there were too many rebels in the city, and I took the villain's firewood, and I didn't give money~~~" Zhao Ming asked: "Do you know how many rebels there are in the city, and who is the commander of the troops?"
”The man shook his head, "The city is full of Qing soldiers, and the small ones who command the troops are not clear, only the surname is Wu." ”"Surname Wu?"
Zhao Ming was puzzled for a while, and Wang Deshun next to him said: "It may be Wu Liuqi, this guy was originally stationed in Taixing, and he ran away as soon as he came ashore, but I didn't expect him to go to Yangzhou, but he actually ran to Taizhou." ”Zhao Ming gave Luo Wenyao a look when he heard this, Luo Wenyao turned over and dismounted, and escaped from his chest with two silver dollars and more than ten copper dollars, still on the ground, "This is the handsome reward for you!"
”The man was so frightened that he did not dare to pick it up, nor did he know this kind of money, but when he looked at the exquisite appearance of the silver and copper dollars, he knew that it must be worth a lot."
Take it and let's go!"
Zhao Ming waved his hand.The man hurriedly picked up the silver and copper dollars on the ground, and then gave Zhao Ming a salute, and glanced at Zhao Ming with courage, and a group of people ran away in a hurry.After running away, he dared to take out the silver dollar and look carefully, only to find that the front of the silver dollar was printed with a person's head sideways, which looked like the handsome man from Fang Cai.()