Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 461 Marshal! Something is wrong!
Dorgon's expression was extremely indifferent, but there was a sadness in his words that was hard to conceal.

He couldn't just sit back and watch.

Although the early Qing Dynasty had undergone some changes under Huang Taiji's reforms, it was still just a local regime. If Dorgon had not gone against the majority opinion and put all his chips on entering the Pass, the Qing Dynasty would have been just a stronger Khoshut.

Just like a baby that he had raised with great difficulty, Dorgon would not let him slide into the abyss.

Old Daishan was not sure about this, but she knew it very well.

According to what Dorgon originally thought, as long as he could get some bargaining chips in this game, the court would return to the right track again.

By then, the arrangements in Lianghuai would have taken effect, and with his assistance, the mother and daughter would be able to accomplish great things.

But the development of the situation ultimately exceeded his expectations.

Just when his game with old Daishan was getting intense, a knife from behind put the Prince Rui of the Qing Dynasty in a desperate situation. Afterwards, the court issued a military order in his name, and the heavy responsibility for Lianghuai was settled.

"Didn't Grand Secretary Hong have already made arrangements earlier? Why does the court want to repeat it again?"

After reading the military order over and over again several times, Zhang Shiyi still couldn't understand the reason behind it. Then he couldn't help but look at the Manchu noble beside him, but Zhumala had the same expression as him.

"Don't ask me. I can't get to the top either."

Faced with Zhumala's frankness, Zhang Shiyi was quite helpless.

In the eyes of ordinary people, one of them is the admiral of the Qing Dynasty's navy, and the other is Gushan Ezhen. In terms of status, they have long been worthy of the title of nobles. However, they know their own affairs well, and they have almost no source of information about Beijing. They can only make random guesses based on experience.

At this point, the two of them looked at this superfluous military order but had no idea what to do, which really made them feel helpless.

"Could it be that something has happened to Scholar Hong?"

"Don't let your imagination run wild. Scholar Hong was highly trusted by the previous emperor, and several princes also regarded him as a capable minister. This incident is probably because something has changed in Beijing, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Scholar Hong."

After refuting Zhang Shiyi's speculation, Zhumala simply stood up from her chair.

Then he looked outside, and when he saw that it was getting dark, he said something casually.

"eat first."

"Why do I always let you spend money?"

There was some embarrassment in Zhang Shiyi's words, and it was obvious that this was not the first time he had eaten at Zhumala's place.

In response to his partner's reaction, Zhumala simply waved his hand and gave a few instructions to the outside. After the servant took the order and left, he turned his gaze back to the other party, pondered for a moment, and then asked solemnly.

"You and I have been in Yangzhou for such a long time. Although we are not close friends, we are also close friends." Zhumala paused for a moment, and when Zhang Shiyi's expression gradually became serious, he continued, "Before the war breaks out, tell me the truth. Can Yangzhou City stop the Southern Army?"

Zhang Shiyi was stunned when he heard the words, obviously he had never expected the other party to ask such a question.

But then again, every profession has its specialties.

The Eight Banners soldiers were good at riding and shooting, but they knew little about boats and firearms, so it was understandable that they asked these questions.

"I won't say whether it is possible or not. You can draw your own conclusion after comparing the enemy and us."

Starting with this, Zhang Shiyi began to talk incessantly. Even after the servants had served the wine and food, he only gave a brief account of the topic, obviously knowing his profession quite well.

In his description, the biggest advantage of the Southern Dynasty's inland navy was that it had a large number of soldiers accustomed to fighting on water, while his own advantage was that it had a large number of artillery purchased from overseas.

Zhumala was not completely ignorant of this, but it seemed that both sides only had their own strengths, and the outcome was uncertain.

But to his surprise, after he told his conclusion, the other party shook his head directly, and waited until he sat down before continuing: "No, our strength is only the artillery, but this one strength can enhance the others."

"how do I say this?"

"You see, although the inland warships of the Southern Dynasty were also equipped with cannons, most of them were small cannons weighing only 200 to 300 kilograms. On the other hand, the ones the court bought from the Dutch were basically over 1,000 kilograms. These cannons can not only be installed on warships, but also on artillery platforms. Wouldn't this be able to enhance other things?"

After hearing the words, Zhumala roughly understood what Zhang Shiyi meant. It was obvious that he had absolute confidence in his own arrangements.

If this is true, why is there still a need for it above?
Listening to Zhang Shiyi's explanation, Zhumala still had some concerns in his heart, but since it was stated above that no news should leak out, he could only pretend to be convinced.

As time passed, their meal came to an end. They drank a little and only decided to leave when the night was getting dark.

"Okay, no more drinking. The south seems to have completed the deployment in the past few days. I think it will take place within a few months. After this battle, you and I can drink together."

"Okay, in that case, let's go here first."

After spending this period of time together, the relationship between Zhumala and Zhang Shiyi has become extraordinary. Now that the other party said so, Zhumala would not be polite and immediately planned to send him out of the mansion.

What they thought was correct. After such a long period of preparation, the Ming army had already made preparations for the Northern Expedition. Before the two men reached the yard, a soldier ran in.

"Report~~~~! Two generals, the river mouth fortress was bombarded by the Ming army!"

Hearing this, the slight drunkenness in Zhang Shiyi's body immediately disappeared. He then said hello to Zhumala and went straight to his warhorse. Then the group left Yangzhou and headed straight for the intersection of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River.

The river mouth was more than ten miles away from Yangzhou, but Zhang Shiyi was responsible for guarding the river. He rode at full speed all the way, but in less than an hour he could hear faint roars.

If it were any other Qing army general, he would have been a little timid when facing the Southern Army's artillery, but he had spent most of the past year building fortifications, and when he heard the bursts of artillery sound, he became excited.

"Don't delay! If you hurry up, you might even get some credit!"

"Yes!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Shiyi's excitement spread among his personal guards like a plague. After another three or two incense sticks of time, they entered the fortress on the shore.

"How is it? Did you gain anything?"

As soon as he saw the garrison here, Zhang Shiyi's excited voice was heard. Then he walked quickly to the observation tower, waiting for the garrison's victory report.

According to his thinking, the artillery on the fort were all purchased from the Dutch, and they should be able to crush the Ming army's magic flying cannons and magic gun cannons that weighed only 200 to 300 kilograms.

However, after he took a few steps, the news of victory from the garrison had not yet arrived. When he turned around, he saw that the other party had a conflicted look on his face.

"But it's too dark to determine the outcome of the battle?"

After asking this question, Zhang Shiyi took another step forward, obviously having his own answer.

You are so ignorant. Even if you can't be sure, you can always make a rough estimate. This hesitation makes people feel that you are at a disadvantage.

Although he was complaining in his heart, he did not say a word of blame. After a few breaths, he appeared on the observation deck and immediately focused all his attention on the Yangtze River.

It was almost midnight, and under the influence of the night, he could only see the fire points that suddenly appeared and disappeared, and the darkness shrouded his vision. It would take some time for him to determine the losses of the enemy. "Boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

Every roar meant that a cannon fired a projectile, and each of these projectiles had the potential to fall on the Ming army's warships. Zhang Shiyi was content to observe carefully.

But the interference of the night was too severe. Even though his eyes were swollen, he still couldn't determine the results of his own artillery. After a long time, he turned around and complained to the garrison.

"The sky is too dark, so just say it directly. Am I the kind of person who doesn't distinguish right from wrong?"

Under normal circumstances, since he had made such a statement, the garrison commander would have just blamed himself and the matter would have been over. However, after Zhang Shiyi said this, he clearly saw that the other party was conflicted, and an inexplicable doubt suddenly arose in his heart.

"What happened? Tell me!"

The garrison officer who was sent here must be Zhang Shiyi's confidant. After hearing this question, he knew there was no need to hide it anymore, so he gritted his teeth and said directly: "Marshal, something is wrong!"

"What's wrong?"

"Listen."

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

As the garrison spoke, bursts of roars reached Zhang Shiyi's ears again. However, since the other party behaved like this, it was ninety-nine percent likely that they were not trying to let him hear the sound of the artillery. After calming down, he tried to distinguish them carefully.

"Boom! Bang! Boom!"

"Boom! Boom! Bang!"

"Bang! Boom! Boom!"

The sound of the artillery firing was like a mountain shaking, but Zhang Shiyi listened carefully for a while and still could distinguish the subtle differences.

It wasn't the sound of a cannon, it sounded like a projectile hitting a hard object.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shiyi's eyes showed some doubt. After another three or five breaths, he suddenly stood up and ran down the lookout tower, and stopped only when he reached the edge of the fortress.

"boom!"

"Oh!"

"boom!"

At this time, the faint sound of the collision was already extremely clear, and occasionally he could even feel the vibrations where he was standing.

At this point, how could he not know that this was the sound of bullets hitting the city wall? Then he looked at the guard as if he wanted to choose someone to eat.

"How did you fire the cannon? How did you get the Ming army to come close?!"

"Marshal! It's unfair! The Ming army's warships are not close. In fact, their range is similar to ours!"

Damn!
Zhang Shiyi's heart sank when he heard the words. Then a guess came to his mind and his mouth immediately became bitter.

His knowledge was still a little shallow.

Although Shen Tingyang had modified naval warships along the coast of Lianghuai earlier, the several families were not under the same jurisdiction and only had a vague idea of ​​it.

Later, when the Qing army moved south, they all had to retreat south. However, at that time, all the generals and officials on Chongming Island had other thoughts, and no one paid attention to what the warship in Shen Tingyang's hand looked like.

Later, he chose to go north and surrender to the Qing Dynasty, while the rest of them joined Zhu Cilang. However, at this time, the Ming army's navy had truly embarked on another path, and people like him who held on to old views could no longer keep up.

Realizing his problem, Zhang Shiyi naturally knew that the situation was no longer what he had imagined earlier. However, his own fortress was built of bricks and stones after all. Even if they fired one shot after another, the Ming army's warships would surely sink before the fortress collapsed.

By then, without warships, what will the Ming army use to march north?

Thinking of this, his face calmed down again. Seeing that the guard was still in the same state as before, a burst of scolding immediately rang out.

"Look at you, you're such a coward! Can't you sink a ship even if the fortress is hit by ten shells?"

While cursing, Zhang Shiyi went to the observation deck again. After looking for a while, he still didn't gain much, so he left the fort and went to the camp behind.

Come back in the morning.
-
Yingtian
Rouyi Hall

"Your Majesty, it's late, why don't you go to bed early."

At this time, Zhu Cilang was standing outside the hall and looking towards Yangzhou, as if he wanted to transcend the constraints of space to see what the battle situation was like ahead.

This time he did not lead the troops personally as he did in the past, but instead assigned tasks to his generals and then stayed firmly in Yingtian City.

This is not because he was slack or chose to give up power because he was not good at naval battles.

However, the main attack direction this time was the gate of Yingtian. He decided to stay here only after assigning tasks to his generals.

To be honest, he was unwilling to focus his energy on Huaidong.

Like the long Yangtze River with leaks everywhere, Xiangyang in the west and Hefei in the middle can be used as breakthrough points for the Northern Expedition. There is really no need to focus the main attack direction on the Huaidong area where the Qing army has been operating for such a long time.

But Zhu Cilang's strategy is not as simple as just occupying territory.

The Qing army seemed to have given up on the Huai River and Yangtze River regions. There were only a few small animals left in Xiangyang, and Hefei was in an attitude of openness.

Such a situation was almost like a chicken rib for Zhu Cilang, who was determined to use the Huai River and Yangtze River areas to kill a large number of Qing troops.

In comparison, the Qing army seemed to have made some reinforcements in Huaidong, so he could not miss the last chance to make a profit.

Of course, Huaidong has its own advantages.

Since the Yellow River took over the Huai River in the early Southern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River, which was supposed to flow northward and flow into the sea in Shandong, changed its direction from Lankao.

Afterwards, the surging river met the Huaihe River in Huai'an, and the excess water was poured into the canal from Hongze Lake and Gaoyou Lake. The width and water volume of this section of the canal were greatly increased.

With such a foundation, some warships can sail freely in such rivers, and heavy artillery that can raze Zeelandia to the ground can also show their power here.

The forts that the Qing army spent a lot of effort to build
(End of this chapter)