Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

Yuezhou City!
After Agui led the remnants of the Qing army to escape from the battlefield in Changsha, they rushed day and night for several days and finally arrived outside Yuezhou City.

Looking at the tall city gate in front of them, everyone in the Qing army breathed a sigh of relief and felt a long-lost sense of security.

Agui had to be supported to get off the horse. Agui was no longer young this year. Riding a horse day and night was not an easy task for him.

The aches and pains all over your body remind Agui that you are old and no longer the young man you once were.

Agui got off the horse, looked quite solemn, and said.

"Send the order, after the army enters the city, immediately start to strengthen the city defenses in case the thieves attack!"

"Be prepared to meet the Ming army in Yuezhou!"

Agui knew that since the Ming army captured Changsha, it was impossible to let Yuezhou go.

It is estimated that the Ming army will launch troops against Yuezhou soon!

Once the Ming army advances to Yuezhou, Yuezhou will be in danger.

If Shaanxi Lvying is not damaged, Agui is still somewhat sure of holding Yuezhou.

But the current situation is that the main force of Shaanxi Green Camp was completely wiped out by the Ming army under the city of Changsha.

The most important soldier in Agui's hands was defeated in this way.

In an army, those soldiers who are capable of fighting the enemy in the field are the soul.

Once these soldiers who are capable of fighting the enemy in the field are lost, the army will not be far away from being defeated.

All Agui can do now is to strengthen Yuezhou's city defense as much as possible.

I hope I can hold out until the Governor of Huguang, Sanbao, and the Prime Minister, Shu Hede, send reinforcements.

What Agui regrets most now is his reckless advance in the Battle of Changsha.

If he had not advanced rashly after the Battle of Xiangyang, but had steadily advanced towards Changsha, how could the army have suffered a disastrous defeat under the walls of Changsha?

At this moment, Hai Lancha walked over and spoke.

"General, good news, good news!"

At this time, Hailancha's face was faintly filled with joy.

Hearing this, Agui turned around and asked.

"Oh? Really? What good news can there be at this time?"

When Agui asked this question, she didn't have much expectation.

He didn't think he could receive any good news in this situation.

Hearing this, Hai Lancha said with great interest.

"When I get back to the general, it's good news from Hubei."

"The remnants of the White Lotus Sect have been hit hard again and have now retreated into the mountains of Yunyang Mansion. They will no longer be able to make trouble out of the mountains in a short period of time."

"After the situation in Hubei stabilizes, Hubei will soon be able to mobilize troops to reinforce Yuezhou City!"

Although the Hubei soldiers are not elite, their mosquito legs are still fast, no matter how small they are.

It is better to have more troops to strengthen the defense of Yuezhou City than to have no reinforcements at all.

Agui's expression improved slightly after hearing this.

"That being said, this is indeed good news!"

"I hope the reinforcements from Hubei can arrive before the Ming thieves invade Yuezhou..."

……

At the same time, Zhu Jing'an also made a decision.

"Agui wants to defend Yuezhou, then let him do it!"

"Yuezhou is a fortified city. With the Qing army gathering heavily, its city defenses are even more impregnable."

"If our army attacks by force, even if we can finally conquer it, I'm afraid we will have to pay a heavy price!"

"This is what I don't want to see!"

Having said this, Zhu Jing'an paused for a moment before speaking.

"That's why I decided alone!"

"The army will not take Yuezhou first, but will bypass Dongting Lake, take the line from Changde to Lizhou, and cross the river to capture Jingzhou!"

"Capture the whole city of Jingzhou in one fell swoop to inspire the hearts of Huguang."

The baton in Zhu Jing'an's hand circled around Dongting Lake, then pointed at Changde and Lizhou, and finally pointed at the location of Jingzhou.

Now Agui's troops have retreated to Yuezhou. If he wants to protect Yuezhou, he will definitely ask for help from the Qing army in the direction of Hubei.

Once the Qing troops from Hubei gather in Yuezhou, the hinterland of Hubei will inevitably be empty.

If the Ming army takes the opportunity to capture Jingzhou, they will definitely be able to defeat it in one go!

I want to ask which city was the most important in Huguang during the Qing Dynasty?
Is it Wuchang?Is it Changsha?Or Xiangyang?

No, neither!
The correct answer is Jingzhou!
The reason is also very simple, because Jingzhou has eight banners garrisoned throughout the city.

Just like the Ming Dynasty regained Guangzhou and destroyed the Eight Banners in Guangzhou, the Manchu rule in Guangdong and Guangxi collapsed.

If the Ming Dynasty could capture Jingzhou and destroy the Eight Banners of Jingzhou, it would mean that the Manchu rule in Huguang would also completely collapse.

More importantly, after the Ming army captured Jingzhou and destroyed the Eight Banners of Jingzhou, how would Qianlong deal with Agui, the sinner who lost Jingzhou?
In order to give an explanation within the Eight Banners, Agui, the person most responsible for the loss of Jingzhou, had to at least be dismissed from office and exiled.

At that time, once Agui was dismissed from office and exiled by Qianlong, wouldn't Yuezhou City be destroyed without attack?
Just like when Zhang Xianzhong defeated Xiangyang and attacked and killed King Xiang, he wanted to use Chongzhen's hand to force Yang Sichang to death.

Zhu Jing'an is also planning to use Qianlong's help to force A Gui to death!

Of course, even if Qianlong did not deal with Agui, there would be no loss for the Ming army.

Anyway, the worst thing is to start with Jingzhou as a guarantee, and the Eight Banners of Jingzhou will be destroyed.

The Ming army will definitely not lose!

At worst, we can just send troops eastward along the Yangtze River and attack Yuezhou again.

This is the benefit of taking the strategic initiative!
I have the final say whether to fight or not, and where to fight. The enemy can only passively respond.

The final result is naturally imaginable!
In a war, strategic initiative is really important.

After Zhu Jing'an finished speaking, the generals of the Ming army spoke one after another.

"His Royal Highness is wise!"

"The end will obey orders!"

Zhu Jing'an nodded slightly, and then continued.

"Okay, if that's the case, let's go down and get ready!"

"Prepare the food, fodder, ordnance and other materials needed for the army to attack, and then prepare to set off..."

As Zhu Jing'an's order was issued, the Ming army began to prepare for an expedition again.

A large number of weapons and other supplies were transported by civilians from the Guangzhou line to the front line via waterways.

However, Zhu Jing'an chose to collect grain, grass, medicinal materials and other supplies on the spot near Changsha.

To put it simply, it is a tender!

The Ming army listed what supplies they needed. After paying a deposit first, they handed it over to the Changsha gentry to take care of the details.

After the materials are counted and entered into the camp, the Ming army will pay the balance.

Overall, it saves time, effort and money.

Because in ancient times, the biggest loss in transporting military rations was actually the transportation cost.

Even if each prefecture and county organizes civilians to escort the transportation in a relay, a large amount of grain and grass can be shipped, and at most half of it reaches the front line.

This is under the premise that the south has waterways to transport military supplies!

If it is in the north and relies entirely on land transportation, the losses will be even greater.But purchasing directly from the local area is different. It not only saves the loss required for transportation, but also saves the cost of recruiting civilians.

Even if the purchase price of grain is higher, you can still save a lot of money overall.

You must know that when the Ming Dynasty was first established, in order to win over the people, when recruiting civilian husbands, they did not directly recruit strong men to serve as corvees and let the people work in vain.

Instead, the laborers were paid according to their workload!
Although the wages were not much, the Ming army had no choice but to hire a large number of civilians.

The base number is large, even if the single transaction is small, the cumulative amount is still a large number.

As for whether there will be corruption in the process of bidding and purchasing materials?
The answer is yes. How can an official not be greedy?

When you have power, you will be greedy to some extent.

Zhu Jing'an didn't believe that the officials of the Ming Dynasty could have such a high level of ideological awareness. Everyone must imitate Hai Ruihai's penholder.

But overall, the corruption rate is acceptable!

Because the Ming Dynasty is still in its early stages of entrepreneurship, and most people are holding back their energy to conquer the world and become the founding heroes, so they are not so short-sighted.

Although corruption is inevitable, it is only a minority.

Zhu Jing'an knew this well.

It's just that he has to focus all his energy on the war now and has no time to argue with those corrupt officials for the time being.

When he frees up his hands in the future, he will have enough time and means to slowly deal with these people.

As for the Changsha gentry, when purchasing supplies, would they use the name of the Ming Dynasty to bully the people, buy and sell by force, and make profits from it?

The answer is yes!
But by the same token, Zhu Jing'an has no intention of arguing with them now.

I just silently made a list in my mind!
When he prepares to clean up the officialdom in the future, what these gentry do today will become one of the decisive evidences that determine their fate.

Zhu Jing'an was just thinking about what excuse he should use to deal with these gentry in the future.

No, the gentry took the initiative to give him the handle!
As for how many people will be wronged in this process, and how many people will be forced to separate from their families.

Zhu Jing'an didn't know and didn't want to know.

What he wants now is just supplies, just enough food and grass supplies to support the army to complete the next stage of combat missions.

As for anything else, he doesn't care!

Don't care at all!

To put it bluntly, Zhu Jing'an is now the ruler, and in his eyes, human lives are just cold numbers.

How can the ruler from above have empathy with the consumables at the bottom?

Even if there is, it is just a political show!

……

It’s April [-]th, the first year of Xuanwu in Ming Dynasty!
Half a month after the Battle of Changsha ended, the Ming army completed its repairs. The main force of the army set off from Changsha and headed north, bypassing Dongting Lake and heading towards Jingzhou.

On April [-], the army arrived in Xiangyin.

On April 26, the army crossed the Yuanjiang River.

The Qing army in Yuanjiang surrendered.

On the third day of May, the army arrived in Changde. Under the instigation of the gentry, the prefect of Changde offered the city to surrender and was retained in his original post.

After the Changde defenders took the initiative to fight anyway, they were incorporated into the forward battalion to serve.

The Ming army divided one force to garrison Changde, and the main force of the army continued to move northward, heading straight for Jingzhou.

On the seventh day of the fifth lunar month, when the Ming army was halfway through the march, Lizhou surrendered. The prefect of Lizhou, who was unwilling to surrender, had his head chopped off by the Green Camp general and presented it to Zhu Jing'an.

The gentry of Lizhou organized the people to come outside the city of Lizhou and eat pots of pulp to welcome the king's army.

Zhu Jing'an immediately appointed a local Lizhou gentry to take over the position of Lizhou magistrate, and promoted the general of the Green Camp to one level.

Since then, the situation in Lizhou has stabilized!
Zhu Jing'an suddenly discovered that after the battle of Changsha, the Hunan gentry had completely understood the situation.

Under the temptation of the official title given by Ming Dynasty, they all chose to cut their braids and return to Ming Dynasty.

The phenomenon of surrendering to the wind has begun to appear in local areas!
Almost no state capital or town dared to resist the Ming Dynasty's military front!
If there are local officials who are stubborn and want to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty, their heads will become the letters of surrender handed over by the gentry to the Ming Dynasty.

Facts have proved that gentlemen are really mothers if they have breasts!
In mid-May alone, the main force of the Ming army arrived at the south bank of the Yangtze River and began preparations for crossing the river.

At this point, the news of the Ming army's raid on Jingzhou could no longer be hidden.

When the Ming army gathered on the south bank of the Yangtze River and prepared to cross the river, Jingzhou City on the other side also noticed something strange.

clang clang!clang clang!
Basic sirens rang throughout Jingzhou City and beyond.

The general of the Jingzhou City Defense Battalion descended the city wall towards Huaihe and rode all the way towards the Jingzhou General's Mansion.

The sun in the sky was scorching, and there were big beads of sweat on Xiang Huai's face.

And a look of eagerness and anxiety on his face.

"Something is bad!"

"Ming thief, Ming thief is coming!"

After Xiang Huai arrived near the General's Mansion, he began to gallop on horseback and shouted for help.

But after he arrived outside the Jingzhou General's Mansion, he was still stopped by the guards.

"Stop, this is the Jingzhou General's Mansion, no one else is allowed to break in!"

One of the Eight Banners Guards spoke up.

Xiang Huai stood outside the general's mansion and said.

"Hurry and inform the General that the Jingzhou City Defense Camp Commander-in-Chief is asking for an audience with Huai."

"I received an urgent report that thieves have invaded Jingzhou and are preparing to cross the river!"

"Please make a decision, General!"

When the Eight Banners soldier in charge of guarding the gate heard this, his expression changed and he did not dare to delay. He ordered Xiang Huai to wait at the gate, and he trotted forward to pass the message.

Not long after, Jingzhou General Ersu received the urgent report.

Xiang Huaibei was brought to him.

"General Xiang, what's going on? How could Ming thieves invade Jingzhou?"

"Where's Agui? Didn't General Agui say that he blocked the Ming thieves south of Yuezhou?"

"How could there be an Ming thief attacking Jingzhou?"

The expression on Ersu's face was full of fear.

He had always been a Taiping general, and for the first time he felt the pressure brought by the enemy's troops pressing into the territory.

It's a pity that this is the first time he feels pressure, and he is about to collapse under the pressure!
Xiang Huai on the side just shook his head and said.

"If you...return to the general, the general won't even know!"

"The general received an urgent report today that a large group of people are preparing to cross the Yangtze River on the south bank."

"After the general received the news, he immediately sent people to investigate and found that the people who were preparing to cross the river were Ming thieves."

"Then the general will report to the general as soon as possible!"

When Ersu heard this, cold sweat began to break out on his bare forehead.

He kept pacing in place, his face full of anxiety and panic.

"It's over, it's over, Jingzhou is going to be over now!"

In panic, Ersu was unable to make a decision to deal with the Ming army's surprise attack.

On the other hand, Yang Mao, the prefect of Jingzhou, forced himself to calm down and then spoke.

"General, there is no need to panic. Jingzhou still has a fortified city. It's not time to give up on yourself yet!" (End of Chapter)