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

Chapter 254
  Hearing this, Li Zuo lowered his head with a pensive look on his face and began to think.

After a moment, Li Zuo nodded and said.

"That's fine too!"

After saying this, he looked at Wang Minhao and said.

"How about sending an envoy to the Ming Dynasty and asking for help from the Ming Dynasty, and leave it to the king's judgment?"

When Wang Minhao heard this, he came out of class and bowed down.

"The humble minister is willing to go and share the worries of the king!"

After speaking, Li Zhen looked at Zhao Siguang and Cui Yingzheng, the two leaders on the left and right.

Asked openly.

"Who do the two ministers think the lonely king should send to lead the troops to reinforce the war in Pyongyang?"

Cui Yingzheng heard this, lowered his head and thought for a while, then stood up and said.

"Your Majesty, I think that General Jin Guangzu of Longhu Camp may be a suitable candidate."

If placed in China, North Korea's Longhu Camp would probably be similar to the Ming Dynasty's Jingying Camp, and the Manchu and Qing Dynasty's Eight Banners Guard Camp were both members of the Imperial Guards.

In North Korea, where armaments are lax and the military's combat effectiveness is weakened, the Longhu Camp can be regarded as a rare elite unit.

Nowadays, the situation in Pyongyang is critical, and Li Zuo sent the Longhu Battalion to reinforce the war, which is what he should do.

Hearing this, Li Zuo nodded after thinking for a while.

"That's fine too!"

"It is said that General Jin Guangzu of Longhu Camp came to the palace to pay an audience!"

"..."

After Li Zuo arranged for Jin Guangzu to lead the army to reinforce the Pyongyang war, he turned around and discussed with the Manchu court officials about moving to Namhan Mountain City or simply running to Ganghwa Island for refuge.

How should I put it, although he has sent troops to reinforce the war in Pyongyang.

But Li Zuo still didn't have much hope that the North Korean army could block the Qing army's attack.

For his own safety, he needs to prepare a way out for himself in advance.

……

On the sixteenth day of the first month of the second year of Xuanwu in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming army sent troops from Nanjing and marched into Hangzhou.

On the twentieth day of the first lunar month, the Ming army marched to Suzhou and then turned south.

Follow the canal and pass through Jiaxing, Yuhang and other places.

Finally arrived outside Hangzhou in early February!
  Zhang Hu, commander of the [-]st Division of the Royal Army of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Mingyou, commander of the [-]nd Division, Pan Dazhu, commander of the [-]st Cavalry Brigade of the Royal Ming Dynasty, Wen Chaoyuan, commander of the [-]st Artillery Regiment, and others stood on a low hill outside Hangzhou. Looking at the city of Hangzhou.

Let's discuss together how to deploy our troops and how to launch an attack.

"I can't understand the layout of the Qing army in Hangzhou. They didn't even build a camp outside the city of Hangzhou to form a horn with the city of Hangzhou and echo each other."

"We didn't even build relevant city fortifications outside the city of Hangzhou to hinder the Ming Dynasty from spreading its troops."

"Instead, all the troops were concentrated in Hangzhou City!"

"What's the difference between this and a turtle with a shrunken head?"

Zhang Hu looked in the direction of Hangzhou City, touched his chin, and said with doubts on his face.

He estimated that the leader of the Qing army in Hangzhou was probably ignorant of soldiers.

They don’t even understand the simplest truth of not guarding a lonely city!
  If the commander of the Qing army in Hangzhou knew something about the war, he would not make such a nonsensical arrangement.

Seeing this, Liu Mingyou also spoke.

"This is true. The layout of the Qing army in Hangzhou is indeed a bit confusing."

He also couldn't figure out why the Qing army deployed its troops like this!

After saying this, Liu Mingyou turned around and asked Wen Chaoyuan.

"Commander Wen, have you found an artillery position suitable for deploying artillery?"

When Wen Chaoyuan heard this, he nodded and said.

"Commander Liu, we have found it and our artillery unit is preparing to deploy!"

"I believe we can start delivering firepower to Hangzhou City soon!"

Liu Mingyou nodded slightly and then asked.

"By the way, can the secret weapon sent by His Royal Highness be used now?"

Wen Chaoyuan raised his head to judge the celestial phenomena and climate, then nodded and said after a moment.

"Don't worry, Master Liu. Judging from today's weather, the hot air balloon sent by His Highness can be used completely."

Just a year ago, good news came from the Foshan Arsenal. They produced a hot air balloon and completed related flight and operation tests.

Zhu Jing'an made a prompt decision and ordered several finished hot-air balloons to be sent to the south of the Yangtze River to test the actual effectiveness of the hot-air balloons in actual combat.

Although it is unrealistic to rely on the balloon's load to complete the bombing mission.

However, although hot air balloons cannot complete bombing missions, they can be used for aerial reconnaissance and grasp the battlefield situation.

Just imagine, after the war breaks out, an eye floats a few hundred meters above your head, reporting changes in the battlefield situation to your side at all times.

What the hell is the difference between this and playing a game with the full map open?
  The Battle of Hangzhou was the first show of the Ming Army's hot air balloons.

Or it can be said that this is the first time in the world that hot air balloons have been put into actual combat.

Because, historically, Europeans did not invent hot air balloons until 1783.

But under the guidance of Zhu Jing'an, the technical staff of Ming Dynasty advanced this time by five years.

Isn't this the first time a hot air balloon has been put into actual combat?
  Liu Mingyou and Zhang Hu looked at each other, nodded in unison and said.     “Very good, get ready to do it!”

When Wen Chaoyuan heard this, he clasped his fists and left, preparing to arrange for the hot air balloon to take off.

Because the most important role of the hot air balloon in this battle will be to guide the artillery bombardment, the command of the hot air balloon unit was delegated to Wen Chaoyuan, the artillery regiment commander.

……

At the top of the city wall of Hangzhou, Hangzhou General Seth A, Zhejiang Governor Su Mingsheng, Zhejiang Admiral Wu Changshi and others stood together to discuss the war.

Looking at the Ming army troops outside the city who were neatly arrayed and had strict orders, except for Hangzhou General Seth'a, no one else had a good look on their face.

Seth'a held a telescope in his hand, looking at the Ming army's troop deployment outside the city, and spoke eagerly.

"When I look at the Ming rebels outside the city, my general only has [-] troops. However, our Qing army inside Hangzhou City, with the Eight Banners and the Green Camp, has nearly [-] troops."

"It seems that our Qing army is twice as powerful as the Ming thieves!"

"In this battle, why didn't we, the Qing Dynasty, take advantage of the fact that the soldiers and horses of the Ming rebels had just arrived outside the city of Hangzhou and had traveled a long distance, when the division veterans were tired and their footing was not stable, and we took the initiative to attack and defeat the Ming rebels?"

Since Chang Qing, the governor of Min and Zhejiang, led his troops and was defeated in the Battle of Nanjing, all military affairs in Zhejiang are now taken over by General Seth A of Hangzhou.

After Seth took over Zhejiang's military affairs, there was good news, bad news and worse news for me in the Qing Dynasty.

The good news is that Seth'a, as a Hangzhou general from the Eight Banners of Manchuria, is loyal to the Qing Dynasty and will never surrender to the Ming army.

For example, he was the one who killed the envoy sent by the Ming army to Hangzhou to persuade him to surrender!

The bad news is that although Seth'a holds the title of Hangzhou General, he is a pure scholar. He doesn't know how to fight!
  The worse news is that Seth'a is still a stubborn person. It's just that he doesn't know how to fight, and he won't listen to advice.

For example, the Qing army's troop deployment in the Battle of Hangzhou was arranged by him.

Seth'a ordered the Qing army to abandon all strongholds outside the city and retreat to Hangzhou City.

On the surface, the Qing army in Hangzhou did not divide its forces, and the city defense of Hangzhou was absolutely impregnable.

However, only those who don’t know how to fight will see it this way.

Because, although the current city of Hangzhou is indeed impregnable on the surface, Hangzhou has become an isolated city and has fallen into death.

As long as the Ming army sent troops to surround Hangzhou, even if it did not send troops to attack the city, as long as time passed, the Qing army in Hangzhou would only starve to death.

In addition, Seth A has other tricks.

For example, he ordered all Qing forces in Zhejiang to be withdrawn to Hangzhou to strengthen Hangzhou's defense.

This is how the [-] to [-] Qing troops in Hangzhou came here!

Basically all the Qing army's forces in Zhejiang are concentrated in Hangzhou.

On the surface, all Zhejiang's troops are concentrated in Hangzhou, and Hangzhou's defense is indeed more secure.

But the problem is that although there is no shortage of troops in Hangzhou, there are no troops in other places!

The gentry in Zhejiang originally had their hearts set on the Ming Dynasty, but now that the Qing army is no longer intimidating them, one can only imagine what they will do.

That's right, the reason why the state capitals in Zhejiang surrendered to the Ming Dynasty in large numbers stems from this.

For another example now, Seth A simply compared the strength of the Ming and Qing armies and came to a conclusion.

Thirty thousand versus seventy thousand, the advantage is mine!

Therefore, he was eager to lead his troops out of the city to fight with the Ming army in the field to break the siege of Hangzhou.

When everyone around him heard this, their expressions changed drastically.

He said hurriedly.

"General, you must not do this!"

"General, you can't just look at the comparison of military strength when fighting a war. The soldiers are elite and not numerous. Although the Ming thieves have few soldiers, they are elite. Although our army has many soldiers, most of them are weak. They can barely defend the city. In field battles, No match for Ming Thief!"

"Yes, General, if the Qing Dynasty's war in Jiangnan is ruined, we should still act with caution first!"

"..."

A group of people are trying to persuade Seth to act with caution.

However, Seth A is a tough guy!

If he had listened to the advice, could he still be called a stubborn person?

After listening to everyone's persuasion, Seth'a just shook his head and said.

"The war has not yet begun. Are you waiting for An to be able to show his thief's ambition and destroy our Qing Dynasty's prestige?"

"The strength of our Qing forces in Hangzhou is more than twice that of the Ming thieves. Two against one. No matter how elite the Ming thieves' soldiers are, they are no match for our Qing heavenly soldiers!"

"Send the order, the army is ready to leave the city, fight the Ming thieves, and defeat the enemy with field battle!"

Seth'a looked around and ordered in a very firm tone.

When everyone around him heard this, they all couldn't help but open their mouths with helpless expressions on their faces.

Seeing no one responded, Seth'a glared and said coldly.

"What are you doing? Is it possible that you want to disobey me?"

"Do you believe this general sent a letter to the imperial court asking the emperor to punish you?"

Su Mingsheng and Wu Changshi looked at each other with helplessness in their eyes.

But their arms couldn't twist their thighs, so the two of them could only clasp their fists and take orders.

"The general/the last general takes orders!"

The two of them have now thought about it. They are now eating the emperor's salary and being loyal to the emperor. They just want to be clear in their hearts.

As for the Qing Dynasty, that is none of their business!

If Shangguan insists on seeking death, there's nothing they can do about it, right?
  It’s not that they didn’t stop him, they really couldn’t stop him!
  (End of this chapter)