Chapter 231: Risking the World's Disapproval [Subscribe Please]

[Thanks to book friend ‘wq007_007’588 for the reward]

In late April, two major events occurred in China.

First, under the command and dispatch of Li Yongsheng, the Fu Han Army in Jiujiang launched a counterattack by land and sea, and defeated the Qing army’s surface fleet coming down from the upper reaches and the Qing army landing on the south bank of the Yangtze River - Jiujiang. The Qing Huguang Admiral Aeryajiang died in Chengzi Town, and nearly 100 officers above the rank of general were captured.

Of the 600 to 700 Qing surface ‘warships’, only less than 200 escaped back to Hubei. Of the more than 10,000 Huguang Green Camps on the south bank who fled to Xingguozhou, only three out of ten survived.

The second was the Yancheng battlefield in Henan. On April 26, the Qing army was unable to support the Shahe defense line and was forced to retreat to the Xihua and Shangshui lines. Chen Huizu moved the main camp to Zhoujiakou Town. The Qing army suffered 10,000 casualties and had to abandon the Shahe Joint Camp that had been operating for many days.

After two victories, the Fu Han Army became more powerful in the Central Plains and along the Yangtze River. But what even Chen Ming himself could not have imagined was that in the last two days of April, an even more sensational event overshadowed the two local decisive victories of the Fu Han Army.

——The Hunyuan Sect tore up the Yellow River embankment in Xuzhou!

Entering the end of April, the situation of the whole world was not in Jiangnan, Anqing, Jiujiang and Yancheng, but in Xuzhou.

The Hunyuan Sect's army came to the bank of the Yellow River, with a strong city blocking the road in front and pursuers coming from behind, and they were already in a difficult situation. If the Qing army could annihilate the Hunyuan Sect's army of 50,000 people in one fell swoop on the bank of the Yellow River, the morale of the official army would surely be greatly boosted. The Qing court would have the effect of a shot of heart.

As a result, all the plans were destroyed in this surging water.

Although the Yellow River had not yet entered the flooding period, the Hunyuan Sect had dug up the Yellow River embankment and turned the northern bank of the Yellow River in Xuzhou Prefecture into a swamp. They had already set up camp on the high ground on the west side of the mountain in Xuzhou City.

The Qing army's cavalry cruising on the edge of Xuzhou City was in trouble, and the large army deployed in Xiaoxian [southwest of Xuzhou City] all took a cold bath under the surging flood. The direct casualties of the flood were not many, but the loss of weapons and supplies was huge. The cannons they had dragged here from the front line with great effort, and the gunpowder without which guns and cannons were no better than fire sticks, were all wasted. It should be clear that the current proportion of firearms in the Qing army is no less than 50%, and the combat effectiveness of the Qing army in Xiaoxian County has suddenly dropped to the bottom.

If the flood had not blocked the Hunyuan Sect's own path, forcing them to "take materials nearby" to eat up the cavalry struggling in waist-deep mud for a night, Liu Song and his men would now rush to the Qing army, and the Qing army stationed in Xiaoxian would also be in trouble.

And this is not the point. The point is that the Hunyuan Sect did everything they could. They dared to risk the world's disapproval and directly opened the Yellow River embankment. How many lives will be destroyed by this move? The Chinese subconsciously talk about retribution, and the Hunyuan Sect has done a great sin this time. Under the flood, whether it is the grain that is about to be harvested in summer or the houses of the people in Xuzhou - the houses at this time are not the reinforced concrete houses of the 21st century, or even brick and tile houses, but adobe houses and adobe houses, and most of the houses in the countryside are like this. Even the houses of some small landlords are only blue bricks for the bottom two or three feet, and adobe bricks and adobes above. Once soaked in water, the houses collapsed.

The Hunyuan Sect has really done a great evil this time.

"What a courage!" Chen Ming had to give a thumbs up to Liu Song, Yang Ji and Fan Mingde, and said "admiration". These three are really awesome. Chen Ming would never dare to do such a thing that would be criticized by others.

However, the Hunyuan Sect's "daring to defy the world" opened up a way for them to survive, and also caused enough trouble for the Qing court.

Just when the Hunyuan Sect's thousands of rafts broke through the Yellow River and entered the north bank of the Yellow River - the number of Shandong Green Camp on the other side was not too large. When the Hunyuan Sect broke through the Yellow River defense line, they could not get the support of the Qing army on the other side, nor the support of the Xuzhou defenders on the other side, and they could not hold on all of a sudden.

However, the Hunyuan Sect's morale was boiling and their fighting spirit was high. The Qing army's defenders on the other side of the Yellow River fled without a fight, allowing the Hunyuan Sect's 50,000-strong army to escape from the desperate situation in one fell swoop. And the day after they set foot on the north bank of the Yellow River, it started to rain, and it was a heavy rain. This was like adding insult to injury for the Xuzhou government and the Qing army in Xiaoxian, but Liu Song made a big fuss about it as "the power of the Wusheng Old Mother is boundless", and made it known that the Qing Dynasty was hated by the heaven. The morale of the Hunyuan Doctrine Army was even more boiling, and it also had a great impact on the people.

Of course, when this "influence" reached Chen Ming's ears, early May was almost over.

Yang Shijin led the main force of the navy battalion to cover the two battalions of the Fu Han Army infantry and had already arrived at Ruihong Town along Poyang Lake. It was in the east of Nanchang City and was ready to attack Nanchang. But Wu Shaoshi, the incompetent governor of Jiangxi, was shocked.

The navy battalion went south along Poyang Lake, sweeping all the large and small docks of Poyang Lake, towing or sinking the ships. Their purpose of going south was not to really take Nanchang, but to create panic and eliminate the threat on the water in the short term.

After returning from Nanchang, the Navy Battalion will leave Jiangnan.

Chen Ming wanted to attack Jiangyin. Because he believed that the Qing troops stationed in Jiangyin by land and sea from Fujian and Zhejiang would not have too strong fighting spirit and will to fight. Because the relationship between Wu Bidada and Duan Xiulin and the local government of Liangjiang was not very pleasant, in April Duan Xiulin had a falling out with Jiangsu Governor Sulde because of a scholar named Chen Ziting, and directly sent the manager to Beijing.

Chen Ming felt that if he attacked Jiangyin at this time, the Fujian and Zhejiang naval forces would definitely retreat happily. Anyway, Jiangyin was not the territory of Fujian and Zhejiang. Wu Bidada and Duan Xiulin were suing the Liangjiang government while fighting for Liangjiang. If this was really the case, their moral integrity would be too noble.

"Send the message to Jiangyin, let Chen Jigong and He Huazhang act according to the situation."

Chen Ming laid a "foreshadowing" for the next battle of Jiangyin in Nanjing. He Huazhang and Chen Jigong in Jiangyin City are the most secretive people in the secret camp. They are now famous, especially Chen Jigong, who can see opportunities in the crisis, and can be modest, keep calm, and withdraw in time. He is regarded as a talented person by those Jiangnan merchants who were deceived in Wuhan and those who made a fortune. Now he and He Huazhang can use the offensive of the Fu Han Army to create a greater reputation for themselves and make themselves recognized as "good eyesight" by the world. More importantly, they have to retreat before the Fu Han Army launches an attack, and take their "property and manpower" to Songjiang and Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Well, their activity areas will be separated in the future, and they will no longer be together. One is in Songjiang, and the other is in Suzhou.

...

In Jiangyin City, the market is cold and quiet, just like the raindrops falling outside, cool, and there is no trace of the prosperity of the past.

Early this morning, the sound of ding-dong began in Fuxinghao. Master Tong is also moving. This is not surprising. Fuxinghao decided to move two days ago. Master Tong did not trust the Fujian and Zhejiang troops in and outside Jiangyin City. Two days ago, he specially invited local gentry and wealthy merchants he was familiar with to hold a banquet at the best restaurant in Jiangyin, Xingchenglou. He and his cousin announced the news of "leaving" at the banquet.

What is the reason? Wu Bidada and Duan Xiulin, two military commanders, are angry with Suzhou City. The two sides have many conflicts and cannot be reconciled. If the Fu Han Army in Nanjing Zhenjiang came at this time, Master Tong and Master He did not believe that the Fujian and Zhejiang naval and land forces would fight to the death to protect Jiangyin City. So Master Tong and his cousin both left. They also sincerely invited the people at the banquet to escape with them. It is difficult to save Jiangyin City.

Yesterday, someone pointed out that after the Fujian and Zhejiang naval forces had a dirty fight with Suzhou, Master Tong and Master He had invited the gentry and wealthy families in the city to donate money and food to reward the Fujian and Zhejiang naval forces. As a result, few people responded, and the two were discouraged. So people believed that Master Tong and Master He really felt that Jiangyin had no hope, so they decided to leave.

Once this matter was exposed, the departure of Chen Jigong and He Huazhang seemed reasonable and not abrupt. It even won the favor of many local people in Jiangyin.

Since the Fu Han Army approached Nanjing, the local militia in Jiangyin County has been formed, with a number of about 2,000 people. Each of the civilians is strong and powerful, but they are only willing to stay in Jiangyin, and they don't care about the situation outside Jiangyin County. When Duan Xiulin and Wu Bi Da counterattacked Zhenjiang, they invited the Jiangyin militia to act together, but they were flatly rejected by the leader of the militia.

The Jiangyin militia only maintains their hometown, and things outside of it have nothing to do with them. This is also quite bizarre.

Chen Jigong stood on the second floor, looking at the street wet by the rain. He has lived in this property under his feet for several months and has developed some feelings for it. Now he has to leave it, and his heart is still reluctant.

From Jiangyin to Songjiang, new environment, new situation, new journey.

Now Chen Jigong is reluctant to leave this property, or reluctant to leave the environment where he has adapted to a lot, or is he avoiding and fearing new challenges and new society? He himself can't tell. After these few months of experience, many of the inappropriate things in Chen Jigong's mind have been eliminated.

This job is really exciting, and it makes people feel like dancing on the edge of a knife. If Chen Jigong had understood the danger and panic of the dark camp earlier, he might not have chosen to enter the dark camp last year. Now he can't retreat.

He must go to the moment when the mission is completed with the identity of "Tong Li".

At this time, more than one person in Jiangyin City sighed for the departure of Chen Jigong and He Huazhang. Even Wu Bidada and Duan Xiulin praised Chen Jigong and He Huazhang for their "good vision". At the beginning, Chen Jigong and He Huazhang failed to raise much money and food from the local people in Jiangyin, so they "paid one thousand taels of silver" and prepared dozens of fat pigs, buffaloes, hundreds of big fish, and two hundred jars of good wine to the water and land Qing soldiers' camp. Wu Bidada and Duan Xiulin both appreciated it.

They also really felt that these two people were not worrying too much. If the Fu Han army attacked Zhenjiang with great fanfare at this time, they would definitely leave. Otherwise, even if they fought, the team would not be able to raise their fighting spirit.

"These two people are both talented. They are really buried in the business of merchants." Duan Xiulin has been thinking about the good of the "one thousand taels of silver". At that time, he was having a very unhappy relationship with Suzhou. Although the "one thousand taels of silver" from Chen Jigong and He Huazhang was not a large amount, it was like a warm current that warmed his body and mind.

Wu Bidada laughed. The "one thousand taels of silver" sent by Chen Jigong and He Huazhang, the bulk of which went to Duan Xiulin's army, and the rest went to his navy. He himself got a little bit of the broth, but as the saying goes, "a gift of goose feathers from a thousand miles away is more valuable than the thought", Wu Bidada himself appreciated it. But as for the "power" of Chen Jigong and He Huazhang, he just thought that they had good vision, and didn't really think highly of them.

"We are just generals, and it's not our job to promote officials..." Promoting officials is something that only high officials can do.