Chapter 213 Ordered in the face of danger

Xing Tianjun's siege of the city in Nanzhili has plunged the gentry giants of the whole Lianghuai and the south of the Yangtze River into extreme panic, especially those merchants who have participated in plotting to assassinate Xiao Tianjian. They have now seen the weakness of the imperial court and the official army clearly. So many officers and soldiers have no choice but to deal with Xing Tianjun. On the battlefield of Nanzhili, Xing Tianjun can be said to be invincible, defeating the officers and army. Now Xing Tianjun is only one step away from attacking the city of Nanjing, so a large number of gentry giants in Nanjing City began to pack up their thin and soft bags and escape from Nanjing. , either fled to Songjiang Mansion, or fled to Hangzhou, or even simply ran directly to Ningbo Mansion and directly fled to Guangzhou by sea boat. In short, these gentry basically did not have much hope for whether the officers and soldiers could defend Nanjing.

However, there are still some people who are reluctant to give up such a large industry and do not hesitate to pay a huge subsidy, hoping that Ding Qirui can defend Nanjing and block Xing Tianjun outside Nanzhili, which also makes Ding Qirui rarely get a batch of silver pay.

Ding Qirui couldn't resign, so he could only continue to work. When Xiao Tianjian led the army to capture Chizhou, he transferred Sun Yingyuan, the strongest general in his hand, to Nanjing, and nearly 10,000 Xuzhou troops were also transferred to Nanjing City to strengthen the defense of Nanjing City.

Nanjing is the capital of Daming. Its strategic position, political and even economic status are undoubtedly extremely important. At present, it can be said that it is second only to the capital in the north, and the richest area of Daming is also around Nanjing, so its gains and losses are undoubtedly extreme for both Daming and Xing Tianjun. It is important that Xiao Tianjian led his troops to attack Nanjing City. It is precisely for these reasons, not to mention that Nanzhili is the starting point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Once it is occupied here, in the future, Xing Tian's army will continue to transport all kinds of material resources to the north through the Grand Canal for the use of the Xingtian army, so Nanjing City The gains and losses can be said to be a life-and-death duel between Daming and Xing Tianjun.

Ding Qirui is well aware of the importance of Nanjing. Of course, the court has also attached the greatest importance to it. Although Chongzhen has no soldiers to help Nanjing City at present, Chongzhen still did his best to give Ding Qirui a decree and decentralized Ding Qirui to be fully responsible for the military affairs of Nanzhili and Jiangxi and Fujian at present. I hope to reduce the restraint of his hands and feet as much as possible, so that Ding Qirui can defend Nanjing.

In addition, Chongzhen did not put all his hopes on Ding Qirui. After thinking about it repeatedly, he still ordered Fu Zonglong to leave Beijing, and sent 10,000 soldiers and horses from the Beijing camp. He also put together 20,000 horses from the Jingfu area and Xuanda area and handed them over to Fu Zonglong to lead his army to attack Luoyang, Henan Province.

Now the core of Xing Tianjun is basically in Luoyang City, including the family of the thief chief Xiao Tianjian in Luoyang City. In addition, the logistics department of Xing Tianjun is also located in Luoyang. The thief chief Xiao Tianjian is personally leading troops south to attack Nanzhili, so Henan's military strength is relatively empty. If Fu Zonglong lives up to the crowd this time. Hope, if you can lead the troops to attack Luoyang, then the thieves will not be able to sit back and watch Luoyang be broken, but only withdraw their troops back to Luoyang. This is also a way to save them. In this way, they can solve the danger of Nanjing.

Until this time, Chongzhen still had the last trace of fantasy in his mind, thinking that he still had a chance to turn the tide. Although he could vaguely expect that the possibility of success was extremely small, but under the circumstances, he had to make such an attempt. I'm afraid that if he doesn't succeed, at least he did his best.

After Fu Zonglong received the order, he could only follow Chongzhen's requirements without hesitation. He ordered 10,000 soldiers and horses in the capital camp outside the capital, killed animals and sacrificed flags, and Chongzhen personally went outside the city to see Fu Zonglong and a group of soldiers off. The momentum was very grand. Fu Zonglong and those officers and soldiers were moved to tears and vowed to He fought desperately into Henan.

But I'm moved. After being moved, I still have to return to reality. This food and salary is always given, but there is a shortage of food and salary in the capital. Chongzhen also knows that it is impossible to let the officers and soldiers go out and work hard for him without food and salary. The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers! Therefore, Chongzhen had a long toss in the capital again, so he raised 200,000 taels of silver for Fu Zonglong, and asked the Ministry of Household to find a way to make up some grain for the conscription. Although it was not enough, the rest was let Fu Zonglong find a way to solve it by himself, and the local government cooperated to provide them with the supply of grain.

To put it bluntly, I only have so much money and food. Take it to do business with you, Fu Zonglong! If it's not enough, you can figure it out by yourself! Fu Zonglong knew that the food and salary were not enough, but he had no choice but to gritt his teeth and take the imperial edict, led the troops away from the capital and drove towards Henan.

After Yang Guozhu was ordered, he still complied with the order. He once again transferred 7,000 people from Xuanda University and sent Jingfu to follow Fu Zonglong to fight. However, the people he sent this time were also the old opponents of Xing Tianjun. They were not others. It was Xu Dingguo, the Shanxi general who had been defeated repeatedly under Xing Tian's army. Xu Dingguo lost. After Lu'an Mansion, he was later demoted several levels and became a general. However, after most of Shanxi was lost, Xu Dingguo still took thousands of people to Xuanda University and was subordinated by Yang Guozhu. Some time ago, he was promoted to deputy general. This time, Yang Guozhu was elected, and there was no suitable candidate. In the end, he had to appoint Xu Dingguo was sent to Fu Zonglong.

Xu Dingguo was reluctant but had no choice but to lead his troops to leave Xuanda University and enter the place of Jingfu. He rushed to Baoding Prefecture and Fu Zonglong met in a place. In addition, Jingfu was also ordered to dispatch 10,000 soldiers to Baoding Prefecture to meet with Fu Zonglong in a place, and finally put together 30,000 horses. Under the leadership of Fu Zonglong, he drove towards Henan.

This action was arranged by Chongzhen in June, but when Fu Zonglong left Beijing and issued it to Shunde Mansion, it was already in July.

After Ma Ke, who was sitting in Shunde Mansion, learned the news that Fu Zonglong led his troops to go south, he had to go out of the city to meet Fu Zonglong and enter Fu Zonglong's camp to meet him. Fu Zonglong had long known that this Ma Ke was not a thing. At the beginning, they did not dare to move Marco because Ma Ke supported the army and was afraid of forcing Ma Zonglong to rebel against Ma Ke. Now he is in charge of his army going south. Before leaving Beijing, Chongzhen secretly discussed with him how to deal with Marco.

Therefore, after Fu Zonglong saw Ma Ke, he was very intimate. Lian Lian Lian said that Ma Ke sat in Shunde, so that the thief army could not invade the north. The emperor was quite satisfied with him. Ma Ke was originally a little worried. He was afraid that Fu Zonglong would investigate him to refuse to attack Xing Tianjun and force Bai Guangen to surrender. When he saw After Fu Zonglong said this, he was relieved and couldn't help becoming arrogant again.

Fu Zonglong turned a blind eye to Ma Ke's pride and was very polite to him. He said that he wanted to see Ma Ke's subordinate generals. Ma Ke did not doubt that he was there, so he sent someone to recruit more than a thousand generals under his command to Fu Zonglong's account to meet Fu Zonglong. Fu Zonglong did not show at all. Strangely, he also praised these generals under Marco's command, and gave a banquet in the camp, sending people to accompany them to drink.

Ma Ke and the subordinate generals were gladly ordered, so they drank up in Fu Zonglong's camp and the generals under Fu Zonglong. However, Fu Zonglong suddenly turned his face and ordered Ma Ke to be arrested. Zhou Yuji, the general of the Beijing camp, immediately rushed over and overturned Ma Ke to the ground and tied him up. Then Fu Zonglong invited him out. The imperial edict read out Marco's guilt in public, ordered Shang Fang's sword to be executed.

The generals under Marco's command were also disarmed and guarded one by one. Marco repeatedly shouted injustice, but at this time, the situation had been controlled by Fu Zonglong, and soon he was pushed out to cut off his head.

The generals under Marco's command looked at Marco's bloody head one by one, and then Fu Zonglong appeased the generals under Marco's command, so that he would listen to orders under his account in the future. In addition, Zhou Yuji took over Marco's soldiers and horses, so he also merged more than 10,000 people under Marco's command.

Although the generals under Ma Ke's command were not convinced, they did not dare to make trouble under high pressure. They could only follow the orders of Fu Zonglong's dispatch. However, there were still many soldiers who directly became deserters at night. They either changed their civilian clothes and fled to the countryside, or simply fled to the jurisdiction of the Xingtian army in groups and surrendered to the Xingtian army. .

The person in charge of the defense north of the Yellow River is General Diao Zheng of Xing Tianjun. As soon as Fu Zonglong moved in the capital, he learned the news and immediately began to deploy defense in the area of Zhangde Mansion, and transferred people from Huaiqing Mansion and Weihui Mansion to deploy defense in Zhangde Mansion. However, the strength is very different from that of Fu Zonglong's, and the strength ratio between the two sides is roughly four to one. Left and right, and Diao Zheng still has to stay some people in the area of Daming Mansion and Weihui Mansion, so the number of troops is much more different.

On July 23, Fu Zonglong led his troops from Shunde Mansion and ordered Xu Dingguo to lead the headquarters Xuan soldiers to attack Changde Mansion, but he himself led Zhou Yuji, the Beijing camp and the old Ma Ke Department, bypassed the Changde Mansion and suddenly attacked the Shexian County to the west of Changde Mansion.

Diao Zheng originally put his main troops in the area of Wu'an County and Changde Prefecture. He didn't expect that Fu Zonglong would take a detour from the western mountainous area. Diao Zheng did not place many troops in the area of She County, only less than 500 people guarding the county, so although he fought with Xu Dingguo in Changdefu, he would fight Xu Ding. The national game was defeated, but after he defeated Xu Dingguo's headquarters, Fu Zonglong had already taken the county.

There are only more than 400 defenders in Shexian County, that is, two companies that are not fully organized, and they are also subordinate to the reserve battalion, and their combat effectiveness is relatively poor. As a result, after more than 400 people fought for half a day, Shexian County was conquered by Zhou Yuji, and almost all of the more than 400 defenders were killed by Zhou Yuji.