On the twelfth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, Ao Bai led the army to leave the capital.

The original plan was to gather 20,000 Manchurian, Mongolian and Han Eight Banner soldiers, but Ao Bai only gathered 6,000 Eight Banner soldiers, and the vast majority of the Eight Banners were looking for various excuses to shirk and refuse to go south.

Ao Bai originally wanted to persuade the Empress Dowager Bumu Butai to send the Eight Banners of Wula and Ningguta, who were stationed in the bitter cold land outside the pass, to enter the pass, but the Empress Dowager refused.

There are two reasons for Bumu Butai's refusal: first, the outside of the pass is the birthplace of Manchuria, and if the Manchus enter the pass, it will not be easy to control the territory outside the pass; Second, as early as 12 years ago, the Rakshasas in the north had repeatedly invaded Heilongjiang and other places, which made Bumu Butai feel that the origin of Manchuria was threatened.

Just before Ao Bai set out on the expedition, he learned that Zheng Zhilong's family had been killed.

"Zheng Zhilong is dead? It must have been Suke Saha, the dog minion, who killed Zheng Zhilong's family! Ao Bai was furious. He originally hoped that he could bring Zheng Zhilong with him when he went out to deter Zheng Chenggong. Who knew that Sukh Saha killed Zheng Zhilong's family and ruined Aobai's plan.

Ao Bai returned to the palace, participated in Sukh Saha, and asked Bumu Butai to abolish Sukh Saha.

"Aobai, the mourning family understands that you are loyal. But this Suke Saha is also a loyal minister of my Great Qing Dynasty, and since Zheng Zhilong's people are already dead, then let's do it. Maybe it's a good thing that Zheng Zhilong is dead, when you go to Jiangnan, meet Zheng Zhilong's army, and announce the news of Zheng Zhilong's killing, it can disturb Zheng Zhilong's army! "Bumu Butai said.

"But Sukh Saha's pretense is really hateful! This man should be killed! Ao Bai said indignantly.

"General Aobai will send his troops south first! Wait until you return victorious, and then discuss the matter. "Bumu Butai didn't really want to deal with Sukh Saha at all, because she knew very well that once Sukh Saha died, Sonny would be old and incompetent, and Suppilon would be on Aobai's side again. If Sukh Saha is not contained, Aobai will have sole power!

Ao Bai thought to himself: It's good! Wait for the old man to return victoriously, and then deal with Suke Saha, a dog minion! Thinking of this, he made a thousand calls: "Back to Lafayette, the minions will go out first, and hope that Lafayette will wait for the news of the minions' triumphant return!" ”

Ao Bai left the palace and then set out with a large army. This time, Ao Bai led more than 6,000 Eight Banners to the expedition. The Qing army left the capital and marched south along the canal. In the Cangzhou area, about 20,000 horses from the Tianjin Green Battalion and the Hebei Green Battalion came to assemble, and these Green Battalion troops were all after receiving the order to go out to Aobai. Immediately dispatch troops and set off with their own grain and grass. Along the way, there will be Shandong Green Camp, Henan Green Camp, Jianghuai Green Camp and Hubei Green Camp to assemble. Eventually, Ao Bai would organize an army of 1560,000 men to march south along the canal to conquer Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Huangyan.

In addition to the Green Camp Army, the Eight Banners soldiers from Tianjin, Baoding, Jinan, Dezhou, Kaifeng, Yangzhou and other places will also send people. According to Aobai's assumption, each place will probably send five or six hundred full eight banners.

Who knew that after arriving in Cangzhou, the total number of people from Tianjin and Hebei's Manchurian Eight Banners was less than 200, but more than 500 people from each place came from the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Eight Banners.

"Why are there only so many people?" Ao Bai was furious.

Prince Yue Le replied, "It's good to have so many people!" After years of conquest. The old Eight Banners are almost dead, these second-generation Eight Banners who were born after entering the customs, old general, can you still expect them to fight? When it comes to the southern expedition, they all find excuses to shirk. Who wants to die? ”

"They can only move around in fixed places and are not allowed to leave the city at will. Today, there is an opportunity for them to walk around, and these Eight Banners children actually give up a rare good opportunity to travel? Ao Bai said angrily.

The Eight Banners system of the Qing Dynasty was very strict, although it is said that the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not have a fourth-class system like the Mengyuan. But the banner people have privileges that the Han people do not have, and even if they commit a crime, the sentence is completely different. Other than that. The banner people do not need to work and are not allowed to engage in agriculture, industry and commerce, which is even more backward than the Mongolian Yuan did not restrict the Mongols and Semu people from doing business! In fact, the Manchu Qing was even more backward than the Meng Yuan, and the Manchu Qing was still a barbaric primitive before entering the customs, and the Meng Yuan was at least already a slave system. It is precisely because the Manchus dragged China back too badly that they had their own history of humiliation.

However, the flag people not only have privileges, but they are also severely restricted. Ordinary bannermen are not allowed to leave the city where they are stationed without permission. Therefore, going south is a rare opportunity for those ordinary flag people to travel. In addition, they only had the opportunity to leave the garrison when the defense was transferred or when the emperor was hunting on a large scale.

Yue Le smiled bitterly: "It's a good opportunity to travel, but it's a price for life!" ”

"The prince is so unconfident in the old man? Do you think the old man will lose to Zheng Wei and Zhang Wei? Ao Bai sneered.

"The old general fought from outside the gate to inside the pass, invincible, how could he be defeated by Zheng Wei and Zhang Wei?"

"It is impossible for our noble Manchus to lose to their Han Chinese!" Ao Bai said.

Yue Le did not agree with Aobai's words, he knew very well that if there was no green camp, the Qing Dynasty would not have been able to conquer Jiangnan at all. However, he did not dare to have any objections to Aobai's words.

No matter how rotten the Eight Banners are, they are also the foundation of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in Aobai's mind, and he needs the Eight Banners to control the Han people.

Ao Bai is still on the way, and Zheng Chenggong has entered the lower reaches of the Qiantang River from Hangzhou Bay.

The lower reaches of the Qiantang River are not large, the water is shallow, and the tide is extremely large, which is not conducive to the navigation of large ships. Fortunately, most of Zheng Chenggong's fleet was small boats, which not only could easily enter the Qiantang River, but also could enter the Grand Canal in a roundabout way as long as some small rivers in the north of Hangzhou Bay were controlled.

Small boats flying the flag of Zheng Jiajun came one by one and landed in the north of Hangzhou Bay.

"The Haikou is here!" The Qing soldiers patrolling the riverside shouted anxiously when they saw the Zheng Jiajun landing.

"The thieves are powerful, and you and I can't stop them! Run! A Qing army veteran said.

The Ming army landed in Hangzhou Bay, but the Qing army in Hangzhou did not send troops out to block it, but watched the Ming army swagger onto land.

In the city of Hangzhou, Zhao Tingchen, the governor of Zhejiang, summoned the governor Zhu Changzuo, as well as the Hangzhou general Zhuo Nei Lahadai, the governor of Zhejiang, Zu Zeqing, and the prefect of Hangzhou to discuss how to fight Zheng Chenggong.

"Haikou will not enter the Yangtze River this time, and will directly attack Hangzhou! This time, the sea is very strong, we must not rush to attack, we must be stationed in Hangzhou Jiancheng. Hold on to it! Zhao Tingchen said.

"There are ten gates in Hangzhou City, if the thieves besiege Hangzhou City, one gate is only a few thousand people, and after deducting the auxiliary soldiers, a gate thief can only have less than a thousand people, and if they want to besiege it, they will disperse their forces; If we hit a little attack, we are left with a back road. So as long as we rely on the fortified city to defend it, the thieves will definitely not be able to break the city! "Zu Ze Qingdao.

Zhuonelahadi arched his hand and said, "Everyone, my Eight Banners Army is good at field warfare. Now, if we want to give up the field warfare that we are good at, and carry out the defensive warfare that we are not good at, is this not attacking the strengths of the other with our own shortcomings? I think we should take the initiative to attack and break it in one fell swoop while Zheng Wei has not yet gained a firm foothold! ”

Zhao Tingchen reminded: "Lord Zhuonelahadi, have you forgotten to manage allegiance three years ago? This person was too confident and thought that the Eight Banners were invincible in the field, but he was defeated by Zheng Yi! ”

"Yes!" Zu Zeqing nodded. "If you attack rashly, I'm afraid you will be a thief! Zheng Wei is good at field warfare, and my Qing Dynasty royal division has suffered big losses in the hands of Zheng Cheng many times! Don't be underestimated! ”

Zhu Changzuo said: "Back then, Li Cheng (Dingguo) was good at land warfare, while Zheng Cheng was good at advancing by land and water. As long as there is water, this person will be like a fish in water, and we must not underestimate it! ”

Although Dhornela Hardy wanted to fight, most people did not approve of him. In particular, Zhao Tingchen's mention of the management of allegiance made him break out in a cold sweat. At that time, Guan Allegiance was defeated, and many bannermen were hanged by Shunzhi. And even the family members were sent to Ningguta as slaves.

Zu Ze Qingxiang persuaded: "Lord Zhuonelahadai, as long as we can't hold on and wait for reinforcements to arrive, we will naturally be able to easily defeat the thieves!" That ready-made credit doesn't wait for a while, but to take a risk? ”

"You have a point!" Dronerahadi arched his hand in all directions.

Zheng Chenggong's army had all landed, and after defeating the small scattered green camp Qing army outside Hangzhou, Zheng's army approached in the direction of Hangzhou City.

In the Chinese army, Wang Xinyu proposed to Zheng Chenggong: "There are ten gates in Hangzhou City, and if our army besieges Hangzhou City, we must disperse our forces, and there are less than 3,000 people in each city gate." Once the Tartars launch a counterattack against our army, then the scattered our army will be easily defeated by the concentrated Tartars. ”

"So according to what the virtuous nephew sees, how should we break the city?" Zheng Chenggong asked.

"Lord Wang, please look here!" Wang Xinyu pointed to the map and said, "The ten city gates of Hangzhou, among which the Houchao Gate, Wangjiang Gate and Fengshan Gate in the south are all on the side of the mountain. The Qingbo Gate, Yongjin Gate and Qiantang Gate in the west all face the West Lake, and it is difficult for the Tartars to escape out of the city. We should concentrate our forces and attack the two gates of Qingchun Gate and Qingtai Gate in the east, and lay in ambush at Wulin Gate and Genshan Gate in the north, and when the enemy in the city escapes, we will pursue from behind, and we will surely win a great victory. ”

Zheng Chenggong smiled: "Hahaha! Virtuous nephew, this is on paper! You haven't been to Hangzhou, just look at the map, do you know that some of the doors are water gates? For example, the Fengshan Gate is the Water Gate. That martial arts gate is also a water gate. The water of the Qiantang River enters from the Fengshan Gate, flows out from the Wulin Gate, and enters the canal. For our fleet here to enter the canal, we must capture the city of Hangzhou. Otherwise, you will have to make a detour from Haining! If the Tartars withdraw their troops by ship from Wulin Gate, how can we catch up? ”

"Then we should seal the water gate of Wulin Gate and build forts on both sides of the canal to prevent the Tartars from escaping. On land, three thousand elites were ambushed at Genshan Gate. The direction of our attack is still at the two gates of Qingchun Gate and Qingtai Gate. We have siege mortars in our hands, and we will definitely be able to easily break through Hangzhou. Wang Xinyu said.

Zheng Chenggong stroked his long beard and nodded: "Yes!" This king also means that! We concentrated our forces on both gates, and we didn't have to worry about the Tartars counterattacking. At Watergate, we didn't really need to build forts, as long as the archers on both sides of the bank fired rockets, we could prevent the Tartars from running away. Because the canal where the Wulin Gate goes out is less than ten zhang wide, it is blocked by archers. If you see a Tartar ship escaping, you can destroy it with a rocket. ”

"It's still Shibo Gaoming!" Wang Xinyu arched his hand.

"The experience of virtuous nephews is still not enough, it takes a period of time to hone, and he will definitely become a genius!" Zheng Chenggong said with a smile.

Zheng Jiajun set up positions outside the two gates of Qingchun Gate and Qingtai Gate, built camps, dug trenches, and made the appearance of preparing to attack Hangzhou City.

The Qing army at the head of the city couldn't help but feel a little frightened when they saw the Zheng family's army with its mighty momentum, bright armor, and neat military appearance. At this time, there were only more than 1,000 Eight Banner Army and less than 10,000 Green Battalion Army left in Hangzhou, and if the people were formed, more than 20,000 people could be organized. But it's all a rabble.

Zhao Tingchen saw that there were a lot of cannons in the Ming army, and he was very worried that the Ming army would bombard the city with artillery, so he sent envoys out of the city.

"Surrender after fifteen?" Zheng Chenggong tore up Zhao Tingchen's letter, "Hahaha! And to give this king a plan to delay the army? Three years ago, this king suffered a loss, will he suffer the same loss this time? Go back and tell you Lord Zhao that Kaicheng surrenders immediately! Otherwise, after this king breaks the city, don't blame this king for being ruthless! ”

The Ming army began to attack the city immediately after the completion of the construction, and at the same time, another Zheng army iron cavalry battalion and Xiaocai town detoured back to the Genshan Gate to ambush, and a group of archers ambushed on both sides of the canal.

The light cavalry and heavy cavalry of the Zheng family army were formed after the great victory in Xiamen, and many war horses were captured at that time and formed into light cavalry. Zheng Chenggong bought a number of high-headed horses from the Dutch and the Portuguese to form heavy cavalry.

The war drums rumbled, the flags were unfurled, the cannons in the rear of the Ming army made a deafening roar, the cannonballs flew up to the city, smashed the female walls one after another, the city tower was blown down a large piece, and there were pits on the city wall. The shells hit the Qing artillery at the head of the city, smashing those cannons into scrap metal.

Suppressing the artillery at the head of the city, the Ming army dug up the earth, piled up sandbags, and advanced little by little in the direction of the city wall. At the same time, a large number of Ming army auxiliaries pushed shield carts to fill the moat outside the city.

Standing at the head of the city, Dronela Hadi asked, "Are the thieves going to build a slope to attack the city?" ”

Zu Zeqing said: "This method of building a soil slope to attack the city is extremely time-consuming, how long does it take to pile up such a high soil slope?" When their slope is finished, our reinforcements will arrive! ”

Zhuo Nei Lahadi laughed: "Even if the reinforcements don't arrive, and their dirt slope is repaired, our Eight Banners cavalry can take advantage of the situation to rush down and kill them without leaving a piece of armor!" ”

Under the moat, the Ming army blocked the arrow projectiles shot down from the city head with shield carts, and a large number of auxiliary soldiers threw sandbags into the river. From time to time, an auxiliary soldier was shot by an arrow and fell screaming. The archers and bird gunners of the Ming army under the city also shot fiercely at the head of the city, and the Qing army at the head of the city was full of flesh and blood, and the screams were repeated. (To be continued.) )