"Did they bring back the war book?" Hu Quancai took it for granted that the Ming army did not dare to send his own people to Wuchang as envoys, so he sent a few prisoners back, and he ignored the words "large number" used by the heralds.

"Nope." The herald also found the news unbelievable.

When the Wuchang soldiers arrived in Hanyang Mansion one after another this morning, the Hanyang garrison still thought that he was dreaming, and desperately opened his eyes wide, only to see the scene in front of him clearly, and was convinced that the Ming army had really released thousands of Qing soldiers.

In the face of the Governor of Huguang's inquiry, the herald replied cautiously: "When the villain came from Hanyang Mansion, more than 500 soldiers had already returned to the city, and I heard from the leader that Deng Ming, the puppet governor of Jiangnan, had released more than 1,700 people in total. ”

"What?" The staff around Hu Quancai, as well as those generals, all shouted out in a gaffe.

In the face of the unanimous questioning of everyone in the lobby, the little soldier shrank his neck and continued to report in a low voice with a timid expression: "I heard from the people who came back that Deng Ming picked out all the captured officers and soldiers who had families here in Wuchang and Hanyang, and released them all to go home. ”

The people in the yamen were all dumbfounded, you look at me, I look at you.

These soldiers, who had small families in the city, were arguably the most reliable soldiers in the Qing army, because when they faced the Ming attack, they defended the city to protect the safety of their loved ones. However, if they are used by the Ming army, they will also be very dangerous enemies, because they will desperately attack the city in order to reunite with their families.

After learning that the Wuchang soldiers sent to Zhongxiang had been wiped out, Hu Quancai immediately ordered all the families of these people to be prosecuted. If the Ming army dared to use these people as the vanguard to attack the city, he planned to bring the families of these people to the city to use it to defeat the morale of these Wuchang soldiers.

However, it is difficult to say the effect of this method, because the limited position on the city wall makes it impossible to escort all the families of the surrendered soldiers to him, let alone accurately send the relatives of the soldiers who are besieging the city to him, at most shouting and threatening them to kill all their dependents if they do not defect. However, it is not easy for the other party to defect in the Ming army, and if they really kill their dependents, it may arouse their desire for revenge. In short, this kind of thing is very difficult to deal with.

Everyone in the lobby asked themselves one by one, if they were in the position of Deng Ming, they would definitely not put such a good group of cannon fodder back.

"Could it be that he doesn't want to fight Wuchang anymore?" One of the staff members muttered to himself, but felt that his judgment seemed wrong.

Everyone really couldn't figure out the meaning of Deng Ming's actions, so they looked at the governor of Huguang, who was sitting firmly in the middle, hoping that the governor could see through the sinister intentions of the enemy commander.

"Of course not, this move shows that he wants to attack Wuchang, otherwise he won't let these people back." After the initial shock, Hu Quancai's face sank like water, and he sat in his chair without saying a word and listened to the discussions of the people below. By the time everyone looked over, the governor of Huguang had already figured out a qiē, and he had a deep understanding of Deng Ming's intentions: "He will definitely launch a feint attack, hype that he wants to take Wuchang, let these people die for him, send these troops to attack the city as the vanguard, and use our hands to consume them, and also borrow their hands to consume the officers and soldiers in the city, this is the thief's plan to kill two birds with one stone." ”

Everyone nodded when they heard this, and when they saw Hu Quancai's confident appearance, some staff members immediately quipped: "Then what is the plan of this fang?" ”

"Hmph." Hu Quancai flicked his sleeves, stood up from the chair, walked to the hall with his hands behind his back, the worry between his eyebrows became thicker and thicker, and after pacing back and forth in front of the civil and military officials in Huguang for two years, Hu Quancai looked up to the sky and sighed: "Deng Ming has a strong army this time, and he doesn't need these troops that he feels unreliable." ”

Hu Quancai estimated that if there were tens of thousands of Wuchang soldiers who surrendered, Deng Ming's method would be the same as the trick Wu Sangui used in Yunnan, using the surrendered army as the vanguard and letting them counterattack their hometown; But now there were only one or two thousand Wuchang soldiers, and Deng Ming thought that these troops with questionable combat effectiveness could not inflict heavy losses on the Wuchang defenders, and that in case of defeat, it might affect morale, so he still used the Ming army as the main offensive force.

"Deng Ming's thieves are far more than 100,000, so he can defeat Zhong Xiang in two years. He sent these people back to break the morale of our army in an attempt to disturb people's hearts and make the officers and men lose their fighting spirit to resist to the death. The more Hu Quancai thought about it, the more he felt that Deng Mingyīn was sinister and vicious. If only a few captives were released back to publicize that the Ming army would not kill and surrender the troops, Hu Quancai would still be able to control the news and not let the army's morale be affected. But now that the other party has released 2,000 people in one go, the news can't be held back no matter what, maybe it has spread in the city now.

"Deng Ming, you are so vicious." Hu Quancai gritted his teeth and said, and then reasoned to his subordinates: "Two thousand people return to Wuchang, think about how much movement there will be along the way!" Now the people around him already know that his army is pressing the border; Those ignorant fools and foolish women will also think that since he doesn't even kill the soldiers, he probably won't kill the common people, so that when the thieves drive towards Wuchang, those stupid people will not flee, which is more conducive to him collecting grain and grass. ”

Seeing that the governor of Huguang broke through the enemy's sinister intentions in just a few words, and analyzed it to the head, everyone was convinced.

The confusion in the herald's heart is no longer there. He remembered something again, and hurriedly shouted to Hu Quancai: "Your Excellency, the people who released them also said that Deng Ming gave each of them one or two pieces of silver, saying that it was "severance pay". In exchange for a promise to them, they are not allowed to disturb the people along the way, and they must give money for meals and boats. ”

"It's vicious!" Hearing this, an official was furious, jumped up, clenched his hands into fists, and shouted at Hu Quancai: "My lord, he is deceiving the foolish people, let them stay and lead the way for him." ”

Hu Quancai bowed his head slightly, and said softly: "Sure enough, it is not what I expected." ”

"My lord, how do we deal with it?" Now everyone in the church is anxious. Deng Ming's murderous intentions were revealed and he was pressing step by step, but his trick was still difficult to deal with. It is impossible for as many as 2,000 soldiers to kill all of them, and they must have spread the news all the way back, even if they are all killed, it is useless.

When this matter spreads all over Hanyang and Wuchang, the hearts of the people will definitely fluctuate, and the Qing army will be convinced that Deng Ming treats the prisoners well, and when the Ming army attacks the city on a large scale, how can they still expect the soldiers to resist without sacrificing their lives?

"It's a big deal, it's really good." Although he hated Deng Ming's viciousness, Hu Quancai also secretly admired the other party's strategy and courage. released 2,000 soldiers who could be used as cannon fodder in one breath, and this ploy is indeed not something that a small-bellied person can handle; And Hu Quancai can't use these surrenders with confidence now, who knows how many of them have been bought by Deng Ming? It will take a while of patience to regain these surrenders. But at the moment, the soldiers are in danger, and it is obvious that there is not such a long time. Hu Quancai thought about it carefully, and was shocked to find that the other party's strategy could be called leaky and unguardable.

Slowly walking back to his chair and sitting down, Hu Quancai picked up the three arrows on the table. He didn't have time to put them away just now, and there is no need to put them away now.

"Summons Yiling, Jiangling, and Poyang Lake Water Divisions, and let them return to Wuchang immediately and prepare to meet the traitors." Hu Quancai threw the three arrows together in front of the hall again.

Just now, everyone was still speaking out against it, and most of them remained silent at this time. Deng Ming's intentions were too obvious, and Hu Quancai's analysis of the enemy completely convinced the civil and military officials present that it was indeed necessary to send a large army back to Wuchang at the moment.

"There are more than 100,000 thieves, and it is impossible to act as fast as flying." Seeing that his subordinates were depressed, Hu Quancai began to boost morale again, and further analyzed for everyone: "After defeating Zhongxiang, they will definitely have to rectify for a while. And Da Wuchang is not Xiao Zhongxiang, are the thieves really so arrogant, thinking that they can take Hanyang and Wuchang with tens of thousands of people? The governor concluded that their main force would not be able to rush to the city of Wuchang within ten days, and that the soldiers and horses of Yiling and Jiangling would be able to come within three days if they went down the river. ”

After hearing Hu Quancai's words, the worries on the faces of many people dissipated slightly.

At this time, the three pro-soldiers stepped forward, one of them picked up an arrow, and after Hu Quancai's staff prepared a written order, they were about to go upstream to deliver the order.

Watching a few staff members write the order to abandon Jiangfang, and listening to the sound of brushing ink, one of the staff members finally stood up against it. He said to Hu Quancai: "Your Excellency, once you are transferred back to the Shui Division and give up Jiangling and Yiling, the hard work of the past five years will be ruined. ”

Although this staff member did not say whose five-year effort it was, everyone knew that he was referring to Hong Chengchou. The fortresses around Shuishi and Yiling formed a complete defensive system. Since the formation of a powerful Poyang Lake Water Division, the Qing army was able to threaten the Ming army holding the choke point of the Three Gorges, forcing the other side to leave heavy troops to guard the base area, let alone attack Yiling by boat. It is easy to transfer the water division and the garrison troops back, but if the Ming army takes the opportunity to control the mouth of Poyang Lake, then it will be difficult for the water division to return.

"Once the thieves enter Poyang Lake and intercept our sailors, how many soldiers and horses should be sent to defend the counties around the lake? To raise so many soldiers, how should Huguang's wealth be supported? ”

Hong Chengchou had the full support of the Qing court back then, but now Hu Quancai does not. If the sailors could not enter Poyang Lake, they would have to find a place to rebuild their ships by the lake, and then beat the Ming army sailors out of the lake. Before regaining control of the waters of Poyang Lake, Changde Mansion in the west, Changsha Mansion in the south, and Wuchang Mansion in the east had to be on guard against the Ming army's landing at all times. It is conceivable that this will bring great military and economic difficulties to the Yamen, the governor of Huguang.

Everyone accused this person of speaking unrealistically, and now that Wuchang is in danger, how can he still have time to think about the troubles that will be encountered in the next few years.

Hu Quancai was also secretly angry in his heart. If Wuchang is lost, he, the governor of Huguang, will be able to do it. But if you can protect Wuchang in front of more than 100,000 Ming troops, then giving up Jiangfang is at most a meritorious service. Maybe the court won't punish you. After all, it was the imperial court that evacuated the Huguang troops in order to attack Kunming's grand strategy, and now that the Ming army is pressing the border, Hu Quancai has to abandon the car to protect the commander, which is really a helpless move.

But the staff still refused to give up, and persuaded bitterly: "The governor has transferred back the heavy troops in Yiling, Jiangling and other places, Wuchang can probably solve the urgent need, Yuezhou should not give up for the time being, let the sailor stay in Yuezhou first." If Wuchang is really in distress, Yuezhou is not far away, and the sailors can come soon. ”

Although he was unhappy, Hu Quancai admitted that what this person said was still reasonable. The abandonment of Poyang Lake will have too much impact, and it will indeed be very difficult to recover it in the future. So Hu Quancai revised the order that was to be sent to Yuezhou, ordering the sailors to stay there for the time being, but to do their best to transport the troops from Yiling and other places to Wuchang through the Yangtze River.

After issuing these three orders, Hu Quancai sent Běijīng an urgent report of 600 li. According to the chapter, Deng Ming, the pseudo-Ming Jiangnan governor of the suspected clan, suddenly led 200,000 Liukou, known as 570,000 people, to kill Wuchang along the Han River. The troops of the two lakes were empty and difficult to resist, and they urgently needed the green battalions from Henan, Jiangxi and other places to enter Hubei for support. If possible, Hu Quancai also hoped to be able to transfer some jīng sharp soldiers and horses from Guizhou back to Huguang.

As long as some jīng Rui troops can be transferred back from Guizhou, Hu Quancai feels that it doesn't matter much if Poyang Lake is lost. After all, as long as the prefectures and counties around the lake are controlled, the Ming army sailors will definitely not wait for death in the lake, but can only retreat obediently. However, this request may not be agreed, after all, the Yongli Son of Heaven is in the southwest, and the Qing court's grand strategy is to concentrate on eliminating the appealing Yongli Son of Heaven, so that the people of the world believe that the Ming Dynasty has completely perished.

Hu Quancai took this into account and hinted to the imperial court in the recital that it should not only focus on the son of tomorrow who had abandoned the country and fled to Burma, but should pay more attention to Deng Ming. This Ming clan, whose identity is still unknown, made trouble in Sichuan and Huguang, and his reputation was prosperous. If he continues to make trouble, sooner or later he will surpass the day when the Son of Heaven will be exceeded. Moreover, Deng Ming's current scope of activity was not remote and barbaric Burma, and his threat to Qing rule was far greater than that of Yongli.

……

Zhong Xiang.

Deng Ming has been quite idle these days. The prisoners were released, and the soldiers who had been borrowed from the four generals to take care of the captives were therefore useless, and after returning the soldiers to several generals, Deng Ming taught the guards to read and write every day, and at the same time consulted with them about the future.

Deng Ming decided that he still wanted to go to Nanjing, but he planned to wait a few more days and wait until the generals of Kui Dong returned to their base area before parting with them, at which time the Qing army would probably think that Deng Ming would also go back with the Ming army. Taking advantage of this miscalculation of the Qing court, it was possible to travel to Nanjing more safely. At present, Huguang is in chaos, and it is not very difficult to get through the tricks.

After arriving in Nanjing, he naturally tried his best to help Zheng Chenggong win. Deng Ming also planned to borrow a few soldiers from Liu Tichun from the demolition team to go to Nanjing together, and bring the experience of attacking the city during this period to Zheng Chenggong's army. If Zheng Chenggong's Battle of Nanjing had been successful, the Qing court's center of gravity would definitely shift to the southeast, and its ability to control the southern vassal kings would also be greatly weakened, and the shape of Sichuan and Yunnan would have changed dramatically.

It's just that how to face the Yongli Imperial Court is still a difficult problem.

During the festival, Kunming sent several letters, repeatedly asking about Deng Ming's life experience, and asking Wen Anzhi to report to the imperial court in detail. Wen Anzhi showed these letters to Deng Ming, just to ask him how he planned to answer the meaning of the imperial court. However, Deng Ming didn't know how to explain his origin, and Wen An saw that Deng Ming was hesitant, so he didn't urge him more, and he never mentioned it again. Deng Ming guessed that most of Wen Anzhi was also pretending to be deaf and dumb to the imperial court.

However, it is also delayed until Yongli returns to China. After Li Dingguo recaptured Kunming, there was no news of Yongli's return to China for a long time. Although Deng Ming was a little puzzled, he was also secretly happy. If the Son of Heaven of Yongli ordered to report his life experience, he didn't know how to shirk it. How can this be explained by refusing to explain his life experience? ”

The Ming army has already decided that it will return to Kuidong from next month, and this time Liu Tichun and others seem to be able to obtain a lot of grain and grass, and Deng Ming plans to organize another attack on Chóngqìng after he returns to Fengjie from Nanjing, and Huguang will definitely not be able to support Li Guoying after this battle. After opening up the traffic in eastern and western Sichuan, Deng Ming also wanted to ask Liu Tichun and Hao Shaoqi for some people to go, as long as there was enough manpower, the development of the western Sichuan Plain could also be put on the way.

……

After sending off the concerto, Hu Quancai mobilized the people of Hanyang and Wuchang to strengthen the city. Wuchang has not encountered a war for more than ten years, and now the streets and alleys are full of rumors that the Ming army is approaching, and Hu Quancai's mobilization work has increased the tension, and the city is shocked. Most of the gentry who missed the Ming Dynasty were already desperate, but they also became active at this time.

As for those surrendered troops who returned to Wuchang, Hu Quancai sent them all to the military camp in the south of the city to isolate them, intending to wait for the Ming army's large-scale attack to be repelled before slowly screening them and pulling up all the nails planted by the Ming army. However, Hu Quancai's disposition made these Wuchang soldiers who returned to their hometown very dissatisfied, and they finally came back, but they still couldn't see their families, and every time they stayed in the barracks, they were imprisoned.

The troops responsible for monitoring these surrenders were also Wuchang soldiers, who were already familiar with each other, and many soldiers were friends and neighbors. The dissatisfaction of these surrenders soon spread to the surveillance troops, and the surrenderers also asked acquaintances in the surveillance troops to bring a message to their homes to report their safety, so that the resentment spread further to the city. When the news of Zhongxiang's fiasco first came back, the families of the soldiers who participated in the war were very sad that their relatives could not survive, but at that time the anger was concentrated on the Ming army. When under the watchful eye of the Governor of Huguang, the Yamen, these families were helpless; Now that I finally learned that a large number of people had returned, but they didn't have the opportunity to meet their families, they naturally had to resent Hu Quancai, and most of the people in Wuchang City were privately scolding this Shanxi guy for not being a thing.

Hu Quancai didn't care about this, and he could only wait until after repelling the Ming army. The top priority at the moment is to prepare for the attack of the Ming army, although it is necessary to suppress the people's hearts, but it must not be too high-pressure, otherwise the Wuchang garrison will mutiny and chaos. Now Hu Quancai is looking forward to the news of Běijīng every day, and he hopes that the Qing court will quickly come up with countermeasures and quickly transfer reinforcements from other provinces to him.

Just when Hu Quancai was restless, Zhou Peigong and other staff members also returned to Wuchang one after another, and the return of these gentlemen immediately caused an uproar.

Governor Hu not only did not reproach them for being greedy for life and afraid of death, but also cordially expressed his condolences, which deeply moved the staff members and called them capital crimes. Recalling what happened in Zhongxiangfu City, they still felt fear and humiliation.

After pacifying these guests, Hu Quan asked them about Zhong Xiang's battle situation. The course of the war described by these people was similar to what the officers of Wuchang said, it was a rapid attack by the Ming army, and the city fell in more than two hours. It is also said that Deng Ming also appeared on the battlefield and personally commanded the Hanyang general army who tried to break through, single-handedly causing the annihilation of the defenders.

After the Wuchang soldiers were released, they claimed that the Ming army had at least 70,000 or 80,000 troops. Hu Quancai thought that in order to reduce the guilt, the soldiers would generally exaggerate the enemy's strength by double under normal circumstances, so wouldn't it be that the Ming army actually didn't even have 40,000 people?

A few of the staff members did not need to bear the responsibility for the defeat, so they were more conservative, believing that the Ming army was only 40,000 or 50,000 at most. The staff also said that when they left Zhongxiangfu City, they learned that some Ming army generals had led their troops to the local area to collect taxes, and the city was empty, so Jian Yiyi Hu Quancai immediately sent a general to lead the troops and quickly rushed to Zhongxiang to capture Deng Mingsheng alive.

Hu Quancai's advice was not adopted, and according to Hu Quancai's estimates, the strength of the Ming army was at least four times that of 40,000 or 50,000 men. Zhong Xiang's Liu Tichun, Hao Shaoqi and others dared to scatter to the countryside to collect grain, indicating that they were not worried that Wuchang had the ability to attack Zhong Xiang.

After the banquet was over, Hu Quancai certainly wouldn't lock up the gentry like he did with the soldiers, the gentry's family had already been informed, and now the servants who took them home were waiting outside the governor's yamen.

Hu Quancai left Zhou Peigong alone. Most of the others were like the governor of Huguang who received fame from the Ming Dynasty, while Zhou Peigong was a grace given by the Qing Dynasty, and he would not have the psychological burden of betraying his lord and being ungrateful, and belonged to one of the most reliable groups of gentry.

"It's a pity that the handsome man doesn't listen to me......" Zhou Peigong recounted Zhong Xiang's thrilling experience, and couldn't help beating his chest and sighing with emotion, and he still remembered his many tactical ideas for the battle.

Hu Quancai asked a few questions and patiently listened to Zhou Peigong's explanation. The governor of Huguang is a half-bucket of water for the military, and he used to follow Hong Chengchou for most of the time, and his most experience in leading troops was to defend the city with 20,000 soldiers in Yunyang, but he was still stronger than Zhou Peigong, who had never seen a battle formation at all.

"Hmph, if I had listened to you at that time, I would have lost faster." Hu Quancai thought in his heart, but he didn't reveal it, and made a listening appearance.

"Have you seen that Deng Ming? What do you think of this person? Hu Quancai asked.

=================================

Author's note: Some readers suggested that I update it at 11 o'clock in advance, what do you think? You can leave me a message in the book review section. This is even more on January 20rì, if everyone thinks that 11 o'clock is good, then the next watch on January 21 rì at 23 o'clock in the evening, that is, 47 hours later.