At noon, on the southwest avenue of Nanjing.

A contingent of Qing troops was hurrying in the direction of Nanjing, and they pulled out a long marching column on the official road. On the side of the column were large carts one after another, on which were stacked with armor and other baggage, on which there was not even a cloth curtain to cover it.

There were hardly any human figures on either side of the avenue, and occasionally people passed by, and when they noticed the smoke and dust raised by the march, they immediately flashed to the side of the road in a panic, and hid in the shadows and watched these soldiers nervously - in recent days, the guest troops from all over the country who came to the aid of Nanjing were extremely arrogant, and most of the people outside the city fled from this place to avoid the limelight, and only a few people were reluctant to leave their hometowns, so they took refuge in the vicinity in fear.

The large army that was hurrying towards Nanjing did not pay any attention to these stares from the shadows, and since there had been no news from the outpost, they continued to march at full speed according to the original plan. The hidden people watched for a long time, but they did not recognize the identity of this army, whether it was a general flag or a military flag, this army did not have any. One of the evaders, a well-read boy who knew something about the system of officers and soldiers, secretly looked at it for a long time, and was surprised to find that this Qing army did not have any recognizable signs.

Not only that, but the vehicles next to the Qing column were also very unorthodox, and it was said that the baggage should be separated from the combat troops, and it was very dangerous to march in such a mixed manner in wartime, and it was difficult for the troops to deploy in case of ambushes; In peacetime, there is no need for mixing, and it will also affect the appearance of the military. However, this Qing army not only had a mixed mix of people and vehicles, but also used large animals used by the common people, such as donkeys, mules and even ploughing oxen.

The official roads around Nanjing were relatively well repaired, and although these vehicles were pulled by donkeys and mules, they also walked quite quickly and steadily. From time to time, the Qing soldiers walking by the car shouted to the coachmen passing by: "I'm tired, let me go up and sit for a while." After saying that, he jumped into the car with his weapon in his arms. Not only were the drivers who transported the baggage not to be stopped, but no officer in the column came out to interfere with this disregard for military discipline.

As a result, the cars were always full of soldiers, and the official roads were filled with the shouts of the coachmen, as if they were a migratory nomadic tribe rather than a marching combat force.

A few miles in front of this army, Deng Ming was searching and advancing with more than 140 cavalry. After nearly a hundred war horses were captured from the Yangzhou Green Battalion, all those in the Zhejiang army who could ride, had ridden horses, or claimed to have ridden horses were selected to form this horse team of the Ming army.

Not long after Zhao Tianba and the others left this morning, they swarmed again, and proposed to Deng Ming in unison: Attack Nanjing!

According to the captivity's report, after Zheng Chenggong evacuated Chongming Island, Nanjing knew that the final victory in the battle had been achieved, and the city was full of civil and military bullets. The main force of the Zhejiang army has fled to Anqing, Zhang Huangyan himself went to Chaohu, and the rest is to finish the work of chasing and suppressing the rout, and a large number of government soldiers and county warriors gathered from many prefectures and counties in the four directions will soon leave Nanjing and return to their respective stations.

In the past, when the situation was critical, the governor of Liangjiang could tolerate them causing trouble in the city, but after the situation improved, the importance of public security in the city continued to rise, and as early as when Zheng Chenggong retreated from Zhenjiang, these urgently summoned troops had been sent out of the city by Lang Tingzuo one after another. But in any case, these horses were all in response to the governor's call to come to Nanjing to support the city defense, and if they were not given some sweetness, then in case there was anything else in Nanjing in the future, it would be difficult to expect reinforcements from the surrounding local troops. Therefore, Lang Tingzuo let them disturb the inhabitants of the outskirts of the city, and yesterday he also took out the silver taels from the treasury and gave the troops outside the city a three-day flowing banquet, so that they could return to their hometowns with enough food and drink.

Judging from the descriptions of the captured soldiers of the Yangzhou Green Battalion, the guards of these green battalions stationed outside the city were worse than the Great Victory Pass, and after the Nanjing side announced that it had driven the Ming army out of the Yangtze River and won a complete victory, these guest soldiers also knew that their parting was imminent, so they went out to steal chickens and dogs -- they also heard that the pursuing troops led by Guan Xiaozhong had sacked Zhenjiang and other places, and had also robbed a large number of women and sold them to other places.

"Although we defeated the Tartars at Dasheng Pass, we would have made the Nanjing there jǐng, but only a dozen cavalry escaped," Zhao Tianba said that the opportunity was not completely lost, and he pointed out to Deng Ming: "Most of the Tartars not only fled on foot, but they were not locals, and they were not familiar with the road and direction. ”

And the fleeing cavalry could not make Nanking understand what was going on for a moment, and they would not declare martial law again until the situation was clarified. From Dasheng Pass to Nanjing, even if you hurry up, how can you run for more than half an hour, wait for the city gate guards to figure out their identities, let them into the city, and then ask one by one, it is estimated that it will take another hour to find out the situation, and wait for the people below to report to Lang Tingzuo, and then he decided to send someone to reconnoiter the situation of Dasheng Pass, and it is estimated that it will be night. Zhou Kaihuang interrogated the prisoners together with Zhao Tianba, and he added to Zhao Tianba's construction: "Even if the thieves send scouts and let the Tartars outside the city be on guard - there are 20,000 or 30,000 people outside the city, and they will definitely not be notified for a moment." ”

When Zhou Kaihuang spoke, Li Xinghan nodded vigorously on the side, feeling that Zhou Kaihuang had finished everything he wanted to say, and finally he only said one sentence: "Sir, we have the advantage of surprise attack." ”

"Do you build yì and we use these 4,000 men to attack the 30,000 Tartars outside the city?" Deng Ming had already understood what they meant, there were about 20,000 or 30,000 green battalions that were driven out of the city by Lang Tingzuo, although they were the most disorderly group - the larger ones had already rushed to Wuhu - but after all, the number was there, he turned his head to look at Ren Tang and the generals of the Zhejiang army who came with him: "Do you also agree with this plan?" ”

The group of people who followed Deng Ming are now as bold as tigers, and Deng Ming is not too surprised by this, but Ren Tang and they also rushed together with Zhao Tianba and others, and from the expression, they also seem to advocate sending troops, which makes Deng Ming feel a little strange, just winning a battle this morning, can it give the Zhejiang army such a big morale boost?

"Yes, Admiral, we also approve of Zhao Qianhu's plan." Ren Tang nodded heavily, after interrogating the prisoners just now, when Zhao Tianba first put forward this proposition, some generals of the Zhejiang army were skeptical, but Ren Tang fully supported and persuaded most of the Zhejiang army to agree to advance and retreat with Zhao Tianba, and asked Deng Ming to fight together: "Our original intention was to camp at Dashengguan and then wait for Hu Shuai's reinforcements, but it is difficult to say when Hu Shuai will arrive, the later Nanjing launches an attack on us, the more likely we are to get out of danger safely." If we stay at Dasheng Pass, as Zhao Qianhu said, tonight or tomorrow morning, Nanjing will send people to see what is going on here, and we may soon let the surrounding forces concentrate on Dasheng Pass; And if we go around the city of Nanjing, even if the enemy is already on guard, it doesn't matter if we have no gaps: because when they see us rushing straight to Nanjing, the Tartars will not be able to understand our reality and dare not attack us lightly. Ren Tang used this reason to convince the other leaders of the Zhejiang army just now, and now when he told Deng Ming, the context had been sorted out very clearly: "And when we arrive at the city of Nanjing, this matter will make a bigger fuss, so that Hu Shuai will know the news earlier." Finally, we can also use this to hide the situation here at Dashengguan and delay time, so that we can stay in Nanjing for a day or two and then retreat to Dashengguan, that is, let Nanjing's attack on us be delayed by one or two days. ”

Deng Ming's gaze swept over the faces of the officers in the battalion, and he saw resolute faces, and he laughed: "All of you are heroes of the world, and it is really my great luck to be able to work with you." ”

The plan was decided, and the Zhejiang army immediately set off for Nanjing.

"Report to the Admiral!" A cavalryman of the Zhejiang army rushed to Deng Ming's horse, Deng Ming carefully strangled the horse, and the other people around him also looked at this cavalryman with jǐng - this Zhejiang soldier named Li Tianyuan claimed to be skilled in horsemanship and was recruited into the horse team, but when he came to report to Deng Ming just now, he couldn't control his mount at all, and he hit it head-on, but fortunately, Ren Tang was quick and pulled his reins.

This time, Li Tianyuan successfully pulled his horse, although his movements were still a little clumsy, but at least he didn't let the guards around Deng Ming pull the horse for him.

"The villain's team found a few more donkeys and two ploughing oxen." Li Tianyuan pointed to a small village not far away and reported to Deng Ming. The residents in this vicinity were nowhere to be found, and it is estimated that all of them had taken refuge, but some of the cattle were not taken away in time and were not discovered by the Qing soldiers.

"The ox cart is too slow, but the donkey is okay." Deng Ming said that compared with the cattle pulling the cart, the cart found a lot of them, and now there are not enough donkeys so they have to put the cattle on the cart: "Did the driver find it?" ”

"Admiral Qiqi, the villain's brother is behind, he is a good driver of the car." Li Tianyuan reported that his brother also claimed to be able to ride a horse, but he couldn't even climb the horse, and was brushed off the back of the foot.

"Really?" Deng Ming didn't quite believe his words.

"Absolutely." Li Tianyuan's face turned red, but it was not because of his weak heart, but because Deng Ming's suspicion made him feel humiliated: "The villain may not be able to ride well, but my brother is definitely the best at driving." ”

"Okay." Deng Ming nodded, there are people of all kinds of talents in the Zhejiang army, when looking for livestock and vehicles along the way, some people found erhu and allegro, sat on the car and began to perform for their companions, originally Zhao Tianba wanted to stop it, but Deng Ming preemptively stopped his stop - after all, the Zhejiang army is still a unit with little combat experience, these performances can divert the attention of the soldiers, and when they listen with relish and cheer, they will not think that they are moving towards an enemy ten times their size.

The cavalry who reconnoitred for the army kept finding the fallen cattle, and Ren Tang was not quite in favor of taking away the people's things in this way, especially the ploughing cattle, but he also knew that there was no better way to speed up the march and preserve the soldiers' bodies; Moreover, Deng Ming took out some silver taels and asked the scouts to put them in the house where they took the livestock, and seeing this, Ren Tang stopped muttering about Zhang Shangshu's military discipline.

The cavalry was the fastest, the convoy was second, and the soldiers who were left behind would let out a cheer whenever they saw a new empty car approaching them.

"Come up, brother."

This time, three donkey carts came in one go, led by Li Tianyuan's brother, who made a beautiful roundabout and stopped steadily in the middle of the road, and the three Ming soldiers happily jumped on the donkey cart.

"Drive, drive." The coachman hurried forward, and did not forget to boast to his companions behind him: "Look at me passing the convoy in front of me, the first to rush to Nanjing!" ”

……

Just as everyone analyzed, it was not until near noon that the four deserters of the Yangzhou Green Battalion were tied up and escorted into the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion, and the Scud, who was the first to flee back to Nanjing, was unceremoniously arrested by the city gate defenders. If it weren't for the city gate officer who said that it was not appropriate to kill people on the occasion of a great victory, he might have been beheaded by the defenders on the spot.

The second Yangzhou soldier was not much better than his companions, and was also tied up by the guards of the city gate, and the two of them were now accused of desertion, and the guard said that they would be in prison tonight, and that they would be sent back to Dasheng Pass tomorrow and handed over to their commander Ming Zhengcanon.

After a while, the battalion next to him sent another guy with a big tie, and the soldiers who escorted him said that they had caught a Ming army outside the camp who was spreading rumors and causing trouble, and this guy tried to disturb the morale of the army and create chaos, but their sharp-eyed commander saw through it, and he had already admitted his crime and was sent to Nanjing to ask for merit.

The guards at the city gate saw that his face was covered with black blue, his clothes were full of whip marks, and his eyes were swollen like peaches, and he couldn't open them anymore, and he kept muttering: "I'm fine, I'm fine, don't fight." ”

But another deserter, who was tied to a pillar for public display, recognized this fine work and immediately shouted hoarsely, calling this "Ming army fine work" one of his fellow refugees, and this morning rushed into the same stable to grab the horse. The guards were curious, so they asked the escorted soldiers a few more words, and found that this "fine work" also claimed to be the Yangzhou Green Battalion of Dasheng Pass.

The guard felt that something was strange, so he asked his men to escort the three men to the Liangjiang Governor's Palace, and while the officials of the Governor's Mansion were interrogating, another "fine work" was brought in from another city gate, saying that this guy was alarmist and trying to shake the morale of the army and infiltrate the city. After discovering that the fourth guy's statement was similar to the first three, the officials who interrogated them were also suspicious: "Could it be that something really happened to Dashengguan?" ”

But everyone thinks this is ridiculous, the Ming army has withdrawn from the Yangtze River, can it grow wings and fly back? Anqing still has the defeated Ming army, but Wuhu didn't report it. After thinking about it for a long time, a small official remembered the batch of Ming troops found at the junction of Yingtianfu and Changzhou Mansion a few years ago, but the Ming army obviously also went to Huangchi.

Of course, the officials of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion did not know that the Qing army, which was waiting for the rabbit in Huangchi, waited for two days and did not wait for the Ming army, so they set up posts around and killed many pedestrians indiscriminately -- the Qing army in Huangchi did not immediately rush to the aid of the Liangjiang Governor when Zheng Chenggong attacked Nanjing, and now they urgently need credit to clear themselves.

Since the Ming army could not have fallen from the sky, the officials were inclined to believe that these four guys were deserters, but there was an old man who was respectful and sent people to other city gates, as well as the camp facing south, to see if there was a similar situation.

"What if there is more?" A colleague asked.

"Then the big victory pass may really have an accident," the old official analyzed: "It's definitely not a sea rebellion, but the Yangzhou Green Camp may have caused too much disaster to the surrounding area and provoked a civil uprising." ”

"Ah, the people are in rebellion, is that going to send troops to suppress it?" The official who questioned him was suddenly a little nervous, provoking a popular uprising was a terrible thing in the past, although it is different now, after the great victory, the governor of Liangjiang and the imperial court will not take it seriously, but it is estimated that he will not be able to run away from the blame.

"Who knows if it's a civil uprising?" The third official who participated in the interrogation objected: "Even if it is, it is completely unclear whether the Yangzhou Green Camp has been defeated by the chaotic people, or whether it has gathered to suppress the chaotic people." ”

"Well, let's go to the city gates and camps to ask first, and if there are any deserters who call themselves Yangzhou Green Battalion, send someone to Dashengguan to ask."

This mention was unanimously approved, and the three interrogators looked at the rì outside, and it was almost noon, and they all felt a little hungry, and decided to go to eat first, and then send people to the city gates and the camps to inquire after eating.

"Don't report to the Governor just yet." This was also the unanimous opinion of the three interrogators, and Lang Tingzo was celebrating his victory, and he had not yet figured out anything, so he certainly could not disturb the good mood of the Governor. Moreover, the truth of this matter is likely to be that Dasheng shut down four deserters, and any civil uprising and sneak attack are all out of nowhere, if the lies of these deserters are solemnly reported to the governor, and finally find that there is nothing, then these three people will be considered to have done their best in the governor's yamen.

……

The magnificent city walls of Nanjing were already in sight, and the horse team led by Deng Ming finally met the small force of the Qing army.

"Which battalion are you from?" The Qing army they encountered was holding a few goats in their heads, and the carts pulled behind them were full of household goods found nearby, and they didn't see the banner of Deng Ming and his party for a long time, so they shouted at these people who grabbed the road with them.

"We are Yangzhou Green Camp." Immediately, someone shouted back: "We are from Dasheng Pass." ”

"What are you doing here?" The leader of the Qing soldiers asked angrily, Deng Ming's horse team seemed to have one or two hundred people, and they galloped on the road unscrupulously, and in order to avoid being bumped into these green battalions, they had to give way to the official road.

"I heard that there was a running water feast, so we came back for dinner." The horse team of the Yangzhou Green Battalion galloped past these Qing soldiers, and they replied loudly without looking back, when answering the question just now, Deng Ming and the others had already touched the weapon, but there was no difference on the faces of the Qing soldiers on the opposite side, and they all secretly let go.

Finally, when the cavalry was finished, the Qing soldiers dragged their things up the avenue again, but before they had gone far, there was another rumbling sound behind them, and when they looked back, the cart with their heads in sight was rushing towards them at a gallop.

"We are from Yangzhou Green Camp!"

"The running water mat is open, right?"

"We're here to eat too!"

The Qing soldiers, who had been driven down the road again, stood on the side of the road, and this time they received exactly the same answer as the horse team, except that this time there were more people, and it was obvious that they had to wait on the side of the road for a long time.

"The eight lambs of Yangzhou Green Camp." Qing Bing's hearts became angry one by one, and he couldn't help but scold: "I drove more than 20 miles back for dinner, and you really worked hard for this flowing water feast!" ”

"His grandmother's!" Seeing that the soldiers in the car were still pulling erhu and playing allegro, the officer led by him was also furious: "Is it for a meal?" Can you Yangzhou soldiers still have some talent? ”