Zheng Chenggong attacked Chongming Island in order to be able to place his family here, surrounded by sailors outside, so that the Fujian army would have the opportunity to free up his hands to fight the Qing army again. But the delay in taking Chongming Island will only make the demoralized Ming army more disintegrating. Zheng Chenggong learned that Liang Huafeng, Guan Xiaozhong and others had arrived in Suzhou Prefecture, and now although they were afraid of the superiority of the Ming army's sailors and did not dare to reinforce Chongming Island, Zheng Chenggong also did not dare to take risks, in case the Qing army succeeded in smuggling, with the current situation of the Ming army, I am afraid that it would be a defeat similar to that of Nanjing.

After giving up the attack on Chongming Island, it would be impossible for the Min army to turn back to support the Zhejiang army, and it would also lose its use in containing the Qing army. Although Zheng Chenggong didn't care about Zhang Huangyan anymore, he decided to retreat from Chongming Island in batches, so that the troops would not be pursued by the Qing army's naval divisions after the break, and the Qing army in Suzhou could be dragged for a few more days - Zheng Chenggong felt that it would not be of much help to the Zhejiang army that was trapped in the interior, and could only be regarded as a matter of personnel.

Although the result of this attack on Nanjing was completely different from what Zheng Chenggong expected, and it also lost many generals such as Gan Hui and Yu Xin, Zheng Chenggong had already begun to get rid of the negative feelings.

Accompanied by several personal guards, Zheng Chenggong walked to the beach. Looking at the south bank from afar, the dense firelight is all from the Qing army camp. Behind Zheng Chenggong, there was a faint cry of the Ming army's family, who were mourning the relatives who died in the battle today - because they failed to clear the enemy troops on Chongming Island, Zheng Jun still failed to complete the separation of military families.

"The Dutch plundered our merchants, and I have already sued them twice, saying that if they commit another crime, they will raise an army to fight against them." Zheng Chenggong quietly thought about his future strategy in his heart. It took Zheng Chenggong almost ten years to build this army. Although the loss this time is not small, with the sea trade route that Zheng Chenggong now controls, it is estimated that the old view can be restored in five years: "But when the Dutch hear that I have failed, they will inevitably have the desire to rob again." If I ignore their plundering of the Han family's merchant ships, my income will soon be greatly reduced; On the other hand, if I conquer Taiwan and take the base of the Dutch, the revenue from the shipping route between Penghu and Taiwan will no longer be shared between me and the Dutch, but will be my monopoly...... Although it will take some time, within five years I will still be able to restore my military strength, and I will have an additional Taiwan that can be used to house my family, so that I will not have to worry about the safety of the rear when I attack Nanjing next time. ”

It had been two days since the Qing troops arrived in Suzhou Prefecture, but they had always carefully set up camp and deployed along the shore, without any attempt to reinforce Chongming Island. If it weren't for Zheng Chenggong's lack of confidence in the discipline and morale of the army in his hands right now, there would be no need to leave in a hurry. Looking at the Qing army's fear of the Zheng family's sailors, Zheng Chenggong said in his heart: "I will still come, I will fight into the Yangtze River again and again, and land in Shandong, Fujian, and Zhejiang. I won't make the mistake of bringing my family again. ”

Zheng Chenggong is only thirty-five years old this year, and he is in his prime, and he feels that he still has enough time and opportunity to recover the Central Plains and recapture the two capitals for the Ming Dynasty. After thinking about the sea trade benefits that the seizure of Taiwan could bring to him for a while, Zheng Chenggong's thoughts drifted further: "Luzon is obtained by the Spaniards, they have killed overseas Chinese twice, and regard my Ming people as pigs and dogs. After our army takes Taiwan, if the Spaniards are obedient, I don't need to waste time on them, and if they still kill overseas Chinese, I can raise troops to fight. After taking Luzon and holding all the waterways in his hands, it is not a problem to double the income, that is, to raise an army of 200,000 and launch a northern expedition once a year, and it may be possible to do it financially. ”

Putting away his thoughts drifting farther and farther away, Zheng Chenggong refocused his gaze on the Qing army camp across the sea.

"Come on, Fang Chang." Zheng Chenggong said softly, and his words were once again full of confidence and unyielding momentum.

However, Zheng Chenggong didn't know that in Deng Ming's original world, he didn't have more opportunities.

In that world, four years later, Zheng Chenggong did seize Taiwan, properly resettled the families of the army, monopolized Taiwan's golden waterway, and sent a credential to the Spanish governor in the Philippines, demanding that the other party not discriminate against the Chinese and infringe on the Chinese property. The Spaniards turned a deaf ear to this and continued to slaughter Chinese merchants and eliminate the Spaniards' trade competitors. The Chinese in the Philippines are not only Zheng Chenggong's trading partners, but also one of his military sources. After learning of this, Zheng Chenggong reorganized his troops, contacted the Chinese in the Philippines, and prepared to cross the ocean to incorporate the Philippines into China's territory, and at the same time complete the monopoly of East Asian trade.

However, a month before Zheng Chenggong was scheduled to send troops, there was a series of bad news that his father and younger brothers had been killed by the Qing court, as well as news that his son Zheng Jing had fornicated with his mother, and the continuous blows made Zheng Chenggong ill. Before he died, he was extremely sad and indignant: "I am only thirty-nine years old, and I have not yet recovered the Central Plains, why should I die?" Zheng Chenggong scratched his face, saw Emperor Ming underground from the clouds, and then died in Taiwan.

……

Deng Ming's return to Huguang caused an uproar in the Zhejiang army, and many people thought that since they had been gone for several days, they should simply go to the end, but most people finally supported Deng Ming's decision, believing that it was too dangerous to continue to advance. Suzhou has a road to Hangzhou, and if the Qing army decides to pursue, it can arrive quickly, or even arrive before the Ming army, blocking the head of the Ming army; And the Ming army needed to bypass from the south bank of Taihu Lake, and the road was much more difficult.

But the dispute was delayed for half a day, and the next day the Ming army did not set off in time, and in the afternoon, Ren Tang hurried to tell him that Deng Ming had hundreds of people who left without saying goodbye and continued to advance towards Changzhou Mansion on their own. After hearing about this, Deng Ming was also anxious and angry, and shouted to Ren Tang: "They left the army to act alone, how many of them were able to escape?" Ten of them will fall into the hands of the Tartars, but now they know our plans, and when they are captured by the Tartars, our troops, virtual reality, and course of action will all be known to the Tartars. ”

Deng Ming couldn't wait any longer, and said that he would immediately set off for Wuhu and let the Zhejiang soldiers who were willing to go back to follow. Although Ren Tang wanted to return to Zhejiang, he also knew that it would be more auspicious to forcibly break through the pass when his whereabouts were exposed, so he persuaded some leaders of the Zhejiang army to set off with Deng Ming. Seeing that someone was taking the lead, those Zhejiang soldiers who were still hesitating followed one after another. Still, some people were determined to take the risk of returning home, so they separated from the main army and went east.

When it was time to set up camp in the evening, the number of inspectors was only in the early 4,000s, and seeing that Deng Ming was depressed, Li Xinghan was relieved: "The target of the soldiers who left is much smaller, and there may be many people who escape." ”

"It's hard." Deng Ming shook his head and said: "But I regret now why I continued to take the wrong road to the east yesterday, and I should have made a decision at that time and turned back immediately." ”

Saying that, Deng Ming sighed again, regretting his indecision: "If I turn back immediately yesterday, not only can I travel for an extra day, but most people see that Changzhou is still far away, and they may not take risks with luck, which is completely my fault." ”

"The Admiral doesn't have to blame himself too much, after all, this is not your army, and everything needs to be discussed with us." Hearing this, Ren Tang also hurriedly comforted: "If you hadn't taken the guards with us, it wouldn't have been so easy to avoid the Tartars' ears and eyes on the road, and we might have been discovered a long time ago." ”

In the past, Deng Ming always took guards to open the way for the whole army and reconnoiter the enemy situation in front, so in the first two days, the Zhejiang army avoided the eyes and ears of the Qing army; But from the second day of the return trip, the Zhejiang army repeatedly encountered small local green battalions, although the local army combat effectiveness was very poor, the number was not large, and they were always expelled by the Ming army, but everyone knew that this was not a good sign, indicating that the surrounding Qing army had been reported by jǐng and knew that there was such a Zhejiang army in storage.

Moreover, the battle with the small Qing army also slowed down the speed of the Ming army, but whenever it encountered the mountains and forests, the Ming army did not dare to pass guò quickly, but carefully reconnoitred repeatedly, and only after confirming that there was no ambush did they dare to pass guò one by one. After the front team passed through Guò from the narrow terrain, it also had to occupy the commanding heights on both sides to cover the safe passage of the whole army.

"It's not good to go on like this." After setting up camp the next day, Deng Ming and the others felt that the shape was even more dangerous, and they knew nothing about the deployment of the Qing army around them, while the green camp was able to continuously report the movements of the Zhejiang army to the rear. There were also several skirmishes today, and several Zhejiang troops fell and injured themselves when they occupied the covering position, and whether they were wounded in battle or not in battle, Deng Ming also had to carry them forward. If the wounded were to be discarded, they would undoubtedly be sentenced to death, and no one would be willing to carry out dangerous tasks in the future.

On the third day, they were disturbed many times by the local green camp, and some Qing troops were suspicious around the Zhejiang army, planting flags and beating drums to make trouble, although they knew that the enemy might be dozens or hundreds, and they were bluffing, but the Ming army in the enemy territory did not dare to take risks, and in this case, they had to be on guard, and they could only continue to march after the jǐng report was lifted.

However, from the afternoon, the local green camp suddenly disappeared, which made the Ming army greatly relieved, and by the time the night camped, the Ming army had arrived in Gaochun, which is the junction of the three prefectures of Taiping Mansion, Ningguo Mansion and Yingtianfu, if tomorrow can be like this afternoon without being disturbed, then it can rush back to Wuhu in the evening. The Qing army between Wuhu and Tongling no longer exists, and the Ming army will go a lot better in the future.

Seeing that he has returned to the place of departure, these days of hard work have been completely in vain, the morale of the Zhejiang army has become very poor, and the soldiers who have not been able to achieve their wishes have also complained, and some people have begun to say that there is no need to turn back three days ago, if they rush down with all their might, maybe they will have rushed through Huzhou now.

After tidying up the camp, Deng Ming asked the guards to rest, and Ming Rì had to continue to hurry, when someone suddenly rushed in, saying that Zhao Tianba and the three of them were back.

"How did you find us?" Deng Ming was naturally very surprised when he saw the three of them.

"How could I not find it?" Zhao Tianba took out a few newspapers from his arms and handed them to Deng Ming: "After we returned from Anqing, we returned to Wuhu two days ago, and now there are Tatars there. ”

"It's all Tartar?" Deng Ming's face immediately sank.

"Exactly, Chaoxian heard that Zhang Shangshu's whereabouts were discovered, and Lang Tingzuo sent his standard camp to take the Wuhu road, followed by the Tartar sailors." Zhang Huangyan's troops dragged their families and moved very slowly, and after discovering Zhang Huangyan's traces, Nanjing immediately sent troops to pursue them: "Fortunately, Zhang Shangshu attracted the attention of the Tartars, and Lang Tingzuo's standard battalion armor and cavalry all chased north, otherwise you will be in trouble." ”

After Deng Ming's actions of the Zhejiang army were discovered three days ago, he immediately asked the Qing army in Changzhou and other places to raise their jǐng ti, and after confirming that there was a Ming army with a possible size of thousands of activities, Guan Xiaozhong, who received the jǐng report, concluded that this Zhejiang army was risking back to Ningbo, and he did not wait for Nanjing's order, so he sent three hundred cavalry south to Huzhou to intercept it, fortunately Deng Ming turned around, otherwise he would have already met with this Qing army.

Zhao Tianba also told Deng Ming that although Lang Tingzuo's standard battalion went to Chaohu Lake, many sailors who had gathered around Nanjing before, including some fleets from Jiangxi, had already arrived in Wuhu, and these sailors plus the green battalion they carried were estimated to have three or four thousand people: "In addition to the reinforcements from Nanjing, the Tartars of Taiping Mansion and Ningguo Mansion also know the location of the Admiral." When I came from Huangchi a few hours ago, I saw the Tartars under the banners of these two provinces collecting boats and arranging them along the riverbank. ”

Huangchi is located between Gaochun and Wuhu, Gaochun is Danyang Lake and Shibai Lake in the north, Gucheng Lake in the south, if the Zhejiang army wants to return to Wuhu, it needs to cross the river in Huangchi Town or Shuiyang Town.

"How many of them are there?" The worry on Deng Ming's face was even heavier, although it was possible to find a place to cross the river, but if the Qing army was prepared, it would still be difficult for the Ming army to break through.

"There are probably one or two thousand, and about a third of them are armor soldiers." Zhao Tianba asked rhetorically: "How many armor soldiers does the Admiral have now?" ”

"About five hundred."

"That's definitely not going to work." Zhao Tianba said everyone's consensus.

And even if they can defeat the local troops of Taiping Mansion and Ningguo Mansion, the Qing army in Wuhu may not be able to deal with the Zhejiang army.

Just when everyone was about to despair, Zhao Tianba finally said the good news: "Hu Shuai has gone down the river and is now near Wuhu." ”

Deng Ming knew that Li Laiheng would set off later, but he didn't know when Li Laiheng would arrive, and after listening to Zhao Tianba's account of the first battle of Anqing, the generals of the Zhejiang army rekindled their hopes: "As long as we can meet with Hu Shuai, we will get out of danger." ”

"But how do you get through the yellow pool?" The green battalion of Ning Guofu had already taken precautions, and Deng Ming felt that it was very difficult to storm their defense line along the river: "And even if we rush through the Yellow Pond, most of the first things we encounter are real Tartars, not Tiger Shuai." Tiger Shuai knew we were returning, but it wasn't clear where we were. ”

Nanjing gave an order to Hu Laoxiao, asking him to make meritorious service for his crimes, and led the Jingzhou Navy Division and the Navy Division sent by Nanjing to intercept the Zhejiang army fleeing westward.

"What would I do if I were a tiger handsome?" Deng Ming said loudly to the people around him: "I must not dare to camp with the Qing army in Wuhu, because I am afraid of revealing flaws, and I don't dare to make a move against the Qing army in Wuhu, because once my identity is exposed, it will be more difficult to support the Zhejiang army." So I'll be cruising around Wuhu and keeping my eyes open to see if we'll suddenly reach the river. But it's hard for me to be the first to know the information, because I'm a guest army, and even if there is a fight somewhere, I'm the last one to know......"

At this point, Deng Ming stopped and began to ponder again.

"So we're still dying." Some of the generals of the Zhejiang army have begun to despair. The Qing army around Wuhu was in full array, and it was not only difficult for the Zhejiang army to break through to the riverside, but even if it broke through to the riverside, when Li Laiheng got the news and hurriedly came to land to support, the Zhejiang army might have been defeated long ago.

Ren Tang looked at the frustrated companions around him, and suddenly said to Deng Ming: "The Admiral might as well agree on a place with us, and then immediately go to contact the Tiger Shuai, we will concentrate all our efforts to break through to the agreed place, and the Admiral and the Tiger Shuai will be waiting for us there." ”

Deng Ming's guards all glanced at Ren Tang, knowing that although he said that he was high-sounding, he actually wanted Deng Ming to get out as soon as possible, and no longer care about these Zhejiang troops who were destined to be difficult to break through.

The leaders of the Zhejiang army also understood what Ren Tang meant, and they supported one after another: "The admiral sent us all the way, which is already full of hospitality." ”

"This is all our own going to Zhejiang to make trouble, and it has nothing to do with the Admiral."

"Hurry up and go to Hu Shuai, maybe we will kill us by the river, the Admiral will leave a moment earlier, and Hu Shuai's boat will arrive a moment earlier."

When the people around him were persuading each other, Deng Ming never spoke, but continued to look at the map and ponder.

After a long time, Deng Ming raised his head and asked the people around him: "Do you dare to go to Nanjing?" ”

"Nanjing?" Everyone screamed in surprise.

"Yes, if we rush towards Wuhu, the reaction speed of the local Green Battalion and the Nanjing Navy Division must be faster than that of Hu Shuai; But if we suddenly appear by the Nanjing River, it is likely to be the other way around; When the Tartars found that thousands of Ming troops appeared under the city, they would definitely urgently send a report to the surroundings, but they might not immediately order reinforcements, after all, there were many Tartars around Nanjing. First of all, such a big event, Hu Shuai will not be unaware; Secondly, the Nanjing Navy Division and the Jiangxi Navy Division in Wuhu will not return to the division immediately if they do not receive the order, but Hu Shuai is different, as soon as he knows the news of us, he will immediately set off to meet us, from Wuhu to Nanjing, and the next day down the river will be almost there. ”

"But the admiral also said that there will be more Tartars around Nanjing than here in Wuhu, can we hold out until Hushuai comes?"

Now the Qing army in Nanjing either went downstream to guard against Zheng Chenggong, or went to Chaohu to pursue Zhang Huangyan, and even Lang Tingzuo's standard battalion was sent away, which shows that Nanjing has no extra cavalry troops. But despite this, there will still be tens of thousands of Qing troops around Nanjing, and there are not 10,000 but 8,000 in armor.

"It's better than hope here," Deng Ming was not very sure, but his judgment was: "The Tartars here in Wuhu already know our strength, and they will not hesitate when they discover us, and they will attack immediately." But Nanjing is different, when they see us, they will be shocked at first, and then they will think that we will not go to death, and they are worried that we still have backup. It may take some time for them to figure it out. Now the remaining Tartars around Nanjing are scattered troops from all over the country, not subordinate to each other, and there may not be a tacit understanding between them, as long as we hold the camp for a while, the tiger commander may be able to arrive. It may even be that when the tiger commander arrived, the Tartars in Nanjing were still suspicious and did not attack us. ”