After arriving in Nanjing, Yu Xin was ordered to station at the city as a barrier to cover the army in the rear. In the battle of Zhenjiang, Yu Xin's troops made great contributions and were praised by Zheng Chenggong. Now, it is Zheng Chenggong's trust in him that he has handed over the mission of the front army to Yu Xin.

Yesterday, a large number of ships transporting Zheng Jun's family arrived. Yu Xin's subordinates came to the camp one after another to reunite with their husbands. Yu Xin also met his wife. After seeing his wife, Yu Xin was naturally very happy. His wife told Yu Xin that when the family members walked up the river, they all felt that the climate here was good. Looking from the boat, the two sides of the shore were crisscrossing, and the products must be good. Originally, these Fujianese were worried about not being able to adapt to the environment, but now most of them felt relieved and thought that this place was very suitable for living.

"Of course, this is the Shenjing of Emperor Taizu Gao. If it is not good, how could it be decided here!" After chatting with his wife for a long time, Yu Xin not only boasted about his heroic performance in the Battle of Zhenjiang, but also carefully asked about his wife's living conditions along the way, worried that his wife would feel uncomfortable.

Until he couldn't delay any further, Yu Xin stood up and told his wife that he had to go to Nanjing. Observing the movements of the enemy in the city was Yu Xin's routine work. If he found something abnormal in the city, he must prepare for battle immediately and inform the main force behind him in time.

He brought some personal guards to a place not far from Nanjing City. Yu Xin observed the road in front of the city gate and the traffic traces on the surrounding ground. After all, Yu Xin looked up at the sky in the city, looking for traces of smoke from cooking. The scouts deployed around the city wall also came to Yu Xin at this time. It had been several hours since he last visited here for patrol. They reported to the superiors that they had observed in the city during this period.

"There is nothing unusual for the Tartars." Yu Xin made a judgment and walked towards another post with his personal guards.

After listening to the report of the sentry deployed at the second location and his own observation, Yu Xin concluded that there was no abnormality here and no threat was found in the next few places. After finding that everything was normal in the past, Yu Xin would observe carefully for a while, then discuss with the officers around him to see if there were any omissions. However, today Yu Xin was in a hurry to return to the camp, and he still had a lot of words to say to his wife.

Not only Yu Xin, but the guards he brought were not interested in doing more reconnaissance today. Their families have arrived in the camp. As husbands and fathers, they are all in a hurry to go back and settle their wives and children as soon as possible.

"Let's go here today." After Yu Xin ordered his return to the camp, the officers and guards of the followers cheered one after another. Yu Xin smiled at them and said, "You must take a closer look tomorrow, and you can't be as careless as you are today."

"Affect the order." Everyone replied in unison.

After returning to the camp, Yu Xin heard the woman's crying sound, which sounded quite a lot. If the soldiers had done this, Yu Xin would definitely rush over to find the source of the sound without hesitation. But today it sounded like some women and children were crying, so Yu Xin would not be able to go over and teach other people's wives a lesson, even his subordinates' wives were not suitable.

After returning to his tent with a stomach full of doubt, Yu Xin found that his wife's eyes were also red, as if she had just cried.

"What's wrong with you?" Yu Xin asked in confusion: "What's wrong with you?"

The wife told Yu Xin that after many families arrived at the camp, they found that their husband had died in the previous battle of Zhenjiang. Of course, it was the wife who immediately cried her husband and her son cried her father. Mrs. Yu had a familiar woman, and her husband also died in the battle of Zhenjiang. For the orphan and widowed mother, this was of course a disaster like a collapse of the sky and the earth. A moment ago, she was full of joy and thought that the whole family could be reunited, but in a blink of an eye she cried like a cry.

"We have a great victory in Zhenjiang." Yu Xin said.

In the Battle of Zhenjiang, the Ming army annihilated more than 15,000 Qing troops, and the Ming army suffered only more than 1,000 losses, of which only 200 belonged to Yuxin's troops. In the past, following Zheng Chenggong in the South China Sea, sometimes the losses were far more heavy than Zhenjiang, and there was no crying in the camp after returning home.

But now it is completely different from the past. In the past, the family members of Zheng Jun lived in scattered places, and the soldiers went home after the army. They would only be affected unless the neighbors died in battle. The range of sadness among the survivors was very limited. But now, the family members of Zheng Jun are concentrated in the camp. Before arriving at the camp, they lived together on the boat for a while, and they were very familiar with each other and had friendship. Now, seeing their newly met friends suffering from the pain of losing their husbands, the other women burst into tears. Yu Xin's wife just now cried with others.

The next day, the sadness expanded to Zheng Chenggong's entire army.

After the Zhenjiang War, Zheng Chenggong buried the dead on the spot according to his previous habits, and everyone did not think there was anything wrong. However, their families arrived and heard the news of their deaths, they first made a tragic sound, and then went to Zhenjiang together to choose a good cemetery to bury them again. There were also some soldiers who died of injuries on the way, and their families wore filial piety and chose a cave near Nanjing to bury them.

For a time, there were teams carrying coffins everywhere around Nanjing. When the survivors kowtowed in front of the grave, the comrades and superiors of the deceased during their lifetime also came to express their griefs - this is also a normal social etiquette.

"Why is it obviously a great victory, but now it's like a big defeat?" Zheng Chenggong also had questions similar to Yu Xin.

The continuous funeral activities have affected the routine alert work. Some whistleblowers have asked their leave to the chief and went back to carry coffins to the acquaintances who died in battle, and at least attended the funeral and sent a greeting to the orphans.

It is difficult for the officers to flatly refuse such requests, even Zheng Chenggong cannot strictly order the army to not carry out such activities. After all, burying the family and burying the dead is a major event for the Chinese. All the soldiers were killed in battle. Can Zheng Chenggong still prohibit their relatives from burying them? Can others not be allowed to attend the funeral? If this is true, not only will the officers and soldiers gossip, but Zheng Chenggong himself feels it too much.

After crying for several days, Zheng Chenggong felt that the barracks were finally quieter. But it was far from over. The soldiers were gathering part of the deceased and holding a funeral banquet. Many people discussed the "first seventh", as if they were back to the rear of peace, rather than on a dangerous battlefield.

"There will be a day that will pass, and there is no way to do it." Gan Hui comforted Zheng Chenggong and said: "Anyway, in the battle of Zhenjiang, our army has wiped out the elite of the Tartars. When the king casts cannons, the funeral will be completed no matter what."

"Yeah." Zheng Chenggong nodded. He felt that things seemed a little wrong, but there was no particularly good solution. Besides, Gan Hui said it well. The cannons have not started casting yet. According to Zheng Chenggong's plan, he should have chosen the location of the turret a few days ago and started to build molds immediately, and at the same time, the construction of the turret and casting cannons were carried out. However, because a large number of funerals in the past few days have been delayed. The terrain around Nanjing has not been reconnaissed yet, so the best attack location cannot be determined, and the specific location where the cannons are deployed cannot be selected.

After a few days like this, Yu Xin only went to the cordon every two days to check, instead of walking around in a few hours like the beginning. The sentry deployed around several city gates reported his safety, and he did not go to review again. The number of personal guards who followed Yu Xin to patrol was only one-third of the beginning, and they were busy building houses and relocating their families.

In the past, when the army was outside, soldiers gathered in the camp and slept on armor and weapons. Now, with the arrival of a large number of relatives, it seemed inconvenient to live in the camp. Even Yu Xin himself was unwilling to squeeze in with the tents of his personal guards. The camp of the Ming army was greatly expanded. The old camp that could accommodate the entire army can only accommodate one-fifth of the soldiers and their families. The rest of the soldiers moved to a place far from the central army tent to build new shacks for themselves, their wives and children.

The sheds where the family members live are very different from those of the military camp. When building the military camp, the first thing they consider is safety, and then the requirements for communication, communication, defense, fire prevention, etc. As for comfort, it is quite a long-term consideration. Now, the first thing they consider is comfort. The soldiers carefully repaired the roofs and walls, fearing that they could not shelter from wind and rain and would cause their families to suffer. The soldiers of the entire army are busy building houses for their families. The Iron Man Army led by Gan Hui has not practiced for several days, and I heard that they have all gone to take care of their families.

"Go." Two more officers who should have accompanied him asked for leave. Yu Xin waved his hand generously and let them go. He asked himself that he was a general who was polite to his subordinates and did not want to appear unkind and make the soldiers resentful. He just gave a few instructions: "Don't practice too carefully. It can be used for half a month, at most twenty days. At that time, we will be attacked. Are we still worried that there is no place to live after conquering Nanjing?"

Yu Xin said this, but he felt that Zheng Chenggong might not be able to conquer the city as scheduled in twenty days. The matter of choosing a site for the fort was delayed again and again. Seeing that Nanjing had been seven or eight days, it had not been confirmed yet.

...

"Why are you setting off firecrackers again?" Zheng Chenggong came to Gan Hui's camp today to discuss matters. After entering the tent, he asked in confusion: "Hasn't the first seven passes?"

"Your Majesty, it's a happy event." Gan Hui reported that the two soldiers' families were getting married. The two didn't know each other at first. When they besieged Guan Qizhen Yinshan Camp, the soldier A was about to die under the sword of a Qing soldier and was rescued by soldier B, which became a great deal. After the families of the two arrived this time, they found that the children of the two families were of the same age, so they immediately decided to have a marriage and invited their colleagues to drink today.

"First it was a funeral, then there was a happy event, then what else?" Zheng Chenggong's face was not happy. After his family arrived, the military discipline of the Fujian army plummeted, and even Gan Hui and Yu Xin, who Zheng Chenggong relied on the most, began to be unable to control the troops. He said to Gan Hui with some angrily: "It seems that all the family members should be moved back to the ship."

"You must not," Gan Hui was startled: "The family is close to you, but you cannot see it. The soldiers will definitely complain."

"Well." Zheng Chenggong had never had the experience of bringing his family to the war and was undecided.

"Besides, this is just the beginning. Think about it, did the Xiying also take their families with their families to the army when they entered the camp? It did not make them unable to control the army. It means that as long as the family members follow the army for a long time, they will become as hard-working as soldiers." Gan Hui said with certainty.

Zheng Chenggong nodded when he heard this. Indeed, with two ready-made examples of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, Zheng Chenggong did not think that leading the military subordinates would have any adverse effects. The chaos now is so confusing that Zheng Chenggong was quite surprised. However, as Gan Hui said, when Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng, although he led the army's family, he responded quickly and quickly, and repeatedly maneuvered north and south, defeating the various Ming troops that were besieging the camp one by one. It can be seen that the Fujian army was just inexperienced, and when this freshness passed, it would naturally return to normal.

Zheng Chenggong put aside his worries and talked with Gan Hui about the location of the fort.

...

"ah……"

The Qing soldiers screamed and fell off their horses.

The knight chasing behind him passed the enemy who had landed on the ground, chased the horse in front, held the reins of the horse and turned back, looked at the corpse on the ground, and confirmed that the opponent was dead, then put away the weapon and turned over and dismounted, threw the corpse on the back and tied it up.

With the corpse and the captured horses back along the way, Zhou Kaihuang saw other companions taking off the clothes of the killed enemy soldiers and taking out all the things that could identify their identities. Just like before, the ambushed Qing soldiers also failed to escape.

After hiding the bodies of these enemy soldiers deep in the woods, Deng Ming picked up the waist card of the enemy soldiers and checked: "It is the head of Anqing Mansion, who is the teleportation report. Well, it is easier to use than my current identity."

After saying that, Deng Ming took off the old waist tag from his waist and put it in his bag, hung the newly seized waist tag on his body, and tore the official document carried by the Qing soldiers. When he was reading it, Deng Ming did not recite the contents of it to his friends around him, but read it silently and handed it to Li Xinghan, so that the latter could pass it down one by one after another. When everyone had read it, they would start discussing the contents of it. If there were any words that they couldn't understand, they could ask.

The official document states that Zhang Huangyan had arrived in Wuhu, Tongling, Chizhou, Ningguo, Taiping and other places all surrendered. What I saw today was Anqing's request for help from Jiangxi. Cross-provincial requests for help indicate that the Qing court rule in the upper reaches of Nanjing had completely collapsed. After Nanjing issued the order to concentrate the entire army, the more determined Qing army had almost gone to Nanjing. The rest of the local area were volatile double-faced factions. When Zhang Huangyan led the Zhejiang soldiers to arrive, he surrendered to the Ming army without thinking.

Anqing Prefecture's urgent letter said that Zhang Huangyan's arrival not only brought a large number of soldiers, but also followed the Zhejiang Army's family. It can be seen that the Ming army did not just want to harass it, but was determined to win the prefectures and counties in the upper reaches of Nanjing, and even Jiangxi. The letter of request for help stated that if the Jiangxi Green Camp refused to lend a helping hand, Anqing would definitely not be able to last three days after the Ming army arrived. At that time, Jiangxi's barriers were all lost, and the Ming army would take advantage of the situation to attack Jiujiang and Nanchang.

"The Prince of Yanping has led all the Lu Chou to Nanjing. When the Prince of Yanping captures Nanjing, the southeast can be issued an edict to the southeast." Mu Tan said happily to everyone.

From the previous seized reports, they had learned about the great victory in Zheng Chenggong Zhenjiang. After the Eight Banners and Nanjing Green Camp were all destroyed, Nanjing collected troops from all over the place, including yamen runners, constables, etc., and everything that could hold the tray was dish. This not only greatly weakened the strength and confidence of the Qing army in the local area, causing them to surrender at the news, but also failed to improve Nanjing's self-defense ability.

The Qing army in Nanjing now comes from dozens of prefectures and counties around. This city is one hundred and that city is fifty. Although it has tens of thousands of troops, it does not belong to each other. Compared with the previous Nanjing garrison troops, these temporary pieces of troops are a group of mobs.

Among them, the most combat-capable are the 500 Eight Banners soldiers stationed in Hangzhou, but their strength is far from comparable to the Eight Banners soldiers who were destroyed by Zheng Chenggong before.

A larger unit was commanded by Liang Huafeng. Liang Huafeng, who was originally stationed on Chongming Island, avoided Zheng Chenggong's surveillance force when he saw Zheng Chenggong go to Nanjing, and left Chongming Island to rush to support Nanjing by land. Liang Huafeng originally wanted to ask Ma Fengzhi to go with him, but Ma Fengzhi, who had three thousand iron cavalry, refused to send troops, so Liang Huafeng had to go alone. He had a total of 3,000 people under his command, mostly sailors like Zheng's army. Along the way, Liang Huafeng collected local horses and formed a cavalry of 500 people. Now this ground armed force composed of Susong Navy officers and soldiers was actually the largest established force in Nanjing.

"This is the third time. When I saw the Tartars's residence newspaper saying that Zhang Shangshu made soldiers and family get mixed up. I thought it was the Tartars' exaggerating before." Zhao Tianba carefully read the residence newspaper several times, and looked up to Deng Ming and said, "Shangshu Zhang is in danger! The military strategy says: If there are women in the army, their morale will not be high."

Influenced by Zheng Chenggong, Zhang Huangyan sent troops and brought his army's family members and prepared to take root like Zheng Chenggong. After the Zhenjiang victory, Zhang Huangyan had no strong enemies in front of him. The defenders surrendered at the news. The family members of the Zhejiang Army, who were originally following behind, also caught up with the front army and reunited with their relatives in the army.

Deng Ming smiled and said, "The army of the Tartars was attracted by the Prince of Yanping in Nanjing. For the time being, Shangshu Zhang is not in danger."

"That's right," Mu Tan retorted from the side: "What's wrong with bringing family members? Didn't you take Xiying with you when you entered the camp back then? You didn't see the morale being unrest."

"What's the same?" Zhao Tianba said disdainfully: "Western camp has to take family members, but couples are not allowed to meet during the march. Only when there are no officers and soldiers within a hundred miles can they be reunited. Once the officers and soldiers are approaching, they will be separated immediately. The men and women meet in private and will be executed immediately!"

Mu Tan was stunned when he heard this, and Li Xinghan and others were also incredible to the Sichuan Army: "The couple is so close that they are not allowed to meet. Will this affect morale?"

"Of course it will not affect it." Zhou Kaihuang said on the side: "My wife and daughter are in the old camp of the Central Army. Even if they encounter danger, the soldiers know that if they escape, their wife and daughter will definitely be unfortunate, and they will fight to the death. Even if the soldiers who were disbanded will do their best to rescue the old camp."

Zhao Tianba nodded repeatedly when he heard this: "That's exactly what it is."

Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong exchanged experiences many times, and the two of them had similar combat modes. Therefore, they broke into the West and the two armies had quite similarities.

Zhou Kaihuang also heard Yuan Zongdi talk about the scene after the couple reunion. After getting rid of the officers and soldiers, the camp will be disbanded and the military discipline will disappear within a few days. The soldiers chop firewood and carry water to take care of their families. They either go to the mountains to hunt for their families or fish by the river. They are determined to improve the food of their wives and children, and no one will care about the safety of the army.

After retelling these stories, Zhou Kaihuang asserted: "In less than ten days, Zhang Shangshu's army will become a mess. At that time, maybe even a group of yamen runners can beat them."

"There is such a thing." Li Xinghan and others were very surprised. They never knew that there was such a problem with mobile combat.

"Fortunately, the Tartars are now focused on the Prince of Yanping, and Zhang Shangshu won't even have a team of yamen runners." Zhao Tianba laughed.

He looked back at Mu Tan, who was motionless in a daze. Zhao Tianba felt nervous and asked hurriedly: "Did the Prince of Yanping bring all his family members?"
Chapter completed!