On the avenue near Tongling, a group of people were heading towards the city. The army was carrying the green flag of the Qing army, and the generals led by the army were riding arrogantly on the horse. Several bloody heads were hung in front of the horse, and the cavalry following the generals were leading a long rope, and a string of prisoners was dragged on the rope. The hands of these prisoners were tied to the long rope, and there were more than twenty people in a long string. There were a total of more than a dozen rows of such prisoners.

I occasionally encounter pedestrians on the road. After seeing this Qing army, they would immediately hide from the roadside and give up the avenue to them. Looking at the dejected captives, some pedestrians would secretly discuss something.

"The officers and soldiers of Tongling have taken 240 Counterattacks!" The Qing soldiers escorted the captives proudly shouted to the passers-by. Sometimes when they saw farmers in the fields, they would make such shouts to show off their martial arts.

After learning that Zheng Chenggong was defeated at the city of Nanjing, Tongling, Chizhou and other prefectures and counties that had already surrendered to Zhang Huangyan, turned against each other again. In order to prevent it, the guards of Tongling deliberately waited for one more day. After confirming that the Qing army in Nanjing won the victory, they pretended to invite the Zhejiang Army generals sent by Zhang Huangyan to discuss countermeasures and suddenly attacked him.

After learning that the Ming army was defeated in Nanjing, the Zhejiang army stationed outside the city was already in panic. After the general died, they were easily defeated by the Qing army who had killed out of the city. After the Ming army fled with their families, the defenders of Tongling went out to encircle and suppress the defeated Zhejiang soldiers.

This Qing army general not only caught up with and eliminated a large number of Ming troops, but also successfully captured the target - a young aide to Zhang Huangyan, who was sent to Tongling to assist Zhejiang army generals. After learning that an incident occurred in the city, he tried to organize the army to retreat in an orderly manner, but it also failed.

Now Ren Tang is tied to the first captive in the first team. When he discovered that the Qing army was chasing him, he wanted to inspire the Ming army to resist, but everyone wanted to protect their families and escape. As a result, the unorganized Ming army was about to collapse, and a large number of soldiers and their families were captured. These Ming soldiers would be taken back to Tongling to parade in public, and then beheaded to intimidate the people and gentry, and also the means used by Tongling officials to clean themselves.

Just now, Ren Tang resisted fiercely before being captured and killed a Qing army, but the Qing army did not execute him immediately, but wanted to take him back to Tongling to seek merit. At this time, Ren Tang made a secret decision in his heart that he must act greedy and fear death in Tongling, try his best to survive, try to be captured by Nanjing, and then he harshly sued these Tongling civil and military officials and military officials in front of the Governor of Liangjiang of the Qing Dynasty, exposing their ugly behavior when they surrendered to Zhang Huangyan, and tried to use the Qing Dynasty's hands to kill the Zhejiang army officers and soldiers who were about to be killed.

When more than a hundred Qing soldiers were escorting the prisoners to continue moving forward, a sound of horse hooves came from behind. Soon the sound of hooves caught up with the Qing army. After hearing the greetings behind him, the Qing army also stopped. Three knights rode their horses past Ren Tang, and the leader seemed to have a Sichuan or Huguang accent. Ren Tang saw him get off the horse and saluted thousands of times to the leader of the Qing army on his head, and then asked:

"But Wang Guerrilla?"

"It's this general." Qing general waved his hand and signaled that the other party could get up.

"Hu Yidao is the outpost of the Jingmen Navy." Hu Ba Zhang said, taking out his waist tag and holding it respectfully: "I just met the general's subordinates, and they came to find the general with their guidance."

"The low-ranking Miao Renfeng."

"Hao a low-level job and return to the farmer."

Ren Tang heard the other two knights report their names one after another, with the same mouthful of Sichuan East and Hubei North accents.

"Soldiers of Huguang," General Qing took the waist card from his personal guard, looked around and turned, and never returned it to Hu Yidao, but asked in confusion: "Why are you here?"

"The Jingmen Navy has three thousand, and he is ordered by Governor Zhang to help Nanjing," Hu Yidao replied immediately, "It has arrived twenty miles upstream. I heard that Tongling had fallen into the hands of thieves before, so I prepared to launch an attack and order Beizhi to march by land to reconnaise the enemy situation for the army. As a result, I saw officers and soldiers along the way, and I was very puzzled. I just asked the general's subordinates and learned that Tongling had been restored."

"Well, that's right." After hearing the other party's explanation, Qing General was a little embarrassed and threw his waist card back: "I had killed the thief chief last night and recovered Tongling." He reached out to the prisoners such as Ren Tang and pointed: "The Hai Ni around Tongling has been wiped out by me."

"So that's it." Hu Yidao took the waist card, carefully put it away, and said to the Qing general: "I will send two people back to report the military situation so that my family members will not fight. However, I have an order, can I go to Tongling first? I would also like to ask the county emperor to prepare tonight's camp and food for my Jingmen Water Camp."

"Of course." Qing General knew that this inquiry was just a polite one. He had no reason to stop Hu Yidao from going to Tongling, waved his hand and said, "You can go first, I will take the prisoners with you and you won't be able to walk away quickly."

"General Xie." Hu Yidao turned around and shouted to the knights behind him. At this time, Ren Tang saw that there were about twenty new Qing cavalrymen, and everyone was covered with clothes. At a glance, he knew that they were elite scouts in the army.

After receiving the order, some cavalry began to turn their horses and return. After Hu Yidao gave the order, he immediately turned over and ran forward. When he passed by Qing General, he fixed the horse again and clasped his fists to Qing General again and said, "General, I will leave."

"It's easy to say..."

Qing General raised his hand and seemed to say something polite. At this time, Ren Tang saw Hu Yidao suddenly pulling out a cold light from his cuff, and inserted it into Qing General's throat without any effort.

Before Ren Tang could exclaim, he heard the storm. Miao Renfeng and Tian Guinong also picked up the sword and gun, and stabbed the Qing soldiers around him without saying a word.

The sudden attack of Qing General covered his throat with his hands, his eyes protruded, and he stared at Hu Yidao who was close to him. The latter let go of the hand holding the long dagger, and never looked at the Qing General again. He quickly pulled out the long horse sword on the horse's back and slashed at the other personal guards beside the general.

It was not until this time that the generals and guards in front of Ren Tang reacted and yelled and drew their swords. However, the three Qing soldiers in Huguang were extremely skillful in their movements. In a blink of an eye, they stabbed the guards around the generals under the horse. They pulled out the sword of Ren Tang's guards halfway, and were stabbed by the dagger flying over, and fell to the ground with a backfire.

The frightened horse yelled and rushed forward, dragging Ren Tang forward. He staggered a few steps and was dragged to the ground. The companions behind him also fell to the ground. The group of people were dragged by the horses on the ground for more than ten meters, almost halfway down before pulling it.

The front of Nin Tang was dragged farthest on the ground. After the horse stopped, his clothes were cut by the stones on the ground, revealing several blood marks.

At this time, not only was there a scream from behind, but it also began to sound a begging for mercy. Ren Tang lay in the dust for a moment, and the screams had stopped, leaving only a sound of "free life".

A man strode to Ren Tang, and a blood-stained dagger reached between his hands, partitioning the rope above.

After his hands were liberated from the long rope, Ren Tang was finally able to stand up from the ground. He shook his wrist hard. Because the blood was not flowing, he felt that his palms were unconscious.

Turning back, Ren Tang saw that more than 100 Qing soldiers had been knocked down, and the rest were thrown away their weapons and kneeling on the ground. More than a dozen Huguang "Qing soldiers" were riding on horses, looking vigilantly at the surrendered enemies. Four or five were standing on the ground, constantly loosening the Ming army's prisoners.

After the Ming army was untied, the Qing soldiers in Huguang also relaxed a little. A Ming soldier who had just gained freedom was searching among the Qing soldiers kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy. Soon he found the target. The Ming soldier screamed and rushed towards the Qing soldiers. He first punched and kicked, then picked up a knife on the ground and penetrated it hard into the Qing soldiers' chest.

After the Ming army surrendered with their family, they were tied up and saw with their own eyes that their youngest son was picked on the tip of the gun by the Qing soldier. After killing the enemy, the Ming army soldier sat on the ground weakly and suddenly began to cry loudly, while constantly slapping his head.

Influenced by this soldier, the other Ming soldiers suddenly jumped up and rushed towards the Qing soldiers kneeling on the ground... Seeing this, Huguang soldiers took two steps back and watched silently from the side.

Soon the Qing army prisoners were killed. Only then did Ren Tang react and walked towards Hu Yidao: "Do you dare to ask the hero Gao's name?"

"Didn't you hear it just now?" Hu Yidao smiled.

"Hu Zhuangshi." Ren Tang clasped his fists and said, "There are also our army's family behind."

"I saw it when I came, but I couldn't do it." Hu Yidao nodded. The teams of Qing soldiers he met were escorting a large number of women. He could tell at a glance that they were the families of the Zhejiang Army. However, in order to raid the leader, he did not attack those teams of Qing soldiers.

"Put on their armor," Hu Yidao pointed at the bodies of the Qing army's prisoners and said, "Go and take your family back."

The Qing army following behind heard a shout of killing in front of him, but it was not real to hear it from a distance. And the time was short, and it was thought that some prisoners were causing trouble. When they got closer, they saw a group of Ming troops with red eyes blocking the front. Before they could figure out what had happened to the front army, the Ming troops shouted and rushed forward.

The Qing army was pursuing no more prisoners than the Zhejiang army, but they were well equipped and had high morale. After the front army was eliminated, the number of Qing soldiers escorting women and children behind was at a disadvantage, and they were careless. In a blink of an eye, they were killed by the Ming army. The twenty Huguang soldiers did not take any action at all, but pursued the fleeing Qing army after the overall situation was settled.

After the Huguang soldiers returned, they saw Ming soldiers holding their heads and crying with their families. They thought that even if they could survive by chance, they would never have the chance to meet again.

"Hu Zhuangshi's great kindness..." Now the Ming army could see that this team of Huguang soldiers was definitely not the scouts of the Jingmen Navy, and they did not know the other party's identity, so they all called them brave men.

"Where is Shangshu Zhang?" Hu Yidao walked to Ren Tang and asked, "I want to find Shangshu Zhang."

"Shangshu Zhang is still in Wuhu." Ren Tang replied, telling Hu Yidao that the main force of the Zhejiang Army was also by Zhang Huangyan at this time. Zhang Huangyan only sent two thousand people here in Tongling, and they were all defeated by the defenders.

"How many Tartar soldiers are there in Tongling?" Hu Yidao asked again.

"There are eight hundred capricious thieves!" Ren Tang said hatefully.

Hu Yidao asked again: "Why don't you go east, but run west?"

"I was so panicked by the thief, and some people went east. I wonder if they had escaped." Ren Tang sighed: "If it weren't for Hu Zhuangshi's help, we were destined to be unable to survive."

"Are you planning to go to Wuhu?"

"Yes." Ren Tang replied: "Let's make up for it, and then go back to Wuhu to find Lord Zhang."

Hu Yidao looked around, looked at the Ming soldiers who were scattered around and reunited with his family, shook his head and said, "You don't want to go back to Wuhu like this. When you meet the Tartars again, they will protect their families and then be captured by the Tartars. I can save you once, and it is impossible for you to save you from danger again and again."

"What are the opinions of Mr. Hu?"

The conversation between Ren Tang and Hu Yidao attracted the attention of many people. After hearing Hu Yidao's words, many people asked yelled.

"It is divided into two battalions, one battalion for women and children, and one battalion for young people." Hu Yidao, who was confident, immediately replied, loudly promoting his plan to the people around him.

I heard that I had to separate myself and not meet before escape. The soldiers of the Ming army, who were already full of hope, fell silent one after another, and their wives and children also held the man's arm tightly, as if they would leave forever once they let go.

"Who thinks that you can escape from danger with your wife and children and go to Wuhu safely? I will not stop him. You can set off with your family. But I think you are not familiar with the place and can't escape by one single hand. Even if you meet a few yamen runners, you can catch you with an iron ruler." Hu Yidao said loudly to everyone: "Those who are willing to stay in the camp and act in a unified way. As long as there is one person in the men's camp, everyone's family can escape safely; unless the men's camp completely destroyed and no one can survive, your family will be captured by the Tartars. But if everyone can't fight a bloody road together, what hope do you have to separate?"

Hu Yidao's subordinates also helped promote it so that everyone could understand: as long as the women and children camps were not separated, even if he died in battle, the remaining companions would have to protect his orphans in order to protect their families.

Listening to these people's obvious Chuan-E accent, someone finally asked: "Are you Kuidong Army?"

Tian Guinong nodded with a smile: "Not bad."

"Are you the men of Admiral Deng?" Ren Tang asked about their identities again: "Are you coming from Huguang to reinforce us on the order of Admiral Deng?"

"I am Deng Ming," Hu Yidao also laughed and asked back: "Have Mr. Ren heard of me?"

Ren Tang and the Zhejiang soldiers around him were stunned for a moment.

"I'm just Zhou Kaihuang who makes a big fuss in Kunming! Have you heard of me?" Tian Guinong also reported his true identity.

"I am Zhao Tianba, a thousand households of Jinyiwei." Miao Renfeng sighed slightly as he said. He really envied Zhou Kaihuang for being famous in the Kunming fire.

"It turns out that you are Admiral Deng and Zhuang Shi Zhou." Ren Tang shouted: "The name is so famous!"

Although Deng Ming did not stop him, the Ming soldiers knew very well that with his own strength, he would definitely not be able to protect his family from danger.

After announcing the division of the camp, Deng Ming asked them to arm themselves with the captured Qing army equipment, and asked the women and children camp to help carry some of the baggage: "Let's go to Tongling first, find the surrounding friendly troops, and destroy the green camp in Tongling. They only have 800 people."

There were not many troops in Tongling. Deng Ming brought his guards to the city and easily defeated several guards at the city gate. More than 200 Zhejiang soldiers followed him in and rushed into the county government to chop the magistrate into meat sauce.

The Ming army, who had been captured, was naturally released immediately. Deng Ming still adopted the principle of voluntary entry into the camp. If the soldiers themselves do not want their family to separate, he will never force them.

After gathering hundreds of Zhejiang soldiers, Deng Ming immediately went out of the city to attack the Tongling Green Camp, which was pursuing the Ming army's Tongling Army. Now the Zhejiang soldiers knew that they were in danger and had no way out. If they did not eliminate the Qing army, they would not leave here alive. Therefore, everyone was brave. The hunters suddenly became prey. The local troops in Tongling were small in number and did not have too strong combat power, and were defeated by the Zhejiang army one after another.

"Let's go immediately and go to Wuhu to meet Zhang Shangshu." Deng Ming didn't want to stay in Tongling for a day. He opened the warehouse and used the money and grain inside to hire civil servants to help transport supplies and buy ships. He set off for Wuhu early the next morning. Deng Ming did not reveal his name about the Baixin of Tongling. He did not want to be the target of public criticism.

...

After Zheng Chenggong retreated to Zhenjiang, the army was still in panic. He lost more than ten generals in the battle of Nanjing, which greatly reduced his control over the army.

"If the troops were withdrawn at this time, Zhang Shangshu would probably not be able to live with him." Although Zheng Chenggong knew that Zhang Huangyan needed help in urgent need, the morale of the Fujian army was on the verge of collapse. If he fought rashly, he might not only not be able to save people, but even the Fujian soldiers would have to come in.

"The family members must not take them anymore." Zheng Chenggong had already seen it clearly. If the family members were allowed to continue to walk with the army, don't expect the army to obey orders. However, Zhenjiang is also unsafe. Now Zheng Chenggong can rely on the number of troops to control the surrendered generals in Zhenjiang for the time being. However, if he keeps his family here and takes the army away, the loyalty of Gao Qian and other surrendered generals in Zhenjiang is questionable.

If there was a sudden news that Zhenjiang turned against him and all his family members were lost during the battle ahead, Zheng Chenggong expected that the Fujian army would collapse.

"Chongming Island." Zheng Chenggong thought for a long time and finally made up his mind: "First capture Chongming Island and put all the families on the island so that the army can fight with confidence. After the family is settled, the morale of the army will be stabilized, and then try to reinforce Zhang Shangshu."

After thinking about the plan, Zheng Chenggong took action immediately and immediately ordered the surrendered army in Zhenjiang to retreat with him. The army quickly returned to the downstream to attack Chongming Island. When leaving Zhenjiang, Zheng Chenggong could only silently hope that the Zhejiang army could persist in the upstream for a period of time, and could persist until the Fujian army revitalize the morale and return to rescue them.

"Can Zhang Shangshu last in Wuhu for a month?" Zheng Chenggong estimated that even if everything goes well, it will take half a month to twenty days to capture Chongming Island, stabilize the morale of the army, and deploy defense. As for what to do if you can't capture Chongming Island, Zheng Chenggong did not think seriously, because he did not dare to think about the consequences of failure.

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