At noon, on the road northwest of Nanjing.

A Qing army was moving rapidly towards Nanjing. They pulled out a long marching column on the official road. On the side of the column were large trucks, with armor and other supplies piled up on them, and there was no curtain covering them.

There were almost no people on both sides of the avenue. Occasionally, people passed by and found the smoke and dust rising from the marching. They immediately flew to the side of the road in panic and hid in the dark and watched these soldiers nervously. In recent days, the guest soldiers from all over the country came to help Nanjing were extremely arrogant. Most of the people outside the city fled here to avoid the limelight. Only a few people were reluctant to leave their hometowns, so they hid in the nearby area with fear.

The army that rushed towards Nanjing ignored the eyes that came from the secret. Since there was no alarm from the outpost, they continued to march at full speed as planned. The hidden people observed for a long time, but did not recognize the identity of the army. Whether it was a flag or a military flag, there was no such army. There was a evasive person who was a student. He knew some knowledge of the system of officers and soldiers. After a long time of secretly looking at it, he was surprised to find that the Qing army had no signs for identification.

Not only that, the vehicles next to the Qing army column were also very unconventional. In theory, the baggage should be separated from the combat troops. It is very dangerous to marching in such a mixed manner during wartime, and it is difficult for the troops to deploy when encountering ambush. In normal times, there is no need for mixed conditions, and it will also affect the military appearance. However, this Qing army not only had people and vehicles mixed, but also had vehicles dragged by horses, but actually used donkeys, mules and even plowing oxen to use large animals used by ordinary people.

The official roads around Nanjing were well built. Although these vehicles were pulled by donkeys and mules, they walked very quickly and steadily. The Qing soldiers walking beside the carriage shouted to the coachman passing by from time to time: "I'm tired, let me go and sit for a while." After that, they would jump into the carriage with weapons. Not only did the coachman transporting the baggage not stop him, but no officers in the column came out to interfere in this behavior of ignoring military discipline.

Therefore, there are always full of soldiers sitting on each carriage, and the official road is filled with shouts of coachmen, looking like a migrating nomadic tribe, rather than a marching combat force.

Several miles away from the front of this army, Deng Ming led more than 140 cavalrymen to search and advance. After seizing nearly 100 war horses from the Yangzhou Green Camp, all the people in the Zhejiang Army who could ride horses, who had ridden horses or claimed to have ridden horses were selected to form this Ming army's horse team.

This morning, Zhao Tianba and the others had just left, and flocked to Deng Ming again and made suggestions to attack Nanjing!

According to the report of the prisoners, after Zheng Chenggong evacuated Chongming Island, Nanjing knew that the final victory of the battle had been achieved, and the whole city of civil and military officials had celebrated. The main force of the Zhejiang army had fled to Anqing, and Zhang Huangyan himself rushed to Chaohu. The rest was the final work of chasing and suppressing the defeated soldiers. A large number of prefectures and county tycoons gathered from many prefectures and counties in all directions would soon leave Nanjing and return to their respective garrisons.

When the situation was critical, the Governor of Liangjiang could tolerate them causing trouble in the city, but as the situation improved, the importance of public security in the city continued to rise. As early as when Zheng Chenggong retreated from Zhenjiang, these urgently summoned troops had been sent out of the city by Lang Tingzuo. But no matter what, these men responded to the Governor's call to come to Nanjing to support the city defense. If they did not give them some sweetness, it would be difficult to expect the surrounding local troops to come to reinforce if there was anything wrong in Nanjing in the future. Therefore, Lang Tingzuo let them harass the residents of the suburbs of the city and let them go. Yesterday, he took out the silver from the vassal treasury and set up a three-day shift seat for the troops outside the city, so that they could eat and drink enough and return home with satisfaction.

Judging from the description of the captured green camp soldiers in Yangzhou, these green camps moved outside the city were less vigilant than Dasheng Pass. Nanjing announced that they had expelled the Ming army from the Yangtze River and won a complete victory. The guest soldiers knew that they were about to part, so they went out to steal. They also heard that the pursuit troops led by Guan Xiaozhong robbed Zhenjiang and other places, and stole a large number of women and sold them to other places. In addition, the green camp outside Nanjing was jealous and was chaotic in the suburbs, determined to get some property from the people.

"Although we defeated the Tartars at Dasheng Pass, we would be alert to Nanjing, but we only escaped a dozen cavalry," Zhao Tianba believed that the opportunity had not been completely lost. He pointed out to Deng Ming: "Most Tartars not only escaped on foot, but were not locals, and were not familiar with the road and direction. Under normal circumstances, most of these frightened birds would hide and dare not walk on the road and fear that we would pursue."

"And those fleeing cavalry could not let Nanjing understand what was going on for a moment. They would not declare martial law in the whole city again before they figured out the situation. From Dasheng Pass to Nanjing, even if they were quick to rush, they would have to run for more than half an hour. When the city gate guard Gao knew their identities, they would let them into the city, and then inquire one by one, it would probably take another hour to figure out the situation. When the people below reported to Lang Tingzuo, he decided to send people to reconnaissance the situation at Dasheng Pass, and it would probably be evening." Zhou Kaihuang and Zhao Tianba interrogated the prisoners who were interrogating together, he added to Zhao Tianba's suggestions: "Even if Lang Thief sent scouts while putting the Tartars outside the city on guard-there are two or three thousand people outside the city, it would be impossible to notify them for a moment."

When Zhou Kaihuang was speaking, Li Xinghan kept nodding beside him, feeling that Zhou Kaihuang had finished everything he wanted to say. Finally, he only said one sentence: "Sir, we have the advantage of surprise attack."

"Do you suggest we use these 4,000 people to attack the 30,000 Tartars outside the city?" Deng Ming had already understood what they meant. There were about 2,000 green camps driven out of the city by Lang Tingzuo. Although they were the most unordered group - all the larger ones had already rushed to Wuhu - but after all, the number of people was there. He turned to look at Ren Tang and the Zhejiang Army generals who came with him: "Do you agree with this plan?"

Deng Ming is now brave, and Deng Ming is not too surprised, but Ren Tang and others are also coming with Zhao Tianba and others. From the expression, they also seem to advocate sending troops, which makes Deng Ming feel a little strange. Can just win a battle this morning increase the morale of the Zhejiang Army?

"Yes, admiral, we also agree with Zhao Qianhu's plan." Ren Tang nodded heavily. After interrogating the prisoners just now, when Zhao Tianba made this claim, some Zhejiang generals were suspicious, but Ren Tang fully supported it and persuaded most of the Zhejiang soldiers to advance and retreat with Zhao Tianba, and asked Deng Ming to fight together: "Our original intention was to camp at Dasheng Pass and then wait for Hushang's reinforcements, but it is hard to say when Hushang will arrive. The later the attack on us was launched in Nanjing, the safer we will be able to escape. If we stayed at Dasheng Pass, as Zhao Qianhu said, Nanjing would send people to see what was going on here tonight or tomorrow morning, and it might soon make the soldiers around us

The force is concentrated on Dasheng Pass; and if we go to Nanjing City for a walk, even if the enemy is already on guard, it doesn't matter: because we see us heading straight to Nanjing, the Tartars will be even more invisible and dare not attack us easily." Ren Tang used this reason to convince other Zhejiang Army leaders. Now when he told Deng Ming, the context has been sorted out very clearly: "And when we arrive at Nanjing City, this matter will be even bigger, so that Hushang will get the news earlier. Finally, there is another point that we can also use this to hide the situation at Dasheng Pass and delay time. We stay in Nanjing for one day and then retreat to Dasheng Pass, which means that Nanjing will attack us for one or two days at night."

Deng Ming's eyes swept across the faces of the officers in the camp, and he saw a series of firm faces. He laughed: "You are all heroes of the times. It's really my blessing 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 Zhejiang cavalry rushed to Deng Ming's horse. Deng Ming carefully tied the horse. Everyone around him also looked at the cavalry vigilantly. The Zhejiang soldier named Li Tianyuan claimed to be skillful in riding and was recruited into the horse team. However, when he came to report to Deng Ming just now, he could not control his mount at all and hit him. Fortunately, Ren Tang was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and pulled his reins with a hand.

This time, Li Tianyuan successfully grabbed his horse. Although his movements were still a little clumsy, at least he did not let the alert guards around Deng Ming pull the horse for him.

"The villain team found a few more donkeys and two plowing oxen." Li Tianyuan pointed to a small village not far away and reported to Deng Ming. The residents nearby were all gone without a trace, and they probably all went to take shelter, but some animals were not taken away and were not discovered by the Qing soldiers.

"The ox cart is too slow, but the donkey is okay." Deng Ming said. Compared to the animals pulling the cart, the big cart found many. Now there are not enough donkeys, so they have to put the ox on the cart: "Have the driver found it?"

"Report to the admiral, the villain's brother is right behind, he is a good driver of driving the car." Li Tianyuan reported that his brother once claimed to be able to ride a horse, but he couldn't even climb up the horse, and was defeated by the team behind him.

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

"It's true." Li Tianyuan's face turned red, but it was not because of guilt, but because of Deng Ming's suspicion that he felt humiliated: "The little man may not be riding well, but my brother is definitely the best at driving the car."

"Okay." Deng Ming nodded. There were all kinds of talents in the Zhejiang Army. When looking for animals and vehicles along the way, someone found the Erhu and Kuaiban. He sat in the car and started to perform his skills to his companions. Originally, Zhao Tianba wanted to stop him, but Deng Ming stopped him first. After all, the Zhejiang Army was still a unit that lacked combat experience. These legends can divert the attention of the soldiers. When they listened with relish and cheered, they would not think that they were heading towards an enemy that was ten times more than theirs.

The cavalry who were reconnaissance for the army kept finding the fallen animals. Ren Tang did not agree to take away the people's things like this, especially the plowing ox, but he also knew that there was no better way to speed up the marching and preserve the soldiers' physical strength. Moreover, Deng Ming took out some silver and asked the scouts to put them at their home where they took the animals. Seeing this, Ren Tang stopped muttering about Zhang Shangshu's military discipline.

The cavalry was the fastest, and the convoy was secondly, and the soldiers who were left behind would cheer whenever they saw a new empty car coming towards them.

"Come up, brother."

This time, three donkey carts came in one breath. The leader was Li Tianyuan's brother. He made a beautiful circumference and stopped steadily on the road. Three Ming soldiers jumped onto the donkey cart happily.

"Go, drive." The driver rushed forward with great force, and did not forget to brag to his companions behind him: "Look at me surpassing the convoy in front and was the first to arrive in Nanjing!"

...

As everyone analyzed, it was not until noon that four deserters from the Yangzhou Green Camp were tied up and taken into the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion. The Scud who had escaped back to Nanjing was caught unceremoniously by the city gate defenders. They believed that this guy was talking nonsense with the purpose of sneaking into the city and stealing. If the city gate officer had not said that it was not appropriate to kill people during the victory, he might have been beheaded by the guards on the spot.

The second Yangzhou soldiers were no better than his companions. They were also tied up by the guards at the city gate. Their current charge was to be absent. The guard said that they would stay in the prison tonight and would send them back to Dasheng Pass tomorrow and hand them over to their superior Ming Zhengdian for execution.

After a while, a big camp next to him sent another tied guy. The soldiers escorted him said that they had caught a Ming army who was spreading rumors outside the camp. This guy tried to disrupt the morale of the army and create chaos. He was seen through by their ignorant commander, and had admitted his crime and was sent to Nanjing for credit.

The guards at the city gate saw that the thin man had black faces, whip marks on their clothes, and their eyes were swollen like peaches. They could no longer open them. They kept muttering, "I'm thin man, I'm thin man, don't hit me."

But another deserter tied to a pillar to show his public recognition of this fine work and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, calling this "Ming Army fine work" a friend of his. He rushed into the same stable this morning to grab horses. The guards were curious, so they asked the escort soldiers a few more questions and found that this "fine work" also claimed to be the Yangzhou Green Camp in Dasheng Pass.

The guard thought the matter was strange, so he asked his subordinates to take three people to the Liangjiang Governor's Office together. When the officials of the Governor's Office were interrogating, he took another "subtle" from another city gate, saying that this guy was exaggerating, trying to shake the morale of the army and get into the city. After discovering that the fourth guy's statement was similar to the first three, the officials who interrogated them also became suspicious: "Is there really something wrong with Dasheng Pass?"

But everyone thought this was too ridiculous. The Ming army had withdrawn from the Yangtze River. Could it be that it could have grown wings and flew back? Anqing still had defeated soldiers in the Ming army, but Wuhu did not call the police. After thinking for a long time, a small official remembered the group of Ming troops found at the junction of Yingtian Prefecture and Changzhou Prefecture a few days ago. But the Ming army had obviously gone to Huangchi. The day before yesterday, Huangchi came to deliver good news, saying that the Ming army was defeated, beheaded hundreds of them, and was searching for the remnants.

Of course, the officials of the Liangjiang Governor's Office did not know that the Qing army, who was waiting in Huangchi for two days, had not waited for the Ming army, and set up posts around to kill many pedestrians. Huangchi's Qing army did not immediately go to help the Liangjiang Governor when Zheng Chenggong attacked Nanjing. Now he urgently needs credit to clear himself.

Since the Ming army could not have fallen from the sky, officials tended to think that these four guys were deserters. However, a mature and polite person suggested sending people to other city gates and camps facing south to ask if there were any similar situations.

"What if there is still?" asked a colleague.

"Then something really happened to Dasheng Pass," the experienced official analyzed: "It is definitely not a rioter, but the Yangzhou Green Camp may have caused too much disaster around and caused civil changes."

"Ah, the civil unrest, are you going to send troops to suppress it?" The official who asked was suddenly nervous. It was a big deal to stir up the civil unrest in the past. Although it is different now, the Governor of Liangjiang and the court will not seriously consider it after the victory, but it is probably impossible to escape after the blame.

"Who knows if it's a civil rebellion?" The third official involved in the interrogation opposed: "Even if the Yangzhou Green Camp was defeated by the rioters, or had gathered to suppress the rioters, it's completely unclear."

"Well, go to the city gates and camps to ask first. If there are any deserters who claim to be the Green Camp in Yangzhou, please send someone to Dasheng Pass to ask."

The proposal was unanimously agreed. The three interrogation officials looked at the sun outside. It was almost noon and they all felt a little hungry. They decided to go to dinner first, and after dinner, they sent someone to the city gate and the battalions to inquire.

"Don't report to the Governor first." This is also the unanimous view of the three interrogators. Lang Tingzuo was celebrating victory. He had not yet figured out anything yet, so he definitely could not disturb the Governor's good mood. Moreover, the truth of this matter is likely that four deserters were found in Dasheng Pass. All civil rebellions and sneak attacks were all made out of nothing. If these deserters solemnly report to the Governor and find that there was nothing wrong in the Governor's yamen, then these three would have done the end of the battle in the Governor's yamen.

...

The magnificent city wall in Nanjing was already in sight, and the horse team led by Deng Ming finally met a small army of the Qing army.

"Which battalion are you from?" The Qing army he met was holding a few goats in his head, and the cart pulled behind was filled with houses found from nearby. After looking at them for a long time, they didn't see the banner of Deng Ming and his party, so they shouted at the people who were competing for the way with them.

"We are the Green Camp in Yangzhou." Someone immediately replied loudly: "We came from Dasheng Pass."

"What are you doing when you come back?" The leader of the Qing army asked angrily. Deng Ming's horse team looked like there were one or two hundred people. They rode horses on the avenue unscrupulously. In order to avoid being hit by these green camps, they had to give up the official road.

"I heard that the water table is running, we are back for dinner." The cavalry team of the Yangzhou Green Camp ran past the Qing soldiers, and they answered loudly without looking back. When they answered the question just now, Deng Ming and others had already touched the weapons, but there was no strange look on the Qing soldiers opposite, and they all secretly let go.

After finally waiting for the cavalry to finish, the Qing soldiers dragged their things and walked up the avenue again, but before they could go far, there was a rumbling sound behind them. When they looked back, a large cart that could not see at first glance rushed towards them in a flash.

"We are from the Green Camp in Yangzhou!"

"Is the flowing table open?"

"We're here to eat too!"

The Qing soldiers who were driven off the avenue were standing on the side of the road. This time they received the exact same answer as the ones of the horse team. The difference was that there were more people coming this time, and it was obvious that they had to wait on the side of the road for a long time.

"The turtle lamb from the green camp in Yangzhou." The Qing soldiers were angry and couldn't help but curse: "I rushed back for more than twenty miles to eat, and you really put in the effort for this flowing meal!"

"His grandma!" Seeing the soldiers in the car pulling the erhu and playing the slap, the officer in the lead was furious: "Is it for the meal? Can you Yangzhou soldiers still have some potential?"

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Chapter completed!