Chapter 1086 Narcissism
Sixteenth day of the campaign.
According to the agreement, more than 400,000 southern allied forces will divide their troops into three groups and advance into the territory of the Qing Dynasty at the same time.
On the west road, Zhang Xianzhong, the emperor of the Great Western Kingdom, personally led the 120,000 Great Western Army out of Sichuan, passed through Hanzhong, took Xi'an directly, and then went north to take charge of capturing Shaanxi and Shanxi.
Zhang Xianzhong was even fiercer than Ouyang Shuo expected, directly mobilizing an army of 120,000, almost fighting with all his might.
On the east road, Guo Ziyi led the 90,000 Lieyan Army, together with the 30,000 Dashun Army and the 60,000 Nanming Army, a total of 180,000 troops, marched north from Huai'an, and was responsible for capturing Shandong.
In the middle, Li Jing led the 60,000 Daxia Imperial Guard Army, together with the 30,000 Dashun Army and 60,000 Nanming Army, a total of 150,000 troops, marched northward from Yangzhou, and was responsible for capturing Henan.
The three armies agreed to join forces in the capital.
In view of the lack of rivers in the north, which is not conducive to naval operations, the royal fleet led by Zhou Yu did not follow north. The three thousand guards also stayed in Jianye for the time being to protect Ouyang Shuo's safety.
Before departure, Li Jing's department had a meeting with Guo Ziyi's department in Yangzhou City.
After the two armies joined forces, Li Jing made adjustments to the ministries, mainly to take back all the separated Great Xia Imperial Guards and reorganize them into a legion.
In addition, there was an adjustment and reorganization of the Dashun Army and the Nanming Army.
Dorgon could see the weakness of the Southern Allied Forces, how could Li Jing not know.
Leaving aside the Great Western Army on the West Road, after all, they are too far apart to reach them. For the 120,000 Southern Ming Army belonging to the four towns in Jiangbei, Li Jing, with the cooperation of Guo Ziyi, took advantage of the opportunity of resting in Yangzhou and brought Jianye's great victory to disrupt and reorganize. Follow the Luofengcheng officer and join the Nanming Army.
In this way, Li Jing's control over the Southern Ming Army was greatly enhanced.
The 60,000 Dashun Army was also divided into two by Li Jing and assigned to the Central Route Army and the East Route Army. Although the generals of the Dashun Army had some complaints about this, they had just expressed their position in front of Ouyang Shuo, so it was natural not to immediately regret it.
In this way, Li Jing resolutely seized the favorable opportunity after Jianye's victory, and reorganized the East Route Army and the Center Route Army with the Alien Army as the core, which greatly weakened the possibility of internal fighting.
At the same time, the probability of Nanming Army and Dashun Army "acting without authorization and disobeying orders" was greatly reduced.
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After reorganization, the three-way army immediately marched one by one according to the original goal.
During this period, the 400,000 Qing troops distributed in the northern border quietly retreated like a tide under the unified dispatch of Dorgon, and quickly assembled in Yanjing.
For a time, the Qing army marched everywhere on the official road in the north, and the dust and smoke billowed.
This abnormal move of the Qing army was quickly caught by the common people all over the country, and there were many discussions among the people. Some people said, "The Qing army is afraid, and they will retreat without fighting. They are going to go back out of the pass in despair."
The Southern Allied Forces in the Northern Expedition spread more and more outrageously among the common people.
In the morning it was said to be an army of 500,000, in the afternoon it was said to be an army of 700,000, and in the evening, before nightfall, it was said to be an army of one million.
More and more exaggeration.
But the common people still believe this. Those who are more courageous have quietly taken out the hoes and hatchets hidden at home, and assembled at the secret place. Those who are less courageous only dare to discuss it quietly in order to see the aftermath.
No matter who they were, the way they looked at Manren was very different from before. Everyone just stared at him like that, and didn't say anything cruel, but it was enough to scare Manman to the ground.
Especially the ruthless Manchu nobles who bullied the people on weekdays were too scared to go out. Some simply packed up and followed the Qing army's ass and fled in desperation.
That night, local militia armed forces stormed the yamen and killed officials appointed by the Qing Dynasty.
The irony is that more than 90% of these officials are Han Chinese. After the Qing army became powerful, they were either greedy for power, or in order to save their lives, they either actively or passively became the slaves of the Manchus.
A large part of them were officials of the Ming Dynasty before.
For these officials, the local militiamen were merciless and killed them all. Even their family members were not spared, and were brutally killed by the red-eyed militiamen.
Instead, the real Manchu officials got the news in advance and quietly evacuated under the escort of the Qing army.
Riots are sometimes so blind and bloody. The northern land that has just calmed down, starting from the southernmost point, is soaked in blood one after another in bright red circles.
These circles are strung together to form a thick blood line.
The blood line gradually spread from south to north, and gradually became the trend of destroying the world.
"It's going to change!"
As the Qing army withdrew at an accelerated pace, resistance and uprisings in various places intensified. When the southern allied forces entered the north, what they encountered was not the fierce resistance as imagined, but the people spontaneously opened the city gates and lined the road to welcome them.
Crowds of people.
The lively scene once gave people an illusion.
"Did we go to the wrong place?" A soldier muttered to himself, looking a little at a loss.
In this way, the three-way army almost effortlessly followed the retreat track of the Qing army, and miraculously regained the lost ground at a speed that ordinary people could not imagine.
Hanzhong, Xi'an, Tongguan...
Guide, Kaifeng, Qinzhou...
Wherever the army went, it declared recovery, because it was so smooth, it seemed a little unreal.
In the first two or three days, the army could still keep vigilant at all times, fearing that the Qing army would return to the carbine or have an ambush. As time went by, the tense nerves of the soldiers gradually relaxed.
When the exact news came from the secret agent, Da Jun finally felt relieved.
"There is no need to doubt anymore, the Qing army has indeed retreated!"
After corroborating the information, both Li Jing, commander of the Central Route Army, and Guo Ziyi, commander of the East Route Army, had complicated expressions on their faces. There was no excitement on their faces, but seriousness on the contrary.
"If something goes wrong, there must be a demon!"
On the contrary, the generals of the Dashun Army and the Nanming Army under their command were all elated, as if they had won a great battle, their backs became more straight than the other.
The cheers from the common people, the eager eyes of the girls, and the victories one after another gradually dazzled their minds, drained their will, and blurred their judgment.
At the end, they really regarded themselves as invincible and invincible teachers.
At first, facing the cheers, they were full of doubts: "Are we heroes?"
"Yes, we are heroes!"
Now, they have taken it for granted.
Because it was too smooth and too lively, the discipline in the army began to relax, and the soldiers became loose. Not only did the morning exercises lose motivation, but even the marching was no longer so fast.
They have become self-absorbed.
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At the same time, Zhang Xianzhong, who was alone in charge, had even more complicated thoughts.