Yang Zhenlai's attack on Zhenjiang Fort had multiple purposes. In other words, it was a plan that killed many birds with one stone.

First of all, no matter whether they succeed or fail in attacking Zhenjiang Fort, they can completely capture Lin Qingye's team. From then on, the possibility of the Qing captives requisitioning Korean warships to threaten them is basically eliminated.

Secondly, by capturing Zhenjiang Fort, Yang Zhen was able to neutralize the second siege offensive of Jinhai Town by the Qing army in one fell swoop, and from then on direct the war to the rear of the Qing army.

Furthermore, Zhenjiang Fort was a place that the Qing rebels must defend. Once Zhenjiang Fort was captured, they could use this city to attract the Qing rebels to attack without hesitation, thereby consuming a large amount of the Qing rebels' vitality.

In the end, regardless of whether Zhenjiang Fort can be captured or not, as long as Lin Qingye brings the imperial warships to join the side of Jinhai Town, the Qing army will definitely take revenge on the Li Dynasty.

And once the Qing army retaliated against the imperial people, it would be equivalent to pushing the Li Dynasty one step closer to Jinhai Town or the Ming Dynasty.

Now, Yang Zhen has captured Zhenjiang Fort as he wished, and the first two of his ideas have been successfully completed.

Next, it was time to rely on Zhenjiang Fort, a fortified city with a superior location, to consume a large amount of the Qingqi Eight Banners' effective strength.

Therefore, Yang Zhen was actually very happy to see the arrival of the Qinglu army and the various sieges of Zhenjiang Fort by the Qinglu army that would inevitably occur in the future.

Because only if the Qing captive army is like moths flying to the flame to seize the Zhenjiang Castle, Yang Zhen's plan of consuming the effective strength of the Eight Banners of the Qing captives can achieve the greatest effect.

But in this process, Yang Zhen needs to keep his generals low-key and cautious, and not be overconfident in his own strength.

Yang Zhen was not worried that after his strength was exposed, he would scare the Qing army back, he knew this was impossible.

Yang Zhen was worried that if his generals didn't know how to be modest and prudent or didn't know how to hide their clumsiness, they would cause him a lot of unnecessary trouble.

In this successful raid on Zhenjiang Fort, civil and military generals from the imperial court, such as Lin Qingye, An Yingchang, Liu Lin, Huang Yihao, Cui Xiaoyi, etc., played a special role.

If it were not for Lin Qingye's status as the commander of the Nansan Dao Navy and the navy fleet he commanded, as well as the teams of Yang Zhen, Zhang Chen, Li Shouzhong, An Yingchang and others, as well as the heavy artillery and firearms they carried along the way,

It is impossible to arrive at Zhenjiang Fort without anyone noticing.

And if Liu Lin, the military envoy of Ping'an Road, and the various Korean soldiers and horses he brought to Zhenjiang Fort were not there to raise flags in the city, the situation in Zhenjiang Fort would not have taken a turn for the worse and would have lost control so quickly.

Of course, the main generals on Yang Zhen's side were aware of these situations and acknowledged them.

Correspondingly, Qing Dynasty General Dinghai and Prince Shuo Zheng Jierharang and one of his Gushan Ezhen Aixili, as well as Jingjin Beilenikan and Zhishun who did not abandon the city until the last moment

Wang Shang is happy, and he is also aware of this.

Moreover, in order to clear themselves of the crime of abandoning the city, or to reduce their guilt of losing Zhenjiang Castle, they, the powerful officials of the Eight Banners, would definitely put the blame on the Korean troops who claimed to have come to help in the war.

.

By that time, if the Qing army cannot recapture Zhenjiang Fort quickly, they will definitely cross the Yangtze River and march eastward to plunder and retaliate against the nearby court people.

First of all, the Qing army that besieged Zhenjiang Fort in winter must need a large amount of food and grass supplies, and these things could only be obtained from the nearby court people in Jiangdong.

Secondly, this is also a tactic that the Qing army is best at siege and rescue. By plundering and retaliating against the Korean towns in Jiangdong, it can lure or force the Korean soldiers and horses in Zhenjiang Fort and even Yang Zhen's soldiers and horses to go out of the city for rescue.

In Yang Zhen's view, as long as the Qing army could not attack the Zhenjiang Fort that it was defending for a long time, the situation where the Qing army wanted to plunder and retaliate against the Koreans would definitely happen.

If he is very strong now and can defeat the Qing army easily, then at that time, he will face the Ping An soldiers Liu Lin, Yizhou Prefecture Yin Huang Yihao, Shen Qiyuan's younger brother Shen Qizhou, and even Lin Qingye, An When Ying Chang and others begged for mercy, things became difficult.

At that time, if I agree to their request for rescue from the city, it will not be in line with the actual interests of Jinhai Town nor the long-term interests of China.

In Yang Zhen's plan for the future, the mountains and rivers east of the Yalu River, at least the lands east of the Yalu River that once belonged to the four Han counties, must be returned to China.

Based on the current practical interests of Jinhai Town, Yang Zhen needs more land to resettle more refugees in the pass.

Because only with more immigrants from the customs can Jinhai Town be able to cultivate more land and recruit more reliable soldiers.

From the perspective of China's long-term interests, the east of the Yalu River contains massive high-quality minerals, massive high-quality coal and iron resources, how can these massive, high-quality, easy-to-exploit mineral resources fall into the hands of other races just because they are separated by a river? ?

The most important thing is that in the future, I will continue to advance north along the coastline of the outer northeast. If the North Ping An Road and Hamgyong Road block my way, it will be a waste to expand to the north!

Therefore, before Yang Zhen marched into Zhenjiang Fort, he had already planned to use the hands of the court to anger the Qing captives, and then use the hands of the Qing captives to clear out the court in these two areas.

Now, his entire plan has successfully taken the first two steps. Zhenjiang Fort has been captured, and the Chao people have been deeply involved.

Liu Lin was the military governor of Ping'an Road and the governor of Pyongyang, and the other civil and military officers who followed him into Zhenjiang Fort and eventually served as internal officials were also civil and military officials from several cities on Ping'an Road.

Once the returning Qing army fails to attack Zhenjiang Fort for a long time, where and who will they retaliate first?

The answer is obvious and there is no need to think too much about it.

But in order not to be self-defeating in the end, Yang Zhen could only continue to hide his strength and try to show that he could only defend Zhenjiang City without losing any other power for advancement.

In this way, when the Qing army actually crossed the river to plunder and retaliate against the Jiangdong Dynasty, he could excuse himself from the attack by saying that he was powerless or that it was a plan of the Qing army to divert the tiger away from the mountain.

Only in this way can Yang Zhen's overall plan to go north to the mouth of the Yalu River to seize Zhenjiang Fort can be regarded as a complete victory.

But it is said that on the morning of September 19, the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhen led the generals from Jinhai Town who went north and the generals from the Korean and land routes who joined Yang Zhen's camp, and convened a military meeting at the camp of General Zhengdong in the middle of Zhenjiang Fort. .

This meeting lasted for about two hours. Generals from all parties made speeches, and finally, with Yang Zhen's approval, these decisions were made.

First, according to the suggestion of the surrendered general Jin Yukui, a large number of fire starters were immediately prepared. Jin Yukui himself led the team as a guide and accompanied Yu Liangtai to lead a fleet north along the river to attack the Jiuliancheng Shipyard not far from the mouth of the Kuihe River in the north.

Secondly, based on the suggestion of Ping'an military envoy Liu Lin, they immediately sent Yizhou governor Yin Huang Yihao, Dingzhou pastoral envoy Zhang Houjian, and Anzhou pastoral envoy An Kecheng and others to return to their respective official places, post notices, and fly the righteous flag.

, recruit heroes and drive out the Qing captives together.

Regarding Liulin's proposal, Yang Zhen agreed on the spot and asked Huang Yihao, the governor of Yizhou, who was outstanding in writing and eloquence, to write an appeal on the spot using both Chinese and proverbial styles.

Third, according to Lin Qingye's suggestion, a force of troops was immediately sent out of the west gate to occupy Zhenjiang Mountain, southwest of Zhenjiang Fort City, and set up a stronghold and sentry on the mountain, and sent more scouts to the west to inquire about the movement of the Qing invaders.

Yang Zhen assigned this task to An Yingchang, the commander-in-chief of the Zhongyi Gui Ming Army.

An Yingchang and his Zhongyi Army already had the experience of camping and defending in Chengzi Mountain of Western Goryeo and sent out sentries for reconnaissance, which came in handy at this time.

Fourth, according to Yuan Jin's proposal, in order to prevent the thousands of prisoners of war, old, weak, women and children in Zhenjiang Fort from consuming the food in the city, Yang Zhen decided to clear them all out of the city immediately and transport them back to the rear of Jinhai Town for use first.

At the same time, we can also take this opportunity to let Yuan Jin lead the fleet back. On the one hand, he will bring back the news that Yang Zhen has led his army to capture Zhenjiang Fort. On the other hand, he can also pass on Yang Zhen's orders to other people in Jinhai Town.

go back.

After all these things are done, Yuan Jin still needs to lead his fleet back and transport more ammunition and supplies from the rear of Jinhai Town.

Fifth, according to Zhang Chen's proposal, various ministries in Zhenjiang City immediately garrisoned and repaired the city's fortifications, and transported all the newly captured heavy artillery of General Tianyou and the heavy cannons carried by Yang Shen, Liu Zhongjin and others.

Enter the city.

Of course, in addition to these resolutions involving the mobilization of troops, troops, and ships, Yang Zhen also did not forget to order at this military meeting to send people to lead a team to occupy Waihua Island in the Yalu River and retrieve the Qing captives' deposits in advance.

Dozens of large general cannons on the island waiting to be shipped.

At the same time, Yang Zhen also asked Lin Qingye to arrange for Monk Dubu, a confidant who came with the ship, to leave the city and cross the river, and rush back to Hanyang City as soon as possible to find Shen Qiyuan to report the news from Zhenjiang Fort, so that he could be prepared for contingency.

After all, both Liu Lin, the Ping'an soldier, and Lin Qingye, the commander of the three naval forces in South Korea, had direct or indirect connections with Shen Qiyuan, the current Li Chao soldier, Cao Banshu.

However, Liu Lin and Lin Qingye, the two ministers of the Li Dynasty who were supposed to assist the Qing Dynasty in the suppression of Jinhai Town, turned out to be against each other, all sided with Yang Zhen, and even helped Yang Zhen occupy Zhenjiang Fort. How to explain this?

Therefore, facing the current situation, whether it was public or private, Yang Zhen felt that he had an obligation to inform Shen Qiyuan of the situation at Zhenjiang Fort as soon as possible.

At that time, once the Qing Dynasty crosses the river to question the culprit, no matter whether he fights to the end, abandons his official position and flees, or simply raises an army and deposes the establishment on his own, he will have time to prepare.

The military meeting in the morning ended. Yang Zhen, who had not slept a wink all day and night, found a place to catch up on his sleep in General Zhengdong's camp, while the others who had been clearly arranged immediately acted according to the order.

At noon that day, artillery boomed in the area south of Jiulian City, and the Xianglan Banner Han Military Shipyard on the south bank of the Juhahe River soon burst into flames.

Jingjin Berenikan and King Zhishun Shang Kexi, who had fled back to Jiulian City the night before, did not have warships under their command. Since they were across the estuary across the river, they only dared to stick to the city and did not send troops to engage in a fierce battle with Yu Liangtai's warships.

In the end, they could only stand on the top of Jiulian City and watch helplessly as the wood and large quantities of semi-finished products accumulated in the shipyard for more than half a year were reduced to ashes in the fire.

On September 21st, the 13th year of Chongzhen, Dingzhou City east of the Yalu River took the lead in raising the flag of righteousness and posting a proclamation against the Qing captives. The righteous people rose up in large numbers and began to arrest the court officials who were liquidating the Qing captives in and outside Dingzhou City.

Traitor.

On September 23, the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, the same thing began to happen in Anju City, Yiju City and Pyongyang City.
Chapter completed!