Chapter 16 first battle

Due to the surging response from the local people and the remnants of the Ming army, the Lu Wang regime, which was only established in the middle of June, had assembled a huge army of 100,000 by the beginning of August, and its sphere of influence stretched from the corner of eastern Zhejiang , Rapidly expanded to large areas in western Zhejiang and Jiangnan.Although the prefectures and counties that have joined in one after another are basically still in a state of fighting on their own, and a considerable part of the army also belongs to the township braves gathered temporarily, but they have formed a rather huge momentum.In addition, at this time, news came from Fujian further east: Another vassal king of the Ming Dynasty, Tang Wang Zhu Yujian, supported by Huang Daozhou, Zheng Zhilong and others, also raised righteousness against the Qing Dynasty, and he has publicly declared Emperor, changed to Yuan Longwu.This forced Zhang Cunren, the governor of Zhejiang in the Qing Dynasty, who was full of ambition, to be taken aback, and quickly withdrew his troops to defend the city of Hangzhou with all his strength; at the same time, he flew to Nanjing to request emergency reinforcements.

Faced with this obvious favorable situation and opportunity, King Zhu Yihai of Lu listened to the suggestions of his ministers and held an imperial meeting in Shaoxing Fucheng. Rebel armies from all walks of life concentrated in Xixing in the lower reaches and Fuyang in the upper reaches, and took the posture of crossing the river to attack Hangzhou.According to their vision, it would be best if they could recover Hangzhou in one go; even if they couldn't do it for a while, they would have to win a few good victories in order to deter the enemy, boost morale, and consolidate the territory they had already acquired.

Huang Zongxi received the order to join the war in Sun Jiaji's barracks stationed in Longwangtang, Guali Town, Xiaoshan County on the tenth day of the eighth month.Thanks to Sun Jiaji's recommendation, he has now been appointed by the new regime as the head of the Ministry of War's staff department, and concurrently serves as the supervisor of the Yuyao Army.The order from above also stipulated that they, as well as the rebels from Shaoxing, Cixi, Ningbo and other prefectures and counties, must transfer their troops to Xixing ferry across the water from Hangzhou before the evening of the 12th, and join them under the command of Wang Zhiren, Marquis of Wuning. The regular navy will meet and wait for dispatch.Although Huang Zongxi had already heard about the imperial court's plan to deploy troops westward, he was still very excited when he received the order to join the war.This is not only because he has become more and more eager to join the battle in recent days, more importantly, from this bold decision-making, he feels a kind of determination of one heart and one mind, a kind of spirit to forge ahead, and this is just It was something that the short-lived Hongguang court did not have. "That's right, just for this point, it's worth throwing yourself into it vigorously and doing a big job, even if it's blood spilled on Qiantang, and your body is smashed to pieces!" Sun Jiaji, who was running around in the barracks that were busily assembled, thought heroically and excitedly again and again.

Now, except for a small amount of troops left to garrison where they were, the rest of the troops, after a day and a night of sailing up the river, arrived at Xixing Ferry ahead of schedule at noon on the twelfth, met Wang Zhiren, and arrived at the appointed place. Stationed in the area.The team they belonged to was the four thousand people brought out from Yuyao County back then.Together with the five rebel armies from other prefectures and counties, it is collectively known as the "Six Family Army".Unlike the regular army commanded by generals such as Fang Guoan and Wang Zhiren, most of the "Six Family Army" were temporarily recruited peasants from the four townships. Their morale was high, but they basically had no military training.Many people know nothing about how to form an army, how to march, how to face the enemy, and how to fight, so they have to be taught one by one from the beginning.Therefore, since more than a month ago, Huang Zongxi rushed home from Shaoxing to inform his mother, settled down in the family, and brought the three hundred township braves out to join the army. Huang Zongxi has been guarding the camp, assisting Sun Jiaji in planning the establishment and training the soldiers.However, they don't know much about it.Fortunately, there were a few righteous soldiers who were born in the army, including the two men who took the lead in anti-shaving hair that Huang Zongxi met outside Yuyao County—Wang Han and Mao Han, who went all out to help practice day and night, so that this mob gradually gradually It's kind of like training.This time, because it was a battle across the river, they had brought out almost all the large and small ships that could be recruited according to the order before they set off. There were seventy or eighty ships in total, and now they are standing on the riverside. A water village; and because there were too few boats and people, the water village couldn't accommodate them, so another one was set up on the shore a stone's throw away from the water village to garrison the rest of the people.

Because he arrived early, according to Sun Jiaji's estimate, there would probably not be any military operations before the evening stipulated in the order. Therefore, seeing that the battalions had settled down, Huang Zongxi left the central army tent according to the original division of labor, and returned to the camp. Shuizhai went to restrain the troops, waiting for the order of the next move. The water villages connected by boats of various sizes float on the river surface unevenly and in groups, looking like black islands protruding from the shore.Huang Zongxi sometimes relied on the gangplank, sometimes leaped across, passed one boat after another, and observed the situation in the village while walking.Finding that the soldiers were leaning against the mast and beside the boat canopy, gnawing dry rations and fiddling with weapons, there was nothing unusual, so he went straight back to the cabin of a big river that was set up as the command post. An—the book boy has now become the leader of the guard, and the official is the "General Manager"—serving, first took off the clothes that were covered with dust and sweat, changed them, and washed them in the water tray for a while. Bamian, just sitting down, suddenly remembered something, so he opened several books brought with the ship, and found a letter sandwiched among them.

This is a letter sent by my old friend Gu Gao from Wuxi. When it was delivered to him, just as the army was marching in disorder, I didn't have time to read it, so I put it in the book.Speaking of Gu Gao, since they escaped from Nanjing Prison in May, broke up halfway, and went home separately, the two lost contact.Although Huang Zongxi missed this life-and-death friend very much, he suffered from the chaos of the war and the lack of communication.Huang Zongxi was really overjoyed when he received a letter from a friend unexpectedly. "Yes, why did I forget it!" He secretly blamed himself while opening the letter, and was about to pull it out for a closer look, when he suddenly heard the sound of drums beating outside, "Boom, boom, boom, boom!" And suddenly, it sounded like it came from above the great river.In the meantime, there were also waves of shouts vaguely mixed in.

Huang Zongxi couldn't help being startled, then pushed open the awning window and looked out, but the sight was blocked by the boats moored beside him, and he couldn't see anything except a small corner of the river.At this moment, the drums and shouts became louder and louder. "Why, is there already a fight?" He wondered in surprise, hastily stuffed the letter into his pocket, left the awning window, and rushed to the deck.At this moment, I finally saw clearly: it turned out that there were really many boats on the river, including river boats with large sails, smaller fishing boats, and many small boats.Judging from the flags of various colors and sizes on the ship, as well as the swaying figures of swords and lights, it is obvious that they are not ordinary ships, but sailors preparing to join the battle. "Then, could it be that we have already started crossing the river to attack? Why didn't we receive the order and didn't know about it?" Huang Zongxi was full of doubts, holding on to the winch at the bow, and looked up the river with his eyes wide open.

It was already noon, covered with a thin layer of autumn sun, and it was shining faintly on the top of the sky. The rustling autumn wind blew over the masts of the water villages, and set off layer after layer on the misty Qiantang River. light waves.Now, the situation on the river can be seen more clearly: there are at least thirty or forty boats that appeared with the sound of the drums, like a flock of water birds flying suddenly, scattered on the river.Judging from the source, these ships obviously belonged to Wang Zhiren's army water stronghold not far upstream, because until now, there were still ships sailing out from there to join the ranks ahead.

"Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom!" The rapid drumbeat was louder and louder.It sticks to the surface of the water and travels far away, and when it hits the embankment, it is reflected back, and it vibrates and echoes in the vast river and sky.With the sound of the drums, more and more boats gathered on the river, and led by several large boats, they lined up toward the opposite bank. "My lord, hurry up and order the anchor! Otherwise, all the credit will be taken away by Wang Bing!" An eager voice sounded from behind. Huang Zongxi looked back and found that Huang An was standing behind him, with a tense and excited expression on Yuanyuan's face.

Huang Zongxi shook his head: "We haven't received the military order yet." "Haven't received the military order yet? Why did they receive it again—oh, look, up, up!" Huang Zongxi fixed his eyes and found that the warships of Wang Zhiren's army had assembled and were slowly sailing upstream under the leadership of five large ships.It seems that they are preparing to use the force of the river to attack the opposite bank diagonally. "Oops, if we don't sail, we won't be able to catch up!" "Why can't we receive orders?" "Have you been detained by Wang Bing?"

Anxious and suppressed discussions sounded around, it was a few soldiers. Huang Zongxi didn't say anything.In any case, it is not allowed in the military to attack without waiting for orders.Even so, he couldn't help being a little suspicious: Could it be that the order to attack has been issued, but for some reason that has not yet been clarified, it has not been sent to him?If that's the case, it's not right for me to stand still, let alone to be the first to make meritorious service, just to delay the opportunity of the battle... However, if the order does not allow me to participate in the action, and I go out to fight recklessly, it will disrupt the entire deployment , the consequences are even more serious... "Well, you stay here, and no one is allowed to move unless ordered by me!" After explaining this, Huang Zongxi hurriedly turned around, left everyone behind, and walked towards the springboard.After walking a few steps, he saw Sun Jiaji from a distance, surrounded by several personal soldiers, rushing along the springboard towards this side. "Quick! Quick! Hurry up and march in!" Obviously seeing Huang Zongxi, Sun Jiaji waved across the boat and shouted. "how?" "The order is down, down!" Huang Zongxi let out an "ah", instinctively turned around and walked back immediately, took two steps, and stopped again. "Hey, why are you still standing? Quick, quick!" Sun Jiaji, who had already approached, urged panting. "Didn't you tell us to arrive before dark? Why did you order the attack now?" "I don't know! Hey, don't worry about it, hurry up, hurry up!" Sun Jiaji seemed impatient. Huang Zongxi stopped asking.However, when he rushed to the bow of the Chinese army ship and gave the order to march to the generals Wang Han and Mao Han who had already arrived, he still thought doubtfully: In this way, the attack plan has undoubtedly changed!However, at present, only one of his troops has arrived ahead of schedule, and the rest of the rebels have not yet arrived. Why did the supervisor, Xingyuan, order an attack before the appointed time?Although Wang Zhiren's regular navy was the main force in this battle across the river, but... "Dong! Boom! Boom!"Huang Zongxi suddenly raised his head, and found that the entire water village had already started to move in just this moment of contemplation.Volunteers poured out of the cabin one after another, some climbed onto the canopy, some rushed to the deck, and began to heave the anchor and pull the sail.The vast majority of these volunteer soldiers came from the water villages in eastern Zhejiang. They may not be used to riding horses, but sailing boats is commonplace.It didn't take much effort, and the ships were ready one after another.However, it was only after completing this step. When the next step was to set sail as usual, for some reason, those volunteer soldiers suddenly became hesitant as if they were under some invisible restraint. They began to look at me, I look forward to you, waiting for each other, no one is willing to push the boat out first. "Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom!" The sound of the drums urging the army became louder and louder. There was a slight commotion in the fleet.The two boats moored on the outermost side seemed unable to withstand the pressure of the drums, and barely rowed forward for a few feet, but when they saw that the other boats did not follow, they retreated hesitantly. "You bastard! Let's go! Let's go! Whoever won't go, I'll kill him first!" Mao Han yelled angrily.The man who led the anti-shaved head outside Yuyao County was obviously eager to answer the drumbeat, but the boats moored ahead blocked his way. Huang Zongxi watched with wide eyes, and for a moment couldn't figure out why this happened.But then, the blood in his whole body suddenly boiled because of anxiety and anger.He handed the command flag in his hand to Sun Jiaji, who was approaching, drew out his sword with a "clang clang", strode towards the side of the ship, jumped onto the ship that had just retreated. "Stay out! Get out of here right now! Do you hear me?" He yelled loudly, waving the saber in his hand viciously. "Yes, yes, my lord!" The few soldiers who were furious by their superiors and startled by the cold light of the sword stammered in agreement, and hurriedly waved the long poles in their hands. "You—and you, are you all deaf? Hurry up! Get out!" Huang Zongxi continued to point his sword at the rest of the people.Seeing that the situation was approaching, and the military academy under him became so pusty, he was really furious.If the soldiers hadn't obeyed orders almost immediately, the sword in his hand would probably have been severed. "Damn, did you hear that? Let's sail!" "Quick, hurry! Bastard!" "What are you doing still here? Are you looking for death?" Undoubtedly inspired by Huang Zongxi's actions, echoing reprimands exploded from all directions.The soldiers of the ships who were staring back in a daze shivered for a moment, as if suddenly awakened, and began to swing the long pole involuntarily, grabbing the winch. Although the movements were still somewhat hesitant and mechanical, they finally started to move again.As the first boat bravely left the water village, the rest of the boats began to jostle and avoid, and slowly sailed towards the middle of the river... "Yes, no matter how dangerous the future is and how hesitant your subordinates are, the important thing is that someone takes the lead. As long as you dare to take the first step, the rest of the people will be fine!" Silently watching the stream of people sailing out onto the river, and gradually Getting rid of the hesitation and timidity just now, the fleet became tense and brave, Huang Zongxi secretly heaved a sigh of relief, thinking not without enlightenment. Now, amidst the sound of drums shaking the sky, the fleet of the Yuyao Rebel Army began to turn its rudder to the south and go upstream like Wang Zhiren's army.The Xixing Ferry area, as the traffic hub connecting eastern Zhejiang and Hangzhou, was always crowded with water and land, and business travelers gathered, making it very lively.Since the Qing soldiers went south and the Eastern Zhejiang Uprising, since the enemy and us have been in a state of daggers and swords, the bustling scene has disappeared, and along the banks of the river, many wooden fortresses have been temporarily built for defense. .Today, there is one conspicuously standing on the bank of the enemy river that their boat passed by.Huang Zongxi noticed that there were many flags fluttering in the wind, which must have been guarded by the Qing army.Needless to say, if the Ming army intends to land and fight in this area, it must break through the interception of these strongholds. "Yes, it's finally time to recover the lost land and return my land! It's time to fight sword to sword and gun to gun with the Tartar soldiers! Naturally, I will kill them fiercely, and I will kill many of them and many of us will bleed and be killed, perhaps including myself, that is inevitable! In that case, come! If they cannot kill me, I will kill them! They rushed back to the outside of the pass! This is for sure!" Huang Zongxi stared at the wooden city shining brightly under the sun from afar, thinking like an oath.In fact, because he was in the first boat to set off, as a model of bravery and fearlessness, he had no room to retreat. Now, Huang Zongxi became even more eager to join the battle as soon as possible.Holding the sword handle tightly, he stood upright on the bow of the boat, while the strong river wind tore his clothes, scarves and hair on his temples, and there was a ruthless feeling of being generous to die in his heart.At the same time, he began to imagine excitedly how he would lead the rebel army under his command to fight to the death with the Qing soldiers there, and with incomparable bravery, kill the enemy and flee... "Boom! Boom!" Several dull explosions came, and Huang Zongxi turned his head reflexively, and found a few wisps of black smoke rising above the wooden city guarded by the Qing army, and then, "plop, plop" on the distant river. "Three jets of water rose from the ground one after another. "Well, it's a cannon! The Tazi soldiers fired! Well, do you want to scare people? But we are not afraid! You just wait, you will feel better later!" Since he finally sensed the enemy's existence closely, he also Huang Zongxi became even more excited and high-spirited as the constant bombardment meant that the battle had begun.He saw that Wang Zhiren's army in front had turned the rudder to the west, as if preparing to attack the opposite bank, so he warned everyone not to panic, while waving the command flag, intending to order the fleet to follow suit.However, at this moment, on the east side of the Qiantang River—that is, in his own camp, the thundering drums suddenly fell silent, and then, there was a gong of "嘡嘡嘡! 嘡嘡嘡!" "Why, do you want us to withdraw our troops?" Huang Zongxi thought in surprise, and for a moment wondered if he had heard it wrong.However, there is nothing wrong with that. "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!And not only his water village was beating the gong, but even the camp of Wang Zhiren's army was beating loudly in response. "It took me so much to bring the fleet here, and I haven't landed yet, and I haven't fought against the Tartars, so why are we going to withdraw my troops?" Seeing the bravely advancing fleet, in an instant, it was like being caught by a cat. As if disturbed by the invisible giant hands, they stopped one after another and began to circle in the river. "Well, is it possible that Lao Sun and the others saw the enemy firing artillery, and they were afraid that we would suffer? However, Man said that the artillery did not even touch our hair. Even if they were really hit and damaged a ship or two, we had to fight Attack up with your life! How can you withdraw troops casually? In this way, wouldn’t all previous efforts be wasted? Huh, this is a life-and-death struggle, not a joke! How can there be such a reason for commanding?” He thought disgustedly and angrily, instinctively Impulsive, intending to ignore it, but... "My lord, Wang Bing's ship has turned the rudder, look at us..." Someone asked for instructions, it was the general on board. "Look what! Are you deaf? If you are told to withdraw your troops, then withdraw your troops!" Such an outburst scolded, in order to avoid the suspicious eyes cast by the soldiers on the boat, Huang Zongxi turned around, gritted his teeth, and stared angrily at Yi still. The own camp that beat the big gong loudly.

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