Chapter 141 Attack Fenghua
Nian Gengyao thought far more than Wu Sheng and Yang Xu. He was relaxed on the surface but did not dare to relax in his heart. Taking Fenghua for the Qing army had a clear cut on the connection between Ningbo and Taizhou. Moreover, since most of Ningbo's main forces are still in Susong, the combatable forces in Ningbo City will inevitably be reduced, but don't forget that since Ningbo can win in succession of battles with the Qing army, it is enough to show the combat effectiveness of the Ningbo army.
Furthermore, there are also heavy troops stationed in Taizhou. Ma Gongcheng is now a famous general in the rebel army. Zhu Yicheng is definitely not a mediocre person who can hand over Taizhou to Ma Gongcheng and let him stand alone. In the early stage, Taizhou soldiers suppressed Wenzhou and forced Fujian to see Ma Gongcheng's ability.
Therefore, although Nian Gengyao's move alone into Fenghua was unexpectedly posed and posed a great threat to Zhu Yicheng, Nian Gengyao had to face attacks from both the north and the south after Fenghua, which was a dangerous chess for the Qing army.
Although Yin Huaxing has agreed to gather Fujian troops to go north, who can guarantee which Fenghua or Taizhou can withstand it first? If Taizhou is captured by the Qing army first, then Yin Huaxing's army will be able to join Nian Gengyao's troops when it goes north. The merger of the two armies will inevitably boost its strength. At that time, take advantage of the situation to capture Ningbo and pacify the entire Zhejiang.
But if Fenghua fails to defend, not only will Nian Gengyao's two towns not be able to defend, but even Yin Huaxing's troops in Taizhou will face a storm of offensive. At that time, Zhejiang will no longer have the troops to compete with Ningbo, and if the whole Zhejiang is not well done, it will fall into the hands of Zhu Yicheng.
If Zhu Yicheng took advantage of the victory to pursue, whether it was going north or south, Jiangsu and Fujian would be in trouble, and half of the Qing Dynasty would be in danger.
Therefore, Nian Gengyao's move was also a bet. Don't think that Nian Gengyao was a literati and a Jinshi, but he was very gambled. In his opinion, as long as this gamble was successful, he could resolve the rebel rebellion of the Qing Dynasty and completely quell Zhejiang.
Zhu Yicheng was shocked when he learned that Fenghua was attacked by Nian Gengyao. Losing Fenghua was equivalent to cutting off the passage between Ningbo and Taizhou. Zhu Yicheng knew the seriousness of the consequences. Zhu Yicheng made three decisions at the first time. One was to mobilize Ningbo's troops immediately to capture Fenghua and open up the passage to Taizhou. The second was that Feige sent a letter to Ma Gongcheng of Taizhou, so that Ma Gongcheng would immediately shrink his troops and return to Taizhou. The third was that Dong Dashan informed Su Song, so that Dong Dashan would restrain the Qing army's troops in Su Song, and at the same time, he was ready to withdraw Ningbo at any time.
After making this arrangement, Zhu Yicheng made preparations without stopping for a moment, and on the second day he personally led his troops to Fenghua.
The distance from Ningbo to Fenghua is not far. In later generations, Fenghua was just a district in Ningbo. Even in today's Fenghua is just a small county town. You can reach it in one day by marching from Ningbo City to the south.
However, although Fenghua is small, it is not easy to fight. There are several mountains on both sides of Fenghua. In addition, the Fenghua area is densely filled with waterways, so the army is not easy to unfold directly. Nian Gengyao was able to take Fenghua by sneak attacks, but it was not easy for Zhu Yicheng to retake Fenghua. Moreover, Fenghua is not like Ningbo, which is close to the seaside, and the waterway cannot be carried by a large ship. Ningbo navy is a useless place, and he can only rely on the army to fight Fenghua.
On the evening of the day when the troops were sent, the army arrived outside Fenghua City. Looking at the not-tall city wall and the rolling green mountains on both sides, Zhu Yicheng frowned slightly.
"What's the movement of the Qing army?" Zhu Yicheng pointed at Fenghua a few miles away and asked.
"When returning to the Grand Commander, the Qing army had no movement, and there seemed to be no garrison outside the city." A thousand households replied.
"Grandmaster, why don't you take your brothers to rush to the city first?" Another Qianhu asked impatiently. In his opinion, Fenghua was just a small city. Although Nian Gengyao had the strength of two towns, the number of Ningbo's rebels was not smaller than that of the other party, and there were firearms there. If he could rush into the city, he might be able to retake the city.
Zhu Yicheng thought about it and shook his head. From his position, Fenghua City seemed very quiet, and the Qing army outside the city did not do other garrisons. This is certainly because the Qing army took Fenghua for too short and had no time to arrange it, but who can guarantee that this was a suspicious plan that Nian Gengyao deliberately put forward? With Nian Gengyao's cunning, he could not do any defense. If the army could regain Fenghua one by one, then this was not Nian Gengyao.
"Camp!" Zhu Yicheng issued an order to camp, and at the same time sent several scouts to search several mountains on both sides of Fenghua to prevent Nian Gengyao from hiding troops in the mountains. That night, the Ningbo army strengthened its garrison to prevent accidents.
"Futai, this Ningbo thief is very careful. He is so busy that he can't escape the water. He also sent people to monitor the mountains on both sides..." Yang Xu said with some annoyance. He thought that Fenghua was taken away by Ningbo would have been very anxious. The army must have arrived in Fenghua and could not wait to attack the city. But who would have thought that these thiefs were so angry that they camped outside the city.
Zhu Yicheng was so worried that he was in danger. In fact, Nian Gengyao had already been ready to wait for Ningbo to attack. He did not have much force in the city, and Fenghua was just a small city. Too many troops stationed in it would not be able to distribute them. According to the surrounding terrain, Nian Gengyao had sent half of his troops to the left and right, hiding in the mountains and forests on both sides of the east and west. Once the Ningbo rebels led the entire army to attack Fenghua, as long as Fenghua could withstand it, then when the ambush on both sides came out, the enemy would be unable to resist the three-way counterattack.
But who would have thought that Zhu Yicheng was so calm, which surprised Nian Gengyao. No wonder the thief in Ningbo has grown to this level in such a short period of time.
"It's okay, as long as our army does not have an ambush, it is impossible for the thieves to discover it." Nian Gengyao said confidently, and then said: "Let the city be prepared. It seems that the thieves will attack the city early tomorrow morning."
Nian Gengyao made a good judgment. On the second day, Zhu Yicheng issued an order to siege the city. But for the sake of safety, and because of the complex terrain of Fenghua, Ningbo only dispatched one army and a thousand men to tentatively attack the city. At the beginning of the siege, Ningbo's land war artillery began to sound. Although there were no powerful siege cannons, the roaring of more than a dozen small land war cannons was quite large. However, except for the removal of a few bricks and stones on the Fenghua city wall, the effect was not significant.
Nian Gengyao did have a set of commands. He did not defend the city like others like others, but divided the troops into four sections. The first section was used as surveillance at the city. These soldiers mainly monitor the progress of attack and the main attack direction. The second section was the defenders in Wengcheng, supporting the city at any time to defend. The third section was the main force in the city to supplement the city defense. If necessary, they could open the city gates at any time to attack. The fourth section was the reserve force, that is, Nian Gengyao's reserve force, which would never be used until it was absolutely necessary.
Chapter completed!