Before September ended, the People's Army had taken over most of the areas south of the Yangtze River, and only Yunnan and Sichuan had not occupied some areas in the southern part of the Yangtze River. In the past half month, the People's Army was either marching or accepting territory. Only one major war broke out, and more than a dozen small-scale battles broke out.

The most powerful enemy in a small-scale battle had just exceeded 5,000 troops, and was about to collapse at the touch of the People's Army.

The dozen enemies encountered by the People's Army in the south of the Yangtze River were half led by those who were loyal to the Ming court, and half led by ambitious people. No matter who led it, as long as it was the enemy of the People's Army, the People's Army would defeat it as quickly as possible, but there was no time to persuade the enemy to surrender. Now the goal of the People's Army is to unify the land of China as soon as possible.

In the battle to occupy the area south of the Yangtze River, only the battle of Jinling City is considered a great battle. As the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Jinling City can immediately become the new capital of the Ming Dynasty and mobilize the Ming army in other areas to continue fighting.

There were many people in the Southern Zhili area who were loyal to the Ming court, including the Ming army and the landlord armed forces. In the end, more than 100,000 defenders were gathered in Jinling City, with tens of thousands of elite troops from the Ming army. They were loyal to the Ming court officials and generals who wanted to fight and rely on the top three cities in the Ming ruling area to block the People's Army.

More than 100,000 troops were defending Jinling City. Wang Shengrong personally commanded more than 50,000 troops from the First Army's six divisions to launch an attack. The battle lasted only half a day, and Jinling City was completely controlled by the People's Army. Less than 20,000 Ming troops escaped from Jinling City, and most of the Ming troops surrendered.

In this battle, howitzers showed their power. Under the attack of howitzers, the Ming army did not even dare to continue to stay on the city wall, and their morale was gone. In the end, they relied on siege vehicles and grenadiers to first board the soldiers. The People's Army successfully captured the city wall and then occupied the entire Jinling City.

Jinling City was captured by the People's Army, and there was almost no enemy south of the Yangtze River that could stop for a few hours. The People's Army's muskets and cannons were so sharp that they could not be resisted by enemies holding big swords and spears.

When the People's Army occupied most of the area south of the Yangtze River, the People's Navy led by Navy Commander Zhou Yi himself had arrived at the estuary of the Yangtze River. There was no trace of the Ming Navy here. The Ming Navy had entered the Yangtze River and deployed defenses in some rivers of the Yangtze River.

At this time, the People's Army had gathered nearly 50 divisions on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and as many as 400,000 troops. In the Huguang and Jiangxi sections of the Yangtze River, the People's Army had prepared a large number of ships, which could allow thousands of people to cross the river at one time. The People's Navy also brought a large number of ships over, and could also allow thousands of people to cross the river at one time.

According to the plan formulated by the Ministry of War before the war, the People's Army would cross the river together, but the main crossing was in Jiangyin County, Changzhou Prefecture, Nanzhili, where the People's Navy escorted the crossing fleet, while the two crossing troops in Huguang and Jiangxi were not escorted by the People's Navy. If the Ming Navy who had surrendered and repented, the crossing troops would definitely suffer heavy casualties.

The People's Navy entered the Yangtze River and in the waters near Jiangyin and Jingjiang, the People's Navy met the first Ming Navy. The general who led this Ming Navy was named Wu Jingwei. Half a year ago, the People's Army invited Wu Jingwei to send someone to watch the military exercises. A few months ago, Wu Jingwei verbally expressed his surrender to the People's Army.

But verbal surrender cannot mean that he really surrendered. Seeing the Ming navy led by Wu Jingwei, Zhou Yi immediately ordered the flag commanders to send troops to prepare for battle.

Wu Jingwei's fleet stayed in place, and the People's Navy's fleet was constantly approaching. Just when the distance between the two sides was less than a thousand meters, the largest ships in Wu Jingwei's fleet hung white flags, all sails were lowered, and the gun doors were closed. These were the signs of the People's Army and Wu Jingwei's agreement to stop the war.

When Zhou Yi learned about the situation of Wu Jingwei's fleet, he was a little disappointed, but he was more relieved. The People's Navy had not experienced a large-scale battle, and no matter how much training it was, it was not as good as a practical battle. However, the battle was always going to die, so it would be better not to break out.

Moreover, the surrender of Wu Jingwei and his navy was a great thing for the People's Navy. When the "Crossing the River Battle" ended, Zhou Yi would send someone to take over the Wu Jingwei fleet and select ships and personnel from it to join the People's Navy.

The People's Navy has greater attack power in naval battles with howitzers, but in terms of the number of ships, it is still far from being able to compare with the Ming Navy that gathered together. Before the war, more than half of the forces in the Ming Navy had already surrendered to the People's Army. As long as these ships and personnel can be accepted, the People's Navy's strength will increase explosively.

However, Zhou Yi could not allow too many Ming troops to enter the People's Navy. At most, it could only be half of the current People's Navy. If you give some things, the People's Navy can integrate them into it.

In addition, experienced Ming Navy personnel can be selected as instructors and train naval recruits. They will even become teachers of the Naval University to be established in the future.

On the largest ship of Wu Jingwei's fleet, looking at the People's Navy coming from afar, Wu Jingwei's face was very complicated. The south of the Yangtze River might have fallen into the hands of the People's Army. The People's Army easily occupied one city after another. I wonder how many people surrendered in advance like him.

Wu Jingwei is from Guangdong, and most of his navy are from Guangdong. Because the People's Army occupied Guangdong, Wu Jingwei led a fleet to Fujian. Wu Jingwei and some officers in the fleet brought their families with him, but the families of ordinary soldiers were left in Guangdong. The People's Army not only did not attack the soldiers' families, but also distributed land to them.

It can be said that most of the navy led by Wu Jingwei have a certain affection for the People's Army. When they learn about their own family in detail, they are even unwilling to fight with the People's Army. This is the main reason why Wu Jingwei surrendered to the People's Army. The soldiers below were unwilling to fight. How could these officers and commanders control the ships? The soldiers would tie them up and give them to the People's Army.

From Guangdong to Fujian, from Fujian to Zhejiang to the Yangtze River, Wu Jingwei saw that the People's Army had the strength to destroy the Ming Dynasty in less than ten years. Such a People's Army was no longer something that his navy, the navy, could determine the situation.

Looking at the ships of the People's Navy from afar, Wu Jingwei felt that this fleet was very powerful. It is very likely that the People's Army placed all the sharp muskets and artillery on the ships.

The two fleets approached, and Wu Jingwei personally took a small boat to the People's Navy flagship and handed over the fleet to Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi also sent someone to take a small boat to the surrendered Wu Jingwei fleet to supervise the ships, and then directed the Wu Jingwei fleet to sail to the south bank of the Yangtze River and temporarily docked on the shore.

The People's Navy has no time to take over all Wu Jingwei's fleet, and its more important task is to escort the People's Army in Jiangyin across the river.
Chapter completed!