Zu Dabi hesitated a little and said, "Before the prince...... It was promised that this battle would not involve our troops facing the enemy head-on. ”

"Yes, this king should be ......." Wu Zheng sighed lightly, "But at this time and then, now with Wu Songwei, the strength of our army in Huai'an City is already more than 30,000 people, and with your new formation, the strength has exceeded 40,000...... If you stick to Huai'an City, the food in the city will definitely not be able to support the day when reinforcements come. ”

Zu Dabi still hesitated: "But the prince should understand that although the subordinates of the ministers are all Han, after all, they are northerners, and the families of the soldiers are all in the north...... Once you are lucky or mutiny in wartime, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

Wu Zheng nodded, "This king knows, but have you ever thought that your department will not be able to hide it for long anyway, and what should happen will still happen, and it has nothing to do with whether your department is fighting the enemy head-on...... On the contrary, if you win the war, the enemy will throw a mouse, and the soldiers' families may still have a glimmer of life. ”

This is true, only if the enemy is hurt, the enemy will have scruples, otherwise, what if you kill it first?

The reason is very clear, Zu Dabi can comprehend it, maybe comprehension and approval are two different things.

Only by putting ourselves in the shoes of a soldier can we understand the pain of this choice.

Wu Zheng took a strong medicine, and he said categorically: "You go and tell your subordinates, this king promises that the participants in this battle, no matter whether they win or lose, as long as the Yixing Dynasty is still there, they will be regarded as the first merit...... The officer was promoted to the second rank, and the soldier was rewarded with fifty taels of silver. ”

Zu Dabi looked at Wu Zheng in surprise, and his heart churned, not that he didn't believe Wu Zheng's promise, but that he ...... His surrendered army is only a temporary formation, the so-called temporary formation, that is, it can be revoked at any time, and Zu Dabi understands that after the Northern Expeditionary Army reorganizes this surrendered army, he will go to a certain guard and become a deputy general, which is already his best end.

But at this time, Wu Zheng continued: "As for you...... After this battle, this king officially gave you a number, for an independent guard, not subject to the jurisdiction of other guards, only obey the king's orders, what do you think? ”

This fruit is indeed big enough, with the establishment of the Northern Expeditionary Army, the minimum guard is 12,000 people, that is to say, not only will their own army not be abolished or reorganized, but will be replenished and strengthened.

This made Zu Dabi can't help but move, under the heavy reward, there will be brave men, Zu Dabi is confident, among his more than 7,000 people, he can always choose two or three thousand people who dare to die, not to mention that he also has three thousand descendants of the original Han army with a blue flag.

Thinking of this, Zu Dabi solemnly arched his hand and said: "The minister is willing to serve His Highness!" ”

Wu Zheng took a long breath, "The infantry stay to participate in the defense of the city, you lead the cavalry out of the city to the south, try not to engage the enemy cavalry, in order to break through the blockade, and join the reinforcements from the south for the purpose of ......." ”

At this time, Jiang Quanyi's urgent voice suddenly came from outside the door, "Lord Wang, there is an urgent military situation!" ”

Wu Zhengwen was shocked when he heard this, he should have come, so he came?

"Come in."

Jiang Quanyi and Lu Zhiyu came together.

As soon as he entered the door, Jiang Quanyi hurriedly said: "Lord, there is a large number of enemies assembled in the direction of Qinghe, and when the last general came to report, General Yulu said that in the direction of Caowan, there are also a large number of enemies gathered...... It seems that the prince was right, the enemy had been prepared for a long time, otherwise such a large-scale troop transfer would never have leaked a little rumor. ”

Wu Zheng glanced at Zu Dabi.

Zu Dabi's face changed, and he said hurriedly: "The prince is clear, I have never coaxed the prince...... I really didn't know that there were a large number of Qing troops ...... lurking on the other side of the river. ”

Wu Zheng raised his hand to stop: "No need to explain...... This king believes in you. Since Dolgon dug such a big pit for this king, if it was only Huai'an and Yancheng, it would be too small, and it would not match Dolgon's strength. ”

Jiang Quanyi said: "Lord Wang, these two enemy troops are obviously not enemy troops stationed in Xuzhou, and from the perspective of clothing, they look more like Manchu flag troops." ”

Lu Zhiyu nodded and said: "Yes, there are no less than thirty percent of the cavalry, this time we are afraid that we have really fallen into the trap of the enemy...... Obviously, Dolgon attracted our attention with the Xuzhou garrison, but in fact, as the real main force of the decisive battle, it was not the 80,000 men in Xuzhou, but the Manqi army directly transferred from the north. ”

Jiang Quanyi, a ruthless man, also showed hesitation at this time, he persuaded: "The two enemy troops, plus 80,000 in Xuzhou, have been several times larger than me, although it is separated by the Yellow River, but the canal north of Huai'an is under the control of the enemy, and the enemy can come from the river at any time, our army lacks heavy firearms, I am afraid it will not be able to stop...... Lord, knowing that the enemy has set a trap and cannot easily fight a decisive battle, according to the general, we have 40,000 horses, it is better for the whole army to go south, and the enemy cavalry to fight to the death, maybe we can open a gap to break through, as long as we get to Taixing, even if the enemy crosses the river to chase us, we have the Yangtze River natural danger as a barrier, plus the sailor controls the river, we can't suffer ...... loss. ”

Wu Zheng tapped his fingers on the board, thinking.

After a while, he shook his head and said, "No! ”

Jiang Quanyi asked urgently: "Why not?" The prince is in danger, and he must not give up his life easily! ”

Wu Zheng smiled bitterly and said, "Which is the king who wants to give up his life easily?" In fact, once this battle starts, it will no longer be subject to the will of the king, and of course, it will not be diverted by the will of Dorgon, and it is not something that can be stopped if you want to...... Just imagine, the army mobilized by the enemy in this battle, 80,000 people in Xuzhou, the enemy who appeared on the other side at this time, 20,000 in Yancheng, and 20,000 in Huai'anzu, which add up to 150,000 or 60,000, right? ”

Jiang Quanyi nodded.

Wu Zheng said: "And we, Taizhou Wei 30,000, Wu Songwei 20,000, Fang Guoan, Chen Sheng, Chi Erhan, plus the 20,000 people of the First Army who came from Hangzhou Mansion to reinforce, add up to nearly 100,000 people." In the end, this kind of transfer in scale will not be able to do so...... Shouldn't you need to spend money and food to move your army? Let's tell you the truth, originally this king planned to fight partially, at most half a month, but now, it has been twenty days, and the financial resources of the General's Mansion are almost exhausted...... In other words, if I retire this time, I will not have three or five years of recuperation, and I am afraid that I will no longer have the strength of the Northern Expedition. ”

"But knowing that you can't fight back, isn't it just what the enemy wants? Besides, as long as we don't suffer a lot of damage, we naturally have the hope of going north again. ”

Wu Zheng shook his head slowly and said: "When we are recuperating and recuperating, the enemy is the same, but the territory and population they occupy are several times that of mine...... Obviously, he had guessed the king's intentions. Moreover, you have all seen that the attitude of the people in Huai'an City towards us, this phenomenon becomes more obvious the further north you go...... Therefore, this time it is ironclad that we cannot retreat, and as soon as we retreat, we will lose our momentum, not only the hearts of the people, but also the morale of the army! ”