Wu Zheng's expedition was obviously grander than Shen Zhiyuan.

Three hundred and twenty-seven officials from the General's Mansion came to see him off.

Thousands of people spontaneously came to see them off.

The people of Jiangnan are almost accustomed to the expedition of the county king, and in their hearts, they are even more accustomed to hearing the good news of the county king's victory in the near future.

Wu Zheng smiled and looked at the family members who surrounded him and told him, in four years, he had a family, a father, a sister, and even a wife, and there were three wives.

Reached out and touched Qian Jinxuan's face.

In front of the public, Rao is the down-and-out Qian Jinxuan, and her face can't help but burn slightly.

I only heard Wu Zheng laugh and said: "Good life wait for me to come back, our father can wait to hold his grandson." ”

These words attracted three "bah", and Wu Zheng feigned anger and said: "Jinxuan, Simin, I'll forget it, little sister, you also join in the fun?" Dad, I have to find a good family to marry her earlier. ”

Wu Xiaomei's face changed, and she turned around and left.

Wu Bochang glared at his son, "It's not early, why don't you leave quickly?" ”

But just when Wu Zheng said goodbye and turned around, Wu Bochang said: "The Wu family is still waiting for you to inherit the incense...... Don't try to kill ......! ”

Wu Zheng didn't look back, just nodded vigorously and shouted, "Let's go!" ”

……。

"Lord Wang, it feels a little wrong to be humble."

On May 29, Wu Zheng arrived in Jiangyin, and the second guard had been deployed.

Wu Zheng is indeed at least seventy percent sure of the victory or defeat this time.

It is no wonder that knowing where the enemy came from, when and how many people he is, and whether he can't win the battle again, is a strange thing.

This is not a positional battle, but a military parade to show military might.

Yes, at least that's what Wu Zheng thinks in his heart.

With the Yangtze River moat, two water divisions, and thousands of large and small artillery pieces blocking the river, can this Qing army still grow wings? Even if it has wings, it can be folded.

But as soon as Wu Zheng arrived, Jin Shanwei, who came to greet him, commanded Lu Zhiyu, and said, "Lord Wang, it feels a little wrong to be humble." ”

Wu Zheng was stunned, "What's wrong?" ”

"I can't say anything about my humble position, but I just feel that the strength of the Qing army on the other side is far less than the 180,000 estimated by the prince."

"Why do you say that?"

"Jiang Quanyi sent people from Jingjiang to deliver a message, Taixing has been calm along the river, and there are no large Qing troops stationed."

Wu Zheng frowned, this is really wrong, the day after tomorrow is the time to attack, the 180,000 Qing army, even if it is divided into front and rear, how can it be that the strikers are not deployed to the shore?

Is it not a joke to ask for ferries on the fly?

"Have you sent someone across the river to reconnoitre?"

"The other side of the river has been blocked, and the scouts can't get through."

Wu Zheng frowned and said: "The huge river bank, even if it is 180,000 people, it is difficult to fit tightly, why can't you cross the river?" Go, send multiple teams of scouts, no matter how much it costs, but also reconnoiter the real situation. ”

After Wu Zhengxi recruited the division, Chi Erhan, who had just taken up the post of commander of the Hangzhou Guard, hurriedly said: "I'll arrange it." ”

Wu Zheng glared at Lu Zhiyu, "I've said it again and again, fighting a war is to know oneself and knowing one's opponent, what I told you before was just an estimate, as the main general of one party, how could you not verify the battlefield?" It's just that I don't know, I obviously feel wrong, but I don't want to confirm it...... Seeing that the big war is about to begin, you plan to fight a confused battle with no idea how many troops the enemy has? ”

Lu Zhiyu was so trained that he didn't dare to say anything, and after Wu Zheng finished the training, he said: "I think that since the prince has estimated the enemy's strength, and according to the deployment of the prince, our army is only using artillery and water divisions to block from a distance, and it stands to reason that the two armies have no chance of real contact...... Besides, taking the risk of sending scouts is too risky, so ....... ”

Wu Zheng said angrily: "The life of the scout is life, but the life of the soldier is not life?" Which is more important than sacrificing a few, dozens of scouts or sacrificing thousands of soldiers? Compared with the victory or defeat of the war, which is more important? This king only realized today that you are not fit to lead any more troops! ”

Lu Zhiyu was shocked, this was indeed serious, and he hurriedly said: "The prince is angry, and he knows that he is wrong, but fortunately, there are still two days before the estimated time of the war...... The lowly will personally take people to reconnoitre. ”

After saying that, he gave up.

"Come back!" Wu Zheng shouted, "What do you mean to go in person?" Do you have a commander to go to scouting? You can figure it out...... Chi Erhan has already sent someone, you take me to inspect the position. ”

"Yes."

……。

The river defense for dozens of miles from Jiangyin to Yangshe Town has been deployed.

However, Wu Zheng still had not many troops at hand, only the two guards of Hangzhou and Jinshan and the 8,000 musketeers of the military academy.

Of course, Chen Shengbu had been ordered to cross the river to Hangzhou Mansion to stand by, but in Wu Zheng's consideration, Lihaiwei was only a reserve for this battle.

Wu Zhengtai knew the importance of keeping a reserve in a battle, which was the aftermath of turning the tide of the battle and saving lives in times of crisis.

Therefore, because the troops were not enough to deploy several miles of river banks, Wu Zheng focused on the defense of the river.

With Jiangyin Fortress and Yangshe Town Fort City as the strategic support point for river defense, Yangshe Town Fort City was chosen, firstly, because the distance was relatively close and it could respond within an hour, and secondly, during the Jiajing period, in order to defend against the invasion of Japanese pirates at sea, Yangshe built a fort city, which itself was a small fortress and did not need to be repaired and consolidated too much.

In the middle of these two points, Wu Zheng chose Xiangshan as the liaison and mobilization hub from Jiangyin to Yangshe Town, and Wu Zheng's headquarters was located there.

Because the command idea of this battle was to fight a long-distance blocking battle, the deployment of troops was as follows: Hangzhou defended Jiangyin, Jinshan defended Yangshe Town, and Wu Zheng personally led the military academy musketeers to guard Xiangshan.

Wu Zheng inspected all the way from Jiangyin to Yangshe Town, and was still satisfied with the deployment of troops and artillery.

The infantry cannons fired at close range, and were deployed at the forefront of the river, in front of which were the half-man deep trench positions used by the musketeers to shoot.

Digging half a man deep is so that the flintlock pistol still can't be reloaded on its stomach, and it needs to be reloaded with a half-bent down and a low head, so a half-man deep trench can allow soldiers to avoid bows and crossbows from the enemy when loading.

Why not dig deeper, that is because the soldier still needs to throw grenades, the trench is too deep, it will affect the grenade throwing, so the depth of the trench after determination is between one meter two or three, which is the most suitable.

The rapid-fire guns were placed about a mile behind the small artillery, and nearly 600 rapid-fire guns were among them in Jiangyin and Xiangshan, and Yangshe Town was not deployed, because the Qing army would concentrate its forces to attack Jingjiang, and Yangshe Town was too far away.

Heavy artillery is concentrated in Jiangyin, and Wu Zheng's favorite thing is to cover the artillery cluster, because this is the way he knows to exert the maximum power of artillery fire, and he does not want to weaken the lethality and deterrence due to dispersion.