Ji Xiha's march was very fast, and he did not procrastinate, but led his troops across Lushui and went straight to Jiaozhou.

As the first important town in Laizhou, the importance of Jiaozhou is self-evident.

It is stuck in the middle of Lingshanwei and Fushan, the geographical location is extremely important, and it has been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times.

It can be said that whoever controls Jiaozhou controls the entire Jiaozhou Bay.

Hearing that the Qing army was attacking in a big way, Wang Er Mazi personally led his troops to Jiaozhou City to prepare for battle.

Also coming were Zheng Jing, Gan Hui, and Li Shishi, the deputy general of the Tiger Ben Army, who had just arrived in Laizhou.

Zhao Xu is now promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Huben Army, and Li Shishi has also been promoted to deputy general.

The Son of Heaven had a decree that Li Shi led 5,000 elite soldiers to aid Shandong, Li Shi did not dare to delay the starry night and rushed to the scene, although the process was tortuous, but fortunately, it arrived before the Qing army came to attack.

In this way, with more than 10,000 reinforcements, Wang Er Mazi's confidence has increased a lot.

This is the elite of the elite, you can see it by looking at the equipment of the armor blade and the appearance of the army when marching.

Such 10,000 people are more powerful than 100,000 rabbles combined.

At the same time, Wang Er Mazi also sent people to Dengzhou to ask for help from his eldest brother Yu Qi.

The battle of Laizhou is not a matter for Wang Er Mazi alone, and Qi Xia's brothers will definitely not sit idly by.

Of course, Yu Qi's reinforcements may arrive in Jiaozhou a little slower, but it doesn't matter, they will still be able to withstand it for a while.

Zheng Jing was the first time to see the people around the Son of Heaven, and his mood was naturally very excited.

As for Li Shishi, he was speechless in surprise when he learned that the person who led the troops was the son of His Royal Highness King Zhong.

His Royal Highness King Zhong is really loyal to the country, even the sons of his relatives have been sent to reinforce the Shandong battlefield, and His Majesty really did not see the wrong person.

At first, he was worried that the loyal king would make great achievements and gradually become disobedient. But judging from the current situation, His Royal Highness King Zhong is still loyal to the court and the Son of Heaven.

That's good, that's good. Li Shishi didn't want the Ming Dynasty to have internal friction again at this time.

The current Da Ming really can't afford to hurt.

Jiaozhou City is not as big as Zheng Jing imagined, but it is not small, and it is still larger than the average county seat.

So there was an embarrassing thing, if tens of thousands of people were stuffed into Jiaozhou County, it would look very bloated and crowded.

After careful consideration, Wang Er Mazi finally decided to transfer some of his own people to the fort outside the city.

After all, Zheng Jing and Li Shi are guest troops, so there is no reason not to let the guest army enter the city.

Of course, if the peripheral war does not go well, Wang Er Mazi will also take people back to the city in time.

There's no need to do anything to destroy the Great Wall.

Regarding Wang Er Mazi's strategy of defending the city, Li Shishi raised some questions and opinions.

In the past two years, he has followed the Son of Heaven and the King of Jin to the south and the north and fought countless battles, although he may not have learned anything at the big level, but some details are still in his eyes.

For example, when defending a city, you should be clear about your purpose, just wait for reinforcements for a while, or hold on to the end?

The former generally does not block the city gates, so that even if the reinforcements do not arrive, there is still a chance to break through the city.

The latter is usually a dead end, and the generals will usually order the city gates to be blocked.

In this way, even if the enemy army wants to take the city, they will have to lose a layer of skin.

The current situation is obviously the former, but Wang Er Mazi ordered the city gate to be blocked.

This made Li Shishi very puzzled.

After thinking about it again, he still decided to explain the relationship to Wang Er Mazi.

After all, it is a matter of the survival of Jiaozhou, and there is no carelessness.

After listening to Li Shishi's analysis, Wang Er Mazi also felt that he was a little too cowardly, and in this situation, he even ordered the city gate to be blocked.

At this time, Zheng Jing came forward to play a round and turned the page away.

The waiting time is torturous, although he knows that the Qing army will definitely come, but this fear of the unknown makes Wang Er Mazi sleep badly, and he will wake up in the middle of the night every third watch.

As for Zheng Jing and Li Shishi, they are much more relaxed.

Maybe it's because they have experienced too many battles of all sizes, and they have long been surprised, eating and sleeping until dawn.

Finally, on the second day of the fourth month, the Qing army arrived outside Jiaozhou.

The Qing army led by Ji Xiha claimed to be 100,000 people, and when he looked down from the city, he saw that it was densely packed.

"Damn, this fucking Tartar really mobilized an army of 100,000?"

Wang Er Mazi only felt that his legs were weak and his eyes were black.

He had never fought such a large-scale battle, not to mention that the number of enemy troops was several times that of his own.

"General Wang, don't panic, in my opinion, there are not as many as 100,000 people in Tartars."

Li Shishi said with a smile: "At most, it is seventy or eighty thousand people. ”

Zheng Jing also nodded and said, "Yes, it is said that it is generally said more." If it were me, I would have to misrepresent the number of people. ”

Wang Er Mazi suddenly realized: "It turns out that there is still this saying. If you don't say it, I'm afraid I'll be kept in the dark by the Tartars. ”

Although 70,000 or 80,000 people is also a lot, at least in terms of psychological pressure.

The Ming army could also get together 40,000 or 50,000 people, and it was still the side defending the city, which had the advantage of geographical advantages.

As long as the Ming army resolutely defends the city and does not go out of the city, there is no obvious disadvantage, not to mention that there is an advantage.

"General Wang's words are serious, and we also have something to say."

Zheng Jing put his posture very low, and did not put on any stand of loyalty to the prince.

He really wanted to train himself through this battle and win the favor of his father, so that he could lead more troops in the future.

"Generally speaking, the defenders of the city should mobilize as many young people as possible to assist in defending the city. Presumably General Wang knows this, right? ”

Wang Er Mazi nodded violently when he heard this.

"I still know that. It has been commanded that all men over the age of fifteen must assist the army in defending the city. ”

"That's fine."

At this moment, I could only hear a scolding from outside the city.

A group of Qing soldiers cursed the Ming Emperor Zhu Youlang at the top of their throats, saying that he was a cowardly egg with no eggs, and he only knew how to run for his life, and he ran for more than ten years.

Wang Er Mazi's lungs were about to explode when he heard this, and he cursed while jumping to his feet: "Lao Tzu wants to pull out their skin!" ”

"General Wang, don't be impulsive."

Seeing this, Li Shishi hurriedly persuaded: "The Tartars obviously want to provoke the general with the method of provoking the general, so as to take the opportunity to attack the city." This kind of tongue is not bad. ”

Wang Er Mazi was shocked.

Li Shishi is the person next to the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven has been scolded like this, why is he not angry at all.

Li Shishi seemed to see Wang Er Mazi's thoughts, and explained with a smile: "Those who achieve great things are not informal, and no matter how much Tartar curses, it will not change His Majesty's heroic image in our hearts." If they want to talk as quickly as they can, let them do it. As long as we hold Jiaozhou, we will be the best reward to Your Majesty to the imperial court. ”

Wang Er Mazi thought about this truth carefully, and his heart was immediately a lot more transparent.

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