"You don't have to say it explicitly, the prince knows it." Shen Zhiyuan raised his hand and interrupted, "According to the deployment of the prince, our army is between the imperial court and the Northern Expeditionary Army, and if we want to gain a foothold, we must not offend and not be close to each other, only in this way can our army survive and grow in the cracks." ”

"What he said is very true...... At this time, I am afraid that only the forehead may really trust. Dolbo sighed, "But in this way, the new army of the Forehead will have to fight fiercely with the enemy, and this will be too much loss...... It's not a good idea. ”

Shen Zhiyuan said: "What we did in this battle was not to compete for Xuzhou with the Northern Expeditionary Army, but to show goodwill to the imperial court, so as to reduce the hostility of the imperial court to our army...... The prince is new, the prince has not yet inherited, and only after this battle can the prince get the edict of the imperial court. Therefore, no matter what the outcome of this battle is, it must be fought. ”

Dolbo's face was full of emotion, and he exclaimed: "Ama really didn't choose the wrong person, I can rest assured that I have a forehead by my side." ”

"The first king allowed me, and then married me, and many times did not kill the grace, Zhiyuan has no way to repay, and only by assisting the prince can he protect the kindness of the first king in case."

Dolbo nodded heavily, and suddenly asked: "But Elu and Wu Zheng are fellow villagers, and they have been friends for more than ten years, and the two armies are facing each other...... Didn't you think it was inappropriate? ”

Shen Zhiyuan looked at Dolbo in silence.

Dolbo panicked, "I'm not suspicious, I'm just ...... If you don't want to answer, you don't ask. ”

Shen Zhiyuan said leisurely: "The same words, the first king asked Zhiyuan several times before his death, but I didn't answer positively. And today the prince asked, I had to answer...... In a sentence that Wu Zheng once said, steel knives belong to steel knives, and brothers belong to brothers! In this way, is the prince satisfied? ”

……。

In the middle of the city, a house that was originally a wealthy local merchant.

Gang Lin and Qi Chongge were sitting face to face.

"Looking at his deeds and listening to his words, it seems that he is still credible now." Ganglin stroked his triangle nonsense.

Qi Chongge nodded, "If he attacked Tongzhou just to deal with the first king, then at this time, as long as the war starts, his loyalty can be determined." ”

Gang Lin said with a smile: "Actually, a few scholars in the court are also too worried, Han people, aren't they also Han people?" ”

Qi Chongge laughed and said: "That's it, is this something that only allows the state officials to set fires and does not allow the people to light lamps?" ”

The two looked at each other and laughed.

"Now the envoy and the mission are in Dongchang Mansion, as long as the war starts, they will send a message to Dongchang Mansion, as for how to deal with it in the future, it is naturally troubled by Suke Saha and Sony, let's ...... That is, to pave the road and build bridges, and to watch from the wall. ”

"Yes, decades of hard work, it's ...... I don't know if I'm loyal or traitorous, it's ridiculous! ”

"Of course it's loyalty, it's just that in troubled times and chaos, I can't recognize my master clearly." Gang Lin sighed, "The imperial court is determined to negotiate peace...... But everyone knows that the emperor was deceived by Fan and Hong, and in order to be pro-government, he actually killed the pillar of the country, such a shameless thing ....... ”

"Shh......h Silence. Qi Chongge was so frightened that he hurriedly stopped, "I'm afraid you've drunk too much, you don't have a door on your mouth, you don't know that the wall has ears?" ”

Gang Lin waved his hand vigorously and said abruptly: "One kills his mother-in-law and brother, the other kills his nephew and sister-in-law, and he also forcibly marries his sister-in-law...... Shall they let me drink wine if they do it...... Not. ”

Qi Chongge was so frightened that he hurriedly pounced and covered Ganglin's mouth.

……。

After three days, the Great War finally broke out.

This is to be expected and unreasonable.

With 3,000 cavalry, 5,000 infantry, 3,000 crossbowmen, and a total of 11,000 troops, the Qing army brazenly suppressed Guting.

Shen Zhiyuan's subordinates did not fight, which made Wu Zheng a little surprised.

After Wu Zheng learned of this, he immediately issued an order to withdraw his troops, ordering the 600 defenders of Guting to quickly withdraw to a key pass on the border between Xuzhou and Yanzhou.

This key pass is called Huling Castle.

Huling City is not an ordinary city, it has no people, it is just a place to accumulate troops, similar to Gongbei City (Wanping).

It is recorded in the historical records that "Xiang Liang defeated Qin Jia and entered Huling, and then merged with the Jia army and the army of Huling." Pei Gong attacked Huling again, and the next ...... said, "The Huling in here is this troop place."

For thousands of years, the city has been a military stronghold.

In fact, in Dolgon's deployment, this key point can be used as 3,000 troops, but unfortunately, his sons and subordinates obviously do not regard the village chief as a cadre, and they do not take Pei County in their eyes at all.

It's not that those subordinates have no vision, but people's hearts are floating, Xuzhou City is occupied, and even the regent of the imperial court can pit and dare to pit, what else can't be done?

As a result, the hearts of the people were scattered, and the team was not easy to lead.

Among them, Shen Zhiyuan is the only one, and he is really thinking about Dolbo.

Wu Zheng withdrew the defenders to Huling City, which is in line with the meaning of the title.

The enemy's army of 11,000 was pressed all over the mountains and fields, and the 600 defenders were not enough to stuff their teeth.

The key is that Guting is a small town, and it is accessible on all sides, once the enemy army is close, it can be attacked on three sides, such a town, even if it sends reinforcements, it is a drop in the bucket.

The choice of the battlefield in Huling City, southeast of Guting, was carefully considered by Wu Zheng and the generals.

Huling City has a topographical advantage, its east faces the water, named Zhaoyang Lake, and then the Grand Canal.

That is, at least the east will not be besieged by the enemy, but on the contrary, it can become an alternative supply route for the Northern Expeditionary Army, or a retreat route.

This is a red heart two preparations, Wu Zheng is never arrogant, thinking that he can defeat three times his own enemy in one battle, not to mention Shen Zhiyuan's 30,000 new troops, but they are all pure firearms army created by Dolgon in two years and millions of taels of silver.

Perhaps in terms of the range and accuracy of muskets, artillery and other weapons, the Northern Expeditionary Army was a little ahead, but in history, as long as the weapons are not separated from each other, a slight gap is not enough to affect the success or failure of the battle, this is the law.

Wu Zheng's final battle strategy was to first retreat to lure the enemy, then hit the enemy with a slap in Huling City to demoralize him, and then retreat to Peixian County to fight another enemy blocking battle.

And the real decisive battle is located in Xuzhou City, which is common sense, there is a strong city that does not rely on, and there is a cheap city that does not take advantage, that is a yellow bastard!

The guiding ideology of war is common to fighting.

Promote one's own strengths, avoid the strength of the enemy, and really shake the strong enemy, unless there is a full grasp of crushing, otherwise, it is stunned, and there is no reason to die.

At the beginning of the war, everything was in order.

The 600 defenders began to retreat long before the Qing army attacked, and the Qing army also advanced steadily step by step, until the soldiers were bloodless and took Guting.

The Qing army even thought that the Northern Expeditionary Army was afraid.

In the face of three times the strength of the army, there is no reason not to be afraid.