Ningyu did not stop in Puqi for too long, soon the whole army went south, the distance from Puqi to Yuezhou is not far, but there is also a Linxiang in the middle, this place is bordered by the Yangtze River in the north, Dongting in the west, and the remaining veins of Luoxiao Mountain are meandering in the southeast, the terrain is dangerous, the peaks are undulating, and the hills are continuous, so it is also called the north gate of Hunan.

Zhang Changen is not stupid, he has already laid heavy troops here, because if all the 20,000 horses are shrunk to Yuezhou, it will be extremely unfavorable for defense, he is determined to deploy a defensive line through Linxiang, and gradually delay the footsteps of the Han army, in order to complete the task assigned to him by Kangxi, so in the entire southeast direction, set up a full 10,000 troops, with the help of the terrain to defend.

The remaining 10,000 green battalions were stationed in Yuezhou, and Zhang Changen was also actively contacting Yang Lin, the governor of Liangguang, hoping to let tens of thousands of green battalions in Liangguang enter Hunan, so as to win a big battle.

When the army arrived in Linxiang, he did not attack the position of the Qing army for the first time, but took the guard battalion to the north side of Luoxiao Mountain, and the Qing army was stationed on the south side.

Following Ning Yu up the mountain, there is also the current new chief of staff of the first division, Dong Ce, since the reorganization, many officers of the first division have been promoted, naturally including Ning Yu's beloved apprentice, his first regiment is very beautiful, so he is currently the fastest promoted one among the young eagle battalion students, and when the others are still the regiment commander, he has been promoted to the chief of staff of the first division.

In addition to Dong Ce, the rest of the first division has also changed greatly, and the deputy division commander is Zheng Guangguo, a descendant of the Zheng family, which is also to take into account the overall situation, after all, now the main military and political power of the Fu Han Army is in the hands of the Ning family, and for the Cheng Zheng family, it is natural to show some sincerity.

Everyone held a clairvoyant mirror in their hands, looking at the Qing army position on the south side of Luoxiao Mountain, which stretched to the foot of the mountain, looking as if it was boundless.

"Privy envoy, let me take someone to touch it and beat it hard!"

Dong Ce was holding a clairvoyant mirror to observe the Qing army's position, and at the same time he was reciting words, quite unwillingly.

In Dong Ce's opinion, such a tight position on the outside and loose on the inside is really easy to handle, and now he has fought a lot of battles, and he is quite familiar with the Qing army's method of establishing a village, so he can see many flaws at a glance.

Ning Yu shook his head slightly, but he didn't rush to explain, but looked at the new deputy division commander Zheng Guangguo beside him, and said with a smile: "Ling Ming, what do you think?" ”

Zheng Guangguo's temperament is more restrained than Cheng Zhien's, with a beard on his face, but he is a taciturn temperament, holding a clairvoyant mirror for a long time, and then he said in a low voice: "Qi Qi Privy Envoy, if our army launches a strong attack at this time, although it can win, I am afraid that its own losses will be great." ”

Dong Ce raised his eyebrows when he heard this, although he had fought a few battles, after all, he was only a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young man, and he was naturally arrogant in his heart, so he was a little unconvinced, "I also ask Deputy Division Commander Zheng to make it clear that the Qing army meets the enemy in such a formation, why can't it fight in one battle?" ”

Zheng Guangguo was not angry, but he was patient, and said while gesturing: "Although the Hunan Green Battalion is not good in combat effectiveness, but now they are defending the mountain, and our army has just arrived here. ”

As soon as these words came out, Ning Yu couldn't help but look at Zheng Guangguo carefully, but secretly said in his heart that he underestimated this middle-aged man, who looked silent on the surface, but he had a very accurate grasp of Ning Yu's goal of this expedition - that is, to reduce casualties as much as possible, in order to better mobilize the pace of the Qing army. And Zheng Guangguo sketched Ning Yu's heart in just a few words.

A smile appeared on Ning Yu's face, and he patted Zheng Guangguo's shoulder, which was also an act of intimacy for him, and then pointed to Luo Xiaoshan, and said softly: "The purpose of our army this time is to mobilize the enemy's army, not to one city and one place, if it is its own heavy casualties, then even if it takes Yuezhou, it is not cost-effective, Zhang Changen can retreat to Changsha without Yuezhou, but if our first division is gone, then there will be nothing." ”

This truth is actually not complicated, but many people are attracted by this Yuezhou in front of them, and almost everyone thinks that as long as Yuezhou is taken, then it is acceptable to pay casualties - and now Ning Yu has made it clear that the first division must be guaranteed, and Yuezhou second.

Several of the officers present were also not mediocre, and after such an explanation, they generally understood in their hearts, so they came to ask: "If we don't attack Yuezhou, how should our army proceed next?" ”

Ning Yu took a deep look at Luo Xiao Mountain, and then went down the mountain without looking back, and said as he marched: "If you don't fight Luo Xiao Mountain, it doesn't mean that you won't fight Yuezhou, send an order to the first regiment to march into Chang'an and Taolin, and the second regiment and artillery regiment stay here, monitoring the movements of the defenders of Luo Xiao Mountain, if they move, they will stick to it, and if they attack, they will defend with all their might." ”

The so-called Chang'an here naturally does not refer to the world-famous Chang'an, but to the Chang'an town next to Yuezhou.

"As for the third and fourth regiments, take advantage of the night to go to Chenglingji tonight and prepare for an ambush, let's not play the game of catching turtles in the urn, and directly start to scare the snake and catch Zhang Changen, a live turtle."

That night, the artillery of the independent artillery regiment began to roar, but the cannon sound was not intense, but there was a while, and because the distance was too far, it could not pose any threat to the Qing army at all, but every time the cannon roared, the Qing army on the mountain would tremble.

At this time, the 10,000 Qing troops stationed in Luoxiao Mountain were soldiers in Yongzhou Town, and their original combat strength was not strong, but now they are even more confused when they hear the sound of artillery.

But there was no one to discuss here, so Wang Xuan also supported his body, so that the green battalion soldiers in Yongzhou Town entered the position one after another, just waiting for the Fu Han army to attack, but he was worried in his heart, for fear that the Fu Han army would crush the defenders overnight.

At this time, Ning Yu took two regiments of soldiers and horses towards Chenglingji, because the direction was not in the same place, the Qing army could not see the activities of the Fu Han army at all, especially on the way, everyone was in their mouths, for fear of making a little movement, coupled with the roar of artillery fire all night, these two regiments of men and horses completely disappeared without a trace.

Under the constant roar of artillery fire, Wang Xuan stubbornly held on all night, and he was originally scared, but he found that he was unscathed, and his courage became bigger again, and he sent some spies to the opposite Fu Han army to investigate intelligence.

Seeing that the Qing army spies on the mountain had come down, Dong Ce and the newly appointed head of the regiment, Ujijing, hurriedly set off to the east with a regiment of 2,000 men and horses, pretending to attack Chang'an and Taolin, and all this was seen by the Qing army sentinels.