The reason why Wu Zheng arrived a day late was because he came with him and hired European musketeers, and the artillery transportation was too slow, so he was only one day late, and he was already on the road day and night.

The arrival of Wei Kuangguo's fleet made Wu Zheng change his mind about fighting a limited battle in Zhenjiang.

At this time, Wu Zheng had already decided to fight a war of annihilation.

Just kidding, a hundred artillery pieces, attacking a Zhenjiang Mansion in a district, has the luxury of killing chickens with knives.

But Wu Zheng didn't care, he wanted to train in actual combat.

Although there were foreign musketeers, the number was too small, so Wu Zheng temporarily transferred 3,000 clever teenagers among the 30,000 recruits in Hangzhou Prefecture to accompany the 500 musketeers, called auxiliaries, but in fact they were "stealing divisions".

Along the way, the sound of "popping" muskets was often heard in the marching ranks.

The musketeers who received rich rewards originally came to train musketeers for Wu Zheng, but they did not hide their secrets.

The three-day rush actually allowed these teenagers to learn to shoot.

At this time, the tunnel guns had been improved to include prefabricated ammunition, which was a pre-loaded firing charge in a paper medium in which the gunpowder and the bullet were wrapped together in paper.

In order to prevent the gunpowder from getting wet in the rain or getting wet, it was wrapped in paper coated with butter or lard.

When loading, the toughness of the paper coated with animal oil is improved and there are no edges to tear. So you need to bite open with your mouth, which is the fastest way to reload.

After biting open, a portion of the powder is poured into the firing chamber to make ignition powder.

The rest is poured from the muzzle as a propellant.

Finally, a round lead bullet is placed in it and hit with a through-strip.

A tong bar is a long iron bar with a notch at the end.

After striking with a throughbar, the bullet is slightly deformed, and it can be tightly integrated into the chamber of the gun, and will not roll or fall out of the chamber.

These steps are not complicated, the recruits learn quickly, and all they lack is shooting experience and accuracy, but this is not urgent, everyone knows that they need to shoot constantly, and there is a good saying that sharpshooters are fed by bullets.

In the Battle of Danyang, Wu Zheng did not use musketeers.

This is a strategic reserve, and Wu Zheng hopes to give it a gorgeous opportunity to make a gorgeous appearance at the most critical time, so as to change the battlefield situation of Zhenjiang Mansion in one fell swoop.

The musketeers attacked the city, after all, there was something lacking, and in Wu Zheng's opinion, it was more suitable for field warfare.

In Danyang, Wu Zheng blasted open the east gate of Danyang with only three salvos of twelve cannons, and then 5,000 cavalry rushed into the city gate.

The panicked Qing army entered the street battle, which could have delayed the cavalry, but Xia Wanchun took advantage of the situation to attack the city, under the attack from both sides, there was no suspense, and the fall of the Qing army's 5,000 defenders was a foregone conclusion.

After more than an hour of sweeping, Danyang City has been firmly in the hands of the Ming army.

I haven't seen him for half a year, and Xia Wanchun, who was once a little childish, has matured, and there is already a faint black beard on his mouth.

When he saw Wu Zheng, Xia Wanchun rushed up to hug Wu Zheng excitedly, and this natural closeness made Wu Zheng feel relieved.

After some explanation, Xia Wanchun suggested going north overnight and attacking Zhenjiang City.

He brought 10,000 Jianyang guards, and now after joining forces with Wu Zheng, the strength of the army has been equal to the Qing soldiers of Zhenjiang Prefecture, and he can fight.

But Wu Zheng refused, and attacked the fortified city of Zhenjiang, this idea never appeared in Wu Zheng's heart.

Before Wei Kuangguo came, Wu Zheng just wanted to recover the counties of Zhenjiang Prefecture, re-encircle Zhenjiang City, and return to the pre-war state.

And now, there is naturally no need to attack, because Wu Zheng needs a field battle.

Wu Zheng looked at the surprised Xia Wanchun and said: "Cungu, I have a better way to solve the Zhenjiang Qing army with the least casualties, but I just need your cooperation." ”

Xia Wanchun replied without thinking: "No matter how dangerous it is, I will never shirk it." You just say, do you want me to attack, or do you want to go first? ”

Wu Zheng smiled, shook his head and said, "There is no need to attack, and there is no need to ascend first, I want to fight a field battle with the Qing army." ”

Xia Wanchun glanced at Wu Zheng strangely, the Eight Banners cavalry are brave, although you have five thousand horsemen, but you really have a field battle, I'm afraid there will be huge casualties, so it's better to attack? ”

Wu Zheng didn't explain, smiling but firmly: "Listen to me." The Qing army in Zhenjiang would soon know that Danyang had been lost, and they would definitely send heavy troops to recover it, but they did not know that I had led my troops to Danyang. Therefore, in the eyes of the Qing army, your troops are not enough to threaten the defense of Zhenjiang City, so the Qing army sent to recover Danyang must be the main force of the Qing cavalry, because they also want to make a time difference and recover Danyang before the arrival of our reinforcements. ”

Xia Wanchun nodded and said, "But if it's really as you said, the Qing army will send the main cavalry force to capture Danyang, then what do you want to do?" ”

"You lead 3,000 men and horses from your headquarters to the north to lure the enemy." Wu Zheng looked at Xia Wanchun calmly.

Xia Wanchun was shocked when he heard this, isn't this a joke?

If you don't have cavalry, won't you go and lure the enemy into the tiger's mouth?

Of course, the Qing army may also send cavalry to block it, but as long as more scouts are sent, the countryside and mountains are enough to avoid the pursuit of the Qing cavalry.

But it is different to lure the enemy, that is to take the initiative to expose to the eyes of the Qing cavalry, how can two legs run more than four legs.

As a result, Xia Wanchun had to doubt Wu Zheng's intentions.

However, out of his closeness and respect for Wu Zheng, Xia Wanchun did not directly raise any objections, but just asked: "Please also ask Zhen Guogong to talk about the next countermeasures." ”

Wu Zheng still said calmly: "After your troops lure the enemy into the eyes of the Qing army, the Qing army will definitely pursue, and you can quickly turn east to get rid of the ...... of the enemy's cavalry pursuit." ”

Xia Wanchun frowned and interrupted: "How to get rid of it?" You know, the Qing army is cavalry! ”

Wu Zheng smiled and said: "The purpose of the enemy cavalry is to recover Danyang, once your army of only 3,000 people turns east, the enemy cavalry will at most divide a partial division to pursue, and the main force will still attack Danyang in the south." Therefore, whether you fight an ambush after turning east, or organize a counterattack after being overtaken, your troops should be able to deal with a cavalry of no more than 1,000 men with 10,000 troops. ”

Xia Wanchun was still frowning and asked, "How do you judge that the Qing army is pursuing our department, and it will not exceed a thousand cavalry at most?" ”

Wu Zheng replied: "I went south to reinforce Fuzhou, I transported war horses from the sea, do you know how many war horses can be transported by a big ship of 800 stones?" ”

Xia Wanchun shook his head blankly.

"Fifty or sixty horses at most." Wu Zheng stretched out his right hand and compared the numbers, "And the process of transporting war horses is very cumbersome and takes a lot of time. The Qing army on the other side did not have enough ships to transport war horses, so from the time when Zhenjiang Mansion was occupied, the cavalry of the Qing army in Zhenjiang City would not exceed 5,000 at most. The cavalry of this number is okay to attack Danyang, because the Qing army does not know that I have already led my troops to Danyang, but if I divide heavy troops to pursue your troops, it will delay the attack on Danyang. ”