"Hehe, at this time, I'm going to say something fair. No matter what aspect our little tiger is, he is no worse than him Li Dingguo. ”

Hao Shaoqi stepped forward and patted Li Laiheng on the shoulder, and encouraged: "Little tiger, you have to work harder!" ”

Li Laiheng grinned when he was slapped by Hao Shaoqi, and reluctantly squeezed out a smile and said: "I'm here to say, but Uncle Hao, you are there, if you feint to attack Yunyang Mansion, will you feel a little wronged?" ”

Hao Shaoqi shook his head and said, "No matter how you say it, this is also Your Majesty's arrangement, I still understand this truth." I am most familiar with Yunyang's generation, and it makes sense for His Majesty to let me make a feint. But you have to work harder, take Jingzhou in one go, don't call me Lao Hao wasted his efforts. ”

Yuan Zongdi stroked his beard and said with a smile: "If you want to say that Your Majesty's voice is also desperate, it is impossible to stop my army with this thief in Jingzhou Mansion." ”

"That's also my brother, you are acting well, in recent days, you have been ordering soldiers to haunt Jingzhou Mansion, and now I'm afraid that the Jingzhou Governor still thinks that we just want to make a small fuss."

Liu Tichun leaned in and said, "No matter what, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us old brothers, and we must seize it." Whether you can turn over depends on this battle! Lao Hao, you and I won't go over tomorrow, and when we take Jingzhou, let's get back together! ”

Seeing that He Zhen had been silent, Liu Tichun approached and comforted: "What's the matter, brother, do you still think Your Majesty won't give you a chance?" Let's be fair, Your Majesty hasn't treated you badly since you anyway. ”

As a general of the Dashun Army, He Zhen was once stationed in Hanzhong, a key place. However, he later surrendered to the Manchus and was despised by his friends. Fortunately, he finally came to his senses, raised the banner of anti-Qing again, and finally became one of the thirteen families in Kuidong with Liu Tichun, Yuan Zongdi and others.

"Erhu, I haven't complained. I just think this attack on Huguang is weird. You said that if we take Jingzhou or even Xiangyang, we must not divide our troops to garrison? Huguang is so big, if we break down a prefecture, we will divide tens of thousands of people, and before we reach Wuchang, I'm afraid there won't be many people left, right? ”

Liu Tichun thought he was worried about something, so he laughed out loud: "Okay, you old He, is this what you need to worry about?" Since His Majesty has set the route of the Eastern Crusade, he naturally has his considerations. We just have to do what we are told to fight. Besides, who said that every time you conquer a mansion, you have to send heavy troops to guard it? The main forces of the Dongyu are all entrenched on the front line of Wuchang Mansion, and the troops on the periphery are extremely weak, so there is nothing to be afraid of. I think it's enough to keep 3,000 people in a provincial city after the battle. ”

"Ahem, uncles, I'll say a few words too."

Li Laiheng interrupted at the right time: "It doesn't matter if you attack Jingzhou, or attack Xiangyang." We must all be absolutely obedient to His Majesty's allocation. As for the idea of competing with the King of Jin, you just know it in your heart, and don't show it. Now that Daming has this situation, it is not easy, don't let Your Majesty think that we are shallow. We still have to recognize more clearly on the major issues of right and wrong, and there is nothing more important than resisting the Qing Dynasty at the moment. ”

Everyone felt that what Li Laiheng said was reasonable, and they all agreed.

"Early tomorrow morning, the army will divide its own things, Uncle Hao will go to Yunyang Mansion, and Uncle He will go to Xiangyang. You must do your best to contain the Qing army, even if you can't capture the city, it doesn't matter, but you must not make the captives suspicious. ”

"Don't worry, little tiger, my old Hao is steady."

"What His Majesty assigned to me, I will do my best."

He Zhen also patted his chest as a protector.

...

...

The next day, the main force of the Ming Army's naval division went down the river, and Zhu Youlang suddenly sighed at the Xiling Gorge.

This is the last place of the Three Gorges, and after the Xiling Gorge is Yiling.

Xiling Gorge can also be regarded as the division of the sphere of influence between the Ming army and the Qing army.

To the west of Xiling Gorge is the control area of the Thirteen Families of Kuidong, and to the east of Xiling Gorge is the territory of the Qing army.

Previously, under the leadership of Wen Anzhi, the towns of Kuidong had launched several offensives against Yiling, but they were all in vain.

It's not that the towns of Kuidong are unwilling to work hard, but the geographical location of Yiling determines that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

This section of the river is extremely narrow, and once the Qing army blocks the river with iron cables and sunken ships, it will be difficult for the Ming army to march.

It is possible to travel by land, but in this case, the siege equipment transported by the naval ships will not be usable.

Without siege equipment, it is not an easy task to conquer the fortified city of Yiling.

As far as Jingzhou Mansion is concerned, the absolute focus of the Qing army must be on Jiangling City.

Yiling is only the second most important town.

However, because Yiling is the westernmost point of the actual control of the Qing army, its troop ratio cannot be less.

From the moment he attacked Huguang, Zhu Youlang knew that the hard bone of Yiling must be gnawed.

Yunyang Mansion, including Xiangyang Mansion in the Hanshui Basin, can be left alone, but Yiling must be taken.

Only by taking Yiling can the army continue down the Yangtze River to conquer Jiangling, threatening the hinterland of Huguang.

Zhu Youlang used a trick to confuse Hu Quancai, the governor of Huguang, in the hope that he would find out later, and by the time Hu Quancai realized the seriousness of the problem, the Ming army had already taken Yiling.

Only in this way can the next step be promoted.

The lake and water system are vertical and horizontal, and the provinces are very closely connected with each other.

Therefore, even if the Ming army takes Yiling or even Jiangling, it does not mean that the situation has been completely controlled, and it is basically impossible to reproduce the process of taking Chongqing.

"Your Majesty is in front of the spout."

Li Laiheng pointed to a village entrance that was about to be approached and said respectfully: "This narrow mouth is very narrow, and it can basically only be passed by a big ship. In the previous few times, the ministers followed the Wen Governor to attack Yiling, and the eastern captives set up an ambush at the mouth of the mouth. ”

Li Laiheng, who is stationed in Xingshan County, is one of the closest to Yiling.

In his impression, the Ming army did not take advantage of several attacks on Yiling.

As long as the Qing army is determined to hold on, it will basically not suffer.

Sure enough, when the Ming army sailors approached, they found that the narrow estuary was completely blocked by sunken ships and was impassable at all.

Zhu Youlang frowned and said, "Is there a way to clean up the wreck?" ”

Li Laiheng shook his head: "We tried to bombard with artillery, but the effect was not good. If you must attack, you can only land here and take the land route. ”

Zhu Youlang pondered for a moment and said: "In this case, pass on my will, and the army will disembark and land in accordance with the order, and march towards Yiling!" ”

Now that he has made up his mind, he will not give up easily.

This is the number of ways that the Qing army does not want to attack and does not allow the Ming army to attack.

This proves that they are weak in their hearts and afraid that the Ming army will take the initiative to seek war.

Zhu Youlang wanted to see what the impregnable Yiling City in Li Laiheng's mouth looked like.

"Your Majesty has a decree, the sailor will dock, the whole army will land, and march to Yiling!"

Li Dingguo repeated Zhu Youlang's order, his eyes full of determination.

...

...