The west of the Luohe River has been the place where the Ming army and the Qing cavalry fought and fought since February. The war has burned here, the people have been displaced, and the abandoned fields are overgrown with weeds. From time to time, sharp arrows shot out from the bushes and woods, and then broke out one after another life-and-death battles.

The Qing cavalry was more numerous, and soon launched round after round of attacks on forward posts in the process of expelling the Ming cavalry.

A few days later, the banner of Iron Cavalry appeared on the battlefield, and the serious disadvantage of the Ming cavalry was alleviated, but it was still at a disadvantage. But compared to the vigorous momentum that killed the Luohe River just over half of the first month, the cavalry of the Ming army did not seem to have any enterprising spirit, even if the iron cavalry town entered the battlefield, they still maintained the outer shield of the camp as much as possible, preventing the Qing army from seeing the camp and the heat behind the camp from being transparent.

In line with the principle of knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent, the Qing army's exploration horses continued to press eastward, and the cavalry of the brigade wandered in the area west of the Ming army's camp. The camp of the Ming army is ready to be in battle, the trenches and antlers outside the front of the wall abound, and the watchtower, the arrow platform in the wall, are high and far away. The flag was waved, and the Ming cavalry outside the camp participated in the command of the camp, constantly changing the roles of chasing, rounding up, fighting and escaping.

After the arrival of the Iron Cavalry Town, the pressure of the Ming cavalry suddenly decreased, and it became more and more difficult for the Qing cavalry to observe the progress of the camp and the civil fortifications behind the camp.

Soon, after resting in Haifeng County for a few days, the main force quickly approached the battlefield twenty miles under the leadership of Huang Yingjie and Zhang Daoying. The army approached and set up camp, and the Ming army had no intention of harassing it. The Qing army easily completed the work of setting up camp, and there was a forward position here, the distance between the two was shorter, and the oppression of the Ming army was more handy.

As far as the eye can see, the cavalry of the Qing army has squeezed the cavalry of the Ming army in a narrow area west of the camp. But if you want to go further and observe the progress of the Ming army, you still need to continue to move forward, and it is best to go around to the flank and rear of the camp. However, after this area, the blocking momentum of the Ming cavalry was suddenly strengthened, and Huang Yingjie vaguely saw that in the distance, it seemed that a Ming infantry had been killed from the camp to assist the cavalry in interception. And this was quickly confirmed from Tanma's mouth.

"I'm afraid that our troops are not enough to defeat the Haikou in one fell swoop, and the soldiers are dangerous, so it's best to ask the feudal soldiers to come to help in the battle, and the chance of victory will be greater."

They themselves know how many troops they have, and on the side of the Ming army, the banners of several towns, according to Tanma's observation, there is indeed a corresponding scale of Ming troops in the battalion, which is not a bluff. Do the math, at least the strength of the seven towns, which is more than them, and it seems that there are still a lot of Ming troops east of the Luohe River, so it seems that the Ming army is fighting a little too conservatively these days.

Although the number of cavalry of the Ming army is still at a disadvantage, the overall strength is stronger, and the area is controlled in advance, and the camp is stable, which is not something that the Qing army can do for a while.

"I'm afraid that the old prince and the little prince don't plan to help us at all."

Speaking of which, Huang Yingjie only complained, but Zhang Daoying made his words clear, and he was helpless for a while: "We still have to find the flaws of Haikou, fight hard, and damage the old foundation, which is not good for us." ”

………………

Throughout February, the Qing army was constantly squeezing the scope of the Ming army's activities. However, although the Ming army seems to be unenterprising, Yu Qingjun's observation of civil engineering still seems to have a bottom line - once it is touched, it will not give an inch.

After more than a month of hard work, the foundation of the civil engineering project has been laid. With a solid foundation, the coolies began to work on the superstructure, except that they seemed to be more energetic than they had been at the beginning. And all this had nothing to do with the leather whips of the overseers and the few dried corpses hanging in front of the camp gates.

"Work hard, do your job well, and you can be free like them."

Dozens of sentenced to short labor were released in public after the foundation was completed. They were all Jieshiwei, and a few days after they were released, there was also one who brought some food and clothing, saying that it was sent to a familiar family member in the same lane, and it made those coolies see hope.

The trumpet of labor was even more exciting, east of the Luo River, Chen Kai looked at the construction site in the distance, and nodded with satisfaction to Ding Youyi standing beside him.

The coolie was specially selected by Ding Youyi, and he had already picked it out when he was sentenced. It was agreed that when the days were enough, he would let the others return to the Jieshi Acropolis, and the latter lived up to his expectations and reported the good news that he was still alive with a family member he knew, which brought this small but indispensable hope.

"Leniency and severity, well done, a little warden, succumbing."

"The general system is overreputed, and lowly is just a fool."

With the improvement of work enthusiasm, work efficiency will naturally increase. Progress is slowly accelerating, which is a good thing after all.

At the same time, in the process of continuing to exert pressure, the Qing army was also seeking the possibility of bypassing the Ming army's defense line from the mountainous area in the upper reaches of the Luohe River. It's a pity that once they enter the mountainous area, the mountain people who form a village to protect themselves are enough to make them overwhelmed, especially when Chen Kai issued an order to the people near the mountains and forests to seize the Qing army's uniforms, weapons, banners and even the first rank can be rewarded, the Qing army's spies are even more difficult.

"What is Huang Yingjie, what is Zhang Daoying, in front of Mr. Chen, they are all a puddle of rotten shit. Even their master was calculated by Master Chen, can they still turn over the sky? ”

Through the administrative system at the grassroots level, the people of the mountains and forests became more and more familiar with the wise and demonic Chen general system from the mouths of the gentry and village elders who had been wooed by Chen Kai in terms of official positions and Confucian admission qualifications in prefectures and counties. If you talk too much, you will naturally be impressed, and your position will be more distinct - in their words, in front of Zhuge Wuhou, except for Sima Yi, everyone has to stand aside!

The detour failed, the Qing army simply launched several strong offensive operations, some tentative, and some real onslaught, Huang Yingjie simply transferred some artillery from the Huizhou Fucheng side to assist the offensive, but as the Ming army became more and more familiar with the new tactics, the Qing army, this battle was becoming more and more difficult to fight. During this period, it was Chen Bao from Nanao Town who also dispatched sailors to launch two counteroffensive operations against the Shengjie Station on their flank, which restrained their considerable energy.

In this way, until the end of March, the battle line was still maintained in the narrow area at the beginning, the Qing army failed to break through the camp, and the Ming army never seemed to have any intention of advancing westward - although it looked a little passively beaten, but it was so motionless, and the flaws were not easy to find. And in such a vigorous and nowhere to do it, it was accompanied by Shang Kexi's increasingly severe urging and even reprimand.

The Ming army took a big step forward, and then directly put on a hedgehog-like defensive position to consume their vital strength, which made Huang Yingjie and Zhang Daoying very uncomfortable. Just when they were at a loss, Tanma came with unbelievable news.

"Haikou, retreat?"

"Yes, Sir. The pirates withdrew from the camp, which at first glance looked empty. ”

"There must be some deception in this!"

Years of experience in the war made them smell danger, and at night, the camp abandoned by the Ming army actually ignited a raging fire, and the entire night sky was smoked red.

The fire burned until the next day, when the trap was lifted, and standing on the still smoking ruins, Huang Yingjie looked far away, and for the first time saw the whole picture of the civil engineering works behind the camp - it was two small fortress-like buildings, standing on the west bank of the Luo River with horns on each other, covering the pontoon bridge behind. On the outside, it seems to be angular and angular, not at all like the prefecture and county city he has seen, but it seems to have some rules. You can't see it from the inside, but the periphery of the main body of the fortress is not a flat river, and it seems that there are traps lurking everywhere.

"What the is this?!"