Unless you have to, you can't fight with it!

When Liu Qingtai said this, there was a thick helplessness in that tone, after all, the Ming army shouted "The golden soldiers are less than 10,000, and they are invincible", that will be the Ming army defending the city, the Qing army attacking the city, and the Ming army, which was afraid of the Qing army, did everything possible to avoid the field battle.

But now it's completely reversed.

From the Battle of Zhenjiang, Zheng Chenggong's 5,000 Iron Man Army defeated the elite of the Eight Banners garrisoned by Jiangning, and then to the Battle of Suqian, Zhu Mingzhong faced the 100,000 Pingnan Army led by Da Su with 70,000 recruits, and the Pingnan Army survived less than 10,000 people, and nearly 90,000 Manchu and Han Eight Banners and Green Battalion were killed or wounded.

Since then, with these two victories, any Qing army general will involuntarily be cowardly when facing the southern thieves. Although it is said that the combat effectiveness of the Ming army and the Qing army in the field is on par - of course, this is in consideration of the face of the Qing Dynasty, and they are more willing to believe that the current Jiangbei Ming thieves and the court officials and soldiers can reach the level of 1 enemy and 2 when they fight in the field, and even the elite of the Eight Banners can fight a draw. Such combat effectiveness is truly terrifying.

And the fiasco of Dasuping's southern army, which was close to the annihilation of the whole army, also became a lingering shadow in the hearts of the Eight Banners. It is precisely because of this that Tuhai is now looking forward to tearing apart the Ming army in the field, but also afraid of confronting the Ming army. What I hope is to reinvigorate the confidence of the Eight Banners through a victory. What I am afraid of is that if it fails miserably, it will not only be a heavy blow to the Eight Banners. Even if he is trying to figure out the sea, he will definitely be held accountable by the imperial court at that time.

"The Governor is taught."

Tuhai replied politely. He did not show any contempt for Liu Qingtai, but transferred and mentioned his request.

"Your Excellency Governor, this time Xia Guan crossed Henan to aid Kaifeng, but he came in a hurry but did not bring grain and grass, and the grain and grass of this army still have to be supplied by adults."

"Oh, as it should be, as it should be."

When Liu Qingtai heard that he was asking for food, he immediately nodded and agreed. Although this city needs a lot of food, but now Kaifeng is not as prosperous as it was in the past, after the plague and banditry, it became known as hundreds of thousands of Kaifeng City, but there are only tens of thousands of people, even if you add those outside the city, there are only hundreds of thousands, and the food in this city is sufficient. Moreover, after Liu Qingtai learned that the loyal and righteous army went north, he would Kaifeng and then coerce all the people within ten miles of the surrounding area into the city, and not only the people entered the city, but of course there were also the grain in the people's homes, and the grain and grass in the city were not stretched thin at present.

"Well, there is also the military salary, Lord Governor, you know, now that the Jiangnan salary source has been cut off, the brothers have not been paid for three months, if you want the brothers to fight, you have to make up the arrears first."

When Tuhai mentioned the military salary, Liu Qingtai smiled bitterly in his heart, but immediately disagreed, the silver can be found to get it, but Henan must be defended.

"Tudutong! As long as you and I are of the same heart, this time we will definitely let the thief go and never return! ”

As he spoke, Liu Qingtai's eyes fell on a map written with a brush on the map.

"Zhu Xianzhen".

Zhuxian Town is an important town in Henan Province and has been famous since the Song Dynasty. The Jialu River passes through the town, in ancient times, the waterway turns the Huai River to reach Yangzhou, since the Tang Dynasty to the present, Zhuxian Town is an important place for water and land transportation, and the reason why it is famous in the world, Yue Fei defeated the Jin soldiers in Yuncheng, marched to this and his twelve gold medals. Because of its status and location, people from various prefectures and counties in southern Henan go to the provincial capital, Beijing or Shandong, and Zhuxian Town is also one of the only routes. Because Guide Mansion had already fallen into the hands of the Ming army, Zhuxian Town became a necessary place to capture Kaifeng. Time passed, and once again, this Zhuxian Town once again attracted people's attention.

When Liu Qingtai was busy transferring troops and generals to keep Kaifeng, only half of the reserves in the hands of the loyal and righteous army - five infantry battalions and an artillery battalion were also quickly assembled, returned to Defu, and took Tongxu County and Qi County along the way to Zhuxian Town.

Compared with the paved official roads in Jiangbei, the roads in Henan are in disrepair, and the potholed roads seriously affect the transportation of vehicles and goods, but even so, no one can do without the potholed official roads. At this time, on this official road, a large group of horses was moving slowly. Four-wheeled two-pulled carriages were located in the middle of the road, and infantry carrying rifles marched along the side of the road to protect the carriages. And in front of the four-wheeled carriage, the warriors marched in a queue, their boots making a neat footstep.

At the front of the line, the cavalry of the squad galloped back and forth vigilantly, and the sound of horses' hooves mixed with the clashing of weapons echoed on the official road. The cavalrymen on horseback occasionally whipped their horses, and as the vanguard of the troops, they were responsible for keeping watch and searching in the front.

Finally the town in the distance was revealed, and outside the town was erected, and a ditch was dug around the fortification, and outside the ditch was a deer rock barrier made of tree branches. This is Shuipoji, located in the southeast of Zhuxian Town. Before the loyal army arrived in Zhuxian Town, the Qing army had already built fortifications in Zhuxian Town. In the area of Shuipoji and Zhuxian Town, more than 10,000 people were gathered within a radius of dozens of miles.

However, after experiencing the military rebellion in the last years of Chongzhen and various natural and man-made disasters, the number of people in this area is far less than in the past, and the arrival of the Qing army, in order to avoid the military disaster, many men, women and children nearby have fled to other places, and those who did not have time to flee in a hurry, most of them were pulled by the Qing army to build a barracks. There is not much difference between the barracks of the Qing army and the barracks of the loyal army, they are all one-zhang high earthen walls, and there are trenches and deer rocks outside the earthen walls.

And in the camp is the elite of more than 10,000 Eight Banners led by Tuhai, those searching cavalry did not try to approach here after discovering the Qing army camp, but observed the Qing army in the camp from the telescope, with the mixing method of optical lenses were produced in large quantities, the telescope was quickly popularized in the loyal army, and many grassroots officers were equipped with telescopes.

Although the magnification of the telescope is not large, it is still the best observation tool on the battlefield, while they observe the Qing army, they found that after the news of the Qing army was transmitted to the rear, the troops on the march more than ten miles away immediately set up camp on the spot, but in just a few hours, the camp formed by earthen walls and carriages stood on this plain.

After the camp is set up, there are cavalry into the camp from time to time, constantly bringing the latest military information to the battalion, according to the combat regulations of the loyal army, intelligence is the fundamental premise to ensure the victory of the battle, for the troops in the operation, its intelligence collection, often rely on the cavalry rangers, for a time, several cavalry squads of cavalry, in the square garden within dozens of miles of reconnaissance, collecting all kinds of intelligence.

"Zhu Xianzhen ......"

In the big tent in the camp, Yu Xiaobao, who was temporarily appointed as the commander of the Left Route Army, narrowed his eyes into a slit, just staring at the sand table that had just been made.

“…… Now the two places are at the horns of each other, and if we attack one of them, we will surely be disturbed by the other. The Qing armies in both places have cavalry corps, which can attack our army at any time......"

"It can cut off the water source of the Qing army, and the thieves just cut off the water source of the water slope in the upper reaches of the Jialu River. As a result, Zuo Liangyu's troops were in chaos, and finally there was a great defeat in Zhuxian Town, and from the information currently available, it seems that the Qing army has not yet set up camp in the upper reaches of the Jialu River......"

Just as several officers were seriously studying how to attack the two places that were at each other's horns. Yu Xiaobao kept snorting melon seeds, and the melon seeds had fallen under his feet, even as the commander of an army, he still did not change this preference, and even this kind of throwing melon seed shells violated the internal affairs regulations, but since he was the commander of an army, he always had such privileges.

What's more, right now, he's thinking about tactics. Even if the army of the Left Route Army saw it, they couldn't get him much.

"Well, this Liu Qingtai is really Han, well done."

Finally, after swallowing the melon seeds in his hand, Yu Xiaobao's face immediately showed an expression of admiration. Originally, others only thought that he was nagging there, because it was difficult for the two places to attack each other, but they only pointed to a Qing army camp on the sand table, and Zhao Sanxi, the commander of the 21st battalion, said.

"Battalion Commander Zhao, don't you remember that the military gate was ...... back then. How did King Huai defeat the thousands of Qing troops led by Liang Huafeng without bloodshed? ”

Zhao Sanxi also experienced that battle, but now he has long forgotten the way he fought that battle, but he was reminded by Yu Xiaobao and immediately said.

"Commander Yu is saying, let's follow King Huai's method, throw a gunpowder box, and blow up those grandsons?"

"Anyway, there are no ordinary people there, so naturally you don't need to consider the casualties of the people."

Yu Xiaobao said casually, although when he was training in the martial arts hall, he had also heard of Li Chuang's tactics of cutting off the water source of the official army in the battle of Zhuxian Town, but in his opinion, this method was too long and too slow, and there was no need to adopt this "stupid method" for the loyal and righteous army that paid attention to quick battles.

"Besides, we are loyal and righteous soldiers, what do we rely on?"

The corners of his lips lifted slightly, and Yu Xiaobao said proudly.

"It's the firearms in our hands!"

"However, Commander, the range of the projectile pack is only about 30 zhang, and there are artillery and bird guns in the Qing army camp, if you use the projectile pack, the range is too close, and it is very likely that the gains outweigh the ......losses."

Before the staff officer with hair on his lips finished speaking, Yu Xiaobao glanced at him.

"Do you think there's only projectile kits?"

In the rhetorical question, Yu Xiaobao ordered decisively.

"First concentrate the mortars of the whole army, concentrate on bombarding the barracks of the Qing army, and ......"

Pointing to a village leading to Kaifeng, Yu Xiaobao sneered.

"Zhang Anchen, I handed over all the cavalry to you, temporarily organized into a cavalry brigade, you rush here, and then ......"

After deploying the troops one by one, when the subordinates were preparing one after another, Yu Xiaobao was quite proud. Glancing up to the northwest, he muttered to himself.

"The surname is Li, Lao Tzu has to see if you go to Luoyang first, or Lao Tzu goes down to Kaifeng first!"