"Kill pigs and sheep at night, treat the children!" Looking at the figure of the Qing army's green battalion wolf bèi fleeing in defeat, Liu Guochang couldn't help grinning, and his big fan-like hand slapped the back of Yuan Bao's head, making this fledgling young general grin in pain. After speaking, Liu Guochang ignored others, and said with pity: "It's a pity that there is no horse team, otherwise this pursuit, let alone let Zhang Jie leave another thousand men and horses." ”

This is the westernmost part of Ningbo Prefecture, and may have entered the territory of Yuyao County, Shaoxing Province, where tens of thousands of people from nearby villages were driven to build a small fortress out of bricks, clay, large stone strips, and thick wood. The circumference of the fortress is only more than 1,200 meters, with a very strong fortress style, and there are protruding irregular towers on the four corners, basically without any shooting dead ends. Of course, the small fortress named Stables Fort (located in the northeastern part of the Stables Mountain) is still a half-finished product, and after nearly five months of construction, it has been completed for the most part, and it is believed that in two or three months, the fortress will be completely completed.

Two kilometers to the north of the fort, another fort of the same size, named Tianluo Fort (located south of Tianluo Mountain), is also in the process of being built. After the construction was completed, the two forts were equipped with many artillery pieces brought by the people on the east coast, and the firepower of their long-range cannons was basically able to cover the key narrow road from Shaoxing to Ningbo. If the Qing army brigade wants to pass through this place, it may be inconvenient and vulnerable to firepower, and it will be difficult to break through to the eastern part of the Ningshao Plain, which is known as the land of fish and rice, if these two fortresses are not uprooted.

As for the detour from Cixi, it is also quite risky. First of all, Cixi County at this time was located far east of Cixi in later generations. Not far from the coast. The terrain is narrow, and there is no way to spread troops, not to mention. It is also easy for the army on the east coast to cut off the supply line with the control of the sea, and if one is not good, the whole army will collapse. And even if it breaks through the interception of Cixi County, the Qing army will still face the threat of Dinghai County in the east, and when the time comes, under the attack from three sides (the direction of Yinxian in the south, the troops returning from the fortress fortification area in the west, and the garrison of Dinghai County in the east), even the elite Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners will not be able to hold it. Therefore, some detours from Cixi and Dinghai to attack Ningbo are basically only theoretically possible.

Therefore, the Qing army wanted to recapture the four counties and one guard of Ningbo Prefecture that had been "fallen" for several months (Xiangshan County and Changguowei were still in the hands of the Qing army). I really have to take this road. The people on the east coast built two strong fortresses in this narrow mountain road, and their intention was nothing more than to use the terrain to block the Qing army brigade from the outside, and they could farm and reorganize the rear on the rich plains with peace of mind. After all, the territory of Ningbo Prefecture is full of rich impact plains, the land is fertile, has been developed for a long time, and the population and products are very rich. Even in the war-torn late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the population of the entire Ningbo Prefecture was too large to say, and there were still five or six hundred thousand!

In other words, as long as the land in the eastern part of the Ningshao Plain is not lost, then this is a population and material base firmly in the hands of the people on the east coast. The food problem that has plagued the people of the East Coast for a long time will also be solved. In addition, there is also the habit of raising silkworms and reeling silk, and cotton can also be grown. It is more able to grow tea, and it is definitely a rich land. Therefore, guarding the road and keeping the Qing army out of the door is the king's way. Moreover, there are many such terrains along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, which are relatively isolated from the outside world, and the road is difficult and dangerous, but it is extremely convenient to come and go from the sea. What the? You say that the Qing army can climb over Siming Mountain and other mountains and sneak over to the Great Plains? What are you kidding, does the Qing army still need to fight like that? There is no baggage, no food and grass, and no reinforcements, this is the rhythm of sending people's heads!

Of course, the Qing army is not stupid, they can naturally see the "evil intentions" of the rebels and the yellow-clothed thieves. Therefore, Zhang Cunren, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, attached great importance to this, and he began to write in the direction of Nanjing one after another, asking for more troops in Shaoxing Mansion to contain the sudden deterioration of the situation here and recapture most of the Ningbo Mansion, which had already been lost. Moreover, under the condition that the troops were extremely tight, he cobbled together a force from all over the place, handed it over to Tian Xiong, the governor of Zhejiang, and Gushan Ezhen Jinli, and ordered him to lead his troops into Shaoxing Mansion and launch a tentative attack in the direction of Ningbo.

It's a pity that there are no effective troops on the ground in Zhejiang at this time, and there is no way to rely on the six or seven thousand green battalions and a small number of Han troops (soldiers and horses of the Jin Li headquarters) that have been cobbled together alone, and there is really no way to get nearly 7,000 people from Dashun and the East Coast Coalition Army, which are well-equipped and have high morale. In particular, the more than 1,000 old people from Liaodong brought by the so-called elite Jin Li were defeated in the battle with the yellow-clothed thieves and black domain ghost slaves in December last year, and were beheaded by more than 270 ranks, and their morale fell greatly.

After that, the Qing army has not made much movement in the following period, only Zhang Jie, who was appointed as the chief soldier of Ningbo, stationed in Yuyao County, sent troops to attack the construction site of the fortress under construction several times, but they were all repelled by the army on the east coast. In January of this year, more than 30 blackwater medium-sized fishing boats that were wintering in Shandong went south and transported more than 3,500 veteran servants and Chen Zhilong's troops on the east coast (more than 1,000 people were laid off in the recent reorganization and retrenchment) to Dinghai County, and then quickly reinforced to the area around Yinxian County, completely stabilizing the situation in Ningbo Prefecture.

Last week, with the end of the migrant transportation season, under the escort of powerful naval warships, seven well-maintained 1,200-ton sail transport ships landed again in Dinghai County with a large number of materials and personnel, and then began the material transfer work. A large number of cold weapons such as bows, spears and arrows, protective gear such as leather armor and iron armor, gunpowder and lead bullets and other consumables were basically concentrated in Yin County, the capital of Ningbo, under the hard transportation of the people. In addition to the 3,000 members of Ding Weiyue's unit, who had just taken refuge in the "regimental training army," there were also more than 2,000 German mercenaries who had just arrived by ship from Australia (more than 2,500 at the time of departure from New China).

The arrival of these three forces, totaling 8,500 reinforcements, brought the armed forces of the East Coasters in Ningbo Province (including the Allied forces) to more than 17,000 men, and the firearms were very high. Although the Qing army in Shaoxing Prefecture on the opposite side also received some reinforcements from Nanjing, the number of troops was only similar to that of the people on the east coast, and the combat strength was even more different, and it was completely incomparable. Today (April 10), Zhang Jie, the general soldier of the Qing army in Ningbo, led more than 3,000 people to attack the stables, and was repelled by less than 3,000 soldiers led by Liu Guochang of the Dashun army, which is the best proof. Now what the Qing army should be worried about is whether the people on the east coast who have completed the rectification will move westward to occupy Shaoxing Mansion, after all, it is located on a coastal impact plain with Ningbo Mansion, and the eight counties and one guard within its jurisdiction have a large population and rich products.

Liu Guochang rode his horse and watched under the fort for a while, and then walked towards the fort under the guidance of the guards. Although the stable fort is now a semi-finished product and is still under construction, it is not impossible to garrison troops in the fort. Now in addition to Liu Guochang's headquarters of more than 1,000 people, there is also a Black Eight Banner heavy armored infantry battalion and a small number of artillery, and there are 1,500 soldiers led by Yuan Bao, Zhang Guangcui, Zhang Jingchun and others of the Shun army outside the city; In Tianluo Fort, which is only more than two kilometers away from them, there are also nearly 2,000 soldiers under the command of Liu Shijun and Cai Huaze, the Marquis of Dashun Yue, and there is also a temporary camp set up by the people on the east bank outside the city, with nearly 3,000 people stationed in the newly arrived Ding Weiyue Division. These two forts echo each other, and the soldiers are so well trained that it is difficult to storm them in a hurry if they are countless times more battle-hardened.

"What has Liu Dashuai on the East Coast been doing lately? It's been a long time since the Western Front patrolled. On the way back, Liu Guochang suddenly asked his entourage.

"Back to the general's words, Liu Dashuai on the east bank recently took the newly arrived 2,000 colored soldiers to sweep back and forth in the territory under the jurisdiction of Yinxian, Fenghua, Dinghai, and Cixi counties, and many landlords and gentry who had accumulated years were ruined, grain, goods, and livestock were confiscated into the army, and the land was distributed to thousands of soldiers from Ding Weiyue, Sun Shouzheng, and other troops who followed them south." Speaking of this, the entourage decided, and then continued: "Looking at what Liu Dashuai meant, I am afraid that he will take the road of settling outside and settling inside, first stabilizing the rear, clearing hidden dangers, and then dividing the land to improve the morale of his troops, and finally leading the army west and marching into Shaoxing Mansion." ”

"There are eight counties and one guard in Shaoxing Prefecture, and the household registration is prosperous, I'm afraid there are millions of people?" Hearing this, Liu Guochang also coveted the wealth of Shaoxing a little, and only heard him say: "I just don't know what the idea of this Liu Dashuai is, now Zhang Cunren's old horseman has few soldiers and horses, and it is an excellent time to capture Shaoxing Mansion." In case of waiting for a large number of reinforcements to be raised in the direction of Nanjing, although they are all weak and unbearable mud legs, it will be a trouble after all. Alas, the old man should go to Yinxian County in person to see what kind of charter the yellow-clothed army is, and when to leave. The treasure knife on the old man's waist has long been hungry and thirsty! ”

And just when Liu Guochang was thinking about meeting Liu Haiyang, Liu Haiyang was also leading a team of thousands of people, with a large number of pigs, sheep, carts and horses, from the direction of Cixi to the south, and the destination was naturally his temporary nest, Yin County, the capital of Ningbo Prefecture. This unit was Liu Haiyang's men and horses who went out to collect grain and taxes, and there were more than 3,500 soldiers in total -- the main force was naturally the more than 2,000 "German volunteers." These people have dark eyes here, so they can only listen to the orders of the people on the east coast, and they are not ambiguous in fighting, and they are not as diverse as those servant armies dominated by the Ming people, so they are very easy to use.

This time, Liu Haiyang took this group of people to check back and forth in the four counties and one guard of Ningbo Prefecture to check the pseudo-Qing officials and the families of the gentry and wealthy families who sympathized with the Qing court, and they were the most ruthless, contributing more than 300,000 taels of silver, more than 9,000 stones of grain and beans, and more than 1,000 heads of livestock (only) to Liu Haiyang; At the same time, the confiscated land of Qing officials and gentry was also distributed to 1,500 Rugao soldiers of Sun Shouzheng's army who accompanied him on the expedition. As for these German soldiers, they all took credit for their own merits, and after the war, they could use this to subscribe for land in Sakhalin, the Amur River, and Ezo Land. (To be continued......)