Duoduo allocated 5,000 Green Battalion soldiers to the Boluo Eight Banners and 10,000 Green Battalion soldiers, and ordered them to attack Fengyang Mansion all the way to the southwest, pacify the prefectures and counties of Fengyang, and then make the appearance of crossing the river to attack Nanjing at Pukou, threatening the Ming court, thus forcing Chen Yue's Pingnan army to fight a decisive battle with himself.

Then Duoduo led the main force to continue to the southeast, attacking Yangzhou, and on April 26, he captured the county town of Tianchang, and the Ming army guarding Tianchang fled without a fight.

News of the Qing army's attack soon reached Yangzhou, and Chen Yue, Marquis of Pingnan, quickly convened Yangzhou officials and the heads of the shogunate to discuss ways to deal with the Qing army.

The Qing army was divided into two routes, which greatly surprised Chen Yue and made him quite uneasy.

At present, the Ming army in Jiangbei is concentrated in the Huai'an line of Yangzhou, and the troops of the prefectures and counties of Fengyang Mansion are very weak, although the Qing army only sent a partial division with less than 20,000 people, but the defenders of Fengyang Mansion cannot resist.

If the Qing army attacked all the way to Pukou, or even crossed the river to attack Nanjing, Chen Yue could think of the reaction of the Nanjing court and Emperor Chongzhen.

Alas, it shouldn't have been fought so hard in Sizhou, if it didn't keep Sizhou and order the Qing army to drive straight in, maybe it would be the same as another time and space, the Qing army would attack Yangzhou with all its might, and then cross the river from Guazhou, Chen Yue sighed in his heart.

"Master Hou, Fengyang is the central capital of my Ming Dynasty and the location of the royal ancestral mausoleum, we can't ignore it and let the Qing army defeat it." Yangzhou prefect Ma Ming admonished.

Guarding Yangzhou required the full cooperation of the local government, and the prefect Ma Zhi was able to attend the meeting.

The imperial tomb of the Zhu family? Chen Yue sneered in his heart, the imperial tomb of the Zhu family's Fengyang had already been dug up by Zhang Xianzhong and others, and the Qing soldiers might not be interested.

"Ma Fuzun, the attack on Fengyang is only a partial division of the Qing army, less than 20,000 troops, there are more than 10,000 defenders in the capital, and it is based on the city to defend, it should not be a problem to hold it, but our Yangzhou, the main force of the Mantar Dynasty went straight to Yangzhou, has captured Tianchang, it is only more than a hundred miles away from Yangzhou, Ma Fuzun should still worry about whether Yangzhou can hold it."

Qian Fenglin, director of the General Staff Department, said. Ma Mingming sighed lightly when he heard this, closed his mouth and stopped talking.

"Everyone, let's talk about how to deal with the Qing army that is attacking." Chen Yue glanced at Ma Zhi and said with a smile.

"Back to the Hou Ye, the partial division separated by the Qing army will not be ignored for the time being, we can't fall for the Tartars' plan to divert the tiger from the mountain. The strength of our Pingnan Army is less than 70,000, and it is okay to defend Yangzhou, but if we go out of the city to fight in the field, we will definitely not have the upper hand. From the perspective of his subordinates, it is better to defend Yangzhou according to the established strategy, and strive to be affected by the hot weather in summer, when the Qing army will retreat without a fight. ”

"Master Qian is reasonable, we should only defend Yangzhou with all our might, but we can't defend the city, we must attack and defend, if the whole army is withdrawn into the city to defend it, isn't it a large area of land outside Yangzhou that is all given to the Manchu Tartar? That would inevitably lead to passivity. Therefore, we should send an army to guard outside the city, relying on the city wall to fight against the Manchurians, so as to ensure that Yangzhou is not lost. ”

Before Chen Yue could speak, Yu Feng, the chief soldier of the cavalry battalion, spoke.

"Master Hou, the last general is willing to lead the cavalry battalion out of the city, and harass the Manchu Tartars with cavalry, so that they cannot attack Yangzhou with all their might."

Yu Feng has always thought that the plan for defending the city formulated by the General Staff Department is too conservative, and his subordinates are all cavalry, and it is too wasteful to put it in the city to defend the city.

Qian Fenglin said again, defending Yangzhou is a countermeasure made by the General Staff Department according to the comparison of the strength of the enemy and us, and it is also the only way to conform to the current situation of the Pingnan Army. Qian Fenglin did not want Chen Yue to change his course, which led to the defeat of the Pingnan army.

"Master Hou, never!" Qian Fenglin hurriedly said: "The Manchu Tartars are already good at cavalry, and our cavalry battalion adds up to only 1,500 cavalry, which is far less than the Manchu cavalry. It's not easy for us to save this bit of cavalry, so we must not waste a fight! ”

"At this time, there is no need to retain strength." Chen Yue shook his head, "As long as we can leave all this Manchu Tartar, it will be worth it for our Pingnan Army to fight for light." The total number of Manchurian Eight Banner soldiers is more than 100,000 people, and there are more than 30,000 Duoduo Divisions, if they can be left, the Manchu Qing will greatly reduce their troops, and their troops will be a problem to suppress the Mongol tribes, and there will be no strength to attack the Ming Dynasty for at least a few years! ”

After listening to Chen Yue's words, Qian Fenglin and the others showed a contemplative look, and the Yangzhou prefect Ma Zhi admired Chen Yue's selflessness. Yu Feng was elated.

"However," Chen Yue changed his words and said to Yu Feng: "Our cavalry battalion is only one thousand and five people, and the combat power is not as good as the Eight Banners cavalry in terms of quantity, your task this time is not to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but to take the army to hide after leaving the city, find the weak point of the Qing soldiers and carry out a sneak attack."

The Qing soldiers attacked the south in a big way, and did not carry grain and grass baggage, and the Manchu Tartar temperament has always been to eat and the enemy, so after the Qing soldiers arrived in Yangzhou, they would definitely divide their troops to plunder the countryside, prefectures and counties, grab grain and capture the people, grab the grain as military food, and capture the people to assist them in attacking the city. After you go out with the cavalry, cooperate with the water battalion and attack the Qing soldiers who specially collect grain. Don't fall in love with the war when you fight, take advantage of it and leave, don't be stuck by the main force of the Qing army, our cavalry is too small to withstand the loss. ”

"Yes, the Admiral remembers!" Yu Feng gave a military salute and went happily.

"Defend the city and defend the city, you can't retreat into the city and defend it, it is the best policy to attack and defend it." Chen Yue smiled at Qian Fenglin.

Since Chen Yue arrived in Yangzhou to take up his post, he has been preparing for the Qing troops to go south, and now the preparations in Yangzhou City are very sufficient. In the past few months, the imperial court has requisitioned and purchased as much as one million stones of grain from Huguang, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, which is enough to supply 800,000 soldiers and civilians in Yangzhou for four or five months, and the canal is now in the hands of the Pingnan military water camp, even if Yangzhou is besieged, it can also get supplies through the canal.

In the past six months or so, the Ordnance Department has worked overtime to make firearms, and Li Xiong has led people to prepare more than 200,000 catties of gunpowder, and made countless firearms such as 10,000 enemies, a swarm of bees, flying dragons, and flying crows to defend the city. The craftsmen of the Ordnance Department copied the machine tools purchased from Macao, and made more than 10 of the same machine tools. Even so, the Ordnance Department produces more than 1,200 firecrackers every month, and more than 7,000 firecrackers have been built in half a year, plus the original firecrackers and crossbows, and now the equipment rate of firearms and crossbows in the Pingnan Army has reached 30%.

Over the past six months or so, under the responsibility of Pan Xuezhong, the Ordnance Department has cast more than 500 artillery pieces, including more than 40 red-coated cannons of more than 3,000 catties, more than 60 Francophone cannons of several hundred catties, and more than 400 tiger squat guns weighing dozens of catties. The ships of the Pingnan Army Water Battalion are equipped with a large number of artillery.

For this reason, the Yangzhou Governor's Mansion gave the imperial court a twist, and almost half of the fine iron produced in the south was transported to Yangzhou, of course, the Governor's Mansion paid as much as one million taels of silver. If it weren't for Chen Yue's raid on the big salt merchants in Yangzhou a few months ago, and if it weren't for the fact that Sihai Salt Company controlled the business of Huaiyan, and wanted to make so many firearms in such a short period of time, it would not have been even possible.

In the past few days, under the supervision of the Enemy Intelligence Department, the Yangzhou Prefect Yamen cooperated to mobilize and organize the people of the whole city, and the young and strong men in the entire city have ascended the throne according to the region, and each square has officials from the government and soldiers from the Enemy Intelligence Department responsible for mobilizing and organizing. Strictly investigate the spies, prevent rumors, and ensure that there will be no riots in the city.

If the Qing army attacked the city, these young and strong people would be mobilized to defend the city, although they were not trained, they could carry things and throw stones from the city to the city. Defending a city is no better than fighting in the field, as long as you have the courage and strength.

The Qing army was about to enter the city, Chen Yue ordered that Weiyang, the enemy intelligence department, be in charge, and the Yangzhou prefect Yamen cooperated, to conduct simple training for the young people in the city and train them in the skills of defending the city.

Right now, the whole of Yangzhou has been mobilized, just waiting for a decisive battle when the Qing army arrives!