After seeing Liu Haiyang's handsome flag erected by the river, Ao Guanhai immediately followed quickly, and reported to Liu Haiyang in slightly unfamiliar Chinese: "The coalition army commanded by Liu Guochang has entered Zhenjiang Fucheng, and the new Taihou Hao Shangjiu of the Southern Ming Dynasty is good this time, and after our artillery blasted open the gap, the loss may not be small, at least three or four hundred." I heard that many of them are relatives of Li Chengdong's sons and nephews of officers in the army, and Hao Shangjiu is afraid that he will be in big trouble. ”

Liu Haiyang looked at this increasingly Chinese Black Eight Banners Big Clar in surprise when he heard this, this guy's emotional intelligence has risen recently, and he actually thinks about the problem from the perspective of human sophistication, so he thought that these Black Eight Banners were all fools.

"The new Taihou department has worked hard and should be rewarded heavily, and it can also set an example for all departments." Liu Haiyang nodded and said, "In this way, give them a thousand people from the captured Qing army prisoners, and then let them recruit another thousand soldiers on their own to expand the army to four thousand." and some of the ordnance that was brought with the ship shall be replenished to them, well, take two hundred pairs of iron armor, eight hundred pairs of leather armor, and another thousand of hardwood poles and spears; In addition, their damaged ordnance can also be repaired free of charge at the Chongmingsha Repair Institute to reassure them. ”

The logistics staff officer who was following Liu Haiyang immediately shouted loudly. Although their attack on Zhenjiang Mansion lasted only five days, they had already gained a lot. Not to mention anything else, the grain, rice, and silver accumulated in Xijin Gudu (i.e., Jingkou Ferry) were enough for 40,000 troops to squander for a long time, not to mention the large amount of porcelain, tea, raw silk, and goods from the north and south stored in the warehouses of many wealthy merchants set up by Guo (Xijindu has a city wall), and the quantity was so large that Liu Haiyang, who originally said that he didn't want these spoils, couldn't help but break his word and get fat—of course, the people who followed out to make a fortune were also very acquainted, and each family gave out a part. Ensure that the East Coast has the lion's share.

Although Zhang Mingzhen, Lu Ruoteng and others were a little unbearable, Liu Haiyang swallowed up the goods stored by the local gentry at the ferry. But he also knew that it would be impossible to get these Qiu Ba to spit it out. That's it, just support my emperor's great cause of recovery. How many people have ruined their families for this, what is the point of requisitioning some materials, do you really think that borrowing troops from the Eastern Dynasty is given for nothing?

When the army landed outside Xijin Gudu five days ago, the more than 1,000 Qing troops stationed in the city basically did not make any effective resistance -- first, they could not bombard the Allied soldiers who had landed slowly on the river beach and wharf with long-range artillery, and second, these soldiers who had been guarding this rich place for many years also lacked the bloody courage to drive the yellow-clothed thieves down the river in a desperate gamble, so they could only sit back and watch the Allied troops spend three full days landing on the river beach and the riverside.

However, of course, they did not hold out in the city for three days, in fact only on the evening of the first day, when the first order of the dynasty was ordered to attack the city. The more than 1,000 Qing troops gave up resistance and scattered. The officer defending the city was still more "hearted", he ordered his soldiers to burn the materials stored in the city before retreating, but unfortunately the soldiers were also eager to flee for their lives, so they could not effectively carry out this order, and the fire in the granary was extinguished by the Allied soldiers who rushed in after him.

After conquering Xijingudu, Liu Haiyang set up his headquarters here, and at the same time requisitioned the nearby people, so that they could build simple fortifications with the materials brought by the army together with the auxiliary troops and the officers and soldiers of the naval divisions of Hong Xishan and Ruan Jin, so as to ensure the safety of the road between Xijingudu and the wharf. At the same time, in order to facilitate the transfer of materials and personnel - a large amount of money and food in Xijin Gudu City is not transported away in time, and the army will not be able to fight with peace of mind!

And on the same day that Liu Haiyang entered Xijin Gudu. He ordered Liu Guochang to personally lead the soldiers and horses of his headquarters and more than 10,000 soldiers from Wang Chaoxian and Hao Shangjiu to Zhenjiang Fucheng, and Zhang Huangyan took more than 2,000 soldiers (in fact, he was armed at the same level as the regiment) and thousands of soldiers on the east coast, responsible for transporting logistics and supplies.

Zhenjiang Mansion as a transport node, but also the barrier of Nanjing, originally there were some soldiers and horses stationed, but a while ago the Allied army in Changshu area made a big fuss, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the southeast five provinces were attracted to the past, Zhenjiang Mansion is no exception, the guard will take six battalions of men and horses to Jiangyin more than 3,000 people to Jiangyin to meet the soldiers and horses of Jiangning Governor Zhou Guozuo, will suppress the yellow-clothed thieves. After these six battalions of men and horses went, only a few thousand men and horses were left in the city of Zhenjiang Mansion to defend them, and the people were still panicked and demoralized, and they could basically go down with one drum -- don't look at the many Tartar soldiers, but the stalls were also large, and in history, the Yuyuan Army in Shandong Province revolted, and Jinan was only garrisoned by more than 1,000 soldiers all year round, and the governor and officials at all levels were almost shocked three times a day, which was very pitiful.

The Qing army in Jiangnan now far exceeds that of later generations—the Qing army was so empty before Zheng's attack on Nanjing, and the Qing court even cut some of the less powerful green battalions in order to alleviate financial difficulties—but they also faced a formidable enemy, and the remnants of the former Song Dynasty, who had been raging in Middle-earth since the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, and the yellow-clothed thieves who had "moved from Xia to Yi" had taken root in Ningbo for several years, and their rule in the area was becoming more and more solid. This sharp knife against the soft belly of the rich Hangjiahu Song Mansion can be said to have made the Qing court hurt to the bone marrow, and it had to send elite soldiers to besiege Ningbo for a long time, and at the same time constantly take offensives to try to drive the yellow-clothed thieves away.

In addition, because the people on the east coast always disrupted the rhythm of the Qing army at critical moments, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang and other provinces that had been pacified were still in a state of repeated tug-of-war, which undoubtedly further dispersed the forces of the Qing court, so that the huge Jiangning governor's jurisdiction (five prefectures) only had tens of thousands of soldiers to fight, how could the people on the east coast sit idly by and watch this kind of opportunity?

So, under such a guiding ideology, Liu Haiyang shouted the slogan "time waits for no one", and ordered Liu Guochang, the marquis of Dashun Huai, who he thought was the most reliable, to attack Zhenjiang City with a total of nearly 20,000 horses. And after three days of siege, that is, this morning (June 18), with the roar of the 12-pounder cannon, a corner of the Zhenjiang city wall collapsed, and the active Hao Shangjiu took the lead in breaking in, and the Qing army desperately resisted, helplessly outnumbered, and was defeated by the Allied forces that came to support later, at this time Zhenjiang City had been occupied by the Allied forces, and the 3,000 Qing troops defending the city and more than 200 Manmeng Eight Banners surrendered either to death, but the news had not yet had time to report to Liu Haiyang.

After conquering Zhenjiang, what to do next is still quite difficult to think about. In Liu Haiyang's view, it was almost time to withdraw after the evacuation of Zhenjiang City, and although the main force of the Qing army was currently at the junction of Suzhou and Changzhou Mansions, it was not difficult for the whole army to rush to it - especially the Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners Horse Brigade, which had a large number of people, was a great threat to the allied forces, which were mainly infantry. Liu Haiyang is confident that his East Coast Army and the Black Eight Banners will not collapse under the frontal threat of the cavalry, and Chen Zhilong's Fourth Division of the New Army may be shaken, as for the troops of Hao Shangjiu, Zhang Mingzhen and others, Liu Haiyang feels that they will definitely not be able to withstand the huge pressure exerted by the Manmeng Eight Banners Horse Team.

"If I had seven or eight battalions (about 5,000-6,000 people) of the Black Eight Banner heavy infantry at hand at this time, with some musketeers and artillerymen, I would almost be able to walk sideways in Jiangnan." Liu Haiyang dispelled his lustful thoughts in time, turned his thoughts to reality, and after thinking for a few minutes briefly, he quickly issued an order: "Order: Ruan Jin sent some officers and soldiers of the Navy Division to Zhenjiang City to pick up materials and personnel, Hong Xishan Department is responsible for transporting, and all the trophies and Dingkou strive to be sent to Chongmingsha as soon as possible, Chongmingsha is currently moored with many sail ships of our army, and they can quickly send materials back to Dinghai Port in Ningbo; Another order: Liu Guochang's subordinates swept the two counties of Jurong and Danyang near the left as soon as possible, and made a posture of actively marching to Nanjing, Nanjing was empty, and the Qing court would inevitably send troops and horses from the Taiping, Ningguo, and Chizhou prefectures to defend it, which would create an opportunity for our army to attack these prefectures in the next west. ”

The liaison staff officer quickly repeated the order aloud, and after confirming that it was correct, he went down to the herald to give the order. Huaihou Liu Guochang was a general with the old qualifications of Dashun, had rich experience in using troops, had a great grudge against the Tartars and the local gentry, and was a general that Liu Haiyang relied on and trusted, so he handed over some tactical combat tasks to him, and Liu Haiyang felt that he was more reliable than his own command -- of course, as the main force of the elite, the soldiers and horses of the East Coast system naturally still had to be held in his hands, not to mention that Liu Guochang could not command these "proud generals".

After Lieutenant Júnior finished Liu Haiyang's order, he felt that there was no big problem, so he stepped forward with a smile and congratulated: "The breakthrough of Xijin Gudu has already gained a lot, although Zhenjiang City does not have the money here, but it is always a lot to loot." However, our army won two consecutive battles near Zhenjiang, killing and wounding more than 4,600 Qing troops, but its own losses were not large, and it was already a great gain. Commander Liu led tens of thousands of troops to defeat the outnumbered and the strong to bully the weak, regardless of the gains and losses of one city or one place, and only paid attention to annihilating the living forces of the Qing army with superior forces and the minimum cost. ”

Liu Haiyang smiled when he heard this--he actually likes to listen to people's sycophants--and said: "Don't talk about these useless things, I can figure it out now, the combat strength of the army at hand is uneven, and if you really want to fight a large-scale battle with the Qing army, you will probably suffer." In this case, it is better to give full play to our own advantages in mobility, firmly grasp the strategic initiative in our own hands, and we will choose the time of attack, the landing site will also be chosen by us, and it will be up to us to decide whether to fight or not, and the passive situation of the Qing army will actually be difficult to reverse. ”

"In addition, I named this tactic of our army 'frog jumping tactic', which means jumping along the river bank to attack the Qing army. We do not pursue the defeat of tens of thousands of enemy troops at one time, as long as we continue to make gains, accumulate small victories into big victories, destroy a large number of Qing troops in the south of the Yangtze River, and at the same time temper the combat effectiveness of friendly troops along the way, we will succeed. Liu Haiyang said a little proudly, "Time is on our side." (To be continued......)