When it was heard that Yang Xuan led the main force down the river to the east, the Qing army withdrew from Jiujiang City and now held the Hukou position to prevent the loyal army from entering Jiangxi.

On this day, Liu Weiming, the chief soldier of the 6th town, and Liu Wenxiu, the general soldier of the 13th town, came to see him by boat, and they were quite excited to see this super ship with a displacement of more than 500 tons.

After some greetings, everyone gathered around a huge sand table, and according to the past six months, everyone was quite familiar with the surrounding terrain, so such a sand table was made.

Looking at the sand table, Liu Wenxiu held the baton in one hand and said in the other: "Shengshang, now the Tartars are divided into four groups, namely Yue Le Group, Hong Chengchou Group, Jierharang Group and Ma Guozhu Group.

Since the Yuele Group and the Jilharang Group were severely damaged by our loyal and righteous army last year, the morale of the whole army was extremely low, and they are now resting on the periphery, waiting for our side to enter when they are exhausted and change the situation of the war. ”

Yang Xuan frowned, and said: "As the saying goes, it is better to cut off one finger than to hurt ten fingers, although we defeated the Duoduo Group and the Zilharang Group one after another, I didn't expect the Tartars to complete the replenishment so quickly." ”

Liu Weiming shook his head and said: "Shengshang, after the Yue Le Group and the Jilharang Group were attacked by our army last year, they were both injured and weakened, and in order to replenish their strength, the Tartars did everything they could.

In the past, the Tartars were quite defensive against the Mongols, but this time, in order to supplement the strength of the front-line departments, each department supplemented the Eight Banners and Mongolian Tartars who stayed outside the pass.

But after all, these people are new to the battlefield, and their strength is far inferior to the previous soldiers and horses.

Intelligence shows that the Yuele Group has been restored in strength after being supplemented by 2,000 Mongolian soldiers, and that the unit has about 6,000 Manchurian soldiers and horses, and 20,000 green battalion soldiers and horses, and is now stationed in Wangjiang County, Jiangbei, to prevent us from crossing the Yangtze River.

The regent of the Barbarian Qing Dynasty, Jierharang, the lord of the Red Flag Banner Wada, the deputy commander Su Lang, and the Jiangxi Governor Liu Wuyuan led 3,000 blue flags, red flags and Manchuria Eight Banners, 3,000 Mongolian soldiers, and 50,000 green battalion soldiers and horses are stationed in De'an.

Both of them are just on the periphery, and it seems that they are ready to kill us in the middle of the war and besiege us. ”

Yang Xuan thought for a while, and walked back and forth a few steps: "It seems that this battle is going to be fought, and you need to cut through the chaos with a quick knife, so as not to trouble when the other Tartars arrive."

In any case, we must first study Ma Guozhu and Hong Chengchou thoroughly, and it is best to defeat the other party in one fell swoop, so as not to give the other party a chance to be surrounded on all sides. ”

When everyone heard this, they took it for granted that since leading the troops, Yang Xuan rarely fought a long-term offensive and defensive battle with the other party, often concentrating the main force to defeat the other party in one fell swoop, and then annihilating the other party in pursuit.

Liu Wenxiu waved his baton and said: "Hong Chengchou's 2,000 Mongolian soldiers, two Han army flags, and 20,000 green battalion soldiers and horses are stationed in Pengze County, and together with the Yue Le Group, we will prevent us from crossing the Yangtze River.

At the foreground was the group of Ma Guozhu, the two Manchu generals, whose subordinates included:

After the defeat of our army last year, the commander of the Manchu Yangtze River Naval Army, Bai Yintu, led the naval division, and now built more than 100 large ships to save face, but they were continuously defeated by Chen Huaixi's general army and naval army, and the morale of the army was extremely low.

Ma Guozhu personally led 20,000 green battalion soldiers and horses to garrison Hukou County, Bai Yintu led 6,000 Tatar naval troops to garrison the water village next to Hukou, and Zhang Datou led 10,000 green battalion soldiers and horses in Meisha Prefecture opposite, so as to form a triangular trend. ”

Yang Xuan nodded and looked at the crowd: "As the saying goes, the south boat and the north horse, fight in the south, and win with the navy."

Compared with the Tartars, our army has an advantage in the navy, and the infantry combat power is stronger than that of the Manchu Qing Green Battalion soldiers and horses and the Han army flag, while the cavalry combat power is far inferior to the Tatar cavalry.

The southern waterways are vertical and horizontal, there are many hills, and the climate is hot and humid, which is beneficial to our army.

In order to recover the southeastern provinces, we need to defeat the Tartar naval army first, and then we can recover the southern provinces with lightning speed. ”

When everyone heard this, they all smiled happily, and what everyone was really afraid of was the Manchurian cavalry, but they didn't think so about the Manchu Qingshui Army's infantry army.

Talking about the use of troops, everyone talked eloquently, Liu Wenxiu pointed to the map in front of him and said: "The Tartar naval army is weak, Yue Le is stationed opposite our army, and there is Jin Tongwu Town on his side, so it seems that the department is at most guarding against our army crossing the Yangtze River, and it is difficult to do anything when the battle starts." We are now facing the Hong Chengchou Group, the Jierharang Group, and the Ma Guozhu Group.

Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that Ji Tartar has laid out two triangles for us this time, Hong Chengchou Group, Zierharang Group and Ma Guozhu Group form a large triangle, while Ma Guozhu, Zhang Da Chief and Baiyin Tu are small triangles.

Everyone, think about it, if you were Ma Guozhu, Jierharang, and Hong Chengchou, how would you think our army would use troops? ”

Privy envoy Wu Yanghu said with a smile: "Lord Wang, from the perspective of the small triangle, the defense posture of the Tartars is very obvious, the center of gravity of the Tartar defense is in the mouth of the lake, and the mouth of the lake is in the hands of the Tartars, so the main force of our army's naval division will not be able to enter Poyang Lake, it will be difficult to go south to Jinling, and it will be difficult to deal with the Jierharang group."

On the contrary, as long as Hukou fights again, just wait for the Battle of Hukou to start, the reinforcements from the two routes will inevitably continue to arrive, so that our army will be forced to retreat with superior forces. ”

Yang Xuan nodded and said, "The analysis makes sense, if you follow everyone's ideas, how should you fight this battle?"

Chen Huaixi pointed to the map and said: "Shengshang, the mouth of the lake is the throat of the Tartars, and he thinks it is best to take the mouth of the lake in one fell swoop, and then go south to Poyang Lake, so as to encircle and annihilate the Jierharang group together with Cao Xunzhen and Li Laiheng, who are advancing eastward from Hunan."

Shengshang, the Tartars are not accustomed to water warfare, as long as we can capture the mouth of the lake and eliminate the Tartar naval army, the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of the Yue Le Group in Jiangbei will be useless. ”

Liu Wenxiu shook his head and said: "Holy Lord, this method is not appropriate, the Tartars know that our army is good at water warfare, and they know that they are not suitable for water and soil, and they are worried that we will attack Hukou at this time."

In this case, the Tartars must be heavily guarded, and when our army attacks Hukou, the whole army will inevitably come to help, so if our army attacks Hukou, it will inevitably fall into Hong Chengchou's trap. ”

Chen Huaixi was dissatisfied: "General Liu, this lake mouth is the throat of the throat, whether it is to Jinling in the east or Jiangxi in the south, we need to take the lake, if we don't seize the lake, how can we defeat the enemy?" ”

Liu Wenxiu pointed to the map and said: "Shengshang, the Tartars can be said to have made a lot of money at the mouth of the lake, not only erecting more than 10 red-coated cannons on Shizhong Mountain, but also garrisoning heavy troops to defend them.

Holy Lord, please see, this lake mouth is less than 1.5 kilometers narrow, and the Tartar red-coated cannons are condescending, and loading solid bullets will inevitably block the entire river.

If we attack Hukou, Hong Chengchou's group will inevitably go all out to reinforce Hukou along the west of the river, especially the Hong Chengchou unit stationed in Pengze County is only 200 miles away, and it poses the greatest threat to our army.

When the two sides fell into a stalemate at Hukou, the Zilharang group would inevitably go north to copy the rear road of our army.

In this way, our army was surrounded by nearly 10,000 Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry, nearly 10,000 Han military flags, and 100,000 green battalion soldiers and horses. ”

Yang Xuan shook his head and said: "The brave wins when they meet on a narrow road, although Hong Chengchou's abacus is good, how can I wait as he wishes."

As long as we can quickly defeat the Ma Guozhu Group, even if the Hong Chengchou Group and the Jierharang Group come to help, we can also wait for work and fight a beautiful battle. ”

Everyone was silent for a while, and Wu Yanghu, the privy envoy for a long time, arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the Hukou Tartars are heavily armed, how can we quickly conquer the position?" ”

Yang Xuan thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Without him, only heavy troops can attack, or win with surprise." ”

Everyone thought about it, but still seemed to be lacking in confidence, Yang Xuan explained: "Everyone, the only way to attack the fortified battle is to cover it with artillery, or to win with surprise.

Our loyal army now not only has a grenadier group in each squadron, a tiger squat cannon in each brigade, a Franco cannon squad in each battalion, a Franco cannon brigade in each mark, and a red-coated cannon brigade in each town, but also our army has an independent artillery mark, and there are so many large and small ships.

In particular, these Jinghai-class gunboats and Jingjiang-class gunboats have a large number of red-coated cannons, and their firepower is far above that of the Tartars.

If we attack a little bit, we can completely overcome the attack. ”

Everyone thought about it, and they had a little bottom in their hearts.

But in addition to the strong attack, the most important thing is the surprise attack, of course, the heavy responsibility falls on the water army, on this great river, if you control the Yangtze River, the army can go back and forth at will, so that you can quickly launch a surprise attack.

Everyone is still unsatisfied, and what everyone is most worried about is the reinforcements of the Qing army, and Yang Xuan has more confidence in this point.

That is, the naval army cut off its reinforcement route, so that even if the other party comes to reinforce, it can completely surround the point and send reinforcements at that time.

There is no doubt that this tactic is very bold, but as Yang Xuan said, if the battlefield is won, the situation in the southeast can be completely reversed.

The most important thing now is that the various departments complete the preparations for the war, and Yang Xuan mobilizes all the ships that can be used to achieve the main purpose of completing the battle.