Fang Yuan and the two were discussing how to besiege the Zheng army on the mountain, but they heard a fierce and intensive artillery bombardment coming from the mountain.

Because the Xuanjia Army had long been out of the range of the Zheng Army's artillery, this round of fierce artillery bombardment did not hurt the Xuanjia Army at all, and all of them failed.

Chigutai was stunned and asked, "Zheng Jun is demonstrating?" ”

Fang Yuan guessed Zheng Jun's intentions at once, and said in a deep voice, "Zheng Jun wants to finish all the shells and prepare to retreat." Chigutai, prepare to surprise the retreating Zheng army! ”

"Boom, boom!"

The Zheng army's artillery lasted for a quarter of an hour, and finally gradually disappeared, and according to Fang Yuan's estimate, Zheng Jun's artillery shells should have been finished.

Chigutai had already reconnoitred the terrain of this hill, and there was only one way down the mountain, so he regrouped the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry and waited for the Zheng army to give a head-on attack as soon as they retreated down the mountain.

After an hour, the banner of the Zheng army on the mountain was still fluttering, but not a single Zheng army was seen retreating down the mountain.

The situation in front of him was too weird, Fang Yuan watched it for a long time, and suddenly secretly screamed that it was not good, and immediately went to a village ten miles away to find a local native villager and asked about the topography and origin of this small hillside.

The local villagers are quite familiar with this hill, and said truthfully, "This hill is called Chuanshan, and it is one of the few peaks in Suzhou Prefecture. Why is it called Chuanshan? It is that there is a cave in the mountain, which can lead to the four directions. ”

After being reminded by the villagers, Fang Yuan was like an initiation, and when he woke up, Zheng Jun didn't have to walk down the mountain road at all, but could evacuate from the cave in the mountain!

This time it was indeed negligent, the Zheng army, who was eager to annihilate the invasion, forgot to reconnoiter the terrain, it was really a mistake and all lost!

Chigutai was so angry that he gritted his teeth and said sharply, "Junmen, let's chase it immediately!" ”

Fang Yuan immediately asked the villagers, "Is there a waterway that leads to the Yangtze River under the mountain?" ”

The villagers said, "Going down the mountain is Shaxi Village, and after Shaxi Village, it is the Qipu River, and you can enter the Yangtze River by boat from the Qipu River." ”

Fang Yuan sighed deeply, and finally understood that the overall plan of the Zheng army to hold on here was to delay the attack of the Xuanjia army, so as to cover the retreat of the Zheng army's large army from the Qipu River into the Yangtze River, instead of taking the official road to Zhenhaiwei as Fang Yuan had judged before; And the Zheng army, which was stationed on the mountain, could wait for the opportunity to inflict heavy damage on the Xuanjia army with artillery.

Fang Yuan asked the villagers about the direction of the Qipu River, and immediately led the Xuanjia Army with Chigutai to the ferry of the Qipu River.

Half an hour later, when the Xuanjia army arrived at the crossing of the Qipu River, they saw that the Zheng army of the brigade had already carried the artillery and got on the troop transport ship moored on the other side of the river.

Under the section of the Qipu River, the Zheng family's troop transports kept going away, and Fang Yuan sighed secretly, and he was a step too late, allowing the Zheng army to withdraw safely.

Only one troop carrier in the Zheng family's fleet was still in the middle of the river at the ferry, and it was not in a hurry to leave, as if it was only to provoke Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan chased to the ferry, but because there were no boats, he couldn't pursue at all, and only saw a young general standing on the handsome chair of the troop carrier.

This young general is about the same age as Fang Yuan, no more than 25 years old, with a big face and a high forehead, thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing tight leather armor, and a lofty weapon, he knows that he is a fierce general at first sight.

"Governor Fang, I have been waiting for you for a long time, and you are too late!"

A majestic voice came from the mouth of the young general on the troop carrier.

Fang Yuan couldn't catch up, so he could only admit defeat today, but he always had to figure out who he was losing, so he asked loudly across the river, "Which general of the Zheng family are you, and do you dare to leave your name?" ”

The young general laughed and said, "The general will not change his name, he will not change his surname, and Shi Lang, the deputy general of Shi Fu, the commander of the Chinese army under the command of Zheng Zongbing, is also!" ”

It turns out that this young general is the famous general of the Navy Division - Shi Lang, Zheng Jianeng has been entrenched in Fujian and Taiwan for decades, and has been at war with the Dutch and Francois all year round, and it is really Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that cannot be underestimated!

Fang Yuan knew that he had underestimated the strength of the Zheng family this time, and the first confrontation ended in a small defeat.

Chigutai ordered the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry to shoot out the fire gun, and all of them aimed at Shi Lang on the troop transport ship.

Shi Lang's troop transport ship started slowly, and the sergeants under his command immediately set up a paper shield array, paper armor is a special armor for the southern navy, with silk cloth on the outside and three inches of thick paper inside, and the defense is by no means weaker than the iron armor, which can not only prevent rust, but also enough to block the fire and lead bullets of this era.

Shi Lang dared to stay and demonstrate, so he was naturally prepared for defense, since the fire gun could not hurt Shi Lang, why bother to humiliate himself?

Fang Yuan stopped Chigutai's fire attack, only to hear Shi Lang shouting, "The Xuanjia Army is famous, it's just that, it's really better to meet than to be famous, hahaha!" Governor Fang, if you know each other, immediately agree to the conditions of the Zheng family, otherwise, Suzhou Mansion will never have peace! ”

Fang Yuan was ridiculed by him wantonly, but he didn't see the slightest anger, and responded coldly, "General Shi, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, and the Zheng family will definitely pay a heavy price for this invasion of Suzhou Mansion!" ”

Fang Yuan watched Shi Lang's troop transport ship drift away, gritting his teeth with hatred, this Shi Lang was really an all-round general who was proficient in land warfare and naval warfare, he could not only calculate that Fang Yuan would throw down the artillery and lead the cavalry to come, but also study the terrain of the mountain, and set the strategy of sniping the Xuanjia army in the mountain and covering the withdrawal of the large army.

Knowing strategy, being good at figuring out people's hearts, familiar with the terrain, and more courageous, Shi Lang is worthy of a generation of famous generals, and he can't be underestimated!

Fang Yuan rode back to the division, and immediately led the army straight to Zhenhaiwei non-stop to check the battle situation.

When the Xuanjia army arrived at Zhenhaiwei, Fang Yuan saw that the Zhenhai Acropolis was already in a mess, and the military camp and the sailor port were bombarded by the Zheng family's naval army. The wreckage of the four or five warships sunk in the military port is still floating on the sea, and the fire has not yet been extinguished.

There were a total of 4 or 5,000 sergeants in the guard, hundreds of them were killed in the battle, 3,000 escaped, and another 1,000 were captured alive by Zheng's army, stripped of their clothes and pants, and all tied up in the camp, which was miserable.

Shi Lang did not slaughter the captured sergeants, but took care of the face of the imperial court and stripped the sergeants of the guard station naked, which was a demonstration to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan ordered Chigutai to release all the captured sergeants, light a fire, make food, and settle down temporarily.

He found a few captured sergeants to inquire about the situation of the battle, and it turned out that the commander of the Zheng family's invasion of Suzhou Mansion this time was Shi Lang's uncle, the commander of the Chinese army under Zheng Zhilong-Shi Fu.

Shi Fu sent a total of more than 20 warships and 5,000 sergeants, including 10 main warships, troop carriers, and more than 10 supply ships.

Zhenhaiwei's largest battleship is only 200 materials, with a displacement of 100 tons, and the Zheng family's 400-ton displacement of the Dafu ship naval battle, that is, ordinary people against Tyson, there is no suspense about the victory or defeat, and they were completely annihilated in less than three hours after the battle. The artillery on the shore was also not as long as the cannon of the Zheng family's naval division, and it was also destroyed.

Before the Xuanjia army came to the rescue, Shi Fu had already packed up and left on a battleship.

Fang Yuan sighed secretly, the Zheng family's sailors are powerful, and the sneak attack that can't be prevented is really a headache?!

Zhenhaiwei had a total of ten warships, Fang Yuan asked about the whereabouts of the other warships, Zhenhaiwei defeated the army and reported that there were five small warships of 200 materials that were being repaired at the Nanjing Shipyard, and they were not moored in Zhenhaiwei, so they escaped a catastrophe.

Fang Yuan smiled as if he was self-deprecating, "I was almost shaved by Shi Fu and Shi Lang's two uncles and nephews. ”

Chigutai was very aggrieved to lose this time, and gritted his teeth and said, "Junmen, how can we take revenge on the Zheng family, and Shi Lang on that dog day?" ”

Get you back? In terms of land warfare, the Zheng army was not much stronger than the tofu soldiers of Suzhou Wei and Jinshanwei, and it was by no means on the same level as the Manchu Qing Tartars.

But the battle with the Zheng family was mainly based on naval battles, and the battleships in Fang Yuan's hands were to stuff the teeth of the Zheng family's sailors. What's more, the naval army incorporated by Liangshan can only fight on rivers and lakes, and naval warfare is still a layman, and there is simply a lack of a naval commander who is proficient in naval warfare.

Fang Yuan asked the defeated soldiers of Suzhou Wei and said, "From which port did the Zheng family's warships attack?" ”

He estimated that it was impossible for the Zheng family to directly send a fleet north from Fujian to Suzhou Province, and there must be a military port for the Zheng family's fleet in Zhejiang along the way.

The defeated soldier said truthfully, "I heard that this Zheng family fleet is from Guanhaiwei in Zhejiang to the north. ”

Fang Yuan was stunned, as expected, it was not bad at all, Guanhaiwei in the territory of Zhejiang Buzheng Division was one of the Zheng family's sailor bases. The so-called Guanhaiwei is the acropolis with a military port built by Qi Jiguang in Zhejiang when he fought against the Japanese invaders, and Jinshanwei in Songjiang Mansion is across the sea.

Fang Yuan only stayed in Zhenhaiwei for two days, and immediately led the army back to Huating County, and summoned Li Zongze's artillery battalion, infantry battalion, and drone team.

Chigutai and Li Zongze thought that he was going to make persistent efforts to pacify Shanghai County, but Fang Yuan temporarily spared Shanghai County, and instead commanded the Xuanjia Army to go south to join Jing Jie, who was stationed in Jinshanwei.

Shanghai County is in Fang Yuan's pocket, and there is no need to rush to recover it at all. The reason why the officials and wealthy businessmen of Shanghai County still have nothing to fear is because they are supported by the Zheng family water division, as long as the Zheng family water division is repulsed, Shanghai County will be self-defeating.

Fang Yuan rushed to Jinshanwei and set up camp outside the acropolis, so that even if the Zheng army's sailors came to attack Jinshanwei, they were unscathed against the Xuanjia army.

After setting up camp, Fang Yuan immediately convened a meeting of all the senior generals of the Xuanjia Army to study how to fight against the Zheng family's powerful sailors.