The mobilization speed of the Manchu army was quite fast, in fact, in the east of this era, if the model army of the Zheng family is not considered, the Manchu army is the most professional army with the highest out-of-production rate. And entering the Kou Pass is also something they have been accustomed to doing over the years, so they are also familiar with the preparation. Although the two white flags suffered a big loss in the pass last time, and even the Mongols who let them enter the pass also suffered a big loss, whether it was the Eight Banners Army or the Mongols, as long as they could avoid the "Zheng Family Army" and not fight hard with them, there was nothing to worry about. After all, whether it is the Manchurian Eight Banners or the Mongolian Eight Banners, they all have horses, and there is more than one horse. Even the Eight Banners of Manchuria, which generally relied on dismounted foot combat to solve problems, everyone brought at least two horses. In contrast, although the cavalry of the "Zheng Army" is also very powerful, (before the last war, neither the Manchurians nor the Mongols would admit this, but now they have to admit that the cavalry of the "Zheng Army" is very capable of fighting.) Of course, they are still unconvinced, attributing this to the fact that the war horses of the "Zheng Family's army" are better, the armor is better, and so on. However, the "Zheng Army" was mainly infantry, and the most powerful was also the artillery of the infantry. They can't chase after them with cannons, can they? In addition, the number of their cavalry is not very large, if there is no infantry and artillery, what is there to fear from relying on such a small number of cavalry? Therefore, their morale has not been greatly affected.

At the end of May, Qing troops appeared on the periphery of Xuanda. Jiang Hao shrank in the city as usual, not daring to come out to fight. Of course, as far as the combat effectiveness of the army in Jiang Hao's hands is concerned, if he really wants to go out to fight in the field, he basically goes to give people heads. In the early years, the border army of Xuanda was also the elite of the Ming army, but for so many years, constantly fighting with Jianyu and Liukou, the continuous losses of elite soldiers and strong generals, coupled with the finances of my Ming pit father, these losses could not be recovered, so the Xuanda army at this time has almost completely been abolished. Speaking of which, if it weren't for the fact that the original elite soldiers and strong generals were all consumed, it would not be Jiang Jiu's turn to be the chief soldier of Xuanda.

Although Kaicheng will never go out to fight in the field in his life, considering that the current Ming Dynasty seems to be very popular, Jiang Hao does not plan to surrender and pull down directly like Li Zicheng did last time. Moreover, he also knew that under normal circumstances, the Qing army was not very interested in those cities with dangerous terrain such as Guancheng, and there were no residents in them, and correspondingly, there were not many oil and water cities, (because such a city would be difficult to fight, and it would not be able to grab anything after the battle, and most of the final accounts would be lost.) So as long as he doesn't get out of the city, it's actually safe. However, he still remembered that he had issued a warning to the Ming troops in other directions that Jian Yan would break the gap again.

Since Jiang Hao hid in the city and did not dare to come out, of course, my entry into the Qing Dynasty was exceptionally smooth, from the end of May to the end of May, all the way south, no Ming army dared to interfere with their actions at all. Under the guidance of the merchants of Datong and Zhangjiakou, their raids went quite smoothly. By the end of June, some Mongols had begun to return with looted goods and population, while the main Manchu forces continued southward toward Tongguan.

The Zheng family's trading house also had business in Datong, and they naturally learned about the news of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's entry into customs at the first time. The news was quickly delivered to Gyeongshi via carrier pigeons, and then to Jinghae and Jeju Island.

"In five days it will be the seventeenth, and according to past records, there will be a high tide in the morning, and the tide will reach its high point around midnight. Throughout the entire Mao period, the battleship Fuyuan was able to approach a position of 400 meters away from the fortress of Niuzhuang, and the purple area from here to here could allow the battleship Fuyuan to sail safely. The other two corvettes were also able to approach Niuzhuang from these two angles. They can navigate safely in these green areas. In the operational conference room of Jeju Port, at the combat preparation meeting presided over by Zheng Zhihu, the chief soldier of the Dengju Water Battalion, Shi Lang pointed to a chart spread out on the large table and said to some other officers. He looked at the captains who were gathered around him, their necks stretched, and continued:

"Our marines will land from here and here at the end of the day. They can't carry heavy weapons, so they have to rely on us for fire support in their attacks. At that moment, our fleet should arrive in this area and be ready for attack. At that time, our fleet will take the 'Fengrao' frigate as the lead, followed by the 'Fuyuan' battleship and the 'Liaohe' cruiser, and follow up in turn. And at a speed of six knots, shelled the fortress of Niuzhuang at a distance of six hundred meters. And attract the Niuzhuang fortress to open fire. Then the fleet turned in this position, and then went like this, and here, from a distance of four hundred meters, launched a decisive salvo at the fortress of Niuzhuang. At this time, the marines will also launch an attack on the enemy under the cover of our fleet's artillery fire. Gentlemen......"

Speaking of this, Shi Lang straightened up and said: "Jianxuan has dozens of cannons, including seven guns that are equivalent to our 12-pounder guns in terms of power, as well as 24-pounder guns of our own foreign trade models. These 12-pounder guns were effective in penetrating the side of our cruisers at a distance of 400 meters. And those 24-pounder guns were just as effective at this distance. Therefore, this battle is completely different from the battle in which we usually sweep away the fishing boats in Jianzhi and those broken ships in North Korea. And in order to effectively support the operations of the Marine Corps and improve the accuracy and number of strikes we hit the target, we had to reduce the speed of the ship to 3 knots when we passed by the fort this time. Of course, as you know, closer distances and slower speeds will also give our enemies more opportunities to attack us. We had to shoot faster, harder, and more accurately to suppress the gill, so that we could be safe. At the same time, we must also be prepared to pay a heavy price, suffer heavy casualties, and even be prepared to lose important warships. In addition, we need to prioritize targets that pose a high threat to the Marine Corps. As long as we can cover the Marines approaching the target, their flintlock pistols in their hands can cover us as effectively as palm mines. ”

"Commander Shi, we all know this. We've been training for a month to strike quick strikes at 400 metres, and we're going to be able to get a big win and show the guys in the south that we're not a retirement home. A captain said.

"Speaking of which, they don't seem to have ever faced a fort head-on, right? Although their ships are much better than ours. We've won this time, and they're embarrassed to brag about it! Another shouted as well.

"Very good, everyone has such confidence and courage, and they really deserve to be model naval people! Although there are some cannons in the Jianzhi, their fortress is completely illegal, and their training level is far lower than that of our army. As long as we are calm and courageous, we are not afraid of sacrifice. We will definitely be able to get those Jianzhou stupid (harmonious) people who don't even understand trigonometric functions into a big fart! Finally, ladies and gentlemen, this battle has been fought beautifully, and I, Zheng Zhihu, promise that your future will definitely be bright! Finally, Zheng Zhihu said.

……

In the past few days, the people of the Dengzhou Navy Division have intensified hydrological exploration of the sea surface near the Niuzhuang Fortress. After all, this sea area is a sedimentary area of the Liao River, and the hydrological conditions change rapidly, although such actions are easy to attract the attention of Jianzhi, but in order to ensure the smooth operation, these exploration operations are indispensable.

Such surveys were carried out almost under the nose of Jianxi, and in many cases, the ships conducting the exploration even had to approach directly to the position of only three or four hundred meters away from the cow village. Naturally, it was impossible not to alarm the Qing troops stationed in Niuzhuang.

Garrisoned by the cow village was a white-flaged man named Sauron. This person has entered the customs many times and participated in the battle to defeat Lu Xiangshengtian's army. and later in the battle with the Model Army in Jinghai. That morning, just after dawn and Sauron had just woken up, someone came to report that a Ming monarch was approaching the fortress.

Sauron knew that at this time, many people and horses of the Qing army had entered the pass, and the domestic troops were empty, so he couldn't say that the Ming army would fight this idea, just like the last attack on Jinzhou, and launched an attack on Liaodong, so as to have the effect of encircling Wei and saving Zhao. Therefore, he was particularly sensitive to the various activities of the Ming army during this time. At this time, when he heard such a report, he immediately jumped up, tied his clothes to his body indiscriminately, and did not even care to wash his face, so he went to the city wall, and looked at the sea, and saw that there was no more than a hundred feet away, and sure enough, there was a small boat parked there, and then in the faint morning light, it was faintly visible that on the bow of the ship, a sailor was inserting a long pole into the water, and another person was holding a paper and pen to make notes on the side.

The ship was so close that there was hardly any movement. So theoretically, he would be easily killed by Niu Zhuang's firepower. But this is not the case. The boat is too small, it's just a small sampan. Such a small target makes it difficult for his opponent to deal with. Let's shoot directly, this ship is too small, in fact, it is not easy to ensure the hit rate. With the level of the Qing army's gunners, it is estimated that they will be able to hear a sound. To hit such a small target, I am afraid that the gunpowder consumed will become astronomical. So, in general, when he saw such a ship, Sauron was directly treated as if he didn't exist.

But the situation was very tense now, so Sauron felt that he could no longer ignore it as before. He turned his head and said to one of the soldiers who followed him, "Order!" Sink this ship! ”