The reason why the Chu army was preparing to transfer was because the Qing army was coming.

Gan Yu was the first to bring back information, the Qing army gathered tens of thousands of troops in the area of Wuchang Mansion, and was making the final preparations before the expedition, the target was the Chu army, Wang Kefan attached great importance to this information, and immediately contracted the Chu army's various units, ready to meet or transfer at any time.

Two days later, with the collection of intelligence from all sides, the deployment of the Qing army gradually became clear, and Wang Kefan was surprised to find that Kong Youde seemed to be playing a big game of chess.

According to the general strategic principle, it is necessary to avoid fighting on two fronts, and if it is really impossible to avoid it, it is necessary to adopt a defensive position on one of the fronts, concentrate superior forces to fight a decisive battle on the other front first, and then turn around and destroy the other enemy after victory.

On the surface, Kong Youde did the same, he suspended the attack on the loyal battalion, transferred tens of thousands of horses from the front line of Chengtianfu and Xiangyangfu, gathered in the area of Wuchang Mansion, and then divided the troops into three routes to launch a fierce attack on the Chu army.

The first Qing army was led by Geng Zhongming, the king of Huaishun, with more than 30,000 subordinates, down the Yangtze River, advancing by land and water to Huanggang, and converging with Xu Yong, who was entrenched in the area of Macheng, with a total strength of nearly 40,000 people.

In the usual tactical deduction, the Qing army against the Ming army is a ratio of one to five, or even one to ten, Li Zicheng's Dashun army was a division of a hundred battles, Azig also only led a hundred thousand Qing troops to attack Shaanxi, and Li Zicheng's 300,000 troops were killed, Wang Kefan's men are now less than 30,000 people, but Geng Zhongming brought 40,000 people to fight Huanggang, which has given the Chu army a lot of face.

The second Qing army was led by the Han Army Banner Meile Zhangjing, the military department servant Tong Yanghe, and more than 10,000 people, starting from Xianning, killing the line of Xingguozhou, Daye, and Ezhou, and forming a pincer offensive with Geng Zhongming. Among the counties they attacked, Xingguo Prefecture was the most important to the Chu army, and if the Qing army occupied it, it would completely cut off the connection between the Chu army and the rear.

The Qing army of these two routes totaled more than 50,000 people, and according to the general deduction ratio of the Qing army, the strength far exceeded that of the Chu army, and it was obvious that Kong Youde not only wanted to regain control of the Yangtze River waterway, but also prepared to completely wipe out the Chu army...... "Ten will encircle it, and five will attack it." "The Qing army thinks that they can fight five with one. 50,000 Qing troops are equal to more than 200,000 Ming troops, and they rushed to Huangzhou Mansion with great momentum, preparing to swallow more than 20,000 Chu troops in one bite.

With only these two Qing troops, although Kong Youde's deployment is decent, it is not surprising. But the Third Route Qing Army he sent was unusually sharp.

The third Qing army was led by Dorobelle Lekhdehun himself, with more than 20,000 men. Turn northwest from Xianning. Directly kill Puqi, Chongyang and Yuezhou Mansion.

Instead of encircling Wei to save Zhao, but directly smashing Huanglong and drawing money from the bottom of the kettle, Luck Dehun wanted to completely destroy the foundations of the Chu army and open the gate to Hunan, while threatening the flanks of the loyal battalion...... In other words, if the Qing army occupies the Yuezhou capital. He firmly grasped the initiative in the Battle of Huguang, and could not only fight the Chu army in Huangzhou Mansion first, but also attack the loyal battalion of Jingzhou Mansion first, and also go to He Tengjiao in Changsha Mansion.

"Kong Youde's appetite is not small!" Wang Kefan had to admit it. Although Kong Youde was forced to divide his troops, he was not led by the nose by the Chu army, but took advantage of his strength to seize the initiative as much as possible.

According to the general idea, he should immediately withdraw his troops, and while getting rid of Geng Zhongming, he should break through Tong Yanghe's interception and go to support Wang Sheng in Yuezhou Mansion. However, the Qing army will also adjust its deployment accordingly, Luck Dehun can suddenly turn around and move westward, Geng Zhongming can quickly move south, and the three-way army will squeeze into the middle together, and it is very likely that the Chu army will be trapped in the triangle between Liangzi Lake and the Yangtze River, and then completely wiped out.

Can you save Yuezhou Mansion in the end?

If you don't save it, Yuezhou Mansion will be lost. Save, the Chu army will be in danger.

Of course it still doesn't save!

This is how to fight a war, you must not act according to the other party's intentions, Kong Youde is trying his best to sabotage Wang Kefan's intentions, and Wang Kefan cannot cooperate with his deployment.

If you should give up, take a step back and open the sky!

Wang Kefan passed down the order, and the Chu army withdrew from the line of Huanggang and Xishui, and moved down the Yangtze River.

Before the army withdrew, Wang Kefan sent people to Yuezhou Mansion and Jingzhou Mansion respectively, and ordered Wang Sheng to hold the front line of Yuezhou Mansion for three days, and then take the initiative to retreat south and get out of the way to enter Hunan. Lek Dehun was willing to come to rob Yuezhou Mansion, so he gave Yuezhou Mansion to him to see what he would do next.

The reason why Wang Sheng was allowed to hold on to Yuezhou Mansion for three days was to cover the loyal camp, and once the Yuezhou Mansion was lost, it would be very dangerous for the loyal camp to continue to stay in Hubei, and it would have to withdraw across the Yangtze River as much as possible......

……

Niu Yan was locked up in the barracks, and in addition to eating and sleeping, he was constantly thinking about how to get out.

Although he is desperate, as long as Chu Jun keeps his promise not to kill him, there is always a possibility of escaping, but even if he escapes, where can he go?

The world is big, but there is nowhere to stay!

Niu Yan really couldn't figure out how he could get to this point, whether it was in the Dashun Army or after the surrender of the Manchus, he had been working hard and conscientiously, why did the road get narrower and narrower...... Now we can only take one step at a time, survival is everyone's instinct, and there is a glimmer of hope and will not give up.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Jingliang walked in with a guard: "Niu Yan, follow me to visit the prison." ”

Niu Yan himself was also imprisoned, and at first he thought that his family had come to see him, but after a pause, he asked, "Visiting the prison?" Didn't someone else come to see me? ”

Jingliang said: "Go and see your father, he is about to leave, this is the reward of the military gate." ”

Niu Yan's body was shocked, and he hurriedly jumped up, followed Jing Liang outside, and asked, "May I ask General Jing, where is my father going?" ”

"Go to Jingzhou." Kyora didn't hide it from him.

"......" Niu Yan was silent, this was undoubtedly the last goodbye, he was messed up in his heart, but he didn't feel sad, followed Jingliang to another prison room, and happened to meet Wang Kefan who had just come out, and hurriedly stood beside the road and bowed.

Wang Kefan looked at him and asked, "Don't you intercede for Niu Jinxing?" ”

Niu Yan lowered his head and replied: "My father is to blame, and the offender does not dare to intercede." ”

Wang Kefan nodded: "Your father is actually a character, but if he takes the wrong path, he will pay the price, father and son are the top priority in the world, you go in and see him, and explain everything that should be explained." ”

In all fairness, after Niu Jinxing surrendered to the Manchu Dynasty, he did not do evil, or there were no conditions for doing evil, but Wang Kefan still wanted to kill him.

If it is an ordinary person, choosing to live secretly when Lu Shen is in Shenzhou and has no power to return to the sky, although it is not very glorious, it is also an understandable behavior, but Niu Jinxing, as the prime minister of Dashun, has a much greater responsibility than ordinary people, and every move will have a huge impact, so he has no power to survive.

"Thank you for the grace of the military gate!"

Niu Yan saluted and followed the guard into the prison cell. Inside the room, Niu Jinxing was sitting at the head of the bed, his eyes glazed over.

……

As soon as Geng Zhongming left Wuchang Mansion, the Chu army left Huanggang.

Because of the early receipt of the information, the Chu army was well prepared, and the bulky cannons had already been transported across the Yangtze River, and even the captured copper cannons were not discarded. Each of these bronze cannons weighed more than 1,000 catties, which was much more valuable than the iron cannons, and Wang Kefan took all of them with great effort.

Hearing that the Chu army had run away, Geng Zhongming hurriedly sent troops to chase after him, and he led the army to follow closely behind, Wang Kefan saw that the vanguard of the Qing army was chasing closer and closer, so he let the baggage troops go first in front, and he took the army to hold back.

Retreat is not as fast as possible, if the retreat is too fast and becomes a simple escape, the Qing army can let go of the pursuit, and the Chu army will be in danger. Wang Kefan retreated calmly with the army, and the vanguard of the Qing army did not dare to get too close, and did not play a harassing role, and this pursuit became a speed competition between the main forces of the two armies.

The Qing army had boats, and the Chu army also had boats, and they retreated downstream along the Yangtze River, crossing the river as they went, sending five or six thousand people to board the ships on the north bank when they set off every day, disembarking on the south bank when they camped at night, and changing to another group the next day, so that after going out for four or five days, more than 20,000 troops had crossed the Yangtze River, and it did not affect the speed of retreat.

The speed down the river was very fast, and after the Chu army had all crossed the Yangtze River, it had already entered the boundary of Jiangxi Province, less than 100 miles away from the important town of Jiujiang, and put on a posture of attacking Jiujiang.

This made Geng Zhongming very nervous.

When he came out of Wuchang Mansion, he most hoped that the Chu army would turn around and rescue Yuezhou Mansion, and secondly, he hoped that the Chu army would stick to Huanggang and trap Wang Kefan north of the Yangtze River. But the sky was not as good as people wanted, the situation was developing in the worst direction, and the Chu army not only ran very resolutely, but also very fast, and even threatened Jiujiang Mansion.

This unit is good at wandering and fighting, and Geng Zhongming can't see whether the action of fighting Jiujiang is true or false. Anyway, there are only a few thousand defenders in Jiujiang Mansion, and there is a precedent for Huangzhou Mansion to break the city in two days, Geng Zhongming does not dare to take Jiujiang Mansion to risk, the reason for this is very simple, Jiujiang is much more important than Huanggang, if it is occupied by the Chu army, it will cause a strong reaction from the imperial court.

Wuchang Mansion, Jiujiang Mansion, Anqing Mansion, Nanjing, these important towns in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, any one of them will cause the government and the opposition to boil, and hundreds of officials will attack them.

He urged his troops to speed up to Jiujiang, and prepared for an encounter, if Wang Kefan was ambushed halfway, he would rather pay some losses, but also bite the Chu army to the death, and then together with Xu Yong, Tong Yanghe and Jin Shenghuan, the Chu army was completely wiped out.

The Qing army chased all the way into Jiangxi and reached the edge of the Mufu Mountains in Ruichang County, but the Chu army suddenly turned south, and more than 20,000 people entered the Mufu Mountains.

When he first heard the news, Geng Zhongming didn't understand that an army of tens of thousands of people drilled into the ravine, and he had to mess up without fighting. However, the information brought by the scouts made him dumbfounded, and he was even more annoyed with Jin Shenghuan, the Chu army had already responded in the Mufu Mountains, and the Chu army not only replenished the grain and grass, but also with the help of the Ningzhou volunteers, they crossed the mountains and rushed towards Huguang.

The strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, Geng Zhongming does not dare to go into the mountain to chase, the eight hundred miles of Mufu Mountain is continuous, but it is not a casual play, Li Zicheng died in Jiugong Mountain in the Mufu Mountain Range, the Qing army did not have enough guides, and entered the mountain with black eyes to fight with the Chu army, which was tantamount to seeking his own death. (To be continued......)