While Wang Kefan led the army to go on the expedition, he also had to ensure the safety of the back road and grain road, so Puqi County and Yuezhou Mansion could not sing the empty city plan, Wang Sheng has always been cautious and serious, and it is most reassuring for him to be stationed in Puqi.

Zhang Jiayu's Dongguan battalion stayed in Yuezhou Mansion, in addition to looking after the family, it was more important to train according to the standards of the Chu army.

When this unit was in Guangdong, it felt pretty good, and as soon as it came into contact with the Gongyi battalion in Hubei, it was found that the Suzhì in all aspects was a big step behind, and it was completely defeated by other troops in several exercises, and it was even much worse than the Ji'an battalion.

In addition to the Chongyang battalion and the Dongguan battalion, the Chu army still has nearly 20,000 horses, almost pouring out, plus Ma Jinzhong's 5,000 people, Wang Jincai's 3,000 people, a total of 27,000 people army out of Puqi north, straight to Xianning.

Puqi was in the hands of the Ming army, but Xianning in the northeast was under the control of the Qing army, and it was Wang Kefan's first target.

Xianning is the southern gate of Wuchang Mansion, there are Tingsi Bridge, Hesheng Bridge and other dangerous passes, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Qing army regards it as a barrier to defend Wuchang Mansion, and has been stationed with heavy troops for a long time...... If Xianning can be conquered, it will cause a great shock to the Qing army, and they will have to strengthen the defense of Wuchang Mansion, and even divide troops to entangle with Wang Kefan to reduce the pressure on Li Guo, the loyal battalion.

The Chu army rested at Puqi for one night, and the next morning advanced towards Xianning.

This area is the tug-of-war area between the two armies of the Ming and Qing dynasties, for more than a year, Luck Dehun has been busy dealing with the loyal battalion in Jiangbei, and has always taken a defensive position in this area, as long as he ensures that Xianning County on the outskirts of Wuchang is not lost, even if everything is fine.

However, the Ming army was relatively active, and it had basically gained a foothold in Puqi, but it was only when the Gongyi battalion moved to Jiangxi. Xu Yong took the opportunity to fight a counterattack, recaptured Puqi County, and once threatened Chongyang, but Ma Jinzhong and Lu Ding sent troops in time and drove them back to Xianning.

On both sides of the road from Puqi to Xianning, there are abandoned fields everywhere, and the two armies of the Ming and Qing dynasties fought repeatedly in this area, causing great damage to local production, and there were no people for dozens of miles. But this also brought a benefit, after the Chu army scattered the cavalry and scouts. The spies of the Qing army could not approach at all, and they could not probe the reality of the Chu army.

The march thus became very smooth, and the journey of more than 100 li was not too far, and the Chu army went eastward bypassing the Tingsi Bridge, which was garrisoned by 1,500 Qing troops, and turned along the Jinshui River to Xianning.

Natural hazards in the age of thermal weapons. In the era of cold weapons, the effect is worse, and a heavy machine gun can defend the Tingsi Bridge. Relying only on bows and arrows to camp may not be able to hold it. With the current strong strength of the Chu army, it is completely capable of overcoming the Tingsi Bridge, which is weak, but in order to avoid alarming the defenders of Xianning, Wang Kefan still went around in circles.

On the evening of the third day, the Chu army suddenly appeared outside the city of Xianning and camped ten miles away from the city.

The Qing army in Xianning City finally found out that something was wrong. There was a commotion in the city all night, and it seemed that they were preparing to defend the city, and because they were familiar with the terrain, they sent many cavalry scouts out of the city by night. Constantly probing around the camp of the Ming army, and shouting and screaming all night, whistling and harassing the rest of the Ming army.

The recruits who went to the battlefield for the first time were inevitably excited and nervous, and many people couldn't sleep when they were so troubled by the Tartars, but the military orders of the Chu army were extremely strict, and they had to lie down honestly if they couldn't sleep, and they were not allowed to talk, let alone get up...... Brother Hua took the military law team to patrol the barracks non-stop, and all those who violated military orders were demerited, this is a major matter related to military merit and promotion, no one dared to violate the majesty of the military law team, and the whole camp was quiet.

Chen Shangwu was lying on the ground, staring and unable to sleep, he was an artillery battalion officer with the rank of guerrilla general, with certain privileges and a separate camp, even if he got up and did something, the military law team would not take care of him. However, Chen Shangwu just wants to sleep now, but he can't sleep at all.

He turned out to be an eight-rank order in the military department, was recommended to join the Chu army, and was appreciated by Wang Kefan as a battalion officer of the artillery battalion, and was responsible for tomorrow's siege operations. After the army set up camp and went down to the village, Chen Shangwu was busy until late, and made all the preparations that should be done, and now the task is to recuperate, rest well, and lie down even if he can't sleep.

"Whew!"

There was a snoring sound not far away, it was Chen Shangwu's personal soldier captain Wang Mancang.

Wang Mancang's parents are the housekeepers of Wang Kefan's family, and they are the sons of the Wang family, since Wang Kefan joined the army, he has been with him as a personal soldier, Chen Shangwu is just an ordinary clerk, after joining the Chu army, there is no personal guard around him, Wang Kefan gave Wang Mancang to him, and served as the captain of the personal army to protect his safety.

"This kid is not simple, he is a veteran who has been on the battlefield, and he sleeps so soundly!" Chen Shangwu felt very admired, Wang Mancang was just a young man in his early twenties, he was even calmer than himself, and he had the demeanor of a general.

As a battalion officer, he can't be compared to his own personal captain, Chen Shangwu closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep.

"Stride, stomp!"

Outside the camp, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves, the sound was urgent but not too dense, it seemed that there were only three or five cavalry, and it should be a scout sent by the Tartars. The tent of the artillery camp was in the middle of the camp, and since the sound of horses' hooves could still be heard, it meant that the scouts of the Tartars were very close to the camp, even outside the trench of the camp wall.

Chen Shangwu opened his eyes violently.

Immediately after that, there was a faint sound of the bowstring playing, and then two terrible screams, and then the sound of the horse's hooves gradually ran away, Chen Shangwu couldn't help but sigh and sat up suddenly.

"General Chen, what's wrong with you?" Wang Mancang's snoring suddenly stopped, and he asked him questions in the dark.

"Ah, there was a bit of chaos outside just now, I don't know what's going on." Chen Shangwu used to be a technical clerk, and this was the first time he went to the battlefield, and he was really nervous.

"It's not a big deal, it must be that Brother Wang Meng set up a trap and taught the Tartars a lesson not to collect at night." Wang Mancang's tone was flat, but there was a faint sense of pride, and he said lightly: "Listening to the movement just now, at least two people died in the Tartars, and it is estimated that they will be honest in the second half of the night, so we can sleep well." ”

Chen Shangwu's eyes widened in astonishment, and he asked, "Didn't you fall asleep just now?" How to know everything! ”

Wang Mancang laughed silently in the dark: "When we came out of the pro-soldier team, we all opened our eyes and pricked up our ears when we slept, so that we didn't delay ......."

In the first half of the night, many recruits in the Chu army did not sleep well, and in the second half of the night, they got used to the harassment of the Tartars, and gradually fell asleep to the snoring of the veterans.

Early the next morning, the Chu army got up to eat on the fifth watch, and then sent troops to surround the county seat of Xianning. (To be continued......)