After Tian Jianxiu's First Army of the Northern Expedition crossed the river from Yangzhou, it first slowly moved westward to Chuzhou, and then suddenly accelerated, tore through the outer defense line of the Qing army, and advanced all the way to the east of Hefei City.

Luzhou Mansion where Hefei is located is located in the central part of Anhui, the left is Dabie Mountain, and the right is Chuzhou under the control of the Ming army...... Tian Jianxiu and Li Laiheng attacked Hefei on both sides, just to see this point and prepare to come to a siege to send reinforcements.

Tian Jianxiu has three infantry divisions in his hands, more than 10,000 soldiers, Li Laiheng has 2,000 cavalry, the coordination of arms and troops between the two armies is good, and there are many tactical means that can be used...... The Northern Expedition could not be achieved overnight, and Tunbul in Anqing Prefecture was not the target of the Chu army for the time being, and Tian Jianxiu's Northern Expedition across the river this time was to strike at the living force of the Qing army, and it didn't matter whether he could capture Hefei or not.

Unexpectedly, regardless of Kong Youde, Tan Tai and Tun Bu'er, the Qing army did not send reinforcements at the first time, ten days passed in a blink of an eye, Tian Jianxiu set up camp, dug tunnels, built all kinds of siege equipment, and was ready to attack the city, Li Laiheng also swept the periphery of Hefei back and forth twice, and the Qing army's reinforcements were finally dispatched, Kong Youde and Tun Bu'er Department totaled more than 27,000 people. Troops were dispatched from Anqing Mansion and Fengyang Mansion, and slowly approached Hefei from the north and south directions. According to the speed of their march, it is estimated that they will reach the outskirts of Hefei at the same time in seven days. Tan Tai's Eight Banners cavalry raided Chuzhou, putting on a posture of cutting off Tian Jianxiu's back road.

This battle is a bit difficult to fight.

Tian Jianxiu and Li Laiheng obviously felt that since the crushing defeat in the Battle of Ningzhen, especially after the abandonment of Nanjing, the mentality of the Qing army had changed. In the past, when a city was attacked by the Ming army, they would do their best to defend it and rescue at any cost, just like a majestic and unprovoked superior mentality. Now that the Qing army can even give up Nanjing, it does not care about the temporary gains and losses of Hefei, and the combat deployment is much more reasonable.

Kong Youde and Tun Bu'er are so serious, neither divide their troops, nor rush forward, the plan to encircle the point to send reinforcements has obviously come to naught, if they retreat to Chuzhou in time now, they can still retreat with their whole body, Kong Youde, Tan Tai and Tun Bu'er most of them dare not pursue deeply...... The Qing army really dared to chase to the bank of the Yangtze River. The main force of the Ming army near Nanjing could cross the river by boat at any time, staging a remake of the battle of annihilation at the Battle of Ningzhen.

But in this way, Tian Jianxiu will also return in vain, and Li Laiheng's situation will become more difficult. Tian Jianxiu and Li Laiheng spent so much effort to hit Hefei City, and as soon as the Qing army reinforcements appeared, they hurriedly retreated to avoid the battle. Not to mention the impact on morale, the Chu army suffered just from this advance and retreat.

Tian Jianxiu, Li Laiheng, and other major generals held a meeting overnight. Discuss the next step of the battle plan......

At this time, Wang Jincai's Second Army of the Northern Expedition also crossed the Yangtze River from Guazhou. Enter Yangzhou.

Tian Jianxiu's First Army of the Northern Expedition was the main attack, and Wang Jincai's Second Army of the Northern Expedition was the main defense, and they crossed the river not to support the Battle of Hefei, but to receive a part of the defense area from Zheng Chenggong to strengthen the defense of Yangzhou Prefecture...... When Tian Jianxiu withdrew, Wang Jin launched the second wave of the Northern Expedition, and the third army of the Northern Expedition naturally took over the defense of Yangzhou, so that wave after wave pushed forward, taking defense as an attack, and constantly exerting pressure on the Qing army.

Yangzhou is the bridgehead of the Northern Expedition, there must be no room for loss, we must ensure the safety here, Wang Kefan is not at ease with Zheng Chenggong's marines, so Tian Jianxiu just set off for more than ten days, and ordered Wang Jincai to cross the river into Yangzhou Mansion, just in case Tian Jianxiu is unfavorable to the war, and the Qing army is reversed back to capture Yangzhou.

Wang Jin only arrived at Yangzhou Mansion to see that Wang Kefan's worries were not superfluous at all.

A few years ago, when Shi Kefa was martyred, Yangzhou City was destroyed in the war, the people in the city were almost slaughtered, these years have not recovered their vitality, Zheng Chenggong attacked the city and suffered a certain amount of damage, the city wall around the city is dilapidated, the small damage is countless, there are still four or five large gaps, still temporarily blocked with sandbag wooden walls, and have not been repaired.

Although Zheng Chenggong's troops are stationed, they have not seriously maintained various military facilities, in other words, Zheng Jiajun did not plan to hold Yangzhou for a long time, and they were ready to flash people at any time after taking a hand...... Zheng Chenggong's "marines" were not good at land warfare, but now they were at the forefront of the Ming army's defense line, and they did not have the confidence to hold Yangzhou.

If this continues to develop, the Ming army will lose the support of the local people, and it will be difficult to gain a firm foothold in Yangzhou...... Guarding the river must guard the Huai, and when the time comes, even Yangzhou will not be able to hold it, and the south bank of the Yangtze River will be dangerous.

For the arrival of the Chu army, Zheng Chenggong welcomed it very much, not only gave Gaoyou County and several important pass fortresses to the Chu army, but also allowed the Chu army and Zheng Jiajun to garrison Yangzhou together, because the plan to develop Songjiang Mansion to ensure the safety of the Yangtze River route is very important, Zheng Chenggong now also hopes to hold Yangzhou and the coastal river defense fortress, so he will invite the Chu army to cross the river into Yangzhou.

Talking about the latest events in Jiangnan, the biggest news is that Wang Deren's troops have taken over Changzhou and Suzhou Mansions, and after Jin Shenghuan's troops hand over Nanchang, they will also be transferred to Jiangnan, and Wang Kefan has given an order to Jin Shenghuan and Wang Deren to prepare 10,000 troops to prepare for the Second Northern Expedition...... Jin Shenghuan's original territory in Jiangxi was only half of Nanchang Mansion, Ruizhou Mansion, Linjiang Mansion, and Fuzhou Mansion, but this time he was exchanged for Suzhou Mansion, Changzhou Mansion, and Jiaxing Mansion, and they are all one of the richest areas in the south of the Yangtze River.

Zheng Chenggong's demeanor was slightly unnatural. At the beginning, Wang Kefan promised that he could give him the land of Suzhou Mansion, Changzhou Mansion and Jiaxing Mansion. But he insisted on Songjiang Mansion, so he missed these three mansions. Jin Shenghuan was cheapened in vain, and the gains and losses were right or wrong. He also felt bottomless in his heart...... In the eyes of the vast majority of people, Suzhou, Changzhou and Jiaxing are all rich in the world, Jin Shenghuan took a big advantage this time, but Zheng Chenggong has an indescribable feeling, as long as Songjiang Mansion develops, it will choke the neck of Su, Chang and Jiaxing.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan was the richest, and ninety percent of the richest were in industry and commerce. In Wang Kefan and Zheng Chenggong's plan, using a Yangtze River navigation and a coastal route to connect the southern provinces in series, it is equivalent to mastering the most profitable channel sales links, Suzhou, Changzhou and Jiaxing are just a very ordinary production base, every time they earn a tael of silver, they will help Wang Kefan and Zheng Chenggong earn two taels of silver, three taels of silver, or even five taels of silver...... That's right. Wang Kefan, who has surpassed the times for 400 years, of course understands very well that Zheng Chenggong did not cheat, and he also estimated the shape of the future to seventy-seven-eighty-eight, which is the real keen vision. I've seen people.

Talking about the defense of Yangzhou Mansion, Zheng Chenggong was a little unconfident.

He assigned Gaoyou County to the Chu army, hoping to let the Chu army take the front. Share the pressure. But in the land of Gaoyou County, if there is a real big war, it will definitely not be able to hold it. Yangzhou will definitely become a battlefield, so he let the Chu army enter the city.

"The Chu army is good at land warfare. Our army is good at water warfare, and we should do our best, and when the battle in Jiujiang is understood, I plan to return to attack Chongming, and then the defense of Yangzhou will depend on General Wang. ”

Zheng Jiashui Division and Chu Jun Shui Division joined forces to force Shi Fu to dare not take the lead in Jiujiang Water Village, Zheng Chenggong continued to increase his efforts to surrender, Shi Fu himself has been a little shaken, but most of his subordinates are opposed, and no substantial progress has been made for the time being...... According to the most conservative estimates, as long as the main force of the Chu army launched an attack on Jiujiang Mansion and destroyed the Jiujiang Water Village by land, the desperate Shi Fu could only surrender.

If the Yangtze River is a giant dragon, Chongming Island is a pearl in the mouth of this dragon, Zheng Chenggong did not plan to stay in Yangzhou for a long time, but he set his eyes on Chongming Island at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and prepared to seize it to build a base...... As a supporting role in the Battle of Ningzhen, Zheng Chengyi was very satisfied with half of Songjiang Mansion, and the reason why Jin Shenghuan had three mansions was in exchange for Jiangxi territory. Wang Kefan has long made it clear to the two of them, who still wants to expand the territory, just go and fight by yourself, as long as it is the territory taken from the hands of the Qing army, the Chu army will never snatch love.

"Zhangguo Gong is polite, the last general is only temporarily guarding Yangzhou, at most before the end of the year to launch the second Northern Expedition, when Zhangguo Gong returned to Chongming, most of the last generals have already arrived at Hongze Lake, and it should be the Third Army of the Northern Expedition who guards Yangzhou." Wang Jincai's battle plan had basically been decided, to attack Huai'an Mansion in the north.

Tian Jianxiu fought in Hefei, and Wang Jincai fought Huai'an, one in the west and the other in the north, trying to mobilize the Qing army. Huai'an is an important node of the Grand Canal, close to Shandong in the north, and the grain produced in Anhui must be assembled and transported to Beijing from here, which is more important than Hefei in a sense, and it is also the target of attacking the enemy...... As for the Third Northern Expedition, it is necessary to look at the results of the first two Northern Expeditions before choosing a target and formulating a plan, the Qing army's defense line of thousands of miles may be attacked everywhere, and the initiative is always on the side of the Chu army, which is the welfare of the attacking side......

On the battlefield of Anhui, Tian Jianxiu and Li Laiheng finally agreed to give up the plan of besieging the city and sending reinforcements, but they would never return to Chuzhou, but would take the most proactive offensive tactics and attack Hefei!

Kong Youde and Tun Bu'er advanced heavily and could avoid an ambush, but the speed of the march was also greatly reduced, giving the First Army time and space to storm Hefei...... Yes, Hefei is a strong city, but there are too many cities in Nanzhili, Hefei is just one of the very ordinary, the difficulty of the attack is far less than that of Hangzhou, Wuchang and other provincial cities, since the Chu army has been prepared, it is possible to conquer Hefei before the Qing army arrives.

Let's talk about it first, whether we can hold it in the future, that's something to consider after beating down Hefei.

Compared with the old Eighth Battalion of the Chu Army, Tian Jianxiu's "First Army of the Northern Expedition" is obviously two grades behind, the 16th Division of the main division is from the Pingjiang Battalion, a second-rate army, and there is also a mixed division and a recruit division. The number of the recruit division is the 32nd Division, and the combat effectiveness is relatively the worst, Ding Zongwang and Xiong Yuanzhong are in this 32nd Division, but the situation of the mixed division is relatively special, one brigade is from the Chongyang Battalion, the main force of the Chu Army, and its combat effectiveness is obviously much stronger, while the other two brigades are ordinary, which is worse than the 16th Division.

The brigade commander of the Chongyang Battalion was named Li Yiliang, because of the great losses in the Battle of Ningzhen, he stayed near Nanjing to rest and recuperate, and did not follow Wang Sheng to Suzhou and Hangzhou, and this time he was incorporated into the First Army of the Northern Expedition. Although the casualties of this brigade were very large, during this period of stay in Nanjing, it received a large number of veterans who had returned from wounds, and the main force of the Chongyang battalion went to Suzhou and Hangzhou, and after the wounded soldiers near Nanjing returned to the team, they all temporarily stayed in Li Yiliang's unit.

Good steel should be used on the blade, and the main attack force in Hefei will be served by Li Yiliang's brigade, and other troops will not have to fight at all.

The 32nd Division, where Ding Zongwang and Xiong Yuanzhong were located, soon received an order to take the initiative to attack southward to intercept the reinforcements from Tunbur and buy more time for the attack on Hefei.

The 32nd Division quickly occupied Shucheng County in the south of Hefei and seized all the key passes, and before all kinds of preparations were made, the Qing army had already approached Shucheng, which made the 32nd Division feel great pressure. Tun Buer has been stationed in Anqing Mansion for a year, the troops are well rested, and the movements of interspersed assemblies are fast and powerful, listening to the explanation of the army's setting up a blocking line, the Qing army suddenly accelerated to the two wings fifty miles away from Shucheng, and then suddenly closed to the middle, and then expanded again, and again retracted, both true and false, and shook two or three back and forth, and the 32nd Division was obviously unable to keep up with the rhythm of the other side.

After the Qing army closed for the third time, it suddenly launched a fierce attack on Lengshui Pass southeast of Shucheng, and the feint turned into a real breakthrough, concentrating all his strength to strike a thunderous blow and capture Lengshui Pass lightly.

Lengshuiguan was occupied by the Qing army, and the entire defense line of the 32nd Division was in danger of collapse, so it had to retreat back and gather its troops. At this point in the battle, all the tactical arrangements at the beginning were completely ineffective, and although the 32nd Division suffered small losses, it was already very passive.

But this was not the end, after the capture of Lengshui Pass, the cavalry of the Eight Banners was inserted in time, and the retreating troops of the 32nd Division were entangled. (To be continued......) R1292