In less than two months, the strategic intentions of the Northern Expeditionary Army were unfolded, and the actual control area of the Qing court was not only swallowed up by a large number of whales, but also divided into two sections with a single knife, which was difficult to echo.

In this regard, the Qing court chose the only way out, and the new army marched south after the Tianjin Wei was assembled, and now it has reached the border of Cangzhou.

The Qing court's decision to make such a decision, as Liu Cheng analyzed, was exactly what Chen Wen had planned. In this regard, Chen Wen believed that when his strategic layout was unfolded, the Qing court would immediately realize that only a decisive battle in the south was the only possibility to break the situation.

At this point, even if there is no Liu Cheng, there are not no people in the Qing court who are old in military affairs. However, with Liu Cheng, the Qing court's reaction speed should be faster - it is not that Liu Cheng's intelligence is far better than those pro-noble ministers of the Qing court, but because Liu Cheng knows more about the Ming army of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Chen Wen, and knows himself and his enemy, which is a great advantage compared to other important ministers of the Qing court.

According to the reports of the Military Intelligence Department and later the Supervision Department after Liu Cheng's defection, Chen Wen believed that during Liu Cheng's time as a training officer in the recruit training camp, he learned a lot of relevant military knowledge, and even he could get a glimpse of some military skills such as surveying and mapping, sand table, and map deduction, which had just begun to form the General Staff Division.

What's more, Liu Cheng was originally a captain-level officer when he was in Dalanshan, but when he arrived at Tiantai Mountain and first entered Jinhua Mansion, he was one of the officers that Chen Wen focused on cultivating, and he learned a lot from him. In recent years, the intelligence about Liu Cheng sent back by the Beijing Station of the Military Intelligence Department has also confirmed this point.

This enemy is just like his student, but this student has greater ambitions, perhaps not only Chen Wen, but even the Qing court is likely to be a stumbling block to this ambition, and as long as there is a suitable opportunity, it will be moved away, or even crushed.

"If you want to change history, you must be mentally prepared to be crushed into powder by the wheels of history that have deviated from the track. It's a pity that at this point today, I am the trend of the times! ”

After receiving the military situation that the Qing army stopped after arriving in Cangzhou, Chen Wen did not hesitate, and waved the main force of the Central Route Army to continue to advance north along the canal.

The army passed through Texas, followed by Wuqiao County. This place belongs to Jingzhou, Hejian Prefecture, known for acrobatics, Fan Jingwen, a scholar of the East Pavilion of Chongzhen Dynasty who was martyred in Jiashen, is a native of Wuqiao, and has recorded the grand occasion of Wuqiao acrobatics at the end of the Ming Dynasty in his notes. However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, a more famous group of Liaodong soldiers staged a mutiny here, and the Ming court's dream of trying to strengthen the army by learning Western military technology was also dashed by this mutiny, the party struggle between Korea and China, and the stupidity of those in charge.

Wuqiao County is located at the southern end of the canal when it first enters Hejian Province, and is no less than 400 miles away from Tianjin Wei, the northernmost point. However, by this time, the new army of the Qing court was already in Cangzhou, which was in between the two, and the Northern Expeditionary Army did not need to advance that far distance, as long as it was halfway through it to fight with the Qing court, which undoubtedly shortened the length of the supply line.

After Wuqiao County, first through Dongguang County, and then to Nanpi County, although the cavalry of the Northern Expeditionary Army was at a disadvantage, the new army of the Qing court always sat in Cangzhou to wait for the Northern Expeditionary Army, and it was difficult to stop the advance of the Northern Expeditionary Army with cavalry alone, but only slowed down the speed of march a little. In just four days, the army had already crossed Nanpi County and confronted the new army of the Qing court in the south of Cangzhou.

The Qing court was stationed in Cangzhou earlier, and the people in the vicinity were either pulled away or fled to other places, and the surrounding area was already deserted. The Northern Expeditionary Army arrived, and the staff operations compiled on the basis of intelligence also began, and this was the last round of staff operations on the eve of the decisive battle, and everyone was very nervous, lest they would miss anything useful.

"According to the report of Tanma, the five divisions of the new army of the Tartars were dispatched, among which the president of the Wuwei Right Army was changed to the minister of the guard, Kubilong, and there was no other change from the information obtained before. In addition, several cavalry units arrived, judging by their outfits and weapons, which were supposed to be Mongol Tatars from Monan. Together, "

The new army was formed according to the requirements of Gustav's phalanx, with 10,800 infantry and cavalry, which was divided into five battalions of 1,000 cavalry in order to give full play to the superiority of the Qing court's cavalry. Counting the artillerymen, officers, and other personnel, there are no more than 16,000 people combined.

The Qing court has gone all out this time, with five new armies and several Mongol cavalry in southern China, with no less than 90,000 troops, including 34,000 cavalry alone, and its strength should not be underestimated.

"The Tartars are known as the division of millions, and the water is not small, but just talking about the cavalry, this person has two horses, and even one person and three horses, if they are added together, the water can shrink a lot."

The number of cavalry of the Qing army, in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming army has always been incomparable, this is no way to do it, backed by the Mongolian steppe, that is, the traditional horse breeding land of the Han land is also in the hands of the Qing court, compared to relying on the capture and purchase of cavalry troops of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming army, it is indeed the biggest advantage.

"When the Tartars are destroyed and the north and Liaodong are recovered, the number of our war horses will also be increased."

For the victory, the Ming army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang can be said to be full of confidence, over the years of overcoming obstacles, from living in a corner of Tiantai Mountain, to now recovering most of the world, it has not been ten years. The army has won successive battles, and the Qing court's Ganshan Green Battalion and the Eight Banners Army were once defeated, and now their strength is better than before.

After summoning the generals, Chen Wen motioned to Zhang Gongyan of the General Staff Department to explain the conclusions and preliminary plans of the staff officers to the generals in a sand table: "According to the intelligence, the Tatars have been stationed in Cangzhou for several days, and the new army has always maintained the battle line from the canal to Cangxian. According to the deduction, it is likely that this is the battlefield set by the Tartars. ”

Cangxian County is not only the location of the ancient Cangzhou Governor's Office, but it was only in the Ming Dynasty that it was moved to the current Changlu Town. It is in the southeast of Cangzhou City, and west of Cangzhou is the south canal section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the new army maintains such a large section of the front, its purpose is to block the passage of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming armies to the north.

The Northern Expedition is the purpose of this battle of the Ming Army of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Zhejiang, the capital is the most important target, and the task of the new army is to intercept and defeat.

"The Tartar forces are expanding, but when the decisive battle comes, it will inevitably shrink a part, because the total strength of the Tartars is not as much as the king's division, and the battle line is expanded, and cavalry alone is not enough."

The baton crossed the canal to Cangxian County, Zhang Gongyan didn't say anything more about this matter, and talked about the results of the General Staff Division's deduction: "The five divisions of the Tartar New Army, according to intelligence, the strongest is still the Praetorian Guard formed and rebuilt by the old new army, they are the killer weapon of the Tartars, not as a reserve of the whole army, they will appear with a sharp arrow to break the formation, of which the possibility of the latter is more than eighty percent." However, the position of the Janissaries should not be on the western front near the canal. ”

The proximity to the canal made it easier to defend because of the smaller area that could be used for cavalry deployment and fighting. The Qing court cavalry was superior in numbers, and since it was necessary to use the Praetorian Guard as the front arrow, it was even more necessary to use the plain area without geographical obstacles as the advance position. This truth is not only for the side with the superior number of cavalry, but also for the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming armies, and Chen Wen has also arranged combat troops in accordance with this geographical environment in the past few years.

"According to the report of the Beijing Station of the Military Intelligence Department and the analysis results of the General Staff Division, the training progress of the Gongwei Army, the Wuwei Central Army, and the Wuwei Left Army is the most reasonable, and the firearms training time is also the longest. As for the right army of Wuwei, it should not be underestimated. This army has the longest training time in the cohort, and the time of firearms training is affected by weapons and equipment, which is considered the least, only half of the other three new armies. However, since this army moved to Tianjin, it has killed many people in the countryside, and many of its soldiers have seen blood, and this proportion is obviously superior to that of the three new armies. ”

Wuwei Right Army, all the officers present knew that it was the new army once led by the rebel general Liu Cheng, from training in the capital, to moving the town of Tianjin Wei, and then to slaughtering the countryside in the name of sweeping up the anti-Qing rebel army, it was all Liu Cheng's handiwork. Although the treatment of this new army is the worst, with the existence of Liu Cheng, he is always looked down upon, even if the president of the Wuwei Right Army is no longer Liu Cheng, he cannot deny the impact caused by his people.

At the beginning, the Qing court suffered several defeats in Jiangnan, and the veterans of the Eight Banners, who had rich combat experience, suffered many losses. In recent years, the Qing court was transferred back from Huguang and from Liaodong, but it was really an infeasible task to maintain such a large number of new troops and ensure the proportion of veterans. Among the current new army, in addition to the Praetorian Guard, the other four new armies have the original coats, and there are now the Eight Banners of Goryeo, and there are many recruits who have not seen blood. For soldiers, whether they have killed people or seen blood or not cannot be ignored psychologically.

"The Right Army of Wuwei is likely to be the second strongest of the four new armies, but the Tartars may not be able to see it. The reason is simple. The Tartars looked down on Liu Cheng, and even with them they would ignore the strength of the Wuwei Right Army. Besides, it's one thing for the soldiers of the Wuwei Right Army to kill more people, but after all, they are not killed on the battlefield, and it is difficult for anyone to guarantee what it will be like when they go into battle. So this army is most likely to be in line close to the canal. ”

In combat, we must always make use of our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, which involves the basic quality of military generals, which is prediction. The current Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Ming armies are predicted to study, but it is also a more scientific method of learning, coupled with the existence of a staff department dedicated to planning, many things will be seen more clearly under one data after another.

"The other three new armies of the Tartars, the difference in combat effectiveness will not be very large. Based on the will of His Highness the Prison Governor and the gathering of information, our company has formulated the following plan: "

"Our army sits in the Chinese army with the three divisions of the Yuzhang Division, the Dalan Division, and the Yongjia Division, and the three divisions command the divisions, and the President of the Yuzhang Division, Wu Dengke, leads the command of the Chinese army; With the Jinhua Division and the Four Ming Divisions sitting on the right wing, Yin Yue, the president of the Jinhua Division, commanded the right wing; The Young Guards Division sat on the left flank, and the Young Guards Division commanded Ma Xin to command the left flank. The Danyang Division and the Elderly Guards Division served as reserves, and were personally led by His Royal Highness the Prison State. ”

Chen Wen's Northern Expedition, the older generation of division-level units all went out, among which the Fujian Central Division and the Luling Division swept the Henan battlefield, the Yuyao Division rushed to Shanhaiguan, and the Jiangdu Division sat in Shandong while encroaching on the Daimyo and Guangping Mansions in the south of Zhili. The original occupied areas were all defended by the local garrison in cooperation with seven newly built division-level units, including the Xiangyang Division, the Jiangling Division, and the Changsha Division.

In this way, Chen Wen's main force on the front line in Cangzhou reached six division-level units of the older generation and two newly formed division-level units, with a total strength of 93,000 troops.

However, the tactics of the division-level units of the older generation and the newly formed division-level units are different, and the width of the battle formation is also different; although the left wing of the Young Guards Division is only half of the soldiers and horses of the right wing, the width of the battle formation is not much different, and what is sacrificed is nothing more than depth.

Immediately, the General Staff Department formulated a plan based on Chen Wen's will and intelligence, and the generals inquired and answered them one by one. When the military discussion was over, the generals had made preparations for their respective tasks, and then returned to the camp and arranged them one level at a time for tomorrow's decisive battle.

Unlike the other divisions, the Young Guards Division sat alone on the left flank, and although it was closer to the canal and easier to defend, the pressure was no less.

Ma Xin returned to the battalion and summoned officers at the bureau level to convey the order, and the combat tasks of each battalion were detailed, and each battalion only needed to be responsible for the tasks of the headquarters. In the same way, after the communication is over, the battalion officers of each battalion also return to the station and refine the tasks to the bureau commanders of the various bureaus under their command.

In the camp of the Young Guards Division, Ding Junjie and his team did not have a night duty, and they had already rested in the tent after dinner. It's just that tomorrow is about to be a decisive battle, and everyone is either excited or worried, except for the captain Huang Chengming, who took off the word acting when he joined the army, he was already snoring loudly, all of them tossed and turned, and they couldn't say anything.

The lights out time has passed, and as usual, those who can't sleep can't speak. This is a regulation, and it is also a military law in wartime, and the strict military law of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming is famous all over the world, and they are more or less literate, and they are even clearer than those ordinary soldiers.

The war is imminent, and what I have seen and heard along the way is like a marquee in my mind. The poor people who have no clothes and no food to eat, they do not hesitate to sell their children and daughters, just to survive. When the army went north, under the control of the civilian officials of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Ming military groups who held the authority of the prefectures and counties, most of those people were given a way to live.

However, those prefectures and counties along the canal, such as Linqingzhou, which is known as "prosperous and oppressive of two capitals, rich Jiaqi County" and "the first wharf in the world", those famous canal cities with a population of millions before the Qing army entered the customs, but now they are all dilapidated, so that in Ding Junjie's opinion, they are not even as prosperous as Yongkang County, which is remote in the mountainous area of eastern Zhejiang. I can't think of a word that is associated with beauty.

In contrast, Yangzhou has been recovering for three years, and the population is gradually recovering, compared to a city like Linqingzhou, it is a blessing in misfortune. However, the damage caused by the Manchus to that city was by no means able to be restored overnight.

Destruction is always easier than construction, and they accompanied the army on the Northern Expedition to avenge those who died in vain and to fight for a better future for those who survived. And all this must be written with the blood of the Qing court.

Huang Chengming's snoring was in his ears, recalling all this in his mind, and gradually, there were more and more snoring in the tent, thinking that in the dead of night, more and more robes fell asleep. After a while, Ding Junjie also fell asleep, and there was no more tossing and turning in the tent, Huang Chengming opened his eyes, glanced at it, and then breathed a long sigh of relief, changed his position, and continued to sleep.

This night, as in the previous nights, the Qing army sent out to explore the horses to attack and harass, and the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming armies also made necessary responses to this, and neither side could achieve the goal, but they did not suffer any losses. Early the next morning, the army had breakfast at the usual hour, and then set out of camp in the morning, and headed for the battlefield where they knew each other tacitly.

The army unfolded, advancing step by step, and the horses fought and tore in the middle ground, doing their best to see the opponent's situation, and even more so to send the information back to the commander's army in the interception.

The cavalry of the Northern Expeditionary Army was not superior in number, but as the army continued to advance, the intelligence of the battle also increased. The new army was arranged, as calculated by the General Staff, with the right army of Wuwei sitting on the right flank near the canal, the Praetorian Guard guarding the left flank of the plain, and the heavy central army being handed over to the Wuwei Central Army and the Wuwei Left Army.

With this arrangement, the Qing court made it clear that it did not want to pay too many casualties, and tried to defeat the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Ming armies from the left flank, so as to accelerate the collapse of the Northern Expeditionary Army with the help of the numerical superiority of cavalry. This is the most prudent tactic, and it is also the tactic that is most in line with the current situation of the Qing court.

The banner of the Wuwei Right Army was waving in the wind on the right flank of the Qing Army, and seeing this, a sneer crossed the corner of Chen Wen's mouth. Knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent and winning all battles is not only to rely on knowledge, but also to have a scientific and reasonable analysis.

This was the purpose of Chen Wen's establishment of the General Staff Department, and today, with visible results, the layout of the Qing army can be concluded by deduction, and the true meaning of the opening chapter of "The Art of War" has been echoed in the word "calculation". Then the rest is the real battle.