Shunzhi's imperial camp stayed in Cangzhou for many days, and the news of the fall of Shanhaiguan was still kept secret, and few people learned of such news, nothing more than those highest-level relatives and nobles.

However, it is difficult to guarantee how long such a critical situation can be kept secret. Once the news leaks out, the reinforcements of Monan Mongolia will inevitably be centrifuged, and even the military morale of those Eight Banner Army will inevitably be shaken.

This is the last thing the Qing court wants to see now, but there is nothing to do. It is like Liaodong, where Dongjiang Town has not yet declined and Lin Dan Khan has not fled far away, and the Later Jin army has won many battles, but it is difficult to stay for too long in any strategic direction, otherwise the core occupation area will be attacked. In the same way, the Houjin army at that time must not lose in any large-scale battle, because once defeated, it will be a situation from which it will never recover.

The disparity in strength was true then, and it is true today. The current Qing court has no intention of spending it at all, which is too unfavorable for them, and only a quick victory, solving the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and sending a new army back to the capital at the same time as the army goes south, can ensure safety.

After a long time, no one can guarantee that the cripple in Liu Cheng's mouth will suddenly get faster and send troops to attack the capital. If this is the case, at that time, even if the capital has not fallen for a while, the blow to the morale of the army is immeasurable. Whether it is a loss of ground or a decisive battle in a panic, the chances of the new army will be greatly reduced, and it is far better to fight to the death with the Northern Expeditionary Army as soon as possible.

Because of this, the new army marched south along the canal, and the pace of the march was not uninsignificant. was originally going to fight a decisive battle with the Northern Expeditionary Army in Shandong, but who knew that Chen Wen would also send troops north, and he thought of a piece. The Qing court did not know why Chen Wen chose to enter Zhili instead of waiting in Shandong, but since this was the case, the Qing court had no intention of wasting time further. In accordance with this principle, the harassment of the light riders is not very careful, lest it will drag out the time until the secret can no longer be kept.

During this time, the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived at the Cangzhou battlefield, and the high-level officials of the Qing court all breathed a sigh of relief, and after they found out about Chen Wen's arrangement, they all had great doubts about such a formation in addition to celebrating each other.

Arriving in Cangzhou, Shunzhi lived in the government. The war is about to start, the imperial camp has the responsibility of the commander-in-chief, and Shunzhi is not only the royal driver, but also the use of sitting in front of the army to stabilize the army's heart. At this moment, the imperial camp moved forward to a town in the south of Cangzhou City, with four new armies in front of it, and the Gong Guards and Mongol cavalry as reserves around the town. Standing on the highest point in the city, holding a telescope and looking at the south, and hearing the information sent back by the horses, this worry was even worse.

"There are no spearmen, and they dare to put them on the flanks, isn't Chen Shun afraid of the cavalry of the imperial court?"

On the high platform, Liu Cheng used flags on the sand table to lay out the formation of the two sides. Chen Wen's arrangement was decent in both the Chinese army and the right flank, but on the left flank, the Young Guards Division did not even have a single spearman, so why did he reject the horse, it seemed that it was indeed a big loophole.

"This must be a trap, Chen Revers's style of using troops is to overwhelm people, and he is trying to ensure the stability of the formation as much as possible. There is definitely something wrong with this arrangement! ”

From the fourth year of Yongli to the present, the Qing court and Chen Wen have been in conflict for nearly ten years. At the beginning, they didn't pay much attention to the Ming army in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, after all, Xiying was in the limelight at that time, but when Hong Chengchou died, and then Yue Le and Jierharang were also killed, the original contempt quickly turned into fear.

In the eyes of fear, everything looks as if there is a conspiracy. This is understandable, even Liu Cheng can't quite understand the problem here, so he has to continue to deduce on the sand table, trying to find out the key to the problem.

"This Zhejiang bandit is full of firearms, it must be the main direction of attack of Chen Reverse, according to the king's opinion, send cavalry to harass, implicate, and wait for the other departments to break the enemy. The establishment of the other troops of the Zhejiang bandits has not changed much, and it is not much stronger than the Spanish phalanx. ”

The rich ribbon didn't care, but the others would never dare to be like him. Although the New Army had realized the importance of firearms in future wars since they relied on the Gustav phalanx to defeat Wu Sangui, they never dared to think about it if they didn't even bring a single spearman like Chen Wen. During this time, they ignored what Fu Shou said, and all of them stared at the sand table in front of Liu Cheng, trying to see Chen Wen's true intentions.

However, Liu Cheng was not originally from the General Staff Department, and he had never entered the Staff Department of the Martial Arts Academy, so he was able to understand all this based on the old relationship and the side understanding in the recruit training camp. In terms of calculus, it's a weakness, but it's better than these guys who can only guess by experience. After deducing on the sand table for a while, the conclusions he got still couldn't satisfy him personally, at least he still couldn't see what Chen Wen was doing like this.

"The position of the right army of Wuwei is still two or three miles away from the canal. It's not a long distance, but it's not close, at least the massive cavalry will have to waste some hands and feet if they want to get around. ”

Shaking his head, Liu Cheng couldn't quite figure out what trap was hidden here, but it was right to send cavalry to harass him. This was the advantage of the Qing court, but without determining what Chen Wen's killer weapon would be, Liu Cheng did not dare to throw more forces into it.

With this plan, the generals can be regarded as a little at ease. The Northern Expeditionary Army was still advancing step by step, and the horses of both sides were still fighting between the two, but after such a long time, the distance of the formation was determined, and it was not far from the position of the whole attack.

"Everyone loves Qing, and return to the army to sit in the town, and the rest of the things will be assisted by their own forehead and Aobai."

Shunzhi is the commander of the army, but the command is still in the hands of Liu Cheng and Aobai, they are all generals, the former has the deepest understanding of the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the latter is a veteran general who has survived a hundred battles.

Ji Du and the others retreated, and Ao Bai saw everyone riding their horses away, so he asked Liu Cheng: "Do you think that the right army of Wuwei can withstand the offensive of the Zhejiang bandit youth guard division?" ”

The Wuwei Right Army was originally organized and trained by Liu Cheng, although the military power is now in the hands of Ji Bilong, but Liu Cheng should still have a certain understanding of this new army.

At this moment, Ao Bai asked, Shunzhi also set his eyes on it, Liu Cheng sighed, and then replied: "The Wuwei Right Army's firearm live-fire training is the latest to start, but the firearm is not as fast as the bow and arrow, and the forming speed is relatively fast, with the previous long-term queue training, it should not be much worse than other new troops." It's just that Chen Wen doesn't play cards according to common sense, he always has strange things to come up with, and it's hard for minions to imagine whether he will toss something like a grenadier that is enough to make a final decision on the battlefield. ”

Grenadiers, the Qing court did not train before quelling Wu Sangui's rebellion, but later Shunzhi used the forward battalion to form one, which was very small in scale, but it was better than nothing. This army is Shunzhi's killer weapon, and it is easy not to let others know, lest it will be detected by Chen Wen.

"What should I do with that?"

Shunzhi was concerned and chaotic, and his tone was anxious, which made Ao Bai and Liu Cheng sigh in their hearts. This Manchu emperor, who has never been in battle, is willing to drive the expedition in person, it is not easy, how to expect him to be, it is really difficult for a strong man, one of them is the commander of the imperial cavalry, and the other is the chief of staff of the imperial camp, and the burden on his body is particularly heavy.

"Your Majesty, the servants thought that the imperial court was not very clear about the hole cards of the Zhejiang bandits, and the Zhejiang bandits' understanding of the new army was only very limited. When the Zhejiang bandits launch an attack and let the Kupilon send cavalry to test one or two, they will always see some way. ”

Ao Bai said, Liu Cheng also nodded, the advantage of the Qing army is that the Gustav phalanx of the new army dominates Taixi, and the second is that the number of cavalry is more, their strength is not as good as the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and the number of core population is even smaller, so they dare not easily wear and tear, but small-scale temptation always has to be done.

"Then according to what Aiqing said."

The Qing army's plan has been decided, and the various units are also making the final rest on the established positions, and the distance between the two armies is getting closer and closer, and the attack and tearing are becoming more and more intense. When the Northern Expeditionary Army entered the advance position determined according to the distance of the Qing army's battle formation, the army also carried out the final repair work as quickly as possible.

In the formation of the army, Chen Wenyao looked at the soldiers under his command, the horses were still providing shelter for the army, and the soldiers had begun to trim their armor under the command of the officers.

According to the horse exploration report, the spearmen of the new army are all the old heavy armor of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming armies, but this kind of armor has been the equipment of the second-line troops on the side of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming armies, and the infantry of the Northern Expeditionary Army are all wearing plate armor, and their own metal is not as strong as the former, and the arc of the armor can better avoid and deflect the killing, and the protection effect of cold weapon attacks is better.

The spearman wears a full-body plate armor consisting of chest guards, crotch guards, arm guards, and leg guards, and wears iron gloves, iron boots, and a helmet and mask armor on his head, and is armed to the teeth. In contrast, due to the operational needs of the firecracker, and the spearman guard, only wearing a collar of half-body armor, the protection is much worse.

However, the firecrackers were not originally used for defense, Chen Wen equipped the Northern Expeditionary Army's firecrackers with all the flintlock firearms, the infantry firecrackers used Type A and Type B, and the firecrackers used by the firecrackers C-type firearms, the latter was even more powerful on the battlefield in Henan, and it was very caught off guard by the line Guoan, thus getting rid of the predicament at that time.

After three years of preparation, Chen Wen organized and trained a larger-scale army, and relying on the industrialization system driven by the military industry, the army's equipment has been greatly improved. Chen Wen firmly believed in the correctness of this path, and invested too much manpower, material and financial resources from the time he was poor and white, and now it is precisely to let the Manchus taste the power of the real modern army.

After the armor was finished, the soldiers took a short rest and then got up and lined up. Previously, he borrowed Qian Qianyi's wonderful pen book from the leader of the Southeast Wenzong to make a Northern Expedition text, but at this time, Chen Wen had no interest in it, so he simply rode his horse to the front of the army, pulled out the sword at his waist, and shouted:

"Nine years ago, I was alone at the foot of Dalan Mountain and said to everyone: Heaven is good, and there is a reason to cover China; The hearts of the people are obedient, although the husband has avenged everything. At this time, the last reliance of the Tartars is in front of us, and it is the time for tomorrow to reason and correct people's hearts. In this case, there is only one order, this battle does not need any prisoners, kill them all, and all the kings should use the blood of the Tartars to wash away the humiliation and hatred of the Han family for decades! ”

That sentence was told by Chen Wen when he told the story of Zhu Yuanzhang in the small courtyard of the Sun family, and in the battle formation at this moment, Wu Dengke and Yin Yue both listened to Chen Wen with their own ears, and they were all excited at that time, but at that time, in the dark era when the Manchu Qing Dynasty occupied most of the world, no one thought that they would really wait for this day, really!

Chen Wen shouted loudly, and the supervising officers of various ministries also repeated one after another. In an instant, Wan Sheng's shouts had filled the heavens and the earth, and even the soldiers could not even hear the repeated shouts of the prison officers clearly, just infected by this group of emotions.

When the war drums beat and the tiger roared, the Ming troops on both wings of the Chinese army marched together, holding the weapons in their hands and killing the Qing army battle formation in the distance.

The army launched an attack, and the divisions of the older generation still advanced in formation, but the young guards division was a team of twenty people, lined up in two rows, and walked straight towards the right army of the armed guards in the distance.

This secretly trained unit is different from other units from head to toe, and even if it is searched all over the world, there is no army that is like this Young Guards Division. When the army was advancing, Kubilong, who had received the order earlier, simply sent the cavalry of the headquarters of the Wuwei Right Army at the head of a battalion to fight out of the passage between the right flank of the Qing army and the front of the Chinese army, and went straight to this phalanx infantry without even a single spear.

The Young Guards Division did not have a spearmen, and the Qing army sent cavalry to kill, but the army did not have the slightest stagnation because of this, but only concocted the rear team to kill a battalion of fire cavalry from the passage between the left wing of the Ming army and the central army, and directly intercepted the cavalry of the right army of Wuwei.

The cavalry of the New Army moved first, but the Northern Expeditionary Army was not slow at all. Shen Jiabao, the cavalry battalion officer who led the team, rushed out of the passage with his subordinates cable-pulled, and the C-type firearm specially developed for the cavalry had already been loaded, and the mouth of the gun was facing the sky, and the cavalry was not in a hurry to speed up, unfolding like a fan, and soon formed a net facing the Qing cavalry, blocking the face of the Qing cavalry attacking the advance of the Young Guards Division.

Shen Jiabao's battalion of cavalry was not the formation of the Young Guards Division, but the Pinggang Battalion under the command of the Dalan Division of the Chinese Army.

The distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, especially the cavalry, the war horses are galloping, and the Qing army is coming at full speed, and it is even more obvious that they will soon rush into the encirclement network of the Pinggang battalion. But at this moment, the first platoon of cavalry that came slowly saw that the Qing army had entered the firing range, and the fire was flattened, aiming at the Qing army in the distance is a burst of shooting.

The flintlock was loaded with a smoothbore gun, and it was fired on a horse, and the accuracy was very pitiful, and there were very few Qing cavalry who were shot and fell off their horses, and the losses were minimal.

However, for this firecracker cavalry, shooting is never an appetizer, and there is no need for Shen Jiabao's leadership at this moment, the cavalrymen who have finished shooting consciously clamped their legs between the horse's belly, held the reins in their left hand, stuffed the firearm back into the gun bag with their right hand, pulled out the saber and accelerated suddenly, and rushed up in a daze. However, the rear cavalry, who did not shoot, still walked slowly, not like the cavalry in front.

The cavalry of the Northern Expeditionary Army had been in the limelight on the battlefield in Henan, and the new army had already taken countermeasures, and the cavalry of the new army who rushed over saw that the opponent was holding a firecracker, so they directly stuffed the bow back into the bow bag and quiver, and drew their sabers to kill.

This kind of tactics is really not accustomed to these Manchu and Mongolian cavalry, and it always seems that something is worse to go directly into hand-to-hand combat without cavalry shooting, especially when the prohibition of such habits has not been enforced for a long time.

However, the Mongols grew up on horseback, and horseback fighting is the basic skill, although the Manchurians said that they had both fishing and hunting and farming, but riding and fighting were also their strengths, not to mention that they were the cavalry of the new army, and they had been trained for many years, and they could do the order and prohibit it if they were not adaptable.

He was not caught off guard by the suddenly accelerated cavalry of the Northern Expeditionary Army as on the battlefield in Henan, but Shen Jiabao didn't care, seeing a Qing army officer rushing towards him, he slashed straight at him, and there was a burst of sparks flying when he landed.

The war horses were staggered, Shen Jiabao did not hesitate, put away the knife, and slashed at another Qing cavalry rushing towards him. This time, the Qing cavalry's reaction was a little slower, and the saber brushed the blade of the Qing cavalry, cutting off the high erected helmet of the cavalry with a single sword.

"Grandma's, I almost cut that guy's head in half."

His thoughts flashed in a flash, and Shen Jiabao did not hesitate at all, and continued to kill the Qing cavalry who rushed over.

The cavalry that came with him was only half the size of the battalion leader, and it soon disappeared into the cavalry of the Qing army. However, the cavalry of the Qing army was also rushing over, and when they were about to turn back to chase and kill, the cavalry behind that did not fire fired at them at this time, and then drew their swords and rushed over......

In the distance, two cavalry battalions belonging to the Northern Expeditionary Army and the New Army fought together, and the cavalry sent by Kupilon to attack and harass was intercepted by Shen Jiabao's department, and the Young Guards Division also continued to advance in the direction of the Wuwei Right Army, marching forward in a uniform pace.

A moment later, the fighting over there still didn't stop. However, on the two flanks of the Northern Expeditionary Army, a force of 400 men at the forefront of each division-level unit was determined to accelerate forward together, and soon dispersed and continued to advance in a skirmish.

The infantry has no battle without a battle, this is the iron law of soldiers, the Northern Expeditionary Army suddenly changed, and the new army from the presidents of each army to the imperial camp Ao Bai, Liu Cheng and others were all stunned.

However, before they could react, the infantry stood in front of the two armies, their guns level, and they fired at the new army column three hundred meters away.

"A hundred feet away, this is impossible!"