On 18 August, Hong Chengchou led the former army to set off from Fuzhou, and at the same time, the sailors docked at the port of Lushun, under the leadership of Sun Chuanting, also set off, and the task of transporting the soldiers of the Jiangning battalion was not easy at all, but fortunately, the soldiers were well-trained, so it did not cause much trouble.

Of the 130,000 Jiangning battalion soldiers, 20,000 were stationed in Taiwan under the direct command of Wang Dazhi, and the remaining 110,000 soldiers were stationed in Dengzhou, Laizhou and Qingzhou, 20,000 were stationed in Fuzhou, and 30,000 sailors were stationed in Penglai.

Qu Qingze spent so much effort in Liaodong, and even instructed the warship formation, pretending to transport soldiers to Jinzhou, in order to confuse the Houjin spies in Liaodong, so that Huang Taiji believed that the main direction of attack of the Jiangning battalion and the border army was in Liaodong, and if the soldiers of the Jiangning battalion going to Fuzhou in Dengzhou were exposed, it would be very unfavorable, and the time for attacking Gaizhou was set for August 25, at least three days before that. The whereabouts of the army must not be revealed.

According to Su Tiancheng's requirements, Sun Chuanting led 30,000 soldiers to launch an attack on Lianyun Island on August 23, occupy Lianyun Island as quickly as possible, and at the end of August 25, make peace with the Jiangning Battalion Front Army and the Chinese Army attacking Gaizhou, and launch a general attack on Gaizhou.

There were very few Houjin Tatars stationed in Lianyun Island, mainly fishermen, and after the Jin Shui Division was exterminated, Huang Taiji did not have time to consider the formation of the Shui Division. The Manchurian nobles also do not pay much attention to the sailor, from this point of view, it should not be difficult for the sailor to occupy Lianyun Island.

The army marched forward, and the speed was very fast, attacking Gaizhou. It's not that simple, stationed in Gaizhou, it is the Zhenglan Banner to which the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty belong, plus a part of the Han army, the total strength should be more than 30,000, and between Gaizhou, Yaozhou and Haizhou, the communication is very close, once a certain place is attacked, the remaining two places are stationed in the sergeants. It's all about help.

It took a short time for Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting to understand Su Tiancheng's tactical arrangement of besieging the city and sending reinforcements, it turned out that attacking Gaizhou was not the main task, the 100,000 troops of this attack, of which 30,000 were responsible for surrounding Gaizhou, and the remaining 70,000 people were ambushed on the road where the Houjin Tartars must be reinforced, and the reinforcements of the Houjin Tartars were attacked. Maximizing the vitality of the Golden Tartars after extermination, this is the main idea of the war. As for taking Gaizhou. Instead, it can be put to the next step.

To form this tactical arrangement, Su Tiancheng explained in detail, Houjin Tartar had already made preparations, and they knew that the firearms of the Jiangning battalion were very powerful, and there would definitely be corresponding arrangements. In particular, in terms of holding on to the city, it belongs to the category of key strengthening, and the previous thing of blasting the city wall with artillery is basically impossible to happen, which also shows that. The casualties of attacking the city will be very large, and the situation of besieging the city and sending reinforcements is different, surrounding the city, the Houjin Tartars who came to the rescue, whether it is in terms of equipment or combat effectiveness, without the support of the city, it is impossible to be so strong, not to mention that the Jiangning battalion has a special artillery battalion, which fights in the field and occupies a great advantage.

Qu Qingze's intelligence shows that the Houjin Tartars stationed in Gaizhou, Yaozhou and Haizhou have a total strength of more than 100,000 troops, which is a huge force, thinking that in a short period of time, exterminate the more than 100,000 Houjin Tartars, that is an impossible task, besides, the Houjin Tartars occupy the city, can rely on the city, tenacious defense, Jiangning Battalion can not take these three cities, and it is impossible to carry out the next move.

From these levels, the tactics of besieging the city and sending reinforcements are the best tactics, and after the destruction of the vitality of the Houjin Tartars, there are fewer soldiers who stick to the city, and when they fight, the casualties can be much less.

The main tasks of the front army and the Chinese army are to besiege the city and send reinforcements, and the task of encircling the city of Gaizhou is mainly the responsibility of the sailors commanded by Sun Chuanting, so Hong Chengchou is more concerned about the location of the ambush of the army and attacking the city of Gaizhou, which is the next thing to consider.

The scout battalion led by Liu Tiehan is responsible for exploring the way in front and investigating all the situations at the same time, after starting from Fuzhou, the scout battalion is in the busiest situation, they must explore the route of the march, see if there is any abnormal situation along the way, or whether there are spies of the Houjin Tartars, or even the scouts of the Tartars, they are at the forefront of the army, whether the army can secretly reach the periphery of Gaizhou, it is their responsibility.

Liu Tiehan has long been accustomed to taking on the most important tasks.

After the departure, the scouts scouted very carefully, and after three days, everything was normal on the march.

The time came to August 21, the scout camp had entered the area under the jurisdiction of Gaizhou, the former army was only thirty miles away from the scout camp, at this time, Liu Tiehan was also extra careful, the more it came to such a time, the more it could not be exposed, although according to Su Tiancheng's requirements, the time came to August 22, Houjin Tartar found the soldiers of the Jiangning battalion, the problem is not too big, after all, Houjin Tartar mobilized troops, some are too late, Su Tiancheng is worried about the problem is the Houjin Tartar stationed in Liaodong, large-scale reinforcements in Haizhou and other places, if such a situation occurs, the Jiangning battalion is not so strong and can directly face more than 200,000 Houjin Tartars.

At that time, Liu Tiehan breathed a sigh of relief.

According to the usual practice, generally speaking, when the time comes, there should be no situation, the scouts are divided into two groups, one group of night action, one group of day action, the situation that can be found during the day is very rare, in the middle of summer, after the sun comes out, even ordinary people, are reluctant to go out, prefer to hide at home to enjoy the cool.

In the past few days, the scouts basically did not find any situation, in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Jiangning battalion, it is difficult to act as a spy of the Houjin Tartars, the consciousness of the common people is too high, if there is an abnormal situation, it will be reported to the government as soon as possible, and the government will also take quick action, and the actions of the Jiangning battalion army have always been kept secret, and the court is not aware of it for the time being.

Liu Tiehan judged that the Houjin Tartars stationed in Gaizhou probably also wanted to be able to hold the city, so it was difficult to see the Houjin Tartars on the periphery.

In the distance, there was the sound of hurried horses' hooves.

Liu Tiehan's face changed, after years of tempering, the scouts are very calm, even if they encounter great danger, they can deal with it calmly, but this time the sound of horses' hooves is indeed very urgent, which shows that there is a situation, and it is not an ordinary situation.

Soon, three scouts appeared in front of Liu Tiehan.

"Report to the general, five miles ahead, a military tent was found, and there was an army stationed, there is a small village under the jurisdiction of Gaizhou, called Zhangjia Village, and the subordinates have ordered the scouts to carefully investigate and report quickly."

Liu Tiehan looked at the scouts, a little incredulous, Zhangjia Village, this place, he knows the way, it is still close to two hundred miles away from Gaizhou City, so far away, how could the Houjin Tartars send troops to station, could it be said that the Houjin Tartars have any other intentions, or that they have detected the whereabouts of the Jiangning Battalion, but it is impossible to think about it, the whereabouts of the Jiangning Battalion have really been discovered, and the large-scale Houjin Tartars have come to meet them.

"Knowing the way, quickly go to investigate, within an hour, figure out all the circumstances, the sky is already bright, pay attention to secrecy, and pay more attention to whether the other party has sent scouts."

Watching the scout go away, Liu Tiehan resisted the impulse, according to his habits, such an important matter needs to be investigated by himself, but there are more than 2,000 brothers around him, and all aspects of information will be reported to him, and he will report the situation to Lord Hong Chengchou at any time.

If an abnormal situation is found, the herald will report to Hong Chengchou, the commander-in-chief of the former army, as quickly as possible, and if the situation is urgent, it also needs to be reported to the marshal Su Tiancheng, so that the army can make corresponding adjustments.

Liu Tiehan almost couldn't help it, and turned around in place, thinking many times about letting people take a look at the situation, but he thought of these brothers who followed him, all of them were brave and abnormal, and urging had no effect.

An hour is about to come, Liu Tiehan jumped on horseback, if an hour has passed, and the situation still has not been fed back, he will personally go out to investigate, and all the brothers in the scout camp must also be ready for battle.

When the sound of horses' hooves sounded again, Liu Tiehan breathed a sigh of relief, and he had long been accustomed to the familiar sound of horses' hooves.

When the scout dismounted, his expression was very serious.

"Report to the general, the subordinates have found it clear, it is the Houjin Tartars stationed in Zhangjia Village, and they have not been able to detect how many people there are, the other party also sent scouts, and the subordinates have detected that the Houjin Tartars are cooking on fire at the same time, and they are eating at two o'clock, and now they are tidying up their tents, and it seems that they are preparing to set off, and it is very likely that they are moving in the direction of our army."

Liu Tiehan had a shocked look on his face, what does this mean, why did this happen, could it be said that Houjin Tatar really noticed something and sent an army to investigate, or to fight.

Liu Tiehan sensed the urgency of the situation, and within the range of five miles, Houjin Tatar would soon be able to arrive.

"Order all the brothers, do a good job of concealment, do not be exposed, in the process of the Houjin Tartars starting to march, find out how many people there are in the Houjin Tartars, and after detecting the number of people, go directly to the former army station to report, and I will personally go to report the situation to Lord Hong." (To be continued......)