The Dongjiang River is one of the two major tributaries of the Pearl River, and Guangdong has a lot of rainfall, so the water surface of the Dongjiang River is wide and cannot be crossed. However, for the Ming army, which had already defeated the Guangdong Navy Division and taken Humen, there was no difficulty in crossing the Dongjiang River. Because the Ming army not only captured hundreds of ships of the Qing army in Humen, but also the concentration of the family members of the Qing army's Guangdong sailor commander. None of these sailors' families withdrew to Guangzhou, and most of them fell into the hands of the Ming army. With these "hostages", the captives of the Qing army's sailors who were trapped on Lantau Island could naturally be hired with confidence. As a result, the sailors of the Nanyang Trading Company doubled in a short period of time, and most of the ships in Humen were equipped with sailors.

When the Ming army had just begun to confront the Qing army on the Dongjiang River, it mobilized two Canton ships built by Hong Kong shipyards to sail into the Dongjiang River and suppress the Qing army on the other side of the river with the 12-pounder guns on board. Later, six 32-pounder cannons from Lantau Island were transported to the south bank of the East River to control the river. The remnants of the Manchu Qing Cantonese naval division Zuihou Liliang retreated to the vicinity of Guangzhou City to prevent the Ming army from attacking Guangzhou by water, so the surface of the Dongjiang River was completely under the control of the Ming army.

Therefore, the river crossing operation commanded by Han Si did not consider the suddenness at all, but was carried out under the nose of the Qing army. About 5,000 officers and men of the First Brigade of the First Army of the Ming Army, carrying six 12-pounder guns, six 9-pounder cannons and a large amount of baggage, crossed the Dongjiang River in three groups under the cover of two large and small ships and six 32-pounder guns. The place where the river was crossed was about 10 miles east of the Qing army camp.

"Lord Wang, the traitor has crossed the river!"

Fu Fang, a first-class guard who followed Monk Greenqin south, walked into the Chinese army's big account in a hurry, with gauze wrapped around his head. He was wounded in the Battle of Baiyun Mountain. He wears cotton armor. Apparently just came down from the front.

"Oh? How many people are there? Did Zhu Wei himself cross the river together? ”

Monk Lingqin raised his head and asked in a low voice.

He was discussing the battle situation with Ulantai, Xianglin, and a few green battalion commanders around the map. The Guangzhou side has just reported that the bandits entrenched on Baiyun Mountain divided their troops and descended the mountain last night, and about 3,000 people broke through the obstruction of the Qing army's patrol troops and hurried north, and their whereabouts are still unknown.

"There were about 5,000 bandits crossing the river, pulling 12 9-pounder or 12-pounder cannons, and the ranks were extremely neat, and they seemed to be elite troops. After crossing the river, the construction of the camp began. It seems that there are still people building pontoon bridges in Jiangnan. Zhu Wei's banner did not appear, and it should still be in Jiangnan. ”

"Lord Wang, it seems that Zhu Wei has made a big move." Xianglin frowned and said, "The Dongjiang side and the thieves on Baiyun Mountain acted almost at the same time, it seems that there is still contact between them. It must be that Guangdong Tiandi will be playing ghosts, these bandits have always been a huge local disaster in Guangdong, and there will be people who will raise troops to respond to Zhu Wei. ”

"Ignore it!" Monk Greenqin waved his hand, "The key to the battle of Guangdong is here, in the Dongjiang River!" Ignore the rest. ”

Monk Greenqin had a confident expression on his face, and said to the left and right: "Zhu sent 5,000 people across the river to explore my reality. If I don't dare to fight, he can set up a village in Jiangbei. Then he used a pontoon bridge to communicate the north and south, thinking that in this way he could force our army to leave the hard village and fight with him in the field. But I won't let him get his wish! He looked at Xianglin, "Xiangjunmen, you quickly go and gather 20,000 green battalion soldiers to dig a trench 5 miles in front of the bandit formation!" ”

"Obedience!"

Monk Greenqin said to Fu Fang again: "Chunhong, go out with me and see how our sons of the Eight Banners clean up their weak Han family." ”

Of course, the weak brigade of the Han family is not the Ming army, with the lessons of the battle of Baiyun Mountain, Seng Lingqin will not be stupid enough to use the precious Eight Banners soldiers in his hands to fight hard with the Ming army. It seems that these eight banners should still be used for deterrence, and only when there is really no way to do it, will they go into battle shirtless and fight the enemy!

Well, of course, the soldiers of the Eight Banners are not afraid of working hard, in the first Opium War and the second Opium War in history, there was no shortage of children of the Eight Banners who worked hard with imperialism, but the effect of their desperate efforts was very bad, and it was worse than the militia in Sanyuanli......

At noon that day, 20,000 Green Battalion soldiers, driven by less than 8,000 Eight Banner soldiers, launched a formation on the north bank of the Dongjiang River. An infantry regiment commanded by Han Si built fortifications with its back to the Dongjiang River. Although the army of this era did not pay much attention to the field of fortifications, it does not mean that there are no fortification tactics at all. However, in a hurry, it was impossible to build a strong line of defense, which was a breastwork made of sandbags, and in front of which some wooden horses were placed. Six 12-pounder cannons and six 9-pounder guns were also housed in artillery fortifications, also made of sandbags.

Faced with the Ming army, which was waiting five miles away, Seng Lingqin did not immediately launch an offensive. Although he tried his best to show confidence in victory in front of the generals, he was still cautious in his specific commands. Always implement the tactics of step-by-step and steady progress. Therefore, after the confrontation with the Jishi army, he also immediately ordered a part of the troops to line up to confront the Ming army, and the other dug a trench and set up a jiashi that was ready to be defended.

At this time, on the back deck of a Guangzhou ship above the surface of the Dongjiang River, Zhu Jishi was leading Zuo Zongtang, Qiu Fatzi, Haiming, Su Yuniang, Luo Junqi and others to observe the battlefield from afar. Around this canton ship, there are also several clippers around, which are used to convey Zhu Jishi's orders.

Among the senior generals of the Ming army present, Su Yuniang fought with the Qing army the most times, and she also knew the Qing army the most. There was a hint of solemnity in her expression, and she raised her hand and pointed to the position of the Qing army and said: "King Ming, the green battalion of the Qing army that is arrayed is the elite, and it is either the military standard of Monk Lingqin or the supervision standard of Xianglin, and the ordinary green camp town mark cannot put on such a strict formation." ”

Zhu Jishi asked, "Will the Qing army take the initiative to attack?" ”

Su Yuniang said with Zuo Zongtang on the side: "No." ”

Zhu Jishi touched his neatly trimmed beard, Monk Greenqin dispatched nearly 30,000 people, including more than 1,000 cavalrymen, and no less than 60 cannons, if a brigade of Han Si took the initiative to attack, I am afraid there is no way to win.

"King Ming......" Su Yuniang suggested, "Although the Qing army is a weak brigade, it is still capable of fighting when it is defending the village, and now Seng Lingqin has a strong defense, and the troops are superior, if you want to attack strongly, you need to increase your troops." It is better for me and the military flag to take two brigades and the Jinyi cavalry and the army artillery regiment to cross the river and join the Han Po army. ”

Luo Junqi frowned and said: "There are more than 10,000 people in the two brigades plus artillery and cavalry, and now the pontoon bridge has not been repaired. ”

"He's not indifferent, isn't it?" Zhu Jishi said leisurely, "If he is not indifferent, he will send troops to attack the first brigade of Han Po's army, so that he will run into a bloody battle!" Yu Niang, military flag, you go and transfer troops to prepare to cross the river! ”

At the same time, Seng Lingqin was also arranging defense matters to Xianglin and Ulantai.

"It's better to dig deep trenches and harden the village, how did the rebels on Baiyun Mountain fight, let's draw a scoop according to the gourd. Put the spearmen and spearmen of the green battalion into the trench, and set up wooden fences and large shields behind the trenches, and the sword and spearmen are placed behind them, and the cavalry is pressed against the ...... at the head of the zuihou."

Monk Greenqin is obviously still ready to play on the defensive, which is also in line with the actual situation of his Eight Banners and Green Battalion. The thousands of rabble on Baiyun Mountain who have not undergone strict training can't be attacked, and if they take the initiative to attack the elite of the Ming army who are several times more numerous, wouldn't they be sending them to death?

"Lord Wang, there is a brigade of traitors coming over again! It seems that there are 10,000 people! It seems that there are still cavalry! "A Goshha galloped over on a fast horse, and immediately reported the latest military situation in a loud voice.

"Ten thousand more?" Xianglin looked at Monk Lingqin with a pale face, "Do you want the brothers to defeat the rebels' stronghold on the north bank of the Dongjiang River first?" ”

"Impressed?" Monk Greenqin glared at Xianglin, "It's still defense!" Then 1,000 Eight Banners and 3,000 Green Battalions were transferred from the big battalion...... No, move the whole army over, or defend it stubbornly, and let the traitors attack! (To be continued......)