Huang Degong stood on the main deck of the "Yue Fei" battleship facing the river breeze, looked at the wide river, and then looked back at the dozen or so warships and transport ships following the "Yue Fei," and was very complacent.

In front is Jiujiang City, Jiujiang City is a city that Lao Huang is familiar with, when he was here he and Zuo Liangyu's team did not know how many bloody battles, although he repelled the left soldiers and kept the ****** of Nanming, but Lao Huang always felt that these battles were passive defenses, how could he take the initiative to attack like today?

"Zheng family boy, come here!" Huang Degong turned his head and shouted.

Behind the deck, Zheng Chenggong was sitting on a chair reading a book, Zheng Chenggong was so fascinated by it, he didn't hear Huang Degong's shout.

"I said Zheng family boy, are you a demon?" Huang Degong's voice was a little higher, and Zheng Chenggong raised his head and found that Huang Degong was calling him.

Zheng Chenggong closed the book in his hand, got up and walked in front of Huang Degong.

"I said, what book are you reading? Watch so fascinating? Take it for me to see. Huang Degong took the book from Zheng Chenggong's hand.

"The Theory of Sea Power? This book was given to you by the Metropolitan Governor, right? Huang Degong opened the book and looked at it, although Lao Huang is not struggling to read now, but this kind of translated book, Lao Huang looked really awkward, looked at it twice and closed the book.

"Minister Huang, this is what I asked for from the Metropolitan Governor, I heard the Metropolitan Governor talk about the theory of sea power, so I want to find it." Zheng Chenggong is very honest in front of Huang Degong.

"What Minister Huang? Calling me Lao Huang, uncle, isn't it wronged you kid, right? You Lao Tzu is also a small character in front of my Lao Huang. Huang Degong was very dissatisfied with Zheng Chenggong calling him a minister, and now Huang Degong has a habit of calling his official name if he feels that people close to him call him by his official name. Lao Huang will feel uncomfortable.

"Oh. Uncle. Success was wrong. Zheng Chenggong answered honestly.

"Haha, that's right!" Huang Degong laughed.

"Is there anything wrong with my uncle's search for success?" Zheng Chenggong was in a hurry to go back to read, and asked Huang Degong.

"You kid, can't I talk to you if you're fine? By the way, what is Liheng doing? Huang Degong thought of Yan Yingyuan, since boarding the ship, Yan Yingyuan has spent most of his time in the war room on the ship, and the weather is so good at this time. The sun is so comfortable on his body, he doesn't come out to bask in the sun?

"Yes, uncle, I saw him thinking about the map in the war room when I came out just now. Brother Liheng is really amazing, and now the entire terrain of Hubei is all in his head. Zheng Chenggong said with a sigh.

"Well, Xinghua arranged for Liheng to come over but helped me Lao Huang a lot, I used to be a little incomprehensible to Xinghua so much about Liheng, but now it seems that Xinghua is really accurate in seeing people!"

Huang Degong also praised Yan Yingyuan, after setting off from Nanjing, Yan Yingyuan arranged everything in an orderly manner, which could make Huang Degong worry-free. What's more, after watching the Marine Corps, Huang Degong admired Yan Yingyuan even more. In his opinion, the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps was only above the seventh division.

Yan Yingyuan was originally a fine person, and under his leadership, the Marine Corps had a force of 8,000 people like a sophisticated machine, running in an orderly manner at any time.

The fleet had been in Anqing for a few days, and the 2nd and 5th Divisions had already set out from Anqing to march overland to Hubei, and the marines of Huang Degong and Yan Yingyuan had been waiting for their progress.

Yesterday, the Second Division had already sent people to report that they had passed Susong County and were about to march to Huangmei County, so Huang Degong led the fleet to Jiujiang and prepared to launch an attack on Jiujiang City by land and water at the same time.

However, as soon as the second division left Susong County and entered the territory of Huangmei, Hubei, it encountered fierce resistance from the Qing army, and more than 20,000 Qing soldiers rushed to Huangmei County from Hankou to stop the second division.

The Fifth Division was a little slower, and they had marched along the south bank of the Yangtze River and had now reached Dongzhi County.

Huang Degong was not too worried about the battle between the two divisions, in his opinion, although the Qing soldiers were numerous, the two divisions were enough to deal with it. It's just that without the cooperation of the second division on land, whether he can capture Jiujiang City, Huang Degong doesn't have much confidence in his heart.

In the past few years, the divisions stationed in Anqing have tried to take Jiujiang City, but they have failed to capture it several times, and in the end they have to retreat to Anqing, Huang Degong knows that this means that Jiujiang City's defense is very tight.

After several years of operation, Lu Guangzu has built the Jiujiang city defense extremely firmly, and more than half of the more than 20,000 Han troops in the city have now been replaced with mini guns, which are the reasons for the lack of confidence in Huang.

The fleet had just passed Pengze, and there was no Qing army's naval army to intercept it on the way, and behemoths such as "Yue Fei" and "Ran Min" appeared in the Yangtze River, and no Qing warship dared to come to die.

Huang Degong's leisurely mood was a little anxious, and the conversation with Zheng Chenggong shifted from North America to the upcoming battle.

"Da Mu, do you think we can capture Jiujiang City without the cooperation of the second division?" Huang Degong looked at Zheng Chenggong with some expectation.

"Uncle, you are asking the wrong person, if you want to talk about sea battles, if I Zheng Sen can't say why, you can smoke me, but this land battle, I can't say for sure." Zheng Chenggong did not shy away from saying that he was not familiar with land warfare, and said directly to Huang Degong, who was a little disappointed when he heard it.

"Uncle, the person you want to ask is here." Just as Huang Degong turned his eyes to the direction of Jiujiang, Zheng Chenggong pointed to the hatch and said to Huang Degong.

"Minister Huang, Damu, you're all here. I have drawn up a battle plan, I want to ask the two of you to take a look, time is pressing, without the cooperation of the second division from the land, we will also capture Jiujiang City. It was Yan Yingyuan who had just come out of the war room who spoke.

"Oh, Liheng, have you thought it all through?" Huang Degong asked with some excitement.

"It's not a perfect certainty, but seventy or eighty percent is there, as long as we are fast enough and the fleet is in place, it shouldn't be a problem to take Jiujiang." Yan Yingyuan handed Huang Degong the battle plan he had just drawn up in his hand.

"How can there be 100% certainty in a war, and seven or eight achievements are enough. I don't look at the plan anymore, Liheng, you can tell me about it. Huang Degong was impatient to look at the specific battle plan, pulled a chair over his hand, and beckoned Yan Yingyuan to sit down.

When Yan Yingyuan said the battle plan, Huang Degong's eyes looking at Yan Yingyuan were a little wrong, and even the bold Zheng Chenggong felt a little incredible.

Just when Huang Degong was struggling with whether he could conquer Jiujiang, Yan Yingyuan's eyes at this time had already looked at Hankou and Yueyang, Hunan.

"This... I said, Liheng, your plan is good, but why do I feel a little too bold? Huang Degong asked with some hesitation.

Yan Yingyuan's battle plan did not include the battle process of attacking Jiujiang City at all, his plan was to march directly to Hankou with the marines as the main force under the cover of the fleet, and after taking Hankou, he would go up the river and directly attack Yueyang, Hunan.

"Minister Huang, what is the purpose of our dispatch to Lianghu this time?" Yan Yingyuan did not directly answer Huang Degong's question.

"Of course, it's to deal with this old boy Hong Chengchou, if it weren't for this old boy being a character and running the two lakes well, and the Qing soldiers of the two lakes were also made decent, my Lao Huang wouldn't have invited you out of the mountain." Huang Degong was a little strange Yan Yingyuan's question, isn't this on the table?

"Of course, there is also to reduce the pressure on this kid Li Chengdong, the better our side plays, the lighter the pressure will be." Huang Degong didn't wait for Yan Yingyuan to speak, and continued to add.

Although Huang Degong has long since stopped taking the festival with Li Chengdong to heart, he is always a little unhappy when he mentions Li Chengdong. But Huang Degong had to admit that among the generals who joined the Yangzhou Army that year, Li Chengdong's growth was the greatest.

Since the First Army withdrew from Guangxi, Li Chengdong led the Second Army with more than 50,000 men and horses to hold Liangguang, although Hong Chengchou also launched many offensive operations against Liangguang, but he has not been able to advance an inch.

However, not long ago, Li Chengdong sent someone to send an urgent letter to Nanjing, which made everyone feel a little surprised, Li Chengdong has always been tough, and if the situation was not tense to a certain extent, he would not have complained to Nanjing.

After all, the Second Army only had more than 50,000 horses, and it was not much stronger than Hong Chengchou's troops in terms of weapons and equipment, but now it was too late to transfer troops from other places, so Shi Kefa had to order the garrison division stationed in Guangzhou to rush to the aid of the Second Army.

It's just that the Guangzhou garrison division still uses cold weapons, which really can't help the Second Army much, so Shi Kefa transferred Li Chengdong's urgent letter to Huang Degong, hoping that they can strengthen the offensive in Hubei and strive to mobilize Hong Chengchou's troops, which will also reduce Li Chengdong's pressure.

"That's right, Minister Huang and Damu, our goal of sending troops to Lianghu this time has been clear, so is there an inevitable connection between the capture of Jiujiang and this goal? I don't think necessarily, Jiujiang is too far away from Hunan after all, if we attack Jiujiang City, if Hong Chengchou thinks that it is too late to rescue Jiujiang anyway, he simply doesn't care, and if he fights more fiercely in Hunan, we can't achieve the goal of relieving the siege of the second army. Yan Yingyuan calmly analyzed.

Listening to Yan Yingyuan's words, Huang Degong and Zheng Chenggong both fell into deep thought.

"I know you're worried about our Marines going deep alone, but don't forget that our Marines were originally formed to fight behind enemy lines. Besides, this time we are not counting the operation behind enemy lines, in my opinion, this is much less difficult than fighting deep into the northeast, and now after all, there is still a fleet along the river to provide artillery cover and logistical support. Yan Yingyuan saw that Huang Degong did not agree, and continued to persuade.

"What about the second and fifth divisions? They can't keep up with us. Huang Degong thought about it for a long time before he said.

"The two divisions continue to march at their pace, but their equipment is not suitable for attacking fortifications, I don't think they necessarily have to capture the well-defended cities of the Qing army, as long as we defeat Hong Chengchou's main force, these cities can go down without a fight." Yan Yingyuan obviously also took this issue into account in the battle plan.

"Liheng, don't worry, let me think again." Although Huang Degong looks extremely bold, he is never sloppy in fighting, and always wants to take every detail into account. (To be continued.) )