Yan Yingyuan's Marines were secretly training in Nanjing, and this killer weapon was originally used to land in the northeast and cut off the back route of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's northern retreat, but judging from the current situation, it will take a lot of time to get to this step, and the Marines have achieved great combat effectiveness under Yan Yingyuan's training, so it is better to let them try their hand in Hubei first.

What's more, the three main warships are still parked at the Zhenjiang wharf, in addition to going to sea for some training every day, they are still waiting for the opportunity to transport the marines to the northeast. Most of the large cities and towns that marched into Hubei were built along the river, and in order to attack these towns, the artillery on several warships could provide fire support, thus solving the problem of insufficient artillery firepower.

Luo Jian was worried that if he used these forces in Hubei first, would it prompt the Manchu court to retreat north as soon as possible, and if he did not leave the entire Manchu court in the pass and let them escape from the pass, would it lengthen the battle line and bring some trouble to future operations.

When Luo Jian said his thoughts, Huang Degong laughed, "Xinghua, if you don't say it, I almost forgot that there are still these big killing weapons, you are worried that it is superfluous, if the main force of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is completely destroyed, where is there any need to worry about them escaping?" When the time comes, my Lao Huang will only lead one division to chase them to the sky and the ground. ”

Yi Bangcai also nodded beside him, obviously agreeing with Huang Degong's opinion.

Seeing that the two of them agreed, Luo Jian stared at the map carefully for a long time, and was silently calculating in his heart.

Previously, it had always been considered to launch an all-out attack on the Manchus only in the two directions of Shandong and Henan, and although one army and two divisions were concentrated in the Hunan and Hubei directions, the essence was to attack and defend. Prevent the Hong Chengchou group from going north.

Silently staring at the map. Luo Jian felt that he had walked into a misunderstanding. That is, a few warships are only regarded as a navy, and they just want them to gallop on the sea, but they didn't expect that these warships can still be invincible in the Yangtze River, if these warships are dispatched as soon as possible, I am afraid that Hong Chengchou will not be able to stay in Hengyang for a long time.

Thinking of this, Luo Jian gently slapped the table and stood up, "Chief of Staff, draft orders!" Ordered the two warships 'Qi Jiguang' and 'Ran Min' to follow Minister Huang south. The 'Yue Fei' remained on duty in Zhenjiang for combat readiness. All the Marines are dispatched and march to Hubei! ”

Hearing Luo Jian's order, Huang Degong laughed and stood up, "Xinghua, with these big killing weapons, you see how I beat this old boy Hong Chengchou to cry and call his mother!" ”

Huang Degong was extremely satisfied with the dispatch of the Marine Corps, because he knew that the Marine Corps was equipped with more equipment than the Seventh Division, and he had also inspected the Marine Corps before arriving in Shandong. Knowing that the Marines are extremely combative, now there is such a strong army to follow them. How can Huang Degong be unhappy?

"Brother Hushan, I can remind you that although you have two warships and marines, you must not be careless, all combat operations must be based on safety, our defense force is too small in number, and we cannot fight the Tartars with the lives of our soldiers. Yan Yingyuan is cautious and considers the problem extremely carefully and thoughtfully, you have to listen to his opinions more. ”

Luo Jian saw that Huang Degong was extremely proud, and he was a little worried, so he said it very seriously, and even the title became formal.

"Hehe, Xinghua, you can rest assured, Lao Huang is happy in his heart, this is a little forgetful. At our age, where are you still as impulsive as a hairy boy? I just feel that I can drive the Tartars out one day earlier, and we can build the country with peace of mind one day earlier, so I feel happy. Li Heng's ability I Lao Huang knows in my heart, when the governor of the capital invited him back from Changzhou, I still felt a little puzzled in my heart, and later I learned that the governor invited a capable person, can we not listen to him? ”

Luo Jian was also very convinced by Yan Yingyuan when he heard that Huang Degong was also very happy, after Yan Yingyuan arrived in Yangzhou, he had been commanding the artillery of the Yangzhou Army, not only keeping the artillery units in order, but also cultivating many artillery officers and backbones for other troops, but Luo Jian knew that this was not the limit of Yan Yingyuan's ability, if he handed over a broader world to him, Yan Yingyuan would definitely make greater achievements.

When letting the marines go south, Luo Jian wanted Yan Yingyuan to be in charge of the entire southward war, but Yan Yingyuan was still young in the army, and veterans such as Li Benshen and Weng Zhiqi might not be convinced, and if they didn't do well, they would be self-defeating, and with Huang Degong in charge, Yan Yingyuan would give advice while commanding the marines to fight, and the effect would be much better.

Just when Luo Jian and Huang Degong were discussing some details, Yi Bang walked in with the order that had been drafted, handed the folder to Luo Jian, Luo Jian read it carefully and handed it to Huang Degong, Huang Degong looked very slowly, and it took him half a day to read the battle order, and then handed it back to Luo Jian, Luo Jian signed and stamped the seal of the Metropolitan Governor, and then handed it to Yi Bangcai, so that he could pass the order to Nanjing overnight.

This signed order will not be sent away directly, the staff officers have to translate this order into ciphertext, and Luo Jian has to sign the cipher text at the end, but the sign is a few symbols that even the staff officers can't understand, Zheng Chenggong and Yan Yingyuan each have a small code book, and only from this code book can the meaning of these symbols drawn by Luo Jian be translated.

"Lao Huang, you have to rush to Nanjing as soon as possible, explain our intentions to the supervisor in detail, and don't let him feel that our combat intentions are changing at any time." After all the orders were handled, Luo Jian said to Huang Degong again.

"Xinghua, I'm more anxious than you, I'll leave early tomorrow morning. Xinghua, you have to be careful here, although you have that treasure armor, but that thing can't prevent your face, I heard that the Qing soldiers have also sent a lot of spies to this side now, it's hard to ensure that they don't jump over the wall in a hurry, specifically for you. Huang Degong said with concern.

"Well, I'll be careful. Yesterday I heard from the chief of staff that the two cavalry brigades were well trained, do you think you can get them on board? Luo Jian remembered the matter of the two cavalry brigades, and then asked again.

"I was about to tell you about the two cavalry brigades, Leng Yundeng is okay as a brigade commander, but he doesn't have any opinions, the other brigade commander is still empty, and I haven't found a suitable candidate, and now I still send a regiment commander of the Sixth Division to lead it there temporarily, Xinghua, do you have someone here?" Huang Degong nodded and said.

"There's still a brigade commander missing?" Luo Jian groaned for a while, his heart moved, and looked at Zhao Quan, the captain of the guard standing aside, this kid has always wanted to go to the front line to kill the enemy, and he has long been impatient to be the captain of the guard, and this kid has always been by his side, and he has never pulled down his studies, and he has always understood the general trend of strategy.

"Zhao Quan, come here!" Luo Jian beckoned Zhao Quan, who was not far away, to call over.

Zhao Quan, who had been listening with his ears up, heard Luo Jian call him, and ran over in a few steps, with an excited look on his face.

"Did you hear that? Do you want to be this brigade commander? Luo Jian said with a smile.

"The Metropolitan Governor is about to go to the front line, the situation on the front line is changing rapidly, and there are no powerful people around him, Zhao Quan can't leave now!" Huang Degong saw that Luo Jian wanted Zhao Quan to be the commander of the cavalry brigade, and he was immediately anxious.

As soon as Zhao Quan heard Huang Degong's words, he immediately wilted, and he also knew that the safety of the Metropolitan Governor was extremely important now, and if it came to the security work, I am afraid that no one in the national defense force could compare with him now.

"You don't have to stay by my side all the time, and I can't delay your future, isn't the iron pillar almost taught by you? I think it's very good for him to be the captain of the guard, Zhao Quan, you can rest assured to be your brigade commander. Luo Jian said with a smile.

Tiezhu is the youngest son of Zhang Laohan outside Yangzhou City, when the people of Yangzhou eliminated Aobai, this kid personally killed two Qing cavalry, and later joined the Seventh Division, after a period of training, Wang Qiang transferred him to Luo Jian's side as a guard, Zhao Quan saw that he was clever, and has been focusing on training him as his successor. The iron pillar is also very competitive, and he does not delay his studies and training, and now he is outstanding in the escort team.

"The iron pillar is really good, I don't think it's a big problem, the guards of the Metropolitan Governor are all selected, and there will be no problems with him leading." Yi Bangcai had the most contact with Luo Jian, and he also knew Luo Jian's guards best, and the absence of one Zhao Quan would not threaten the safety of the Grand Governor.

"That's okay, Zhao Quan, there is still some time from Tai'an to Jinan, you kid has to explain to Tie Zhu clearly, if there is a problem with the safety of the Metropolitan Governor, my old Huang will have to screw off the heads of the two of you!" Huang Degong saw that Yibang said so, so he no longer insisted, but said very harshly to Zhao Quan.

"Please don't worry, Minister Huang, I'll go and explain to Tiezhu." Zhao Quan's wish was fulfilled, his heart blossomed, and he couldn't wait to salute a few people, turned around and ran out.

"Xinghua, I won't come to say hello to you tomorrow morning, anyway, you have to leave tomorrow, you should go to bed early, tomorrow will be very hard." Huang Degong saw that it was not too early, and got up to say goodbye to Luo Jian.

"Brother Hushan, then let's say goodbye here, waiting for the news of your victory!" Luo Jian stood up and said.

Huang Degong raised his hand and saluted, "Governor, we are also waiting for the news of victory from the north!" With that, he strode out.

At six o'clock the next morning, as soon as the sky was bright, Luo Jian got up on time to wash, and as soon as he finished washing, Tie Zhu rushed over to report, saying that Huang Degong and his party had set off before dawn, and Luo Jian shook his head and smiled bitterly, it seems that Huang Degong was ready when he said goodbye yesterday, thinking of Lao Huang's age, his personality is still so hot, Luo Jian really doesn't know what will happen on the battlefield.

Thinking of this, Luo Jian returned to the room and wrote another letter, this letter was written for Yan Yingyuan, that is, to explain that Yan Yingyuan must control the rhythm of the march, persuade Huang Degong more, and not let his hot temper ruin the whole battle situation.

After writing the letter, he handed it to Yibang and asked him to send someone back, so he hurriedly ate breakfast and continued to Jinan.

The weather is still cold, the early spring sun can't drive away the cold, gusts of cold wind drill into the neck, so cold that people shiver, Luo Jian tightened the coat on his body, patted the war horse under the seat, and the war horse began to trot.

Zhao Quan and Zhang Tiezhu were walking side by side in front, Zhao Quan kept talking to Zhang Tiezhu, and Tiezhu kept nodding frequently.

Seeing the two of them, Luo Jian thought of Wang Zecheng, this kid is now the commander of the cavalry brigade of the First Army, and the young people around him have grown up one by one, and Luo Jian feels quite relieved in his heart. (To be continued.) )