Dongping Prefecture, Dolgon Xingyuan.

Azig stepped inside and said loudly: "Old Fourteen, your plan has worked, the Nanming barbarians have really accelerated the speed of the march, according to the report of the Tanma, their first two musket battalions have entered the territory of Shandong, while the other baggage teams, artillery teams and follow-up men and horses are still in Huai'an Mansion." ”

"Oh?" Dorgon hurried over to the map and said cheerfully, "Two musket battalions? Well, this is the main force of the Ming army! ”

Azig also followed to the map, pointed to it and said: "Here, the two musket battalions of the Ming army have arrived in the area of Tuoligou, which is about three hundred miles away from Jining City, and according to the estimation of the marching speed of this Ming army, it will definitely be able to reach Jining within three days." ”

Dolgon muttered: "In other words, the main force of the Ming army has been pulled away by the follow-up baggage team for at least two hundred miles!" ”

Azig said: "Old Fourteen, do you want the right flank cavalry to attack now and intercept the baggage team of the Ming army?" ”

Dolgon said: "The volley is necessary, even if it cannot destroy the grain and grass of the Ming army, it is necessary to cut Wang Pu's central army in two, making it difficult for them to take care of each other." ”

"Cut in two?" Azig was stunned and said, "Old Fourteen, aren't you planning to let the Nanming barbarians enter Jining City?" ”

"Hmph." Dolgon sneered, "Who said that I was going to let the Nanming barbarians enter Jining City? The reason why I drove the Horqin cavalry to storm Jining had two purposes: first, to force the Southern Ming barbarians to speed up their march, so that the main force of their infantry would be disconnected from the follow-up baggage team, and to give the Mongol cavalry an opportunity to take advantage of, and second, if they could not destroy the Ming army's grain and grass baggage, they would be divided and surrounded, making it difficult for them to take care of each other! The second of these purposes is particularly important, and it can be said that it is directly related to the victory or defeat of this battle! ”

"Divide and surround? Well, good plan. Azig nodded again and again, "In this way, the two musket battalions of the Ming army that entered Jining have guns and myrrh, while the baggage team that followed up has medicine and no guns. ”

"Hmm." Dolgon nodded happily and said, "Brother Twelve, you immediately send your horse to Yuncheng and Juye, and order the cavalry of the Khalkha, Chahar, and Tushetu divisions to rush south, and then turn east to intercept the Ming army's baggage team, and remind them to beware of the artillery of the Ming army's baggage team, and there is also an artillery team in the follow-up Ming army's baggage team!" ”

Azig said: "What about the old fifteen?" ”

Dolgon said: "Then send fast horses to Jining to tell the old fifteen that the offensive against Jining can be suspended, first let the two musket battalions that rushed to reinforce into the city, and then surround them on all sides, and then build more than 1,000 small boats carrying grain southward into one, build a pontoon bridge to block the canal." ”

More than 1,000 small boats collected from Beitongzhou and Tianjin came in handy, first used to transport grain and grass baggage, and after the grain and grass baggage were transported to the Dongpingzhou area and landed, these small boats were immediately used to connect the pontoon bridges to cut off the canal channel.

In fact, before this expedition, Dolgon had already extorted several strategies to block the canal channel from the former Ming officials in Yanjing Prison, and the pontoon bridge was just one of them, but the real power was another! That night, Dorgon summoned his henchman Bolo to his side.

Before dawn, Bolo left Dongping Prefecture with 5,000 Jiannu iron horses.

■■■

Outside the city of Jining, the Mongolian camp.

When Dordor saw the urgent letter sent by Dorgon, he hurriedly sent for Manzhu Xili, Banktu, Sogar, and Chahan to his tent.

After the four Mongolian princes knelt on the ground to see the salute, Duoduo said gloomily: "Everyone, this king has just received news that Wang Pu, the barbarian son of the Southern Ming Dynasty, has sent two elite musket battalions to Jining in the starry night to reinforce them, and according to the speed of the march, they will be able to arrive in Jining in the evening the day after tomorrow at most!" ”

"Huh? Two musket battalions? ”

"That's 10,000 musketeers?"

Man Zhu Xili and Sogar were shocked when they heard this.

Banktu disagreed: "What's so terrible about the two musket battalions, as long as the Nanming barbarians have no strong city to rely on, they will be vulnerable in front of my powerful Mongolian cavalry!" ”

"That's right." Chahan also said loudly, "Master Yu, seeing that Jining City is about to be defeated, wouldn't it be a pity to give up like this?" Otherwise, our troops are divided into two routes, Master Yu and Prince Durhan and Prince Zhuoliketu stay to continue the siege, and the slaves and Banktu go to intercept the Southern Ming barbarians who rushed to reinforce them, how about it? ”

"No." Man Zhu Xili hurriedly said, "Master Yu must not divide his troops, I think that at the beginning of the twenty miles east of Shengjing City, Wang Pu defeated the king's two thousand iron guards with less than a thousand musketeers, and the Ming army musketeers who rushed to reinforce this time are enough to have 10,000 people, how can our Mongolian cavalry stop it?" ”

Banketu said hungrily: "Master Yu, the defeat of the twenty miles east of Shengjing City was very unjust, and the slave later carefully analyzed it, thinking that there were three reasons for the defeat of the Mongolian Iron Guards in that battle: First, the two thousand Iron Guards of Prince Darhan were lightly defeated, and they did not take the Nanming barbarians at that time in their eyes; Second, the iron guard of Prince Darhan divided his forces again, and only sent a thousand cavalry to charge from the front; After being fired by the dense fire of the Nanming barbarians, the 1,000 who charged head-on were frightened, and they turned around and ran away halfway through. ”

Chahan also said: "In fact, if they rush forward at the risk of death, at least half of the cavalry can rush into the Ming army array, and the remaining five hundred cavalry will be enough to kill Wang Pu's Southern Ming barbarians, if this is the case, there will be no Wang Pu, let alone the later Battle of Datong and the previous Battle of Liaocheng." ”

Banktu said: "So, if we really fight in a dignified manner on the battlefield, how can the cavalry of my Great Mongolia be defeated by the musket team of the Southern Ming barbarians?" ”

Man Zhu Xili said: "But the musket team of the Ming army is much more powerful than it was at that time!" ”

Banketu and Chahan had to say more, Duoduo Huoran raised his hand to stop the two, and then said in a deep voice: "The princes don't have to fight anymore, the regent has already ordered to suspend the attack on Jining City, let these two Ming army musket battalions enter the city, and then surround Jining City, build a pontoon bridge to cut off the canal channel, and cut off all connections between Jining City and the outside world!" ”

"What? Give up attacking Jining!? Chahan hurriedly said, "In the past few days, we have killed more than 20,000 Mongolian warriors, and we are about to suspend the attack when we see that Jining City is about to be defeated?" Could it be that more than 20,000 Mongol warriors died in vain, and their blood was shed in vain? ”

"Presumptuous!" Duoduo stood up and said angrily, "How can you talk to this king? ”

Chahan shivered excitedly, and begged for mercy on his knees: "The slave deserves to die, please forgive the master." ”

Duoduo said coldly: "Palm! ”

"Wow!"

Chahan responded, and quickly began to slap himself, until he slapped himself with a blue nose and swollen face, and then Duoduo snorted, waved his hand and said, "Forget it, remember your surname for a long time in the future!" ”

Only then did Chahan dare to get up and stand at the end of the tent with a disgraced face.

Duoduo's gaze swept over the three of Zhu Xili majestically, and said in a deep voice: "Okay, let's all go down and prepare separately." ”

■■■

In Luqiao Town, Tang Sheng was marching along the left bank of the canal with torches with two "musket battalions" of the Central Army.

Jiannu estimated that it would take at least three days for the two musket battalions of the Ming army to arrive at Jining, but in fact, Tang Sheng's two musket battalions rushed north for more than 200 miles in one day, and they would be able to rush outside Jining by dawn tomorrow at the latest.

A small group of Mongol rangers was tailing the two musket battalions in the distance.

From a distance, these are indeed two "musket battalions", all blue cloth cotton coats, all big caps, all thick-soled cowhide boots, and all "muskets" on their shoulders, but if you look closely, you can find that the muskets on the shoulders of the officers and men of the Central Army are all fake.

There are more than 100,000 people in the Central Army, and the arms are divided into infantry, baggage, artillery and cavalry, but no matter which branch of the army must master shooting skills, but the problem is that the Central Army does not have so many muskets, what should I do? Wang Pu sent people to make many "wooden guns", which could be used for training in peacetime and confusing the enemy in wartime.

Tang Sheng brought two musket battalions equipped with "wooden guns".

Of course, two brigades of musketeers were still necessary, at least to scare the Mongol Tartar rangers.

Having said that, although these two musket battalions were only equipped with wooden guns, they were not without the power to resist, these wooden guns were equipped with bayonets, and if they really wanted to deal with the Mongolian light cavalry, the Mongolian cavalry may not be able to bargain in close combat, but the problem was that the Mongolian cavalry did not have the courage to pick up the tiger whiskers of the central army.

■■■

Taizhuang, located at the junction of Shandong and Nanzhi provinces, is a small town on the side of the Grand Canal.

Wang Pu led the Central Army's "baggage team" camped here, at this time after the Central Army after two divisions, the strength of the army has only three "baggage battalions", an artillery battalion and Huang Degong's 3,000 Nanjing Naval Division, the total strength is less than 20,000, but Dolgon and the Mongolian Tartars do not know that the three "baggage battalions" left by Wang Pu's side are the real musket battalions, and the two musket battalions that rushed to Jining to reinforce are the baggage battalions that are fake.

After nightfall, there are constantly detailed returns, there are Tatar cavalry near Taizhuang one after another, and there are quite a few, and they are still increasing, by midnight, the Tatar cavalry that has been cleared by the fine work has increased to at least 60,000 people!

The Central Army stationed in Taizhuang was loose on the outside and tight on the inside, and on the surface everything seemed to be calm, but in fact it was already in full swing to make preparations for the war.

Wang Pu Xing account.

Zheng Chenggong inserted another small black flag on the temporary sand table, and said to Wang Pu with a solemn expression: "Master Hou, just after making a detailed report, another cavalry rushed to the west of Taizhuang, twenty miles west, and so far, the Tartar cavalry assembled in the northwest direction of Taizhuang has increased to about 70,000 horsemen!" ”

Wang Pu was lying on his back on the recliner, closing his eyes and recuperating, and did not immediately respond to Zheng Chenggong.

Liu Ruye's beautiful eyes turned to Wang Pu and said in a condensed voice: "Dolgon has gathered more than 70,000 cavalry in Taizhuang in one go, and it seems that there must be more than 100,000 Mongolian cavalry entering the pass this time!" ”

Wang Pu bowed his head slightly, but still didn't open his eyes.

Zheng Chenggong said: "The Tartar cavalry is not good at night fighting, and it is estimated that they will not attack until after dawn. ”

Wang Puhuo Ran opened his eyes, then got up from the recliner, strode to the side of the sand table and asked Liu Rus: "Have the fortifications of Taizhuang been repaired?" ”

Liu Ru is head said: "Just now the front has been reported, the fortifications have been repaired, three trenches have been dug in the west, north and south of Zhuangzi, behind the trench is a car formation composed of heavy vehicles, and to the east of Zhuangzi is the canal, General Huang Degong's sailors have been assembled on the canal, and it is impossible for the Tartar cavalry to rush over from the water." ”

Zheng Chenggong also said: "Master Hou, everything is ready, just wait for the Tartar cavalry to come and die after dawn." ”

Wang Pu frowned, looked at the sand table in front of him for a long time and was silent, due to the rush of time, the sand table was very poorly constructed, and could only vaguely outline the canal and some major cities on both sides, Wang Pu's gaze gradually moved north from Taizhuang, and finally stopped in the direction of Jining City, and a cold color suddenly flashed in his eyes.

Liu Ru seemed to notice the solemnity in Wang Pu's expression, and asked in a low voice, "Master Hou, is there any problem?" ”

Wang Pu shook his head and did not speak.

Wang Pu has an extremely keen sense of smell for danger, he has smelled the smell of danger from the air, but he never knows what the problem is?

It stands to reason that Dorgon's strategic intentions are already clear.

Dolgon just wanted to induce the Central Army to speed up the march by storming Jining, and then cause the main infantry force and the baggage team to be disconnected, and finally use the mobility of the Mongol cavalry to destroy the backward baggage team, Dolgon's strategic intentions are simple but very ruthless, once realized, the Central Army reinforced by the north and the defenders in Jining City will be short of food and completely in trouble!

Things really came to that point, unless Nanjing sent another army to help, Wang Puhe and Scarface could only wait to be trapped by Jiannu, or chased and killed by the Tartar cavalry on the way back!

Now that Wang Pu has foreseen Dorgon's strategic intentions and made corresponding arrangements, why does Wang Pu still feel unsure? Could it be that under this seemingly simple strategic intention, there is another deeper strategic intention?

So what could this deeper strategic intent be?

Could it be that Dolgon wanted to divide and surround the main force of the Central Army in Taizhuang and the advance force of the Central Army in Jining? This idea is good, but with the canal and Huang Degong's sailors, there is no possibility of realizing this strategic intention! Even if Jiannu uses iron cables to block the river, it can't be stopped for too long, and the river is filled with soil? That's even more long-lasting!

What went wrong? Wang Pu sorted out all the links and thought about all kinds of possibilities, but he was never able to find the problem.

(To be continued)