At the foot of Songyue Mountain, the 40,000 regimental mountain army and the 60,000 Qing army lined up in the east and west, and the scouts on both sides kept spying on each other's situation, and the atmosphere became more and more solemn.

The Qing army was clearly divided into two armies, the left and the right, Geng Zhongming's 40,000 Han army flags, and the right flanks were the white banners of Azig with white flags and the 20,000 Jurchen army with white flags.

The left and right armies are not far away, and they are fighting each other, no matter which side is attacked, the other side can make timely countermeasures. If you are attacking the enemy, you can attack on both sides at the same time, or you can echo one after the other, which is obviously simpler and more practical than the previous Dolgon's "Pin" formation.

The formation of the Tuanshan army also competed against each other, with Gao Yuanliang leading 25,000 men facing the Qing army's Geng Zhongming Division, while Pan Batian led the remaining 10,000 men to stare at Azig's Jurchen Eight Banners.

In the Chinese barracks of the Tuanshan Army, Zhang Li looked far away and had a full view of the situation on both sides of the battlefield. This battle was somewhat unexpected, the Qing army actually dared to come up to face the battle head-on, but in fact, it was also born after death, so that Zhang Li did not dare to have the slightest carelessness.

Standing next to Zhang Li was Kang Xing'an, his brows furrowed, but his eyes were fixed on the east side of the battlefield, that is, in the direction of Geng Zhongming, the banner of the Han army-because there, there was an opponent that the Tuanshan army had never met!

Yes, about 3,000 Western mercenaries formed a tight formation and were actively preparing for battle.

Originally, Zhang Li thought that Hong Chengchou would leave these 3,000 people at the end to use them as the winner and loser, but he didn't expect Hong Chengchou to show his hole cards early, which was really unexpected.

Out of the city to fight. Prematurely placing Western mercenaries in front of the battle is a rather unusual phenomenon. But it happened!

As the saying goes, "there must be a demon when things go wrong", Zhang Li's heart suddenly had a feeling of unease. This has never been done in any previous war.

Even if he is in the stage of creating a weak Tuanshan army, the tension has never been so uneasy.

Through the intelligence department of Tuanshan Fort and the news transmitted back by the battlefield scouts, this Western mercenary is by no means an idle person, they are all professional soldiers, and it can be said that the discipline does not necessarily lose to the "immovable battalion" of the Tuanshan Army.

Zhang Li has some understanding of Western mercenaries in this era, and they are really not an easy opponent to deal with.

However, it is the mule and the horse that always have to be pulled out and slippery, what is going on in the pocket of the gate of this army. We'll see if we'll give it a try. More than this obvious threat, Zhang Li is more worried about the enemy lurking in the shadows.

Zhang Li squinted his eyes slightly, and slowly said to Kang Xing'an beside him: "Anzi, I have an intuition, this battle is very advantageous at first glance, but in fact, it is extremely dangerous......"

Kang Xing'an looked puzzled, and he couldn't believe his ears. After pondering for a moment, Kang Xing'an couldn't help but say, "My lord, the original subordinates also had doubts about the Franco mercenary army. Probably the biggest change is them. But now that the Qing army has lined up the Furlong mercenaries in front of the battle, this is not intended to be used as a surprise soldier - in that case, what are we afraid of? ”

Zhang Zhang smiled faintly, shook his head and said, "It's not that I'm afraid." The Chinese people have always had a tradition. That is, the moon of foreign nations is rounder than that of China, and it is cowardly before fighting...... For example, a few years ago, it was rumored that the Jurchens were less than 10,000 and invincible. What a ridiculous thing to do now. ”

After a pause, Zhang Li continued, "I mean. I can't see through this battle......"

Kang Xingan pursed his lips and said in a low voice: "Adults are really becoming more and more cautious. ”

Where does Zhang Li not know the little Jiujiu in Kangxing's peace of mind. However, he didn't care, but taught him word by word with a straight face: "It's good to have faith, but don't be arrogant either." Soldiers, the major affairs of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival, must not be overlooked. This is a phrase that you should remember at all times. ”

Kang Xing'an's expression was grim, and he said solemnly: "My subordinates have been taught." ”

Zhang Li glanced at the two sides of the formation, and saw that the Qing army had no intention of starting an attack immediately, but he was not in a hurry to order an attack. At such times, the first party to make the first move will suffer.

Zhang Zhang decided to take advantage of this opportunity to communicate with Kang Xing'an more, which was also an improvement for him. Zhang Zhang pondered for a moment, and then said to Kang Xing'an: "When the strength of our Tuanshan army is weak, we can give it a go on the battlefield. But after we are stronger than our opponents, we must prevent the boat from capsizing in the gutter. There are three things that don't make sense in today's battle, and you should know two, right? ”

Kang Xingan nodded, and said loudly: "First, Hong Chengchou knew that it was difficult to win the field battle, so he actually went out of the city to fight; Second, the Francois mercenary is said to be a strange soldier of Hong Chengchou, but he used it early. ”

After a pause, Kang Xingan was a little unsure: "The third point - well, my lord, please forgive my subordinates for being stupid, I haven't thought of it yet." ”

Zhang Li bowed slightly, glanced at Kang Xing'an, and said slowly: "The third point has actually been studied by us a long time ago, but unfortunately there has been no answer." I think this third point is the key to everything, and the second one you said is just a façade. ”

Kang Xing'an was stunned for a moment, and muttered to himself: "We studied it before? ”

Zhang Zhang nodded and said, "Exactly." ”

Kang Xing'an began to ponder, what exactly does tension refer to? According to Hong Chengchou's current routine, he doesn't even use the Francois mercenaries as a surprise soldier, so there must be one of the biggest hole cards that is more reliable than the Franco mercenaries, so he dares to act like this - what is it?

Previously, the intelligence department of the Tuanshan Army also spent great efforts to spy on the movements of the Qing army, such as the deployment and movement of troops in Liaodong.

What is certain is that the Manchu Empress Dowager Bulbutai returned to Shenyang with the little emperor Shunzhi, accompanied by the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Six Banners of Manchu - all the Jurchen armies except the Zhengbai Banner and the Inlaid White Banner.

Excluding the possibility of Manchurian and Mongolian reinforcements, then what Hong Chengchou relied on must be the Han army flag.

More than 40,000 people in the Han Army Banner are now all here, could it be another Han Army Banner giant, Zu Dashou? According to the news from Yan Yingyuan, who guarded the Acropolis of Haizhou, there were tens of thousands of people under Zu Dashou's command, but - Zu Dashou's subordinates were all border troops of the Ming army, and their combat effectiveness was "five scum of war" according to Lord Zhang, and it was barely okay to defend the city.

There is no combat effectiveness at all, it is said that Zu Dashou is also actively reorganizing and training those "surrendering" Ming troops, but it is absolutely impossible to greatly improve the combat effectiveness for a while, so it will not be Zu Dashou's Han army flag.

So, what exactly is the hole card in Hong Chengchou's hand? (To be continued.) )