The Huguang Green Battalion didn't know that Li Laiheng was on his way to the battlefield, and now there were few people on Governor Hu's commendation list, but the blacklist was too long to write on a piece of paper, and now it included almost all the civilian officials, military generals and staff members who participated in the dispatch of troops.

Seeing that the morale of the army was so erosive, Hu Quancai was actually not very optimistic about the prospects of the war, but he was now riding a tiger: after more than 20,000 Ming troops entered Huguang's territory, Tongguò kept capturing Hu Quancai's city and annihilating his army to more than 50,000, and the first soldiers grew from about 6,000 at the beginning to about 20,000 now, capturing half of Hubei; The recent series of disputes has brought Hu Quancai's relationship with the Huguang gentry and the officers and soldiers to a freezing point, and now he is able to suppress his subordinates and rely on the power of the Manchu court.

Now Hu Quancai is already sitting on the crater, and a copy of "The Art of War" has been almost destroyed by Governor Hu, and he said that he could not find a way to save the morale and morale of the army in the book and annihilate the Ming army in Hubei in one go.

Hu Quancai now retreated to the next best thing, hoping to at least drive the Ming army back to his hometown, and the recent military operations have already served this purpose. Hu Quancai was afraid that the other party would catch his flaws and launch another attack, so he did not seek merit but no fault, and slowly rolled towards Zhong Xiang. The Qing army general Zuo also guessed Hu Quancai's intentions, they were also unwilling to risk the wave of battle, so they walked forward with one battalion and one camp, and most of the Qing army's troops were on the defensive every day, not giving the Ming army the slightest chance to attack.

But the other party has obviously seized a lot, but he refuses to leave honestly. Governor Hu weighed it again and again, and felt that the other party should also know very well that they could not rely on their existing strength to occupy the two lakes, and no matter how slow the efficiency of the imperial court was, sooner or later they would send reinforcements from Henan.

"Do you have to force the old man to death?" Hu Quancai was resentful, waiting for reinforcements from Henan and Ganshan to drive out the Ming army, which was completely different from relying on Huguang's own strength to recover Hubei: "Why don't you honestly leave quickly?" ”

Hu Quancai turned over Sun Tzu's Art of War again, and he felt that he was indeed in a dead place, otherwise he would not have insisted on going his own way regardless of the form.

The phrase "...... to the dead" inspired Hu Quancai: "If you die, you will fight!" ”

There was no one else in the camp, so Hu Quan pondered according to the inspiration that had just appeared: "How can we lead the whole army to death and force them to fight to the death with the thieves?" ”

……

Zhong Xiang.

"Has Hu Quancai ever been on the battlefield?" Zhong Xiangmingjun had already made contact with Li Laiheng, knowing that the friendly army was coming at full speed, and the Qing army did not have the slightest intention of retreating.

Liu Tichun, Hao Shaoqi and others all shook their heads, although Hu Quancai had been in the army for a long time, but his main job in Ganshan was to recruit rebels, and later helped Wu Sangui raise grain and grass; After arriving in Huguang, under Hong Chengchou, he once served as the governor of Yunyang, responsible for the defense of Hao Shaoqi, He Zhen and others, but his job was still to control the local generals, and every time he sat in the rear to supervise the grain and grass.

Hao Shaoqi told Deng Ming that he had never heard of Hu Quancai ever coming to the front line in person, and when Hu Quancai was guarding Yunyang, the main attention of the Ming army in Kuidong had been how to penetrate the defense of the Yiling River, and Hao Shaoqi, who was not supported by friendly troops, had been avoiding the real and attacking the false during that period, and had not attacked Yunyang, which had 20,000 Qing troops.

"Hu Quancai has never commanded a major battle of more than 10,000 people before, not to mention a field battle, that is, there is no battle to defend the city," Deng Ming glanced at the generals around him, the four generals of Kuidong were all experienced in a hundred battles, and even he himself had been killed on the battlefield many times: "At the beginning, Yunyang had 20,000 troops, which was also the largest army Hu Quancai had ever commanded, and this battle was the first major battle since he became the governor of Huguang, right?" ”

Everyone said that Deng Ming was right.

Deng Ming breathed a sigh of relief, the Hunan army was very famous in his original world, but now the Huguang Qing army was indeed a second-rate army under the Qing court, and the Huguang gentry were far less desperate than the northern scholars to the Qing court, and their ambivalence greatly affected the combat effectiveness of the Huguang Green Battalion. A second-rate army, commanded by a commander with only overall experience in the rear, was still on the verge of demoralization, and Deng Ming felt that there should be no suspense about ending the war in Huguang.

"I don't know what happened to Zheng Chenggong." Deng Ming remembered that Wen Anzhi said that Zheng Chenggong might launch an offensive around July, and this time the delay in Huguang was much longer than Deng Ming initially expected, but he could not leave before the battle, otherwise it might leave the impression that the Ming army had escaped: "We must fight quickly and resolve quickly." Deng Ming secretly made up his mind.

……

At this time on Chongming Island, seeing that Zheng Chenggong only left the surveillance troops and led the army into the Yangtze River, Liang Huafeng immediately ordered all the artillery on the ships to be removed, and mobilized the whole army to strengthen the forts and hoard materials and ammunition.

Zheng Chenggong's sailor was too much stronger than Su Song's sailor, and Liang Huafeng felt that even if he prepared a sailor, it would be useless, and going out to fight the Ming army on the river was completely an egg hitting a stone. Therefore, Liang Huafeng decided to use all his strength to strengthen the fortifications, as long as the Ming army gave him ten days, and after the fortifications were strengthened and perfected, Chongming Island would no longer be slaughtered.

While strengthening the defense, Liang Huafeng was still desperately trying to boost morale, the Qing army had not yet recovered from the initial shock, which also needed some time for the soldiers to recover, and Liang Huafeng also hoped that Zheng Chenggong would be able to suffer two defeats from the upstream Qing army, even if it was a slight setback, so that the Qing army on Chongming Island could be cheered up.

As for the nearby Ming surveillance troops, Liang Huafeng also maintained correspondence with them, first describing the action of dismantling the cannons from the naval division as a friendly act, and secondly informing the Ming troops that he was going to buy grain and grass from both sides of the strait for the defenders. After Liang Huafeng's briefing, he openly sent unarmed ships out of the island to buy vegetables and grain, and secretly collected gunpowder and weapons to further strengthen Chongming Island's defense capability.

Compared with Liang Huafeng, who made endless small moves, Ma Fengzhi, the commander of Wusong, was much more honest, and after seeing the strength of the Ming army, he felt that the Qing court's rule in the southeast was likely to come to an end, and since he agreed to Zheng Chenggong's request, he has been honestly staying in the barracks, without trying to contact the surrounding Qing army magistrates.

Ma Fengzhi's inaction, his generals and staff were so anxious that a quick-tempered staff member shouted at Ma Dashuai: "If the marshal wants to be loyal to the imperial court, then he must try to get out of this dangerous place, now Zheng Wei's main force has gone downstream, leaving only a small number of people to monitor us, we suddenly drove to Zhejiang, this point of men and horses can't stop us; If the marshal wants to do it anyway, then don't hesitate anymore, immediately send troops to join forces with the king of Yanping County, and advance directly to Nanjing by land and water, even if you will atone for your sins, you must also strive to make great contributions, so that the position of the marshal will be stable in the future. Now the marshal neither helps the Ming nor the Qing...... If Yanping is defeated, the Qing court will never spare the marshal, and if Yanping wins, the marshal will not have any status. ”

But Ma Fengzhi still refused to make a decision, he pointed out that if he sent troops at this time, he would inevitably be used by Zheng Chenggong as a striker to fight hard against the Qing army that resisted: "The king of Yanping County has already agreed and agreed that I will not move, so why should I take the initiative to send it to the door, which will damage my own soldiers and horses?" ”

Ma Fengzhi looked around at the surrounding generals and asked, "Many of you have advised me to make up my mind quickly, so which of you is willing to play as a striker?" ”

One sentence made all the subordinates speechless, and the staff member still did not give up, and asked: "Even if the marshal does not move, can he still tolerate the marshal to hold his troops after Yanping captures Nanjing?" ”

"You don't understand this, Yanping will take Nanjing directly, the Qing court will inevitably mobilize all the surrounding jīng soldiers and strong generals to resist in Nanjing, this battle must be hard, we will now go to join forces with Yanping, we have to be sent forward to fight to the death with these strong troops; Therefore, if Yanping himself goes to take Nanjing and destroys these Qing troops, the defenders in Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places will inevitably be frightened, and there will be no backbone, and the next battle will be easy to fight. Ma Fengzhi's words made the staff suddenly realize that Ma Dashuai was not without a decision, but thinking far farther than himself.

I only heard Ma Fengzhi continue: "Nanjing has fought hard, Yanping also needs to correct the soldiers and horses, it will definitely let us sweep the surroundings, at that time we can fight alone, and the territory we have beaten can also belong to us, isn't it much stronger than sending troops now?" Now that we have exhausted the people, maybe we will be annexed by Yanping, and even if we make great contributions to Nanjing, will Yanping still promise us Nanjing? ”

Seeing that Ma Dashuai said so thoroughly, everyone was suddenly excited, and they all felt that the good rì of the separatist side was close at hand, and someone immediately said: "Dashuai, if we want to send troops in the future, we must go to Zhejiang, Jiangxi is also fine, but we can't cross the river to fight Yangzhou." ”

"Wouldn't I know this?" Ma Fengzhi said with a smile, after Zheng Chenggong seized Nanjing to isolate the north and south, the Qing court would definitely go all out to the south and try to reopen the transportation and transportation, and whoever was in the north would bear the brunt of the attack at that time.

After seeing Zheng Chenggong's military appearance, Ma Fengzhi was frightened at the same time, and suddenly had some ambitions, and he said to himself more than once in the past two days: "Zheng Chenggong can organize such a large army just by gathering lessons along the coast of Fujian, if I can divide Zhejiang and manage it well when the Qing court and Zheng Chenggong are fighting hard, who dares to say that I can't become a prince, and even compete with the heroes in the world?" ”

……

When Ma Fengzhi and Liang Huafeng were each playing their own small calculations, Zheng Chenggong's vanguard had already arrived in Guazhou, and the Qing army guard here was a guerrilla Yunlong, and he was different from Ma Fengzhi and Liang Huafeng, and categorically refused Zheng Chenggong's persuasion to surrender and was ready to resist.

After learning that the thousands of Qing troops in Guazhou City refused to surrender, Zheng Chenggong laughed: "The mantis arm blocks the car, I really don't know whether I am dead or alive, but it's okay, just take them to sacrifice the flag, and also show Ma Fengzhi and Liang Huafeng the military might of their own domain." ”

After a slight pause, Zheng Chenggong ordered the Central Governor Gan Hui to say: "Lead the Iron Man Army to battle!" ”

Zhang Huangyan was still in Zheng Chenggong's army at this time, and after hearing this order, he shouted: "Wait, the Iron Man Army is the king's pro-army, why use a knife to kill chickens, if it is inconvenient for the king's subordinates, I will fight this Guazhou." ”

Zheng Chenggong Jīng selected burly and majestic Jīng soldiers to form the Iron Man Army, each soldier had a set of full-body iron armor, Zhang Huangyan also praised it after seeing it, thinking that it would play a decisive role on the battlefield. Because the whole body of iron armor designed by Zheng Chenggong is very heavy, only very strong soldiers can wear it to kill the enemy on the battlefield, although the king of Yanping has 100,000 soldiers, but the iron army is only 500 people, Zhang Huangyan feels that this kind of killer weapon should be kept secret, and then suddenly taken out at the critical moment.

"There are more than 100,000 troops in this domain, how can it be inconvenient for his subordinates?" Zheng Chenggong felt that Zhang Huangyan's words were a little too contemptuous of his military strength, he was not without other armies available, in the past, he did hide the Iron Man Army in his hands, not letting the Qing army know that he had such a trump card, but now Zheng Chenggong felt that it was time to show his strength to the Qing army around Nanjing: "Zhang Shangshu, please look, if we can't break through X Guazhou with one drum, maybe the surrounding Tartars will have a fluke heart, only let them see the heavenly power of the officers and soldiers, and know that they are absolutely unable to resist, will they honestly surrender to us." ”

Zheng Chenggong had built some siege equipment before the expedition, loaded it in a big ship and transported it together, with his order, the Ming army moved some ladders out of the ship, and the Iron Man Army was also ready at this time, some soldiers climbed the ladders, and some followed the car below.

Seeing the Ming army slowly approaching the city gate, the Guazhou guards ordered the arrows to be released one after another, and although the iron army of the Zheng army was slow, it was unscathed in the rain of arrows poured under the city of Guazhou. These ironclad soldiers are not only protected by the iron armor all over their bodies, but also have masks on their faces, and the armor-piercing arrows used by the Qing army hit Zheng Chenggong's special iron armor, and they could only make a helpless clanging sound, and they fell to the ground one after another.

The fortifications of Guazhou are also not complete, there are not as dense plum blossom piles as the cities around Kuidong, the Ming army has been pushing the ladder to the city wall after filling the trench, their ladder is almost as high as the wall of Guazhou, after putting down the front bridge, the soldiers of the Iron Man Army walked directly from the ladder to the city wall.

"Crossbow arrows, Qi shè!"

Zuo Yunlong shouted loudly, and hit the Zheng family's ironclad soldiers with the most powerful crossbow, but he saw that even if they were hit by the crossbow arrows, the Zheng family's soldiers continued to advance as if nothing happened, and the Qing soldiers opposite them were shocked.

A tower-like tall Ming army slowly walked in front of the opponent, raised their weapons and slashed at the Qing soldiers, a few Qing soldiers who were still in a daze were immediately cut to the ground, and other Qing soldiers who reacted rushed forward one after another, slashing forward, stabbing and slashing at these slow Ming troops, but like the attack of the bow and crossbow, the attack of these knives and guns was also completely ineffective, at most it could only beat the Ming army backwards.

Although the actions of the Ming soldiers were far less flexible than those of the Qing soldiers, they were invincible, even if they were hit dozens of times by the Qing army on the opposite side, it would not be a big problem, and if the Qing army was unfortunate enough to be hit, they would immediately fall to the ground.

There were more and more Ming army ironclad soldiers who climbed the city wall of Guazhou, and the Qing army that fought with them for a long time did not achieve any results, and soon began to lose confidence, and after seeing the people in the front row being killed by the Ming army, the Qing army in the back row refused to come forward to engage in a completely ineffective attack.

Seeing that the soldiers kept retreating, the Qing generals who supervised the battle were all anxious, Zuo Yunlong just saw with his own eyes that three pikemen were piercing an ironclad soldier of the Ming army together, and he put him on the wall buttress to poke with the strength of nǎi, but he couldn't penetrate the opponent's armor, and when the three spearmen ran out, the Ming army left from the wall buttress and began to move forward again.

Just now, someone wanted to attack the feet of the Ming army, but the Qing soldiers saw that the iron shoes were exposed under the trouser legs of the Ming army instead of straw shoes, and the feet of the Ming army were also well protected.

"Chop the calf!" Zuo Yunlong, who was already in despair, suddenly shouted, he ordered the soldiers of the pro-military battalion to specialize in the lower three roads of these Ming troops, the other party's movement was extremely slow, and it could be seen that the armor on their bodies was extremely heavy, as long as they could hurt their legs and feet, the defenders felt that they would probably not be able to carry such a heavy burden anymore and continue to advance.

The pro-soldiers stepped forward in response, and the Ming army in front of them raised the axe and sword in their hands, and several pro-soldiers rushed to the Ming army before the slow-moving enemy cut off their weapons, rolled on the spot and bullied in front of the Ming army, swinging their knives and slashing at their calves.

The weapons, which were mounted on the Ming army's pants, were bounced back with a crisp metal crashing sound. Under the cloth of the trousers, the soldiers of the Iron Man Army wore long iron boots, which were also designed by Zheng Chenggong after referring to the armor of the Dutch, which could defend against attacks from swords and guns.

The Iron Man Army of the Ming Army continued to advance inexorably, expelling a large number of Qing soldiers from the wall, and slowly gaining control of the tower. Zheng Chenggong looked at the great success of the secret weapon with satisfaction and ordered the follow-up echelon to follow.

The follow-up troops had already waited impatiently, and the might of the Iron Man Army had already made the Ming army behind them high-spirited and unusually high morale, and after hearing the sound of war drums, thousands of Ming troops rushed forward with shouts. At this time, the city tower was already under the control of the Iron Man Army, and there was no longer a fire threat from the Qing army.

When the Ming army opened the city gate, the defender Zuo Yunlong had already died in the hands of an ironclad warrior, and the remnants of the Qing army, who had lost their fighting spirit, fled from the other side of the city gate.

Looking at these enemies who had fled in the wilderness, Zheng Chenggong ordered not to pursue: "Let them go, let them go to tell the surrounding prefectures and counties how vulnerable the Tartars in Guazhou are." ”

In the first battle of Guazhou, Zheng Chenggong's Iron Man Army showed its might, easily breaking through the heavily guarded city gate, and did not suffer any losses.

After dismantling the barrages, wooden piles and forts deployed by the Qing army in Guazhou, most of the river defenses deployed by the Manchus in the lower reaches of Nanjing had been eliminated.