The smell of blood and gunpowder still wafted through the air, but the Qing army had retreated, leaving corpses everywhere in front of the fortifications of the trenches and breastwork.

The battle that attracted the attention of both the enemy and us finally kicked off in Zhangping, northeast of Longyan. On the one hand, there is the constantly strengthened Ming army, and on the other hand, the Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners, which are known as invincible in cavalry and shooting, and more than 10,000 Gengbu soldiers.

Although the Ming army had a numerical advantage of two to one, the Qing army was not afraid of the enemy and attacked with confidence. Once upon a time, the Eight Banners of Manchuria, Mongolia and Mongolia were all symbols of invincibility, creating countless examples of winning more with less. Two or three thousand iron cavalry were enough to change the situation on the battlefield and defeat the outnumbered Ming army.

Now, the Qing army still has such self-confidence. The Geng Fan troops who were ordered to be dispatched were also elite, and they also carried nearly 100 large and small artillery, which made the Qing army have no doubts about victory.

General Jingnan Commander Mulima and General Dingnan Deputy Commander Tuhai are all sons of nobles and originally served in the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade. This expedition is also full of ambition, eager to make contributions and live up to the glory of his ancestors. In their minds, it is still full of the glorious deeds of the invincible Eight Banners Iron Cavalry, which swept the world from a corner of Liaodong, how exciting it is.

For these two Manchurian generals, even if the Jin king Li Dingguo beheaded the prince Nikan, it was not enough to explain anything. Nikan was caused by the ambush of the enemy, and the number of the Eight Banners he brought was not very large, and it was not as majestic as this time.

The road is not fast, from Gunzhou in Shandong to Nanjing, and then to Zhejiang, there are places to support grain and grass, but along the way, the soldiers of the Eight Banners who need to be constantly stationed are also collecting large and small artillery and ammunition, and finally gathered into a powerful force in Fujian. 5,000 Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners, 10,000 Geng Domain Soldiers, plus artillery, baggage and other soldiers, are also nearly 20,000 horses.

After this time, the troops went south. The number of the Eight Banners stationed in Nanjing, Hangzhou, and other places has been greatly reduced, and they no longer have the ability to attack and fight. If it weren't for the strong momentum of the joint attack of the Zheng family and the Ming army's naval division, Geng Fan would have left enough troops to defend Fuzhou, and the Qing army's southward attack would have been stronger.

The first battle was decided, and the situation was reversed in the first war, from the Qing court to the Qing generals who led the army. They all came with this belief. If it fails, the troops of the Eight Banners stationed in various places are weak, and the green battalion soldiers are unbearable, so it will be difficult to resist the Ming army's victory.

The momentum is violent, but it is also a hard fight. In the land south of the Yangtze River, there are not many soldiers of the Eight Banners stationed in the country, and they are scattered, mainly playing the role of supervision and deterrence. Historically, every emerging dynasty has had a process of military prosperity to decline. The Qing Dynasty was no exception. Moreover, the Qing rulers regarded the process of the succession of the army that fought for and consolidated the world from prosperity to decline came particularly quickly.

Perhaps few people noticed that the invincible scene of the Manchurian Eight Banners that swept the world never appeared again like a flash in the pan after four years of Shunzhi. The capture of Jiangnan and the unification of the whole country were only the success of the Qing court's strategy of using Han to control Han, and the reason why the Southern Ming Dynasty was too uncompetitive.

Zhu Yongxing is probably the most sober one in his understanding of this, but he also knows that the impression of the fierce Eight Banners and the invincibility of mounted archery is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It had to be broken by a hearty victory. Therefore, he attaches great importance to this battle. Victory on the battlefield is of course important, but it is even more important for the Ming army to have a psychological advantage from then on.

The battle of Hengyang, the king of Jin, Li Dingguo, in a sense, did break the myth of the invincibility of the Eight Banners. But so much time has passed, and the decline after Nanming. As well as the loss of the generals who participated in that campaign, the impact has so far weakened a lot. Although after leaving Burma and entering Yunnan, under the leadership of Zhu Yongxing, the Ming army made many achievements. But there are not many generals against the Eight Banners, and small victories also contain water, and there is no sensational effect.

Especially after the large-scale refitting of the Ming army, this battle was also a test, testing whether muskets and bayonets could withstand the cavalry impact of the Eight Banners in the field. Of course, the Ming army's various artillery pieces also surpassed the Qing army a lot in terms of number and power. It can be said that the Qing army is the elite to the fullest, and the Ming army is also the main force to meet the battle, and the personnel, materials, equipment and other aspects are also quite well prepared.

As for tactics, Ma Bao and others finally chose a more prudent method after repeated discussions and studies. That is, not to rush to conduct a large-scale field battle, but to first use defense to frustrate the enemy's sharp spirit, consume his vital strength, and then wait for an opportunity to use the field battle to achieve the ultimate victory after the enemy has suffered certain losses.

In the field, the Ming army was still cautious about dealing with the cavalry with the strongest impact force, but when it came to positional defense, it was full of confidence. In the Battle of Tengchong, the Battle of Yuanjiang, and the Battle of Guangxi, the Ming army can be said to have moved from positional defense to victory step by step. Breastwork, trenches, muskets, bayonets, artillery, grenades, from the construction of fortifications to the armament of weapons, the Ming army can be said to be experienced and complete.

In fact, the goal of Ma Bao and others was achieved, and in the two-day battle, the Qing army attacked in turn, and the artillery bombarded it, but it was still unable to break through the defensive position of the Ming army. Relying on the advantage of positional defense, the Ming army killed and wounded more than 3,000 Qing troops, while its own losses were only seven or eight hundred.

Consuming its vitality and frustrating its arrogance, the goal of the Ming army was achieved. At the same time, it also gave the Manmeng Eight Banners an illusion, that is, the Ming army was afraid of field battles, so they had to defend passively. The emergence of such an illusion was very beneficial to the Ming army's subsequent victory in the field.

Field warfare is not a brute war, and the ultimate goal is to win, so it is natural to pay attention to tactical tactics. If the enemy is aggressive, it will be defeated first; If the enemy has a large number of troops, they will be consumed. Choose a favorable time, a favorable battlefield, and favorable conditions, and then conduct a field battle to defeat it. This is the strategy and tactics suggested by Zhu Yongxing, and Ma Bao and others have faithfully implemented it, and the specific details will test the planning and command level of Ma Bao and others on the front line.

In the face of the strong defense of the Ming army, the Qing generals felt that the test was over, and finally had to change their tactics to break the deadlock.

"The division of troops is roundabout, the cavalry makes a detour, the enemy's defense is self-defeating, and the army is in great confusion, and it will be crushed when it is attacked." Jingnan General Mu Lima was not extremely angry about the failure of the attack in the past two days, anyway, the dead and wounded were all Geng Fan's generals, to put it bluntly, they were all Han troops, and the Eight Banners of Manmeng were unscathed, at this time he was aggressive and confidently put forward his own strategy.

"The enemy's defense is indeed very tight, and the firepower is also very strong, so it is obvious that the main force is here." General Pingnan Tuhai and Mu Lima have long had a tacit understanding, and said in response: "Avoid the real and attack the false, the strategy of the Lord of the Metropolitan is in line with the art of war." ”

…………… (To be continued......)