First weak and then strong, each one is broken. This is not necessarily a consistent principle, but for the General Staff in the rear it is the easiest to think of and considered the most certain victory.

Although the headquarters of the Northeast Military Region, headed by Pi Xiong and Hu Guozhu, hoped that reinforcements could land at Yingkou or closer, and insert a knife in the flank and rear of the Qing army in Gaizhou. However, the reinforcement troops who faithfully carried out the order still chose a breakthrough point near Jinzhou Bay - the Daling River.

Although this breakthrough point cannot reach the city of Jinzhou like Xiaoling River, because of the distance, the reinforcements of the Qing army in Jinzhou will not arrive soon. From the Daling River, you can reach the Daling River City (now Linghai City) and cut off the eastward retreat of the Qing army in Jinzhou.

Historically, as the eastern barrier of Jinzhou, Dalinghe City is bordered by Liaodong Bay in the south and Songling Mountain in the north, and is located in the throat area of the Western Liaoning Corridor, and the Ming and Qing armies have carried out many fierce battles around this place. In particular, the battle of Dalinghe in the fourth year of Chongzhen, the two armies of the Ming and Qing dynasties were earth-shattering, and the final result was that the Ming army failed to reinforce several times, and the defender of Dalinghe City, Zu Dashou, surrendered, and the Ming army was basically destroyed by the most effective army outside the pass, the so-called "Guanning Iron Cavalry".

Therefore, although the sharpness of the Ming army did not directly aim at Jinzhou, the subsequent effect was more ruthless, and it was obvious that there was an intention to encircle and annihilate the Qing army in Jinzhou.

The sails on the sea are like forests, the artillery fire on the shore is in the sky, and the sound of fighting resounded throughout the land. The attack of the Ming army was fierce and sudden, and the more than 3,000 Qing troops stationed in the Qing army also tried their best, but they could not prevent more and more Ming soldiers and weapons and equipment from landing on land and joining the battle group.

This time, the Ming army dispatched more than 6,000 marines from the fleet and the Tianjin Naval Division, as well as some naval divisions of the Northeast Military Region. The troops that directly reinforced the Dangshuo army were a division from Shanhaiguan. And Shanhaiguan was only a few hundred people left to defend, and there was no longer a threat there.

The garrison Qing army was only more than 3,000, and it was guarding the east and west banks of the Daling River. The Ming troops that landed one after another first quickly entered the battle with small flags as units. Efforts were made to push the Qing army to the periphery and expand the landing grounds. As the troops became more and more abundant, the general flag formed a formation and pressed towards the Qing army with a more fierce attitude.

The sound of muskets was like bursting beans, and large clouds of white smoke rose and drifted through the air; The Sky Cannon and the Fur Machine also joined the battle group, and the flames of the explosion flashed one by one, lifting up black dirt and blood-dripping stumps.

The east bank was the main direction of attack of the Ming army. With the pontoon bridges blown up one after another, the obstruction of the Daling River made it more difficult for the Qing troops on both sides of the river to cooperate, and the collapse of the Qing army on the east bank was imminent.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to clear it halfway, damn Tartar." Yang Yandi looked at the boats in front of him that were clearing the obstacles in the river and slowly advancing, and scolded hatefully, the success of the landing could not ease his anxious mood.

Shipwrecks, wooden stakes, old tricks, but hindered the further progress of the ship. Cover and fire support fell second. What is more important is the transportation of supplies.

Chief soldier Zhao Desheng looked at the battle situation on the shore, and was thinking repeatedly in his heart. If the ship can't keep up. It's just that the army is lightly armed, and there is still a lot of hope for the capture of Dalinghe City. But it also took a risk, as he had to determine how long it would take for the sailors to clear the wrecker and arrive with supplies and heavy equipment.

"One day is not enough." Zhao Desheng put down the binoculars and asked with an extremely serious expression.

Yang Yandi was stunned for a moment, and somewhat understood Zhao Desheng's thoughts. I thought about it for a moment. He nodded vigorously, "I guess it's just that the first few miles need to be cleared, so I don't believe that the Tartars have planted wooden stakes in the entire river?" ”

"That's impossible." Zhao Desheng's heart was a little wider, a smile appeared on his face, and he said, "I want to lead the army to travel lightly." Rush to capture Dalinghe City before the Qing army in Jinzhou came to help. General Yang also knew that the ammunition carried by the light was limited, and if the battle was fierce, I was afraid that it would not last long. ”

"I see." Yang Yandi stomped his feet and said: "Don't worry, at most one day and one night, even if the water transportation is not passable, I and the sailor will carry the burden on our shoulders, and we will not shorten the supply of materials." ”

"Thank you so much." Zhao Desheng solemnly saluted and said, "I will go ashore to command, and the supply of materials will be entrusted to General Yang and the sailor brothers." ”

"I'll send more men and more ships." Yang Yandi returned the gift and sent Zhao Desheng to board the boat.

……………

The speed of sea route is not only the convenience of transportation, but also the rapid transmission of information. Here, the time and progress of the landing are constantly informed by the clippers of friendly and neighboring forces, so that they can cooperate more tacitly with each other.

The ground shook with a loud bang, the smoke from the artillery covered all the artillery positions, the earth seemed to tremble, and even the mules and horses in the distance neighed uneasily.

While a large number of artillery pieces spewed out thick white smoke, the same fierce cannon flames flashed between the muzzles, and the whistling iron bullets spun at high speed, emitting a heart-stopping scream in the air.

Screaming repeatedly, the Qing army retreated from the original artillery array, dragging the intact artillery, and moved farther away.

The outcome of an artillery battle ended in the victory of the Ming army. At first, the Ming army only had the longest-range Tianwei artillery and rocket artillery to compete with the Qing army's Hongyi artillery, but unfortunately the accuracy was very poor. When the heavy artillery of the naval division landed from the sea near Tashan and was transported to the front line, the Qing army's Hongyi artillery immediately lost its advantage in range. After all, their Hongyi cannons are old-fashioned, and they cannot be compared with the long-barreled cannons and cannons purchased by the Ming army from Britain and France.

In Jinzhou, the Qing army arranged the most artillery, which shows that it attached great importance to Jinzhou, the throat of western Liaoning. It is precisely because of this that after Orha led the army to counterattack and failed, he retreated to the Daughter River, hoping for the power of artillery to block the Ming army.

At the beginning, the battle situation seemed to develop as expected, and the Hongyi cannon was blocked by the river, and the advance of the Ming army was stifled. But now, the shape has become grim again, and the result of the forced retreat of the artillery is that it cannot suppress the Ming army and effectively block the Ming army's attempt to erect a pontoon bridge.

But Orha was not discouraged, he withdrew his artillery to avoid further losses, but dug a trench two or three miles across the river, and enabled the artillery to hit the shore, ready to crush the Ming army's cross-river attack. Or a half-crossing.

Gradually, the shelling stopped, the smoke cleared, and the vision became clearer. The river flowed in a tumultuous manner, and from time to time broken wood from the pontoon drifted by, and the damaged pontoon bridge had only a few wooden stakes, which stood alone on the bank.

The Qing army retreated simply. destroyed all the pontoon bridges, and had the idea of confronting the Ming army across the river. This also allowed the Ming army to easily occupy the south bank, including some commanding points.

"There is no impregnable line of defense in the world, and with such a passive defense, the Tartars are no longer to be feared." As the commander-in-chief of the Dangshuo Army, Xia Guoxiang personally went to the front line to observe the latest battle situation and adjust the arrangement, "Now it is no longer the main purpose to fight across the river. In order to respond to the actions of friendly forces, the most important thing is to attract the forces of the Tartars and contain them in Jinzhou. ”

"Friendly forces decided to land on the Daling River?" Wei Pu muttered a repetition of the briefing he had just arrived, and a rough map flashed in his mind.

"Spread out the map." Xia Guoxiang beckoned the staff to arrange, and the senior generals surrounded him, staring at the map.

"Here—" Xia Guoxiang pointed his finger at the mouth of the Daling River, and then swiped his finger upward. Until Dalinghe City, he looked up and glanced around. said: "You get it, right?" Cutting off the enemy's retreat, this is a plan to encircle and annihilate it! ”

"More than thirty miles from Jinzhou to Dalinghe City, from the landing site to Dalinghe City—" Wei Pu stretched out his hand and measured, and said, "It's probably about the same." Will the friendly forces be able to reach their goal before the Qing army returns to Jinzhou? ”

Wu San Province had already been transferred from the Zhengshuo Army to the Dangshuo Army as the chief of staff, which was also one of the means to mix the generals of various armies and split the factions as much as possible. For the current state of the war. He got the plan from the General Staff in more detail and knew more, so he said with a smile: "Dalinghe City doesn't have to be captured, you should know our army's ability to dig trenches and hold on, right?" As long as the main road is blocked, the Qing army in Jinzhou will be attacked from front to back. Could it be that our army does not move, just watching the enemy flee and break through? ”

"That can't be." Wei Pu smiled and said, "Then our army will continue to attack and make the enemy unable to escape?" ”

"Naturally, you have to put enough pressure on the enemy in front of you and try to attract them as much as possible." Xia Guoxiang glanced at Wu Sanxing, and after getting his nod in agreement, he directly explained the operational arrangement, "If you are in a hurry to cross the river and attack, the soldiers and horses must not be used, and most of the enemy will attack our army halfway." And the operational objectives of our army have changed, and the direction of the offensive should also be adjusted. Therefore, the direction of our army's main attack will turn from north to east, advancing along the Daughter River. As he spoke, he put his finger on the map and drew a line, from Songshan and Xingshan directly to the east, until the south of the bend of the Daughter River.

Wu Sanxing said with a smile: "The reinforcements from Shanhaiguan are coming by boat, and they will land near Tashan in a few days to help in the battle, and our army's back road can be worry-free." If the Qing stronghold on the north bank could not be captured, the containment would be extremely limited. And the defense of the Qing army in front of us is very strong, do we have to bang our heads against the wall? ”

The Daughter River flows from west to east, separating Jinzhou from Songshan in the north and south; After flowing less than ten miles through Jinzhou, the river joined the Xiaoling River and turned south into the sea. Xia Guoxiang and Wu Sansheng said that the continuation of the eastward march was similar to the Beijing-Harbin high-speed route in later generations, not crossing the north to attack Jinzhou, but crossing the south of Jinzhou along the river, and then crossing the Xiaoling River to the east, so as to achieve a breakthrough.

Since the main goal is not to capture Jinzhou, bulky guys like long-barreled cannons and cannons do not need to be carried, and stay on the shore to become the backbone of the defense. The daughter river is the barrier of the Qing army in Jinzhou, but it is also an obstacle to its counterattack. As long as there were not many men and horses left, the Qing army wanted to attack across the river, but it was also very difficult.

And even if it was beaten across the river by the Qing army, Songshan was by no means a strong fortress that the Qing army would be able to capture for a while and a half. Moreover, the arrival of reinforcements from the landing of Tashan also made the Ming army not too worried about the safety of the rear flank. The more the Qing army drilled in, the more it was surrounded.

In layman's terms, the eastward expansion plan was to force the Qing army in Jinzhou to move with it to make up for the omission of defense along the river. Once the Ming army crossed the Xiaoling River in the east, it was like outflanking Jinzhou's back road, which was a roundabout situation.

In other words, it is not possible to simply confront each other, whether it is to exert pressure or create a threat, that is, the Qing army in Jinzhou cannot be relaxed, that is, in order to pursue or flank the attack, the Ming army must also occupy a closer and more advantageous position.

After some deliberation, the Dangshuo army decided to form the Eastern Advance Corps with the strength of two divisions, leaving one division to confront the Qing army across the river in the same place. At the same time, a messenger was sent to contact the sailors, hoping that they would be able to draw some of their boats to the Xiaoling River to make it easier to cross the river.

At present, there are nearly 2,000 ships of all sizes on the sea surface of Liaodong Bay, and as long as the news is delivered, it is relatively quick and convenient to dispatch some of the ships. And the action of the eastward marching corps happened to have the meaning of sweeping away the enemy along the coast and responding to friendly forces.

……………

After several months of stalemate, the situation in Liaodong suddenly changed dramatically, which greatly surprised the Qing court.

Of course, there are many unexpected things that have gone from sweeping most of China to retreating step by step. But this time, the Qing court finally realized what kind of new regime it was facing, what kind of government it could raise, and what kind of emperor it was fighting to the end.

Originally, according to the Qing court's estimates, the Ming army would not have the possibility of a large-scale strategic offensive for at least a year after the recovery of the northern land. Because the withering north was a heavy burden, the reason why the Manchus gave up was also to see clearly, the north is not as good as the south, and in the hands of the hands will either drag down the finances, or everywhere the people will riot due to hunger and poverty, becoming a huge powder keg.

Therefore, the Manchus withdrew from the Guannai after plundering and threw this burden to the Ming court. After carrying this burden, unless the Ming court does not care about the lives of the people, it will have to spend money and grain to settle and provide relief, and there will be no material support for the battle.

Within a year, the Manchus decided that they should recuperate, recuperate, straighten out their interiors, and re-establish their alliance with the Mongol tribes. Then, as soon as Qiē returned to decades ago, it was enough to start fighting with the Ming army again. The disadvantages are certain, but the climate and environment of Liaodong are also a favorable factor.

However, the Manchus obviously greatly underestimated Zhu Yongxing's ability, underestimated the efficiency of the current Ming government, and underestimated the enthusiasm of the mobilized people.

Although the people of the north are still poor, they are no longer on the verge of starvation. And the Ming court took various measures, and even launched a war to destroy the country, and in the shortest possible time, it regained the money and food to launch a strategic offensive. The Manchus, who had only survived a winter, were forced to mobilize most of their young men and women to engage in a war of attrition with the Ming army, which they did not wish to engage in.

………… (To be continued......)