Yu Dahu's brothers are actually a team of stevedores and transportation, and this team also occupies a small wharf. Yu Dahu has nearly 300 men under his command, the young ones are responsible for water navigation and loading and unloading, and they are also responsible for security work, and the old ones are guarding the docks and making contacts.

Due to the great changes in Beijing and Shandong, the entire canal in Jiangbei has been paralyzed, and the freight between the north and the south has been completely stopped. The profit of water transportation is not high, and Yu Dahu's team is a kind of maintenance, and now in this situation, he can no longer maintain it, which is also the main reason why he wants to take refuge in Zhou Huchen.

They are all men with black hands, and there are very few old ones, so it seems that this bowl of rice on the water is not delicious.

"I need someone to rule the rivers around Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, and those rivers, not transportation, and kill people when it's time to kill. Therefore, I must take my family to Zhenjiang, and I don't have to think about life, I have sufficient food. Plus, this team has to be more staffed and play by my rules! ”

Zhou Huchen looked at Yu Dahu, this requirement is not high, but it is not easy to do, because this defense area is very large, and the manpower is far from enough.

Yu Dahu seemed to have already made a decision, and he did not hesitate: "It's all up to the young marshal's orders!" ”

"This team will be called the River Defense Team in the future, and you will still be in charge, but I will send people to assist, and I will have to unify the uniforms, increase the number of ships and weapons, and undergo some targeted training." Zhou Huchen continued to put forward the condition, these people came from a reckless background, and it was impossible to discipline and combat without training, and Zhou Huchen wanted to equip them with weapons to enhance their combat effectiveness. These people have been on the water for a long time, and after training, they must be very helpful.

"This is natural, in the future, the brothers will be the young marshal's people, and there is no difference between going to the soup and the fire!" Yu Dahu replied very simply, in the tone of a Jianghu person.

This situation no longer needs Zhou Huchen to continue to say anything, he sees longing and worship in the eyes of these people. What heroes need is fame, Zhou Huchen is not lacking in fame, fame is a kind of cohesion, and this era is the era of heroes.

When Zhou Huchen returned to Zhenjiang, he finally had his first water liliang, although this liliang was still very weak.

The situation in the court is still the same, the officials close to Donglin are still in the field, and the balance of the war between Li Zicheng and Jiannu is still shifting to the side of Jiannu.

In October, the Qing army not only occupied the Kifu region, but also took over the entire territory of Shandong. At the beginning of October, the Qing army Ye Chen and other Qing troops conquered Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, and Chen Yongfu, the defender of the Dashun army, broke through and fled, and most of Shanxi was annexed to the Qing court. The situation in Henan was quite chaotic, the Dashun army had withdrawn to western Henan, and other areas were probably under the control of warlords (such as Xu Dingguo, the general soldier stationed in Suizhou) and bandits (such as Li Jiyu, Liu Hongqi, and Li Hao); Although the Hongguang Imperial Court appointed governors, governors, and governors, they were only in name only, and could not exercise jurisdiction at all.

It was also in the month of October that Dolgon decided to divide his army and conquer the country in two directions. The specific deployment was: one route was to lead the British Prince Azig, the King of Pingxi Wu Sangui, and the Zhishun King Shang Kexi to attack northern Shaanxi through northern Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, and after succeeding, advance to the south to destroy the Dashun regime centered on Xi'an; The other route was led by Duoduo, the prince of Yu, Kong Youde, the king of Gongshun, and Geng Zhongming, the king of Huaishun, to the south and eliminate the Hongguang court. At the end of October, the Qing court sent an edict to civil and military officials, military and civilians in Henan, Nanjing, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang and other places, saying: "When Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming State was attacked by thieves, the mausoleum was burned down, the country was ruined, and not a single soldier was sent or an arrow was fired.

It is tantamount to denying the legal status of the Hongguang Imperial Court and clearly declaring that it will use force against Nanming.

At this critical moment, the Qing court changed the direction of the Duoduo army, as the Dashun army stationed in Pingyang, Shanxi and western Henan, launched a counteroffensive into the Huaiqing area of Henan, and achieved some victories.

The Battle of Huaiqing began on October 12, the Dashun army successively conquered Jiyuan and Mengxian, and the Qing Huaiqing general Jin Yuhe led the troops into battle, and almost all the troops were wiped out in Baixiang Town, Jin Yuhe, the deputy general Chang Ding, and the general Chen Guocai were all killed. The Dashun army took advantage of the victory to attack Huaiqing Mansion to govern Qinyang County, and Zu Kefa, the general soldier of Qing Weihui, led the army into Qinyang overnight to hold on and wait for reinforcements. When the news reached Beijing, Dolgon was shocked. He realized that if Duoduo was allowed to lead the army to the south of the Yangtze River as originally planned, the defensive forces of Kifu, Shanxi, and Henan would be seriously insufficient, and the consequences would be unimaginable. Therefore, he immediately ordered Duoduo to change the direction of the march, from the south to the west, first relieve the siege of Qinyang, and then attack Tongguan, open the gateway to Shaanxi, and join forces with the Qing army of the Azig department to attack the Dashun army in the north and south.

The battle of Huaiqing was equivalent to Li Zicheng attracting the main forces of the Qing army on both sides to his side, and the Qing army of Duoduo Department postponed its southward movement, and he went to the Shanxi line, and Nanming was temporarily safe.

Beizhi, Shandong, and Henan were still empty, and at this time, Wang Yongji, the governor of Shandong appointed by the Hongguang court, sent people to detect that "Jianzhou was exhausted by the elite cavalry, and the Beizhi and Shandong areas were all empty", and he suggested to the imperial court that the army go north. Yuan Jixian, the governor of Jiangxi, also said: "Although it is gratifying to be defeated, it is really terrifying. Those who have not had time to seek me are in the ear. Break into it, who is not Jiangnan? ”

These strategic suggestions were completely correct, but unfortunately, Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa feared that sending troops to the Yellow River valley to collect Shandong and other places would anger the Qing court and set them on fire. Zuihou, took a compromise strategy and marched into Henan. Finally, under the continuous persuasion of Shi Kefa, there was a move, and Gao Jie's department began to enter Henan.

Political mediocrity and strategic mistakes are actually a kind of helplessness, a lack of liliang.

Zhou Huchen also saw the emptiness of Shandong and Beizhi, otherwise there would not have been his military presence in the north. It's a pity that he doesn't like anyone else. Except for him and Huang Degong, the rest of the soldiers and horses of the Hongguang Dynasty could not be trusted at all. The strategic vision is directly proportional to Liliang's lack of growth, not to mention that it does not have it, that is, Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa have such courage, and those generals and soldiers are not reliable, I am afraid that as soon as Jiannu arrives, in addition to collapse, these people may only surrender.

History will not change its general direction because of some changes, Zhou Huchen knows the truth of history, so he only needs to be strong, by the way, he also wants to make Huang Degong strong. This is what Zhou Huchen can do, as for those so-called friendly forces, they are not far from that history.

The recruitment of troops in Zhenjiang has not stopped, the training is still continuing, and the naval army has also begun basic training, and Zhou Huchen has specially arranged some training methods.

Huang Degong, who was watching the soldiers' training in the big camp, was now a little confused, and he didn't understand anything. Zhou Huchen ran over, but what is it not good to honor him, but he honors a flock of sheep, is the mutton so delicious?