Summer Town.

Longqing was upgraded to a town in three years, and it was still called Xia Village in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.

This is because the completion of the new canal has increased the number of ships in the port of Xiacun, and the local industry and commerce have become more and more prosperous.

A few hundred years later, Xia Town will develop into a county seat in Weishan.

Weishan Lake at the end of the Ming Dynasty has not yet been completely formed. However, during the Wanli period, the Yellow River broke and formed a wetland in this low-lying area, and a few more breaches could turn it into a lake.

A small arrow-shaped boat, speeding to the port, shouted: "Eight hundred miles urgent!" ”

Two other small boats from the harbor immediately came to meet them.

"Where?"

"Go to Yishui County and give it to General Zhang Tieniu!"

The two newly departed boats, each receiving four military intelligence documents, sailed towards the southeast like arrows from the string.

Whichever ship gets to the next station first, the ship will deliver the military information first, and sail all the way to the final point.

In ancient China, rivers were very important in warfare.

In all dynasties, large-scale southern expeditions or northern expeditions, almost all of the main forces advanced along the river. Because it is possible to transport grain by boat, it can not only speed up the march, but also greatly reduce the number of civilians and greatly reduce the consumption of military rations.

The Datong Army, which started in Jiangxi, has already played with inland river boats.

A small boat was specially built and converted from a small fishing boat. Because of the lengthening and narrowing of the hull, the shape of the ship resembles an arrow, also known as the "arrow ship".

The two of them work together to paddle against the current, and the rest of the time they can take turns resting.

If you don't care about your physical strength, you can reach a speed of more than 40 miles per hour in still water.

Of course, this will make people tired. Generally speaking, the speed of still water is about 25 to 30 miles per hour, and the oarsman can row very calmly.

Fei Ruhe's military order started from Nanyang Town, followed the Grand Canal to Xia Village (in the later Weishan Lake), took another section of the canal through Taizhuang (Taierzhuang), and turned into the Yishui River until Yishui County.

The whole river is about 700 miles, and it takes only three days to get from Nanyang Town to Yishui. Again, this is because the speed slows down at night and the countercurrent is slow, otherwise it would have been there in a day or two.

Zhang Tieniu was not in Yishui County at this time, but in Mulingguan further north.

The military intelligence was transferred from the ship to the horse, and the fast horse was sent to Zhang Tieniu.

"But there's an urgent matter over there in Yanzhou?" Missionary Yan Guoshi asked.

Zhang Tieniu said: "Lao Fei's side is also frozen, let us lead the troops to attack, and only the peasants and soldiers are left here to defend the city." If we can't leave here, we don't have to go there, anyway, the Tartars don't have as much military rations as we do. The longer it drags on, the more panicked the Tartar becomes, and the panic will make mistakes. ”

Deputy division commander Chen Fugui said: "Go, Qingzhou Mansion can't fight here." ”

"I'm going to go too, I'm too lazy to spend time with the Tartars." Zhang Tieniu said depressedly.

The battle situation in Qingzhou Mansion was also deadlocked, Huang Fei successfully occupied Anqiu County, Changle County, and Guangling Town, while Zhang Tieniu occupied Zhucheng County and Muling Pass, and sent peasant soldiers to take Rizhao and Andongwei.

Just when a big war was about to break out between the two sides, Azig, the small flag owner with white flags, suddenly held on to Qingzhou Mansion (Yidu), Linqu and Shouguang.

The Manchus just defended the city, waiting for Zhang Tieniu and Huang Fei to attack.

Zhang Tieniu and Huang Fei are not fools, their forces are not superior, how can they attack the city garrisoned by tens of thousands of people?

So, Zhang Tieniu retreated to Muling Pass, and Huang Fei also retreated to his own fortified city.

This situation was very common during the war.

If neither side has an overwhelming advantage, as long as one side cannot hold out, the other side can only retreat, or even defend the city for several years. For example, Jinzhou and Ningyuan in eastern Liaodong have held on for more than ten years, and every time the Tartars besiege themselves until they lack food, they will withdraw their troops back to their hometowns.

On the side of Qingzhou Mansion, Azig didn't want to fight a tough battle, but there was a fire in the rear.

The troops under his command were too fierce in Shandong. Thousands of potters and glassworkers in Yanshen Town, because they had no food to eat, rose up and conquered Zichuan County in one fell swoop.

Then it approached Changshan County, and the people along the way joined one after another, and even some gentry recruited village warriors, and the number of volunteers quickly exceeded 30,000.

If the fight continues, the grain route of Azig will be cut off.

The Qingzhou government troops of the Manchu Qing Dynasty could only temporarily defend the city with heavy troops, and sent cavalry and thousands of elites back to fight the rebels first.

After Zhang Tieniu sent someone to deliver a message to Huang Fei, he took the regular army south and took a boat from Yishui County all the way to Yizhou. Turning to the northwest again, taking the Jun River to the direction of Qufu, there is a Fei County that has been occupied by the Datong army on the way, but only 3,000 peasant soldiers were sent to defend the city.

Only ten miles away from Yizhou, an arrow ship came to report: "General Zhang, there is a large army of Tartars, and there are as many as 20,000 or 30,000 people advancing by land and water!" ”

Zhang Tieniu was stunned, and then laughed: "If I don't bring the troops back, I'm afraid that the Tartars will fight Yizhou in two days." ”

The army marched two more miles and was met by the Tartar cavalry.

These Manchu cavalry were both sentinel scouts and pioneers, grabbing some food along the way.

When the Manchu scouts saw Zhang Tieniu's army, they quickly ran back to report. Zhang Tieniu also sent people back to Yizhou to transfer his cavalry troops, and these cavalry went south by boat, and are currently recovering the energy of war horses in Yizhou.

"There's a Datong Army ahead?" Duoduo was just as surprised as Zhang Tieniu.

Geng Zhongming said: "The enemy army is similar to ours, and it should have been withdrawn from Qingzhou Mansion. ”

"Then fight, save yourself from going to Qingzhou Mansion again!"

"Still," said Dord, "fight and fight. If this Datong army can occupy the south, it must be more powerful than the Ming army, and it must be handled carefully when it starts a war. Retreat further, retreat to the west of Fei County, and don't be disturbed by the enemy forces in Fei County. ”

Duoduo suddenly became very cautious, and his original plan was to attack Yizhou quickly. Taking advantage of the emptiness of Yizhou's troops and the small number of troops defending the city, they forcibly took it to block Zhang Tieniu's retreat, and then went north to attack Zhang Tieniu before and after.

Now that he has encountered it in the wild, Duoduo does not oppose it, keeps his grain channel, and is ready to grind slowly with Zhang Tieniu.

The two sides advanced and retreated, and both camped by the river in the northwest of Fei County.

On the Manchu side, Duoduo, Geng Zhongming, Li Shutai, Yild, Li Guoying, Jin Shenghuan, and Hao Xiaozhong, with a total of 25,000 troops, did not count the people.

On the side of the Datong Army, Zhang Tieniu, Chen Fugui, Yan Guoshi, Ma Wannian, Chen Ding, Han Shixiao, and Song Yi had a total of 18,000 troops, and the people were not counted.

Chen Ding, Han Shixiao, and Song Yi are all Zuo Liangyu's generals who surrendered to the Datong Army.

Regardless of the various generals, the strength of the Eight Banners Army and the Datong Army was close to 1:1.

Geng Zhongming and Li Shutai are all Han army banners that have been trained for many years, and their combat effectiveness is extremely strong.

Li Shutai's father, Li Yongfang, was the first Ming border general to surrender to the Tartars. Li Shutai was only 12 years old, and he followed Nurhachi, and his name was changed by Nurhachi himself.

Both sides assessed the formation, and sent cavalry to cruise, attack, and investigate.

Duoduo even brought in a cart from the ship to assemble it, pushing it forward slowly.

In the battle between the Manchus and the Ming Dynasty, whenever they encountered any tough battles, they relied on the chariots to increase the infantry.

Due to the fact that the Manchu troops suffered heavy losses due to the fact that they did not wait for the chariot to fight several times, Nurhachi even ordered: "If you encounter the enemy without a chariot, do not go to battle." ”

The cart is nearly two people high, made of hardwood, iron, and cowhide, not to mention that the fire gun cannot be pierced, and can even withstand the bombardment of small field artillery. This thing can also be used for siege advancement, and it is not afraid of fire or stonework.

The regular Eight Banners Army, with 100 people and 4 chariots, was operated by 30 people.

Of the thirty men, some were in charge of pushing carts and some were in charge of releasing arrows. There were also musketeers, standing on the steps of the carts, shooting at the enemy from the firing holes.

You can understand that this is a very primitive tank.

The "tanks" advanced forward, followed by heavy infantry, crossbowmen, musketeers, and cavalry.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

On the way of the two sides, the Datong army began to test artillery without warning.

Geng Zhongming was taken aback: "Hit so far? The power of enemy artillery is not small. ”

The firearms units of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were mostly used by the Han military banner, and Geng Zhongming and Kong Youde had elite firearms battalions.

Geng Zhongming hurriedly said to the herald: "Tell the Ten Kings immediately, the enemy's artillery will definitely be able to destroy our army's shield car!" ”

When Dordor heard the news, he immediately ordered the entire army to stop.

Then, he asked the general Hao to be loyal and advance with a small group of troops, using his body to measure the firing point and range of the Datong army.

The Eight Banners Army, which is on the rise, is very flexible in its combat mode and can switch tactics according to different enemies.

Sometimes, if the enemy artillery is too fierce, they even know how to dig tunnels.

And very patient, a positional battle, will repeatedly test the attack. After finding out the situation of the enemy's forces, we will take countermeasures to fight.

Historically, it probably didn't work until the Kangxi Dynasty.

After the rebellion of the three feudatories, various tactics were abandoned. The whole very dull nine-in-ten chain formation completely relied on the dense firepower of the birds, supplemented by the scale of the army to crush the enemy. Because you can win in this way, why study tactics?

General Hao was loyal, cowering and leading his troops forward.

Zhang Tieniu held a clairvoyant mirror to observe and said, "A group of miscellaneous soldiers, no need to fire cannons. ”

Hao Xiaozhong advanced dozens of steps, and the more he walked, the more frightened he became, and finally received an order to stop the march.

The two sides were at a stalemate.

The cavalry had already engaged, with about 3,000 Manchu cavalry and 2,500 Datong cavalry.

The Manchu general Yild led the cavalry into battle, and the formation was so loose that Zhang Tieniu didn't bother to fire the cannon. Ilde also wanted to play the old routine, constantly cruising and luring, wanting to lure the Datong cavalry out to fight and annihilate.

The Datong cavalry general is Qin Liangyu's grandson Ma Wannian, and in the face of the temptation of the enemy cavalry, he directly ordered the whole army to dismount: "Light the arquebus, load the ammunition!" ”

"Bang bang bang!"

Due to the long distance, the Manchu cavalry was loose again, and only two enemy cavalry were shot down in a volley of guns.

Moreover, it was all the war horses that were shot, and they threw the cavalry off in a frenzy. The distance is so far that even if you hit the cavalry, the bullet will not be able to penetrate the cotton armor.

Duoduo also got a pair of clairvoyant mirrors and exclaimed, "This is the firearm cavalry that the spies are talking about?" I have Qing Dynasty iron cavalry tactics, and it is useless to deal with this kind of cavalry. In the future, when the cavalry engages, I am afraid that they will not be able to wear armor, and they will have to be lightly armed and fast horses to fight in close combat. ”

At this time, a large number of people armed with hoes and shovels came to dig trenches around the position of the Datong army.

Seeing this, Duoduo immediately ordered: "Attack quickly, don't let the enemy dig the ravine, then our army's chariot will not be able to pass!" The artillery battalion advances and bombards the people on the opposite side! ”