"Southwest?"

Hong Chengchou and Hou Fangyu turned their heads and saw that on the southwest coast, the beacon tower next to the Chaohe camp had already lit up wolf smoke.

"What's going on?"

"Could it be that the Ming army went to the mouth of the floating river?"

Hong Chengchou's face instantly fell.

If the Ming army went to the mouth of the floating river, then their arrangement at the mouth of the Chaohe River would be completely wasted.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Hou Fangyu shouted even more out of shape, "Unless Chongzhen is a fool, it is absolutely impossible for the Ming army to run to the mouth of the floating river." ”

Compared with the tide river, the disadvantages of the floating river are obvious.

First of all, the surface of the floating river is very narrow, and it is far less wide than the river surface of the Chaohe River.

The second and most important point is that the upper reaches of the floating river are connected to the Grand Canal.

In other words, the Ming army marched along the course of the Fuhe River, and eventually it would have to advance along the Grand Canal, and then it would have to face countless platforms scattered along both sides of the Grand Canal.

There are far fewer platforms on both sides of the Chao River.

"Mistaken, this must be mistaken!"

Hou Fangyu continued to roar: "Someone must have made a mistake. ”

Hong Chengchou ignored Hou Fangyu, the Beacon Transmission has strict rules and mechanisms, how could it be wrong? Only a layman who knows nothing about the mechanism of Beacon communication will suspect that he has lit the wrong Beacon.

However, the beacon transmission can only convey a general message, that is, the main force of the Ming army was found at a certain location in the southwest or attacked by the main force of the Ming army, as for which specific location was attacked, and how many troops did the Ming army have? These can only wait for the subsequent arrival of the express delivery.

But there is one thing that needs to be prepared in advance.

At that moment, Hong Chengchou hurriedly got off the beacon tower.

He also instructed Hong Da: "Hong Da, beat the drum and gather the generals!" ”

"Send the flying cavalry to inform the garrison of Shahekou and Leting Camp again, and immediately come to the Chaohekou camp to meet!"

Regardless of whether the Ming army went to Fuhekou or Dagukou, the Eight Banners Han Army and the Green Battalion soldiers stationed at Chaohekou, Shahekou and Leting Camp must be urgently rescued.

……

However, the Ming army was neither at the mouth of the floating river nor at the mouth of Dagu.

At this time, the main force of the Ming army had just reached the mouth of the Xiaoqing River, which was still three hundred miles away from the mouth of the Fuhe River, and four hundred miles away from the mouth of Dagu, and it would take three or four days at the earliest.

"Stop!" Chongzhen motioned for the ice plow to stop.

The Ming army who was driving hurriedly stepped on the ice blade.

The blade immediately made a deep scratch on the ice.

There was a shrill crunch, and the ice plow came to a steady stop on the ice.

Chongzhen stepped down from the ice and climbed the plow, and then came down to the Jiannu beacon tower at the mouth of the Xiaoqing River under the escort of a few eunuchs such as Gao Qiqian and dozens of Praetorian Guards such as Wu Jiaotan.

It is a beacon tower of rammed earth.

The height is about two zhang, and the shape is extremely simple.

There are still bullet holes in the rammed earth wall of the beacon.

These bullet holes were apparently left by the infantry of First Town.

But the bodies of several Jiannu who were killed have been removed.

One of the baggage battalions in First Town is rushing to repair the barracks.

It is said that it is a barracks, but in fact, it is three defensive forts distributed in the shape of a pin.

After the completion of the three towers, there will be a total of 288 new troops left.

"Long live the lord, this is Xiao Qinghe." Gao Qiqian pointed to the mouth of the river in front of him and said, "After the Xiaoqing River, it is the Daqing River, and the Daqing River can go directly to the Grand Canal." ”

Chongzhen nodded silently, waiting for the next diversion of the Yellow River,

There will be no more Daqing River in the world, only the Yellow River.

However, it was still very early for the next diversion of the Yellow River.

Because Pan Jitao's Shuhe River attack on sand is still fruitful.

……

Hong Chengchou quickly got detailed military information.

Shang Kexi, who was stationed at the Fuhekou camp, sent his brother Shang Keyi to report it.

"Hongbutang, the first to be attacked by the Ming army was the beacon tower at the mouth of the Zishui River, followed by the beacon tower at the mouth of the Xiaoqing River, and now it is estimated that the beacon tower at the mouth of the Daqing River has been laid." Shang Keyi said in a deep voice, "Ming Gou used a large number of mules, horses, and ice climbing plows, so the speed of advancement is extremely fast, and you can walk a hundred miles in a day!" ”

"So, the Ming army is marching north along the coastline?"

"Didn't go deep into Qingzhou Mansion along the Zishui or Xiaoqing River?"

Hong Chengchou was a little calm, because he found that the ultimate goal of the Ming army might still be the mouth of the Chaohe River, which was nothing more than changing the route of the march from a straight line to a curve along the coastline.

Hou Fangyu also breathed a sigh of relief: "Hong Butang, what am I talking about?" The goal of the Ming army must be the mouth of the Chaohe River, and it can only be the mouth of the Chaohe River, unless Chongzhen is crazy, it is absolutely impossible to choose the floating river or the Wei River, let alone take the land route, so we only need to wait for work at the mouth of the Chaohe River. ”

Hong Chengchou did not dare to make such an arbitrary judgment.

After pondering for a moment, Hong Chengchou asked again: "Shang Keyi, are you sure that the Ming army really has 100,000 people?" ”

Shang Keyi said: "Back to Hongbutang, 100,000 people are only a lot more, and there are at least 30,000 mules and horses plus 10,000 ice climbing plows, which stretch on the ice along the coast for more than ten miles, oh yes, there are tens of thousands of cavalry!" ”

"In this way, it is really the main force of the Ming army." Hong Chengchou nodded, and said, "But the Ming army does not take a straight line and takes a shortcut, but prefers to go around the coastline for a long way, what is the intention?" ”

"Hong Butang, didn't I say it, the target of the Ming army must be Chaohekou."

Hou Fangyu said categorically: "So don't be confused by Chongzhen's superficial articles. ”

Hong Chengchou frowned and said: "But have you thought about joining the army, if the Ming army continues to advance along the coastline, it will soon advance to the Fuhekou camp, and the garrison of the Fuhekou camp will be held or let by then?" And should the garrisons of our Chaohekou battalion and three other battalions go to reinforcements? ”

Along the coast of the Beihai, the Qing army set up a total of five camps, from south to north are the Fuhekou camp, the Weihekou camp, the Chaohekou camp, the Shahekou camp and the Leting camp, any of which was attacked by the Ming army, and the Qing army of the other four camps had to be reinforced immediately.

There is nothing wrong with this plan itself.

Because the purpose of Hong Chengchou's defensive deployment was to drag the main force of the Ming army and form a stalemate between the two sides, there was no difference between a stalemate at the mouth of the Chaohe River and a stalemate at the mouth of the floating river.

】

But the problem now is that the Qing army set up an ambush at the mouth of the Chaohe River.

If the Ming army can be led to the mouth of the Chaohe River, it is undoubtedly the best.

This time, the mouth of the floating river cannot be guarded, and it must give way to let go.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou was a little hesitant in his heart, not knowing whether to give up the floating estuary.

Hou Fangyu did not hesitate at all, and said decisively: "Let go of the mouth of the Fuhe River, let the king of Dingnan lead the army to retreat to the vicinity of Cangzhou in the upper reaches of the Fuhe, and the defenders of the rest of the battalions do not need to go to reinforcements!" ”

"In this way, even if Chongzhen really loses his mind, there is no problem if he has to take the floating river waterway, and the army of the king of Dingnan will hold on to Cangzhou for three or five days, and the reinforcements of the Weihe battalion will be able to arrive, and the rest of the battalions will also arrive in a few days, so that they can still rely on the Gongtai group on both sides of the Grand Canal to start a long-term confrontation with the Ming army."

Speaking of this, Hou Fangyu said again: "Of course, this is only the most extreme situation, but Xia Guan thinks that Chongzhen will never be so stupid, and he has to take the floating river waterway instead of taking the Chaohe waterway." ”

Hong Chengchou must admit that Hou Fangyu's analysis is very reasonable.

At that moment, Hong Chengchou instructed Hong Da and said: "Ah Da, send flying horses to inform the king of Dingnan, immediately abandon the mouth of the floating river, retreat to the vicinity of Cangzhou, and rely on the upper reaches of the floating river to repair the platform." ”

"Huh!" Hong Cheng turned around and hurried away.

……

The next day, the forward cavalry of the Ming army entered the mouth of the floating river.

The floating river, which is connected to the canal in the west, passes through Dongguang and Huanghua to Beihai, and is almost the south drainage river of Huanghua City, the river is neither wide nor deep enough, and the navigation capacity is extremely limited.

But when it freezes, it works well as a "highway".

The ice plows of the Ming army's baggage troops could go all the way along this "highway" to the canal, and then along the canal "highway" all the way north to Beijing.

So, theoretically, it was still possible for the Ming army to march along the floating river.

This is also the reason why Hong Chengchou wanted to set up a large camp at the mouth of the Fuhe River.

At this moment, Hu Guozhu stood outside the gate of the Jiannu Fuhe camp.

Jiannu is really learning the Ming Dynasty in an all-round way now, and he has learned very thoroughly, and the military camps built are all guntai, which are combined into military camps, independent of each other, but can support each other.

There are more than 20 guns in total, probably because they are in a hurry, so they didn't have time to destroy.

However, Hu Guozhu was already a veteran general who had experienced a hundred battles, so he still sent scout cavalry into each platform to carefully inspect it to avoid an ambush.

Soon there was a scout report: "Lord Zongzhen, more than ten miles upstream of the floating river, Jiannu was found, at least tens of thousands of people, carrying Franc machine guns and red-coated cannons. ”

"Chase!" Hu Guozhu decisively ordered the pursuit.

After chasing for about half an hour, he caught up with the Jiannu.

However, this group of Jiannu has formed a large phalanx with the partial van and the chariot, and a large number of Franc machines and tiger squat cannons have been erected on the partial van and the chariot.

Seeing this, Hu Guozhu decisively dispelled the idea of attacking.

Attacking an infantry with a battalion of chariots and artillery is purely a search for death.

So Hu Guozhu led the cavalry around the front, trying to drag this group of Jiannu, and wait for the infantry and artillery to catch up before encircling and annihilating it in the field.

However, Hu Guozhu soon gave the order to give way.

Because the chariot formation of Jiannu can move on the plains.

Therefore, Hu Guozhu and his cavalry officers could only follow Jiannu's ass from a distance, and followed until dark, and sent this Jiannu to the vicinity of Cangzhou.

It's no longer safe in the wild after dark.

Hu Guozhu could only return to the camp at the mouth of the floating river with his cavalry.

However, the scout cavalry of the cavalry town did not return, but still roamed the vast fields on both sides of the floating river, and carried out brutal hunting and counter-hunting with the night of Jiannu.

The great war between the Ming and Qing armies had not yet really broken out.

But the battle to the death between the scout cavalry and the night is not collected,

But it has been staged in the wilderness and at night I don't know how many times.