The mobilization efficiency of the Qing army is not fast, and it is not slow to say that it is slow.

Under the order of Tong Guoqi, the governor of Fujian, the soldiers and horses of Anxi, Nan'an, and Xianyou counties mobilized one after another, raised food and wages, and left the county under the leadership of the garrison commander of each county.

Xianyou garrison Qian Zong did not follow Tong Guoqi's order to go to Nan'an to join the soldiers and horses of the other two places, he reported to Tong Guoqi that Xianyou borders Yongchun, and can attack the key pass into Yongchun, and fight the thief army together with the army. Later, he got the permission of Tong Guoqi and led 800 soldiers and horses from this county into Yongchun County through Huyang.

Therefore, in addition to the Xianyou Green Battalion, the soldiers and horses of Anxi and Nan'an counties converged, and after the unanimous discussion of the two garrisons, they decided to attack the Xixiang Ridge Pass located in Xianjia, thus opening up the passage into Yongchun.

However, Su Yanquan's remnants of the Ma Degong Department were still there, and the soldiers and horses of the three counties did not dare to rush forward, and they all marched slowly to Yongchun, and even stagnated after arriving at the junction of the two counties, set up camp, and said that they would spy on the enemy's situation, and then formulate a perfect strategy.

The Qing army's procrastination also gave Su Yan enough time to deploy troops and send generals, and he first sent all the system soldiers in his hands who could still fight, and went to various key passes to garrison and delay the Qing army's offensive speed.

At the beginning of September, the Zhongwu Battalion, the Yiwu Battalion, the Tengpai Battalion, and the 1,000 recruits who had received training in Dehua finally finished their training, and then went south with enough grain and grass to prepare for the Yongchun war.

In addition to the spears produced by the small arms arsenal, these recruits were also armed with smoothbore guns provided by the arsenal, and these 400 smoothbore gunners were also qualified riflemen, although their loading skills and shooting accuracy were far inferior to those of the line infantry.

The most important reason why firearms can be popularized on a large scale is that as long as recruits know how to use firearms, and then use them together, they can form a strong combat effectiveness.

In order to move these eight precious falcons, Liu Wenmin, the commander of Dehua County, also requisitioned 16 ploughing oxen, pulling one cannon for every two oxen, to ensure that these cannons could be delivered to Yongchun before the big war.

……

On the third day of September, Yongchun County.

In the back hall, Su Yan's subordinates gathered together, although there were only three of them, they could barely be regarded as small-scale.

The four people, including Su Yan, gathered around the map of Yongchun and the surrounding prefectures and counties, discussing the next battle arrangements.

Su Yan took the lead in opening his mouth to introduce the location of the Qing army to the three generals, he pointed to the east side of Yongchun, and said: "According to the report of the spies sent, the Xianyou Qing army is stationed outside the White Pigeon Ridge in Huyang at this time, and there are about 800 soldiers, all of whom are green battalion soldiers, and the leading general is named Wang Jiazhen, who is unknown. ”

After Su Yan finished speaking, Lai Xun took the initiative to clench his fists and said: "If the general trusts, his subordinates are willing to lead the troops to attack the Xianyou Qing army alone." ”

Seeing that Lai Xun took the initiative to ask for help, Su Yan nodded, there was no objection, he also had the heart to see Lai Xun's performance, and said: "Since you have taken the initiative to ask for battle with Ming (Lai Xun's cousin), then you will lead the Yiwu camp and order a hundred more riflemen to fight."

Although you are proficient in the art of war, after all, it is only on paper, so Wang Jiazhen can sit in the position of a general, naturally he has something extraordinary, you must be cautious. ”

Being taught by Su Yan, who was more than ten years younger than himself, Lai Xun was not dissatisfied, he humbly accepted Su Yan's teaching, and said: "The general's words will be kept in mind with Minghui." ”

After finalizing the road, Su Yan looked at the map again and continued: "The number of Xianyou Qing troops is the smallest one, our biggest enemy is in the south, Anxi and Nan'an Qing troops are assembled in the west to the ridge pass, and they do not take the initiative to attack, it seems to be waiting for the main army of Han Shangliang, the general soldier of Quanzhou.

If the rumors are true, then the Qing army led by Han Shangliang has at least 5,000 people, and then converges with the soldiers and horses of An'an and Nan counties, and the number is as high as 6,000, on the other hand, our army, after the division of troops, there are only more than 3,000 people left, if it is a head-on confrontation, the enemy army is twice as large as itself, and our army may be defeated.

However, our army also has an advantage, that is, the Qing army does not know that our army has heavy weapons such as artillery, and if it is used properly, it can even play a role in swaying the situation of the war! ”

Several people nodded again and again, agreeing with Su Yan's words.

However, none of the three had been exposed to firearms-related command combat, and they may not even be able to command riflemen, so how could they know how to use artillery?

After nodding, Chen Shenggui said: "General, since our army has the possibility of defeat in a frontal confrontation, why not rely on the city wall of Yongchun County and defend the city to offset the numerical advantage of the Qing army?" ”

"No." Without waiting for Su Yan to speak, Lin Xingzhu said first: "If the Qing army is allowed to break through the mountains and passes, and drive straight in, the people in Yongchun will inevitably be slaughtered by the Qing army." ”

"Indeed, with the brutality and murder of the Qing army, we cannot expose innocent people to the iron hooves of the Qing army, so I decided to go to the valley." As he spoke, Su Yan drew a straight line on the map, "Set up a position here, and set up the falcon cannon on the mountains and forests on both sides of the valley road, and bombard the Qing army from a high position." ”

The three of them looked at Su Yan's line, it was a mountain, forest and valley road about four kilometers south of Yongchun County, and the widest valley road was no more than one mile.

Moreover, according to Su Yan's deployment, artillery was erected on the slopes on both sides of the valley road to bombard the Qing army from a high position, regardless of the accuracy, the rumbling cannon sound and the shells falling from time to time were enough to bring a considerable morale blow to the Qing soldiers.

"Good." Lin Xingzhu was the first to express his approval, "Putting up a position here, what the enemy and us are fighting for is the soldier's will to fight, not the numerical advantage." ”

After speaking, he pointed to the dense forest of the mountain again, and said: "If you can bury a strange soldier between the mountains and forests, and kill it when the Qing army is weak, you will definitely be able to inflict heavy damage on the Qing army. ”

In the face of Lin Xingzhu's initiative to ask for help, Su Yan did not agree immediately, but fell into thought, after all, the Qing army still occupies a numerical advantage, if it is Su Yan's side that loses the upper hand in the battle, the move of dividing troops and setting up ambushes will only become a joke, and the strange soldiers killed may be surrounded and eaten by the Qing army, so the danger is still quite big.

If you replace the ambushed rattan battalion with cavalry...... Thinking of this, Su Yan's eyes lit up, the shock power of the cavalry that suddenly killed was far greater than that of the infantry, as long as he summoned the two cavalry regiments that had not been exchanged in the system space, and combined with the existing volunteer cavalry, he could make up more than a hundred horses.

He was fully able to have these cavalry take the place of the rattan battalion and deploy the rattan battalion in more important frontal battles!

Thinking of this, he had an idea in his heart.