Hearing Chen Tai say this, Li Shutai also understood, and he smashed the table again with hatred to vent the annoyance in his heart.

Seeing Li Shutai's reaction, Chen Tai took the initiative to ask the scout who was still kneeling on the ground, "Have you found out the number of Pingyang Ming troops?" Are you sure that is the puppet governor of Fujian and Zhejiang? ”

"If you go back to your lordship, the humble post has not been clarified, and the Ming army has locked the gate of the county seat, and you can only see the flag hanging high above." The scout replied.

As soon as the scout's voice fell, the messenger hurriedly took over the conversation and said, "General, I probably know the strength of the Ming army. ”

"Oh?"

As soon as these words came out, not only Chen Tai, but also Li Shutai's attention was also attracted, and the eyes of the two of them were on the messenger, which made the latter nervous.

But he still pretended to be calm, and replied: "I have witnessed the scene of the puppet Ming governor of Fujian and Zhejiang leading the army to leave Wenzhou City today, and it is estimated that the Ming army that landed first was at least more than 2,000 people, and they also carried dozens of artillery pieces, and everyone was equipped with firearms. ”

"All armed with firearms?" Both Li Shutai and Chen Tai were a little surprised.

At this time, a Han general standing in the corner suddenly stood up, hugged his fists to Li Shutai and the others, and said: "Two adults, the last general has seen the appearance of that Su Yan, you can let the last general check with the messenger to determine whether that person is Su Yan himself." ”

The two glanced at each other, and then Li Shutai nodded and said, "Mr. Ma, you ask." ”

After Li Shutai took over as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, he joined Li Shutai, but he did not obey his orders in his hands and horses, and at present he can only be regarded as a nominal general soldier with zero sense of existence.

It is precisely because of this that Ma Degong wanted to make meritorious service and let himself jump into Li Shutai's sight, no, he finally seized the opportunity.

So, then Ma Degong interrogated the messenger, and after some inquiry, he had the answer in his heart, and said to Li Shutai with a fist: "My lord, if the humble position is not wrong, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang who captured Wenzhou is indeed Su Yan himself. ”

"Okay." Li Shutai nodded, hearing that this was indeed Su Yan himself, he was undoubtedly a little relieved in his heart.

"Okay, you go down first." Chen Tai saw that he had already asked all the questions, so he waved his hand and said to the scout and messenger that he was the second eldest in the army, and his words naturally had an effect, and the two got up and left.

After the two left, Chen Tai looked at Li Shutai, his expression was very serious, and he said in a deep voice: "My lord, Pingyang County was occupied by the Ming army, and our army's retreat was cut off. ”

"Of course I know." Li Shutai nodded and said: "It's just that this Su Yan is inevitably a little too bold, just two thousand soldiers and horses, dare to land in Wenzhou and cut off the retreat of our army, isn't he afraid of being surrounded and suppressed by our army's heavy troops and dying in Zhejiang first?" ”

"I don't think it's that simple." Chen Tai was still very serious, he said: "Since this Su Yan dares to only lead two thousand soldiers and horses to appear behind our army, then he will inevitably have something to rely on, the so-called gentleman does not stand under the dangerous wall, since he was falsely registered as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, he naturally understands this truth."

Besides, as the messenger said just now, the soldiers under Su Yan's command are all equipped with firearms, and I think there must be something wrong with this. ”

After he finished speaking, he looked at Na Ma Degong again and asked, "Mr. Ma, you have fought with Na Su Yan, do you know the reason?" ”

There were no soldiers equipped with flintlock muskets in the Fenshui Pass they were besieging these days, and the Ming troops they fought against were also equipped with bird guns and bows and arrows, so the two of them had only heard of the sharp firearms of the soldiers and horses under Su Yan's command, but they had not really seen it.

Seeing Chen Tai's question, Ma Degong didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly replied: "Back to the general's words, his subordinates have fought with Na Su Yan, and his infantry soldiers are indeed equipped with an extremely sharp firearm, which can penetrate armor within two hundred steps, and his subordinates have also reported to Emperor Chengzong (Dolgon) before. ”

"A weapon that can pierce armor in two hundred steps." Chen Tai and Li Shutai looked at each other again, and the latter said in shock: "If the two thousand soldiers and horses under his command are equipped with such firearms, then it is no wonder that Su Yan would be so bold and reckless. ”

However, Chen Tai quickly recovered his expression after being surprised, and he accurately picked out the Achilles heel of Su Yan's soldiers and horses, and said: "If Su Yan fights with our army in the field, the two thousand soldiers and horses under his command do not need to worry at all, although the firearms are advantageous, but the loading time is long after the shot, our army launched an attack with cavalry, and it is completely able to rush to the front of their formation before the Ming army loads the firearms, and after that, it is a one-sided slaughter." ”

Li Shutai was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then thought: "It makes sense, but Su Yan is entrenched in Pingyang County, and the cavalry can't play a role in defending the city." ”

"Then let's attack Pingyang County." Chen Tai said: "Su Yan's soldiers and horses are sharp in firearms, and the melee combat is definitely not good, our army only needs to build shield vehicles and other instruments that can defend against firearms and projectiles when besieging the city, and then storm the city wall, as long as the city gate is broken, our army will enter the city and fight with the Ming army in the streets, firearms can not exert their power in the city, and the Ming army will be defeated!" ”

The more Chen Tai spoke, the more excited he became, and said: "Moreover, Su Yan is surrounded by Pingyang, and the Ming army in Fenshui Pass will definitely not sit idly by, we can release a little news to attract the Ming army to come out of the pass to rescue, and set up an ambush on the way, so that the Ming army can be annihilated without much effort."

Even if the Ming army of Fenshui Pass is unmoved, as long as our army captures Su Yan's head, this is also a great achievement, and the power of the puppet Ming in Fujian depends on Su Yan's support, and once Su Yan dies, the day of Fujian pacification is not far away. ”

"Good!"

Li Shutai couldn't help but applaud when he heard this, and the other generals in the tent were also excited and applauded.

"What a clever plan!" After the applause, Li Shutai was already a little ruddy, and he said to Chen Tai with a smile, "Just act according to your strategy, if you really win the head of Su Yan, I will make it clear to the court, and the first credit will be credited to you!" ”

Chen Tai smiled slightly, just clasped his fists and saluted, but did not speak.

……

The next morning, Li Shutai ordered the whole army to move from the camp of Liuhe Palace to Pingyang County.

Because the Qing army did not deliberately cover up the news, the whole army basically knew the news of the fall of Wenzhou, Ruian, and Pingyang.

For this reason, various versions of rumors in the army spread directly, and some said that the king of Lu in Zhoushan had defeated Tian Xiong, the governor of Zhejiang, and had captured a large area of land north of Wenzhou.

Some say that the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang in the Southern Ming Dynasty united with the king of Lu to kill Tian Xiong, and had captured the city of Hangzhou, preparing to annihilate them all here.

In several versions of the rumor, Tian Xiong, the governor of Zhejiang, would be killed, and after it reached the ears of Li Shutai and several people, they couldn't help crying and laughing, wondering where Tian Xiong had offended them.

In any case, amid the spread of rumors, the news of the Qing army's march spread quickly.

。