The Ming army forward crossed the river first under the leadership of Chen Shenggui, and confronted the Zhumala Department of Mele Zhangjing at the foot of the Dongjiang Mountain, and the Zhumala did not have the intention of fighting with the Ming army, he knew that the Ming army was ready to meet the enemy as soon as he crossed the river, and saw that more and more Ming troops crossed the river, and it was getting late at this time, so he retreated several miles.

Chen Shenggui looked at the movements of the Qing army suspiciously, and did not understand what the purpose of the Qing army was for a while, and after determining that the Qing army really retreated, he ordered the soldiers to cut down trees, set up camp in Jiangbei, and wait for the arrival of Su Dingyuan's main force.

More than half an hour later, Su Dingyuan led the main force to the south bank of the Ao River, led the army across the river, and joined the forward.

After the convergence, Chen Shenggui told Su Dingyuan about the strange behavior of the Qing army, Su Dingyuan was also puzzled, Chen Shenggui went on to report: "The Qing army has sent scouts to investigate, and the Qing army is stationed in Qiancang Mountain, which is only a few miles away from here, judging from the number of banners and camp tents, there are at least 5,000 troops, and the leader is Mele Zhangjing Zhumala, and the Qing army is likely to want to use these 5,000 men and horses to block our reinforcements, and they cannot rush to Pingyang County." ”

"Since it's to block the reinforcements, why do you deliberately give up and let you lead the army across the river? Then Jumala could have defended the river and kept us on the other side. Su Dingyuan questioned.

"It's incomprehensible, it's really puzzling." Chen Shenggui is also at a loss.

"Since this is the case, then we can only take one step at a time, and see the move."

After Su Dingyuan finished speaking, he looked up in the direction of Pingyang County, his tone was sad, and he muttered to himself: "I don't know what the situation is on the Inspector's side, even if the Qing army also divides its troops to fight, but the strength of the attack on the county is still far more than the Shenji Battalion, which is really worrying." ”

At the same time, on the head of Pingyang County, which Su Dingyuan was concerned about, Su Yan looked at the Qing army camp that stretched for miles outside the city, as well as the banner of "Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang" hanging high in the camp, and his brows were also tightened.

After the Qing army arrived outside the city of Pingyang yesterday, it cut down trees overnight and built a siege camp, and a large number of soldiers and horses joined in the middle, and the Ming army in the city could only see a large number of torches and figures shaking, and did not know the specific number of the enemy at all, and by the day of the next day, there had been a military camp outside the city that stretched for several miles, and countless white tents were spread all over the open space outside the county seat, and they were lined up to the mouth of the Jiuhuang Valley.

According to the battle flags fluttering above the camp, there were at least 20,000 Qing troops stationed in this camp, which just matched the approximate number of soldiers and horses who followed Li Shuotai to the south, but the more Su Yan looked at that camp, the more he felt that there was something strange that could not be explained.

After looking at the city for a long time, Su Yan finally discovered a problem.

Although this large camp seems to cover a wide area and can accommodate 20,000 Qing troops, it has one thing that is very abnormal - it is not popular enough, and there are not many people in the camp tent area far away from the city wall during the day, even if it is a meal, the Qing army who goes out to eat does not have that lively atmosphere, it seems that the closer to the city wall, the more popular it is.

This made Su Yan quickly make up a lot of possibilities, but these results were ruled out by him one by one, and in the end only one conjecture closest to reality was left - the Qing army divided its troops to fight, one way to besiege the county town with the imperial flag, and the other way was to station troops on the road to Pingyang County to intercept the Ming army from the source.

Su Yan was very sure that Su Dingyuan would lead the army to rescue, because this was the plan they had made before the war, once the Qing army went north, Su Dingyuan would immediately lead the army out of the pass to pursue the Qing army, and now the Qing army turned to besiege Pingyang County, Su Dingyuan's Ming army must be on the way to come.

He was not worried that Su Dingyuan would be defeated, with the at least 15,000 soldiers under his command who had received the blessing of the system, and whose fighting will and collapse threshold were a few streets away from the Qing army, even if they were replaced by a pig, it was impossible to lose in the face of an enemy army with the same strength, even if it was doubled.

Su Yan's only worry is that he can't get in touch with Su Dingyuan, knowing what his current situation is, the unknown has always been the most important factor that constitutes fear, and Su Yan is naturally no exception.

……

The next day, Su Dingyuan did not divide his troops with Chen Shenggui again, but joined his troops, and after breakfast, he drove to Qiancang Mountain, the garrison of the Qing army's Meile Zhangjing Zhumala Division.

At the foot of Qiancang Mountain, a large number of white camp tents were already set up at this time, and the banners of Mele Zhangjing Zhumala were hung high in the camp, and the soldiers of the Qing army gathered together in twos and threes, and gathered around the bonfire to share rice porridge.

Sitting in his main tent, Jumala frowned slightly at the herald kneeling in front of him, and asked, "Where are the Governor's soldiers and horses now?" The Ming army was strong, and the spies came to report that there were at least 15,000 soldiers and horses, and our army only had 5,000 troops, which could only block the Ming army for more than two hours at most. ”

In Zhejiang and the Lu Jianguo forces for many years, Zhu Mala is very clear about the combat effectiveness of the Zhejiang Green Battalion, and it is still necessary to count the 2,000 Manchurian White Flag Army under his command to block the Ming Army for more than two hours.

"General, don't worry." The herald clasped his fists and said: "Your Excellency the Governor said that he has gathered troops and horses at Longshantou, as long as you fight with the Ming army, the army will immediately set off and attack the flank of the Ming army from the north and south. ”

"Can General Jingnan be involved?" Jumala asked, with a hint of anticipation.

"Not really. The herald shook his head, and Jumala couldn't help but be a little disappointed when he saw this, but he continued: "However, General Jingnan has already taken advantage of the night to transfer the 808 Banner Army south to join the Governor. ”

Hearing that Chen Tai transferred the 808 Banners to the south, Zhu Mala's heart settled down a little, and the Eight Banners of Manchuria were also divided into 369 and so on, the status of the two yellow flags was undoubtedly the highest, and the status of the blue flag was the lowest, especially XHQ was led by the emperor himself, and the combat effectiveness of the flag army to which he belonged should not be underestimated.

At this moment, a spy quickly broke in from outside the tent, he knelt down beside the herald, clenched his fists and said: "General, the Ming army has opened and is moving in the direction of Qiancang Mountain!" ”

"The Ming army is coming!" Jumala also stood up from his main seat, he looked at the herald, and ordered: "You shall immediately return to the Governor on a fast horse, and report to him the news of the advance of the Ming army." ”

"Obedience." The herald promised that he was a slave of Li Shutai, so there was no need to call him a slave to Jumala.

After the herald left, Jumala immediately ordered the whole army to change into armor and weapons, and line up with their backs to the camp.

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