In July of the second year of Wu'an, while Li Dingguo was in Annan, the Xia army also began to plan a new round of operations against the Qing Dynasty.

The Third Town, which had been withdrawn from the front line, had completed its refitting and was stationed in the northern camp of Chengbei in Jiangning, waiting for the next battle plan.

At this time, the Xia army's troops were still blocked outside the Shanhai Pass, which deserved to be the first pass in the world, even with the assistance of a large number of siege equipment, the Xia army was still unable to overcome the pass.

The general of the Qing army guarding the mountain customs is General Zhenhai, Gushan Ezhen Shi Tingzhu, this person has been following the Qing army to fight in the south and north since the surrender of the Qing court, and his family is Manchurian, and later moved to Liaodong to change the Han surname, with this identity to win the trust of the imperial court.

After a series of events such as Wu Sangui's betrayal, after withdrawing from Guanwai, the Qing court's hostility towards the Han people became more and more intense, and the important positions in the army were held by the Manchus, and the situation of the Han ministers in the court became more and more worrisome.

It is no exaggeration to say that the atmosphere of racial discrimination in the Qing court is now even more serious than that of Chongde before the entry of the customs.

Even the position of the Han Chen began to waver, not to mention the Han people at the bottom, who were repeatedly oppressed, and almost every day Han people fled, but they were soon arrested and severely punished.

In this case, the Han people's longing for the Southern Dynasty is getting stronger and stronger.

Although Su Yan did not know all this, he would definitely not let the Han compatriots in the north continue to be oppressed, since the front-line soldiers and horses were unable to conquer Shanhaiguan, then he simply bypassed the pass and landed in the rear of the Qing court.

After the Qing court lost the provinces in Guannei, its naval division formed by capture also collapsed, and in the vast Bohai Sea, the warships of the Xia army could be unscrupulous and invincible.

At a meeting of the Governor's Office and the Naval Governor's Office, Su Yan proposed his plan, that the landing operation would be carried out by the Third Town, that they would need to board ships in Dengzhoufu, Shandong, and then cross the Bohai Sea under the cover of the Second Fleet (a new fleet of warships recruited in Shandong) and land at Jinshanwei in eastern Liaodong.

Jinzhouwei, later known as Dalian, had a winding coastline and many natural harbors, but perhaps because it was across the sea from Shandong, or because it was relatively remote, the Qing court did not pay attention to the construction here.

By capturing Jinzhouwei, the Xia army was able to gain a foothold on the Liaodong Peninsula and use the natural harbor to build a port, allowing the navy to continuously transport a large number of ordnance supplies and troops from Shandong.

Everyone attending the meeting was an experienced general, and after listening to Su Yan's plan, they all understood the benefits of landing in Golden State, and they all agreed.

Everyone had no objections, and this battle plan was established, but the plan proposed by Su Yan was only a rough outline, and the content and details of the actual implementation needed to be jointly discussed by the Governor's Office and the Naval Governor's Office.

……

The efficiency of the joint negotiation between the two departments was not slow, and a few days later, Su Dingyuan reported to Su Yan the results of their consultation.

The sea-crossing landing will put more than 11,000 people into the third town, the third town is composed of the Qinglong Right Brigade and the Xuanwu Left Brigade, both brigades are all equipped with Type 2 rifles, there is no cavalry directly under them, attached to all kinds of artillery hundreds of guns, these artillery pieces are basically captured from the Qin army and the Zhou army in addition to the system artillery.

It is no exaggeration to say that the firepower of the Third Town is unmatched by no army in this world.

In addition to those artillery, Su Yan also prepared to transfer four teams of Pakel machine guns from Su Ci's hands and merge them into the third town, he had handed over the Pakel machine guns to Zhang Huangyan, and let him carry the Northern Expedition just to test the power of the machine guns.

But who would have thought that the army led by Zhang Huangyan was like a bamboo, and Wu Sangui had no intention of fighting him at all, and then they all attacked all the way, so the Pakel machine gun was useless.

Rather than continue to stay under Su Ci and eat ashes, it is better to transfer it to the third town and let the third town take it to Liaodong to test this new weapon.

To get back to the point, when the third town crossed the sea and landed, it consisted of five fifth-class ships, five

The Second Fleet, composed of fourth-class ships and three mortar gunboats, will be responsible for escorting the whole process, and they will not return to Hong Kong immediately after the escort army lands, but will cruise along the coast of Liaodong, launch artillery bombardments on the Qing army cities along the coast of Liaodong, and strongly announce the arrival of the Xia army to the Han people in Liaodong.

In terms of the selection of commanders for this operation, the naval army is undoubtedly the admiral of the Second Fleet, Liu Chengdong, who is the most capable person automatically selected by the system among the thirteen warships of the Second Fleet.

There is no dispute about the commander of the navy, and on the army side, because there is no suitable candidate, Su Yan can only let Su Dingyuan, who has not been resting for a few months, go into battle again and let him coordinate the overall situation, but Su Yan also has plans to train new people, and he ordered Zhao Liangdong, who controls the left and right guards of the crane, and Wang Jinbao to accompany him to participate in the expedition.

Zhao Liangdong and Wang Jinbao have just arrived, and they have not yet shown their ability, even if Su Yan knows the ability they have shown in history, he can't hand over the troops of a town to them so hastily, and this crossing the sea and landing in Liaodong is an opportunity for them to perform.

In addition to sending Zhao Liangdong and Wang Jinbao out together, Su Yan did not forget his loyal Chinese army general Ma Xin, although Ma Xin was named Chongxin Bo after Su Yan ascended the throne, but he never had the opportunity to go to the battlefield, and he was depressed all day long, so Su Yan gave him this opportunity, as he wanted.

After Su Yan was finalized, a few days later, the imperial court issued a decree for the expedition to Liaodong - Su Dingyuan was awarded the post of governor of Liaodong, the prime minister of Liaodong affairs, Zhao Liangdong, the commander of the left guard of the crane, Wang Jinbao, and the commander of the right guard of the crane, and Chongxin Boma Xin were awarded the post of deputy general, and accompanied Su Dingyuan, the governor of Liaodong.

After the list of expeditions was announced, Shandong began to collect boats and ships, and they were anchored in Dengzhou, Shandong, and the grain, grass, and baggage were also transported to Dengzhou, and the first to load the ships, and the four teams of Parker machine guns in the first town were also ordered to go south and wait in Dengzhou to join the third town.

When Su Dingyuan set out on the expedition, Su Yan personally went to see him off, he personally picked up a bottle of sake and handed it to Su Dingyuan, and said to Su Dingyuan: "Liaodong has been occupied by the Tatars for many years, and it is dangerous to go deep behind the enemy.

"The minister respectfully obeys His Majesty's teachings, does not return to Liaodong, and vows not to quit!"

Su Dingyuan said solemnly, then drank the sake in his hand, then took off his robe, turned around and walked to the mount.

……

After the Xia army set out, all the way along the Grand Canal north to Shandong, until the middle of September did not arrive in Dengzhou, and when the Xia army arrived, the warehouse of Dengzhou City had already been piled up with grain, grass and baggage, and the Dengzhou prefect was organizing people to carry the baggage onto the ship.

The army did not waste much time in Dengzhou, and immediately boarded the ship in an orderly manner under the order of Su Dingyuan, most of the boats here were requisitioned merchant ships, and the cabin used to store goods was crowded with soldiers who boarded the ship, they held their rifles tightly, sat in their own one-third of an acre, endured the stuffiness in the cabin and the smell of various smells, and waited for the ship.

Compared with ordinary soldiers, Su Dingyuan's living conditions are almost heaven and earth, they all have their own independent rooms, and they can also accept the thoughtful service of their own soldiers, and the fresh vegetables, meat and water stored on the ship are also the first to be supplied to them.

In contrast, the food of the soldiers in the cabin was not very good, and the conditions on the sea were even worse than on land, but fortunately, the sea distance from Dengzhou to Jinzhou was not too far, and if the journey took a month or two or more, they could only drink moldy and spoiled water in the back.

From Dengzhou to Jinzhou, it took only two days for the Xia army to cross the Bohai Sea and appear outside the waters of the Liaodong Peninsula.

Although they retreated to the outside of the pass, the Qing army's sailors still kept a small number of warships to guard against the Xia army's sailors on the Bohai Sea, and warned the shore in advance, but this was actually useless, because the Xia army was fierce, even if they warned in advance, it would not have any effect.

And that's exactly what happened.

When the Xia Army Sailor appeared on the sea level and was discovered by the Qing Army Sailor who patrolled daily, the latter immediately turned around and returned to the shore to warn the Jinzhou Acropolis that they did not have the courage to intercept the Xia Army Sailor at sea, to be precise, these Han sailors were unwilling to sacrifice their lives for the Qing court, so

They rightfully coaxed.

Soon, the direction of the Jinzhou Acropolis began to beat gongs and drums, lit the warning wolf smoke, more than 100 Qing soldiers stationed here began to gather in a hurry, and the Xia army on the sea also saw the gradually rising wolf smoke, but they did not take it to heart, the leading flagship played the banner of preparing for war, and the sailors of the ships were busy, lifting the gun jackets and loading ammunition for the artillery.

On the Acropolis of Jinzhou, the Qing army stationed here looked at the Xia warships that were gradually approaching on the sea level, and the warships that were taller than any active warships of the Qing Army's naval division made him feel a strong sense of oppression.

The sound of gongs in the Acropolis shook the sky, and the people living outside the city fled into the Acropolis with their families, whether they were Manchus or Han Chinese, they were afraid that they would be affected by the war, and no Han people would naively think that the sword would hide from them because of their blood.

Under the nervous gaze of the Qing soldiers, the Xia army's naval division gradually approached the shore, just when the Qing soldiers were speculating about how the Xia army was going to land, three of the warships suddenly opened fire, only to hear three dull rumbling cannon sounds, gunpowder smoke filled, three cannonballs rose into the air, flying into the sky at an incredible angle, dozens of seconds later, the cannonballs fell to the city with a sharp sound of breaking the air, and exploded first when they were about to land.

Although only one of the three shells fell into the city, the shrapnel that flew after its explosion still killed and injured many soldiers and civilians, and this was the first time that the Qing army encountered such a strange shell, and they were all pale and frightened.