Although the Qing army abandoned by Nikan, Kong Youde, and Geng Zhongming on the south bank of the Huai River also had many elites, but because of their morale and no fighting, Zhou Shixian did not accept their surrender at first, and after the soldiers of each battalion were on a round and their hands were stained with blood, in order to avoid the Qing army's green battalion soldiers and feudal soldiers from resisting to the death in the future, the Ming army stopped the attack, and captured nearly a thousand Qing troops.

However, after evacuating Fengyang, the more than 2,000 elites led by Nikan, Kong Youde, and Geng Zhongming did not encounter any strong resistance.

They galloped all the way and defeated thousands of Ma Shiying's ambush troops near Shouzhou, but because they could not find enough boats, they had to continue westward.

After all, during this period of time, the Qing army has basically figured out the chief officers of the Ming army in the cities on the south bank of the Huai River through the reconnaissance of the sentinel cavalry, and Nikan knows that Liu Liangzuo is near Huoqiu, and he doesn't take the other party in his eyes at all, especially when he has just defeated Ma Shiying's ambush soldiers and horses.

Poor Ma Shiying originally thought that he could fight an ambush and annihilate these Qing troops in one fell swoop, and since then he has raised his eyebrows in front of the horse master. Unexpectedly, the situation was not right from the beginning, and he was directly killed by Nikan.

Well, that's right, 4,000 soldiers and horses were ambushed, and they were actually discovered in advance by 2,000 Qing troops, and then they were defeated in one fell swoop, killing and wounding nearly 1,000 people and horses. If it weren't for the Qing army's unwillingness to fight, I'm afraid the final casualties would be more than that.

If it weren't for Ma Shiying's ability to keep a back hand, run faster, and take back the boats near Shouzhou in advance, I'm afraid that this crime of defeating the army and letting go of the Qing army's rout, Ma Shiying would have to catch it all.

Under the combined punishment of the two crimes, not to mention whether you can keep your official position, it is a big question whether this life can be saved. Zhou Shixian is not a good person.

On the other hand, Liu Liangzuo was unprepared at all, and even in the face of the last covering troops of the Qing army, he did not dare to attack, let alone take back the fishing boats and merchant ships on the Huai River in time, and finally the Qing army successfully crossed north within his defense area.

These were naturally expected by Zhou Shixian, after all, he did not set up an ambush in advance to cut off the Qing army's surprise attack, but only sent Zhang Hong to pursue, in order to take the opportunity to pull out one of the two unstable factors of Liu Liangzuo or Liu Zeqing.

It can only be said that Liu Liangzuo's luck was not good, and Nikan ran to the west. Moreover, this guy's performance is too incompetent, although Ma Shiying suffered a defeat and suffered heavy casualties, he still dared to fight with the Qing army. But Liu Liangzuo didn't dare to move at all.

God knows, when Ma Shiying knew the news, how excited he was, originally he thought that he was going to be punished a lot, but compared with Liu Liangzuo, he Ma Shiying is simply the conscience of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhou Shixiang heard the news of the fiasco of the two generals in the west, and immediately punished him. This kind of thing must be decided immediately, and there is no room for reversal, otherwise it will be a fatal blow to Zhou Shixian's reputation and prestige. And if it is used well, the legal principle will be determined, and it will greatly improve morale and military discipline.

With the aftermath of the new army's victory, Zhang Hong directly led his troops into Huoqiu City, and caught Liu Liangzuo off guard, this army could even defeat the Manchu Tartars, and he was ordered by Zhou Shixian, his waste army, who dared to object?

After all, under the propaganda of Zhou Shixian's acquiescence, in the battle on the south bank of the Huai River, the Ming Dynasty defeated 30,000 Manchu Tartars, killed more than 10,000 Eight Banner soldiers, and nearly 20,000 Green Battalion soldiers, which can be described as a complete victory, while his own side was only killed and wounded more than 1,000.

Political propaganda and public opinion propaganda play a huge role in many cases. This highland, if Zhou Shixian does not occupy it, the Manchu Qing Dynasty will occupy it, and the so-called "Jurchen Manchu is invincible" is not the political propaganda of hundreds of years ago? It's still playing a role today.

As for Liu Liangzuo's final punishment, Zhou Shixian did not make a decision in vain, this hot potato, he planned to throw it to Emperor Chongzhen. After all, at the moment of the great enemy, unless it is a mortal crime, he should not casually kill the generals of an army.

Otherwise, what would Gao Jie think? What will Liu Zeqing think, and even Huang Degong, what will he think? What is the attitude of those soldiers and generals under them? Will someone have a different heart and want to vote for it?

Political issues are never simple, and political issues on the battlefield are even more complicated and difficult to decide. Zhou Shixian is still unable to win on his own, so he must also make appropriate compromises.

However, compromise is a compromise, and Zhou Shixian will not be less than the actions that should be taken.

The Huoqiu area where Liu Liangzuo was stationed was soon taken over by Gao Jie, part of the soldiers and horses were returned to Gao Jie, some were added to Ma Shiying's army, and some were held in the hands of Zhou Shixian himself, especially the elite family under Liu Liangzuo.

And Ma Shiying is really a transparent person, Zhou Shixian did not punish him too heavily, on the surface, he naturally removed some false posts and served the public, in fact, Ma Shiying's position in the Huaihe defense line was not affected at all, and the lost soldiers and horses were supplemented.

After clarifying the main movement of the Qing army, Huang Degong's troops and horses also immediately went north, filling the problem of the emptiness of the defensive force after Gao Jie's western transfer and the loss of the new army. Huang Degong's soldiers and horses were promoted by Zhou Shixian with great effort, and the other party was also very cooperative, and now he has nearly 6,000 capable armor soldiers under his command.

As for Zheng Chenggong, after making such a great achievement, he also successfully took over the defense of the section west of Xuyi on the Huai River, and to the east of Xuyi, it continued to be the responsibility of the water battalion under Liu Tao.

Everything seems to have been arranged in advance, and every step is interlocking, which makes Liu Zeqing, who has always been unpopular, but does not dare to have any dissenting intentions, become more cautious, he is very worried in his heart, once he makes a mistake, the consequences will be the same as Liu Liangzuo.

Of course, if he wants to rebel or surrender, he doesn't dare even more, even if he is the same as Liu Liangzuo, he doesn't have to die, if he dares to rebel or surrender, I'm afraid that even if the king of heaven and Laozi comes, he won't be able to save him.

It can only be said that on the battlefield, only those who win the battle can have supreme authority and deterrence. Since the Qing army has won a small victory over the new army trained by Zhou Shixian, the Ming army on the entire Huai River line no longer has anyone watching left and right, thinking of surrendering to the Qing Dynasty.

In particular, Zhou Shixian's methods of co-opting and suppressing these generals, the deployment of the entire battlefield, and the constraints between various departments all made these people dare not act rashly at all.

Moreover, under such a clear situation of rewards and punishments, and sufficient money and food, the officers and men of the whole army were convinced, and what they did was even more blameless. It's another thing for someone to have a different mind, and seeing such a situation, whether they dare to act or not is another matter.

This is the heart of the army, the hearts of the people, most of these people who were originally cast in history are soft bones, and no one dares to go against the trend under Zhou Shixian's nose!