This time he went north to aid Jinzhou City, Liu Yan brought more than a dozen self-made clairvoyant mirrors, which had been given to Hong Chengchou and the chief military officers of each town at this time, and even Ma Ke, Tang Tong, as well as Zhang Ruoqi and Ma Shaoyu of the prison army were also assigned one.

Everyone looked at the well-made clairtelescope in their hands, and they couldn't put it down, and they thanked Liu Yan one after another.

Ma Ke also smiled awkwardly and said: "Hehe, Mr. Liu is really bold, thank you, thank you!" ”

Then Liu Yan and everyone looked north with clairvoyant mirrors in their hands, looking at Rufeng Mountain and other places, everyone's faces were a little solemn.

I don't know what other people feel in their hearts, but Liu Yan has some sighs in his heart, since the wild boar Pinurhachi started, the Qing army marched and hunted in winter to erect fences and dig trenches in summer, and it can be said that they have great experience in digging trenches.

In this battle of Jinzhou, the Qing army brought their trench-digging skills to the extreme.

Although the new army in Qinglai Town did not receive information at night, Liu Yan was still impressed by the trenches dug by the Qing army with his own eyes.

At this time, the trench of the Qing army on Rufeng Mountain was very complicated, although everyone did not watch it in person, but at such a close distance, using a clairvoyant mirror to watch, you can also see eight or nine without leaving ten.

There are piles on the trenches of the Qing army, there are ropes on the piles, there are bells on the ropes, there are dogs on the side of the bells, and the defense lines are arranged very tightly, which is the typical vigilance method of the camp of the fishing and hunting people.

Hong Chengchou looked at it for a while, and then said to everyone: "Around our army camp, we must also seize the time to dig deep trenches and set up wooden fences to prevent the Qing army from attacking and harassing at night. ”

Everyone agreed.

On that day, there was a scout war between the two sides, and the scouts of the Ming army and the scouts of the Qing army continued to test and kill each other, and the two sides suffered casualties on each other, and no one took advantage.

The area between Songshan Fort and Rufeng Mountain is covered with war clouds, and the two mountains are full of banners, full of strong battlefield atmosphere.

Then night fell, the armies on both sides began to make fires to cook, in the major camps of the Ming army, bonfires were lit everywhere, people in the camps everywhere called horses neighing, and there were huge convoys, continuously from Xingshan and other places to Songshan to carry grain.

Liu Yan was a little agitated in his heart, this kind of battle of hundreds of thousands of horses on both sides, he had only seen it from history books before, and this was the first time he participated in it, and it would be a lie to say that he was not excited.

In the camp of the pro-guard battalion, Liu Yan watched the bustle and hustle and bustle of the soldiers in the camp while walking, and then with the sound of gold and blowing horns, firing cannons and drums, night patrols, night horns, lights, and light and shade were determined one by one, the pro-guard camp and the surrounding battalions gradually quieted down, and only the sound of drums kept coming.

In the end, the hanging lights of the battalions of the new army were lit up one by one, and there were dots of lights in the camps of both the Ming and Qing dynasties. As the sky gets darker, the more you feel the lights are bright, from the surroundings of Songshan Fort to Rufeng Mountain, a sea of lights is formed, which is very spectacular.

Liu Yan put on his helmet and armor, quietly watching all this, frowning slightly, thinking about how this battle would develop and how the soldiers of the new army would respond.

Behind Liu Yan, Wang Yue, Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Shen Tuo, Miao Shao, Xu Ming and several other commanders and guerrilla generals, Qian Zhang, the commander of the artillery battalion, Xun Jingyun, the commander of the town, Bao Xuezhen, the head of the medical department, Wu Guojin, the director of the intelligence department, and Wang Yang, the director of the intelligence department, all stood behind Liu Yan.

At this moment, a staff general of the Chinese army came on horseback and specially passed the military order to Liu Yan, ordering Liu Yan to immediately go to the Chinese army camp to participate in the military meeting.

"It's so late, and you still need a military discussion?"

Liu Yan frowned slightly, and instructed everyone to go back to the camp to supervise the army and strengthen their vigilance, while he went to the Chinese army camp with a flag guard.

Liu Yan's camp was three miles north of Songshan Fort, and the camps of Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong Town, and Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of Xuanfu Town, were on the left and right flanks of the new army in Qinglai Town, and the three armies were very close to each other.

It didn't take long for Liu Yan to arrive at Songshan Fort, where Hong Chengchou's Supervisory Battalion was stationed, and the Chinese army was also located in the official hall in the fort.

Songshan was originally just a post station, but since the rise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Songshan post station has been repeatedly expanded, forming the scale of the fortress it is today.

At this time, the Songshan guards included Xia Chengde, the deputy general of Songshan, Liu Zhengjie, the general of the Songshan tour camp, Fan Chenggong, the general of the Songshan camp, Shang Yudi, the city guard, Ge Chaozhong, the guerrilla Ge Chaozhong, the Ningqian Dao soldiers, and Zhu Tingdi, the commander of the Jinyou Grain Commandery.

When Liu Yan arrived at the south gate of Songshan Fort, he happened to meet Wang Pu, Yang Guozhu, and Wu Sangui.

Liu Yan used the torches on both sides of the street to observe the situation in the fort. Matsuyama Fort was built on low-lying ground, and the nights were relatively cool at this time. Songshan Fort has barracks, granaries, forage yards, arsenals, horse farms and other facilities, and a lot of artillery is deployed on the city.

Hong Chengchou's governor Xingyuan was in the former military garrison mansion, near the east of the city, and everyone rode into the mansion quickly.

Liu Yan and the others dismounted and entered, only to see that the Xingyuan hall was wide, and as soon as they entered the ground paved with bluestone slabs, a burst of coolness greeted them, which lifted everyone's spirits. There are chairs on both sides of the top and bottom, and there are several screens behind it, and the guards of Hong Chengchou's standard camp lead everyone to sit down one by one.

In addition to Liu Yan and a few others, Bai Guangen, the chief soldier of Jizhen Town, Li Fuming, the chief soldier of Shanxi Town, Zuo Guangxian, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, Ma Ke, the chief soldier of Miyun, Tang Tong and others also arrived one after another.

In the lobby, Liu Yan still sat first on the right, and then Yang Guozhu, Bai Guangen, Li Fuming and others were seated one by one. Hong Chengchou was also already sitting at the top, and the supervising army Ma Shaoyu and the supervising army Zhang Ruoqi were sitting on both sides, and everyone was already seated.

In addition, Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, and many civilian officials such as military equipment, general judgment, and Tongzhi, also sat down, but everyone was sitting behind the chief military officers, after all, this military discussion was still dominated by the general soldiers.

At this time, Liu Yan saw that Hong Chengchou was in good spirits, his elegant face was full of smiles, and he also greeted the generals from time to time, ordered to distribute pu fans to the general soldiers and civilian officials, and brought out chilled melons and fruits.

Liu Yan also picked up a piece of cold melon and ate it, and said secretly in his heart: "It seems that the war is going well, Hong Chengchou is in a good mood, I don't know how Hong Chengchou is going to march next." ”

Liu Yan ate quite reservedly, and then looked at the rest of the chief officers, at this time, their faces were already full of juice, Bai Guangen, Li Fuming, and Zuo Guangxian even ate the skin cleanly, which made Liu Yan stunned, how many of you are also chief officers, why don't you seem to have eaten before?

After everyone ate for a while, they wiped their hands with satisfaction, and Hong Chengchou's expression became serious, and he was ready to start the discussion.

"Today, you have all seen the situation of Rufeng Mountain, the slaves are learning from each other, and they have built a large number of fortifications on Rufeng Mountain, just to use this to consume the strength of our army, and this governor has decided not to be led by the nose by the slave thief."

At this time, the various units of the Ming army did not collect casualties at night, and constantly explored the fortifications arranged by the Qing army in various parts of Rufeng Mountain. Although the Qing army's sentry cavalry was very effective in blocking it, most of the battalions of the new army in Qinglai Town were equipped with clairvoyant scopes, which could observe the situation on the mountain from a close distance.

Liu Yan also ordered the battalions not to report to him at night, and at the same time, he also copied Hong Chengchou to know.

At this time, Hong Chengchou had already ordered his staff to sort out these situations, and reported them to the chief military officers and others in the military discussion.

According to the detailed investigation of the new army in Qinglai Town, the layout of the Qing army's earthen walls and ditches was mainly concentrated in Rufeng Mountain and Loess Ridge, and most of them were of the two-ditch and three-wall type, which were arranged layer by layer according to each mountain range.

The trenches dug by the Qing army are very similar to the defense line designed by Liu Yan, and there are trap spikes inside, which shows that the Qing army's learning ability is still very strong.

However, the earthen or stone walls built by the Qing army were also different, not the kind of low walls that Liu Yan designed the defense line, but a small wall similar to the walled wall, about one zhang high. The mountains are gentle everywhere, the walled wall is high, like the city wall, people can climb the walled wall to fight, and there are many walled gates. The wall of the fortress is slightly shorter, to the chest of people, and the defenders are mainly patrolling.

This kind of walled wall is regarded as the main wall, and in front of the main wall, there is a deep trench dug, so that the walled wall is actually about more than one zhang to more than two zhang high.

In front of this walled ditch, two smaller trenches were dug at intervals. These two ditches were slightly shallow, about eight feet deep, and were either backed by low walls, or with horses and stakes on the sides. On top of the wooden stake, a rope is tied, and a bell is hung on the rope, and a large dog is arranged next to the bell to prevent someone from sneaking into the trench at night.

Rufeng Mountain and Loess Ridge are composed of many large and small mountain ranges, and along each mountain range, the Qing army has built earthen walls and ditches. In this way, the Qing army relied on the defense line to fortify layer by layer, that is, to capture a mountain range, but also to face another mountain range, the Ming army units to approach to the main peak, I don't know how hard to fight, I don't know how many soldiers to lose.

According to the investigation of the new army in Qinglai Town and the rest of the Ming army, the Qing army also arranged similar defense lines in many places, such as Songshan Ridge, Maojialing and other places, and almost blocked all the roads leading to Jinzhou by the Ming army.

At this time, everyone is frowning, the situation is like this, it seems that if you want to relieve the siege of Jinzhou, you must attack the mountain, and now the question is, is it to attack Rufeng Mountain or Loess Ridge first?

The differences of opinion here are represented by Liu Yan, the chief soldier of Qinglai Town, and Wu Sangui, the chief soldier of Ningyuan.

Wu Sangui believes that now that Jinzhou is in danger, the army should naturally give priority to attacking Rufeng Mountain and open the main road into Jinzhou as soon as possible, so as not to have many dreams at night.

Subsequently, Bai Guangen, the chief soldier of Jizhen Town, Ma Ke, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan Town, Tang Tong, the chief soldier of Miyun Town, as well as Zu Dale, Xia Chengde, the deputy general of Songshan, and Liu Zhengjie, the general of Youying, supported the generals of the Liaodong faction, after all, everyone was more or less related to the Wu family and the ancestral family, and naturally hoped to rescue Jinzhou City first.

Liu Yan immediately objected to this, Liu Yan believed that the Qing army was heavily arranged in Rufeng Mountain, and Liu Yan believed that the Qing army wanted to follow its own actions in Julu and Jinan, and consume the strength of the Ming army with the help of the mountain defense line, and the Ming army must not let the Qing army's treacherous plan succeed.

Liu Yan believes that as far as the current situation is concerned, it is unlikely that the Qing army will capture Jinzhou in a short period of time, and even if the Ming army lifts the siege, there is no need to rush for a while.

The top priority now is to first clear the threats on the periphery of Songshan, such as the Loess Ridge in the east and the Songshan Ridge in the southeast. As long as the Ming army swept away the Qing soldiers and horses in these two places, and could solve the worries of Songshan, they could force to Xiaolinghe, occupy Xiaolinghe Fort, and attack the east of Jinzhou along the river.

Hong Chengchou looked at the two arguing, and frowned slightly, and he was a little undecided for a while.

Some people died, but not completely......