April 20, Shanhaiguan.

At dawn, when the first rays of sunlight shone on the majestic Guancheng, more than 400,000 officers and men from the First Army to the Ninth Army of the National Defense Army had already assembled and stood by in array in the south of Guancheng.

This time, Liu Yan took the Ninth Army as the rearguard, continued to garrison the Shanhaiguan defense line, and guarded against the money and grain of the East Road Army, and he and the prince Zhu Cihong led the First Army of the National Defense Army to the Eighth Army to go north.

At this time, Liu Yan was already wearing armor, and the crown prince Zhu Cihong also changed into a fine armor, supplemented by a python robe on the inside, and a cloak on the outside, making this sixteen-year-old boy look heroic.

Zhu Cihong rode on a war horse, and the weight of the armor on his body made him a little uncomfortable, but looking at the boundless army soldiers around him, and looking at Liu Yan who was smiling beside him, Zhu Cihong insisted on straightening his waist and trying to maintain the demeanor of the prince of the Ming Dynasty.

"Please ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to patrol with this duke!"

Zhu Cihong nodded hurriedly, and then, accompanied by Liu Yan, the two led the commanders of the various armies to ride horses in front of the army.

Then Liu Yan roared angrily: "Get out!" ”

"Get out!"

"Get out!"

Immediately afterwards, more than 400,000 soldiers roared in unison, the roar of "out of the customs" spread several miles away, the Qing army scouts who were investigating intelligence outside the Shanhaiguan heard the sound, and suddenly retreated like a frightened bird, and then looked at the south in disbelief, and then they were dispersed by a large number of national defense forces who rushed out of Shanhaiguan all over the night, and the foreplay of the decisive battle between the Ming and the Manchu Qing Dynasty kicked off with the scout confrontation between the two sides!

It didn't take long for Liu Yan and Prince Zhu Cihong to lead the First Army of the National Defense Army to assemble the officers and soldiers of the Eighth Army, and Jia Hongyu, the chief officer of the Ninth Army of the National Defense Army, and Chen Mocheng, the deputy chief soldier, stood on the Guancheng, looking at the mighty army advancing northward, looking at Liu Yan's Chinese army, and the car of the crown prince Zhu Cihong, the two of them were surging in their hearts.

Suddenly, Jia Hongyu rushed to the side of the war drum, grabbed the heavy hammer in the drummer's hand, and beat the war drum with all his might, shouting loudly: "For the soldiers of the army, kill the Tartars!" ”

Chen Mocheng on the side was even stronger, jumped directly on the arrow, raised his hands and shouted loudly: "Kill!" ”

The officers and men of the Ninth Army of the Wehrmacht at the head of the city were also cheering, and the rumbling war drums sounded on the city, and the morale of the officers and men of the various armies who were leaving the customs was strong.

At the same time, outside the Longmen Pass, Li Dingguo also led the 11th Army of the National Defense Army to the 14th Army.

At this time, outside Longmen Pass, the army formation composed of 200,000 soldiers of the West Route Army spread almost the entire grassland, Li Dingguo's Chinese army accompanied the action of the 11th Army of the National Defense Army, and everywhere the army passed, there was the sound of war drums, and the officers and men of the army were full of energy, marching quickly, and had a strong army demeanor.

It's just that with the march of the army, dilapidated villages began to appear along the way, these are the villages of the Ming people not far from Guancheng, which were looted and burned by the Tartar soldiers in the disturbance of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the past.

At this time, Li Dingguo and Han Qin, the chief officer of the 11th Army of the National Defense Army, were frosty, and the two of them continued to receive news that they had never received anything from the night, and there was no longer any living mouth in the villages that the army passed along the way.

"The Tartar is already on the verge of death, and it is still so rampant!"

Han Qin said angrily: "No wonder this time the Pavilion Elder ordered that the armies of all walks of life should not be taken prisoner, and the Tartars should be exterminated. For these inhuman beasts, they must be exterminated! ”

Although Li Dingguo didn't say anything, the anger in his heart also reached its peak. As for the Manchu Tartars, Li Dingguo had not fought on the battlefield before, but in the Huangming Military Academy, he had learned the tactics used by the Qing army, as well as the organizational structure of the Qing army, the composition of the troops, and other common sense, and also learned the methods that could restrain the Qing army's tactics and arms.

And when it was time for the army to go out, Li Dingguo saw with his own eyes the blood debt owed by the Manchu Tartars, and at this time Li Dingguo had only one thought in his mind: to advance as soon as possible and kill the Qing army and Tartar tribes along the way!

"Order all the officers and men to speed up, and by noon tomorrow, we must arrive at Manset!"

"Order!"

The Western Route Army was different from the Eastern Route Army, and the main force of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was blocked outside the Shanhai Pass, so Liu Yan wanted to ensure the back road and leave a national defense army to garrison the Shanhai Pass.

According to the information provided by the Ministry of Military Intelligence, there was no large-scale clearing activity on the side of the Western Route Army, so Li Dingguo directly ordered to carry the money, food and materials needed by the army for three months, and the officers and men of each department rushed directly into the grassland in a group.

As for the follow-up money and food supplies, they will still be transported to Longmen Pass for hoarding, depending on the progress of the officers and men of the Western Route Army, or the transfer of troops from the front line, or the requisition of the garrison troops in the rear to escort them along the way.

In Li Dingguo's estimate, three months is enough time for the Western Route Army to fight from the grassland to Liaodong, and then it will be killing all the way and fighting to feed the war.

When Li Dingguo led the army to set off, Tianjin Wei Port, Zheng Zhilong also boarded the flagship of the Ming Beiyang Fleet.

This flagship is a new type of warship built in the style of a treasure ship, and it was built by the Lingshanwei Shipyard in a hurry day and night for more than two months. The whole battleship had four gun decks, and the bow and stern gun decks were as many as five and seven layers, and the whole ship was equipped with 76 guns, and the firepower was very strong.

It is a pity that this huge warship, which was designated as a special warship by the Admiralty, has only one in the Beiyang Fleet at present, and the rest of the warships are all modified No. 1 and No. 2 Fuku.

However, with the current strength of the Beiyang Fleet, it is enough to meet the needs of the Ming Dynasty, and at least a thousand improved warships are enough to establish the hegemony of the Ming Dynasty in the nearby waters.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong stood on the high platform at the stern of the flagship, which was named Huangming by Zheng Zhilong, and Zheng Chenggong and Shi Daxuan stood on the left and right sides of Zheng Zhilong respectively.

"Father, the soldiers of all departments are boarding the ship one after another, and the money, food, armament, horses and other materials are also being loaded, and in about an hour, we will be able to sail to sea."

On this expedition, the Admiralty alone mobilized tens of thousands of transport ships from the civilian sector, and almost all the civilian sea vessels in the eastern and southern parts of the Ming Dynasty were "looted" here.

Looking from the position occupied by Zheng Zhilong, the outside of the port was densely packed with ships that had already loaded troops and supplies, and were anchoring on the sea surface according to their respective formations.

Looking at the rows of ships and the neatly assembled battleships of the Beiyang Fleet, Zheng Zhilong laughed heartily and said to Shi Daxuan and Zheng Chenggong: "It's finally time to go to Liaodong, after this battle, we will all go down in history!" ”

Zheng Chenggong said excitedly: "Now that I think about it, I have only been in a few years since I had an army of thieves inside and a Manchu Qing Dynasty outside. ”

Shi Daxuan doesn't know much about politics, but he is also very clear about the situation in the world, and he can't help nodding in agreement at this time.

Zheng Zhilong sighed: "In fact, to achieve this, as long as there are two conditions: one is to have a strong army in hand, and the other is to be able to kill decisively!" ”

"In the past imperial court, Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, Sun Chengzong, and his father almost all met the first condition, why and in their hands, who does not have a strong army that can run rampant in the world?"

"It's just the second condition, but only Liu Ge Lao has it in the world."

"Think about it, suppressing the Donglin Party, rectifying the imperial court, encircling and suppressing the Jin merchants, implementing the new policy, and implementing military reform, which is not an earth-shattering event? It is difficult for ordinary people to do anything, but Liu Ge Lao relied on killing a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood to do everything!! ”

"It can be said that today's Daming turned the corner from danger to safety, and it was Liu Ge who saved Daming with the heads of the Donglin Party and those corrupt officials and moths!"

Zheng Chenggong nodded and said: "Yes, with such iron-fisted means, only Liu Ge is old." ”

The three of them sighed for a long time, and then there was a horn sound from the port in the distance, and Zheng Chenggong said happily: "Father, the army and supplies have all boarded the ship, and you can set sail!" ”

Zheng Zhilong was excited in his heart, and immediately shouted: "Send a signal, the Beiyang Fleet and all transport fleets will set sail in turn according to the predetermined strategy, reorganize the formation in the open sea, and advance to Fuzhou Wei!" ”

"Order!"

Immediately, Shi Daxuan excitedly stood in the position of the flag bearer, waving the signal flag vigorously, changing various gestures, which was also the flag language gesture promoted by the Admiralty in various fleets.

At the same time, during the period, the Huangming horn also sounded a trumpet, and the changes in various tones also conveyed different command meanings.

At this time, the sea route army relied on flags and horns to transmit information, and at the same time, small shuttle ships acted as scouts, transmitting specific orders between the fleets.

Soon, the huge fleet of the Sea Route Army slowly opened, set off from the port of Tianjin Wei, and headed for the open sea.

In the Qiantun Acropolis of Guangning, Dolgon looked at Prince Dai Shan, Prince Yi Babutai, Prince Su Lai Mubu, and Prince Zheng Fei Yangguo with a frosty face.

At this time, the news that more than 400,000 troops of the Ming army went north from Shanhaiguan has been transmitted here, according to the reports of the scouts of various departments, the Ming army has excellent armor, strong morale, and sufficient supplies, and has occupied the Balipu and Tiechang Fort north of Shanhaiguan, and the Ming army is marching in the city of Zhongqian in Guangning.

"Liu Yan's Daxu is in the army, and there is also the Ming prince's Long Xu, which shows that this road is the main force of the Ming army!"

Dolgon's voice sounded: "It's just that the Ming army led by Liu Yan is only more than 400,000, according to the intelligence, the Ming army has at least 800,000 troops this time, so where did the other half of the troops go??" ”

Although Dolgon formulated a strategy to annihilate the Ming army all the way first, but when it was time to start the war, Dolgon began to hesitate.

"The more than 400,000 Ming troops in front of you will definitely not be able to take it in a short time, so what if the other two Ming troops come from elsewhere? Or what about attacking Shengjing City directly?? ”

At this time, Shi Shanshan saw Dorgon's entanglement, so he said: "Your Majesty, the war has begun, and there is an army led by Prince Yu in Shengjing City, and there is no problem in a short time. For the sake of today's plan, let's discuss how to defeat Liu Yan's subordinates in person. ”

After speaking, Dai Shan was shocked in his heart: "Defeat Liu Yan? Does today's Daqing really have this strength? ”

Dolgon also sighed slightly: "Defeating Liu Yan is not easy!" ”