Of course, the ships on the Guoshui, Xifeishui and Beifeishui were all left by the Zhongdu Remaining Department to the Qing army under the orders of the Generalissimo's Mansion, in order to facilitate their crossing the Huaihe River to the south.
Luring the Qing army to cross the Huaihe River was one of the two decisive battle plans formulated by the Generalissimo's military commanders and guards based on Zhu Cihong's orders.
Another plan is to conduct a decisive battle on the north bank of Hongze Lake - Huang Degong is now leading his troops to retreat along the Bianhe River towards Hongze Lake in accordance with the order. On the same day that Hauge arrived in Mengcheng, his troops had retreated to the Hongxian area. If we retreat further south, we will enter the boundary of Sizhou. At this time, the Huaihe River made a big bend in Sizhou, forming a terrain where Sizhou was surrounded by water on three sides (the west and south faces Huaihe, and the east faces Hongze Lake). There are many streams and water networks throughout the territory. Sizhou City has been rebuilt as a fortress and is extremely strong.
As long as Huang Degong's troops retreat to Sizhou, they will basically be safe... If Hauge follows, he will be almost there. At that time, Zhu Cihong would lead his army across the Huaihe River, go around Hauge's back, block his retreat, and force him to fight.
However, this plan did not seem to work. Haug just sent three to two thousand cavalry to drive Huang Degong away and ignored him. In Hauge's view, Huang Degong was covering Gao Jie's flanks, while Gao Jie's front was facing Duo Jie. Ergon and Duduo brothers' confidant Duoluobelenikan. If Huang Degong is defeated, Gao Jie may have to run away again.
In this way, Pizhou, Suqian, Suining, Taoyuan, Muyang, Qushan (Haizhou Administrative Office), Ganyu and other prefectures and counties will fall into the hands of Duduo... In this way, Dorgon and Duduo will be too So proud!
So after Huang Degong ran away, Hauge called back his cavalry, and then the whole army camped step by step along the vortex water and advanced southward.
That's right, the Qing troops along Hauge's route have set up strongholds every twenty miles since they occupied Bozhou, and they still set up strongholds along the vortex of water. Each village will leave behind the Eight Banners soldiers, the Han army and the Green Camp soldiers. Some garrison troops were also stationed in Bozhou, Suqian, Taihe, Yingzhou, Mengcheng and other prefectures and counties, and prefectural and county officials were dispatched.
Since Hauge did not pursue and fight Huang Degong, the plan to lure him to the north of Hongze Lake and beat him up also failed.
In this way, the Generalissimo's Mansion could only hope to succeed in luring the enemy to cross the Huaihe River. That's why he ordered the Zhongdu Remaining Department to leave some ships for the Qing army when they abandoned the Huaibei territory.
And this operation is actually redundant. Because Hauge and Aobai had made preparations to cross the Huaihe River from the beginning. If they had not had this intention, it would have been impossible for Zhu Chunchen, Hou Xun, and Li Yan to use their military skills to bring characters like Hauge and Aobai to the south. Cheated across the Yellow River.
Of course, the reason why Hauge and Obai dared to cross the Huaihe River was based on their own reasons. What they rely on, in addition to the absolute superiority of cavalry and the powerful "combat supervision ability" of the Eight Banners Heavenly Soldiers, is a powerful artillery!
Since the Nurhachi era, the Manchus have attached great importance to firearms, especially the Hongyi cannon! After they entered the customs and moved their capital to Beijing, they experienced many sieges and sieges, and naturally they always felt that their firepower was insufficient.
Therefore, Dorgon repeatedly ordered the Han armies of all banners to go all out to cast Hongyi cannons, and also tried every means to recruit craftsmen who were good at casting and directly incorporated them into the Eight Banners Han armies. In addition, Dorgon also collected many Hongyi cannons in Shanhaiguan and Xuanfu Town.
Therefore, by the second year of Chongde, the Han armies of the eight banners had one or two Hongyi Cannon Niulu.
The Eight Banners Han troops who followed Hauge southward came from the five banners of Zhenglan, Xianglan, Zhenghong, Zhenghuang and Xianghuang. They were equipped with a total of four Hongyi cannon Niulu and a total of forty red cannons. Yi cannon!
These cannons can not only attack cities, but can also be set up on the banks of large rivers to block waterways, and they can also be used in field battles!
Therefore, in the view of Duduo and Obai, crossing the river may not be easy, but crossing the Huaihe River is no problem.
Moreover, they also planned to build a pontoon bridge on the Huaihe River, build artillery forts on both sides of the pontoon bridge, and deploy red cannons to block the waterway and prevent the Ming Navy from destroying the pontoon bridge.
In this way, they can advance and retreat freely after crossing the Huaihe River. Even if they cannot win completely, they can still return with plenty of plunder...
If Hauge can plunder Huainan and return, and Duduo is stuck in the quagmire of Shandong, which has little oil and water, then Dorgon's prestige will be severely compromised!
...
In the Mengcheng County Government Office, General Jingyuan of the Qing Dynasty went to his residence.
A muscular man in his forties, with an upside-down eyebrow and a Chinese character face, a mouth and nose that were larger than the average person, quickly walked into the thatched-roof lobby.
I saw him running up to Hauge, who was wearing only a coat and fanning himself with a cattail leaf fan. He respectfully slapped him and said, "Shang Ke is happy to say hello to the prince."
The visitor turned out to be King Zhishun. The Han army under the Xianglan Banner was well established in Mount Ezhen, and the commander-in-chief of the Henan Army was very pleased.
Hauge laughed: "Yuanji, get up, get up, you and I are both princes, we are about the same age, there is no need for this."
His words were polite, but he did not get up from the bamboo couch to help Prince Shang.
Shang Ke was happy but did not dare to show even the slightest dissatisfaction. He stood up and said with a smile: "How can I compare with you? You are General Jingyuan!"
The "general" of the Qing Dynasty was a temporary assignment, but he was just a "official official". As soon as you leave the city of Beijing, no matter what official you are, you will look down upon the general when you meet him.
Now in the entire Qing Dynasty, the only people with the rank of general are Dingguo General Duduo, Jingyuan General Hauge, Fuyuan General Azige and Pingxi General Wu Sangui.
"Isn't he just a temporary general?" Haug smiled and pointed to a chair beside him, "Sit down, sit down... Come here, please replace King Zhishun Kuanzhang, Shengguan, and Tea!"
Seeing Hauge's easy-going look, Shang Kexi didn't dare to refute his face. He put on thin casual clothes and just sat there waiting for Hauge to ask questions.
"Yuanji," Hauge asked with a smile, "how is the situation ahead?"
"Your Majesty..." Shang Ke suddenly stood up happily.
Hauge smiled and pressed with his hand, gesturing for him to sit down.
Shang Kexi sat down again, and then said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the Southern Army has set up defenses in Huaiyuan County. It is a four-cornered fort with four gun platforms. General cannons are arranged on the gun platforms... The terrain of Huaiyuan County It was a dangerous place, and the city was built between the angle between the Wu River and the Huai River. Therefore, my subordinates did not attack by force. After testing it, they ordered people to dig trenches between the Wu River and the Huai River to seal off Huaiyuan City."
"This is called a bastion," Haug said. "Duduo suffered a huge loss from this kind of castle in Shandong... and now he's still squatting outside Qufu City and can't get in!"
"It's really hard to fight." Shang Kexi said, "My subordinates used the Hongyi cannon to fight for several hours, but it seems to be of no use."
"This kind of city must be attacked by infantry!" Hauge waved his cattail leaf fan, "Or it's a siege. Cannons are of limited use..." At this moment, he suddenly noticed Shang Kexi smiling from the corner of his eye, as if he was up to something good. , "King Zhishun, what good things are you hiding from me?"
"Haha, Your Majesty has a keen eye," Shang Ke smiled happily, "To be honest with Your Majesty, I even sent someone to cross the Huaihe River!"
"It's passed?" Hauge raised his eyelids.
"It's over!" Shang Ke smiled happily, "With the cover of Hongyi cannon, Nanmanzi's warships can't get close at all.
And the southern barbarians on the other side of the river don't dare to fight with us! Therefore, the cavalry dispatched by my subordinates went all the way south and walked around outside Fengyang Fucheng. They found that Fengyang Fucheng was not that fortress! "
"Oh?" Hauge finally came to his senses, "Is Fengyang Fucheng still the same as before?"
"It's the same as usual," Shang Ke said happily, "It's shabby, not strong, and not a bastion... If we gather twenty or thirty Hongyi cannons, we will definitely be able to knock down the city wall."
"Haha," Hauge laughed, "Zhu Chunchen, the general of the Southern Barbarians, is really a fool! The most important city, Fengyang City, has not been properly repaired."
He was just talking in vain, how big is Fengyang City! How much work would it take to convert it into a bastion?
"Okay!" Hauge stroked his hand, "This is our opportunity!"
