"The Nanman Crown Prince is indeed quite capable. In less than a year, he managed to put the situation in the southeast in order. Otherwise, Duduo would not have been victorious in Shandong. Therefore, in the battle to cross the Huaihe River, we must plan well to avoid falling into the Nanman's way. .....”
Hauge tapped his fingers on the table and spoke his analysis to Manda Hai, Ao Bai, Shuo Zhan, Kong Youde, Shang Kexi and others who came to the general's cabin.
When it comes to using troops to fight, although Hauge cannot compare with the two brothers Dorgon and Duduo, he is also a veteran general who has experienced many battles. And with the help of powerful generals like Mandahai and Obai, the level is naturally not low.
Of course, he would also pay considerable attention to his opponent Zhu Cixiang - speaking of it, the Qing Dynasty had not taken advantage of Zhu Cixiang yet! How dare he take it lightly?
"King Su," the speaker was Daishan's grandson Mandahai. He led the troops of Zhenghong Banner in the expedition this time and ranked second in Hauge's group. "Do you think the Nanman will set a trap for us in Huainan?" ?”
"Haha, of course." Haug smiled, "Zhu Cihong is different from his honest father. This boy is cunning! Duduo suffered a lot from him in Shandong... The regent also suffered because of him I have a headache all day long!”
Speaking of Dorgon's headache, Hauge looked gloating. Zhu Cixiang is really a bad guy. While slandering Dorgon, he sends troops to harass Liaoxi and Liaodong, and at the same time he wants to eat the tofu of Dongguo... but he still leaves Duduo trapped in the mud pit of Shandong. Do you know when it will be finished?
Man Dahai touched his beard and frowned slightly, "We have a strong army now. The Eight Banners, Han Army, and Green Camp together have 50,000 or 60,000 people, and there are 40 Hongyi cannons... What can they have?" Zhao'er?"
Ao Bai said: "It's nothing more than letting us fortify the city with troops until the divisions and veterans are tired, and then attack it with heavy troops... Fengyang Fucheng may be the bait he left for us!"
"Obai," Hauge looked at his good helper, "What's your clever trick?"
"Yes!" Ao Bai laughed, "The trick King Yu used in Shandong can be used... Those nuns are saying that our division's veterans are tired, so we just give him a steady attack. Cross the Huaihe River first. , set up camp again, and then storm Fengyang. When the Nanman soldiers come, we will fight them decisively. If they advance with a fortress, we will reject it with a fortress. The Nanman prince made a mistake by not building Fengyang into a golden soup castle! If we After capturing Fengyang Fucheng, we won’t leave, what will he do?”
Fengyang Fucheng is not an ordinary Fucheng. It is the capital of the Ming Dynasty and the tomb of Zhu Yuanzhang's parents. If Hao Ge occupied it for a long time, how could Zhu Cihong have the nerve to usurp the throne?
Hauge nodded repeatedly: "Okay! Ao Bai, you are worthy of being the late emperor's beloved general... Do you have any other ideas?" His eyes swept across the thatched hall, "If not, just recruit Ao Come on, find a way to worship!"
Shang Kexi stood up immediately, "Your Majesty, leave Fengyang Fucheng to your subordinates to fight!"
Kong Youde also stood up: "Your Majesty, my subordinates are also willing to attack Fengyang Mansion."
"Okay," Haug said, "Just go together."
"Cha!" Shang Kexi and Kong Youde both received the order.
"Mandahai!" Hauge named Mandahai.
"The general is here!" Mandahai also stood up respectfully.
"I'll leave Huaibei to you!" Hauge ordered, "Watch the yellow to get the gong!"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, my subordinates will live up to their orders!"
"Obai, Shuo Zhan," Hauge said again, "you will cross the Huaihe River with me... station the troops in Huainan and wait for the Nanman boys to come! I am not Duduo, and I don't want to occupy much of Huainan. I want to let Zhu Cixiang know how powerful our Qing Heavenly Soldiers are!"
"twitter!"
...
The news that Hauge's army was crossing Huainan was rushed to the Jiangbei camp by Liubaili immediately.
At this time, Prince Zhu, surrounded by a group of senior civil and military officials, stood on the more than one foot high wall of the Jiangbei Daying Castle, watching the new army being drilled outside the city.
In the days after crossing the river, Zhu Cihong was busy reorganizing his New Army infantry division while waiting for Hauge to move south.
After the introduction of the European-style model regiment, the military structure of the New Army has undergone major changes. Division-level units were temporarily eliminated, and most of the officers serving in the division command department were sent to the twelve infantry model regiments or the Nanjing Martial Arts School to study.
As for the four divisions deployed in the Yingtianfu area among the Sixth Division of the New Army, because the officers all went to "study," they were left with nothing but an empty shell that could not do anything. Therefore, the "regiment" (including model regiments and non-model regiments) has become the actual largest tactical unit of the main force of the new army to overcome difficulties (referring to the army stationed in Yingtianfu).
Before Zhu Cixi led his troops north this time, there were a total of 31 regiments stationed in Yingtianfu, of which 15 were model regiments and 16 were non-model regiments. There are four division-level empty shells, namely the front division, the middle division, the rear division and the first division.
In addition, the Zuo Division moved to Shandong in the spring of the 18th year of Chongzhen and came under the control of the Shandong General Military Department. The right division moved to Fengyang Mansion, and returned to Zhongdu to stay with Si Jie. Unlike the four divisions stationed in Yingtian, these two divisions still maintain the best combat readiness. The division commanders are fully staffed, and the four regiments below are also fully equipped. It's just that it is not equipped with any new firearms or cavalry, so it does not have the ability to go out of the city to fight in the field.
Among the 31 regiments stationed in Yingtian, 25 regiments have now moved to Jiangbei camp with Zhu Cixiang. Zhu Cixiang organized them into the front division, middle division, rear division, first division and Jiangbei Camp Garrison Division.
The four divisions each have three model infantry regiments, two non-model infantry regiments (the two teams have almost the same organization, except that the latter has no firearms), two cavalry battalions, and two regimental artillery companies (with 12 3-pounders). artillery) and a transport battalion, with a total strength of about 14,000 people. Two of the cavalry battalions and two regimental artillery companies came from two cavalry regiments and an artillery regiment of the Model Army.
There are still two cavalry regiments in the Model Army, with a total of 3,200 or 300 cavalry. However, there have been some changes in the organization and equipment. Originally, these two cavalry regiments were "heavy cavalry", but now they have been changed into a regiment of heavy cavalry and a regiment of light cavalry.
Among them, the heavy cavalry are lancers, equipped with simple plate armor made of iron sheets, Ming-style eight-petal iron helmets and arm armor. The light cavalry are archers, also equipped with simple plate armor and eight-petal helmets, but in order to facilitate firing bows on horseback and reduce weight, they are not equipped with arm armor. The horse bow uses a Kaiyuan bow with a bow power of between forty and fifty kilograms.
The Model Artillery Regiment is constantly expanding and currently has 10 artillery batteries, including 8 regimental artillery batteries and 2 Hongyi artillery batteries. It is equipped with a total of 48 3-pound regimental guns and 8 12-pound Hongyi cannons. .
Now the four new military divisions have been reorganized and are practicing division-level combat formations on the open ground near the Yangtze River south of Jiangbei Camp. Teams of tens of thousands of people formed countless company-level formations, unfolding, changing, and moving along the Yangtze River, and from time to time they gave out loud cheers. It looks well organized and very impressive.
At this moment, Li Yan, the commander of the military order guard, suddenly received the report from the army below. When he opened it and took a look, his color suddenly changed slightly, and then he came to Zhu Cihong's side.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, the Remaining Department of Zhongdu has urgently reported the military report!" Li Yan whispered, "The Qing army crossed the Huaihe River in large numbers near the Changhuai Guard City..."
"A large-scale crossing of the Huaihe River?" Zhu Cixiang asked, "How many people are there?"
"There are tens of thousands of people!" Li Yan said, "And there are many Hongyi cannons!"
"Many Hongyi cannons?"
"Yes," Li Yan said, "It is reported that the Qing army first built a fort on the north bank of the Huaihe River, and then bombarded the south bank with artillery, blocking the river and covering the construction of the pontoon bridge. After the pontoon bridge was completed, they built a bridgehead while crossing the Huaihe River... It seems that the Qing army fought very carefully along the way, using a step-by-step approach, which is similar to Duduo's fighting method in Shandong."
Zhu Cixiang frowned slightly: "So what if you are careful? As long as they come, don't even think about escaping unscathed... When the martial arts exercise is over, call a military meeting!"
"I accept the decree."
