"What?" Hauge was stunned when he heard this, "Daqianling, Huangfu Mountain, Shigu Mountain, those are..."
Oboi on the side put down "The Analects of Confucius" at this time and reminded Hauge: "Your Majesty, Daqianling, Huangfu Mountain, and Shigu Mountain are all at the junction of Fengyang Prefecture and Chuzhou."
"Chuzhou? That means coming from the southeast overland..." Hauge was a little stunned, "Are these Nikans stupid or are they deceiving?"
Obai couldn't answer, so he asked the three Niu Lu chapters: "How many people are there? Have they ever captured the heads of prisoners?"
Niulu Zhangjing replied: "Zhengu Mountain Ezhen, there are a lot of Nikan cavalry, there are five or six hundred at Daqianling, more than 700 at Huangfu Mountain, at least 600 at Shigu Mountain, and there are also There are two to three hundred infantrymen following... Moreover, their armor is strong, their equipment is sophisticated, and their skills are not bad, so they are not easy to deal with.
There were only a few of us, and we were short of men and horses, so after testing it out, we didn’t fight hard. "
"Is the armor strong? Is it true that everyone has long scales?" Obai interjected and asked.
"It's not a long body armor, but a whole piece of iron armor. It can't even shoot our heavy arrows!"
Another Niu Lu added: "On the contrary, several of our people were injured by their short muskets, and several horses were killed..."
"What?" Hauge raised his eyebrows, "He hurts people and kills horses? What do you do for food?"
"Your Majesty," Na Niu Lu quickly explained, "those Nikan cavalry are different from before... they are skilled with bows and horses, they fight bravely, and they can also fire cannons on horseback."
"Yes, yes! Those Nikan cavalry are very powerful and not timid at all."
"There are still many people...and infantry is following!"
These three Niu Lu are all in their early forties. They are all Manchu warriors who have fought in battles for a long time and have rich experience. They will know how strong their opponent is by trying their hand... The reason why they don't have a head-on confrontation is because they are really not sure.
What they encountered was not the dregs of the Ming army, but the model cavalry of the new army who had trained hard for seven or eight months to overcome difficulties!
Of course, the hard training of the model cavalry is not the "997" standard. If a training man can stand it, the horse can't stand it either! It would be great fun to turn around and combine the cavalry into infantry.
Although it is not as hard training as "997", the intensity of the training has reached the standard of the Wu family's "Yiding Cavalry", and Wu Sanfu, a cavalry expert, personally oversees their training, so you can imagine how good they are.
Zhu Cixiang also made some cuts within his two cavalry regiments. He did not eliminate the last ones, but sent a group of "big Han generals" who were very good-looking but not very good in martial arts to serve as junior officers in the infantry. . At the same time, the old Dashun camp soldiers dug up by Li Yan and Hong Niangzi were filled in.
In addition, Zhu Cixi also replaced all of them with spliced plate armor - spliced plate armor is much lighter than long body armor and cloth covered iron armor, which can reduce the burden on cavalry and war horses, and its defensive ability is slightly stronger than long body armor and cloth covered iron armor. .
After some rigorous training, in and out, coupled with solid plate armor protection, the combat effectiveness of the two model cavalry regiments has certainly improved by several levels.
In addition, some cavalry members of the model cavalry regiment purchased short muskets or bird muskets at their own expense. The cavalry used revolving muskets, which were called self-made muskets in the Ming Dynasty. They are listed in Bi Maokang's "Illustrated Weaponry". , there are also some good craftsmen in Foshan who can produce in small quantities, but the technology is not good enough and the quality is very problematic. In addition, the output is too small, so it cannot be equipped in large quantities. But Zhu Cixiang still asked Zheng Zhilong to pay some tribute and distribute it to the light cavalry. Not to kill many Eight Banners scouts, but to cast a psychological shadow on them.
Therefore, in the contact battles that took place at Daqianling, Huangfuling and Shigushan, the cavalry of the Zhenglan Banner met some Ming army light cavalry who were firing muskets on horseback, and suffered a small loss.
The Ming army only had a small victory, and it was achieved with a numerical advantage and the support of infantry. But Hauge was still very dissatisfied. He stared at his eyes and asked: "A skilled archer and a horse? Are you brave enough to fight? Are you still talking about Nikan?"
Niulu Zhangjing hurriedly said: "This, this... Your Highness, we didn't suffer a big loss!"
"You didn't suffer a big loss..." Haug blew his beard and shouted, "Is this all you can do?"
"My lord, my servants, my servants really tried their best..."
"Yes, my lord, those Nikan cavalry are really powerful!"
"Your Majesty, slave..."
When Obai saw Hauge's livid face, he quickly waved his hand to drive them away: "You three, get out! Don't make the prince angry here!"
After chasing away the people, Obai came back and said to Hauge: "Your Majesty, although these slaves are a little timid, they have found out the enemy's situation!"
"Have you found out?" Hauge glared, "Fuck you!"
"Your Majesty," Obai said, "the main force of the Ming army is coming from the direction of Chuzhou!"
"How do you know?" Haug asked.
"There are so many elite cavalry clearing the way, they must be the main force!" Obai said, "According to careful investigation, the little prince of the Southern Barbarians does not have many cavalry on hand now, that is, between three and five thousand... The three Niu Lu of Blue Flag met more than a thousand people! I guess they are clearing the way for the army!"
Hauge squinted his eyes: "Coming overland?"
Oboi nodded and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, it seems that the young prince of the Southern Barbarians is only good at running an army and not good at commanding a war... He has thrown himself into a trap!"
"Obai, how do you want to fight?" Hauge asked.
Oboi thought for a while and said: "My slave suggests dividing the troops into two groups and continuing to besiege Fengyang all the way... use Hongyi cannon to break Fengyang City!
After going all the way to the side of the southern army, cutting off its return route, forcing it to return to the army, and then using cavalry to cover it up, we should be able to win a complete victory. If the Southern Army does not leave this way, then try to entangle the enemy. After Fengyang City is defeated, the two groups will join forces to attack! "
"Can Fengyang City be broken?" Hauge asked thoughtfully.
"Yes!" Oboi nodded affirmatively, "I have already checked clearly. Fengyang City is not strong, and we will be able to break it in three to five days. Leave Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, and Bai Guangen behind to let Shuo Zhan supervise the battle. , giving them seven days is enough.
The slaves and the prince will go south together with 12,000 banner soldiers and 6,000 coated slaves, and they will surely defeat the southern barbarian troops heading north! "
...
At the same time, Zhu Cixiang's army was wading across the pond. Chishui is located to the north of Chuzhou, in Jiu County and Dingyuan County of Fengyang Prefecture. The water is not deep and there are many places where you can ford it.
After passing Chishui and walking a short distance, you can enter Dingyuan County. Dingyuan County is a fortress-like stronghold where an alliance of new guards and new troops are stationed, as well as many temporarily summoned militia groups.
As long as Zhu Cixiang's army enters Dingyuan County, they don't have to worry about being attacked by the Qing army that suddenly moves south!
Now that he has waded across the pond, he is standing on a high ground on the shore, watching the infantry of the brigade wading in with their baggage and artillery.
Wu Sanfu and Li Yan followed him on the left and right. Wu Sanfu was the nominal commander of the Model Army, but in fact Zhu Cihong's deputy general, while Li Yan continued to serve as Zhu Cihong's military advisor. This military operation to the north was actually directed by Wu Sanfu, Li Yan, and the foreign general Shi Ruien.
The Three Cavalry Chuanqi came flying from the direction of Dingyuan City in front. In a blink of an eye, they arrived at the banner of Zhu Cixiang's Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies and were stopped by Zhu Cixiang's bodyguards. After answering the password and reading the token, he rode up to Zhu Cihong as soon as he was elected. Then he dismounted and knelt down on one knee and said, "Your Highness, there is a report from Dingyuan garrison Qi Yuanfu."
Qi Yuanfu is the second son of Qi Jin and the brother of Qi Yuanbi, who served as the battalion commander in Zhu Cixang's model army. He has always been a military attaché in the Zhongdu Remaining Department. He was promoted by Zhu Chunchen and became the guard of his hometown Dingyuan.
Zhu Cixiang glanced at Wu Sanfu, who stepped forward to take the memorial, unfolded it and laughed: "Master Qiansui, the Tartars are besieging Fengyang Fucheng... but they have trapped Duke Cheng Guo inside!"
Zhu Cixiang smiled: "Gong Cheng Guo is going to honor his ancestors this time... His family has not known how to fight for many generations. I didn't expect to have a descendant like him."
