"What did you say?"
"The slaves and others are besieging the intruder Yuan Zongdi. They have forced him to the riverside and are not far away from complete destruction. Who would have thought that Shandong's navy is approaching, and they can't help but fire at the slaves and others. The terrain on the riverside is open and flat, and there is no trace of it. Hiding everywhere, the slaves and others suffered heavy losses and had to retreat."
Upon hearing the imperial navy's brazen attack, both Azig and Dodo changed their colors.
They hurried to the riverside, but they could only see that Yuan Zongdi's troops had disappeared without a trace.
Only on the river, the empire's warships stretched endlessly like a wall.
The collected corpses of the Qing soldiers were piled up like a hill, and most of them were missing limbs and arms, which was too horrible to look at.
Azig's eyes were bloodshot, and he really wanted to order an attack immediately.
However, looking at the vast misty river, he was really powerless.
"Prince Yu, do you think Shandong is taking action?"
Dodo was in as bad a mood as he was.
"If Shandong takes action, why is there no movement?"
Azig was also a little confused by this question.
All they could see were the imperial warships crossing the Yangtze River. Apart from that, the entire battlefield has become quiet.
But this incident cast a shadow on Azig and Dodo's hearts.
The joy of defeating Dashun and killing Li Zicheng was gradually dissipating.
The crazy knight came from the north, running wildly and shouting all the way.
"The military situation is urgent. Please get out of the way quickly and take me to see the two princes."
After a while, the exhausted messenger was dragged in front of Azig and Duduo.
"Your Majesty, Shandong soldiers and horses from Lianghuai suddenly dispatched. Now they have captured Shangcheng and Yinshan Pass, and are approaching Xinyang."
Dorgon and Hauge, who were far away in the capital, saw the relevant military information and had a premonition that something was wrong. Azig and Duduo, who were on the front line, were even more confused.
Shangcheng and Yinshan Pass were still in the hands of the Qing army not long ago.
It was from here that Duduo went south and blocked Li Zicheng.
But they did not expect that with the mantis stalking the cicada and the oriole behind them, their retreat would be blocked by the National Defense Forces.
"What does Dong Alai do for food? I gave him my escape, but he lost it so easily."
Duduo was furious.
The messenger explained the reason.
"The prince does not know that there are more than 80,000 soldiers and horses in Shandong, and Lord Dutong cannot resist them at all. He has now led the remaining soldiers and horses to retreat to Xinyang and defend Xiangyang. Lord Dutong asked his servants to report to the two princes that they must immediately Retreat, otherwise you will not be able to return to the capital."
In fact, there is no need to listen to these words. Azig and Dodo also understand that their current situation is extremely dangerous.
When they heard that Shangcheng and Yinshan Pass were lost, the two of them thought about sending their troops north immediately, maybe they could take them back.
But after hearing that the strength of the National Defense Force was over 80,000, and the dangerous passes, even if they joined forces together, there was not much hope of recapturing it.
"Instruct all ministries to set off immediately and retreat to Xiangyang."
The passage due north has been blocked by the National Defense Forces, and the only way Azig and Duduo can retreat is through Xiangyang.
After arriving in Xiangyang, no matter whether we evacuate to Shaanxi or pass through Henan, we can return to the capital.
The order was issued, and all the Qing troops who were still celebrating their victory were frightened.
They didn't even have time to carefully clean the battlefield and search for loot, and they hurried on the road, even faster than when they came.
It’s eight o’clock in the evening on a summer day, and the sky is not completely dark yet. It should have been a good time for people to cool off and cool off, but the suffocation in the air made it difficult to breathe.
All generals in the central strategic cluster are waiting at their posts.
They were all doing almost the same thing.
That's checking the watch.
When the hour hand pointed accurately at eight o'clock, Wang Siyi was also a little excited.
"Action...begin!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two hundred heavy artillery pieces began to pour ammunition crazily towards the Qing army's position in the distance.
Artillery fire roared and ammunition exploded, turning the entire land into a sea of flames.
Especially the scene of rockets piercing the night sky is of unparalleled beauty.
The sand vibrated and rolled up endless dust, as if an earth dragon had turned over.
Although the Qing army had been well prepared for a long time, under such artillery attacks, they were still like fallen leaves in the autumn wind, and could only passively endure the harvest of death in fear.
The walls of the Qing army's camp were mercilessly destroyed, and all buildings such as houses, tents, stables, etc. were blown up and burned with raging fires.
With a long whistle, the Wehrmacht soldiers began to move out.
Their steps were neither fast nor slow, their formation was strict, and they attacked forward with a fighting attitude.
When crossing the border, the engineers took the lead in showing off their power.
They removed the long wooden tubes from their backs, lit the fuses, threw them forward, and then quickly lay down on the ground.
After a while, with continuous roars, many large craters were blown out of the seemingly ordinary ground.
Some of these pits are as deep as a person's height, and the bottoms are densely covered with spikes.
It is conceivable that once a person falls into it, he will definitely die.
The engineering troops broke through the obstacles, clearing the way forward for the infantry.
The Qing army, which had already entered a defensive state, was really helpless in the face of such an attack and could not use its strength.
Because the National Defense Force did not give them the slightest chance, the formation was always rigorous.
As long as the Qing troops rush out, they will immediately be wiped out by the National Defense Force's longer-range muskets.
In desperation, the Qing army could only continue to hide, hoping that the National Defense Force would launch a melee battle when they approached.
But after entering one thousand meters, the Wehrmacht infantry stopped again and established a stable defense line.
The artillerymen pushed up small, lightweight artillery pieces and bombarded all suspicious places ahead.
The feeling given to the Qing army is that the artillery shells here seem to be endless, and they must level all places before they will stop.
Standing on top of Cangzhou City in the rear area, watching such a battle, Sony almost wanted to vomit blood.
He suddenly discovered that the National Defense Forces in the plains were far more difficult to deal with than the Xia Army in North Korea.
It turned out that due to the lack of terrain advantage, the Qing army was the one that suffered the greater disadvantage.
Fortunately, he had already received the news and knew that Hauge was on his way with reinforcements.
With reinforcements, the hope of holding Cangzhou's defense line has greatly increased.
The slow advance of the National Defense Forces made him feel more at ease.
But he didn't know that the battle in front of him was just an illusion.
Just as the Second Division attacked Cangzhou and the Ninth Division attacked Guangping, two other powerful troops also moved.
The First Cavalry Division and the Second Cavalry Division, led by Wang Mo and Zuo Shi, quietly left Texas with the cover of the Second Division and headed northwest.
This is the hollow area of the Qing army's defense line, so it did not attract attention.
After Wang Mo and Zuo Shi captured Hengshui, they began to divide their forces.
Wang Mo led the first cavalry division through Xian County and Hejian Prefecture, and went straight to Qing County.
His mission was to outflank Cangzhou's retreat and at the same time fight against the approaching Hauge.
Zuo Shi's mission was to attack Zhending Mansion and Baoding Mansion, wait for an opportunity to leave the capital, and threaten the center of the Qing Dynasty.
As soon as these two fast-moving cavalry units entered the battlefield, the situation plummeted and could not be reversed.
