"..."

Looking at the empty Indian army camp, Mao Wenlong's face was extremely ugly.

After nightfall on March 30, the sentries sent out by the Ming army keenly discovered that although the enemy's camp was still brightly lit, it was less crowded. So the bold sentries began to approach the enemy's camp, and then suddenly

It was discovered that the enemy had retreated silently.

In the afternoon of that day, Mao Wenlong had already received messengers from the Rochon cluster on the east side and the Kanpur reinforcements on the west side through the Ganges waterway: both troops stated that they would arrive in Kanpur late tonight or early tomorrow morning.

Mao Wenlong, who was overjoyed, immediately wrote back: Don't come to Kanpur. You all find a place to land on your own, and then we will outflank the army in three directions and annihilate them all.

But? But the other party actually ran away in the first half of the night?

I had gathered all my strength, and just as I was about to unleash a hearty combo of punches, you actually ran away?

No matter what kind of internal injuries Mao Wenlong suffered, Aurangzeb finally escaped unscathed. Although he did not capture Patna and completely cut off the Ming army's logistics and transportation lines, his troubles still seriously delayed the Ming army's

The offensive gave Agra more time to reorganize its army and strengthen its defense. More importantly, it significantly frustrated the offensive momentum of the Ming army, which had been advancing rapidly since the landing.

Morale is a very mysterious thing. At first, when the Ming army kept rushing along the Ganges, everyone didn't think anything was wrong. When Patna was attacked and our retreat was almost cut off, everyone suddenly came around.

:Ouch, have we gone so far into enemy territory?

Then the commanders looked at the narrow area controlled by their side along the Ganges River, and then looked at the area surrounding this area, which was all Mughal territory. They broke into a cold sweat in an instant: this transportation line of more than a thousand kilometers,

Although there is a large river connecting it, as long as there is a problem at some point along the way, the danger for our side will increase dramatically.

On April 7, Cao Wenzhao held a meeting with the generals in Kanpur to discuss the next phase of the battle plan.

The first topic of the meeting was of course to investigate the responsibility for the nearly destruction of our Patna logistics supply point.

The final result was that Jin Guan and other three chief officers of the Fuguo Division escaped from battle and were sentenced to death in accordance with military law. Several regiment commanders and battalion commanders of the Fuguo Division were also sentenced to death. As for the Fuguo Division’s subsequent attack in Bart

The credit and reward for the tenacious defense must be given to you, but you yourself cannot enjoy it and leave it to your descendants.

This time the Ming Dynasty went on an expedition to India. After all, it was too far away from the mainland. If everything had to be reported, the battle would be completely unwinnable. Therefore, as the commander, Cao Wenzhao was given a golden arrow: he could kill it first and report later.

!

After a burst of gunfire, the bodies of Jin Guan and others were left to be cleaned up by the soldiers below. Then all the generals looked heavy and returned to the conference room with their own concerns.

After sitting down, Cao Wenzhao nodded to Luo Sigong. The intelligence chief stood up and said: "Everyone, according to the recent intelligence sent by the Bengalis, Ariel and Chat people under my command, the Mughal national mobilization has also

As it continues, manpower and materials from all over the country are continuously concentrating towards Agra. Based on the intelligence from all parties, Jin Yiwei made a rough calculation and estimated that in addition to the 80,000 so-called Mughal New Army who are only five or six kilometers away from us,

.Currently, about 200,000 people have gathered around Agra.

Of course, most of these 200,000 people are local chickens and dogs. But what is worrying is that this number is still increasing.

Therefore, from the position of an intelligence officer, my suggestion is: Either, immediately gather all capable troops to defeat the 80,000 enemy's most powerful new army in front of us, and then continue to march westward for 300 kilometers.

Take Agra. Or, retreat and rest."

"Retreat?"

As soon as Luo Sigong said these words, many generals expressed doubts. But it was obvious that they were just doubts. If they were really disgusted or jumped out and yelled, there was no one - the generals of the Ming Dynasty were generals of a big country, and they were naturally

The strategic direction is stronger than that of many generals of small countries. At this time, everyone has fully realized that a big country like Mughal is not like the country that conquered Japan and Siam in the past, and can be destroyed in two or three victories.

.There is really no hope of ending this war in the short term.

"Everyone." Senior commanders such as Cao Wenzhao and Liu Zhaosun have not yet come forward to answer the question of where to evacuate. Ye Shi, the director of the military medical department of this expeditionary force, stood up first: "It is already the end of March, here.

It has entered the dry season. It is said that the dry season here is dry, with little rain and high temperature. In April and May, the temperature can soar to more than 35 degrees. By June, the temperature is generally 40 degrees. If we cannot end the war in a short time

, then when the temperature rises, it is obvious that our soldiers’ ability to adapt to high temperatures and dryness is far inferior to that of the enemy’s soldiers. By then, I am afraid that the troops will suffer from large-scale heatstroke.”

"Everyone." Cao Wenzhao glanced at the silent generals and said: "The current situation is obvious. Our army cannot see the possibility of a quick victory for the time being. Although the enemy is generally at a disadvantage, it still has the ability to defeat us.

The ability to cause danger. We entered the enemy's territory too deep, the logistics line was stretched too long, and the following weather was not good for us. Therefore, what I meant was to retreat one after another for rest. As for where to retreat, Liu Zhaosun and I

After the admirals discussed it, the initial location selected was Patna city."

"Patna City? General, are you going to abandon Kanpur and retreat more than 400 kilometers?"

"Exactly, otherwise, our army's transportation lines cannot be effectively shortened and our army's strength cannot be concentrated."

"General, I have no objection to retreating to Patna city for rest. But there are two concerns."

"Oh? General Luo Xiong, well, you did a good job in the Bengal strategy. You won it without any big losses. What doubts do you have?"

"First, if our army retreats to Patna to rest and recuperate, the dry season will be avoided, and the rainy season of more than four months will follow. It is too hot to march on this day, and it rains too heavy, so why not march on? In the long run, our Ming Dynasty will

Are the soldiers too delicate?

Secondly, it is easy for our army to retreat. But after our army retreats, the Mughals will definitely send heavy troops to the Indus Plain to cause trouble for General Manchu along the way. Please note that there is no logistical supply line along that way. Food and other things are okay.

But guns and ammunition?”

"General Luo raised these two questions well." Liu Zhaosun stood up: "The first question is, why didn't our army fight during the rainy season? The Battle of Asansol and the First Battle of Patna were fought during the rainy season, weren't they?

The reason why we had a hard time fighting in the rainy season when we first came here is because during the rainy season, rivers in various places swelled, and it was very difficult for our boats to go upstream to transport logistical supplies. As a result, our army lacked heavy equipment. But it is different now, in Calcutta.

A well-equipped port has been built, and the road from Calcutta to Asansol has been renovated. In short, after we have rested in Patna for two or three months and replenished sufficient armaments, we can launch a powerful offensive in the rainy season.

of.

As for the second question, I have discussed it with General Cao, and our opinion is: We don’t want Kanpur anymore, but before we can really go back and rest, we have to fight another battle!”

"May I ask, General, where to fight?"

"Go northwest and attack Moradabad. Make a gesture to bypass Agra and capture Delhi from north to south. General Manchu's detachment will attack from west to east from Punjab. The heaviest attack on both sides is near Moradabad.

Reunion."

"Listening to General Cao's strategy, have we already contacted General Man and the others?"

"Yes. In the past two days, the Gurkhas sent by General Manchu to escort several soldiers from the Ming Dynasty contacted us. So General Liu and I worked out this plan."

"So that's the case, then there will be no objection."

"Okay." Seeing that many of the generals present had no intention of continuing to speak, Cao Wenzhao clapped his hands and said, "The rough strategy has been decided. Now read out the military orders after the strategic adjustment."

After the generals stood up with a sound, Cao Wenzhao said calmly: "The first is to reorganize the troop allocation of each cluster. First, to form a new northwest cluster. The mission of this cluster is to march to the northwest and take over General Man's detachment.

Come here. Its force consists of three full-strength Ming divisions, and its commander is Lieutenant General Huang Degong.

Second, before receiving the Mangui detachment, Kanpur still needs to continue to defend. Therefore, the Kanpur cluster is retained, with a total strength of five divisions. Due to early battle losses, these five divisions are not full, and the actual strength is only 50,000.

There are more than 3,000 people. The commander of this group is personally appointed by this general.

Third, rebuild the Patna cluster, transfer three great masters and two vassal national divisions from the original Kanpur cluster, and reorganize the cluster. The task of this cluster is to rebuild the Patna defense line, completely fortify the city, and

Our actual control area is trying our best to expand to the north and south, striving to form a bulge here, which can serve as a reliable base when our army launches another offensive later. The commander of this cluster is General Liu Zhaosun. Our Ming Dynasty commander of the original Patna cluster

The First Division, the Fuguo Division, and the Japanese Division all returned to Burma to rest and recuperate.

Fourth, reorganize the Bengal cluster. Since the entire state of Bengal has been captured, as the biggest result of this expedition so far, we must protect it. Therefore, three vassal national divisions were transferred from the original Kanpur cluster to coordinate with the original Bengal

The two divisions in the cluster are responsible for local military control and are waiting for officials from the Ming Dynasty to come and receive them.

Fifth, the Marine Corps Division, it is the dry season now, please ask the Marine Corps to move to Chittagong, Bangladesh, to urge the local people to repair the waterways. This will require the entire middle and lower reaches of the Ganges from Patna to Chittagong to be completely unblocked!

"

"I will obey the general's order!"

"Next is the second item, Luo Zhen Fu Envoy."

"The official is here."

"In addition to continuing to strengthen intelligence collection, negotiations must continue. In my opinion, negotiations can not only buy time for the mobilization of our troops, but also weaken the enemy's will to resist."

"Well, although the Indians did not take Patna, the battle there did arouse the morale of the entire Indian people. Now that we have to negotiate, the other party's confidence has increased. That's all, I'll take my orders.

It’s just nonsense anyway.”

"Well, the Indians are getting angry now, and their attitude must be much more arrogant than in the previous period. The things that come out of the negotiations now are definitely far less than the last time. However, the negotiations at this time are not the purpose, but just the means."

After all, he was not a real military person. Cao Wenzhao could not give direct orders to Luo Sigong, so he patiently explained it. Then he raised his head again: "The last point is that except for Huang Degong's cluster, all other armies are for defense.
Chapter completed!