In the spring of the 19th year of Chongzhen, the temperature had just warmed up, and the Ming army, who had been resting for more than a year, immediately began to take action.

First, Li Guo and Gao Yigong went to Jingzhou, Kuizhou, Yueyang and other places to dispatch troops, while Zuo Liangyu's army was concentrated near Wuchang City, which was quite in a situation where thousands of boats competed.

At this time, Du Yinxi's advance troops were led by Hao Yongzhong and entered Chengtian Prefecture, and Zhou Shixian also began to carry out a large-scale operation north of the Huai River in southern Zhili.

However, the Qing army has been passive now. On the surface, both sides of the Ming and Qing dynasties each occupy half of the country. Although the Qing court is not superior, it is much better than before to shrink into a corner of Liaodong.

But with the victory of Zhou Shixian's First World War, the Qing court had already fallen into a disadvantage in the army, whether it was people's morale, mobilization ability, and food, grass and military reserves.

However, the Qing army also had its plans. Since the Ming army's naval forces were strong, Duoduo and Ajige would naturally not go to the Huai River again. They planned to complete the annihilation of the Ming army at Xuzhou, a key transportation hub, and make every effort to complete the battle.

The way of playing is naturally when Huang Taiji tried to surround the points and attacked the aid. Anyway, the Ming army would be fooled every time. This was what Zhou Shixian thought of going with him.

After all, as long as any of the main forces of the two armies here is annihilated, other places in the south will naturally be insignificant. This is the strategy to destroy the Ming Dynasty after careful consideration by Dorgon and Hong Chengchou.

At this time, due to the changes in the situation, Hong Chengchou was more reused than in history.

In fact, the bad political impact caused by the Qing army lost thousands of main forces of the Eight Banners in the Huaihe River War last year has gradually emerged.

In the pass, not only Wu Sangui who had just been transferred, but also Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, who had seen the strength of the Ming army, and even the newly surrendered Green Camp Army in various places, the gentry and grand clans had already begun to have a close relationship with the Ming court in Nanjing and the old acquaintances in the Ming army.

If it weren't for the fact that those Baoyi in the Qing army had become half of the master after entering the pass and had been tied to the core interests of the Qing Dynasty, I'm afraid that even these Baoyi soldiers would have begun to disobey and not be able to do their best.

The situation outside the pass was even worse. The Wuchang War completely broke the military power established by the Qing army over the years. The news of the Qing army's heavy losses in the past year, with the movement of caravans and personnel, spread throughout the East Asian continent, and spread to the Mongolian tribes on various grasslands, Chaoxian, and even the Japanese archipelago. The north side of the Qing Dynasty ruling region was once again attacked by the Mongolians.

Whether it was the Mongolian tribes on the grassland or the Chaoxian Kingdom, they were originally forced by the Qing court's military authority, and could only bow down and seek peace. Now that the Qing court has lost its only support, how could they endure the other party's barbaric and brutal rule?

In just one year, many Mongolian tribes no longer optimistic about the end of the Qing court in this war. In fact, 30 to 40% of the tribes were directly absent from this year's tribute. As the overlord of East Asia, the Han people's repeated restoration of their power began to cause trouble again.

Chaoxian relied on the emptiness of the Qing court in Liaodong and almost cut off all official ties with the Qing court. The Li Dynasty originally claimed to be a "little China". Now the main force of the Qing army is in the pass, and it is beyond reach. Naturally, they no longer compromise.

Not to mention, they also followed the Chongzhen period at this time. Although they also retained slaves in China, how could they, who claimed to be civilized, surrender to a semi-slavery regime like the Qing Dynasty?

However, although the external conditions were extremely unfavorable, after so many years of war, the senior royal princes of the Qing Dynasty had already experienced many battles. It was the time when they were at their peak, so they naturally did not fear the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing.

Duoduo, Azig, Hauge, Boluo and others were all first-class brave generals and brave generals, and they could lead an army alone. Most of the soldiers and horses under their command were experienced and had very strong combat power, and were completely mule and horse-like troops.

Of course, there is also Fan Wencheng, who has been loyal since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, and Hong Chengchou, the former governor of the Ming Dynasty, seemed to have to devote his efforts to the Qing Dynasty and die.

It can only be said that the Ming Dynasty's hundreds of years of prestige remained, but the situation in the Qing Dynasty has not yet collapsed to the point where it is uncontrollable.

You should know that Dorgon's methods should not be underestimated, especially now that he has not been complacent. It is not like in history that the Southern Ming court's vulnerable moves were released one after another, and there were constant wars everywhere.

Moreover, Shunzhi is now just a puppet. He has been constantly strengthening his strength and weakening the prestige of Dodo and Ajige, and his power is very strong.

Of course, Dorgon also understood that the operation of power struggle is often just icing on the cake, and the most fundamental thing is to win the battlefield. Although the Qing Dynasty is still peaceful now, it actually contains a crisis. If Jiangnan cannot conquer, and when the Ming court recovers, he may have to take the remaining troops back to the outside world.

On the school ground in the south of Yangzhou City, under a very eye-catching golden tassel umbrella on the stage, Zhou Shixian was wearing a gilded armor with a firm look. Behind him were a group of new army generals, and under the stage were more than 10,000 new army soldiers with neatly-shaped army appearances.

After the army expanded several times, the old organization was no longer applicable, and Zhou Shixian also began to further establish the organization, dividing the 50,000 army into the three armies in the front, middle and back.

Now, after another year of preparation, the Ministry of Revenue allocated a special amount and purchased enough fabric from the workshop in Nanzhili to make new military uniforms of various colors, making distinctions from soldiers' helmets to armors.

The military uniforms of the new army, musketeers, cavalry, and cavalrymen under Zhou Shixian are now in different colors. In particular, the red tassel helmets of musketeers are the most spectacular and eye-catching when deploying troops.

Although Zhou Shixian is busy with military affairs every day and has to deal with matters of all sizes and big things in the court, he still attaches great importance to the details of the army, which is an important part of the soldier's sense of honor.

Under the rule of his and a group of ministers such as Li Banghua, Ni Yuanlu, Liu Zongzhou, and Zhang Mingzhen, the bureaucratic group of the Nanjing court restrained a lot and maintained relatively honesty and good efficiency.

At the same time, craftsmen at all levels have also begun to burst out vitality and creativity under various incentive systems. From time to time, innovations about machinery and tools have occurred. Although most of them are minor repairs, the trend is improving all the way.

The changes in these tools and the optimization of management systems have led to the slow increase in productivity.

Zhou Shixian turned his head and looked at the front. On the vast school ground in front of the stage, officers at all levels of the central army under Xue Laoer were organizing soldiers to conduct the final drill preparation.

Above the school ground, there was a red, white and black line. More than 10,000 musketeers, combat soldiers and cavalry from the central army were standing in a row, with neat flags, shiny armor, sharp swords and guns, and distinct military uniforms.

He looked around, then turned his eyes to Xue Laoer, Zhang Huangyan, Zheng Hu, Zhou Tong, Zheng Chenggong, and several other newly promoted officers. Each of these generals under his command is loyal.

For an army, only continuous victory can bring high morale and the belief of winning, and only these can bring about the next victory, higher morale and rock-solid belief.

And for these ministers and generals, this is almost the same. Zhou Shixian can only exchange for their loyalty by using continuous victory on the battlefield.

Loyalty, to a certain extent, belongs to the winner only. Unless it is Xue Changfu, Zhang Hong, Zhu Maozhen, and Wu Xingye, they have followed Zhou Shixian early in the morning.

Afterwards, amid the shocking and loud whistle and loud whistle, Zhou Shixian led a group of generals to patrol the army array first. Seeing this army with neat looks and excellent spirit, he felt very happy.

Of course, Shu Chang, this army is his greatest reliance, which is his hope of defeating the Manchus and restoring the mountains and rivers. It was cultivated by him, from only four or five hundred people in the capital two years ago to an army of 50,000 today.

After inspecting the military appearance, Zhou Shixian and his generals returned to the platform. After hearing the sound of military horns, the battle barracks and mixed battalions below began to demonstrate the battlefield attack.

In fact, there were military drills in the Ming Dynasty, but it may be the first time that it is as large as today and close to actual combat.

More than 8,000 soldiers set up a long front on the wide school ground, with most musketeers standing in front, arranged in two rows, and two thick musketeers on both sides of the formation. They used heavy mesh rope guns from Spain, which were much more powerful than Lumi guns, and were responsible for covering with cross fire on the flanks.

Since the night attack on the north bank of the Huai River and seeing the huge power of the turtle dove-legged gun, Zhou Shixian has put a lot of effort into it. However, this kind of musket is not suitable for the entire army and is used as a cover for vitality, which is excellent.

After the spearmen and swordsman were still living, the cavalry on both wings were responsible for mobile cover. Among them were cavalry holding short guns, who would give unexpected attacks to the Qing army on the battlefield. This was a new soldier, and for the Qing Dynasty, it was hard to defend.

However, many things are not different during drilling. Only when they are on the real battlefield can these firearms play their true role.

The troops of each unit were in a very high order, maintaining the front line while advancing, shouting "Winning" with great momentum, which made people excited.

These soldiers have undergone extremely strict and scientific training and all meet the requirements. With perfect logistics supply, their combat effectiveness is definitely not comparable to that of previous soldiers.

Of course, apart from the greater momentum, there is actually no difference now. But once a war starts, their organizational level, training level, proficiency in battlefield skills, and even military discipline will be widespread with other armies after countless trainings.
Chapter completed!