Zhou Shixian soon led his troops into Huai'an Prefecture. In addition to Xue Laoer leading two mixed battalions to continue northward, settled in Xuzhou City, and stationed in this most critical stronghold with Gao Jie's troops, the main force of the Ming army was still stationed around Fengyang and Huai'an.

Zhang Huangyan, Zhang Hong, Wu Xingye and other generals led troops to guard Fengyang, Zhou Shixian, Sun Hu, and Liu Zeqing led troops to guard Huai'an, and Huang Degong led troops to guard various strongholds in Huaibei.

Although the Qing army gathered a large number of troops in Henan and Shandong, after the initial tentative attack, it did not attack immediately, but instead remained silent.

"Prince, the Ming army's chief general in Xuzhou City is named Xue Changfu. It seems that the Ming Dynasty prince consort supported him. Another chief general is Gao Jie, who is still a veteran. He had fought with servants before when he was in the Huaihe River, but it was difficult to deal with."

Kong Youde pointed to Xuzhou City, which was seven or eight miles away from the south, and continued: "There are estimated to be more than 20,000 soldiers in the defenders in Xuzhou City, nearly 10,000 soldiers who are under Xue Changfu's troops, and the same number of soldiers who are in great combat power, as well as nearly 10,000 soldiers in Gao Jie's troops, as well as nearly 10,000 civilians, who are not underestimated."

Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, the soldiers and generals who had surrendered to the Qing court in the early days, were sentenced by the Qing court after the failure of the Huaihe War, but they were only criticized for being beaten. In fact, the Qing court still had to rely on them, so soon another person was punished for his merits, but he only cut off some false positions and other things, and he did not even have a salary.

Now, the Qing court has drained the blood of the newly incorporated 200,000 Green Camp, and 70,000 of them have all been sent to the Nanzhili and Huguang battlefields. In order to restrict and deter these newly incorporated Green Camp troops, the status of the vassal soldiers has been greatly improved.

"Is there any other information?" Duoduo took his gaze from Xuzhou City and looked at Kong Youde again.

"The scouts sent out also said that the Ming army in Fengyang City and Huai'an City were approximately 20,000 to 30,000, which is similar to Xuzhou City. At the same time, there are more than 10,000 civilians in each city. Both cities have been reinforced, and countless boats patrolling the Huai River."

Although the total force is slightly inferior, the Ming army's troops on the Huaihe line are still very powerful. Moreover, these are just scouts that were detected by scouts. As the Ming army's controlled area, Zhou Shixian's real force will only be more.

"Zhou Shixian has 70,000 to 80,000 troops on the battlefield in Nanzhili, but the most critical fortress guards in Xuzhou City is less than 20,000. Zhou Shixian seems to have no intention of defending the city north of the Huai River. Instead, he has deployed heavy troops on the south bank of the Huai River. He guessed that our goal is to surround the points and attack the aid and prepare to defend and consume it?"

Duoduo frowned slightly and continued, "But if he wants to stick to the cost, Xuzhou City should deploy more troops. Although Xue Changfu and Gao Jie are both veterans, the 20,000 elite troops under their command are quite powerful. But as long as our army cut off the reinforcements from Xuzhou in Huainan, how long can these 20,000 troops last under the attack of red-clothed cannons?"

This is something that Duoduo and a group of senior Qing generals have not yet figured out. The Ming army has enough time to prepare more food, grass and ammunition, but they did not choose to do so.

If the defenders have sufficient food and grass, and have strong troops and horses, the strong city of Xuzhou can be maintained for at least one year or even longer.

You should know that the Qing Dynasty could only leave 20,000 to 30,000 troops to block the attack, and then the army headed south, and then the 20,000 people in the city would advance and retreat.

It is naturally enough to defend the city of 20,000 people, but if others do not attack and you do not have strong attack capabilities, will you completely lose the initiative?

But defending Xuzhou City and then blocking it step by step in Huaibei. When the Qing army arrived in Huainan, it was exhausted. This is the safest way.

Could it be that the prince consort of the Ming Dynasty was still thinking about whether he could fight with him in the field?

Duoduo couldn't help but have such a question, but he quickly denied this idea. Although the Ming army could use the real soldiers and horses to fight in the field had reached 70,000 or 80,000, there were only about 60,000 in Huainan, and he had more than 100,000 troops.

At least for the time being, the advantage lies in the Qing Dynasty.

Even if there is a total of 10,000 troops from Ajige who has already led troops to transfer to the West, there is still at least 100,000 troops. Zhou Shixian should not think that the newly trained soldiers under his command can beat the elite Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing Dynasty in the field, right?

If this is true, Duoduo could laugh in his dreams. If he annihilates the main force of the Ming army in one battle, then Xuzhou and Huai'an will not fight. The Ming army has no troops to defend in the southern prefectures, Jiangnan prefectures and other places, and the Ming court's deployment in Jiangnan will collapse.

But things will definitely not be so easy. Duoduo thought about it and immediately rejected his own ideas. The Ming army would never dare to take such a risky style of fighting. These Nikans would never have the courage.

But if not, what would it be? What was the conspiracy of the Ming Dynasty prince consort?

"The Ming army still has nearly 100,000 troops in Huguang. Zuo Liangyu's troops were almost not seriously injured in the last war. Li Guo, Gao Yigong's troops, and Du Yinxi's troops were already quite imposing. Perhaps the Ming army felt that Huguang was solid and the new recruits were unreliable in field battles, so there was such a plan." Kong Youde once again expressed his guess.

After hearing this, Duoduo couldn't help but frown. The Huguang battlefield was too important. If it was successful, the entire battle situation would suddenly become clear. He could lead his troops directly to Nanjing, but if Ajige and Wu Sangui were defeated, or could not restrain the main force of the Ming army, then he would have a fierce battle in Nanzhili, and the pressure should not be underestimated.

"What are Wu Sangui's actions in Jingzhou now?" Duoduo thought for a while and asked again.

Kong Youde thought for a while and replied: "Now Wu Sangui is hiding in Jingzhou City, the Shun Army has frequently dispatched to move around Jingzhou City, and the main force of the Ming army has gathered on the south bank of the Yangtze River. However, Huguang is thousands of miles apart from us, these are military reports more than ten days ago. The specific situation may have changed."

"Do you have specific troops dispatch and deployment of both sides?" Duoduo needed more accurate military information to make a judgment on the situation.

Although the Qing Dynasty still has the advantage in the battlefield, Duoduo no longer dares to underestimate the enemy. Moreover, like Ajige, Wu Sangui, Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, and Geng Zhongming, he hopes that he will lose the least.

In fact, it was not just the Ming army that distrust each other, guarded against each other, fought openly and secretly, but the same was true for the Qing Dynasty. It was not only that Manchus and Han people had no one mind, but also different thoughts among the Manchus.

"In addition to the naval attack, Li Guo, Gao Yigong and others also sent a large number of scouts to cross the river to reconnaissance. Du Yinxi also sent his powerful general Hao Yaoqi to lead three thousand armored soldiers and more than one thousand musketeers, and nearly a thousand cavalrymen to garrison into the Jiayu area. At present, there is no intention to launch a large-scale attack on Chengtian."

"What about Zuo Liangyu? What actions did he do in Wuchang?" Duoduo asked again. Although Zuo Liangyu was not afraid of it, it was also a force that could not be ignored.

"Zuo Liangyu has not been able to control his troops at the moment. The size of his troops under him is unpredictable. He is said to be 800,000, but it may only be 20,000 to 30,000, or at most 40,000. Wu Guogui, Gao Di, and Shang Kexi, who was secretly transferred to Xiangyang, have strong troops, especially Shang Kexi and Wu Guogui's vassal soldiers. Apart from Zuo Liangyu and Du Yinxi's elite troops, the general Ming army is probably not an opponent."

. "How is Duoduo progressing in the north now?" Zhou Shixian was also paying attention to the movements of the Qing army in real time.

"The scouts sent to the north have always been paying attention. The Qing army vanguard has arrived at the city of Xuzhou. Geng Zhongming and Nikan's troops have entered Suzhou, as if they are planning to cut off Xuzhou's retreat."

Lu Jiude bowed his fists and said, "However, Huang Degong was stationed in Suzhou. After the Qing army's attempt to siege failed, he went around the city directly. The fortress defense line in Huaibei is still stable."

Zheng Chenggong, who was standing beside him, heard it and said, "Xuzhou City is the gateway from Henan and Shandong to Nanzhili. Our army has been in operation for more than a year. The city is high and the walls are thick. General Xue and General Gao are stationed. It should be difficult for the Qing army to directly capture it in a short period of time."

"Apart from Duoduo, what are the doubts about the deployment of Ajige and other main forces of the Qing army?" Zhou Shixian asked with a suspicion.

Lu Jiude infiltrated the spies from the Green Camp Army in the north and found out a lot of information, but the Qing army also did a very secretive job, and the power of these spies was not high, so it was difficult to know the specific details of the Qing army's secret operations.

However, all the signs indicate that the main force of the Qing army was suspicious. Zhou Shixian is still uncertain. The main force of the Qing army placed the breakthrough point in Nanzhili and Huguang.

The Ming army was in Huguang, and the troops in Nanzhili were not sufficient, but the battlefield of Huguang had natural dangers in the Yangtze River and strong troops. Although the Qing army had more troops, they could not take action to work together.

In other words, both sides can only use one of them as the focus of attack or defense, otherwise the troops will be too dispersed, not only will the offense be ineffective, but there may also be problems with one side of the defense.

Zhou Shixian didn't say anything for a while. Any decision now is crucial and the situation is very complicated. Especially for people like Zuo Liangyu, Li Guo, and Gao Yigong, he was not at ease.

First, Zuo Liangyu's strength is insufficient, and it is hard to say that Li Guogao's first achievements will definitely beat Wu Sangui and Aljin. Second, neither of these two soldiers can be trusted.

"It depends on how long Wu Sangui can defend Jingzhou. If Li Guo can quickly break through, the situation in Huguang will improve greatly, and Xiangyang will become an isolated city by then."

"But if Li Guo progresses too quickly, wouldn't the Shunzi become bigger? Then it will be another big hidden danger." Zheng Chenggong asked with some .

"As long as you win this time, you will not be afraid of following the thief. Huguang cannot make a fortune." Zhou Shixian said, and got up and wanted to leave the mansion: "The most important thing is to be the Nanzhili side, and the main force of the Qing army."

The complex situation made Zhou Shixian very upset. Compared with the Qing army, the unreliability of the Ming army in Huguang often made him more trouble. This uncertainty would greatly increase the difficulty of his entire war layout.
Chapter completed!