If you look at it from the map, Jinan Prefecture, Fengyang Prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture, and Hanzhong Prefecture just draw a deep bowl-shaped arc, and Henan and the four pseudo-Qing vassal kings who control it are in this bowl at this time.

Fengyang was lost, Prince Zheng Jiergalang died in battle, and the Qing court fell into panic. Before entering the pass, Jiergalang was one of the eight Heshuo Beile. The Beile in the early Qing Dynasty was quite valuable, and only military merits could be granted Beile. After entering the pass, Jiergalang was one of the four princes. Although his military achievements were not as good as Prince Su Haoge and Prince Rui Dorgon, he had made many military achievements. Jiergalang was surrounded in Fengyang, and the Qing court could not send troops to support him. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that the Qing Dynasty was at the end of its strength.

They occupied the Central Plains for not long, and at this time they were still a robber mentality. They thought that at most they could plunder and withdraw their hometowns outside the pass. This mentality was deeply rooted in the Qing Dynasty. A hundred years later, when they signed various treaties and handed over the money they plundered to the foreign countries, this robber mentality was also at work. They robbed them, why did they feel sorry for them?

The capture of Fengyang and the slaughter of Jirgalang is a good thing for the surviving people in the city, but it is not for the entire battle situation. The Northern Expedition Army lost its bait, and the plan to surround the point and attack aid was completely ruined. The bait was gone, so the fish naturally would not come.

Kong Youde, Wu Sangui, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi from Henan took the opportunity to speak loudly to the Qing court. The Qing Dynasty was also very happy and promoted the title and rewarded the generals of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty in the Liaodong clan, aiming to win the loyalty of these old Liao clan warlords. After all, they were the absolute main force in the hearts of the Central Plains. Wu Sangui and Kong Youde were determined to follow the Qing Dynasty. They were not very loyal to Jiannu, but because they knew that the Northern Expedition Army never treated prisoners preferentially.

In the past, when fighting, these speculative factions led their troops to surrender when they were not good. Not only could they save their lives, but even commanded their troops as usual. It was just a force nominal obedience. For these old warlords of pragmatists, the name was the least valuable thing. But later, Jiangnan had an alternative. Since the day Hou Xuanyan took office, his reputation for not keeping his promises and loving to kill surrendered generals has become increasingly popular.

More than once, some people advised him not to treat surrendered generals so ruthlessly, but Hou Xuanyan knew very well that Nan Ming lost to a group of impermanent military oil men. If you surrender, not only will you not be able to mobilize them to fight, but you will give you a counterattack at the critical moment. What should a group of people who surrender in name do? Maybe when will they be on their backs, it is better to treat it as an enemy who fights openly.

The advantage of this is the unprecedented unity of the Northern Expedition Army in Jiangnan. There was no such thing as the most common attack on each other in the late Ming Dynasty. The entire army was under the control of Hou Xuanyan. But there were also disadvantages. For example, now, it has successfully made the relationship between the Qing Dynasty and the traitor kings who depended on them tighter.

In May of the first year of Jingyou, Hou Xuanyan had already wiped out all counties and counties near Fengyang Prefecture, Zhongdu. In the former Yingtian Prefecture of Ming Dynasty, only Xuzhou is still in the hands of the Qing soldiers. Xuzhou is known in history as the "Key of the North" and "an important town of the South". In the words of Xuzhou people, this place is neither south nor north, neither big nor small. Since ancient times, occupying Xuzhou for the military forces in the south is equivalent to obtaining a key to open the lock of the northern gate; and in the eyes of the rulers of the northern regime, taking Xuzhou is equivalent to occupying the bridgehead for marching to the south.

Hou Xuanyan stopped in the suburbs of Fuli Bridge in Suzhou. After dismounting, he looked up at the distance and saw a forest in the distance.

"map."

While pulling the map, Hou Xuanyan pointed to Xia Wanchun and Yan Yingyuan beside him, saying, "'If you don't go east by jumping into the horse, how can you get upstream of the Gefengpei?" Xuzhou is a must-fight place for military strategists. If Xuzhou and Huozi Camp meet in Shandong, then the Shenjing will be in my hands."

Yan Yingyuan stared at the map and said, "Duke of the State Council, Xuzhou has many important towns, including Tongshan, Xiaoxian, Peixian, Pizhou, Dangshan, Fengxian, Suqian and Suining. So many cities are the corners of each other and are very close to each other. If you want to defeat them one by one, there will definitely be other counties coming to support you."

Hou Xuanyan was careless, held the whip and pointed forward, and said with great enthusiasm: "I have an army of 230,000. If I throw a whip, I can break the river and drink a horse. When the Qing soldiers in Xuzhou see me, I dare not escape without hearing the wind? Since the uprising, I have killed Duoduo first and then killed Jiergalang. Two of the four princes of the pseudo Qing have been removed by me. When the manchus heard my name, he dared not speak loudly. When he dreamed of me at night, he would tremble all over his body..."

Hou Xuanyan was so cheerful that Xia Wanchun beside him kindly reminded: "Governor, be careful to repeat the old events of the Former Qin Dynasty."

The so-called old events in the Former Qin Dynasty refer to the former Qin Dynasty Emperor Xuanzhao Emperor Fu Jian. In the early days of his reign, he worked hard to govern the Han Dynasty, valued Wang Meng, implemented a series of policies to rest with the people, strengthened production, and finally made the country prosperous and unified the north. Then he led elite soldiers and generals to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Because of his pride and arrogance, he was beaten back to the front before liberation, and left a idiom for future generations that was full of plants and trees.

"Damn it, it's so disappointing..." Hou Xuanyan twisted his head in disappointment and looked at the soldiers behind him. The three armies were still majestic, but the soldiers' faces were more or less tired. With the help of the special little military doctor, the soldiers had already been exhausted for a long time. Since the Northern Expedition started, they seemed to have been repairing in Suining for three days.

Thinking of Xia Wanchun's words, Hou Xuanyan thought to himself, "I am really a disaster star." No matter where I am, his soldiers always work hardest along the way. Just like the three Northern Expedition Army are now in a stalemate, and only the Central Army continues to advance. If someone is really waiting for trouble, coupled with the terrain of Xuzhou, there may be a possibility of a failure."

"There is a flat ground in front of me, and I set up camps there, burying pots and making rice, and we will go to Xuzhou again tomorrow."

Piles of bonfires lit up next to the ferry of Fuli Bridge. The spring breeze brings warmth even in the evening, the wind is warm and comfortable. The air is mixed with the smell of charcoal burning smoke, which is very pleasant to smell, reminding Hou Xuanyan of the smoke from his hometown in later generations.

Hou Xuanyan lay on the grass with his hands resting on his head, looking at the red clouds all over the sky, breathing the air far away from the bloody smell, and a plan of attack in his mind was gradually being improved. The Qing Dynasty was really a paper tiger. The facts proved that as long as a group of Han people in the rear were dealt with, the black sheep would be eliminated, and in the face of the Han regime with one heart and one virtue, the Qing Dynasty was vulnerable. The so-called invincible Eight Banners soldiers of Shangwu were famous and were just a king with good luck.

Just as Hou Xuanyan was excitedly thinking about how to arrange troops to eat up the pseudo-Qing territory, Chen Changzhi, a Qianxiang Camp, came in person and approached and said, "Duke, report to me if you have an urgent matter."

Hou Xuanyan's heart skipped a beat, sat up straight, and asked, "What's the matter?"

"There has been news from Jinling that people say that today's son is a daughter, and it is said that the Duke of the State has fostered the empress, which is anti-Yi Zhaozhao. These rumors have been rampant recently and have spread throughout the streets and alleys. What's even more terrifying is that we can't find the source of the news in Jinling." Chen Changzhi's words were not as good as he was recommended, and he was really strange.

There was something that Qianxiang Camp could not find out in Jinling. This incident was stranger than the "rumor". It can be expected that there might be an extraordinary group behind it. For Qianxiang Camp, they did not know that the emperor was a woman. The only ones in the world knew about this were Hou Xuanyan, Wang Xiangnian, and more than a dozen personal palace maids in the palace. Therefore, the Qianxiang Camp defined this matter as a simple spread of rumors. Some people might want to create something, and they even suspected that it was sent by the Qing Dynasty to interfere with the Northern Expedition.
Chapter completed!