Chapter 595 Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west
After nightfall, the main force of the Ming army also entered Fuhekou.
At this time, the scout cavalry of the cavalry station had already inspected every gun platform in the Fuhekou camp and determined that there was nothing abnormal, so the main force of the Ming army could move in with confidence.
But more than twenty gun platforms cannot accommodate so many troops.
Therefore, more soldiers and horses can only be placed in the outer trenches.
Fortunately, the Ming army was equipped with tents, felt quilts and other bedding as standard equipment.
Chongzhen still maintained his previous hard and simple style. He did not enter the bunker of the Gun Tower to rest, but insisted on camping in the trench outside the Gun Tower.
When the emperor acted like this, Xu Yingwei, Yan Yingyuan and other scholars naturally rushed to imitate him.
Because the weather was really cold, blankets and quilts alone were not enough to keep out the cold, so we had to resort to bonfires.
Piles of bonfires were lit from the trenches, lighting up the night sky and warming the bodies of the Ming army soldiers.
The iron pot placed on the fire was also steaming out, and soon the aroma of cured pork or mutton filled the air.
Compared with before, the Ming army's supplies now are really different.
Meats such as cured pork and cured mutton are also standard.
Of course, it is definitely impossible to eat and drink three times a day. Each person only has a small piece of bacon for each meal, and then he can eat a big meal every ten days. Today is exactly the snack every ten days.
Xu Yingwei opened the lid of the iron pot, took out the wooden chopsticks from his bag and tried it.
Finding that the bacon had been stewed to pieces, he quickly took out an iron lunch box and filled Chongzhen with two large pieces.
Iron lunch boxes are now the standard tableware of the Ming army, and they have been treated with blackening and anti-rust treatment.
Although the iron lunch box has been made the lightest and thinnest, it is still a bit heavy in the hand, and Chongzhen can't help but miss the aluminum lunch box he used in his previous life.
While eating bacon and white rice, Chongzhen asked Hu Guozhu: "Taiyi, how many people are there in the Jiannu retreat to Cangzhou? Are they Jurchens, Mongolians, or Hans?"
"Your Majesty, judging from their clothing, they should be those of the Eight Banners Han Army."
Hu Guozhu took the lunch box from Xu Yingwei and said thank you.
After taking a bite of rice, he continued: "The number of people should be between twenty and thirty thousand."
"In this case, the situation is basically clear." Xu Yingwei analyzed, "Jiannu probably anticipated that we might advance through waterways and stationed camps at the mouths of various rivers in advance."
"So if nothing else goes wrong, there will be Jiannu garrisons at every river mouth going north."
Having said this, he spread out the map again, then pointed at the map and said: "Needless to say, the Wei River, the Chaohe River, Shahe River and the mouth of the Dingliu River to the north must also have slaves. Once our army attacks a certain river mouth, that place will be destroyed."
The Jiannu will light the beacon fire and summon the Jiannu from other camps to come for reinforcements."
Yan Yingyuan said: "The intention of Jiannu stationing at the mouth of the river must be to block our army on the coast and prevent us from going deep into the inland, let alone from approaching Beijing. In this case, why did Jiannu at the mouth of Fuhe River want to
What about withdrawing troops? It stands to reason that this army of Jiannu should stay in the Fuhe camp and hold on to the reinforcements."
"There can only be one explanation for this." Xu Yingwei said with a smile.
Hu Guozhu was fascinated by what he heard and asked subconsciously: "I don't know what the explanation is?"
Xu Yingwei said calmly: "Jiannu does not want to fight our army at Fuhekou, but hopes to fight me on another battlefield that is more suitable and more conducive to Jiannu."
"Dagukou?" Hu Guozhu asked in astonishment, "Or Chaohekou?"
"I don't know." Xu Yingwei shook his head and then continued, "But one thing is for sure, Jiannu must have prepared enough means over there."
"But it's all useless." Yan Yingyuan shook his head and said.
"Because our army will switch to the land route before reaching Dagukou."
Xu Yingwei smiled and said: "Jiannu will definitely be extremely disappointed."
Yan Yingyuan then joked: "If we are disappointed, we will not continue to move north."
"There's really no way around this." Chongzhen spread his hands and said, "My strength doesn't allow it."
"Strength does not allow it?" Xu Yingwei and Yan Yingyuan were stunned for a moment when they heard this, and then laughed.
Xinshuo Shengsheng is really naughty and always comes up with an unheard of classic quotation.
…
Chongzhen was enjoying his meal, but Hong Chengchou was already eating too much.
At this moment, Hong Chengchou was pacing back and forth in his tent.
Hong Chengchou was worried that the Ming army would not continue to advance northward according to his "imagination".
If the Ming army, after capturing the Fuhekou camp, directly took the Fuhe waterway to Cangzhou, all the preparations they had made at the Chaohekou would immediately be in vain.
Hou Fangyu seemed extremely calm.
"Don't worry Hong Budang, there will definitely be nothing wrong with you."
"The Ming army will never go to Fuhe River, they will definitely come to Chaohe River!"
"How can you see that?" Meng Xueli rarely questioned Hou Fangyu's opinion.
"If the Ming army really planned to march along the Chaohe River, why didn't they cross the Beihai Sea from Dengzhou and go directly to the Chaohe River? Instead, they had to go along the coast and go around Laizhou Bay? You know, it only costs 600 meters to go from Dengzhou across the Beihai to the Chaohe River.
However, it is more than a thousand miles along the coast from Laizhou Bay to a large bay!"
"This..." Hou Fangyu was suddenly speechless.
Because he couldn't find a reason to explain this.
Hong Chengchou took a serious look at Meng Xueli for the first time.
Although Meng Xueli and the others were once among the diligent scholars in the scholar camp, to be honest, Hong Chengchou did not think highly of Meng Xueli and the other three scholars because he felt that they had no vision.
Given the current situation between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, how stupid would it be for someone to rebel against the Ming Dynasty and surrender to the Qing Dynasty?
But Meng Xueli and the other three rebelled against the Ming Dynasty and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty at this time.
But what he said just now made Hong Chengchou realize that Meng Xueli still had some knowledge.
At that moment, Hong Chengchou asked sincerely: "I wonder what Meng Gaijian has to say about this matter?"
"Master Bu Tang, I think there is only one explanation." Meng Xueli said with a serious face, "This is the Ming army's strategy of seizing the east and attacking the west. What is marching along the coast is just a partial division of the Ming army."
"Because Nanming's new army has a total of 270,000 people!"
"And the Ming army that appeared on the coastline of Laizhou Bay was only more than 100,000."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Attacking in the east and attacking in the west? The Ming army is diverted?" Hong Chengchou's expression changed drastically.
Hou Fangyu's face looked ugly at first, but after hearing these words, his face suddenly turned cloudy.
"Yes, this is the Ming army's strategy of seizing the east and attacking the west!" Meng Xueli said immediately, "Most of the main force of the Ming army has crossed the North Sea and headed straight for our army's base camp at the mouth of the Chaohe River."
Hou Fangyu echoed loudly: "That must be the case."
Hong Chengchou actually believed it and shouted: "Send the order, no one is allowed to sleep tonight!"
When the military order came down, Hong Chengchou ordered the captain of the servant Hong Dao: "Ah Da, come and put on the armor for me!"
While Hong Da was putting on his armor, Hong Chengchou said to Hou Fangyu and Meng Xueli: "Hou joins the army and Meng is admonishing you. You should go back and put on your armor quickly. There may be a big battle tonight!"
"Then I will resign." Hou and Meng turned around and left the tent.
…
That night, all the 48,000 Banner Han troops, 8,000 Green Camp troops, and 28,000 Mongolian troops stationed at the Chaohe mouth camp, including the governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, did not disarm and were waiting for danger.
However, when it got dark the next day, there was no movement on the sea.
However, another military report came from the south. King Shang Kexi of Dingnan had retreated to Cangzhou with 30,000 troops from the Fuhekou camp. Although the Ming army's cavalry launched a pursuit, they returned without success due to the tight defense of the Qing army.
Now Shang Kexi's army is stepping up its efforts to build a gun platform outside Cangzhou City, preparing to hold on.
In addition, there is another piece of news that I don’t know whether it is good news or not. After capturing the Fuhekou camp, the Ming army did not march along the Fuhe channel, but continued to march north along the coastline.
This time Hong Chengchou was really confused. What on earth was the Ming army doing?
"I can't understand it at all." Looking at the map, Hong Chengchou fell into deep doubt.
If it is what Meng Xueli said about attacking from the east and attacking from the west, after the Ming army captured the Fuhekou camp, they should decisively march westward along the Fuhe River, because this will not only lead the Qing army away from other directions, but also
Let the Qing troops in other directions stay as far away from the Chaohe River as possible so that the Qing troops will not have time to rescue them.
So if it's not about attacking in the east or in the west, it's totally unnecessary.
If the Ming army goes further north, it will soon reach Dagonkou. The straight line from Dengzhou to Dagonkou is only 600 miles. Is it necessary to go around a large bay along Laizhou Bay? The Ming army has too much strength and no place to use it.
?
What kind of medicine is Chongzhen, the dog emperor, selling in the gourd?
At this time, Hou Fangyu suddenly said: "No matter how cunning Chongzhen is, we only need to look for one thing, that is, the Ming army must and can only march along the waterway, so it is either the Fu River, the Wei River or the Chao River! We only wait at the mouth of the Chao River.
Just follow the Ming army. The Ming army will never be so stupid as to completely ignore logistical support and switch to land instead of water."
"Logistics support?" A bright light bloomed in Hong Chengchou's mind.
"I understand, I understand!" Hong Chengchou's face suddenly turned red, as if he was drunk, "I understand why the Ming army ran to Laizhou Bay and made a big circle!"
"Master Budo, what do you want to understand?"
Hou Fangyu asked confused: "Can you tell me?"
However, Hong Chengchou ignored Hou Fangyu and instead ordered Hong Daodao: "Hong Da, immediately send flying cavalry to inform King Dingnan and ask King Dingnan to send out troops at night to conduct in-depth reconnaissance along the coast of Laizhou Bay to see if the Ming army is in Laizhou. There are forts built at certain distances along the coast of the bay? Once you find out, you will immediately send flying cavalry to report back."
"嗻!" Hong Da hit him with one hand, turned around and ran out of the tent.
At this time, Hou Fangyu also came to his senses: "Lord Bu Tang, are you saying that the Ming army marched along the coastline of Laizhou Bay in order to build a fortress for storing grain on the seaside of Laizhou Bay to transport grain and grass?"
"That's right." Hong Chengchou sighed, "It's a pity that we have so much gunpowder hidden on the ice of the North Sea."
"This is impossible!" Hou Fangyu jumped up like a puppy whose tail was stepped on, "This is absolutely impossible. There is absolutely no way the Ming army could have guessed that we would set up an ambush on the ice!"
