According to the number of warships from the Ministry of War that Shen Yi negotiated with the court last year, thirty of them had been delivered to Huai'an before the spring of this year.
However, because they were separated on the east and west fronts, and there were some large camps that needed warship patrols, the last time Shen Yi crossed the river, there were only ten ships available on the east front, plus some small and medium-sized ships.
Only 1,500 people can be sent there.
However, during this period, the Ministry of War successively delivered ten more warships.
With the continuous delivery of warships from the Ministry of War, Shen Yi now has more than forty warships at his disposal. Including the three super ships he built in Yueqing, there are a total of forty-three ships.
The three large ships built by Shen Yi in Yueqing were behemoths that could carry more than two hundred soldiers, and the warship delivered by the Ministry of War could carry more than a hundred people without any problem.
But this time, Shen Yi basically transferred all the available boats to Lianshui Camp!
In other words, he can transport more than 5,000 troops across the river at a time!
This greatly improves his combat flexibility.
The Lianshui camp started moving at dawn, and when the sun fully rose, their leading ship had already been discovered by the Qi people and attacked by the Qi people.
The Qi people on the river bank were either firing cannons or using bows and crossbows, and were "trying their best" to block the Huai'an army's northward advance.
Mr. Shen stood on the deck of a large ship, looking at the Qi people on the north bank who were resisting sporadically, and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Tsk, these Qi people really fought well, even the artillery was brought up."
Ling Su stood behind Shen Yi. He looked at the situation on the north bank with a telescope, then lowered his head to Shen Yi and said: "Mr. Shen, the Qi people along the Huaihe River seem to have about two thousand people, but they only have more than ten artillery pieces."
There are only four to five hundred archers at the gate."
"If we work hard together, we should be able to rush over and seize the position along the Huaihe River."
Shen Yi nodded and said with a smile: "Since it is the main attack on the Western Front, it is up to you, General Ling, to have the final say. According to the previous plan, after landing, hold the troops stationary to cover the landing of subsequent soldiers."
"After all the soldiers on the western front have crossed the river, you will divide your troops into two groups."
Master Shen clasped his hands behind his back and said, "Attack Suqian all the way and guard Haizhou all the way."
Ling Su thought for a while and said: "Mr. Shen, General Xue will lead an army to attack Suqian. General Xue is also here. Should we send General Xue to lead another army to guard Haizhou?"
Shen Yi shook his head slightly and said: "I said we are the main attack on the Western Front, so there is nothing wrong with him. He insists on coming, and he can only be regarded as a personal follower around me. General Ling will do the specific personnel arrangements, but..."
Shen Yi turned back and glanced at Ling Su, and said in a deep voice: "I still say what I said, we came here this time not to attack the city or to regain Haizhou, but to eliminate the enemy's effective strength."
"The purpose of combat is to preserve our effective forces and destroy the enemy's effective forces as much as possible."
Shen Yi said in a deep voice: "This is the top priority in everything we do. We must not be greedy for power and lose people, let alone be greedy for land and lose people."
"No matter what the situation is, as soon as you find something is wrong, start to retreat immediately. I will coordinate and support you at any time."
It has not yet reached the official stage of the "Northern Expedition", and there is no strategic goal of occupying a certain place, because even if Shen Yi captured Suqian, or Haizhou, or even a big city like Xuzhou further north, Shen Yi would still have
There are not enough troops, and the logistics cannot keep up. After staying north of the Huaihe River for a long time, there is no other way except defeat.
Therefore, Shen Yi's current combat thinking is somewhat similar to guerrilla warfare, which mainly involves attacking people rather than seizing territory.
Ling Su's subordinates were basically brought up by Shen Yi single-handedly. They had been "taught" by Shen Yi for a long time. They were already very clear about Shen Yi's tactical thoughts. He bowed his head respectfully and said: "General, I will obey!"
While the two men were talking, their boat was already very close to the north shore.
Ling Su stood on the bow of the ship, waved his hand, and shouted angrily: "All ships docking, land immediately, seize coastal positions, and cover the landing of subsequent soldiers!"
This time Ling Su was the main attacker, and Shen Yi was not prepared to interfere too much. He just happened to take this opportunity to observe his number one general.
As expected by Shen Yi, this landing operation went extremely smoothly.
Although there are two Qianhu Battalions on the north bank to block the attack, it feels like fishing. When a large number of Chen's soldiers landed, the remaining soldiers of the two Qianhu Battalions immediately fled, giving up the position along the Huaihe River.
came out.
Naturally, Ling Su and others would not miss this opportunity. In just one hour, Ling Su and others had established a firm foothold. Almost all of the first batch of 5,000 people stood on the land on the north bank of the Huaihe River.
After landing, many people were a little excited. They even squatted on the ground and pinched the soil on the ground to see if it was any different from the one on the south bank.
After all, at this time...the country has been divided into the north and the south for more than sixty years.
In a few years, it will be seventy years.
Most people in Chen State are very unfamiliar with the area north of the Huaihe River, and even think that this is a country of barbarians, which is a completely different world from Chen State.
Ling Su was also experienced in leading troops to fight. After establishing a foothold, he immediately began to deploy and form formations, and then welcomed the subsequent soldiers to cross the river.
This continued until noon, when almost all of the 15,000 soldiers on the Western Front had crossed the river and reached the north bank of the Huaihe River.
Ling Su came to Shen Yi, clasped his fists at Shen Yi and said: "Mr. Shen, all our soldiers on the western front have crossed the river. When you give the order, the general and others will divide into two groups and march according to the predetermined plan!"
Shen Yi looked back at the Huaihe River behind him, and then at the ships on the Huaihe River. After thinking about it, he said, "The battle can be fought however we want, but our retreat position cannot be here."
Shen Yi said slowly: "According to the current situation, the Qi people's pocket formation is very obvious. As long as our army advances further north, they will try their best to surround us and block our access to the Huaihe River."
"They should, they will come from east to west."
Mr. Shen said slowly: "So, I will dock the ship to the west, due south of Suqian. When you withdraw from Suqian, just head straight south."
"As for the troops blocking Haizhou, let them retreat to the west while fighting."
Shen Yi patted Ling Su on the shoulder and said, "That's all I can think of right now."
Ling Su lowered his head and said yes, then raised his head to look at Shen Yi and asked: "Mr. Shen, if the army blocking Haizhou is surrounded by Qi people, will I save him or not?"
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"Natural can't be saved."
Shen Yi answered without hesitation.
"Your army going to Suqian has only one goal, to annihilate the defenders of Suqian!"
"After the fight is over, if possible, we can retreat south without entering Suqian County."
"I will personally follow the army guarding Huai'an."
Mr. Shen said, "If anything happens, I will be responsible."
After hearing this, Ling Su no longer had any doubts. After hugging Shen Yi, he turned around and left.
After Ling Su left, Shen Yi also jumped off the deck of the ship surrounded by everyone. He ordered the ship to go west, and he himself took five thousand-household camps, which was more than 7,000 people.
The troops slowly approached Haizhou.
Xue Wei, one of the generals, did not go anywhere else. He just followed Shen Yi and served as his follower.
Because it was far away from Haizhou, Shen Yi and others did not need to move their troops to Haizhou. In fact, they only moved their troops to the vicinity of Dayin Mountain, then stopped and stopped moving.
At this time, it was already evening.
Zhang Meng and Liu Mingyuan, who were leading the army, clasped their fists at Shen Yi when they arrived at the central army, lowered their heads and said, "Mr. Shen, you have arrived at Dayin Mountain. Are you setting up camp at Dayin Mountain?"
Shen Yi nodded and asked, "Just stop here, don't come any closer."
After thinking for a while, Mr. Shen continued: "It will be repaired for a day tomorrow, don't move."
He looked at Zhang Meng and said slowly: "Break camp tomorrow night and retreat to the southwest."
Haizhou City is located in the northeast of Dayin Mountain. If you move to the southwest, it will become farther and farther away from Haizhou.
Although Zhang Meng and Liu Mingyuan were unclear about Shen Yi's intentions, because Mr. Shen's prestige was very high, they did not hesitate and immediately clasped their fists: "General, I will obey!"
"Don't slack off tonight."
Mr. Shen said calmly: "Patrol when it's time to patrol. Don't be afraid if you encounter Qi people, just take action."
The two looked at each other and clasped their fists.
"I will obey my orders!"
After the two people left, Mr. Shen put his hands behind his back and looked in the direction of Haizhou.
"The big fish is coming to bite the bait."
He chuckled.
"Stay calm, don't scare away this big fish like me..."