The winter sunshine was filled with coldness. Looking at the smoke rising into the sky from Suqian City in the distance, Li Dingguo stopped his horse and looked at it in trance.
According to the established strategy, once the city was breached, beacon smoke was immediately lit to notify other Ming armies of the news, allowing Li Jingwu of Shanyang to adjust the strategy.
"Ten days is too fast."
Gao Yigong frowned: "It seems that Jiannu's offensive is very fierce!"
"They want to solve the Ming Dynasty once and for all, so naturally they will sacrifice their lives!"
Li Dingguo said calmly.
"Li Dingguo, don't always use idioms. You are not a scholar, you are a martial artist."
Gao Yigong couldn't stand his speaking style, which seemed to be rude.
"Reading more books will also be beneficial!"
Li Dingguo smiled slightly: "I often regret that I was late in studying and learned many truths too late."
"Let's go to Shuyang City."
Li Dingguo grabbed the reins and shouted into the wind: "If nothing else happens, they will be there!"
When they arrived at Shuyang City, they saw Zhao Guangyuan and Bai Wang resting.
Although they looked embarrassed, the morale of the army was good. After all, they had escaped and killed many people.
"Li Dingguo?" Zhao Guangyuan was slightly stunned when he saw the two of them: "Aren't you in Nanjing?"
"Assigned by His Majesty, he is now a member of the Beijing camp."
Li Dingguo cupped his hands and said.
Bai Wang saw Gao Yigong and was a little embarrassed, but he still received the courtesy.
The atmosphere was awkward.
Li Dingguo was somewhat clear about the next actions of the two.
According to the plan, after Suqian City was destroyed, the two men would renovate Shuyang City.
If the Qing army comes after them, they will set up camp and fight. It would be great if they can drag in some red artillery.
If the Qing army gave up, they would wait for an opportunity to recapture Suqian and harass the canal.
If we really couldn't defeat them, we followed the Shu River southward into the Yellow River and went to Shanyang County (Huai'an Prefecture) to join them.
This is part of the layer-by-layer approach.
This is a conspiracy and it is upright.
"How strong is the Qing army?"
After chatting for a while, Li Dingguo asked directly.
"There are a lot of artillery, the soldiers are not afraid of death, the armor is elite, and the troops cooperate well."
Bai Wang said helplessly.
Compared with Pizhou City, Suqian had a hinterland, so street fighting was carried out.
Using the methods planned by the emperor, every alley and street was constantly intercepted, blocked, sneak attacked, and set on fire. It can be said that they did everything they could.
However, due to the tyrannical strength of the Manchus, they finally withdrew from Suqian City.
"However, although our army suffered casualties of three to five thousand people, the number of casualties among the Jiannu slaves was definitely not less than two to three thousand."
Bai Wang patted his chest and said: "There are many traps in the city. If Suqian City is not too small to use them, I must let all the slaves stay."
Zhao Guangyuan did not interrupt Bai Wang's bragging, but he had to agree with some of his words. The Manchu Qing Dynasty had indeed paid a lot of losses.
Li Dingguo fell silent.
After a while, he stood up and said goodbye.
"Why did you just leave?"
Gao Yigong said in confusion.
“The Manchus didn’t get what they wanted, so I’m afraid they’ll go a little crazy next.”
Li Dingguo showed a hint of pride.
"what?"
"food!"
Gujuan
Li Dingguo mounted his horse and said, "There are hundreds of miles of strong walls and clear fields near the canal, and there are not many people further away. What do you think they will do?"
"Send more people to find it."
"That's right!"
Li Dingguo smiled confidently: "Either the Han army or the Mongolian army will be responsible for this important task. There must be very few Manchus."
"So, this is an opportunity to strengthen us."
With that said, Li Dingguo pointed to the cavalry behind him and said: "These people under our command will definitely not be able to defeat the Manchus, but the Han army and the Mongolians can fight equally well."
"That's not bad!"
Gao Yigong grinned and said: "The ones assigned to us are all prisoners, 90% of whom are from the North, and there are also many from the border troops. We just want to take more. I am not afraid of meat and vegetables."
"This is our chance to make a difference!"
Li Dingguo's eyes shone: "Those who come out to look for food are the food in their mouths."
As he spoke, he shouted to the cavalry under his command: "If you take a human head, you will be rewarded with five taels of silver."
"Alas--"
For a time, the crowd was excited and cheers could be heard.
…
Pizhou and Suqian retreated too quickly, but Suqian retained some dignity and allowed Li Jingwu to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Street fighting and bastions are all sharp weapons for Jiannu."
Li Jingwu murmured.
After spending a lot of money, he finally received feedback, which gave him confidence.
Immediately, he came to the map. There was a string of small towns going down from Suqian.
There are more than a dozen bastions in Baiyanghe Town, Taoyuan Town, Sanyi, Ma Tou, Qinghe, etc.
If Suqian's record was maintained, by the time the Qing Dynasty arrived in Shanyang County, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses would have been lost.
This has a great effect on suppressing their morale.
"Although the town is small, it is built exactly like a bastion. It blocks it layer by layer and consumes its strength. Half of the strategy is completed."
Li Jingwu thought happily, and soon spread his thoughts to Nanjing.
Nanjing City, former enemy marshal's mansion.
After receiving the news from Li Jingwu, the emperor got up all night and could not sleep.
The tactics worked, and everyone was happy.
"Your Majesty, it seems that even if the Manchu and Qing dynasties attack Shanyang, the entire canal is hundreds of miles away, and we have built dozens of bastions. It will be very difficult for the Manchu and Qing dynasty to remove them one by one!"
Zhao Shu was a little excited. He waved the long pole back and forth against the canal on the sand table.
The greater the role of the canal, the more fragile it is.
Not to mention the section of the Yellow River from Pizhou to Shanyang, no one can withstand the raging Yellow River.
But to the south of Shanyang County, there are purely artificial canals.
Each bastion is like a nail. If it is not removed, it will threaten the logistics and food supplies.
Therefore, it is conceivable that the further south you go, the greater the pressure from the Manchu and Qing Dynasties.
"What if the Manchus didn't use the canal?"
At this time, Lu Daqi expressed his opinion: "If they see so many fortresses, the Manchu Qing Dynasty will most likely abandon the canal and choose to feed on me."
"Or maybe they go to Fengyang Mansion, where there are many common people's cities."
"Although this is possible, the Manchus would not be so irrational!"
Zhao Shu looked a little ugly.
"This possibility cannot be ruled out!"
The emperor raised his head and said: "Perhaps aware of the difficulty of the fortress and the plight of lack of food, the Manchu Qing Dynasty will go south from Fengyang Mansion, sweep through Luzhou and Hezhou, and then wait for an opportunity to cross the river."
"It is also possible that the Manchu Qing Dynasty will realize the importance of the navy and choose to divide their troops in Luzhou and occupy Chaohu Lake to train the navy."
Chaohu Lake is connected to the Yangtze River through the wet water, so as long as Chaohu Lake is occupied, the navy can be trained and then head south to the Yangtze River.
To defend the river, you must defend the Huaihe River, and the occupation of Chaohu Lake is also a big factor.