Dominate the Country

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Asha's good mood only lasted for three and a half hours. Just when he was enjoying dinner with a slightly happier mood, the urgent military information sent from Xuzhou made him lose his appetite in an instant.

The Chen family army officially crossed Yingqiao Town in the afternoon of that day, that is, crossed the Ying River. The Lu family camp had only faced a tentative attack by the Chen family bandits before. Now four or five thousand Chen family soldiers came fiercely. They were serious, so the Lu family camp was naturally no match for them.

Only a dozen remnants fled back to Xuzhou City in disgrace. As for the rest of the Lu family camp, no one was seen.

On the afternoon of the second day after Asha received Qin Guangyuan's urgent report, hundreds of mules, horses, and oxen dragged dozens of cannons and carts of military supplies, and drove to the outside of Xuzhou City, where the battlements were somewhat dilapidated, under the protection of thousands of Chen family soldiers.

Qin Guangyuan looked at the cannons and the shining armor of thousands of Chen's soldiers through the telescope, and his face was as bitter as it could be. He had just entered Xuzhou City, and he had not even made any progress in repairing the damaged city defense. The Chen's army, which had hit the Shaanxi Green Camp hard in the northwest, had already appeared in front of him. Qin Guangyuan was about to cry. How could he fight?

The most difficult battle Qin Guangyuan had ever fought was when he was a lieutenant general in Barkol, and he followed the army to quell the rebellion of the Hezhuo brothers. The Qing army fought very well in that battle. Even when they were outnumbered, they were able to fight and defeat the enemy.

But is Hebei Town the elite of the Green Camp in the northwest, and everyone dares to fight? Is Kaifeng City Defense Camp the firearms camp in Beijing, where not only everyone is wearing armor, but also the best guns and cannons made in the entire Qing Dynasty? Can Asiha's Fu Biao compare with the Xishan Jianrui Camp? They are the elite selected by the emperor from the entire Eight Banners. Regardless of whether those soldiers were willing to fight or not, they were selected into the Jianrui Battalion and became the inheritors of the "Manchurian old art" in the mouth of Emperor Qianlong. When fighting, they could only fight with the posture of a death squad!

For example, in the battle between the big and small Hezhuo, the Jianrui Battalion performed very well. Regardless of whether they can really fight or not, they have been promoted by the Qing court for so many years. In the minds of ordinary officials and generals, the Xishan Jianrui Battalion has also become the elite of the Eight Banners in Beijing.

Qin Guangyuan found it difficult to imagine how much hope he had of winning when fighting with the team outside the city, which seemed to be more powerful in terms of military equipment. This was very different from the past.

Baliqiao, the troops on both sides moved here tacitly. Baliqiao, the Baliqiao in Xuzhou, not the Baliqiao outside Beijing. In later generations, this place was renamed Baling Bridge, and a Guandi Temple was built next to it, because it was said that this was where Guan Gong picked up his robe.

The bridge is about ten feet above the water surface, and is a three-hole bluestone bridge. The river is fourteen or fifteen feet wide, and the river is not very wide, but now it is blocking the Chen family army.

After the Chen family army arrived at the other side of Bali Bridge, they kept building positions - artillery positions.

Chen Ming's calculations were very clear. He wanted to use the superior artillery fire to bombard the Qing soldiers on the opposite side, and then he could take the opposite position with a charge. A tall watchtower was erected in the Chen family army's position. Chen Ming stood on it with a telescope and roughly estimated the number of Qing soldiers on the opposite side. There should be less than 2,000 people. And if their cannons were not hidden, there would be only 15 guns.

Don't ask why Chen Ming knew so accurately, who made the Qing soldiers' artillery positions so obvious?

The cavalry battalion ran away and closely monitored the Qingni River. He was not afraid of the Qing soldiers crossing the river to launch a sneak attack. As long as the Chen family army was given a little time, the armored soldiers of the Chen family army could teach the Green Camp soldiers how to be children and grandchildren in hand-to-hand combat. In the face of real strength, it is not useless to play tricks, but the prerequisite is that the generals with superior combat power are not clear-headed.

Chen Ming is now very clear-headed. He knows that his military talent is insufficient. His requirement for his troops is to fight stupid battles as much as possible. Just like Zeng Shaver in the original time and space asked his troops to "build a strong camp and fight a stupid battle." Chen Ming also taught his men in this way.

As long as it is a war, scouts must be scattered outside at all times, and the campsite must be as stable as possible. The duty troops must be the first-class vigilance. Anyone who dares to be lazy and slippery during the night duty will be dealt with by military law. That is easily enough to beheaded.

Set up bright and dark sentries outside the camp, there must be trenches, and as many horse-hounds as possible. At the same time, the night duty troops should occasionally fire lighting lamps to the periphery, which is actually a large-scale fireworks. As for how to make the sound of large fireworks at night as small as possible, that is the job of the fireworks masters.

After receiving Qin Guangyuan's urgent report, Asaha in Xinzheng was really anxious and did not sleep all night. In the afternoon, Chen's bandits arrived at the west of Baliqiao. Asaha had no doubt that Chen Ming would attack Xuzhou City at night. Chen's bandits first defeated the Shaanxi Green Camp, and then relied on the North Ru River to rush to Xiang County with all the artillery fire at a speed far exceeding the land march, and then crossed Yingqiao Town and came to Xuzhou. This clearly means that the Henan Green Camp will be defeated first.

Asaha now understands a big problem in Emperor Qianlong's four-province encirclement and suppression: the wise and wise emperor must have destroyed the waterway convenience of Ruzhou in this generation.

The four-province encirclement and suppression seemed to be massive and powerful, but in fact it was a large army fighting alone. If Luoyang was in danger, it would not get support from the Henan Green Camp in Xuzhou; and when the Henan Green Camp was in trouble, it could only count on the Anhui Green Camp in Chenzhou Prefecture, which was also in the eastern sequence. The Runing troops in the south and the counterattack troops in Nanyang Prefecture were already divided into two unconnected troops by the mountains. On the contrary, the Chen family army, which was weak in strength, could defend first, and then the main force could use the convenient rivers in the country to quickly attack every Qing army in the north, east and even south.

The Ru River, Sha River, Cai River, and even a series of rivers originating from the mountainous areas in the northern border of the Nanyang Basin brought too much convenience to the movement of the Chen family bandits.

Asiha thought of the convenient water transportation in Ruzhou, but it was useless. He couldn't even tell his superiors. He could only send someone to inform the Anhui Green Camp in Chenzhou Prefecture and inform Chen Huizu, the Anhui Provincial Surveillance Commissioner who led the army. But whether Chen Huizu would immediately lead the Anhui Green Camp to the north to rescue Xuzhou after receiving the news, or take the opportunity to attack Yancheng, was beyond Asiha's prediction. He also has a backer, a second-generation official.

Just when Asiha was worried and unable to fall asleep, shouts of killing rang out on the battlefield of Baliqiao in Xuzhou.

Hundreds of Qing soldiers who were recruited by Qin Guangyuan with a large reward quietly crossed the Qingni River by floating on the water, and then rushed to the Chen family army's position from the flank, trying to destroy the Chen family army's artillery team in one fell swoop.

Of course, their whereabouts could not escape the Chen family army's sentries and secret sentries. After making a long detour, the death squad quietly sneaked to the periphery of Chen's army's position. Just after infiltrating less than 200 meters into Chen's army's flank defense circle, they were exposed by a hidden sentry hiding in a cave from the side.

Qin Guangyuan, who was opposite Bali Bridge, closed his eyes in regret.