Dominate the Country

Taidong Town.

Huang Jie stood on a high place and looked at the east. The cold dew hanging on his armor looked crystal clear in the rising sun. The war had already reached the rear of Jiangyan Town. If it weren't for the main force he led, the governor had to take the initiative to move out. position, and took the initiative to retreat to Taidong Town. At this time, he might be panicking. I wonder, has Jiangyan Town been broken by the Qing army?

Since withdrawing from their positions in the middle of the night until now, this elite Fuhan Army has been waiting for orders and is always ready to fight.

"It's getting dark, and it's time for the Grand Governor to issue orders..."

Huang Jie knew that although the total strength of this elite Fuhan Army under his command was not large, it had eight musketry battalions, which was the largest musketeer unit within the Fuhan Army, as well as eight armored battalions, plus A hundred artillery units. The essence of the entire expeditionary force was under his command.

Excluding his main force and the two main battalion heads on the south road, even Chen Ming only had the right guard battalion, tank battalion and cavalry battalion in his hands.

This shows the importance of Huang Jiebu in this battle.

Ever since the white fish belly appeared in the eastern sky, Huang Jie stood on the high ground and looked at the east. He knew that the Qing army had broken the blockade of the South Road and was crossing the Yan River. Then the sounds of fighting coming from the east of Taidong Town also explained the plan of this elite group of Qing troops coming from the south. They wanted to cut off the connection between Jiangyan Town and Taizhou.

The golden sunshine is like thousands of sharp arrows passing through the treetops and shining on the grass in the forest. The mist dissipates.

"Drive..." A fast horse headed straight from the west to Taidong Town.

"The Governor has an order. Huang Jie will lead his troops to attack. Destroy the enemies behind Jiangyan Town." The person who came to deliver the order was Liu Wu himself. Huang Jie checked the military order in accordance with the regulations, waved his hand, and the drums and trumpets sounded. Tens of thousands of elite Fuhan Army troops who were waiting for danger immediately rushed out from inside and outside Taidong Town and gathered in front of Taidong Town.

Loud military songs sounded, and camp flags fluttered.

"Director Liu can report to the Commander-in-Chief when he goes back. Please rest assured. The general will definitely live up to his mission." The total number of Qing troops who came from the South Road was only more than 10,000. They also fought on the South Road first and then on the Yanhe River. They fought for a long time. How can the soldiers not get tired? And what about the elite Fuhan Army in Taidong Town? The number of soldiers was not much less than that of the Qing army. Although they had not slept a wink since midnight, they were also recharging their strength. Moreover, they had far more artillery than the Qing army. Huang Jie could not imagine the possibility of failure.

Liu Wu watched the army from Taidong Town heading to the battlefield with great vigor, and then he rode his horse and ran to Chen Ming's headquarters. It was discovered that the tank battalion, the right guard battalion and the first part of the cavalry battalion guarding the headquarters inside and outside also began to prepare troops.

"Grand Governor, Commander Huang asked me to tell the Grand Governor that I will fulfill my mission. Please rest assured."

Chen Ming had already put on the armor, and the steel armor weighing dozens of kilograms was hanging on his body, but Chen Ming seemed not to feel the weight. "He has sixteen battalions of the most elite veterans in his hands, as well as over a hundred cannons. If we still can't win, how can I let him take the position of brigade commander? If we fight, we can definitely win. It depends on how many Qing soldiers we can annihilate, and how many elites we ourselves will lose."

"Since you are back, go and hurry up the attendants' room and ask them to hurry up. The governor is going to Taidong Town."

Chen Ming was about to rush to Taidong Town to take charge. Liu Wu naturally understood the meaning of his words, nodded sharply, and immediately exited the tent.

The entire attendant's room is Chen Ming's headquarters. Except for the vacancy in the staff department, all personnel are fully staffed. The transfer of the entire command cannot be completed in one or two sentences. When Liu Wu arrived, Liu Dezhao was sweating and shouting and giving orders.

Liu Dezhao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Liu Wu rushing back: "As soon as you left, the Governor was going to Taidong Town. If Chen Dawei, Shi Meng and other generals hadn't stopped him, the Governor would have already rushed with his troops and horses. Taidong Town.”

"The Governor is worried about the situation of the war. The Qing army's strategy is not too bad, but the Tatars think too badly of us. Commander Huang has sixteen elite battalions under his command, plus over a hundred artillery pieces. "Liu Wu suddenly lowered his voice and said in Liu Dezhao's ear: "To put it bluntly, even if a pig is sitting in Huang Jie's position, he should be able to win this game. What matters now is the final result and us. My own loss..."

"The governor mobilized six battalions [new army camps] to dare to go to the south road, and he just issued an order to counterattack on the south road. This is to seal the opening in the south."

"Luo Daliang and his men are also ready on the west river. As soon as the signal is sent, the navy will immediately row eastward and blow up the pontoon bridge set up by the Tatars on the Yanyan River..."

Liu Dezhao briefly told Liu Wu the two military orders given by Chen Ming during his absence. The information clearly revealed Chen Ming's plan. He wanted to wipe out all the Qing troops that came over. From this, I felt a little worried about Huang Jie's ability.

"There are hundreds of cannons, as well as so many thunder cannons and mortar cannons. What are you afraid of..." Liu Wu thought for a while and felt that there was really no possibility that Huang Jie would lose control at a critical moment. There are so many cannons.

Half an hour later, the fog between heaven and earth had completely dissipated, and Chen Ming led the cavalry to Taidong Town first. His face was not very serious. According to the scout's report, the Qing army's crossing troops did not exceed 15,000 people. There were about 1,000 Eight Banners cavalry, about 1,000 Eight Banners new troops, and a large number of firearms battalions and shotgun troops. , plus about fifty cannons. This kind of power is indeed very powerful, but compared with the elite Fuhan Army in Huang Jie's hands, it is still a bit weaker.

Don't talk about anything else, just talk about the artillery team. The Fuhan army was twice as large as the Qing army, and all of them had five-pound cannons and eight-pound guns.

"Report to the Grand Commander, Jiangyan Town has sent a pigeon."——Everything is fine in the town, and the defense is as solid as a rock. Twelve simple words. Chen Ming smiled when he saw it. At such a critical moment, such a message made him feel very comfortable.

"Tell Miao Fuwei that at most at 7:00 pm, the main force of the army will engage the Qing army behind him, so let him be prepared."

On the high ground where Huang Jie was before in Taidong Town, Chen Ming looked far to the east while dictating orders. At the end, he added an oral order urging the southern troops to complete the counterattack as soon as possible.

When the sun rose to three poles, Huang Jie sent someone to deliver the news that the war had begun. The elite of the Fu Han Army killed the Qing army that was attacking the back of Jiangyan Town, and both sides lined up in the field ten miles away from Jiangyan Town.

The Eight Banners recruits, firearms battalions, cavalry, and artillery teams of the Qing army were all deployed, and the Qing troops on the south bank were reinforcing the central battlefield through the five floating bridges on the Yunyan River.

"How is the battle in the south going? Is Luo Daliang's boat ready? If it is, go ahead and blow up the pontoon bridge." After hearing that the Qing army's follow-up troops were still entering the central battlefield through the pontoon bridge, Chen Ming was a little impatient and let Luo Daliang's troops take action first. In his plan, it would be best if the elite troops of the Qing army just entered the central battlefield, and the Fu Han army in the south counterattacked and blocked the passage of the Henan Road of the Salt Transport River. But now it seems... Feng Sheng'e's dispatch speed is a bit beyond his expectations.

Now Huang Jie reported to him that the Qing army was reinforcing the central battlefield through the pontoon bridge on the Salt Transport River, and Chen Ming was anxious.

Anxiety makes you irritable, and irritability naturally makes you impatient. Ordering the sailors to act alone means not caring about the casualties of the sailors.

You must know that the Salt Transport River is only ten feet wide and the average water depth is less than one foot. If there is no large force on the shore to cooperate with the boats to destroy the pontoon bridge, those sailors who rushed onto the pontoon bridge will probably die.

"Reward each sailor with 100 silver dollars, and add another 100 for each who successfully blows up the pontoon bridge. Those who can come back alive will be promoted one level."

A series of high rewards came out of Chen Ming's mouth without a word. As long as the five pontoon bridges can be blown up and the north-south channel of the salt transport river can be cut off, what are tens of thousands of silver dollars? As for the promotion, it is even more reasonable. As long as these people complete the task, they are the heroes of the Fu Han Army. Of course, heroes will be promoted if they walk off the battlefield alive.

In front of Jiangyan Town, Feng Sheng'e has received the reward from Hailancha-more than 10,000 Fu Han troops have killed behind his troops, so Hailancha must shift his main focus from attacking Jiangyan Town to defeating the enemy. Then in order to contain the strength of the Fu Han Army in Jiangyan Town and prevent the Fu Han Army in the town from threatening Hailancha's troops from behind, the Qing army in the front must show its true strength and launch a real fierce attack on Jiangyan Town.

Feng Sheng'e took out his own magic weapon - the shield cart. The people pushing the cart were certainly not Qing soldiers or Shandong warriors. They were the strong men who followed the army.

Miao Fuwei stood on a high place and looked at the Qing army's position, and saw a sea of ​​flags. In front of the army, there were dense shield carts, followed by Shandong warriors wearing black clothes, and then a group of Eight Banners soldiers with lightning rods, and thousands of Green Camp cavalry on the left and right.

He snorted coldly. The Qing army's attack was still the same old trick, using shield carts in front, with archers and musketeers and bird riflemen behind, and when they were close to the position, there were also death-defying light sharp charge formations. This set of tricks should not be too familiar to the Fu Han army. He looked at his own position and felt relieved.

Although the breast wall, antlers, fences and other settings on the front line of Jiangyan Town's defense line were destroyed by the Qing army's artillery, the artillery in Jiangyan Town had not yet been used. As long as the Qing army dares to make a real move, the big and small cannons in Jiangyan Town are not vegetarians.

Behind the cannons are mortars, then flying thunder cannons, and finally tiger squat cannons and grenades, as well as sharp musketeers. Finally, there are supporting infantry, layers of long spears, swords and shields, living in the trenches and caves, and the Qing army's cannons are also worry-free. I will never be a coward in this battle.

Besides, he has seven battalions under his command, plus two old battalions and two hundred cavalry retreating from the back into the formation, the strength of the defenders has greatly increased. And he knows the Qing army's tactics very well. As long as the soldiers are brave and united, he is not afraid of the Qing army's real attack in this battle. This is a great opportunity to establish a strong military merit.

With the sound of the horn, the Qing soldiers' shield carts pushed closer and closer. Looking at their shield carts, there are wheels underneath, and the thick wooden boards in front are all covered with thick leather quilts, all of which are wetted with water to cover the rocket bullets. Miao Fuwei was very disdainful in his heart. These shield carts were indeed difficult to deal with, but the three trenches dug in front of Jiangyan Town were not in vain. If the Qing soldiers' shield carts were to pose a real threat to the Jiangyan Town defenders, they would first have to fill the trenches.