In addition, Wang Jincai led 11,000 people as another vanguard of Nanzhili to attack Mengcheng and Maozhou, and both cities were taken by Wang Jincai after a little resistance. So the two kings repaired in place, waited for the arrival of the main army, and then prepared for the next stage of the battle.

As the covering force of the main force of the Ming army, 71,000 men of Hao Yongzhong's left front army of the imperial camp arrived at the end of September in Maozhou, which is located outside the southern border of Xuzhou Province and can be said to be close to Xuzhou. Hao Yongzhong and Wang Jincai garrisoned here, and they were already on the periphery of Xuzhou City.

Jiaolian was stationed in Pizhou, east of Xuzhou, and Wang Yuncai was in Yingzhou, west of Fengyang. Moreover, after the main force of the Ming army saw that the front was safe, it had already dispatched and moved north to Fengyang, the central capital, wanting to sit there and wait for the arrival of the main reinforcements of the Qing army.

As long as the Ming army finally occupies the Guide Mansion in the east of Heyi South and all the counties west of Xuzhou City, Xuzhou, the core of the Qing army's defense in Huainan, will be a lonely city. Will things go as smoothly as they imagined?

Let's not mention Xuzhou first, and then talk about Shandong.

Those who have peach and plum trees have to rest in summer and have solid autumn in autumn; Tribulus terrestris can not rest in summer, but it can be thorny in autumn.

Shandong, the story is back here, when in the spring of the fifth year of Yongli, the Qing army's nine-province coalition had to withdraw from the Sawtooth Mountain because of the Ming army's general attack on Nanzhili, except for a few areas such as Xuzhou, Huai'an, Fengyang, etc., Nanzhili was basically lost, how did this make Dolgon not annoyed?

Looking at the situation on the battlefield everywhere, the regent was annoyed. "Regent, the Yuqi Rebellion has not yet been pacified, the coalition troops of the nine provinces have just evacuated Shandong, and Li Yuanyin's Ming army has arrived again, and he has taken Denglai Erzhou in succession. For the sake of today's plan, I'm afraid we can only think about whether to fight or defend. ”

Dolgon couldn't help but say angrily: "Shou, you say, how do you keep it? The territory is getting smaller and smaller, and within the Great Wall, in addition to Beizhili is still in our hands, Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan are all in contention between the enemy and us! The most important thing is that after the Ming army lands in Shandong, it will form a three-bread sandwich trend for the main force of our Central Plains. Can such a battle still be held? Fan Wencheng said with a sad face: "But the regent, the main force of our army of hundreds of thousands has been empty in the Central Plains, and the food and salary are huge!" It's not a good idea to go on like this! ”

Dolgon laughed miserably: "Hehehe, the Lone King has already given him all the rivers and rivers, now he should come to compete with me for the Central Plains, right?" Fan Wencheng shook his head and said: "Yes, the offensive and defensive situation is easy, if the Ming army is aggressive, there will only be the plain." But Chen was worried about the decisive battle on the plains. After all, the Ming army could already cross the Yellow River from Shaanxi to the east, and go east out of Tongguan, and then attack Qingzhou and Jinan from Denglai Erzhou to the west. If we lose Taiyuan and Jinan next, we will be restrained and beaten everywhere. ”

Dolgon's eyes were gloomy, and he said with determination in his sorrow: "If you become a king or lose a villa, there will always be a battle, and if you continue to hide and seek, I'm afraid it is not what he Zhu Youlang wants." Although our army has become a trapped beast, it will not be easy for Zhu Youlang to lock us in a cage. I'm going to see if his cage gets smashed first, or if we starve to death first. Fan Wencheng's eyes shone and said, "Could it be that the regent is ready to attack?" "No, the king will continue to wait." "What, wait?" "Wait, I've waited so long, I've paid so much, why don't you keep waiting? The lonely king had a hunch that this time, Zhu Youlang would definitely come. ”

"But the main army continues to remain silent, how can the situation around it be cleaned up?" "The situation?" As if asking himself, Dorgon stared with his hands on the map. My heart is like a turtle crawling by, and I feel a little blocked. The place where his hands were pressed was now out of his control, the territory was getting narrower and narrower, and the regent's expression was becoming more and more resentful. But the resentment finally turned into strength, and his face became cold and cold. "Let Jierharang continue to hold in Kaifeng and Luoyang, kill the Ming army in Tongguan and Nanyang, and respond to Taiyuan, so that Wu Sangui monk Kexi can hold Daizhou and Taiyuan. After all, the Ming army in the northwest is too strong, if it is not for the main force to attack, I am afraid it will be difficult to annihilate, and the target of the main force of the Ming army should be Xuzhou, and the target of the main force of our army can only be the main force of the Ming army. ”

Fan Wencheng said: "What about Shandong? Dolgon said: "Shandong is very lonely and anxious, there is not only a Ming army, but also a Yu Qi, 100,000 heavenly soldiers are helpless to ....... him" Fan Wencheng hurriedly interrupted him and said: "Don't pretend to be the Jade Emperor first, the Ming army has reached Nantianmen, and that Yu Qi has just beaten our 200,000 heavenly soldiers in Shandong." If you want to gather the nine provinces again, you can't do it. Dorgon muttered, "Isn't there no army to be mobilized except for the main army in the hands of the Lone King?" Fan Wencheng knew that Dolgon was not willing to lose Shandong, including him. A person's name flashed in his mind, and he quickly said: "The situation in Shandong is indeed annoying, and we lost unjustly because the enemy took advantage of it. If you want to get back a game, the minister has another candidate, his troops are numerous, after the Huaiyang War won our army, he has been stationed in Fengyang, which is located south of the Huai River, and Shandong is close at hand, but I don't know what the regent wants? ”

Of course, Dolgon understood why Fan Wencheng only said half of what he said, once the Ming army attacked Fengyang like Nanjing, then Fengyang would be another lonely city and another Nanjing. If the Ming army's sailors were able to attack Shandong by sea, then the Huai River would naturally be a problem. Fan Wencheng hoped that Dolgon would abandon Fengyang, and Dolgon also knew that under his main decisive battle plan, the only thing that the entire Southern Zhili needed to hold on to was Xuzhou. First, Xuzhou is located at the confluence of the Yellow River and the Grand Canal, and second, the Xuzhou section of the Yellow River is turbulent, which is not conducive to the Ming army to block the river.

Dolgon didn't say anything about abandoning Nanzhili, but said in a state of sudden realization: "Oh, that's right, as long as we control the line of Xuzhou, the Ming army in Jiangnan will not be able to cross the Yellow River." In this way, if we transfer Zuo Mengeng to defend Qingzhou, and Zu Zepu is in Jinan as the second line of defense, then no matter whether it is Yu Qi or the Ming army in Shandong, we will not be able to cut off our retreat, so that we can still wait for the opportunity to fight the main force of the Ming army! Fan Wencheng said: "Regent, in the Seven Rebellion, our army is not good for suppressing bandits, among the three marshals, Ji Xiha and Shumulu Tula have been cut down and imprisoned, if Zu Zepu is still the governor of Shandong, I'm afraid there is something wrong, right?" ”

(End of chapter)