Although he knew the intentions of the imperial court and Emperor Chongzhen, Chen Yue was helpless. Because even his father Chen Jianghe himself is very willing to lead the troops to the battle, and it has always been Chen Jianghe's long-cherished wish to lead the troops to fight and be loyal to the country, which Chen Yue still understands.

I hope that this time I can successfully repel the Qing soldiers, and my father can return to Nanjing to recuperate and live a few comfortable days. It is good that the official position of the commander of the Jinyi Guard has been handed over, and the Pingnan Army now has the Enemy Intelligence Division, and its ability to discuss intelligence is no worse than that of the Jinyi Guard. Chen Yue thought secretly.

"When is it, the court is still intriguing, tsk." Qian Fenglin sneered, he had already seen through the essence of the Ming officialdom, which was also the reason why he could continue to be an official, and it would not be a problem to be a prefect with Chen Yue's relationship, but he was willing to stay in the Pingnan Army.

Chen Yue glanced at Qian Fenglin, knowing that he was testing himself, this Qian Fenglin, like Shan Minglei, had a restless heart, and he was not a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty.

"Let's talk about how to deal with the southward movement of the Duoduo army." Chen Yue decisively diverted the topic.

"The strategy to deal with the enemy has been done a long time ago, we just need to follow the step-by-step process." Qian Fenglin Road.

"It's a little cruel for those ragtags, though." Chen Yue was a little unbearable.

"The combat strength of these armies is weak, and it is the time to take the opportunity to cut them down, and Lord Hou must not be soft-hearted." Qian Fenglin hurriedly persuaded.

According to the deduction of the General Staff Division, there may be two directions for the Qing army of the Duoduo Division, one is to attack Yangzhou from Guide south through Suzhou and Sizhou, and the other is to attack Fengyang, and then from Fengyang to the south to the Yangtze River, crossing the river from Pukou to attack Nanjing.

However, after careful deduction, everyone believed that it was unlikely that the Qing troops would attack Nanjing from Pukou through Fengyang. Because the Ming Dynasty has a heavy army stationed in Yangzhou, if Yangzhou is not taken, Duoduo may not dare to cross the river easily, otherwise he will worry about the enemy on his back.

Moreover, Yangzhou City is extremely prosperous, and it is one of the richest places in the world, and taking Yangzhou will make Duoduo earn a lot of money. After destroying the Pingnan army and taking Yangzhou, a large number of ships can be obtained, and the Yangtze River can be successfully crossed from Guazhou.

In addition, it was easier for the army to cross the river from Guazhou than from Pukou, which was the most important for the Qing soldiers born in the north.

Therefore, Yangzhou is the target of the Qing army's attack, which has been recognized by everyone.

Knowing the direction and goal of the Qing army's attack, and then formulating a strategy to deal with the enemy, this is the responsibility of the staff department under the command of Qian Fenglin.

According to the deduction of the General Staff Division, the military strength of the Pingnan Army could not repel the Qing army in the field, and could only defend the city and consume the opponent with the tall city walls.

However, the Jiangbei Governor's Mansion has jurisdiction over four prefectures and hundreds of counties, and so many cities cannot be defended by sending troops to defend them, and there are not so many soldiers to send. The Pingnan army is less than 70,000 people, and it is not enough to defend a city in Yangzhou, so how can it be guarded by dividing troops?

Fortunately, the Jiangbei Governor's Mansion is not only under the jurisdiction of the Pingnan Army, but also many miscellaneous armies. For example, the general soldier Li Qifeng, the deputy general Shi Dewei, the general soldier Ma Yingkui, the general soldier Liu Zhaoji, the general soldier Zhang Tianfu, Zhang Tianlu brothers, the general soldier Hu Shangyou and other units, each with three or five thousand soldiers and horses, adding up to seventy or eighty thousand. And all prefectures and counties also have hundreds to thousands of local guards, and Huai'an Prefecture also has tens of thousands of regimental troops.

If all things are counted, the total number of troops under the governor of Jiangbei is more than 200,000, which is more than twice the number of the attacking Qing army. However, most of these armies are weak fish belly, and they can't withstand a blow from the Eight Banners at all. And the 70,000 people in the Pingnan Army only have more than 10,000 veterans. Therefore, in terms of combat power, the army of the Jiangbei Governor's Mansion is too far behind the Qing soldiers.

Therefore, sending troops to block it can't be stopped at all, and dividing troops to defend the city will dilute the forces and let the Qing army break through. The only way to put the main force in Yangzhou is to use Yangzhou as a battlefield and fight to the death with the Qing soldiers!

However, the prefectures and counties could not be completely discarded, after careful consideration, Qian Fenglin came up with a strategy to fatigue the enemy, and sent a miscellaneous army to each important city along the way from Suzhou to Yangzhou, delaying the speed of the Qing army's march.

The Governor's Office did not have high requirements for these troops, and only needed to defend the city for two days before retreating. If you keep it for two days, it will be a great achievement, and if you can't keep it for two days, you will be severely punished!

If each of the four or five cities between Suzhou and Sizhou can delay the arrival of the Qing troops in Yangzhou for two days, the arrival time of the Qing troops in Yangzhou will be delayed by ten days and a half months, leaving Yangzhou with more time to prepare.

And only two days to abandon the city and flee, for the Qing soldiers did not experience any fierce battles, will also prove the Ming army's combat effectiveness is weak, will make the Qing soldiers arrogant, naturally will not pay attention to the defenders of Yangzhou.

Of course, it is not so easy for these motley armies to defend the city for two days, and when they abandon the city and flee, I am afraid that most of the army will not be able to escape smoothly, after all, in front of a large number of cavalry, it is not so easy to escape. I am afraid that only a small number of the general's family members can escape safely. When there is nowhere to run, many people are afraid that they will surrender.

This is actually very cruel to these motley armies.

The General Staff Department had no choice but to make such a decision, because these armies could not be incorporated into the system of the Pingnan Army at all. Generals such as Zhang Tianfu, Hu Shangyou, and Wang Zhigang regarded their own armies as their property, making it impossible for the Governor's Office to reorganize them.

And the combat effectiveness of these armies is too poor, only a few hundred generals in thousands of armies can fight, and most of the soldiers are ruffians, it is better to recruit new soldiers from the common people, at least in terms of obedience and discipline, they are much better than them.

Most of these troops were guest soldiers, coming from Sichuan, Henan, and Jiangxi, and their military discipline was extremely poor, and it was not uncommon to harass the people, which made the Governor's Mansion very headache. Moreover, since these armies were in the territory of the Governor's Palace, they had to be supported by the Governor's Palace, and these generals sent people to the Governor's Palace all day long to ask for food, and most of the food and salary allocated to them went into the pockets of the generals, and they were filled with their own pockets.

Soldiers are generals, this is already the norm for most of the armies in the late Ming Dynasty, even the imperial court is helpless to take these military leaders, and the Governor's Mansion is focused on recruiting and training the Pingnan Army, and it can't spare time to purge these armies.

Therefore, Qian Fenglin made the idea of using the enemy to eradicate dissidents, which made Chen Yue feel quite unbearable.

However, Chen Yue quickly overcame the obstacle in his heart, and he knew that the chief of staff had made the best choice. If these uncontrolled armies are allowed to come to Yangzhou, I am afraid that Yangzhou will reappear in another time and space in ten days! It's better to let them exert some residual heat, it is good to be able to block the Qing soldiers for a while, and it is worthy of the military salary they have eaten for many years.

The heart of the arrogant enemy, luring the enemy deep, luring the enemy to a decisive battle in Yangzhou, this is the response of the Pingnan Army to the Qing army in the south!