Liaocheng is the city of Dongchangfu, the city is not very big, and the radius is only a few miles. But now it has become the base camp of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and 150,000 troops gathered in Liaocheng to confront the Manchus. This made Liaocheng almost a military camp, very crowded.

In February, although spring had already begun, the climate was still very cold. At this time, it was not easy for most of the soldiers from the south to fight. In fact, although the battle with the Green Battalion a year ago was a big victory, the Ming army also suffered great losses, and more than half of the casualties came from the bitter cold......

Therefore, even if the Qing army had forced to Linqing Prefecture, which was hundreds of miles away, Chen Yue did not have the idea of going out of the city and fighting in the field, because he knew that the Mantars, who were born in the bitter cold land of eastern Liaodong, were more adapted to the cold weather.

This is a decisive battle between the Ming and Qing dynasties, and neither side can afford to lose, so the big war cannot be fought all at once, and both sides will actively take precautions and strive for a favorable situation for their own side as much as possible.

The big battles can't afford it, but the small battles are continuous, and every day the two sides will send a large number of sentry teams in a vain attempt to spy on the opponent's strength and troop distribution. Only one-third of the 150,000 Ming troops were stationed in the city, and most of them were stationed in the camps outside the city. Now that the war is about to break out, the people have fled, and the vacated houses are used as barracks. Every day, many troops would be sent from the barracks to the four places to contact and fight with the Qing army sentinels. The situation on both sides is gradually becoming clearer.

The total strength of the Ming army is twice that of the Qing army, and it occupies the fortified city of Liaocheng, and the city wall has been strengthened a few years ago after there are countless horse-faced plates, which is very difficult to attack. In addition, the defenders of the city were the army under the command of Chen Yue, the king of Qi, who had repeatedly defeated the Qing army, and the Qing army was not sure of capturing it in this case.

Compared with the Ming army, the Qing army had a large number of horses, and the total number of cavalry of the Eight Banners plus the Mongolian cavalry reached 30,000, and the mobility was very strong. Coupled with the strong combat power of the Eight Banners, it is not so easy to defeat.

This is the case, and it is destined to be a long battle.

Under such circumstances, Zhang Huangyan and a group of Wu Beisheng entered Liaocheng with Yu Feng's cavalry. The captured Manchu Tartar head had the Zhenfu Division to accept the registration of merit, and the group was introduced to a barracks in the city, but it was a large mansion. The leader Deng Bingzhen was summoned by the King of Qi to report the encounter of his party, but Zhang Huangyan and other Wu Beisheng lay on the warm kang and slept with their heads covered.

The mansion of a local squire in the city was made into a large capital governor, and Chen Yuezheng, the king of Qi in Xingyuan, was receiving Xu Qingtian, the commander of Jinyiwei, who had rushed back from Shanxi.

Seeing Xu Qingtian, Chen Yue was very happy, and the situation in Xishan Town in the past was vivid. The daring warrior at the beginning, now he has become the general of Jinyiwei, went to Shanxi alone, persuaded Jiang Hao to abandon the secret and surrender to the light, Shanxi Province was surging, and the righteous people of various prefectures and counties raised the banner of anti-Qing Dynasty, and Xu Qingtian contributed a lot.

Seeing Qi King Chen Yue, Xu Qingtian was even more excited, kneeling on the ground and choking and almost speechless.

After the implicit salute, Xu Qingtian told Chen Yue about the current situation in Shanxi. South of Yanmen Pass, almost all of Shanxi Province was recovered, and just a few years later, the imperial court's holy decree was transmitted to Shanxi, appointing former scholar Li Jiantai as the governor of Shanxi, and appointing Jiang Hao as the chief soldier of Shanxi. However, although Shanxi was recovered, Datong was captured by the Eight Banners a year ago, and the border towns such as Datong Xuanfu were under the control of the Qing army.

Chen Yue nodded, this situation had been expected as early as possible, if it was not for the capture of Datong Xuanfu to solve the threat to the west, the Qing army would definitely not dare to move south.

"Now that Shanxi has been recovered, Jiang Zongbing's troops have reached more than 80,000. However, although there were many troops, they were incomplete in armor and demoralized, and they were not enough to fight a big battle. And Shaanxi is now almost also occupied by the remnants of the Shun army, and Shanxi is facing each other across the Yellow River, and now Shanxi is in fact facing enemies, and the situation is still dangerous. Xu Qingtian said.

Chen Yue said: "From what you see, will the thief cross the river and attack Shanxi?" ”

Xu Qingtian thought about it carefully: "It is very likely that the land of Shaanxi has experienced more than ten years of war, the land is barren and the people have been displaced, and Shaanxi Province alone will definitely not be able to feed too many troops. If the thief wants to regain the glory of the past, he will inevitably kill out of Shaanxi, or cross the Yellow River east to attack Shanxi, or go out of Tongguan to attack Henan, and be trapped in Shaanxi sooner or later. ”

Shanxi not only had to guard against the Shun army in Hexi, but also faced the pressure of the Qing army in Datong, and I am afraid that they could not be expected to send troops to Hebei to involve the main force of the Manchu Qing in Linqing. And with the temperament of Jiang Hao's army, it is okay for them to defend the city, and it is really difficult for a strong man to take the initiative to attack the Qing army, if they are forced to send troops, I am afraid that the Qing army only needs a partial division to defeat them easily, and it will only damage morale.

Chen Yue smiled and changed the subject: "How is Brother Xu doing in Jinyiwei?" Is it comfortable? ”

Xu Qingtian knelt on the ground all of a sudden: "It's okay for my subordinates to be in Jinyiwei, but I want to follow the prince and you to charge into battle, and ask the prince to fulfill it." ”

Chen Yue smiled and said: "Jinyiwei has Liu Neng, it is really a little aggrieved to let you continue to stay in Jinyiwei, so let's do it, you will stay in our army and serve as the deputy director of the Suppression Department first, responsible for the work of military discipline rewards and punishments in the army and the enemy's situation, and the official rank is the second-rank Dragon and Tiger General." ”

is also from Xishan Town, Liu Neng has already achieved the title of Admiral of Jinyiwei, Wang Meng has also become the chief soldier, but Xu Qingtian is the commander of Jinyiwei, and he has fallen too far behind. Now let him manage the Zhenfu Division, the rank is the same as Wang Meng and others, and it can be regarded as compensation for his conscientious and dirty work in Jinyiwei over the years. With Liu Neng in Jinyiwei, Xu Qingtian has no room to rise.

Xu Qingtian was overjoyed: "Thank you, Lord Wang." ”

At this moment, a personal guard came to report that Yu Feng arrived with Deng Bingzhen, the deputy general of Wu Beisheng, and Xu Qingtian retreated.

Yu Feng and Deng Bingzhen came in, and after saluting Chen Yue, Yu Feng first reported the journey of the trip, and then Deng Bingzhen told Wu Beisheng about the current situation. When he heard that the martial arts students had lost more than 100 yuan, Chen Yue was distressed, and he worked hard to open the martial arts academy, in order to replenish fresh blood in the army and break the bad habit of hereditary military households. These military students will be used as grassroots officers of the new army, Chen Yue decided to use them as the foundation, reorganize the green battalion and surrender the troops, and each military student will at least be used as the general officer, now there are so many casualties at once, how can you not feel distressed!

"I have experienced a tough battle just out of the academy, and I can hold on to it under the siege of the Qing cavalry twice as large as myself, and these weapons have grown a lot, which is a great task!" Chen Yue said to Deng Bingzhen with a smile.