When Hong Chengchou returned to Jinan with the main force of the green battalion, there were not many Qing soldiers left in the area of Qingzhou, Jiaodong.

When Chen Yue led more than 100,000 troops from Laizhou to Qingzhou Mansion, where did a small number of green battalion soldiers in Qingzhou dare to resist, those who fled fled, and those who surrendered surrendered. The Ming army did not encounter any obstacles at all along the way.

When the army arrived in Linzi, it got the news that the Western Route Army led by Li Yi had broken through Jinan, and the main force of Hong Chengchou's green battalion was blocked in Zhangqiu.

Chen Yue immediately summoned the generals to start the discussion.

"Li Yi is really good, he actually defeated Jinan in just a few days and blocked the flood thieves in Zhangqiu!" Wu Ping pointed to praise and praised, very happy for the growth of his former friends.

Jin Xin also praised a few words, but he was very depressed in his heart. He and Li Yi have always been two equal generals under Chen Yue, the king of Qi, and now Li Yi has made great contributions to Jinan, and his prestige in the army has far surpassed himself. However, he has always been the vanguard of King Qi, and he has no chance to lead the troops to fight alone......

"This Li Yi, this king asked him to lead the main force north, and it can be seen that he has a steady character with soldiers, who knew that he would take risks. Fortunately, Jinan was defeated in time, if he rubbed for a few more days, when Hong Chengchou led his troops to Jinan, he would definitely be attacked by the Qing army inside and outside, and it would be a bit dangerous to win. Chen Yue shook his head and said.

Li Yan smiled and said, "No matter how you win, you don't have to be harsh, prince." Now that Hong Chengchou has no way out and there are pursuers behind him, I am afraid that there is no way out. Lord Wang, we should immediately deploy the army and think of leaving Hong Chengchou in Shandong completely. ”

Chen Yue nodded and began to ask everyone's opinions: "Everyone, what should we do next?" “

Wu Ping has been in Shandong for more than a year, and he is very familiar with the terrain of Shandong, and immediately said: "Although Zhangqiu is full of hills, you can enter the Lubei Plain as long as you pass Zhangqiu, cross the Daqing River from Zhangqiu and Licheng, and then go north to cross the Daqing River.

Although Hong Chengchou now has more than 100,000 troops, he has lost his food and grass, and if he wants to keep his army, he will definitely flee to the north. The so-called trapped beasts are still fighting, Li Yi's army has been exhausted for a long time, and he may not be able to stop Hong Chengchou.

Lord Wang, we should send an army to quickly advance to catch up. The green battalion soldiers fled in a hurry like lost dogs, as long as we can embellish it and learn that the Jiaodong army is coming, the army will inevitably flee in despair.

At the same time, we will send another army from Linzi to the north to cross the Daqing River and make a detour to Dezhou. Hong Chengchou fled to Beijing, Dezhou is a necessary place, as long as we can defeat Dezhou, maybe Hong Chengchou can be completely left in Shandong! “

Chen Yue nodded slightly, Wu Ping had grown too much in the past year or so in leading troops in Shandong, and his strategic vision was far above Tongji.

Li Yanzhi: "What General Wu said is very true. Our army of more than 200,000 marches too slowly, and if we want to keep Hong Chengchou, we must send elites to advance lightly. ”

Jin Xin hurriedly asked for an order: "Lord Wang, the last general is willing to lead the army to chase after the flood thief, and he must be completely wiped out!" ”

Chen Yue said categorically: "Okay, Jin Xin, I will give you the most elite 20,000 people, you bring enough dry food for ten days to advance lightly, be sure to hold the green battalion soldiers!" Wu Ping, you take 30,000 Jiaodong soldiers from the headquarters with enough grain and grass, and make a detour to Dezhou, you must take down Dezhou before Hong Chengchou escapes to intercept Hong Chengchou's way. The other generals followed the king's brigade and continued to rush to Jinan! “

Although there were more than 100,000 troops under Chen Yue, in addition to the 40,000 troops he brought and Wu Ping's 50,000 Jiaodong soldiers, there were more than 30,000 reorganized and surrendered green battalion soldiers, as well as more than 20,000 rebels who were scattered and defected from Laizhou and Qingzhou. The army was large and disorganized, and with a large amount of grain and grass, it was impossible to march too fast.

Since it was determined that Hong Chengchou would escape, he could no longer march so slowly, and it was inevitable to divide his troops to pursue.

At the same time, Chen Yue also had to send troops to occupy the various counties under the Qingzhou Prefecture. Put the entire Jiaodong completely under the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

......

Twenty miles west of Zhangqiu, an army of more than 100,000 stopped between the mountains and fields. When Li Benshen sent someone to report that Jinan had been lost, the generals of the green camp from Hong Chengchou to the bottom fell into despair.

"Li Chengdong misunderstood me!" Hong Chengchou roared angrily, but Li Chengdong, who had been killed in battle, could no longer hear it.

The strategy to annihilate the Ming army on the Western Road completely failed, and Hong Chengchou himself put himself in a desperate situation. Without the support of grain and grass from Jinan, the food carried by his army was not enough for half a month.

"Hong Chengchou, it's all your stupid strategy that has caused Shandong to fall into the current situation, what should you do now?" The Eight Banners soldiers were all in charge of the Tower, and they could no longer care about the instructions of the Manchu court when they were leaving, and the entire army, with Hong Chengchou as the main commander, asked him not to interfere with Hong Chengchou's command, pointing at Hong Chengchou and scolding.

"General Zhunta, all this is my fault, I will ask the court to ask the regent for the guilt." Hong Chengchou turned his head to look at the tower road, and the look on his face had calmed down.

The 1,000-8 banner soldiers led by Zhun Tower are Hong Chengchou's last honor guard, and with 1,000 and 8 banner soldiers, he can suppress the more than 100,000 troops under him.

"We should immediately march into the army to retake Jinan!" Junta said with a glare.

Hong Chengchou shook his head: "It's impossible, when the news of the loss of Jinan came, the military spirit had already been lost." General Zhunta , the Green Battalion soldiers are not Eight Banner soldiers, they don't have the courage to fight to the death. If you force them to attack Jinan, you will push them to the Ming army, and most of them will betray the Qing Dynasty and join the Ming army......"

"Jinan is lost, Shandong is lost, how can we explain to the regent?" Junta asked, staring at her red eyes.

"Explain or not, but now it is only right to bring these more than 100,000 troops back to Beijing safely. With these more than 100,000 troops present, at least they can keep the vicinity of Gyeonggi. Otherwise, with the Eight Banners in Beijing alone, General Zhunta, do you think it is possible to defeat hundreds of thousands of Ming troops? ”

Zhun Ta opened his mouth, and wanted to say that the Eight Banners were invincible and no one was afraid, but thinking about the two fiascos in Yangzhou and Wuhu, and the past when tens of thousands of Eight Banners were swallowed by floods, the words in his heart could no longer be spoken. And now the commander of the Ming army is Chen Yue, the general of the Southern Ming Dynasty who defeated Duoduo Azig, and against him, who has the certainty of victory?

After convincing the tower, the rest will be easy. Most of the generals of the Green Battalion had long been panicked, and when they saw that Hong Chengchou was going to retreat, where was there anything they were unwilling to?

So Hong Chengchou sent someone to send a letter to Li Benshen in Licheng, asking him to block for half a day, and then join the army and retreat to the north. Then Hong Chengchou began to arrange the retreat. For an army of more than 100,000 people, it is not an easy thing to retreat safely......