Deng Ming's intentions were indeed similar to Sun Sike's guess.

The lookout on the Ming warship opened his eyes wide and carefully observed the deployment of the Qing army on the shore. Now Deng Ming didn't know anything about the Battle of Wanxian and the deployment of the Qing army, so he really wanted to annihilate a Qing army and capture some prisoners for interrogation. As for the resistance of the Qing army, he did not take it to heart, Deng Ming underestimated the strength of the Qing army, believing that it was comparable to the strength of his own soldiers and horses. Since some of them were attracted away by Yuan Zongdi, Deng Ming was confident that he could defeat the remaining troops near Chongqing in the field battle, and he felt that the Qing army might not dare to fight.

However, the Ming army inspected a section of the river bank and never found a target worthy of landing and attacking. Li Guoying had long believed that the Ming army would not send a strong army in the first wave of reinforcements, and he also knew that the Qing army would quickly lose control of the river, so he took some precautions: the Qing army along the way had temporary camps, and the soldiers also formed a relatively large group and had a certain self-defense capability.

These deployments have not changed, so there are no Qing army armored troops marching in detachments along the way, Deng Ming saw some auxiliaries, but it was not worth landing to attack the auxiliaries, these people first did not understand the situation, and second, as soon as they saw the Ming army landing, they would throw down their things and flee. Even if the Ming army is confident of winning in the field, it cannot recklessly land close to the supply base, and search for a few auxiliaries all over the mountains, then it is not self-confidence but arrogance.

After driving more than ten miles downstream, I finally found a large Qing army column, which was marching in the direction of Chongqing.

"The armor in here looks like there's probably a battalion?" There may be a general of the Qing army in this column, and the armor of the whole team is estimated to be around 1,000 people, which is capable of being subdued by the Ming army.

However, the Qing army saw that the Ming army's fleet was gradually approaching, and obviously began to be on guard. The landing of the Ming army took a relatively long time, and it could not be too close to avoid being counterattacked by the Qing army; It should not be too far, lest the Qing army flee north.

Deng Ming ordered to search the surroundings, and he was a little surprised that the Qing army marched in such a large column. The ability of large columns to resist and break through is very strong, and they will also pose a great threat when the Ming army lands, so Deng Ming is a little hesitant and does not know whether to launch an offensive against them. Is it worth it to delay the landing of the main force in order to catch some prisoners for questioning, and to risk being ambushed? If the other side sees that the situation is not good and escapes from the interception of the Ming army in the north, then the benefits of the landing operation will be even smaller.

"Keep searching and see if there are any smaller troops." Delaying too much time for an action with a low probability of success, Deng Ming still felt that it was not worth it after all.

Just as the Ming army continued to search, the guard sent a clipper to catch up with the slowly moving flagship, and reported to Deng Ming that the Qing army on the Jialing River had begun to cross the river again, the flag was still the Han Eight Banner, and the commander was also the guy surnamed Sun.

"Is this General Sun worried about our landing here? It looks like if we do land, he's determined to fight us. Deng Ming's reaction confused Deng Ming for a moment, and then ordered to continue to drive slowly, maintaining a slightly faster speed than the army: "If I have the opportunity, I would like to get ahead of this General Sun, he must know something about Li Guoying's deployment, right?" ”

Since the Qing army wanted to fight, Deng Ming wanted to find a secluded place to land in advance and then fight an ambush.

However, the density of the Qing army on the river bank far exceeded the original imagination of the Ming army, and it didn't go far to see the Qing army's negative grain squad, and soon the Ming army found a new large-scale column. Such a high density of Qing troops made it impossible for the Ming army to realize any plan of secret landing, and after seeing the third Qing army column, Deng Ming felt that the strength of the Qing army might be more than he guessed: "Could it be that Li Guoying mobilized more than 50,000 troops this time?" How can you see his men everywhere? ”

As he continued to revise his judgment on the strength of the Qing army, the ** of Deng Ming's landing raid was getting lower and lower, and before figuring out how many troops the Qing army had gathered, the danger of rash landing was too great.

When the Ming army made an attack on the first Qing column they encountered, it can be observed that the Qing army column began to prepare for battle, while sending messengers in different directions, and at the same time asking for help from both flanks, but soon resumed on the march after seeing the Ming army abandon the attack. At this time, Deng Ming learned again from the rearguard that the Qing army in Chongqing was still following behind. The rearguard also reported that the troops coming out of Chongqing had increased the pace of the march.

"The strength of the Qing army is not weak, and their commander obviously wants to fight us, and may even want to fight us for a half." Deng Ming pondered for a while, then pointed to the third Qing army column and gave an order: "Prepare to land and attack them." ”

"Landing directly?" The herald asked, somewhat curiously.

"Yes, land right next to them, but slowly." Deng Ming gave an order, and the herald took the order.

The Ming army's fleet stretched longer, but the middle part moved closer to the shore and posed as a forced landing next to this Qing army. Seeing the menacing Ming army, the Qing army column immediately stopped, and at the same time as the friendly troops on both flanks were in a hurry, this Qing army also pulled out a formation to defend the river bank - it seemed that the Ming army seemed to be going to go ashore close to their side, and blocking the Ming army in the water was of course an extremely beneficial combat method for the Qing army, in addition to making the Ming army unable to play the advantage in numbers, there was also an advantage in terrain.

"Deng Thief really can't hold his breath." After Sun Sike got the report, he immediately ordered the soldiers to move forward at full speed, and at the same time let the surrounding Shanxi Green Battalion columns rush to the battlefield: "Attack halfway, kill the thief at this moment!" ”

Sun Sike was afraid that the Ming army would land on the way, so he sent two groups of heralds in a company, strictly ordering the attacked columns to hold on and wait for reinforcements, and never to retreat without authorization. When the battleships of the Ming army appeared in the field of vision, Sun Sike found that Deng Ming, who was struggling, had just driven the main fleet to the shore, and suddenly breathed a sigh of relief: "I finally caught up." ”

The Qing army will soon be able to enter the battle, Sun Sike is confident that the Ming army that landed will be blocked on the river bank, even if Deng Ming is really as Gao Mingzhan said that there are 10,000 armor soldiers, Deng Ming can only use small boats to throw troops in batches, and the Ming army that landed in batches will definitely not be able to break through the Qing army formation on the river bank.

After seeing Sun Sike appear on the west side of the battlefield with the Eight Banners and the armor soldiers in the first two columns, Deng Ming ordered Ming Jin, and the Ming warships that were preparing to land immediately pulled anchor and set off, and continued to drive downstream unhurriedly. Soon the Ming army encountered another Qing column, and Deng Ming again issued an order for a landing operation.

"Deng thief is not without brains." Seeing the Ming army leaving the battlefield, Sun Sike said with some regret that he felt that he might have arrived too early, and he should wait a little longer, and wait for the first batch of soldiers and horses of the Ming army to land before entering the battlefield.

Although he arrived on horseback, Sun Sike's forehead was also covered with beads of sweat, and before he could rest, an alarm sounded in front of him.

"Deng Thief really still doesn't give up." Sun Sike asked the armored soldiers in the column he had just rescued not to remove their armor, but to follow him to fight Deng Ming, anyway, it was not far away, just two miles away.

This time, Sun Sike deliberately walked a little slower, he realized that the battle could not pursue a quick victory, and if Deng Ming was not given any hope of a successful landing, then the other party would not dare to land. Sun Sike waited until the front army reported that the Ming army had laid down the boat full of soldiers, and then urged the whole army to march quickly. But Deng Ming's actions dragged on even more than Sun Sike's slowing pace, and after Sun Sike approached the battlefield, the Ming army still did not complete the landing as last time.

After seeing the main force of the Qing army approaching, the Ming army immediately retracted the boat, and Sun Sike could only stare at the Ming fleet once again pulling anchor and setting sail, and continued to sail downstream in a hurry.

The water in the kettle had been drunk, and as soon as he asked the guards to look for the spring, Sun Sike received another urgent report that the Ming army had landed in front - this time Deng Ming did not choose to be near the Qing column, but looked for a gap, and then landed at full speed. Sun Sike learned that the Ming army had sent many auxiliaries ashore in a large number of small boats and was rapidly erecting fortifications.

"It's not good, Deng Thief wants to set up camp and cut off the Governor's retreat." The landing site of the Ming army was just a few miles away, and Sun Sike's army was like nothing, and how could Sun Sike tolerate Deng Ming building a camp under his nose?

With Sun Sike's order, the Qing army didn't care about filling the kettle with water, so they were urged by the officer to hurry to the battlefield. The Ming ships on the river always accompanied Sun Sike's general flag, and constantly used flags and fireworks to send signals to the flagship, informing the Qing army of the distance between the Ming army.

But when Sun Sike arrived, the Ming army auxiliaries had already thrown down the newly repaired fence and returned to their boats in small boats, and the landing soldiers were arranged to rest in the warehouse.

After three times and two tosses, the sun had already set behind the mountain, facing the setting sun, the Ming fleet all raised its full sails, and in front of a large number of Qing troops, it returned at full speed towards Chongqing.

"It's not good, it's a trick, Deng Thief still wants to fight Chongqing!" Only then did Sun Sike realize that he had chased for a day in vain, and unknowingly took the armor near Chongqing away from the city.

Now that Chongqing's city defense is weak, and the other bank of the Jialing River also lacks cover, Sun Sike can't help but feel cold hair on his body when he thinks of the consequences of being broken into the Jialing River or conquering Chongqing by the Ming army. Concerned about not allowing the soldiers to eat, Sun Sike ordered the whole army to raise torches, throw away an unnecessary baggage, and rush back to Chongqing.

The road at night is much more difficult, and the road that was walked in the middle of the day yesterday allowed the Qing army to finish it until dawn, but it was finally rushed back in time. Sun Sike estimated that the Ming army would have to travel in half the night, and the second half of the night was obviously not a good time to attack Chongqing.

In the morning glow, the Qing army once again saw the Ming army's fleet passing by, driving downstream, but unlike yesterday, the Ming army was driving at full speed today, and rushed out for more than ten miles in a blink of an eye.

"It's not good, Deng Thief still has to cut off the Governor's retreat." Sun Sike gasped and shouted.

Originally, Li Guoying deployed the Qing army into several columns and marched at intervals. After a day and a night of tossing and turning, the soldiers were hungry and exhausted, and there was a big gap between the columns.