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The news of the start of the Battle of Sizhou quickly spread back to Jinling, and Qin Mu set up an operational headquarters in the side hall of the palace, which was already a tense and busy scene.

According to the news that was constantly being gathered, Jiang Yihan, Xu Wenchang, and others marked the situation of the enemy and us on the sand table.

After Duoduo's 80,000 troops went south to Fengyang, they suddenly turned around and rushed east to attack Sizhou and Xuyi, which was a very good first move for the Qing army;

Water warfare is the weakness of the Qing army, and if Duoduo's move is successful, he will first be able to use the two gates of Sizhou and Xuyi to close the Huai River waterway, avoiding the hidden danger of the back road being cut off by the Qin army.

Once Sizhou and Xuyi are taken, they can attack Huai'an from the south bank of Hongze Lake and go south to Gaoyou and Yangzhou.

The lifeblood of the rear of the Qin army and Huai'an was the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the transportation of war materials and troops was mainly completed by the Grand Canal;

Once Duoduo captures Gaoyou, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal will also be cut off, and Huai'an, a large city with heavy troops, will become an isolated island, and it is very likely that it will not be attacked.

Duoduo's move to attack Sizhou can be said to have avoided the weakness of the Qing army's water war to the greatest extent, and to seize the strategic advantage of capturing Huaiyang to the greatest extent. It can be said that it is to promote strengths and avoid weaknesses, and avoid reality and fiction.

Duoduo is indeed a man of many battles, and this vision alone should not be underestimated.

Of course, the premise is that Duoduo can take Sizhou.

According to Qin Mu's knowledge, in the original history, Sizhou sank to the bottom of Hongze Lake during the Kangxi period and became a Pompeii city in the East. But before that, Sizhou had always been an important hub city in the Huaiyang area.

It controls the Huai River in the south. The Bianhe River in the north is the throat of the Central Plains and the key point of the north and south, and its political, economic, cultural and military status is very important. In the Tang and Song dynasties, the royal grain was transferred here, and groups of ships anchored here, and then went straight to Kaifeng and Luoyang along the Bianhe River.

In the Ming Dynasty, Sizhou was not only the location of the Ming ancestral mausoleum, but also the necessary place for the north-south waterway to lead to the central capital Fengyang Mansion.

Yu Dayou stood on the edge of the sand table and said with some worry: "King Qin." The height of Sizhou City is no more than two feet and five feet. The width from north to south is only two miles, Duoduo concentrated 70,000 heavy troops this time, and hundreds of large and small artillery pieces attacked the city, and the situation in Sizhou is really not optimistic;

What's even more worrying is Xuyi. The walls are low and the city is small. And there were only four thousand defenders. Under the onslaught of 10,000 troops, it was even more precarious. Once Xuyi is not guaranteed, chelation can go straight to the sky. The soldiers are forcing Gaoyou and Yangzhou.

The minister suggested that 20,000 troops from Huai'an be transferred, and then Ningyuan from Yangzhou should be transferred 10,000 horses to attack Chebai together, and if the 10,000 Qing troops on the south bank of the Huai River could be annihilated, Duoduo's offensive would be able to collapse. ”

Qin Mu stared at the sand table, shook his head and said, "The war has just begun, don't be too nervous, so as not to mess up." According to the intelligence, the 10,000-strong army on the south bank of Chebai was all cavalry, and only carried two Hongyi cannons;

It can be seen from this that his attack on Xuyi is just taking advantage of the situation, and once our army targets him and tries to surround him on all sides, he will definitely rely on the advantage of strong cavalry power to break through in all directions.

Therefore, it is enough for Huai'an to reinforce Xuyi by water, and the soldiers and horses of Yangzhou on the southern line should not move. Chebai these 10,000 elite cavalry are used to attack the city, we will accompany them to the end, even if the most rebellious Xuyi is lost, as long as we can consume a large number of his 10,000 cavalry under Xuyi City, we will win. ”

Qin Mu has been fighting endlessly over the years, and his strategic vision is not what it used to be, and he can see at a glance Duoduo's intention to place 10,000 cavalry on the south bank of the Huai River, and the original intention of this army is definitely not to attack Xuyi, but to send reinforcements.

Once the Qin army is fooled and mobilized, the power of this 10,000-strong cavalry can be brought into play, and it will be attacked in all directions.

Now, Qin Mu responds to all changes with the same and only reinforces Xuyi from Huai'an through Hongze Lake, so the 10,000-strong army of Chebai will have no chance to take advantage of it, and the so-called sabotage will be impossible to talk about.

If his 10,000 cavalry dared to go straight into the three hundred miles and kill in the Yangzhou area, then would be the time to encircle and annihilate him, Qin Mu believed that no matter how strong Chebai was, it would be impossible to take such a risky move.

Qin Mu thought for a while and said: "What this king is worried about is the enemy's spies, looking at the history of the Manchu Dynasty, whether it is the Battle of Sarhu, the Battle of Liaoyang, the Battle of Songshan, or when entering the customs, almost all of them are led by spies, at least spies play a key role in it." They were so skilled at this set, and there was no reason why Dodor wouldn't be able to use it this time. ”

In fact, in the history of Qin Mu's fortune, the Battle of Yuanzhou, the Battle of Changsha, the capture of Xiangyang, the capture of Jinling, etc., also depended on the outstanding performance of the fifth column, which was similar to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which basically relied on the fifth column to start.

Therefore, Qin Mu is particularly sensitive to the word spy.

Sima An glanced at him, and then said: "Even if the war has started, there are still a large number of refugees from the north who have fled south, and the Qing army seems to have never made the effort to stop it. With so many refugees fleeing south, it was very easy for the Qing army to mix in with them. ”

He Liang frowned, and muttered: "It's just that the total number of refugees who fled south before and after has reached four or five hundred thousand, and identifying the Qing army's spies from them is tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack, which is fundamentally difficult to do." ”

Gu Junen said: "The refugees in front of them have been organized according to their households and used to build water conservancy, in order to prevent there are conspirators, the method of joint sitting can be adopted, so that the refugees can supervise each other, so as to prevent someone from fanning the flames and inciting rebellion;

As for those who have fled south in the near future, they will not be allowed to enter the city, and all prefectures and counties will be ordered to conduct strict inspections, especially all important ports, and they must be strictly guarded, and our army's logistical supply depends entirely on waterways, and if the ships are destroyed, the consequences will be unpredictable. ”

Qin Mu nodded and said: "Transfer Su Jin's 5,000 cavalry to Jiangbei, once there is a police, they will be reinforced with cavalry and quickly extinguished." ”

At present, this is the only way, the Jianghuai area is so open, it is impossible to prevent all refugees from fleeing south, and we can only take key protection and strengthen the ability to go to the south to deal with it.

Gu Junen continued: "King Qin, Duoduo will concentrate his heavy troops on Sizhou on the eastern front, our army can't just defend without attacking, the minister suggested, let the Mengdu Governor and Li Dudu on the western front attack together, and attack Shouzhou along the river north, so that the east will defend and attack the west, and Duoduo will rarely live in peace." ”

Meng Ke originally led an army of 20,000 to capture Luzhou, and later reinforced 10,000, with a total of 30,000 troops in Luzhou.

On the Huoshan side, Li Guo rushed over from Xiangyang with 20,000 horses from his headquarters to garrison.

At present, stationed in Shouzhou is the Qing general Meler Ezhen Ashan, with about 12,000 troops.

However, in Fengyang, a hundred miles to the east, there are more than 20,000 horses in the other Mele Ezhen Ahani.

If Meng Ke went north to attack Shouzhou, Ahanikan of Fengyang would definitely go to reinforcements.

In terms of troops, Mengke and them do not have a great advantage, and there are more than 200 miles from Luzhou to Shouzhou, and this logistics line is flat, and it is difficult to guarantee that it will not be attacked by the Qing army.

Qin Mu thought for a while and said: "The western front should also be temporarily slowed down, Li Guo's 20,000 troops have just arrived from Xiangyang, they must be extremely tired, it is really not suitable to go north at this time, wait a minute, wait a minute."

Qin Mu groaned, at this time, it's better not to mess with yourself first.

The reason why Shouzhou can become a battleground for soldiers is because it is located in the upper reaches of the Huai River, the southward artery on the side of Bagong Mountain in the north, and the Huainan Plain in the south.

If the Qin army wants to cross the plain area of two or three hundred miles to attack it, the cost will be very large.

Even if Meng Ke and Li Guo were all dispatched, 50,000 against 30,000, one attack and one defense, it would not be a advantage. In case it can't be defeated, it will be difficult for the veteran soldiers of the division to withdraw when they are tired.

It's better to consume it again, if Duoduo wants to attack, let him attack, the siege war is a war of attrition, see who can't afford it first.

Of course, blindly defending is not the way, so where is the best place to attack?

Qin Mu's gaze wandered on the sand table, and the most lingering gaze fell on the Yellow River, which flowed southeast from Yifeng on the east side of Kaifeng, and flowed into Hongze Lake through Guide (Shangqiu), Xuzhou, and Suqian.

Among them, Xuzhou is known as the thoroughfare of the five provinces, is the key to the north, the gateway to the south, and is also a place where soldiers must fight since ancient times. Moreover, it is also an important steel producing area in the Central Plains.

Qin Mu stared at Xuzhou on the sand table for a long time, there are not many Qing troops in Xuzhou at present, can you transfer an elite army, concentrate a large number of artillery, and use the advantages of the naval division to quickly capture Suqian and Xuzhou?

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(To be continued......)