September 28, Jurong.

There is a small river on the edge of the Yangtze River in Jurong, which the locals call the Old Stork River (today's Jurong Bianmin River). During the pre-Song Dynasty, this place was once a vast ocean with vast reeds and swaying yellow water. It was called Huangtiandang. The famous battle in the Song Dynasty - the Battle of Han Shizhong

The Battle of Huangtiandang by Jin Wushu (generally referred to as Wanyan Zongbi) took place here.

Nowadays, things have changed. The once vast reeds and swaying yellow water of Huangtiandang no longer exist. In the Ming Dynasty, because it was close to the bustling place of Nanjing, it was densely populated with villages and people, and it seemed like a land of plenty. But after the Qing army captured Nanjing,

This place has been hit by wars many times, and the once prosperous place has turned into a haunted place, overgrown with weeds and wild dogs scurrying around.

Sun Libao sat on the ground, holding a musket, looking at the desolate scene around him, and couldn't help but sigh. Damn it, Jian Nu, turned this good land of crops into a dead land.

Looking around, he found that there were many soldiers who were in the same daze as himself. And those lying on the ground, wrapped in a single piece of clothing and covering their heads, were undoubtedly veterans who had served for three or four years.

In fact, Sun Libao is also a veteran who has served for five years, but because he is stupid and not good at speaking, he has never been promoted. Until now, he is only a small squad leader. And his friend Yue Zhongwu, who enlisted with him in the army, has

Already a company commander.

However, Sun Libao did not complain about this. He knew that he was not qualified to be an officer. Moreover, he planned to take off his military uniform and return to New Huai'an (today's Palmerston, Australia) after completing his second period of military service.

City), live a peaceful and peaceful civilian life

Live. In the past few years as a soldier, I have saved a lot of money, which is enough for my family of four to live a good life. In the future, I will have more children with my Aunt Annan and leave more money for the old Sun family.

A lot of blood. This life is worth it no matter what.

"Ta-ta..." Suddenly, there was a sound of horse hoofbeats from the west. Sun Libao's heart tightened and he immediately picked up the musket in his arms.

"Alert! Alert!... Form up!" Sun Libao took a few steps forward and kicked a few panicked recruits.

As the horses gradually approached, a group of Marines who went out on guard showed a smile on their faces, lowered their guns, and then faced them.

"Jiannu is here?"

"Coming!"

"How many?"

"Tsk!" The cavalryman in Ming army uniform laughed, "There are tens of thousands of them, are you afraid?"

After saying that, he rode towards the coalition command post in Longtan Town behind him.

"How many tens of thousands? It's not that much. Each of us only needs a dozen shots to kill them all. Can't we?"

"Go away! Jiannu is standing still, just waiting for you to shoot?... I don't know how many cavalry they have come. If they are all riding horses, it will be difficult." A veteran muttered.

.

"Okay, okay! Everyone continues to be on alert and wait for orders from the commander." Sun Libao shouted softly.

As the veteran said, it would be really difficult to deal with the slave builders if they were all cavalry. Even if they defeated the opponent, they would not be able to capture them all. They would scatter in all directions on horseback and would not be able to catch them.

We are about to fight. The Supreme Lord will bless me, the Buddha will bless me, and the Western God will also bless me safely.

"There were about two thousand Jiannu cavalry and more than three thousand infantry. There were a large number of horse trailers carrying artillery. They were very cautious along the way. There were also many rangers in front. After seeing us, they immediately chased us. But they watched us pass.

Behind the Qixiang River, everyone stationed their horses and stopped again, probably to prevent us from setting up an ambush."

After listening to the report of the reconnaissance cavalry, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Li Fade, glanced at the several staff officers beside him who marked the location of the Qing army on a simple sand table, and then turned around and asked: "Has the Qing army discovered the Third Marine Battalion?"

The existence of the First Battalion of Hexiang Soldiers.”

"The Qing army came straight here, and there was no sound of gunfire along the way. They probably didn't find our blocking force." The scout thought for a while, and then said: "However, if the Qing army sent people to the river,

If we check the reed swamps or set a fire, it might cause some trouble to our blocking troops."

"Captain, there are fireworks on the riverside!" A staff officer put down his telescope and reported loudly to Li Fade.

"You bitch, you're such a fucking crow's mouth!" Li Fade glared at the scout, looked up and looked ahead. He saw a few plumes of smoke coming from near the Yangtze River in the west, rising straight into the sky. I guess it was the Qing army.

To prevent an ambush from being hidden in the reeds along the river, several fires were set there.

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"Commander, even if there is an ambush by the bandits by the river, they will surely turn into roasted pigs under this fire." Sai Shuo, deputy commander of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Blue Banner, smiled at Luck Dehun.

said.

Luck Dehun stared at the flaming reeds by the river, sat upright on his horse, and did not speak for a long time, but in his mind he was calculating the number of Ming troops in Zhenjiang City. If Hong Chengchou's estimate is accurate, then this attack

Gu Sanmazi from Zhenjiang was probably the leader, and an unknown number of Ming troops from Zheng Zhilong's tribe might be following behind them.

After careful questioning of the defeated troops who fled back, I heard that there were no fewer than fifty large and small boats attacking Zhenjiang Water Village. Based on this calculation, the Ming army may have come to more than 10,000 people. However, with the combat effectiveness of the Ming army, I led 5,000 soldiers.

The horses are enough to defeat it. The only worry is whether these Ming troops will immediately escape from Zhenjiang by boat when they learn that they are leading troops to rescue Zhenjiang.

"What's going on at the Qixiang River ahead?"

"Come back, Commander!" an Eight Banners commander replied: "Those Ming Army scouts escaped across the Qixiang River and ran to the east. Before that, all the wooden bridges on the river had been demolished."

"The Ming army demolished all the wooden bridges on the river?"

"It is true that all the wooden bridges along the river for several miles have been demolished."

"They are indeed rats!" Luck Dehun laughed when he heard that all the wooden bridges on the river had been demolished. In order to slow down their advance, the Ming army even destroyed the wooden bridges across the river. I think they were afraid that the Qing Dynasty would

The troops and horses advanced rapidly.

In addition, the reeds along the river were in flames and there was no ambush at all. It is estimated that these Ming troops could only seize the weak points of our Qing forces and conduct a sneak attack, but did not dare to directly touch the tiger beards of our elite Eight Banners soldiers.

"The cavalry waded across the river as quickly as possible, and the Han army built a wooden bridge to assist Wu Zhenhachao in moving the artillery to the other side." Luck Dehun ordered.

The Qixiang River is a very small river, less than twenty meters at its widest point, most of it is only more than ten meters wide, and the water depth is less than two meters. The cavalry can easily wade across the river, but the artillery and supplies carried by the troops

, this small river can only be crossed by building a wooden bridge.

Now, Luck Dehun was a little worried that the Ming army that captured Zhenjiang would evacuate early when they learned that they were coming. The enemy deployed reconnaissance cavalry extensively on the way from Nanjing to Zhenjiang, and also demolished the bridges on the rivers along the way.

The reinforcements arriving in preparation for Nanjing arrived quickly, obviously because they were deeply wary of our elite Eight Banners troops of the Qing Dynasty.

Each of these southern barbarian armies is worse than the last, and no one can resist the all-out attack of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty. Looking at the world, the Qi army in Denglai still has some fighting strength, and can rely on its powerful firearms to fight against them many times.

(defeat) my Qing conquest.

Hey, the army attacking Zhenjiang this time must be the Qi army, right?

Luck Dehun's expression suddenly became serious, and he couldn't help but look forward attentively.

More than 2,000 Eight Banner Armored Cavalrymen are gently urging their horses, galloping forward slowly, like a giant beast about to gallop, ferociously pounces on the enemy in the distance, intending to tear the enemy into pieces and devour them. At the end of the earth, is

A stretch of undulating hills, with the unique greenness of Jiangnan, does not look like an autumn scene at all.

"It's such a long distance, they shouldn't come here." Luckard murmured.

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Su Zhongfu, commander of the 3rd Marine Battalion, held the side of the boat and raised his hand to look at the south bank of the Yangtze River. The fire in the reed marshes on the riverside had begun to gradually become smaller. A thick line of smoke that was several miles long, blown by the gentle southeast wind, almost

The entire river surface is shrouded in it.

"Go take a few boats to the south shore and have a look."

Following Su Zhongfu's order, the two small boats quickly sailed out of the reed swamps on the shore and rowed towards the south bank of the Yangtze River. In a moment, they disappeared in the thick smoke.

"You bastard Tatars, if we hadn't hid on the north bank of the river in advance, you would have been burned to ashes." Su Zhongfu cursed lightly, then covered his mouth and nose with a cloth towel, and glanced back at the reeds.

Dozens of galleys docked in the river.

According to the battle plan formulated in advance by the tactical staff, Su Zhongfu led the 3rd Marine Battalion, the 1st Battalion of Rural Soldiers, two squadrons of the Loyalty Army composed of Japanese wandering warriors, three battalions of Li Benshen's Ming Army, and one artillery company, totaling

With more than 2,700 troops, they blocked the retreating Qing army on the west side of the Qixiang River. The key to this battle was to annihilate a large number of Qing troops' effective forces and prevent them from escaping back to Nanjing.

At that time, Su Zhongfu rushed here by boat to set up an ambush. He was somewhat dissatisfied with the tactical staff's arrangement of hiding them on the north bank of the river, thinking it was a waste of time and delayed them from building defensive positions. However, with the Qing army's fire, the south bank was

All the reeds along the river were set ablaze, which made him break out in a cold sweat and call him lucky.

Those young tactical staff officers are indeed not simple. They have considered many details on the battlefield so thoughtfully and closely, avoiding many unnecessary tactical mistakes by their officers. Su Zhongfu couldn't help but sigh in his heart, given time, these wild men like them

Officers with a low-level background may eventually be replaced by these young people who have been taught in formal military schools.

Almost all officers who come out of military academies have certain cultural knowledge. They can not only read and write, but can also apply them to actual combat environments through actual combat cases and ancient historical battles summarized over the years. The only thing they lack is

, which probably means actual combat experience and authority to lead troops. However, after several years of fighting, they will definitely grow very fast, and they must be the best officers in our Daqi Kingdom.

"Batalion Commander, they are back!" Ren Maoyong, the company commander of the 9th Marine Corps, said in a low voice.

When Su Zhongfu heard this, he brought his chaotic thoughts back to reality and looked towards the river.

There was only one small boat returning, and it was rowing hard this way against the river. Through the smoke, I could see a soldier on the boat waving the signal flag in his hand, shaking it left and right.

"Batalion Commander, Jiannu has left. We can cross the river!" Ren Maoyong said with a bit of joy on his face.

"There is thick smoke on the river, and the fire on the south bank has not been extinguished, so we should wait a little longer."

"Battal Commander, the thick smoke on the river can hide your whereabouts." Ren Maoyong said eagerly: "And this mere fire can't hurt anyone. Our troops need to cross the river as soon as possible to avoid any unusual movements ahead!"

"What Xiaoyong said is absolutely true!" After Su Zhongfu heard this, without hesitation, he turned to the side and ordered the soldiers: "Order the whole army to cross the river. The Ninth Company will go first, and after landing, the whole army will be on guard."

"Yes, battalion commander!" Ren Maoyong turned around and walked to the side of the ship, jumped onto a galley next to him, and waved his hand, "Cross the river!"

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At noon, the commander of the Qing army, Luck Dehun, received a report from the front. Three miles ahead, in Longtan Town, more than thousands of Ming troops were deployed to block the attack. The opponent relied on the village walls and several ponds in the town, as well as the digging of

A trench several hundred meters long formed a confrontation with the cavalry who arrived earlier.
To be continued...