The only generals from Jinhai East Road present that night were Zu Keyong and An Yingchang. After they described the enemy situation in person, Yang Zhen finally had a general idea of ​​the situation north of the Yingna River and south of Zhenjiang Fort.

understanding on.

Judging from the enemy situation described by Zu Keyong and An Yingchang, Jierhalang, Prince Zheng of the Manchu Tatars, attached great importance to the coastal estuary areas, and the places where he divided his troops to garrison were also dangerous locations along the coast.

Yang Zhen grew up in Liaodong in his previous life and was very familiar with the terrain of the Liaodong Peninsula.

Although some place names were hundreds of years apart, he was a little unsure, but after listening to what An Yingchang said, especially what Zu Keyong said, he finally figured out a few important landmarks by drawing inferences.

.

For example, Yanghe will be the Dayang River in later generations, and Gushanzi at the mouth of Yanghe, needless to say, will naturally be Dagushan in later generations.

Another example is the place name Shizuizi River. Although it was seriously silted up hundreds of years later, the name still exists. Coupled with the place name Qingduizi, Yang Zhen thought about it and deduced its general location.

As for Qingduizi, hundreds of years later, it is still a famous ancient town on the Yellow Sea side of the Liaodong Peninsula. Yang Zhen certainly knows its location.

"Haha, this Ji'erhalang is a smart man. He divided his troops here and set up a stronghold here. He specifically chose a dangerous place at the mouth of the river where we have easy access."

After listening to the reports of Zu Keyong and An Yingchang, Yang Zhen discovered a characteristic of Jierhalang's division of troops to defend Jinhai East Road, that is, the places where its troops were divided and stationed were mostly near the estuaries of coastal rivers.

Chengzi Mountain in East Gaoli is not far from the outlet of Yingna River, and Qingduizi is not far from the outlet of Shizuizi River.

As for the Dagushan where the fort was built, it is located not far to the south of the outlet of the Dayang River. To the north, it overlooks the estuary of the Dayang River, and to the east, it can monitor and suppress the bay outside the mouth of the Dayang River.

It would be impossible for the naval fleet on the Jinhai East Road to land unexpectedly near the mouth of the Dayang River, or to go upstream to attack key inland areas controlled by the Manchu Tatars, such as the Xiuyan Fort area.

Yang Zhen's discovery and emotion immediately resonated with the generals present. For a while, Zhang Chen, Li Lu, Yang Shen and others nodded along.

At this time, Qiu Zhenhai, who was sitting cross-legged on the kang with Yang Zhen and Zu Keyong, suddenly took over the conversation and said with emotion: "The Governor may not know something. I think back when Dongjiang Town was so famous, Marshal Mao

The Dongjiang navy was sent to take the sea route, upstream from the mouth of the Yanghe River, all the way to Xiuyan Fort.

"Shuai Mao originally wanted to send his men to capture Xiuyan Fort in one go, just like the surprise attack on Zhenjiang Fort, but unfortunately things didn't work out as he wanted, and for some reason the secret was leaked out.

"A group of people took a boat and traveled by water, going nearly a hundred miles inland. As a result, they were ambushed by Tatars when they reached the mouth of the Shaozi River that merged into the Dayang River. Almost all the people who attacked were annihilated."

When Qiu Zhenhai said this, he sighed and stopped. He looked at the thoughtful Yang Zhen, was silent for a moment, and then continued:

"But at that time, Marshal Mao's reputation was booming, and even the Dongjiang Army refused to admit the defeat, so the matter was suppressed and never made public. Only the princes and dignitaries on the Manchu Tatar side must have known about it.

"Now that the Mantatars have learned this lesson, if this Jierhalang hears the news that our Jinhai Town Navy is going north to manage Dalu Island on Shicheng Island, then he will definitely station troops and build forts near the mouth of the Yanghe River and the Yajiang River!"

“What Vice General Qiu means——?”

"The humble position has two meanings. First, the news that Jinhai East Road Naval Camp operates Shicheng Island and Dalu Island must have been detected by the Manchu Tatars!"

Facing Yang Zhenruo's enlightened inquiry, Qiu Zhenhai immediately gave his analysis.

"Secondly, if the governor wants to make Zhenjiang Fort or Xiuyan Fort, he may not be able to do what Marshal Mao did on the Dongjiang River and lead his warships into the river mouth and upstream to achieve the effect of surprising the enemy and attacking them unprepared.

It’s over!”

Yang Zhen's past tactics against the enemy were almost always to avoid the real situation, exploit the weak point, and take advantage of the weak point, taking the enemy by surprise and attacking them unprepared. To put it mildly, this is called resourcefulness, and to put it worse, it is called opportunism.

This time Yang Zhen led the main force of the Eastern Expedition Army to the north. Qiu Zhenhai knew without much thought that Yang Zhen was planning to avoid Dorgon and the two white flags of the two Azige brothers and targeted Manta.

Zi's ​​so-called east-route division commander Jierharang's head.

Qiu Zhenhai, who was already familiar with Yang Zhen's strategies, tactics and fighting styles, even judged that Yang Zhen's goal of going north this time was probably to make a surprise attack on Zhenjiang Fort at the mouth of the Yalu River.

However, Qiu Zhenhai was full of worries about Yang Zhen's plan to repeat his old tricks and attack Zhenjiang Fort or other Mantar cities by water.

In his opinion, the reason why Yang Zhen was able to succeed so often in the past was because the princes and princes of the Tatar side were not familiar with Yang Zhen's style of play.

But now, Yang Zhen has already fought against the Manchu and Tatar princes such as Dorgon, Azig, and Jilhalang. Is it still feasible to use the sea route to attack the enemy's rear in a roundabout way? Can we continue to play?

?

Qiu Zhenhai was seriously doubtful about this. For him, even he had figured out Yang Zhen's playing style. So the Manchu and Tatar princes such as Dorgon, Jierhalang and others who had suffered several losses could not

Are you confused about Yang Zhen’s strategy and tactics?

It's just that Yang Zhen's authority is getting stronger now, and as the biological uncle of Mrs. Jin Haibo's Qiu family, he is deeply trusted by Yang Zhen, so it is really not easy to openly question Yang Zhen's style of play in person.

The most important thing is that before and after Yang Zhen led the main force of Lushunkou to the north, and until he summoned the generals, he did not clearly say where he would fight next or how he planned to fight. This made him unable to object.

.

At this moment, he saw that Yang Zhen had discovered the characteristics of the distribution of the Manchu Tatar army, so he could only take this opportunity to express his inner thoughts.

"Haha, Vice Admiral Qiu, are you worried that I will follow the example of Marshal Mao and ask you to lead the fleet to surprise Zhenjiang Fort?"

At first, when Yang Zhen heard what Qiu Zhenhai said, he was a little unsure of what he meant. After asking him, he understood instantly.

"Well, isn't the Governor planning to attack Zhenjiang Fort when he goes north this time?"

When Qiu Zhenhai saw Yang Zhen talking away with a smile, he stopped being secretive and asked a blunt question with some embarrassment.

Seeing him like this, Yang Zhen knew it was time to inform the generals of his plan, so he looked at the generals with a smile and asked: "What about you? Do you see it this way too?"

All the generals present had heard Qiu Zhenhai's statement before, and they all realized that Qiu Zhenhai was secretly advising Yang Zhen that surprise attacks by sea were useful in the past, but they may not be used this time.

He was also telling Yang Zhen that after suffering several losses, the Manchu Tatars must have been prepared at the mouth of the river and the river mouth area. If the self-defense army continues to fight according to the previous style, I am afraid that it will happen again like Mao Shuai did when he went to the Yangtze River mouth to surprise Xiuyan Fort.

's mistakes.

Therefore, when the generals saw Yang Zhen and asked them what they thought, in fact, everyone had the same idea in mind - isn't it?

But now that Qiu Zhenhai had said his words, they no longer had the need to strike again. After hearing Yang Zhen's rhetorical question, everyone remained silent but nodded unanimously.

"If it hadn't been for Lu Pinqi and the others to attack Tianzhuang Terrace at the mouth of the Liaohe River in August, I would have intended to do this once. But now that Lu Pinqi and the others have done so, it is really inappropriate for me to do this again, as it will easily endanger the Tatars.

ambush!"

Yang Zhen saw that everyone had similar thoughts to Qiu Zhenhai, and they were all worried that he would lose the battle of Zhenjiang Fort rashly, and would take the water route and conduct a surprise attack behind enemy lines like before, so he immediately made it clear.

"Haha, don't worry. Everything can be done once and twice, not over and over again. I understand this principle. Furthermore, the Manchu Tatars previously paid more attention to the Li Dynasty than Jinfu and other places. In order to frighten and intimidate the Li Dynasty,

As early as Zhenjiang Fort, there were heavy troops stationed on the front line of Jiuliancheng.

"Especially Zhenjiang Castle has been run by Manchu Tatars for a long time, and now Jierhalang, the so-called famous king of the captives, is in charge. The situation is completely different from Fuzhou, Xiongyue, Liaohekou and other places. If you want to think about it,

It is indeed impossible to act like we did when we captured Xiongyue City twice."

Yang Zhenshi's words immediately brought the atmosphere at the meeting to a freezing point.

Among the generals, some had their eyes widened, astonished and confused, while others had solemn expressions on their faces, lowering their heads and remaining silent.

On the one hand, Yang Zhen's sobriety reassured those who were worried about his sudden advance and ambush, but on the other hand, it made the generals who followed him north begin to worry about the prospects of this battle.

"Commander, our trip north this time brought with us more than 2,700 people from the nine posts of the Musket Regiment, more than 2,400 people from the eight posts of the Grenadier Regiment, and more than 1,800 people from the Artillery Regiment with six posts.

The navy battalion, with seven sentries including Lieutenant General Qiu and Brother Yan, totaled more than 9,000 men.

"In addition to the nearly 4,000 dismounted infantry under the command of the ancestral commander Zhuanghe Regiment, we have more than 13,000 men and horses available for fighting northward. Now that our army already has this strength on the east road, why should we be surprised?

Only by planning can we make progress?"

While everyone was silently thinking about the meaning of Yang Zhen's words, Li Lu, the deputy general of the Chinese Army and the deputy general of the Grenadier Regiment Battalion of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, suddenly couldn't help but speak and said these words.

"Oh? Li Lu, if you have any good ideas, can you tell them so that everyone can refer to them together!"

Of course, Yang Zhen had his own plans in mind on how to deal with Jierhalang and his army with blue flags.

It's just that Yuan Jin, Yu Liangtai's fleet and the expected navy troops of Lin Qingye have not yet arrived, so the plans in Yang Zhen's heart cannot take root.

Therefore, he would also like to hear if others have better methods.

"Well, I don't actually have any clever plans here. I just feel that we now have over 10,000 troops, including muskets, artillery grenadiers, cavalry archers and naval battalions. We have everything, and our strength is far better than before.

"In this case, why don't we use the navy as a feint attack and the land division as the main attack? Simply advance by land and water and push all the way north? Our Grenadier Regiment can serve as the vanguard of the entire army. When the time comes, the gods will kill the gods and the Buddhas.

Wouldn’t it be fun?!”

Li Lu's last words were so full of energy and impassioned that Yang Zhen's heart, which had not been impulsive for a long time, became a little hot.

As for the other generals present, they also changed their previous dejected looks, and all their eyes were fixed on Li Lu, with approval on their faces.

"Yes, Governor, the main force of Jinhai Town of the Ming Dynasty is here, but in front of them, it is just a partial division on the Qingta East Road. If the Governor can lead his army to win a decisive battle in the wild, the morale of the people in the world will be very different, and the monarchs and ministers of this country will also

He will surely return to heaven!"
Chapter completed!