Yang Zhen's trip to the Seongsan Mountains of West Goryeo not only allowed Yang Zhen himself to clarify his future combat ideas behind enemy lines, but also allowed the generals gathered on the front line of Jinhae East Road to finally reach a high degree of consensus.

On the second day after returning to Zhuanghe Fort from the Western Goliath Mountain, Yang Zhen left Zhuanghe Fort. He first took Qiu Zhenhai’s fleet to Shicheng Island, and then took the boat north along the coast, all the way around the mouth of the Yingna River.

, went straight to Dalu Island off the coast of Dagushan at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and surveyed the enemy's situation on the shore along the way.

Taking a boat all the way north, Yang Zhen's on-the-spot reconnaissance confirmed the enemy's situation previously reported by Zu Keyong and others.

What Zu Keyong and others said was correct. Prince Zheng of Jirhalang, a Manchu Tatar, had indeed learned the lessons of previous wars. He built sentry towers overlooking the sea and stationed soldiers and horses in all areas along the river mouth.

As for the more important place of Yanghekou, the watchtower of the fort camp built by the Manchu Tatars with blue flags on Dagushan Mountain. On a sunny afternoon, Yang Zhen took a boat to the coast and could see clearly through the telescope in his hand.

Yang Zhen was actually not too worried about the coastal forts at the mouth of the river, because he did not intend to imitate Mao Wenlong's style of fighting when he went north this time.

In fact, now that Yang Zhen has a growing naval force, he has more choices in fighting the Manchu and Tatars.

Now he is fully capable of adopting the "leapfrog" tactic against the Manchu Tatars.

For example, at present, as long as Yang Zhen can seize the opportunity of the North Korean fleet to act as an internal agent and capture the Zhenjiang Fort at the mouth of the Yalu River in one fell swoop, then the enemy troops deployed by Jilhalang at the mouths of the coastal areas south of Zhenjiang Fort will be

Retreat without fighting.

Yang Zhen's boat ride north along the coast for close reconnaissance also aroused the alert of the Tatar garrison along the coast north of the mouth of the Inna River.

Especially when Yang Zhen tried to approach the mouth of Yanghe River by boat, the fort garrison on Dagushan fired several cannons on the sea in an attempt to drive him away.

However, in addition to exposing their own strength, the Manchu Tatar garrison at Dagushan bombarded the sea and had no effect on the maritime fleet led by Yang Zhen.

Although the Mantatar fort on Dagushan could cover the mouth of the Yanghe River and prevent ships from docking nearby or entering the estuary area, it could not reach the ship Yang Zhen was riding in floating in the bay, let alone hit it.

.

Therefore, when Yang Zhen and others discovered that the cannons on the Mantazi Dagushan Fort could not reach the ships in the bay, he ordered Qiu Zhenhai and Yan Shengsan to each take a group of ships and meet with Yingna outside the mouth of the Yanghe River.

It is always swimming in the bay outside the river mouth.

Yang Zhen's close reconnaissance and coastal cruising operations were of course intentional.

On the one hand, he did this to see with his own eyes the true strength of the Manchurian Tatar Xilan Banner garrison in the coastal area, the Dagushan Fort Camp at the mouth of Yanghe River.

On the other hand, it was also to contain the Manchu Tatar troops stationed on the coast south of Yanghekou from the sea and create better opportunities for Zu Keyong and others.

Because on the second day after Yang Zhen left Zhuanghe Fort City, Zu Keyong, An Yingchang and other troops from the Jinhai East Road Horse Infantry Army, as well as Zhang Chen, Li Lu and other troops from the Eastern Expedition Army Musketry Regiment and Grenadier Regiment, joined the army.

We divided the route and took a detour upstream of the Yingna River to cross the river and go north.

The task given to them by Yang Zhen before leaving was not to ask them to capture the city or to attack the camps where the Manchu Tatar troops were stationed, but to avoid all the Manchu Tatar garrison camps and raid the north of the Yingna River until

Manta Village near Shizuizi River.

With Yang Zhen leading Qiu Zhenhai and the coastal support of Yan Province's Sanliang Naval Battalion Fleet, the Manchu Tatar garrison south of Yanghekou all guarded the forts and forts at the mouth of the river and did not dare to move lightly. As a result, Zu Keyong and others

The action was naturally a great success.

On the evening of September 12, the 13th year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhen took Qiu Bixian's small fleet and just returned to the Zhuanghe seaport not far from the south gate of Zhuanghe Fort.

When Yuan Yuan saw Yang Zhen's face, his face was filled with joy and he said to Yang Zhen happily:

"The Governor, the Governor, the General Zu and the others won the victory this afternoon! It is said that people from all walks of life who went north broke into more than ten villages in Manchuria, brought back hundreds of money, rat tail heads, and captured two Tatars alive.

Hundreds of people, hundreds of cattle and horses, burned down the entire Tatar farmland for no reason!"

Since Xu Tingxuan accepted Yang Zhen's appointment in March and followed Zu Keyong to build Zhuanghe Fort on Jinhai East Road, he has stayed in the horse infantry on Jinhai East Road and is currently leading a newly formed infantry post to garrison it.

Next to Zhuanghe Seaport, not far from the south gate of Zhuanghe Fort.

"Okay, hahaha, very good! Where are Zu Zongbing and the others now?"

Of course Yang Zhen had expectations for the success of Zu Keyong's attack, but he was still very happy when he heard the good news reported by Xu Tingxuan as soon as he stepped onto the pier of the pier.

At this time, Xu Tingxuan had already arrived in front of Yang Zhen. After meeting him two steps away, he heard Yang Zhen's question and immediately answered with a smile:

"General Zu, Vice General Zhang, Vice General Li, and that Duzhi An, all returned in triumph this afternoon. When I saw the Captain's boat, I had already sent people back to report the news, and they are probably on their way to greet them at this moment.

"

Xu Tingxuan was right. As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Zhen looked up and saw a group of knights rushing towards the dock from the direction of Zhuanghe Fort in the north.

Soon, the group of knights arrived near the pier. After a few dozen steps, they dismounted from their horses, straightened their clothes, and strode towards Yang Zhen to greet him. It was none other than Zu Keyong and others.

"Fortunately, the Governor, the humble officers and others have lived up to their orders. All the troops have returned to their respective camps south of the Yingna River before midnight today. Except for dozens of people who were slightly injured due to accidental actions, no one from each department has fought.

Killed in action or missing in action."

Zu Keyong took the lead, followed by Zhang Chen, Li Lu, An Yingchang and others, who came to Yang Zhen and knelt down on one knee. They first performed military salutes to Yang Zhen, and then reported to Yang Zhen that they were heading north to attack.

situation.

"In this attack to the north, Governor Meng personally led the fleet to contain the troops stationed along the Manta coast from the sea. The troops of Beiji and others were divided into four groups, and no powerful enemies were encountered along the way.

"Four groups of troops attacked 17 places in Manta Village, captured 610 heads of two young and strong Tatars, and captured 821 alive of two Tatars, men, women, old and children.

He brought back three hundred and forty-two cattle and horses.

"The troops who went north to burn a total of 41 sorghum fields and 34 rice fields on both sides of the Shizui River in Manta, which is estimated to be no less than a thousand acres!

"In addition, the three commanders of the Zhongyi Army led by An Duzhi harvested a total of five Tatar rice fields on the north bank of the Yingna River, accounting for more than forty acres!"

Zu Keyong's report was much more detailed than what Xu Tingxuan told Yang Zhen immediately when he met Yang Zhen.

Each number fell into Yang Zhen's ears and turned into smiles, piling up on his face.

It was not until the end that Yang Zhen heard that An Yingchang actually led his troops to harvest the rice fields cultivated by the Tatars, and the smile on his face suddenly turned into surprise.

"What?! Cut the rice of Tartar?!"

"Well, please forgive me, Governor. It's a pity to burn the rice because I saw that the rice was ripe. My subordinates were all in charge, and they hadn't seen the rice in their hometown for a long time, so they couldn't help but collect it and bring it back."

An Yingchang, who was following Zu Keyong and others, saw Yang Zhen's expression change. He remembered the military order Yang Zhen had given them, and immediately knelt on one knee instead of kneeling on both knees, facing Yang Zhen.

Zhen kowtowed and said:

"Captain Rong, the loyal soldiers and horses under my humble command are all infantry. After crossing the river, they could not keep up with the cavalry army in front. I also saw that all the nearby villages and villages had been destroyed and there was no threat, so -"

When An Yingchang said this, he mumbled and didn't know what to say. He lowered his head and couldn't continue, but Yang Zhen already understood what he meant.

The military order Yang Zhen had given him before was to tell them that when they crossed the river to attack, they must advance quickly and retreat quickly, and annihilate them quickly and return quickly.

Yang Zhen asked them to stay away from the Manchu Tatar camps and fortresses where soldiers and horses were stationed, and not to attack the enemy.

On the other hand, no one among them is allowed to be greedy for success, or greedy for money and war, and waste opportunities.

At present, what An Yingchang and his men are doing is obviously against Yang Zhen's order at the time.

Just when Yang Zhen was thinking deeply about how to deal with it, Zu Keyong suddenly clasped his fists and said: "Captain, I would like to ask a favor for An Du."

Hearing what Zu Keyong said, Yang Zhen, who was worried that he had no way to go down the stairs, immediately answered him: "Okay, you said, you are the commander-in-chief of the East Route Assistant Guards, and An Yingchang's subordinate is your subordinate.

I was just going to ask you if you had anything to say."

Of course, Yang Zhen would not deal with An Yingchang easily, but he was also worried that if such blatant violation of orders was not dealt with, it would be troublesome if it became the norm in the future.

But it was said that after Zu Keyong heard Yang Zhen's somewhat meaningful answer, he first raised his head, quickly looked at Yang Zhen's face, then lowered his head and said:

"An Du pointed out that the troops under his command were a little slow after taking a detour to cross the river, which delayed them for a while. However, after being urged and reminded by their subordinates, they immediately followed up and made a lot of achievements along the way.

"The cavalry teams led by the lower-ranking ministries moved in and out quickly, and fled with one strike. Although they defeated many Tatars and two Tatars' villages, the matter of beheading and capturing the Tatars and two Tatars alive, especially the captured cattle and horses, was

However, most of them were obtained by An Duzhi’s troops who followed up later, so——”

Without Zu Keyong saying any more, Yang Zhen already knew what he wanted to express.

The troops led by Zu Keyong, Zhang Chen and Li Lu were either heavy cavalry and light cavalry led by Yu Lewu and Ao Rijin, or mounted musketeers and mounted grenadiers. These troops

After detouring upstream of the Yingna River and crossing the river, they not only moved quickly, but also had extremely strong combat effectiveness.

In stark contrast, most of the farms run by the Ertatar Ahabs under the banner of Mantazi Xianglan are scattered in the plains north of the Yingna River and on both sides of the Shizuizi River. Not only are there no dangers to defend,
Chapter completed!