On the evening of the 9th day of the 10th month of the 13th year of Chongzhen, the main force of the Qing army arrived at the outskirts of Zhenjiang Fort City. Zhenghuang Banner was in the north, Xianghuang Banner was in the south, Xianglan Banner troops and horses were joined by the two Red Banner Han troops and the Zhenglan Banner Han army's heavy artillery.

Niulu is located due west of Zhenjiang Fort, along the left and right lines outside Tangshan Gate.

At this time, the season has passed the beginning of winter, and the short days and long nights have become increasingly obvious. In the dim light after the sunset, the Qing captive army who came to the outskirts of Zhenjiang Fort was not afraid that the Ming army in the city might come out to attack.

Torches were lit one after another, and outside the cannon range at the top of the city, the lights were brightly lit and people were cheering and setting up camp.

In this way, under the full surveillance of the Ming army's watch posts on the city, the Qing army spent nearly a night setting up company camps one after another outside Zhenjiang Fort.

By the time dawn broke the next morning, the Qing Dynasty banner soldiers and horse companies had cut off the roads from the west, south and north and surrounded Zhenjiang Fort.

Fortunately, the location of Zhenjiang Fort is very close to the Yalu River, and the space between the fort and the Yalu River waterway is small. Not only can it not accommodate a large army, but it is also completely under the firepower of the naval gunboats on the river and the east city head fort, so

None of the bannermen of the Qing Dynasty dared to set up camp here.

As a result, the Qing army finally left a gap in the siege of Zhenjiang Castle.

And this gap is where Yang Zhen and his Zhenjiang Fort defenders live.

Of course, this opening is only effective before the river surface freezes. Once the winter months come and the river surface forms a thick layer of ice, this opening will be quickly blocked.

On the morning of the tenth day of October in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhen, who was worried that the Qing army would start attacking the city after dawn, took several of his close men stationed in the city to sit on the Tangshan Gate Urn City at the west gate.

In Yang Zhen's original estimation, if he led his army to occupy a place like Zhenjiang Fort, the Qing puppet emperor Huang Taiji would be furious and eager to take it back. Moreover, the Qing army had so many troops that it would not be conducive to a long battle, so he would definitely launch an attack as soon as possible.

city.

However, throughout the morning of the tenth day of October, the Qing army, which had completed the siege of Zhenjiang Fort on three sides, did not launch an siege operation against Zhenjiang Fort, and did not even launch a single exploratory artillery bombardment.

On the contrary, the various armies of the Qing Dynasty started construction on the north, west and south sides of Zhenjiang Fort almost at the same time. Soldiers and horses of all banners mobilized their troops to dig trenches and build fortifications, which seemed to turn the wilderness between Zhenjiang Fort and the Qing Dynasty camp into a desert.

It has become a big construction site in full swing.

Accompanied by the generals, Yang Zhen inspected a circle of city defenses and carefully observed the Qinglu company camp outside the city and the actions of the Qinglu army digging trenches and building fortifications. Soon, he convened another military meeting on the Tangshan gate tower of the west gate of Zhenjiang Fort.

.

"Commander, judging from the conditions of the companies outside Qinglu City, although the number of Qinglu soldiers and horses is not as many as the hundreds of thousands that An Duzhi previously estimated, the main force of the sixty-seventy-eight thousand banners is still there. If so.

In addition to the soldiers Aha who served with the army in the Qinglu camp, there were almost a hundred thousand troops.

"Right now, the Qing rebels have mobilized their troops to dig trenches and build forts on three sides of Zhenjiang Fort. It seems that they are determined to besiege our army for a long time in an attempt to encircle our army. Next, should we wait for the Qing rebels to attack the city and then counterattack, or should we take advantage of it?

How can we gain strength by striking first before we have a stable footing?"

Last night, the main force of the Qing captives arrived in force and set up camp outside Zhenjiang Fort. Of course, Yang Zhen and his generals inside the city were unable to sleep well.

Although Yang Zhen behaved the calmest and confident in front of others, when he returned to rest in General Zhengdong's camp, he actually didn't sleep much. He spent the entire second half of the night thinking about how Qinglu would move and himself.

And how to deal with it.

As for the other generals, they naturally couldn't sleep. There was actually a thick cloud hanging over everyone's mind.

In particular, Zhang Chen, who was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the defense of the West City, stayed on guard on the tower of Tangshan Gate Urn City all night long, almost never sleeping a wink.

During this period, he also asked Yang Zhen for a battle, hoping to lead his troops down to the city to attack the Qinglu camp under the cover of darkness, to give the Qinglu troops a show of strength and at the same time boost their own morale, but Yang Zhen rejected it.

Dropped.

In Zhang Chen's view, the future operations of the self-armed army in Zhenjiang Fort will definitely be based on defense. Relying on the fortified city will consume a large amount of the soldiers, horses, food, grass and manpower of the Qing captives. However, if they insist on defending, it will be detrimental to the morale of the self-army.

You have to take some time to fight back.

However, now that one night has passed, the several camps of the Qing captives on the west, south, and north sides of Zhenjiang Fort have begun to take shape. If the Qing captives wait for the completion of the deep trench and long fortress outside the city, then they can send troops to sneak attack the captive camps.

, but there is absolutely no chance.

"Think of the Battle of Daling River. The Qing army dug deep trenches, built long forts, and surrounded the city of Daling River. Then they besieged the city with one hand and sent reinforcements with the other. From August to November, the siege lasted more than three months.

Months later, the food and grass in the city were exhausted, the horses were eaten up, and the people were cannibalized. As a result, morale collapsed, the military mentality changed, and the Liaodong Army's 30,000 elite troops finally surrendered without a fight.

"At present, our army has sufficient food and ammunition, and the water of the Yajiang River has not frozen, and the food route has not been cut off. For the time being, there is no need to worry about food, clothing and other supply sources. However, the governor must not ignore the possibility of a protracted siege by the Qing Dynasty.

"Back then, during the Battle of Daling River, the Qing army besieged the city for more than three months, and the mountains and water in the city were exhausted. This time, if our army wants to defend Zhenjiang Fort, we must be prepared to be besieged by the Qing troops for more than three months or even half a year!

"

At this moment, Zhang Chen told Yang Zhen again about the Siege of Daling River. His face was full of worry. He was obviously very worried that the tragic ending of the Battle of Daling River would happen again here in Zhenjiang Fort.

"Now, the governor has sent General Yuan to lead the fleet to send out orders, ordering other people not to come to rescue after the Qinglu siege and during the siege. Although the possibility of the Qinglu using Zhenjiang Fort to siege is eliminated, it still

It is also equivalent to cutting off other foreign aid for our army. Once it is delayed until the winter moon, the water surface of the Yajiang River in the east of the city freezes and no ships can sail, and the Qing captives can encircle them on all sides.

"At that time, if the Qing rebels send troops to attack Zhenjiang Fort, that's fine. Our army can rely on the existing city defenses and the sharpness of the guns and ammunition in the army to kill a large number of Qing captives and achieve the governor's long-cherished wish to eliminate the Qing rebels' strength.

.However, what if the Qing captives repeated their old tactics of besieging the Daling River and only besieged our army but did not attack?

"If this happens, from the winter month to April next year, the water of the Yajiang River will be frozen, and the navy will not be able to sail. If the Qing Dynasty captures Chen Bing on the river, cutting off our army's food route, and the men and horses in the city will eat nothing, our army's accumulated food and grass can last more than half a year.

no?"

After Zhang Chen finished speaking, he looked up and saw that Yang Zhen was silent, while Li Lu, Yang Shen and others were also frowning in thought. Then he looked around and saw that Liu Lin, Shen Qizhou, An Yingchang and other generals were not present.

, so he further said:

"Bizhi knows what the governor is thinking, and he also believes that the more Qing Dynasty soldiers and horses they have, the more grass they will consume. Moreover, since the previous Qing Dynasty troops had already collected food from the court, their army would not have enough.

Food and grass, if it remains like this, the siege will not last until April next year.

"However, after entering the winter months, once the Yajiang River freezes, the wide waterway on the river today will no longer be a natural chasm for the Qinglu army, but a smooth road. This will be the case for the Yalu River, Qingchuan River, and Datong River. By then, the Qinglu army will

The food and grass you need can be obtained from the people of the court.

"If the governor just hopes that the Qing Dynasty's army will run out of food and retreat, then the road ahead of Zhenjiang Fort and the lifeblood of our army will be handed over to others. The Qing Dynasty has previously been able to recruit 100,000 shi of military food from the court.

, I might as well cross the river on ice and continue to ask for food and grass from the court people."

"this--"

When Li Lu and Yang Shen heard this, they couldn't help but take a breath of air.

They all came from military households in Liaodong and were very familiar with the climate in Liaodong. They also all knew that sooner or later the Yalu River would freeze, and by then the Qing army would be able to cross the river and march eastwards as if they were walking on flat ground.

The problem of lack of food and grass in the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty could be completely solved by plundering the Koreans east of the Yalu River.

Although the people of the Dynasty had become vassals of the Qing Dynasty, and logically, the Qing Dynasty as the suzerain should not plunder its own vassal country, but the Qing Dynasty was not a ceremonial state like the Ming Dynasty.

Once the Qing captives are really short of food, they don't care whether you have surrendered to his vassal state or not.

Yang Shen was a little worried when he thought that after the Yalu River froze, his army might be surrounded by Qing captives from all sides and their food routes would be cut off. However, the Qing captives would most likely cross the river to advance eastward and receive a steady stream of food supplies from the Koreans.

But he soon thought that the situation east of the Yalu River was different now.

"Fortunately, the people of Jiangdong Dynasty, such as Yi, Ding, An, and Pingping, have all raised the flag of righteousness and called for the expulsion of the Qing captives. I think they will not give in to the Qing captives easily——"

However, as soon as Yang Shen's idea came out of his mouth, he was despised by Li Lu next to him.

"Tsk, how can the virtues of the Chao people be reliable? Even if they are reliable, they can't defend their city against the Qing army!"

Li Lu first expressed his disdain for the virtues and combat prowess of the Korean people, and then added: "Besides, if the river is frozen, it will only take ten and a half months for Qinglu to cross the river on ice and go straight to Hanyang City.

Even if the prefectures of Yi, Ding, An, and Ping in Jiangdong were strong enough to withstand the journey, the monarchs and ministers of the Li Dynasty on the other side of Hanyang City might not be able to withstand the Qing captives.

"At that time, the emperors and ministers of the Li Dynasty in Hanyang City will still kneel down and kowtow to the Qing Dynasty captives to pay tribute, and the Qing Dynasty army can still take away from the court people, even if they ask for another hundred thousand stones, or even two hundred thousand stones

I am afraid that the emperor and his ministers of the Li Dynasty will deliver the military rations obediently. So——"

When he said this, Li Lu of course fully understood Zhang Chen's worries, so he turned to Yang Zhen, bowed to Yang Zhen, clasped his fists and said:

"Commander, although the situation that Lieutenant General Zhang just mentioned is the worst, we must be on guard against it, because we are outnumbered, our enemies are strong, and we are weak. If our army doesn't pay attention, this situation will come true.

"

By this time, Yang Shen obviously realized that what Zhang Chen and Li Lu said was true, so he also sighed and said to Yang Zhen with a wry smile:

"Yes, Governor, if the Qing captives only besieged Zhenjiang Castle but did not attack it, and also planned to wait until I ran out of food, and at the same time divided their troops to plunder the Chao people in various places to replenish their army's food and military supplies, then what happens next

The war is really not easy to fight.
Chapter completed!