Zhang Huangyan stared at the map for a while, and finally pointed at Fengyang and said, "General, look. If Zhou Xian's army crossed Fengyang and went north, they could attack Guide Prefecture to assist Liu Konghe in Dingtao across the Yellow River. If they continued to go west, they could enter Runing Prefecture, or even go deep into the south of Kaifeng Prefecture, thus sweeping across the entire southern Henan. The intention of Zhou Governor Zhou might be to cross Huainan controlled by Sun Kewang, and then launch an attack on the Qing army from the southeast."

Zhang Mingzhen's face changed slightly, "Can Zhou Xian and Sun Kewang have some connections? Otherwise, how could he agree to Zhou Xian's army pass through his territory?"

Zhang Huangyan was silent for a moment and shook his head gently, "I'm afraid not. General Ruan Jin said just now that the floating bridge across the Huai River was suddenly built, not prepared for it. I think the reason for this is probably to hide it from Sun Kewang, and to pass through Huainan directly before he could react."

Zhang Mingzhen frowned, "Can Sun Kewang be willing? He is not like the kind of person who is willing to suffer losses."

Zhang Huangyan smiled faintly and said, "Sun Kewang is a person who is unwilling to suffer losses, but he is the one who can preserve his strength the most. The Qing army and the Chuang army fought in Henan, and he had the opportunity to go north and forcefully collect southern Henan. But he chose to sit in the mountains and watch the tiger fight, and the soldiers were between Yingchuan and Fuyang for a long time. If the General Zhou just passed by and did not fight with him, and sent someone to give Sun Kewang some extra compensation later, Sun Kewang would probably accept it happily. He had watched the General Qing army and the General Zhou fight before, but afterwards, he would probably hope that the General Qing army and the General Zhou would fight to the point of both sides to help him succeed! But..."

Zhang Huangyan paused, "But among the many forces, Sun Kewang is the weakest. Once the two strong people decide the victory or defeat, how can he have a chance? It's really stupid. But this may not be of no benefit to the Ming Dynasty. After all, only by letting Sun Kewang recognize the situation can he completely surrender to the Ming Dynasty."

Zhang Mingzhen nodded gently, agreeing with Zhang Huangyan's speculation. "What should we do now?"

Zhang Huangyan thought for a while and said, "First send someone to inform Sun Kewang, inform him of the intention of governor Zhou, and let him make some preparations in advance. After all, he is currently in the Ming Dynasty, and telling him this can also show the court's sincerity for him."

Zhang Mingzhen said: "Is it still time now?"

Zhang Huangyan said lightly: "This is not important, we just need to notify him. Secondly, we must inform Your Majesty and the King of Tang as soon as possible. The King of Tang is a general named by the court and is in charge of military affairs in Jiangbei. If so, we can order Sun Kewang in the name of the Emperor and General of the Ming Dynasty to force him to send troops. Once Zhou Xian fought with the Qing army, his control over the local area will inevitably be weakened. If we can take the opportunity to seize some prefectures and counties in southern Henan, it will also facilitate our army to go north in the future."

Zhang Mingzhen nodded and said, "Okay! Just do that. Ruan Jin, send someone to notify Sun Kewang and Cangshui immediately, let us both go to see Your Majesty now."

Zhou Xian stood on a high place, looking at the soldiers who were slowly crossing the river, and said to Zhang Huai: "The speed is too slow, let them all hurry up. Before the third update, all cavalry must cross the river."

Zhang Huai got the order and rode over and shouted loudly: "Hurry up, pass the horse first, then pass the people. The commander strictly ordered that all cavalry must cross the river before the third update."

Wu Zhiying stepped forward and walked: "The commander-in-chief, all the troops in the front have crossed the river. Can the subordinates lead their troops to set out first?"

Zhou Xian pondered for a moment, and finally shook his head and said, "No, it is easy to be discovered by Sun Kewang in advance, which will affect our army's follow-up plan. Zhiying, you should work harder and send a group of mail cavalry out. Within thirty miles, if you find any suspicious person, you should be imprisoned directly. Do not disclose our army's whereabouts."

Wu Zhiying accepted the order and went down to make arrangements.

More than twenty cavalry rushed over from a distance. When one of them saw Zhou Xian, he immediately turned over and dismounted, clasped his fists and said, "Zhou Bin has met the commander-in-chief."

Zhou Xian nodded, "How are you preparing over there?"

Zhou Bin looked happy, "Fortunately, I did not humiliate my fate. The magistrates of four counties in the two prefectures and twelve counties in Runing Prefecture clearly stated that they would serve as the commander, and half of them were willing to cooperate. The situation in the Kaifeng Prefecture, Guide Prefecture, Henan Prefecture, Nanyang Prefecture and other four prefectures were not as good as that in Runing Prefecture, but there were no few in each prefecture who had conflicts with the captives."

Zhou Xian waved his hand, "These are not important. I'm asking what the situation is in key places such as Xiangcheng, Xuzhou, Yancheng, Jiaxian, Qixian and Chenliu?"

Zhou Bin said: "Xuzhou magistrate Yue Wenjie and Xiangcheng County magistrate Guo Chen have been persuaded by his subordinates and will cooperate with them with all their strength. Jia County magistrate Gu Qingfeng is cowardly and is only willing to provide our army with some situations of the Qing army. Others may be difficult to count on him. There are not many troops stationed in Yancheng and can be seized at any time. Qi County, Chenliu, and Qing army are tightly controlled. Now we have only figured out the deployment of the troops there, and the others are really difficult to do. Here are some specific situations in various places. Please read them."

With the light of fire, Zhou Xian looked at it and nodded with satisfaction. He called Gu Yanwu, "Zhongqing, copy it three times immediately."

Zhou Xian turned around and asked Zhou Bin, "Where did you come from? It's going well along the way!"

Zhou Bin replied: "Who came from Xuzhou, his subordinates chose a remote road and bypassed the place where Sun Kewang stationed his troops, and he would not be discovered."

Zhou Xian asked, "What if there are five hundred cavalrymen! Can you do the same to prevent them from being discovered?"

Zhou Bin thought for a while and said, "Report to the commander, if you act carefully, there will be no problem."

Zhou Xian nodded, took out one from the paper that Gu Yanwu had just copied, looked at it, and handed it to Chen Wangxin who was standing next to him and said: "General Chen Shen, take your five hundred elite cavalry with Zhou Bin to act together. The horse will not stop, and the enemy will not fight. Follow the original plan to take Xiangcheng and Xuzhou."

Chen Wangxin bowed and said, "The subordinates receive the order."

Zhou Xian said: "You don't have many soldiers, but there are not many Qing troops in southern Henan, and they are scattered everywhere. If you can defeat them, you can seize several cities, or even the entire southern Henan. After taking them down, you must actively win over the original local officials and generals and let them firmly guard those cities for you."

Chen Wangxin looked puzzled, "Master General, are those people who have defected to Manhu? Can you trust them?"
Chapter completed!