The executioner cut off a piece of meat from You Yunlong's body, showed it on the spot, and stuffed it directly into You Yunlong's mouth. In the end, the cannibal ate himself instead. What Chen Kai wanted was a person who would repay kindness in the same way.

That body.

However, it is a pity. I don’t know whether he ate too much and choked to death, or whether he choked to death after eating too much, or the two front teeth were worn through his appetite. Yu Yunlong died before the punishment was over. Fortunately,

Chen Kai's goal has been achieved. The ogre has eaten him to death, which is enough.

When You Yunlong died, the remaining vassal officers were also brought to the stage. The punishments varied, but the final result was death. The only unsatisfactory thing was that Yu Yunlong did not die until the next day.

The next day, the eagerness for revenge was replaced by the reality of restoring current life. Most of the people who came to watch the execution were reduced. Without those who were crying and howling, the audience became boring.

The siege of Xinhui is over, but there are still many things to do later. At the very least, we must achieve the strategic goal of this time-conquering Guangzhou City. This stage of work can be considered to have come to an end.

Chen Kai knew this very well, as did Li Dingguo, Lian Chengbi and others. Conquering Xinhui, the gateway to the south of Guangzhou, was just a staged victory for the Ming army's attack on Guangdong. Next, going north to capture Guangzhou, not to mention the inevitable battles with

The confrontation between the two vassals of Pingnan and Jingnan in Guangdong only means that more cities need to be conquered along the way and the nails that stand between the Ming army and Guangzhou City must be removed one after another in order to reach the final destination.

When the execution began, Li Dingguo, Chen Kai and others showed their faces. After a while, they left the venue one after another and handed over the affairs to the generals. They returned to Li Dingguo's Chinese army camp to discuss

The next step.

"His Royal Highness's army set out from Liuzhou in February and entered Guangdong in March. According to the intelligence provided by the official, the Tatars asked for help from the imperial court around that time. However, unlike last year, Zhang Houye made breakthroughs many times this year.

The imperial army's defense of the Yangtze River, the Four Banners on the Left Wing of Jiangnan and Jiangning, and the Han Army Flags who were co-defending did not dare to move lightly. The other Eight Banners Army, the Eight Banners garrisoned in Hangzhou, suffered a defeat last year, and their strength has not been restored. Now the national surname is sweeping across Fujian.

The sword is pointed directly at Zhejiang, and even if they want to come to Guangdong, it is impossible."

"In this case, the imperial court can only dispatch reinforcements from the capital, because the pure green camp is definitely not enough, so it can only dispatch the Eight Banners Army. From Beijing to the south. According to the official's thinking, the fastest trip is to take the Grand Canal and enter the Yangtze River

waterway, and then go south from Jiujiang, Jiangxi to Poyang Lake, and finally go south along the Ganjiang River and other waterways to the Nangan area, and then cross Meiling and enter Guangzhou. In this way, including the time for the messengers to rush to the capital and the soldiers to assemble, it will be as early as the twelfth lunar month

, then in the first month of next year, the Imperial Army will surely arrive, and the King's Army will not have much time left."

Chen Kai spoke these words confidently and confidently, precisely because in history, the Manchu and Han Eight Banners Army led by Jingnan General Gushan Ezhen Zhumala arrived at the Guangdong battlefield in the twelfth lunar month and was defeated at the end of the twelfth lunar month.

Li Dingguo defeated Xinhui City's exhausted army for more than half a year.

During the days when he was planning to assist Li Dingguo in conquering Xinhui, Chen Kai had been trying to recall the specific time, but he couldn't remember anything. After the Xinhui city wall was blown down the day before yesterday, he suddenly realized that even if he knew the specific time,

What can time do? History has begun to turn a corner. Whether it will still happen in the same way and at that moment in the past is not important anymore. The important thing is to continue working hard instead of trying to make endless tricks.

After saying this, most of the people present here, such as Li Dingguo, Liancheng Bi, Jin Tongwu, Wang Xing, Jin Weixin, Gong Ming and Zhou Quanbin brought by Chen Kai, believed Chen Kai's prediction and judgment, because they had never had any

He had the experience of going south from Beizhili via the canal. Even Li Jianjie, another general brought by Chen Kai, followed Li Chengdong to surrender to the Qing Dynasty when he was in the four towns in Jiangbei, and then fought all the way into the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, but he still went to Zhejiang.

The route in Fujian is not like Chen Kai's experience of entering the Yangtze River waterway via Poyang Lake.

This is based on experience, and it is the credibility bonus brought by the image that Chen Kai has established over the years as a master of military affairs. It is already the end of October, and there is only one month left before the twelfth lunar month.

Their time, even the time gained by Chen Kai's attack on the city, was actually not particularly sufficient.

"How to deploy the army next, I have also considered it earlier. After years of bloodletting by Chen Fujun, coupled with Chen Linghai's Jiangmen victory in August, the Guangdong navy was completely wiped out, and the rivers and seas were all occupied by the king's army.

The world. Our army now controls the area south of Cangbu River on land. With Xinhui in hand, the army has a more solid rear. It can further encroach on other prefectures and counties in Guangzhou. It can also go north to attack Shunde and reach

Under the city of Guangzhou."

"Based on my consideration, we don't have much time and the advantage lies in a quick victory. If we can capture Guangzhou before the reinforcements from the Imperial Guards join Pingnan and Jingnan, we can calmly deal with the reinforcements from the Imperial Guards. However,

The huge city of Guangzhou is extremely strong and cannot be conquered overnight. If we cannot break the city before the reinforcements arrive, we will face the danger of instability on both sides and encountering a strong enemy again."

Guangzhou's city defense is one of them. This time when Xinhui was captured, although the two vassal troops of Yunlong and Wu Jinggong were completely wiped out, it was gratifying that the main force still existed. At least there were still six or seven thousand Pingnan vassal soldiers and

Tens of thousands of Jingnan vassal soldiers are here. Let’s not mention the former to recharge their batteries. Although the latter’s spine was once broken by Chen Kai, the Qing court’s efforts to supplement them always allowed them to recover a lot of their strength - that year

When the Jingnan vassal moved south, there were only more than 1,000 old vassal soldiers under the Han banner in the headquarters, and the rest of the 10,000-strong army were all supplemented by the northern green battalion. Chen Kai had two hundred Geng Jimao, especially after the second war.

It can be said that the loss was heavy, but it was not the kind of loss that was irreplaceable and difficult to recover.

"Green Camp, Li Shutai's supervisor is now in Zhaoqing, and there are Li Qifeng's Fu Biao and some other Green Camp soldiers in Guangzhou. If Wang Shi comes to the city, Shang Kexi will probably call other Green Camp soldiers to come to help, then the prisoners will

The strength of the division is not what it is now. Even if it is just to defend the city, there are a large number of coated minions in Guangzhou, and those boneless guys can also help."

Li Dingguo analyzed the city defense, and Chen Kai replenished the number of soldiers of the Qing army. Lian Chengbi sat there, thinking carefully for a moment, and then asked Chen Kai: "Isn't there Chen Fujun's Hongyi artillery team and the Fang Bengfa?

, wouldn’t it work even if we have this sharp weapon?”

After winning Xinhui, and time was running out, Li Dingguo had a desire for stability. The army was dangerous and dangerous, and Chen Kai had no intention of risking it if it was not necessary. Slowing down and making sure you won't lose money is indeed better than having to fight at every turn.

It should come at a more appropriate time. After all, nowadays, the Qing Dynasty has more than half of the world. If they lose once, they will lose a province. If they lose one, there will be many others. But the Ming army cannot afford to lose easily, and that is not possible.

It would take one night to return to the rhythm before liberation.

At this moment, when Lian Chengbi asked, Chen Kai also sighed and explained: "There is never a sure-win strategy in the world, it always depends on the situation."

"The first thing to do when heavy artillery demolishes a city wall is that the defending side does not have too many cavalry. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the artillery team to function under the threat of large groups of cavalry. Just like in Guangzhou back then, Shang Ke was confident and fearless because of him.

There were many cavalry, and Guangzhou City's cavalry could not pose a big enough threat to his artillery. In this battle of Xinhui, the strength gap between the two sides was too large, and Yunlong did not dare to risk going out of the city to counterattack, so he could only give up all hope

Place your trust in the strength of the city wall."

This is a fact. Yunlong was ordered to defend the city. Facing Li Dingguo's army, he naturally did not dare to be careless at all. He always used the safest method to defend the city, because this was a strategic decision. But if he attacked Guangzhou, the Qing army was in Guangdong.

The most important foothold must not be lost. Even if the impressive size of the cavalry is not an overwhelming advantage, it is no longer a disadvantage. The method of heavy artillery bombardment of the city, in the face of reinforcements arriving at any time, the defenders only need to risk delaying for a period of time.

When time is of the essence, as long as it doesn't work immediately, it will become a drag on the army.

At this point, looking around at everyone, most of them had already figured out what Chen Kai was referring to. Seeing this, he continued: "In the same way, although the Fang Beng method is powerful, there are many things to pay attention to. This method can quickly

It worked. In fact, I made use of the tunnels that His Highness spent a lot of time digging earlier. Those tunnels were time-consuming and labor-intensive, and they were for the purpose of entering the city. There was no way to bury gunpowder without digging anywhere so that it would not pose a threat to the city wall.

possible."

"This kind of tactics does not meet the possibility of quick victory because of the time it takes. If you want to reach Guangzhou by land as quickly as possible, you must first pass the Shunde pass. Every time you dig a tunnel, it will take several days and two cities.

, it will take more than ten days to break through the city wall. This does not include the cost of the road and the resistance of the soldiers, the time is really tight."

"In addition, the counterattack of Fang Bengfa is easier than the artillery team. Because the tunnel must be built not too far away from the city wall, the defenders only need to send a group of dead soldiers out of the city, defeat the king's division guarding the tunnel, and use some

Sandbags and earthbags can seal the entrance of the tunnel tightly. At this time, even if Master Wang kills and disperses the prisoners, the time it takes to re-excavate the entrance of the tunnel is enough to suffocate all Master Wang in the tunnel to death.

It’s inside.”

Although the collapse method is good, not to mention the harsh conditions, the weaknesses are still relatively obvious. Chen Kai only achieved this success after pondering for a long time based on Zheng Chenggong's failure experience, and he took advantage of Li Dingguo's shadow. Even so,

They also had to go to great lengths to deceive the defenders in the city to prevent Yunlong from destroying them.

During the discussion, everyone had their own thoughts, but Lian Chengbi asked tentatively about whether the tunnel could be dug longer.

"No, the tunnel is too long, but without ventilation inside, it's still easy to suffocate people to death."

After rejecting Lian Chengbi's idea, Chen Kai suddenly came up with the hypothesis of "whether it is possible to use a blower to rapidly flow air to deliver oxygen to the tunnel." However, there is no time to conduct the test now, and he will do it today.

Decide on the next battle strategy and make the most of this month.

"After much thought, I decided to slow down my plans for Guangzhou, and first clear out the key points around Guangzhou to ensure the safety of our army's flanks and rear. By then, even if the reinforcements from the Imperial Army really join Pingnan and Jingnan,

Our army has tens of thousands of elite troops, and there are also Chen Fujun’s follow-up troops, so in terms of strength, only Wang’s division will have the upper hand.”

In the provinces surrounding Guangdong, Fujian has no hope now. Huguang and Guangxi are also facing threats from the Ming army, and they also dare not move lightly. As for Jiangxi, the Qing government's military strength in Jiangxi is very small, and it is absolutely difficult to control it.

This is sufficient support in the case of a confrontation between tens of thousands of troops. What's more, Zheng Chenggong's army has already entered Tingzhou Prefecture and Shaowu Prefecture, and Jiangxi still has to bear the military threat from Fujian, which is even more stretched.

The eighth year of Yongli, this year in history is absolutely incomparable with the sixth year of Yongli. But after several years of preparation, especially the fancy operations in the past two years, Chen Kai abruptly put this year

It became another climax of the anti-Qing war after Yongli's six-year counterattack - Zheng Chenggong swept through Fujian, Zhang Mingzhen entered the Yangtze River three times, and now Li Dingguo also officially targeted Guangzhou. The Qing court's embarrassment in this year was

Absolutely unmatched in history.

Li Dingguo wanted to slow down his plans for Guangzhou and remove those key points first. Naturally, the first place to bear the brunt was Gaoming County on the north bank of Cangbu River. After capturing Gaoming County and having a bridgehead north of Cangbu River, he could continue to encroach northward until he captured the Three Gorges.

Shuixian, with this place, there is no need for the Ming army to face threats from the west during its attack on Guangzhou - after all, in addition to Li Shutai's supervision, Ma Xiong's command in Dingnan Fan now also controls Wuzhou, plus

In the unlikely event that Guilin's National Security and other departments jump over the wall and return to support Guangzhou, since you have decided to seek stability, you must always take it into consideration.

"The safest thing is to capture Zhaoqing. With the city of Zhaoqing, we can effectively prevent the Guangxi rebels from threatening the Guangzhou battlefield. Unfortunately, time is running out."

The failure of the Battle of Zhaoqing inevitably left Li Dingguo with some psychological shadow. Of course, the city was indeed strong enough, especially the forts that could effectively restrict the Ming army's artillery. This was very difficult for the attacking party.

It's even more of a huge obstacle.

Li Dingguo already had a plan, and naturally he wanted to mobilize his army to go north to seize key points. Liancheng Bi naturally wanted to follow Li Dingguo, because the combat effectiveness of the Ming army in western Guangdong that he was responsible for controlling was really worrying, and it relied entirely on Li Dingguo's power. At this point, Chen

Kai has his own plans too.

"Chen Fujun, do you plan to divide your troops?"

"Exactly, it is enough to seize Gaoming, Sanshui, Shunde, and Xining King's army. In this case, the 10,000 troops I brought with me are not much more, not much less. It is not good to continue to waste energy here.

.”

It was a waste of energy. These words made everyone present immediately think of the possibility that Chen Kai was going to use this victory to pick some peaches. This is completely normal. After all, reinforcements will only come if they can make a profit.

To help, since those troops seem to be a bit surplus at this stage, it is understandable to do other things.

Chen Kai had good reasons, and Lian Cheng Bi urged Chen Kai to praise military affairs here. At the same time, it would be safer for the army to stay together. However, just like Chen Kai couldn't control the Ming army in western Guangdong, Lian Cheng Bi did the same.

Chen Kai had no control over him, and after all the talk, Chen Kai still insisted on having his own way, and in the end he had a big quarrel with Lian Chengbi.

The punishment outside Xinhui City continued, and Chen Kai had already begun to make arrangements for the army to break camp. After nightfall, Chen Kai secretly invited Jin Weixin, handed a letter to him, and dragged him to deliver it to Li Dingguo.
Chapter completed!