Shang Yi patted Liu Changhu on the shoulder and comforted him: "Changhu, don't worry, your brother's death will definitely not be in vain. Go down and rest first."
After Liu Changhu and others went down, Shang Yi also sighed. After the Qing army approached Yangzhou, the scouts suffered great losses in order to deliver the news. Now Shang Yi knows that sixty or seventy people were killed. If you can receive it, you will keep waiting.
Of course he was happy to hear the news about the outside troops, but the casualties of the scouts also made Shang Yi very happy.
Chang feels sad because Shang Yi has always trained the scouts as special forces, and has only formed one regiment so far. It can be said to be the elite of the army, and it has played a great role in all previous battles. Although it is said that
People will die in war, but it would be a pity to lose them just to convey news.
But now Shang Yi has no other way, because in this era, if you want to deliver news, you basically can only rely on people. Although Shang Yi has also considered using carrier pigeons to deliver messages, and has also arranged for people to feed and train the carrier pigeons,
It also has great limitations, and it takes time from feeding and training to being useful. At least in this battle, it can't be rushed, so it still needs to be delivered by manpower.
At the same time, Shang Yi also decided that after this battle, the training of homing pigeons must be accelerated, at least to replace part of the work, and to minimize the losses of the scouts.
Then Shang Yi immediately summoned the regiment-level generals stationed in Yangzhou for a meeting. He also invited Shi Kefa and Liu Zhaoji to come and listen. At this time, the Shang Army's troops stationed in Yangzhou included two regiments, the First Division, the Fifth Division, and the Cavalry Brigade.
The foreign mercenary group and two reconnaissance battalions totaled about 28,000 troops, and there were nearly 10,000 Ming troops. At the same time, they also built solid defense fortifications outside Yangzhou City.
However, negating defense is not Shang Yi's combat habit. Taking the initiative is his character. And now that the situation has been opened up on the outside, Yangzhou's troops should also actively cooperate with those on the outside and start fighting on the inside.
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After everyone arrived, Shang Yi first reported the battle situation on the outside to the generals. The news of victory was always inspiring, especially Shi Kefa and Liu Zhaoji. Although they had known Shang Yi's plan for a long time, in the past few days
After the Qing army came to the city, they still endured a lot of pressure. After all, they had abandoned the vast area of Huaixi, and now they could finally give an explanation to other officials in Yangzhou.
Shang Yi then announced that the first target of the merchant army on the inside was Yizhen. Because the Qing army currently stationed in Yizhen, the Gushan Ezhen Baiyintu Department, only had more than 27,000 troops when it sent out troops, but the allocation
The troops stationed in various places along the occupied route, plus the troops returning to aid Chuzhou, have been reduced by more than half. At this time, there are only more than 13,000 troops stationed in Yizhen, which is a good opportunity to take action.
In addition, after the troops on the outside line jumped out of Chuzhou, the Qing army would definitely send troops to encircle them again. If they immediately launched operations on the inside line, they would not only be able to annihilate the effective forces of the Qing army, but also contain the strength of the Qing army and reduce the strength of the troops on the outside line.
Pressure. If Duduo sends troops to rescue Yizhen, then the tactic of encirclement and reinforcements will be implemented.
Therefore, Shang Yi also decided to use the First Division as the main force to attack Yizhen, with the cavalry brigade as cover to attack the Qing troops coming for reinforcements. The foreign mercenary regiment and a reconnaissance battalion group served as the reserve army, depending on the battlefield situation. The total strength was nearly two
Ten thousand people were commanded by Cheng Jin, commander of the 1st Division, with Alexandra as deputy commander. Two regiments and a reconnaissance battalion of the 5th Division stayed in Yangzhou.
After the arrangement was completed, Shi Kefa and Liu Zhaoji were confused and confused. In fact, they understood every part of Shang Yi's arrangement, but when put together, it made people confused. They couldn't understand what was going on. Fight on external lines, fight inside and outside. In fact, let alone them, there is no concept of internal and external lines in the history of wars around the world in this era. It's just that the generals of the merchant army absolutely believed in Shang Yi's orders and never doubted them.
Of course, Shi Kefa and Liu Zhaoji did not dare to question Shang Yi at will. After all, the past achievements were there, but Shi Kefa raised a question, that is, if Duduo did not come to rescue Yizhen and instead attacked Yangzhou, would the remaining troops be able to resist? Qing army's attack.
Shang Yi believes that judging from the current situation, the Qing army has always been wary of the powerful firepower of the Merchant Army and may not dare to attack Yangzhou easily. Moreover, Yangzhou's defense line has now been built very solidly. Although the Merchant Army remains behind There are not many troops, but there are more than 10,000 Ming troops, which is quite a lot in total. Even if the Qing army comes to attack Yangzhou, there is no need to be afraid. Moreover, it will only take a day or two at most to withdraw the troops who attacked Yizhen, so Yangzhou is absolutely There will be no mistakes in planning.
After listening to Shang Yi's explanation, Shi Kefa said nothing. After the meeting, Cheng Jin immediately led various people to attack Yizhen.
Bai Yin Tu is also a member of the Aixinjueluo family. His father, Duyi Kongbele Bayala, is the fifth brother of Taizu Nurhaci, and Gong Adai, who was ordered to rescue Chuzhou, is his younger brother. Therefore, the two brothers can also be regarded as distant clan members. Now Bai Yin Tu It was the yellow flag that solidified the mountain's forehead, and before the Southern Expedition, he had just been named a first-class general to control the country by the Qing government.
However, Bai Yintu had just received a report from Gong Adai at this time. He had recaptured Chuzhou, but at this time Chuzhou was an empty city. Not to mention the merchant army, only one-tenth of the people in the city were left. , now Gong Adai is resting his troops in Chuzhou, and also asked Bai Yintu what to do?
Bai Yintu was also very puzzled. Why did the merchant army abandon the city after conquering Chuzhou? Where would they hide? It seems that he should report it to Duduo quickly and let him decide what to do.
But at this moment, a soldier hurriedly ran in and said: "Report to Gushan that a merchant army is rushing towards Yizhen. It is now less than ten miles away from Yizhen."
Bai Yintu was startled for a moment, and was suddenly shocked. He only had more than 13,000 troops in Yizhen now. He didn't expect that the merchant army would take this time to attack Yizhen. He really knew how to choose the right time, but It's useless to think about anything now. It's better to think about how to defend Yizhen. Therefore, Bai Yintu gave orders to assemble the army to prepare for war, and also sent people to rescue Duduo at Gongqiao immediately.
Although he knew that the merchant army had strong combat effectiveness, Bai Yintu still decided to go out of the city to fight against the merchant army. Because Yizhen is a county town and a place in the interior, the city wall is not large, and the Qing army itself is not good at defending the city. Moreover, Hong Chengchou He just said not to attack the Merchant Army who has a position. But this time the Merchant Army took the initiative to attack and would definitely not be able to prepare a good position, so it might not be impossible for them to fight. After all, at this time, the Manchus were still brave and aggressive. Of course, Bai Yintu also decided that if the merchant army had already set up a position, then he would not say anything and take the initiative to attack, but would withdraw his troops into the city to defend it.
After Bai Yin Tu prepared his troops, the merchant army's troops had also arrived at Yizhen City. Bai Yin Tu also saw that the merchant army had not prepared any positions and fronts. Although there were many troops, Bai Yin Tu
They were also reassured. After all, the Qing army was still fully confident in the hand-to-hand combat between the two sides. Therefore, Bai Yintu also immediately ordered that the cavalry attack first, followed by the infantry.
Bai Yin Tu also remembered that Hong Chengchou said that after encountering the Merchant Army, the cavalry should be dispatched first to approach the Merchant Army in close combat as soon as possible to prevent their firearms from exerting their power. Now Bai Yin Tu also has Man Banner and Han Banner Jia La Ge San
There were nearly 5,000 cavalry troops, so they were all sent out to attack the merchant army.
At this time, Cheng Jin had already seen the movements of the Qing army in the formation, because this time it was rare for the merchant army to take the initiative to attack some of the Qing army, so he did not dare to be careless at all. At this time, the artillery regiment was still behind.
, Cheng Jin also immediately ordered that the infantry of the other two regiments immediately formed a three-stage firing formation, and first attacked the Qing cavalry.
On one side, the horses were galloping, on the other side gunshots were heard, and the battle began immediately.
However, the speed of the cavalry was indeed not comparable to that of the infantry, and at this time the Merchant Army also lacked heavy artillery and organ guns, so the ferocious firepower was greatly reduced. Although it also dealt a certain blow to the S Qing Army's cavalry,
But it was obviously still unable to stop the cavalry's attack. After the first round of three-stage continuous fire, although about four to five hundred cavalry were killed, the Qing cavalry had already broken through to within fifty steps of the merchant army's line.
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However, the Merchant Army did not continue to shoot. Instead, they immediately opened several gaps in the long line, allowing their cavalry to rush out, and the cavalry from both sides started a direct battle.
Although the main task of the cavalry brigade in this battle was to attack the reinforcements, Cheng Jin was not a rigid person. When he saw that the Qing army took the initiative to come out of the city to fight, and also brought a lot of cavalry, he guessed the purpose of the Qing army.
8. Now that our side lacks heavy weapons, and there is no formation to defend, it may be difficult to stop the cavalry charge.
When he went to battle, Cheng Jin had already anticipated such a situation. The best way to deal with the cavalry was to use cavalry to fight them. Now the merchant army also has a powerful cavalry unit, not only a team of fully armored cavalry.
, and were all equipped with advanced muskets, so Cheng Jin also gave Yang Wucheng a greeting in advance. Once the Qing army's cavalry went out to fight, they would first use rifles to attack them in the first round, and then the cavalry brigade would go out to fight with the Qing army.
cavalry battle.
After several battles, the merchant army's cavalry brigade also accumulated enough combat experience, and at the same time, they no longer had any fear of the Qing army. Yang Wucheng was also confident in his cavalry. After the infantry's musket shooting ended,
Yang Wucheng also has two
The dark brown Andalusian horse with its legs clamped under the seat took the lead, rushed through the infantry array, and rushed towards the Qing cavalry. The more than 7,000 cavalry, with three platoons of foreign heavy armored cavalry as the core, divided into three platoons.
He rushed out of more than a dozen gaps in the infantry array.