The Qing army marched south in a large scale, and the cavalry rode their horses first, heading straight to Guangdezhou, where they launched the cavalry, harassed the Ming army's advance, and even entered the Huzhou territory. It was a waste of time.

Lead the opponent to drive straight in, lengthen the opponent's supply line, use cavalry to harass or even cut off the food channels or destroy the grain base, thereby achieving a reversal of the power balance between the enemy and us, so as to defeat the opponent. This is a common tactic used by cavalry, and Jirgalang will never miss this way to play the advantage of the cavalry.

Countless Qing cavalry were launched in Guangdezhou. The Ming army ignored them and rushed up to harass them. Once the Ming army stopped and prepared to launch a counterattack, they dispersed without hesitation and waited until the Ming army set off again to continue harassing.

The main force of the Ming army left Huzhou Prefecture, and Guangdezhou and its affiliated Jianping County did not fight. However, the continuous harassment of the Qing cavalry caused a certain degree of impact on the speed of the march. There were hundreds of miles between Huzhou and Nanjing, but Jiergalang chose the decisive battle location between the two places for the terrain consideration. The Ming army moved rapidly at a strategic speed, but was attacked by the Qing cavalry, so that when Chen Wen personally led the main force to Jianping County, the Yongjia Division, as the vanguard of the army, had already received news that the main force of the Qing army had entered Lishui County.

The war was about to begin, and the main forces of the two armies began to repair the pre-war with these two counties as the center point, so that they could achieve the best state in the decisive battle.

The main forces of both sides are about to collide in the southern part of Yingtian Prefecture, Nanjing, and the cavalry of both sides have even started fighting in this area. At this moment, several side divisions and reinforcements from both sides have already been handed over.

At Jiujiang Prefecture, the northernmost tip of Jiangxi, at the mouth of the lake where Poyang Lake connects the Yangtze River, warships sail out and wait for entering the Yangtze River to flow downward.

Jiujiang was the place that the Qing army must attack by Huguang. While the Danyang Division of the Ming army cooperated with defense from Nanchang to Jiujiang, Chen Wen also built a large number of forts on the south bank of the Yangtze River. The Poyang Lake Navy left most of the warships swimming in this area of ​​water.

Soon, the Qing army navy in Huguang came out in full swing, and the ships of both sides came back and forth in this section of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Although the number of Ming warships was not superior, they still fought with the Huguang navy with both sides. However, the Qing Dynasty had lost a Prince of Heshuo in Hangzhou a few months ago, and Fan Wencheng's assistance was imperative. The Huguang navy did not withdraw its troops despite repeated battles and still competed with the Ming army for control of this water.

On this dividing line between the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the navy of the Ming and Qing armies came back and forth and fought happily. At the same time, at the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Ming army's Zhejiang coastal cruise navy also came all the troops and approached the bank of Chongming Island at the estuary of the Yangtze River.

Chongming was once again occupied by the Qing army when Zheng Chenggong's army was forced to return south. This was the gate of the Yangtze River. Although the Yangtze River waterway was enough for the Ming army to ignore its existence and enter, the Qing army still had high hopes for this island.

There is no way to do this. The scale and number of ships of the Qing army's Jiangnan Navy were not large. A few months ago, they were crushed by more than 3,000 sea ships from the Ming army in Fujian. The Guazhou River Defense was broken. The ships suffered heavy losses except for staying in Susong. After Zheng Chenggong retreated, both Lang Tingzuo in history and Ma Guozhu today could only piece together a hundred ships to intercept Zhang Huangyan upstream.

It is no different from the Poyang Lake Navy, which intercepted the waterways in Jiangxi and the Zhejiang Inland River Navy that guarded the coastal areas of Zhejiang. The Zhejiang Coastal Cruise Navy is a total of Fujian Ming Army-style warships, and the large sea ships are even double-decker warships. They are the strongest among the four naval divisions of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming Army today, no one of them.

Of course, the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has always been dominated by the army. The navy is not as specialized as the Ming army in Fujian, which needs to control the Taiwan Strait to survive. However, the Zhejiang coastal cruise navy also has nearly a thousand large and small warships. This time, the mighty anchor from the Zhoushan Navy Base was soon here.

When the fleet approached Chongming, it soon discovered the Qing army's navy. Most of the Qing army under the banner of Susong Navy were inland sand ships, and the number was far inferior to that of the Ming army.

According to information, General Su Song, Liang Huafeng, was severely criticized by Jirgalang in the previous battle, and this time he was already a meritorious person. Seeing the Ming army coming in large numbers, these Qing troops raised their anchors and rushed towards the Ming army's fleet.

"It's another Wang Jing."

The main ship posed a flag, and the Ming army's warships were lined up in a row, forming a series of rushing towards the Qing army's fleet like dark clouds slamming the city.

The Ming army was in a good mood and the Qing army was in a good way. Two fleets with great gaps began to contact south of Chongming Island. First, the first gun was bombarded against each other. Then when the ship passed by, the gun positions on both sides also opened fire.

It was fine when we hadn't contacted it just now. After all, the number of the first guns of the ship was only related to the number of ships. However, once both sides passed by, the advantage of the Ming army's two-sided gun positions was immediately revealed.

The ships of the two fleets bombed in a direct way. The Ming army's double-layer running position opened fire together, and the Qing army's sand ships were quickly broken. What's even more terrifying is that after the Qing army's ships got rid of contact with the Ming army in the first row, the Qing army's ships soon ushered in the second row, the third row, and even the fourth row of ships. The entire Ming army fleet was like a multiple filter filter, completely leaving the debris under Liang Huafeng's command in this water.

The Ming army fleet was obviously superior, but the Qing army launched a suicide attack under the leadership of Liang Huafeng. The battleship Roger Yang in the center of the second row of the Ming army was the only warship named by Chen Wen in this fleet, and it was also the warship with the largest displacement, the largest number of artillery and the greatest power in the entire fleet.

The warship slowly moved forward on the river surface. The Qing army's ships sailed past both sides, with flames flashing at the muzzles, but they were completely unable to do with the thickened armor of this behemoth.

On the third floor of the warship, the left-wing gunner Hu Mingyuan took the command knife and stepped on the powder barrel with one foot, looked forward to observe the location of the Qing warship.

He was from Jiangxi. He was a merchant who traded porcelain from his ancestors. In his generation, he had intersections with the maritime merchants in Thailand. Jiangxi's porcelain did not need to be traded directly through merchants in Jiangnan. Profits doubled, but when the Qing army went south, massacred and plundered, the overall business sluggish. His family was engaged in porcelain trading, and he also had a grudge against the servants of the Internal Affairs Office in the Imperial Court of Jingdezhen. Since then, he was desperate. It was not until Chen Wen recovered Jiangxi that he brought the villagers who were fishing on Poyang Lake to the army.

"The muzzle is lowered fifteen degrees and fire!"

The gun muzzle pointed downward, and then the gun muzzle was pushed out of the window and aimed at the sand ship in the distance, which was shot one after another.

The first shell stirred up more than ten meters of water splashes behind the sand ship. Then, one after another, as if chasing, getting closer and closer to the sand ship. With one shell hit, the next few shells bombarded the sand ship one after another, and one of them even discounted the main mast.

The fire quickly ignited on the sand boat. At first, the Qing army wanted to extinguish the fire. Later, more and more Qing soldiers had to choose to abandon the boat and jump into the river.

"The big ship and the giant cannon are amazing."

Hu Mingyuan looked proudly at the enemy ships that were constantly sinking in the burning flames in the distance, and soon noticed that another Qing army warship was coming.

"Recharge, adjust the muzzle, fast!"

……………………

The result of the water battle at the estuary of the Yangtze River is self-evident. The ships are larger and more numerous, and the number and caliber of artillery are even more so. This is no longer a simple reversal. What's more, the Qing army did not have the foundation of a navy. The navy in Jiangnan and Zhejiang was hung up by Ruan Jin's fleet. Later, the naval battle in Xiamen was crushed by Zheng Chenggong's fleet while gathering the navy from the whole country and almost wiped out. Now, facing the fleet that the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has formed for many years, it is like a native chicken and a tile.

Liang Huafeng received a dead order to defend Chongming and intercepted Ming warships at the estuary of the Yangtze River to prevent the Yangtze River from being controlled by the Ming army again. Susong naval forces were all out, but they still could not reach an interception, but the Susong area revealed a bigger flaw.

Liang Huafeng came out of the entire army. The former Susong Rebel Army and the Jiangnan Inland River Naval Division were now launched. Under the command of Qian Yingkui, a large number of lakes and rivers in the Susong area were maneuvering in a large number of lakes and rivers, attacking every Qing army stronghold along the Suzhou Prefecture.

Since nearly half a year ago, he cooperated with Ma Xin to make Liang Huafeng in Songjiang Prefecture, Qian Yingkui has joined the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Chen Wen reorganized the Su Song Rebel Army whom he had served into the Jiangnan Inland River Naval Division, appointed Qian Yingkui as commander, and invited an earl from the court for him.

Since the disagreement between Chen Wen and Sun Kewang has become more intense, the count has not issued it yet, but this does not affect Qian Yingkui's self-sufficiency. A few years ago, he was affected by Chen Wen's defeat of the Qing army. What's more, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is strong and has extraordinary prospects. With Chen Wen, he will always have a chance to make a comeback.

In a few months, Chen Wen did not give Qian Yingkui more warships, but after a period of short training, the overall quality of this navy was improved to a certain extent. In addition, a large number of excellent weapons and armored equipment troops have their combat effectiveness different from the past.

At this moment, Susong Admiral Zhang Tianlu was ordered to defend Suzhou Prefecture to prevent the Ming army from bypassing Taihu Lake and threatening the main force of the Qing army in Nanjing and Zhenjiang. Because Liang Huafeng had been calculated by Qian Yingkui and Ma Xin before, he did not dare to go out of the city to fight. Especially when he looked at the strong army with strong soldiers in the distance, he believed in the possibility that a certain Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming army was ambushing nearby.

Qian Yingkui's battle to pull off the production is booming, and Chen Wen's main force has also been assembled in Jianping County, Guangdezhou.

Information shows that Jiergalang's army gathered in the Lishui County area. As long as you simply look at the terrain, Chen Wen can understand Jiergalang's intentions.

Between Lishui County and Jianping County, Gaochun County and Liyang County are from east to west. These four counties form a diamond-shaped four corners, among which Gaochun County is lakes in the north and south, so the army cannot spread west; while the Liyang County area is where the water network is crisscrossing. There are many mountains and forests to the west and south of Liyang County. The Qing army can use a small group of cavalry to threaten the Ming army's food route through the mountains and forests, but the Ming army cannot use this mountainous forest area at all. Because if you want to attack, you must first pass through Lishui between Gaochun County and Liyang County. After passing Lishui, there are very few obstacles to the north.

"Our army should cross Lishui as soon as possible and control the area east of Gucheng Lake."

"It is inevitable to pass through Lishui, but the key now is whether there is still time to take down Gaochun County."

To the north of Gaochun County is Shijiu Lake, and to the south is Gucheng Lake. If Gaochun County is controlled, there is no need to worry about the direction of Taiping Prefecture. Ensure the safety of the left wing, the army can push along Shijiu Lake to Beiping and reach the bottom of Lishui County. During this period, the East Lushan Mountain was even more beneficial to the infantry of the Ming army. The Qing army was squeezed into a narrow area and could not be deployed no matter how many troops were. However, retreating to Nanjing, it would enter the area with a crisscrossing water network, which would only be more beneficial to the Ming army.

"Jirgalang will not give us this opportunity. He has already thought about the decisive battle here and will definitely not have such problems again. If you guess correctly, beggar Hualing, Dongshangou and Lishui will be where our army fights the Tartars."

Jiergalang had to swallow this bait from Jiangnan, and he had already been at a disadvantage in strategy. There was no way. Chen Wen could endure it and rushed to Nanjing and recover this huge city, so he had already planned everything here.

Now, Jirgalang finally forced Chen Wen out through a series of means, whether at the tactical level or at the political level, which is extremely rare. Otherwise, Chen Wen cut off the Yangtze River with the navy and eroded the Qing army's occupied areas step by step. Jirgalang did not even have the chance to choose a battlefield, and could only fall into a desperate situation at the mercy of Chen Wen.

The military controversy ended, and the soldiers carried out the final renovation. The next morning, on the eighth day of the 10th month of the ninth year of Yongli, nearly 50,000 Ming troops, including Jinhua, Yongjia, Siming, Dalan and the two riding infantry battalions of Feixiong and Yushe, headed north in large numbers.

The engineers of the four divisions built countless floating bridges on Lishui. The Ming army passed by in a mighty manner and soon formed a formation on the north bank in units of divisions, extending to the two wings and advancing to the north. Almost at the same time, Jierharang personally led 20,000 Eight Banners Army to cooperate with the green camps drawn from the north to the south of 30,000 north to go south, as Chen Wen expected, fortified the front line south of the Jiaohualing.

The cavalry of the two armies began to fight intensively in this area. By the afternoon, the two armies reached contact and lined up in armor at two miles apart.

This decisive battle that determines who belongs to Jiangnan officially kicked off while various partial divisions were fighting fiercely.
Chapter completed!