Zhou Shixian looked at the army in front of him and felt even more confident. As long as material conditions allowed, this army should have opened up a big gap with other armies of this era through professional, standardized and standardized training.

This is the effect Zhou Shixian has been pursuing - to achieve crushing military combat effectiveness through more advanced training methods and more advanced weapons and equipment.

Of course, since the time is still relatively short, many combat methods still need to be tested on the battlefield, and his troops still need to be tested in actual combat to prove their strength.

After all, no matter what, an army that has not been tested in actual combat cannot be regarded as a qualified army. There is no doubt about this.

After watching the drill of thousands of troops, Zhou Shixian stood on the high platform and read out the "Declaration of Departure to Exterminate the Captives" to the troops below. Then he suddenly pulled out the sword from his waist and shouted loudly: "Departure to Destroy the Captives".

!Drive out the Tartars and restore the mountains and rivers!"

"Drive out the Tartars and restore the mountains and rivers!"

"Drive out the Tartars and restore the mountains and rivers!"

The tens of thousands of soldiers who had just finished the drill were excited and stood tall. When they heard the shouts of Prince Consort Zhou Shixian, they also shouted together: "Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng!"

…

Outside the port to the east of Yangzhou Fucheng, there is a forest of masts and masts on the canal. Thousands of troop transport ships of various types are moored in the port, sticking out their brown tongues and swallowing a steady stream of food in batches.

There were batches of soldiers walking in, bags of food and grass, and boxes of military supplies and ammunition.

Yangzhou Prefecture has always been an important military location for Zhou Shixian, and it is also the junction of the Yangtze River and the Canal. Its geographical location is of vital importance. Most of the army's military supplies, grain and grass, combat soldiers, and war horses and artillery also departed from here and were transported to the north.

Starting last year, Zhou Shixian began to prepare for this year's march north to fight against the Qing Dynasty. Not only Yangzhou Prefecture, but also many city ports on both sides of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River have now become logistics bases and soldier transfer stations for the Ming army.

This place is now mainly used to transport soldiers from various departments, as well as weapons and ammunition. After the war started, it mainly transported grain, grass and horse materials. The Zheng family's fleet is still the main force of transportation.

This is why Zhou Shixian wanted to prevent the Qing army from breaking through Huguang, going down the river, and attacking the hinterland of southern Zhili. In this way, not only would the Yangtze River be besieged, but the Qing army would also be able to destroy the strategic materials Zhou Shixian had stored in these places.

.

You must know that the Qing army's investigative capabilities have always been very strong. Although it was blind and deaf for a period of time due to Lu Jiude, it soon recovered.

Naturally, the Qing army had already heard about the fact that Zhou Shixian vigorously built munitions warehouses in southern Zhili and hoarded military supplies and grain.

In this era, water transportation is the most convenient and economical mode of long-distance transportation, especially down the rivers.

However, moving the canal north still requires a huge amount of trackers.

Several tall ships slowly sailed out of the port of Yangzhou Fucheng. Zhou Shixian and a group of generals were on board. Several large flags with the word "Ming" hung high on the bows, fluttering in the wind.

Zhou Shixian's prestige in the army is unparalleled. Whenever a ship carrying troops passes by, the soldiers will lie on the railing of the ship and shout "Wan Sheng". They all cheer for being able to see the true face of the Prince Consort.

.

Standing in the helm of the ship, with the river wind blowing on his face, Zhou Shixian raised his head and looked to the north. The long canal seemed endless, with water and sky connecting, and the green on both sides slowly receding.

A few miles away from this huge dock, there was an endless stream of military carriages, ox carts, and donkey carts. Countless soldiers poured out from the official road and filed towards the dock. They lined up neatly and wore bright armor. Finally,

They formed small rectangular formations on the flat ground a few hundred meters outside the pier.

South of Jingzhou City, the large sandbank in the middle of the river was already filled with the flags of the Shun Army. On the south bank of the Yangtze River, tens of thousands of Shun troops and thousands of large and small ships had already gathered.

To the north of this sandbank in the river, it is more than a mile away from the land of Jingzhou City. The moat of Jingzhou City is extremely wide. The section of the Yangtze River here is as wide as five or six miles, and there is sufficient water. It has also become the basis for Jingzhou City to build a wide moat.

natural advantages.

In order to deter Wu Sangui and Alzin in Jingzhou City, Li Guo and Gao Yigong had begun building ships a long time ago. As early as a month ago, they sent thousands of naval troops and hundreds of ships to attack the south bank of Jingzhou City.

These are the sandbanks in the river.

However, this is only a deterrent. These sandbanks in the river are still too far away from Jingzhou Fucheng, and artillery on the islands cannot bombard the walls of Jingzhou Fucheng.

Originally, there were hundreds of Green Battalion soldiers and one Niulu Eight Banners soldier stationed on these sandbanks in the river. However, under the siege of the Shun army, as the supplies on the island were exhausted, these Qing troops were quickly killed by the Shun army.

.

The Shun army suffered successive defeats the year before, and its morale was very low. There was even a fear of overcrowding in the army. Now after recuperating, its strength has been restored very well, and it has more than 30,000 capable soldiers and horses capable of fighting.

Although these were only small victories, they were crucial to today's Shun army. They proved that the Manchu soldiers were not invincible and greatly boosted the morale of the army.

The Shun army also relied on these islands to attack everywhere, constantly harassing the Qing army's military deployment. As a result, the entire Jingzhou city on the north bank of the Yangtze River was filled with tens of thousands of Qing troops, and thousands of soldiers and horses were always on duty.

Alzin stood on the city tower of Jingzhou City. After looking at the Shunjun flags fluttering in the wind to the south for a while, he turned to look at Wu Sangui standing next to him, and then handed him the secret report he had just read in his hand.

This was sent secretly by someone from Azig.

After Wu Sangui read the secret report and handed it back respectfully, he said: "Wu Sangui, you are familiar with Zuo Liangyu, and you have fought many times with people like Li Guo and Gao Yigong.

What do you think, is this plan feasible?"

"I think there should be no problem in carrying out this matter. Zuo Liangyu will definitely not dare to stop my Qing cavalry. The prince led the main force to suddenly go south to Huguang. This matter is definitely beyond the Ming army's expectations. Zuo Liangyu will probably be captured by then.

I was so scared that I ran away, even leaving Wuchang City." Wu Sangui thought for a while and said with a smile.

After hearing this, Alzin took the secret report and read it again, then turned to look at the Shun army outside the city, and said: "These Ming troops have been harassing our army on a small scale from the beginning, but they haven't done anything decent for a long time.

The military operations are a bit unpredictable!

However, the main forces of Li Guo and Gao Yigong are on the south bank. It seems that they are ready to fight us to the death and are just waiting for the opportunity.

Both of them are very cunning, and when they were in northern Shaanxi, the prince suffered many defeats at their hands. Now they have a navy to fight, and they mobilize their troops very quickly, so I don't know what the conspiracy is."

In fact, the layout of the Qing army is not as simple as it seems on the surface. From Dorgon, Azig, Duduo, Boluo, Nikan, Tunqi and others, to Wu Sangui, Shang Kexi, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, etc.

He was acting, putting on a good show for Zhou Shixian.

They have long realized that Zhou Shixian's army is difficult to deal with, not to mention that after another year of fighting, cities on the north bank of the Huaihe River, such as Xuzhou, are impregnable. If they attack directly, it will be thankless.

Therefore, the top brass of the Qing army had planned early on to take the initiative to attack in order to reverse the situation and seize the initiative in the war.

The breakthrough point of this battle was neither the new army led by Zhou Shixian and Xue Changfu, nor the old Ming army leaders such as Gao Jie, Huang Degong, and Liu Zeqing. In other words, it was no longer Nanzhili at all.

The Qing army's real plan to use Huguang as a breakthrough to reverse the situation was Zuo Liangyu, who had been ill for a long time and was already dying.

If by that time Zhou Shixian was fighting the Qing army in the Huaihe Plain, Huguang would have been broken through, and then Anqing in Jiujiang would be threatened, and Nanjing would be in danger. How could Zhou Shixian not save it, and how could he save it?

"Although Zuo Liangyu claims to have an army of 800,000, after two years of replenishment, there are only 30,000 to 40,000 capable soldiers. The real elite troops should not exceed 20,000." Wu Sangui analyzed word by word,

He is quite familiar with Zuo Liangyu's situation.

"Moreover, judging from the current situation, as long as the prince leads a sudden arrival of 10,000 cavalry, Zuo Liangyu will be caught off guard and can only hold on to Wuchang City. At that time, as long as he encircles the point to send reinforcements and eliminates the Ming army in Changsha and Yueyang, the entire Huguang will be there

It's under control.

As for the so-called Li Guo and Gao Yigong, it seems that they are preparing to surround us now, but when the situation reverses, it will be us who hold them back."

"The Shun army is not capable of fighting a tough battle at all. As long as the prince leads his troops to clear out the Ming army in the east, these Shun troops will definitely collapse under the combined attack from both inside and outside."

Alzin easily made a judgment based on the performance of the Shun Army the previous year, or he simply did not think that the combat effectiveness of the remaining Shun Army would be improved.

Now the Qing army is attacking in two directions, with great momentum. Alzin is also a Manchu Qing general who has experienced hundreds of battles. He is very confident in the current combat effectiveness of the Qing Eight Banners soldiers.

Of course, he also knew that although the Qing Dynasty now occupies half of the country, its materials and manpower are greatly restricted. If it cannot successfully break through the Ming army's defense, the situation will be unimaginable.

Although he didn't know how the prince-in-law of the Ming Dynasty was able to pull out a powerful army of nearly 100,000 in just two years, he knew that the Ming army now had sufficient supplies, strong combat power, and endless resources.

Endless manpower replenishment.

And if the war drags on, the Qing Dynasty will become weaker and weaker, with fewer and fewer troops and horses, and at the same time, there will be rising rebel forces in the rear, which will make it difficult for the Qing court to face off against the Ming army for a long time.

"The Qing Dynasty will definitely win this battle. Kill these Nikans by surprise and let them see how powerful our Manchu soldiers are."
Chapter completed!