Dominate the Country

[Today's first chapter, continue to ask for collection...]

In the Qing army camp, in Yongrui's army tent, a group of military leaders kept silent, and the atmosphere was very quiet.

Yongrui had a sad face, staring at Fuyong, Changxuan, Ma Wenjie, and Qi Jianan...

How to curb the attack of Chen's army at night is a problem that even veterans like Fuyong can't solve, let alone him, the "General of Taiping". Yongrui knows his own ability, so he can only put his hope on his men.

But these people in the big tent, they can't think of any way to stop the attack of Chen's army at night. The attack in the daytime directly made the Qing army face the Chen army's melee ability. Now the morale of the Qing army is very low.

Their opponents have super melee combat power, and with the powerful flying thunder cannon, this night battle is simply impossible to fight.

But before the sky gets completely dark, the group of people in the big tent must come up with a definite defense method. They can no longer be passive like last night.

The sky is dotted with stars, and the moon is only a crescent, like a small boat hanging in the sky. It is not pitch dark, but it is also a good opportunity for a night battle.

Few soldiers in the Chen family army suffer from night blindness. Although they cannot have pig liver, sheep liver, chicken liver, and beef liver in their daily meals, carrots, spinach, rapeseed, shepherd's purse, amaranth, etc., these vegetables and wild vegetables will often appear in the soldiers' bowls in these appropriate seasons. The proportion of Chen's army suffering from night blindness is much lower than that of the Qing soldiers.

The time came to the end of the Xu hour, which was almost nine o'clock in the evening in the 21st century 24-hour system. Chen Ming led the team out of Gunhe Nanying and quickly got in touch with Huang Zitao's troops outside. The scouts led by Huang Zitao are an indispensable helper for Chen Ming to fight at night. If the team does not want to be trapped in the dark, the reconnaissance work must be done without leaks.

In the half hour when the night fell, three Qing soldiers left the camp. Their positions were determined early by the reconnaissance troops, and even the number of people was almost certain.

Chen Ming's first goal was to fight the closest Qing soldier. The number of people seemed to be only a small battalion, less than 500 people. However, the speed of this Qing soldier's escape seemed to be very fast. When they realized that Chen's army was coming to kill them, they turned around and fled in the opposite direction. Chen Ming "felt" that the morale of the Qing soldiers was not high, so he didn't take it to heart. The army went straight to the Qing army camp, but the scouts reported that the escaped Qing soldiers were back again!

"Grand Commander, the Qing army wants to use a small army to contain us." The battalion officer of the teaching brigade was not an idiot. Chen Dawei of the right battalion of the personal guards and Shi Meng of the tank battalion could also see the calculations of the Qing army. They just relied on the fact that they had a large number of soldiers and put some of them outside to contain the Chen family army's attack on their camp.

If this happened during the day, the cavalry battalion would immediately teach them a lesson, but it was night, and Chen Ming would not take risks with the cavalry. The south bank of the Gun River was all fields. Even though the war kept farmers away from here and the fighting between the two sides destroyed a large area of ​​crops, the remaining stubble and leaves in the fields, as well as the ditches and even ridges between the fields, were a fatal danger to the cavalry.

Chen Ming only had 3,000 combat forces, and the rest of the troops were left in the South Camp. He was already short of troops and divided his troops twice [to the north bank], so the available combat forces were even less. The Qing soldiers came out in three groups, with a combined force of nearly 2,000 people. If they rushed over suddenly, Chen Ming would not have enough to leave behind a right battalion of personal guards, and the tank battalion would also have to be held in his hands to support the formation, so there would only be 2,000 troops available for attack.

With two thousand soldiers of the Chen family, facing an enemy four times their own, and still in the enemy's camp, Chen Ming was not sure that he could defeat the Qing soldiers in one fell swoop. It seems that his goal tonight has to change. He should continue to put pressure on the Qing soldiers, kill and wound them, and make their morale even lower. Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, he will find another opportunity to defeat them in one fell swoop.

Chen Hongtao sent news from Yancheng. Chen Huizu fought very hard. His troops inflicted a lot of casualties on the attacking Anhui Qing army, but he was also under great pressure. The consumption of gunpowder rose sharply, and most of the soldiers were tired.

In a word, Chen Hongtao could still hold on in Yancheng, but it was not realistic for him to defeat the Anhui Qing army led by Chen Huizu. He now wanted to transfer people from the artillery fort in the east of the city to support him.

...

When dawn came, the dark night sky turned dark blue, and there was a glimmer of light on the horizon.

Chen Ming looked at the messy Qing army camp from afar, and could still smell a faint smell of blood. The war was not over tonight, but the advantage of the battle situation was completely in his hands. He only needed a short wait to completely defeat the enemy in front of him.

Two days, or maybe three days...

The Qing army still had far more troops than the Chen family army, but their morale was already scattered. The army of 13,000 people, after a series of battles, now had less than 10,000 soldiers left, and more than 20% of them were killed or wounded. If Chen Ming were to do this again tonight, their casualty rate would exceed 30%. Does the Qing army still have morale and fighting spirit? In Chen Ming's "feeling", the morale of the Qing soldiers was as low as the clouds in the sky, which would be scattered by the wind. The morale of the Chen family army was still a burning fire!

That morning, the Qing soldiers did not come out of the camp to bombard the Chen family army. A fierce dispute broke out in their camp. Instead, Chen Erbao and Huang Jingting on the other side sent a batch of small cannons across the river, as well as a cavalry on the other side. Chen Ming told Chen Erbao that his first battalion should always be ready to return to Yancheng for support.

The battle on the south bank no longer needed the first battalion to join. Chen Ming would feel more assured and relieved if he returned to Yancheng as soon as possible and guarded the territory.

In the afternoon, Chen Ming received an urgent report from the scout: "Grand Commander, the Qing soldiers left the camp and went south." It really surprised him. The Qing soldiers were so decisive?

Chen Ming did not know that in the morning, there was a fierce dispute between the military leaders of the Qing army, and this dispute did not get a convincing decision, but it made Yongrui completely lose confidence.

——How can we beat the chaotic army if people's hearts are not united? Yongrui made up his mind-withdraw!

At his command, more than 9,000 Qing soldiers abandoned all the baggage on hand, not even caring about the nine-door general cannon that was like a treasure. Everyone was lightly equipped and rushed towards Xiping County, not far to the south.

The Qing army left the camp and headed south. The scouts immediately reported the news to Chen Ming, and the drums and horns in the Chen family army camp suddenly became louder. "Tell Huang Zitao to go to the Qing army camp and see what has been left behind." Chen Ming was not interested in the nine-door general cannon, and he didn't think that the Qing soldiers would be stupid enough to leave the cannon intact, but he was interested in gunpowder. The Qing soldiers' gunpowder formula was not bad, but it was not granulated. After a long time, the saltpeter, carbon, and sulfur were separated, and the power was naturally greatly reduced. Chen Ming knew why the Qing soldiers couldn't figure it out.