The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 380 Omissions
Chen Wang lowered his eyes slightly. He had looked at the map of Fengyang City countless times.

When Chen Gong read out the place names and strongholds, a clear strategic map appeared in Chen Wang's mind.

The second line of defense that Chen Gong mentioned was not the second city wall of Fengyang City, but the six mountains in the middle of Fengyang City, namely Yuehua Peak, Ma'anshan, Fenghuang Mountain, Wansui Mountain, Rijing Peak and Shengjia Mountain.

The outer city wall of Fengyang is long and has weak defensive capabilities. There are many flat sections that can be used as breakthrough points, so it is not difficult to capture the outer city of Fengyang.

Chen Wang was not surprised that the two northern and eastern gates were lost.

Once these four gates were lost, the fall of the five camps in the north was only a matter of time.

only……

The five northern camps fell too quickly.

From the loss of the two gates in the north to the fall of the five camps in the north, only ten days passed.

The attack of the people's army was as fierce as fire.

Chen Wang understood clearly in his mind. He was well aware of the strength of the Wanmin Army. An army of this size naturally could not prevent infiltration.

The Supervisory Office controlled by Hu Zhili has planted many spies in the Wanmin Army and has many eyes and ears.

It is precisely because of these reasons that a lot of information about the Wanmin Army is no longer a secret to Chen Wang.

In addition, the Wanmin Army advanced so quickly in Fengyang that it was almost certain that most of the troops defending Suzhou were just second-line troops of the Wanmin Army.

The fighting force is not that strong, with only about 150,000 people being considered commendable.

However, the human wave tactic can only play a limited role in many cases.

Chen Gong took a step forward, his brows furrowed.

"The main force of the Wanmin Army has now entered the northern and eastern parts of Fengyang City. Yuehua Peak and Ma'an Mountain are surrounded by heavy siege, and the water can hardly flow through."

"Although Fengyang City has sent reinforcements several times, they were all repelled by the Wanmin Army. At this rate, the two mountain camps should fall within the next two or three days."

Chen Wang lightly pressed the goose-feather knife at his waist, his eyes moving slightly.

Yuehua Peak and Ma'anshan are isolated in the northwest area, while Fenghuang Mountain, Wansui Mountain, Rijing Peak and Shengjia Mountain are gathered in the northern part of the forbidden wall.

Yuehua Peak and Ma'anshan Mountains were under siege and were in a situation of continuous defeat, so naturally they could not get any help.

"Based on the current offensive of the Wanmin Army, I'm afraid it will fall in a few days."

The four sides of Fengyang's outer wall are closely connected. If the north is lost, the six mountains in the middle can still barely maintain the defensive position.

But now, not only the northern section of the city wall is lost, the eastern section has also collapsed.

"Once Yuehua Peak and Ma'anshan fall, control of the western section of Fengyang City's wall will also fall into the hands of the Wanmin Army."

"The east, west and north sections of the city wall have been lost, so it is impossible to save the south section..."

Chen Wang could already foresee the final outcome of the Battle of Fengyang.

In the following period of time, all the news coming from Fengyang will be bad.

After the outer defense line completely collapses, Fengyang's army will be concentrated in the forbidden wall.

Relying on the four mountains of Phoenix Mountain, Wansui Mountain, Rijing Peak and Shengjia Mountain located in the northeast of the Forbidden City, they fought the final decisive battle with the Wanmin Army and resisted the Wanmin Army's capture of Fengyang City.

Chen Wang turned his eyes and scanned the camp of the Wanmin Army standing in the distance around Suzhou City.

They were too far apart. Even with the Night Spies and spies from the Supervisory Office, there was still a lot of key information that could not be obtained.

The number of the Wanmin Army was really too large. Even though they were divided several times, with some staying in Xuzhou and some staying in Suzhou, there were still three or four hundred thousand soldiers gathered in Fengyang at this moment.

When the outer city of Fengyang was still under the control of the Southern Ming army, there were still gaps in the siege. Although the Wanmin Army set up checkpoints at important roads in various places, the Ming army in the city could still convey some information by chance.

But now, the outer city has fallen and the Ming army has retreated to the inner city.

A crowd of three or four hundred thousand people is enough to surround the entire Fengyang City.

"Brother, I don't quite understand."

Chen Gong raised his eyebrows and walked closer.

"It's good for us that the Wanmin Army captured Fengyang. Why does Big Brother look unhappy?"

All the generals on the watchtower are the direct descendants of the Hanzhong army, so there is no need to hide them.

"Get the map."

Chen Wang did not directly answer Chen Gong's question, but raised his hand and signaled to the guards beside him.

Soon, a table was built on the observation deck, and the map was spread on the table.

After the map was laid out on the table, the guard in charge of laying out the map skillfully took out chess pieces of different colors from the pocket hanging around his waist and placed them on the map.

As the military flags continued to be moved, the situation before everyone's eyes became clearer.

After the military chess pieces were placed, Chen Wang also walked closer.

The guard who placed the military chess simply saluted and left the place where the map was set up. A group of officers and soldiers of the Hanzhong Army also gathered around.

"The main troops of Nanzhili total 70,000, 20,000 of which are in Nanjing, and the remaining 50,000 are concentrated in Fengyang City."

Chen Wang stretched out his hand and first pointed at the location of Nanjing on the map, and finally landed on Fengyang City not far away.

Everyone's eyes followed Chen Wang's finger and moved from Nanjing all the way to the location of Fengyang City.

"Fengyang..."

Fengyang...

Chen Wang pondered for a moment, then looked up and asked Chen Gong.

"How long will it take to clear the camps around Suzhou City?"

Chen Gong thought for a moment and replied.

"According to our current firepower, it will take about ten days."

This expedition was under the supervision of Sun Chuanting, so Chen Wang naturally did not bring so many artillery.

The army's artillery was reduced by half, and all heavy artillery was kept covered and not exposed. Of course, the family's assets could not be fully exposed.

However, even if it is reduced by half, it is still far superior to other armies of this era, and the firepower is extremely impressive.

Chen Wang tapped the map in front of him and continued to ask.

"How long will it take to capture Suzhou?"

Chen Gong frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and then answered again.

"Ten days at most."

Chen Wang frowned slightly.

It would take at most another ten days to attack Suzhou City.

There were not many artillery pieces on Suzhou City, and many sections of the city walls had been destroyed by the previous siege by the Wanmin Army.

The Wanmin Army had not occupied Suzhou for long, and during this time, they were unable to gather much supplies for defending the city.

Although Suzhou City had a large number of soldiers defending the city, its actual defensive capabilities were extremely limited.

It only takes a few days of artillery bombardment to destroy the already damaged city walls.

Once the protection of the city walls is gone, the soldiers of Suzhou City will be nothing more than lambs to be slaughtered.

"In twenty days, our army will be able to cross Suzhou City."

"But in twenty days, do you think the Wanmin Army can capture the inner city of Fengyang?"

Chen Wang raised his head and looked at Chen Gong with sharp eyes.

Chen Wang's voice was not loud, but it was no less than thunder in Chen Gong's ears.

“That’s the problem.”

Chen Wang lowered his head, cast his gaze on the map that showed Suzhou City in the distance, and spoke slowly.

"Li Yan was able to lead hundreds of thousands of people and win battle after battle. His military command level is also first-class, and he definitely has a certain strategic vision."

"The court today is like a leaky sieve. Nothing is a secret."

"Li Yan knows very well that I am the pioneer in this southward expedition."

Chen Wang tapped lightly on Suzhou City on the map.

"In Kaifeng, Li Yan and his troops have already fought against us, and we already know each other well."

"That's why Li Yan must know how long these soldiers stationed in Suzhou can hold me off..."

Chen Wang raised his head and looked at Chen Gong again.

Chen Gong looked solemn at this time, and he had already understood the implication of Chen Wang's words.

"More than twenty days."

"The People's Army will never be able to cross the forbidden wall of Fengyang."

It took the Wanmin Army nearly twenty days to break through the outer city of Fengyang.

The inner city of Fengyang was guarded by tens of thousands of Ming troops, and the city was strong and the moats were solid.

It is impossible for the Wanmin Army to break through the inner city of Fengyang within 20 days.

Chen Wang stared at Fengyang City on the map, and his eyes slowly lowered.

"Li Yan must know this..."

Around the map, the generals of the Hanzhong Army were all frowning and thinking.

Suzhou was broken.

Go south.

It's a smooth road...

But why did Li Yan still make such an arrangement?
Looking at the military chess pieces distributed on the map, Chen Wang's expression was gloomy. He always felt that he had missed something, but he didn't know what it was.

Chen Wang couldn't understand the arrangements Li Yan had made.

"Could it be..."

Zhao Huailiang, who was standing nearby, was the first to break the silence.
"Li Yan wants to reenact the Battle of Fuli?"

The Battle of Fuli refers to the disastrous defeat that occurred not long ago.

Hu Dawei followed Yang Wenyue's military order and rushed to Suzhou as the vanguard. Yang Wenyue led his troops behind, but was ambushed by the Wanmin Army and defeated at Fuli Bridge.

The Ming army that came to support the rebellion suffered heavy losses, with most of them routed and countless casualties, and almost all of the 30,000-strong army was wiped out.

Governor Yang Wenyue was captured and beheaded by the Wanmin Army, General Yang Dezheng was killed in battle, and all the towns that came to support the suppression were dispersed.

The current situation is indeed somewhat similar to the previous Battle of Fuli.

There is still a considerable distance from Suzhou to Fengyang. Along the way, the mountains are high and the roads are long, so there are indeed many places suitable for ambushes.

Everyone started discussing based on what Zhao Huailiang said.

Perhaps in some dangerous place, there are ambushes of the Ten Thousand People's Army stationed, waiting for them to fall into the net.

Listening to the noisy voices around him, Chen Wang's eyes moved slightly, and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, but soon the light disappeared deep in his eyes.

What Zhao Huailiang said is indeed a possibility.

However, judging from various signs and events, things are not going in this direction.

Chen Wang's gaze moved slowly from Suzhou all the way north, and finally stopped above Xuzhou.

It was at this moment that Chen Wang also remembered what he had been missing...

(End of this chapter)