The Ming army fleet did not approach the fortress. After firing at a distance for a while, it broke out from the bombardment range of the two forts, Langshan and Fushan, and went downstream to return to Chongming.

On the Zhenhai, Zhao Ming called Guo Zhong and asked, "If it is a strong attack, can the fort be destroyed?"

Guo Zhong thought for a while and nodded, "The gunship train has not been trained for a long time, and the gunship is not hit high, and the gunship target is huge and it is easy to be hit. A strong attack can naturally destroy the turret, but the fleet will inevitably suffer a lot of losses."

When Zhao Ming heard the words, he knew it and immediately ordered: "After arriving in Chongming, Gu Guan led him and Wang Deshun stayed in Chongming as usual. The rest of the men followed the commander north, entered the Huai River first, and rushed straight to Huai'an City."

Gu San hurriedly clasped his fists, "The last general will take the order!"

Wang Deshun stood up and bowed: "The humble position was originally just a small soldier in Jiangyin City. He was supported by the Grand Marshal and could have the current position. This time, the Grand Marshal used Chongming's trust, and the humble position was determined to defend Chongming. The Grand Marshal just went north and went straight to Huanglong. The humble position was waiting for the good news in Chongming!"

Wang Deshun suddenly said a little hesitantly: "It's just that since the commander entered the Yangtze River, he failed to go to the battle. He had a circle of fat on his waist. I hope that the commander will take the commander to take the commander next time he goes to the battle!"

Zhao Ming laughed to the sky, patted the other party's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Deshun, there will be many opportunities in the future, and I will definitely bring you with me at that time!"

Wang Deshun listened to joy and said, "There is no joke in the army, so the general's words must be counted. I haven't witnessed the general's heroic posture on the battlefield for a long time! I really miss the passion that follows the general and rushes among the troops!"

"Haha~" Zhao Ming was quite proud when he heard this, smiled for a while, suddenly put away his smile and said seriously: "Of course, once a word is spoken, it is hard to pursue! His Japanese general recovered Jiangnan, and Chongming Guards should be the pioneer!"

When Wang Deshun heard this, he clasped his fists proudly, "If this is the case, I will earn a count if I am humble!"

"Okay!" Zhao Ming couldn't help but praise him and cheer for him.

When the fleet arrived in Chongming, Zhao Ming left more than 5,000 people to guard Chongming, bluffed and restrained Hong Chengchou and Mandahai. Then he led the main force and took advantage of the night to leave the Yangtze River Estuary and headed north to the Huaijiang Estuary.

The Huai River, located north of the Yangtze River, has always been a strategic location for the southern regime to resist northern invasion. Therefore, there is often a saying that guarding the river must guard the Huai River.

The Huai River is very important for the southern regime and is the focus of military defense. The Hongguang court has five soldiers, one town in Wuchang and four towns in the two Huai Rivers, so it can be seen that its importance is.

However, this is not that important to the southern courts and to the north, especially for the Qing Dynasty, when the Qing army had already fought the Yangtze River and the Huai River did not have much military effect.

~~~~~~~

On the night of October 5, the entrance of the Huai River.

This incident happened in the Yellow River and entered the sea by utilizing the Huai River, so the Huai River has sufficient water and the river channel is very wide.

In the dark night, under the cover of night, the fleet departed from Chongming finally arrived at the entrance of Huaijiang after several days of sailing.

At this time, a huge fleet was sailing on the sea, and Zhao Ming once again summoned the generals to discuss matters on the Zhenhai.

At this time, Zhao Ming was already wearing a suit of armor, and many generals were also dressed neatly, standing with their swords, with a solemn expression.

"Where is the dynasty first?" Zhao Ming shouted.

The Dynasty first stepped out of the line and clasped its fists, "The last one will be here!"

Zhao Ming pulled out an arrow and ordered loudly, "I will ask you to lead the third battalion troops to sweep the south bank of the Huai River, destroy the coastal salt farm, confiscate grain, and recruit civilians to transport grain and pull fiber."

The Dynasty first took the order arrow and held its fists to take the order, "I will obey the order!"

Zhao Ming then said again: "Where is Ruan Mei?"

"The last one is here!" Ruan Mei clasped her fists.

Zhao Ming also drew an arrow, "I ordered you to lead the third battalion troops to sweep the north of the Huai River, seize Shuyang and Haizhou counties, collect grain, transport it to Haizhou, and wait for the fleet to head north."

Ruan Mei clasped her fists solemnly, "The last general will take the order!"

Zhao Ming then glanced at the remaining people and shouted loudly, "I will follow the general to go straight to Yundi Pass and open the waterway to Huai'an!"

"No!" The generals clasped their fists together.

The fleet was divided into three groups, one followed Zhao Ming into the Huai River, and the other was directly moored on the coast of the northwest of Yancheng County. The other went north to attack Haizhou, and used Haizhou as a stronghold to rob the surroundings and disrupt Huaibei.

Unlike Jiangnan, the people in Jiangbei were not very loyal to the Ming Dynasty. When the Hongguang Dynasty established four towns, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, and Gao Jie's army all plundered the places and even attacked Yangzhou, which made the people not very fond of the Ming army.

This situation becomes more obvious the further north, and after the shaving order, the north's resistance was not as fierce as that of Jiangnan.

Zhao Ming wanted to restrain the Qing army and disrupt the deployment of the Qing army. If he only attacked the city, he would also need to create chaos in the Huaihe River. The best way was to loot and create refugees. In this way, even if Zhao Ming withdrew from the Huai River, the two Huai River areas would not be stable in a short period of time.

Lianghuai is the granary of Huguang and Jiangnan, which can destroy the people's livelihood of Lianghuai. Zhao Ming can obtain a large amount of materials and grain to deal with the situation where Zhao Ming could no longer obtain materials from Jiangsu and Zhejiang after the Qing Dynasty banned the sea.

In the dark night, there are flat plains on both sides of the Huai River, and a dirt city ahead is very conspicuous.

"Master, the cloud ladder has arrived!" Guo Zhong looked at the bow of the boat and suddenly came over to report.

A few months ago, Zhao Ming sent some military households to the coast of Shandong and the islands at the entrance of the Huai River to spy on the land situation.

Zhao Ming was holding a map drawn by the Ming army on Kaishan Island not long ago. After hearing Guo Zhong's report, he immediately closed the map and ordered: "The ships put out the torch, let the small boats carry troops ashore, and the large boats bombarded Yunticheng to knock down Yunticheng."

After reading the information provided by the Ming army on Kaishan Island, Zhao Ming learned that Yunti Pass was actually several earthen cities at the entrance of the Huai River, with only one thousand people stationed in less than five hundred people.

The Qing army did not have a sense of coastal defense. If Zhao Ming had not entered the Yangtze River, the Qing army would have never thought of preparing for river defense and coastal defense.

Compared with the Yangtze River, the Huai River was simply unprepared for the Ming army.

In the dark night, nearly a hundred small boats carrying three thousand soldiers approached the shore.

At this time, on the dark river surface, the Ming army's gunships emitted "rumbling" cannons, spraying out flames. Nearly a hundred shells roared out and smashed into the Tucheng, awakening the sleeping Qing army. The Qing soldiers immediately roamed like headless flies.

On the boat on the shore, Li Zhongming drew his sword in his hand and immediately shouted loudly, "Kill me!"

The three thousand Ming soldiers, when the ship stopped, jumped off the ship and rushed towards Tucheng with ladders. The sound of killing at the entrance of Huaijiang River suddenly shook the sky.

~~~~~~~

On October 8th, Zhenjiang City, inside the Governor's Headquarters.

Hong Chengchou was discussing military information with Mandahai. The scout of Songjiang Prefecture reported that the reduction of the Ming army's naval forces in Chongming made the two wonder where the Ming army had gone.

Mandahai frowned slightly, "Is it because Zhao Zamao saw that it was difficult to enter the Yangtze River, so he led his fleet back to Zhoushan?"

Hong Chengchou was a little uneasy and intuition told him that Zhao Tiebang was not the one who gave up easily like this.

At this moment, an official walked in quickly and saw the two of them. He reported in panic: "Mr. Beile, Lord Zhongtang, something is not good. Zhao Zamao entered the Huai River, broke through Yunti Pass, and the navy rushed straight to Huai'an!"

"What!" Hong Chengchou slapped the table, with a look of shock, "Zhao Tiebang actually entered the Huai River!"
Chapter completed!