Take the arsenal to Da Ming

Chapter 167 Kill the chicken to warn the monkey

Tang Ning didn't seem to plan to join Wu Liuqi, and aimed directly at Zhangpu, preparing to form a pincer attack with Wu Liuqi's troops on Fucheng.

As for Pinghe County, which was Zheng Jun's second line of defense, Tangning did not intend to attack, because as long as he controlled Dafeng Mountain, the peaceful Zheng Jun would be within his monitoring range.

Regardless of whether the Peaceful Defenders supported Dafeng Mountain, Nanjing, or even went the other way and attacked Chaozhou Prefecture, Tangning was not afraid.

As long as they dared to move, Tangning would have a way to deal with them, because Tangning had chosen the battlefield, and peace had been marginalized.

Just like the Allied landing in Normandy, the Allies chose Normandy, and the German defense of Calais was of little use.

Zheng Zhibao, who was in Pinghe, was very entangled. When he learned that the main attack direction of the new army was Zhao'an, he knew that Pinghe might not have a big war.

Because the new army was going to invade Fujian, the two most likely targets were Pinghe and Zhao'an. There were two attack routes, but it was unclear which one it would be. The choice was in Tangning's hands.

But in these two places, they have to send heavy troops to garrison. This is the disadvantage of the defender, and the initiative is in the hands of the attacker.

After the news that Yunxiao was occupied by the new army and Dafengshan was in danger reached Pinghe, Zheng Zhibao was greatly shocked.

He had great hopes for this line of defense, especially Dafeng Mountain. He estimated that he could hold back the new army for at least a month.

Unexpectedly, in just three days, the situation was controlled by the new army. The remaining army could only rely on the geographical advantage to survive, and the second line of defense had existed in name only.

He didn't know where to go with the tens of thousands of peaceful troops, he was still hesitating.

At this time, Zheng Zhibao's fourth brother Zheng Hongkui fled all the way to Liangshan and Pantuoling. This is the second time he has abandoned the city and fled.

But somewhat improved, he persisted in Yunxiao for at least two days.

The reason why they fled to Liangshan and Pantuoling is because this place is located between Yunxiao Town and Zhangpu. The terrain is dangerous and it is an important pass in ancient times.

After escaping from Yunxiao Town, Zheng Hongkui had a plan to strengthen the defense here. Originally, there were less than [-] defenders here.

After Zheng Hongkui collected the broken troops and moved in, the strength of the troops here has exceeded [-].

However, due to the hasty retreat, a large amount of supplies were abandoned. In order to feed more than [-] people and to persist longer in the Liangshan Mountains, Zheng Hongkui had to raise food and salaries everywhere.

The new army pursued closely, and it was obviously too late to deploy from the rear, and he didn't have the energy, so he had to forcefully conscript everywhere along the way.

In today's Ming Dynasty, this kind of situation couldn't be more normal. Even if the people complained, Zheng Hongkui didn't take it seriously. After all, their brothers were originally from pirates.

Now in order to defend Fujian, shouldn't it be necessary to raise food and salaries from the people of Fujian?

In Zhangzhou Fucheng, Zheng Zhilong already knew that the new army had broken through the second line of defense, and his right hand holding the information trembled with anger.

Later, he personally issued an order to publicly execute Shi Fu.

However, these few battles had nothing to do with Shi Fu. When the new army marched into Fujian, Shi Fu was still in prison, so why should he be executed at this time?

The reason is simple, Zheng Zhilong wants to show his determination by killing chickens and monkeys.

The main generals of the first line of defense and the second line of defense are Zheng Zhilong's two brothers. No matter what, he can't order his brothers to be dealt with by the military law.

But after one defeat after another, one must kill a worthy person to make an example. Shi Fu, who has made big mistakes, naturally became the best choice.

Shi Fu's mistake was indeed enough to kill him. It's fine if he didn't capture Tangning alive, but he even allowed Tangning to escape back to Chaozhou safely.

What's even more ridiculous is that he didn't know about it. It wasn't until Tang Ning made a public appearance in Chaozhou Mansion that he suddenly realized that Tang Ning was not dead at all.

Tangning's return to Chaozhou Mansion alive was the biggest source of disaster, and Shi Fu was naturally the source of the disaster. If he wasn't killed this time, who would he kill?
After the news spread, both Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Hongkui were shocked, knowing that their elder brother was really angry.

"I didn't kill Boren, but Boren died because of me." After learning that Shi Fu was beheaded, Tangning was also filled with emotion.

However, this incident was just a small episode for him, and he continued to lead the team towards Zhangpu.

Tang Ning already knew that Zheng Hongkui and Chen Bing were in the Liangshan Mountains, but he didn't intend to enter Liangshan, but directly bypassed Liangshan.

When Zheng Hongkui heard the news, he was very puzzled, "Isn't Tangning afraid that I will cut off his escape route?"

But the cautious Zheng Hongkui was afraid of fraud, so he only dared to send a large number of scouts to investigate the situation, and did not dare to lead an army out of Liangshan.

After confirming that there was no ambush along the way, Zheng Hongkui immediately dispatched 2000 troops to cut off Tangning's grain road.

It was said that Tang Ning's grain road was cut off, but in fact, there was no new army grain transport team along the way, and Tangning did not send anyone to protect the grain road behind.

Zheng Hongkui continued to let the 2000 men go to test and harass the rear of the new army.

However, it didn't help much, because they didn't even have artillery, and it was difficult for them to get close to the new army.

In the field battle, they were completely exposed to the firepower of the new army, and the new army could launch an attack from two hundred feet away.

The distance of two hundred feet was like a natural moat to Zheng Jun, who was mainly infantry.

It will be slightly better at night, but it is also difficult to sneak attack successfully.

After many trials, the new army remained unmoved and suffered very little damage.

On the contrary, Zheng Jun, who was harassing, suffered heavy casualties and had to voluntarily give up the harassment and retreated to Liangshan.

Zheng Hongkui lamented in his heart. He knew that the new army's offensive could not be blocked by relying on a fortified city. How could he be the opponent of the new army in a field battle?

This made Zheng Hongkui very distressed. He wanted to rely on Liangshan, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, to intercept the new army's way, but Tang Ning ignored the existence of Liangshan, and even ignored the rear food road, and let him punch Zheng Hongkui in the empty space. .

Zheng Hongkui didn't think Tang Ning was a mediocre general who didn't know the importance of knowledge.

After carefully examining the map for a while, he said in a daze, "Tangning's target this time may not be Zhangpu, but Dunzhao Port."

"Where is the navy of the new army now?" Zheng Hongkui asked anxiously.

"I left Dongshan three days ago, and the latest news is still unknown."

Zheng Hongkui quickly found the location of Dongshan and Zhangpu, and then delineated Dunzhao Port and Tangning's current marching location for comparison.

Zheng Hongkui took a picture of the map and said angrily, "Well, you Tangning, you're making a lot of noise."

Although Tangning still seemed to be marching towards Zhangpu, Zheng Hongkui had basically confirmed that Tangning's goal was Dunzhao Port.

As long as Dunzhao Port is captured, the New Army Navy can provide a steady stream of food and grass, and there is basically no need to worry about the harassment of the Zheng Army Navy.

Because it is difficult for Zheng Jun's navy to go around behind the new army's navy to sneak attack on Liangdao.

(End of this chapter)