At that time, after Wu Zheng discussed with Wang Zhiren, he decided to use Wang Zhiren to lead the navy to block the Qing army from crossing the river along the Yangtze River, while Wu Zheng led his main force to reinforce Shaoxing Prefecture and regain the entire territory of Shaoxing.

This tactical purpose was achieved, but the consequence of the mistaken judgment of the Qing army's strategy was that the Qing army broke through the Jiang defense with local advantages. With the internal and external cooperation of the Qing army in Zhenjiang City, it defeated the Ming army in Zhenjiang Prefecture and occupied most of the county towns in Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Although Wang Zhiren and his two navy blocked the Yangtze River to the south bank, there are two large islands in the Yangtze River northeast of Zhenjiang Prefecture, called Jiangxin Island.

It was precisely because of these two islands that the Qing army used more than a dozen red-branded cannons to the island, and then posed a threat to the Ming army's navy. Then, with the support of artillery, 20,000 Qing troops crossed the two islands at the same time.

In just two hours, the Qing army landed on the south bank and quickly assaulted Zhenjiang City, defeating the Ming army.

Qian Sule blamed himself with a frustrated face: "If the Zhenjiang Prefecture army had not been transferred, the situation would have been deteriorated."

Wu Zheng shook his head and comforted him: "You don't have to blame Qian Xiang too much. Chen Xiang did nothing wrong. The Qing army has been planning a tactical counterattack for a long time. Even if we don't transfer three thousand people to Longtan, we may not be able to stop the Qing army's full attack. However, the current situation is really difficult to resolve. In the battle of Shaoxing Prefecture, our troops suffered a lot of casualties. Although there are remnants of Fang Guoan, Wang Deyi and Jin Shenghuan's troops surrendered to thousands of troops, these troops cannot be transferred to Zhenjiang to fight the Qing army in a short time. With our troops only 20,000 people, up to 10,000 people can be transferred to Zhenjiang. No matter how many, it is probably the three prefectures in Hangzhou will change."

Qian Sule nodded. He understood the meaning of Wu Zheng's words. Fang Guoan, Wang Deer and Jin Shenghuan had nearly 10,000 surrendered soldiers under the command of Fang Guoan, Wang Deer and Jin Shenghuan. If Hangzhou Prefecture draws a large number of troops to go north, it will lose its deterrence to the surrendered soldiers of Shaoxing Prefecture. As a result, a mutiny will occur, which will cause a fire in the backyard.

Qian Sule said worriedly: "But Zhenjiang Prefecture is occupied, which means that the passage from Yingtian Prefecture to Changzhou was cut off by the Qing army in the middle. In this way, Yingtian Prefecture was hung up alone and connected only to Taiping Prefecture and Guangde Prefecture in the south. If the Qing court launched a large-scale attack, it might be..."

Wu Zheng nodded, and this was also what he was worried about. The loss of Zhenjiang was equivalent to breaking the direct passage between the three prefectures in Hangzhou, Suzhou, Changzhou and Yingtian Prefecture. If the Yangtze River was not counted, Yingtian Prefecture would have been surrounded by the Qing army at this time. This dangerous situation would be very unfavorable to the Qingtai court.

But the problem is that the five thousand Ming troops in Zhenjiang Prefecture were lost in vain. Now the court has no troops to be transferred. Wu Zheng only transferred 10,000 people northward. How easy is it to recover Zhenjiang?

The two Jiangxin Islands were occupied by the Qing army, which meant that there was a springboard to send reinforcements to Zhenjiang Prefecture at any time.

And the Qing army in Jiangbei still has 80,000 people.

The situation was very dangerous, and Wu Zheng paced back and forth silently. He was not a god and could not think of a reliable way to resolve this crisis.

At this time, Ma Shiying spoke, "Duke Zhenguo doesn't have to worry. According to Ma's speculation, although the Qing army occupied Zhenjiang Prefecture, it may not be able to launch an attack on Yingtian Prefecture and surrounding Changzhou. In other words, Yingtian Prefecture will not be subject to an attack from Zhenjiang Prefecture."

Wu Zheng said puzzledly: "Why do you say that?"

Ma Shiying said: "At the beginning, we misjudged the Qing court's goal in Pinggangshan and Lihai, but the facts proved that the Qing court's goal was Zhenjiang Prefecture. Our dynasty was thus in a passive position, but the Qing court did not forget that the Qing court could recover the entire territory of Shaoxing Prefecture in three days. The regaining of Shaoxing Prefecture by our dynasty was equivalent to cutting off the north-south passage of the Qing court. In addition, Fuzhou is still fighting, Ma secretly thought that the Qing court might be more anxious than us at this time, right?"

Ma Shiying's words made Wu Zheng suddenly enlightened and his spirits were greatly boosted.

Wu Zheng's mind suddenly became clear. Ma Shiying was right. The fall of Zhenjiang Prefecture did indeed put the Qingtai Dynasty in a crisis that could not be taken care of from beginning to end, but the recovery of Shaoxing Prefecture made the Qing court feel much better?

The 200,000 Qing troops in Fujian have had to rely on a channel in Jiangxi for supply since then. Because the entire territory of Hunan has not been occupied by the Qing army so far, the remnants of Li Zicheng, who retreated from the Jiangxi battlefield, still had established resistance. If you want to escort a large amount of food and grass through the war zone, how many troops will it take?

This is just one aspect. On the other hand, the current pattern south of the Yangtze River is different from when the Qing army first moved south.

At that time, the Ming army was defeated like a mountain, and often collapsed at one touch, or even collapsed before it touched, which caused the Qing army to advance rapidly.

But now the Ming army is in the Northern Expedition and restored Yingtian Prefecture, which has led to doubts about the Qing army being able to occupy the entire territory. This doubt naturally led to the transformation of many people and forces who were originally trying to surrender to the Qing court.

The Qing army could get less help, and the Ming army had already surrendered was also changing. This undercurrent made the Qing court unable to form the determination to attack the Qingtai Dynasty with all its strength.

Therefore, as Ma Shiying said, even if the Qing army occupied Zhenjiang Prefecture, he was unable to continue to launch an attack on the surrounding areas. Because the incident suddenly happened, the Ming army caught off guard, and the Qing army used local advantages to form a breakthrough in the Zhenjiang waters. But now, the situation is clear, and Wang Zhiren was leading the navy to counterattack on the two islands in the middle of the river, which curbed the possibility of the Qing army continuing to increase troops to Zhenjiang Prefecture on a large scale.

In other words, the Qing army that broke into Zhenjiang Prefecture may become an isolated army. At least the reinforcements of the Qing army in Jiangbei will be reduced to the weakest.

After understanding this, Wu Zheng felt at ease.

He smiled and said to Ma Shiying, "Look, if you move your mind to the Tartars, you will have the possibility of becoming a famous minister."

Ma Shiying's face turned red and she couldn't laugh or cry.

Wu Zheng ignored him and turned to Qian Sule and said, "Ma Xiang is right. The Qing army seems to be fierce, but in fact he is exhausted, like a paper tiger. Not to mention that they started fighting on three sides, their troops are still short of strength. Just say that the 100,000 troops in Jiangbei may be very bargaining for food and grass. Our army is different. We are fighting on our own territory, and we don't need to be pulled thousands of miles away like the Qing army's supply line."

It’s true that Wu Zheng’s simple words made Qian Sule’s originally heavy heart relax, as if he was clearing the clouds and seeing the sun, the problem that could not be solved just now became a matter that the Qing army needed to worry about in an instant.

Qian Sule and Shuyan said: "What you said is very... But the occupation of Zhenjiang Prefecture by the Qing army is ultimately a big problem after all, and it must be recovered as soon as possible."

Wu Zheng was speechless. Isn’t this because of insufficient troops, Zhenjiang Prefecture was unable to take it back for a while?

After talking for a long time, I still got to this matter.

However, when Ma Shiying reminded him, Wu Zheng really came up with a solution that was not a solution.
Chapter completed!