All the generals gathered in the central military camp outside Fuzhou City.
They got the news of the meeting two days ago.
Compared with others, Zheng Chenggong set out the earliest and arrived the latest.
By the time he walked into the central military tent, the others had already arrived.
Zheng Chenggong looked apologetic and said, "Sorry, I was late because I was delayed on the way!"
Li Dingguo, who was in charge of reception, waved his hand, pointed to a stool next to him and said, "No problem, General Zheng, please take a seat."
Zheng Chenggong thanked him and sat on it.
Everyone drank tea and chatted while waiting for Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong.
After waiting for half an hour, Zhu Cijiong finally arrived.
After a brief greeting, everyone took their seats one by one.
I thought Zhu Cijiong would personally participate in the formulation of the battle plan.
But he said, "Gentlemen, I am not good at leading troops in battle, so you guys should discuss the attack on Quanzhou Prefecture."
"I'm afraid this is inappropriate..." Li Dingguo said.
Li Xianzhong echoed: "Yes, Your Highness, we can't discuss this without your participation!"
Zhu Cijiong shook his head gently: "No need to say more, just discuss it."
After saying this, he stood up and left the central military tent.
Everyone was a little confused.
Li Xianzhong was the first to mutter, "What's wrong with your Highness? You look distracted."
Li Dingguo shook his head: "I don't know."
Liu Zhaoji guessed: "It may be related to the imperial court."
Qin Yiming also speculated: "Maybe it has something to do with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Li Dingguo stood up when he saw this and said, "Stop, just take care of ourselves and stop guessing!"
Li Xianzhong nodded vigorously: "Yes, let's all think about how to attack Quanzhou."
After a day of discussion, several people finally finalized the battle plan before dark.
Li Dingguo concluded: "Our plan is to advance both by land and water."
"Zeng Ying, Yang Zhan, and Zheng Chenggong, the three of you will lead the navy southward and attack Shihuzhai City on February 23. Shihuzhai City is the outlet of the Quanzhou water system and has been a military stronghold and a key coastal defense town throughout the dynasties."
"Once the Quanzhou defenders receive the news, they will certainly send troops to support us, so as to disperse and contain the enemy."
"Li Xianzhong, Liu Zhaoji, Qin Yiming, Ma Wannian and I will advance southward along the coast and arrive outside Hui'an City on February 23. Regardless of whether we can capture Hui'an or not, we will move our camp and march towards Quanzhou Prefecture the next morning."
"When Quanzhou is attacked from both sides, our army will surely win a great victory!"
Li Dingguo paused for a moment and then asked: "Do you have any questions? If you don't have any questions, then we will follow this plan."
"No."
"Neither have I."
Li Dingguo nodded and said, "Okay, I will tell His Royal Highness Prince Ding..."
Before Li Dingguo could finish his words, Zheng Chenggong shouted, "Wait a minute."
"General Zheng, is there something wrong?"
"I have an unwelcome request."
"Speaking."
"Although my father is an enemy of the imperial court, he is still my father. If you encounter my father on the battlefield, I hope you can show mercy and spare his life."
“It’s natural!”
"Don't worry, Lord Zheng. We will never hurt him in the slightest."
Zheng Chenggong clasped his hands together and said, "Thank you very much."
Li Dingguo wrote down the plan in written form and handed it to Zhu Cixiong for his decision.
Zhu Cijiong didn't even look at it and said directly: "No problem, as long as you think it's okay."
Li Dingguo bowed and said, "I'll take my leave."
"Wait," Zhu Cijiong stood up and whispered, "Ask Zeng Ying to come quietly."
Li Dingguo was curious but did not dare to ask more questions.
He returned to the central military camp and brought Zeng Ying to Zhu Cixiong on the pretext of private matters.
After Li Dingguo left, Zhu Cijiong walked up to Zeng Ying and lowered his voice: "General Zeng's navy came all the way south from the mouth of the Yangtze River to here, right?"
Zeng Ying replied: "Yes."
"Well," Zhu Cixiong nodded and continued to ask, "Did you find any suspicious ships along the way?"
Zeng Ying was somewhat puzzled: "I don't understand what your Highness means by suspicious."
"Hey," Zhu Cijiong sighed, "To tell you the truth, the Nanjing Jinyiwei sent a message saying that fishermen encountered two ships near the mouth of the Yangtze River. Before entering the sea, the people on the ship knelt to the north and cried loudly."
"Based on the description of his appearance, one of them seems to be my eldest brother."
Zeng Ying was shocked and said quickly, "Your Highness, I did encounter some fishing boats during the march, but I did not encounter any suspicious boats, nor did I meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Zhu Cijiong was worried and asked, "Think about it again."
Zeng Ying thought hard and said, "I have not encountered any suspicious ships, nor have I met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Okay," Zhu Cijiong said with a frown, "You ask Yang Zhan to come quietly."
Not long after, Yang Zhan walked in.
Zhu Cijiong asked Yang Zhan and Zheng Chenggong in the same way, and the answer he got was no.
Zhu Cijiong dared not not believe it, nor did he dare to believe it completely.
We can only send more people to search for Zhu Cilang.
February 13th.
The Ming troops left Fuzhou and headed towards Quanzhou.
The marching speed of Li Dingguo and others was not fast. One reason was that the terrain was mostly mountainous, and the baggage troops marched relatively slowly.
Second, the local clan power in Fujian is very large.
Some clans were quite sensible and expressed their surrender and donated money and food as soon as the army arrived.
Some clans were enemies of the imperial court behind the scenes.
The army that suppressed the rebellion had no choice but to kill them.
After a long journey, Li Dingguo finally arrived outside Hui'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture on time.
Looking at the huge crowds outside the city, the defenders of Hui'an County were scared out of their wits.
After Zheng Hongkui's persuasion, the defenders opened the city gate and chose to surrender.
On the sea dozens of miles away.
Zeng Ying, Yang Zhan and Zheng Chenggong are leading the navy southward.
Zeng Ying was in the center, Yang Zhan was on the left, and Zheng Chenggong was on the right.
Hundreds of warships hoisted their sails and marched towards Shihuzhai City in a mighty force.
"Report!" In the military camp outside Quanzhou City, a scout ran to Zheng Zhilong and said, "Li Dingguo's troops have arrived at Hui'an, and the defenders surrendered without a fight."
Before Zheng Zhilong could be shocked, another scout came running over: "Report! Hundreds of warships were spotted on the sea, heading towards Shihuzhai City."
Zheng Zhilong was afraid of defeat, so he kept retreating.
Now they have retreated to Quanzhou.
There is no way to retreat, so we can only go ahead.
He briefly analyzed the situation and issued an order: "We will split our forces into two groups! Zheng Zhibao and Shi Fu will lead 40,000 infantry and cavalry to line up on the west bank of Luoyang River. You don't need to take the initiative to attack, just counterattack when the Ming army crosses the river."
Luoyang River is located to the east of Quanzhou Prefecture and to the west of Hui'an County.
If Li Dingguo wanted to attack Quanzhou, he had to cross the Luoyang River.
Even the strongest troops would be afraid of being attacked halfway across the river.
"Yes, sir!" Zheng Zhibao and Shi Fu left quickly.
Zheng Zhilong said to the rest of the people: "Navy, follow me on board and go to the sea to test the combat power of the enemy navy."
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