The most urgent thing at the moment is that 20,000 Qing troops are still attacking Jinhua Prefecture, while Yanzhou Guards and Jinshan Guards are still struggling to support.

The risk and cost of attacking the strong Ningbo City with 8,000 people is too high.

At this time, it is correct to reinforce Jinhuafu first.

But Wu Zheng stubbornly refused all advice. He knew in his heart that he could tolerate everything and retreat from everything. Only this thing cannot tolerate it, he could not retreat!

Because this is Wu Zheng’s bottom line!

Wu Zheng wiped away the tears from his face, stood on the city tower of Lihai Pass, and looked at the eight thousand soldiers with swords and guns.

"I think I am a good person to accept advice."

"My comrades and sisters advised me that our army should go to reinforce Jinhua Prefecture at this time, because Yanzhou Guards and Jinshan Guards were attacked by 20,000 elite Qing troops for ten days, and they fought very hard."

"I originally wanted to reinforce Jinhua Mansion."

"But you must have heard that the enemy chief Duodor could not defeat us, but he abducted more than 300 innocent people in Wuzhuang and killed them all in the downtown yesterday."

"So, I changed my mind. I want to avenge these innocent people and repay their blood debts!"

"Is it worth it to sacrifice more people for more than 300 people?"

"I think it's worth it! It's like a strong man smashing your door, rushing in and slapping you in the face, and then Shi Shiran wants to leave. At this time, are you watching him leave quietly, or are you still hitting him even though you know you'll be beaten to death if you chase him?" Wu Zheng shouted, "Now, tell me, how do you choose?"

"Blow him!" It was uniform and shocking.

"I have a dream. Whenever the people in Jiangnan mentioned the Northern Expedition Army, they would proudly say that it was our Northern Expedition Army. When the soldiers of the Northern Expedition Army mentioned the people in Jiangnan, they would proudly say that it was our hometown elders... But now, our hometown elders were slaughtered by the Tartars, how should we face our families? Do we tell our elders that we can do nothing?"

Wu Zheng shouted again: "Tell me, how should I choose?"

"Blood debt and blood repayment!"

"Go!" Wu Zheng waved his hand, "Let the enemy pay ten times the price, let the Tatars know the bloody nature of my Jiangdong man!"

"kill!"

Amid the roar, eight thousand troops set out.

Wu Zheng turned around and looked at Chen Sheng behind him and said, "I took Li Haiwei away, and I can only leave you with 600 people. You must guard it."

Chen Sheng bowed and said, "Don't worry, General, your subordinates will never let down the general's entrustedness."

Wu Zheng looked at Li Ruhai, "Go and tell Zhang Guowei, I don't know what happened in Hangzhou Prefecture, and I don't want to know for the time being. But I want him to send 3,000 people to reinforce Jinhua Prefecture immediately."

"Here."

Wu Zheng looked at Zhang Mingzhen, "The navy must ensure the food and supplies of our army. Don't tell me that there is insufficient food and grass. Tell him that if I die, he will not get a single son. In addition, try to provide artillery support as much as possible. If the range is not enough, drag the artillery ashore. Don't tell me that the artillery is too heavy and inconvenient to carry. Even if you carry it yourself, you must ensure the suppression of the artillery fire of the Qing army in Dongmen, Ningbo."

Zhang Mingzhen bowed and said, "Don't worry, General. If Zhang Mingzhen has been entrusted with his entrustedness, he does not need the general to give orders. Mingzhen cut off his head himself."

Wu Zheng bowed his hand and said, "See you all, please see you victoriously!"

"See you victorious!"

....

The distance between Shangyu and Ningbo is not far, but only about one hundred miles away.

Even if it is an infantry marching, it will only take a day to go.

So, that day, Duoduo learned about Wu Zheng's invasion.

Although Ningbo Prefecture has not had many troops, Duoduo is not panicked. Relying on the strength of Ningbo City Wall, he is confident that he can defeat Wu Zheng at the foot of Ningbo City.

Duoduo began to concentrate his troops at the North Gate, because Wu Zheng came from Shangyu and would definitely arrive at the North Gate first.

Even if Wu Zheng wants to detour, he still has enough time to redeploy.

Duoduo really had no confidence and went out of the city to take the initiative to fight.

After the battle in Shaoxing Mansion, Wu Zheng was no longer just an ordinary opponent, but a life-and-death enemy.

After losing troops and losing generals, Duoduo's aura was indeed suppressed.

He can no longer concentrate on the fight, so he has to think about what kind of punishment the court will punish him after this battle.

Because it was his own expertise in attacking Shaoxing and Jinhua, not the will of the Qing court.

It’s easy to say if he wins, but if he loses, he will naturally be more guilty. Even if he is Prince Yu, he is no exception.

Duoduo hopes to defeat Wu Zheng in Ningbo, and even hopes that good news will be heard from Jinhua Mansion. In this way, he may be able to save some face and give some explanation to the court.

....

The siege broke out in the early morning of the next day.

Yesterday afternoon, Wu Zheng led his army around the North City and went east under Duoduo's nose.

Duoduo immediately dispatched troops to the east city.

The mobilization of the enemy's troops by both sides is almost clear at a glance.

But Duoduo made a mistake, that is, because the defenders in the city were not strong enough, Duoduo concentrated all his troops into the city, which made Duoduo lose control of the outside of the city.

Therefore, he could not stop the Zhoushan Navy from landing.

This gave Wu Zheng the support of artillery.

Zhang Mingzhen brought the rapid-fire cannon that Chen Shoujie had presented to Wu Zheng.

This kind of gun has a short range and is a rear-loading gun, but it is still used as a black gunpowder and has insufficient sealing properties, so its power is relatively small.

But its advantages are that it is light weight, and a cannon does not count as a base, it is only more than 200 kilograms, which is convenient to transport and has a fast firing rate.

Wu Zheng ordered that the Dongcheng city walls be bombarded almost at any cost.

It is still a very expensive flower bullet.

Often after several rounds of artillery fire, infantry soldiers were sent to attack the city walls.

Ke Duoduo obviously made a lot of preparations.

To deal with the Ming army's artillery, Duoduo ordered the defenders to go down the city wall. When the sound of artillery stopped, the Qing army rushed up the city wall.

Therefore, artillery damages the defenders very little.

This caused Li Haiwei's battle losses to be very large. Often, one thousand people attacked each wave and lost at least two or three hundred when they came back.

After one day, Wu Zheng had lost nearly a thousand people.

The Qing army suffered less than 300 casualties.

Duoduo, who was watching the battle on the city tower, was very satisfied. If he kept this way, Wu Zheng had to retreat for up to three days. If he did not retreat, Duoduo could fight back and keep Wu Zheng completely under Ningbo City.

The next day, Wu Zheng still repeated the old routine.

By the evening, the total casualties of the Northern Expedition Army had reached nearly two thousand.

This is already very tragic, and most of the casualties come from climbing the city walls and fighting with the defenders.

It can be imagined that the Qing army is already very familiar with the tactical routines used by the Ming army, and it can be said that it has become natural to fight.

Even as soon as the cannon stopped, the Qing army under the city would run towards the city wall involuntarily, because the Ming army infantry would climb the wall to attack.
Chapter completed!