"The battle situation in Liaodong, the saint is worried, and he is cautious all night. The country is in danger, and he is a courtier, dare not to be a fool? Now the holy grace is vast, the army is gathered, there is Ning Yuanbo to help the army of food and equipment without the risk of hunger and cold, there are also loyal and brave generals in this town, and there are more Governor Qiu, Zhang Jianjun and other public praise for painting military affairs, and sending food and salary frequently. Brother Zhang Nian, this is the big red robe of Wuyi Mountain sent by his father to the governor when the lord of Zhaoyang County escorted the grain to Ningyuan a few days ago, please taste one or two of them. ”

After Zhang Ruoqi took two sips, he had to praise it, and Hong Chengchou even ordered someone to take a jar of Dahongpao tea wrapped tightly in a tin jar and hand it to Zhang Ruoqi's personal entourage.

When the two guys who have changed their bosses several times in history have completed the prescribed actions in the above-mentioned officialdom, the next step is to have a game of optional actions.

"Now that the sergeants in Ningyuan are full of horses, the athletes are eager to make meritorious contributions, and the food is sufficient, I don't know what kind of deployment the adults will make?"

Although at present, the food and salary of the various armies and towns in Ningyuan are distributed by the eunuchs of Nancao, but Zhang Ruoqi, as the supervising army, still has a way to know the amount of food and salary transported to Ningyuan.

Two full years of money and food! The number of fine japonica rice with nearly one million stones, nearly one million yuan of silver dollars, and the mountains of various armor sticks, weapons, and canned food piled up by sea by Nanzhong, Guangdong, and Fujian merchants were enough for the armies on the Ningyuan front to defeat the enemy in front of them, open the grain route to Jinzhou, and then relieve the siege of Jinzhou.

When Shi Lang took the gunboat to cover the grain ship to Jinzhou to transport grain, Zhang Ruoqi also saw the large and small sea ships going freely on the Daling River. The muzzles of the black holes on the gunboats pointed at both sides of the Daling River, so that the Qing troops in the distance did not dare to make a scene of blocking. At that time, he had the idea of intercepting these ships and using them to transport at least one town of Liaodong soldiers and horses to Jinzhou City, so as to strengthen the soldiers and horses of Jinzhou, and the inside and outside should join forces to defeat the Qing army's Jierharang Department in one fell swoop.

However, in this way, one offended the Nanyue Army, how to calculate the credit of the other at that time? The matter had to be stillborn.

"A month ago, there was a letter in Beijing saying that the model brigade of Wu Biao, deputy general of the Shenji Battalion, a powerful brigade under Yang Wenqiao's department, had boarded a ship from Chongqing Prefecture and left Sichuan. Set off for Liaodong. If the unit arrives here, our army has a better chance of winning! ”

It turned out that Inspector Hong was waiting for the arrival of that model brigade! No wonder the eunuchs who have come to supervise the salary in recent days have their nostrils facing the sky, it turns out that this army with a relationship with the eunuchs is about to arrive! Zhang Ruoqi couldn't help but feel disdainful in his heart.

"Master Inspector means that once the model brigade arrives. Can our army attack? ”

"Not bad. Exactly. Military intelligence has said. Since the beginning of spring, there has been a shortage of grain in Liaodong, and a stone of grain and rice in Shenyang City costs dozens of taels of silver. Although some profiteers smuggled grain and grass to Liaodong for huge profits, Huang Taiji extorted tens of thousands of stone of rice from North Korea. However, most of its military horses are on the front line of Jinzhou, and the consumption is huge, and the above-mentioned grain and rice are just a drop in the bucket. Dongnu has shown a trend of decline, and it is possible to slowly try to do it! In order to prevent his dog from jumping over the wall and disturbing the Beijing Division. ”

"Your Excellency is wise! This move just formed a trend of closing the door and beating the dog! ”

Although Zhang Ruoqi is Chen Xinjia's confidant, he sent him to supervise the army on the front line in Liaodong to urge Hong Chengchou to march quickly. But Hong Chengchou's arrangement made Zhang Ruoqi bow his hand.

The commanders of the Ming official army were calculating the Qing army and calculating the friendly army, and at this time in Shengjing City, the commanders of the Qing army were also calculating the Ming army.

The Qing people have always attached great importance to intelligence, and the intelligence collection is also very detailed, and the important generals of the Ming Dynasty, which important officials, what their tendencies are, and what their abilities are, are all recorded one by one. Through this information, when we judge the battlefield situation, we can know it in our hearts. At this time, the area of western Liaoning, strict precautions, and soldiers and horses gathered, it was not easy to transmit information, and it was better to advance from the sea route. These Qing troops are meticulous, and there are also a large number of Ming officials who will cover for them, so that the transmission of information will be smooth.

"The Ming army has a large number of food supplies arrived, and there are elite divisions coming, how should we deal with this?"

For such a big move of the Ming army, the high-level leaders of the Qing army led by Huang Taiji attached great importance to it, especially after discovering the role of the naval division ships in the siege of Jinzhou, they were in an uproar. Originally, I thought it was the Daling River of the moat, but it became an umbilical cord between the defenders of Jinzhou City and the Ming army of Ningyuan.

In particular, the arrival of the army that had fought with the two white flags and the two red flags in Changqing made the Manchurian relatives and nobles tremble.

In the face of the restlessness of the pro-noble generals in Shengjing City, Huang Taiji appeased and reprimanded those pro-noble ministers who were a little timid, and on the other hand, sent people overnight to recall the two people who commanded the Jinzhou front, Jierharang and Dolgon, and summoned the princes of the Eight Banners to discuss matters in the Chongzheng Palace.

After listening to the compliments of the princes, county kings, and ministers, and praising his Jinzhou strategy, it was effective, and the Ming Kingdom really poured the elite of the nine sides to come, if the siege was successful, the main force of the Ming army was annihilated, and then the world let the Qing Dynasty iron cavalry gallop and boast about it, but a layer of haze appeared on Huang Taiji's black fat face.

"The Ming army is huge, and there are Nanban continuous sea grain and salary equipment here, so that the Ming army is not afraid of food shortage, morale is high, and the army is extremely strong, and the battle of Jinzhou will be at that time. There will be an uphill battle. The Ming Kingdom is okay, but I can't afford to lose in the Qing Dynasty, and if I lose, there will be a disaster of extermination, how to deal with it, all the secretaries will come together. ”

Dorgon and Zilharangjiu were on the front line. I know the local situation in Jinzhou best.

After several engagements, although the Ming army did not break through the long trench and arrived in Jinzhou, the Qing army responsible for besieging Jinzhou obviously felt that the Ming army in front of him was very different from the usual Ming army. Even the Guanning Army, which has always been unable to work hard, fought extremely fiercely, and was almost broken through the camp by them several times and approached Jinzhou.

Both of them hoped that the emperor would send reinforcements as much as possible, and the total strength should not be less than 100,000, especially the Emperor Taiji Imperial Expedition.

He said: "Our army is based on Jinchang Fort, the area of Rufeng Mountain. There is a Ming camp in front, and there is the enemy of Jinzhou in the back, which is the trend of the enemy on the back of the abdomen. Hong Chengchou went to the rescue several times, and every time he fired from Nanshan to the north, Zu Dashou fired from the head of Jinzhou City to the south. How can the athletes under the command of the minions resist the cannon with their flesh and blood? What's more, Hong Chengchou's barbarian, there are even cannonballs weighing thirty catties, and as soon as they come over, they will be a blur of flesh and blood! Our troops were attacked in front and behind, and there was no place to stay. But they don't camp in two places. There is no danger of siege. Now the Master is pouring into the country, the front-line army, the strength is not enough, and the shape is very dangerous! This battle was related to the fortunes of the Qing Dynasty. The servant implored the emperor. Royal Driver's Expedition. ”

The blue flag lord Zilharang. At this time, he was more than forty years old, and he was not surprised in the Qing Kingdom, and he was brave and strategic. Cautious and steady, he said so, obviously the situation in Jinzhou is indeed critical.

However, he asked the emperor to drive the expedition in person, and also asked that the strength of Jinzhou should not be less than the Ming army.

After all, since the rise of the Qing Dynasty, it has always been to win more with less, and 10,000 troops against the Ming army of 3 or 50,000 is idle, and he asked the total strength of the front line not to be less than 100,000, what does this mean?

What's more, the front-line troops are not less than 100,000, to put it simply, 100,000 soldiers and horses are to sweep the ground and fight with eight banners, and there must be at least multiple of Baoyi Aha to go, so many troops, horses and camels, can Huang Taiji get so much grain and grass?

The Ming Dynasty has a large population, and the Nanban uses sea ships to transport a large amount of grain, even if there are more soldiers and horses gathered in one place, they can afford to feed, can the Qing Dynasty do this?

"Today is different from the past, and the combat power of the Ming army cannot be underestimated. Our Qing soldiers besieged Jinzhou, attacked Jinzhou, Songshan, and Xingshan cities no less than 100 times, and the Hongyi artillery beat hard, dug tunnels, and bombed the city with gunpowder, and the Ming army fought to the death and did not retreat. The Liao people defend the Liao land, and their fighting spirit will not be less than that of my Qing warriors. Now that hundreds of thousands of elites have arrived, and there is a large amount of food and salary, even if the rewards for military merit can be cashed, the morale is so strong that the slaves have not seen it in many years of war. With such a strong Ming army, how can you ignore it? You must know that if you lose, I will have the worry of losing the country in the Qing Dynasty, how can I despise and underestimate it? ”

Dolgon's last few words hit the nail on the head. The Ming army's crazy battle, from the will to the morale is unprecedented, the root cause is that the Liao people defend the Liao land and food is sufficient, and the military merit reward is fulfilled on the spot.

The beheading of the Ming border army has always been richly rewarded, especially for the East Nu Beiju, Zhengde has agreed that one person will be beheaded alone, and he will be promoted to a level, and three people will be cut a total of one, and the head will be promoted to a level, and the servant will be rewarded with silver and wealth.

That is, the two of them cut off the head of the young thief, that is, a little Tartar who is less than fifteen years old, and the leader can be promoted to the next level and rewarded for the servant. Those who do not want to be promoted will be rewarded with 50 taels of silver for each actual level and 20 taels for the post. The same reward for the beheading of women and children is given, but it is necessary to cut off four heads.

In the Jiajing period, the person who beheaded one, in addition to being promoted to the first level, was rewarded with 30 taels of silver, and all the horses and other things obtained were given to him. Long Qingnian is more accurate, and the public thieves bloody battle, can be in the battle to win the first level, the second level, unwilling to rise, reward 100 taels of silver, the obtained horses and cattle goods to me.

In addition to the first level, the Ming Dynasty also has the first skill, the wonder of the difference, this does not look at the first level, only look at the number of enemies, the size of the shortcut. Taking the lead in front of the battle, behind the palace, beheading the flag, capturing the head of the thief, etc., are all miraculous feats. Superior, to be promoted, inferior. Intended reward.

Now the merits of the Ming Dynasty are to imitate the example of Jiajing, beheading one level and promoting the actual award. and thirty taels of silver.

Dolgon and Zilharang have seen many times that when the Ming army was fighting, the generals ordered the Chinese army to carry out several baskets, which were full of silver dollars wrapped in red mulberry paper and other things, and broke them one by one in front of the army, and those shiny silver dollars caught people's eyes in the early spring sun. As long as there is a shaved hair and braided head, even if there is a bounty, you can receive it. And if you cringe and collapse, as usual, there is also a good thing to give, that is, the big blade in the hand of the family member who is the overseer. On one side is the silver of white flowers, and on the other side is the snow-bright and sharp sword of the warlord's team, in the face of such a huge temptation, the combat effectiveness of those ordinary battalion soldiers immediately exploded, and their crazy and daring to fight was no less than that of Jiading.

And the reason why the Guan Ning army turned from the previous work to a heroic hero overnight was because of the five words of the Liao people guarding the Liao soil. Let's ask, what is Huang Taiji's soldiers besieging Jinzhou for today? If he broke through Jinzhou and advanced his troops to the city of Ningyuan, only a few cities in Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan would remain in the vast land of Liaoxi and Liaodong, and Liaotu would not exist. If the Liao people are not there, then there is no point in the existence of the Guanning army. For this point, Liaoning Jiangmen Group also sees it very clearly. As a result, Guan Ningjun, who immediately became a mourning dog after a little contact with the Qing army, became a mad dog in a blink of an eye.

"I just want to know, how do I deal with it?"

Dolgon said: "As long as the emperor drives the expedition in person, under the majesty, the Ming captives will definitely be wiped out." ”

Huang Taiji's eyes were cold, and he turned to Zilharang's head again.

Zilharang from last year. He was ordered to fight the Ming army in the area of Jinzhou. I also tried my best to understand the situation in Jinzhou, and I was also very concerned about the movements of the Ming reinforcements.

For Hong Chengchou, Zilharang has carefully understood him. I know that he has a lot of experience in warfare. It has a great prestige in the Liao army. Compared with the straw bale Yang Ho and someone who could only brag and threaten to level Liao for five years, from the actual combat experience to the support of the emperor and the imperial court, they are several times stronger. It can be regarded as an enemy who is not easy to deal with, now that the Shanghai road is more smooth, and there is a steady stream of grain, grass, ordnance and salary support, Hong Chengchou is even more difficult to deal with, if he wants to cut off his grain route, it is too difficult, he can't fill in the sea and dig a trench, right?

After thinking about it, he said: "The Ming State has a strong army, and the grain and grass are also sufficient, so to deal with them, you need to be cautious. ”

At his request, Huang Taiji ordered people to unfold a huge map of western Liaoxi in the Chongzheng Palace, which was also drawn accurately, and the Manchu and Mongolian nobles led by Huang Taiji gathered around the map to watch.

Jierharang said: "I have already found out that Hong Chengchou's rescue strategy is the policy of 'establishing a road, stepping into a camp, advancing while fighting, and relieving the siege of Jinzhou' agreed with Zu Dashou. Hong Chengchou is cautious, in the past two years, he has saved Jinzhou from Ningyuan, every time he has gathered troops in one place, forced to use the car battalion, not to mention a light battle, if he still gathers troops in one place, I will have an opportunity to take advantage of it. ”

"What do you mean by that?" Huang Taiji's eyes flashed with a strange excitement.

"This person uses soldiers, and he values the power of the front and the back road. If you lure him out of Ningyuan City, and the whole army rushes towards my Jinzhou, I will have a chance! ”

Jierharang pointed to the map, Songshan Fort, Xingshan Fort, Tashan Fort and several cities, and said: "The grain and grass of the Ming Kingdom are mostly gathered in Xingshan and Tashan and other places. But as in Jinzhou, digging a long trench to cut off the communication of the Ming army, making Jinzhou, Songshan, and Ningyuan three isolated castles, unable to rescue each other, so that the Ming army was defeated. ”

Jierharang's opinion, in fact, is a sentence to put it bluntly, forcing or inducing the Ming army to divide the troops, because only when the Ming army is divided, the individual superiority of the Jiannu army can be reflected, they can use their ability to fight on the inside line and move quickly to offset the strength advantage of the Ming army, and concentrate superior forces and weapons in one direction to defeat and eliminate the Ming army, and then quickly complete the division, encirclement and elimination of the remaining Ming armies.

To put it bluntly, it is still the tactical principle adopted by the old slave in the battle of Sarhu, and I will only go all the way if you come as many ways. However, Hong Chengchou on the opposite side now, although there is a loophole of emphasizing the power of the front and ignoring the back, he adheres to one principle, that is, never divide the army!

"Your Majesty, the servants also think that what Prince Zheng said makes sense! However, in addition to finding a way to cut off its grain route, we can also think of ways to lure the enemy deeper, so that after it advances, our army will take the opportunity to attack, and constantly set up ambushes to annihilate these Ming troops! ”

"If the Ming army is still like Hong Chengchou's strategy, fighting and defending, gathering in Songshan, our army will take the opportunity to sneak attack the cities of Xingshan, Gaoqiao, and Tashan on the back road, and cut off their grain routes. If they divide their troops and garrison them one by one in Xingshan, Tashan and other places, then I will follow the strategy of Salhu and defeat them individually. They are guarding everywhere one by one, and their forces are weak, and our army has too many opportunities to take advantage of. ”

"Your Majesty, the minions also have a plan, that is, the emperor sent a road between people and horses to enter the customs and loot on a large scale. Second, if the Ming army goes back to the division to rescue, it will achieve the emperor's purpose of inducing it to divide the army, if not, my Qing soldiers and horses can just create rumors in Liaodong, creating a false impression in the Ming army that my Qing army has many generals and still has spare strength. ”

The lords of the flags and banners used their brains one after another to offer advice to Huang Taiji, and one after another strategic and tactical opinions were put out.

"Mr. Fan, please record what the flag lord said one by one, and then organize it into a piece of paper for me. I'm going to look at them one by one. ”

Huang Taiji's eyes showed a unique look of a generation of heroes, and he instructed Fan Wencheng, a bachelor of the Third Academy beside him.

"Prince Zheng and Prince Rui, you will work hard and rush back to Jinzhou overnight, and I will personally lead the army south to Jinzhou and fight with the Ming army in this national fortune!"

After everyone had left, Huang Taiji, who was sitting on the throne, rested for a moment and summoned a person who had been standing in the shadows of the hall.

"How have the two white flags moved in recent days?"

"Back to the emperor, the minions in the two white flags spread the news, and all the coated cattle were stepping up their training. It seems that Prince Rui is ready to make a big move. ”

"Well, what's going on with the two white flags and the other three?"

The other three flags in Huang Taiji's mouth are the blue flag of Jierharang and the two red flags of Du Du and Shuotuo. He wondered if the three younger brothers had any private affiliations with the three flags.

"The officials above Niu Lu have never had any dealings, they are all relatives of the slaves, this, it is inevitable among the Eight Banners......"

"Confused!" Huang Taiji was immediately furious when he heard this, and two streams of blood slowly flowed out of his nostrils, and he didn't care about wiping it, so he just reprimanded the man.

"It seems that relatives between the old and weak women and children have been communicated, but do you know that there has been no news in the past? If these five banners collude with each other and miss the major military affairs, how many heads do you have enough to cut off? ”

Although the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Eight Banners of the Han Army are currently organized, each with tens of thousands of horses, from the bottom of his heart, Huang Taiji still attaches more importance to the remaining five banners of the Eight Banners Manchurian soldiers and horses. Therefore, he was even more worried about the secret collusion between these five banner lords. Fathers and sons kill each other and brothers oppose each other, don't say that they are in other people's homes, but in their own homes, are they still rare?

Even if his two yellow flags and Hauge's blue flag can now outnumber the two white flags of the most powerful Dolgon brothers, if the other three flags show signs of falling towards the Dolgon brothers, then many of his things will not be easy.

In order to weaken the strength of the two white flags, and at the same time to mobilize the Ming army to return to the Ming Jingshi, Huang Taiji made up his mind in his heart, and he was ready to send Abatai to lead the soldiers and horses drawn from the two white flags into the pass and plunder.

"What is the price of Shengjing rice?"

"Back to the emperor, compared with last month, it has risen by 30%."

"In addition to urging the eight merchants in Shanxi to quickly transport grain and rice to Shengjing, you can think of going to a few shopkeepers in Longsheng, and you might as well promise a heavy price to see if you can buy grain and rice from them."

In May of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, just after the Dragon Boat Festival, Hong Chengchou found that there were a lot more Qing army numbers, soldiers and horses on the opposite side. From the mouth of the fine work, it was learned that Huang Taiji issued an order that all departments of the Manchurian, Mongolian and Han Eight Banners, and men over the age of 15, should be mobilized to fight.

On the 8th day of the first month of May, the model brigade of Wu Biao's department arrived at Shanhaiguan. (To be continued......)