Zhu Cihong decided to discuss the defense issue with the important ministers.

Only Lu Zhenfei, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Wen An, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, participated in this secret discussion.

After the two entered the palace, they took the shoulder of Zhu Cihong's special gift all the way to the Qianqing Palace.

There are more than a dozen charcoal stoves burning in the East Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, which is very warm.

After the two of them saluted, Zhu Cihong gave the brocade pier and ordered the two to sit down and talk.

This is also a habit of Zhu Cihong, who is used to sitting when communicating with his cronies.

Wen Anzhi and Lu Zhenfei had long been used to it, and they didn't say anything. It's just that the buttocks of the two of them are only stained with the small half of the Jindun, and the waist pole is very tall. The appearance of sitting on pins and needles is really laughable.

Zhu Cihong said in a deep voice: "Xuzhou General Soldier Gao Jie broke the Eastern Captives and captured the puppet General Soldier Zu Kefa, and he has made great contributions, and I have approved the list of meritorious soldiers he reported. ”

"Your Majesty's rewards and punishments are clear, the Ming soldiers will serve Your Majesty to the death, and the Ming Dynasty is about to prosper!"

As the secretary of the Ministry of War, the Northern Expedition involved Lu Zhenfei's business work, and Zhu Cihong had to accept what he said.

Zhu Cihong didn't care much about such a piece of soup. He summoned the two men to discuss the general defense of the Manchus. The war is about to break out, and everything that can be thought of must be arranged as much as possible.

He smiled slightly: "Where do you think Dongyu will fight next?" ”

Lu Zhenfei's expression froze, and then he got up and walked towards the Huangming map hanging on the wall.

This map draws all the jurisdictions of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, and thirteen provinces, and Lu Zhenfei walked to the location of Dezhou, Shandong and nodded.

"Your Majesty, in the humble opinion of the ministers, the East Captives must first take Texas."

Zhu Cihong asked with interest: "Why did this soldier say this?" ”

"Your Majesty, please see, Shandong is adjacent to Henan and Beizhili, and no matter from which point of view, it is a great threat to Dongyu. On the side of the couch, others are not allowed to sleep soundly, and it is impossible for Dongyu not to understand this truth. ”

Zhu Cihong nodded lightly.

"Why does this soldier think that the East Captives must take Texas first?"

"Your Majesty, if it weren't for the Battle of Texas half a year ago, there would really be no need for the East Captives to take Texas first. But in that Texas War, the Dongyu lost too badly, and if the Nine Chiefs didn't take Texas first to get back face, I was afraid that the Dongyu would criticize him internally. ”

Lu Zhenfei's analysis is not unreasonable.

Although it seems that Dolgon is a monopoly on power, there are still many contradictions within the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Hauge is hibernating, and if he finds an opportunity, he will jump out and bombard Dorgon.

The best place to start was naturally that Texas fiasco.

And for Dolgon, the best way to silence everyone is to take Texas down.

Ben Bing continued.

Lu Zhenfei was naturally extremely excited to be recognized by Zhu Cihong, he rowed down Dezhou, and then said: "Another purpose of Dongyu's seizure of Shandong is to control the canal. The Grand Canal connects the north and the south, and the eastern section is particularly important. Controlling the Grand Canal will control the north-south transshipment, so the East is bound to win. ”

After a slight pause, Lu Zhenfei took a deep breath and said, "So the minister thinks that His Majesty should deploy heavy troops in Shandong." This battle is a matter of national fortune, and there is no room for half a point difference. ”

Zhu Cihong also got up and walked towards Yutu.

"What this soldier said is very reasonable, in Aiqing's opinion, how many soldiers should Shandong send to garrison?"

Lu Zhenfei said without hesitation: "At least 150,000 people." ”

Zhu Cihong frowned when he heard this.

150,000 people, that's not a small number.

Even if you add all the Ming troops in Shandong now, there are not so many.

Among them, there are about 50,000 in the Gao Jie department and about 20,000 in the Qin Gongming department. In addition, there are 50,000 divine troops. But 20,000 of the Shence army have been transferred to Denglai. In other words, the number of troops that can be deployed in the northeastern and western parts of the mountain is about 100,000.

According to Lu Zhenfei's meaning, 50,000 people had to be transferred to Shandong.

"Wen Qing, what do you think?"

Seeing that the emperor finally remembered himself, Wen Anzhi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty, in the opinion of the ministers, the Dongyu may not invest all their forces in Shandong, but it is likely that the troops will be divided into two routes. All the way to Shandong, all the way to Huguang. ”

Wen Anzhi's analysis is consistent with Zhu Cihong's view.

Huguang is the grain bag of the world, no matter from which point of view, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has no reason not to fight Huguang.

Especially when the Manchus already occupied Shaanxi.

They could send troops from Shaanxi and Henan into Huguang respectively, and if they succeeded in controlling the Yangtze River waterway, they could go down the river and approach Nanjing.

Dividing troops to flank was a common trick of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and when attacking Shaanxi, didn't Dolgon order Azig and Duoduo to march from Tongguan and Yulin in northern Shaanxi respectively?

"In Wenqing's opinion, where will Dongyu attack Huguang first?"

"It must be Jing Xiang!"

Wen Anzhi said categorically: "If you control Jingxiang, you can march to all parts of Huguang." The south can threaten Yuezhou, and the east can advance to Chengtian and Wuchang. The minister thought that if he defended Huguang, it was not to stick to the Yangtze River, but to push the defense line to Xiangyang Mansion. ”

Wen Anzhi thought that it was very likely that the Manchus would attack Huguang, and Lu Zhenfei believed that Shandong was the place where he must attack.

Next, it's time for Zhu Cihong to weigh up.

In terms of the absolute number of soldiers, Huguang has more soldiers than Shandong.

Because in the rebellion of the Left Army, except for the battalions of Zuo Liangyu's descendants who were wiped out, the remaining battalions were broken up and reorganized and handed over to Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan, Du Yinxi and others to command. As for Yuan Jixian, he also served as the commander of the Cao River, responsible for the defense along the Yangtze River.

It can be said that there is no shortage of civil and military officials who lead troops in Huguang.

What Huguang lacks is an elite army.

Shandong has Gao Jie, Qin Gongming, and even the Shence Army has experienced the baptism of actual combat against the rebellion Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo.

But these armies in Huguang, except for the descendants of Jin Shenghuan and Ma Jinzhong, the rest of the integrated armies are not in the stream. It may be okay to let them bully and bully ordinary people, but it is unrealistic to expect them to withstand the onslaught of the Qing army.

However, Zhu Cihong once issued a secret decree to Du Yinxi, ordering him to seize the opportunity to recruit the rest of the Shun army.

This is a very effective army, and if it can be successfully recruited, it will definitely be useful.

In history, the loyal battalion headed by Li Guo was the main force to resist the Qing Dynasty, and He Tengjiao could rely on the rest of the Shun army to fight with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and Zhu Cihong certainly didn't think that he would do worse than He Tengjiao.

The only problem is that there are too many factions in Huguang today. If the surrender of the remnants of the Shun army is successful, the situation will be more complicated.

Zhu Cihong now had two choices, one was to transfer Huang Degong's troops to Huguang, and the other was to send the 50,000 Shence troops who remained in Nanjing to Jingxiang.

Only if the imperial court has an absolute superiority in troops in Huguang can it suppress the various military leaders, otherwise it will not be able to suppress the situation by relying only on the two civil officials of Yinxi and Yuan Jixian.

......

......