For a military leader like Gao Jie, merging other armies has long been a familiar matter.

The reason why he treated Xu Dingguo politely before was that he thought that the two of them were both Ming courtiers and could go on a northern expedition together.

Who knew that Xu Dingguo disobeyed the court and secretly had an eye for him. From the moment the scout reported him, Gao Jie was moved to kill.

Everything after that was acting, all in order to make Xu Dingguo careless.

Although there are not many personal soldiers brought into the city by Gao Jie, they are all the elite of the elite, and each of them can be ten enemies.

What's more, the place where the banquet was held was so big, and Xu Dingguo's manpower would not be too manpower. As long as Xu Dingguo and his henchmen are killed, Gao Jie can easily open the city gate and let his soldiers enter Suizhou to control the whole city.

Gao Jie's prediction proved to be correct.

Xu Dingguo didn't have time to respond, so he became a decapitated ghost in a different place. And his henchmen followed the Lord to Hades.

The remaining ordinary soldiers had no desire to fight at all, and surrendered to Gao Jie in one go.

Taking control of Suizhou was only the first step in the Northern Expedition for Gao Jie.

To the north, there is still Zukefa's Green Battalion Qing army to hold it, and it will not be easy to break through the blockade.

What worries Gao Jie the most is the problem of grain and grass.

There were only 30,000 stone of grain stored in Suizhou City, and after the incorporation of Xu Dingguo's ministry, there were 60,000 soldiers under Gao Jie's command.

60,000 people is 60,000 mouths, and 30,000 stone of grain is just a month's ration for 60,000 soldiers.

Henan has suffered severe drought for many years, and the official army has fought with peasant armies from all walks of life.

Even if Gao Jie sent his subordinates to search people's homes, he couldn't find much food.

Therefore, he could only rely on obtaining grain supplies from Shandong.

And now it is the henchman of the Son of Heaven - the Shence Army who controls most of Shandong.

This new army was personally supervised and trained by the Son of Heaven, with about 50,000 people, and 20,000 people rushed to Shandong to garrison it.

Gao Jie had no friendship with Zhao Xin, the commander of the Shence Army, and he couldn't understand this person's temperament and temperament, and he was a little uncertain for a while.

He was going to write a brief explanation of the Suizhou Revolution and report it to Nanjing, and hinted that the army was short of food and grass and asked the imperial court to allocate it.

Of course, taking advantage of the situation to suppress others is only a last resort. Gao Jie also understood that if he wanted to have a worry-free Northern Expedition, he must get the full support of the Shandong side where Zhao Xin was stationed.

The background of the peasant army made Gao Jie feel a little inferior in the face of officials and soldiers like Zhao Xin. But this step must be taken.

In the face of the murderous Manchu Eight Banners, if the Ming Dynasty wants to win, everyone must be twisted into a rope, and they must not have their own selfish intentions.

"Dashuai, do we want to disperse the probe horses first and see the movements in northern Henan."

Li Chengdong clasped his hands into fists and said loudly.

As the first tiger general under Gao Jie's account, Li Chengdong has always been active in the main battle.

In this Gao Jie's Northern Expedition, Li Chengdong was very excited, and suggested that the plough court sweep the holes and go straight to the Beijing Division.

After taking Suizhou, Li Chengdong couldn't wait to fight the Qing army in northern Henan.

As far as he knew, the Qing troops stationed in the prefectures and counties of northern Henan were all Green Battalion.

The so-called Green Camp Army refers to a kind of establishment of the surrendered Han army after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs.

These armies were not organized as flags as in the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty, but retained their original form.

What the army was like when it surrendered, and what it was like after it was formed into the Green Battalion Army. At most, the Manchu Qing made some adjustments to the commanders.

For example, it was Zu Kefa who commanded the green battalion army of various departments in northern Henan.

"Well, you can investigate first."

Gao Jie bowed slightly, agreeing with Li Chengdong's idea.

"What do you think of this Zukefa?"

Li Chengdong laughed and said: "This son is just a rat's ear, don't be afraid!" ”

Gao Jie raised his eyebrows and said: "This person is the son of Zu Dashou, the young general of Liaozhen back then. ”

Li Chengdong didn't care.

"What about the Major General? Lao Tzu is a soft egg, how hard can a son be. Princes and generals, rather have a kind. ”

Although Li Chengdong was born in the peasant army, he did not think that these Liaozhen gate lords were more noble than them.

To put it bluntly, everyone eats by fighting.

Back then, Liaozhen was holding millions of taels of silver from the imperial court a year, but he had never even lost a battle or a big victory.

Those Liaozhen generals have the ability to shrink their eggs, but they don't dare to go out of the city and fight with the Tartars.

What Zu Dashou, Zu Kefa, and even Wu Sangui are all runaway generals, and they have no name!

"What you say is true."

Gao Jie said with a smile: "But this time and that time. It is said that the combat effectiveness of the army that surrendered to the Tartars will be greatly improved, do you know why? ”

"This..."

Li Chengdong looked embarrassed and began to bow his head and think.

Gao Jie's question really stopped him.

According to the soldiers, the soldiers are still those soldiers, and the generals are still those generals, why is there a world of difference in combat effectiveness after changing a set of military uniforms?

"I'll tell you. That's because these generals think that they have the backing of the Tartars, so they can rush and kill with impunity. That's probably what the so-called Tiger Pila banner means. ”

Li Chengdong's eyes lit up when he heard this.

yes, if you think about it, that's the truth.

For a long time, the Ming officials and soldiers have been very afraid of the Tartars, and there is a saying that 'the eight banners are less than 10,000, and the 10,000 are invincible'.

It is precisely for this reason that those Ming officials and soldiers who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty could take advantage of the fear of the Eight Banners Army in the past to attack the city and plunder the land.

As soon as the defending officers and soldiers saw the banner of the Manchu Eight Banners, they were already frightened and surrendered, and they would not resist at all.

In this way, there were more and more Ming officers and troops who surrendered, and there were more and more green battalion troops of the Qing army.

The Gyeonggi region changed banners one after another in a short period of time, because the respective defenders did not occupy it.

"That Zu Kefa is just a straw bag, and he is scared by the tiger skin of the Tartar on weekdays, and he can only fight with his head and a rat."

Li Chengdong paused for a moment and continued: "What's more, now that the main forces of the Tartars are in Shanxi, no one will stand up to support Zu Kefa, and his subordinates want to see what else Zu Kefa can do if he loses the battle except to go to Beijing to find the chief to cry his nose." ”

Gao Jie couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

"You!"

"Dashuai, Zu Kefa is not to be afraid, but there are still some elite Eight Banners stationed in the Gyeonggi area. If the marshal wants to conquer the Jingshi, I'm afraid it won't be easy. ”

"Well, of course I know what you're talking about."

"The subordinates felt that after the marshal conquered Henan, he should write a report to the imperial court. One is to report the success and invite merit, and the other is to explore the tone of the imperial court. ”

Li Chengdong's meaning is very clear, although Gao Jie is quite worthy of today's son, but after all, he is not a general of the Son of Heaven.

If the credit for recovering Henan and Gyeonggi is taken by Gao Jie, I am afraid that the Son of Heaven will be unhappy.

Even if the Son of Heaven doesn't say it on his face, he will inevitably have a knot in his heart.

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