The next day he received a report from the vanguard that there was no one in the south from Jinzhou to Lushun, and that there were still Mongols and their livestock in the mountain loops last winter, but now not only are there no people, but even the livestock are gone. The troops who went north to explore the road also came back to report that there were no Jurchen defenders in Fuzhou City, and it was not until they arrived in Gaizhou City that they found that there were Jurchen soldiers stationed in Gaizhou, and it was not clear how many people were inside.

Mao Wenlong had already received siege equipment and some food supplies sent by Phi Dao to Dachangshan Island at this time, and immediately called the deputy general Liu Xingzuo and a few guerrillas accompanying him to discuss the matter, the time was urgent, the weather was cold, and Mao Wenlong did not have any politeness after everyone met, so everyone sat and discussed while facing the fire. The small snowflakes outside the tent continued to fall, making the sky look a little gloomy during the day, just like Mao Wenlong's mood at this time. The mood of the others was not very good, because they heard Mao Wenlong say that they would capture Gaizhou at any cost.

Mao Wenlong first said: "This march is very important, our 40,000 brothers do not have any plans to return to Phi Island, while Huang Taiji is still in the north and cannot return for a while, we will take Gaizhou and cross the Liao River to Jinzhou." The key position of Gaizhou and the high mountains next to it form a sandwich road, only by laying down Gaizhou can we let these 40,000 people successfully cross the Liao River and besiege Jinzhou with the Ming army in western Liaoning. ”

The Chinese officer stood up and said: "Now my 40,000 troops are stationed at Hongzui Fort as the center, of which 10,000 are in Fuzhou and are preparing to capture Gaizhou in one fell swoop, 3,000 are searching for locals in the vicinity of Jinzhou, and 5,000 are guarding grain, forage, clothing and other items on Dachangshan Island. Last night, a small group of troops had already fought with the patrol force outside Gaizhou City, and after retreating, no enemy was seen chasing them, and it was estimated that there were not many troops in the city. It is said that many people in Fuzhou City were forcibly relocated, and the rest fled to the mountains to take refuge, and the grain and fodder were almost plundered. ”

After the lieutenant officer finished speaking, he sat down to roast the fire, Mao Wenlong looked at the deputy general Liu Xingzuo next to him, and saw that Liu Xingzuo was squinting with a tense face as if he was thinking about something, so Mao Wenlong looked at a guerrilla surnamed Huang. Seeing Mao Wenlong looking at him, Huang Guerrilla said: "Since the general must attack Gaizhou, and Gaizhou City is so dangerous, it is estimated that it is difficult to capture it by brute force, and only use siege equipment to save people and reduce casualties, I don't know what powerful thing the siege equipment brought this time is?" ”

Mao Wenlong said: "Because of the tight time, I only prepared more than a dozen boats for the things that were convenient, some of which were ladders to climb the wall and some crashes to attack the city gate, and the most powerful ones were a few slightly light cannons, aiming at the city gate and smashing a few more times, maybe you could smash a few holes, and the rest was gone." ”

Huang Guerrilla nodded and said: "Since it is judged that the strength of Gaizhou City is empty, we should take the opportunity to attack and take Gaizhou before the enemy's reinforcements arrive. ”

Mao Wenlong nodded and said: "Then there are 5,000 people from the headquarters led by Lao Huang guerrilla to support with siege equipment, although the light cannon is not very heavy, but it also needs to dig ice to guide the boat, there are still more than two hundred miles from here to Fuzhou and then to Gaizhou, if you act quickly, you can go to Gaizhou City tonight." Although there are not many enemies, you can't underestimate the enemy, you must pay attention to covering each other to reduce casualties, you have to remember that you can live a good life when you die, and if you die, you will have nothing, even if you leave the pension to your son, will they remember you when they grow up. ”

Huang Guerrilla said with a smile: "The last general remembers." ”

After Huang Guerrilla left, Liu Xingzuo suddenly asked: "I remember that when General Mao asked his soldiers to return to Phi Dao to give orders, they asked them to turn around quickly, why didn't they follow by land but by boat?" General Mao's army is very strict, even if he is close to his followers, he does not dare to disobey orders casually, what is going on this time? ”

Mao Wenlong opened his mouth and said: "I always feel that something is wrong, it turns out that this is indeed the case, and I want to ask them the reason." After saying that, he immediately sent someone to Dachangshan Island to call those pro-soldiers back and talk back.

After waiting for the soldiers to call for people to leave, Mao Wenlong said: "Vice General Liu is thoughtful, I don't know if you think there is anything wrong?" ”

Liu Xingzuo said: "I have been wondering why Huang Taiji evacuated so many people, if the relocation of the Mongols who returned to them was to gather men and horses to deal with Lin Dan Khan, then what did they do with the demolition of Jinzhou City?" They do this as if they don't want to come back and live again. Another strange point is why a lot of Han people in Fuzhou were also relocated? It is possible for young people to join the army or even directly join the Han army flag, what can old people and women do? ”

Mao Wenlong nodded and said: "You have a point, it stands to reason that there is only one purpose for doing this, that is, to anticipate that we or other Ming troops will come, transport away all the grain and grass and destroy the fortified city so that we will not have food and shelter." ”

Liu Xingzuo said: "If this is the case, it will be even more terrifying, they are likely to wait for us to run out of food before attacking, we should be prepared first." ”

The two talked for a while, and the herald called the soldiers who Mao Wenlong sent back to Phi Island and came with the ship. Mao Wenlong asked, "Why don't you chase us by land and come with the ship?" How did I explain to you? ”

The captain of the personal army saw that Mao Wenlong was faintly angry, so he said cautiously: "Report to the general, when we returned to Phi Dao to pass the order, we found a strange thing, and Vice General Mao was afraid that there would be an accident and let us escort us with the ship." ”

Mao Wenlong frowned and asked, "What strange things have you discovered?" What is Chenglu worried about? ”

The captain of the pro-soldier said: "We went back to give the order to ride a fast horse, after crossing the Yalu River, we found that a group of North Korean soldiers rode horses and waved knives to chase, and after chasing for a while, they did not chase again, Vice General Mao was afraid that when we went back, those Koreans would cause trouble again, and if we were injured, the matter would be small and the general's matter would be big, so we were asked to escort us with the boat." Vice Admiral Mao specially explained that he wanted to protect the safety of these ten ships of things, he was worried that those Koreans were already colluding with the Jurchens, and he was afraid that the Jurchens would sneak attack the ship that sent things to the general on the North Korean boat. ”

Mao Wenlong nodded with satisfaction and said, "I still wonder why so much grain has been transported, it turns out that Chenglu is worried about this, and it seems that Chenglu is also a thoughtful person like Vice General Liu." ”

Liu Xingzuo nodded when he heard this, and suddenly he seemed to remember something, and asked the captain of the pro-soldier nervously: "You said that a group of North Korean soldiers were chasing after them on horseback and wielding swords, do you think about them again and they are really like us wielding knives with one hand?" ”

The captain of the pro-soldier thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be similar to us, but it seems to be bigger." ”

Liu Xingzuo's face suddenly turned pale, and he said in a low voice: "That's not a North Korean but a Jurchen!" North Koreans have been poor for a long time, where can they have horses casually? ”

The captain of the pro-soldier said in surprise: "Jurchen? So how do they wear the clothes of the North Koreans? ”

Liu Xingzuo said: "The Jurchens can ride horses since they were children, and they can be said to be people who grew up on horseback, they are strong and strong, and they are used to holding knives and slashing with one hand, while the Koreans are similar to my Ming soldiers, with few cavalry and more infantry, and they are used to holding weapons with both hands." You see, my Ming soldiers generally hold guns with both hands, and Koreans generally hold guns with both hands or dance long knives and steel forks to defend against the enemy. My Ming cavalry also used one hand, but most of them were selected sturdy people, or like General Mangui, who were themselves Mongols, and you said that the people you saw were even more powerful in holding and wielding knives with one hand, then they must be Jurchens. ”

Mao Wenlong said at this time: "North Koreans are as weak as my Ming people, I once heard Wu Zhiwang say this, Wu Zhiwang is old and has a bad temper but his medical skills are still high. Wu Zhiwang said that Korean ginseng produced in North Korea can only replenish muscles and qi and blood but not bones, and the North Korean mountains are not as rich as my Daming, and they cannot absorb the essence from other products to strengthen the muscles and bones, so the North Koreans like to smash the dog bones and eat them. It can be seen from this that Vice Admiral Liu's remark that the Koreans are accustomed to holding weapons with both hands has some truth, but the appearance out of thin air is not enough to rely on, and it is best for you to go back again to see what is going on. ”

The captain of the pro-soldier said, "Yes! We'll go back and find out. ”

Mao Wenlong thought for a while and said: "Take a few more boats to stagger the front and back positions, if Phi Dao is fine, let Chenglu strengthen his vigilance and send some more things by the way, and if he is unlucky, he will run back as soon as possible to report the news." ”

After the captain of the pro-soldiers left, Liu Xingzuo asked: "Do you need to call back the 10,000 brothers in Huang Guerrilla and Fuzhou?" ”

Mao Wenlong said: "No, if it is really the trap of the Jurchens set for us as you said, then Huang Guerrilla will not easily succeed or defeat them this time, and Huang Taiji will use them to attract us." I'm just wondering why Huang Taiji didn't care about the northern grasslands? Isn't he afraid that the people he has worked so hard to fight for will be snatched back by Lin Dan Khan? ”

Liu Xingzuo said: "Maybe this is a double reed sung by the Mongolians and the Jurchens, and they don't want us to stay out of the way and watch the excitement." ”

Mao Wenlong said: "No matter how much, now we have to plan for the worst, Hongzui Fort is a place that is easy to attack and difficult to defend, Vice General Liu will first take 5,000 people to Jinzhou to build a city, the Jurchens don't want us to occupy the fortified city, we just can't do what he wants." Now the ice and snow cannot be repaired as soon as possible, and the only way to build an ice city is to learn from Cao Cao in the Three Kingdoms. ”

Liu Xingzuo said: "The city wall of Jinzhou itself is tall and strong, no matter how the foundation is demolished, it is still there, and if it can be repaired, it will be repaired, and if it cannot be repaired, it will be poured with soil and water. If the direction of Gaizhou is really invincible as the general expected, he will order the troops to immediately withdraw to Jinzhou and Dachangshan Island to stand by. ”

Mao Wenlong said: "That's it, I wanted to send someone to Huangcheng Island to report the emergency, but I was afraid that the situation would not be true, so I didn't report it for the time being, if the attack was really unfavorable, the army attacking Gaizhou would be withdrawn, and what kind of trap and trap should have appeared in Huang Taiji." ”