"Ben Baylor doesn't know." Tao Gong instructed, "You pay attention to Zilharang's movements these days, and come to me directly if you have anything." ”

"Minions understand."

Ji Tonghai withdrew from the house, and Tao Gong took out the letter sent by Tao Min and looked at it carefully. In a letter to his younger brother, Tao Min made a detailed analysis of the current situation, and repeatedly warned Tao Gong that if the Tianjin Wei could not be defeated, he must not rush to attack Beijing, and would wait for news after the entire army landed in Tianjin, and he would pass on the latest information to the Tianjin side. And Tao Min told Tao Gong not to worry about his own safety, at present, Huang Taiji has no other ideas, and he is still the first.

Tao Gong watched, and two tears rolled down.

Xu Lang received the latest information on Cobra sent by Zhang Hai in Tianjin, and a new officer meeting was held.

"Tao Min will not come to Tianjin, and the Tartars in Tianjin are completely commanded by Tao Gong alone."

The news sparked a flurry of discussion at the venue.

"Chief of Staff." Zhou Lei was the first to say, "If Tao Min is not in Tianjin, then it will be much easier for us to deal with Tao Gong, that fool doesn't have much heart." ”

Zhou Lei's words caused a burst of laughter.

"Maybe we'll be a little easier, but maybe it's not easy." Xu Lang said, "It is precisely because Tao Min is not in Tianjin that he may pay more attention to Tianjin and understand the situation in Tianjin, and he will definitely command Tao Gong remotely." Moreover, the time when the Cobra sent this information was half a month ago, and now it is the middle of April, and in 20 days at most, the full-scale attack of the Tartars will begin, and we have not yet found a suitable ambush site. ”

When it came to this question, all the participants stopped talking, and these days everyone went around the city of Tianjin, but they couldn't find a place where more than 10,000 people could hide.

"So don't think about it." Lin Zhaolong said, "What should we do or what we should do, we called everyone to this meeting today to set the ambush location, we don't have time to wait any longer." ”

"According to the situation we have investigated in the past few days, the most suitable place for ambush should be here." Xu Tianbin walked to the map and pointed to a dot and said, "Majiakou." Majiakou is more than 150 miles away from Tianjin Wei, close to the Haihe River, and there are several villages here, all of which are not large. Judging from the distance, it will take two and a half to three days for the Tartars to walk from Tianjin Wei to Majiakou, and they should spend the night in Majiakou, because there are still villages here after all. And less than ten miles away from Majiakou, there is a forest on the other side of the Haihe River, where we can lie in ambush. ”

"The Tartars will have scouts, and their scouts will easily spot us." Zhao Qi asked, "And Majiakou is ten miles away from our ambush place, what should my heavy artillery regiment do, it can't be pulled through if it really fights." ”

"That's how we envisioned it." Wang Qianxiang stood up and said, "I have visited this place with Xu Tianbin, we can first use Andreas's cavalry regiment to entangle the Tartars, the Tartars came from the sea this time, and their cavalry must not be many." Our cavalry regiment of 2,500 men only had to entangle them for a day, and our infantry and artillery could be transferred to surround them. ”

"Sir Wang." Gao Chen raised his hand and asked, "What if the Tartars are reinforced, their vanguard may not be many in number, and the follow-up troops will be reinforced from Tianjinwei." Do we have time to build fortifications? ”

"Don't argue about it anymore." Lin Zhaolong became serious, "We will set up an ambush in Majiakou and strive to hit the Tartars hard." But you have a good idea that we may be fighting the Tartars in this battle. Almost half of the 1st Independent Division are recruits who have never been on the battlefield, and the casualty rate should not be small. ”

"But the deputy division commander." Ye Zhan was interrupted by Xu Lang as soon as he spoke, "Ye Zhan, your regiment and Commander Xu's Fifth Infantry Regiment will be used as reinforcements to block the Tartars, you discuss with Commander Xu to see where it is appropriate to block the attack." ”

Before the meeting, Xu Lang talked to Lin Zhaolong alone. Xu Lang and Lin Zhaolong revealed their speculation that Tao Min's main purpose of attacking Ming this time should not be to take Beijing, but to force Chongzhen to make peace, so as to free up his hands to deal with Yulin Bay. Therefore, the main task of the 1st Independent Division is to block Taogong in Tianjin, and must not let him appear under the city of Beijing, otherwise Chongzhen may really sway. Although Xu Lang has asked Zhang Hai to start contacting the Donglin Party in Beijing, there is no bottom in Xu Lang's heart whether these people can be relied on.

Lin Zhaolong and Xu Lang both said so, and other people no longer raised any objections, and the principled plan for the Majiakou blockade battle was decided.

All parties are actively preparing for war, and Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of Xuanfu Town, summoned Guan Mingke at the General Military Mansion.

"General Guan, General Zhou has been under your rule since he came to Xuanfu Town, and this official has also heard that you have been in close contacts."

"Back to the general soldier, the lower officials have always been doing things according to the will of the imperial court, and the dealings between the lower officials and General Zhou are also official affairs." Guan Mingke didn't understand why Yang Guozhu asked this, and he was a little nervous.

"This official doesn't mean anything else." Yang Guozhu is really not in the mood to care about Guan Mingke and Zhou Lei's partnership in the arms business now, the will of the imperial court has reached Xuanfu Town, and the Tartars may break through in the near future, "I heard that you and General Zhou have done a lot of arms business over the years, and I want to know how many guns and artillery there are in Xuanfu Town now." ”

"Your Excellency." Guan Mingke misunderstood what Yang Guozhu meant, and became more and more nervous, "Doing arms business with General Zhou is the intention of the previous commander-in-chief, Lord Lu, and the imperial court also knows it, and the lower officials are just acting on orders." ”

"That's not what the officer asked." Yang Guozhu couldn't help but be a little anxious when he saw that Guan Mingke had been spitting and spitting, "This official won't tell you that this official has just received the order of the imperial court, and the Mongolian Tatars will attack my Xuanfu Town in the near future." At this time, the imperial court transferred the Yulin Army away, and the official needs to know how many firearms we still have. ”

Guan Mingke was relieved when he heard Yang Guozhu say this: "Back to the general soldier, originally there were 6,000 firearms produced in Yulin Bay in Xuanfu Town, and there were about 500 in the warehouse, and General Zhou left another six or seven hundred when he left, and there are currently more than 7,000 in total. ”

"How many artillery?"

"There are two or three hundred artillery pieces in various places, including 22 six-pounder guns in Yulin Bay."

"Bring all these firearms to Xuanfu Town."

"Your Excellency." Guan Mingke said secretly in his heart, "All transported to Xuanfu Town, how do you know where the Tartars will attack, what if I don't have a firearm in my hand and I don't have my lower north road." ”