The two of them lingered for a while before getting up to wash. After breakfast, Qin Songwang and Pan Xuezhong discussed separately for a while, and decided not to go to Zhang Xianzhong first, and the special task force led by Chen Xiang immediately returned to Yulin Bay, and the rest of the people returned to Beijing.

Xu Lang, Lin Zhaolong, and Zhou Lei rushed to Tianjin, and Xu Tianbin and Wang Qianxiang had already converged in Tianjin with the headquarters of the 1st Independent Division and Ye Zhan's 4th Regiment. The entire 1st Separate Division was left with Andreas and the last cavalry battalion that had not yet arrived.

At the officers' meeting, Xu Tianbin put the topographic map of the entire Tianjin on the table of the division headquarters: "This is the map of Tianjin that we have explored and drawn these days, and the accuracy is still relatively high. ”

"Can you tell where Tao Gong will land?" Xu Lang asked.

"I don't dare to say if it's accurate, but I should know the general direction." Xu Tianbin pointed to the map and said, "The Tianjin Acropolis is located on the high ground south of the Wei River and west of the Lu River, surrounded by water. We looked at the volume of water in the two rivers, and it was perfectly possible to drive into the battleship. Therefore, we thought that Tao Gong should rely on his four warships to directly attack Tianjin Wei. ”

"Doesn't he fight Dagukou?" Lin Zhaolong asked.

"We went to Dagukou to see it, but we couldn't hold it at all." Wang Qianxiang said, "Although there are also forts at Dagukou at present, the four warships of Taogong are also equipped with at least more than 40 guns, and the artillery of the Ming Dynasty cannot compete with Taogong's artillery." ”

"What about transferring our artillery?" Zhou Lei asked.

"Our artillery can't be turned over." Xu Lang vetoed, "Our purpose this time is to set up an ambush in Tianjin and strive to annihilate the living forces of the new Korean army. ”

"But it's better for us to set up an ambush somewhere." Lin Zhaolong said, "Tianjin is not as close to Beijing as it is from other places, and there are no mountains, so it is difficult to set up an ambush. ”

"Tian Bin, who has the final say in Tianjin Wei now?" Xu Lang didn't answer Lin Zhaolong's question.

"Du Sance, the newly transferred governor of Tianjin, has just arrived, and he is a few days earlier than us."

"How many troops are there in Tianjinwei?" Xu Lang asked again.

"The total strength of the Tianjin Sanwei should be 16,800 according to the establishment." Wang Qianxiang replied, "But there are not so many now, it would be good to have half of them, and even fewer people have combat effectiveness." ”

Xu Lang stared at the map for a while: "Do you think Tao Gong's four warships will take down Tianjin Weilai?" ”

"It's hard to estimate." Xu Tianbin glanced at Xu Lang, "It depends on how Tao Gong wants to fight." ”

"How do you want to fight?" Xu Lang asked, "How do you think Tao Gong will fight?" ”

"I discussed this with Qianxiang." Xu Tianbin said, "We feel that Tao Gong should storm Tianjin Wei, Tianjin Wei is the gateway to Beijing, if Tianjin Wei is lost, it is equivalent to the Tartars occupying a stronghold here and directly threatening Beijing." And the new Korean army that came this time was at least 20,000 people, and the Eight Banners of Lushun might also come part, so Tao Gong should go all out to defeat Tianjin Wei. ”

Xu Lang looked around the participants, and finally stopped his gaze on Gao Chen: "Staff Officer Gao, tell me what you think." ”

"Yes, sir." Gao Chen got up and replied, "The idea of the subordinates is just the opposite of Chief Xu's, and the Tartars should not storm Tianjin Wei." ”

Before Xu Lang could speak, Lin Zhaolong asked first: "Why, why do you say that the Tartars will not storm Tianjin Wei." ”

"Chief Lin." Gao Chen replied, "Although the Tartars have a large number of troops this time, the Tartars came from the sea, and they came from Korea and Lushun. As far as his subordinates know, the Koreans and the Tartars are not good at sailing, so it should be more difficult for the Tartars to transport troops this time, and their troops can only be added one by one, and they cannot arrive at the same time. Tianjin Wei is not better than Lushun, behind it is Liaodong, and behind Tianjin Wei is the sea. Even if the Tartars can defeat the Tianjin Guard, they can't hold it with their four warships, so the Tartars probably won't want to take the Tianjin Guard. ”

"If the Tartars don't want to fight Tianjin, then what will be their purpose?" Ye Zhan asked on the side.

"Chief Huiye." Gao Chen continued to analyze, "Beijing is only more than 300 miles away from Tianjin Wei, and even the infantry can reach it in four or five days. This time, Huang Taiji will send a large army to besiege Beijing from the north, and at this time, if a strange army suddenly appears from behind under Beijing, then it will shake the Beijing division. Therefore, the subordinates thought that the Tartars were likely to use their warships to besiege Tianjin, but if they did not fight, their infantry would go straight to Beijing. ”

Suddenly no one spoke in the room, everyone was thinking about Gao Chen's analysis, Xu Lang asked: "Staff Officer Gao, if it is really like what you said, the Tartar infantry will go straight to Beijing, then where do you think we should stop them." ”

"Chief of Staff, we should choose a place between Tianjin and Beijing to block the attack. If the number of this strange army of the Tartars is small, it is not good, and it is not good if there are more, and their logistical supplies will not be able to keep up. Therefore, the subordinates think that this strange army should be between 5,000 and 10,000 people, and our independent division has 12,000 people, so it is no problem to stop them. ”

Xu Lang's gaze swept a few times on the map, and stopped in one place: "Langfang, we will block the Tartars in Langfang." ”

"Do you want to have a big victory in Langfang?" As soon as Lin Zhaolong's words came out, he realized that he had spoken out of his mouth, Ye Zhan and Gao Chen, the Ming Dynasty officers, looked at him puzzled, Lin Zhaolong hurriedly covered up, "Langfang is more than a hundred miles away from Tianjin, isn't it a little far." ”

"Zhaolong, you take the will of the imperial court to meet Du Sance, let him shrink his forces, it is best to gather the Sanwei people and the surrounding people together, and it is best to give up Dagukou. Zhou Lei and I personally took people to Langfang to have a look and find a suitable place to block the Tartars. We are running out of time, less than a month until May. ”

The next day, Xu Lang, Zhou Lei, and Gao Chen went to Langfang with a company of cavalry, but they did not find a suitable place to block the attack for two days. In the whole Langfang area, there is only a small area of low hills and hills in the northeast direction, which is the remnant vein on the south side of Yanshan, and the rest of the places are all plain areas, which are not suitable for large army ambushes, and the only way from Tianjin to Beijing is on the plain.

Zhou Lei rode on his horse and looked at the endless plain and was a little deflated: "Chief of Staff, this place is not very suitable." ”

Xu Lang didn't come up with any good ideas, so he turned around and asked, "Gao Chen, do you have any ideas?" ”

"Chief of Staff, my subordinates don't have any good ideas, this place is not suitable for concealment."

"Looks like we're going to have to reorganize." Xu Lang did not show disappointment, and shook his horse's head, "Go back to Tianjin Wei first." ”