The failure of the Ming army's army to protect the south road not only made the Jiannu outside the Guan, who had a perfect spy system, sit on pins and needles, but Sun Chengzong and Yuan Keli also fell into a dilemma. The strength of Sun Chengzong and Yuan Keli, the governor of Liaodong, at this time was to some extent a peak of the Guanning Army, with as many as forty battalions of nearly 200,000 troops, of which there were nearly 20 in the car battalion alone, but many of these strong troops were temporarily trained since the late Apocalypse. When the army was being built and trained, he did not notice some new methods and new principles that Xiao Xuan had opened up since the seventh year of the Apocalypse, so in terms of combat effectiveness, it was more than enough to defend and not enough to attack, and it could not even be compared with the main force of the previous Ming army.

Of course, with the scale and fortification system, such a large number of troops can still play some deterrent role in the Jianzhou in the eastern direction of Liaodong, but if it is to enter the customs and the field battle of the Son of Heaven, who was able to compete with tens of thousands of armored troops in the field last year, no one can be sure of this. What's more important is that if the main force returns to the division, even if only two-thirds of the troops are dispatched, about 100,000 horses, and tens of thousands of people are still left behind at the border passes, it will be fundamentally impossible to contain the main force of Jianzhou, and there is no guarantee that this force will go south.

Just when Sun Chengzong, Yuan Keli and others were hesitating, Mao Wenlong, who was entrusted with the important task again, did not have so many dogmas and scruples, so he did not hesitate to say at this time: "Since Chongzhen took the throne A series of shocking things, the Jiannu outside the gate have not taken the initiative to find trouble. Obviously, the so-called heroes see something the same way. The rebellious emperor who did not pay attention to the rules and did not follow the routine was not only the public enemy of the world's heroes, but also the most important opponent of the Guanwai Jiannu. If the main force of our army enters the customs, as long as it is not left everywhere, not a single soldier is left behind, and it is clear that the border defense will be abandoned. The main force of Jiannu will not trouble the main force of our army. Think about it from another perspective: Is it a warrior who can use one or two million taels of silver to build a field defense that can compete with half of the main force of Jiannu in a field defense, is it a big threat to Jiannu, or is it a big threat to Jiannu from our people? The former, of course, because the former is able to unite enough forces to pose the greatest threat to opponents outside the gates... ”

Seeing that Sun Chengzong and the others still had a lot of concerns, Mao Wenlong said: "Jiannu can make my 200,000 army dare not advance with just tens of thousands of Ding Zhuang and 20,000 or 30,000 armor." It's not entirely because a frontal field confrontation can be a ten-strong against our army. The ability of the whole army to conduct mobile operations and even the ability of cavalry, archery, attack, and interference cannot be ignored. Although the Tianzi army is also very strong, for about a year and a half, even if it is a day and a half, it is impossible to have a high level of cavalry or even cavalry archers. Not to mention that there weren't many decent horses in Kannai in the first place. A strong army with strong frontal combat effectiveness and not enough elite cavalry, even if our army is helpless, will certainly not suffer much loss in battle. Therefore, it is just right to rely on this battle to establish and train the team that has just become an army in the past few years... ”

Yuan Keli finally made up his mind at this time, and also persuaded: "Although Emperor Chongzhen is the emperor of the Han people, what he did and said was that he had never done it when Meng Yuan Liaojin entered the Kou. If the Tatars occupy China, it will of course be a misfortune for China. But for the sake of profit, even if it is brutal and barbaric like Meng Yuan, he will not slaughter the Han people in the world. But if that deviant person is allowed to become the climate in the end, at least it will be a loss of fame, and we will not be able to get it even if we are slaves... ”

Hearing such words, Sun Chengzong finally wavered. In fact, many people have realized this. But not many people dare to tell the truth, especially at the risk of reputational damage.

"That's fine: you and Cao Wenzhao and even myself are ready to lead two-thirds of the troops of the three-way army to prepare to go south. For the sake of safety, this time all the forward and rear battalions were dispatched, half of the firearms battalions were scattered, and most of the vehicle battalions with more firearms remained behind. In this way, if Jiannu wants to conquer Ningjinshan Customs and other important towns, it will not be easy to do it. Our army should enter the pass as soon as possible to fight a decisive battle with the enemy and save the situation in the pass... ”

Almost at the same time, Sun Chengzong also personally contacted You Shigong You Shiwei in Shanxi and even many generals of the Northwest Army to persuade that the decisive battle of Gyeonggi at this time was a matter of the world, not a time to wait and see.

In this way, the 120,000 Guanning Army and even the 20,000 Dongjiang Army, a total of 140,000 horses, passed through the land and sea directions, and about 40,000 or 50,000 troops on each road gathered in the direction of Gyeonggi at the fastest speed and completed the assembly in the Tongzhou area as soon as possible. The reason why the troops had to be divided at the beginning was nothing more than a logistical problem in the northern part of Gyeonggi. No one had the intention of relying only on about 40,000 or 50,000 partial divisions to face the main force of the legendary Son of Heaven's army. However, with the main force of the Guanning Army and the Dongjiang Army of about 100,000 people, even if it could not intercept the legendary Son of Heaven forbidden brigade, it seemed that it would still be able to weaken its strength to a large extent.

Just after the actual news that the main forces of the Guanning Army and the Dongjiang Army were heading south, it had been repaired for more than a year and a half since the Battle of Nanyuan in Qingyuan, and the replenishment of troops from the Shengjurchen and further digestion of the main force of Jianzhou also set out with the fastest speed. The number of troops is slightly more than the battle of Chongzhen's second winter in history, reaching 200 Niulu and about 20,000 armored soldiers, so that the unprecedented force quickly subdued the grassland departments at a much faster speed than in history, and quietly approached the border pass at the fastest speed.

At this time, Sun Chengzong, Cao Wenzhao and others, who led the army south, of course realized the possible consequences of the main force of the Ming army in Liaodong going south, but at this time, they could only take a risk. Because even if it is a whole division, the elimination of Jiannu is something that is simply unpredictable in a short period of time. However, with more than 100,000 main forces, defeating 10,000 elites and tens of thousands of newly built troops, the horse team still has a clear advantage in terms of cavalry, and no matter how you look at it, it is a matter of most chances of winning.

Xiao Xuan, who joined forces with the left-behind troops in Dongchang, also knew that he was fighting in the south, but he was the first to attack, the most rampant, but the weakest in nature, and to attack as defense. The strong enemy in the north from inside the pass to the outside of the pass is a sharp sword hanging above their foundation at any time, so the whole team also returned to the north along the waterway as quickly as possible after the victory.

However, perhaps because of the heavy burden of all kinds of food and military baggage that were captured, even if they went north along the waterway, the marching speed of the whole team was not much faster than that of the cavalry and horse team, and when there was still a lot of distance from Tongzhou, the news that the eight forward and rear battalions led by Cao Wenzhao and mainly horse teams had arrived in the Tongzhou area came from the north. This made Xiao Xuan also feel a lot of pressure. In order to avoid encountering a surprise attack by the overwhelmingly superior enemy cavalry in the rapid march, the speed of the fleet of tens of thousands of horses could only be slowed down as much as possible. Let Li Zicheng and the cavalry and horse team of the teaching brigade have the opportunity to form a warning range of at least 15 miles or so to avoid accidents that may occur at any time.

(End of chapter)