Returning to Xiangyang, what Li Zicheng called "Xiangjing", Li Zicheng and his important ministers were thinking about how to defeat the model army on the battlefield. In the end, they all came to the conclusion that if they fought in a frontal field, without more than five times the number of troops, it would be impossible to block the attack of the model army; Without ten times more troops, it would have been impossible to repel the ranks of the Model Army. Moreover, the troop strength mentioned here refers to the real troop that can go to the battlefield to fight, not the troop that counts those auxiliaries or even the chaotic homeless people or something. Considering Li Zicheng's current economic ability, the army he can support will never exceed fifty or sixty thousand, so as long as the model army exceeds 10,000, it is almost impossible for him to defeat his opponent in a frontal field battle.

However, this calculation did not make Li Zicheng and his ministers too frustrated, because they have always been accustomed to the situation that the enemy is strong and I am weak, and in the early years, the army in Li Zicheng's hands was almost vulnerable when it encountered the elite of the imperial court, but as long as it survived for a while, it can be seen that the imperial court is rotten day by day, but their side is getting better day by day - this time there should not be much difference.

And there are still more gains from research along the way. They felt that they should have found some weaknesses in their opponents.

"Lao Liu, look at the Zheng Jiajun's livestock, the horses they rode one by one, and the armor on their bodies, grandma's, even the things on the bodies of ordinary generals, will not be better than theirs. Their soldiers—I don't mean horsemen, but their infantry. They can run as fast as thieves in that armor - how much do you think these guys have to eat every day! Li Zicheng said to Liu Zongmin.

"It's not a question of how much to eat, they definitely have to eat well, they have to eat meat, in order to have this!" Liu Zongmin said, "Your Majesty, I am thinking, this Zheng family army has so many war horses and cannons, almost everyone has armor, and then they eat a lot and eat well, their team goes out to fight, and people eat what horses chew, this grain and grass supply is a big problem, isn't it?" I thought about it, even if they only have 10,000 people, the food and grass supplies they have to consume or something, I am afraid that they can withstand the 70,000 or 80,000 ordinary officials and soldiers of the pseudo-Ming Dynasty. If such a team takes some action, if it takes more than five or six days, it will probably have to move along the river. ”

"Lao Liu, what you said is right. You see, since they fought Zhuozhou, Zheng Jiajun didn't follow, most likely because the land route was too long, and they spent too much military money, so they couldn't catch up with us anymore. It's a pity that Xiangjing is by the river......"

Li Zicheng's words made everyone silent. Now Li Zicheng's group has regarded Xiangyang and even the Hanshui Valley as the foundation of the royal industry, and in such a year of frequent droughts, only on both sides of the big rivers can rely on irrigation, barely maintaining agriculture. By controlling the Jianghan Plain, Li Zicheng's clique will be able to have food and money to raise troops, and it will be able to withstand defeat. So, in any case, it is unthinkable to give up Xiangyang. However, Xiangyang is on the edge of the Han River, and the shipping of the Han River is quite good, and if the capacity of the Han River is well utilized, it is enough to maintain the military operations of tens of thousands of model troops.

"Your Majesty, don't worry." Song Xiance said, "Your Majesty, the puppet Ming court lacks financial resources, even if there are capable soldiers, where is the military salary to mobilize these troops?" ”

Niu Jinxing listened on the sidelines, just smiled, but didn't say much. However, Song Qijiao, another Wenchen of Li Zicheng, spoke: "Your Majesty, Weichen heard that the puppet Ming Emperor made Zheng Zhilong the king, and pawned Ningbo to the Zheng family for a large sum of silver. If they weren't going to use troops immediately, where would they do such a thing? Therefore, we must not relax in the matter of preparing for war. ”

"The puppet emperor did this, but he lost the unification of the Son of Heaven, and there will be a rebellion of the princes in the future, he is really the king of the country! Your Majesty only needs to hold on for a while, and then you can see its self-defeat! Dashun's household secretary Lu Zhiqi said again.

"Your Majesty, Xiangjing is the gateway of my dynasty in Hebei, and it must be guarded. However, defend Xiangjing, and do not fight in Xiangjing. Fighting in Xiangjing, even if Xiangjing is defended, the surrounding area is also broken. What's the use of holding on? Song Qijiao said, "The minister thinks that the puppet Ming army attacked our army by land and water, and the land route should be the route when our army retreats all the way, as for the waterway, most of them are to go up the Yangtze River upstream, go to Wuhan and then enter the Han River, and then go straight to Xiangjing." Not to mention the land route, just the waterway, the distance is thousands of miles, and the puppet Ming army wants to fight from this road, in order to ensure military supplies, it must be a place that can be used as a place to hoard military supplies. Wuhan is the thoroughfare of the nine provinces, connecting the Hanshui River, if the enemy army relies on the waterway to attack, it will definitely take advantage of Wuhan's water and land convenience. Our army should defeat Zuo Liangyu's troops as soon as possible, seize the three towns of Wuhan, and then move all its people to Xiangjing, and then destroy the wharves of Wuhan and the walls of the three towns, and set fire to the houses in the city. In this way, even if the enemy army captured Wuhan, it would be difficult to use it. Then our army sank into a rock along the Han River, thinking that it was a reef and blocked the shipping lane. This made it impossible for the enemy's military supplies to move along the Han River. His Majesty then attacked its grain route with light cavalry, and although the enemy army was elite, it may not be able to threaten Xiangjing. As long as you hold on to this time, you will not be able to worry about the hypocrisy. ”

"Our army is already exhausted from continuous battles." Liu Zongmin said, "Zuo Liangyu has a lot of soldiers in his hands, and the city of Hankou is strong, but it is not so easy to fight. ”

"General Quan, although there are a lot of soldiers in Zuo Liangyu's hands, over the years, his soldiers have become more and more ineffective." Song Xiance shook his head and said, "Even Zhang Xianzhong can beat him to the ground." In the battle with Zhang Xianzhong, he lost a lot of veterans, and now although he has a lot of people, it is not necessarily difficult to defeat him. And everyone knows that our army needs to rest, and Zuo Liangyu naturally thinks so. But I don't know that the army left behind in Xiangjing by our army is also elite, and now we will leave the soldiers who have returned from the expedition in Xiangjing, and it is not a problem for them to defend the city now. Then, with the original Xiangjing left-behind army as the mainstay, with some newly trained troops, they can suddenly send troops, and if they are surprised, they will definitely be able to defeat Zuo Liangyu and seize Wuhan. ”

"There's some truth to that." Liu Zongmin said, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that you can try it like this." If it is done, it is naturally good, but it will not be successful, so can Zuo Liangyu catch it up? ”