At the beginning of June, the flag of the Duolunoer army was fluttering and the horn was sounding, and a total of 15,000 officers and men of the cavalry front association of Kubai and Tulichen, the cavalry right association of Meng Ke and Jeddah, the cavalry left association of Zhang Ding and Ma Jinzhong, the artillery left association of Ding Qiming and Yan Qi, and the right battalion of Chahar who had lost the martyrdom were ready to go -- in order to free up more officers and veterans to strengthen the Shanxi people's army, the military system of Fengzhou was adjusted, and each battalion was reduced from 1,500 to 1,000, and each battalion was reduced from 5,500 to 3,500.

The red flag is raised under the barbarian mountain, and our soldiers are mighty and strong;

The general is gracious to the people, and his comrades are in good spirits;

The desert smoke rises from the side wall, and the Jin Ge Iron Horse is in a hurry;

The blood is heroic, the country is dead, and the captives have been extinguished.

Xue Xianguang, the assistant military affairs officer of the eastern Xingtai, Zhang Liwei, the commander of Kaipingwei, and Zhu Riga, the commander of Chahar, led 10,000 armed auxiliaries to also lined up neatly, and they were ordered to receive and transport military rations. The Fengzhou Chamber of Commerce also made some moves, hiring five hundred cavalry to help in the battle, Fan Erxi was ordered to command this team, and at least six or seven hundred people will join it when they arrive in Ulan Hada, and the combat power of these veterans and horse thieves is definitely not bad. Interestingly, there were also lamas accompanying the army, Lama Aung Tun, and more than 30 virtuous lamas who accompanied the army on the expedition to the east in order to supervise military discipline and pacify the people of the steppe.

Li Yu, commander of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, Zhao Ji, deputy marshal, Mao Yuanyi, military affairs of Zanhua, Changshu of government affairs, and Li Yao, and Xue Zongzhou, staff officers of the march, surrounded Liu Xingzuo and inspected the army. Liu Xingzuo was old and frail and could not march long distances, but insisted on coming to see off a ride, and at this time, seeing the mighty military appearance, he couldn't help but have red circles in his eyes.

"Hermes-Epitek, our fourteen years of hard work have not been in vain, Fengzhou no longer has to worry about self-preservation, and can also go out of the country to challenge strong enemies, and my old man can close his eyes when he dies." Liu Xingzuo's face was flushed with excitement, and he coughed again after a burst of breath.

"The eldest brother is not in good health, so it is better to return to the old age as soon as possible." Li Yu gave Liu Xingzuo a thump on the back and said.

"When the army returns to the division, I will return with you, sixty people, it's time to make way for young people." Liu Xingzuo smiled and set his eyes on Xue Xianguang.

Li Yu nodded immediately after comprehending it, helped Liu Xingzuo onto a temporary high platform, and then waved his hand to Chang Shu.

Erbeile Amin, who had been crazy for many years, died in solitary confinement in November last year, and most of the Manchus who defected to Fengzhou were incorporated into the two guards of Xinghe and Kaiping, among which the two flags of Zhenglan and inlaid blue were the most, and it was inevitable to pay tribute to Amin. Changshu read the sacrificial text aloud to the soldiers and tens of thousands of people who saw them off, and Amin, who had always been arrogant and unreasonable, and bullied the weak, suddenly became an upright and bold, kind-hearted good man, and was praised as a warrior who maintained Manchurian tradition and opposed the oppression of Sinicization, on the contrary, Huang Taiji became a reactionary element who forgot his ancestors and betrayed tradition, and the persecution of Shulhaqi and Amin father and son also became a reactionary crime of Nurhachi and his son, and the text finally said "Amin Belle is the last martyr of Manchuria's opposition to oppression, He and Mang Gultaibel were the greatest heroes of Manchuria, they unfortunately left, but the banner of upholding tradition and opposing oppression has passed into our hands, and the president will lead us to continue to follow in their footsteps, believing that the day of the liberation of Manchuria will eventually come, and Amin Belle will be immortal! ”

Changshu's incendiary memorial provoked a strong reaction, and Tu Lichen and other Amin's die-hard friends burst into tears and took the lead in chanting "Long live the president", "Down with Huang Taiji", and "Liberation of Manchuria". Amid the sound of slogans, the army set off in a mighty way—and it was from this moment that Li Yu learned that he had officially become the chief leader of the stubborn forces in Manchuria.

The battle situation in Jinzhou was full of twists and turns, the Qing army attacked the city unfavorable last year, Jierharang and Duoduo were ordered to build a city in Yizhou to maintain the oppressive posture of Jinzhou, at the beginning of this year, Dolgon, Azig, and Haoge led their troops to besiege Jinzhou City again, and the Han army and the Korean army bombarded the city wall with guns. Zu Dashou once faced a desperate situation, and asked Ning Yuan for help, saying that the rice in the city was only for more than a month, and the beans were not in January, Ning Jin's qi pulse was interrupted, and the three cities of Song, Xing, and Jin were already in a precarious situation, and the morning was not overdue, and Hong Chengchou responded that the troops were insufficient, and the reinforcements could not be moved lightly. At the critical moment, the Qing army commander Dolgon helped a lot, two rains in the spring, the Qing army generally thought that this was a good omen, asked to go home to grab crops, Dolgon was noisy, and Haoge discussed and allowed each Niu Lu every three people to go home one person, and soon allowed each Niu Lu to go home for every five people, each flag Niu Lu Zhang Jing one person home, while retreating thirty miles, the Ming army took the opportunity to take the sea route to transport a large number of grain into the city, Zu Dashou breathed a sigh of relief, sent someone to Hong Chengchou to send a message, the city has half a year of grain, reinforcements step by step can be forced, There is no need to rush to war.

Hong Chengchou's strategy is to "fight and defend", stick to Songshan and Xingshan for transshipment, and defend the fortified city of Jinzhou, and wait for this autumn, the enemy is poor and North Korea is also poor, and its weakness will retreat, Zu Dashou's words are exactly what he wants, and he will continue to nest in Ningyuan with peace of mind. The Qing Emperor was furious, and punished Dolgon and Hauge, who had delayed the warplane, and ordered Zilharang to take over Dolgon's command of the whole army. Jierharang immediately re-encircled Jinzhou, bombarded the city wall day and night with large and small cannons, and the Dongguan guards thought that the general situation had gone, and were lured by the Qing army to surrender, and the outer city of Jinzhou was lost.

Jinzhou was in an emergency again, the imperial court urgently sent Zhang Ruoqi, the staff of the Ministry of War, and Ma Shaoyu, the director, to inspect the military situation, Hong Chengchou had to move, with Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, as the forward, and the elite of each town as the rear should launch a tentative attack on the periphery of Jinzhou, Yang Guozhu also worked hard, leading the family and his own soldiers to attack the Rufeng Mountain between Jinzhou and Songshan with guns, the Qing army's right flank counterattack failed, and the two red flags on the top of the mountain, the three camps inlaid with blue flags were broken in a daze, and hundreds of lives were lost - Zierharang was in charge of the criminal department and became a veteran of solving cases, The ability to fight is getting worse and worse, especially after Amin's death, his brain is even weaker, this guy can no longer be used, and the Qing Emperor turned Dolgon out and took over as the commander. Dolgon was obviously better than the gloomy Zilharang, and he did not retreat from the East Stone Gate, and Haoge also held the West Stone Gate, and the Ming army was unable to attack and was blocked outside the city, and the two sides fought a stalemate.

Zhang Ruoqi quickly reported the news of the Ming army's victory in the first battle to the imperial court, and also swore that "the border soldiers can fight", and the army will advance to "encircle and solve immediately", and Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, was overjoyed, and offered the strategy of "five-way siege" - the main force of the official army went out of Ningyuan to attack the enemy's front, and the naturalized Hu rode out of Hara to attack the enemy's back, and attacked the enemy's side with the troops of Jinzhou, Songshan, and Xingshan, then the enemy would be defeated and the siege of Jinzhou could be solved. Hong Chengchou's strategy of "fighting and defending" was approved by the emperor, and Chen Xinjia's "five-way siege" strategy was obviously contrary to it, and the emperor felt very tricky and specially summoned Chen Xinjia into the palace to play the right game.

"Your Majesty, the minister has told today's 'ten worries, ten can be discussed', the thieves are in turmoil and the border troubles are not over, hundreds of thousands of border troops have gathered in Ningyuan, and the enemy is tired and retreated this year, what will happen next year? The minister thought that it was better to fight quickly than to delay the war. Chen Xinjia's answer was very simple, there were some things that he didn't say, but the emperor definitely understood.

For more than 270 years in the Ming Dynasty, in addition to Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry of the Hongzhi Dynasty, Chen Xinjia is the second case. Yang Sichang died easily, but the responsibility for the death of King Fu and King Xiang fell on his head, if it were not for the emperor's strength to protect and even the possibility of killing the head, he recommended Ding Qirui to supervise the thief with the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of War, the thief did not decrease but besieged Kaifeng, and the courtiers accused him of recommending non-people, and the responsibility for suppressing the thief was still his.

The emperor was silent, Chen Xinjia had actually made it clear, since all the armies have converged, then hurry up and fight, the Ming Dynasty is now weak and can't afford to fight a protracted war, in case the food is not enough, the army may collapse without a fight.

"How is the Naturalized Army now?" The Emperor asked after a while.

"The Naturalized Army has sent troops from Duolun on the third day of the first month of June, and with their marching speed and combat strength, they will definitely be able to occupy Hara in mid-July and approach the mouth of the Daling River Valley," Chen Xinjia was still very proud of this Xuanda strong army, but immediately thought that Li Yu had always been lawless, and he might not be willing to listen to the words of the military department, so he immediately added, "The road in the Daling River Valley is difficult and dangerous, and it is easy to set up ambushes, and the naturalized uncle may not take this road, and the minister thinks that it is better to allow him to act cheaply, as long as he attacks the enemy's vital points." ”

The emperor smiled bitterly, it was interesting for the naturalized Berken to run around for 50,000 stone grain, and the bloody work still had to be done by his own people, so he nodded and said: "According to what Aiqing said, Zhang Ruoqi and Ma Shaoyu don't have to go back to Beijing, stay in the army to monitor military affairs, and then issue an edict to the naturalized uncle, in a word, he will not live up to me, and I will never fail him." ”

Chen Xinjia bowed and retreated, and the emperor glanced at the ministers on both sides - He Fengsheng, Zhang Sizhi, Wei Zhaocheng, Xie Cheng and Chen Yan and others, these guys never spoke, He Fengsheng is deaf, but are others also deaf? The emperor waved his hand helplessly, and several ministers breathed a sigh of relief, and they slipped away in a moment. These people can't be counted on, but fortunately, there is a new candidate in the cabinet - Zhou Yanru, Qingliu unanimously believes that he is a great talent in Kuang Shiji, and the current chaos is not incomprehensible, this person is already on the way to Beijing.

"Has Xue Guoguan arrived in Beijing?" The emperor suddenly asked about the former first assistant - Xue Guoguan was suspected of being greedy for ink and selling officials, and was driven back to his hometown in Hancheng last year, but the ministers thought that he was Wen Tiren's party and should get rid of the evil.

"I'm listening to the survey at Jingshi's house, but this person drinks and has fun all day long, and he seems to have no fear." The master of ceremonies Wang Chengen took the opportunity to add to the fire, Xue Guoguan was cheap, and said that the Ming Dynasty was greedy for ink because of the poor supervision of the factory guards, and the father-in-law was also offended.

The emperor sneered a few times and stopped speaking - Emperor Shizong of the Jiajing Dynasty killed the first assistant Xia Yan, and the ministers all bowed to him, maybe killing another first assistant could make the court look new.

Chen Xinjia returned home and immediately wrote to Hong Chengchou: Some people say that you will retire from the army and enter the customs, is this really the case? You have used troops for more than a year, and you have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary, which can not only relieve the siege of Jinzhou, but also make the interior trapped, why can you live up to the emperor's sage and thank the hopes of the ministers of the court? When this lord is worried about the humiliation of his ministers, he will be uneasy at night!

Then he wrote to Li Yu: Naturalized Bo played to abandon the defense of Liaoxi, foolishly thought that it could be carefully considered, but the ministers were boiling and difficult to speak, but for the sake of the world, why should they care about the interests and disadvantages, the saint said "the minister does not live up to the king, the king will not live up to the minister", now the king is trapped inside and outside and hesitated, and the enemy is frustrated in the border desert, then the situation is slightly slow, and the big thing may be done!

Sending someone to deliver the letter, Chen Xinjia breathed a long sigh, everything he could did was done, and the rest could only be left to fate.

Ning Yuan, Hong Chengchou sneered and read Chen Xinjia's letter, it was just a "radical method", and he handed it to Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, and this letter arrived at the same time as the secret edict of "sending troops at the right time", but Hong Chengchou was more interested in Li Yu's letter, and this letter had just arrived.

Li Yu repeatedly apologized in the letter, the situation of the naturalized army is too special, and it may not help when it arrives in Ningyuan, but it may cause civil strife in the official army, and it is more appropriate to use the advantage of cavalry to attack the enemy's side, but the strength of the naturalized army is limited after all, and it can only attack the Mongolian foreign vassals, so as to contain a part of the Qing army, but it is powerless to enter Liaodong. He also believed that the Ming army and the Qing army had a huge disparity in combat power, and it was difficult to win the battle of Jinzhou, so he gave Hong Chengchou three strategies, the upper strategy was to abandon Jinzhou, Zu Dashou retreated from the sea, and Wu Sangui joined forces to defend Ningyuan, while the main force of the Ming army retreated to Shanhaiguan; Zhongce gathered heavy troops in Ningyuan and did not move, and selected brave soldiers to harass the enemy outside Jinzhou, and dragged it until winter, and the Qing army could only retreat and truce; The next strategy was to use the main force to relieve the siege of Jinzhou, but the main force would never cross Tashan to avoid a decisive battle with the enemy, and it was necessary to prepare more sea ships for emergency use.

Li Yu's best policy is just a copy of abandoning Liaoxi, and even worse, he actually encouraged the abandonment of the Guanning army, the middle strategy coincides with Hong Chengchou's "fight and defend" policy, and the next policy is almost clearly said that the defeat is assured, and more ships should be prepared in order to escape - after Qiu Minyang read the letter, he scolded "If it is not my race, its heart must be different", this Beiyu not only did not send troops to help, but deliberately shook the heart of the army, Zhang Ruoqi pulled Ma Shaoyu to read the letter several times, and quietly muttered on the side.

Li Yu is better if he doesn't come to Ningyuan, which shows that he is still smart - the naturalized army and the Guanning army are thousands of miles apart, but the contradictions are very deep, Zu Kuan and Li Chongzhen are just trivial matters, the real reason is the conflict between the two sides in Liaodong's business, Fengzhou people will do whatever it takes to grab the smuggling market of the Guanning army, not only colluded with the Qing Dynasty lords and nobles to expel all kinds of traders who were attached to the Guanning army, but even instigated Jinyiwei to kill people and raid their homes, the smuggling business of the Guanning army smashed the pot, many generals hated the naturalization town to the bone, Wu Sangui publicly threatened to clean up the naturalized army, Hong Chengchou has been on the side for a long time, He guessed eight or nine points about this kind of thing, but he didn't want to care and didn't dare to care, since the court was willing to give in, why did he force Li Yu to come to Ningyuan. What is a headache is the military strength of the Ming army, Ningyuan's eight total soldiers claim to have 130,000 soldiers, but what is the real number, how many miscellaneous soldiers and how many farmers, the ghost can figure it out, but the soldiers are even less pitiful, Cao Bianjiao and Ma Ke's old foundation is the northwest border army, and they can each make up a thousand elites, and the others are hanging, I am afraid that they can only rely on their families and personal soldiers to go into battle, and the strongest is Wu Sangui, who has at least three thousand soldiers with double salaries, but it is difficult to say how much he is willing to give - with less than 10,000 elites and the Qing army's division of a hundred battles, Hong Chengchou really has no confidence.

"The iron cavalry of the naturalized army is fierce, and there will be achievements in attacking the enemy's flank and back, and it is more appropriate for the army to send troops while the eastern captives are panicking." Hong Chengchou looked at the map and said to himself - it is best to delay until the approaching winter before sending troops, when the Qing army may retreat without a fight.

"No, the army is gathered here, the daily consumption of grain and grass is huge, the military department is already stretched, and it will not be able to hold on if it is delayed, it is better to take advantage of the morale to fight quickly," Zhang Ruoqi jumped up and down during this time, and was jokingly called "I only know that there is Zhang Bingbu, but I don't know that there is Governor Hong", of course, he did not give Hong Chengchou a chance to play tricks, and immediately added another sentence, "This year's Shandong famine and epidemic, Shouzhang thief Li Qingshan blocked the transportation again, the military department is to save grain, and has ordered the grain and grass to be directly transferred to Tashan, and the governor is still ordered to send troops." ”

"Don't worry about the military strength, the lower officials have taught the army to use the chariot formation, if the Qing army comes to attack, just set up the chariot formation, the soldiers have no way to escape but fight to kill the enemy, and the slaves will be defeated." Ma Shaoyu also hurriedly said.

"There is a decree from the saint, so let's send troops." Qiu Minyang said in a low voice.

On July 28, Hong Chengchou swore in Ningyuan, and the 130,000 army went to Jinzhou.

Shengjing, the Qing Emperor also received a letter brought by Bayanha, Li Yu repeatedly said in the letter that the Fengzhou army was in response to the will of the people to arrest the murderer, and it was never here to fight, and would definitely love the people, and there was no crime in the autumn.

The emperor was simply mad, and scolded Erlu for not only being unfilial, but also repeatedly taking advantage of the fire to rob, and it would be impossible not to clean it up. The honest Bayanha asked very uninterestingly if he could return to Hua and continue to be a trade ambassador, and was kicked out of the door by the emperor.

Scolding enough Erlu, the emperor calmed down, in fact, Erlu was telling the truth, he really didn't dare to enter Liaodong, and it was impossible to grab territory, Fengzhou didn't have that strength, and besides, the Qing Kingdom was finished, and the next target of the Ming Kingdom was definitely Fengzhou, he wouldn't be stupid enough to be a sword envoy for the Ming Kingdom, and most of the time he went to the outer vassal Mongolia to deal with the Ming court, and by the way, he played prestige, it must be like this.

After fifteen years of age, the men over fifteen years old in the Eight Banners entered the camp and went out to fight, and the Mongolian leaders such as Prince Horqin Tushetu, Chahar Sono Mu Zaisheng, Karaqin Gulu Si Bubeizi and other Mongolian leaders immediately led their headquarters to Jinzhou - Mongolia is a poor place, so it was lost to Erlu first, and then went back to settle the general account.