Ningyuan City is surrounded by mountains and rivers, about ten miles away from the seashore in the east, the southeast of the city is near the coastal zone for the plain, the west gate of the city is mostly hills, and then to the northwest is the mountainous area. As the starting point of the Ningjin defense line, this small city covering an area of about 64 hectares can be said to have all kinds of organs, whether it is the army or the local yamen, they all have a place in the city.

The complete Ningjin defense line is about 100 kilometers long, from Ningyuan City through Songshan and Jinzhou, to the Daling River. In fact, this is what Sun Chengzong originally envisioned, step by step, advancing layer by layer, and using civil engineering to offset the advantages of the Houjin Field War, so as to restore the strategic plan of the homeland of Liaodong.

However, since Chongzhen ascended the throne, he sought to compromise with the Later Jin and admit the fact that the Later Jin occupied the land in Liaodong. Then the fortress promotion strategy of Sun Chengzong, Yuan Chonghuan and others was naturally abolished, and the ambiguous war and peace strategy of the Ming Dynasty for Houjin was finally clear.

Since Chongzhen was willing to bear the infamy of losing his country, the officials who had to support the recovery of Liaodong under moral pressure soon changed their attitudes. After all, actively supporting the policy of advancing the fortress of Liaodong can benefit some officials of the Jiangmen and the Ministry of War in Liaoxi, but it also harms the interests of a large number of bureaucrats and gentry.

The resources and manpower required to build the fortress could not be covered by the prescribed state taxes. Although most of the huge figures of Liaoyu were passed on to the people at the bottom, as the people at the bottom continued to go bankrupt, the pressure of these additional taxes began to spread to the small and medium-sized squires.

Sun Chengzong's advocacy of the fortress promotion policy in the DPRK and China that day was not without being fiercely criticized by the officials. Therefore, when Chongzhen abolished this costly, but ineffective fortress to advance the policy, the opposition was not so insurmountable.

It's just that although Chongzhen abolished the fortress advance policy, he couldn't move the soldiers and civilians in the western Liaoxi corridor into the pass, because there was no land in the pass to allocate to these soldiers and civilians in the western Liaoning. In order to ensure the safety of these soldiers and civilians in the western Liaoning corridor, it is logical to re-set up a defensive front outside the border.

Standing on the tower at the north gate of Ningyuan City, Sun Chengzong silently looked at the Ningyuan defense line with Ningyuan City as the hub, which was now the first line of defense to stop the invasion of Houjin. As for Jinzhou, it can only be regarded as a stronghold that has been poked out.

Strategic offense has become strategic defense, and there have been some deviations in the arrangement of troops and defensive positions. For example, originally heavily garrisoned in Ningjin and Jin, the gap between Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan was relatively empty. But now outside Shanhaiguan has become the center of gravity of the defense from Qiantun to Ningyuan, and Jinzhou has become a bridgehead to monitor the movements of Houjin.

If it weren't for the large number of fertile fields near Jinzhou, the generals and people of western Liaoning would have refused to give up, and with Chongzhen's character, they would have moved the Jinzhou army and people to the vicinity of Ningyuan a long time ago. Now the military and civilians of western Liaoning seem to have a little sweetness, but it has also made Jinzhou an isolated city.

The 200-mile defense line from Ningyuan to Jinzhou, under the condition that the Ming army was afraid of field battles, was the field where the Later Jin army came and went freely. This was the case now, and after the Later Jin army appeared west of Jinzhou, the connection between the two places was severed. Jinzhou, which was isolated outside the Ningyuan defense line, became a key point for the Ming army.

If you don't send troops to rescue, you will hurt the morale of the army, and if you send troops to rescue, you may fall into the trap of the Houjin army. But thinking about it now, it doesn't seem to help the situation much, because Man Gui has already led his army to support Jinzhou.

The officials and officials standing behind Sun Chengzong, like Sun Chengzong, were silently watching the official road leading to the north, as if everyone was waiting for something. I don't know how long it took, the officials on the city tower were blown blue and their noses were red and swollen by the cold wind, but Sun Chengzong, who was thinly dressed, stood motionless at the head of the city, and these officials did not dare to move.

It wasn't until a few figures appeared on the official road in the distance that the officials behind Sun Chengzong seemed to come to life, "Come, come, it seems that I have been in contact with Man Shuai..."

Sun Chuanting also breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward and walked up to Sun Chengzong and persuaded him: "Chief Sun, it's good that there is news back, and please go back to the building to rest and rest, now at this time, you must not fall." ”

Sun Chengzong gathered his cloak, but his face did not relax, he instructed Sun Chuanting: "Boya, when the messenger of contact comes back, bring it to the city tower, and the others let them go back to do business first, and then gather everyone in the evening to discuss the matter of contacting Man Shuai." ”

The envoys who went to contact Mangui did not bring back any good news, they met Houjin's rangers when they were in Xingshan, and after trying their best to get rid of them, the more Houjin men and horses went east. Finally, not far from Matsuyama, Houjin's brigade blocked the road, and finally could not continue to advance, so he had to retreat.

Sun Chuanting suddenly asked with some anxiety: "So, you haven't contacted Man Shuai at all?" ”

The envoy hesitated and replied: "We can't say that, before we retreated, we still saw the banner of Manshuai, and it was erected on Songshan. According to the lowly speculation, Man Shuai should have been besieged on Songshan. ”

Sun Chengzong suddenly asked: "Besieged Mangui's 4,000 men and horses in Songshan, how many banners did Houjin dispatch?" When you returned, did you avoid Houjin's rangers, or did they deliberately indulge you in returning? ”

The envoy recalled for a long time before he said uncertainly: "At least I have seen two flags, one with red flags and the one with blue flags. As for whether Houjin's rangers were discovered on the way back, the lowly position is not sure. However, according to Jianyu's past performance, it seems that there are indeed some problems with the lowly group being able to return so smoothly. ”

Waving his hand to let the messenger retreat, Sun Chengzong said to Sun Chuanting: "Boya, what do you think of this matter? ”

Sun Chuanting calculated in his heart before he replied: "Songshan is only a day's distance from Jinzhou City, and this mountain is not steep, and it is only more than 300 meters high. If Man Shuai is really trapped in the mountain, I am afraid that he will be more than lucky. Even if Jianyu did not attack by force, with the military rations carried by the Manshuai with the army plus those livestock, it would only be able to support a month at most.

However, what the lower officials are more worried about is whether these Jianjiao want to repeat their old tricks and play the trick of encircling the point to send reinforcements? According to the General Staff's summary of the tactics of the Jianyu, this is the favorite tactic used by the Jianyu. Whether it is Jinzhou sending troops to help, or our army sending troops to help, it is possible to fall into the trap of Jianqing. ”

Sun Chengzong was silent for a while, and then replied to Sun Chuanting: "You go back and draw up two orders for me, the first is to issue an order in my name, the original Jiliao military exercise command post is officially reorganized into a wartime base camp, and the armies of Jizhou, Yongping, and Guanwai are unified under the command of the base camp, and this order is sent to His Majesty and the Cabinet for the record;

Second, at 6:30 p.m. tonight, the generals above the rank of deputy general in Ningyuan City, and the members of the former military exercise command post, went to the Jiliao Governor's Mansion to discuss matters. Anyone who is late or does not arrive shall be subject to military law..."

On the evening of the same day, the hall of the Jiliao Governor's Mansion was full of people, the local generals headed by Zhu Mei sat on the east side, and the members of the General Staff and the Military Exercise Command Post headed by Sun Chuanting sat on the west side.

Sun Chengzong did not hide the news brought back by the envoy, and gave an explanation to everyone about the speculation that Man Gui was trapped in Songshan and that Jianyu might surround the point to send reinforcements, and then asked everyone to discuss how to deal with the current situation.

Hearing that Mangui was besieged to aid Jinzhou, the local generals suddenly lost their voices. The 4,000 men and horses brought out by Man Gui are actually the most capable troops in Ningyuan City, and most of them are Man Gui's own families. If even Man Gui's men and horses were besieged by Hou Jin, they might not be able to successfully rescue Man Gui if they sent troops to rescue them now, not to mention that this could be a trap created by Hou Jin.

But as the emperor's favorite general, Chongzhen's trust in Mangui is far greater than that of the generals of Liaoxi, and now Mangui rescues Jinzhou and is besieged, but they oppose sending troops to rescue, who knows if it will be liquidated by the emperor afterwards? Therefore, the local generals simply shut their mouths.

Although Sun Chengzong was dissatisfied with the attitude of Zhu Mei and other local generals, he called the names of several people in a row and forcibly asked them to speak, but these generals only had one sentence over and over again, "The last general is dull and doesn't know what to do." Only ask the official to order, and the last general will not dare to spare his body as a broken body. ”

For these slippery people, Sun Chengzong had to let them go, and asked his subordinates instead. Sun Chuanting was the first to come out and express his position, "... The lower officials thought that Man Shuai had to be saved, but he couldn't be saved blindly. The lower officials thought that heavy troops should be mobilized from Qiantun, Shanhaiguan and other places, and then slowly oppress to the east with large soldiers. As long as Houjin can't eat the army I went to rescue, he has to get out of the way to avoid being flanked by our army and Manshuai's headquarters, and Manshuai's siege will be relieved. ”

However, Zheng Sijun, a staff officer, objected: "Now the sea lane has begun to freeze, and sea transportation has basically stopped. That is to say, the materials we are now stockpiling in Qiantun and other places are a little less, and before the railway is not extended to the outside of the customs, the materials transported by land are simply a drop in the bucket.

If according to Staff Officer Sun's intentions, the Guannei Army and the Qiantun Army will be transferred to Ningyuan, and then gradually advance to Jinzhou. Then before Houjin retreats, I am afraid that the logistics of our army will collapse first. ”

Sun Chuanting suddenly looked at Zheng Sijun with some dissatisfaction and said, "Then according to your meaning, because of the poor logistics, we will leave Man Shuai in Songshan?" ”

Zheng Sijun replied with an unchanged expression: "That's not what the lower officer meant, but since the lower officer is in charge of the logistics dispatch of the whole army, he should naturally evaluate the logistics part of the plan, which is also the responsibility of the lower officer..."

Sun Chengzong interrupted the dispute between the two and said: "Boya doesn't need to say any more, Staff Officer Zheng is right, it is his duty to evaluate the logistics part of the battle plan." Don't others have viable ideas? ”

Li Hongyuan thought for a long time, and finally stood up to Sun Chengzong's question, "Xiaguan has an immature idea, but it is more risky, is the chief willing to listen to it?" ”

Sun Chengzong said quietly: "No matter what risky plan it is, you can tell it first for everyone to hear." Even if you can't get through, maybe it can inspire everyone's ideas..."