Late autumn has passed, and it is already early winter. The early winter in the north is already very cold, most of the leaves on the trees have all fallen off, and the few remaining pieces are also shaking in the cold wind of the early morning, and they will be blown away by the wind at any time and finally rot on the ground.

The entire land of Liaodong was calm, there were no fighting armies, no horse thieves, and no fleeing people.

It's just that under this calm, there is an undercurrent, all kinds of calculations, all kinds of plans, all kinds of thoughts are constantly generating and fermenting.

In the early morning of Datong City, in addition to the stalls selling breakfast on the street, there are sporadic pedestrians wearing cotton clothes and hurrying through the cold wind with their hands on their sleeves.

In such an atmosphere of slaughter, the entire military camp in the northern suburbs of Datong City was a busy scene. Groups of stubborn soldiers shuttled by, and scouts kept shuttling back and forth.

Inside the big tent of the Chinese army, Yuan Chonghuan, who was dressed in military uniform, looked at the Liaodong map hanging in front of him and was silent.

Behind him are two henchmen, Hong Chengchou and Cao Bianjiao.

"Hengjiu, is there still no movement over there?" Yuan Chonghuan suddenly asked.

"Tanma continued to report, but there was still no movement at all, and the Donglu in Liaoyang, Gaizhou, and Guangning could not shrink, and there was no sign of any army mobilization. As a matter of convention, the Eastern Capture generally did not choose to send troops in winter. Moreover, according to the report of our army's eyeliner, it is said that since the defeat of the Dongyu in the summer, the three countries of the Korean Peninsula and some Mongolian tribes have begun to have a difficult life, and the Dongyu is probably busy suppressing and pacifying these forces, and under the pressure of our army, they can only take a defensive position at present. ”

Hong Chengchou calmly replied, but when he said it, he selectively forgot the Jiang family army that caused a major defeat to the Qing army, that is, the thief army in their mouth.

Yuan Chonghuan bowed his head and said: "What Heng Jiu said is reasonable, Dongyu is now suffering from internal and external troubles, and there should be no spare strength to pose a threat to Datong this winter." In this way, we can give it a go and get rid of this elbow and armpit problem. Is there any movement on the thief side? ”

"Once our scout scout horse approaches the gourd valley within fifty miles, it will be driven out by the thief rangers, and our army has lost hundreds of exploration horses in the past few months, so our army basically doesn't know much about the current situation of the thief army." Hong Chengchou paused for a moment, his voice lowered, and he lost his calmness just now.

He remembered the humiliating experience of his last mission, and couldn't help but clench his fists.

He just said that he didn't know much, but in fact, he didn't know much, he didn't know anything at all. Except for knowing that the thief's name is Jiang Chuan, the rest of the information is vague, and if there is, it is equal to nothing.

Jiang Chuan scattered all his 5,000 archers and cavalry, and blocked the direction of the enemy who might come to him. Unless the enemy sends a large army to break through, it is necessary to rely on a few scout cavalry to reconnoiter effective information, which is basically equivalent to looking for death.

Even if an enemy scout managed to pass the first line of defense fifty miles, there was a tighter blockade twenty miles away, the second line of five thousand light cavalry in rotation.

These two blockades could basically make any scout go away.

In addition to the military forces of both sides, the victory or defeat on the invisible battlefield of information and intelligence is also very important for the outcome of the war.

However, the current status quo is that Jiang Chuan's side has controlled Datong City Jinyiwei through the Black Ice Platform, and has spread the intelligence network under Yuan Chonghuan's nose, so Jiang Chuan's every move of the Ming army can be transmitted to Jiang Chuan in the first time.

However, Yuan Chonghuan knew nothing about the situation of Jiang Jiajun, and all the information could only be guessed. Therefore, the information war between the two sides has already decided the outcome in this sense. Information has become transparent for Jiang Chuan, which is doomed from the beginning that once the Ming army decides to send troops to Jiang's army, it will be a tragedy that is caught off guard.

"In that case, I can't take care of that much. This army of thieves now knows who we are, and if one day it falls to the east, then our army will be attacked on both sides. Since the turtle can't shrink now, let's take this opportunity to get rid of this elbow and armpit problem. When the two armies fight, no matter how many tricks they have, it will ultimately fall to the troops. We will attack with the momentum of a dignified and upright army, and no matter how he hides it, we will inevitably confront our army head-on in the end. At that time, with the advantage of my Ming army, why worry about not being able to exterminate a thief, what do you think? ”

Yuan Chonghuan pondered for a moment and analyzed in a deep voice, and after finishing speaking, he turned to Hong and Cao Liang to ask.

"What the Inspector said is extremely true, our army will definitely be able to sweep away the thief army in one fell swoop and clear the elbow and armpit trouble." The two hugged their fists in unison, but although Hong Chengchou said so, there was always a feeling of uneasiness in his heart.

Where does this uneasiness come from? Is it those black-armored cavalrymen with cold eyes and evil eyes? Or the arrogant young thief who shot his helmet with an arrow? Or is this legendary opponent who has repeatedly failed the Manchus too mysterious?

Hong Chengchou couldn't figure it out for a while, in short, this feeling of uneasiness became stronger and stronger in his heart.

But he could not say, because this uneasiness belonged to his own intuition, and there was no basis for it, and it was not enough to convince others.

What's more, the Inspector has been preparing for this expedition for half a year. From rectifying the border army, to recruiting new soldiers, raising grain and grass, and reconnoitring the enemy's situation, he has been making preparations, do you give up because of your own intuition?

And he also has a gut feeling that if he can't beat his opponent this time, then he will never have such a chance again. It's a mysterious, indescribable feeling, but it's real.

He didn't know why he felt this way, he would feel that tens of thousands of elite border troops of the Ming Dynasty would not be able to clean up a small thief.

He once told Cao Bianjiao once, but Cao Bianjiao said that he was scared last time, so he was suspicious, maybe it was really the case.

"Well, you wait for the order: tomorrow, 50,000 troops will assemble in the school yard and prepare to suppress the thieves. General Cao Bing, you lead 10,000 horses from your headquarters as the front army, this governor personally leads 20,000 horses as the middle army, and General Hong Bing, you lead 10,000 horses as the rear army. At the next moment, the front army set off first. At three o'clock, the Chinese army set off. After a while, the army will set off, can you understand? Yuan Chonghuan turned to look at the two of them, his face was serious, and he ordered in a deep voice.

"The last general will obey the orders of the superintendent!" The two clasped their fists and shouted to receive the order, and Hong Chengchou also hurriedly drove away the chaos in his heart.

"Okay, let's go and prepare, this governor has made contributions to Liaodong, this is the first battle. I must use the head of the Jiangchuan child to sacrifice the banner of my border army. Yuan Chonghuan looked at the second confidant in front of him, suddenly raised his voice, and said with an excited expression.

"The last general obeys!" The two clenched their fists and left.