The Daling River is the red line of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Quang Ninh was the core interest of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Wu Sangui and other Guan Ning troops have been clear about this unwritten red line since the time of Yuan Chonghuan, but they have never declared it.

Since the Battle of the Daling River, the Ming army has never crossed the Daling River, let alone went to Guangning. Once Fang Yuan decided to send troops to Quang Ninh, he would inevitably face a full-scale decisive battle with the Manchus.

Wu Sangui, Zhou Yuji, Tang Tong and other generals of the Jin Army and the Guanning Army were not the first time they had clashed with the Manchus, and they knew the combat power of the Manchus.

Fang Yuan suddenly launched this kind of all-out decisive battle with the Manchus, and the outcome is unknown.

Jing Jie didn't have the scruples of these people, and said loudly, "Regent, Guangning is an important town in western Liaoning, and it is a place that Dolgon must save. The key to attacking Quang Ninh is to besiege the city and send reinforcements. ”

Fang Yuan saw him at a glance where Quang Ninh's vital point was, and said with a smile, "Therefore, our army landed in Liaodong from Phi Dao and invaded, and the Korean State entered and harassed from the wicker side, just to disperse the Manchu forces, so that Dolgon did not dare to send a large army to rescue Quang Ninh." Of course, it is not enough to contain and harass Liaodong, but also need an army to go to Liaohe to deploy defenses and snipe Dolgon's reinforcements from Liaodong. ”

The Liao River is the boundary river between eastern and western Liaoning. As long as the Liaohe defense line can be held, it can cut off the reinforcements from Liaodong who came to rescue Guangning.

Jing Jie said in a deep voice, "Regent, then send an army to land in Yingzhou, seize the Liaohe defense line first, and defend yourself according to the military fort." Cut off the route of Dolgon's reinforcements and shut the door to Azig in Quang Ninh! ”

Jing Jie's suggestion, Fang Yuan agreed very much in his heart, but if he agrees, he agrees, and who to send is more tricky.

This Ming army, which went to the Liaohe River to defend itself, would face the onslaught of the Manchu Qing Dynasty on the eastern and western fronts, and it could be said that it was a life of nine deaths. In this kind of vicious war, life and death must be put aside and fight to the death in order to escape from death. The army that was forcibly sent forward could only be vulnerable.

Fang Yuan inspected the generals for a week, and said slowly, "If you deploy defenses in the Liaohe River first, you may encounter a pincer attack from the two lines of Liaodong and Guangning. This raiding army must hold the defense line of the Liaohe River for half a month, and our army can capture Guangning and recover western Liao. This is a real tough battle, generals, who wants to gnaw this hard bone?! ”

The original generals of the Ming Dynasty were silent when they heard this, and what Fang Yuan said was not exaggerated.

Chigutai, who had just defeated the main force of the Manchu Qing Zhenghong and the Red Second Banner in the Battle of Zunyong, did not have so many scruples, and came out and said, "Regent, I, I am willing to go to the Liaohe defense line to garrison!" ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Chigutai, it's not your turn yet, you and Jing Shuai, as well as the old department of the Xuanjia Army, will all go with me to Guangning." ”

When he said this, he implied that Zhou Yuji and Wu Sangui would be selected from the Guanning Army and the Jin Army this time.

Fang Yuan looked at Wu Sangui, who was silent, sitting on 10,000 Guanning iron horses, but he was pretending to be deaf and dumb, displeased, and said slowly, "General Wu, the ancestor of the Guanning Army has created a feat of sticking to Jinzhou for one or two years. The defense capability of the Guanning Army is the first in the world, is General Wu willing to go to the Liaohe River to deploy defenses? ! ”

In Wu Sangui's view, Fang Yuan gave him this almost impossible military task of nine deaths and one life, just to let the Guan Ning army be cannon fodder and eliminate dissidents.

Wu Sangui said hesitantly, "Regent, although there are several military forts along the Liao River, I don't know the extent of repair, and the defense is far less solid than Jinzhou, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold it for half a month." ”

Fang Yuan saw that Wu Sangui was really cowardly again, sneered a few times, looked around again and said, "Since the Guan Ning Army, the Ming Dynasty, can't hold it, Zhou Dudu, do you dare to hold on?!" ”

He bit the words 'Ming Force' very hard, full of irony. Fang Yuan's words were like a slap in the face of Wu Sangui, and he dared not speak angrily.

Zhou Yuji is a soldier, old and spicy, and when he was provoked by Fang Yuan, he immediately came out and said, "Regent, I am willing to lead 20,000 soldiers to defend the Liaohe defense line!" ”

Fang Yuan saw that Zhou Yuji, who dared to take on the heavy responsibility, stood up, got up and said happily, "Okay! Zhou Du Du is so heroic, may Zhou Du Du Qi win! ”

He looked at Wu Sangui meaningfully and said, "General Wu, since the Guanning army does not dare to go to the Liaohe battlefield, it naturally does not dare to go to the Guangning battlefield, so it is better to serve as a logistics transporter!" Scold! ”

Fang Yuan proposed to order the Guanning Army to serve as logistics and transportation, which was to despise the Guanning Army to the extreme, and only distribute and transport grain, and engage in logistics.

His attitude is obvious, if Guan Ningjun wants to prove that it is still an indispensable force of the Ming Dynasty, he must come up with real achievements. Otherwise, after the war, Fang Yuan would inevitably liquidate Wu Sangui and this Guan Ning army that bullied the weak and feared the hard.

This battle is the last chance for Guan Ningjun's name to be corrected!

Wu Sangui was forced to a dead end, and the rabbit would bite when he was in a hurry, not to mention the Guan Ning Army, which was known as the first strong force of the Ming Dynasty. He gritted his teeth sharply and came out and said, "Regent, there are two military forts in the Liaohe defense line, and I am willing to go with Zhou Dudu, each garrison a military fort, and snipe Dorgon's reinforcements!" ”

Fang Yuan did everything possible to provoke the generals, and finally forced Wu Sangui to be willing to fight, and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll wait for General Wu's good news!" ”

Twenty-five years of Chongzhen

February

Spring

Fang Yuan, who had been dormant in Beijing for a whole year, couldn't wait to recover Liaodong, and finally started to act.

The army of the Ming Dynasty marched to Liaodong by three routes.

The first road was the 20,000 Xuanjia iron cavalry of Zhao Quanzhong's division on Phi Island, and the 10,000 elite infantry of Zhang Ying's division were covered by the naval division and landed in Jinzhou in the west.

The second route was led by Wu Sangui and Zhou Yuji, and the 30,000 Ming army, including the Guanning army and the Jin army, was also transported to Yingzhou by the naval division to land. The task of this unit was to go straight to the defense line of the Liaohe River, cut off the waist of Liaodong and Liaoxi, and snipe the reinforcements who came from Liaodong to rescue Guangning.

The third route was the main force of this expedition to Quang Ninh, led by Fang Yuan. Exiting from Shanhaiguan, the target is Quang Ninh City, where Azig is stationed.

This group of men and horses gathered the most elite generals and warriors.

Jing Jie served as the commander of the whole army, coordinating the actions of all parties; Song Xiance served as a military advisor to the army; Chigutai served as the vanguard, and led the expanded Daming Iron Cavalry of 40,000 to clear the outer defense line of Guangning City; Liu Yiliang's tank battalion has been expanded to 40 tanks, and he went out with the Chinese military battalion; There are also 50,000 elite infantry in the Chinese military camp and 8,000 special operations army sergeants, commanded by Hao Shaoqi.

On this expedition, Fang Yuan's total strength was around 100,000. If you count the other two lines of soldiers and horses, it reaches 160,000 troops. In addition, the 20,000 or 30,000 troops of the Korean State responded to it.

In this Liaoxi reconquest war, the total number of troops invested in the battlefield outside the Guanxi was close to 200,000, which was still the largest force that could be assembled in the northern Xinjiang of the Ming Dynasty, and it was also the most elite troops of the Ming Dynasty.

Ten days later, Zhou Yuji and Wu Sangui led their troops from Tianjinwei, crossed the thawed Bohai Bay, and landed in Yingzhou, which was only dozens of miles away from the Liao River, firing the first shot of the battle to recover western Liao!