Fang Yuan opened his eyes slightly and said, "Third brother, at the military level, it is indeed not suitable for a decisive battle. However, at the political level, this battle must not be withdrawn! Jiangnan has a lot of complaints about the Northern Expedition, if this carefully prepared Northern Expedition returns in vain, how many voices of support will Jiangnan have for the next Northern Expedition? ! ”

"Moreover, our ally, King Qin, has also put up the banner of the Qing monarch's side. If we retreat without asking, the next one will be the unlucky turn of King Qin. If the king of Qin is defeated, he will not only lose an ally, but lose the whole of Shaanxi. In the next Northern Expedition, the enemies to be faced are not only Sun Chuanting's Lu army, Wu Sangui's Liao army, Zhou Yuji's Jin army, but also a Qin army in Shaanxi. ”

"Emperor Taizu back then, if it weren't for the success of the Northern Expedition, which gave Meng Yuan a chance to breathe, who knew that the Year of the Monkey and the Moon would be able to unify the world again?! In this battle, we must not retreat! Retreat, then the domination of the world is far away! ”

Only then did Jing Jie know that what Fang Yuan had to consider was far more than just victory or defeat at the military level, but also the entire strategic layout. In this battle, you really can't retreat!

Jing Jie asked, "Boss, if you don't withdraw, then transfer Zhang Ying from Qingzhou and Chigutai from Dongchang back to fight Sun Chuanting!" ”

Fang Yuan still shook his head and said, "Third brother, since Zheng Sen has already participated in the war, it proves that the imperial court has not ignored Shandong. At least a few governors of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies still have the idea of dying and will not sit idly by and watch Sun Chuanting fall. If Zhou Yuji's Jin army and Wu Sangui's Guan Ning army also go south, we will still lose a lot in this battle! ”

He vetoed Jing Jie's proposal to retreat and recall the two divisions of Qingzhou and Dongchang, and Jing Jie knew that he had actually planned for a long time, so he hurriedly asked, "Boss, what do you think?!" ”

Fang Yuan said slowly, "Third brother, my plan is to encircle Wei to save Zhao, since Sun Chuanting has come out to fight a decisive battle with our army, I will order Chigutai to go to Jinan Mansion, Sun Chuanting's nest." As long as you can occupy Jinan Mansion, you can guard the fortress of northern Lubei, even if the Jin army and the Guanning army go south, you can also snipe it in northern Lubei. Zhang Ying of Qingzhou Mansion led his troops south, feinted to attack Yanzhou City, put pressure on Sun Chuanting, and covered the battlefield on the flank of our army. ”

Fang Yuan's method is not to be led by Sun Chuanting. Sun Chuanting wanted the whole army to fight a decisive battle, and if the battle was successful, Fang Yuan wanted to hurt each other with him. If you fight my Jining, I will fight your Jinan, encircle Wei and save Zhao, anyway, I am fighting in Shandong, and what is lost is the people's livelihood and people's power in Shandong.

If Sun Chuanting doesn't even want Jinan Mansion, he has to gnaw the hard bone of Jining Prefecture, and the other party will behead him, depending on whether he has the ability.

Jing Jie immediately heard the key to this battle, that is, how long could Jining City hold under the onslaught of Sun Chuanting's whole army, and hurriedly asked, "How should Jining fight in the first battle?" Our army is understaffed, and it is falling behind! ”

Fang Yuan Zhengrong said, "Jining Wei has to face the dual offensive of land and water, and it can't be defended, so withdraw to Jining City to defend it!" Our whole army is stuck to the city of Jining, waiting for the fighters. Before retreating from Jiningwei, as much grain as could be withdrawn. If you can't evacuate, you will be burned with a fire. As for the Xuanjia army in Zou County, they were stationed in situ to guard the grain road. ”

"Also, immediately report to Shi Lang, Zheng Sen has taken action and sent small warships suitable for the operation of the Grand Canal to the Grand Canal to support the operation. Then report to the regent palace, immediately collect 300,000 stone of grain and grass in the jurisdiction, and Zheng Zhibao, the general soldier of Nanzhili, escorted to Shandong by land Yangzhou Mansion to support our army to hold on for a long time. ”

If the whole army is firmly in Jining City, there will be 50,000 Xuanjia troops in Jining City, at least 100,000 to 200,000 people. It is still unknown how much military rations can be withdrawn when the Jining Wei Xuanjia Army retreats, and how long the military rations can support Jining City is indeed a thorny problem.

Fang Yuan ordered that the grain should be requisitioned in Nanzhili now and transported the military grain to Zou County, which was to take precautions and prepare in advance.

According to Jing Jie's estimate, there are 50,000 Xuanjia troops in Jining City, as well as 100 artillery pieces, and 500 white phosphorus bombs.

Fang Yuan got up and grabbed Jing Jie's arm, and said in a serious tone, "Third brother, although this battle is dangerous, it is not without a chance to win. The victory or defeat on the battlefield was originally accidental. In particular, how can this kind of strategic decisive battle between the large armies of the two sides have a 100% chance of victory? ”

"This battle can be a gamble, and if you win, you will pacify Shandong in one fell swoop, and the world will be unified in sight; Defeated, it's a big deal that he will be a good man again twenty years later. Since embarking on the road of joining the army in troubled times, he is playing with his head in his hands, his own life is a fart, and the life of his whole family is a fart?! ”

Jing Jie's eyes were full of tears, since Fang Yuan's regent was willing to stay in Jining City and live and die with 50,000 soldiers, what else did he have to regret his life? Hurriedly shook Fang Yuan's hand, nodded heavily, and said, "It's my honor to be able to fight side by side with the boss, let's go to war!" ”

Ma Yishan, who was guarding, also knelt down and said, "As long as Ma Yishan still has a life, no one can touch a single hair of the regent!" ”

Fang Yuan wiped the tears from his eyes, and suddenly said with a smile, "you, it's like parting with life and death." Ma Yishan, immediately according to my explanation, ordered Jinyiwei to go and deliver messages to all parties. ”

The 20,000 Xuanjia troops stationed in Jiningwei suffered four or five thousand casualties under the onslaught of the Ming army. As soon as Fang Yuan's military order to retreat to Jining City arrived, Liu Yiliang, the deputy commander of the infantry battalion who was still fighting to the death, was relieved and immediately ordered the whole army to retreat to Jining City after the 3,000 people were cut off, and the rest were in order to transport as much grain and grass as possible and retreat to Jining City. If anyone dares to flee by taking the road, fleeing back to Jining City will also be punished by military law!

After a six-hour retreat, 14,000 Xuanjia soldiers retreated safely to Jining City. The battle of Jiningwei was a fiasco, with the loss of 6,000 Xuanjia soldiers.

Fang Yuan was most concerned about the grain and grass that was transported back to Jining City, which was related to the success or failure of the entire Jining City defense battle. He immediately ordered Liu Yiliang to settle the retreating defeated army, and then ordered Jing Jie to personally count the amount of military rations.

After a day and a night of counting, Jing Jie reported that the amount of military rations was 50,000 stones, and when Jiningwei retreated, he lost 100,000 stone of military rations.

Fang Yuan secretly calculated that the 50,000 stone army rations could last for three months for the Xuanjia army, and if they had to be distributed to the people in the city, even if they added the food stored in the people's homes, it would only last for one or two months at most.

Moreover, these are already the main military rations of the Xuanjia Army, if there is no follow-up military rations to support, it is a victory in the defense of Jining, and it is impossible to further expand the victory, so the division can only return to Nanzhili.

Therefore, the key to this battle is not only whether Jining City can be safe and sound, but also whether the military rations supported by Nanzhili can be transported in time.

Fang Yuan stood at the head of Jining City, looking at Jiningwei a few miles away, a large number of Ming troops had landed from the battleships, and a steady stream of troops were stationed in Jiningwei.

It is almost foreseeable that in the next two or three days, the landed Ming army will be stationed under Jining City, and the two Ming armies of Niu Chenghu and Zheng Jiadong will encircle Jining City.

The decisive battle is imminent!

Fang Yuan looked at the sunset on the horizon, enjoying the tranquility before the war at the last moment, closed his eyes slightly, and said to himself, "Jiao'er, please leave the matter of military rations to you!" ”