After Li Hongyuan saluted Sun Chengzong again, he organized the language and said: "In the future, Jin's strength, if you want to besiege Jinzhou first, and then besiege Manshuai, and then try to set up an ambush on the road to ambush and rescue Manshuai's army, even if it is not the end of the Eight Banners, at least half of the army in the country has been mobilized.!"

Although Houjin has had a bumper agricultural harvest this year, if it wants to rely on its own national strength to supply such a large army and confront our army for a long time, I am afraid it will not be able to support it.

Judging from the battles since the founding of the Later Jin Dynasty, most of the Later Jin Dynasty will only mobilize the strength of one to three banners when attacking the Mongols, Koreans, and savage tribes, and only when dealing with our dynasty, they will go all out every time.

According to the discussion of the General Staff, we believe that the reason why the Later Jin used troops in this way was that the Mongol, Korean, and savage tribes were weak, so it was enough for the Later Jin to use only a part of their forces;

The second is to attack the Mongols, Koreans, and savage tribes, and the captures obtained by the Houjin may not be able to offset the cost of the army. Only when Houjin attacks our dynasty, every victory will be able to achieve great gains.

Therefore, Houjin fought with our dynasty, and it was a quick victory without a long war. Because if you can't get supplies from our army, the Houjin army can't continue.

Therefore, we should not focus on how to rescue Man Shuai's body, but how to let Man Shuai's troops survive until the gold and food are exhausted and retreat. ”

Li Hongyuan's words immediately made everyone in the hall discuss, but soon someone questioned him: "Man Shuai's side can last for a month, and this still requires them to slaughter horses and other livestock in the early stage, and be ready to stick to Songshan." Otherwise, just raising these horses would consume half of their grain reserves.

Since Houjin has sent a large army here, he must at least prepare a month or two of military rations, right? Coupled with their seizure of the fortresses on the outskirts of Jinzhou, there should be no problem in supporting the combat capability for two or three months. In this situation, how can we let the Manshuai department survive until the gold and food are exhausted? ”

Li Hongyuan replied unflustered: "What you said is good, but aren't these exactly the problems we need to solve?" Otherwise, what is the point of His Majesty setting up the General Staff? ”

Everyone in the hall was speechless for a while, Sun Chengzong frowned and rebuked lightly: "Staff Officer Li, if you have something to say, don't talk about the battle of wills that have nothing to do with the battle. ”

Li Hongyuan confessed, and then continued: "Houjin marched quickly, penetrated deep into my Ningjin defense line, not only did not alarm the outer fortresses, but also set a trap to besiege Man Shuai. Therefore, the logistics supply of the Houjin army will inevitably not be carried with the army, but like us, there will be military stations and logistics hubs for transshipment.

Based on the topography of Jinzhou, the logistics hub of Houjin must be located near Youyizhou on the Daling River, and it is the fastest to go down the Daling River. And the army on the front line must also have one or more fixed military ration reserve warehouses for each army to spend.

The military ration reserve warehouses on the front line are bound to be tightly defended, and it is difficult for large units of our army to approach. However, since the main force of Houjin is exhausted, the garrison of Yiju must be empty. If an army can appear near Uiju, if we are lucky, we can burn down the munitions warehouse set up in Uiju; If we are unlucky, we will also be able to mobilize the Houjin army to return to the rescue of Uiju.

At this time, we will select the brave fighters from the night, infiltrate the Houjin defense line with small troops, and find and burn the Houjin military ration and material reserve warehouse, and the prisoners will run out of food and chaos. If our army attacks Songshan again with a strong force, it will definitely be able to relieve the siege of the Manshuai's headquarters.

Of course, before that, we have to take advantage of the opportunity of Houjin's deliberate relaxation of the road blockade, select personnel to break through Houjin's defense line, and pass the order to Man Shuai to stick to the change. ”

Sun Chuanting finally couldn't help but retort: "You may be right to guess that Yizhou is the logistics hub of Houjin. However, within the border wall of Liaodong, the blockade of Yizhou by the Later Jin was bound to be tight, and beyond the border wall were the Mongol tribes that had taken refuge in the Later Jin. If our army dispatches troops, it will not be possible to do a few, and more will be known by the Jianyu, and then it will not be impossible to steal chickens, but to fold a handful of rice? ”

Li Hongyuan said confidently: "Therefore, the army attacking Yizhou cannot be the Liaoxi army, and the lower officials think that they can contact the army outside Jizhou Pass and assist the Mongolian tribes who are loyal to our dynasty, so it will inevitably be unexpected." ”

Sun Chuanting stopped talking, but soon someone exclaimed: "Calling the Jizhou Guanwai Army, isn't that to mobilize the army around His Majesty?" If Your Majesty goes out in person, I am afraid that it will not be Jianyu to return to Yizhou, but to plan to encircle Your Majesty. Isn't this putting Your Majesty in danger?

and His Majesty's safety, what are Jinzhou and Man Shuai? Isn't this a trade in porcelain for tiles? This is not something that a courtier can do, and he firmly disagrees with this plan..."

When it came to such a politically correct topic, the officials who had been silent immediately stood up one after another to oppose Li Hongyuan's plan, and if it were not for such a free-flowing military meeting, it is estimated that someone would have proposed that Li Hongyuan be expelled from the meeting.

Hearing the accusations made by many officials in the hall, Li Hongyuan was still trying to justify his plan, and Sun Chengzong, the leader, had already spoken out to stop everyone's quarrel and said, "Enough, be quiet." Putting His Majesty in danger, this matter will not be feasible, and Staff Officer Li will be cautious next time. Now that we continue the discussion, is there anyone else who has come up with new ideas? ”

However, when these officials accused Li Hongyuan just now, they were full of anger, but as soon as they heard that Sun Chengzong asked them to propose a battle plan, they began to put up wooden men one by one. There are a few young staff officers of the General Staff, who were probably connived at by the emperor, even if Li Hongyuan's battle plan was criticized just now, but these newborn calves still want to try to make adjustments in this battle plan, but these young staff officers have not said a few words and were stopped by Sun Chengzong.

The meeting lasted for nearly 2 hours, and Sun Chengzong found that everyone really couldn't think of any plan, so he relieved himself and ended the military meeting. However, when the meeting was dismissed, he ordered someone to leave Zhu Mei, Sun Chuanting, and Li Hongyuan.

The three of them were led back to the Overseer's Mansion again, but not in the hall where everyone had just met, but in the second hall after the lobby. The lobby is the place where the superintendent is promoted to do things, and the second hall is the place where the superintendent conducts his daily office. But now, they have all been occupied by Sun Chengzong.

The more intimate environment of the second hall is obviously more suitable for a few people to have a conversation, and it is also easier for people to open up. However, when Zhu Mei, Sun Chuanting, and Li Hongyuan were brought here, they were a little less excited about being valued by the officials, but they became a little nervous, because they didn't know Sun Chengzong's purpose for leaving them.

When the three of them were drinking tea that they didn't know what it tasted like, Sun Chengzong, who had changed into a set of home clothes, finally walked in, and the three of them hurriedly got up and saluted.

After Sun Chengzong returned the salute, he sat down at the head and said to the three of them: "Leaving the three of you behind is actually for the siege of Jinzhou and Mangui.

I thought about the meeting for a long time, and I think there is one thing that must be done at the moment. No matter what method we use to rescue Mangui, we must at least let Mangui know that we are trying to find a way to rescue them, so they must stay where they are, and not try to flee or do other irrational things.

Now that the Houjin army wants to ambush me to rescue the army of Mangui, it will inevitably deliberately relax a little bit about the road between Songshan and Ningyuan, so that we can contact each other and lure us to the rescue. General Zhu, you choose a small team and prepare to escort the messenger I sent to Songshan to explain the orders of the base camp to Man Gui. ”

Zhu Mei hurriedly got up and agreed, and replied: "After the official goes back, go and pick a team of elite horsemen to come out for the chief to drive." ”

After Sun Chengzong beckoned him to sit down, Fang continued: "From the current point of view, Staff Officer Li and Boya's plans are considerable, since there is no other way to get the best of both worlds, I think the base camp can make preparations with both hands.

We will act according to Staff Officer Li's plan first, but we will also be prepared for the transfer of the army to Ningyuan. If we cannot cut off the food routes of the captives, and force them to retreat on their own; Then mobilize the army out of Ningyuan, step by step, force the Jin army to retreat, take back Mangui and relieve the siege of Jinzhou.

After Staff Officer Li and Boya went down, they went through the two plans again and made sure to minimize the loopholes in the plans. As for the mobilization of the foreign army in Jizhou, I will personally write to Your Majesty and leave it to Your Majesty to decide. Until Your Majesty doesn't reply, you don't have to think about the movement of this army for the time being..."

After Sun Chengzong explained his decision to the three of them, he planned to have someone send them out of the mansion, but Li Hongyuan quickly got up and said to him: "Chief Chief, the lower official still has something to report to you. ”

Sun Chengzong put down the gesture of preparing to send off the guest, looked at him and said, "You can tell me and listen to it." ”

Li Hongyuan glanced at Zhu Mei on the opposite side before he spoke to Sun Chengzong: "Chief Chief, before implementing these plans, the lower officials thought that we should first eliminate the internal spies. Otherwise, no matter how good the plan we draw up, it may not be realized. ”

Sun Chengzong frowned and asked, "Spies? How do you know we have a spy on our inside? ”

Li Hongyuan said without hesitation: "According to the reports of the soldiers and civilians who fled back from the front fort in the past two days, the fort on the periphery of the Ningjin defense line was not captured by the Houjin by force. Many of the forts were deceived by the traitors who surrendered to the king, or persuaded the defenders to fall.

Moreover, according to the front-line intelligence of the lower officials in these days, it was found that the fireworks used for warning outside the Ningjin defense line were not lit at all, and if these forts were broken by the Houjin force, I am afraid it is somewhat unlikely.

Xia Guan thought that as early as when Man Shuai led his troops out of the city, Hou Jin's army had infiltrated the area of Songshan and Xingshan. Therefore, when Man Shuai has no defenseless road, he will be easily cut off by the Houjin army.

Xia Guan also knew that Man Shuai was not so resolute about whether to rescue Jinzhou that day, but there were many generals in Ningyuan City who all supported sending troops, and Man Shuai led the troops to the battle. But when it came to sending troops to rescue Manshuai today, these generals were all speechless, and the lower officials thought that this phenomenon was abnormal.

Therefore, the subordinate asked the commander-in-chief to order the officers suspected of fornication in the Ningyuan defense line to be screened, so as to prevent us from stepping on the mistake of the commander again. ”

After listening to Li Hongyuan's request, Sun Chengzong looked at Sun Chuanting with some uncertainty and asked, "Boya, what do you think?" ”

Sun Chuanting thought for a long time before he replied: "It is necessary to screen the traitors, but it must not disturb the morale of the army. ”

Sun Chengzong looked at Zhu Mei again and said, "Mr. Zhu, what do you think?" ”

Zhu Mei felt that his back was soaked, and he lowered his head and said, "Xiaguan seconded it." ”