"Scholar Yu, the officers and soldiers who went to the rescue of the Thirteen Mountains have been defeated, and they are on their way to Ningyuan. Heaven's Voice'.『 ⒉”

A few days later, when Li Hongyu was reorganizing the city's military camp and selecting 5,000 strong soldiers from the city's more than 10,000 Ming troops, a military attache hurriedly came to report it.

"Defeated?"

Hearing this, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Shujiao and others present couldn't help but be taken aback, and looked at each other, inferring from the time, the 40,000 Ming troops who went to the Thirteen Mountains to save people had just arrived in the Thirteen Mountains and were defeated by Houjin, which was too fast.

Li Hongyu was not surprised by this news, but breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, judging from the degree to which the Ming army fled back, they should not have been hit hard by the Houjin army, I am afraid that the Houjin army will sigh at the gust of wind when the Ming army fled.

"Pass the order, the forbidden army, the sailor and the new army will immediately go out of the city with their own officials, and rush to the rescue of the Thirteen Mountains!" Then, Li Hongyu said in a deep voice to the guards on the side, since the Ming army that went to the rescue failed, then it was his turn to appear.

The "new army" here refers to the 5,000 soldiers reorganized by Li Hongyu, although those people cannot be compared with the soldiers of the forbidden army and the navy division, but they are also strong and strong, and it is enough to maintain order when the refugees are evacuated.

"University scholar, this move must not be, you are the supreme commander of our Ming official army outside the gate, you must not take risks alone, the lower official is willing to go to the Thirteen Mountains on behalf of the scholar."

Yuan Chonghuan and the others were shocked when they heard this, Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly bowed to Li Hongyu and said.

"Think again." Zhao Shujiao and others also wanted to go in place of Li Hongyu, but they did not have this qualification, so they had to bow down to dissuade them, in case Li Hongyu had any accidents, the consequences would be unimaginable, and no one could afford to bear this responsibility.

"Your kindness has been understood, but now the situation is urgent, this official went to the Thirteen Mountains this time not only to save people, but also to rub the spirit of Jiannu to protect the safety of Shanhaiguan."

Seeing this, Li Hongyu stretched out his hand to stop everyone's dissuasion, and said solemnly, "This official wants to fight a big battle in the Thirteen Mountains, and then seek to capture Jinzhou and open up the Western Liaoning Corridor." ”

"Open up the Liaoning West Corridor!"

Yuan Chonghuan and the others all showed surprised expressions on their faces, no one thought that Li Hongyu would want to counterattack Houjin in the current unfavorable situation and recapture Jinzhou to protect the Liaoxi Corridor, and as long as the Liaoxi Corridor was held, Houjin would not be able to go south.

The West Liaoning Corridor is also known as the "Yuguan Corridor", located between Jinzhou City and Shanhaiguan, east of Liaodong Bay, west of Songling Mountain, southwest to northeast direction, about 400 miles long, 20 miles wide, is an important passage from Liaodi to Shanhaiguan, has always been a place where soldiers must fight.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, with the establishment of the Liaodong Metropolitan Division, the importance of the Liaoxi Corridor was reduced, after all, there are Shenyang and Liaoyang in Liaodong and Guangning in Liaoxi, so there is no need to worry that the barbarians in Liaodong will hit the Liaoxi Corridor.

Now that the Houjin army has captured Jinzhou and cut off the road for the people of the Thirteen Mountains and other places to go south, it is not easy to rescue the soldiers and civilians who were tied up, otherwise the 40,000 Ming troops who went to the rescue will not return, and it will be even more difficult to recapture Jinzhou from the hands of the Houjin.

Yuan Chonghuan looked at Li Hongyu, the corners of his mouth squirmed a few times, and he wanted to say something, but he finally couldn't say it, and a complicated look appeared on him.

If Li Hongyu just wanted to save the trapped soldiers and civilians in the Thirteen Mountains, then he could still open his mouth to dissuade them, but Li Hongyu now wants to recapture Jinzhou and regain control of the Western Liaoning Corridor, which is not within his ability.

Since Yuan Chonghuan has fallen into silence, it is naturally difficult for Zhao Shujiao and the others to say anything, and the importance of regaining control of the Western Liaoning Corridor is self-evident, this is not something that a general of their level can mix.

After all, neither Yuan Chonghuan nor Zhao Shujiao had the confidence to rescue the trapped soldiers and civilians from the Thirteen Mountains, let alone recapture Jinzhou City.

"Lord Yuan, Ning Yuan will be handed over to you." Seeing that Yuan Chonghuan and the others were silent, Li Hongyu knew that no one had the confidence to complete the task of rescuing the refugees from the Thirteen Mountains and recapturing Jinzhou City, so he said to Yuan Chonghuan in a deep voice.

"Rest assured, the lower officials will definitely step up the construction of fortifications." Yuan Chonghuan bowed to Li Hongyu when he heard this, and replied with a serious expression, this is the only thing he can do now.

"General Zhao, now is the critical moment for our army to fight with Jiannu, you and General Zhu will go to the Thirteen Mountains with this officer." Li Hongyu bowed slightly, and then looked at Zhao Shujiao.

"Obedience." Hearing this, Zhao Shujiao and Zhu Mei hurriedly bowed their hands to Li Hongyu, and their faces couldn't help but show excitement.

Although the two failed to catch up with the Battle of Tieling that year, this time they were able to face off against the Houjin army in the Thirteen Mountains under the command of Li Hongyu was enough to make up for the regrets in their hearts, and they were looking forward to defeating the menacing Houjin army in the Thirteen Mountains

At this moment, no one noticed the worried look on the face of Naren Toya, who was standing behind Li Hongyu, Naren Toya's current identity was Li Hongyu's guard, she had some understanding of the current battle situation, and naturally she didn't want Li Hongyu to take risks, but she couldn't open her mouth to dissuade her, so she was secretly anxious in her heart.

"Xianggong, why did you go to the Thirteen Mountains, now that the Jurchens are in full swing, it is difficult for us to defeat the enemies of the Thirteen Mountains with more than 10,000 of us now."

When Li Hongyu returned to his residence to prepare for going to the Thirteen Mountains, Naren Toya could no longer hold back the worry in her heart, and said to Li Hongyu with a concerned expression after closing the door of the study, obviously she did not approve of Li Hongyu's adventure.

"Don't worry, there will be no danger when the husband goes this time." Li Hongyu smiled slightly when he heard this, reached out and gently scratched the tip of Naren Toya's nose and said disapprerovingly.

"Danger or not?" Naren Toya felt that Li Hongyu seemed to be confident, and a puzzled look suddenly appeared on his face, and he couldn't figure out what he meant.

"According to the information obtained by Xianggong, Jiannu gathered 60,000 troops to invade Liaoxi this time, and their original goal was to take Guangning City, if it could not be realized, they would abduct the people in the surrounding areas of Guangning City, so that Guangning City would become an isolated city."

Li Hongyu frowned slightly, and his expression gradually became solemn, "Nurhachi knows very well that Jiannu is expanding too fast, and it is impossible to swallow Liaoxi if Liaodong has not yet been pacified, so the best way to attack our Ming Dynasty is to take away the local population, so that the Ming army in western Liaoning will become a lone army, and there is nothing to be afraid of." ”

"Originally, Nurhachi thought that there would be a fierce battle in Quang Ninh, but who would have thought that in the end, the soldiers would take the city of Quang Ninh without blood, and Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen retreated thousands of miles, which made it easy for Jiannu to capture those abandoned cities."

As he spoke, Li Hongyu asked Naren Tuoya in a deep voice, "Yu'er, do you know why Jiannu didn't take advantage of the situation to attack Ningyuan, which was only defended by thousands of people?" ”

"They don't have enough troops?" Naren procrastinated and groaned slightly, and then said in a coquettish voice.

The so-called defeat is like a mountain, in the order of Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen to abandon the city of Liaoxi, where does the Ming army in Liaoxi still have any fighting spirit, and they can't wait to flee back to Shanhaiguan.

If the Later Jin army pursued the fleeing Ming army to Ningyuan, then Ningyuan's Ming army would not be able to hold the city no matter what, and then the Later Jin army would reach the Shanhai Pass.

However, the army of Houjin did not do this, and stopped at the Thirteen Mountains, and did not advance a single step for two or three months, which gave the Ming troops in Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan City a chance to breathe.

Naren Toya originally didn't know why Houjin stopped, but after listening to Li Hongyu's previous explanation, she realized that Houjin no longer had the extra troops to attack Ningyuan after capturing so many cities in Liaoxi.

"Nurhachi's purpose is not to occupy the cities of Liaoxi, his target is the people of Liaoxi, the number of Jiannu is not large, even if he captures the cities of Liaoxi, he cannot divide his troops to defend, otherwise his rear will be empty."

Li Hongyu nodded when he heard this, and then said with a wry smile, "Therefore, the top priority of Jiannu is to increase the population and consolidate the rule of Liaodong, those cities in Liaoxi are now a burden to them, and Xianggong is just letting Nurhachi return to Liaodong ahead of schedule this time." ”

In fact, for the Ming Dynasty, those cities in Liaoxi are not a huge burden, and those cities have become empty cities with no one after the Jin Dynasty took the local people to Liaodong, and if the Ming Dynasty goes to garrison again, it will outweigh the losses, but will become the target of the Houjin sneak attack.

It was only then that Naren Toya suddenly realized, no wonder Li Hongyu suddenly proposed to recapture Jinzhou, it turned out that it was expected that Houjin would not stick to Jinzhou City, and he couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

Historically, after the Battle of Ningyuan, the Later Jin abducted the people of the lost areas of western Liaoning and retreated to the east of the Sancha River, giving up many cities including Jinzhou and the Thirteen Mountains and other corridors in western Liaoning, which led to the Ningjin defense line built by the Ming Dynasty later.

In the final analysis, the reason why the Jurchens did not stick to those cities was directly related to their small population and rapid expansion, which can be said to be the most correct strategic choice, throwing the burden of Liaoxi to the Ming Dynasty, and there was a vast buffer area between them and the Ming, so that they could govern Liaodong with peace of mind and secretly accumulate strength.

"Xianggong, having said that, the Jurchens of the Thirteen Mountains and Jinzhou are not easy to deal with."

Naren Toya was still quite uneasy after knowing Li Hongyu's thoughts, and looked at him with a concerned expression and said, after all, the sword and gun have no eyes, and if Li Hongyu has any accidents, it will be bad.

This is not the love of Naren Toya's children, Li Hongyu is not the fledgling new champion now, he is now an out-and-out minister of the Ming Dynasty, and once something happens, it will have a huge impact.

In addition to the sharp decline in the morale of the Ming army in Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty's overseas trade and the western expedition with the Mongolian Trans-Khalkha Department as the main force will also end in failure, and the North Korean side will not be able to resist the threat of the Houjin, which can be said to affect the whole body.