Haikou Institute, Allied Military Conference.

Zhang Pengfei, Jin Shiying, Yang Qianqing, Zhang Shijie, and He Chengqian sat around the map, smoking with their heads down.

Although the enemy occupied the three provinces of Gao Lei Lian in Haibei Province, they could not tightly seal off the winding coastline, especially in the area of Qinzhou on the west side of Lianzhou Province, and the enemy's rule was even weaker. Through some channels that are not very difficult, Qiongzhou still maintains communication with Guilin, the capital of the Southern Ming Dynasty. Zeng Ying can still get the corresponding military intelligence report, and Zeng Ying can master as much as Qu Shiyun has mastered. It's just that the road is harder to walk than before, and the delay is longer.

Shou Xu handed a stack of briefings to Zhang Xiaoqi, "General, you can read it to everyone." ”

"Yes." Not long after Zhang Xiaoqi was transferred from Haibei Province to Leizhou Prefecture Haiphong Tongzhi, because he was familiar with the situation in Haibei Province, he was now in meetings with him.

Shou Xiang did not intend to hide from the generals the deteriorating situation on the mainland, it was such a time, and it would be better to be honest.

Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, Geng Zhongming, Shen Zhixiang, the Han army inlaid with the red flag Gushan Ezhen Jinli, Manchuria inlaid with the red flag Meile Ezhen Tuntai and other early led the army south. Beijing was worried that their troops were insufficient, so they reinforced Kong Youde with two Eight Banner soldiers, Manchurian Zhengbai Banner Meler Ezhen Zhuoluo and Blue Banner Meler Ezhen Lanbai. In the words of the Han officials, they are two "big soldiers" and "soldiers of the inner court".

Once the Han officials in various places lost on the battlefield, they would send them to Beijing like snowflakes of urgency, and invite the Manchurian "soldiers of the inner court" to come out. The Manchurian army was numbered in the tens of thousands, which was simply not enough, so Beijing was now very cautious about using the Manchurian Eight Banner soldiers.

This southern expedition was led by Kong Youde. If you want to stimulate the strength of the Han army, you have to add officials to people, and even the deputy capital princes of the Eight Banners in the Hunan battlefield must obey Kong Youde's orders.

Kong Youde can indeed fight.

At the beginning of February, Jianzhou defeated Hao Shaoqi, conquered Yuezhou, and on February 16, the army approached Changsha Mansion.

Jin Shi's English tone was very depressed, "He Du joined forces with Wang Jincai, Zhang Kuang, and Zhang Xianbi with nearly 50,000 troops, and fought with Jianlu for nine days. ”

Zhang Shijie sighed slightly, "Nine days is not bad, but there are nearly 10,000 real captives on the other side." ”

Yang Qianqing was very depressed, "Wang Jincai can't resist running first, otherwise He Du will hold on to Changsha for a longer time." ”

Wang Jincai was subordinate to the Zhongwu Battalion and was originally Li Zicheng's general. Shou Xiang didn't think that this was Wang Jincai's pot alone, the financial and tax revenues were insufficient, and the deployment of the Ming army in Hunan was congenitally chaotic, and whoever went was defeated.

Shou Xuan stretched out his hand to draw a line of defense in Hengzhou, "Qu Shiyun said that He Tengjiao fled to Hengzhou on a single horse, and is mobilizing reinforcements to prepare for another battle. ”

Jin Shiying's eyebrows twisted into Sichuan characters, "Zhang Tongzhi, after the defeat of Changsha, how many soldiers are there in Hunan?" ”

Zhang Xiaoqi shook his head, "Not on the briefing." ”

Shou Xuan took a sip of hot tea, and when he saw that everyone was looking over, he spread his hands.

"Don't look at me, I don't know. The battlefield in Hunan is so chaotic, it's hard to say how much exact news Guilin can get. If you're an old fighter, you should be able to understand this. ”

Zhang Pengfei thought for a while, "Although we don't know the exact number, we can make an approximate calculation." ”

"No one knows the exact location of Gao Bizheng (Yigong) and Li Chixin (Guo) of the loyal battalion, but they are definitely not on the battlefield, and He Du can't move them. He Du's subordinates originally had three departments: Zhongwu Battalion, Zhongkai Battalion, and Hao Shaoqi, as well as Zhang Xianbi, Huang Chaoxuan, and Liu Chengyin. ”

Jin Shiying: "Hao Shaoqi withdrew from Yuezhou quickly, and he should still have some strength." The Zhongwu Battalion, the Zhongkai Battalion and Zhang Xianbi have been defeated and cannot be counted on. ”

Yang Qianqing's eyes were a little hollow, "Then only Huang Chaoxuan, Liu Chengyin and the newly arrived Dian army are left......

"I can't even rely on it." He Chengqian, who was the smallest and weakest in the official position, said suddenly. "I also fought in Biyuan back then, and Liu Chengyin knows best what virtue is."

Zhang Xiaoqi muttered: "But, but the Son of Heaven is in Wugang City under the control of Liu Chengyin... Could it be that the misfortune of Yiyou is going to happen again......"

Seeing that everyone's expressions were stunned, Shou Xuan hurriedly interrupted them.

"Rest assured, rest assured, I don't think it will be so miserable this time. Qu Shiyun said that when today's son is very smart, Hongguang and Longwu have taught too profound a lesson, and he should be able to learn from it. When Gaozong of the former Song Dynasty first established the country, he couldn't beat Jin Yu, but he could run. Running and running, won't you be able to win in the end? You see, it's not terrible to lose. Win or lose, as long as you don't surrender, you can run out of opportunities. ”

The generals looked at each other, probably not understanding whether the observance meant praise or sarcasm. In fact, what Shou Qin said was what he thought in his heart, what the emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty needed to see most now was not the Benji of Emperor Guangwu of Han, but the Benji of Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. It is best to read it day and night.

Zhao Gou himself can ride a fierce horse and hold a strong bow, and his force value is acceptable, and he is not afraid of encountering a few enemy soldiers when he is running naked alone. The ability of the first two emperors of the Southern Ming Dynasty to run away is really not good, especially Emperor Longwu, the enemy is behind, and he still carries a lot of luggage when he retreats, which is not a reasonable choice.

"The Son of Heaven has what Tengjiao and Qu Shiyun protect, and we are still worried about the enemy forces on the other side of the strait. General, you tell everyone about the situation in Haibei. ”

“…… Yes, Lord. Zhang Xiaoqi cleaned up his mood and changed a briefing, "The enemy's general soldier Yan Keyi is stationed in Leizhou, Zhang Yue is in Lianzhou, and Zhang Daoying is in Gaozhou. ”

Zhang Shijie said: "What about Yang Dafu and Luo Chengyao? ”

Shou Order: "General Zhang's good question, this is exactly the question we need to understand." Five days ago, the banners of Yang Dafu and Luo Chengyao disappeared from Haibei. ”

Several generals glanced at each other. To find out the enemy's disposition, it is impossible to simply send a few ships to find out the news. An opponent can trick you to death by putting up a few banners at the head of the city. Combat reconnaissance is mandatory.

"Please go back and pick people, let's send 1000 troops first to test the depth of the enemy's army."

The first batch of people is not going to be out too many people, 1,000 people are enough.

"We are divided into three divisions, General He Chengqian, you send people to Donghai Island, choose a place between Haikang County and Suixi County to land, and try to build a camp fort. General Zhang Shijie, you send people to Lemin to guard the thousands of households, and also build a camp. General Yaoyu and Shiying, you work hard, run a little farther, and go to Qinzhou and Wuchuan County, the capital of Gaozhou, respectively. I sent the Adventure and the Excellence to support you, no more than Leizhou Mansion, we don't know anything about the situation in Qinzhou and Gaozhou Prefecture. After landing, whether to fight or not, you will decide for yourself when the time comes. ”

It doesn't matter whether the camp can be taken down or not, this wave of reconnaissance and defense wants to find out what the enemy's coastal defense is.

He Chengqian did not shirk it, he was the main local army and was very familiar with geography and sea conditions.

Zhang Pengfei and Jin Shiying were each supported by a gunboat in the order, and they didn't say much.

Zhang Shijie was a little difficult, he was just familiar with the port of Hainan Island, and he didn't know much about Leizhou.

Shou Xuan listened to Zhang Shijie's difficulties, nodded and said, "General, Leizhou has always been in contact with you, how about you go with General Zhang?" ”

Zhang Xiaoqi did not hesitate, stood up and agreed: "Please rest assured, General Zhang, I will lead the way for you." ”

On the coast of Guangdong, in addition to the Yongli Ming army and the Tan people, there are also some other forces.

Some were supporters of the Shaowu regime, some had been opponents of the Ming dynasty, and some were other factions in the Yongli court. They withdrew the Ming army in Haibei, and the power developed rapidly in this gap when Jianzhou first arrived.

Regardless of their original political background, no one wants to be ruled by a foreign race. During this period, the various families in Haibei were constantly in contact with Qiongzhou, and the first tentative attack on Haibei Province by Shu Xu relied largely on them.

These forces are:

Shaowu General Wang Xing. Wang Xing's activities are in the area of Datang Town, Xinning County. After Chengdong occupied Guangzhou, Wang Xing controlled some smuggling channels through the Tanjiang waterway and had some small business dealings with the Sanya Company. Wang Xing's army still carries the Tang King, another younger brother of Emperor Longwu. In fact, Zheng Chenggong is not a supporter of the Longwu department, this General Wang Xing is. If Zheng Chenggong really wanted to erect the banner of Longwu to fight against King Lu, he could take this right-name Tang King to Fujian.

Leizhou West Sea pirates Wang Zhihan and Wang Zhijian brothers. The Wang brothers and the official army of Haibei were originally enemies who had been fighting for more than ten years, but after the Tatars came, the two sides quickly reached a united front. Zeng Ying gave Wang Zhihan the rank of general, and Zhang Shijie sent troops to Xihai this time to support Wang Zhihan's uprising.

Qinzhou pirate Yang Yandi.

Shou Xuan frowned and said, "General, how did you talk to Yang Er?" I used 10 cannons to exchange Chen Shangchuan with him, did he promise? ”

Zhang Xiaoqi: "Lord of the country, when Yang Er learned that you used a cannon to replace people, he wanted to agree at that time, but he still had to ask Chen Shangchuan himself for his opinion on this matter." ”

"You go to the West Sea this time, and by the way, tell Yang Er that I can send him an extra 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Urge them to make decisions quickly. ”

"Yes, Lord. I checked, Chen Shangchuan's brother Chen Tingchuan is registered in Qiongzhou Mansion, and I will ask him to help this time. ”

"Good."

Chen Shangchuan was born in a family of sea traders, his family was wealthy, and he was admitted to the middle school at the age of 15 in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, and has been studying in Zhaoqing since then. After the Yongli Emperor ascended the throne, Chen Shangchuan returned to his hometown of Wuchuan County, Gaozhou Prefecture, and scattered all his wealth to raise troops. Cheng Dong soldiers came, Chen Shangchuan was unable to resist, and retreated to Longmen Island in Qinzhou with Yang Yandi, a fellow countryman.

With the cooperation of Yang Yandi and Wang Zhihan, the southeastern Ming army, which is not familiar with Haibei Province, at least does not have to worry about causing big trouble.

Shou Xuan smiled, "Don't worry, everyone. Li Chengdong's soldiers are capable of fighting, and we are really not sure that they will immediately fight a decisive battle on land. We're going to have to consume them first. ”

War is a process of energy conversion, Li Chengdong fought all the way from Fujian, and the kinetic energy of coercion has never stopped. At such a time, the reversal of the offensive and defensive form cannot be achieved overnight, and the normal process should be retreat, stalemate attrition, and counterattack.

It was not enough to barely stop the advance of the enemy army by relying on the strait, and the enemy army had to fight with it while it stopped. Only combat is the most reliable means of stopping the enemy.

"Generals, the backbone of the enemy army is the border army and the rogue from the north, all of whom are elites after a hundred battles, and have seen many big scenes. If we want to win, we can't fight the kind of battles they are familiar with. ”

Zhang Shijie didn't understand, "What does the lord of the country mean?" ”

Zhang Pengfei thought thoughtfully, "Back then, in Phi Dao, Mao Shuai said something similar to that of the lord of the country. ”

Orderly: "General Yaoyu understands very well. We want to learn from Dongjiang, and we also want to learn from Zheng Zhilong before Zhao'an. ”

"The enemy army is supported by Tan people and pirates with four surnames, and there are also ships. But they don't have the Qionghai barrier line. It's hard for the enemy to hurt our base, but we can hurt theirs. You first find out the enemy's situation, and then we will attack in a big way, and attack the coast of the three provinces of Gao Leilian on all fronts. ”

Zhang Pengfei nodded, "I understand." The current conditions are actually better than those in Dongjiang Town, we have artillery, and the enemy army is not the most capable of fighting. As long as we find out the enemy's situation, we even have the opportunity to fight a few battles of annihilation. ”

"General Yaoyu said it well." Shou Xuan smiled and said: "Back then, Spain and Francois had a pair of rival commanders. The Spanish one is called Pep Guardiola, and the one in Francois is called José. Jose Mourinho. Pep Guardiola commands one of the strongest armies on the surface, and he's really in the middle of the day. Mourinho has his own solution. In every fight, Mourinho pulled Pep Guardiola to fight on a level with him. The Spanish army was well-equipped and well-trained, and the army was full of fierce generals. Mourinho didn't come out for a decisive battle, he cut the battle to pieces, stirred it into a mess, and then seized the opportunity to make a few sharp counter-attacks. With this philosophy, although Mourinho is weaker than Pep Guardiola, he has always played a good record. ”

If the Qionghai barrier is regarded as the goal line, then the Leizhou Peninsula is the midfielder. Defend the order to try to keep the danger out of the defensive three, preferably through a midfield strangulation to eliminate most of the risks.

"Generals, don't be afraid of losses. For everyone lost in Haibei, I will double the replenishment to you. ”

It is confident that Shou Zhi said this. Fujian and Guangdong are in turmoil, and this year's brown sugar has risen to 10 riyals a quintal, worth more than 1 tael of silver. The price of rock sugar is 5 taels and 1 quintal, and the price of white sugar is also 3 taels. Zeng Ying hoarded 120,000 quintals of cane sugar in Hainan, with a city value of 350,000 taels of silver. Not counting the production of staple grains, as long as this batch of sugar is sold, Hainan Island's military expenditure can be fully solved.