A huge military map hung up in Cao Yue's tent, which was a detailed map of the five northern provinces.

Unlike the previous maps, the map used by Cao Yue has a more detailed legend and a very particular scale, through which you can get a rough idea of the real terrain and distance.

On the map, the movements of several guard divisions of our army are marked, as well as the deployment of the Jiannu army.

Because of the special army of the special guard battalion and the deployment of the Jiannu army, Cao Yue has basically inquired about it.

Liaocheng is a very important node on the canal, so Jiannu stationed about 20,000 men and horses here, including 5,000 Jurchen Eight Banners, 5,000 Mongolian Eight Banners, and 10,000 Han Army and other servant troops. There are also nearly 5,000 former Ming troops who were not taken seriously by Cao Yue.

The Jiannu of Jinan Prefecture only stationed about 20,000 town troops, and the Jurchen Eight Banners only had 2,000 people, and the others were all servants. From the deployment of troops, it can also be seen that Dolgon attaches great importance to Liaocheng.

Before the start of the military meeting, Cao Yue also gave a detailed explanation of the situation between the enemy and us, and after briefing the military situation, he said to the generals: "Liaocheng is a very important geographical location in Shandong. It guards the Grand Canal, and the city's gains and losses are related to whether the canal channel can be unblocked. Dolgon also knew the importance of Liaocheng, and he stationed tens of thousands of troops in the small Liaocheng, as well as ......"

Cao Yue moved the baton to the nearby Daimyo's Mansion, "The Daimyo's Mansion is also heavily guarded by Jiannu, and according to the information we have obtained, there are 25,000 Jiannu in the vicinity of the Daimyo's Mansion. This place is only more than 100 miles away from Liaocheng, and 25,000 people can rescue Liaocheng at any time. There are also nearly 20,000 Jiannu garrisons in Jinan Prefecture, and if we attack Liaocheng, the Jiannu in Jinan Prefecture may also be reinforced. The military situation of the enemy and us is reported as follows, and how to fight the battle of Liaocheng, you can speak freely. ”

"The Grand Duke. The last general felt that with the combat effectiveness and weapons and equipment of our Ming Guards, it would be easy to capture Liaocheng," Gao Jie stood up first and expressed his opinion, "There are more than 80,000 men and horses led by the Metropolitan Governor. Even if the Daimyo Mansion and Jinan Prefecture are reinforced by Jiannu, we are not in a weak position in terms of troops. General Cao Jie's First Guards Division was also preparing to attack Jinan, and the defenders of Jinan did not dare to support Liaocheng with all their might. The last general felt that as long as we acted quickly, we would definitely be able to capture Liaocheng soon. After capturing Liaocheng, Jiannu will definitely find a way to recapture it, and we can kill and injure Jiannu in large numbers under Liaocheng City. After capturing Liaocheng. With two of us, we can join forces to attack Jinan Mansion. The defenders of Jinan Mansion are weaker, and it is not difficult to capture them. In this way, the whole of Shandong will return to the rule of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Grand Governor, there will be a different opinion in the end!" Huang Degong also immediately stood up and expressed his opinion: "The last general feels that our army does not necessarily have to quickly capture Liaocheng, but can take Liaocheng as the goal. Encirclement and reinforcements. Jiannu will definitely not sit idly by and watch Liaocheng fall, and will send reinforcements to reinforce it. Not only the people and horses of the Daimyo Mansion and Jinan Mansion will come to the rescue, but also the Jiannu of Shunde Mansion, Taiyuan Mansion and even Beijing will also rescue. In any case, Jiannu will not let my Ming army easily capture Liaocheng, otherwise it will have a lot of impact on morale, and those former Ming generals who surrendered to Jiannu may rebel again. And our army can use Liaocheng as an encirclement point. Eliminate the enemy who comes to help, so that there is no need to work on an expedition, you can eliminate the living force of Jiannu, and after Jiannu does not dare to send troops to rescue Liaocheng, Liaocheng will be captured. ”

Huang Degong paused. Again: "This kind of strategy has been adopted by Jiannu many times, and in the Battle of Songshan, my multi-route reinforcements were wiped out by Jiannu in this way. If it weren't for the surprise attack of Shengjing by the Governor of Dadu, the Battle of Songshan might have ended in a crushing defeat for our Ming army. And we can now pay homage to Jiannu in the same way. With the strength of my Ming Guard, as long as Jiannu dares to rescue, he will definitely be able to defeat him. If the Jiannu who rescued Liaocheng are defeated, the morale blow to Jiannu will be huge. Perhaps, the defenders of the Daimyo Mansion and the Jinan Mansion will collapse, and our Ming army can easily capture it. ”

Seeing that Huang Degong opposed his opinion and put forward different views, Gao Jie immediately stood up and refuted, saying that Liaocheng should be captured as soon as possible, and then take advantage of the situation to attack Dezhou and Cangzhou, capture more cities on the canal, and continue to march north, striving to attack the city of Beijing before the Jiannu army has time to return to help.

And Huang Degong, who had already roughly guessed Cao Yue's purpose, did not approve of Gao Jie's quick solution, and the two immediately started an argument.

Liu Liangzuo, an old slippery head, saw that Huang Degong and Gao Jie were arguing fiercely, and Cao Yue looked like he was watching a play, so he didn't stand up to express his opinion. But soon, other generals came forward to express their support for Huang Degong or Gao Jie, or to express their opinions.

However, in general, the generals' views are nothing more than two opinions, one is what Gao Jie said, capture Liaocheng as soon as possible, and then take advantage of the situation to go north, attack Dezhou, Cangzhou, Tianjin Wei, and then take Beijing; The other is similar to what Huang Degong said, using Liaocheng as a siege point to annihilate the rescue Jiannu army, greatly killing and injuring the main force of Jiannu, and forcing the Jiannu army to withdraw from Shaanxi.

After arguing, the generals also stopped talking, and everyone's eyes looked at Cao Yue, waiting for the young army commander to decide.

"What the generals said makes sense," Cao Yue also cleared his throat and said his opinion after seeing that no one had expressed his opinion: "But the governor of Pontus still agrees with General Huang's suggestion, taking Liaocheng as the goal, encircling the point to send reinforcements, and eliminating the living force of Jiannu." ”

"Now the number of Jiannu army is far superior to my Ming army, and the five northern provinces are basically under its control. Although our army is well-equipped, the ammunition aspect is a great test of the logistics and transportation capacity. In Liaocheng, our army has the convenience of supplying nearby. A large amount of capital shortage of our army is piled up in Huai'an and Xuzhou, whether it is Huai'an or Xuzhou to Liaocheng is only a few hundred miles, the canal is unblocked, our logistics transportation is very convenient, ammunition and military supplies can be quickly replenished. With ammunition, the combat power of our Ming Guards can be fully exerted. However, if we continue to the north and reach the area around Beijing, then our army's logistical supply line will be lengthened, almost more than 1,000 miles, and if there is an accident in the middle, the 100,000 troops may reach the point of running out of ammunition and food. ”

Cao Yue said, looked at Huang Degong, who was a little excited, and then looked at Gao Jie, whose face was flushed, and continued: "The governor of Bendu also thinks that it is not difficult to break through Liaocheng, and it is not difficult to capture Dezhou and Cangzhou, and the army of sailors who go north by sea will soon arrive in Tianjinwei. But what Pontus said just now is something we have to consider. ”

"Also, if we besiege Liaocheng and don't take it, and the Jiannu army rescues Liaocheng, then Beijing's defense will become empty, and at this time, the situation will change again, and the Jiang Brother and Wang Chengyin may become the grass on the wall again, and it is also possible to rebel against Jiannu. And Datong's tens of thousands of elites in Daming may also be moved. Liaocheng to Beijing, and then to Datong, the battle line is very long, and the main army of Jiannu is fighting against the Liukou in Shaanxi, at that time, Jiannu will fall into a dilemma, maybe they can't support it, and they will retreat outside the border!" (To be continued.) )