"Jiannu actually took the initiative to launch an attack in the direction of Dezhou and Linqing?" After receiving the urgent military intelligence report from the outpost of the special guard battalion, Cao Yue was a little surprised, "Dolgon is so impatient, dare to launch an active attack on my Ming army after the arrival of our reinforcements, the comeback of the Liukou, and the rebellion of the Jiang brothers?" ”

Although there were suspicions, Cao Yue did not dare to have any carelessness, and immediately convened the generals to discuss countermeasures.

"Ladies and gentlemen, according to the information we have inquired, the Jiannu soldiers are divided into routes and attacked in the direction of Dezhou, Linqing, and Liaocheng, with a total strength estimated at more than 400,000, what kind of countermeasures we have to make, and please speak freely," After combing through the military intelligence report sent back by the special guard battalion and telling the generals, Cao Yue did not first talk about his own arrangements, but asked the generals what they meant.

Cao Bianjiao didn't express his position immediately, he wanted to wait for all the generals to express their opinions, and Cao Yue didn't say that he would express his opinions before making a final decision.

"Since Jiannu dares to attack, then we will bravely face the battle, and the army led by the last general is willing to act as the vanguard of the army and take the first step to meet Jiannu!" Huang Degong, who was appointed as the chief soldier of the Second Guards Army, was the first to stand up and say that in order to be recognized and impressed by others, the last general is willing to make a military order, if he does not defeat Jiannu, he will come to see the governor." ”

The red lady, who had a special thought in her heart, also stood up and expressed her opinion after Huang Degong: "The governor of the capital, the last general is also willing to lead the army to fight against Jiannu." The last general was also willing to make a military order, and if he could not defeat Jiannu, he was willing to accept any punishment. However, the last general believed that our army could rely on the defense system outside Liaocheng, Linqing, and Dezhou to meet Jiannu, and if Jiannu dared to attack, they would definitely be told to go and not return. Our army is waiting for work, and there is a solid defense system to use, no matter how many Jiannu troops there are, they will still repeat the mistakes of the Battle of Liaocheng and return defeated. ”

This time. As the closest person around Cao Yue, she is also fully aware of the role of Cao Yue's defense system built outside Liaocheng, Linqing, and Dezhou, so she did not propose to leave the defense system and take the initiative to meet Jiannu after marching north, but suggested that she should wait for work and use the defense system to meet Jiannu.

When the Red Lady said this, the eyes of the other generals lit up, and those who were flexible soon understood why the Red Lady said this. These people are also all aware of the relationship between the Red Lady and Cao Yue. Knowing that the Red Lady could know many war strategies and arrangements from Cao Yue's mouth, he subconsciously thought that the advice that the Red Lady said was Cao Yue's plan. Therefore, after thinking about it carefully, they also echoed the Red Lady's proposal.

Subsequently, Cao Bianjiao also stood up, agreed with what the red lady said, and added some of his own opinions, he believes that Jiannu is still hundreds of miles away. We have plenty of time to make arrangements, and we can also send some suspicious troops to delay the speed of Jiannu's attack, and then lead them to our defensive positions.

"Jiannu wants to defeat our army. They can only attack the main positions of our army, and without the cooperation of a large number of artillery and muskets, they want to break through the positions of our army, and defeating our army is tantamount to a fool's dream!" After Cao Bianjiao expressed his contempt for Jiannu. He reminded the generals again, don't underestimate the enemy, after Jiannu suffered the defeat of Liaocheng. Lessons will definitely be learned and the tactics of war will be changed.

Jiannu's best tactics are to use the good mobility of the cavalry to break through quickly, this time they attack, it is likely that they will not attack the main position of our army with all their strength, and send a certain number of men and horses to attack in a roundabout way, and it is possible to attack from the flank or detour through the rear of our army.

After listening to the generals' discussions, Cao Yue finally made a decision and held the defensive position built during this time to meet the attack of Jiannu. He also ordered the 7th, 8th, and 9th Guards Divisions, which had already entered the border between Henan and Shandong, to be responsible for the defense of the canal line far from Liaocheng and prevent Jiannu from running long distances to attack the transport ships on the canal. Then the state capitals mobilized the people to work with the state soldiers to protect the safety of the canal and prevent the bad guys from sabotaging.

The newly reorganized several guard divisions that were originally used as reserves were deployed on the canal line south of Liaocheng to prevent Jiannu from outflanking and attacking from this direction.

With hundreds of thousands of horses in hand, Cao Yue can calmly make arrangements. The positions built are all built by relying on the canal, and the canal constitutes a complete defense system, and the officers and men of the special guard battalion are widely distributed behind enemy lines and at the junction of the two armies. In terms of scouts to inquire about the situation, Jiannu lagged far behind the Ming official army, which was also an important reason why Cao Yue was not afraid of Jiannu.

Cao Yue sent a letter to Sun Chuanting in Nanjing again, asking him to find a way to transport more artillery, muskets, and ammunition to Shandong, as well as food and other military supplies.

Sun Chuanting's support for Cao Yue was still very positive, and before Cao Yue wrote this letter, he, together with Gao Hongtu and Shi Kefa, had already done his best to send supplies to the front. After hearing that Jiannu had once again assembled a large army to take the initiative to attack, he also strictly ordered the Nanjing Arsenal and other weapons workshops, as well as the weapons workshops in the nearby state capitals, to work day and night to find ways to make more firearms. Moreover, Sun Chuanting also strictly requires manufacturing quality, and will never allow fake and shoddy products to be sent to the front. The same is true of food and other military supplies, which must not be shoddy.

Cao Yue was also waiting for the sailor soldiers to launch an attack on Tianjin Wei. According to the information that came back earlier, except for five of the 55 warships of the naval division traveling by sea, which sank or ran aground due to a storm, the remaining 50 warships had already passed the sea off Laizhou, Shandong, and temporarily relied on Laizhou, and continued to go north after replenishing supplies, and it is estimated that in a few days, they will be able to reach the sea off Tianjin.

According to the information inquired by the soldiers of the special guard battalion, the number of Jiannu defenders in Tianjin Wei was not large, and the total number was only more than 30,000 people, including 5,000 Jurchens, 8,000 Mongolian Eight Banners, 12,000 Han troops and Ming troops, and about 5,000 Korean troops. It is equipped with ten Hongyi cannons, several other artillery, and a musket team of 1,000 people, and the overall combat effectiveness is not strong.

There were more than 25,000 officers and men of the Daming Naval Division on 50 warships, more than 300 artillery pieces of various kinds, and three battalions of musketeers.

With such a powerful naval force, if there is still no way to break through the Tianjin Guard, then the generals of the naval division do not need to come back to see Cao Yue, and directly wipe their necks on the battlefield to commit suicide.

When Cao Yue made various arrangements, news came from the special guard battalion that a team of about 8,000 Jiannu quickly traveled south into Henan, and the purpose was unknown!

Jiannu's many puzzling actions aroused Cao Yue's suspicions, and he couldn't figure out what Jiannu wanted to do! (To be continued.) )