Dolgon knew that although the Qing Dynasty had won successive victories, the fatal shortcoming, that is, the problem of population shortage, had not yet been solved.

If the occupation of the north is consolidated over time, then the Han army that has been recruited and surrendered, as well as the surrendered rogues, can be used to attack the remnants of the Ming Dynasty in the south, so that the Han people can kill each other, and the Qing Dynasty will reap the benefits of the fishermen.

At present, the places where the Qing Dynasty can reach include Beizhili, Shanxi, most of Henan, Shandong, and Shaanxi. Because the main opponent now is Li Zicheng's Liukou, so in Jinanfu, Shandong, which is under the control of the Remnant Ming Dynasty, Dolgon did not send many troops, only 2,000 Jurchen Eight Banners, 5,000 Mongol Eight Banners, and a Korean army and a Han army. The total strength of that line is only tens of thousands.

After Liu Zeqing was killed, Dolgon took the opportunity to send troops to attack Jinan Mansion, and the defenders of Jinan surrendered without a fight, picking a big bargain.

Dolgon knew that Cao Yue's Northern Expedition to regain Beijing would inevitably attack from Shandong along the canal, and that he would have to deal with the fact that the Qing army in Shandong was now seriously undernumbered. But how to deal with it was a big headache for Dolgon.

More than half of the Qing army, led by Duoduo and Azig, fought against Li Zicheng's Liukou in Shaanxi, and Wu Sangui's Guanning army was also in Shaanxi. Some of the other troops were on guard against the remnants of the Ming army in Datong, and they also had to guard the area around Beijing, and there were also men and horses left behind outside the pass. At this time, Dolgon once again felt that the number of Qing troops was seriously insufficient, and he could not send more men and horses to the direction of Shandong.

The Qing army entered the customs this time, with a total of about 350,000 troops. Including about 120,000 Jurchen Eight Banners, 100,000 Mongolian Eight Banners, Han Army Eight Banners and Korean Army about 130,000. Furthermore. Now there are nearly 200,000 remnant Ming troops attached to the Qing Dynasty, including Wu Sangui's Guan Ning army and Tang Tong, Jiang Zhu brothers and other men and horses. There are more than 500,000 in total, but Dolgon is still sad to find that the number of Qing troops is still seriously insufficient, and the defense is overstretched, let alone conquer the world with this little force. That's almost impossible.

The army of Tang Tong and others has been assigned to the command of Wu Sangui, and a total of 100,000 horses under Wu Sangui's command belong to Duoduo, and they are fighting fiercely with Li Zicheng's peasant army. There were about 80,000 Jurchen Eight Banners taken away by Duoduo, and two-thirds of the Jurchen Eight Banners that entered the customs were led by him, as well as more than 100,000 Mongolian Eight Banners, Han Army, and Korean Army. Now, Wu Sangui's more than 100,000 horses are fighting fiercely with Duoduo's 100,000 troops in Shaanxi against the thieves.

Fortunately, there were Wu Sangui and other former Ming troops who fought for the vanguard of the Qing army, and fought fiercely with the thieves for several months, and the real Qing army had almost no casualties, which was the most gratifying to Dolgon.

The Duoduo fought well. The Qing army and the former Ming Dynasty were invincible, and Li Zicheng's peasant army retreated to the Tongguan line after heavy losses. Dolgon estimated that as long as he was given another three months, or half a year at most, he would definitely be able to completely eliminate Li Zicheng's rogue and completely occupy Shaanxi. Dolgon also knew that now Li Zicheng's troops were almost unable to hold on, as long as they broke through Tongguan. The rogue will be defeated like a mountain and completely lose Guanzhong.

He knows it very well. The Reservoir Dogs must be beaten badly, and Jiannu must not be given a chance to breathe, otherwise the results of the rapid attack that lasted for several months will be dissolved, and the Rogue will have a chance to make a comeback. Once the thieves are relieved, it will be difficult to seek Guanzhong again. Therefore, it is not a last resort. Dolgon would not have transferred the army of Duoduo and Wu Sangui to the east.

The army led by Duoduo could not move, and the mobile force in Dolgon's hands was only 40,000 Eight Banner soldiers, 50,000 Mongol Eight Banners, 30,000 Han troops, 20,000 Korean troops, and nearly 100,000 former Ming surrender troops. Although it is said that there are quite a few troops at the disposal of Dorgon, the total number is nearly 250,000. But there are not many real elites, many are rabble. To defend Beijing, we must also beware of Datong's Cao Bianjiao's return killing, which is a bit stretched.

Datong was not captured, which was also a major problem for Dorgon. It was not that he did not think about attacking Datong, but he was defeated by Cao Bianjiao several times, and in the end he could only adopt an isolation strategy, wanting to make the Datong defenders unable to support it on the premise of cutting off food and other military supplies. Dolgon knew that if Cao Bianjiao knew that Cao Yue led the army to the north, he would definitely respond, and it was even possible to abandon the city and take the initiative to attack.

In this way, he must deploy troops in the direction of Datong to strictly prevent the Datong defenders from turning from defense to attack.

Cao Yue has more than 100,000 horses, and he must arrange equal forces to meet the enemy. In this case, the forces in his hands will obviously be insufficient, unless he uses the men and horses left behind outside the pass, or recruits Duoduo back, and interrupts the decisive battle with the rogue. Whatever decision he made wasn't what Dorgon wanted, and he had a headache. At this time, Dolgon frowned and pondered while pacing, and at the end, he asked Fan Wencheng if he was here.

Just when Dolgon was in an upset mood, Fan Wencheng, whom he sent to pass on, came to Wuying Palace.

Seeing Fan Wencheng hurrying over, Dolgon's expression slowed down slightly, he motioned for Fan Wenchen to sit down with him, and immediately told the other party the urgent military information he had just received. During this time, Fan Wencheng would come to Wuyingdian almost every day to discuss the military situation with Dolgon, Dolgon also trusted Fan Wencheng very much, and the secrets in the army and the military information received were basically not kept secret, and he had just received the news of Cao Yue's Northern Expedition, and he also thought of summoning Fan Wencheng to discuss countermeasures for the first time.

When Fan Wencheng heard this, his face changed instantly, his hand holding the military report handed to him by Dorgon was trembling slightly, he took a deep breath, and said in a voice: "Master, on the front line of Jinan, there are less than 5,000 Jurchen Eight Banners and less than 20,000 Mongolian Eight Banners, plus the Han army, the Korean army and the former Ming Dynasty army are only 50,000 horses, and the defenders of Jinan Mansion are seriously insufficient. The Ming army led by Cao Yue has more than 100,000 people, and our troops are too thin, and the slaves think that we must send reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise the Jinan Mansion will not be guaranteed, and the Ming army can go straight to Beijing along the canal. In addition, the Ming army's naval division could reach Tianjin Wei directly by sea, and the defenders of Tianjin Wei should also be strengthened. ”

"Yes, this king is also worried about these problems, so he sent someone to invite Mr. to come over and discuss this issue!" Dolgon turned around and sat down on the side, motioned for Fan Wencheng to stand beside him, and then said, "If you have any ideas and suggestions, sir, you can just say them." How do you think our Qing army will be deployed, and what army will be transferred back to Beijing to reinforce Jinan Mansion and Tianjin Wei, you can say that no matter what you say today, this king will not blame you!" (To be continued.) )