In December of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), the central army of the Ming Dynasty entered Liaocheng, which seriously threatened the safety of Yanjing.

At the same time, 50,000 Mongolian cavalry were urgently recruited from Monan.

In the first month of the first year of Longwu (1644), Dolgon left 20,000 Eight Banner soldiers to garrison Yanjing, and then personally led the 170,000 Eight Banners Army and 60,000 former Ming troops to the south, and on the nineteenth day of the first month, the 20,000 Eight Banners Army of Boluo joined forces in Liaocheng, and the battle of Liaocheng related to Jiannu and the Ming Dynasty officially kicked off.

This is a strategic decisive battle in the true sense of the word, and both Daming and Jiannu want to completely solve each other in one battle.

For the Ming Dynasty, as long as the battle of Liaocheng can be won, Jiannu will rebel and leave, and the vitality will be greatly damaged, and the recovery of Yanjing and Liaodong will be just around the corner, and the same is true for Jiannu, as long as the battle of Liaocheng can be won, more than 200,000 troops will be able to sweep down the Yangtze River and completely destroy the Nanming regime.

In order to ensure that the battle of Liaocheng can be won, Dolgon mobilized 50,000 Jiannu Eight Banners, of which 20,000 are the most elite Eight Banners Iron Cavalry! In addition, there are 100,000 Mongolian cavalry, 20,000 Korean Eight Banners, 20,000 Han Army Eight Banners, and 60,000 former Ming surrender troops, with a total strength of 250,000 troops!

The Ming Dynasty only had Wang Pu's 40,000 Central Army, including two musket battalions and an artillery battalion, plus Shi Lang's 5,000 water divisions, in terms of troops, Jiannu was almost six times that of the Ming Central Army, and Jiannu also had the advantage of cavalry, with 20,000 of the most elite Eight Banners Iron Cavalry and a full 100,000 Mongolian light cavalry.

However, the Ming army also has its own advantages, that is, Shi Lang's sailors!

Shi Lang's sailors had a total of 5,000 people, with 50 large warships, each warship was equipped with 10 to 20 Franc cannons, and the sailors on the ships had been reequipped with Datong flintlock pistols eliminated by the Central Army, although the firing range was not as far as the latest Nanjing flintlock pistol used by the Central Army, and the accuracy was poor, but the bows and arrows used to suppress Jiannu were more than enough.

These fifty large warships are like fifty moving water fortresses, Jiannu has no way to take it, no matter how cattle the cavalry and infantry are, they can't rush into the water, bombard it with Hongyi cannons, and when you set up the cannons, the warships will have already stretched far, burn them with rockets, the range of bows and arrows is not as far as other people's Franc machine guns and muskets, and they didn't burn other people's warships but they stacked their own archers.

After several temptations, by the end of the first month of the first year of Longwu, Dolgon and Wang Pu had almost figured out the reality of each other, and the two sides invariably gave up the needless attack and harassment, and began the final preparations before the decisive battle, the war is always impermanent, you can make the most adequate preparations, but the enemy will never play with you according to the routine you set, and the truly clever commander must make tactical adjustments in time according to the rapidly changing battlefield situation.

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Liaocheng, Dolgon's residence.

Dolgon was convening Fan Wencheng, Ning Wan, and my two confidants, as well as Duoduo, He Luohui, Bolo, Sakhalian, Abatai, and other Jiannu generals to discuss the matter.

Duoduo said: "Fourteenth brother, Wang Pu is too cunning, he set up the camp on the edge of the canal, and dug a five-zhang wide trench in front of the camp, diverted water and poured it into a moat that the cavalry could not cross, and backed the canal with the advantage of the artillery of the water division, if we launch a strong attack, we are afraid that we will suffer heavy losses." ”

Abatai said: "Then we will surround it, surround it for a year and a half, and starve him to death!" ”

"It can't be." Duoduo shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Before the canal is cut off, the grain and grass of the Ming army can be continuously transported through the waterway. ”

Abatai said: "Then we will cut off the canal!" ”

"It's easier said than done." Duoduo shook his head again and said, "The Ming army has sailors, and we have nothing to do with them. ”

Dolgon turned his gaze to Fan Wencheng and asked, "Mr. Wencheng, what is your opinion?" ”

Fan Wencheng smiled slightly and said: "The two princes are right, the Ming army is defending according to the danger, if our army attacks strongly, the tragedy of the Battle of Datong will be repeated, and our army is bound to suffer heavy losses, even if it finally wins the battle of Liaocheng, it will also lose the strength of the Central Plains, therefore, the minions do not approve of the strong attack." ”

Dolgon bowed his head lightly and said, "If you can't storm it, you can only besiege it for a long time." ”

"That's right." Fan Wencheng said, "But as Prince Yu said, if you can't cut off the canal channel, there is no way to talk about the siege of the Ming army, and if you can't annihilate the Ming army's sailors, there is no way to talk about cutting off the canal channel, so there is actually only one key to the victory or defeat of Liaocheng." ”

Duoduo, Abatai, Sakhalian and others said in unison: "Ming army sailors? ”

"Not bad." Fan Wencheng nodded heavily and said, "Whether or not the Ming Army and the Naval Division can be annihilated is directly related to the success or failure of the Battle of Liaocheng. ”

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Ten miles south of Liaocheng, the central army camp on the left bank of the canal.

Wang Pu's handsome tent is placed in the center of a temporary large sand table, the terrain around Liaocheng has been simulated, it is full of small two-color flags representing the Jiannu army and the Ming Central Army, and the small black flag representing the Jiannu side is densely packed with a large area, and the small red flag representing the Ming Central Army is surrounded in the middle.

Scarface, Li Benshen, Wu Shengzhao, Gao Jinku, Li Chengdong, Liu Konghe, Liu Hongji, Li Huajing, and other commanders of the eight towns, as well as Shi Lang, Zhang Yanlin, and Li Ang, the three generals of the naval division, were discussing the situation of the two armies around the sand table, and the discussion was very enthusiastic, like a lively vegetable market.

A rush of footsteps sounded, and Wang Pu's figure appeared outside the tent.

The heated discussion stopped abruptly, and the eyes of more than a dozen generals fell on Wang Pu in unison, and he said respectfully: "See Hou Ye for the inferior rank." ”

"Go on." Wang Pu walked to the sand table and stood still, and said with a smile, "You continue with the topic just now. ”

Scarface smiled and said: "The lowly rank just said that the strength of Jiannu is at least more than 200,000, and the cavalry alone must have more than 100,000 people. ”

Li Chengdong said: "Therefore, I think that our army should be deep ditches and high bases, and fight a war of attrition with Jiannu, there are many Jiannu soldiers, and there are more than 100,000 war horses, and the amount of grain and grass consumed is huge, as long as it drags on for a long time, the first ones who can't hold it must be them, just wait for Jiannu to not retreat, and the opportunity for our army will come!" ”

"Humble officials don't think so."

Li Chengdong's voice fell, and Liu Konghe put forward different opinions.

Wang Pu said happily: "So what do you think?" ”

Liu Konghe's face flashed a trace of pain, and said in a low tone: "The Jiannu are all beasts who exterminate people's surnames, and they will rob the common people if they have no food and grass, so they think that the longer our army confronts Jiannu here, the more the people of Beizhi will suffer." ”

"Hmm." Wang Pu's face became equally solemn, stepped forward and patted Liu Konghe's shoulder, and said, "As a citizen of the Ming Empire, it is rare that you can think about the people of Beizhi, but as a leading general, you can't be merciful!" We must not save the people of Beizhi at the cost of the people of the entire Ming Empire. ”

A trace of shame flashed across Liu Konghe's face, and he said shamefully: "I'm ashamed of my humble position." ”

Wang Pu breathed a sigh of relief and changed the subject: "Now let's discuss another topic, if you are Dolgon, with an army of more than 200,000 in your hands, including more than 100,000 cavalry, how will you fight this battle?" ”

This question stopped almost everyone, these martial artists from the army are best at leading people to charge into battle, and after years of baptism of war, they have more or less learned some simple but very practical tactics, but they really haven't considered war from the enemy's point of view.

Only Li Chengdong pondered for a moment and said: "If it is Dolgon, this battle can only adopt siege tactics. ”

"Yes, Jiannu's usual trick is to besiege!" Wang Pu nodded happily and said, "This is the case with the Battle of Dalinghe, the Battle of Jinzhou, and the Battle of Ningyuan, but Ben Hou wants to know, how do you plan to besiege our army?" You must know that our army has the advantage of a sailor, and the canal channel is completely under the control of our army! ”

Li Chengdong said: "Then find a way to eliminate Shi Lang's sailor first, and then cut off the canal waterway!" ”

"!" Shi Lang said unhappily, "Although there are many Jiannu, can they still ride horses into the canal?" If they don't come, if they really dare to come, hehe, they will definitely teach them to come back! ”

Li Chengdong said: "Shi Lang, although your sailor is powerful, it is not that there is no way to deal with you. ”

Shi Langhuo said: "What tricks do you have, tell me about it." ”

Li Chengdong said: "I burned it with a fireboat. ”

"Wishful thinking." Shi Lang said coldly, "Lao Tzu's sailor fleet is not Cao Ying's serial warship, and it can still let you burn it on fire?" ”

Li Chengdong said: "Then I'll release the rocket." ”

Shi Lang said suddenly: "That's looking for death, the range of Jiannu's bow and arrow has been seen by everyone in the past few days, and it is not as good as the Datong musket used by Brother Shuishi, and the Franco cannon is even more impossible, before your rocket hits Lao Tzu's boat, Lao Tzu has several rows of artillery fire, and your archers are dead." ”

Li Chengdong said again, "Lao Tzu used the Hongyi cannon to bombard!" ”

Shi Lang said: "You just bomb, if you can't hit it from a distance, if you get closer, Lao Tzu's Franc cannon is much more than your Hongyi cannon, and the rate of fire is faster than yours, see who kills whom." ”

"Then ......" Li Chengdong scratched his head, and said, "Lao Tzu will cut off the canal with a barrage and iron cable, and trap you in the camp and can't move!" ”

"Haha." Shi Lang laughed and said, "Let's not talk about whether you have a chance to erect a barrage cable, even if you erect it, won't Lao Tzu set up a stove to burn?" First burned red with charcoal fire, and then smashed with a sledgehammer a few times, the barrage iron cable that had been painstakingly built was over. ”

Li Chengdong was speechless and had nothing to do.

When Shi Lang was beaming, Wang Pu suddenly said: "What if I use the stupid method of filling the river with negative soil? ”

……

(To be continued)