Since the departure of the training camp of the reinforcement regiment, the atmosphere in Lushun has begun to be depressed, and many people, consciously or unconsciously, are speculating about what the next move of the Iron Fist Brigade will be, whether it will go north to attack Xiuyan, or go west to occupy Fuzhou and threaten Gaihai, everyone firmly believes that the adults will not let the Jiannu army be empty and inactive. However, as time went on, the adults were preoccupied with internal affairs, such as the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Counsel, the Department of High-Yield Crops, or the Ministry of Commerce for a whole day, and there was no sign of military mobilization at all.

The voice of Lushun asking for war began to rise, especially the battalion head that replenished a large number of Liaodong recruits, and even some soldiers wrote a blood letter, although they were suppressed by the instructor, but how could Yang Bo not know?

Since the military heart is available, Yang Bo began to set his sights on the vast Liaodong region, since the rise of the guerrilla battalion has been insisting on fighting consumption with the Tatar slaves, the current situation seems to be the guerrilla battalion is at a disadvantage, but the decline of the Houjin is obvious, the military has taken the initiative to negotiate peace, and the people's livelihood has gradually become turbulent, as of June, the grain price in Liaodong has been rising, and in April it can barely maintain the level of two or two troops, and in June it soared to five taels or three dollars, which has increased several times compared with the price of the same period last year. Soaring prices have caused a large number of Baoyi to be hovering on the verge of death, coupled with the instigation of the Foreign Intelligence Department, there is an endless stream of people fleeing to Phi Island and Lushun every day, and Zhenjiang has had several Baoyi uprisings against the rule of the Tatars, and the tragedy of Yu Xueyong's family is just an inconspicuous wave in these waves......

"On June 20, the first section of the Zhenglan Banner Haoge approached Dushikou. The army will be in Shuozhou," said Wang Xiaoyu, the chief of staff, while directing the clerk to plant the small flag in the corresponding place on the map.

"Zhenghongqi Nu Sheikh Daishan, Sakhalian, Shuoto, and others are approaching the Victory Fortress, and Dorgon and Duoduo are approaching the dragon's gate. Huang Taiji personally led the Han army flag and the yellow flag to lead the army to approach the upper fort, there are signs of invasion of Xuanfu, the above four road army is expected to be able to break through the pass in early July, according to the information of the intelligence department, this time the Tatar slaves entered the pass is not in the city, land, the main purpose is to plunder the wealth of the Ming State. ...... the economic and military strength of the Great Ming Kingdom"

Liu Wenbing, of the Intelligence Department, said slowly: "According to the information we have made a detailed investigation, the Slave Chief Emperor Taiji once explained when he sent troops that he would not attack the city. They only plundered in the villages and forts, and captured the towns if they could, and gave up if they could not capture them for a while, and went elsewhere. ”

Wang Xiaoyu nodded. Said: "So this time the south sweep." According to our judgment, the Tatar slaves will ravage Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, and may even invade the Gyeonggi area. Shuozhou, Yingzhou. Baoan Prefecture and other places, at present, we have joined two battalions to deploy in Changping Prefecture, mainly to prevent the Tartar slaves from breaking through the Xuanfu and entering the capital directly, the imperial court has issued several decrees, especially Xuan, Yun and other places should be strictly prepared and fortified, and Emperor Chongzhen also issued a strict decree, if it is broken by the Houjin, the defender will be executed by the "Standing Heavy Code" ......

Hearing that the court was panicked, the generals who attended the meeting laughed, but Hu Mazi said loudly: "But it's hard for the people in the Xuanda area, I bet with you that if those people are looted away by the Tartar slaves, the local defenders will only dare to watch them off." ”

Hu Mazi's words silenced many people, and some people peeked at Yang Bo, Yang Bo thought about his own thoughts and did not speak.

This year's summer offensive will soon be launched, with the establishment of the bank some time ago, the bank is like a monster that devours silver, not only a large number of idle silver has been attracted, even Dongjiang, Denglai, Anton Wei and other places of the rich idle funds have also been attracted, with the first batch of rich people deposited in Huitong Bank to get the first batch of interest, these people have become the volunteer propagandists of Huitong Bank, every day to transport silver to Lushun savings rich people in an endless stream, Xu Jingzhai has begun to prepare in Tianjin, Dengzhou, Qingzhou to set up Huitong branch, but the current situation can not satisfy Yang Bo, at this stage the expansion of the bank and his ambition is still too slow, he hopes to control the entire northern finance, Jingshi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hubei, etc., and so on, he also has a series of follow-up means to bind a large number of gentry class, but the realization of all this requires Lushun's own military strength to improve again.

Yang Bo's eyes were fixed on the place where Fuzhou was on the map, the morale of the army was high, and many middle-level officers strongly demanded attacking Fuzhou, opening up the southern four guards, and deterring Shenyang, and one of the main purposes of today's military meeting was to discuss whether to fight Fuzhou or not, and by the way, unify thinking.

Yang Bo is reluctant to fight Fuzhou, in his opinion, to lay down Fuzhou is far less direct than to harass the Tarnu at all times, in order to guard against Jinzhou, the Tatar slaves maintained nearly 3,000 garrisons in Gaizhou, plus Fuzhou Zhengbai Flag, etc., in order to maintain the supply line, the Tatar slaves in the cover of the large tuntian, as long as the continuous attack on the Tartar slaves and supplies, enough to make the Tartar slaves tired, Huang Taiji sent troops to Liaonan and Phi Island several times, not only did not get any benefits, but made the domestic prices boiling, the people are not happy, After forcing himself to make a fragile peace agreement, he hurriedly went to Daming to rob, Yang Bo was not good to tell these bloody generals directly, in fact, as long as Lushun was economically suppressed, so that Houjin was in a state of continuous consumption, and even without force, Houjin would soon collapse.

However, from another point of view, the war can not only serve the economy, but also the political rewards are also incomparably rich, with the Thunder Division continue to achieve victories against the Houjin regime, the guerrilla battalion is famous in Denglai, Shandong, and even Beizhili, but Yang Bo also has to further attack the Houjin, strengthen the invincible aura of the Lushun military group, calm the people's hearts, win the support of the majority, and achieve absolute political superiority......

"Next, discuss the issue of whether to attack Fuzhou, you can raise your hand to speak" Tie Niu, who presided over the meeting, finally said the most critical topic, and all the sleepy people suddenly became energetic, and the cadres of the Thunder Division and above attended this meeting, and many commanders of the Rock Brigade participated in this kind of significant military meeting for the first time, although the main attack did not have a chance with them. But they all held back to say a few words at the meeting and make a deep impression in the minds of adults.

"Hit!" Hu Mazi stood up, looked around and said, "The slave chief doesn't take us too seriously." What's that idiom? Uncle can bear it, sister-in-law can't bear it, he took the four soldiers and horses to rob me Daming with a swagger, he thinks we are all dead? ”

There was a cheer at the venue, and Yang Bo couldn't help but smile slightly, today the main battle faction accounted for the majority, and they were afraid that they would veto the proposal to send troops. He actually came up with an excuse for them to despise the guerrilla battalion and come out to provoke them.

Tie Niu looked at the instructor of the second flintlock battalion and said, "You say"

Hu Mazi's deputy, instructor Lu Xuanliang first nodded at Yang Bo and said, "My lord, everyone." Let me add a few words for Lord Hu, this is also the common voice of our second flintlock battalion, and my lord also said that the slave chief robbed the Ming once. He is stronger. Wealth, population, if our Thunder Division sits idly by, then we are raising tigers! ”

"Good, good!"

There was a round of cheers in the venue.

Lu Xuanliang's face was flushed with excitement, and he said, "Why does the slave chief dare to swagger south? Because Jinzhou is nearly 200 miles away from Fuzhou, there are no supplies and no reinforcements along the way. The Tatar slaves hid thousands of cavalry in Gaizhou, and the tunbao in the Fuzhou area. As long as an order is given, we can gather an army that is enough to confront us in a few days, Fuzhou is a bridgehead to attack the southern four guards, and if Fuzhou is not defeated for a day, we will not be able to break the confrontation situation, and the slave chieftains can continue to accumulate soft power such as Dingkou and wealth through southern plundering, the enemy is strong and I am weak, we can only fight, and we cannot pin our hopes on peace talks......"

No one dared to echo these anymore, because everyone understood that Yang Bo personally signed the peace talks with Huang Taiji, and Lu Xuanliang might want to stimulate Yang Bo, but they didn't dare to say much.

Yang Bo smiled, pointed at Wang Xiaoyu and said: "You tell me in detail about the comparison of the military strength of Jinzhou, Fuzhou, and the enemy and us, and there are still some people here who don't understand. ”

Wang Xiaoyu got up and walked to the map, picked up the whip and said: "Fuzhou to Jinzhou one hundred and fifty miles, with the marching speed of my Iron Fist Brigade can reach the city in two days, at present, according to intelligence, Fuzhou is stationed in the white flag, the strength is about more than 1,500 Zhenyi, counting the estimated 3,000 auxiliary soldiers, this is one, second, Gaizhou according to Fuzhou more than 200 li, stationed in the white flag a Niu Lu, as well as the unknown strength of the red flag, inlaid with the white flag, inlaid with the blue flag and other flags, they are local operations, no need to worry about grain and grass equipment, as well as the direction of Shenyang, If Fuzhou is in an emergency, stationed in Shenyang Jierharang can be rescued within two days with a yellow flag, and we can't hide our traces when we send troops, so when we arrive at Fuzhou City, we need to divide our troops to guard against Gaizhou, reinforcements in the direction of Shenyang, once the Fuzhou garrison holds the city for more than two days, we will face the dilemma of being attacked from both sides. ”

Wang Xiaoyu's words hit everyone's morale greatly, and many people in the venue were whispering, hoping to find a solution.

Xiong Zili, the commander of the mixed battalion of the Panshi Brigade, suddenly stood up and said: "My lord, everyone, we have a sailor, we can divide the troops into two routes, one way to besiege Fuzhou City after landing by sea, all the way by land, setting up an ambush outside Fuzhou City, specifically besieging the city for reinforcements, the slave chieftains plundered south, how many soldiers and horses can be left in the Eight Banners?" ”

Xiong Zili's words made everyone's eyes light up, and the discussion became louder, and Wang Tiezhu, the directly subordinate rescue battalion, stood up and said: "Everyone, you are bent on fighting Fuzhou, that's right, Fuzhou is indeed a bridgehead to deter the Southern Four Guards, the question is whether you have considered how to defend Fuzhou after seizing it?" ”

Wang Xiaoyu picked up the whip and pointed at Fuzhou and said: "Yes, with the strength of our Thunder Division, Fuzhou can fight, but how to defend it, can it be defended?" Have you thought about this question? Fuzhou is a lonely city, nearly forty miles away from the coast, and it is also a secondary school station in Jinzhou and Gaizhou. There are more people stationed, and the slave chiefs don't have to fight, as long as the grain route is cut off, it is enough, and they will not have to give up Fuzhou obediently when the time comes? ”

Yang Bo nodded in his heart, his concern is like this, Fuzhou can fight, can't hold it, it is indeed a helpless thing, once trapped, the land supply will face the decisive battle of the Emperor Taiji gathering the troops of the Eight Banners, the sea supply can not go ashore at all, and if you take Fuzhou, it is not good to say, it is to take a dead place.

Yang Bo was ready to get up to end this controversy, it was not yet the time to forcibly take Fuzhou, the wisest way was to let the dragoon battalion start to attack the forts in Fuzhou, repeatedly attack the logistics and supply of the Tatars, burn their grain, grass, cattle and sheep, and force the Tatars to increase the garrisons in the area of Nansiwei, dragging down their mobility and depleting their combat effectiveness. When his strength grows strong enough to deal with it, it is the best chance to seize Fuzhou.

However, Zheng Dunjin of the Iron Fist Brigade Logistics Battalion stood up first, and he saluted Yang Bo with some restraint before saying, "My lord." Ladies and gentlemen, why do we have to garrison troops in Fuzhou? Can we rip off Fuzhou City and let the Tartars rebuild it themselves? When he finishes building, let's go pick it up again and see if they die? ”

Zheng Dunjin's words made everyone laugh, Wang Xiaoyu groaned slightly, shook his head and said, "The Tartar slaves may not be rebuilt. They may retreat to Gaizhou, in fact, it is even more unfavorable for us to take Fuzhou City, and we will at least have a foothold in Nansiwei when we defeat Fuzhou. If you pick up Fuzhou and want to send troops to Nansiwei in the future, then the grain and grass you carry will be doubled. ”

Wang Xiaoyu's words made Yang Bo also nod slightly and said yes, indeed. Huang Taiji did not realize that Lushun would be his most formidable enemy in the future. But if Fuzhou is picked up this time, it is very likely that Huang Taiji will not rebuild it at all, so that the situation of confrontation will really be maintained, and if he wants to attack Gaizhou, he must go on an expedition from Jinzhou, and he will have to walk for six or seven days on the road, which is a great blow to morale.

At this moment, several officers of the mountain infantry battalion argued loudly, and Tie Niu coughed. The officers suddenly fell silent, but they turned towards the battalion commander Nie Cailin. Instructor Wu Huawen squeezed his eyebrows, obviously prodding them to get up and speak.

"Nie Cailin, come on" Tie Niu said when he saw him squirm and raised his hand, so he pointed at him.

This battalion commander was a little white face, standing up with a red face, and he said in a mosquito-like voice: "My lord, Lord Li, we have an idea, I don't know if it is feasible or not, please give me advice......

Tie Niu said impatiently: "If you have a fart, let it go, can you still be punished for your sin if you have a meeting?" What does it look like? ”

Nie Cailin was taken aback, and quickly stood up straight and said loudly: "Report to my lord, after discussing with our colleagues in the mountain infantry battalion, we think that Fuzhou City can be picked, but why not build another new city by the sea?" The slave chieftains swept south, and we estimated that it would take at least the end of October to November to turn around, and these months were enough for us to build a new city calmly. ”

Obviously, Nie Cailin's speech gave everyone a new idea, and the people in the staff department were crowded around the map to check the terrain to see if they could choose a suitable place to build the city, and the officers below were also discussing whether it was feasible to build a city in groups of three or five.

Yang Bo stood up, paced back and forth a few steps, and said to Xiao Wu: "Go and invite the relevant departments of the Logistics Department to come over for a meeting, well, especially Zhang Fengjin of the Tun Affairs Department must arrive, as well as the Tuntian Division, the local garrison department, and the directors of the equipment department are all invited, you continue to discuss!" ”

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they knew that the adults must have been moved by Nie Cailin's proposal.

Yang Bo pointed at Wang Xiaoyu again and said: "Now you will build the city first and then formulate a strategy, yes, just get a draft to discuss before their director comes." ”

Wang Xiaoyu hurriedly summoned the staff officers to the side for a meeting, Yang Bo was walking, while touching his chin and pondering, indeed, this suggestion made him moved, the bridgehead of Fuzhou was controlled in his own hands one day earlier, then Gaizhou, Haizhou, Shenyang, why did Huang Taiji maneuver The space is greatly reduced, Shenyang will face the blow of the Thunder Division, as long as he sticks to the new Fuzhou, Huang Taiji will not dare to come out, and there will be no wealth and population replenishment if he does not dare to plunder south, which further accelerates the defeat of Houjin, Harassment by dragoon battalions alone will not achieve such an effect in the short term.

Soon, Wang Xiaoyu and the others came up with a plan, and Yang Bo signaled the audience to be quiet and began to listen.

“…… First of all, the General Staff believes that this plan is a very risky one, and it is very likely that it will end up in a chicken-and-egg situation."

Wang Xiaoyu warned first, and then said: "If it is around the plan of building the city, then our Thunder Division needs to be all dispatched, and even the two battalions that have come in to help must find an excuse to transfer back, otherwise our strength in Fuzhou is not enough to completely control the situation, and this situation needs to be controlled until the new city is built, and the General Staff Department deduces that it will take at least three months or even longer, then during this period, Jinzhou and Lushun, as well as the castles and tunpu, completely need to rely on the peasants and soldiers of the local garrison department to garrison, and the interior is relatively empty, If there is an emergency that is not easy to deal with, this is the first point of disadvantage, and second, the movement of Huang Taiji's southern plundering troops and horses is unpredictable, once he receives the news of our city building, how will he decide? Do you want to continue to let it go? The General Staff Department thinks it's unlikely, and we're all building a city under his nose, will he turn a blind eye? So we need to think, will the whole division of Huang Taiji turn around, or send a group to help? The Chief of Staff is inclined to the second point, but how much is one? I can't judge, but one thing is confirmed, the Tartars have fought with us many times, and they know our bottom line, and the lack of soldiers and horses is not enough for us to stuff our teeth, right? Therefore, the return of reinforcements will definitely not be less than 5,000 to 10,000, which is a heavy burden for us, who were originally short of troops. Third, if the whole Thunder Division is dispatched, how will the logistics support in Fuzhou be solved? The Iron Fist Brigade has 9,000, and the Rock Brigade has more than 4,000 soldiers in addition to two battalions, 13,000 soldiers, and a large number of auxiliary soldiers. ”

“…… The plan of the General Staff Division is that the Iron Fist Brigade will send troops first, take the land route to the Fuzhou area, surround but not fight, and wait for the Panshi Brigade to arrive by sea and start an all-out onslaught, with the dragoon battalion and the rescue battalion sniping and reinforcement, and strive to break Fuzhou within five days, the water battalion will make every effort to transport the craftsmen and materials needed to build the city, and the grain, grass and firearms will be used to defeat Fuzhou, and the Iron Fist Brigade will continue to attack and attack along the way to Gaizhou, so as to besiege Gaizhou, and the Panshi Brigade will stay in Fuzhou to prevent the attack of the Tatar cavalry and cover the construction of the city. This series of combination punches can give us at least a month's time, due to repeated battles, the serious loss of materials in the Eight Banners, and it takes time for the soldiers to agitate and assemble, so it can also be regarded as our advantage, another big advantage is that we still have the cooperation of the islands of the Dongjiang River, which can make Shang Kexi capture Xiuyan, Tan Yinghua to capture Kuandian, and advance to the area of Niumaozhai, the Tartar slaves with insufficient troops will inevitably be frightened, but this is a contradiction, we have made a big momentum, and the slave chiefs did not hesitate to retreat and help, There is very little time left for us to build the city. ”

Wang Xiaoyu looked at the people who were listening carefully, and said in an accentuated tone: "Our most critical question is, how long will it take to build a fortified city that is enough to defend tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to attack continuously?" That's the crux of the matter! ”

"Two months, give me two months!"

Zhang Fengjin, director of the Tun Affairs Department, who had just walked into the venue, suddenly said loudly. (To be continued......)