Shenyang Shaling Fort in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen.

The winter in northern Liaobei is surprisingly cold, but fortunately, the Chu army is not camped in the field, and the army is stationed in various castles such as Shaling Fort, which is frozen for thousands of miles outside, and the north wind is howling. But inside the castle is very different, the nine-headed birds have winter clothing, in addition to cotton jackets, there are also fur furs to protect against the cold.

In addition, warm ondols have been built in each fort, firewood and coal are also well stocked, and the soldiers have fur and cotton jackets to keep out the cold when they are on duty, and there are warm ondols in the barracks when they are laid off, but they live a very comfortable life. They take turns on duty in batches, and they usually attend classes in the warm barracks to learn tactics and sum up experience, and also learn to read words and numbers, and organize newspaper reading activities. Every ten years, there is also a day off, and the soldiers who bought Manchurian women can also go to the women's camp to relax for a day. Even if you don't buy it, every ten years, musicians and dancers from the logistics song and dance troupe of the Propaganda Division will perform in each castle.

Whenever this happens, the soldiers will also arrange some shows for everyone to perform.

Liu Jun is also used to this cold and snowy place, and gets up very early every day. In Liaoyang in winter, it gets dark early, and the daytime is always very short, although there are not many entertainment activities at night, but Liu Jun prohibits alcohol and gambling in the army, and reads the battle report every day, studies and studies the battle plan, and there is always plenty of time.

However, Liu Jun's night is not lonely, he is out on the expedition, and he has no wife and concubine by his side, but there is no shortage of women around Liu Jun. Those Korean daughters who were rescued by the Chu army, and even the wives and concubines of Jurchen and Mongolian nobles, all of them were beautiful and young, and their subordinates always sent them over, and they were called to take care of the life of the Duke of Chu.

For these women, Liu Jun doesn't need to do anything to force the overlord to bow hard, in fact, many of them are willing to have something to do with this Duke of Chu, and even in order to compete for the position of warming the bed for Duke Chu, there are often many open and secret fights. This is a war without gunpowder, Liu Jun is not a puritan or a saint, and he is not hypocritical when you like me.

The women who warmed his bed could also be treated well afterwards. Although they are still just ordinary maids, it is not so easy to be the concubines of the Duke of Chu.

Although the beauty is good, Liu Jun will not indulge in it.

Every morning after dawn, he would go to the canteen for breakfast, where he liked to eat with the soldiers, and did not like to stay in his own house and eat alone.

The canteen in the fort is still good, the meals are rich, there are more than ten dishes every day, and the soldiers can choose a set meal of four dishes and one soup, and the dishes are rich. The portion size is also plentiful. There is enough food in the fort to supply more than a year. The only thing that is a little monotonous is the lack of fresh vegetables, bacon, salted fish, beef jerky, ham, frozen meat, and even fresh beef and sheep.

There are only a few vegetables in the castle, such as white radish, carrots, potatoes, Chinese cabbage, kelp, seaweed, green onions, etc., and the rest are some dried vegetables.

But when you are out fighting, you can eat enough, and you can have a hot meal, and there are fish and meat. Everyone was actually very satisfied. In the words of many foreign soldiers in the army, when they were hired to fight in European countries, such food was eaten only by generals.

The cafeteria is open all day. Lunchtime-sharing is practiced, with breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper served daily, and each of the four meals on the day is divided into four shifts, each two quarters of an hour apart. This will avoid waiting in too long a queue and make it more comfortable to eat in the cafeteria.

The canteen is a very well-behaved place, especially the canteen of the Chu army. There is a queue for meals. No loud noises, soldiers can choose their favorite meals from many meals, but they must not waste it, and it is strictly forbidden to waste it.

As a senior officer, Liu Jun does not eat in shifts, he can go to the canteen to eat at any time, and he doesn't even have to queue up. However, Liu Jun generally does not enjoy this privilege, he likes to stand in the line and follow the soldiers in line, and always when he is queuing, he chats with the soldiers around him, listens to the situation of the soldiers, understands the dynamics at the bottom, and personally listens to the most real words from the bottom.

Because of Liu Jun's habit, the other officers of the Chu army were not too embarrassed to use their privileges, and everyone lined up together. However, the officers have an officer's dining window, and the officers can enjoy better dishes according to their rank and position.

Liu Jun did not want complete equality between officers and soldiers, in the barracks, clear hierarchies are actually very important, and too much pursuit of equality between officers and soldiers may affect the authority of officers.

As soon as Liu Jun picked up the tail of the team, Li Chunjiang came over and stood behind Liu Jun. Seeing this, the fourth prince Hou Fangyu and the others behind him hesitated, but they still followed behind. The four princes are now in Liu Junjun's army, there are three of them who are appointed as seven-rank inspectors and one who are appointed as governors of the imperial history, although they are only seven-rank officials, but they are all imperial histories that are poor abroad, with low quality and weight, and in the Liaodong Army, they are also regarded as officials.

"Jiye, I heard that Dolgon has bypassed Liaoyang and is coming to Shenyang, is this really true?"

Although Li Chunjiang is now the governor and commander of Liaodong, he has to follow Liu Jun's rules in the Liaodong Army, or in the current Denglai and Liaodong Military Regions. For example, Liu Jun has always advocated that civilian officials cannot interfere with the military command of military commanders.

Therefore, even if Li Chunjiang is now promoted to governor and civil minister, in the Liaodong Army, he will not enjoy the superiority of a civilian official, even if he is Liu Jun's good brother.

The chief of staff is responsible for the collection, collation and analysis of military intelligence, and then hands it over to the commander-in-chief Liu Jun. Liu Jun will pass on these military information to the generals at all levels below and the civilian system according to the needs of the situation. Generals at all levels have priority over the civilian system in terms of military intelligence authority, and the military information of Dolgon's crossing of Liaoyang City has already been transmitted to Shalingbao, and Liu Jun has also passed on the information to the first-class officers of the association, but he has not yet told the civilian side, and even the governor Fu Zonglong has not been officially notified now, let alone the governor Li Chunjiang.

The civilian officials in the army also protested, but Fu Zonglong and Li Chunjiang did not speak out, they knew very well Liu Jun's character, and either they would not do it, or it would be difficult for him to change it.

Liu Jun nodded, Li Chunjiang had already opened his mouth to ask, and he didn't hide it anymore, in fact, he had already planned to officially inform the civilian officials of this military situation today.

The team moved forward, and after a while, it was Liu Jun's turn, and he lined up into the canteen, Liu Jun went straight to the officer's food window, and there was no need to line up with the soldiers anymore.

He asked for two tea eggs, two meat buns, a bowl of beef dumplings, two green onion pancakes, and a bowl of hot goat's milk.

"I really envy your appetite." Li Chunjiang only needs a bowl of haggis vermicelli and two steamed buns.

"The army is used to it, and the soldiers eat a lot." Liu Jun smiled.

They chose a table to sit down, this is the officers' dining area, separated from the ordinary soldiers by an aisle, there are many officers dining, everyone nodded to Liu Jun.

"Why did the Tartars bypass Liaoyang, it's Admiral Fu's side," Li Chunjiang asked with some hesitation.

Liu Jun first took a sip of hot goat's milk, then picked up a tea egg and slowly peeled the shell, "You want to ask if Liaoyang was defeated, right?" He peeled a tea egg that was smooth and smooth, with a slight brown color indicating that it tasted good, and he took a bite and it tasted great. After eating a tea egg in a few bites, Liu Jun drank goat's milk again.

"Don't worry, Liaoyang is still in our hands." He smiled, "In fact, Liaoyang's soldiers and horses were not damaged at all, and they even took advantage of Dolgon's light enemy to eliminate their artillery battalion, the Xinwu Zhenchaoha Battalion, in one fell swoop. ”

Li Chunjiang was surprised, "If that's the case, then why did you still let the Tartar over, why didn't you intercept it?" ”

Liu Jun picked up another tea egg and continued to peel the shell, "You really should try this tea egg, our master's craftsmanship is really good, quite tasty, and very nutritious, this is a special supply that only officers can enjoy." ”

Li Chunjiang didn't care about tea eggs, he just waited for Liu Jun's answer, and he couldn't even take care of his breakfast.

"It's my order to Fu Shan, as long as you hold Liaoyang, if the Tartars don't attack Liaoyang and make a detour, let them go."

Li Chunjiang sighed, "But in this case, then Dolgon will return to Shenyang with tens of thousands of elite Eight Banners, can we stop the counterattack of the Eight Banners?" In his opinion, letting the Qing army pass through Liaoyang is obviously a wrong move, and it is right to stop the Tartars at this time.

After Liu Jun finished eating the tea eggs, he had already started to eat green onion cakes, he picked up a bottle of chili sauce from the table, picked out some, and spread them on the green onion cakes, he liked to bring some spicy pancakes.

"Take it easy, public. There is no way for Dolgon to take a Liaoyang, do you think he can take us when he comes back? Don't be scared by the number of tens of thousands of horses, don't worry about it at all. You know the situation of Puhe City, there are only two companies to guard, but first defeated the attack of 3,000 Tartars, and now Azig leads 20,000 men to attack, and there is still no way to deal with Puhe. ”

"Actually, the Liaoyang side has already achieved results that I didn't expect, they actually knocked out the artillery that Dolgon got from Liaoxi, and even the Qing army's own artillery was compensated, which I didn't expect in advance." Liu Jun chuckled, "In this way, there is no need to worry, with these firearms, the Tartars can still pose some threats to us, but now that there are no artillery, there is really no need to worry about the Tartars." ”

"Jiye, we still have to be cautious, the imperial court Liaoxi was defeated, and now we are left with the elite of Liaodong to resist the Tartars. If we lose again, it will be unimaginable. Li Chunjiang persuaded.

"Don't worry, I have tens of thousands of brothers with me, everyone has put their lives in my hands, how can I underestimate the enemy?"

"Is that the withdrawal of the Black Flag Army north of Shenyang?"

Liu Jun held the pancake in his hand and said confidently, "The Black Flag Army is the most deterrent when it is placed outside, and if it is withdrawn, it will have no effect, and it will only increase the consumption of grain and grass in the fort." This is a live chess, and when it is withdrawn, it is a dead chess. Let's have breakfast, it's not delicious when it's cold for a while, and as for Dolgon, you can put 10,000 hearts, the soldiers will block, the water will flood, what are you afraid of! (To be continued.) )