Zhu Dadian, the governor of Shandong, was defeated by the Haw Par Army, which had only a few hundred troops, at Laizhou Bay, and fled back to Jinan alone.

The 18,000 officers and soldiers under the command died and fled, and the entire army was almost wiped out......

The ongoing Ming Dynasty was in the early morning, and the urgent report from Shandong had just been read out by the eunuchs. The calm court became boiling because of this news.

That's right, it's boiling......

Some officials, as if they had changed from literati to merchants in an instant, began to blame Zhu Dadian, who had just been defeated, in the court. What's more, he directly began to scold Zhu Dadian, scolding him for living up to the high expectations of the imperial court and should die directly on the battlefield.

Of course, there are also some sane people who do not directly aim at Zhu Dadian.

Rather, it is through the battle of disparity in strength, feeling the strong combat effectiveness of the Haw Par Army in the battle, and analyzing the military strength between the imperial court and the Haw Par Army, which is stronger and which is weak, and who can hold on to the end in this conflict?

As for Emperor Chongzhen, who was sitting on the throne, he sat on the dragon chair with a gloomy face, looked at the battle report in his hand, and said nothing.

As a very conceited emperor, Emperor Chongzhen was full of confidence in both Zhu Dadian and his decision to besiege Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces this time.

In Emperor Chongzhen's view, the imperial court officials and troops may not be the opponents of the Houjin Tartars, but they are definitely the opponents of the Tiger and Leopard Army. With the prestige of the imperial court and himself in the Ming Dynasty, as long as he issued a holy decree, all the troops and people of the Ming Dynasty would attack the tiger and leopard army...... The Haw Par Army will also fall apart because of its own holy decree.

However, the conceited Emperor Chongzhen. Or overestimate their own strength. Overestimated the influence of the imperial court in the Ming Dynasty today.

This fiasco from Shandong in front of you. It was like a very loud slap in the face, slapping Chongzhen in the face, making him feel extremely painful, but there was no way to dodge it.

At this moment, in Chongzhen's opinion, the courtiers in front of him looked at him as if they were watching a joke. Full of taunts. Because, the decision to mobilize all the garrisons in Shandong, take the salt field, and eliminate this tiger and leopard army outside the two isolated provinces, and win a battle and hit the morale of the tiger and leopard army, was made by himself.

And now, this battle, which he thought would have no surprises, has failed......

Chongzhen's heart was filled with all kinds of thoughts, and his brows were tightly locked. When you are in deep dying. In this defeat, the military department Shangshu who was jointly and severally responsible. I had to be the first to stand up and shirk my responsibility.

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that the responsibility for the defeat that occurred in Laizhou Bay does not lie with the imperial court, nor with the soldiers on the front line......"

"If you really want to find the culprit, it is the original Shandong Governor's ......"

"It was he who introduced the jackal army of the tiger and leopard army into Shandong, and it was he who did not understand the true strength of the tiger and leopard army stationed in the salt field...... Not only that, but they also lied to us about the military situation, so that we could mislead the true strength of the Haw Par Army? “

"It was because of this series of mistakes that our front-line soldiers failed again and again in the face of the new firearms of the Haw Par Army, and ended up in the annihilation of the whole army......

As soon as the secretary of the military department finished speaking, a few ministers who thought hard and wanted to find a way to shirk their responsibilities followed up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister seconded what Lord Wang said...... For the sake of the soldiers who died on the front line, the imperial court should immediately behead the culprit, that is, the former Shandong Governor's Mansion...... Only in this way can the front-line soldiers feel at ease and continue to be loyal to the imperial court......"

"The ministers seconded the motion...... beheaded the former governor of Shandong..."

Under the gaze of Emperor Chongzhen, in the blink of an eye, more than half of the civil and military generals standing in the main hall had already knelt on the ground, asking him to behead the Yuanshan Governor who had been imprisoned to show the public.

When people are angry, they are the most irrational.

And the Chongzhen Emperor in front of him was not only shrouded in anger, but also very conceited. Therefore, at the instigation of the courtiers, Emperor Chongzhen's heart has invisibly turned the idea that the former governor of Shandong was the culprit of this defeat into reality step by step......

Then, facing the courtiers, he said with a majestic face: "I think so too...... In this defeat, the imperial court did not have any responsibility, and neither did the Aiqing and the defeated soldiers on the front line...... The former Shandong Governor's Mansion did not report the information, deceived the king, and plotted against him...... I have a special purpose, the original Shandong patrol beheaded the public ......"

Just when everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief because of Emperor Chongzhen's self-deceptive words, Emperor Chongzhen, who still had a bad anger towards the Tiger and Leopard Army in his stomach, wanted to compete with the Tiger and Leopard Army, and did not intend to admit defeat, spoke again.

"The Shandong garrison attacked the Haw Par Army's salt pans in Laizhou Bay, although defeated...... However, the imperial court must not bow its head and admit defeat to the Haw Par Army. Instead, we should be ashamed and courageous, and continue to deploy heavy troops to encircle and suppress the Tiger and Leopard Army...... Only in this way can the court prove to the people of the Ming Dynasty that I am the true ruler of the Ming Dynasty......"

"Wang Aiqing, the secretary of the Ministry of War, the battle to encircle and suppress the Tiger and Leopard Army in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces was led by the Ministry of War. Not only that, but I also took a million taels of silver from Neku to support this encirclement and suppression under the auspices of the Ministry of War......"

"You tell me how your military department plans to make up for this defeat after this defeat. I don't want to see another defeat, and I don't want to see a million taels of silver, so I just go down the drain, and the Tiger and Leopard Army, as the opponent of the imperial court, further discovers and strengthens ......"

Under the gaze of Chongzhen and dozens of courtiers at the same time, the military department Shangshu replied cautiously: "Your Majesty, before answering this question, the old minister must first settle an account for His Majesty and your colleagues......"

"In the battle of Laizhou Bay, the Tiger and Par Army, with less than 1,000 defenders, not only held the salt field, but also annihilated more than 10,000 soldiers we sent out...... It is undeniable that many of the various armies dispatched by Shandong's patrol are basically ineffective. In this case, we will give a discount to the imperial court officers and soldiers, and count the total strength of our army in the battle of Laizhou Bay from 18,000 to 10,000. ”

"In other words, on the battlefield of Laizhou Bay, the Tiger and Leopard Army annihilated tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in the imperial court with less than 1,000 elites."

"Look at the territory of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, the military strength of the Tiger and Leopard Army ......"

"According to Master Sun's report, the traitor Wei Zheng has trained 50,000 elite tigers and leopards in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces."

"If we calculate according to the proportion of the cost of destroying the Tiger and Leopard Army of 1,000 people, we will have to pay tens of thousands of people, and the imperial court must mobilize more than 500,000 troops to be able to defeat the Tiger and Leopard Army and invade the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi."

"Otherwise, the armies we invaded in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces will be wiped out one by one by the Tiger and Leopard Army......"

Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen's brows furrowed directly, and he asked sharply at the military department's Shangshu: "Wang Aiqing...... You are scared, and you are frightened by the strong combat effectiveness of the Tiger and Leopard Army in the battle of Laizhou Bay......"

"If this is really the case, there is no need for you, the secretary of the military department, to continue to be in power. As long as you open your mouth, I will allow you to resign and go home to retire...... That way, you don't have to be afraid of the Haw Par Army......"

The military department Shangshu couldn't help but chuckle in his heart, and hurriedly explained: "Please calm your anger, the old minister has no intention of being afraid...... As the secretary of the military department of the Ming Dynasty, as long as His Majesty decrees, the old minister can go to the battlefield at any time, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, for His Majesty, and die on the battlefield. ”

After listening to this murderous sentence, the expression on Emperor Chongzhen's face looked a little better. However, he did not let him go, but continued to ask.

"In that case, Aiqing, what do you mean by what you just said?"

The military department Shangshu did not hesitate, and immediately said the thoughts in his mind.

"Your Majesty, the reason why Lao Chen said so much is to tell everyone that the strength of the Tiger and Leopard Army is far beyond our expectations."

If we want to really eliminate them and take the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, the encirclement and suppression plan we originally formulated is obviously out of date. Because, in the face of the strong combat effectiveness of the Tiger and Leopard Army, the original encirclement and suppression plan, in the eyes of the old minister, is no different from adding fuel and vinegar and constantly sending soldiers to death. Therefore, we must change our plan to encircle and suppress Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. “

"In addition, Lao Chen has another idea......"

"According to the report of Zhu Dadian, the governor of Shandong, they seized a very powerful firearm on the battlefield. This kind of firearm is the source of a large number of casualties and losses for us, the Houjin Tartars, and even the Mongol cavalry. “

"For this new type of firearm called 'grenade' by the Haw Par Army, Zhu Dadian made it very clear in the report that as long as the imperial court dispatches enough craftsmen and the raw materials are sufficient, it can be manufactured on a large scale......

"The last general can say with certainty that as long as the imperial army is equipped with enough grenades. We will have more chances of winning in the battle of attacking Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and encircling and suppressing the Tiger and Leopard Army......"

In addition, Lao Chen has one last sentence to say: the reason why the Tiger and Par Army was able to win more with less on the battlefield of Laizhou Bay, and eliminated the Mongolian cavalry and Houjin Tartars many times on the battlefield. In addition to its own combat effectiveness, there is also a very important factor, that is, the Haw Par Army is equipped with very sharp firearms......"

"In that case, why don't we send out the Jinyi Guard and get this sharp firearm from the Haw Par Army. Then, the best craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were selected to imitate these firearms......"

"If the officials and soldiers of the imperial court can also be equipped with such sharp firearms, the old minister is sure that the imperial court can not only successfully exterminate the tiger and leopard army. You can also rely on sharp and sharp firearms to defeat the Mongolian cavalry and Houjin Tartars, and then shock the Ming Dynasty......"

The reason why Emperor Chongzhen was so diligent in going to court and dealing with national affairs...... A very important reason is that Emperor Chongzhen does not want to be the king of the fallen country, he wants to regain the Ming Dynasty and become a good emperor who will leave his name through the ages. (To be continued......)