"Sir! How about this one? Chang Liuqin was wearing a lake-green long skirt with a goose-yellow belt around her waist, she was dressed thickly, like an elf and spun lightly in place, her beautiful face immediately diverged around, making people a little breathless.

The room and the bed were full of colorful costumes, and Wu Shigong sat on the edge of the bed, patiently watching Chang Liuqin's "fashion show".

"Not bad!" Wu Shigong smiled again and nodded. His cheeks, which were sour, were also a little tight. Today's Wu Shigong just wants to make Chang Liuqin happy, so he does not hesitate to accompany her all day.

Chang Liuqin was spinning and turning, but the speed was getting slower and slower. "Sir!" Chang Liuqin suddenly snorted, and then her face was full of tears, and she threw herself into Wu Shigong's arms.

Holding Wu Shigong, Chang Liuqin was very reluctant. Because tomorrow Wu Shigong will go on the expedition. In this year-long period, Chang Liuqin has long regarded Wu Shigong as a dependent, so she feels that this time is a parting of life and death.

When Wu Shigong rescued Jinzhou for the first time, because Chang Liuqin and Wu Shigong didn't say a few words, she didn't have any feelings for Wu Shigong that time. But now that the two of them have been together for so long, and they are living and flying, there are no other women to share the favor, and Wu Shigong's attitude towards his family has always been very kind, so Chang Liuqin feels quite happy now.

And a year is not short, this place has long become the third home of Wu Shigong in addition to the capital and Runing. So this separation made Chang Liuqin feel a sense of fear that she didn't know the future.

Because if Wu Shigong loses the expedition, his life is likely to be in danger, and Chang Liuqin, who has no name, will drift away again, and I don't know what the fate will be. is Wu Shigong's victorious return, and the most haode result is to bring Chang Liuqin home, but what is the situation at Wu Shigong's family? Will you be oppressed by the eldest woman? This also made Chang Liuqin worry about abnormalities. Ultimately. She is still a little girl who does not understand the world.

"Crying for what?" Wu Shigong didn't know that Chang Liuqin's heart was inextricably linked now, he gently stroked Chang Liuqin's back, and comforted him softly: "There is no danger in beating Tartars this time." Master, I have been through a hundred battles, and I always know how to protect myself! Shrewd! Wait for me to come home! ”

Unexpectedly, as soon as this sentence was said, Chang Liuqin cried even more happily: "Master——! ”

……

The current Liaodong was besieged by the Qing army, and the city of Jinzhou, which was defended by Zu Dashou, was the outpost. Behind it is a series of solid small castles of Songshan, Xingshan, and Tashan, and then Ningyuan, an important town outside the gate. From Jinzhou to Ningyuan, there are five cities connected in a line, surrounded by mountains and seas. It was the focus of the Ming army's defense on the Liaodong defensive line.

The Qing army entered the fortress several times, and it was like a no-man's land in the area of Jifu, but when entering and leaving the Central Plains, it had to bypass the Shanhaiguan defense line and pass through the passes of the Great Wall north of Beijing. With the cities of Ningjin, Shanhaiguan is as solid as a rock; Shanhaiguan is firm. The Qing army's road to the Central Plains would not be unblocked, and the strategic intention of replacing it with the Ming Dynasty would not be smoothly realized.

Therefore. The basic strategy of Huang Taiji's war against the Ming. On the one hand, it was to continuously send troops deep into the Central Plains to shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, and on the other hand, it was necessary to uproot a series of Ming army strongholds in Liaodong, first of all, to uproot the four fortresses east of Ningyuan.

By the spring of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, the Qing army had completed a solid encirclement, set up eight large camps on each side of Jinzhou, and had completed all the siege fortifications. And at this time to defend Jinzhou. It is Zu Dashou, who has a history of fake surrender, he resisted the siege of the Qing army very resolutely, and the defense facilities of Jinzhou City are very good, and the grain storage is relatively full. Zu Dashou's tactic is to defend the city to the death. Waiting for reinforcements.

At this time, Hong Chengchou could not delay, seeing the determination of the Qing army not to retreat without trapping Jinzhou, the only countermeasure that Hong Chengchou could take was to concentrate his forces in Jinzhou and fight a big battle with the Qing army in the area of Jinzhou, in order to protect the various fortresses outside the pass.

Although Hong Chengchou is famous, Hong Chengchou is also unsure of how much he can win. But when the Qing army was forced in front of them, there was only one battle to meet the enemy.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou first sent a small force along the coast to Jinzhou to harass the enemy army to ease the situation of Jinzhou being besieged, and on the other hand, he personally led all the officers and troops near Shanhaiguan to go out of the customs and stationed in Ningyuan, ready to attack the Qing army at any time.

But when Hong Chengchou was gathering troops in Ningyuan, the situation of Jinzhou's defense of the city was becoming more and more severe. In late March, the Mongol generals Nomiqi and Wu Bashi, who were stationed in the outer city of Jinzhou, secretly contacted Jierharang and prepared to surrender the city.

Zu Dashou found out about this situation and was about to hunt down and kill two Mongolian generals, but the Mongolian army made the first move. Zu Dashou's cronies and the Mongol troops fought a big battle between the inner and outer cities of Jinzhou, and the Qing army took the opportunity to climb the city and forced Zu Dashou's troops into the inner city. The outer city was occupied by the Qing army, and the city defense of Jinzhou was even more precarious.

But Zu Dashou was still determined to stick to it. In May, he sent people to sneak out of the siege and report to Hong Chengchou that the grain and grass in the city could last for half a year, and hoped that the reinforcements would not fight lightly, but should use chariots to advance step by step.

The tension in Liaodong also made Emperor Chongzhen nervous, but he never knew anything about military affairs, and he had no opinion at all about how to organize this major military operation.

On May 18, Emperor Chongzhen summoned Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, in the Zhongji Hall and asked him how he should make decisions and arrangements. Chen Xinjia has been transferring troops and losing salaries for Ning Yuan for several months, and he really wants to fight a beautiful battle and take a break from the spirit of the Qing army. He reported to Emperor Chongzhen that Hong Chengchou had now concentrated in Ningyuan a total of 150,000 soldiers and horses from nine towns, including Wu Sangui, the chief soldier of Ningyuan, Wang Tingchen, the chief soldier of Qiantun Guard, Ma Ke, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, Cao Bianjiao, the chief soldier of Yutian, Bai Guangen, the chief soldier of Jizhen, Tang Tong, the chief soldier of Miyun, Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, Wang Pu, the general soldier of Datong, and Wu Shigong, the general soldier of Runing, in Ningyuan.

Chen Xinjia thought that the Ming army gathered such a strong force to fight a decisive battle with the Qing army in the narrow area between the mountains and seas in the Jinzhou area, and it was an excellent opportunity that had not been seen for many years.

To this end, Chen Xinjia suggested: take Songshan as the center, divide the troops into four routes, and go all the way out of Tashan to attack the northwest of the enemy through Dashengbao; All the way out of Xingshan, bypassing Jinzhou, attacking from the north; All the way out of Songshan to cross the Xiaoling River to block the east side of the enemy; All the way as the main force, directly attack the enemy's southern flank from Matsuyama. Encircle on all sides and gather and annihilate the enemy.

Chen Xinjia's battle jihua is, of course, on paper. His judgment of the comparison of forces and the geographical situation was correct, but he did not take into account the key factor of the extremely poor combat effectiveness of the Ming army. The generals are cowardly and corrupt, the morale of the soldiers is low, the equipment is dilapidated, and the military and political disorder are disordered, and it is already very good that the 150,000 troops that have been put together can be gathered together to scare the enemy.

Hong Chengchou was on the front line and was very aware of these chronic diseases of his troops, so he had always opposed the military department's unintended operations. But Emperor Chongzhen was very happy to listen to Chen Xinjia's eloquent talk. If you can file the enemy's front on the Liaodong front, you can not only show the evil spirit of being swept by the Qing troops in Gyeonggi many times, but also take advantage of the victory to send troops and horses to the Central Plains to encircle and suppress the thieves. Wasn't that the prospect he had dreamed of for years?

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen fully supported Chen Xinjia's plan in principle. But he is not the "first brother" of the primary throne back then, and he will no longer be so impatient and self-righteous, so Emperor Chongzhen hopes that the military department can still consider the opinions of the front commanders more, and try to coordinate the center and the front line.

After this summons, Chen Xinjia discussed with several auxiliary ministers of the cabinet, as well as Wu Fu, a squire of the Ministry of War, and Fu Zonglong, the former secretary of the Ministry of War, and decided to send Zhang Ruoqi, a staff member of the Ministry of War, to Ningyuan Army as a special commissioner to understand the situation and participate in decision-making. Later, a former Suide Zhixian Ma Shaoyu was sent to the front of the army as the head of the Ministry of War.

From the beginning of the summer of this year, the officers and soldiers of several towns of the Ming army successively drove out of Shanhaiguan and assembled in the Songshan area, and made several small-scale contacts with the Qing army near Songshan, and also achieved a small victory in the Shimen area. Hong Chengchou was not optimistic about this limited victory, and still adhered to the policy of protracted war, saying in his report to the imperial court: "Songshan and Xingshan have been held for a long time to transport grain and wages, and the city of Jinzhou is quite strong, and it is not easy to be attacked. If the enemy army continues this autumn, not only will it be unsustainable at home, but even the food supply from the DPRK will not be guaranteed. This is the strategy that can hold on and fight again. Today, the military department is still discussing the war, how dare the ministers delay it, but they are afraid that the transportation of food and salary will be difficult, and the whip will not be able to reach it. It is a matter of national health, so it is better to wait for a while and make the enemy self-trapped, which is more advantageous. ”

But Zhang Ruoqi, who had already arrived at the front line outside the Guanwai, was carried away by several small victories, thinking that he could march quickly and defeat the Qing troops in one fell swoop. In a secret report to the military department and the emperor, he expressed his hope that the imperial court would immediately order a decisive battle.

As the representative of Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the imperial court and the Ministry of War, Zhang Ruoqi is so urgent for the following reasons:

First of all, of course, Jinzhou City is indeed particularly dangerous;

secondly, Hong Chengchou delayed for too long, which made the logistical pressure of the imperial court miserable, so it could not be delayed any longer;

The third is that Chen Xinjia wants to prove that his whole army is right in the decisive battle, and he wants to attack in front of Emperor Chongzhen, and pressure Hong Chengchou on the influence of the imperial court to discuss military strategy;

Zuihou is of course Zhang Ruoqi's own desire to perform, showing that he can play a great role in this war.

Emperor Chongzhen, who was already inclined to a quick victory, could no longer hold his breath at this time, and since the victory he had longed for for many years was within reach, of course he could not delay any longer. (To be continued......)