The trees fall and scatter, and everyone cares for each other. Although the shape shì is not so strict, the signs of the collapse of the Manchu bandit group are becoming more and more obvious.

The Ming and Qing dynasties gathered heavy troops on the front line of Hejian, and it seems that the purpose is very clear, and they are all staring at the important place of Beijing. However, with the change of shape and military strength, the Ming army was changing its strategy, and capturing the capital division was no longer the first task.

This is not a change of order, nor is it arbitrary and changeable, but the actual situation has changed, and it is entirely possible that the Ming army will give the Manchus a fatal blow when they are not ready to retreat.

First of all, all the troops and horses are in place, not only the cavalry transferred from the Zhenshuo army, the infantry transferred from the Zhenshuo army, but also almost all the huge naval divisions. In the Bohai Bay, there are more than 2,000 large and small ships, which not only have nearly 10,000 marines to participate in the battle, but also can ensure the heavy supplies needed by the Ming army for the coastal land attack.

The second is the massive build-up of artillery, both in terms of quantity and quality, the frontal battlefield already has an overwhelming advantage, and it is very certain to break through the Qing army's defensive line. This does not include the rocket artillery units that have already hoarded nearly 10,000 rockets, and it is also expected that what kind of deterrence it will cause to the Qing army when they are used on the battlefield for the first time.

And there is also a new equipment that is not based on power and lethality - hot air balloons that are used on the battlefield. When feudal superstition was still very prevalent, and the Qing army's morale was in turmoil, the flying objects that looked like fairies outside the sky, and the leaflets that fell fluttering and scattered should have more psychological impact than thousands of cannonballs.

In view of these changes, Zhu Yongxing and the General Staff Department changed their plans at the right time, and the time of the general attack remained unchanged, but the goal of the direct attack was no longer the Beijing Division, and the strategic purpose was not to defeat the Qing army, but to annihilate it as much as possible.

Armament does not have. But tactically has. It has always been Zhu Yongxing's forte to adjust and change famous war examples or famous tactics in history and apply them to practice. This time, he was going to use tactics similar to the "blitzkrieg" of World War II.

There are no tanks. Without the close cooperation of the aircraft, this remodeled tactic is no longer accurately called "blitzkrieg", but it is different from the deployment after the previous breakthrough.

The deployment of the entire campaign was divided into four phases, which were actually only a change in strategic direction, and the mobilization of troops was very small, which did not take too much time.

The first is to break through: to use the overwhelming superior force created after the formation of the key point, to inflict a heavy blow on the enemy in the key breakthrough area, and then to break through the enemy's battle line with decisive impact.

The second is the breakout: this phase is a continuation of the breakout. After the breakthrough is completed, the separately formed heavy punch-assault force will pass through the open gap. And entered the enemy line and began to go deep behind enemy lines.

Then there is the Strike and the Gap: the assault force will have a large number of pack horse vehicles, a large number of cavalry, powerful infantry, and agile artillery, and will be able to fight independently. Forward, forward, the task of this army is to move forward bravely and not attack the city. If you encounter obstacles, you will break and make a breakthrough in depth.

Such tactics discarded the traditional tactics of sweeping the flanks after breaking through. Once the Guò breach has been reached, the assault force will try to choose an appropriate route that is free of enemy concerns. When facing an enemy who is holding the city, if you don't have to fight, try to avoid it, choose to bypass, and only fight when there is no way to do it. As for the bypassed enemy, the follow-up troops will catch up with them and clear them. This large army of advance will advance rapidly northward along the coast, thanks to the instigation of the naval division. They don't need to worry too much about the gradually lengthening exposed flanks.

The final stage of the campaign is the sweep: the successful arrival of the assault force in the target area means that the enemy retreat has been successfully blocked. With the support of the Marines and their follow-up troops, they may experience fierce battles, and since they are not advancing as fast as the cavalry alone, there will be a considerable number of enemies who have already fled beforehand. However, the ultimate purpose of this was to prevent the Manchus from capturing a large number of people and withdrawing from the Guanwai, and would also intercept a considerable number of Manchus who dragged their families with them.

A plausible "blitzkrieg", a major battle that combines penetration, interception, and sweep in which all arms of the armed forces cooperate in combat.

When the battle plan of the General Staff was sent to the front, and when the long letter written by Zhu Yongxing was delivered to Ma Bao, the king of Wei, it was less than fifteen days before the estimated time of the general attack.

"Haixing, Dongyu (now Huanghua), Tianjin, Ninghe, Yongping (now Tangshan area), Qian'an, Funing......" Ma Bao's finger swiped on the map, drawing the advance route of the advancing troops along the coastal sea, and then vigorously nodded on the position of Qinhuangdao, "The naval division will gather troops on this sea surface to contain the Qing army in Shanhaiguan, or depending on the situation, land and fight under the cover of the army." With that, he glanced around the generals and signaled that they could speak out.

"Judging by the general, it is still more powerful to land in operation." Li Sixing, the son of the Jin dynasty, thought about it and said: "If the Marine Corps and the Army can block the enemy's retreat from Shanhaiguan, our army can turn to attack Zunhua, and then capture Jimen, completely sealing the enemy army in Beijing." ”

Historically, Huang Taiji entered the Central Plains several times and took the route from Monan Mongolia and the border wall, and if the road of Shanhaiguan was broken, most of the Manchus would escape from here again. Tongzhou, Sanhe, Jizhou, Zunhua, Xifengkou, this is the most recent and easiest to think of.

Li Sixing's proposal for the construction of yì was more radical, leaving no way out for the Manchus. However, Zhu Yongxing and the General Staff Department's plan was to encircle three and one, and it was also a relatively stable strategy for winning. Compared with the comparison of the enemy's own forces, it is true that it is possible to completely annihilate the enemy by dividing troops to seize various passes, but the army is too deep and the risk is also increased.

You must know that the assault corps is not alone, and there will be a large army to follow up behind, and will capture Tianjin as a material supply point, and then sweep the operation. It is said to be a sweep, but in fact, it is to collect and surrender the enemy, catch up with some enemies who run slowly, or the full people who drag their families and carry their wealth. But when they fled in panic, the Qing army did not have the time and courage to dare to plunder the people, and it was possible to transport all the assets out of the customs safely.

Forcing the Qing army to retreat from Monan should be the least costly victory, and in the face of the defeated Manchu Qing, the Chahar Mongols will definitely make moves, and the remnants of the defeated army will flee back to Liaodong, and it will be difficult to recover.

Ma Bao, the king of Wei, did not speak, and Zhu Yongxing's letter had already made it clear that as long as the Shanhaiguan Pass was blocked, the Manchus were forced to flee through the side wall. It's a big win. Similarly, Ma Bao was also worried that the assault corps would lack a covering force and would not be able to achieve the purpose of the campaign. Therefore, he was ready to send another corps behind the assault corps, so that the three divisions would be in a concave shape. Defend the flanks of the assault corps as much as possible.

The sub-focus of the whole campaign was to capture Tianjin, as long as there was this port, the transportation of materials would be guaranteed, and at the same time, the waterway to Jingshi would be opened. At that time, the strength of two armies will be pressed towards the Beijing division, and in this way, the strength of the Ming army is not too abundant, or it is not suitable to risk dividing the troops. There is no way around it, there are too few cavalry. The speed of the infantry is not fast enough, and if you disrupt the formation and chase after it, once you are counterattacked by the enemy's cavalry, the consequences will be very severe.

"The last general also thinks that with the help of the Marine Corps, the victory is in his hands." Wei Junzhong first agreed, but then expressed his opposition to attacking Zunhua, "But the last general feels that attacking Zunhua has the risk of hanging the division deep, so it is better to attack Shanhaiguan." If Shanhaiguan a look. Our army can then garrison with a small number of troops, freeing up the hands and feet of the rest of the army. ”

Marble thought for a moment. Nodding slightly, he said: "Long live has been authorized to this king, and he can mobilize the soldiers and horses of the Northeast Theater to participate in the war. They also had sailors, marines, and could also bring in infantry. Well, if necessary. The king could only order them to suspend their military operations in Liaodong. ”

"The last general thinks that capturing Shanhaiguan is a foolproof strategy." Xia Guoxiang opened his mouth and said: "The Assault Corps is about 40,000, and the Houji Corps is 40,000, and there are sailors to help in the battle, which should be enough." Shanhaiguan is controlled by our army, and the enemy outside the pass is not to be worried. The enemy in the pass could not escape. If our army is more aggressive, we can also enter and exit the pass, enter Liaoxi, and intercept the enemy who has escaped from the border wall. ”

"Volleying the enemy who escaped through the side wall?" Ma Zide looked at the map and stretched out his hand to dot it, "Then you want to hit Jinzhou, right?" It seems, it doesn't seem to be impossible. ”

"Hehe, then hit Shanhaiguan and then it depends on the situation." Ma Bao felt that this arrangement could be determined, and the rest was the specific arrangement.

The formation of the assault corps is not time-consuming, a formed corps can draw some infantry, and then the other corps can be supplemented with chariots, horses, cavalry, artillery, etc., and it can be completed. In terms of time, it is completely sufficient. It's just that the secret weapon, which made the Qing army distracted and demoralized, was to be stepped up in its arrangement, after all, no one could call for wind and rain, and the direction of the wind was unpredictable.

Several high-ranking generals fought for a brief time for the assault corps, and finally it was Ma Bao, the king of Wei, who finalized Wei Junzhong's suppression army, and the rearguard army was served by Ma Zide's breaking army; The capture of the Beijing division was determined to be the expeditionary Shuo army of Li Sixing, the son of the Jin dynasty, and the Dangshuo army led by the Xia State Minister; And he will command most of the Annihilation Army and a part of the Annihilation Army to be responsible for storming and breaking through the Qing army's defense line, and then escorting the formation behind the various armies.

The plan has been decided, Ma Bao has been issuing orders in the name of the front line headquarters, and the army and naval divisions are in full swing to start preparations, just waiting for the start of this final decisive battle.

………….

Clusters of gloomy and miserable winter clouds moved heavily and slowly in the sky, and small patches seemed to be in the deep, cold and clear sky, peeking down from time to time through the cracks in the dark clouds.

The artillery was firing loudly, the loud noise was deafening, the smoke was filled, and the walls of Gaizhou City trembled, collapsed, and collapsed in the fire and smoke.

The strategic maneuver of the First Theater of Operations in the Northeast at Juehua Island and Yaozhou exhausted the Qing army and forced it to divide its forces. This made the Qing army in front of Lushun unable to resist the attack of the Ming army, and Jinzhou and Fuzhou (now Wafangdian City) were captured by the Ming army one after another, and the Qing army was defeated and retreated continuously, and finally retreated to Gaizhou.

As soon as Gaizhou was covered, the Liaodong Peninsula fell into the hands of the Ming army, and it was only a stone's throw away from the Liaokou (now Yingkou) in the northwest, and then crossed the Liaohe River, which was Jinzhou, which directly threatened the Liaoxi Corridor; To the northeast, Haicheng, Liaoyang, and Shengjing are only more than 300 miles away.

Therefore, the Qing army gathered more than 3,000 men and horses, and waited for reinforcements to arrive in the Guannei, so as to ensure that the Ming army could be temporarily controlled in the Liaodong Peninsula and not allowed to enter western or central Liao.

Compared with Jinzhou and Fuzhou, the Qing army was obviously more confident in holding Gaizhou. Because the city was relatively strong and the weather was getting colder, it was impossible for the Ming army to stay under the fortified city for a long time.

But on the other hand, the Qing army in Liaodong obviously did not understand the current tactics of the Ming army. In Phoenix, the cavalry of the Eight Banners suffered a great loss in front of the muskets and artillery of the Ming army's infantry; At Lushun, the cavalry of the Eight Banners was again defeated by the cavalry wall of the Ming army; In Jinzhou, the trenches and breastwork caused the Qing army to face the new recruits of the Ming army and suffered a lot of losses, so they could only sit back and watch the destruction of the defenders of Lushun.

Now, the Qing army, which was cowering in Gaizhou, began to understand the Ming army's ability to attack fortifications. Moreover, more than 10,000 Ming troops have surrounded Gaizhou City, cutting off the hope of survival of the Qing army.

The surface is frozen, but the ground is not, and even at the coldest temperatures, the thickness of the permafrost is not infinite. In the soil layer below one meter, the Ming army sappers dug through the blasting tunnel in two days, and under the suppression of powerful artillery fire, the mouth of the tunnel was only 400 meters away from the city wall.

The city gate of Gaizhou has long been smashed by artillery, bricks, stones and wood are filled indiscriminately, and the Qing army is also concentrated on both sides of the city gate, focusing on defending the area that seems to be the main direction of attack of the Ming army.

Yu Qi and Yang Yanfeng were quietly observing, they were studying, learning this somewhat unfamiliar siege technique.

"Bows and arrows don't have much power!" Yu Qi sighed, he had been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and he used to be proud of his riding and archery skills, but now, the new weapon was sharper and did not need to be practiced hard for many years.

The Ming army set up a Francophone and bombarded the besieged trenches with the musketeers, firing at the bows and arrows of the Qing army. The small number of artillery in the city has long been destroyed by the Ming army, and even half of the city gate tower has collapsed, and the threat of bows and arrows to the Ming army is too small.

"The defeat of the Tartars is decided!" Yang Yanfeng nodded.

He worshiped under the Seven Sects, that is, he thought that practicing martial arts could protect the country against the enemy, although this was quite good for his body, but the pattern of war had changed, a master who had been trained over the years, and a civilian musketeer who had only been trained for a month, had almost stood on the same starting line, and there was not much difference. Judging from such an exchange ratio, the Manchu Qing Dynasty could not withstand the crowd tactics of the Ming army in any case.

In the distance, the red flag waved, and the sappers had already buried the gunpowder, just waiting for an order to light the fuse and blast the city wall.

Yu Qi let out a sigh of relief, and one order after another was passed down, and the blasting engineers, siege troops, and artillery in charge of covering were all ready to go, waiting for the thunderclap to break out.

................ (To be continued......