June of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Tongzhou.

Seeing the soldiers who had been training today returning, Wu Shigong instructed Yu Ji and these officers: "You have worked hard along the way. Rest here for two days, recuperate, and then go to Shanhaiguan! ”

"No!"

This time, the Runing Army went to Liaodong, Wu Shigong led a cavalry association of 3,500 cavalry, an infantry association of 7,500 people, a personal army of 1,500 cavalry (the first battalion stayed in Runing), 2,000 engineer regiments and an artillery reinforced regiment of 1,500 people. The artillery regiment reinforced six nine-pounder guns and two twelve-pounder guns. The total strength was 16,000 men.

However, the equipment of the Runing Army this time is exaggerated. Together with the war horses of the pro-soldier team, there are more than 5,000 war horses, and there are more than 5,000 other mules and horses. There are more than two thousand vehicles, of which more than three hundred are combat vehicles. Eighty-seven large and small artillery, one cavalry gun, and more than 4,000 infantry, engineers, and artillerymen.

There are more than 3,000 well-protected plate armors, and another 500 are also stepping up production in Runing, and they must be urgently transported before the Runing army leaves the customs. There are also more than 1,000 second-class iron armors. And each soldier had at least silk inner armor and improved beggar armor modified from cotton armor. And there are more than a thousand sets of felt vests. In addition, there are more than 1,000 leather armors equipped with Scout Riders.

The most critical reason why he decided to go on the expedition was that Wu Shigong didn't want to turn his face with the court at this time, and wanted to give the court a false impression that he was still obeying the dispatch. Of course, Wu Shigong also believes that the advantages of this expedition outweigh the disadvantages.

In addition to the safety of his family in the capital and the attraction of the peasant army to get closer and expand the scope of the peasant army's activities, Wu Shigong also believed that the danger of the Runing army's arrival in Liaodong this time was not great. At this time, the imperial court's strength in Liaodong had exceeded 230,000, and the strength of the army capable of mobile field warfare was 134,000 soldiers and horses with eight total troops. Coupled with the 16,000 Runing Army, it can effectively give the Qing army great damage, and mixed with such a huge army, the loss of the Runing Army will not be too large.

The only thing worth worrying about is that the imperial court has put the conscripted Runing army in Liaodong for a long time, and does not allow Wu Shigong to return to Runing. But Wu Shigong is not afraid of this, the structure of the Runing army in Runing is very complete, and without Wu Shigong, no general can be independent at all. Besides, there are times when the world changes. Wu Shigong forcibly returned to Runing with his army, and which Ming army could stop him? And at that time, it doesn't matter if Wu Shigong shows bad intentions, but because he is close to the capital, he can quickly rescue his family in the capital.

Of course. Wu Shigong and the high-ranking civil and military forces of the Runing Army did not know that this battle was the famous Battle of Songjin, otherwise. Absolutely no one would approve of the expedition.

Therefore. According to the characteristics of this expedition, the Runing Army deployed its troops in this way. There are many cavalry, firearms, and vehicles. This is precisely the lesson learned from the last battle against the Qing army.

And the Ming army's combat goal this time is also very fixed, that is, to rescue the besieged Jinzhou. Therefore, the role of the Ming army's scouting and cavalry is not large, and there is no need to investigate the location of the Qing army. Anyway, the Qing army must have appeared on the road from Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou. Moreover, the environment of the Guanning Iron Cavalry in Liaodong is familiar, and the scouts sent should also be dominated by them, so the cavalry of the Runing Army will not fall into a large-scale strangulation battle.

Therefore, the operational idea of the Runing Army this time is to fight in a group, with the infantry phalanx as the core. The cavalry and chariots around cooperated, coupled with the fire support of artillery, with a large number of long-range firearms to prevent the Qing army's large group of cavalry from charging and killing. In a word: it is a defensive battle in motion, attracting the Qing army to charge into battle and inflicting a lot of casualties on the Qing army.

Of course, if the Qing army did not dare to rush into battle, the Runing army would also smoothly move to the city of Jinzhou. Although it was not able to kill and wound a large number of Qing troops, the purpose of the campaign was always achieved. Anyway, the Runing army never thought that through this battle, the Qing army would be completely annihilated. In addition, such a movement can also prevent being locked by the artillery of the Qing army, and prevent the occurrence of the situation of being "ploughed" by the artillery of the Qing army in the Battle of Blood Ridge.

And such tactics can also be advanced or retreated. In the event of a major defeat of the Ming army, the Runing army could also rely on the defense of the car formation and retreat smoothly. In addition, the vehicle can also carry a large amount of grain, grass and baggage, and take the supplies of the Runing Army into their own hands. Therefore, in the sequence of the Runing Army's expedition, the engineer regiment was deliberately brought in, which was to open the way and build bridges during the retreat.

Therefore, the core tactic of the Runing Army this time is defense, and it is necessary to give full play to the "turtle flow" created by Wu Shigong, that is, to preserve itself to the greatest extent and eliminate all the Qing troops who dare to attack them.

Because the focus of the Runing Army at this time was still in Henan and Huguang, those generals had their own strategic goals and could not be moved lightly. Therefore, Wu Shigong chose Yu Ji, who was second in defensive warfare, as his deputy. To be honest, that Shumo is too uncommanding, and Wu Shigong really doesn't worry about him becoming a deputy. And Yu Ji's level of defensive warfare is not much higher than that of other generals, the reason why he is pointed, in addition to his relatively high status, who made him nicknamed "Hedgehog"?

After receiving the holy decree in April and preparing to go on the expedition, the Runing Army gathered and trained the troops that had been transferred to prepare for the expedition for a month, and then continued to train defensive tactics along the way to the expedition. Therefore, by the time he arrived in Tongzhou, the whole army had already practiced such defensive tactics very well, and this situation also made Wu Shigong quite satisfied.

The only drawback is that the Runing army carried too many mules and horses this time, so the pressure on the supply of grain and grass is extremely great. Fortunately, Wu Shigong still had a friendship with Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, and Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Shandong, and with their supply all the way, the Runing army was able to reach Tongzhou smoothly.

And Wu Shigong saw that the training of the soldiers along the way was very hard, so he prepared to rest in Tongzhou for two days to recuperate for the big battle after leaving the customs. Moreover, Wu Shigong also had a personal reason, Emperor Chongzhen's personal representatives, Gonggong Qin and Wu Shigong's wife, Xue Yufei, were already waiting in Tongzhou.

As soon as she saw Wu Shigong, Xue Yufei hugged Wu Shigong and cried for a while, and finally calmed down, she explained with red eyes: "This time, my husband won't see Lin'er again." ”

"I know! I understand! Wu Shigong hurriedly comforted. Emperor Chongzhen was willing to let Xue Yufei meet with Wu Shigong, but he would never let Wu Shigong's eldest son Xue Chenglin out of the capital, and Wu Shigong was also mentally prepared for this. (To be continued......)