On March 24, the tenth year of Chongzhen, the Runing Army camp.

A huge map hung on the wall of the war room of the Military Command Division, and all the officers of the Runing Army above the rank of deputy commander rushed to the camp to participate in this important military meeting.

"According to the calculations of our Military Command Department, there shall be no less than 50,000 people left behind in Runing." Xue Yongli held a long wooden pole and pointed to the map and was talking.

"To the north and west of us, there are 25,000 men and horses of the Henan army led by Li Xianfeng and Governor Li, and it is impossible for them to come out of the nest, so it is possible to use fifteen thousand; There are 15,000 Ruzhou troops led by Yu Zilian and Yu Yushi of Ruzhou; Chen Zhongzhi and Jiang Cheng's four thousand; Thirteen thousand people from Zuo Liangyu; Of course, there are also the 7,000 men and horses of Li Lu and Li General of Nanyang (including the 3,000 men and horses of Sun Wei, the former general of Nanyang). ”

Seeing that there seemed to be some disagreement on the faces of the officers, Xue Yongli explained: "Don't look at some people who have a better relationship with their uncle, but if our battle situation is unfavorable, they are likely to fall into the ground, so we have to count them." ”

"Also, Fengyang Mansion in the west has nearly 20,000 heavy troops, and Yu Yinggui, the governor of Huguang in the south, can muster at least 10,000 soldiers and horses, and we must guard against these. Not only that, but Nanjing's Jingying will also arrive soon, at least 20,000. The most unpredictable thing is to break through the sky Liu Guoneng, will he act according to the plan? Will they see our actions and turn into the official army? Will it become a pawn of the official army and return to attack us? None of this is known. Therefore, the 50,000 people mentioned by this official are still considered to be small. ”

"And the jihua of our Runing army is: first go east to Deke Jining, then go north along the Grand Canal, and then conquer the city of Beijing. But this jihua has such a few key points. ”

"First of all, after conquering Jining, we must clear Liu Zeqing and Liu's general troops in Cao County, and we can't let the 20,000 soldiers and horses he belongs to contain behind us."

"Then, when you go north along the canal, you have to break through the blockade of the Cao soldiers. Fortunately, most of the Cao soldiers were transferred to Fengyang. Therefore, it is estimated that there are a maximum of 10,000, and the troops are scattered, so it should be no big problem. ”

"After that, we have to defeat Jinan along the way, where there are heavy soldiers in Jiancheng, and there are 20,000 horses of Qiu Lei, the general soldier of Shandong, so it is not a very good bone to gnaw."

"The next step is to break through the line of Linqing and Texas. However, after defeating Qiu Lei's department in Jinan, it is not difficult to break through this line. ”

"After that, I faced the Tongzhou camp. It is the main force of the imperial court and the capital camp, with a strong city, which is quite difficult to fight. Even if the Tongzhou camp is completely conquered, when our Runing army attacks the capital. The Liao army of Tianjin Weihe Shanhaiguan may also attack us from the flank, not counting the border army of Xuanda will come to help. ”

"Therefore, our expedition to the north will be difficult, but according to the courage of our Runing army, we should still be 50% sure. But at least 50,000 horses, and if it is the main battle legion. ”

When Xue Yongli finished introducing the basic situation. He paused briefly. There was silence in the war room. The officers were digesting this information, and everyone felt quite tricky.

In the previously drafted jihua, Xue Yongli did not hesitate to give up going south to Nanjing, but chose to go north to Beijing. And this decision was made out of political considerations.

Wu Shigong's family is in Beijing, so he should take Beijing as his first target. It's one thing to not have time to save it, but it's another thing to go and not to save it. If Wu Shigong abandoned his family with a hard heart. Especially those who abandoned their fathers and fathers-in-law, such unfilial people, what will the people under the sky think? How did the Runing Army publicize the "justice" of this operation?

Of course, there has been a rebellion. There's no justice anymore, but at least a fig leaf is needed! Moreover, Wu Shigong will use the name of "Qingjun Side" to raise troops, so what is the meaning of attacking other regions?

What's more critical is that in fact, Wu Shigong's other family members are secondary, and the most important is the prince Xue Chenglin. That's the young master of the Runing Army, so you must save it.

Not to mention Xue Yongli, these officials of the Xue Mansion. There is a case for everything, in case Xue Chenglin escapes smoothly, in case Xue Chenglin successfully ascends the throne, what will happen to the Runing Army officials who propose not to rescue first? Don't talk about wealth, maybe even the lives of the whole family will be guaranteed! Therefore, Xue Yongli and these people are kidnapping, and they have to tie up Wu Shigong to save them.

Of course, Wu Shigong also understood this, and he frowned and asked, "How long will it take to expand the army and equipment?" ”

Xue Yongli continued: "It's easy to manage, and it can be assembled in half a month, but it is a little difficult to equip it, and it will take at least half a year to equip an army of 100,000." Of course, our Runing Army can be equipped while moving, but it will take two months to do so. ”

"What's the difficulty?" Wu Shigong knew that Xue Yongli and they did not advocate an immediate rebellion, so he simply spread all the difficulties on the table.

"The most important thing is money and food. We have no shortage of grain and grass, but as soon as we act, the business of the trading houses and money banks will be paralyzed, and there will be no way to go around, so the inner account room has calculated that we must conquer Beijing within a year, otherwise, there will not be enough silver to support our actions. ”

"Then what else do you have in the Military Command Division! Uncle Wynn, tell it all! Wu Shigong continued.

"Of course, there are also those who do not rebel for the time being, and strike later. If the imperial court does not immediately recruit and suppress it, we will also pretend to be confused and stand still. Buying time, waiting for our strength to increase. If the imperial court immediately conquers and suppresses, we are fighting on the inner line, and the current strength can be turned over. The biggest advantage is that my uncle's family is temporarily safe in the capital. ”

"Also, we have to prevent Shaanxi thieves from entering Henan. According to Zheng Ling's calculations, if the Shaanxi thieves re-enter Henan, it is likely that the imperial court and the Shaanxi thieves will reach a compromise and jointly encircle and suppress our Runing army. After all...... After all, my uncle's bloodline is too noble. ”

Wu Shigong understood what Xue Yongli meant, compared with the mud legs of the leader of the peasant army, the appeal of his little marquis was simply too great. It may even attract some peasant troops and official troops to take refuge, so as long as they rebel, the imperial court will definitely regard themselves as the number one enemy and gather the strength of the whole country to try their best to encircle and suppress it.

"Let's talk about it again!" Wu Shigong stood up from his chair. He couldn't hold back the anger in his chest, kicked the chair over, and then walked outside in a rage. Seeing Wu Shigong's anger, all the officers were silent, they didn't dare to make a single sound and stood upright, watching Wu Shigong leave. (To be continued......)