Episode 51 Delaying the Army

"Your Majesty...... Emperor ......" Chongshan, the second chief of the left, said incredulously with his mouth half open, "You...... Are you saying that we are going to make peace with Nanming? ”

Yonggui, the second chief of the right, reacted quickly and immediately said:

"Your Majesty, the current situation is not something that ordinary people can understand. Those who sing high-pitched songs just shout and fight, shouting and beating is too simple, anyone can, but they don't need to be responsible if they lose. And the emperor, you carry the burden of the entire Qing Dynasty on your shoulders, and you are responsible for the well-being of the Qing Dynasty and the people, so you are naturally different from those who are not at home and do not know the price of firewood and rice...... Your Majesty, the minions understand your decision and support your decision! ”

Chongshan, the second chief of the left, glanced at him quickly, quite disdainful. Then, he said to Guangwu with great concern:

"Your Majesty, if you can really minimize the losses of the Great Qing Dynasty through peace talks, or...... Or buy time, of course. It's just that Nanming is now in full swing and victorious, will they be willing to stop and negotiate with us? ”

Guangwu smiled and said:

"That's why I'm going to test it. Yes, it is true that Nanming is winning one after another, but in the west, their front has been stretched long enough. There is a railway from Nanyang to Zhengzhou, and there is also a railway from Zhengzhou to Guanzhong. In this section, there were no major problems with the logistics and transportation of the Ming army. But from Guanzhong to the north, to northern Shaanxi, to Shanxi, there are only roads. It's all about cars.

"Moreover, you also know the terrain and road conditions of Shanxi. In this case, there will be a lot of pressure on their logistical supply lines. So far, the Ming army has basically advanced along the railway line. But what about now? The railroad is gone. They are transported by car, can they guarantee the supply of so many troops? All attacks have a crest, and when they reach that apex, they are at the end of the crossbow. Of course, for modern warfare, if there is a railway, the offensive apex can be extended far away, but once there is no railway, it will soon face the offensive apex. At least in the Western Theater of Operations, the peak of the Ming army's offensive was about to arrive.

"In the east, the apex of the Ming army's offensive is certainly far from coming, and the terrain is no problem, there are also railways. The Jinpu line can be connected all the way to Beijing. But in front of them, across our Central Plains Corps, now has two million troops. This Central Plains Corps is more than all the Ming troops that invaded the north. Moreover, after such a long period of silence on the battlefield, our Central Plains Corps has not been idle, and has been building defensive positions. Although it can't be said to be solid now, at least it has a certain degree of solidity. The tactics of the Ming army have always been to persuade them to surrender, to come soft, and they have not yet attacked a well-prepared large corps head-on.

"You may ask: So, why did the Ming army have to fight hard this time? Why can't we persuade us to surrender as we did before, so that our Central Plains Corps will collectively defect? ”

Facing the emperor's last question, the two deputy ministers didn't know what the emperor meant, they both looked at each other, and they were a little stunned in their hearts, and they didn't dare to take it easily. Truth be told, they're worried. In the previous battles, wasn't it the Ming army's shouts and leaflets that made the Qing army's hearts scattered? Why didn't they do it this time? Why should people fight with you?

Guangwu smiled:

"Because the price I offered was tempting enough for the Ming army, enough to make them feel that there was no need to fight this battle."

The two deputy chiefs looked at each other, and Yonggui asked:

"The emperor means ......"

Guangwu squinted his eyes and said slowly:

"Time. What we need most now is time. Not more, a month and a half, two months. As long as the negotiations can drag on for a month and a half, it will enter a harsh winter. The harsh winter in the north will teach those southern barbarians a lesson, letting them know that fighting a war is not just by tanks and planes, and that people can't hold on to it. Now I heard that the soldiers of the Ming army of the left army group had nosebleeds because they were not adapted to the dry autumn in the north. In another month or two into the middle of winter, it will not be a problem with nosebleeds.

"The arrival of winter also plays a big role. There will be fewer sunny days in winter, and there will often be very thick clouds. The air superiority of the Ming army will be greatly reduced. It took time for the soldiers of the Ming army to adapt to the northern winter, and it also took time for the Ming army to digest the places they had already occupied. If there was still a sober-minded person in the Nanming Command, he would have realized that the best thing to do now was not to continue fighting, but to do the same thing as us: seek negotiations.

"If we can drag the truce for a month or two into the winter, then we can drag it out all winter. Once the Ming army as a whole stopped, no one in the high command wanted to attack in the winter anymore. And as long as we win the whole winter, we can fully exploit our war potential. We can mobilize another one or two million troops, and then impose a strict system of military discipline to prevent mass surrenders. For example, the class row and sitting method, such as the chief responsibility system, such as the family of Zhulian. In the past, our Zhulian clan only practiced it for senior officers, but now we want to implement it for every soldier.

"In addition, I want to give a big reward to boost the morale of every soldier. Chen Wangwu's heavy reward system in the Zhengzhou Corps turned all the sheep into tigers all at once? Isn't it just that the Ming army is difficult to advance? In short, I want to put an end to mass surrender. Once a large-scale surrender is prevented, our army of the Thousand Divisions of the Great Qing Dynasty will truly become the most powerful army in the world. We can turn defeat into victory in the spring of the next year, advance all the way south, and eliminate Nanming. ”

Guangwu said so much, but the two deputy chiefs still didn't get the point. The two looked at each other again, and Chongshan asked cautiously:

"Your Majesty, what is the price you want to offer to Nanming......"

Guangwu smiled slightly and said:

"First of all, tell them that if they are willing to withdraw from Shanxi, then I can cede all Shandong and Henan south of the Yellow River to Nanming. All the places that the Ming army had captured were recognized by the Qing Dynasty. Since then, the Qing Dynasty has been ruled by rowing rivers with the Southern Ming Dynasty. The two sides signed a non-aggression pact and will never violate each other. As long as the Southern Ming withdrew from Shanxi, which they had not yet actually occupied, they would be able to get most of Shandong and Henan and most of the North China Plain south of the Yellow River without leaving a drop of blood...... I think that's attractive enough for them.

"Nanming's gang is not stupid, and they will also wonder if I am delaying the army. It depends on what your negotiator says. I teach you, so I say, it roughly means:

"I came to power by coup d'état and massacre of the clan, and I was always worried that I would not ask for my position, and I was worried that if there was another fiasco in the Central Plains War, I would lose my prestige in the clan, not only in power, but also in the possibility of losing my life...... Therefore, I look forward to exchanging Shandong and Henan for the truce of the Southern Ming Dynasty, hoping to rule by crossing the Yellow River with the Southern Ming, so as to have the energy to free up my hands and consolidate my power.

"As for the withdrawal of the Ming army from Shanxi, it is really the position of Shanxi that is too important, and it is related to the safety of the Qing Dynasty, so please understand Nanming. For this reason, didn't the Qing Dynasty take out Shandong and Henan to compensate? The two provinces of Shandong and Henan are much richer than Shanxi. Moreover, the coastline of the Shandong Peninsula is very long, and there are countless good ports along the coast, and only Qingdao and Weihai are rare excellent military ports in East Asia. In the Qing Dynasty, the navy was weak, and it was not of much use to keep such a good military port, so I dedicated it to Nanming.

"What about me, I hope that after Nanming takes such a rich gift from me, he will still give me a face and be able to withdraw from Shanxi. I sent it out of Shandong and Henan, but I also took it back to Shanxi, and I finally got a step down. I hope Nanming can give me this step. The soldiers of the Southern Ming Dynasty were spared a major war in the Central Plains, and there was no need to shed any more blood, and I also retained my position in the country. It's not too hard for everyone to do.

In this way, the people who started this war in Nanming, whether it is Zhu Yourong, Shen Rongxuan, Zhang Zhaoxian, or Xiang Xiaoqiang...... They have access to everything they could have imagined when the war was waged. They all have great victory, prestige, honor, status, and power. Now stop and they're winning. If you insist on going your own way and continue to fight with the millions of troops of the Qing Dynasty in the harsh winter in the north, what you will get in the end is ...... It's not necessarily a total victory. Nanming's high-ranking officials and generals are also people. If you are human, you will always plan more for yourself. ”

……

Yonggui and Chongshan were dumbfounded when they heard this. The two looked at each other, and then Yonggui asked tentatively:

"And yet...... Is this just the emperor's delaying tactic? ”

Guangwu smiled faintly:

"If it's true, then won't I become a sinner in the Qing Dynasty?"

Yonggui shrank his head and laughed continuously:

"Your Majesty, of course, this is just a delaying tactic...... Your Majesty, you care about the society of your ancestors, this sinner...... Hehe, but where to start......"