On the second day of the third month of the first year of Qiongyuan, Dolgon came to Zhenyuan City with 2,000 pro-troops to inspect the siege of Zhenyuan City by the Qing army.

Around the New Year, Dolgon actually decided to mobilize a large army to completely uproot the two cities of Ningyuan and Zhenyuan. For the Manchu Qing Dynasty, these two fortified cities were like a fish in the throat, and the Manchu Qing in Liaodong was very sad, unable to swallow and swallow, and unable to spit out.

But to Dorgon's dismay, he couldn't go to war in the winter. Although in winter, because of the abundance of labor and the hard roads, it is originally a season of war. However, it was also because the ground was hard that the battle against the two cities of Ningyuan and Zhenyuan must not be launched.

For the fortified city that was bent on defending, the Qing army did not have many good strategies to attack the city. In other words, there is no army in the world, and there is no good way to attack the city. For example: the Runing Army was at a loss at the foot of Wuchang City.

In previous examples, the Qing army successfully attacked the city, which was nothing more than two methods: the inner sacrifice of the city and the long-term siege. The Qing army would never use the ant method to attack the city, because for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the number of the Eight Banners was too small, and they could never afford to lose. Therefore, there is no way to carry out siege warfare in winter, and the hard ground is too difficult to excavate.

However, as soon as spring began, Dolgon did not hesitate to order a large army to be assembled and sent troops to besiege the two cities of Ningyuan and Zhenyuan. However, it can also be seen from this season of troops that Dolgon's determination was sufficient, and he was ready to sacrifice a year's production of the Manchu Qing in exchange for the capture of these two cities, so as to achieve the unification of Liaodong and Guanwai.

Thankfully, however, Dolgon's last Battle at the Entrance was a bit too rewarding. The seized supplies were piled up. The plundered population also became clothed slaves and could produce. If you add some cattle, sheep, grain and grass from the Mongol tribes and Korea, the Qing army will definitely be able to sustain the two-year siege. Dolgon didn't believe it: could the two cities of Ningyuan and Zhenyuan hold out for two years?

At this time, the deployment of troops on both sides is like this:

The total strength of the Qing army reached 230,000 people, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses could be recruited from the Mongol tribes and Korea in the future. Coupled with the large number of armor and ordnance seized after entering the customs, it can be said that the soldiers are strong.

At Shanhaiguan, the Qing army arranged 40,000 soldiers and horses of Wu Sangui's Guanning Iron Cavalry and 10,000 Qing troops led by Haoge; Presiding over the siege of Zhenyuan City were, 40,000 horses led by Sony, Aobai and Tan Tai; In Ningyuan, there were 45,000 soldiers and horses led by Duoduo and Azig; Dolgon himself led the main force of nearly 100,000 Qing troops stationed in Jinzhou to respond to any unexpected battle situation at any time.

As for the Daping Army: Ningyuan City has an association of more than 7,300 people led by Yao Liang and Fu Sheng. There were also nearly 4,000 auxiliaries and people to help defend the city; Zhenyuan City has 13,000 soldiers and horses in Wolf Howling Town, as well as more than 3,000 auxiliary soldiers and Minzhuang to help defend the city.

On the front of Shanhaiguan, there is the main force of the Daping Army in the six towns commanded by Xue Yongli. The 90,000 soldiers and horses lined up. blocked the main force of the Qing army from going south.

In Tianjinwei, there are 20,000 soldiers and horses of the Marine Corps and 5,000 guards of the reclamation firm; On the front line of Xuanda, there are more than 20,000 horsemen in Pegasus Town that have been replenished again. In Beijing City and Tongzhou Daying, there are 37,000 soldiers and horses led by Wu Shigong. And these soldiers and horses are the main field troops of the Daping Army.

Of course. Besides. The Daping Army also had nearly 200,000 miscellaneous troops stationed near the capital, and nearly one million guards were conducting military training. However, these troops can only do some auxiliary services such as defending the city and logistics and transportation, and are of little use in field battles.

Therefore, it can be seen that the strength and strength of the two armies can be said to be evenly matched. However, it is important to point out that with the passage of time, the advantages of the Daping Dynasty, which has a huge population base and sufficient financial and material resources, will also increase.

However, at this time, in the two cities of Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan, and Zhenyuan, the strategic advantage of the Qing army was quite obvious. Because it is quite convenient for the Qing army to support Shanhaiguan. However, it was difficult for the Daping army to support the two cities of Ningyuan and Zhenyuan.

To this end, Dorgon drew up the following battle plan:

The two cities of Ningyuan and Zhenyuan were besieged for a long time. In order to attract the main force of the Daping Army to come to the rescue. After that, on the flat battlefield outside the pass, give full play to the power of the Qing army's cavalry group, so as to annihilate the vitality of the Daping army, and it is best to annihilate the reinforcements of the Daping army.

If the Daping army saw through the Qing army's plan and did not come to the rescue, then of course the Qing army would trap Ningyuan and Zhenyuan to death. Not to mention how big a blow this will be to the morale of the Daping army. Just saying that it has achieved great unification in Liaodong and outside the Guan, the Qing army can concentrate the main force of the Qing army at Shanhaiguan and any place along the Great Wall, and enter the customs at will.

As a result, the battered Great Wall defense line simply became undefended, because the Daping army definitely did not have so many troops lined up along the Great Wall. When the Daping Dynasty, which had been repeatedly threatened, could no longer hold on and could only retreat south and withdraw from the city of Beijing, then the Qing army would be able to occupy the Yanyun area logically. With the commanding heights of this strategy, the Qing army will be in a favorable strategic situation and will be in an invincible position in the future, whether it is launching a southern expedition or separating the north and the south.

If the Daping Army sent troops to rescue, then there were only two rescue paths they could choose: one was to go out of Juyongguan, bypass Shanhaiguan, and climb long distances from outside the pass to come to the rescue.

However, in this way, not to mention the labor expedition, the Daping army will first be harassed by the Mongol tribes along the way outside the pass, and then meet the main army of the Qing army. Moreover, the Daping army outside the pass has no logistics at all, and the grain route is not guaranteed, in the final analysis, the Qing army actually does not need to fight a decisive battle with the Daping army at all, as long as they are in a stalemate with the Daping army, the Daping army can only retreat in disgrace, not to mention being followed and pursued by the Qing army when retreating.

The other way is to storm Shanhaiguan. However, in Shanhaiguan, there are 50,000 heavy soldiers of the Qing army, and there is a complete defense system and Guanning iron cavalry who are familiar with the surrounding terrain. Let's not say it's impregnable! The Daping Army will definitely not be able to conquer it in a short period of time.

One more important point is this. The Daping Army didn't know what the total strength of the Qing army was in Shanhaiguan? Because it is impossible for the Daping Army to send spies to bypass Shanhaiguan to detect the enemy's situation, even if they go around, there is no way to pass the information back.

If the Daping army meets at the foot of Shanhaiguan and breaks the bloodstream, the Qing army can send a large army at any time to secretly infiltrate Shanhaiguan, and when the Daping army and the Qing army in Shanhaiguan are in the thick of the fierce battle, the main force of the Qing army can take advantage of the situation to rush out of Shanhaiguan and kill it, and take the Daping army by surprise, so as to win the decisive battle. (To be continued......)