In fact, Luo Rucai was also unwilling to give up Kaifeng like this, and seeing that everyone was against retreating, he agreed to maintain the status quo for the time being, wait for a while, and wait until the battle situation became clearer.

"Most of the new army will still go to the Shangqiu line, or simply go to the Daimyo's Mansion to join Yang Wenyue's army first, and then cross the Yellow River and go straight to Kaifeng." Xu Ping advocated that the newly formed battalions of the Chuang Battalion, as well as several battalions of the Henan Chuang Army, which had a large number of firearms, be transferred to the north to face the anti-new army: "Give me General Li Guo, General Li Dingguo, and General Sun Kewang, and rely on the natural dangers of the Yellow River to block the new army, and I can win ten days and half a month." ”

First the south and then the north, this is Xu Ping's overall plan, suggesting that Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai go together to meet Zuo Liangyu, and for the time being, Xu Ping's department is responsible for encircling Kaifeng and monitoring and blocking the new army and the Hebei army. And Li Guo is currently located on the southern front, and the Chuang army will shrink first on the southern front, and let the Jiangbei Army and the Chu Army enter the southern part of Henan: "The Jiangbei Army is not enough to worry about, but the Chu Army is more combative. Zuo Liangyu is known as an army of 800,000, I estimate that there are about 300,000, half of them have escaped along the way, and there are still more than 100,000 people left, we will let Zuo Liangyu go north until ......"

Xu Ping pointed his finger to the location of Zhu Xianzhen on the map: "When Zuo Liangyu arrives here, King Chuang and King Cao will attack the Chu army left and right. ”

casually glanced at the position pointed by Xu Ping's finger, Li Zicheng stroked his palms and laughed: "The hero sees the same thing, the terrain here is open, and it is the place where the army can be used. ”

There is another advantage to setting the battlefield in Zhuxian Town, that is, the Chu army will stay away from their lair, and once defeated, the camp can be bravely pursued, the Chu army is far away from their base area, and there is no large camp to hold on to along the way. On the other hand, the camp is very familiar with this area, and the local forces along the way are also related to the camp, Li Zicheng and Xu Ping reached an agreement on the location of the battle against the Chu army, and immediately ordered the local troops in the camp to defend steadily, or they can retreat to the cottage as before. These scattered local troops would not pose any threat to the Chu army when it was marching high, but once the Chu army was defeated, they would greatly hinder the Chu army from escaping the battlefield.

Letting the officers and soldiers drive straight into the hinterland of Henan will definitely have bad consequences for Xu Ping's local construction, but now he can't care so much about it, and let his officials evacuate the people as much as possible. The Ming court still had the advantage of strategic encirclement of the camp, and the advantage of the camp was the internal line of operations, and the communication of the various departments of the Ming army had a time difference of at least a few days, and the closer it was to the main force of the camp, the more likely it was that the camp would concentrate its forces on a certain road to break through. And if they tried to defend all the territories, the camp would have to spread their forces into several sides to defend on all sides, so that each side might be at a disadvantage.

"If I were Ming Ting," Niu Jinxing thought for a moment, "I will fight steadily, and the fortress will advance, and we will not be given a chance to fight in the field." ”

"If Ming Ting has that much money, it can." Xu Ping doesn't think that this opportunity has much chance of success, because it sounds good to coordinate the whole line to advance together, but I am afraid that it will be more troublesome to execute than the combined attack. Even if the Ming court really had this money, the offensive of the fortress would be a war that lasted for many years, relying on the heralds to coordinate such a big offensive, Xu Ping did not think that there were such talents among the civil officials, but he did not say this to Niu Jinxing. "After the Chu army was completely defeated, the Jiangbei army was bound to be frightened, and even more afraid to attack. Although the new army is strong, we will have 80,000 horses, twice the number of the new army, and this is our territory, so we may not have the strength to fight. ”

The plan to deal with the New Army was a copy of the last winter battle, and Xu Ping planned to rely on the home battle again to slowly drain the New Army's spirit and fighting spirit. Although it is not as harsh as the weather is in winter, the troops are much more abundant and the battlefield is wider than it was in the winter.

"Since ancient times, those who can command 100,000 soldiers, in addition to Han Taizu, it seems that there are more and more soldiers Han Xin, and Emperor Guangwu of Han and Taizong of Tang may not be able to reach 100,000." Although the strength of the new army is much more than last time, and the 12th battalion of the new army will theoretically have more than 50,000 people, Xu Ping is not very worried: "The new army has always paid attention to the high value of soldiers, and 50,000 soldiers and horses is not a small number, even if Huang Hou comes in person, it is possible that the command will be improper, and General He and General Yang are likely to make mistakes." ”

It is relatively easy to make up for the mistakes in command even if there is a command error in the home field, but the new army is not, and whether it is the familiarity of the road, intelligence gathering, or logistical pressure when it comes from afar, it is not comparable to the camp that breaks in, and the chance of making mistakes is much greater than that of the camp. Therefore, Xu Ping planned to wait for the new army to make a mistake on its own, and then seize the opportunity to counterattack.

"Of course, Lord Yang Wenyue Yang has no such concerns, the Hebei army has started to move again, and it is said that the Hebei army gathered in the Daimyo's Mansion this time has another 100,000 people." Unable to withstand Hou Xun's repeated urgings, Yang Wenyue began to move south after the new army defeated the Dongjiang army, and he appointed Xiahou Kuanfu as the vanguard, Qi Tu as the vanguard, and forced towards the Yellow River. Xu Ping looked around at the generals who broke into the camp: "I hope Yang Wenyue has the ability of Han Taizu to command 100,000 soldiers, but I suspect that he will give the new army more trouble than it will give us." ”

Hearing Xu Ping's words, many generals laughed loudly, and after laughing, Liu Zongmin pointed to Kaifeng's location and said: "The general doesn't seem to have counted Kaifeng's Bianjun. ”

"yes, I didn't count, because I guess this trouble shouldn't be there by then." Xu Ping was confident and explained to the generals who broke into the camp: "Since the city knew that their relatives outside the city were safe and sound, morale has been getting lower and lower, and as more and more people are exchanged out of the city, there is now no warrior in the city. ”

"It's not enough for a soldier to have no fighting spirit, what about the generals in the city?" Niu Jinxing asked.

"At the beginning, when the people in the city bribed the defenders to sneak out of the city, the general soldiers in Kaifeng strictly forbade it, they didn't want too many people to escape from the city, because not only would they not be able to exchange food, but they also understood that once the people fled, the soldiers would no longer have the fighting spirit to resist. But now it's different, since half a month ago, they have pretended to be invisible. "The military attache in Kaifeng City is not a fool, seeing that the city is in danger, so he began to think about a way out. Xu Ping outside the city has always been known for loving the people, and these generals of the Bianjun army did not want to be sacrificed by Xu Ping to buy the hearts of the people, so they began to release water within a certain range, so as not to form a deep enmity with Xu Ping.

After hearing this, Li Zicheng immediately asked: "Then when will Kaifeng be taken down?" ”

"If it's fast, maybe in ten days and half a month, you can persuade a few city gate guards to surrender." Xu Ping smiled slightly, the real situation is more optimistic than what he said now, but it is not good to talk too much in front of Li Zicheng, as long as he has not reached the city gate for a day, Xu Ping is unwilling to say that he will die so as not to tell the truth again: "If Kaifeng falls into my hands, it is a little more likely to block the attack of the new army." Without any worries, we can throw all our troops into the battle with the Forces nouvelles, and now the only reason for the defenders to hesitate is the Forces nouvelles. The governor of Henan, Yamen, hyped up the Ming court in the city to launch a million troops of the Four Routes to relieve the siege of Kaifeng, and these generals still had some doubts about whether we could resist it, for fear that we would be defeated today and run away by the officers and soldiers tomorrow. "Xu Ping and many guards in the city have already exchanged letters, under the coercion and temptation of breaking into the camp, some of the Ming generals have considered surrendering in advance, this is also a gamble for them, the sooner they surrender, the greater the credit for the camp. If they had heard that the new army was coming to relieve the siege two years ago, these generals would never have considered surrendering, but due to Xu Ping's successive victories, the trust in the new army in Kaifeng City has greatly decreased. Xu Ping did not confide all the truth and truth at the meeting, and he assured Li Zicheng, Luo Rucai, and other leaders of the large and small camps: "The worst is the worst, after the king of Chuang defeats the Chu army, there will definitely be guards who will surrender to the city." ”

……

Maozhou, Yu Dong's general military office.

After hearing that the Jiangbei Army was going to send troops, there was a gloomy mist among the generals of the Jiangbei Army, and many Jiangbei generals sent people to persuade Yu Dong not to send troops. These people are all near Bozhou, Yu Dong understands their thoughts very well, if they are wiped out by the camp, then it will be their turn to come to Bozhou, for example, Yu Shizhong personally came to Bozhou Yu Dong, and persuaded him not to send troops.

Unlike the Jiangbei Army, Nanjing repeatedly urged Yu Dong to set off immediately, and the camp was not as painful for them as the generals of the Jiangbei Army, so Nanjing hoped to make meritorious contributions in front of the emperor, and in addition, it was justifiable to continue to intercept taxes and materials. Since the Jiangbei Army refused to make a move, Nanjing pinned its hopes on Yu Dong, hoping that he would be willing to take risks to fight for the credit of the Nanjing officials.

Of course, Yu Dong was unwilling, so he happily agreed to Yu Shizhong and assured the latter that he would never send troops to Henan. Yu Shizhong went back satisfied.

"Jingshi urgent." A personal soldier rushed into the camp with a newspaper in his hand: "Shanxi is in a hurry, and 200,000 troops have entered the army, which has surrounded Datong. ”

……

Qufu.

"Xuanda is in an emergency, sweating into the Kou, hundreds of thousands of northern captives have surrounded Datong, I don't know how many are crossing the defense area of the Xuanda army and approaching Gyeonggi."

A dead silence hung over the tent. The report sent by the General Staff said that the Beijing division was shaken, and now it was three times a day, and the imperial court urgently summoned the new army to return to the division The order may be sent at any time.

"I heard that the Hou Ye has entered the palace to face the saint, but I don't expect much from it." He Baodao sighed, Henan was already in sight: "It's a failure to return to the teacher now, and it will take at least three months to come back." ”

"You can't attack in the winter." Yang Zhiyuan's liver disease has not improved, and the pain has been terrible in the past two days, so he simply joined forces with He Baodao, if it weren't for such an emergency, he would have planned to rest today.

"yes, yes." After two years of tug-of-war, Shandong is now basically in ruins, and if it waits for the winter to supply tens of thousands of troops to fight, I am afraid that there will be a big problem.

"Winter? Absolutely not. He Baodao's brows twisted into a big pimple: "Brother Jia can't hold on for that long." On the issue of Kaifeng, He Baodao and Yang Zhiyuan shared the same view, that is, the governor of Henan, Yamen, was overly optimistic, a large number of people fled inevitable, and the guards may have become less reliable.

"Don't say that spring will start next year, even winter won't last." After the defeat of Yang Wenyue, the new army found out that Xu Ping was expanding the army on a large scale, and at present they estimated that Xu Ping's new-style troops may have more than 20,000 people, Li Zicheng's troops that can fight more than 40,000, Luo Rucai has more than 10,000, plus some other collateral groups, the field troops in the vicinity of Kaifeng may have nearly 100,000 people, such a huge army is absolutely unrealistic to expect the Chu army or the Qin army to relieve the siege, and it is doubtful that they may not be able to contain enough troops.

"If you go back to the division now, it will be to watch Brother Jia die, and abandon a battalion of brothers in Kaifeng City."

"The hateful Xu Ping, he doesn't have much choice, he can only rely on the Yellow River to delay the progress of our army, and after severely inflicting heavy losses on the Chu army and the Jiangbei army in the south, see if he can stop us." He Baodao slammed his fist on the table. These days, he and Yang Zhiyuan repeatedly discussed the battle situation, and the staff officers of more than a dozen battalions went all out, formulated countless plans and contingency plans for Xu Ping's possible actions, and were determined to use the strength advantage of the new army to offset Xu Ping's geographical advantage.

……

Jingshi, Wolf's Den

"It's too stupid to sweat, is it good for him to pick this time to join the Kou?" The Marquis of Zhendong was annoyed and thought that the best time for the invasion was after the war in Henan, and this conclusion was of course influenced by the historical knowledge of the Marquis of Zhendong, who in his history was the time when the Ming army was destroyed and the camp was also heavily damaged. Like the Houjin in history, Lin Dan Khan is in a very advantageous position, that is, he can watch the tiger fight from the mountain, and wait until the camp and the Ming court are both defeated. However, Zhendonghou thinks that with the strength of the new army, even if he is defeated and sweated with the camp, he will not be able to pick up the cheap, but Lin Dan Khan is now invading, and he is really suspected of sacrificing himself to take advantage of the campfire.

"I'm just worried that I won't be able to grab it if I don't come to grab it at this time," Jin Qiude didn't find it difficult to understand, what he opposed was that Yang Wenyue's Hebei Army would also be sent to participate in the relief of Kaifeng, and such an emptiness near the Jingshi would definitely be an encouragement and temptation to the Beiyu.

"It's really unambitious." Zhendonghou suddenly felt that he understood a little bit about what he was wrong, the historical Manchu Qing at least had the ambition to seize Hebei and Shanxi, but Lin Dan Khan may not have it, so the Manchu Qing could calm down and let the Ming court continue to transfer troops to the Henan battlefield and break into the camp for consumption; But Lin Dan Khan is different, if he has no confidence in seizing the land in Guannai, then now cannot be said to be an opportunity for robbery.

"The imperial court has ordered Yang Wenyue to be a teacher, and in addition, it will soon order some new troops to return to Beijing," the Ming cabinet and the emperor have almost no secrets to speak of, as long as someone wants to know the plans of the imperial court, they will definitely be able to find out, Jin Qiude took the secret report from the palace and asked the Marquis of Zhendong: "What does the Hou Ye plan to do?" ”

"If the class is now, then Lin Dan Khan will flee and let the new army pounce," Zhendong Hou said without thinking: "And Xu Ping will take the opportunity to capture Kaifeng, control the heart of the Central Plains, and even take the opportunity to attack Shandong and Huguang." ”

Jin Qiude's face was full of sorrow, he didn't think of this, but he felt helpless, as if he could only watch these misfortunes happen.

"So we're going to divide our troops!" Zhendonghou smiled slightly, and when he saw the surprised gazes cast by Jin Qiude and the other senior staff officers, suddenly Zhendonghou had a feeling that he had returned to the era of Immortal Island.

"Lin Dan Khan, this time he sent 200,000 troops, if all of our twelve battalions come back, he will inevitably flee, and the return of the twelve battalions to the division will definitely delay time, and when our army arrives, he will already run away." Zhendonghou said while drawing on the map: "To deal with a rabble like the Northern Captives, the soldiers are not much more expensive, I think the fire battalion and the direct guard are enough." If it was just a fire battalion and a direct guard, the speed of action would be much faster than that of the 12th battalion together. He is also the lord of the Northland, and when he sees that the new army has only gone a few thousand people, he will be reluctant and embarrassed to flee. ”

The staff officers looked at each other, feeling that the Marquis of Zhendong was inevitably too confident, and Jin Qiude asked, "Is the Hou Ye so sure?" ”

"The country is easy to change, but the temperament is difficult to change. Do the Jin brothers remember the Battle of Fuzhou back then? I made a mistake once before the war, what was it? Before the war, Zhendong Hou judged that Lin Dan Khan would definitely avoid a strong enemy and would not touch it, but Zhendong Hou miscalculated: "I suffered a big loss when I intervened in the Khan, and when he saw that we could defeat Jiannu, he thought that he could do it, and even forgot his previous fear of Jiannu going deep into the bone marrow." It was the same this time, how could he not be moved when he saw that we were repeatedly defeated by the peasant army, which he called a rabble, and that it was not me leading the army and how few people were still in number? "There is also a new army on the Mongolian side, because Mongolia is a long-term threat, so the intelligence work there is more meticulous than Henan, and the staff department has some understanding of the Mongolian royal court's remarks: "Didn't the Khan laugh at me for so many years, if he saw thousands of his subordinates under my banner and fled, what face would he have to continue to speak out in the future?" ”

The staff officers pondered and felt that what Zhendonghou said made some sense, so they planned to use it to plan.

"What about Henan?" Jin Qiude asked again, the front line reported that the field troops of the Chuang army in the Defu had shrunk to the vicinity of Kaifeng, although the specific situation was not very clear, but Xu Ping was undoubtedly deploying defense in Kaifeng. If the fire battalion and the direct guard are withdrawn, then the strength advantage of the new army is very limited, so how can they overwhelm the defensive advantage of the breaking battalion?

Zhendonghou was confident: "My idea is ......"

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