In October of the second year of Chongzhen, Jiannu broke through the pass from Jibei, plundered Gyeonggi, and successively defeated several Ming troops, and Zhao Shujiao and other generals were killed. The land of Gyeonggi, where the capital of the Ming Dynasty is located, was unexpectedly built as if it were a no-man's land, robbed and harassed for several months, more than a dozen cities were breached, and hundreds of thousands of people were plundered to slavery outside the customs. This battle tore apart the truth of the weakness of the Ming Dynasty, and since then there has been no victory in the face of Jiannu, and the cause of the country's demise has been buried.

The change of Yisi is a deep scar in Zhu Youzhen's memory, and now that he has lived again, how can Zhu Youzhen let this kind of thing happen again?

From the beginning of training the Praetorian Guard, Zhu Youzhen was preparing for the invasion of Jiannu four months later. However, the strategy he wants to adopt has only been talked to Lu Xiangsheng alone.

Now, with only four months to go until October, it's time to prepare. The reason why Zhu Youzhen took Wang Zaijin away and brought Hong Chengchou back to the court was to coordinate the battle, so he naturally had to tell Hong Chengchou his plans.

"Let go of Jibei, let Jiannu enter, and send strange soldiers to copy Jiannu's lair from Liaodong, this strategy is really bold! The minister finally understood why His Majesty wanted to transfer the Praetorian Guards back to Beijing, not to defend the city, but to attack the Jiannu lair with the Praetorian Guards as the main force. After listening to Zhu Youzhen's narration, Hong Chengchou sighed.

Such a strategy, except for the emperor himself, no courtier dared to put forward it! Let Jiannu enter, after Jibei is Beijing, which is equivalent to putting the capital of the Ming Dynasty in front of Jiannu, what if Beijing City falls? Who would dare to take that risk?

"I'm just asking you, is this strategy feasible?" Zhu Youzhen's sharp gaze stared at Hong Chengchou's face.

At present, there are many famous ministers and generals in the Ming Dynasty, but in terms of military strategy, there are few who can compare with Hong Chengchou. Zhu Youzhen thinks that his ability is just a Chinese asset, and the reason why he can think of this strategy is still influenced by the keyboard warrior in the picture, and he has seen many battles in later generations, and the tactics of the red army have deeply influenced him.

You beat yours, I beat mine, why let Jiannu lead the way? Gyeonggi was smashed by Jiannu, there are as many as 13 provinces in the Ming Dynasty, as long as it can successfully attack Jiannu's lair, kill its women and children, destroy its villages, and destroy its potential, such a hedge is still worth it. But what's missing from this strategy? Someone also needs to help with the details, and Hong Chengchou is the best candidate.

"Feasible is naturally feasible," Hong Chengchou pondered for a while, and said, "But you have to think carefully." How many troops will be sent in the Jiannu invasion? And how many troops will be left to defend the lair? The situation of Jiannu is different from that of the Ming Dynasty, although the Eight Banners are divided into banners and banners, they are basically all soldiers, and all men know how to fight and are soldiers. ”

"According to the information obtained from the mouths of the captive Jiannu, there are more than 250 cattle records in Jiannu, almost 70,000 banners, more than 10,000 Han army banners, and more than 15,000 Mongolian banners that have been annexed and reorganized." Zhu Youzhen said slowly.

When Jiannu attacked Jinzhou in March, Sun Chuanting and Cao Wenzhao annihilated thousands of Jiannu and took hundreds of prisoners.

"I heard that there are Han clothed slaves in the Jiannu banner's family, can these people be counted among them?" Hong Chengchou asked.

Zhu Youzhen shook his head: "It shouldn't be counted, but what combat power can those coatings have?" ”

Hong Chengchou shook his head: "You can't underestimate these people, maybe in the Ming Dynasty, they were just weak people, but in Jiannu, the combat effectiveness may not be much worse than that of the border soldiers." ”

"Jiannu sent troops, it has always been three to draw one, these bannermen are the most elite main force, in addition to the active followers of the marching soldiers, as well as the Mongolian banner Han military flag. According to the past practice, Jiannu will send forty or fifty thousand troops at a time, so at least half of the men who remain in the old nest in Liaodong will remain. Hong Chengchou analyzed.

In Xuanfu and Jiannu, Hong Chengchou also learned a lot of information about Jiannu from the captives and the Mongols, and when he returned to Beijing these days, he read the information of the Ministry of War about Jiannu again, and he still knew about Jiannu.

Zhu Youzhen said slowly: "In this way, if Jiannu invades, the army dispatched is forty or fifty thousand people, and there are almost the same number of troops in its lair?" ”

Think about it, what if you don't leave enough defenders and your house is raided by others? That Huang Taiji is very talented, how can he not see this?

But in this case, the strange soldiers who attacked Jiannu's lair faced at least 40,000 or 50,000 Jiannu, and Jiannu still had a strong city like Shenyang Liaoyang, could they rush into Jiannu's lair with only 30,000 Praetorian Guards? Zhu Youzhen hesitated. The Praetorian Guard trained more than 50,000 people, but the Xuanfu had four or five thousand, and there were two battalions left in Beijing to defend the city, and some were taken away by Li Yanzhi, and there were more than 30,000 people who could be used.

"Jiannu detoured to invade, and the most elite troops must be dispatched, and most of the people left behind in the nest are old and weak soldiers, Your Majesty does not have to worry." Hong Chengchou said with relief, "Besides, in addition to the Praetorian Guard, we can also use the Liaodong cavalry, and then try to mobilize the Jiannu army left behind, and the sneak attack strategy is still likely to be successful." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded, things have come to this point, even if the 30,000 Praetorian Guards are wiped out, they have to fight Jiannu to the end.

"Aiqing will plan for me, if Jiannu really invades this winter, how will this battle be fought." Zhu Youzhen said.

Hong Chengchou pondered for a moment and pointed to a certain location on the map, "Your Majesty, if you want to win this battle, you must mobilize the remaining army of Jiannu as much as possible, and the role of Phi Dao is very important."

Phi Island is at the mouth of the Yalu River, after going ashore to attack the side of Jiannu, go down to Zhenjiang Fort, pull out Kuandian, and then turn over Changbai Mountain is Jianzhou, the original nest of Jiannu. Although Jiannu has now moved the capital from Jianzhou to Shenyang, there are still many people left in the old land of Jianzhou. If its lair is attacked, will the army left behind by Jiannu go to encircle the Dongjiang army?

In this case, the remaining army of Jiannu was transferred, and the Praetorian Guard could go ashore from the mouth of the Haihe River, penetrate Liaoyang by land, and attack its lair. ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said, "Dongjiang Army, I'm afraid I can't count on it." Mao Wenlong's small-scale harassment is okay, but he is not capable of capturing Kuandian and attacking Jianzhou. ”

Over the years, in addition to the so-called victory in Zhenjiang at the beginning, Mao Wenlong actually did not have many victories, the combat effectiveness of the Dongjiang Army was really average, and the threat to Jiannu was also limited, so how could Zhu Youzhen dare to count on Mao Wenlong in such a battle that decided the life and death of the Ming Dynasty?

"Since Mao Wenlong can't do it, then take him down and reorganize the Dongjiang Army while there is still time!" Hong Chengchou suggested.

Zhu Youzhen hesitated: "It's only a few months, is it still too late?" ”

In the Dongjiang Army, most of the people in charge of the army are Mao Wenlong's relatives and godsons and grandsons, and if Mao Wenlong is taken down, the Dongjiang Army may be in chaos, let alone reorganized.