When Xu Yingwei rushed back to Nanjing, it was already three days later.

In the past three days, Chongzhen has been watching the war games between the scholars in Yilun Hall, one will be divided into two ways according to Zheng Sen's soldiers, one will be according to Chen Zilong's canal flat push, and the other will be beheaded according to Yan Yingyuan's Dagu mouth, and then according to different tactical ideas to carry out repeated war games deduction, once is not enough twice, two times is not enough, then three times.

"Xu Yingwei, I'm waiting for you alone." Seeing Xu Yingwei, Chongzhen beckoned and smiled.

"Minister Xu Yingwei, please ask the saint Jin'an." Xu Yingwei gave Chongzhen a long look, and said, "The minister delayed the military plane because of a private matter, please punish the saint." ”

"Hey, what kind of military plane is missing, it's nothing."

Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "The Northern Expedition is not in a hurry. ”

"Gah?" Xu Yingwei looked at Chongzhen with some astonishment.

The Northern Expedition is not in a hurry? Then you are in such a hurry to summon me back to Beijing?

Finally have some time to spend with my wife and young, am I easy?

"Youzhen, don't mind." Chongzhen patted Xu Yingwei on the shoulder and said with a smile, "When this battle is over, I will give you half a year of leave, no, give you a year of leave, so that you can accompany your parents, wife and children." ”

After a pause, he said: "As for now, let's work with everyone to improve the plan of the Northern Expedition." ”

"Commandment." The emperor said so, what else can Xu Yingwei say? Of course, it must be understood.

Chongzhen briefly introduced the situation to Xu Yingwei, and Xu Yingwei immediately participated in the war game.

It's just that in addition to the three sets of tactics of Zheng Sen, Chen Zilong and Yan Yingyuan, Xu Yingwei proposed a fourth set of tactics.

"Holy Lord, and fellow colleagues, I think so." Xu Yingwei said, "The soldiers are divided into two ways from Liaodong and Shanxi to form a siege of the Jiannu of the Beijing Division, not only the pressure of logistics support is great, but also will be broken by the Jiannu, the defeat of the Battle of Salhu has taught us a painful lesson, and we must not divide the troops in the face of a strong enemy!" ”

"If you advance along the Grand Canal, you will need to face countless fortresses."

"In this way, the Northern Expedition will inevitably be protracted, and it will be possible to fight for a year."

"After all, it is more than 1,500 miles from Xuzhou all the way to Beijing."

"According to the information provided by the Secret Investigation Bureau, Jiannu has built hundreds of fortresses along the Grand Canal, and the number of towers and barracks exceeds 100,000! It was not an easy task to destroy so many fortifications. ”

"It is only more than 300 miles from Dagukou to Beijing, but Dagukou is also the focus of Jiannu's defense."

"From Dagukou to Tianjin to Beijing, Jiannu has built no less than 3,000 platforms along the Wei River, and the scale of these platforms is much larger and stronger than the platforms on both sides of the canal! The platforms on both sides of the canal only have rammed earth, but the platforms at the mouth of Dagu are mixed with glutinous rice juice and straw, and their solidity cannot be calculated. ”

"Therefore, if you attack along the Wei River from the mouth of Dagu, you will inevitably fall into a protracted war."

Speaking of this, Xu Yingwei walked to the map, took the long wooden pole from Yan Yingyuan's hand, pointed to the mouth of the Chaohe River about fifty miles north of Dagukou and said: "So my opinion is to land here, and then go up the Chaohe River to Sanhe County, so that the logistics and artillery can be transported from the Chaohe waterway, with very little cost and fast speed." ”

"After arriving at Sanhe, Beijing is close to the end of the day."

Hearing this, the scholars in Yilun Hall exploded all at once.

Because Xu Yingwei provided a new idea that had never been seen before.

Chongzhen also nodded happily, Xu Yingwei, this kid's brain, is better than others.

Most of the other soldiers couldn't jump out of the old way of thinking or framework, either like Zheng Sen, they didn't care about logistics at all, or they only knew how to march along the canal, so many soldiers only Xu Yingwei thought of marching along the Chaohe River, because the waterways of the Chaohe River can also transport baggage and artillery.

Yan Yingyuan sighed sincerely: "Advancing troops from the Chaohe River can not only bypass the Jiannu group of Chengtai on both sides of the Dagu Mouth and the Wei River, but also carry out a beheading operation against Beijing, which is much more clever than my thinking. ”

After a pause, he said to Xu Yingwei again: "I don't have to be chaste." ”

"Brother Wanheng is serious, and the younger brother just likes to think about nothing."

"When it comes to making decisions on the spot, the younger brother can't match the brother of the Heng."

"Alright, you two won't flatter each other." Chongzhen interrupted with a smile.

After a pause, he said: "According to the method of Zhen, there will be another deduction, this time it will be guarded by Wanheng, and it will be attacked by Zhen, and it must be in accordance with the most extreme conditions, that is, the puppet Shun, Jiannu and the Oirat Mongols and Khalkha Mongols will fight together, and the Pseudo Shun will send 100,000 elite soldiers from Guguguan, and Inner and Outer Mongolia will send 200,000 cavalry from Juyong to pass!" ”

】

Hearing this, the scholars in Yilun Hall immediately looked at each other, how could there be such a thing?

The Holy Lord's assumption is too unfounded, isn't it? It is ridiculous enough that the puppet Shun will join forces with the Jiannu, and it is even more absurd that the Oirat Mongols will send troops from distant Qinghai-Tibet.

Chongzhen smiled and said, "It's just a war game." ”

Xu Yingwei echoed: "What the Holy Lord said is extremely true, all battles need to be prepared for the fullest and the worst, if my Ming can defeat Jiannu under such extreme conditions, then the Northern Expedition will be victorious!" ”

"Let's get started." Yan Yingyuan said, "The ministers are a little impatient. ”

Jiang Tianyi hurriedly took a few soldiers from the staff department to the sand table to place the war games.

Ma Mingluo and a group of scholars from the Internal Affairs Office hurriedly surrounded him, saying that this battle would definitely be exciting, because Yan Yingyuan and Xu Yingwei could be said to be the two soldiers who were the most proficient in using soldiers in the Ming Dynasty.

If Yan Yingyuan is the strongest shield of the Ming Dynasty, then Xu Yingwei is the sharpest spear.

Now there is a direct battle between the sharpest spear and the strongest shield, look forward to it.

Chongzhen also has some inexplicable expectations, it looks good, this war game deduction will definitely be very exciting.

As the attacking side, Xu Yingwei first began to set up troops: "Qin Butang led 130,000 soldiers from Huguang Town to Chengtianfu to beware of the puppet Shun army in the direction of Hanzhong. ”

"Concubine Li Niangniang led 70,000 native soldiers in Sichuan Town to hold Meizhou and deter Zhang rebel soldiers."

"Blocking the Butang to command more than 300,000 soldiers in Xuzhou and Guide, guarding the Kaifeng line, rejecting the puppet Shun army in the direction of Luoyang in the west, and restraining the Jiannu of the Hebei Prefectures to the north."

"With these three towns, plus Yunnan Town and Jingying, the Jiang soldiers can be used to ensure the safety of the rear."

All the scholars nodded one after another, there is nothing to say about this, the strategy of the conservative rear is basically the same, except for Zheng Sen's plan, which once transferred 100,000 soldiers from Xuzhou Zhentai, the rest of Chen Zilong and Yan Yingyuan's plans only used the new army, and did not transfer a single soldier from the four towns.

It was even more impossible for the Jingying soldiers and the Caojiang soldiers to move.

Chongzhen must be praised here, he was able to raise such a huge army in just four years, and the combat effectiveness of the town soldiers in these four towns is not weak, and there is no need to pay food.

The soldiers of the Beijing camp and the soldiers of Caojiang did not need to be paid.

Because the Jingying soldiers and Caojiang soldiers also made reforms, gave favor reward fields, and did not have to pay taxes.

Therefore, the Jingying soldiers and the Caojiang soldiers have actually become the fifth town, that is, the Nanjing town.

So now, in addition to recruiting troops and sailors, the soldiers in Henan, Huguang, Sichuan, Yunnan and Nanjing, the five towns of Henan, Huguang, Sichuan, Yunnan and Nanjing, do not need to be paid.

Therefore, the monthly expenditure on military salaries is actually not much, less than 500,000 yuan.

And even if there is a war, the expenditure on military salaries will not skyrocket, because Chongzhen has already canceled the salaries and war salaries, and only after the battle will he need a large amount of reward.

However, if you really want to recapture the Jingshi Beizhi, the reward is not a problem at all.

The 80 million mu of cultivated land in Beizhi alone can be sold for more than 100 million!

To get back to the point, after talking about the rear deployment, Xu Yingwei was about to send troops.

"The Northern Expedition is related to the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty in the past century, so we must do our best."

"The 270,000 new troops will all be put into the Northern Expedition, and the Daming Chamber of Commerce is responsible for raising enough ships to ensure that 100,000 new troops can be transported at a time, plus the equipment and baggage landing with them."

"The sailor is responsible for escorting the convoy at all times."

"If it's winter, the sailors and the transport fleet can only reach Dengzhou."

"From Dengzhou to Beitang at the mouth of the Chaohe River, the new army needs to march on the ice."

"Therefore, the best time for the Northern Expedition is in early April, after the North Sea thaws."

"When the North Sea thaws, not only will the new army go ashore directly from the mouth of the Chaohe River, but at the beginning of the landing, the naval division can also borrow naval guns to provide artillery support to the army."

Hearing this, Chongzhen immediately said: "Then it is tentatively scheduled for the beginning of April." ”

"Okay, let's get started." Xu Yingwei nodded and said, "Before the official dispatch of troops, the ministers will move in the direction of Xuzhou, Dagukou and Gaizhou, and at the same time leak the fighting style of Brother Damu, Brother Renzhong and Brother Wanheng through multiple channels, so as to mislead Jiannu and make it waste national strength in the wrong direction. ”

Hearing this, Chongzhen immediately said: "Today's discussion is top secret, and no one is allowed to reveal a word!" ”

"Yes!" Ma Mingluo and all the scholars attending the meeting all responded to the promise, their faces were also solemn, and they already knew from Chongzhen's reaction that most of the Northern Expedition in the coming year would adopt Xu Yingwei's tactics.

Chongzhen said to Yan Yingyuan again: "Wan Heng, now it's your turn to deal with it. ”

Yan Yingyuan waved to Chongzhen, and said to Xu Yingwei: "There is a Zhen brother's soldiers like antelopes hanging horns, there is no trace to be found, but everything changes will not deviate from its ancestry, I only need to grasp one point, that is, the convenience of water transportation!" ”

"Therefore, the Ming army's northern expedition will inevitably march from the Grand Canal or by sea."

"Therefore, no matter what Brother Zhen says, I will only strictly guard the Grand Canal and the North Sea."

"There are already platforms built along the Grand Canal, but there is no risk, and now the only thing to worry about is Beihai."

"The entire coast of the North Sea stretches for thousands of miles, and it is impossible to build a beacon tower every few miles along the coast."

"The beacon is certainly defenseless."

"But at least it can provide early warning in time."