Li Zicheng actually underestimated the appeal of the Mongolian communists.

As the sole orthodox heir of the Golden Family, Sangar nominally enjoyed the right to recruit troops from various tribal confederations such as Korqin, Chahar, Oirat, Tumut, and Khalkha.

Theoretically, even the Kazakhs, Nogais, Kyrgyz, and Uzbeks in Central Asia have the right to be recruited, because most of these Central Asians are descendants of the royal families of the Golden Horde, the Blue Horde, and the White Horde, and legally speaking, they must unconditionally obey the conscription of the direct descendants of Genghis Khan.

If this is the case, it is possible to gather a million cavalry.

So now only 80,000 to 100,000 cavalry can be gathered, which is already very humble.

Li Yan echoed: "There are indeed a lot of cavalry of about 100,000, but it is a drop in the bucket for the battle of the Ming and Qing dynasties, I am afraid it will not play a big role, and it is the two armies themselves that determine the victory or defeat of the Ming and Qing dynasties." ”

Li Zicheng asked again: "Then who does the left military division think will win the battle between the Ming and Qing dynasties?" ”

"Back to the saint, the minister can't see it for sure." Li Yan shook his head, and then said, "But one thing is certain, no matter from the political situation in the court, the vigor of the army and the abundance of armaments, the Southern Ming is far superior to Jiannu, the only advantage of Jiannu is to fight at home, while the Ming army is a labor expedition." ”

Li Zicheng suddenly said: "Is the left army division saying that the key to this battle is logistics supply?" ”

"Holy Master." Li Yan said solemnly, "If Jiannu can cut off the logistics supply line of the Ming army, no matter how many troops the Ming army has, no matter how high the morale is, it will be defeated, on the contrary, if the Ming army can ensure the safety of the logistics supply line, then Jiannu will be defeated." ”

Li Zicheng said again: "But no matter what, this battle cannot end soon." ”

"That's right." Li Yan said, "This is bound to be a protracted battle. ”

Song Xiance also said: "It's possible to fight for a year. ”

……

Chongzhen, who is far away in Dengzhou, also has the same judgment.

"The winner of this battle is the safety of logistics supply channels."

"The safety of grain routes has been a key factor in determining the outcome of a war since ancient times."

"In this Northern Expedition, there were nearly 300,000 soldiers alone, and if you add the Korean servants, civilians, and boatmen, it will exceed 500,000."

"And then there are hundreds of thousands of mules and horses."

"So many soldiers and horses eat horses and chew horses, and the amount of grain and grass consumed every day is an astronomical amount."

"And this is only the consumption of grain and grass, in addition to the consumption of grain and grass, the consumption of ammunition is not a small amount, especially the paper shell fixed artillery shells, grenades and air force tung oil is one of the major items."

"With so much consumption of grain and grass, it would be a fool's dream to carry it with the army."

"At most, the army carries half a month's ration plus a base number of ammunition, and the follow-up grain, grass and baggage can only rely on the continuous delivery of logistics troops to the front-line battlefield."

"So, once our army's logistical supply line is cut off by Jiannu,"

"Then the hundreds of thousands of troops on the front line will soon fall into a desperate situation of running out of ammunition and food, and they will collapse without a fight."

After a pause, Chongzhen said loudly: "So the winner of this battle is the safety of the logistics channel!" Sun Tzu's Art of War says, before we think about victory, we must first think about defeat, so we must do our best to ensure the safety of logistics channels. ”

"Holy Lord, the minister is about to talk about this, there is a big hidden danger to the safety of the logistics channel."

"Because the naval warships can't enter the North Sea, the grain and grass can only be transported from the ice."

"Even if the ice plough glides faster on the ice, there is still the possibility of being attacked."

Zhu Shunshui, as the capital of the baggage department, can be said to be the first person responsible for the safety of the logistics channel, so he is particularly concerned about this matter.

After a pause, Zhu Shunshui pointed to the unfolded map and said: "Because there are six hundred miles from Dengzhou to Dagukou or Chaohe Estuary, no matter how fast it is, it will take several days to walk, and it is easy to be attacked by the Jiannu cavalry during this time. ”

"Holy Lord, the Jiannu cavalry is not to worry." Xu Yingwei said, "Just send an infantry brigade to protect it, it is enough to deal with the attack of more than 10,000 Jiannu cavalry, and the real trouble is the ice ambush." ”

Speaking of this, Xu Yingwei turned his head to Yan Yingyuan again and said, "Brother Heng is to blame for this matter." ”

"Not bad." Lu Xiangtong also smiled and agreed, "Brother Wanheng set up an ambush on the ice twice under Shanyang City and at the mouth of Dagu, burying tens of thousands of Jiannu, and even making hundreds of Hongyi cannons still sink at the bottom of the Weihe River and fail to fish out. ”

"God, it's really possible."

"This matter must be guarded against, and it is better to believe that it is there than to believe that it is not."

"This is really careless, otherwise it will not only be the burden that will be buried."

When the soldiers participating in the military meeting heard this, they also reacted one after another.

Jiang Tianyi finally said: "Not only the baggage troops need to be vigilant, but my main army also needs to be vigilant, beware of Jiannu setting up an ambush on the ice ahead. ”

"This is not necessary." Xu Yingwei waved his hand and said, "The North Sea is so big, Jiannu will never do this unless there are hundreds of millions of gunpowder that can cover the entire North Sea ice." ”

"But can Jiannu have so much gunpowder? Apparently impossible. ”

"However, it is still possible to pre-arrange gunpowder at several critical estuaries."

Yan Yingyuan continued: "If the army still wants to go ashore at the mouth of the Chaohe River, it is necessary to send scouts to investigate in advance and make sure that there is no gunpowder buried in the ice before driving the army to shore from the estuary. ”

All the gentlemen chimed in: "Yes, the ice must be safe." ”

"It doesn't have to be that much trouble." Chongzhen shook his head and said, "I have an idea. ”

Hearing this, Xu Yingwei, Yan Yingyuan, and Jiang Tianyi and other scholars pricked up their ears and listened attentively.

To tell the truth, Xu Yingwei fought well in the Battle of Hunhe in Liaodong, Yan Yingyuan fought well in the Battle of Shanyang and the Battle of Dagukou, and the Qinwang Shizi of the Shizi Battalion admired it tightly, but in the hearts of all the Qinwang Shizi, including Xu Yingwei and Yan Yingyuan, Chongzhen is the real master of tactics!

Xu Yingwei is a flag erected by Chongzhen for the Ming army.

But this does not mean that Chongzhen's use of troops is inferior to Xu Yingwei.

In fact, from the very beginning, Chongzhen had a comprehensive consideration for the Northern Expedition.

Of course, Chongzhen will not directly interfere with the command, since it is said that Xu Yingwei and Yan Yingyuan will have full authority to command, Chongzhen will definitely do it, so the wording used is to have an idea.

The implication is that this is just one of his suggestions.

Chongzhen asked Gao Qiqian to bring more than a dozen paper shell bullets.

Then the dozen bullets were laid out vertically on the coast of the North Sea.

One is placed every inch, from Dengzhou to Dagukou.

Xu Yingwei and Yan Yingyuan had the highest understanding, and their eyes lit up when they saw this.

However, the other scholars were still confused, and they didn't know what medicine was sold in Chongzhen's gourd.

"This is called the String of Pearls Line." Chongzhen pointed to the dozen or so cardboard shells on the map and said, "It is to build a simple camp every fifteen miles along the coast of the North Sea." ”

"From Dengzhou to Dagukou, it takes about 60 buildings."

"Then leave an infantry battalion for each improvised barracks."

"In total, about four towns are needed to protect the logistics."

"In this way, the people can transfer the grain and grass between the two camps, the distance is short and safe, because of the presence of the garrison, the Jiannu can not set up an ambush on the ice, even if the Jiannu cavalry comes to attack, there is also the garrison protection, the people and the grain and grass can also be transferred to the nearest camp."

"I see." The scholars suddenly realized.

"String of pearls? This tactic is admittedly good. ”

"In this way, the logistics channel can be safeguarded."

However, the staff section questioned Jiang Tianyi in the matter.

"The String of Pearls defense line mentioned by the Holy Lord is certainly good, and it can also ensure the safety of the logistics channel to a large extent, but there is a fatal drawback."

Hearing this, Xu Yingwei and Yan Yingyuan looked at each other and smiled.

If nothing else, Jiang Tianyi should have fallen into the trap carefully designed by the Holy Lord.

As for the others, not only did they not find the hidden traps, but they didn't even find the drawbacks in them, Jiang Tianyi's vision was quite sharp.

】

Chongzhen smiled and asked, "What's the drawback?" ”

Jiang Tianyi replied: "Each camp is only garrisoned by one battalion of infantry, which is very vulnerable to the attack of Jiannu, and Jiannu only needs to mobilize enough troops and firearms, and it is not difficult to capture one or more of the improvised camps. ”

"Well, this is indeed a hidden danger." Only then did the other scholars react.

Chongzhen just smiled when he heard this, but Xu Yingwei and Yan Yingyuan laughed.

"Brother Zhen, Brother Wanheng, what are you laughing at?" Jiang Tianyi asked a little puzzled.

Xu Yingwei smiled and said nothing, but Yan Yingyuan said: "Brother Wenshi, Jiannu sent troops to attack my grain road, this is exactly what the saint wants, Jiannu takes the initiative to attack, it is much easier to deal with than shrinking in a strong fortification, right?" ”

"Oh." Jiang Tian also reacted in an instant, the Saint's String of Pearls defense line was actually a bait!

Xu Yingwei said to Chongzhen sincerely: "The saint really admires the ministers with soldiers, if this strategy is successful, it may not take six months to recover the Beijing division and return my rivers and mountains." ”

Yan Yingyuan also said: "Holy Lord, let's start here." ”

"Hey, the discussion still needs to be discussed, and you can't treat it differently just because this is a suggestion I put forward, what if there are other drawbacks in this?" Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "What's more, Jiannu may not be fooled, if Jiannu is unwilling to give in easily, is there a better way to lure the enemy?" ”

"Holy Master." Yan Yingyuan said convincingly.

"Brother Wenshi, then you have to prepare for the war game."

"Hurry up, hurry up, play wargames." Jiang Tianyi immediately beckoned several soldiers from the General Staff Section to place war games.

The wargames were quickly arranged, and dozens of scholars such as Xu Yingwei and Yan Yingyuan were automatically divided into two factions, one faction commanded the Ming army, and the other faction played the role of Jiannu and launched a fierce battle on the map.