Soon the time came to December 24, the New Year's Day, all the soldiers in the Nanzhili domain had stopped training, and all battalions and units had already received orders, and as soon as the New Year passed, they would immediately march north.

Not only did the soldiers rarely rest, but even the Nanjing court, which had been disturbing all day long, finally calmed down. After all, there are few things more important to the people of this land than to live in peace, and quarrels are not really important.

But Zhou Shixian can't rest assured that the New Year, the Battle of Tongguan has entered a critical time, Li Zicheng failed to flee south, and it is only a matter of time before Duoduo leads his troops south, Zhou Shixian must be fully prepared for the next fierce battle, and it is also his real foothold battle.

On the 28th of the lunar month, Zhou Shixian was still inspecting the "Nanjing Ordnance Bureau" to inspect the production of weapons, and on the 29th of the lunar month, he went to inspect the Nanjing Water Camp again, and met with Zheng Chenggong.

Nanjing Shuiying will be an important force against the Qing army, and it is also the most important force to continuously transport weapons and ammunition, food and horse materials from Nanjing, and ensure the supply of the army.

During the period when the army went north, and even before the decisive battle, the Nanjing Weapons Bureau could produce at least four or five thousand muskets, as well as tens of thousands of armor, bows, crossbows, swords, guns, and shields, all of which had to be continuously replenished into the army, and the losses of small-scale operations should not be underestimated.

On the thirtieth day of the lunar month, Zhou Shixian finally returned to his mansion, he first went to Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou to say goodbye, and then went to see the two princesses, Xiao Zhaoren's snacks are indispensable, this little girl has been out of the palace since she was out of the palace, she felt that the palace was too boring, and even wanted to take advantage of the New Year's Festival, secretly followed Zhou Shixian to sneak out to watch the lanterns and fireworks, and by the way, find a restaurant, add five to one, and eat a big meal.

However, even if it is the thirtieth day of the lunar month, Zhou Shixian still has a lot of things to deal with, so he can only drive this snack back. Otherwise, he also wanted to see the New Year's lanterns in Nanjing.

When Zhou Shixian returned to the mansion, Xue Laoer, Lu Jiude, and Wang Chaodong had been waiting in the mansion for a long time, and now Nanjing's intelligence system was under his control, and Zhou Shixian was not worried about the news of his secret meeting with the three of them.

"Horses, the Tartar army of Duoduo has been fighting in Tongguan and Shun Thief for more than ten days, it seems to be waiting for the arrival of the Hongyi cannon used in the attack, according to the eyeline report sent by the minister to Beizhili, the cannon should arrive in a few days, the Shun Thief field battle is not effective, Tongguan was breached, I am afraid it is a matter of more than ten days." Lu Jiude hunched his waist and hugged his fists.

When Zhou Shixian heard this, he looked at the expressions on the faces of Wang Chaodong and Xue Laoer, and then asked: "How is Azig's offensive in northern Shaanxi, I am afraid it will be difficult to compete with Li Guo and Gao Yigong's soldiers and horses alone." ”

Originally, Li Chuang planned to lead the main force north first, attack and destroy the Tartar army of Azig's department, and then cut off the back road of Duoduo's southern attack, but in the end, Dolgon changed the strategy of advancing in two ways, and the Shun army fell into strategic passivity."

Zhou Shixian nodded, this is basically the same as the original historical situation, after Li Zicheng withdrew from the capital, he lost the support of the Ming army's border army, Shaanxi originally had seventy or eighty thousand Qin troops, but they were all waiting, which made the Shun army, which was filled with a large number of recruits, repeatedly defeated in front of the Qing army that engulfed the 100,000 Shanxi Ming army.

"Is there any news from Sichuan?" Zhou Shixian asked again, although Zhang Xianzhong's strength is far inferior to Li Zicheng, he can still fight with the Qing army.

"Not yet, it is Azig's actions in northern Shaanxi, and it has not yet been known." Lu Jiude replied.

"Horse, if the Qing army and the thief are both defeated, I'm afraid that in a few months, the Qing army will be powerless to fight, do we still have to continue to mobilize the main army to go north?" After Xue Lao Er listened to it, he immediately had doubts, and he still wanted to train soldiers for a few more months.

"Li Zicheng will not fight to the death with the Qing army in Shaanxi, his rogue nature will be exposed again, and the whole of Shaanxi may be given to the Qing army in vain, just like Shanxi, he did not stick to it personally, and actually ran back to Shaanxi, so that this natural danger was lost."

Zhou Shixian paused, and continued: "At that time, the main force of the Qing army may still be intact, but they still have to divide their troops to clear the chaotic troops in Shaanxi, and they also have to deal with Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan and pursue Li Zicheng. On the Nanjing side, the Manchu Qing Dynasty may not send all the main army, the Eight Banners may be within 20,000, and the soldiers and horses of the Green Battalion, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others should only be 20,000 or 30,000. ”

"How can the colt be so determined?"

Lu Jiude was surprised, he had always suspected that Zhou Shixian was behind him, and there was another intelligence network, and now these news that he didn't know anything about it came out little by little, making people like Lu Jiude a little unstable.

"Guess, the Tartars are just those soldiers and horses, and the consciousness of the Shaanxi border army that has been incorporated should not dare to use it, and Shaanxi has insufficient money and food, there are many soldiers and horses, and Nanjing has enough money and food, and the Qing army may still feel that we do not have a strong army, and we will definitely relax our vigilance."

Zhou Shixian smiled slightly, and said bluntly: "This is also the reason why this horse wants to send Gao Jie and others to garrison the three cities of Juzhou, Ningling, and Guide, that is, to let the Qing army see our weakness, otherwise if the main force turns to Nanjing, it will be a big problem." ”

Of course, Lu Jiude didn't believe Zhou Shixian's so-called guess, but he couldn't ask more, and Zhou Shixian's plan was not a problem, after all, they were in Nanzhili with less than 40,000 really capable soldiers, and most of them were still recruits. If the main force of the Qing army comes to attack, I am afraid it will be difficult to win.

Taking a step back, Zhou Shixian's strategy of showing weakness with Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing and others, being cannon fodder, and then luring the enemy deep and looking for fighters is also the best solution at present. Xue Lao Er also thought of this, and admired Zhou Shixian even more in his heart, such a strategic vision is far better than that of a veteran like him.

"Lao Wang, during the period when this horse led the troops north, Nanjing depends on you, you must stabilize the court, don't let accidents happen, and when necessary, a showdown is not impossible." Zhou Shixian turned his head, looked at Wang Chaodong and said.

Wang Chaodong nodded, and immediately clasped his fists and said: "Don't worry, the garrison division in Nanjing City, the Praetorian Guard in the palace, and the last general have all been opened, as long as the horse gives an order, Nanjing City will not be able to fly out of a fly." ”

Wang Chaodong has not only cared about training troops for most of the past six months, he relied on his identity as the commander-in-chief of the Jinyi Guard, and opened up the garrison of Nanjing City, which should have been the last reliance of Emperor Chongzhen, and used the power of the Jinyi Guard to continuously insert his own people inside.

Zhou Shixian heard this, his eyebrows stirred, Xue Lao Er performed well in the army, Lu Jiude is also strong in intelligence, Wang Chaodong, who can be regarded as his peers, is also a talent, plus Zhang Huangyan, Zheng Chenggong, Li Banghua, Ni Yuanlu, Zhang Mingzhen, his command is completely heroic.

"Okay, I have you in the Ming Dynasty, Zhongxing is in sight, drive out the Tartars, restore the rivers and mountains, it will be just around the corner!"

At this moment, as soon as Zhou Shixian's words fell, a burst of firecrackers suddenly sounded in the entire Nanjing City, and there was also a shout of joy in Zhou Shixian's mansion, and there was also a lot of noise outside the door.

Xue Laoer, Lu Jiude, and Wang Chaodong hurriedly bowed their hands to Zhou Shixian and said, "Master Ma, good year!" ”

Zhou Shixian laughed, and didn't care about the difference between monarchs and ministers for a while, and saluted back to the three henchmen: "Changfu, facing east, save the country, good New Year!" ” .

In the nine barracks of Yingtianfu, Zhenjiang Mansion and Yangzhou Mansion, countless soldiers are also celebrating the New Year, this is the happiest New Year they have ever spent in their lives, no need to worry about food and clothing, and no need to worry about the problem of accommodation, the newly issued cotton armor and cotton clothes are very warm.

If there are wives and children at home, naturally in their own small family, the family eats a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and the bachelors get together, but everyone buys incense candles and worships ancestors and worships heaven and earth in the designated places in the camp.

The children were gathering together to play with the fireworks sent by Zhou Shixian, and they had a lot of fun, and the soldiers also pooled money together, bought a lot of firecrackers, and set them off.

Amid the crackling of cannons, the laughter of soldiers and their families was everywhere, and children chased after each other in the small open space in front of their homes, carrying lanterns bought by their parents.

The soldiers' salaries were paid on time, and it didn't cost a few dollars for food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and they had saved up more than half a year's silver, and almost every family had money to spare, so they were willing to spend it.

Moreover, those who have a family still spend less, and those who don't have a family, and those who are single, they know that they will go north and fight in the new year, so when they asked for leave before, they went to the kiln restaurant and squandered it.

After all, the Tartars are still terrible, no one knows if they can come back alive, and most of them are even ready to die on the battlefield because of strict military discipline and gratitude to Zhou Shixian.

Zhou Shixian knew that these recruits would still be scared in their hearts, so he specially went out for them to vent for consumption, and also paid attention to the pacification work in the barracks.

Although firecrackers and fireworks have potential safety hazards, Zhou Shixian did not prohibit them because of trouble, he hoped that before the decisive battle, these soldiers could have a good year. This is the source of the fighting consciousness, they are fighting for their own good life.

The huge consumption generated in the military camp also made the nearby farmers and small businessmen see business opportunities, and even many squires wanted to come over to open shops, but Zhou Shixian did not allow the military camp.

The seventeenth year of Chongzhen ended like this, and Zhou Shixian's change in Jiashen failed to change, but in the year of Yiyou, he would definitely not let the tragedy recur!