At the beginning of August, outside the city of Jinzhou.

After the Battle of Loess Ridge, the Ming army and the Qing army seem to have reached some kind of tacit understanding, both sides are improving their respective defense lines, and mobilize more baggage to the front line, as for the troops, there is not much movement, just confrontation with each other, and there seems to be a stalemate on the battlefield.

For such a situation, Hong Chengchou is worried, the imperial court has no extra money and grain to consume for a long time, to maintain more than 200,000 troops on the front line, a huge amount of money and grain must be consumed every day, in the long run, without the Qing army to attack, the army's money and food will slowly not be supplied.

"The slave is trying to stall for time!"

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Hong Chengchou convened the generals of various towns to discuss the matter, and even Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen, who were guarding the back road, also received orders to rush over.

In the battle of Loess Ridge, the two did not participate, this time they rushed to the big tent of the Chinese army, and listened to Wang Pu, Li Fuming and others talk about the various processes of the war, both of them were extremely regretful, such a great achievement, but the two did not share the profit to a little.

Then Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen congratulated Liu Yan one after another, and they both felt very incredible in their hearts for the chief military officer in their twenties, and another shining star of the Ming Dynasty rose!

At this time, everyone was already seated, Hong Chengchou looked at everyone and continued: "Although the supply of money and food for our army is sufficient, the imperial court will not be able to support it for long. ”

Everyone looked at Liu Yan, at this time, Liu Yan's military exploits were the greatest, the strongest troops, and the right to speak was naturally the greatest.

Liu Yan was not polite to everyone, and said: "Governor, the general town, whether our army needs to attack, this town has not thought about it, but it is a little strange. ”

"Strange?"

Hong Chengchou asked: "Liu Zongbing in detail, what is the difference?" ”

"Governor, as far as the last general knows, the slaves and thieves are not having a good time, and there have been continuous droughts in various parts of Liaodong in recent years, plus the slaves and thieves have been expropriating and doing all kinds of evil in various parts of Liaodong, so that the slaves and thieves do not have much money and food reserves. At present, there are more than 200,000 slaves and thieves, and if the stalemate continues for such a long time, I can't bear it, and the slaves and thieves can't bear it, but why do they still have to consume it? ”

Everyone nodded yes when they heard this, no matter how difficult it is for the Ming Dynasty, it also has thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, hundreds of millions of people, and the national strength is naturally far above the slave thief.

Hong Chengchou frowned slightly and said, "What does Mr. Liu mean is that the slaves and thieves are planning, so they are deliberately delaying time?" ”

Liu Yan said: "The last general guesses that the slaves and thieves may be trying to find a way to cut off our army's rear route, or there are other tricks, anyway, the stalemate situation should not be too long." ”

"Therefore, the last general suggested that our army should still stand still, and at the same time strengthen the defense in all parts of the rear road, so as not to respond to all changes!"

Everyone discussed one after another, and then Wang Pu, Yang Guozhu, Cao Bianjiao, Li Fuming, Wang Tingchen and others agreed with Liu Yan's opinion, and Wu Sangui, Zuo Guangxian, and Liu Zhaoji also agreed.

Only Ma Ke and Tang Tong glanced at each other, and neither of them spoke.

Hong Chengchou thought for a moment and said, "It's okay." It's just that early tomorrow morning, General Cao and General Wang will have to work hard and return to the rear as soon as possible. In addition, the governor sent Zuo General to lead his troops south, and also went to the Wudaoling area to garrison. ”

Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tinghe, and Zuo Guangxian successively hugged their fists and received their lives.

Then Hong Chengchou said to Wu Sangui with a smile: "Yesterday, General Soldier Zu came to my camp to discuss military affairs, and mentioned that there are not enough troops in Jinzhou City, so this governor wants General Wu to lead his troops into Jinzhou City, how about it?" ”

As early as the first year of Chongzhen, Zu Dashou guarded Ningyuan City, led his troops to achieve the victory of Ningyuan, and was promoted to the vanguard general officer because of his merits, and then led his troops to garrison Jinzhou City, so Hong Chengchou called Zu Dashou Wu General Soldier.

Wu Sangui was naturally willing and immediately accepted the order.

Seeing this, Liu Yan said secretly: "Hong Chengchou has strengthened the defensive forces of Jinzhou City, as well as the defensive forces on the back road, there is no problem in deployment, and the troops on the main side are also sufficient, plus the money, food, and weapons hoarded everywhere on the back road are temporarily undeficient, there is no problem anywhere." But why am I still a little uneasy in my heart, what else am I missing? ”

Hong Chengchou looked at Liu Yan thoughtfully, and asked with a smile: "This governor has arranged it like this, what does General Liu think?" ”

There is no problem with Hong Chengchou's deployment, Liu Yan was about to clench his fists and speak, but he saw a staff general of the Governor Battalion walking quickly into the Chinese army's tent, clasping his fists and saying: "Qi Yu Governor, the military department has arrived, and he has arrived in the camp!" ”

Everyone immediately cheered, it must have been rewarded by the imperial court, and Hong Chengchou also said with a smile: "Quickly invite the messenger into the tent." ”

"Yes."

But the uneasiness in Liu Yan's heart was even stronger, it had only been less than a month since the good news was delivered, with the efficiency of the court at this time, coupled with the distance between Jinzhou and Beijing, the reward came down so quickly?

After a while, Zhao Guangluan, the right attendant of the military department, walked into the big tent wearing an official uniform and smiling, Hong Chengchou got up to greet him when he saw this, and all the generals also got up and saluted one after another.

Liu Yan looked at Zhao Guangluan, this person is also an upright person, it is said that Zhao Guangluan had a friend named Cao Qincheng, that Cao Qincheng appointed Wei Zhongxian as his godfather in order to be promoted, Zhao Guangluan repeatedly dissuaded his friends when he heard the news, thinking that "wealth is temporary, fame is eternal, and the king must not be judged", Cao Qincheng and Zhao Guangluan had a bad relationship with Zhao Guangluan, and repeatedly suppressed Zhao Guangluan.

At the beginning, when Wei Zhongxian's power leaned towards the government and the opposition, Zhao Guangluan was able to achieve this point, and he could be regarded as a character.

After Zhao Guangluan greeted everyone for a while, he said with a smile: "Governor, I don't know which one is Liu Yan, the chief military officer of Qinglai Town?" ”

Hong Chengchou hurriedly introduced Liu Yan to the front and said, "This is it." ”

Liu Yan clasped his fists and saluted again, and Zhao Guanglan exclaimed: "General Liu is so young, he has made great contributions, it is said that among the more than 13,500 level gains, more than 9,000 levels are the results of General Liu Bing?" Sure enough, it's a hero out of a teenager! ”

"Don't dare, this battle is because the governors are strategizing in the front, and the soldiers are fighting with their lives in the back, Liu Yan doesn't dare to take the credit alone!"

Although Zhao Guangluan, the right attendant of the Ministry of War, is a positive third product, and Liu Yan, who is the chief military officer, is not considered a subordinate in terms of economic system, but Zhao Guangluan is the right and left hand of Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and is a civilian official.

"Well, it is rare for Mr. Liu to be meritorious and not arrogant!"

Zhao Guang smiled and continued: "General Liu has such a mind, presumably this time he will be able to make new contributions by dividing his troops south!" ”

"Divide your troops south?"

As soon as these words came out, whether it was Hong Chengchou, Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Cao Bianjiao, Wu Sangui and other general soldiers of various towns, they were completely dumbfounded.

Liu Yan was also dumbfounded: Who in the DPRK came up with this bastard idea!

Zhao Guangpan looked at everyone's reaction and signaled everyone to be calm, Hong Chengchou also realized that he was a little out of shape, so he beckoned everyone to sit down.

Then Zhao Guangluan took out an order from the Ministry of War and gave it to Hong Chengchou, and said: "Here's the thing, just about a month ago, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi military affairs, led his troops to aid Luoyang, but in the area of Dazhou Mountain on this road, it was ambushed and surrounded by Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops, and after a fierce battle between the two sides, the official army was defeated. ”

"The Fubiao battalion of the general Xu Tonghui's department was wiped out, and Xu Tonghui was martyred in battle. Lu Xiangsheng's battalion also suffered more than half of the casualties, and only 3 or 4,000 people were defeated and retreated to Kaifeng City. And the soldiers and horses all over Henan are also wiped out! ”

At this time, everyone's faces were very ugly.

Hong Chengchou frowned, his face was pale, the battle situation in Liaodong had just improved, and the Ming army had the upper hand slightly, and the imperial court was going to transfer Liu Yanbu, who had the strongest combat power, to go, how to fight the war after that, and could the remaining towns continue to fight against the Qing army?

Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Cao Bianjiao, Wu Sangui and other general officers are also worried, Liu Yan's department can be said to be where everyone's courage lies, as long as Liu Yan's tens of thousands of new troops are there, the battle situation in Liaodong will not collapse, at least Liu Yan will be behind it.

But once Liu Yan leads his troops south, among all the people, who has the confidence to say that he can stabilize the battle situation?

Tang Tong and Ma Ke glanced at each other, although the two of them were envious, jealous and hateful of Liu Yan, but Liu Yan wanted to leave suddenly, and the two were unwilling, and they were full of pessimism about the next battle situation.

And Liu Yan is unusually angry at this time, the Ming Dynasty is always vacillating in the grand strategy, the order is changing, those bastards in the court are always influencing the country's strategy for their own selfishness, for a while to concentrate troops to fight the Qing army, and for a while to transfer troops to fight the thieves, the elite of the Ming army in history is like this, under the blind command of a group of bastards in the court, they were led by the Manchus and the thieves in turn, and finally the elite of the Ming Dynasty are exhausted between Liaodong and the mainland, under the continuous pulling, even if it is a heavenly soldier and a general, In the end, it was completely lost in the rush battles!

Liu Yan was very irritable at this time, he led his troops south, the battle of Liaodong was bound to return to the end of history, and most of the Ming army was still defeated.

Disobey orders and don't go! So what about Lu Xiangsheng? Once Lu Xiangsheng's department is defeated, the entire Central Plains will be Li Zicheng's world, maybe the course of history will change, and the army of thieves may directly attack the Beijing Division!

At this time, Liu Yan can be described as confused, he only hates his lack of skills, and the 88,000 new troops in his hands seem to be a lot, but in the face of the world that is now full of smoke, these tens of thousands of new troops are just a drop in the bucket.

Seeing that everyone didn't speak, Zhao Guanglu naturally knew everyone's worries, and said: "The intention of the military department is not to transfer all the new troops of General Liu's army, but to leave one or two battalions according to the situation and continue to be under the command of Governor Hong. Liu Zongbing led the main force of the New Army south to support Lu Duchen. The new army has strong troops and strong combat power, and after the division of troops, it can also fight in two places. ”

Liu Yan was angry when he heard this, and divided his troops? As long as he is not here, with Hong Chengchou's decisiveness and the blackness of the general soldiers in each town, the remaining officers and soldiers of the New Army will definitely be pushed to the front line and used as cannon fodder to fight the Qing army!

Zhao Guangpan looked at Liu Yan who didn't say a word, and his face was also full of anger, so he looked at Hong Chengchou embarrassedly, hoping that Hong Chengchou would say a few words for him.

When Hong Chengchou heard that he wanted to leave some of Liu Yan's troops, the worry in his heart dissipated slightly. There are more than 10,000 people in one battalion of Liu Yan's new army, which is comparable to a military town.

"Hehe, this is also what the imperial court means, after all, the imperial court has to weigh the war situation in the entire world, and General Liu must understand the difficulties of the imperial court and His Majesty, and don't get entangled in a corner."

Liu Yan looked at Hong Chengchou with sharp eyes, and said, "Since this is the case, then it is not okay to disagree?" ”

"Hehe, Mr. Liu naturally takes the overall situation into account."

Liu Yan slowly stood up and said in a cold voice: "Okay, then I'll take care of the overall situation!" The last general left the front camp stationed at Hongluo Mountain and continued to garrison the back road for the army, what did the governor think? ”

Some people died, but not completely......