But what did Chu Fan say? Chu Fan can't say that I asked Jinyiwei to go to Shaanxi Mizhi to find a child surnamed Li in order to prevent Li Zicheng from being born? I couldn't make it up, so I had to lie that it was a fortune teller and said that a child was about to be born in Mizhi, Shaanxi, and this person would affect the number of Da Ming Qi.

In ancient times, there was an advantage, all the problems that could not be explained could be thrown to the gods, God, I can't say that Wanli believed it, and arranged for Jinyiwei and Dongchang to do it together, and be sure to move all the men surnamed Li out of Mizhi in Shaanxi.

In less than half a month, more than 20,000 soldiers from Liangguang and Jiangsu and Zhejiang had gathered in the western suburbs of the capital.

Chu Fan's side is very well seated, the barracks, training ground, has been basically completed, just like the upgraded version of the Ganzhou Wei training Flying Eagle Army Division, everything is implemented in accordance with the most elite training strategy, and it is Liu Dali who is responsible for the training this time.

A month later, Shanxi Datong Mansion had also gathered 15,000 Tibetan soldiers, Suzhou Wei and Tianshui Wei soldiers, ready to go.

In the direction of Liaodong, Wu Weizhong of the Qijia Army led the troops to fight and retreat, and returned to the Liaoshen line, but the second wave army did not rush to pursue for three reasons.

First, the Qi family army fought bravely and actively sought war, and advanced from Shanhaiguan to the border between China and North Korea.

The second is that after the Qi army retreated from Liaoshen, a large open plain in front of it was vacated, while the second wave army was on the east side of the Great Plains, and the Jianzhou Jurchens were on the west side of the Great Plains.

Third, the Liaoshen front line has city defense and high mountain cover, easy to defend and difficult to attack, if you want to launch an offensive, do not make complete preparations, rashly attack, on the great plain Ming army is condescending, easy to suffer. These three reasons are the main role of Chu Fan in letting the Qi family's army retreat.

In this way, we can buy time for the rear to transfer troops, if we don't retreat, if Nurhachi kills all the way, the Qi family army will be blocked on the border line, not only cut off supplies, but also may be attacked from front and back.

However, just over half a month later, Konishi Yukinaga got in touch with Nurhachi.

After the two sides exchanged friendships, they actually entered the Liaoshen Plain together, camped and confronted each other, ready to attack the Liaoshen defense line of the Ming army at any time.

This point is beyond Chu Fan's imagination, he has always believed that the Cibo people and the Jurchens have no contact before, and they will not immediately become an alliance, at least after several rounds of consultation and communication, and full trust, it is possible to form an alliance, but this time the situation is somewhat unexpected.

At this time, the first section of the Ming army's capital had just begun training, and the first section of Shanxi Datong Mansion had just gathered troops.

When the situation was further critical, Chu Fan made a decision that puzzled everyone, and the Qi family's army continued to retreat.

If Liaodong is compared to a fish, then now the Jurchen and Cibo armies are in the belly position of the fish, and the Liaoshen defense line is equivalent to the narrowest part of the junction between the fish's tail and the fish's body, and then down is the fish's tail, and the capital is below the fish's tail.

Once you break through the Liaoshen defense line and go down to the Great Plains, then as long as you break through the last Great Wall defense line, you can go straight to Beijing.

This is a big gamble, Chu Fan gave up the Liaoshen defense line, and he could only gamble on the fate of Beijing.

And the place that Chu Fan looked for Qi Jiajun was even more interesting, this place was called Ning Yuan.

Ningyuan's location is equivalent to the middle of the fishtail, a stronghold on the open plain.

After the heroic fighting in the previous stage, the losses of the Qi army were basically more than half, about 40,000 people, and they hurriedly withdrew to Ningyuan, and Liaoyang and Shenyang gave up.

Konishi Yukinaga's Cibo Army and Nurhachi's Later Jin Army (after the capture of Fushun, Jianzhou Jurchen Jianguo, renamed Houjin), immediately advanced downward, and the Cibo Army occupied Liaoyang, and the Later Jin Army occupied Shenyang.

The situation took a turn for the worse, and the court exploded again.

Liaodong fell, and the capital was in danger.

Wanli stood at the top of the main hall, the dragon chair could no longer carry the emperor on the hot pot, walking back and forth in the main hall, everyone was waiting for everyone in the military department to report the situation.

The group of soldiers led by Yang Hao then walked into the main hall.

"Yang Hao, how do you explain? Why did you give up Liao Shen so easily? Now that they are on the front line, if they attack directly, how will the capital be handled? ”

Yang Hao's old fritters were silent, "Plop." He knelt on the ground but didn't speak, but it was Chu Fan who was standing behind Yang Hao.

As the No. 2 person in the military department, Chu Fan, the actual person in charge, is undoubtedly the most responsible for this, and everyone in the court looked at Chu Fan at this time.

Chu Fan then looked around and said, "Your Majesty, all the ministers, and the military department have done their best to defend, but the enemy is outnumbered, and we can't fight hard." ”

That's right, everyone knows it very well, but the country's territory, you said let it out? Two cities, and they are the best natural barriers, you don't want it if you say you don't want it? In everyone's eyes, it's one thing to fight or not, but if you don't fight, you will retreat, it is really unreasonable, even if the Qi family army is annihilated, you will die on the battlefield of Liaoshen, instead of giving it up.

So soon someone launched an attack on Chu Fan.

"Jiangshan Sheji, it is the responsibility of your military department, retreat without a fight, and lose the face of the Celestial Empire, how do you explain?"

Chu Fan arched his hand and said to the man: "Don't buckle a tall hat like Jiangshan Sheji, Chu has a small head and can't wear it, but Chu's duty is to completely destroy the enemy army, not to defend one or two cities." ”

"If you don't defend against such a strategic advantage, do you want to fight a defensive war on the edge of the capital? Will you fight or not? ”

"The Qi family's army just retreated to Ningyuan, what are you afraid of? Even if it really hits the edge of the capital, there are no high city walls, what are you panicking about? As he spoke, Chu Fan gave the man a roll of his eyes.

"Don't say it lightly, if there is a mistake in the capital, what will you be responsible for?"

"I'll take the head around my neck."

"How much is your head worth? If the Ming Dynasty is lost, what is the use of your nine clans? ”

Seeing the mess and mess below, Mr. Wanli was also anxious, and shouted: "Okay, stop arguing." ”

Suddenly, the hall fell silent, waiting for Wanli to speak.

Wanli cleared his throat and said: "The order is under the military department, and the responsibility is also borne by the military department, of course, since the military department has its own military department, you Aiqing don't question it too much, I think so, your military department sent personnel to Ningyuan to supervise the war, if Ningyuan loses again, there is no need to come back." ”

After the emperor said this, the ministers turned their eyes to the people in the military department again.

The old fox Yang Hao continued to kneel on the ground, did not raise his head, and pretended to be dead and could not hear.

But isn't it, when you go to Ningyuan at this time, isn't it just to accompany Wu Weizhong to die?

Whoever wants to go must have their brains in water.

"I'll go."

The one who said this was none other than Chu Fan, the squire of the military department.

This sentence, it stands to reason that Chu Fan shouldn't say it, after all, you are the second-in-command, and the first-in-command didn't speak, so it won't be your turn, but Yang Hao made it clear that he was a shrinking turtle, and the military department couldn't say that we didn't care, you just watched it.

Of course, most people think that Chu Fan is looking for death, and there are many ways to commit suicide, do you have to choose this method of killing a foreign land?

The next day, the news came out of the imperial court, and no matter whether they had a good relationship with Chu Fan or a bad relationship, they all came to see Chu Fan off, after all, this was probably the last time they saw him.

Many people also brought their children with them to educate them while seeing them off: See? You can't talk nonsense, let alone be reckless, this person is going to die, don't learn from him in the future.

In everyone's regret and sigh, Chu Fan slowly walked out of the city gate.

With Chu Fan, there were only a few dozen pro-soldiers.

Along the way, Qin Hong was very vigilant and always stood by Chu Fan's side, because it was indeed very dangerous now, except for Jiangning who was still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, the rest of the places were lost, anarchic and anarchy, basically a state of chaos, maybe when the Cibo army or the Houjin army would appear on which mountain, Qin Hong was ready to fight for his life at any time to protect Chu Fan.

This kind of women who have no foundation, fate rarely has kindness to them, and many times their existence is to protect an important person, and the life of the grassroots will always be so humble. But Chu Fan didn't think so, sitting in the carriage, constantly laughing at Qin Hong, calming her nervousness.

The road was quiet, and I didn't see any spies.

Wu Weizhong greeted Chu Fan at the south gate of Ningyuan, and after the two sides worshipped, they hugged each other and sighed.

It is considered an old acquaintance, Chu Fan led the Ming army including Wu Weizhong in the Korean battlefield to break the Japanese invaders of the second wave country, winning more with less, Wu Weizhong still remembers it vividly, at this time Zha Dashou and Li Rusong have died on the battlefield, things are not people, and the two can't help but sigh.

On the same day, Chu Fan walked up the four city walls to inspect the fortifications.

Ningyuan City is very strange and has a very unique architectural style.

In general, small cities are mouth-shaped, but many of the gates of large cities like Pyongyang are concave-shaped, which is called the so-called urn city.

The role of the urn city is very clear, if the enemy army attacks the urn city, the city can attack the invaders from three sides at the same time, to achieve a high goal of coordinated defense.

And Ningyuan City belongs to a medium-sized city, but it is not a mouth-shaped, nor is it a concave shape, it is a mountain-shaped city.

This Qingqi architectural style attracted Chu Fan, and after research, he believed that it was built by a person with strategic thinking.

The mountain-shaped city gate can divert the enemy army, and the defenders on the city tower can still attack on three sides at the same time, and the creativity of this building is very good.

In the middle of Ningyuan City, there is a hanging tower about ten meters high, which is higher than the four city walls, and you can see the war of the four cities, which is a very good lookout.

This kind of city designed for war has to be said to be more conducive to defense than those ordinary cities in the interior.

In the evening, Wu Weizhong received Chu Fan for dinner, and actually took out high-grade liquor, which surprised Chu Fan.

Wu Weizhong smiled and said: "Lord Chu smiled, didn't you learn your brewing skills in North Korea, I also learned to brew after I returned to Zhejiang, you can taste it, and your brewing method is different?" ”

Distilled spirits, in fact, the process in the early stages of production is much the same, not only Chinese baijiu, but even vodka, brandy, and whiskey, which are fermented with grains or fruits, and then purified.

The main difference between these wines is the storage environment.

For example, vodka is generally stored in aseptic facilities, so it is the purest alcohol, so it generally does not have color, and when drinking bartending in modern times, if you want to reflect the taste of fresh fruits or something, vodka is used as the base liquor.

Whisky is generally stored in oak barrels, and the unique flora in the oak will affect the structure of the wine, creating a unique flora inside the wine, which in turn affects the taste and color of the wine. In fact, Chinese liquor can also be divided into several types according to different storage methods, such as sauce fragrance, strong fragrance, and light fragrance.

On the basis of the distilled liquor developed by Chu Fan, Wu Weizhong selected the unique mud jar in Zhejiang to store it, and put it deep underground, which made the microbial flora of the distilled liquor change greatly.

Wu Weizhong can not only fight, but also create new wines, what an all-round development talent.

"How much wine does General Wu have stored here?"

"Hahaha, Lord Chu really thought of it with me."

Chu Fan had an epiphany and said: "Well, the hero sees the same thing, hahaha." ”

In the process of pushing the cup and changing the lamp, Chu Fan gradually got drunk.

Since returning to the capital, I have been busy every day, but I have come out to fight at this time, but it is rare to relax.

Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared, and Chu Fan used this classic sentence in the preparation meeting.

Chu Fan, who was standing at the head of the city, mobilized all the Qi family troops before the war and put forward several pre-war preparations.

The first is to consolidate the city wall, although the construction of the city wall of Ningyuan City is very creative, but after hundreds of years of natural erosion, it has become less solid.

The second is to reserve resources, especially water, grain and grass, bows and arrows, and ammunition, and be prepared for siege and long-term warfare.

The third is to pay close attention to training, and the main training is the shooting of the two thousand improved double-headed three-eyed and three-eyed magic guns brought by Chu Fan.

Soon, a vigorous city repair movement began in Ningyuan City.

At this time, it is certainly unlikely that a new city wall will be built, but it is still too late to add a layer of stone and mud protection to the surface.

In addition, it is to send 5,000 people to transport grain and grass between the capital, divided into 50 teams, a little at a time, to avoid being ambushed and intercepted by the enemy, the loss is too large, the grain and grass at this time is the soul of the battle, you have less, the enemy will have more, so you must not put your eggs in the same basket.

Since Ganzhou has not yet delivered a large amount of steel to the capital, it is only during the time when Chu Fan returned to Beijing that he rushed to make thousands of double-headed three-eyed god guns, except for the guns left for the reinforcements of Liangguang and Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the rest were brought to Ningyuan by Chu Fan.

It can be seen that Chu Fan is going to fight against the water this time, and he will give everything he has to defend Ning Yuan.

And Nurhachi and Konishi Yukicho were a little difficult after analyzing the dynamics of the Ming army.

Speaking of which, Governor Konishi had entered Liaoyang with an army of 300,000 at this time, and Nurhachi had entered Shenyang with 200,000 people.

For the 30,000 people of the Qi family's army, it is really a big deal, if you fight in the Great Plains, you will be wiped out in minutes.

However, they have formed an alliance, the target is Beijing, according to their contract, after the capture of Beijing, the Ming Dynasty will be divided equally between the two families, the east will be to the second wave of the country, and the west will be returned to Houjin. So the annihilation of enemy forces is not a priority.

Annihilating the Ming army in the city is not a strategic priority.

But there is a problem that if you want to attack Beijing, you have to break through the last line of defense, the Great Wall between Shanhaiguan and Datong.

The breakthrough points are mainly concentrated in Shanhaiguan or Datongfu.

One of these two places is at the upper corner of the fishtail, and the other is at the corner of the lower end of the fishtail.

And Ning Yuan, in the middle of the fishtail.

In other words, if you bypass Ning Yuan, you can directly attack Shanhaiguan or Datong, but Ning Yuan is equivalent to standing behind him, and there are more than 30,000 people inside, which is not much, but if he suddenly attacks from behind, he will definitely suffer heavy losses.

Once you suffer a serious blow on the battlefield, the strength of the two families will change, and when the time comes, if you talk about dividing up the Ming Dynasty, your chips will become a lot less, yes, no one wants to attack Beijing with their backs to Ningyuan.

Ning Yuan was like a nail nailed to the plains outside the Guanwai, making the two armies like a man.

Well, in order not to itch the back, there is only one way, to pull out this nail.

After the discussion between Nurhachi and Konishi Yuki, it was decided to join forces and besiege Ningyuan.

In the early winter, 500,000 troops marched from Liaoyang and Shenyang to Ningyuan for 15 miles before the camp, and the big war was imminent.

An army of 500,000 is roughly equivalent to the total population of a small modern city.

In ancient times, it was equivalent to the total population of the capital.

One is a nomadic tribe that has been aggrieved in the northeast for hundreds of years, and the other is a dwarf people who have been aggrieved on a small island for thousands of years.

They have endured the sufferings of the region, and they have endured the constraints of the region.

Coincidentally, in this era, their national power has reached an unprecedented peak.

So, who can miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

Therefore, they poured everything they had, desperately betting, to declare war on the Ming Dynasty, break through geographical restrictions, and enjoy the beautiful sunshine of the Ming Dynasty, which became the long-cherished wish of every ruler.

Therefore, the decline of the Ming Dynasty in history was not just caused by a few eunuchs and a few traitorous ministers, nor was it an internal peasant uprising that could overthrow this dynasty that had existed for hundreds of years, but was caused by internal and external difficulties and complex external situations.

There is no way, Zhu Changluo (Chongzhen) is unlucky to catch up with such an era.

But now it's different, because there is an immortal god general in Ningyuan City, Chu Fan.

And the Japanese and Jin armies didn't know that this warmonger Chu Fan was waiting for them in Ningyuan City.

The 500,000 mighty army pressed Ning Yuan with some difficulty breathing, and the air was filled with the smell of gunsmoke.

At this time, the Ming army, 30,000 people guarded in Ningyuan City, which was not big or small, and there was no backup, no supplies, and all the soldiers had the mentality of dying, vowing to live and die with the city.

On the other hand, the second wave army and the Jin army are much easier, after all, 500,000 people, even if they are piled up with corpses, they are also piled up on the city wall, and it is imperative to take Ning Yuan.