Guo Sheng's three advantages of going to northern Shaanxi are obvious.

In order to eliminate the Ming Dynasty, the Qing court used its main military forces to deal with the two groups of the Ming army, Daxi and Dashun, and now it is pouring the country's strength to encircle and suppress Kuidong.

For this reason, not only did all the Shaanxi Green Battalions be sent to Huguang, but even the Eight Banners of the Xi'an garrison were transferred, resulting in a very empty defense in the northwest.

The Ming army was really able to break out of the encirclement with lightning speed, and there was a fifty or sixty percent chance that it would be able to rush to northern Shaanxi to build another anti-Qing base area.

Although northern Shaanxi is also very barren, it is better than Maolu Mountain, which is a land of projectiles.

In addition, Wang Wu remembered that there was also a rat at both ends in the northwest, and finally ended up with a violent death of Wang Fuchen.

If memory serves, Wang Fuchen himself is not a good man, but his generals are several bold bulls.

Before Wang Fuchen did not oppose the Qing Dynasty, those unwanted lords dared to call for soldiers to attack the governor appointed by the Qing court, and shot the Manchu governor to death with an arrow, and finally forced Wang Fuchen to rebel if he did not rebel.

Obviously, there was also an anti-Qing "market" within the Qing army in the northwest.

To put it bluntly, it is to help the proud soldiers and fierce generals of the Ming Dynasty to pacify the Qing court see through the truth of the Eight Banners Paper Tiger.

Someone picks the head and it will explode.

Going to northern Shaanxi actually has an advantage that Guo Sheng has never realized.

In other words, it is the future that no one can see in this era except Wang Wu.

That is Inner and Outer Mongolia.

With the successful marriage of the Horqin and Chahar tribes to join the Aixin Jueluo family of the Qing Dynasty, they would never have dreamed that it was the Mongols who wanted their lives the most.

To be precise, Kangxi's enemy in the first half of his life was Wu Sangui, and his enemy in the second half of his life was the Mongols.

The Chahar Division, which was very trusted by the Qing court, broke away from the Qing court immediately after Wu Sangui raised his army, and went straight to Beijing under the leadership of Lin Dan Khan's grandson Bulni.

This led to Tuhai and Zhou Peigong.

This Tuhai is the general Dingxi who is currently leading the army to assist Mulima against the Ming army.

On the Outer Mongolian Plateau, Kangxi's biggest enemy in the second half of his life is rising, and this person is Galdan and the Dzungar Khanate established by him.

From geography to politics, to the existence of anti-Qing ideology within the Qing army, as well as the complicated situation in Inner and Outer Mongolia, Wang Wu actually felt that it was much better to go to northern Shaanxi than to venture eastward alone.

The proposal to go to northern Shaanxi was supported by many generals, and there was no shortage of opponents.

It is more than 2,000 miles from Maolu Mountain to Nanjing along the east of the Yangtze River, and it is more than 1,000 miles to go north from Maolu Mountain to northern Shaanxi!

In terms of distance, going to northern Shaanxi is less than half of going to Nanjing.

The problem is that the Ming army is not a fully mobile fast field force, but a mixed military-civilian team and a pure infantry force.

If a boat can be found along the east of the river, the Ming army can take the waterway, which can save a lot of physical strength and make it easy to settle the family.

If you go north into northern Shaanxi, you will rely on two legs.

10,000 soldiers escorted 30,000 unarmed women and children to travel thousands of miles, and the difficulty can be imagined.

And, how to get around?

At that time, Li Guo and Gao Yi led the soldiers of the West Route Army with their families from northern Shaanxi to the south through Hanzhong, and arrived in Hubei through Dazhou, Kuizhou, Xinning and other places in Sichuan.

This journey has been more than two months!

Now that Hanzhong, Dazhou, Kuizhou, Xinning and other places have been occupied by the Qing army, it is impossible for the Ming army to return to Shaanxi along this road.

Then there are only two paths left.

The first is to rush into Xiangyang Mansion and turn to Tongguan through Henan to enter Shaanxi.

The second is to pass through the Shennongjia primeval forest in the north and enter Shaanxi through Yunyang.

The former road is easy to walk, but it will definitely be blocked by the Qing army, and there is a high probability that it will be surrounded by the Qing army again if it cannot get out of Henan.

As a last resort, it is impossible for the Ming army to take the initiative to take this desperate road.

The latter

Wang Wu felt a stirring in his heart for no reason, because he thought of the tragic situation of the expeditionary force crossing the Savage Mountain in his previous life.

Even if the Qing army is unable to pursue the Ming army due to terrain, the number of casualties of the Ming army will be staggering, and it is very likely that the old, weak, sick and disabled will have to be stacked there.

In short, eastward expansion has the advantages of eastward expansion, and there are advantages of northward expansion in the north, but also fatal disadvantages.

It is difficult to decide whether to go east or north.

In the end, the decision still fell on the three old commanders, Li Laiheng, Yuan Zongdi, and Hao Shaoqi.

Even King Han, King Andong and the prison soldier Pan Gonggong did not have the right to decide.

Although Wang Wu was the de facto commander of the remnants of the Ming army on the Western Front, his qualifications and status determined that he could only provide a strategic reference now, and could not make decisions like a commander-in-chief.

The generals once again debated fiercely over whether to go east or north.

For a while, the supporters of the two directions did not form an absolute advantage.

The three old marshals were also discussing, Hao Shaoqi was still advocating eastward, but Yuan Zongdi and Li Laiheng were inclined to go north.

The reason is very simple, that is, after they really stand out, the Qing army will definitely think that the Ming army will sweep the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River along the east of the Yangtze River, so the Ming army will inevitably face a situation where there is a blockade in front and a chasing army in the back.

As long as you stay in one level for a while, it will be a disaster.

After all, Jiangnan was an important place for the Qing court's money and grain, and it was more related to the safety of Caoyun, and the Ming army's involvement here was no different from directly rushing to Beijing.

And going to northern Shaanxi is a direction that the Qing army can't think of at all.

In terms of time, it can give the Ming army at least a month of blank period.

"Then go to northern Shaanxi!"

After weighing the pros and cons, Hao Shaoqi gave up the strategy of going east to the southern capital and agreed to the strategy of going north to northern Shaanxi instead.

The three old commanders slapped the board, and the generals had no opinion.

Whether it is eastward or northward, King Anton has no opinion, as long as the Ming army can leave this place of death.

King Han was a little disappointed, after all, the influence of recovering the southern capital and sacrificing filial piety was by no means comparable to going to northern Shaanxi.

However, with the current situation of the Ming army, it is very unlikely that they will go straight to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and occupy Nanjing in one fell swoop.

At that time, the 100,000 army of King Yanping could not recover Nanjing, and now this lone army of only about 10,000 people is now.

In order to preserve the last hope of regaining his sight, King Han immediately agreed to the strategic plan of going north to Shaanxi.

Supervisor Pan Yinglong also agreed with this strategy.

At this point, the dust has settled on the whereabouts of the Ming army after the breakthrough.

However, the three old commanders did not tell everyone that there must be a troop of troops and horses under the banner of the main force to attract and mobilize the Qing army.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians of the Ming army to stand out into Shaanxi in the heavy siege of the Qing army.

The decoy force of this Ming army can only be led by one of the three old commanders.

others, do not have their influence.

Including Wang Wu.

This army is also destined to be sacrificed.

"Whether it is going to Henan or Yunyang, the most important thing at the moment is to break the Qing army's spring offensive!"

Li Laiheng said that there are various indications that the Qing army may launch an offensive against Maolu Mountain after the beginning of spring, so only by smashing the Qing army's offensive and taking advantage of the Qing army's defeat can the army and civilians be organized to break through and transfer.

Wang Wu was sure that the Qing army would indeed launch a general attack on the Ming army in February, that is, next month.

The information was revealed by the Cao family's clothed slave.

This offensive was personally organized and carried out by Mu Lima, the supreme commander of the Qing army and the general of Jingxi, and the number of soldiers and horses invested would not be less than 100,000.

It is possible that the 10,000 soldiers of the Eight Banners of the Beijing camp from Beijing will be involved in this battle.

Otherwise, there is no fighting.

If there is no war, where can the military merit come from.

"Then fight, the tartar hurts, and if you are afraid, we can have a chance to rush out!"

The generals stood up one after another and expressed their intention to fight to the death with the Qing army.

There is no one in this hall who is afraid of death.

Wang Wuzi wanted to fight to the death, but after hesitating, he said to the three old commanders: "The big war is imminent, and the last general has the courage to ask the three old commanders to support the new emperor, so as to boost the morale of the three armies, so that everyone can use their lives, regardless of life or death, they all have sustenance!" ”