In early August, outside Jinzhou City.
After the Battle of Huangtuling, the Ming and Qing armies seemed to have reached a certain tacit understanding. Both sides were improving their defense lines and mobilizing more baggage to the front line. As for the troop strength, there was not much mobilization. They were just confronting each other. Then, there seemed to be a stalemate on the battlefield.
Regarding this situation, Hong Chengchou was very worried. The imperial court did not have the extra money and food to continue to consume it for a long time. To maintain an army of more than 200,000 on the front line, a huge amount of money and food was consumed every day. In the long run, without the Qing army attacking, the army's money and food would be exhausted. The supply is slowly running out.
"This slave is trying to delay time!"
In the main tent of the Chinese army, Hong Chengchou summoned the generals of various towns to discuss matters. Even Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen, who were guarding the back road, also received orders and came.
The two of them did not participate in the battle of Huangtuling. This time they rushed to the Chinese army's tent and listened to Wang Pu, Li Fuming and others talking about the various processes of the battle. They were extremely regretful that such a great achievement could not be divided between them. Moisturize a little.
Then Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen congratulated Liu Yan one after another. They felt very incredible to the commander-in-chief who was only in his twenties. Another shining star of the Ming Dynasty had risen!
At this time, everyone had sat down. Hong Chengchou looked at everyone and continued: "Although our army has sufficient supply of money and food, the imperial court cannot support it for long. Should our army take the initiative to find fighters and fight against slaves and thieves in order to break through the current situation?" The deadlock, you still need to discuss it."
Everyone looked at Liu Yan. At this time, Liu Yan had the greatest military exploits, the strongest military strength, and naturally had the greatest say.
Liu Yan was not polite to everyone, and said: "Master Governor, gentlemen of the town, I haven't thought about whether our army needs to attack. It's just a little strange."
"strangeness?"
Hong Chengchou asked: "General Liu, tell me in detail, what is the difference?"
"Supervisor, as far as I know, the slaves and thieves are not having a hard time either. There have been constant droughts in various parts of Liaodong in recent years. In addition, the slaves and thieves have expropriated and committed all kinds of evil in various places in Liaodong, so that the slaves and thieves do not have much money and food reserves. Right now. There are more than 200,000 slaves and thieves in the army. If the stalemate continues for such a long time, I, the Ming Dynasty, can’t stand it, and the slaves and thieves can’t bear it even more, but why do they continue to waste it?”
Everyone nodded in agreement after hearing this. No matter how difficult the Ming Dynasty was, it still had thousands of miles of land and hundreds of millions of people, and its national power was naturally far superior to that of the slaves and thieves. If the stalemate continued, the slaves and thieves would definitely suffer.
Hong Chengchou frowned slightly and said, "General Liu, what you mean is that the slave thieves are planning something, so they are deliberately delaying time?"
Liu Yan said: "The general guesses that the slave thieves may be thinking of ways to cut off our army's retreat, or they may have other treacherous plots. Anyway, the stalemate should not last long."
"Therefore, the last general suggested that our army should stay put and strengthen defenses in various places on the rear route, so as to remain unchanged in response to any changes!"
Everyone started talking, and then Wang Pu, Yang Guozhu, Cao Bianjiao, Li Fuming, Wang Tingchen and others agreed with Liu Yan's opinion, as did Wu Sangui, Zuo Guangxian, and Liu Zhaoji.
Only Ma Ke and Tang Tong looked at each other, neither of them spoke.
Hong Chengchou thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. It's just that early tomorrow morning, Commander Cao and Commander Wang will have to work hard and return to the rear to garrison as soon as possible. In addition, the governor will send Commander Zuo to lead his troops southward and also go to Wudaoling. Garrison the area."
Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tinghe, and Zuo Guangxian held their fists and took orders.
Then Hong Chengchou said to Wu Sangui with a smile: "Yesterday, Commander-in-Chief Zu came to my camp to discuss military affairs. He mentioned that there were insufficient troops in Jinzhou City, so I want Commander-in-Chief Wu to lead his troops to Jinzhou City. What do you think?"
As early as the first year of Chongzhen, Zu Dashou guarded Ningyuan City and led his troops to win the great victory of Ningyuan. Due to his merit, he was promoted to the vanguard general officer, and then led his troops to garrison Jinzhou City, so Hong Chengchou called Zu Dashou the chief soldier of Wu.
Wu Sangui was naturally willing and accepted the order immediately.
Upon seeing this, Liu Yan secretly said: "Hong Chengchou has strengthened the defensive forces of Jinzhou City and the defensive forces on the back road. There is no problem with the deployment. The main force here is also sufficient, plus the money, food and weapons hoarded everywhere on the back road. It's fine for the time being, there's no problem anywhere. But why am I still a little uneasy? What else have I missed?"
Hong Chengchou looked at the thoughtful Liu Yan and asked with a smile: "What do General Liu think of this arrangement by the governor?"
There was no problem with Hong Chengchou's deployment. Liu Yan was about to clasp his fists and speak when he saw a general from the Supervisory Biao Camp quickly walking into the Chinese army's tent. He clasped his fists and said, "This is to inform the Superintendent, someone from the Ministry of War has arrived at the camp!"
Everyone cheered immediately, it must be the reward from the imperial court. Hong Chengchou also said with a smile: "Please bring the envoy into the tent soon."
"yes."
But the uneasiness in Liu Yan's heart became more intense. It took less than a month for the good news to be sent out. With the efficiency of the court at this time and the long journey between Jinzhou and the capital, how could the reward come out so quickly?
A moment later, Zhao Guangzhao, the right minister of the Ministry of War, walked into the tent wearing official uniform and smiling. Hong Chengchou stood up to greet him, and all the generals also stood up and saluted.
Liu Yan looked at Zhao Guangxian, who was considered an upright person. It is said that Zhao Guangxuan had a good friend named Cao Qincheng. In order to be promoted, Cao Qincheng appointed Wei Zhongxian as his godfather. After hearing the news, Zhao Guangxuan repeatedly dissuaded his friend, thinking that "wealth and honor are only for a moment, and fame and integrity are important." "Throughout the ages, you must not fail to judge", so Cao Qincheng became enemies with Zhao Guangzhan and suppressed Zhao Guangzhao many times.
When Wei Zhongxian was in power, Zhao Guangzhang was considered a figure for being able to do this.
After Zhao Guangzhao chatted with everyone for a while, he smiled and said: "Supervisor, who is Liu Yan, the chief military officer of Qinglai Town?"
Hong Chengchou hurriedly introduced Liu Yan to the front and said, "This is the one."
Liu Yan cupped his fists and saluted again, and Zhao Guangzhen praised: "General Liu has made great achievements at such a young age. It is said that among the more than 13,500 levels of gains, more than 9,000 levels are the result of General Liu's victory? Sure enough, it is true. A hero comes from a young man!"
"Don't dare. In this battle, the governor is strategizing in the front, and the soldiers are fighting with their lives in the back. Liu Yan doesn't dare to take all the credit!"
Although Zhao Guangxuan, the right minister of the Ministry of War, is a third-rank official, and Liu Yan, as the chief military officer, is not considered a subordinate in terms of economic structure, Zhao Guangxuan is the right-hand man of Chen Xinjia, the minister of the Ministry of War, and a civil servant. At this time, Liu Yan can only work with one Like all the general officers, they responded as if they were subordinates.
"Well, it's rare for Mr. Liu to take credit without being proud!"
Zhao Guangpian smiled and continued: "General Liu has such a big heart. I believe he will be able to make new achievements this time when he divides his troops and goes south!"
"Split our troops and go south?"
As soon as these words came out, both Hong Chengchou, Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Cao Bianjiao, Wu Sangui and other generals in the town were completely dumbfounded.
Liu Yan was also stunned: Who in the court came up with this bastard idea!
Zhao Guangzhan looked at everyone's reactions and motioned for everyone to be calm. Hong Chengchou also realized that he was a little out of sorts, so he asked everyone to sit down.
Then Zhao Guangpeng took out a transfer order from the Ministry of War to Hong Chengchou and said: "The thing is like this. Just about a month ago, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi Military Affairs, led his troops to assist Luoyang. However, in the Dazhou Mountain area on this road, They were ambushed and surrounded by Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops. After a fierce battle between the two sides, the official army was defeated."
"The entire Fubiao Battalion under the command of General Xu Tonghui was wiped out, and Xu Tonghui died in the battle. Lu Xiangsheng's Fubiao Battalion also suffered more than half of its casualties, and only three or four thousand people were defeated and retreated to Kaifeng City to defend themselves. And the soldiers and horses from all over Henan were also killed. Fight to the end!"
At this time, everyone's expressions were very ugly.
Hong Chengchou frowned and his face was ashen. The situation in the Liaodong war had just improved, and the Ming army had gained a slight upper hand. The imperial court was about to transfer Liu Yan, the most powerful force, and how would the war be fought in the future? How could the remaining towns compete with the Qing army? Continue fighting?
Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Cao Bianjiao, Wu Sangui and other general officers also looked gloomy. Liu Yan's troops can be said to be the source of courage for everyone. As long as Liu Yan's tens of thousands of new troops are there, the Liaodong war situation will not collapse. At least Liu Yan was behind everything.
But once Liu Yan leads his troops south, who among the people has the confidence to say that he can stabilize the war situation?
Tang Tong and Ma Ke looked at each other. Although they were envious and jealous of Liu Yan, they were unwilling to leave when Liu Yan suddenly wanted to leave. They were full of pessimism about the future of the battle.
Liu Yan was extremely angry at this time. The Ming Dynasty was always wavering in its grand strategy and changing its orders from day to day. Those bastards in the court were always influencing the country's strategy for their own selfish purposes. They would concentrate their forces to defeat the Qing army. After a while, they had to mobilize troops to fight against the bandits. This was the case with the elites of the Ming army in history. Under the blind command of a bunch of bastards in the court, they were led by the Manchus and the bandits in turns. In the end, the elites of the Ming Dynasty were all in The battle between Liaodong and the mainland was exhausted. Under the constant pull, even the heavenly soldiers and generals had to pull apart, and finally they were completely destroyed in the repeated attacks!
Liu Yan was very agitated at this time, and he led his troops southward. The Battle of Liaodong was bound to return to its historical ending, and the Ming army would probably be defeated.
Don’t leave despite your orders! What should Lu Xiangsheng do? Once Lu Xiangsheng's troops are defeated, the entire Central Plains will be Li Zicheng's world. Maybe the course of history will change, and the bandit army may go directly north to attack the capital!
At this time, Liu Yan was so distraught that he only regretted that he had no skills. The 88,000 new troops in his hands seemed to be a lot, but in the face of a world full of wars, these tens of thousands of new troops were just a drop in the bucket.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhao Guangzhi naturally understood everyone's worries and said: "The Ministry of War does not intend to transfer all of General Liu's new army, but to leave one or two battalions according to the situation and continue to assign them. Hong Duchen is in command. General Liu leads the main force of the new army south to support Duchen Lu. The new army is strong and powerful. After dividing the troops, they can 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 scheming of the commanders of the towns, the remaining New Army soldiers will definitely be pushed to the front line and used as cannon fodder to fight the Qing army!
Zhao Guangzhang looked at Liu Yan without saying a word, with anger lingering on his face, so he looked at Hong Chengchou in embarrassment, hoping that Hong Chengchou would say a few words for him.
When Hong Chengchou heard that part of Liu Yan's troops would be retained, his worries dissipated a little. Liu Yan's new army battalion has more than 10,000 people, which is comparable to a military town.
"Haha, this is also the meaning of the court. After all, the court has to weigh the entire world's war situation. General Liu must understand the difficulties of the court and His Majesty, and don't get hung up on one corner."
Liu Yan looked at Hong Chengchou with sharp eyes and said, "If that's the case, then it's not okay to disagree?"
"Haha, Mr. Liu naturally takes the overall situation into consideration."
Liu Yan stood up slowly and said coldly: "Okay, then I will take care of the overall situation! The general will leave the front camp stationed at Hongluo Mountain and continue to guard the rear of the army. What do the governors think?"
Some people died, but not completely...
