"Zukefa, tell me, can we let Dorgon go now?"
The situation in the Northern Expedition was excellent, and Emperor Hongxing was certainly in a good mood. When he asked about Zukefa, he couldn't hold back the smile on his face.
How good is Zukofa at observing words and expressions? In the past few years in the enemy camp, his other skills have not necessarily improved, but his ability to read people's faces has improved steadily!
"Your Majesty, of course we can't let Dorgon go!" Zukefa gritted his teeth and said, "How can we let this evil thief go? How many of us have he killed! Before, the Donglu had the upper hand, so we, the Ming Dynasty, endured the humiliation and made peace with him. Yes, we have the upper hand now. The defeat of Donglu happened in the past few years. How can we let him go?
Your Majesty, my ancestor Kefa is also a military commander, and I also want to go into battle to kill prisoners. Please give me your Majesty's decree and let me serve in Wu Guoyong's army! "
Zhu Cixiang just smiled, without comment, and turned his attention to Li Yan again.
"Your Majesty," Li Yan said with a smile, "the only state capitals south of the Yellow River that are actually controlled by the Tatars in Henan Province are Kaifeng Prefecture, Guide Prefecture, and Ruzhou, as well as several counties in Henan Prefecture and several counties in Nanyang Prefecture. . If we want to exchange this bit of land for our Dengzhou Prefecture, Laizhou Prefecture, Qingzhou Prefecture and the southern part of Jinan Prefecture, our abacus is too precise.
Moreover, Shandong is a coastal province, surrounded by the sea on three sides. Our navy can come and go freely. The castles along the coast are impregnable and will not be occupied by the Tatars at all. Now Gao Zongrong is making good progress in Jinzhou, and he will be able to take down the dangerous road at Lushun Pass.
With the two major seaside fortresses of Lushun and Dengzhou Water City, we hold the entrance to the Bohai Sea in our hands, and we can come and go along the Korean coast at any time. How can we give such a good land to Donglu? Even if we can't capture Beijing this time, if we rely on the sea routes from Dengzhou and Lushun to fight them year after year, we will be able to bring down the Donglu sooner or later! "
During this period, because the Northern Expedition armies from the north and the south were progressing smoothly, the Huai'an trip was filled with an optimistic atmosphere, and most people believed that victory was just around the corner.
However, Li Yan, the leftist military advisor, was more cautious and was still making long-term plans. In his opinion, landing at Dagukou and going straight to Beijing was a bit rash. What if you lose? How do the landing troops come back?
Now that Ming Dynasty has an obvious advantage in the overall situation, it should not be overly aggressive on local battlefields. The best strategy is to play it slow and slowly and slowly consume Donglu's energy.
Li Yan continued: "Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, we are marching on the Donglu's weakness. The northern route covers the thousands of miles of sea territory in Liaodong and western Liaoning, and we can land everywhere. And the Tatar army wants to It would be tiring to keep up with us!
The South Route Army was mainly composed of vehicle camps and marched along the canal waterway. They could set up moon formations at any time to defend against enemy cavalry. There were also canals on the canal carrying artillery and baggage to coordinate the march. There is nothing Donglu can do against them! "
He paused, and his tone suddenly became more serious.
"It's just mid-autumn now, and in two or three months, the northern land will be covered with ice and snow. By then, it will be impossible to land on the coasts of Liaodong and western Liaoning. And the canals in Shandong will also freeze. We The canals cannot be navigated, and it is difficult to transport baggage and artillery. The Shandong armies’ chariot camps alone may not be able to stop the Donglu’s cavalry. Therefore, I estimate that after winter, the Donglu will launch a counterattack.”
Zhu Cixiang turned his attention to Zu Kefa, the fourth minister, "Kefa, tell me...where will the Tatars launch a counterattack?"
Zu Kefa had already thought over and over again for Dorgon - when it came to understanding the Qing army, he was far superior to Li Yan. And his military ability is not that bad. If he hadn't not understood the Morris formation and the new tactics of artillery, infantry and cavalry, his ability to command and fight was better than Wu Sanfu and Wu Guoyong, not to mention Li Yan and Li Xiaolian, who were monks halfway. .
"Your Majesty," Zu Kefa said, "before I left Zhengzhou, I heard that Dorgon sent Duduo to Shengjing, and granted him the seal of Dingguo General. The three Angbang Zhangjings in Shanhaiguan are respectively appointed by Ye Bilong, Ye Keshu and Ao Bai... Duduo has always been Dorgon's most trusted brother, and he is also good at fighting. The best warriors in Manchuria. They all went to the outside of the Pass. It seems that Dorgon is planning to fight back outside the Pass."
Zhu Cixiang turned his head and glanced at Zhu Chunjie, the commander of the Jinyiwei. This time he was also with the army.
"Your Majesty," Zhu Chunjie said, "what Zukefa reported is true. I have just received the news and am planning to report it."
As he spoke, he took out a memorial and asked the eunuch Huang Xiaobao to give it to Emperor Zhu.
Zhu Cixiang opened the memorial and took a look. Sure enough, he wrote about the transfer of Duduo and Aobai to other places.
In addition to these two pieces of news, the memorial also reported on the battle between Nikan and Zhang Xianzhong in Henan Prefecture - Nikan only had more than 10,000 men, and half of them were green flags. He actually beat Zhang Xianzhong to a pulp, and now he is defending Luoyang and dare not go out. Got it!
The reason why Nikan was able to win a great victory, apart from the fact that the cavalry of the Old Eight Banners was still sharp, was a light artillery that could cooperate with the maneuvers of cavalry and mounted infantry. It should be the 3-pound field gun installed by the Ming army!
Zhu Cixiang actually already knew about this!
As early as the beginning of this year, when Van Diemen was transferred from the governor of Batavia to the general office of the Shanghai Commercial Post of the East India Company and the special envoy of the United Provinces of the Netherlands to the Ming Dynasty, he informed Zhu Cihong that the English East India Company was heading eastward through North Korea. The captives exported information about artillery and military advisors.
British imperialism is so hateful... The desire to kill me will never die!
However, it was a bit beyond Zhu Cixiang's expectation that the Manchus could play with three-pound cannons so well. In fact, it should be expected. Historically, the Manchus were quite good at playing with cannons until the Kangxi period. Wasn't the Battle of Ulanbutong won with the help of Hongyi cannon? Being able to drag the Hongyi cannon to the battlefield of Ulanbutong, thousands of miles away from Beijing, is not a bad level.
The Manchurians Dorgon and Duduo's ability to learn military skills was much better than that of the corrupt Eight Banners men under Emperor Kangxi. It was not surprising that they were able to coordinate with cavalry and artillery.
Of course, Zhu Cixiang is not afraid of a single trick of cavalry and artillery coordination.
What's there to fear about fighting with Tatars? It would be better if Dorgon was willing to queue up and shoot... With their small population, everyone is as free as the lobster soldiers!
"Military advisor, take a look too." Zhu Cihong handed Zhu Chunjie's memorial to Li Yan.
Li Yan looked through it and frowned slightly, "Zhang Xianzhong was defeated so miserably... Dorgon is in Zhengzhou again. It seems that the possibility of Donglu launching a counterattack in Shandong is not small."
Zhu Cixiang nodded: "There will definitely be a counterattack...the only question is when?"
"Winter," Li Yan said, "He won't take action unless the canal freezes... And if the canal doesn't freeze, we can't conquer Liaocheng!"
He paused, "The key is Liaocheng!"
Liaocheng is the most difficult castle along the canal in Shandong Province - it is in a lake, and it is right at the throat of the canal. If Liaocheng is not captured, the Ming army on the southern front will not be able to move north. And in the season when the canals are not frozen...you can't capture Liaocheng.
How do you hit such a wide lake? Paddling on the beach in a small boat? How many people will die? Moreover, the lake surrounding Liaocheng is not very big, and it is impossible for naval warships to sail into it.
Therefore, if you want to reach Liaocheng, you have to wait for the canal to freeze in winter, and once the canal freezes... the Ming Dynasty's canals will not be able to sail, but Dorgon's cavalry can travel freely.
Zhu Cixiang laughed: "That's Liaocheng... We will go to Liaocheng this autumn and won't go north again. We will besieging the Liaocheng area to send reinforcements! As long as Dorgon dares to come, we will beat him into a hero. Second place!"
He then said to Zukefa: "Zukefa, don't go to Wu Guoyong's place. Go to Shaanxi... to see your cousin Wu Sangui!"
"Meet Wu Sangui?" Zu Kefa was stunned, "Your Majesty, what do you want me to say to Wu Sangui?"
Zhu Cixiang smiled: "Of course it's a matter of defection anyway!"
