It will take twenty years to regain Liaodong?
The long-term plan described by the prince surprised the king in Jindu.
However, after thinking about it for a while, I felt relieved. Now that the imperial court is in decline, the war is worrying, Taicang is in a tight situation, and natural disasters are frequent. If we want to make any changes, we must take a long-term approach.
The prince wanted to use four five-year stages to reverse the situation, but he was not eager to achieve it overnight. He was not comparable to the mood of an ordinary child, or he had really been inspired by Taizu Gao Emperor.
It's just that the time limit makes Wang Zaijin worried, because he is afraid that he will not live by that time to witness Wang's army defeat the Donglu and conquer all parts of Liaodong.
If you want to implement this strategy consistently, the biggest problem is payment. For the defense plan of Yuan and Sun, the imperial court allocates more than 5 million taels of salary every year.
However, the war in Liaodong did not change, and they often lost troops and generals, causing the Eastern captives to press forward step by step, shocking the government and the public. Generals were frequently changed, making orders changed day by day and the established strategy unable to be implemented.
Wang Zaijin calculated on the road that maintaining the combat effectiveness of the various tribes in western Liaoning and improving Shanhaiguan would require at least four million taels of military expenditure per year. Any lower would probably not take into account the safety of the entire region.
"Ai Qing is familiar with border affairs and has even gone to work here personally. He must have far-sighted ideas. I am willing to listen attentively!"
You are not afraid that Lao Wangtou will speak, but you are afraid that he will not say anything. As long as the two sides can exchange their needs, a compromise plan can be negotiated in the end.
"The old man is dull-minded and unable to respond quickly, which may delay His Highness's important affairs. Now that I am empty, I have only three strategies to offer. The first is to rectify the troops and horses. The second is to repair the passes. The third is to organize and train the new army."
The ultimate purpose of Wang Zaijin's trip was not to become an official, but to verify what he had mentioned in his heart, especially the emperor's trip on a crane, which was a big deal.
The second step is to check the situation of the government and the public. If it is still stable, then we can discuss the matter of taking office in Liaodong, otherwise, we may leave without a trace.
Thinking that the emperor was already like this, the young prince showed an attitude of being open-minded and willing to be taught, and the queen's sincere words made most of the anger that had accumulated in Wang Zaijin's heart for many years dissipated.
The most important thing is that the main opponents and enemies in the court who have been fighting with him for many years have disappeared, and the justice he wants to seek can only be exchanged for a letter of appointment.
"Ai Qing, there is no need to belittle yourself. Among the people in the government and the public today, the only person who can guard the key points in western Liaoning is Ai Qing. I know that Ai Qing is a talented scholar and has a good resume. He is the anchor of our Ming Dynasty. Therefore, I sent someone to go. Please, if my servant is unreasonable, I hope you will forgive me."
The three things Lao Wangtou said were concise and comprehensive, but they also showed that he was not idle, and was still thinking about the big and small things in the court.
After serving as an official for decades, Lao Wangtou has done almost all the work of various ministries. He is also familiar with the military affairs of Liaodong, and he can be said to know how to defend braids.
No matter who they are, everyone likes to hear flattery. The old Wangtou was rebellious and had a serious face, but he did not show any disgust at the compliments given by a certain prince.
This shows that they have a very clear positioning of themselves, and are second to none compared to other courtiers in terms of ability, qualifications, prestige, etc.
"The old man is so virtuous and capable that he is so favored by His Highness. The Jin Yiwei did not embarrass the old man and his family when they went there, and the journey went smoothly. This is just my humble opinion. I hope Your Highness will not dislike it."
The prince treated him with courtesy and did not hesitate to speak kindly, which made Wang Zaijin very useful. As a senior and elder, he should be eligible to enjoy this kind of treatment even if he no longer serves as an official in the court.
But taking office is another matter, because Western Liaoning is the top priority of the imperial court, and it cannot be completely solved in a few words.
"I think Aiqing can do it. I wrote a book about the defense strategies in the western Liaoning region in my spare time. I'm afraid only Aiqing can understand it. If there are any flaws in it, please don't laugh at me!"
Yaoji took out the bound volume he had edited and asked Yang Jinchao to spread out a large map covering Ji Town and Western Liaoning on the table. The combination was more intuitive.
Lao Wangtou took it over disapprovingly, and then flipped through it. However, as soon as he saw the beginning, he was deeply attracted by the novel layout method and the concise and clear illustrations.
A certain prince was very clear about the current military situation in the western Liaoning region. The various ministries were just a mess, waiting to die. Therefore, they could not even implement the active defense tactics planned to be promoted in the Jifu area.
Due to the almost complete loss of field combat capabilities, they could be completely annihilated by Braid within ten miles of the city, so they could only adopt passive defense tactics, which was to shrink the main force of the Ming Army in western Liaoning to three strategic nodes-Ningyuan, Jinzhou, and Shanhaiguan.
Relying on these three places and the surrounding hilltop positions to resist the southern invasion of the braided army, only in this way can the Ming army's remaining effective forces in the western Liaoning region be preserved and pave the way for future counterattacks.
The reason why Ningyuan and Jinzhou are used as strategic fulcrums is because the Ming army has only these two strongholds outside the pass, and the rest of the strongholds have been eaten away step by step.
As for the small castles dotted here and there, they were usually used as farm towns and the people there were okay. In wartime, facing the braided army, there is absolutely no defense capability at all.
What can really be used are the four large-scale strongholds between Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan: Guangning Qiantunwei, Guangning Zhongqiansuo, Guangning Zhonghousuo, and Ningyuan Zhongxu.
The Ningyuan Zhongzuo Station and Guangning Zhongtun Station in Ningyuan and Jinzhou are further north, too far away from Shanhaiguan. Once they are surrounded, the so-called successful support is just a dream.
A certain prince took the initiative to abandon those places that were beyond his reach, in order to focus on the construction of Guangning Zhongqiansuo, which is closest to Shanhaiguan, and use it as a barrier in front of Shanhaiguan.
This place is very close to the coast. After expansion and reinforcement, it will become a fortress, and it can receive strong support from Shanhaiguan direction and the navy at any time.
Once Braid wants to seize this place, he will be attacked by the Ming army from the east and south, and it will be very difficult to besiege the city and recruit reinforcements.
As long as the braid cannot be removed from Guangning Zhongqiansuo, there is no danger at all in Shanhaiguan. This is the key to Shanhaiguan. If you want to knock on the pass without a "key", the result will only be a heavy blow in front of the pass.
In the future, the Ming army's strongholds outside the pass will all be built on high ground near the coastline. Not only will they not have to worry about digging trenches to draw sea water for attack, they can also receive naval assistance at any time.
It is impossible to encircle a large army and force the defenders to surrender. Although the combat effectiveness of the defenders in the city is very low, they will not easily open the city and surrender as long as they can obtain a steady stream of supplies from the sea.
In this way, we can still maintain the purpose of going deep into the hinterland of Liaodong from a vertical perspective, and we can also get rid of the threat of siege and reinforcement tactics.
The disadvantage is that the overall cost is a bit expensive. One city costs at least 500,000 taels. Expanding one city and building three new cities between Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan will cost 2 million taels.
If it cannot affect the monthly salary of soldiers, it can only be spread equally among the annual military expenditures, and it will take at least four years to complete.
But if it can be completed successfully, with these four strongholds as support, the southern defense line from Shanhaiguan to Ningyuan will be relatively stable. The only danger is from the direction of Jinzhou.
A certain prince no longer had much illusions about this place, because Jinzhou City was too far inland, and if he tried to land on the beach to support, he would be violently blocked by braids, which would not be worth the gain.
The problem won't be too big within three years. It would be best if Zu Dashou could wait a little longer. If it doesn't work, he should withdraw his troops and abandon the city and the surrounding small strongholds.
In order to hold on to the city, it would be too much of a loss to let Zhuizi gather and annihilate Zha Ming's twenty to thirty thousand troops, and it would be even more uneconomical to send a large number of reinforcements to join the battle.
Jinzhou is a piece of cake. It will be a big loss if you put it down now, and it will be even worse if you don't let it go in the future. But you must squeeze out the last bit of value from this city before you give it up.
Lao Suntou's one-word long snake formation has a good effect, but it requires a prerequisite, that is, the Ming army must have the ability to retreat from the enemy in the field, otherwise the long snake will be chopped into several pieces by the braid...
After the Ming army developed "phobia", the hope of winning the field battle was wiped out. Ningyuan and Jinzhou advocated by Sun Chengzong became tactical islands.
After being equipped with a large number of firearms, the reason why Braid did not attack these two strongholds was because he was worried that his side would suffer too many casualties. It was not because he did not have the ability to defeat them in a single battle.
If a hundred thousand troops were attached with thousands of artillery pieces and laid siege for half a year, do you think Ningyuan would still exist?
Obviously, as long as Huang Taiji is willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands of losers, Ning Yuan will definitely be wiped off the map!
Jinzhou can also be eradicated using this method, but even if Ningyuan and Jinzhou are defeated, the braid will not have much spare power to attack Shanhaiguan.
For Huangtaiji, instead of eating weights like this, it would be more efficient and convenient to directly lead the army into the pass to plunder.
You can grab millions of taels of silver in one go, and your population and livestock are no less than hundreds of thousands, and you don't have to lose much of your troops.
If things go on like this, the degree of damage to the northern region of Zha Ming will be no less than that of droughts that have continued for years.
When the Ming court was tired of dealing with the rising rebellions in various places, Braid had an opportunity to take advantage of it.
Like the Liao Kingdom's southern invasion strategy, Huang Taiji first controlled the Monan area and then waited for an opportunity to seize the Jifu area.
Once this natural danger is overcome, it will be just around the corner to compete in the Central Plains and even swallow up the Ming Dynasty.
The Imperial Master's long snake strategy was not without its merits. It delayed Braid's move to encroach on territory outside the pass to a certain extent.
For Braid, it would be great to keep these two isolated islands and wait for the captain of the transportation team to deliver the goods!
"I wonder what Your Highness thinks of Sun Chengzong's strategy of building cities?"
Wang Zaijin was still worried about the emperor's grandson sparing him, and when he saw that the prince had similar thoughts in the book, he felt a little emotional.
"It is not advisable to build too many cities. The most important thing is to be able to attack and defend. The location must be chosen well, and it must be on the coast to preserve it. Otherwise, it will definitely be a futile and wasteful strategy."
Before Lao Suntou's greedy snake could eat anything, it was cut into several pieces by Huang Taiji, and it was about to be stir-fried.
Wang Zaijin did not respond, but continued to look through the booklet written by the prince. In particular, the reinforcement of Shanhaiguan was the focus of his attention.
A certain prince imagined that starting from two hundred steps in front of the pass, a trench three feet wide and three feet deep would be built every two hundred steps, and the three trenches would be filled with mines to delay the enemy's attack.
For the interior of the pass, a taller city wall should be built behind the original city wall, one foot higher than the original one. After the new city wall, a watchtower ten feet higher should be built to form a three-layer defense.
Outside the city wall, except for the position directly opposite the city gate to maintain smooth access, they were all cut into sloping slopes to increase the difficulty for the enemy to attack the city.
The existing horse faces and towers need to be modified to greatly improve the defensive capabilities and make the attack more powerful, especially to enhance the lateral shooting capabilities.
A large fortress was built on the top of the mountain north of Shanhaiguan to prevent the enemy from seizing this place, in order to attack the defenders in the pass from a commanding height.
The main focus of the large-scale expansion of Nancheng must be to build a new pier that extends to the sea and can dock large ships, so that supplies can be obtained from the sea when the enemy is attacking from the front and rear.
A certain prince not only wrote the text in detail, but also drew a sketch of the corresponding building, and every part was involved.
It looks very vivid. If it can be implemented, Shanhaiguan will become the first pass in the world in the true sense.
If under certain circumstances, the Ming army had to retreat to Shanhaiguan, then it must be turned into an indestructible fortress.
It would be best to let the braids kill and injure tens of thousands of people before they even touch the city wall, and besiege them for three to five years without being able to get what they want. This can be regarded as "treating them with courtesy".
Behind the city wall, there are also 500 "Longqing" mortars and 10,000 Kang-type rockets to give the opponent an unusually grand and warm welcome ceremony!
Yaoji doesn’t believe that a braid that is about to be beaten to the point of being nowhere to be found still dares to think about its own Shanhaiguan? ? ?
If you are willing to fill in thirty or forty thousand bastards, you can really crawl over and attack the city.
Otherwise, you can only stay away.
This palace can guarantee that the last hurdle will be impossible for you to pass.
It has to be said that the prince's strategy of building a city outside the pass made Wang Zaijin quite disgusted, just like Sun Chengzong.
But the idea of strengthening Shanhaiguan made him very excited because it coincided with his previous ideas.
According to what the prince wrote, even if a new Great Wall is not built in Balipu, Shanhaiguan can still be impregnable.
It will definitely kill half of the enemy troops before they reach the city, and the defenders will be able to get twice the result with half the effort and wait for their hard work.
The prince stated in the book that he could provide Shanhaiguan with 100 red barbarian cannons, 200 large and small Folang machines, 500 mortars, and 10,000 rockets and muskets each.
Although Wang Zaijin had never seen the true appearance of the mortar in Lushan, he knew the wonderful use of the mortar based on the pictures and related explanations drawn by the prince.
With the help of so many sharp weapons, Wang Tingchen's troops still have more than 10,000 troops. In addition to the shrinking troops from other places, another 10,000 new troops will be organized and trained every year, with a total strength of no less than 30,000 to 40,000. It will be easy to stick to Shanhaiguan. It's like turning my palms upside down.
Today is different from the past. Even if Jinzhou and Ningyuan are besieged, the imperial court will not be able to send many troops to rush for reinforcements. Instead of waiting for the enemy to attack these two cities, it is better to shrink the main force into the pass and wait for opportunities to strike.
If the invading enemy can be severely damaged, it will be a great achievement, and a counterattack will be possible. Otherwise, a large number of troops can be saved to avoid being gathered and annihilated by the enemy in the wilderness.
In Lao Wangtou's view, spending half a million taels of silver to reinforce the Guangning Zhongqian Post was completely unnecessary. With this money, 10,000 new troops could be trained.
