Zhu Su's idea was to go to Ji Town to find the Ming army in Ji Town to join forces before Naha reacted. If Naha Chu is still bent on breaking Ji Zhen, then he will assist the Ming army in Ji Zhen to fight against Na Ha Chu; if Na Ha Chu leads his army back to help prepare to recapture Shanhaiguan, then he and his men should leave first to avoid the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.
However, Shanhaiguan, which was finally removed, cannot be given up easily. Someone still needs to leave a partial division to defend here to cut off Naha's escape route. There is no doubt that Ye Wang is the most suitable candidate for this job. After all, Shanhaiguan is his defense area. Now that Xiongguan has been recaptured, he is naturally not willing to abandon the pass easily.
"Commander Ye really doesn't want to leave more troops?" Zhu Su said. "There are only three thousand people. If the Jinshan garrison really sends people to attack, how can you defend it?"
"There is no need to worry, Your Highness." Ye Wang smiled boldly: "I believe that Liaowei has been entangled with Naha in Liaodong for a long time. It was just accidentally broken up before. How can it not have any background?"
"This time when we recapture Shanhaiguan, we only need to fly the flag of our Ming army, and our troops from the Ding Liao Guard will naturally gather here. Besides, if we recapture Shanhaiguan quickly, how can we not frighten the many grassroots in Liaodong? I think when they get the news, they will change their tune again and send people to help me secure the Liao Guard."
Ye Wang was talking about the various small warlords scattered throughout Liaodong. In the past, when the Ming Dynasty conquered the capital of the Yuan Dynasty in the north, many Yuan army generals were afraid of the Ming Dynasty Bingfeng and came to Liaodong to escape. Some of these people defected to Nahachu, the Yuan army that was entrenched in Liaodong, and the other part wanted to have both sides, and became a wallflower in Liaodong, supporting their own troops.
Previously, Naha's sudden thunderous attack caused the Ding Liao Guards to be defeated immediately. These wallflowers immediately surrendered to Naha's command, causing the situation to change. In an instant, Naha's army seemed to have directly occupied the entire territory of Liaodong. At this time, the Dingliao Guard was on the rise again, and Naha's main force was not in Liaodong. Some of these outsiders would inevitably show their favor to the Ding Liao Guard again and provide help to Ye Wang, who intended to reorganize the Ding Liao Guard.
"In this case, I wish Commander Ye to be victorious in every battle. I hope that one day, you and I can win on the top of Jinshan Mountain." Zhu Su said with a smile. Ye Wang also smiled and clasped his fists in response. After the two groups of people said goodbye, the Shanhaiguan gate opened. Zhu Su and his entourage led more than 7,000 people and more than 20,000 Yuan army prisoners, and came out of the customs towards Jizhen.
It was already very difficult for Ye Wang to guard Xiongguan with 3,000 men. Naturally, he could not be allowed to take on the arduous task of guarding the prisoners and getting food and grass for the prisoners.
Ji Town was an important town of the imperial court. It was under the rule of the Northern Yuan Dynasty in the past, and it was also a key national center. Although the north is now in decline, there should still be some prosperity here. But Zhu Su and others were walking along the way, and many of the people were in ragged clothes and walking in a hurry. When they saw the army, everyone's expressions changed greatly and they ran away. After finally inviting an old man back, he shrank back when meeting Zhu Su and others, for fear that he would be eaten alive by Zhu Su and others.
"Don't be afraid, old man, we are the Ming army." Zhu Su dismounted and helped the old man up. "This place is near Changli County, right? Why are there so many people wandering around like you?"
"Noble... Noble, you don't know something." The old man heard that Zhu Su himself said that he was the army of the Ming Dynasty, and saw that the person who asked the question was a young nobleman with bright eyes, white teeth, and a kind face. The fear in his heart finally disappeared, and he spoke Explained: "A month ago, Tatars came from Shanhaiguan and washed away Changli County where we were waiting. I hid in the mountains before they came, and I narrowly escaped death."
"But now I don't have a drop of food to eat, so I can only wander around begging for food!"
Changli County was actually looted. This is unexpected but also reasonable. Zhu Su and the people behind him looked at each other, knowing that it must be the main force of Naha's headquarters who had done something good. After thinking for a while, he asked his father-in-law again: "After the Tatars washed Changli, where did the Ming officers and soldiers in Ji Town go?"
"The officers and soldiers did not stop the Tatars, so they all gathered in Yongping Mansion in the north. Now on the Yongping side, the Tatars are still surrounding the city," said the old man.
Zhu Su gave his father-in-law a bag of grain as a thank you gift, and the father-in-law left with great gratitude. Zhu Di came to Zhu Su: "Fifth brother, do you want to save Yongping immediately, or?"
"There's no rush. There are refugees everywhere in Ji Town. It can be seen that Naha is doing great harm when he goes out everywhere." Zhu Su said. "He has plundered surrounding towns, and it is very likely that he has obtained enough food and grass through this method. In this case, whether the Shanhaiguan retreat has been cut off, it will not be so critical for him."
"Now that Shanhaiguan has been captured, and he has learned the news, he must be even more unwilling to retreat without fully grabbing Yongping's resources. But it has been more than a month since he captured Shanhaiguan, and the Ming Dynasty must be mobilizing an army to Ji Town. If he retreats If he is too slow, his family will be in danger of being destroyed in an instant. Now it is useless for him to try hard to attack the Yongping Mansion. He cannot eat it. It would be a pity to abandon it. "
"If we go there rashly under such a situation, maybe Naha will directly choose to surround the point for reinforcements, and turn his gun to deal with us first."
Zhu Di nodded. He was also worried about this, so he wanted to remind him. But now that his fifth brother has thought of this, he won't say anything more.
"Then where should we go?" Ru Taisu asked, looking at the old man's leaving figure.
"Find a place to settle down first and gather nearby troops who want to rescue Yongping Mansion." Zhu Su said. "Now Naha is more anxious than us. He came to beat grass in the valley, but now he is stuck in the quagmire."
"We can wait until we have raised enough troops to confront him before meeting him."
"But how to solve the food and grass problem?" Zhu Xi asked.
"I have a clue about this problem... General Zhang!" Zhu Su said. Zhang He, carrying two swords on his back, immediately stepped out of the crowd: "The general is here, what are your orders from His Majesty the Fifth Highness?"
"As you said before, you take your people and quickly go to Qian'an to use our brothers' names to raise ships. But it's not to protect the retreat, but to go to sea from there and transport military supplies by sea from Suzhou. . Can you successfully open up this maritime grain route?" Zhu Su asked Zhang Hedao.
"General, take your orders! If you can't do this, please behead me!" When he said he wanted to go to sea, Zhang He said confidently, clasping his fists.
"Don't get into a shipwreck." Zhu Su winked at him.
Zhang He also smiled: "Even if you are in trouble, I can deliver the food ashore to His Highness first." What he said was categorical. Indeed, even in the desperate situation before, Zhang He still commanded the fleet to bring the group to success. Sent to a safe shore.
The loss of food on the sea is infinitely less than on land. If the sea food can be opened, then the situation in Liaodong will not be passive because a mere 100,000 shi of military rations were burned. It's better to be late than early, not to mention that if this matter is successful, it will also allow Lao Zhu and the ministers in the court to see the benefits of sea transportation more intuitively... Zhu Su thought to himself.
(End of chapter)
