Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, looked away from Zhang Ruoqi and looked towards Songshan.
I saw hundreds of thousands of Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers setting up many camps, leaning against the mountains and the sea, scattered in a chessboard, with flags covering the field, a forest of swords and guns, and drums and horns responding to each other.
Since the Battle of Liaoyang, this is the most powerful military deployment of the Ming Dynasty!
Hong Chengchou looked at this mighty and majestic military appearance, but he felt heavy worries in his heart. At this moment, he couldn't help but think of the letter from Chen Xinjia, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, urging the war, which he received last night. He was deeply worried about the Liao affairs being constantly forced by the court.
He sighed softly and said: "The nobles in the court have no clever plans. They only seek luck and are bent on urging the war. Don't they want to disregard the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and the safety of the country and the court!"
Qiu Minyang seemed to hear the helplessness in Hong Chengchou's words, and he reminded him softly with a borrowed expression: "Director Hong, be careful what you say."
When he said this, his eyes couldn't help but glance at Zhang Ruoqi and Ma Shaoyu beside him, and he felt relieved when he saw that they were also pointing at the Tatar military camp outside Jinzhou City and did not pay attention to the situation on their side.
Although Hong Chengchou's face was as usual and he still had an elegant expression, he was really in a bad mood inside. He said in a heavy tone: "I am now ordered to assist Jin, and I will never look back. However, the morale of the captives has not declined, and they have no intention of retreating." , it seems that a fierce battle is inevitable.
It’s just that we don’t know where this war will start! "
Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, who was the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, originally planned to temporarily order all the troops to dig trenches and set up strongholds when they arrived near Songshan City, and set up camp step by step. He did not want to rush towards Jinzhou.
However, last night, he once again received a secret letter from Chen Xinjia, Minister of War, which finally prevented him from adopting a steady and steady military strategy.
Even though a day had passed, whenever he thought of the tone of his soldier Chen Xinjia in the sealed book, Hong Chengchou still felt very unhappy, as if a big stone was blocking his chest.
At that time, he was stationed in Xingshan Fort and was discussing with Qiu Minyang, the Fu minister, about the invasion of Songshan. Xie Sixin, Li Song, Liu Zizheng and other close aides were also involved in the discussion.
In view of the past two major defeats in the Battle of Liaoyang and the Battle of Dalinghe, everyone urged the king's division to adopt the strategy of fighting and defending after arriving at Songshan, dividing the army into two squads, half of which fought against the Tatars. The other half stepped up their training, waiting for the opportunity, and marched towards Jinzhou City step by step.
Everyone agreed that as long as they could maintain a stalemate with the Tatars for several months, when the Tatars ran out of food, the morale of the army would be unstable. At that time, the whole division would attack and attack hard, and then they would be sure of victory.
After Hong Chengchou received Chen Xinjia's secret letter, he did not avoid Qiu Minyang. He pointed to a section of the secret letter and ordered his close aide Li Song to read it for everyone.
Li Song took the secret letter and read it: "...As we approached Sanxietang Bao, Yunluqi wanted to invade again. If this is true, we will be besieged internally and externally, and the situation will be unstoppable.
Since the siege of Jin by the Donglu, which lasted for more than a year, Taitai's soldiers were awarded the Jin, and hundreds of thousands of food and wages were wasted. However, the siege of Jin has not been resolved. If the Lu cavalry invades, the interior will be trapped.
At this time, the troops in Taitai were stagnant in pines and brocades, wandering around and looking around. If they did not enter the mountains and seas, the three alliances would be empty. If they went to the west of Liaoning, they would return empty-handed.
The Lord is worried about the humiliation of his ministers, and I am also uneasy at night! "
After listening to him reading, Hong Chengchou said with a wry smile: "As the governor of Jiliao, I hold the title of Minister of the Ministry of War. I am a colleague of the same generation as Chen Fangyuan. In terms of qualifications, he is even more backward.
But in this letter, he used such a tone to threaten me. Isn't it unreasonable? "
Qiu Minyang didn't know what to say at that time, so he remained silent, looking thoughtful.
However, Xie Sixin persuaded: "I think the emperor must be worried about the Liao affairs and is too anxious, so I said this. In addition, Director Zhang went to the Liao Dynasty and did not know the true situation between the enemy and ourselves. He always felt that victory was a matter of contract. , every time we exchange letters, it will definitely make our soldiers eager to solve the siege of Jinzhou."
Liu Zizheng also said angrily: "The imperial court does not know the true situation on the Songjin front line, but it wants to control it thousands of miles away, so that the commander of the army will be blamed at every turn. How can we win this battle against the Tatars?"
Everyone discussed secretly until late at night, and finally decided to give another memorial to Emperor Chongzhen, detailing the pros and cons of the Liao affair, and trying to win the emperor's support for the strategy of fighting and defending, and gradually advancing towards Jinzhou.
At the same time, Hong Chengchou personally wrote a long letter to his soldier Chen Xinjia, with roughly the same content. Although he had guessed that this action was destined to be in vain, he could only do his best and obey fate.
Because Liu Zizheng himself was familiar with the situation outside the customs and was generous and outspoken, he decided to send him back to Beijing with a memorial to Emperor Chongzhen and a handwritten letter to Chen Xinjia, and asked him to state the interests and risks to Chen Xinjia face to face.
At dawn the next day, when Wang's army moved towards Songshan, Liu Zizheng came to bid farewell to Hong Chengchou.
He knew very well in his heart that among the general officers who aided the Liao Dynasty, there were many who were timid in fighting, and they were all working on one thing, and they might not be able to form a joint force during the war. Therefore, he looked at Hong Chengchou with worried eyes and said: "I know very well that the governor is in this humble position." The minister is in a difficult situation and has many constraints in the army. Although he wants to be cautious, Nai Chaozhong and the director only know how to promote the war!
After Zizheng enters Beijing, he must fight hard in front of his troops. He also hopes that the governors can first occupy the position of Rufeng and Shimen Mountain, overlooking Jinzhou, and then take action.
As long as the Tatar thieves are not given an opportunity to take advantage of, and if there is a little delay, the slaves will retreat. Please be careful and do not take the decisive battle with the Tatar thieves lightly! "
Hong Chengchou sent him off with a wry smile and said to him: "Sir, go with ease. Fortunately, the person supervising the army by my side is not an envoy."
…………
Just before the military meeting, Hong Chengchou still tended to play it safe in his heart, hoping that Emperor Chongzhen and his own soldier Chen Xinjia could be persuaded by him to change the military strategy of the Liao Dynasty.
But the arrival of a woman finally made him change his mind.
This woman was none other than Zuo, the Commander-in-Chief of Zuo of the Ming Dynasty, the wife of Zu Dashou, the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Forward who was assigned the seal of General of the Liao Forward. He learned that Hong Chengchou had convened a meeting among the officers and generals in the Wu Sangui camp.
Then he led his family and bodyguards to rush over, and met with Hong Chengchou, who asked him to conquer Shimen Mountain in order to help relieve the siege of Jinzhou as soon as possible. Mrs. Zuo also climbed up to observe the internal situation of Jinzhou, and also knew that there were no trees in the city, no woodcutters, and no fuel wood. If the siege is not relieved, the morale of the army and the people will be shattered, and Jinzhou will not be able to defend it.
She even bluntly said that if Governor Hong did not agree to attack Shimen Mountain in order to quickly relieve the siege of Jinzhou, he would personally lead a group of servants under his command to attack West Shimen alone.
At this time, the commander-in-chief Zhang Ruoqi was pressing hard again, claiming that Jinzhou was right in front of him, but Hong Chengchou stopped moving forward, which was a sign of disobedience. If he did not advance to relieve the siege of Jinzhou, he would join in the cowardly fight against the enemy. .
Moreover, Zhang Ruoqi even warned that if the conspiratorship of the captives really happened, he, Hong Chengchou, would become the number one criminal in the Ming Dynasty.
