The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"Liaozhen is doomed to defeat."

North of Xuzhou City, the generals and officers of the various garrisons gathered in the military tent of the Jingnan Army, and were in an uproar because of Chen Wang's words.

"Ningyuan is a fortified city, and Shanhaiguan is a strategic pass. Liaozhen has an army of 60,000, and it is indeed difficult to defeat the Qing army in open battle. However, even if the Qing army has 100,000 iron cavalry, they will have difficulty in defending the city and pass. Why does the general assert that Liaozhen will definitely be defeated?"

Zhou Yumao looked solemn and took a step forward, approaching the sand table.

"The Qing army amassed over 100,000 troops to attack Jinzhou, and Jinzhou held out for two years."

"Liaozhen is firmly holding a strategic position; how could it possibly be defeated so quickly?"

Cao Bianjiao's expression was not good. From the moment he chose to follow Chen Wang, through countless battles, he had always had great faith in Chen Wang's judgment.

Whether it was the joint campaign against the enemy or the subsequent Battle of Yangzhou, all these events can prove Chen Wang's strategic vision.

However, this time, Cao Bianjiao was somewhat unconvinced by Chen Wang's words.

Chen Wang actually predicted that Liaozhen would be defeated, and that it would be a quick defeat in a short period of time.

Zhao Huailiang stood with his hand on his sword, not participating in the military council discussion.

Military discussions were not within his purview.

As the commander of the Imperial Guard, his duty was simply to protect Chen Wang, the commander-in-chief.

He had filled the vacancy of the Chief of the General Staff and temporarily took charge of the General Staff.

However, he has now stepped down as Chief of the General Staff and handed the position over to Dai Zhenglin.

Compared to formulating strategies and coordinating military operations, Zhao Huailiang felt that he was more suited to combat.

His concurrent role as Commander of the Intelligence Division mainly involved oversight, simply summarizing information and handing it over to Chen Wang.

Dai Zhenglin, who was standing to the side as the Chief of the General Staff, frowned in thought. After pondering for a long time, he also spoke.

"According to the General Staff's calculations, given this situation, the Liaodong Garrison should be able to hold out against the Qing court alone until at least the end of the year."

"We only need to wait until the summer harvest this year, when the grain and fodder are stored, to launch a summer offensive, which will greatly alleviate the pressure on Liaozhen."

"At that time, as long as our main army marches north along the Grand Canal, ensuring the supply route directly to the capital, and Liaozhen marches south out of Shanhaiguan, we can launch a pincer attack and defeat the Qing army, forcing them to retreat back to the area outside the pass."

Chen Wang remained calm, his hawk-like gaze slowly sweeping over the crowd. He did not harbor any ill intentions despite their doubts.

"In the Battle of Songjin, the eight towns that came to our aid were all elite troops from the nine border regions, and they were fully paid and well-fed."

"As a result, the troops of the Eight Garrisons were united and in high spirits. They devoted themselves to the northern relief efforts and were able to match the strength of the Qing army. In the end, they were defeated because of Hong Chengchou's strategic mistakes, not because of unfavorable circumstances."

Just as Zhou Yuma was about to speak, Chen Wang raised his hand to stop him.

"I know what you're talking about."

Chen Wang raised his command whip and pointed it in the direction of Liaozhen.

"Your judgments and deductions are all based on the time of Songjin."

"But the situation in the North is now very different from that of the Battle of Songjin."

"The northern kingdom has been lost, the capital has fallen, the nine border regions have been lost, and only the troops of the isolated town of Liaodong remain."

Chen Wang's gaze was cold, and his tone became more forceful.

"The morale of the troops in Liaozhen has plummeted. Beset by internal and external troubles and attacked from both sides, the soldiers are already filled with fear and anxiety."

While pacifying the southern kingdom, Chen Wang did not forget the affairs of the northern kingdom.

The Intelligence Division has already established a considerable intelligence network in the North, and naturally, it has also placed many people in important places like Liaozhen.

Moreover, Chen Wang also stationed some people in Liaozhen as a liaison to maintain smooth correspondence with Liaozhen.

The people of Liaozhen were in a state of panic. The desire to reclaim their homeland, which had been rekindled by the death of Zu Dashou and the bloodshed of the eight garrisons in Songjin, vanished the moment the capital fell.

Zu Zepu was mediocre in ability and had a mediocre reputation, far inferior to Zu Dashou.

He had no way of stabilizing the morale of the troops in the various camps under his command.

Liaozhen was said to have 60,000 troops, but in reality, there were far fewer. Many of them were garrison troops stationed for farming, as well as militia members who came to assist in the defense.

If Liaozhen truly had 60,000 combat-ready troops, they would have already used them all to aid Jinzhou during the Battle of Songjin.

Less than half of the troops in the Liaodong garrisons of Guanzhong and Ningzhou were actually usable.

Chen Wang was well aware of this situation even without the intelligence sent by the Intelligence Division.

Historically, when Wu Sangui was ordered to come to the aid of the enemy, only five thousand Guan Ning cavalrymen were able to accompany him on the expedition.

When Li Zicheng attacked Shanhaiguan, the entire Liaozhen garrison had nearly 60,000 troops defending it.

However, most of these 60,000 people were Liaodong civilians who were temporarily conscripted, and there were also many defeated soldiers who fled from the capital.

Historical records confirm that the actual number of troops in Guanzhong and Ningxia was only 30,000, and the number of elite cavalry was less than 10,000.

In fact, the details of the troops in Liaozhen sent by the Intelligence Division and the Liaison Office at this time were even fewer than this number.

Zu Zepu told him all the details about Liaodong.

Of the 60,000 troops, only 8,000 were elite cavalry and 20,000 were infantry, of whom 3,000 to 4,000 were recruited after the Songjin campaign. The rest were all young men and women from Liaodong who were temporarily conscripted.

Compared to the reasons mentioned above in history, the biggest reason lies in the Battle of Songjin...

The Battle of Songjin did indeed inflict considerable casualties on the Qing army.

However, in wars of this era, the greatest casualties in a battle are concentrated in the pursuit and killing after the rout.

The Qing army suffered limited casualties, but the casualties in Liaodong were undeniably heavy.

Historically, most of the troops from Songjin and Liaozhen fled back to Ningyuan.

For example, Liu Zhaoji did not die in the battle of Songjin, but led his troops to escape, and finally died in battle when Yangzhou fell.

However, in this Battle of Songjin, many of the soldiers from Guan and Ning were determined to fight to the death.

Liu Zhaoji led his troops to fight the Qing army together with Yang Guozhu. As bait, he covered the retreat of the main force, and all his soldiers died in battle outside Jinzhou.

The Qing army suffered considerable losses, and the troops in Guan and Ning garrisons also suffered heavy losses.

In addition, the recovery period started a year earlier than in previous years.

Therefore, the current strength of Liaodong is even less than that of Liaodong when the Qing army entered the pass in history.

"The national situation today is no longer the same as it was during the Songjin period."

"The troops in Liaozhen are no longer the elite of the Nine Garrisons."

Chen Wang lowered his voice.

"You must remember this."

"All deductions and judgments must be based on the current situation and reality."

"Shanhaiguan is indeed a formidable pass, and Ningyuan is a formidable town, but no matter how strong a city is, whether it can be defended ultimately depends on who is defending it."

Chen Wang also wanted Liaozhen to be able to hold on, but it was extremely difficult.

At this time, Liaozhen was short of food and clothing, its soldiers were demoralized, and its people were divided.

Zu Zepu did not have much control over Liaozhen, and the Zu family's troops suffered heavy losses in successive battles.

Zu Zepu, a direct descendant of the Zu family, did not even have as many soldiers as Zu Kuan, who was the adopted son of Zu Dashou.

Zu Kuan still had over ten thousand troops under his command, while Zu Zepu could only truly control the last thousand or so elite cavalry of the Zu clan. "The problems in Liaozhen are not just that."

"There's no need to worry about Zu Zepu and Zu Kuan's positions, but no one knows what Wu Sangui is really thinking..."

Chen Wang's voice was deep, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

"Wu Sangui?"

Most of the people in the tent looked at each other in bewilderment.

Their understanding of Wu Sangui was limited; they basically didn't know him personally, at most they had heard of him and knew that he was the General Commander of Ningyuan.

When Songjin was surrounded, he was elected as the commander-in-chief by the troops of the Six Garrisons and led the troops to break through Songjin.

The most recent news about Liaodong was that after the Qing army captured Jinzhou, they continued south to attack Ningyuan. After besieging Ningyuan for several months without success, they were instead defeated and forced to retreat by Wu Sangui's troops who launched a surprise attack on their camp.

Compared to the bewilderment of the others, Zhao Huailiang's expression was different.

"Wu Sangui is indeed a major hidden danger..."

Zhao Huailiang, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, causing an uproar among the officers and soldiers in the tent.

“The Wu family is different from the Zu family. Wu Sangui’s relatives and family members are not in Liaodong, but in the capital.”

Zhao Huailiang is currently the head of the Intelligence Department, and what he said is undoubtedly confirmed by the Intelligence Department.

"The current situation is dire. Liaodong is besieged from both inside and outside. Wu Sangui and the relatives of many Liaodong generals are under the control of the Qing court."

"Moreover, you may not know that in the past twenty years, quite a few Liaodong generals have surrendered to the Qing army, and they were related to each other."

Zhao Huailiang took out a roster from his pocket.

"This is intelligence gathered by the Intelligence Division in Liaodong, which records the relationship between the surrendered Liao generals and the current officers and soldiers of Liaozhen."

As the score was passed from hand to hand among the generals in the tent, the atmosphere inside the central command tent grew increasingly somber.

Chen Wang did not go to see it; Zhao Huailiang had already submitted it to him before the military council.

Moreover, even without intelligence from the Intelligence Bureau, he was well aware of the relationship between Liaodong and the Qing court.

The Zu family lineage includes figures such as Zu Dale, Zu Dacheng, Zu Kefa, Zu Zeyuan, and Zu Zehong, all of whom served as generals in the Qing court.

Besides the Lezu clan, Liaozhen also had many generals and officers, such as Zhang Cunren and Xia Chengde.

The generals of Liaodong were mostly related by marriage.

"At this point, in their despair, if the Qing court were to send envoys to Liaodong, under duress and enticement, many people would surely waver in their resolve."

Cao Bianjiao sighed and tossed the register onto the map in front of him.

"If the war situation changes, I fear that chaos will break out within Liaozhen and it will collapse... It could happen in an instant..."

Zhou Yumao's gaze lingered on the map, still somewhat puzzled.

"When the Qing army entered the pass, the total number of troops was no more than 110,000, which was insufficient to support the overall situation. Among the armies that went south, there were even many surrendered soldiers from the north."

"I have heard that in the capital, there are only about 10,000 Manchu soldiers and 40,000 surrendered soldiers left."

"Although Liaodong is incompetent, the Qing army's strength is such that it will be difficult to defeat Liaodong."

Chen Wang remained calm and composed, speaking indifferently.

"This is an open secret, but do you think Huang Taiji can't see things that you can see clearly?"

Zhou Yumao's expression faltered slightly upon hearing this. If one were to discuss the most fearsome person in the Qing court, it would undoubtedly be Huang Taiji.

Even Nurhaci, who established his base in Liaodong, was far inferior to Huang Taiji.

If Nurhaci had lived a few more years, he would probably have been driven back to the Changbai Mountains and Heilongjiang River region by the Ming army and returned to a life of fishing and hunting.

Huang Taiji was undoubtedly a first-rate figure in his time, both in politics and military strategy.

They repeatedly bypassed the border and successfully disrupted the Ming court.

The great victory at Songjin inflicted heavy losses on the elite troops of the Ming army's nine border regions.

Without Huang Taiji, there would be no Qing Dynasty as we know it today; this is no exaggeration.

It would be truly strange if Huang Taiji couldn't even see this.

"Outer Mongolian vassal state".

Cao Bianjiao turned his gaze to the northernmost point on the map and gave the answer.

"The Jurchens lack manpower; even if the entire tribe were to gather, it would be difficult to assemble a large enough army for an attack."

"The Korean soldiers were weak and incompetent. Our army had previously recruited Korean troops to suppress the rebellion several times, but we suffered repeated defeats because the Korean troops collapsed first and broke through the formation, leading to the loss of our troops and our deaths."

“Huang Taiji will not recruit troops from Korea, nor will he be able to recruit troops from the heart of Jianzhou.”

"Therefore, Huang Taiji now only has one place left where he can recruit troops..."

The outer Mongolian vassal states were indeed the best place to recruit soldiers.

The Mongol tribes were not lacking in manpower, but they were divided and constantly clashed with each other on the grasslands. The Ming court had always tried to divide and suppress them.

Even so, when the grasslands were struck by natural disasters, large numbers of livestock died, and people faced shortages of food and clothing.

Under the leadership of one or more powerful chieftains, the Mongol tribes would mobilize all able-bodied men from their respective tribes to raid the borders from the south, often numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

In order to maintain a superior troop strength, the Qing army would often recruit soldiers from the outer Mongolian vassal states each time it entered the pass. However, in order to suppress the development of Mongolia, it usually did not recruit too many soldiers.

"If Huang Taiji were to conscript troops from the outer Mongolian vassal states, the internal balance that has been painstakingly maintained will be completely disrupted... This will be extremely detrimental to future development..."

"The outer Mongol vassals will eventually become a major threat to its core interests..."

Cao Bianjiao's expression was extremely solemn. Compared to the Jurchens, who had only risen to power in the last twenty years, the Mongols were the Ming court's long-standing nemesis.

The Mongol Empire, which once spanned tens of thousands of miles, was ultimately too powerful, like a nightmare for the world, haunting the hearts of all nations.

Despite Hongwu's several northern expeditions and Yongle's numerous campaigns to suppress the Mongols, it was still difficult to completely eradicate them.

The several alliances of the Mongol tribes had a significant impact on the Nine Border Regions.

First came the Tumu Crisis, then came Anda.

The Mongol tribes were actually quite powerful.

However, due to the Ming court's blockade, iron weapons were scarce and military preparedness was weak, so it was ultimately difficult to pose a real threat.

With the Qing army weakened, the conscription of the Outer Mongolians to the south would inevitably give them greater power within the Qing court and allow them to acquire more armed forces.

This inevitably led to an imbalance of power within the Qing court.

Such an imbalance will not have a significant impact in the short term, but it will inevitably lead to chaos within the Qing court in the near future.

The Mongol tribes constantly yearn for the days when they held supreme power and dominated the world.

“Conscripting troops from the outer Mongolian vassals would indeed cause numerous internal conflicts within the Qing court.”

"But that's something for the future."

Chen Wang's expression was solemn.

"If we want a future, then the Qing Dynasty cannot afford to lose now..." (End of Chapter)