Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

In Liaodong, when the news of Man Gui's great victory in Daning reached them, Sun Chengzong and others were shocked and speechless.

As they had been fighting against the Jianlu all along, they understood better than anyone else the significance of Man Gui's complete defeat of 7,000 Jianlu with his weak force.

Bi Zisu, the Liaodong military envoy, said with emotion:
"Seven thousand Jianlu, close to a flag."

"If the Liaodong armies had the fighting power of the Dongping Army, Jianlu would not dare to send out a single banner alone in the future."

"If there were eight armies like this, wouldn't it be possible to completely wipe out the Jianlu?"

These words touched the hearts of many people.

Although they knew that 5,000 people could defeat 7,000 people, it did not mean that 40,000 people could defeat 60,000 people.

But he couldn't help thinking this way in his heart, fantasizing about completely destroying the Jianlu.

Some even said:

"Dongping Hou is so brave, should we ask him to lead the Liaodong campaign next year?"

"If he can bring the Dongping Army here, he can at least fight against one banner of the Jianlu."

These words made some people excited, but the faces of Zhao Lushio, You Shilu and others looked a little unhappy.

Because they have already been confirmed to be in charge of the war next year. If they were replaced at this time, where would they be placed?
Sun Chengzong had thought of inviting Man Gui over, but after looking at the expressions of the generals and his ambition to confer a title deep in his heart, he said:
"General Man is the governor of Daning. He must guard the Daning grassland and the Jizhen Great Wall area."

"His Dongping Army cannot move without permission. The imperial court will not allow it."

Rejecting the proposal to transfer Man Gui and the Dongping Army, Sun Chengzong pointed to the battle report and said:

"As for the combat effectiveness of the Dongping Army, it was actually not much stronger than the elite troops under your command."

"The reason why we won this battle so easily was because we were equipped with new firearms."

"General Sun, your Shesheng Battalion is more proficient in using new firearms. Can they achieve the same results?"

Sun Yingyuan stared at the battle report and pondered for a while before saying:
"If the Jianlu cavalry charges like they did in the Battle of Daning, I have the confidence to defeat them."

"But after the Battle of Daning, I guess Jianlu will never do this again."

"They fought on horseback, and the Shesheng Battalion couldn't catch up with them."

When the Liaodong generals heard this, they were somewhat skeptical and did not think that the new army, which had only been trained for a few years, could be comparable to the elite troops under Man Gui. However, none of them refuted it at this time, and instead praised the Shesheng Battalion for being more proficient in using firearms.

Zhao Lujiao even shouted:

"Man Gui is good at cavalry fighting, but in this battle he dismounted and fought on foot."

"He is not a cavalry general at all now. He is a mounted infantryman who learned from the imperial camp."

"These mounted infantry are not as good as cavalry in terms of cavalry combat, and are not as good as infantry in terms of foot combat. It's just that the Jianlu have never seen new firearms, so Man Gui took advantage of it..."

He said a lot of things, belittling Man Gui's achievements.

Obviously, the discord between him and Man Gui did not disappear just because Man Gui was transferred away, and there was still some grudge in his heart.

Whenever Zhao Luejiao thought of Man Gui being promoted from Earl of Dongping to Marquis of Dongping, he couldn't help but feel a fire burning in his heart, wishing he could achieve the same feat.

However, Sun Yingyuan disagreed with his words and said:
"Mounted infantry is not as good as cavalry in mounted warfare, they just use horses as a means of transportation for ease of movement."

"But in terms of infantry combat, they are not inferior. The imperial court's cavalry infantry are all selected from the elite infantry."

"For the new army, the salary for the mounted infantry is 70%, the same as the elite infantry, which is only 10% lower than the cavalry who get 80%."

"Dongping Hou was able to keep his soldiers in formation during this battle, and he showed no fear in the face of the Jianlu's charge. Not many people in the Beijing camp can do this, and their infantry combat level is elite."

"What's more, most of the mounted infantry of the Marquis of Dongping were transferred from the cavalry. Their cavalry combat skills may not be lower than those of the cavalry."

"The court must have seen this, so they conferred the title of Marquis to General Man and allowed him to train more elite troops."

These words refuted Zhao Rujiao's point of view, which undoubtedly made him unhappy.

Just when he wanted to use his status to rebuke Sun Yingyuan, the lieutenant general, Sun Chengzong said:
"No matter how strong the mounted infantry is, they can only be compared to the cavalry of the past."

"Liaodong sent 5,000 cavalry to the left army camp, but 2,000 of them have been sent back."

"They use specialized cavalry muskets, so their cavalry combat capabilities are definitely better than those of mounted infantry."

"Why don't we hold an exercise and see for ourselves?"

Upon hearing this, all the generals became interested and wanted to see what the differences were with the new cavalry, especially the muskets they were equipped with, and what secrets they had.

However, Sun Yingyuan came out to spoil the fun and said:
"I welcome the commander-in-chief's drill."

"But according to our previous experience in Liaodong, the power of the new muskets is not evident at all."

"I request that the casualties and victory be determined according to the latest weapon damage model developed by the General Staff."

This is a point he has always insisted on. When he was conducting exercises with the Liaodong army before, he believed that their judgment of casualties and victory or defeat was unreasonable.

However, the Liaodong side did not believe in the combat capability of Sheshengying at all and thought that he was the one who was overestimated.

So the exercises between the two sides were very unpleasant and neither side could convince the other.

Now that the new musket has demonstrated its true power under Man Gui's command, the General Staff has updated the weapon lethality index and damage model, and Sun Yingyuan strongly requested that this approach be followed.

Sun Chengzong had also heard of the dispute between Sun Yingyuan and the Liaodong armies before, but he didn't care about it at all.

In his opinion, it was normal for each army to be dissatisfied with each other, and conflicts would make it easier for him to coordinate and manage.

Now, after Man Gui's battle, he suddenly realized:
It turned out that Sun Yingyuan was right. The judgment of the previous exercise was too biased towards the Liaodong army.

So he decided immediately:
"Just follow the damage model of the General Staff."

"If anyone still refuses to accept the decision, go to the General Staff Headquarters in Beijing and ask for justice."

The rules for this exercise were set in full accordance with the regulations of the General Staff.

Sun Yingyuan happily agreed and planned to let the people from Liaodong see the combat effectiveness of Sheshengying.

Zhang Daojun, the Northeast Pacification Envoy, reminded:
"Zhang Cunren has been escorted to Beijing, but there is no guarantee that there are still spies from the Jianlu in Liaodong."

"The scale of this exercise should not be too large, and the specific details should be kept confidential as much as possible."

"Prevent the Jianlu from finding out and knowing how to deal with the new firearms."

Sun Chengzong and others nodded and decided that each army would send one thousand people for this exercise.

The Shesheng Camp and the Zuojun Camp, which were reorganized according to the new military system, sent out a battalion.
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After Sun Yingyuan returned to the camp, he instructed Zhang Yongan:

"You will lead the team personally in this exercise."

"Let the Liaodong armies see why the emperor wants to train a new army."

"We must make them understand that reorganizing into a new army is the only way out." "If you don't want to reorganize, go to the battlefield and prove your combat effectiveness."

He still did not forget his mission, which was to escort the reorganization of Liaodong. One of the tasks was to break the arrogance of the Liaodong army.

Zhang Yongan also understood what his mission was in Liaodong, and he was very unhappy with the words "court lackeys" and other terms that the Liaodong army had been slandering these days. After learning the details of the exercise, he immediately said:
"General, rest assured. I will dispatch our best troops to show them what the new army is."

He mobilized a brigade that he had previously trained to participate in this exercise.

The result of the exercise was as expected. Although Zhao Lujiao, You Shilu, Hou Shilu and other Liaodong generals mobilized their elite servants, they were defeated in a very frustrating way when facing the Shesheng Battalion who fired at them outside the range of bows and arrows.

Even the cavalry of the left camp was defeated when they charged into the battle because the range of their revolver muskets was insufficient compared to their trapdoor muskets.

However, after they rushed within a hundred meters, the continuous firing of the revolver cavalry guns caused great losses to the Shesheng Battalion. Moreover, if these people wanted to run, the Shesheng Battalion could not catch up.

Sun Chengzong looked at the results of the exercise and felt both heavy and happy.

The heavy problem was that the Liaodong army, like the Jianlu, was unable to break through the firearms array. The old army was on the verge of elimination, and they, Liaodong, were the first to be asked by the court to change.

What made him happy was that he had two such powerful new firearms armies under his command. If the Dongning Army, which also used new firearms, was included, then there were three firearms armies.

If we can deploy these people to the battlefield next year, we can be sure of winning the war against the Jianlu.

"There are more than 4,000 people in the Shesheng Camp, and 5,000 Liaodong cavalry sent back by the Zuojun Camp."

"If we draw another 10,000 men from the Dongning Army, that would be nearly 20,000 new firearms troops."

"Man Gui was able to defeat one flag with only 5,000 men, so how could these 20,000 men not be able to defeat four flags?"

"Half of the eight banners of Jianlu were pinned down and defeated by them. Can't the Guanning Army defeat the other four banners?"

He was already thinking about how to make good use of the new and old armies to win the Liaodong War next year.

Apparently, he still had not given up the idea of ​​a major battle in Liaodong, thinking that it would be better to send the troops to the battlefield to consume them rather than suppress the mutiny during the reorganization.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful the new firearms were, the Liaodong armies, which were already in dire straits, would find it difficult to accept reorganization into a new army.

Although he did not express this idea explicitly, all the arrangements made it clear.

The imperial court soon received a request from Liaodong to transfer back the remaining 3,000 Liaodong cavalry in the left army camp.

The generals in Liaodong also requested the court to equip them with new muskets to arm their servants and elite troops.

The generals had a consensus on the transformation to a firearms army, but they did not want to give up the power they held.

Most of the ministers in the Privy Council are smart people, and they have led troops before and know the tricks of the army.

Seeing these requests, they didn't know what was going on. Yuan Keli sighed and said:

"It seems that the battle in Liaodong has to be fought."

"It's a pity that those soldiers who dare to fight have to use the old tactics to fight with the Jianlu in a consumption war."

Yang Sichang and others were silent after hearing this, and had a deeper understanding of the warlordization of Liaodong, which the emperor had always been wary of.

Knowing that the old army was far inferior to the new army, these people still did not take the initiative to request reorganization, but instead went to fight this battle. It was clear that they wanted to use these troops to show their strength to the court, or to exchange them for merit.

They clearly regarded the troops under their command as their own private army and saw them as the basis for challenging the imperial court.

Yang Sichang said:

"Just hit me!"

"I hope that after this battle, Liaodong can be reorganized smoothly."

Apparently, they accepted this loss and used the method of fighting with the Jianlu to consume the old Liaodong army.

The other privy ministers had their own ideas, but no one raised them at this time. Obviously, as long as they did not want to force the Liaodong army to revolt, they had to support this war.

What's more, the Privy Council has made a lot of preparations for this battle, and it is not appropriate to give up halfway now.
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Zhu Youjian was not at all surprised by the choice of the Liaodong generals, and even thought it was child's play.

Compared to when Zu Dashou and others were in Liaodong, the Guanning Army now has much less warlord tendencies. At least no one dared to openly oppose the imperial court's transfer order.

The reason these people made this choice was simply out of selfish motives, wanting to use the troops under their command to seek titles.

In order to shift the internal contradictions outward, Zhu Youjian had already decided to continue supporting this war. However, in order to avoid being criticized for consuming Liaodong soldiers, he specifically ordered:

"The Daning Protectorate is now stable, and the guard post that was moved from the capital to the grassland is ready to move there next year."

"If any Liaodong soldier wants to go to the grassland, he can apply to go there."

"If they were three hundred miles outside the Great Wall, they could also open up land and obtain titles."

Show your concern for the soldiers in Liaodong and let them know that they can enjoy this treatment.

As long as those Liaodong soldiers were a little smart, they would naturally know which choice was most beneficial to them.

Yuan Keli had been in the political world for a long time, so how could he not understand the emperor's meaning? He hesitated and said:
"There will be a major war next year. Will it disrupt the fighting spirit if we allow Liaodong soldiers to move to Daning now?"

Zhu Youjian said indifferently:
"Those who have a strong will to fight will not be shaken by this."

"For those who are not determined to fight, it is better to release them in advance rather than keep them on the battlefield to disrupt the morale of the army."

"I hope that those who will fight next year will be warriors who are not afraid of death."

"It won't lead to the collapse of the entire army just because a few people escape."

This is the reason for the great defeat in the Battle of Songjin in history. If Wang Pu had not escaped first, the Ming army would never have been defeated so badly.

The reason why Zhu Youjian limited the number of troops sent to Liaodong to fight was not only to anticipate the shortage of soldiers who were not paid for their service and to leave enough troops to defend Shanhaiguan, but also to worry that soldiers with weak fighting spirit would disrupt the battlefield and lead to the collapse of other armies.

At this time he particularly emphasized:
"When the armies go into battle, it is better to have fewer troops than to have too many."

"If they are defeated because of a shortage of soldiers, I will not blame them as long as the number of enemies killed exceeds the number of casualties."

"On the contrary, if you lead the army to work in vain, or even escape or surrender, I will have to take action."

"Tell this to Sun Chengzong and others, so that they understand the purpose of this battle."

It is emphasized that the goal of this battle is to kill or injure Jianlu personnel.

For him, it would not be a pity even if all the Guanning troops were wiped out as long as they could kill the same number of Jianlu.

The Ming Dynasty could use the freed-up military funds to train 50,000 or 100,000 new troops if 50,000 of them died in battle, but for the Jianlu, the death of 50,000 was tantamount to genocide.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian still hoped that the Liaodong army would fight a stupid and messy battle, and fight a war of attrition with the Jianlu. Don't always think about making a surprise move and thinking about winning the battle in one go, which would only lead to a great defeat.

Yuan Keli summarized his ideas, issued the Privy Council Order and wrote a letter to Sun Chengzong at the same time, letting his old friend know the emperor's intentions and understand how to use the Liaodong army.

The preparations for the Liaodong Campaign were not stopped because of the Daning Campaign, but continued to move forward according to inertia. (End of this chapter)