Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1111: Pointing to the Battlefield
On this day, Sun Chengzong got up early as usual. After breakfast, he took a walk in the yard and then went to his study.

Entering the study, his eyes subconsciously looked towards the map hanging on the wall. Looking at the intricate lines on the map and the dense markings he had made over the past few days, Sun Chengzong was muttering something in his mouth, and his eyes became brighter and brighter.

I don't know how long it had been, but I heard hurried footsteps outside the yard, and a moment later the study door was knocked.

"Enter!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the study door was pushed open and in came Sun Chengzong's youngest son Sun Hao.

Sun Chengzong had seven sons. The eldest son was a tribute student and was later selected as the magistrate of Gaowan County in Shandong. He was promoted a few years ago due to his good performance and the emperor's care. He has now been transferred to Pingding, Shanxi as the prefect.

Although this eldest son is an honest person, he is not good at studying, and because of his overly upright character, he cannot go far in officialdom. Being able to become a prefect is probably the end of his career. But it is also good this way. If he really gets promoted to a high position, it will be difficult for him to survive in the officialdom with his character and ability.

The second son had passed the provincial examination but had never taken office. It was not until five years ago that the court officially appointed him to an official post for Sun Chengzong's sake. He is currently serving as a county magistrate in a small county in Henan. The third son died young, leaving behind two grandsons. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sons, Sun Hao, were not good at studying and had average qualifications. When Sun Chengzong returned to his hometown three years ago, the emperor granted him a gift and allowed his youngest son to become an official. After much deliberation, Sun Chengzong allowed his fifth son to work in the Ministry of Works, and the rest of his sons stayed with him.

Compared with his sons who had no future, Sun Chengzong valued his grandchildren more. Even though his sons were not good at studying, the family education of the Sun family was very strict, and there was no problem with the character of Sun Chengzong's sons, especially the youngest Sun Hao, who was born when Sun Chengzong was over 60 years old and was only in his early twenties. Although he also had no talent for studying, this child was not only honest but also filial. In the past few years, Sun Chengzong had been taken care of by him personally at home.

"Father, the military report has just been delivered by the General Council of the Capital!" After entering the door, Sun Hao first bowed respectfully to Sun Chengzong, and then said.

Sun Chengzong smiled. He waited for the military report from the capital every day. He did not reach out to take the military report from Sun Hao, but continued to stand in front of the map with his hands behind his back.

"Read!"

"Yes!" Sun Hao responded, opened the military newspaper in his hand and began to read. When Sun Hao finished the first sentence, Sun Chengzong was like a sword unsheathed, exuding a terrifying aura.

"On the morning of the fifth day, Commander Wang Jinwu ordered a strong attack on Panshan. Zu Dashou led his troops as the vanguard and attacked Panshan fiercely. The new army provided cover with artillery fire. The battle started at chenshi and lasted until youshi on the same day. Our troops fought bravely and killed countless enemies..."

"At midnight that night, the vanguard Zu Dashou noticed that the defenders of Panshan had made unusual movements, and decisively led his troops to launch a night attack. At one o'clock in the morning, our troops took Panshan. The enemy chiefs Sony and Aobai left the Han army flag to guard the place, and the main force escaped at night. Zu's troops followed and pursued them. The general Wu Sangui led the Guanning Iron Cavalry to intercept their troops at Wujiafen, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle..."

As Sun Hao read out each word, Sun Chengzong's eyes became brighter and brighter. He took a step forward and looked around the map. Then he picked up a pen and marked a few places, and continued to listen to Sun Hao read on.

When they heard Sun Hao reading that the cavalry of both sides fought at Wujiafen and the main force of the Ming army arrived in pursuit, the Jiannu retreated to Xining Fort in a panic.

On the second day, the Ming army attacked Xining Fort and took it in less than an hour, annihilating the defenders of Xining Fort. At this point, the entire Liaoxi Corridor was opened up by the Ming army, and the key areas of the Liaoxi Corridor completely fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Jinwu did not stop there, but led his troops out of the Liaoxi Corridor and arrived at the Liaohe Plain. In the next two days, he advanced all the way to the northeast and reached Haicheng. Although the Jiannu relied on cavalry to constantly fight with the Ming army and attempted to sneak attack the rear of the Ming army, they were all seen through by the Ming army. Instead of gaining the upper hand, they were defeated by the Ming army and had no choice but to retreat.

"Keep reading!" Suddenly, Sun Hao stopped. Sun Chengzong was stunned and urged hurriedly.

"Father, it's gone, I've finished reading..." Sun Hao replied quickly. "It's gone?" Sun Chengzong turned around and took the military report from Sun Hao's hand. After a closer look, he found that it was indeed gone. This military report only reported that the Ming army had reached Haicheng, and there was no follow-up news, which made Sun Chengzong feel very uncomfortable.

At present, the Ming army has taken the initiative in this war, and the progress is very smooth under careful planning. Sun Chengzong has been in Liaodong for many years and knows the situation in Liaodong better than anyone else. He can even show the situation of the entire Liaodong in his mind without looking at the map.

All along, Sun Chengzong's greatest effort in his life was to solve the Jiannu problem in Liaodong, and he did the same when he was the governor of Ji-Liao. It can even be said that Sun Chengzong almost succeeded.

If it weren't for Wei Zhongxian's fear of him, and his good student, Emperor Tianqi, suddenly died at a young age, how could Sun Chengzong leave Liaodong and return home? You should know that the situation in Liaodong was very good at that time. Sun Chengzong used the tactics of step by step to completely reverse the situation in Liaodong from the initial bad situation, thus grasping the initiative.

According to Sun Chengzong's tactics, Sun Chengzong knew that the Ming army was definitely not a match for the Eight Banners in field battles alone, and the Ming Dynasty's national strength could not withstand another disastrous defeat like the one in Sarhu in Liaodong. In order to be safe, Sun Chengzong used the tactics of advancing step by step and using fortresses as strongholds to continuously compress the living space of the Jiannu, and the strategy of military and economic double blockade. From the actual implementation of this plan, it also played a considerable effect. The Ming army was like a turtle shell, leaving Nurhaci with nowhere to bite, and Nurhaci was made miserable by the Ming Dynasty's use of this tactic.

Liaodong is a cold and harsh place. Unable to break the blockade of Sun Chengzong, the Jiannu even had trouble surviving. Nurhaci was on the verge of collapse at that time.

If Sun Chengzong had been given a few more years, two or three years or even just one year, perhaps the Jiannu in Liaodong would have been destroyed by Sun Chengzong. What a pity, such a good opportunity was missed. As Sun Chengzong left Liaodong, Tianqi died, Wei Zhongxian was killed, Chongzhen came to power, and the Donglin Party revived, everything changed.

In particular, Sun Chengzong misjudged one person, that is, Yuan Chonghuan, the successor he had been carefully training. Yuan Chonghuan not only deceived Emperor Chongzhen, but also completely changed the strategy set by Sun Chengzong as soon as he arrived in Liaodong. Not only did he lift the blockade against Jiannu, but he also secretly sold a large amount of military rations to Jiannu under the pretext of uniting with Mongolia, helping Huang Taiji, who had just come to power, to directly solve the food shortage dilemma. Instead, it led to a shortage of military rations for the Ming army, and the soldiers could not even get enough food.

Yuan Chonghuan also forged an imperial decree to kill Mao Wenlong, which destroyed the Ming Dynasty's years of operation in Pi Island. This series of operations was simply unimaginable. Later, due to his incompetence, the war situation deteriorated to the point that the Jiannu attacked the Great Wall and led their troops all the way to the capital. After hearing this news, Sun Chengzong was extremely regretful. If he had known that Yuan Chonghuan was such a person, he should not have used him so much, which led to a disaster.

These are all things of the past. With the change of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, all aspects of the Ming Dynasty have improved in recent years. Especially this time, the Ming army launched an attack on Liaodong, intending to solve the Liaodong problem in one fell swoop. Sun Chengzong placed high hopes on this.

These days, Sun Chengzong has been paying close attention to the progress of the Liaodong battlefield and is well aware of the current situation in Liaodong. Now the Ming army has arranged everything. Dorgon was forced to withdraw from Korea. The Suolun tribe in the north, with the support of the Ming Dynasty, went south to contain the retreating main force of Dorgon, while the Ming army in the south, under the command of Sun Chuanting and Li Xin, directly attacked the hinterland of Liaodong from Shandong and Pi Island.

As for the front battlefield, the commander Wang Jinwu was even more steady and cautious, confronting the Jiannu for many days in Panshan. Others might not be able to see Wang Jinwu's intention, but Sun Chengzong, who was thousands of miles away, saw it clearly. Sun Chengzong applauded Wang Jinwu's tactics. He knew the situation of the various units of the Ming army too well, and knew that the Liao army and the Guanning army were a group of unruly troops. In addition, the Ming army was not good at field battles, and the generals had their own plans. If these troops could not be controlled and used as one, it would not be a good idea to easily attack and expand the front line in a short time.

Wang Jinwu did this precisely to train and exercise the troops, and also to better control these generals. Now the Ming army suddenly launched a fierce attack on Panshan, and took advantage of the victory to break the entire Liaoxi Corridor in one fell swoop, pushing the battle line directly to the Liaohe Plain and even the Haicheng area. This proved that the time for a general offensive was ripe. How could Sun Chengzong not be excited?
But at this time, there was no follow-up to the military report. How could Sun Chengzong not be anxious? He was eager to know what the follow-up situation was.

How far has the Ming army's war against Haicheng reached? Where have Sun Chuanting and Li Xin, who have invaded the hinterland of Liaodong, gone? Has the Suolun tribe caused trouble for Dorgon's main force? What is the current situation of Dorgon's withdrawal? Will the subsequent war break out in Shenyang or elsewhere? What choice will the Jiannu make? Sun Chengzong wished he could grow wings immediately and fly directly to Liaodong to see for himself.

Restraining the urgency in his heart, Sun Chengzong finally said nothing, but just waved his hand to let his son Sun Hao leave.

Although Sun Chengzong was a civil official, he was a skilled military officer and had personally led troops to fight in the Ji-Liao region. Liaodong was so far away from the capital that it took time for news to be transmitted. Judging from the current time, the military report he had just received was from several days ago. I'm afraid even the capital didn't know how serious the fighting in Liaodong was now.

Since the news has not been delivered yet, we can only wait patiently. Sun Chengzong walked back to the map and scanned several places on the map. He calculated secretly in his mind, stretched out his fingers and pointed at a few places, then stepped back with his arms folded, and after a while, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

(End of this chapter)