Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

On March 24, the tenth year of Chongzhen, the Runing Army camp.

A huge map was hung on the wall of the military commander's war room, and all the officers above the deputy commander of the Runing Army rushed to the camp to participate in this important military meeting.

"According to the calculation of our military commander, there are at least 5 people left behind in Runing." Xue Yongli held a long wooden pole, pointed at the map, and talked freely.

"To the north and west of us, there are 5000 troops from the Henan Army led by Governor Li Xianfeng and Li. 5000 people from the state army; 3000 from Chen Zhongzhi and Jiang Cheng; 7000 from Zuo Liangyu; of course, 3000 from Li Lu and Li Zongbing from Nanyang (including [-] from former Nanyang general Sun Wei) .”

Seeing that there seemed to be some dissent on the faces of the officers, Xue Yongli explained: "Don't look at some people who have a good relationship with my uncle, but if our situation is not good, they are likely to make trouble, so we have to give them Count."

"Also, there are nearly 5 heavy troops in Fengyang Mansion to the west, and at least [-] troops from Huguang Governor Yu Yinggui to the south. We must be on guard against these. Not only that, the Beijing camp in Nanjing will also arrive soon, at least There will be [-]. The most unpredictable thing is Liu Guoneng, who will break through the sky. Will he follow the plan? Will he see our actions and turn to the army? Will he become a pawn of the army and turn back to attack? Us? These are all unknown. Therefore, the [-] people mentioned by the official is still relatively small."

"And our Runing Army's plan is: first go east to Deke Jining, then go north along the Grand Canal, and then conquer Beijing. But there are several key points in this plan."

"First of all, after conquering Jining, Liu Zeqing and Liu Zongbing in Cao County must be wiped out. We cannot let his [-] troops hold us back."

"Next, when going north along the canal, we have to break through the blocking of the cao soldiers. Fortunately, most of the cao soldiers are transferred to Fengyang. Therefore, it is estimated that the maximum is [-], and the troops are scattered, so there should be no serious problem."

"Afterwards, we will destroy Jinan along the way. There is a strong city with heavy troops, and there are [-] soldiers from Shandong General Qiu Lei, so it is not an easy bone to chew."

"The next step is to break through the line of Linqing and Dezhou. However, after defeating the Qiu Lei tribe in Jinan, it is not too difficult to break through this line."

"The next thing we will face is the Tongzhou camp. It is the main force of the imperial court's Beijing camp. It has a fortified city, and it is quite difficult to fight. Even if the Tongzhou camp is completely conquered, when our Runing army attacks the capital. Tianjin Weihe The Liao army in Shanhaiguan may also attack us from the side, not to mention that Xuanda's frontier army will come to help."

"So, our battle north will be full of difficulties, but based on the bravery of our Runing Army, we should still be 5% sure. But at least [-] people are needed, and if they are from the main battle army."

After Xue Yongli introduced the basic situation.He paused briefly.There was silence in the war room.The officers were all digesting the information, and it was quite difficult for everyone.

In the plan drawn up before, Xue Yongli and the others gave up going south to Nanjing without hesitation, but chose to go north to Beijing.And this decision was motivated by political considerations.

Wu Shigong's family members are all in Beijing, so Beijing must be the first goal no matter what.It is one thing to save in time, but it is another matter whether to go to rescue.If Wu Shigong abandoned his family with a heart of stone.Especially for such an unfilial person who abandoned his father and father-in-law, what will the people in the world think of him?How did the Runing Army publicize the "justice" of this operation?

Of course, there has been a rebellion.There is no justice, but at least a fig leaf is needed!Moreover, Wu Shigong will raise troops in the name of "the side of the Qing emperor", so what is the meaning of attacking other regions?

More importantly, in fact, Wu Shigong's other family members are secondary, the most important is the eldest son Xue Chenglin.That is the young master of the Runing Army, so he must be saved.

Let's not mention Xue Yongli, officials of the Xue family.There is a contingency in everything, if Xue Chenglin escapes from danger, if Xue Chenglin ascends the throne, what will happen to the officials of the Runing Army who proposed not to rescue them first?Don't talk about wealth, maybe even the lives of the whole family will be lost!So people like Xue Yongli were kidnapped, and Wu Shigong had to be tied up to rescue them.

Of course Wu Shigong also understood this point, he frowned and asked, "How long will it take to expand the army and equip it?"

Xue Yongli went on to say: "It's easy to manage, and the assembly can be completed in half a month, but the equipment is a bit difficult. It will take at least half a year to equip a [-] army. Of course, our Runing Army can equip while moving, but no matter what It will take two months."

"What are the difficulties?" Wu Shigong knew that Xue Yongli and the others did not advocate immediate rebellion, so he simply put all the difficulties on the table.

"The most important thing is money and food. We have no shortage of food and grass, but if we act, the business of commercial banks and banks will be paralyzed, and there is no way to do business everywhere. Therefore, the internal accounting office has calculated that we must conquer Beijing within a year, otherwise If not, there will not be enough silver to support our actions."

"Then what's your military commander's plan! Uncle Yongli, tell me all about it!" Wu Shigong continued.

"Of course, there are still others who do not retaliate for the time being and strike later. If the imperial court does not conscript immediately, we will pretend to be confused and stand still. Buy time and wait for our strength to increase. If the imperial court immediately conscripts and suppresses, we will be fighting on the inside. It can be turned around. The biggest advantage is that my uncle and his family are temporarily safe in the capital."

"Also, we still need to prevent the Shaanxi thieves from entering Henan. According to Zheng Ling's calculation, if the Shaanxi thieves enter Henan again, it is very likely that the imperial court and the Shaanxi thieves will reach a compromise and jointly encircle and suppress our Runing army. After all... After all, my uncle's blood It's too expensive."

Wu Shigong understood Xue Yongli's meaning. Compared with those muddy legs of the leader of the peasant army, his appeal as a young master was simply too great.It may even attract the support of some peasant troops and government troops, so as long as it rebels, the imperial court will definitely regard itself as the number one enemy and gather all the strength of the whole country to encircle and suppress it.

"Again!" Wu Shigong stood up from his chair.He couldn't bear the anger in his chest all of a sudden, kicked the chair over, and then walked outside angrily.Seeing Wu Shigong's anger, all the officers were silent, they didn't dare to make a sound and stood at attention, watching Wu Shigong leave. (To be continued..)