Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1171
In November, the king of Lu and Zheng Chenggong had already withdrawn to Luzon, and the Nanjing court had completed the integration of the troops of the two factions of Tang and Lu.

In terms of internal affairs, under the pressure of the imperial court, the Wudehao compromised and suspended the recovery of arrears. Various workshops in the south of the Yangtze River were able to breathe a sigh of relief and resume work one after another.

After the internal problems were resolved, Wang Yan began to focus on dealing with the situation in the north, focusing all his attention on the preparations for the Northern Expedition.

It was within Wang Yan's expectation and reason that Jin Guo joined the Qing army, and it did not surprise him, but Wang Yan did not expect that the Jin army would advance so quickly, directly forcing Jiang Xiang to be trapped in Taiyuan, Shanxi. The originally good situation has actually collapsed.

Based on the previous situation, Wang Yan believed that Jiang Xiang would have no problem persisting for a year, but now it seemed that the situation was no longer so optimistic. Wang Yan had to make preparations for a large-scale attack in the beginning of spring.

In November, the south of the Yangtze River was covered in silver and plain like the north, and the weather was cold and humid. Except for the hired workers in Waiguo City who had to go to work, no one got up early in the morning.

Before dawn in the morning, several maids came outside Wang Yan's bedroom with hot water, towels, and mouthwash tea.

One of the leading maids called softly: "Wake up at dawn, everything is waiting for you!"

After finishing speaking, the maid went up to the bedroom and listened, but there was no movement inside, so she raised her voice from outside, "Regent of the country, self-restraining and serving the public, content with pleasure, and misfortune to future generations."

Wang Yan was still sleeping soundly in a dream, Xu Yanyan sat up from the bed, gently pushed the sleeping Wang Yan, and said softly, "Your Highness, it's time to get up and take care of things."

When a person is in a high position, the greater the power he has, the more things he needs to deal with, and the less leisure he has.

Wang Yan opened his eyes and sat up from the bed. Xu Yanyan sat behind him and pressed his head for a while. After he regained consciousness, he ordered: "Come in!"

A few maids came in and helped Wang Yan put on the four-clawed dragon robe, the Yishan crown, and the shoes, and helped him take care of it from head to toe, washing his face and rinsing his mouth without his hands. After taking a few sips casually, he left the palace.

Just after dawn, Wang Yan sat in the carriage with a hand stove to keep warm, and under the protection of a hundred guards, he went to the Mansion of the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies.

The carriage drove slowly on the street under a layer of white snow, and the steamers in the noodle shops on both sides were opened, and layers of heat were rising.

Hearing the commotion outside, Wang Yan lifted the curtain of the car with one hand, and saw a few handymen in charge of cleaning the street, squatting on the side of the street eating steamed buns that had just come out of the cage. There are yamen servants from Yingtian Mansion, sitting around the square table in the shop, eating noodles and other snacks.

"Go, buy two for Gu Ye!" Wang Yan got up too early, and had no appetite at all at that time, but now seeing such a scene full of life, he couldn't help his appetite.

The guard next to the carriage was in a dilemma when he heard this. King Chu's diet was strictly controlled and he could not do whatever he wanted. After he reported it to Lu Shikui, the latter swallowed several in a row before giving Wang Yan two.

Today Wang Yan did not go to the cabinet, but went to the Five Armies Commander's Mansion to work out the entire Northern Expedition plan with the generals.

Under the existing system of the Ming Dynasty, the Dudufu of the Five Armies has the command power over the army during wartime and the power to formulate combat plans.

The Northern Expedition is a major event, and it cannot be completed with one person's energy. It requires a careful plan and logistical supplies. This time, in addition to the coach from the front rushing back to participate in the formulation of the plan, officials from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Industry also have to attend , so as to be able to cooperate with the army.

When Wang Yan arrived at the Mansion of the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies, all the civil and military officials who had come to participate in the discussion had already arrived. This was an official rule, and there was no reason for the chief to wait for his subordinates.

The people who came earlier were chatting privately in twos and threes, expressing their views on the situation in the north. At this moment, a guard shouted: "His Royal Highness King Chu is here!"

Everyone immediately quieted down, only to see Wang Yan walking in quickly surrounded by more than a dozen soldiers, and everyone stood up to greet him.

The meeting was held in a large hall. The layout of the hall was different from that of traditional halls. There were seats around it, and a large space was left in the middle, but there was a huge sand table of mountains, rivers, states and counties in the world.

Although there are places around the main hall, it is still a bit particular when sitting. Wang Yan sits on the top of the main hall facing north and south.

After he sat down, he waved his hands to ask others to sit down on both sides, then tapped the cloud board lightly, and when everyone calmed down, he said: "Today's discussion is to discuss the plan of the Northern Expedition. You are familiar with the process. Let the Ministry of War introduce the situation!"

Zhang Huangyan, the left servant who came to the Ministry of War to participate in the discussion, stood up when he heard the words, gave Wang Yan and the others a hand, and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, colleagues, according to the news received by the Ministry of War, the Kingdom of Jin has sent [-] troops to attack In Shanxi, the rebel army can only defend Taiyuan, Datong and other places, the situation is very critical, and we have sent envoys to ask the imperial court for help."

As he spoke, he paused, seeing that everyone was looking at him, so he went on to say: "This time the Jin army intervened in Shanxi, which means that Jin and Qing have formed an alliance. Send troops to help the Qing army fight. The enemies I face in the Northern Expedition are not only the Manchus, but also the Jin Kingdom!"

At this time, Zhang Huangyan took out a file, and continued: "Now let me explain the current strength of the Jin Kingdom and the Manchu Qing Dynasty. According to the information I obtained from the detailed work arranged by the Jin and Qing parties, the Ministry of War estimated the strength of the Jin Kingdom. Military strength, Wu Sangui has about 6 soldiers and horses in Hanzhong, Meng Qiaofang, Han Chaoxuan and other Han officials and gentry have about 6 soldiers and horses, and Sun Kewang in the Hexi Corridor has 5000 Han soldiers and 16 Mongolian soldiers. Haug There are more than 16 Manchurian and Mongolian troops under his personal control. According to statistics, the military strength of the Jin Kingdom is about 4, and because the Jin Kingdom is close to Mongolia and controls the northern part of Qinghai and the Hexi Corridor, among the [-] horses, the Ma army is at least There are [-] people."

Among the three parties, the Kingdom of Jin is the weakest in terms of military strength. Everyone knows this, but they have never heard of such detailed data.

Being able to figure out the military strength of the Kingdom of Jin and the troops of various forces, the Ming Dynasty worked hard in the Kingdom of Jin.

Zhang Huangyan took out another file, waited for everyone to calm down, and continued to read: "According to the intelligence of the spies, there are about 30 troops left in the Manchu Qing, of which nearly 380% of the Manchu Banners are short, and only 400 are left. People, because the Mongolian Eight Banners are supplemented by Zhungeer's tribes, there are currently 12 people, and there are about [-] vassal soldiers. There are only [-] people left in the green battalion! Among these troops, apart from the Manchus who are good at cavalry, the Han army flag and the green battalion are mainly infantry!"

Except for the unclear number of more than 2 vassal soldiers recruited by the Manchu Qing from Mongolia recently, the number of other armies is clearer than that of the Jin Dynasty. This can only show that there are people from the Ming Dynasty in the Manchu Qing court.

At the beginning, when the Qing army entered the pass, Wu Sangui, Gaodi, Jiang Xiang, Tang Tong, and more than 10 Shun troops surrendered. Later, more than 30 people from the four towns in Jiangbei and Zuozhen in Wuchang also surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Finally, Lu Jianguo in eastern Zhejiang Failed, when Fang Guoan and Zheng Zhilong surrendered, nearly [-] troops surrendered. The army controlled by the Manchu Qing was probably almost one million. However, after nearly ten years of competition, due to attrition and lack of replenishment, the Qing army only had [-] troops left. People, almost slowly being beaten back to their original shape.

After Zhang Huangyan finished talking about the situation, he put together the files, "Your Highness, everyone, the Ministry of War has finished explaining the situation of the Jin Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty!"

Wang Yan nodded, raised his hand to Zhang Huangyan, and said with a smile: "Master Zhang, please take a seat!" After speaking, he looked at Dai Zhifan, Gao Yigong, Li Guo, Liu Shun and others, and said, "The situation of the enemy, the Ministry of War has already The explanation is clear, Jin and Qing are united, and there are still 46 troops, while our dynasty has only 54 soldiers, and there is not much advantage in numbers, what kind of battle plan will the Five Armies Governor's Mansion plan to formulate?"

It has been a few days since the four of them were recalled to Nanjing, and they have already carried out many deduction for the Northern Expedition.

Hearing Wang Yan asked, the four looked at each other, and Dai Zhifan came out. He had the highest military exploits and commanded a 10-strong Northern Expedition. It would be best to have him explain.

"Your Highness, from a strategic point of view, our dynasty should be weak first and then strong. After destroying the Kingdom of Jin, we will attack the Qing Dynasty again. However, the Kingdom of Jin has a geographical advantage and is difficult to attack. In addition, Jiang Xiang rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, so our Northern Expedition , can only be strong first and then weak, and destroy Manqing first!"

Dai Zhifan came out, came to the sand table, and gestured with a stick of wood: "After discussing with several colleagues, I decided to take a defensive stance against the Kingdom of Jin, transfer the Zhongyi Town in Sichuan, and only pay attention to the three towns in the three southwestern provinces. A total of 9 people defended the Kingdom of Jin, and Ainengqi, who cleared the border of Yunnan, dispatched elite soldiers from the southwest to Nanyang. In addition, there is no need to leave heavy troops in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Zhejiang. One town in Zhenwu, garrisoning [-] troops in each province is enough to stabilize the place.”

After the Tang and Lu factions were defeated, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places really did not need to garrison heavy troops, and it was enough to send [-] people in each province.

Wang Yan listened and nodded. This is basically the strategy that the court is implementing now. He couldn't help standing up and walking to the sand table, and other people immediately surrounded him.It sounds like this, and when you look at it with your eyes, it will be clear immediately.

Dai Zhifan guided Beijing with a wooden stick, and then said: "Except for Zhongzhen Town guarding Nanjing, the troops that our dynasty can use for the Northern Expedition are one town of Shence, four towns of Wuzhong, two towns of Wuwei, and two towns of Zhenwu. One town, one town in Hengchong, one town in Donghai, a total of ten towns. Of course, in addition to this, there may be Korean troops and some auxiliary soldiers participating in the war. 30."

In the recent period, because the imperial court was preparing for war, a large number of government soldiers were added to the towns, and the Ming army's establishment was basically full.

Wang Yan nodded slightly, "Concentrating 30 troops, coupled with Jiang Xiang's containment, can fight the Qing army, and the world will be determined in one battle." Wang Yan paused, and said excitedly: "How to fight, Tell me about your plans!"

"The main force of the Qing army is concentrated in Heluo. Our plan is to contain 15 people from the front, and then concentrate 12 troops to go straight to Xuzhou. Luoyang, the Qing army will be defeated!"

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(End of this chapter)