Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 808 each fight
When asked about the strategy, many people couldn't come up with any solution for a while.

This time the Qing army went south, which is different from the past. If the goal was to attack a place in the past, they could find the main force to fight. Now judging from the tactics of the Qing army in Jiangbei, this time they never thought of fighting The decisive battle of the main force of the Ming army was purely for robbery and disgusting people.

At the beginning in the north, there was a wall to block it, and there was the Great Wall to block it. Once the Qing soldiers broke into the pass, they would also merge into the land of no one.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty still had Guanning iron cavalry and Datong fine cavalry, which still could not stop the Qing army from galloping on the Guannei plain, stirring Shandong and Beizhi into a pot of porridge.

Now the Ming army can rely on the Yangtze River, but how to defend the places north of the Yangtze River?
Seeing that no one answered him, Wang Yan couldn't help walking to the sand table, pointing to Xiangyang and saying, "How is the situation in the upper reaches of the Han River? Is it frozen?"

Hou Fangyu immediately stepped forward, bowed and said: "Hao Yaoqi's report said that there is no sign of freezing yet. The Han River flows down between the Qinling Mountains and the Daba Mountains. The current is faster than the Huaihe River. The possibility of freezing Not big."

The villagers in the north of the Han River were moved by the Huguang government to the south of the Han River for resettlement during the previous wars. The hundreds of miles of land north of the Han River have long been deserted and become a horse farm for the Ming army. The front line of the Han River can guarantee that Huguang will not be looted.

When Wang Yan heard that the Han River had not yet frozen, he felt a little more at ease, but at this time Chen Bangyan said: "Your Highness, according to the "Bamboo Book Chronicles", in the seventh year of King Zhou Xiao, the Jiang Han was frozen, and the cattle and horses froze to death. It can be seen that the Han River is frozen. It has been frozen, even the Yangtze River has been frozen. If the snow continues to fall and the weather continues to be cold, the possibility of freezing the Han River cannot be ruled out."

After hearing Chen Bangyan's words, the surrounding generals and military officials all began to discuss in low voices.

If the Han River freezes, it means that the Qing army can jump over Xiangyang and go directly south. This is definitely not good news.

Hearing their discussion, Wang Yan didn't have any clues, so he asked Chen Bangyan: "Since the Ministry of War judged that the Qing army was attacking the west, what draft do you have? Tell us, let's work together and refer to it, maybe we can have a good defense against the enemy." Of the policy."

"Your Highness, if the Han River freezes, the Ministry of War actually doesn't have many feasible solutions. After all, the area to be defended is too wide to the south of the Han River and to the north of the Yangtze River. Several groups surrounded and wiped them out, but this time the opponent was indeed Qing cavalry, if the army spread out and encircled them, the battle of Sarhu might repeat itself, and if they joined together, they would not be able to catch up, so they were very passive."

Wang Yan nodded. The cavalry was the weakness of the Ming army, and what Chen Bangyan said was true.

"The Ministry of War judged that after the Qing army went south from Xinye this time, if the Han River freezes, they are likely to leave enough troops near Xiangyang to monitor Hao Yaoqi, and after ensuring the retreat, they will go south with light cavalry and kill them directly. Enter the south of the Han River." Chen Bangyan paused, pointed at the killing plate with a wooden pole, and said in a deep voice: "The Ministry of War's suggestion to Huguang is to evacuate the people from the four fields into the city as soon as possible, and focus on protecting Xiangyang, Jingzhou, and Wuchang. Three places, the second is to protect the capital cities of the prefectures, and the last is to protect the small counties. As long as the weather warms up and the ice and snow melt, the Qing soldiers do not want to be trapped in the south of the Han River, so they will naturally retreat."

This strategy is too passive, it is simply to be beaten up, and when the Qing soldiers are tired of beating up, let him go by himself.

Wang Yan understood. Just now he asked if there was a strategy. Why didn't Chen Bangyan say it? Such a strategy is tantamount to not saying it.

"With so many places to defend, with this strategy, except for a few big cities, other counties will lose their defense, and the result will be the same as Jiangbei." Wang Yan said in a deep voice.

"Big cities are garrisoned by town troops, and small counties can only rely on a small number of town troops and county government soldiers to defend themselves." Chen Bangyan sighed.

Wang Yan shook his head, stretched out his hand, Chen Bangyan understood, and immediately handed over the wooden pole.

"This strategy is too passive. If the Qing army succeeds in looting, it will not only allow the Qing court to overcome the current difficulties, but also damage the prestige of the lonely king and affect morale." After Wang Yan took it, he pointed at the sand table, "If the Han River If it cannot be defended, then we have to find a way to force the Qing army not to enter Hannan to plunder, or force the Qing army to withdraw to Henan in advance."

Wang Yan drew the wooden pole along the Han River, then pointed to the Nanyang Basin and said: "If the Han River freezes, then we will take the initiative to attack Nanyang, take Xinye and Dengzhou, and threaten the passage of the Qing army back to Henan. If the Qing army Knowing the situation, give up the looting and return to Henan."

Speaking of this, Wang Yan snorted coldly, "If the Qing army is ignorant and dares to continue looting, once Nanyang is captured, Gu will trap all the Qing troops in Huguang and wipe them out."

Surrounded by three mountains, Nanyang has a dangerous terrain. It is the only place to go south from Luoyang to Huguang from Kaifeng. It is also the area of ​​Wancheng in the Three Kingdoms period. It was originally a barrier for Jingzhou. .

"However, Xiangyang's troops are only [-], and they still have to defend the city. The Qing army must send heavy troops to guard the rear. If Hao Yaoqi divides his troops, if he goes too few, he will be easily eaten by the Qing army. If he goes too many, the Qing army may change his strategy. Seek Xiangyang." Chen Bangyan said immediately.

Wang Yan nodded, "Let Li Guo divide his troops to garrison Anqing, transfer Anqing's Zhongyong Town to Huguang, and Henan Qing soldiers have to guard against the Jin soldiers in the direction of Tongguan. It should be no problem to charge the horse army and surrender the troops of the Eight Banners to threaten Nanyang."

Wang Yan thought for a while, "Besides, some of Hunan's soldiers will be dispatched to Hannan to guard the city, and Houyong Town will be transferred to Jingzhou to prevent accidents. The Ministry of War must also find a way to transfer another batch of cotton armor Send it to Huguang."

"Your Highness, I'm afraid there is no hurry!" Hou Fangyu came out to salute.

His identity has been exposed, so there is no need to stay in the Tiandihui. Now he has been transferred to the Ministry of War. Based on his years of achievements, he has been promoted to be the right servant of the Ministry of War.

"If you're not in a hurry, think of a way to transport as much as you can." Wang Yan said in a deep voice.

"Yes, I will find a way as soon as I return from my humble position, and immediately deploy from the neighboring province." Hou Fangyu bowed quickly.

Wang Yan nodded slightly, then looked at the crowd, "Do you have anything to add?"

Everyone looked at each other, and there was no objection. Thanks to the copying of the grain hoarded by the gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as long as there is no problem with the grain, other problems can be overcome.

"Your Highness, what about Jiangbei?" Chen Bangyan asked suddenly.

Although Jiangbei is the territory of the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party controls the court after all and cannot be ignored.

What I said just now is all planning for Huguang, and resources and troops have been invested in Huguang.

Although this is a decision made in response to the strategy of the Qing court, it cannot completely ignore Jiangbei.

"Tiao Jin Shenghuan, Zheng Chenggong and Zhejiang soldiers, let's fight Yangzhou together!" Wang Yan pointed at the wooden pole and said directly: "Jiangbei has nothing to save now. Those who can hold it will naturally keep it. The place we live in is probably broken now. We can’t be controlled by the Qing army, and directly attack Yangzhou. If this nail is pulled out, the threat to the south of the Yangtze River will be reduced by half. Moreover, Yangzhou is backed by the Yangtze River, with many hills, and our water is on the surface of the river. Division, don’t worry, you will be trapped by Qing cavalry.”

Everyone was slightly taken aback, Yangzhou City still has [-] to [-] Qing soldiers, if they attack, they will have to gather [-] to [-] soldiers.

Although all the troops have rested for more than three months since the occupation of Nanjing in August, it is a bit big to fight in the two directions of Huguang and Jiangbei at the same time.

Wang Yan understands what everyone thinks, he is not willing to fight in winter, but he can't do it if he doesn't fight now, besides, he has money, food, and a thick throat, so it's not impossible to go to war once.

(Thanks to Liu shr for the reward, thank you for your subscription, monthly pass, recommendation, it is estimated that there will only be two updates today)

(End of this chapter)