First, they set foot in the South Wing City, then they broke through the Guancheng, and then took Shanhaiguan. The Qing army had only 3,000 soldiers here, most of which were newly formed Niulu. Facing the Yuyao Division, which came from the entire division, and with the special operations team that was good at special operations, relying on the strong city alone, it would be difficult for them to exert its defensive strength without enough troops. By the time Shunzhi received the news, Shanhaiguan had completely fallen into the hands of the Eastern Route Army.

For the Qing court today, this heroic pass is the entrance to the life passage after defeat. If even the new army is not an opponent, the Mongolian tribes in the south of the Moon will naturally not take into account the relationship between the Manchu and Mongolian family. They thought that they would not think about escaping from the south of the Moon. Only the western Liaoning Corridor can allow them to retreat to Liaodong safely. As for how long they can survive, it is not what they are thinking about now.

When the military situation came, a round of debate broke out in the Imperial Camp. Whether to return to the army to regain Shanhaiguan to ensure the safety of the rear, or to go south to Shandong to fight to repel the main force of the Northern Expedition Army as quickly as possible is indeed an urgent question. As for continuing to sit here and wait for death, no one mentioned it at all, and no one can sit still in the current strategic situation.

In the large tent of the imperial camp, the Hui Shi faction represented by Fu Shou and the decisive battle faction headed by Ji Du were quarreling endlessly. In addition to the Shanhaiguan quarreling the Qing court's access to Liaodong from Zhili, Fu Shou and others also proposed reasons such as the partial division of the Eastern Army's army might pose a threat to the capital and the Eastern Army's alone invasion. Annihilation could help weaken the strength of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming Army while striking the morale of the Northern Expedition Army.

Although Jidu and others were also a little worried about their families in the capital, the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang had already begun to raid Jinan Prefecture and could enter Zhili at any time. By then, the safety of Tianjin Acropolis would be no less than the retreat.

The two sides argued endlessly, and no one was willing to give up their own views. In Shunzhi's eyes, this situation reminded him of the demeanor of the old commanders of the Eight Banners when Dorgon, Dodo, Ajige, Jirgalang and Haoge when he was not in charge of power. In comparison, the current group of relatives and nobles are much different in terms of ability and vision than the two generations who rose step by step from Liaodong.

However, the Eight Banners Army at that time relied on the old tactics and would inevitably be eliminated under the general trend. Jirgalang is the best example.

Thinking of this, Shunzhi looked at Liu Cheng who was standing in front of the sand table. Since this slave surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he has given him too many surprises and helped the Qing Dynasty overcome one difficulty after another. Now, if it weren't for this person, he would be extremely dangerous, and he wouldn't have the strength and opportunity to turn the tables.

More importantly, Liu Cheng was born from the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and had a much better understanding of Chen Wen and the core generals under Chen Wen and the rules of the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Faced with such a situation, Liu Cheng's advice would naturally be able to resolve the doubts.

"The prince thought, how should we break the deadlock now?"

As soon as Shunzhi said this, the relatives and nobles in the tent all stopped arguing and turned their attention to Liu Cheng. It was no different from what Shunzhi thought. They also realized Liu Cheng's "strength" and all hoped that the other person could support their own strategies.

Hearing Shunzhi's question, Liu Cheng turned around, bowed, and replied: "Reply to the emperor's words, I think that all the relatives and nobles have a reasonable point."

Such ambiguous words were not what Liu Cheng used to. However, before everyone could wait for a long time, and before some people could even react, the next sentence "but" popped out of Liu Cheng's mouth.

"However, the court is weak and is now being strategically encircled by Zhejiang bandits. We must take the minority of the two sides to get rid of the current predicament."

After saying that, Liu Cheng invited Shunzhi and his relatives to the sand table, picked up the baton and explained to them: "As we all know, the Zhejiang bandit army went north, and there were no less than 150,000 soldiers alone. Now we also understand that the person divided the troops into three groups, Henan and Liaodong are partial troops, and their role is nothing more than to advance the Central Plains and surround the court's retreat. The real main force has always been the central army led by Chen Ni."

Everyone's eyes followed the baton to Huaibei, and then continued to extend north with the voice's master: "The two side troops marched to the main force with auxiliary wings, so we can't mention it for now. Chen Ni personally led a large army to sweep Huaibei and then entered Shandong, but after entering Shandong, his marching speed was much lower than when he was in the Huaibei territory."

"The reason is that the Zhejiang bandits' penetration of the ground in Shandong is not as good as the former. The Green Camp does not just surrender. Even if the Zhejiang bandits do not need to attack the city, they must at least dispatch enough troops to escape the target before they can take down the city. In addition, the cavalry transferred by the court from various departments in the southern desert are always harassing the Zhejiang bandits, which is also the main reason why they slowed down their advancement speed."

What Liu Cheng said is true. The Qing court recruited and dispatched a large number of cavalry from various Mongolian troops in the south of the desert, and cruised in the southern part of Zhili and northeastern Shandong, posing a considerable threat to the western and northern parts of Shandong and northeastern Henan.

Hammering the county town, slaughtering the countryside, attacking canal boaters, and even raiding small armies, the Mongolian cavalry traveled like the wind in the plains, which would inevitably involve a lot of energy for the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming army, which had a small number of cavalry. However, although the plains were plains, there were never fewer rivers in Shandong's boundary. While the advancement speed of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming army decreased, it did not stop because of this. Instead, it actively collected Shandong prefectures and counties and pushed the control line to the north step by step.

"When the Zhejiang bandits first entered Shandong, they only took over the prefectures and Jining Prefectures in central Yanzhou and stopped going north and turned to the east to collect Qingzhou, Dengzhou and Laizhou. Their intention was obviously to rely on the absolute advantage of the navy to create a hinterland. Next, while attacking Jinan Prefecture, the Zhejiang bandits were also heading towards Dongpingzhou. Now it seems that they were going to draw the canal and the Daqing River as the boundary to expand the occupied area."

"In these places, due to the existence of rivers, the infiltration of Mongolian cavalry will drop significantly. The news just obtained is that the Zhejiang bandits have already planned to advance along Dongchang Prefecture, Linqingzhou, Wuxian and Dezhou. They have opened up the canal and drove out the official troops east of the canal. In the following days, Chen Nizi can advance along the canal, and the harassment that the Mongolians can give will become lower and lower, and the situation will become worse and worse for the court."

These ideas were just deduced by Liu Cheng according to the sand table. After Chen Wen entered Shandong, he played the old rhythm of step-by-step advancement. Now the Qing cavalry active in Shandong have basically been driven to the west of the canal, and even some counties west of the canal have fallen into the hands of the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Now Chen Wenda can advance along the canal, which is safe and convenient, just like Zhu Yuanzhang back then.

The overall strength of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming Army Group was superior. If it was eroded like this, the only one that could not be able to hold on first would be the Qing court. Especially now, Chen Wen captured most of Shandong, cut off the waterway between southern Liaoning and Shandong to enter the Bohai Sea, and launched an offensive against southern Liaoning and attacked the important areas of Shanhaiguan. The traffic between Liaodong and north and south Goryeo was cut off. The Qing court could no longer obtain the supply of these two places, Huaibei, Shandong and Henan. The gap in strength between the two sides would only grow bigger and bigger until the Qing court ate up the inventory. At that time, the combat effectiveness of the new army would also decline significantly, and they would have no possibility of a turnaround.

"Now, Zhejiang bandits seized Shanhaiguan, on the surface, wanted to cut off the security passage for the court to retreat to Liaodong, but in fact, Chen Wen was forcing the court to go south to fight to further shorten the supply line."

The powerful and nobles present were stunned, but before Liu Cheng could solve the mystery, important officials like Oboi, or relatives who had a certain understanding of the relationship between the Qing court and Mongolian tribes, they quickly understood what Liu Cheng was referring to.

Nowadays, Mongolia in the west of the Moon is far away, Mongolia in the north of the Moon and the Qing court is in harmony, while Mongolian tribes in the south of the Moon are still fully assisting the Qing court because of their in-laws and prestige. However, if Shanhaiguan falls, the news that large areas of land in Liaodong are collected by the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang spread, and the Qing court is afraid that it will be regarded as dead by Mongolian tribes in the south of the Moon. By then, the Eight Mongolian Banners may not have fallen apart immediately, but the Mongolians recruited by the Qing court will probably immediately turn into birds and beasts.

"As far as I know, Chen Wen is a tough person, but he is not the kind of person with great wisdom and strategy. However, he established a staff officer who uses all his wisdom and relies on reasonable deduction to command operations. Even Zhuge is afraid that he may not be more effective than the results deduced by a group of staff members. He clearly has already reached this point, and he is very clear that he can force the court to do this by relying on the gap in strength, and this is the real optimal solution for the court, no one!"

Hearing this, looking at the small flags on the sand table symbolizing the deployment of the army, I recalled the inventory of the Qing court and the faces of the Mongolians. The relatives and nobles present, even Shunzhi, were all sweating on their foreheads, as if they were in the summer of the world.

He stared at the area pointed by the baton, and after a moment, Fu Shou asked tentatively: "What should I do with the Zhejiang bandits in Shanhaiguan?"

Speaking of this, Liu Cheng sighed and then explained: "The leader of Zhejiang bandits in Shanhaiguan is Youfu, the Public Security Bureau of Cai. Yuyao under his command is a well-established army. He and Chen Ni's battalion were formed before Chen Ni attacked Jiangxi. An Youfu, who once fought under the command of a slave. The slave knew very well that his nature was Chen Ni's loyalty. He said he would not think about his surrender. In fact, it would be useless to convince him. Chen Ni's military supervisors and military judges are not vegetarians, let alone the military judges of Yuyao Shi Lin Zhongxiao and An Youfu had a marriage when they were in Dalan Mountain. Now even if they are relieved of their past grudges, they may not be able to pee into a pot."

Liu Cheng knew the secrets of the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. He used to be just a strange story, but now it sounds like no relative or noble minister doesn't think that this is the real key information. Liu Cheng's importance to the Qing court suddenly arose in their hearts. This chief of staff in the imperial camp deserves his reputation and makes full use of it.

"However, there is no need to worry. An Youfu is not a good temper, but he has always been firmly implemented for Chen Ni. According to Chen Ni's nature, the partial division of Shanhaiguan is to cut off the Liaoxi Corridor and shake the Mongolian troops in the south of the desert. He will not raid the capital behind the new army. What's more, Shanhaiguan and the capital are no less than 600 miles apart. Just a Yuyao Division with more than 10,000 people will never go deep alone. You must know that the five new army units have 80,000 troops, and the cavalry alone is more than twice that of the Yuyao Division. Chen Ni and An Ni are not fools."

Speaking of this, the relatives and nobles suddenly realized their strength, but it was the same thing that Yuyao Shi did not come, and they could not recapture Shanhaiguan. Not to mention whether they could take it back or not, if they really returned to Shanhaiguan, the Ming army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang went north along the canal, first seized the General Administration of Machinery Manufacturing of Tianjin Wei, and then slaughtered the Eight Banners family in the capital city. Why did the Qing court make such a long preparation? He took his family back to Nuergandusi a few years ago, and maybe he had already adapted to the life of a savage in the old forest in Liaodong.

After Liu Cheng's analysis, they soon realized that the only way to go south to fight is to go. It is uncomfortable to be led by someone, especially at the strategic level. However, Chen Qiang and Qingwei had already become weak, and the stronger side always had more means to take the initiative, and the Qing court could only deal with it by chance.

Since this was the case, the Qing court did not continue to hesitate. It had to fight the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang before the news of the fall of Shanhaiguan spread, and had to go south along the canal.
Chapter completed!