"Zukefa, tell me, can we let Dorgon go now?"

The situation in the Northern Expedition was excellent, and Emperor Hongxing was certainly in a very good mood. When he asked about Zukefa, he couldn't hold back the smile on his face.

How good is Zukofa at observing words and expressions? In the past few years in the enemy camp, his other skills have not necessarily improved, but his ability to read people's faces has improved steadily!

"Your Majesty, of course we can't let Dorgon go!" Zukefa gritted his teeth and said, "How can we let this evil thief go? How many of us have he killed! Before, the Donglu had the upper hand, so we, the Ming Dynasty, endured the humiliation and made peace with him.

Yes, we have the upper hand now. Donglu was defeated in the past few years. How can we let him go?

Your Majesty, my ancestor Kefa is also a military commander, and I also want to go into battle to kill prisoners. Please give me your Majesty's decree and let me serve in Wu Guoyong's army!"

Zhu Cixi just smiled, without comment, and turned his attention to Li Yan again.

"Your Majesty," Li Yan said with a smile, "the only state capitals south of the Yellow River that are actually controlled by the Tatars in Henan Province are Kaifeng Prefecture, Guide Prefecture, Ruzhou, several counties in Henan Prefecture, and several counties in Nanyang Prefecture.

.If we want to exchange this bit of land for our Dengzhou Prefecture, Laizhou Prefecture, Qingzhou Prefecture and the southern part of Jinan Prefecture, our abacus is too precise.

Moreover, Shandong is a coastal province, surrounded by the sea on three sides. Our navy can come and go freely. The castles along the coast are impregnable and will not be occupied by the Tatars. Now Gao Zongrong is making good progress in Jinzhou, and he can take over Lushun Pass in sight.

Dangerous.

With the two major seaside fortresses of Lushun and Dengzhou Water City, we hold the entrance to the Bohai Sea in our hands, and we can come and go along the Korean coast at any time. How can we give up such good land to the Donglu? Even if we can't capture the city of Beijing this time

, relying on Dengzhou in this way, the sea route of Lushun is consumed by them year after year, and sooner or later the Donglu will be brought down!"

During this period, because the Northern Expedition armies from the north and the south were progressing smoothly, the Huai'an trip was filled with an optimistic atmosphere, and most people believed that victory was just around the corner.

However, Li Yan, the leftist military advisor, is more cautious and is still making long-term plans. In his opinion, landing at Dagukou and going straight to Beijing is a bit rash. What if the battle is lost? How will the landing army come back?

?

Now that the Ming Dynasty has an obvious advantage in the overall situation, it should not be overly aggressive in local battlefields. The best strategy is to fight slowly and slowly with the Donglu.

Li Yan continued: "Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, we are marching on the Donglu's weakness. The northern route leads to Liaodong and the thousands of miles of sea territory in western Liaoning. We can land everywhere. And the Tatar army wants to

It would be tiring to keep up with us!

The South Route Army is mainly composed of car camps and marches along the canal waterway. It can set up a moon formation at any time to defend against enemy cavalry. There are also canals on the canal carrying artillery and baggage to coordinate the march. The Donglu can't do anything to them!"

He paused, and his tone suddenly became more serious.

"It's just that it's mid-autumn now, and in two or three months, the north will be covered with ice and snow. By then, it will be impossible to land on the coasts of Liaodong and western Liaoning. And the canals in Shandong will also freeze. We

The canal boats cannot be navigated, and the baggage and artillery are difficult to transport. The Shandong armies’ chariot camps alone may not be able to stop the Donglu’s cavalry. Therefore, I estimate that after winter, the Donglu will launch a counterattack.”

Zhu Cixiang turned his attention to Zu Kefa, the fourth minister, and said, "Kefa, can you tell me where the Tatars will launch a counterattack?"

Zukefa had already thought over and over again for Dorgon. In terms of his understanding of the Qing army, he was far superior to Li Yan. Moreover, his military ability was not that bad. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't understand the Morris formation,

With the new tactics combined with artillery, infantry and cavalry, his ability to command battles was better than that of Wu Sanfu and Wu Guoyong, not to mention Li Yan and Li Xiaolian who became a monk halfway.

"Your Majesty," Zu Kefa said, "before I left Zhengzhou, I heard that Dorgon sent Duduo to Shengjing, and granted him the seal of Dingguo General.

There were three Angbang Zhangjings in Shanhaiguan, namely Er Bilong, Ye Keshu and Aobai. Duduo had always been Dorgon's most trusted brother, and he was good at fighting. Er Bilong and Aobai were the best warriors in Manchuria. They were among the best warriors in Manchuria.

They all went outside the Pass, and it seems that Dorgon is planning to fight back outside the Pass."

Zhu Cixiang turned his head and glanced at Zhu Chunjie, the commander of the Jinyiwei. This time, he was also marching with the army.

"Your Majesty," Zhu Chunjie said, "what Zu Kefa reported is true. I have just received the news and am planning to report it."

As he spoke, he took out a memorial and asked the eunuch Huang Xiaobao to give it to Emperor Zhu.

Zhu Cihong opened the memorial and took a look. Sure enough, he wrote about the transfer of Duduo and Aobai to other places.

In addition to these two pieces of news, the memorial also reported that Nikan fought with Zhang Xianzhong in Henan Prefecture. Nikan only had more than 10,000 men, and half of them were green flags. He actually beat Zhang Xianzhong to a head, and now he is defending Luoyang and dare not go out!

The reason why Nikan was able to win a great victory, apart from the fact that the cavalry of the Old Eight Banners was still sharp, was a light artillery that could cooperate with the maneuvers of cavalry and mounted infantry. It should be the 3-pound field gun installed by the Ming army!

Zhu Cixi actually already knew about this!

As early as the beginning of this year, when Van Diemen was transferred from the governor of Batavia to the general office of the East India Company's Shanghai Commercial Office and the special envoy of the United Provinces of the Netherlands to the Ming Dynasty, he informed Zhu Cihong that the English East India Company was heading eastward through North Korea.

The captives exported information about artillery and military advisors.

British imperialism is so hateful and its desire to kill me will never die!

However, it was a bit unexpected for Zhu Cixiang that the Manchus were able to play with three-pound cannons so well. In fact, it should be expected. Historically, the Manchus were quite good at playing with cannons until the Kangxi period. The Battle of Ulan Butong

Wasn't it just relying on the Hongyi cannon to win? Being able to drag the Hongyi cannon to the battlefield of Ulanbutong, thousands of miles away from Beijing, is not a bad level.

As for Dorgon and Duduo, the Manchus' ability to learn military skills is much better than that of the corrupt Eight Banners men under Emperor Kangxi. It's not surprising that they can play cavalry and artillery coordination.

Of course, Zhu Cixiang was not afraid of a single trick of cavalry and artillery coordination.

What's there to fear about fighting with Tatars? It would be better if Dorgon was willing to queue up and shoot. With their small population, all of them are just like lobster soldiers, and they are all for nothing!

"Military advisor, take a look at this too." Zhu Cihong handed Zhu Chunjie's memorial to Li Yan.

Li Yan looked through it and frowned slightly, "Zhang Xianzhong was defeated so miserably and Dorgon is in Zhengzhou again. It seems that the possibility of Donglu launching a counterattack in Shandong is not small."

Zhu Cixiang nodded: "There will definitely be a counterattack. The only question is when?"

"It's winter," Li Yan said. "He won't take action until the canal freezes. And if the canal doesn't freeze, we can't conquer Liaocheng!"

He paused, "The key is Liaocheng!"

Liaocheng is the most difficult castle along the canal in Shandong Province. It is located in a lake, and it is stuck in the throat of the canal. If Liaocheng is not captured, the Ming army on the southern front cannot move northward. And in the season when the canal is not frozen, you cannot

How to conquer Liaocheng.

How do you fight against such a wide lake? Are you going to hit the beach with a small boat? How many people will die? And the lake surrounding Liaocheng is not very big, so it is impossible for naval warships to sail in.

Therefore, if you want to attack Liaocheng, you have to wait until the canal freezes in winter. Once the canal freezes, the Ming Dynasty's canals will not be able to sail, but Dorgon's cavalry can travel freely.

Zhu Cixiang laughed: "That's Liaocheng. We will go to Liaocheng this autumn and won't go north anymore. We will call for reinforcements at the encirclement point in Liaocheng! As long as Dorgon dares to come, we will beat him to the second place of Hauge!"

He then said to Zukefa: "Zukefa, don't go to Wu Guoyong's place. Go to Shaanxi to meet your cousin Wu Sangui!"

"Meet Wu Sangui?" Zu Kefa was stunned, "Your Majesty, what do you want me to say to Wu Sangui?"
Chapter completed!