Fan Wencheng, Ning Wan and I also looked at each other in shock.
Hou Fangyu also said with a dark face: "If this is really the case, it will be a big trouble. Liaodong is thousands of miles away from Beijing. The Qing Dynasty sent troops to Liaodong to attack the far distance."
"That's right. Running to Liaodong to fight the Ming army would cost the Qing Dynasty far more than fighting at Dagukou." Hong Chengchou said worriedly, "So Chongzhen will never come to Dagukou."
"In other words, Chongzhen has led an army of 20,000 to Liaodong!"
Dorgon said word for word: "His goal is the Ten Banners of Horqin Mongolia!"
"No, Chongzhen's goal is to consume the Qing Dynasty's national power." Hong Chengchou shook his head and then said, "Of course, if the master remains unmoved, he will take advantage of the situation and eliminate the Horqin Mongolian Ten Banners."
Dorgon said solemnly: "Can Chongzhen solve the Horqin Mongolian Ten Banners?"
Hong Chengchou sighed: "Master, have you forgotten the defeat of Guting Town so quickly?"
Dorgon fell into silence immediately. In the battle of Guting Town, Duduo gathered 48,000 Manchurian banners and 28,000 Mongolian banners. A full 60,000 cavalry besieged 8,000 Ming army cavalry, but in the end they gained a big victory.
defeat.
Therefore, even if the Ming army were all cavalry, they could still defeat the Horqin Mongols.
The Qing Dynasty could not afford to lose Horqin Mongolia.
Chongzhen must be rescued when attacking the enemy.
…
Almost at the same time, a huge Ming naval force arrived near Lianyun Island off the coast of Gaizhouwei.
At this time, the temperature in Liaodong has dropped below zero, and the ice in the North Sea has begun to freeze. In the deep sea, there is only a thin layer of ice, but as the coastline gets closer, the ice becomes thicker.
Getting thicker.
When the naval warship moved forward in the wind, the bow of the ship broke the ice, making a constant clicking sound.
Chongzhen stood on the bow of a large ship with 4,000 pieces of material, his hands behind his back, and beside him stood Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Sen's father and son.
Zheng Zhilong pointed to Lianyun Island and said: "Your Majesty, in front of you is Lianyun Island. If you go around Lianyun Island, you can see Gaizhou. You can have lunch at Gaizhou Wei at noon today."
Chongzhen smiled and said: "Xu Yingwei certainly didn't expect that I would come to Liaodong."
"That's natural." Zheng Zhilong said with a smile, "After passing Dengzhou Prefecture, the Holy Father told his ministers that they would change the route to Gaizhou Guard. The ministers were all surprised, so Xu Yingwei must not have thought of it."
"So Dorgon never expected that I would come to Liaodong."
"Dorgon would have never imagined that this bitch would probably dream of fighting the Holy One at the entrance of Dagu."
"Actually, I originally wanted to fight a war of attrition with the Jiannu in Dagukou, but then I thought about it. Taking Liaodong can also mobilize the Jiannu. So why can't I fight the Jiannu in Liaodong? After all, Liaodong is far away from Beijing.
Thousands of miles away, Dagukou is only 300 miles away from Beijing. Fighting a war of attrition in Liaodong will cause even greater losses to the Jiannu."
In fact, there is another reason that Chongzhen did not mention, that is, cement could not be made.
After being busy for more than half a year, Chongzhen finally had to accept the cruel reality of the failure of calcining cement.
In fact, it cannot be said that it was a complete failure. After raising the kiln temperature to 1300 degrees or even 1400 degrees, qualified Portland cement was still fired. The problem was that the production capacity could not be increased.
Because crushing raw materials and grinding clinker are labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Before the realization of mechanical power, mass production of cement was simply a wishful thinking.
After realizing this fact, Chongzhen decisively gave up his plan to mass-produce cement. It was better to wait until the industrial application of steam engines began before considering mass-producing cement.
Cement could not be mass-produced on a large scale, which disrupted Chongzhen's plan.
The terrain at Dagukou was easy to attack and difficult to defend. As long as they waited until winter, the Jiannu could dig tunnels and blast them. However, the Ming army could neither divert seawater to pour in nor seal the tunnels with cement grouting.
Therefore, it is not cost-effective to fight a war of attrition with Jiannu in Dagukou.
It is precisely because of this that Chongzhen considered fighting a war of attrition against Jiannu in Liaodong.
Because of this, the order given by Chongzhen to Yan Yingyuan was also modified. Before, it was to defend Dagukou at all costs, but now the order is to use the fortifications at Dagukou to kill and injure the Jiannu as much as possible and consume the combat materials of the Jiannu.
The situation completely collapsed, allowing the retreat, and Zheng Hongkui's navy was also prepared to respond.
Zheng Sen asked: "But Your Majesty, will Jianu really come to Gaizhou?"
In this expedition, Chongzhen originally did not want to bring the "air force" with him, because Zheng Sen's air force and Zhang Jimeng's divine artillery were the secret weapons of the Ming Dynasty, and they were not prepared to be used until the final decisive battle.
But later Chongzhen thought again, it was easy to copy the Brownian motion divine artillery, but it was not easy to copy the airship.
And even if Jiannu really replicated the airship, it would be too late to catch up with the decisive battle, and it would also consume a lot of Jiannu's manpower, material and financial resources.
Moreover, with the participation of the Air Force, the chances of winning the field battle with Jiannu will be higher.
Yes, Chongzhen wanted to have a field battle with Jiannu in Liaodong before the decisive battle.
This was a test of the waters. Chongzhen would not be sure if he did not engage in a medium-sized field battle with Jiannu.
In view of this, Chongzhen decided to let the air force make an early appearance, and then asked Zheng Sen's air force to follow him to Liaodong.
"You are wrong, it is not Gaizhou, but Liaodong." Chongzhen said with a smile, "If it were just Gaizhou, it would be difficult to mobilize Jiannu, but Liaodong is what Jiannu must save."
】
Zheng Zhilong echoed: "It is true that Jiannu cannot afford the consequences of losing Liaodong."
Well, Zheng Zhilong actually didn’t understand it at all, he just simply agreed with Chongzhen.
Zheng Zhilong is very satisfied with his current life. He is the Duke of Fujian and the chief executive of the Ming Dynasty Naval Academy. He also makes a lot of money. He really has both face and dignity.
Zheng Sen did not give him any face, and retorted on the spot: "What are the consequences of losing Liaodong?"
"What do you know?" Zheng Zhilong's face fell instantly, "Liaodong is the land of Longxing for slaves, especially the old slaves and Huang Jitai are buried outside Shengjing City. Aren't slaves afraid that we will dig up his ancestral graves?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "This is not the case, the Ming Dynasty will never do such a low-level thing." Chongzhen quickly interrupted Zheng Zhilong.
Why are you talking about digging up ancestral graves? If you can dig up other people’s graves, why can’t others dig up yours? The tombs of the twelve emperors of the Ming Dynasty are all in Changping. If you really want to dig up your ancestors’ graves, the Ming Dynasty will definitely lose.
While they were talking, the fleet had already sailed around Lianyun Island and saw Gaizhou City.
The Ming army in Gaizhou City discovered the fleet on the sea almost at the same time.
Immediately, the sound of assembly calls came from afar, and the Ming army in the city began to assemble.
…
Three days passed quickly.
The Eight Banners Manchuria, Eight Banners Mongolia, Eight Banners Han Army and Green Battalion troops in Beijing have completed their assembly, but it is still undecided who will be sent to Dagukou and who to Liaodong.
Dorgon is still waiting for news from Dagokou.
This time we will use troops against Dagukou and Liaodong at the same time. This is certain.
Times have changed. In the old slave era, you could come all the way, but I only went all the way. That’s no longer possible.
Now the nail in Dagukou must be pulled out, Liaodong must also be rescued, and troops must be used in both directions.
However, whether the main force goes to Dagukou or Liaodong depends on Chongzhen's whereabouts. If Chongzhen's 20,000 Ming troops go to Liaodong, the main force of the Qing army will also follow.
If Chongzhen's 20,000 Ming army went to Dagukou, the main force of the Qing army would go to Dagukou.
And now there is a new problem facing Dorgon, which is the issue of choosing the head coach of the partial division.
In the past, it was the clan who led the troops, either the princes or kings, or Beile or Beizi. However, after the Eight Banners reorganization, the clan's power was deprived of power by Dorgon, and it no longer had the right to lead troops.
So now I can only choose one from the Manchu ministers.
In addition to the Manchu minister who led the army, a Han minister also had to be selected to serve as his deputy.
Dorgon suddenly asked Hou Fangyu: "Little Houzi, how about letting Ye Chen serve as the chief general and Wang Fuchen as the deputy general of the partial division?"
"Ah?" Hou Fangyu, who was standing by the side, looked at Dorgon in disbelief. He couldn't believe that Dorgon would ask for his opinion on the appointment and dismissal of generals.
"Master, how dare I say anything about this matter?"
After Hou Fangyu reacted, he quickly shied away.
"I don't know much about the Manchu and Han ministers in the DPRK."
"If I ask you to say it, just say it with confidence." Dorgon said angrily, "Even if I say something wrong, I will never blame you."
Hou Fangyu said in his heart, I am not afraid of offending you, but I am afraid of offending the Manchu and Han ministers.
Because no matter who he recommended to Dorgon, he would offend other ministers.
Thinking of this, Hou Fangyu could only lower his head and say: "This matter can only be decided by Master Qiangang."
"You're such a bitch slave, you're really cautious." Dorgon was so angry that he kicked Hou Fangyu.
At this time, Cao Eryu hurriedly walked into Dongnuang Pavilion, knelt down and reported: "Master, urgent report from Tianjin, so far no Nanming reinforcements have come to Dagukou."
"Not coming?" Dorgon said solemnly, "So Chongzhen really went to Liaodong."
Hou Fangyu nodded and said: "No surprise, Chongzhen must have led his army to Liaodong."
Dorgon pondered for a moment and then told Cao Eryu: "Summon Ye Chen and Sony to come to the palace to discuss matters."
Since Chongzhen was sure to lead the army to Liaodong, Dorgon naturally had to lead the army to Liaodong himself, but he was still undecided on the candidate to lead the division at Dagukou.
Dorgon had two candidates in mind, Ye Chen and Sony.
Both of them have their own advantages and disadvantages. Ye Chende is highly respected and experienced, but he is a bit old. Sony is young and powerful, but lacks prestige and lacks the experience of leading troops alone.
Is Ye Chen better, or is simply more suitable?
Dorgon decided to summon the two of them to the palace for a test.
Cao Eryu turned to leave but was stopped by Dorgon again.
Dorgon added: "Call Wang Fuchen and Wu Guogui as well."
In addition to the Manchu general, Dorgon was worried about Wu Sangui and Jiang Xiang, so he decided to reuse Wang Fuchen and Wu Guogui.
