Chongzhen added: "But fortunately, even if Jiannu changes his tune and adopts the strategy of 'fortifying the stronghold and fighting the war', it will not have much adverse effects at the moment. The biggest harm will be in the future when the army goes on the Northern Expedition.
At that time, our Ming army will pay a heavy price for every step forward."
Chongzhen seemed to have foreseen the tragic scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Of course, this is not completely unavoidable. If there is a way to induce the main force of the slave establishment to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army, this extreme situation can be avoided. However, Chongzhen felt that this possibility was unlikely if Dorgon did not die.
Because Dorgon is still a wise man, the probability of being hot-headed is low.
In view of this, Chongzhen believed that the Ming Dynasty must prepare for the worst and be lenient in anticipation of the enemy.
Zhu Cihong said: "Father, why don't you adopt Xu Youzhen's advice and recruit Korean servants to serve as cannon fodder?"
"This strategy is worth trying. After all, the Tang Dynasty has done this before, and the effect is pretty good." Chongzhen nodded, and then said, "However, this strategy has advantages and disadvantages, and the disadvantages are quite serious."
"Is my father worried that the Koreans will resist and turn to the Jiannu side again?"
"This is not what worries me as a father. Instead, I worry that the North Korean servant army may be reborn from nirvana and become stronger and stronger as they serve as cannon fodder for the Ming Dynasty, until one day it becomes a serious problem."
"Is my father worried that the Korean servant army will become the Khitan army of the Tang Dynasty?"
The Khitan army that followed An Lushan in the rebellion was just cannon fodder for the Tang army at the beginning.
However, with the disintegration of the military system of the Tang Dynasty, such as the Khitan Army, Xi Army, and Goryeo Army became the main force of the Tang Dynasty.
"Compared with worrying that the Korean army will become the Khitan army of the Tang Dynasty, my father is actually more worried that the Ming Dynasty's army will become arrogant. A person who becomes arrogant will only have no future. If an army becomes a arrogant young soldier,
Young master soldiers will destroy the country. Carrying cages, fighting with birds and running dogs cannot protect the inheritance of our ancestors."
"What should we do?" Zhu Cixiang also had no idea.
Chongzhen took the opportunity to teach: "So Xuan'er, you must remember that there is nothing in this world that has only advantages and no disadvantages. Everything has pros and cons, pros and cons. As for whether you should do it or not, then
It’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons, such as whether you need to recruit North Korean servants?”
After a short pause, he added: "In the short term, it is absolutely necessary, but in the long term, especially after the serious problem of establishing slaves is solved, the harm to the North Korean slave army will outweigh the benefits if it is used on a large scale. However, we must also distinguish between
Under certain circumstances, such as encountering a tough battle that requires heavy sacrifices, the servant army can actually be used as cannon fodder."
"I understand." Zhu Cixiang suddenly said, "It is also necessary in Liaodong now, right?"
"Yes." Chongzhen nodded and added, "Immediately send an urgent delivery to Jiong'er, asking him to recruit the Korean rebels who participated in the rebellion to Gaizhou Guards for use. The blacksmiths and other craftsmen also need to be sent to Nanjing as soon as possible."
After a pause, he added: "Also, we can also send more female workers."
"Female workers?" Zhu Cixiang was stunned when he heard this, "Father, it seems that there is no shortage of female workers in the Ming Dynasty?"
"What do you know? If my father says he is lacking, he must be lacking." Chongzhen said angrily, "Don't forget to tell your third brother again to choose a woman between the ages of thirteen and thirty, either unmarried or married.
No matter what, isn't North Korea poor? Ming Dynasty will not sit idly by and will definitely give their craftsmen and female workers generous treatment."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Cixiang reacted instantly.
Immediately he responded: "My son, I obey."
…
Five days later, Chongzhen's decree arrived at Gaizhou Guard.
At this time, Jiannu had built the gun platform to a point less than five hundred steps away from the Ming army's gun platform defense line, which meant that the Ming army and Jiannu's gun platform were only three to four hundred steps apart, and the voices on the other side could almost be heard.
However, after reaching this distance, Jiannu could no longer build a gun platform.
Because this distance has already entered the range of the Crouching Tiger Artillery, even at night, building a gun platform against the hail of bullets from the Ming Army's Crouching Tiger Artillery would require a high price, and Jiannu was obviously unwilling to pay this price.
As a result, the situation fell into a stalemate, and the two armies started to exchange words three to four hundred steps apart.
However, both the Jiannu and the Ming troops just shouted and remained motionless.
After Xu Yingwei read the imperial edict, he said: "In the end, he is the Holy One because he has foresight."
Lu Xiangtong wiped his gun and asked, "Brother Youzhen, what did the Holy One say?"
Xu Yingwei said: "The Holy One said that the harm caused by Jiannu changing his ways is not now, but will happen someday during the Northern Expedition."
After saying this, he pointed to the Jiannu Gun Tower opposite and said: "Isn't this just as the Holy One said, Jiannu stopped moving after building the Gun Tower three hundred steps to our army's defense line, so at most it is just
A confrontation was formed. Before, I was worried that there would be danger at Dagukou, but now it seems that I was overly worried, haha."
"That's true." Jiang Tianyi said, "Under the premise that our army has built the gun platform fortifications, even if Jiannu imitates the east, there is a limit to building the gun platform and moving forward."
"When we get within the range of the Crouching Tiger Cannon, it's the end."
"But when our army launches its Northern Expedition in the future, I'm afraid the situation will be very different."
Xu Yingwei said quietly: "By then there will be countless groups of cannons along the Grand Canal. If our army wants to push them one by one, we don't know how many people will be sacrificed."
When Jiang Tianyi and Lu Xiangtong heard this, their hands moved at the same time.
Because the scene Xu Yingwei painted made them feel heavy.
Lu Xiangtong said: "If this is the case, don't fight north along the canal."
"This is inappropriate." Jiang Tian said, "If we can't march north along the canal, the cost will increase fivefold or even tenfold. And if we don't fight along the canal, can we avoid Jiannu's blunderbuss group?
I'm afraid not."
"Definitely not." Xu Yingwei said, "Jiannu can rely on each city to build a group of gun towers."
"This..." Lu Xiangtong's thick eyebrows suddenly twisted into the Chinese character "Sichuan". This matter is really difficult to handle. We can't avoid the Grand Canal and avoid all the cities, right? In this case, do we still need the logistics supply line?
"But fortunately, the Ming Dynasty will not carry out the Northern Expedition for at least two years." Xu Yingwei waved his hand and said, "We still have enough time to think about countermeasures. As for now, we should prepare as soon as possible to welcome the North Korean rebels.
There will be a rotation of friendly troops arriving, and we will be able to return to Nanjing as soon as the rotation of friendly troops and scholars arrive in Gaizhou."
Xu Yingwei smiled and said: "The Holy One has seen thousands of miles and has foreseen that Dagukou and Gaizhou Guards will be in a confrontation, so I want to take this opportunity to transfer more new troops to Gaizhou and Dagukou."
"It should be so." Lu Xiangtong deeply agreed with this. "Of the 270,000 New Army soldiers, only a handful have actually been on the battlefield. We should take this opportunity to let other New Army soldiers see the battlefield."
"How did you come here?" Jiang Tianyi asked, "It's our first time to Liaodong, so why not come here on the ice?"
"That's why we need to be prepared." Xu Yingwei nodded and said, "Once the Jiannuo cavalry is intercepted, the infantry brigade will be dispatched as soon as possible to respond. During this time, we should practice the line formation on the ice."
"Also, the advancement of the hollow square formation on the ice needs to be practiced."
Lu Xiangtong and Jiang Tian agreed.
…
At this time in Seoul, in the military camp of the Ming army.
Zhu Cijiong is inviting Park Dongxi and Kim Jaeyu to drink.
Seeing Zhu Cijiong raise the wine can, Park Dongxi and Kim Jaeyu quickly knelt down and stood up, with frightened expressions on their faces. They felt flattered by Zhu Cijiong's extraordinary courtesy.
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Zhu Cijiong was the prince of the Ming Dynasty.
His status is more noble than that of the Joseon Dynasty.
"Your Highness Prince Ding, this is really embarrassing for us."
"Well, there is no prince at the wine table, only drinking buddies."
"Drinking buddies?" Park Dong Hee and Kim Jae Yu looked at each other, how dare they act like this?
We are just minor ministers of the vassal country, how dare we be the drinking buddies of the prince of the suzerain country?
Park Dongxi and Kim Jaeyu always felt that Zhu Cijiong wanted them to do something difficult, so their hearts were hanging from the beginning to the end, because the more polite Zhu Cijiong was to them, the more difficult it was to handle.
.
However, what they didn't expect was that Zhu Cijiong was really just looking for them to drink.
Until he drank a lot of Mingjiu, Zhu Cijiong did not make any demands to Park Dongxi and Kim Jaeyu.
After seeing off Park Dongxi and Jin Zaiyu, Xia Wanchun smiled and asked: "Prince Ding, do you have a crush on Park Dongxi and the others?"
Zhu Cijiong snorted lightly and said: "If we want to accomplish the things our father has given us, we probably won't be able to do it without the help of the Koreans. Park Dongxi and Kim Jaeyu's abilities are pretty good, at least they are outstanding among the Koreans.
And more importantly, they admire Ming Dynasty quite a lot."
"However, I think they are quite loyal to Li? I'm afraid it will be difficult to instigate rebellion."
"Otherwise, there is nothing that can't be solved by one drink. If one drink doesn't work, then two." Zhu Cijiong said with a smile, "I don't believe that if I ask the two of them for drinks again and again, Li will not be suspicious."
"Wonderful." Xia Wanchun exclaimed, "So this is Wang Cun's plan."
"How?" Zhu Cijiong asked with a smile, "Do you think Gu's plan can work?"
"It can be done." Xia Wanchun said with a smile, "King Ding invited Park and Jin to have a drink. After returning, Li Ding will cross-examine him. He told Li Ding once and twice that King Ding didn't say anything, and Li Ding might not get up yet.
Suspicious, but if you still say the same thing three, four, or even five or six times, it will be difficult for Li to think about it without being suspicious."
"Haha." Zhu Cijiong laughed when he heard this, "I really can't hide anything from Brother Duan."
After a pause, Zhu Cijiong said again: "However, the matter of the 30,000 rebels must be dealt with urgently."
"Understood." Xia Wanchun said with a straight face, "We will do it immediately as soon as the reinforcements arrive."
By the way, I would like to add that the infantry brigade and artillery battalion that originally reinforced the Gaizhou Guards have landed at Inchon and are traveling day and night to Seoul to join Zhu Cijiong.
[The plot is being prepared, and what follows is the biggest climax of the book, don’t rush it]