Laizhou Bay is dotted with white sails, and the port terminals are crowded.
Zhu Yihai stood on the bell tower, looking at the people who were still gathering in the distance, with a worried look on his face.
"Your Majesty, Jin Gongyu sent people to perform a victory, and the left assistant general Meng Xian captured Muling Pass. He just defeated the invading Boluo at Muling Pass. In one battle, he wiped out his five hundred night attack, and then defeated him again.
The army that attacked them by force also killed more than three hundred people, and Boluo is now trapped in the pass and cannot advance even an inch."
"Jin Gongyu also played triumphant songs in Qingzhou. He has captured the two cities of Linzi and Linqu. Qingzhou's capital city, Yidu, has also been surrounded from all sides and is being persuaded to surrender. There is no fighting spirit in the city and there is also a desire to ask for money to surrender."
Bolo arrived a step late and was blocked outside Muling Pass. This is good news.
"Your Majesty, do you want to order Lu Xiangguan and Liu Shixun to cut off Boluo's retreat and encircle him in Xian Mountain?"
"The general is leading his troops thousands of miles away. The battlefield situation is changing rapidly. I cannot interfere with my orders randomly. I have already deployed strategic intentions. The specifics will depend on their performance."
Zhu Yihai looked at the map and said.
The previous deployment was for Liu Shixun to capture Haizhou first and then Yizhou, while Lu Xiangguan was to attack Weixian, Xia'anqiu, and other cities in the south. He mainly raided along the Weishui River and its tributaries upstream and plundered several cities.
As long as they can capture Yizhou and Zhucheng according to the predetermined strategic plan, then the next step will naturally be to continue the encirclement, then capture Yishui, Juzhou, and finally besiege Bolo under Muling Pass.
Of course, there are still gaps in this encirclement, which are Yiyuan and Laiwu in the west. Yiyuan is the source of Yishui River, and Laiwu is the upper reaches of the Wenhe River Basin. Yiyuan and Laiwu are blocked by original mountains and connected by Qingshi Pass, and there is a longer road to the south.
Smaller valley passages.
Past Laiwu is Tai'an, and there is a direct passage to Jinan.
The Liu Dynasty suggested sending troops to encircle all sides and gather Boluo's ten thousand Eight Banner elites to annihilate Xianshan. However, Zhu Yihai looked calmly at the Shandong refugees that were constantly gathering in Laizhou Bay.
It is very difficult to encircle the enemy on all sides, because the two important towns of Xu and Yan in the west are still in the hands of the Qing army, let alone Jinan in the north. The Ming army has no advantage in fighting in that mountainous area.
On the contrary, it will be easy to get involved in a battle that you don't want to fight.
It's good to be surrounded on three sides. It would be even better if we could kill more Bolo's men and horses. Even if we can't surround and annihilate them, there's nothing to regret. War has to be done step by step. If you want to become fat in one bite, then
There will be many loopholes, and it will be more likely to cause trouble.
Zhu Yihai summoned Huang Binqing and other generals.
"The victory at Mulingguan was great. The Boluo cavalry was unable to dismount from the tiger. It was very beautiful. I heard that the Tatars were anxious and urgently mobilized the Eight Banners from Beijing to go south to Shandong. We can't let them get their way."
"Huang Qing, you have been asking for a battle before. I plan to let you lead a few ships to Dagu. Are you willing?"
Zhu Yihai asked, pointing to Tianjin's seaside.
Huang Binqing is from Fujian. When his father was an official in Sichuan, he followed him to the post and participated in pacifying the She'an Rebellion. Later he returned to Fujian as a general and worked with Zheng Zhilong to annihilate Liu Xiang. In fact, he had some naval warfare skills, even
During the Hongguang period, there was a desire for separatism.
It just happened that Zhu Yihai was raising troops in Taizhou. How could he be allowed to separatist power? In the end, he surrendered to Emperor Shaotian. However, from the beginning, he was also a separatist power in Zhoushan, and now he has almost become an unofficial admiral. This fierce general known as the tiger idiot is also old.
.
In particular, his grandson died just after birth, which made him much older. In addition, his eldest son was beheaded for violating military regulations, which made his hair half gray now and he had no ambition to be competitive.
"Your Majesty, Daku has been setting up forts since the Jiajing period, and there are also coastal defense troops and coastal defense road preparations. If you want to capture Daku, I'm afraid it won't be easy." Huang Binqing was very steady and did not rush to agree, but reminded the emperor.
Taku is not unprepared.
"I know that since the Northern Expedition reached Shandong last year, the Tatars have comprehensively strengthened the coastal defenses along the Beizhi coast. They have added five large forts and more than twenty small forts in Dagu, with hundreds of large and small artillery pieces. They also stationed
With several battalions of men and horses, it would be really difficult to attack by force.
But Huang Qing’s mission this time is just to walk around the Dagu seaside and show them the flag of the Ming Dynasty.”
Huang Binqing understood, "Your Majesty, are you trying to make the Tatars feel uneasy? Are you even asking your ministers to block Tianjin's seaport?"
"That's right, our advantage lies in the sea, so as long as you block it at sea, Dagu, the important port of Beijing and Tianjin, will be useless."
Dagu is known as the last of the 72 Gu in Tianjin. It is the estuary of the Haihe River. It is the strategic point of Jiuhe and Jin, and has roads connecting seven provinces. It is known as the gateway to Beijing and Tianjin, and the throat of land and sea.
A hundred miles southeast of Tianjin Wei, the town was built and prosperous because of Dagukou. It faces Tanggu across the river, is connected to the Haihe Plain to the west, and is bordered by the Bohai Bay to the east. The surrounding terrain is flat, with many salt fields and sandy beaches.
After Yongle moved the capital to Beijing in the Ming Dynasty, he built a city and set up guards in Tianjin. He also set up a fort at Dagukou, erected a screen at the Tianjin Gate, and locked the key to the Beijing Waterway.
During the Jiajing period, pirates and Japanese rebellions continued, and forts were built in Dagu.
The Tartars entered the customs and initially set up a Xiezhen camp in Dagu. Last year, due to the rise of the Ming army, they urgently increased troops and built forts in Tianjin and Dagu.
At this time, there were 2,500 coastal defense troops stationed in Dagu, and additional fort troops were stationed in Tanggu.
Dagukou, "The mouth of the sea is one hundred and fifty feet wide and the water is five feet deep." It is not only narrow, but also has many twists and turns, making it impossible for large ships to sail across it. It can be said that Dagukou is the barrier of Tianjin and the throat of people from Beijing.
Battleground.
The Qing army now has two camps on the south bank and one on the north bank of Dagukou. It even has four wooden floating cities in the Haihe River. It is a movable wooden city on the water equipped with more than a dozen cannons. It is a floating fort that cooperates with the forts on the shore and the camps.
, can be said to be a great fear of the Ming army, which has extremely strong water combat capabilities.
If Huang Binqing really brought dozens of boats there, he might not be able to get away with it.
Gu Yu
But it was obvious that Zhu Yihai had no intention of conquering Taku or even touching Tianjin. This was already the core area of the Tatars and was heavily fortified, so there was no way they could be defeated.
But now that the Tatars want the main force to go south, of course we cannot let them relax.
To put it bluntly, Huang Binqing was trying to attract attention so that the Tatars would not dare to act rashly. They were suspicious soldiers.
"Jing Qing, you will also take a few boats to Beitang."
Beitang is also an important coastal defense site in Jinmen, guarding the entrance of the Chaohe River.
Zhu Yihai ordered several navy generals and asked them to take several boats and a battalion to the ports along the northern coast of the Bohai Bay to spread suspicion.
Then he ordered Li Chengdong, Li Yuchun, Wu Shengzhao, Tu Guobao, Gao Jinzhong, Zhang Guozhu, Zhang Tianlu, Bu Congshan, Liu Liangzuo, Yang Chengzu and other ten surrendered generals, and asked them to each lead a battalion of troops, take a naval ship to land on the coast of Beizhi, and harass the Tatars
coastal.
Attack their salt fields and warehouses, destroy inns and docks, seize salt and grain money, etc.
"Shen Qing!"
Zhu Yihai also named Shen Tingyang and sent him to lead a main force of the navy and carry some of the elite imperial infantry troops along the Miaodao Islands to southern Liaoning and western Liaoning, seize Changxing Island, and use Juehua Island as a base to attack Fuzhou in southern Liaoning. , Lushun area, as well as Ningyuan in western Liaoning, Jinzhou Huludao and other areas.
"Geng Zhongming is on his way back to Haizhou, Liaoning. If he performs justice in Haizhou and takes his family back home as agreed, you must help him. If they go and rebel again, use Changxing Island as a stronghold to block his coming out again. road.
Your mission is very simple. Try to raid and fight along the coasts of western Liaoning and southern Liaoning, and don't go deep into the interior.
Just like how the Japanese pirates disrupted the southeast, we will use our maritime superiority to cause them to turn upside down!"
I remember that when the Japanese rebellion was severe, a group of less than a hundred Japanese pirates landed in Shaoxing, and eventually swept across the southeast. Not only did they reach the walls of Hangzhou, but they even went to the walls of Nanjing, and finally to Wuhu. With just a few people, they rampaged across the southeast. , defeated more than 4,000 Ming troops one after another, and were finally encircled and annihilated.
Now that the Tatars have entered the customs, their territory has expanded many times, and their combat power is actually spread thinly like a pie. Especially now that the main forces are in Beijing, Tianjin and the southern front, the rear area is much weaker.
Zhu Yihai did not intend to fight hard from the front.
Let the surrendered generals carry out raids and sabotage along the coast of Beizhi, and then send an elite navy and imperial infantry to the coastal areas of western Liaoning and eastern Liaoning outside the Pass. If Geng Zhongming really wants to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and attach himself to the Ming Dynasty, then support him and create a big coup outside the Pass. of.
It doesn't matter if he falsely surrenders, he can still sweep up the coasts of Liangliao outside the Pass.
For the imperial camp right group with more than 70,000 combat auxiliary troops, he now has this strength, especially after just taking Denglai, he still has many surrendered troops, and even many new soldiers who have joined the army. Where are the rebels?
There are too many people in Denglai Peninsula, so it is better to drag them out to cause damage, and at the same time solve the problem of food and salary on the spot.
It means that the Tatars must be on fire on all sides and have no peace.
The war cannot be fought according to their plan.
It's not Zhu Yihai's style to show off his tactics at first sight. He has to lead the Tatars by the nose.
At the very least, the soldiers in Beizhi and outside the pass must be pinned in place so that they cannot be sent south.
Li Chengdong and other demoted generals have actually been sitting on the bench for too long, and they are all panicking. It would be beneficial to release them at the right time.
"When you go out, I will emphasize a few things. First, you must not kill innocent people indiscriminately. Second, you must not rape people. Third, you must not rob the people."
In addition, only half of the seized income is required, and the rest is yours.
This is very tempting.
Killing prisoners will still be rewarded according to the rules.
"Go for it!"
A general will lead a battalion to land on the coast to harass them. If the Tatars want to intercept or even encircle and annihilate them, it will be difficult without three to five times the force. As long as they are careful, it is actually very difficult to annihilate them, especially with the navy at sea. When available at any time.
Li Chengdong, Zhang Tianlu and other surrendered generals were able to become admirals, commander-in-chief, and even vassal towns in troubled times. In fact, they were all very capable, especially those who were more capable of wandering and looting.
Zhu Yihai believed that if these people were let out, the Tatars would definitely have a huge headache.
And Li Chengdong and others, who have been holding back for a long time, have a rare opportunity to lead troops to fight again. How can they not cherish this opportunity and perform well?
A chaos in Liaodong from the north to the east around the Bohai Bay would attract tens of thousands of Tatar troops. The power it would exert would definitely be stronger than if it were put on a frontal battlefield.
The generals excitedly retired and went to lead the troops.
"Over in Sichuan, send a secret edict to Wen Anzhi. Zhang Xianzhong is stuck in northern Sichuan and is in a dilemma. You can recruit him again. If he is willing to continue to be recruited, then you can make him the king of Gansu and give him a chance.
There is one way to enter Hanzhong. If he is not attacked, we can still make way for him to pass. We have to let them fight with the Tatars, and we can't waste it like this."
