Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 283

Outside the city of Kaifeng, a camp of slaves was built.

After listening to Turhai's narration, Dorgon's face turned black.

Hong Chengchou, Fan Wencheng, and Ning Wanwo also looked extremely embarrassed. It seems that this time they really made a mistake. Judging from the current situation, it can be seen that Chongzhen and Li Zicheng really colluded secretly.

And the strength of this counterattack is also great.

Judging from the facts stated by Turhai, the Ming army has obviously put all their eggs in one basket.

If there is no connection between the two parties, how dare Chongzhen make such a big bet?
In other words, their previous judgment on Chongzhen can be said to be completely wrong, outrageously wrong.

"Master, it's all our fault." Ning Wanwo knelt down and admitted his mistake, "It's the servant who lost his plan."

Hong Chengchou and Fan Wencheng also knelt down and admitted their mistakes to Dorgon. This time they really made a mistake and provided Dorgon with a wrong analysis, which led to Dorgon's wrong decision and a big mistake.

What made the three of them even more terrified was that this mistake was likely to ruin Jiannu's only chance to rule the world.

"Get up." Dorgon was actually very angry in his heart, but he knew that Hong Chengchou and the three of them could not be blamed for this matter, because he made the decision, so he should bear the responsibility.

To vent your anger on your subordinates after an accident is the behavior of the weak.

A really strong person will never shirk responsibility, and will only find reasons on himself.

Taking a deep breath, Dorgon continued: "Now is not the time to pursue responsibility. The top priority is to weigh the prospects of the Xuzhou battlefield as soon as possible. Is it possible for us to continue to besiege Xuzhou? If it is said that the possibility has been lost, then what should we do next?" How to restore the situation, at least to reduce the loss to a minimum."

Hearing this, the three of Hong Chengchou couldn't help but exchanged glances with each other.

This is what a wise master should do, without losing his composure at any time.

And the more critical the situation is, the more calm you will be. A master like Dorgon is a blessing to the Qing Dynasty. I believe that the Qing Dynasty will also be able to turn dangers into blessings and achieve hegemony, for sure!
Immediately, the three hardcore traitors began to use their brains quickly and think seriously.

After a while, when Dorgon was about to speak, He Luohui suddenly opened the curtain and walked in.

"Master." He Luohui knelt on one knee and reported, "The Puppet Shunjun sent a messenger and said they wanted to see you."

"Pseudo-shun sent a messenger?" Dorgon was a little taken aback, "What do you want to do? Do you want to negotiate a peace? Or do you want to see a joke about Qing Dynasty?"

He Luohui said: "It is said that we want to negotiate a peace."

"It's really necessary to negotiate a peace, let him wait outside the big tent first."

Dorgon snorted, and said to Hong Chengchou and the others: "Three gentlemen, let's start."

Hong Chengchou first said: "Master, before determining whether the siege of Xuzhou is still possible, we must first clarify one fact, that is, how much is the loss of wheat seedlings?"

"Yes." Ning Wan and I echoed, "It's already June [-]th. When we return to Xuzhou and replant the wheat seeds again, it will be early July."

"The growth cycle of spring wheat is about four months."

"If the wheat is replanted in early July, it will already be November when the wheat is ripe."

After a pause, he continued: "At that time, the weather had already turned cold, and it had even snowed several times, so the wheat had already withered due to the cold weather before it was ripe."

"That's right. It's definitely too late to replant spring wheat. Even if we replant, we can only replant winter wheat." Dorgon said, "Then the question now is, how much do the three gentlemen estimate the loss of wheat seedlings will be? When next year's winter wheat is ripe? That is, between June and July, about a year or so."

What Dorgon meant was, how many acres of spring wheat would the Ming army destroy, and how many acres would be left?

Can the harvest of the remaining spring wheat last until the winter wheat replanted this year matures?If there is no problem, you can continue to besiege Xuzhou for a long time.

The three of Hong Chengchou immediately began to calculate.

Ning Wan and I first said: "I used to pull out weeds when I was a child, and I can only pull out grass on six-tenths of the land in a day. Considering that the wheat seedlings are relatively sparse, I doubled it. It is enough to pull out one-half of an acre of land per day." At the end, if it is women and children, the number will definitely be less, at most one mu per person per day."

Fan Wencheng continued: "But there are a million people in Xuzhou City."

Hong Chengchou sighed and said helplessly: "If the distance is not considered, the old, young, women and children in Xuzhou City can pull out one million mu of wheat seedlings in one day, and three million mu of wheat seedlings on both sides of the Yellow River in three days." Light."

After Ning Wan, I shook my head and said, "But it will definitely not be so fast in reality, because the area of ​​the Tuntian area is hundreds of miles away, and it takes two days for the old, young, women and children in Xuzhou City to walk there!"

Fan Wencheng continued: "It will take time to cross the river to the north bank of the Yellow River."

Hong Chengchou concluded: "In this case, there may not be much left of the [-] million mu of wheat seedlings on the south bank of the Yellow River, but there should be [-] to [-] mu of wheat seedlings left on the north bank of the [-] million mu."

Dorgon frowned and asked, "If the Eight Banners soldiers from Pei County, Xin'an Town and Xiao County return to aid, can we keep more farmland?"

"Master, don't expect too much." Hong Chengchou sighed softly, and said, "If it is said that Chongzhen really had a secret connection with Li Zicheng, and planned such a large-scale counterattack carefully, then Xiazhen, Pizhou and Huai'an Prefecture The Ming army and Xiangyong will definitely take action, so it may be difficult for the Eight Banners soldiers in Peixian County, Xin'an Town, and Xiao County to return to aid smoothly. Can't cross the river."

Fan Wencheng went on to say: "Although the Xianglan Banner stationed in Xiao County does not have to cross the Yellow River, the Xianglan Banner has just suffered a serious injury at the foot of Shanyang City. Both the bannermen and armaments suffered heavy losses, and morale is extremely low. Under the threat of the Ming cavalry, keep the farmland on the south bank."

Dorgon was speechless for a moment.

Because the Ming army still had [-] barbarians and [-] elite cavalry.

Ning Wan and I went on to calculate: "Based on two shi per mu, the remaining spring wheat can be harvested for about one million shi."

Fan Wencheng then calculated again: "The total of the Eight Banners Manchuria, the Eight Banners Han Army, the Eight Banners Mongolia and the Outer Fan Mongolia is about [-] Ding, and each Ding costs four Dou of fighting rations per Ding, and the total for twelve months is [-] Ding. There is also about [-] dong for coating, and the monthly ration is one bucket and five liters, totaling [-] shi in twelve months."

After a pause, he added: "A total of [-] million shi is needed for rations."

Dorgon frowned and asked He Luohui, "How much food is left in each banner?"

He Luohui did some calculations and replied: "The sum of the flags does not exceed [-] shi."

Dorgon said in a deep voice: "That is to say, there is no problem with the existing [-] shi of grain until the wheat is ripe in September. If the wheat is ripe in September, the remaining [-] mu of farmland on the north bank of the Yellow River can really harvest [-] yuan of wheat." Wan Shi, then it won’t be a problem to wait until June next year, until the two million mu of winter wheat that has been replanted is ripe, isn’t that right?”

Ning Wan, I nodded and said: "It is true that there is no mistake, but there must be no accidents in the middle. If there are any accidents in the next six months, such as floods in the Yellow River, or droughts, or Or there was a plague of locusts, or the Ming army once again colluded with the Puppet Shun army to launch a counterattack, it's hard to say!"

"Yes." Fan Wencheng sighed softly, "The surplus of [-] shi is too little."

Hong Chengchou went on to say: "According to the Art of War, the food stored by the army must be at least twice the actual consumption, or even three times the actual consumption, and no matter how bad it is, it must store half of the rations! But now, even if the immature Counting the harvest of [-] mu of farmland, it is only barely equal."

Speaking of this, the big tent fell into a long silence again.

Dorgon, He Luohui, and Hong Chengchou all found it difficult to accept such a result.

The previous situation was obviously good, why did it suddenly become like this?What exactly went wrong?

"Chongzhen!" Dorgon quickly found the crux of the problem, and said through gritted teeth, "We underestimated Chongzhen this time. We really didn't expect that after the Jiashen national disaster, this person would be like a different person, and he would be able to bear the humiliation and follow the heavy burden." Li Zicheng colluded secretly, and even had the guts to throw all of Xuzhou's troops into counterattack!"

Fan Wencheng, Ning Wan and I looked at each other, and I really underestimated Chongzhen.

Hong Chengchou's feelings are particularly complicated. Is this still the Chongzhen in his memory?

Dorgon went on to say: "It is definitely impossible to expect that there will be [-] to [-] mu of farmland left on the north bank of the Yellow River, and to expect that the [-] to [-] mu of farmland will be able to harvest two stones per mu."

"So, if we want to continue the siege, we must try to raise food."

Hong Chengchou went on to say: "But if you divide your troops to raise food elsewhere, you will inevitably repeat the mistakes of the ten kings."

"Yes." Dorgon said with a frown, "Not to mention whether we can raise food by dividing our troops, one mistake would allow the Ming army to take advantage of the loopholes and burn the remaining five or six hundred thousand mu of wheat." Burn them all, and by that time, the Eight Banners army will have more than [-] coated slaves, and they will only be able to drink the northwest wind."

After a pause, he said again: "So, it is impossible to continue besieging Xuzhou, and we can only retreat."

Hong Chengchou, Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan I all sighed softly. Now, no matter how unwilling they are, they can only accept this result and have no other choice.

Because the continued forced blockade is likely to lead to disastrous consequences.

Compared with suffering a disastrous defeat, retreating troops can at least control the loss to a minimum. Among other things, at least the Eight Banners Manchuria has not suffered substantial damage.

As for the Eight Banners Han army and the coated slaves, it doesn't matter how many people die.

At that moment, Dorgon said again: "Three gentlemen, now we can discuss the specific matters of withdrawing troops."

Ning Wan said to me: "Master, even if you retreat, you must not just retreat like this. Before you retreat back to Beijing, you still have to win the battle as much as possible."

(End of this chapter)