Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 581 The Eve of the Great War (5)

It took only three days for Hong Chengchou to rush back to Beijing from Liaodong.

Riding all the way, Hong Chengchou's inner thighs were worn out.

"Slave Hong Chengchou, please ask master Jin'an." Hong Chengchou knelt down and beat Qian.

"Heng Jiu, please get up." Dorgon leaned on the cushion, and waved weakly.

When Hong Chengchou got up, Dorgon said to Hou Fangyu again: "Little Houzi, let's start the discussion."

"Hey." Hou Fangyu agreed, and immediately brought the screen in with a few coats, and posted the full picture of the Jiannu territory on the screen.

From the map alone, Jiannu controlled even more territory than Daming.

Because Jiannu's territory covered the entire Liaodong, Beizhi, the entire Shanxi, half of Shandong and the entire Monan, if only in terms of area, it was even worse than Daming.

Of course, the population density cannot be compared at all.

Immediately afterwards, Fan Wencheng, Ning Wanwo, Kong Youde and other Han officials also entered one after another.

Qi Chongge, Suksaha, Sony, Mu Zilun and other ministers attended the meeting.

In addition, there are three special members, namely Meng Xueli, Feng Guofan and Yuan Fuzhong.

Because this political discussion will be directly related to the life and death of Jiannu, Dorgon wants to listen to more opinions so that he can finally make the correct decision as possible.

Qi Chongge first introduced the situation.

"...The situation is like this. It is possible that the Ming army will launch the Northern Expedition by March or April next year at the latest, and before the end of this year at the earliest. Moreover, this Northern Expedition is different from the previous battles in Dagukou and Liaodong. This time, Nanming's main force will come out in full force, launching a war to destroy the country!"

Hearing this, everyone's expressions suddenly became serious.

This day, after all, is inevitable.

After a moment of silence, Dorgon asked: "The Southern Ming army's northern expedition is imminent, and my Qing Dynasty is in danger of destroying the country. I wonder if you have any good strategies to resist the Ming army?"

"Master, what else is there to discuss?"

Sonny said proudly: "It's nothing more than soldiers coming to block, water coming and soil flooding. When did my Qing Dynasty fear Nanming? When Lao Khan was there, my Qing Dynasty had only 6 horses, and it still beat Nanming's 20 troops to nothing. ? Now that my Qing Dynasty has an army of 70, there is no reason to be afraid of him, Nanming."

"Sony is right, I'm afraid he's a bird."

"Master, why don't we send troops to the south first."

"Yes, strike first and catch him off guard."

Zhan Dai, Suksaha, Ye Bilong and other Manchu officials all agreed.

Dorgon frowned suddenly, thinking that these idiots don't have the slightest clear understanding of the current situation. It should be known that this is no longer the era of riding and shooting.

If it was still the era of riding and archery, the Eight Banners Manchuria would be enough to sweep the world.

But in the age of firearms, a 70 army is not enough.

Because in front of the red cannons and muskets, a 70 army is just 70 cannon fodder. If there is no corresponding number of firearms, it is really just cannon fodder and vulnerable!
However, it is true that the Qing Dynasty does have 70 troops.

And this does not include the Outer Fan Mongolia, but the Eight Banners Manchuria, the Eight Banners Mongolia, and the Eight Banners Han Army have added 70 soldiers, including 11 in the Eight Banners Manchuria, 12 in the Eight Banners Mongolia, 40 in the Eight Banners Han Army, and [-] in the Green Camp. In addition, there are [-] people who practice bravery, all recruited from the Han people.

Among them, 40 Banner Han troops and 24 green battalions were stationed in Dagukou and Gaizhou respectively, [-] Lianyong troops were stationed in various counties, and [-] troops were stationed in Beijing and Gyeonggi.

There are indeed many troops, but Dorgon has no sense of security.

At that moment Dorgon said: "All right, all right, I want to hear something useful."

Soni, Suksaha and other ministers could only shut up, but their faces were not very happy.

Dorgon knew that Manchen's dissatisfaction with him was getting stronger day by day, but at this time he couldn't care less about appeasing these Manchen who only knew how to fight bravely.

"Henjiu, tell me."

Dorgon could only name Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou was very careful, and asked: "Master, can you get more accurate details about the Ming army's preparations for the Northern Expedition? For example, how much food was prepared? How many self-generated firecrackers and how many cannons?" ? Also, exactly how much troops Chongzhen plans to use in the Northern Expedition? I don’t know these things, and it’s useless to discuss them.”

"This matter has been investigated by secret agents." Dorgon nodded and continued, "Today's discussion is how should we, Qing Dynasty, deal with the worst situation?"

"If the worst is assumed, then all necessary means must be used."

Hong Chengchou strode up to the screen, pointed to the map and said, "Do the best possible combat preparations from all levels of internal affairs, military strategy, and vertical and horizontal, do your best, and plan for the worst."

Dorgon's expression froze, and he said again: "Talk about it in detail."

"Let's talk about internal affairs first." Hong Chengchou said, "This war is a battle to destroy the country. Nanming will definitely do its best, so my Qing Dynasty must also go all out. In addition, it is necessary to mobilize all the food that can be mobilized in Beijing, based on the stalemate with the Ming army for at least one year."

What Hong Chengchou meant was to collect all the food stored in the homes of the nobles of the Eight Banners.

Hearing this, Qi Chongge, Zhan Dai, Sony, Suksaha and others were immediately angry.

"Hong Chengchou, what do you mean by that? What is the stalemate for at least a year? You mean you can't hold on?"

"That's right, the current reality is that the Ming is strong and the Qing is weak." Hong Chengchou said, "So if we want to defeat the Ming army and win this war of annihilating the country, the only way to stop it is to stop it with silence, to defend against attack, and to rely on a solid gun. The Taiwan camp consumes the manpower and material resources of the Ming army, and when the veterans of the division are exhausted and forced to withdraw their troops, they will fight back, and the battle will determine the world."

After a pause, Hong Chengchou said again: "This is also the strategy that the slave wants to tell the master."

"Nonsense!" Qi Chongge said angrily, "When did my Qing army become weaker than the Ming army? Facing the attack of the Ming army, my Qing army should be shy? It's a joke!"

"That's right, since Lao Khan started his army with thirteen armors, the Qing Dynasty has always only known how to attack."

"From Hetuala to Shengjing, from Shengjing to Beijing, my Qing Dynasty was won by the Eight Banners' disciples, not by defending like a turtle."

"That's right, my Qing soldiers have always only attacked."

"Do you want us to learn that dogs are like turtles? No way!"

Hong Chengchou's words immediately aroused ridicule from all the ministers.

"Enough! Shut up with me!" Dorgon yelled twice before finally stopping all the courtiers.

However, judging from the expressions on the faces of Qi Chongge, Sony and others, it is obvious that they are still not convinced by Hong Chengchou. Obviously, these Eight Banners nobles have not yet turned the corner mentally.

Dorgon coughed twice, and then asked Hong Chengchou: "Heng Jiu, the internal affairs you are talking about is to mobilize the country's food reserves, and be prepared to fight with the Ming army for at least a year, while the military strategy is based on defense. Use the gun tower fortifications to consume the manpower and material resources of the Ming army until the veterans of the Ming army are exhausted, and then mobilize the soldiers of the whole country to complete their achievements in one battle?"

"Master Mingjian." Hong Chengchou said sincerely, "It is not enough to defeat the Ming army."

Dorgon nodded and asked again: "Then, what do you mean by vertical and horizontal?"

Hong Chengchou said: "The so-called vertical and horizontal means to send people to contact all the forces that can be contacted, such as the pseudo-shun, such as Zhang Xianzhong, the eighth king of Sichuan, who was a strong enemy of the Southern Ming Dynasty. In addition, there are many chieftains in Sichuan and Guangxi who are still fighting against the Ming Dynasty. , the master can send eloquent people to persuade these forces, and join forces to fight against Nanming!"

"Even if these forces cannot be persuaded to send troops, an atmosphere of attacking the Ming Dynasty must be formed."

"These forces may not be able to cause too much interference to Nanming, but even if they can only take away a small part of Nanming's manpower and material resources, it will be very good for my Qing Dynasty."

"The less manpower and material resources Nanming invested in the Northern Expedition, the greater the chances of the Qing winning."

After a short pause, Hong Chengchou went on to say: "Among them, the choice of Pseudo-Shun is the most critical. If the Qing Dynasty can form an alliance with Puppet-Shun and join forces to fight against Nanming, then the chances of our Qing soldiers winning this war will be very high. It will increase by at least [-]%! On the other hand, if the pseudo-shun and Nanming coalition forces attack our Qing Dynasty, then our Qing Dynasty may be in danger."

Dorgon nodded again and again, and when it came to the analysis of the general trend of the world, it had to be Hong Chengchou.

This incisive analysis is undoubtedly very reasonable, and it really speaks to Dorgon's heart.

However, Hong Chengchou went on to say: "Master, in addition to Zhang Xianzhong, Puppet Shun, and the chieftains of Sichuan and Guangxi, you can also try to send envoys to Khalkha Mongolia. If you can persuade Khalkha Mongolia and Junggar, Puppet Shun will remain neutral. , then the tribes of Tumed Mongolia and Chahar Mongolia can send out at least [-] cavalry!"

"Convincing Khalkha and Junggar?" Dorgon frowned, "I'm afraid it won't be easy."

"It depends on man's will." Hong Chengchou said, "As long as I clearly state the benefits and disadvantages to my generation, I believe that Khalkha Mongolia and Junggar may choose to be neutral. After all, the state religion that I believe in in the Qing Dynasty is also Lamaism, which is different from Khalkha Mongolia and Junggar. Junggar and Oirat Mongolian tribes are all the same, but Nanming believes in Taoism and Confucianism."

After a pause, Hong Chengchou said again: "If Nanming becomes strong, Taoism and Confucianism will prevail in the world, and Lamaism will have no place to stand."

Hearing this, Dorgon suddenly felt enlightened.

The situation that was originally bad to the extreme, after such an analysis by Hong Chengchou, seems to have begun to brighten up again?Did the Qing Dynasty still have so many potential allies?
"Decree!" Dorgon shouted immediately.

"Quickly summon Fu Yijian, Lu Zuanzu and other aristocrats from the Imperial Academy to have an audience."

These Han Jinshi are very bad at marching in the queue, but they are all good at talking, so let them go to Pseudo-Shun, Sichuan and Outer Mongolia to act as lobbyists for the Qing Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)