Ming Empire

Chapter 222 Discussing Countermeasures
Dorgon knew that although the Qing Dynasty had won successive victories, the fatal shortcoming, that is, the problem of population shortage was still unresolved.

If time is given to consolidate the occupation of the north, the Han army recruited and surrendered, as well as the rogues who surrendered, can be used to attack the imperial court of the Remnant Ming Dynasty in the south, let the Han people kill each other, and the Qing Dynasty will reap the benefits of fishermen.

The places within the reach of the Qing Dynasty include Northern Zhili, Shanxi, most of Henan, a part of Shandong, and a part of Shaanxi.Because the main opponent now is Li Zicheng's rogue bandits, Dorgon did not send many troops to the Jinan Prefecture in Shandong, which is controlled by the imperial court of Canming Xiao*, only [-] Jurchen Eight Banners, [-] Mongolian Eight Banners and one Korean Army and Han Army.The total strength of the front line is only tens of thousands.

The reason why he was able to occupy Jinan Mansion was because Liu Zeqing was unwilling to obey the order of the court of Xiao Canming and prepared to raise troops to rebel. After Liu Zeqing was killed, Dorgon took the opportunity to send troops to attack Jinan Mansion, and the Jinan defenders surrendered without a fight. A big bargain.

Dorgon knew that Cao Yue's Northern Expedition was going to regain Beijing, and he would definitely attack from Shandong along the canal. Now the number of Qing troops in Shandong is seriously insufficient, and he must respond to this.But how to deal with it is a very headache for Dorgon.

Under the leadership of Duoduo and Azige, more than half of the Qing army fought against Li Zicheng's bandits in Shaanxi. Wu Sangui's Guanning Army was also in Shaanxi.Some of the other troops were wary of Datong's remnant army, and they had to guard the Beijing area, and there were still people left behind outside the pass.At this time, Dorgon once again felt that the number of the Qing army was seriously insufficient, and he could not mobilize more troops to Shandong.

The Qing army entered the pass this time, with a total of about 35 troops.Including the Jurchen Eight Banners about 12, the Mongolian Eight Banners about 13, the Han Army Eight Banners and the Korean Army about 20.In addition, there are still nearly 10,000 remnant troops attached to the Qing Dynasty, including Wu Sangui's Guan Ning Army and the troops led by Tang Tong and Jiang Xiang brothers.There are five [-]+ in total, but Dorgon still found sadly that the number of the Qing army was still seriously insufficient, and the defenses were stretched, let alone conquering Zhongtian with this force, it was almost impossible.

The army of Tang Tong and others has been placed under the command of Wu Sangui. A total of 10 horses under Wu Sangui belong to Duoduo, and they are fighting fiercely with Li Zicheng's peasant army.Duoduo took away about 10,000 Jurchen Eight Banners. He led two-thirds of the Jurchen Eight Banners that entered the customs, and there were more than [-] Mongolian Eight Banners and Han and Korean troops.Now, Wu Sangui's more than [-] troops are cooperating with Duoduo's [-]+ army to fight fiercely with the bandits in Shaanxi.

Fortunately, there were Wu Sangui and other former Ming troops who took the vanguard of the Qing army and fought fiercely with the bandits for several months. The real Qing army had almost no casualties, which made Dorgon most gratified.

The Duoduo battle was fought well. The Qing army and the former Ming Pu Cong army were invincible. Li Zicheng's peasant army retreated to Tongguan with heavy losses.Dorgon estimated that as long as he was given another three months, at most half a year, he would definitely be able to completely wipe out Li Zicheng's bandits and completely occupy Shaanxi.Dorgon also knew that Li Zicheng's troops were almost unable to hold on now. As long as Tongguan was breached, the bandits would be defeated and Guanzhong would be completely lost.

He knew very well that he had to beat the dog in the water hard and not let Jiannu have a chance to breathe, otherwise the results of the rapid attack that lasted for several months would be wiped out, and the bandits would have a chance to make a comeback.Once the thief is relieved, it will be as difficult as going to heaven to seek Guanzhong.Therefore, Dorgon would not transfer Duduo and Wu Sangui's army eastward unless it was absolutely necessary.

The army led by Duo Duo couldn't move, and the mobile force in Dorgon's hands was only 25 Eight Banners soldiers, [-] Mongolian Eight Banners, [-] Han troops, [-] Korean troops, and nearly [-] former Ming troops. surrender.Although it is said that Dorgon has a lot of troops available, the total number is nearly [-], but there are not many real elites, and many of them are mobs.To defend Beijing, we must also guard against the return of Datong's Cao Bianjiao tribe, which is a bit stretched.

Datong was not captured, which is also a major heart disease of Dorgon.It's not that he never thought of capturing Datong, but he was defeated by Cao Bianjiao several times, and in the end he could only adopt an isolated strategy, trying to make the defenders of Datong unable to support under the premise of cutting off food and other military supplies.Dorgon knew that if Cao Bianjiao knew that Cao Yue led the army to the Northern Expedition, he would definitely respond, and even abandon the city to take the initiative to attack.

In this way, he must deploy troops in the direction of Datong to prevent the defenders of Datong from turning defensive into offensive.

Cao Yue has 10,000+ troops, he must deploy equal forces to meet the enemy.In this case, the troops in his hands are obviously insufficient, unless he uses the troops left behind outside the pass, or calls back Duoduo to interrupt the decisive battle with the rogues.No matter what decision he made, it was not the result Dorgon wanted, and he had a headache.At this time, Dorgon was pacing and frowning in thought. At the end, he shouted loudly and asked if Fan Wencheng had come.

Just when Dorgon was upset, Fan Wencheng, who he sent to pass on, came to the Hall of Martial Arts.

Seeing Fan Wencheng hastily arrived, Dorgon's expression slowed down a little. He motioned Fan Wenchen to sit down with him, and immediately told the other party the urgent military situation he had just received.During this period of time, Fan Wencheng came to the Hall of Martial Arts almost every day to discuss the military situation with Dorgon. Dorgon also trusted Fan Wencheng very much. With the news of the Northern Expedition, he immediately thought of calling Fan Wencheng to discuss countermeasures.

Fan Wencheng's face changed instantly when he heard this, the hand holding Dorgon's military newspaper was trembling slightly, he took a deep breath, and said in Ya's voice: "Master, there are only less than five thousand people on the front line of Jinan." The Jurchen Eight Banners and the Mongolian Eight Banners were less than 5. In addition, the Han army, the Korean army and the former Ming army were no more than [-] horses. The garrison in Jinan Prefecture was seriously insufficient. The Ming army led by Cao Yue had more than [-] people , Our troops are too weak. The slaves think that we must send reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise the Jinan government will be destroyed, and the Ming army can go straight to the capital along the canal. Also, the Ming army can go straight to Tianjin by sea. Wei, Tianjin Wei's defenders must also be strengthened."

"Yes, this king is also worried about these issues, so I sent someone to invite you over to discuss this issue!" Dorgon turned around and sat down on the side, motioning for Fan Wencheng to stand beside him, and said: "If you have any ideas and suggestions, sir, Feel free to say it. How do you think our Qing army should deploy its defenses? What troops should we deploy to return to Beijing and reinforce Jinan Prefecture and Tianjin Wei? You can just say it. No matter what you say today, the king will not blame you !"

(End of this chapter)