Ming Empire

Chapter 224 How to Fight This Battle
After making a decision, Dorgon seemed to be in a better mood, but there was still a problem that bothered him and made him worried.

That is food.

Because of successive years of wars, the five northern provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and North Zhili were severely damaged, and there was an extreme shortage of food.

Most of the food in Shanxi was raided by Cao Yue to Datong last year. The food in Datong is abundant, and it will not be a problem to persist for another half a year.Food in other places, including northern Zhili, is in short supply.Before his death, Emperor Chongzhen also worried about food.Although the people still had a certain amount of grain in their hands, there was no silver in the treasury when Emperor Chongzhen was in power. As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for him to send troops to grab grain from the people's homes.After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he also worried about the food problem, but he implemented the policy of "killing the rich and helping the poor" and did not plunder the people. Before the money could buy food, they retreated from Beijing.

Now, it is Dorgon's turn to worry about this issue. It is not so easy to raise the rations needed by hundreds of thousands of troops.Originally, Jiannu could meet military needs through plundering, but in order to win the world, Dorgon changed his plundering strategy, became sympathetic to the people's sentiments, and "no offense" to the people.However, the officials and gentry in Beijing have been drained by Li Zicheng, and Dorgon can't raise much money, and can't spend a lot of money to buy food.

In the past, Jiannu adopted the strategy of supporting war by fighting, grabbing wherever they went, but now they have changed their strategy. Dorgon is a bit at a loss as to how to meet the logistics and military needs.He could only pin his hopes on Fan Wencheng, and hoped that this counselor would come up with ideas for him.

"Master, there is no better way now. We can only collect from North Korea. Because of the war in the five northern provinces, even if we take looting, there is no way to get more food. If we want to get the support of the people in the five northern provinces, You can’t take measures of looting. North Korea is closer to Beijing, and the time to travel by sea is shorter. Last year’s harvest was not bad, so increase the intensity of grain collection from North Korea.” After Fan Wencheng made a suggestion, he thought of another point, low Said in a loud voice: "We can also find a way to buy grain from Jiangnan. Jiangnan is rich, and now the gentry in Jiangnan hate rogues, and there are not a few people who have a good impression of our Qing Dynasty. As long as our Qing Dynasty continues to adopt a gentle policy and does not burn, kill and loot, we can get More recognition from the gentry and common people. As long as we are willing to spend money, we should be able to buy food from Jiangnan."

"That's the only way to go!" Dorgon listened and nodded in agreement, and he couldn't think of a better way, "Then leave these matters to the husband, especially the purchase of grain from Jiangnan."

"Master, please don't worry, the slaves will definitely try their best to raise food, and let the master stop worrying about this matter!" In fact, Fan Wencheng has already sent people to contact merchants in the south, and some people are willing to sell grain to the north.It's just that the temporary change of Cao Yue's Northern Expedition made everything full of variables.

When Dorgon hurriedly called Fan Wencheng to discuss countermeasures, the Northern Expedition led by Cao Yue had already entered Shandong.

The details of the reorganization of the Ming Dynasty Guards have not been announced to the outside world. Many people in the court know the establishment of the ten Guards divisions of the Ming Dynasty Guards, but only a few people know the specific number of soldiers. Jiannu has no way to find out about them. situation, not to mention the current equipment situation of the Ming Guards.Regarding the military secrets, Cao Yue strictly kept them secret. Even Gao Jie, Huang Degong, and Liu Liangzuo did not know about several generals who had been deprived of military power and entrusted with the post of commander-in-chief of the five armies.Although Sun Chuanting is in the first assistant position, he is not very clear about the situation in the army, and everything is under Cao Yue's control.

The purpose of Cao Yue's strict secrecy was to catch Jiannu by surprise and shock them to the extreme.

But there is one thing that Cao Yue deliberately disclosed, that is, the troops used in the Northern Expedition. His purpose of doing this was to deter Jiannu and force Dorgon to withdraw his troops from Shaanxi.Of course, he also made very good preparations for this Northern Expedition. The army's northward march was not a bluff, but to recover what was lost. At least Jinan Prefecture and Shunde Prefecture were to be recovered, and Tianjin Wei was also to be regained.

Didn't Jiannu move the capital to Beijing?He wanted to put Jiannu in an embarrassing situation and let them stay in Beijing without peace.

Jinan was captured, and Liaocheng, Dezhou and other places on the canal and Tianjin Wei were recaptured. In a few days, the army could reach the city of Beijing, and the military supplies from the south could be continuously transported to the north through the canal. Don't worry about the logistics supply.

Cao Yue did not seek to regain Beijing in this battle. He hoped that Jiannu and the rogues could kill each other again. Fan Wencheng was right, he wanted to buy time for the current Ming court to recover.Although Nanjing has a set of six teams, after the new emperor is supported, this set of teams can be put into use quickly, and the south that has not experienced wars can also provide sufficient taxes and personnel.However, the number of troops that the Ming court can control is too small. Cao Yue can now command less than 30 troops, including Hong Niangzi's troops.He needs time to recruit soldiers, train troops, and produce firearms.The production and operation in the south also needs to be further developed, and the tax revenue of the imperial court must also be increased. In a word, it will take at least a few years for the Ming court to recover and develop if it wants to make the Ming court in the southern part of the country have enough strength.

Cao Yue hoped that this Northern Expedition would achieve this goal.

Cao Yue swore to the Northern Expedition at the end of April in the 17th year of Chongzhen, and then he led his army northward along the canal.Before he led his army to leave Nanjing, Cao Jie had already returned to Qingzhou, where the First Guards Division was stationed.

The first target Cao Yue planned to attack was Liaocheng on the canal.

Liaocheng and Qingzhou are located on the left and right wings of Jinan Prefecture. After capturing Liaocheng, they can attack Jinan from the two wings.As long as Liaocheng and Jinan are captured, most of Shandong will be back under the control of the Ming court.

When leading the army to the Northern Expedition, Cao Yue reported the information to Cao Bianjiao in Datong, asking his troops to respond to the attack and control the army of slaves.

In Datong City, there are still nearly [-] soldiers and horses, and food and ammunition have not yet reached the point of tension.These [-] elite soldiers are a force that no one dares to underestimate. When necessary, they can deal a huge blow to Jiannu.

How to attack Liaocheng is what Cao Yue needs to consider most now.He knew that if the Northern Expedition attacked Liaocheng, Dorgon would definitely send reinforcements.What he has to do is not only to break through Liaocheng, but also to inflict great damage on the reinforcements of the slave army, frighten Dorgon and chill him, stop the fight with the rogues, and rush the army back to Beijing.

Therefore, he must make careful arrangements for the attack on Liaocheng, and must not make mistakes.

When the army arrived in Jining, Cao Yue summoned the accompanying Huang Degong, Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo and other senior generals to discuss the strategy of attacking Liaocheng.

(End of this chapter)