Ming Empire

Chapter 225 Cao Yue's Decision

A huge military map was hung in Cao Yue's big tent, which was a detailed map of the five northern provinces.

What is very different from the previous maps is that the map used by Cao Yue has more detailed legends and a very particular scale. Through the map, you can roughly understand the real terrain and distance.

On the map, the movement of several guard divisions of our army is marked, as well as the deployment of the slave army.

Because of the special army of the Special Guard Battalion, Cao Yue has basically inquired about the deployment of the slave army.

Liaocheng is a very important node on the canal, so Jiannu stationed about 5000 troops here, including 5000 Jurchen Eight Banners, 1 Mongolian Eight Banners, and [-] other servants such as the Han Army.There were nearly [-] Yuan Daming troops who were not taken seriously by Cao Yue.

Jiannu in Jinan Prefecture only stationed about 2000 town troops, and the Jurchen Eight Banners only had [-] people, and the rest were servants.From the deployment of troops, it can also be seen how much Dorgon attaches importance to Liaocheng.

Before the military meeting began, Cao Yue also gave a detailed explanation of the situation of the enemy and us. After reporting the military situation, he said to the generals: "Liaocheng is a very important geographical location in Shandong. It guards the border. The canal, the gain or loss of this city is related to whether the canal waterway can be smooth. Dorgon also knows the importance of Liaocheng. He has stationed tens of thousands of troops in the small Liaocheng, and..."

Cao Yue moved his baton to the nearby Daming Mansion, "The Daming Mansion is also guarded by Jiannu heavy soldiers. According to our information, there are 5000 Jiannu people in the Daming Mansion area. This place is only more than 100 miles away from Liaocheng. 5000 people can rescue Liaocheng at any time. There are also nearly [-] Jiannu garrisons in Jinan Prefecture. If we attack Liaocheng, the Jiannu in Jinan Prefecture may also reinforce them. The military situation of the enemy and us is reported as follows. How to fight the battle of Liaocheng, Everyone, please speak freely."

"Governor, the general feels that with the combat power and weapons and equipment of our Ming Dynasty guards, it is easy to capture Liaocheng." Gao Jie stepped forward and expressed his opinion. Even with reinforcements from the Daming Mansion and Jinan Mansion, we are not at a disadvantage in terms of strength. General Cao Jie's First Guards Division is also preparing to attack Jinan, and the defenders of Jinan Mansion dare not give their all to support Liaocheng. The final general feels that , as long as we act quickly, we will be able to capture Liaocheng soon. After capturing Liaocheng, Jiannu will find a way to take it back. We can kill and injure Jiannu in large numbers under Liaocheng. After capturing Liaocheng, we will We can join forces to attack Jinan Prefecture. The defenders of Jinan Prefecture are weaker, so it will not be difficult to capture. In this way, the entire Shandong will return to the rule of Ming Dynasty.”

"Governor, the general has a different opinion!" Huang Degong also immediately stood up and expressed his opinion: "The general feels that our army does not have to quickly capture Liaocheng, but we can use Liaocheng as the target to encircle and fight for aid. I will definitely not sit back and watch Liaocheng fall, and will send reinforcements. Not only the troops from Daming Mansion and Jinan Mansion will rescue me, but also Jian Nu from Shunde Mansion, Taiyuan Mansion and even Beijing. In any case, Jian Nu will not let my Daming army relax Capture Liaocheng, otherwise it will have a great impact on morale. Those former Ming generals who surrendered to build slaves may rebel. And my army can use Liaocheng as a siege point to destroy the enemies who come to help. We can wipe out Jiannu's vitality, and after Jiannu dare not send troops to rescue Liaocheng, we can take Liaocheng again."

After a pause, Huang Degong continued: "Jiannu has adopted this strategy many times. In the Battle of Songshan, many of my reinforcements were wiped out by Jiannu in this way. If the governor hadn't sent a surprise army to break through Shengjing, the battle of Songshan The battle may end in a disastrous defeat for our Daming army. Now we can pay back the Jiannu in the same way. With the strength of our Daming Guards, as long as Jiannu dares to rescue them, we will surely defeat them. If we rescue the Jiannu in Liaocheng If they are defeated, it will be a huge blow to Jiannu's morale. Maybe the defenders of Daming Mansion and Jinan Mansion will collapse, and our Daming army can easily attack."

Seeing that Huang Degong opposed his opinion and put forward different views, Gao Jie immediately stood up and refuted, saying that Liaocheng should be captured as soon as possible, and then Dezhou and Cangzhou should be captured by taking advantage of the trend, and more cities on the canal should be captured. Before the army had time to return to help, they attacked the city of Beijing.

But Huang Degong, who had roughly guessed Cao Yue's purpose, did not approve of Gao Jie's quick solution, and the two immediately started arguing.

Liu Liangzuo, an old cunning man, saw that Huang Degong and Gao Jie were arguing fiercely, and Cao Yue looked like he was watching a show, so he wisely didn't stand up to express his opinion.But soon, other generals stood up to support Huang Degong or Gao Jie, or express their opinions.

But in general, the views of the generals are nothing more than two opinions. One is what Gao Jie said, capture Liaocheng as soon as possible, and then take advantage of the situation to attack Dezhou, Cangzhou, Tianjin Wei, and then take Beijing; Similar to what Huang Degong said, Liaocheng was used as a siege to annihilate the rescue army of slaves, greatly killing and injuring the main force of slaves, and forcing the army of slaves to withdraw from Shaanxi.

After arguing for a while, all the generals also stopped talking, and everyone looked at Cao Yue, waiting for the young army commander to make a decision.

"Everything the generals said is reasonable," Cao Yue cleared his throat after seeing that no one had expressed his opinion, "but the governor still agrees with General Huang's suggestion to target Liaocheng and fight for aid , to wipe out the living power of Jiannu."

"Now the number of slave-building troops is far greater than that of our Ming army, and the five northern provinces are basically controlled by them. Our actions there must be restricted. Although our army is well-equipped, the ammunition is a test of logistics transportation capabilities. Fighting in Liaocheng, we There is the convenience of nearby supplies. Our army stores a large amount of military supplies in Huai'an and Xuzhou. Whether it is Huai'an or Xuzhou, it is only a few hundred miles from Liaocheng. The canal is smooth, and our logistics transportation is very convenient. Ammunition and military supplies can be replenished quickly. The combat power of our Ming Guards can be brought into full play. But if we continue to go north and reach the Beijing area, our army’s logistics supply line will be stretched, which will be more than a thousand miles. If there is an accident in the middle, the 10,000+ army, Maybe it will be to the point of running out of ammunition and food.”

As Cao Yue said, he looked at Huang Degong, who was a little excited, and Gao Jie, who was blushing, and continued: "The governor also thinks that it is not difficult to attack Liaocheng, and it is not difficult to attack Dezhou and Cangzhou. Go north by sea." Our navy will soon reach Tianjin Wei. But what the governor said just now is something we must consider."

"Also, if we encircle Liaocheng but don't take it down, and the slave-building army rescues Liaocheng, Beijing's defense will become empty. At this time, the situation will change again, and the brothers Jiang Xiang and Wang Chengyin may change again. It is also possible to become a wall, and rebel against the slaves. In Datong, my tens of thousands of elites in the Ming Dynasty may also be moved by the news. From Liaocheng to Beijing, and then to Datong, the battle line is very long, and the main force of the slaves fought against the bandits in Shaanxi. At that time, Jiannu will be caught in a dilemma, maybe they can't support it, and they will retreat outside the customs!"

(End of this chapter)