East Factory Governor

Chapter 604
After Lai San'er and Jin Da went out, Qin Shuhuai drank tea and meditated alone in the yard.

Now that Qian'an has taken it, the next step of the army is very important, but how should this step be taken?

The biggest problem is that the current military strength is far from enough!Counting Zu Dashou's 4 fine cavalry, now I only have more than [-] soldiers and horses in total (counting the wounded soldiers who can still fight).

If we continue to attack the Santun camp, then in order to guard against the [-] elite Tartars in Yongping, at least [-] soldiers should be deployed in Qian'an for defense. In this way, only [-] soldiers can be brought to fight the Santun camp.

In Santunying, Dorgon should have at least 2 elite soldiers.Thirty-seven thousand against twenty thousand, even in a field battle, the coalition forces may not be able to win, and even if they win, they will inevitably suffer heavy losses.What's more, Dorgon is now defending the city, so it will be even more difficult to fight.

Moreover, according to previous intelligence, the Tartars still have at least [-] to [-] soldiers and horses north of Santunying. If they pull [-] to ambush outside Santunying, this battle will basically be impossible!
While Qin Shuhuai was racking his brains in Qian'an, Yuan Chonghuan was also waiting in Zunhua city.

Now the Tartars are not attacking the city, but there is a shortage of food in the city!
The rice grain in the city has been exhausted, and now they can only rely on killing horses to satisfy their hunger.However, these war horses are not very fat due to insufficient food and grass. A normal war horse weighs at least 1200 catties, but now the war horses in the city only weigh about 900 catties.Excluding the bones, etc., killing a horse can actually yield two or three hundred catties of meat.There are more than 5 troops in the city, how many horses must be eaten a day?If this goes on, the war horse will be eaten up soon!
Yuan Chonghuan reckoned that he could last at most another six or seven days if this went on, and if Qin Shuhuai didn't come within six or seven days, he would have to go out of the city and fight desperately with the Tartars.

Yuan Chonghuan was in a hurry, and Huang Taiji was also in a hurry!
He is also short of food!I thought that we could get food and grass by capturing the Santun camp, but it was a pity that Zu Dashou was so ruthless that he burned all the food and grass in the city!
And it started burning in the evening, and by the time he broke through, all the food had been burned clean!

According to normal logic, it is impossible for the defenders to burn food before the city is broken, because once the army is burned, the morale of the army will be shaken.And after the city is broken, it may not be burned, because many generals think that their own army can take back the city.And even if it was burned, it was burned when the city was about to collapse and the general situation was over. If Zu Dashou did this, at least the Hou Jin army could save a lot of food.

But the problem is, Zu Dashou didn't want to guard the three camps at all, so he burned them ahead of time!It was burned cleanly, and by the way, the fire oil in the city was also used up!
This is Zu Dashou, an exquisite self-interested, but also a general with excellent strategic vision.It's hard to say he's a hero, but it's impossible to deny his talent.

After besieging the city for so long, Huang Taiji's food and grass were almost exhausted.Now his soldiers have to reduce their rations, and only eat one meal a day. Even so, there are only three or four days' rations left in the army.

He was originally waiting for the [-] troops from Qian'an and Yongping to "requisition food", and the food could be sent over after the requisition.However, just now, what he got was that Qian'an had been captured by Qin Shuhuai like lightning, Yongping's [-] troops were left alone, and even the [-] reinforcements sent by Santunying were almost wiped out by Qin Shuhuai information!
The deep sense of frustration when Jisi was defeated suddenly rose in Huang Taiji's heart again.He put down the pond newspaper and kept muttering: "Qin Shuhuai, Qin Shuhuai..."

When he entered the customs, he brought a total of 14 elites, and lost 9 in the attack on Zunhua City. Now Qin Shuhuai wiped out another [-], leaving only [-].And among the [-] people, there are still [-] orphans hanging in Yongping, and now it seems that it is more ominous.

Huang Taiji sighed a few times, then looked at Fan Wencheng again.

Because of Qin Shuhuai's existence, Fan Wencheng is now more trusted by Huang Taiji than in history.Qin Shuhuai convinced Huang Taiji that the ability of the Han people to strategize is much higher than that of the Manchus.

And Fan Wencheng is also a Han Chinese. He has already proved that he is a trustworthy adviser by borrowing troops from the Duoyan tribe, planning to seize the three camps, and using ingenious tricks to help the army out of trouble in the Battle of Jisi.

Huang Taiji had the whole world in his heart and was thirsty for talents. He didn't treat Fan Wencheng differently because he was a Han Chinese, but instead treated him with great favor.

"Mr. Fan, although the Santun Camp is down now, Zunhua City has been defeated for a long time. Then Qin Shuhuai led his elite troops to capture Qian'an City. It is the time when the enemy and us are at loggerheads. And our army...is in danger of losing food and grass. I don't know, Mr. What else is there to do?" Huang Taiji asked.

Fan Wencheng got up and bowed respectfully, and then said, "Khan, as far as I know, Qin Shuhuai only has [-] to [-] soldiers and horses, and Dorgon Baylor still has [-] soldiers in the Santun camp." With [-] elite soldiers, Mangurtai's [-] troops stationed at Hongshan Pass, Han'erzhuang and other places have already set out to help the Santun Camp, so the Santun Camp will be as strong as gold."

Huang Taiji nodded, and asked again, "And then?"

"As for the city of Zunhua, now that Yuan Chonghuan has waited for reinforcements for a long time, there must be an extreme shortage of food in the city. I predict that if he can't wait for reinforcements within a few days, he will have to break through. And our army currently only has [-] elite soldiers besieging the city. If Yuan Chonghuan Sending troops from Jizhou to help him break through the siege, I'm afraid our army will suffer."

Huang Taiji said, "Sir, what you said is reasonable. Although there are only [-] Changping troops in Jizhou, which can be called elite, but the total strength is also a full [-]. If there are [-] to [-], it will be difficult to deal with."

"Khan is wise!" Fan Wencheng praised Xia Huang Taiji without losing the opportunity, and then said, "So, I suggest that the 8000 cavalry from the Duoyan tribe stationed near Malanyu should also be transferred to Shimenzhai. Baylor's [-] troops are more than enough to defend Shimen Village. As long as Shimen Village is not lost, Zunhua will be safe."

Shimenzhai is the only place to go from Jizhou to Zunhua. If the Jizhou army wants to go to Zunhua, it must conquer Shimenzhai. This reason is the same as going from Qian'an to Zunhua must conquer Santunying.

Later Jin did not pay much attention to the guards of the Ming army, that is, the Tuntian soldiers.Although there are [-] troops in Jizhou City, only [-] Xuanfu troops can support the elite Ming army, and the rest are guards.Under field conditions, [-] Mongolian cavalry coupled with [-] post-golden infantry can defeat at least [-] guards.And if these Tazi soldiers were used to defend the city, it is estimated that even [-] to [-] guards may not be able to capture it.

Therefore, Fan Wencheng's arrangement can basically ensure that Jizhou cannot send reinforcements to help Yuan Chonghuan break through.

In Zunhua, the [-] Jin Jingrui faced Yuan Chonghuan's [-] army composed of [-] Guanning Army and [-] Guards. Under field conditions, the winning rate was at least [-]%.

After saying this, Fan Wencheng said again, "Therefore, the key to the victory between our army and the Ming army today is not in military strength, but in food and grass!"

Huang Taiji nodded frequently, and said again, "Sir, please continue."

(End of this chapter)