golden scales

Perhaps it was because the opponent once took his banner.

Or maybe it was because he had to give up Yanjing and lost the confidence to dominate the world.

Li Zicheng was much more timid than Zhu Cihong imagined.

Since Niu Chenghu's troops occupied Zezhou and controlled the canyon channel going south to Henan, Li Zicheng stopped using troops in Shanxi.He even ordered Li Guo to return to Yulin and stick to northern Shaanxi, giving up the opportunity to wipe out Tangtong, and even gave up the opportunity to set up a bridgehead in Shanxi.

In the face of Li Zicheng's shrinking, the Qing court also showed the intention of reconciliation.First of all, they stopped clamoring for the Ming Dynasty with great fanfare. At the same time, they also shrank the troops in the west of Shanxi.

This situation finally became more pronounced in mid-October 17.

Wu Sangui, King of Guangning, took the lead in Dingxiang with [-] Guan Liao troops, followed by Kong Youde, King of Gongshun, who brought [-] Zhenghong Banner Han troops.At this point, the strength of the Qing army in Shanxi reached more than [-].What makes people feel sad is not the pressure of the number of [-] troops, but the war on such a scale, all the children of the Han family died.

I have to admit that in this troubled world, people's reputation is often closely related to their own strength.

After Meng Qiaofang was appointed as the governor of Shanxi, she quickly set up her own bidding battalion, and ruthlessly gouged out a piece of flesh from Jiang Tuan.He is also very clear that professional people should be allowed to do professional things, completely rely on Wu Sangui for strategic arrangements, and suppress Ye Chen, Jiang Yu and others more.

Wu Sangui is probably the most appreciative person in this era. He runs when it is time to run, and he is not timid when it is time to fight.People in later generations only remember that he led wolves into the house, but they often forget that he led 28 servants into the camp of [-] slaves and rescued his father Wu Xiang.At that time, people called him "bravely crowning the three armies, filially hearing the nine sides", which was by no means a compliment.

"You can't beat Yu County." Wu Sangui checked the terrain himself, and even changed into casual clothes and pretended to be a business traveler to go to Guantoubao to watch a jujube ball game.In the end, he came to the conclusion that as long as the Ming army deployed [-] soldiers here, the Eastern Captives would have to fill them with [-] soldiers.The Guantou Fort is only the first line of defense in Yuxian County, and there are Danangou, Xiaonangou, and Lujiayukou behind it.

Meng Qiaofang cupped her hands slightly, and said, "How do you think the prince should fight?"

In terms of titles, Wu Sangui is a prince, Meng Qiaofang is just a Merle, it's a world of difference.However, in terms of position, Wu Sangui, the King of Guangning, is just the commander-in-chief of a town, while Meng Qiaofang is the highest civil official in charge of a province.Most importantly, Wu Sangui is a Han Chinese, while Meng Qiaofang is a bannerman.

"It's enough to keep 1 people locked up at Yu'erkou, so as not to let the enemies of Yu County go west." Wu Sangui pointed on the map: "The army will go south and attack Liaozhou (now Zuoquan County) from the Taiyue Mountain narrow road. Qinzhou (now Qinxian County), take Lu'an Mansion first."

Meng Qiaofang calculated the strength of the Qing army in Shanxi, and felt that this arrangement was the most efficient.He laughed and said, "Your Majesty needs to be exhausted, and go south to capture Liaozhou first."

Wu Sangui straightened his waist, and after a long time he said: "My Wu family has received the favor of the Ming Dynasty, and I can't bear to kill with one blow. Our army will be stationed in Taiyuan Mansion first. After you take Zezhou and open the way to go south to Yu Province, I will bring my own troops to go. Take Tongguan and kill Chuangni."

Meng Qiaofang's face changed slightly.He had long heard that Wu Sangui referred to the Ming Dynasty as "our dynasty" and the Qing Dynasty as "your country".But even if Wu Sangui's Guan Liao army is not available, there is still Kong Youde's Han army flag.This time Kong Youde also brought five red-clothed cannons, it may not be difficult to bombard the checkpoints of the Kaiming Army.

"It doesn't matter, King Gongsun is willing to take this great service." Meng Qiaofang said in a gentle tone, and returned Wu Sangui's words.

——Mediocrity, if you don't fight in Beizhi, no matter how lively the fight in Shanxi is, it will be half the effort.

Wu Sangui sneered: "Please inform me when the time comes."

Meng Qiaofang picked up the teacup.

Wu Sangui didn't wait for the boy to shout "see off", he got up and walked outside.

Looking at Wu Sangui's back, the servant standing behind Meng Qiaofang couldn't take his eyes off for a long time, until Wu Sangui stopped and looked back as if in response, he just cast his eyes on the ground, staring at a small ant crawling out of the cracks in the bricks.

This clever young man was assigned to Meng Qiaofang in Beijing, because he was good at fist and foot and could read, so he brought him with him, which was quite useful.

Of course, Meng Qiaofang was not the only one who felt that this young man was capable. Xu Dun also felt that this intelligence agent code-named "Yizhimei" was very capable with the steady stream of information from the Shanxi Governor's Department.

Now Yanjing has Song Hongye watching, and the Qing army's every move in North China cannot escape the eyes of the crown prince, so the focus of Jin Yiwei's work will be shifted to Shanxi.After planting three nails in Meng Qiaofang's side in one breath, Xu Dun began to deploy the intelligence network from Datong to Taiyuan.

In such a tense situation, Xu Dun was ordered not only to set up eyes and ears in various government offices, but also to prepare "isolated islands" in the countryside of Taiyuan Prefecture to provide cover and supplies for Daming's infiltrated scouts.This really fulfilled Xu Dun's intention of "realizing self-worth" and "surpassing self-limits".

A Tunpu is not as simple as a shop.

In order to set up fortresses capable of supplying supplies in enemy-occupied areas, not only must the official relationship be settled, but also enough reliable manpower must be available.

Xu Dun soon discovered the crown prince's special favor for these "exploring horses" from clues.

The crown prince recruited some veterans from Jinyiwei to teach these scouts the methods of torture to extract confessions.Grabbing the tongue and interrogating the enemy's situation is the old profession of exploring horses, why learn from Jinyiwei?Isn't that killing chickens with a bull's knife?Immediately afterwards, he heard that the East Palace had recruited Qingshan doctors, accountants, woodcutters, hunters, even monks, Taoist priests...all kinds of people to teach these explorers.

This is no ordinary scouting.

Zhu Cihong is only responsible for arranging the tasks, and ensuring that the tasks do not exceed the execution capabilities of his subordinates.The rest is done by his subordinates. He just checks and accepts the results, rewards meritorious deeds and punishes crimes.

After handing over the power to Zuo Shouyi, Zhu Cihong left Yuxian County and went to Zezhou to inspect Niu Chenghu's No. [-]th headquarters of the Third Battalion.

Zezhou is surrounded by Taiyue Mountain in the west, Wangwu Mountain and Taihang Mountain in the south, and Taihang Mountain in the east. There are two rivers, Qinshui and Danshui, in the dry Shanxi.It is a pity that the water flow of Qinshui and Danshui is not large enough to carry out extensive hydraulic workshops and shipping, but it is no problem to be used to irrigate farmland.

Here not only to farm, but also to mine.Zezhou is the hometown of coal and iron, especially the resource treasure land with thick coal seam, good quality, shallow burial and easy mining.As for the use of iron ore, it will take more effort to bypass the chaotic situation in Henan, first go north and then south, and send it to Xuzhou.

In the garrison official hall of Zezhou Prefecture, the huge sand table shows the mountains, corridors, rivers, checkpoints, and the distribution of the garrison in the entire Zezhou Basin.Artillery, which is an important weapon, is also marked on it.No one is allowed to enter this room, and the door is heavily guarded. Only school-level officers can enter it with Niu Chenghu's approval.

Surrounded by a group of staff officers, Zhu Cihong listened to the report from the [-]th Headquarters of the Third Guards Battalion.

Niu Chenghu held his head high and stood beside Zhu Cihong without saying a word.

He Xingmeng, the chief of staff of the Second General Headquarters, was once a student. He worked as a teacher in the countryside, good at "slaying dragons", and often discussed the gains and losses of the world with others.If it is four or five hundred years later, his hobbies and energy can be satisfied and shared on various Internet forums.Right now, he can only leave his hometown, abandon his pen and join the army, and become a staff officer.

The smaller the staff staff, the more complicated the affairs in charge of, and lack of strategic vision.If a talent like He Xingmeng who is proficient in "Three Kingdoms" is in the hands of Nurhachi and Huang Taiji, he can almost be appointed as a bachelor of the inner academy. Naturally, Niu Chenghu will pull such a dazzling scholar into the staff of the Second Headquarters.

"Your Highness, as long as our department is allowed to expand four divisions, whether it is going east to Pingyang Mansion (now Linfen), or going south to Huaiqing Mansion (now Henan Qinyang), Henan Mansion (now Luoyang), it will definitely be invincible!" The chief of staff said eloquently: "As long as Duliying moves westward and obtains Guide Mansion (Shangqiu) and Kaifeng Mansion, the pig iron will be continuously sent to Xuzhou." (To be continued.)