I

  Chapter 397 395【Respectively prepare for battle】

  Run, or stay?

  Dorgon suddenly added an official to Hong Chengchou and became the only Han Prime Minister in the Qing Dynasty, instantly confirming his status as the world's number one traitor.

   This made Hong Chengchou a little confused. Even if he was doing trouble in the north, even if he made a great contribution secretly, in the future, he would be forced by fierce discussions, could the emperor in the south really forgive him?

   Certainly not!

   You must leave immediately, sneak away to Nanjing, and show your identity. If you leave a few months later, the yellow mud will fall into your crotch, whether it's **** or shit, it's hard to tell anyway.

  Hong Chengchou secretly sorted out his belongings and prepared to take his two confidants with him. During this time, he ran away at night.

   You can’t go south from Shandong, where the epidemic is serious and it’s too dangerous. You can enter Henan from Beizhili. Although there are Qing soldiers everywhere along the way, you should be able to escape if you disguise yourself.

   You can’t bring too much money, just a hundred taels of silver and dozens of catties of grain.

While Hong Chengchou was busy, the slave knocked on the door outside and shouted: "Master, it's not good, our house is surrounded by soldiers. There are soldiers outside several doors. They say they are here to guard the master, and they are from various courtyards." There are soldiers walking up and down the walls."

   "This Dorgon... Oh, that's it, that's it!"

  The world line ended again, and Hong Chengchou received the same treatment.

  Historically, after Hong Chengchou surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Huang Taiji was also heavily guarded. Because of his special status, he has served as the governor of the five provinces, the governor of Xuanda, and the governor of Jiliao. Many of the Ming border generals were his former ministries.

  Hong Chengchou went out immediately, and went straight to Dorgon's mansion in a sedan chair.

   "My lord, immediately lead the troops to hunt down and kill Hou and his son!" Hong Chengchou said when they met.

  Dorgon wondered, "Why kill them?"

  Hong Chengchou explained: "They must go to Shandong to persuade Zuo Liangyu to join the Nanjing court. If Zuo Liangyu can't be persuaded, they can go to Nanjing by themselves."

Dorgon still doesn't fully trust Hong Chengchou now. After thinking about it, he recruited his subordinates and said: "Send two more Niulu to catch up with the governor of Shandong. They must be closely protected and must not leave the governor. If the governor of Shandong betrays him, he will be punished immediately. Catch them back to Beijing, if you don't get them back, you'll kill them!"

  Two Niulu, that is, twenty soldiers, supervise Hou Xun around the clock.

  Hong Chengchou continued: "How does the prince view the Nanjing court?"

  Dorgon said with a smile: "If you win Beijing, you will be the king of the world. After tomorrow's summer harvest, after the wheat is harvested, I will personally lead the army to march south!"

Hong Chengchou said: "My lord, the livelihood of the people in the north is poor, but the people in the south are rich. Zhao Han can be defeated ten times, and he can regain his strength. When our army first entered the Central Plains, many surrendered troops were uncertain, and there was not much food and people. I have to go back to Liaodong next time."

   "Li Zicheng swept across the north, but he was completely defeated by my Manchurian soldiers? Zhao Han, who looks like a good soldier, is actually nothing to be afraid of." Dorgon really didn't take Zhao Han seriously.

Hong Chengchou persuaded: "My lord must not underestimate the enemy, we cannot afford to lose. The frontier army of the Ming Dynasty first surrendered Li Zicheng, and then surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Not to mention our army's defeat, but to say that the two sides are at a stalemate. These frontier troops may switch to the south. "

   "That's right," Dorgon was not an idiot, "If you can't win quickly, these generals are likely to defect again."

   Hong Chengchou said: "First soldiers approached Shandong and forced Zuo Liangyu to surrender."

   "Is he really going to surrender?" Dorgon was not sure.

Hong Chengchou said with a smile: "Zuo Liangyu has been reluctant to surrender to Zhao Han because he is reluctant to give up the military power in his hands. Now that there is a big epidemic in Shandong and its soldiers are weak, and our army is overwhelming, Zuo Liangyu will definitely ask for help from Nanjing. Before that, he could Make him the King of Dingnan, order him to lead the army in Shandong, and spread the news to the world."

   "This will allow Zuo Liangyu to surrender?" Dorgon asked.

Hong Chengchou said with a smile: "Zuo Liangyu has always had two sides, and he is not worthy of trust. When the news came out that the Qing Dynasty made him king, how dare Nanjing send troops to rescue him? It would be good if he didn't beat him! This person has never expressed his attitude , I just want to get more benefits from both sides. Da Qing sent troops to fight him, and at the same time gave him enough benefits, he can only surrender to me Da Qing."

  Dorgon nodded and said, "That's good."

Hong Chengchou also said: "However, beware of this person's defection. Even if he becomes the prince of the Qing Dynasty, he may betray the Qing Dynasty at any time. We must find an opportunity to **** him to Beijing for house arrest and keep his prince. Then he canonize him The eldest son is the eldest son, and he made a wish for his generals to be appointed officials, so that he can truly control Shandong."

  Dorgon praised: "Sir, you really know the old officials of Ming Dynasty like the back of your hand."

  Hong Chengchou put away his smile and said with a serious face: "Before next year's summer harvest, we must dispatch troops quickly. It is impossible to wait until the summer harvest. If our army is short of food, we will go grab it while the enemy's wheat is harvesting!"

  Summer harvest, mainly wheat.

  But during the Little Ice Age at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Hebei could not grow winter wheat, only spring wheat.

  Even many places in Henan cannot grow winter wheat.

   Therefore, Zhao Han's summer harvest season was more than a month earlier than that of the Qing Dynasty. It is very likely that Zhao Han will dispatch troops quickly after harvesting the wheat. Not only will he have food for himself, but he can also go to the territory of the Qing Dynasty to collect food.

  Hong Chengchou's intention is obvious, to raise as much military food as possible, and when Zhao Han's wheat is about to be harvested, he will directly send troops to the south in a large scale.

  Let those soldiers from the Ming Dynasty loot everywhere with a numerical advantage, and go to Zhao Han's side to burn, kill and loot casually.

   This is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of troops rushing down, and Zhao Han is completely defenseless.

   Zhao Han sent troops to deal with the surrendered generals, which happened to be Hong Chengchou's strategy: Zhao Han and Ming's surrendered generals consumed each other, cutting off the unstable factors of the Qing Dynasty. The main force of the more than 100,000 Eight Banners soldiers in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties can look for opportunities to choose the battlefield. Either surround and annihilate the main force of the Datong army, or cut off the Datong army's food road, or burn, kill and loot Zhao Han's territory, destroying the people's livelihood and economy in Zhao Han's territory.

  If Zhao Han ignored the enemy's army and directly led his troops to attack the territory of the Qing Dynasty. Hehe, you can fight whatever you want, grab whatever you want, anyway, there is not much food here. The more cities you capture, the more you have to divide your troops to garrison, and the more you stretch the front, the more dangerous the food road becomes.

  Hong Chengchou has been blackened, and Dorgon forced him to wear the hat of a big traitor, and he was under heavy surveillance to prevent him from leaving, so he might as well be a real big traitor!

  Anyway, there is no retreat, and they can only help the Manchus seize the world.

  …

   Nanjing.

  Officials from the cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Governor's Mansion were all called to discuss matters.

  Li Banghua pointed to the map and said: "Henan thieves, as well as Henan gentry regiments, have all defected to the Manchu Qing. On the side of the Puppet Qing, three marquises and six earls were conferred in Henan alone."

  Pang Chunlai said: "The Qing army stationed heavily on the border, and there will be a war in Henan next year. It's not whether we want to fight, but the opposite side will definitely fight!"

  Zhao Han is also helpless.

  When the Ming court was still there, Zhao Han attacked Anhui and Jiangsu, and the officials of the major prefectures and counties surrendered.

  But after the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, the place has been occupied by rebels and gentry regiments. Zhao Han couldn't persuade them to surrender at all, so he had to fight all the way. On the contrary, the Manchus could surrender on a large scale.

  The difference is that Zhao Han's surrender conditions are too harsh.

  Where the Qing Dynasty met, it was a title, allowing the army and land to be retained.

   There are also some who insist on resistance. For example, the generals of Datong have already surrendered, but the civil servants of Datong left behind by Li Zicheng lead the officials and people to defend the city against the Qing Dynasty. As a result, the Manchu divisions led the generals of Datong to attack the city of Datong together. With the cooperation of the spies, they directly carried out massacres after breaking the city.

   Few military generals chose to resist, but civil servants from all over the country, and many people who swore to the death against the Qing Dynasty emerged.

   "No matter how much food is not enough, the army must be expanded!" Mao Yuanyi is now the staff of the Dudu Mansion.

  Li Banghua nodded and said, "Yes, the army must be expanded!"

   "I also support military expansion."

   "Before fighting Zhang Xianzhong, due to terrain constraints, it was not necessary to expand the army. But the border between Henan and Anhui will be a battlefield next year. The terrain is flat, and there is no way to fight without expanding the army!"

   "There is also Shandong, Zuo Liangyu has always refused to surrender. If there is no military expansion, it will be difficult to stabilize Shandong!"

   "..."

  The cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Governor's Mansion are all in favor of military expansion, waiting for Zhao Han's decision.

After thinking carefully, Zhao Han said, "Then expand the army into ten divisions, revoke the previous establishment, and name them purely by numbers. The first and second divisions guard against Shandong, and the third to sixth divisions station troops in Runing Mansion, Feng In Yangfu, the Seventh and Eighth Divisions stationed troops in Nanyangfu. The Ninth Division continued to attack Sichuan. The Tenth Division continued to encroach on Guangxi."

  The 10th Division has been stationed in Guangdong, and it has not done nothing in the past few years.

  In northern Guangdong, in the mountains of eastern Guangdong, and in the mountainous areas of Fujian, there were bandits everywhere, all of which were wiped out by the Tenth Division. By the way, many Guoshan Yao (slash-and-burn Yao people) were subdued.

  In the past year, the Tenth Division has swallowed Wuzhou and Xunzhou Prefectures in Guangxi, and is planning to attack Pingyue Prefecture.

  Their military rations are not very sufficient, and most of them are located in mountainous areas. Every time they send troops, they have to use civilian labor to transport rations, which can only be slowly eaten away by each government.

  Pang Chunlai suddenly said: "Do you want to set up Dongjiang Town? After the war begins, we will send troops to surprise the hinterland of the Tartars."

   "Yes," Xu Nianzu said, "dispatch the navy to force North Korea to trade grain with Dongjiang Town. In this way, Dongjiang Town only needs money to maintain, and grain can be purchased from North Korea."

   "Then form the eleventh division!" Zhao Han said.

   There is no way, the move of the Qing Dynasty forces Zhao Han to expand his army on a large scale.

  The Manchu Qing side also had no choice. They were afraid that Zhao Han would suddenly cross the border and send troops, so they had to stock up on the border with heavy troops.

   No one trusts anyone, and negotiations are impossible.

   Fortunately, Zhao Han has a large number of farmers and soldiers in his hands, and is also producing weapons and equipment every year, so he can expand his army and prepare for war on a large scale at any time.

  The regular soldiers of the Datong Army will soon be expanded into eleven divisions, each full of 10,000 troops, plus other troops and cavalry, Zhao Han's regular army finally exceeds 120,000.

   This number is comparable to the Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty.

  Xu Ying suddenly said: "Raise the conditions for surrendering. I will send people to recruit soldiers from the Ming Dynasty to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Zuo Liangyu can be named a Marquis, as long as he surrenders Shandong!"

  Zhao Han thought about it carefully: "You can try it."

   (There is an Easter egg chapter map at the end of the chapter, which is very rough. Can any expert help to make a more exquisite one?)

  (end of this chapter)