Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1098 Pre-war Arrangement
Although everyone knew the court's idea of ​​sending troops to Liaodong, when they heard Wang Jinwu's bold words of deciding the battle with one battle, everyone's reactions were different.

Some people were eager to try, some were silent and thoughtful, and some were anxious and hesitant to speak. Especially the Prime Minister Wen Tiren, he asked Wang Jinwu directly and cautiously whether the so-called one-shot battle was too much. He did not disagree with sending troops, but it would be better to be cautious about the war in Liaodong. After all, the Jiannu were not easy to deal with, and the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners was not bad. You must know that when Nurhaci started the rebellion, the Ming Dynasty had planned to resolve the Liaodong issue with one battle, but what was the final result?

In the Battle of Sarhu, the Ming Dynasty sent an army of 200,000 to Liaodong. Although the 200,000 was a fictitious number, the total number of troops dispatched by the Ming Dynasty was actually 110,000. In addition, Korea, as a vassal state, sent 30,000 troops to fight together, so the total number was only 140,000, which was not much different from the real 200,000.

Comparing the military strength of both sides, the Ming army at that time could be said to have had an absolute advantage. You must know that Nurhaci, who had just unified the Jurchen tribes at that time, had a total military strength of less than 60,000, and these 60,000 people could be said to be gathered by Nurhaci by selling his belongings. Once defeated, they would be doomed and would never be able to turn things around.

But no one expected that in the Battle of Sarhu, Nurhaci would use a small force to defeat a larger one, divide and defeat the four Ming armies, defeat three of them in one fell swoop, scare away the last one, and achieve an unprecedented victory.

In this battle, the Ming army suffered heavy casualties of 46,000 men, and the Ming military power in Liaodong was devastated. This allowed Nurhaci to rise after the war and to compete with the Ming.

Wen Tiren was afraid that the emperor would rush to achieve success and repeat the mistakes of the Battle of Sarhu. The Jiannu of today is not the same as before. Even if a civil war breaks out in the Jiannu, the army under Dorgon's control is as high as 100,000. If a general mobilization is carried out, this number can be increased by at least tens of thousands. With such a powerful army, plus the fierce fighting power of the Eight Banners, how easy is it to win in one battle? If this battle fails, the national strength that the Ming Dynasty has just recovered will be lost, and the news of the defeat will inevitably shake the country's foundation. It is even questionable whether Emperor Zhu Shenzhu can sit firmly on the throne.

"Don't worry, Prime Minister. Fighting in one battle is not a reckless move. I understand the significance of this battle, and your majesty is also very clear about it."

Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly to Wen Tiren, indicating that Wang Jinwu was right. Seeing this situation, although Wen Tiren was still a little worried, he did not ask any more questions.

At this time, Zhu Shenzhui took two steps forward and came to the map. Wang Jinwu and Wu Xiang quickly separated to the left and right, letting the emperor stand in the middle, and both took a step back at the same time.

"My dear ministers, Lord Wang just said it clearly. The Jiannu have been entrenched in Liaodong for many years and have caused great harm. They have been a major concern for our Ming Dynasty for nearly 30 years. Now I have decided to send troops to Liaodong and conquer Liaodong in one battle. Do you have any objections?"

Everyone answered in unison that they had no objection, and some even couldn't help but volunteer to go to Liaodong to fight and teach the Jiannu a lesson.

Raising his hand, Zhu Shenzhui smiled with satisfaction and motioned Wu Xiang on the right to come up.

Wu Xiang, who had been prepared, straightened his chest, took two steps forward with vigor, and then announced the resolution and arrangements for this battle in a loud voice.

Wu Xiang issued military orders on behalf of the emperor in his capacity as the Right Chief Councillor of the Chief Council. This time, the army would not only mobilize the local Liao army and Guanning cavalry, but also troops from Jizhou Town, Xuanfu, Datong, Shandong and Jingji, with a total force of up to 150,000.

This is a real number, not an imaginary number. It is a real army of 150,000. It was announced to the outside world that an army of 300,000 would march into Liaodong to solve the Jiannu problem in Liaodong.

Regarding the war arrangements in Liaodong, the chief commander was Wang Jinwu, the Grand Lord of the Ming Dynasty, the Marquis of Ningshan, and the General of the Imperial Guards, with Sun Chuanting and Li Xin as the deputy commanders. Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui were the commanders of the Liao army and Guanning Iron Cavalry in Liaodong, and Lu Xiangsheng was sent to lead Zuo Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao to fight with the Liao army and be responsible for the frontline to ensure the stability of the Liaodong front battlefield.

Gao Jie, the general of Jizhou Town, Cao Bianjiao, the chief of the Senate, and Li You, the admiral of the Beiyang Navy, led a detachment and used Shandong as a base to cooperate with the Liaodong army to launch an attack on Liaodong from the sea and Pi Island and other places.

Huang Degong and He Renlong each led a group, went north across the Great Wall into Mongolia, and joined forces with the Mongolian Chahar tribe to attack Khorchin, pinning down the main force of Khorchin and preventing it from reinforcing the Jiannu in Liaodong. If possible, assist Agudamu to directly attack the Khorchin grassland, suppress the opponent, or even defeat and overthrow the Khorchin tribe.

As for the Chief Minister Wen Tihen, the Minister of War Chen Qiuyu, the Right Chief Counselor Wu Xiang, and the Jinwu General Zhou Anmin, they were stationed in the capital, in charge of logistics and intelligence work, and directly responsible to the emperor.

After the order was issued, everyone was excited and responded loudly. At this time, Emperor Zhu Shenzhu announced that the Liaodong war was imminent, and everyone should go back and prepare as soon as possible. All command organizations for the Liaodong war will be established the next day. After all units are mobilized in place within two months, they will launch attacks in three directions at the same time at the agreed time to solve the Liaodong problem in one fell swoop and eliminate the Jiannu.

After everyone left, the Qianqing Palace was no longer noisy and returned to its usual tranquility.

Zhu Shenzui stood alone in front of the map, scanning the huge map with excitement and expectation in his heart.

He had made countless preparations for sending troops to Liaodong, and today he finally made up his mind and it became a reality. Moreover, it can be said that Zhu Shenzhui put most of his chips on the battlefield this time. If he won the battle, everyone would be happy, but if he lost, then the revival of the Ming Dynasty would come to an abrupt end, and he, the emperor, would inevitably suffer countless slanders, and even the throne would be shaky. This war was extremely risky, and Zhu Shenzhui certainly knew it in his heart, but he had to launch this war.

Firstly, now is indeed the best opportunity to resolve the Liaodong issue. Dorgon and Hauge are hostile to each other and have already started a civil war. If the Ming Dynasty stands idly by at this time, and waits for Hauge to defeat Dorgon and take over Korea, then Dorgon, who occupies both Liaodong and Korea, will be even more difficult to deal with.

Although Hauge had the support of the Ming Dynasty, he also had soldiers and the territory of Korea. But the problem was that if the Ming Dynasty did not intervene directly, Hauge was still no match for Dorgon with these chips. If nothing unexpected happened, Hauge would be defeated, and the time of defeat was nothing more than a matter of time. When Hauge was eliminated by Dorgon, the Ming Dynasty could only face Dorgon on its own.

Secondly, the military and economic blockade of Liaodong in recent years has caused problems in the Qing Dynasty's finances and civil affairs. Even if Dorgon adopted a high-pressure policy and continued to plunder the Liaodong ruling area to make up for the shortfall, this could not solve the fundamental problem.

Kill him while he's weak! Zhu Shenzhui is not a soft-hearted person. He won't beat a drowning dog? Is he going to wait for the other party to recover before attacking?

As for the third point, Zhu Shenzhui took domestic factors into consideration. Although he had used many means to stabilize the political situation in recent years, carried out a series of reforms in the Ming Dynasty, and even suppressed the civil service group and purged the previous Donglin Party and other parties, the situation in the Ming Dynasty was very complicated. The civil service group or the vested interest group had long been deeply rooted in the Ming Dynasty, and it was impossible to completely eradicate it.

Now many people who are hostile to the court or dissatisfied with the emperor's actions are just dormant on the surface. What they fear is only the military power and current prestige in the hands of the emperor. Once the situation changes, these people will inevitably rush out one by one to make trouble. How can Zhu Shencui not be on guard?

In this case, only by winning a great victory in Liaodong and completely solving the Liaodong problem in one fell swoop, will these evil spirits completely give up, and then they can completely let go and carry out reforms. Once Liaodong is recovered and the Jiannu is solved, Zhu Shenzhu's prestige will reach its peak, and there will be no obstacles to the implementation of the national policy of full opening up or the Ming Dynasty's opening up to the world.

Therefore, the battle in Liaodong must be won, and it must be won decisively to completely eliminate the Jiannu army entrenched in Liaodong.

Zhu Shenzhui had been preparing for this war for several years, and had stockpiled a lot of supplies for the war. He had scraped out all these supplies bit by bit, especially when the Ming Dynasty was in financial difficulty a few years ago. In order to accumulate these supplies, he not only used many methods, but also spent most of his assets in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

As for the army, apart from the Liao Army, the Guanning Cavalry and the Beiyang Navy, the rest were the Ming Dynasty's most elite field troops, including a full 50,000 new troops.

These troops are Zhu Shenzui's treasures. If they are defeated or even wiped out in Liaodong, then the northern Ming Dynasty will have no soldiers left to fight except for the 30,000 new troops guarding the capital and some local troops.

Therefore, in order to ensure that everything would be foolproof, Wang Jinwu, Sun Chuanting and Li Xin were appointed as the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief of this battle.

Needless to say, Wang Jinwu was a fierce general taught by Zhu Shenzhui himself, and he had made military achievements in many previous wars, whether against the Mongols or the Jiannu. In addition, he was not only a cabinet minister and a noble, but also the emperor's cousin. Zhu Shenzhui was naturally relieved to let him serve as the commander-in-chief.

The same is true for Sun Chuanting, who is both civil and military, especially better than Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng in the use of troops. Li Xin has made outstanding contributions in Shandong in recent years and is a good friend of Xu Xiancheng. The loyalty and ability of the three of them are no problem, so it is most appropriate to let them serve as the chief and deputy chiefs.

The Liao army, including the Guanning army, naturally could not leave out Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui. However, Lu Xiangsheng, Zuo Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao were sent over to make up for the lack of combat effectiveness of the Liao army on the one hand, and to prevent Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui from having a self-preservation mentality during the war and delaying the opportunity to fight.

Although the possibility is very small, Zhu Shencui has to be on guard. Although Lu Xiangsheng is a civil servant, he is willing to fight to the death. Zuo Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao are from the Liao army. With these three people around, Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui will be much safer, not to mention that there is also Wu Xiang in the capital.

In Shandong, Li You and Gao Jie will cooperate with each other, and with the fierce Cao Bianjiao, they are capable of standing on their own. In addition, Zheng Hongkui will also participate in this battle to assist Li You in commanding the Beiyang Navy. With them in charge of Shandong, there will be no problems.

As for Mongolia, Zhu Shenzui had already given orders to Agudamu, and asked Tenger to send troops from Tumed to help. He also sent Huang Degong and He Renlong over. It would be no problem to deal with the Khorchin tribe.

From all aspects, Zhu Shenzhui had made a thorough plan and had given much consideration to the use of personnel, but war is not a deduction, and anything can happen on the battlefield. Before the final result is known, Zhu Shenzhui still dared not relax at all.

(End of this chapter)